114 
week. Their work begins jn the morning and lasts to 
an hour before noon; then they leave their shops and 
business in order to make their ablutions and say their 
prayers at the mosque. They return afterwards to busi- 
ness. 
From what we have been stating it appears that Is- 
lamism, or the religion of Mouhhammed, is an austere 
one. The word Islamism signifies abandoning one's self to 
God; and it is on this great basis that their worship is 
founded. Tfce belief in the existence of one God, their 
purifications, prayers, charity, and mortification by fast 
and pilgrimage, are tV\e most distinguishing characteris- 
tics of this religion. 
The belief in the missions o€Noah, Abraham, Moses, 
Christ, and other ancient prophet^ i s an indispensable 
introduction to Islamism; therefore Jew cannot be ad- 
mitted into the body of the faithful, if h* have not pre- 
viously proved his belief in the mission of Christ, who 
is acknowledged to be the spirit of God, Rouh Oullah, 
and son of a virgin, which the Koran confirms. 
The Mahometans fancy that the gospel, which is in 
the hands of the Christians, has been vitiated and tain- 
ted by interpolations. They deny the death of Christ, 
who, according to the Koran, ascended alive to heaven 
without having suffered on the cross; they do not ad- 
mit the dogma of the Trinity, and, therefore, not the hy» 
postatical union of the second person in Christ, nor that 
of the Eucharist; they look upon all these dogmas as 
pure idolatry. The worship of images is shocking to 
them, and confession and indulgences are considered 
by them as matters of mere speculation. 
Unhappily superstitions have been introduced into 
Islamism, a circumstance which is deplored by every 
Mahometan philosopher. The exterior ceremonies 
