Is Islam Waning?

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 12, 1908

Under this title Dr. S. M. Zwemer contributes to the Christian Intelligencer of Dec. 18, 1907, information of quite unusual importance. It seems that, unbeknown to the Christian world, conferences of Mohammedans have been held to discuss the decay of Islam. The first of these conferences was held in 1899, at Mecca. A little book recently published, and already carried to its second edition, contains the minutes of this meeting. Twenty-three leading Moslems from every nation under heaven met for this conference, and for two solid weeks discussed the reasons for the decline of their religion, and the means by which the tendency could be checked and new life imparted to the faith. The doctors disagreed as to the remedy, but they unitedly declared that there were no less than fifty-eight reasons for the dangerous condition of the patient. Some of the reasons given were: the doctrine of fatalism; ascetic practises; the opposition of science; the rejection of religious liberty; Ottoman rule; neglected education; inactivity due to the hopelessness of the case.

Word has just come that a second conference, similar to that at Mecca, was held in the Grand Continental Hotel of Cairo last November. All the learned sheiks, pashas, and beys were present, together with editors, judges, lawyers, and other notables, Christian as well as Moslem. A distinguished Moslem from Russia seems to have been the leading speaker. His theme was, “The Causes of the Decay of Islam.” In the course of his address he called upon Moslems to arise from their lethargy, open schools, and teach all the children (how untrue to Islam!) that they may be able to meet the demands of the new age, and urged the holding of a Panislamic congress to consider the cause of the loss of Moslem influence and power in the world. A committee was appointed with power to call such a congress. Commenting on these facts which he reports, Dr. Zwemer says it is clear that Islam is beginning to waver. The mass of Mohammedans who are full of fanatical zeal, and who read with perfect confidence the wild boasts of the Constantinople press, may still think that Islam is sweeping the world and holds in itself the welfare of all nations and peoples, but those who live under Christian rule in Algeria, Egypt, and India disagree with this estimate of their religion and its prospects. And indeed there is no doubt that Islam is a hopeless cause when it stands face to face with the open Bible and modern civilization. — The Missionary Herald.