p. 19 | Literature for the Mohammedan People by N. Z. T.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 25, 1912

Literature for the Mohammedan People

By N. Z. T.

IN reply to a letter of inquiry concerning literature for the Mohammedans, Brother C. Voigt, manager of the publishing work in Constantinople, writes as follows:—

“Formerly, our brethren here printed only in Armenian, Greek, Armeno-Turkish, and Greco-Turkish. All these languages are for Christians only. We also had some Arabic tracts dealing with the Sabbath question and the coming of the Lord. About two years ago, we began to print in real Turkish; that is, in the Turkish language with Arabic characters, for the Turkish people who are Moslems. We printed the following four tracts, written by Brother Baharian:—

‘Who Is Jesus?’ 16 pages; ‘Secrets of the Future’ (Daniel 2), 24 pages; ‘The Hours of God’s Righteous Judgment’ (Daniel 7), 24 pages; ‘Secret of Health,’ 32 pages, a tract on health topics by P. A. DeForest. We sell these tracts at the rate of eight pages for one cent.

“From the very beginning, we decided not to distribute literature gratis. Our faithful brethren went out and sold these tracts. The returns were not high, but some had excellent success, considering the conditions here in Turkey. The Lord helped the brethren to sell among all nationalities. The most difficult work was among the Moslems. They rule this country, and it is therefore quite dangerous to oppose their way of living. One of their rules is that the Turk is master in his house, which means that none else dare enter. But our brethren knocked at the doors, and presented their tracts. This had never been done before; but up to the present about 11,000 copies of these four tracts have been sold, amounting to about $300.

“Recently we began printing tracts in Arabic. There is a strong Arabic-speaking population in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. We made up these tracts in such a way that not only Christians, but Moslems as well, would buy them. We printed tracts on Daniel 2 and 7, and on the nature of man, the coming of Christ, and the Sabbath question. We plan to print soon one tract on tobacco, also the Turkish tracts ‘Secret of Health’ and ‘Who Is Jesus?’ A book on Matthew 24 will follow.

“You see from this that we do not print special tracts for Moslems. We take as subjects the well-known points on prophetic and other subjects, adapt them in some way to the Oriental mind, make up the tracts outside and inside in a style familiar to the people, and the brethren go out and sell them. The tract, ‘The Secret of Health,’ opens the doors for others. The canvassers go at first with this tract only. We would not wish to present the others at first, owing to the fanatical character of the Mohammedans. But when the people have taken the health tract, they are often ready to buy the others.”

We rejoice with our brethren in Turkey that our literature is gaining an entrance there.

N. Z. T.