Missionary Restrictions in Muslim Territories
AFTER Lord Kitchener’s forces had destroyed or captured the armies of the Soudan, and put an end to resistance there, an agreement was entered into with the Soudanese to the effect that missionaries should not be allowed to enter that field for some time to come. Instead, a subscription was taken up in England, and a Mohammedan college established at Khartoum, named after General Gordon. Now that the Africans are actively proselyting among the whites, the English missionary societies are appealing to the government for permission to enter the Soudan. The government, remembering its embarrassment at the present time in South Africa, and not wishing to stir up the hatred of the Soudanese, still refuses to allow Christian missionaries to enter this Mohammedan field. Commenting on this, the Congressionalist says: “We have precisely the same situation to face in certain of the Philippine islands where Mohammedans predominate. Our government for the time is discouraging any attempt to introduce Christian missionaries. No decree that we know of has been issued, but it is understood that such is the wish of the government.”