THE MOHAMMEDANISM OF NORTHERN INDIA by Rev. R. M'Cheyne Paterson

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 28, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 29.

THE MOHAMMEDANISM OF NORTHERN INDIA.

By Rev. R. M'Cheyne Paterson

BY REV. R. M'CHEYNE PATERSON, OF GUJERAT.

THE contest between Islam and Hinduism presents one of the most wonderful and at the same time most instructive spectacles of modern history. On the one hand we have a religion (Mohammedan) which inspired a fiery zeal that nothing could for centuries withstand; it overturned the most ancient empires, and was based on principles which the most civilized as well as the most barbarous nations of its age were enabled to accept. On the other hand, there is a faith (that of the Hindus), stationary and fixed, frozen to its past, unable to advance beyond the limits imposed upon it by caste and custom, and incapable of being aroused out of its blind, unprogressive conservatism.

Everything seems to favor the religion of Islam, and yet history tells us that for six centuries it was repulsed again and again by its stolid opponent, like waves on a rock-bound coast. At length, in the latter half of the sixteenth century, one man learned the lesson which history had for ages sought to teach. Akbar the Great laid aside the pure faith of Islam, and by this means seated himself on the throne of India. But this victory was dearly bought. A Mohammedan is king, but it is at the sacrifice of his religion. Akbar's successors close their eyes to the teachings of their times, and once again seek to clothe their dynasty with the robe of their ancient faith, but in so doing they sound the knell of Mohammedan rule in India. The beginning of the eighteenth century sees the Mogul Empire rent in pieces by religious revolts, which its own intolerance had aroused. Such was the political effect of the great conflict between these powers.

What of the religious effect? In other words, have the two faiths retained their special characteristics, or have they mingled with the other? Has Islam suffered by its contact with Hinduism, or has it remained undefiled? This question can be answered only by mixing with the people and by learning, not their so-called creed (which they assume at odd times for the sake of argument), but their everyday beliefs—the faith of their lives.

The outstanding feature of the practical religion of Indian Mussulmans is their worship of saints and holy men. Go where you will, there is always some "fakir's" tomb to which the common people at all times resort. The passer-by takes his shoes from off his feet on approaching the sacred spot, and bows his head as he offers up a prayer to the holy man that he may intercede with the Judge of all the earth on his behalf. The devout who live in its neighborhood are not content with simple offerings, such as flowers, rice, and gaudy rags; they even make clay images—generally of horses—with which they cover the grave. These tombs are carefully built and protected by a wall or hedge, that nothing may profane the sacred spot. The reputed devoutness and zeal of any community may always be gauged by the number and magnificence of their saints' tombs. These have always a headstone with a number of square holes, in which every Thursday evening lamps are placed and lighted at dusk. Thus they hope to illuminate for a time the darkness in which the holy man rests below, and so they will secure his eternal gratitude. Let a man but build a tomb over some saint's grave, and that pious act secures paradise for him. But holy men are thought by many to grow in their graves; so these require to be lengthened periodically. I measured one in the Sialkot District which had reached nine yards in length. But then this saint had been a particularly holy man.

This superstition colors their whole lives and plays a part in their every act. Is a man going to bring an action against an ancient family enemy? He should entreat the assistance of some holy man and propitiate him with various offerings. Are they about to dig a well? A fakir must be called in to scare away the evil spirits and counteract any bad effects which the evil eye of an enemy might occasion. This custom is so universal that the workmen were shocked at my beginning a well which had to be dug for the new house belonging to the Ladies' Association in Gujarat, without calling in a fakir. They predicted all sorts of misfortunes, but my servants calmed their fears by pointing out that I was a fakir myself, and so did not require the services of any other holy man. Yet all these men were devout Mussulmans. There was not a Hindu among them.

Even if fakirs were holy and pious, the evils of worshiping at their graves would still be deplorable; but it must be remembered that these men have always been, as a class, extremely dissolute. Protected by the superstitious fears of the people, they practice every form of sin in a most shameless, open manner. They are the opium eaters of this country, and they are looked upon as raised above and freed from even the most binding commands of their holy book. Drunkenness—aye, vice of every kind—puts on the yellow dress of the fakir and goes into the wilderness, and straightway it is hailed by all as a prophet of God.

This fusion of Hindu idolatry with the faith of Islam in the form of fakir worship dates, without doubt, from the sixteenth century, and is due to the influence of Akbar the Great. He was no zealous Moslem himself, and sought to unite Hindus and Mohammedans under his rule; then his marriage with a Hindu princess gave his already liberal views a broader tinge. Unfortunately, he could not unite these two religions except by suppressing the distinctive features of his own faith.

Since the days of Akbar the Mohammedanism of India has been absorbing more and more the worship of saints native to this idolatrous country, until almost every village and hamlet throughout the land can boast its own special saint, at whose grave the people bow their heads in prayer, and to which they go for relief from all the ills of life.

The pernicious system of caste has formed for centuries one of the principal features of Hindu idolatry. It has paralyzed its vital power by raising up barriers beyond which this faith could not pass, and so, by forcing it to be stationary, has pronounced upon it its final doom.

Surely there was nothing in Islam which would permit of its embracing such a system! And yet the Mohammedans of India have eagerly opened their arms to receive this Hindu innovation, and have so assimilated it that it has become an article of their practical religion. As a consequence a second fatal blight rests upon Islam in India, which has withered up its missionary zeal and made it almost as rigid and unprogressive as its neighbor.

It is part of the faith of Islam to look upon the words and letters of the Koran as possessing a sacred influence. That which has been prepared and completed in the heavens, and thereafter let down to earth through the medium of their prophet, must be regarded with a veneration amounting to actual worship. Hence the strong objections all Mussulmans have to translations of their holy book. Owing to the sacred character of the words themselves, their simple recital must convey a blessing, even although no one understands the meaning. As a consequence, there is little inducement to learn the language of their sacred book.

Again, the loose morality of the Mussulmans of India is notorious. It, too, is due in great measure to the influence of Hinduism, which, like the Greek religion, has defied heroes, with all their weaknesses and passions, and so introduced a sensuous worship. The Mussulman has always some excuse for his sins.

Hindus imagine that Brahma has written the record of every man's life on his head. Influenced by this belief, the Mohammedan has so magnified the fatalist verses of the Koran that he has swept away all traces of free will. It is a common thing when a man falls into sin for him to excuse himself by saying: "It is my fate; it was all written down before I was born. What can I do?"

It is a belief such as this which paralyzes not only the moral but also the intellectual life of the Mohammedan. The Hindu, with his more elastic creed, takes advantage of education, and is rapidly rising in the scale of civilization. But the Mohammedan dwells in the darkness of his fatalism, where no ray of hope nor aspiration for a higher and nobler life reaches him. And this is true, not of India only, but of all Mohammedan countries. Islam at the present day is a mighty sepulcher, engulfing all advance, and fossilizing every noble aim and lofty ideal.—Mission Record.