The Countries, their Peoples and their Religions. 9 the pagan idolaters who refused to accept the new faith, and to compel them to do so at the point of the sword. This attracted the heathen Arabs to his standard, and although during his lifetime his followers were confined to Arabia, soon after his death, which occurred in A.D. 632, they conquered Syria, Persia and Egypt.

The Mohammedans call themselves Moslems, a word meaning ‘surrendered,’ i.e. to God. Their religion they call Islam, or surrender. Its great distinctive features are a belief in the unity of God, and an abhorrence of every semblance of idolatry.

Essentials of personal Religion.

The personal religion of adevout Mohammedan has been thus described :—‘ Being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish his own righteousness, he practises religiously the five essentials of his creed. He prays (not like David, three times, or like Christians, twice, but) five times a day. He fasts so rigorously during the month of Ramadan that he will rather die than allow one atom of food, or indeed of anything whatever, to pass his lips during the hours of day, though at night he may indulge in feasting and revelry. He goes on pilgrimage to Mecca, if he has the means of doing so. He repeats the Kalima, ‘There is no God but one God; Mohammed is the apostle of God.”’ And he gives alms with open hand to the poor. These are the five fundamental principles of his faith, and obedience to them is his righteousness, and his title to life. If he does them well, he can claim salvation. If, through infirmity or neglect, he forgets to do all, he has lost his title to heaven; but ‘‘God is merciful.” ’ Elements of Truth.

The elements of truth in Islam are important, viz., the unity and spirituality of God; the fact of revelation; and the future life of happiness or loss. Less important because more mixed with untruth is its witness to Law and Gospel; to Patriarch, Psalmist and Prophet; to Jesus Christ born of a Virgin, ascended into heaven, coming again to judge the world.

Theoretically there is no object of worship save God. The veneration of the black stone of the Kaaba at Mecca was probably a concession to local feeling. The reverence shown to saints and their relics or tombs also borders on superstition, especially in Egypt; worldly success is thought to be attributable to