The Religion Of Islam vol.1
XII.
The Political Organisation Wrought
by the Advent of Islam
Islam writes Mr. Stanley Lane Poole, “is a form of a pure theism, simpler and more austere than the theism of most forms of modern Christianity [1], Lofty in the conception of the relation of man to God, and noble in its doctrine of the duty of man to the lower creatures. There is little in it of superstition [2], less of complexity of dogmas: it is an exacting religion without the repulsiveness of asceticism: severe but not merciless.
“Nothing in fact is more odious, according to the doctrines of Islam, than the self–inflicted torments and voluntary penance of the ascetics. It always recommends the cultivation of the social virtues and the practice of those qualities which form the graces of a corporate life. Islam laid the foundations of a social system which breathes the spirit of charity, friendship, and mutual trust among its member. So impressively did the Prophet bring these high lessons home to the Arabs mind, both by precepts and example, that the tribal jealousies of centuries soon became extinct, the old spirit of revenge, inherent in the nation, died away, and the hearts of the true believers were knit together in the closest bond of sympathy and fraternity. They now felt themselves as the brethren of one and the same faith and citizens of the same commonwealth, enjoying equal rights and privileges.
“Islam penetrated into the very hearts of the Arab people, and the old spirit of jealousy and vengeance, of hostility and ill–will, yielded place to a happy conscious-ness, of the power of love, sympathy and fellow-feeling; the very character of the Arab mind was changed, and many of the evils rooted in the nation were fast eradicated. Within the Islamic commonwealth the internecine wars, which were cause of much wanton bloodshed, soon became a thing of the past; and hostile tribes were united in faith and obedience; and the valour which had been idly spent in domestic quarrels, was vigorously directed against a foreign enemy.” [3]
([1]) In fact there is not to be found such a pure theism in any other religion than Isalm.