The Future of Islam | Page 8

any
in Islam. Egyptian influence, therefore, must be reckoned as an
important element in the forces which make up Mohammedan opinion.
The late Khedive, it is true, did much to impair this by his infidelity and
his coquetteries with Europe, and under his reign the Egyptian Haj fell
to a low level; but Mohammed Towfik, who is a sincere, though liberal
Mussulman, has already restored much of his country's prestige at
Mecca, and it is not unlikely that in time to come Egypt, grown
materially prosperous, may once more take a leading part in the politics
of Islam.[3] But of this later.
All three schools of theology are taught in the Azhar mosque, and
Egyptians are divided, according to their class, between them. The
Viceroy and the ruling clique, men of Ottoman origin, are Hanefites,
and so too are the descendants of the Circassian Beys, but the leading
merchants of Cairo and the common people of that city are Shafites,
while the fellahin of the Delta are almost entirely Malekite. Malekite,
too, are the tribes west of the Nile, following the general rule of the
population of Africa.[4]
The Malekite school of religious thought differs widely from the
Hanefite. If the latter has been described as the high Church party of
Islam, this must be described as the low. It is puritanical, fierce in its
dogma, severe in its morals, and those who profess it are undoubtedly
the most fervent, the most fanatical of believers. They represent more
nearly than any other Mussulmans the ancient earnestness of the
Prophet's companions, and the sword in their hand is ever the sword of
God. Piety too, ostensible and sincere, is found everywhere among the
Malekites. Abd el Kader, the soldier saint, is their type; and holy men
by hereditary profession abound among them.
The Malekites believe with earnest faith in things supernatural,
dreaming prophetic dreams, and seeing miracles performed as

every-day occurrences. With the Arabs of Africa, unlike their kinsmen
in Arabia itself, to pray and fast is still a severe duty, and no class of
Mussulmans are more devout on pilgrimage. In Algiers and Morocco it
is as common for a young man of fortune to build a mosque as it is for
him to keep a large stud of horses. To do so poses him in the world, and
a life of prayer is strictly a life of fashion. With regard to morals he is
severe where the Koran is severe, indulgent where it indulges. Wine
with him is an abomination, and asceticism with regard to meat and
tobacco is often practised by him. On the whole he is respectable and
respected; but the reforms he would impose on Islam are too purely
reactive to be altogether acceptable to the mass of Mohammedans or
suited to the urgent necessities of the age. It is conceivable, however,
that should the revival of Islam take the form of a religious war, the
races of Africa may be found taking the leading part in it. Tripoli,
Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco contain hardy races of fighting men who
may yet trouble Europe; and fifty years of rule have not yet assimilated
the French Sahara.
It is difficult to gain accurate statistics as to the proportion of pilgrims
sent to Mecca by these various States, but it would seem the Algerian
pilgrimage is the smallest. This is due mainly to hindrances raised by
the French Government, whose policy it is to isolate their province
from the rest of the Mussulman world. An Algerian pilgrim is called
upon to produce the sum of 1000 francs before he is permitted to
embark for Jeddah, and he is subjected to various other needless
formalities. Still the number sent is large and their fervour undoubted,
though the upper classes, from a fear of losing credit with the French
authorities, rather hold aloof.
The mainstay of the Mogrebbin Haj are the Moors. These have an
immense name for zeal and religious courage at Mecca, and for the
great scrupulosity with which they perform their religious duties. There
is too among the Moors a far wider level of theological education than
among most Mussulmans. I made acquaintance while at Jeddah with a
young Arab from Shinghiat in Senegal who, Bedouin as he was, was an
Alem, and one sufficiently well versed in the Sheriat to be referred to
more than once in my presence on points of religious law and literature.

I expressed my surprise at finding a Bedouin thus learned, for he was
evidently an Arab of the Arabs, but he told me his was no exceptional
position, and that most Bedouins in Southern Morocco could read the
Koran. The Moors would have a still higher position in Islam than that
already given them were it not that they are on one