the rigidity of the sacred law has been at times slightly tempered by well-meaning and learned moslems who have tortured their brains in devising sophisms to show that the legal principles and social system of the seventh century can, by some strained and intricate process of reasoning, be consistently and logically made to conform with the civilized practices of the twentieth century. but, as a rule, custom based on the religious law, coupled with exaggerated reverence for the original lawgiver, holds all those who cling to the faith of islam with a grip of iron from which there is no escape. “during the middle ages,” it has been truly said, “man lived enveloped in a cowl.” the true moslem of the present day is even more tightly enveloped by the sheriat.
in the third place, islam does not, indeed, encourage, but it tolerates slavery. “mohammed found the custom existing among the pagan arabs; he minimised the evil.” but he was powerless to abolish it altogether. his followers have forgotten the discouragement, and have very generally made the permission to possess slaves the practical guide for their conduct. this is another fatal blot in islam.
lastly, islam has the reputation of being an intolerant religion, and the reputation is, from some points of view, well deserved, though the bald and sweeping accusation of intolerance requires qualification and explanation. the followers of the prophet have, indeed, waged war against those whom they considered infidels. they are taught by their religious code that any unbelievers, who may be made prisoners of war, may rightly be enslaved. moreover, sectarian strife has not been uncommon. sunni has fought against shiah. the orthodox moslem has mercilessly repressed the followers of abdul wahab. further, apostasy from islam is punishable with death, and it is not many years ago that the sentence used to be carried into effect. on the other hand, the annals of islam are not stained by the history of an inquisition. more than this, when he is not moved by any circumstances specially calculated to rouse his religious passions, the moslem readily extends a half-contemptuous tolerance to the jew and the christian. in the villages of upper egypt, the crescent and the cross, the mosque and the monastery, have stood peacefully side by side for many a long year.
—lord cromer in “modern egypt.”
[pg 51]
all questions relating to the internal government of the ottoman empire would be greatly simplified and much more easily comprehended, were the people of turkey substantially of one race like those of china or japan. but this is not the case. as the moslems overran syria, mesopotamia, armenia, and asia minor, they conquered peoples of other races than themselves and of other religions. in their wars of conquest the mohammedans revealed a degree of toleration which is to be commended. all conquered people were asked to embrace islam. if they persistently refused, they were conceded the right to live upon the payment of an annual tribute per capita. the acceptance of this condition was an outward recognition that the moslems were their masters, while the money thus obtained enabled the conquerors to extend their conquests. whoever declined to accept islam and refused to pay the life tax was put to the sword. this left within the conquered districts only two classes, the mohammedan rulers and those who, by annual tribute, confessed themselves to be a conquered people, permitted to live from year to year by virtue of the money paid.
it is most natural that this distinction, perpetuated for thirty generations, should lead to aggravated relations of conqueror and conquered. it was inevitable that the moslems should become imperious and the other people depressed and subservient. [pg 52]
in order to understand certain governmental and religious phases of the turkish empire, it is essential that we look a little in detail into the history and characteristics of these divergent elements of its population which together make up the populations of that country. it is a subject preeminently of races and religions. within the empire there is only one unifying force and that is mohammedanism. all who embrace islam, irrespective of the race from which they sprang, become an integral part of the governing body. such begin at once to use either the turkish or the arabic language and to bear the name “turk.”
besides this one unifying force, there is no tendency to bring together the different races or to amalgamate them. there is little intermarriage. each race has its own language and its distinct religion. to them all religion is racial, or, as they call it, “national.” a man without a religion is beyond their conception; and under the laws of the empire he can have no place in any community or possess any rights that others are bound to respect. each man, woman, and child must be registered upon the rolls of some national church. there his name stands, and in that record his rights inhere until he changes to islam. turkey allows few rights or privileges to one not a registered member of a religious community.
we will consider briefly a few of the old historical and, in some cases, once powerful races, now found in that empire, and among which mission work is carried on. only by acquaintance with these races can we understand the real factors in the problem.
there are the many non-moslem races of syria, the country first overrun by the moslem invaders as they pushed their way northward. the races [pg 53] who occupy that country in connection with perhaps one million mohammedans are the nusairiyeh, the maronites, greeks and armenians, jacobites, druses, and jews. the three mentioned here especially peculiar to syria are the nusairiyeh, the maronites, and the jews.
the nusairiyeh
the nusairiyeh number a quarter of a million souls or more and are perhaps the most degraded of all of the races in turkey. they are also most difficult to classify religiously or ethnologically. their religion is a mixture of ancient heathenism, the survival of certain gnostic beliefs, tinged strongly with mohammedanism. the mohammedans claim them, as they do the koords and albanians. they dwell in the mountains north of syria and along the mediterranean coast as far north as cilicia. their origin is lost in obscurity. at present they are decidedly a mixed race. their name comes from nusair, who led them in their separation from the shiites, of which they were a branch. the nusairiyeh are most reticent upon the subject of their religion. it is regarded as an unpardonable sin to reveal their religious beliefs and rites. they worship the moon, which they think is the throne of ali, and the sun, which is the throne of mohammed. they also worship fire, the waves of the sea, and anything that manifests power. they believe in transmigration of the soul, progress being upward or downward according to the life of the individual.
it is, in short, a rude, primitive, rough, and ignorant race, absolutely under turkish sway and terribly oppressed. little progress has yet been made in the line of mission work among them. the turks [pg 54] guard them with a jealous eye, and the severest persecutions await all who profess christianity, and every effort is made to prevent their education and general enlightenment.
the maronites
the syrian maronites number not less than 250,000 and are scattered all over the lebanon and anti-lebanon ranges. they are found in largest numbers in the northern districts of lebanon and there they have control of local affairs. they are also found as far south as mount hermon in the country of the druses. the hostility of these two races led to the massacres of 1860 in which thousands of the maronites were slain. they take their name from john maron, their first patriarch and political leader, who died in 701 a. d. they were mixed up with the monophysite controversy in the sixth and seventh centuries. in an attempt to reconcile them, john maron, a monothelite (one will) leader, at the time of the moslem invasion, conducted them into the high mountains of the lebanon and anti-lebanon, where for five hundred years they maintained their independent existence in the face of every attempt to subdue or dislodge them. they developed qualities of manly strength and industry. their language was the syrian and their government a simple feudal system. they had a patriarch with episcopal dioceses at aleppo, balbek, jebeil, tripoli, ehden, damascus, beirut, tyre, and cyprus.
this interesting people was discovered to the world by the crusaders and through them were brought under the wing of the roman catholic church at the council of florence in 1445. they adopted the arabic language but retained their old syriac ritual. they are to-day [pg 55] recognized as followers of the church of rome with a form of worship somewhat modified to meet their special conditions. the jesuits and forces of the catholic church have made every effort to prevent the protestant missionaries from getting a foothold among them. much, however, has been done for them by both the presbyterian board north, and the free church of scotland. the irish presbyterian church of damascus is reaching the maronites in that part of the country. education is greatly transforming the race and through this they are becoming more and more responsive to evangelical religion.
the druses
the druses are a smaller sect numbering probably not more than 100,000, possibly less, and occupying the lebanon and anti-lebanon in touch with the maronites. they are found as far north as beirut and as far south as tyre, extending even to damascus. their chief town is deir-el-kamor, about fifteen miles southeast of beirut. they are decidedly a mixed race with the blood of the crusaders mingling with that of native and invading peoples. they are a people of an unusually high order of intelligence and outward refinement. they are an offshoot of the mohammedans through the fanatical, if not insane, leadership of one of the caliphs of egypt who began to reign in 996. one darazi who made known the claims of the caliph to divine incarnation led these people into the mountains of lebanon and is supposed to have given them his own name.
they believe in one god and in a fixed number of human souls that can never be increased or diminished. this resemblance to the religions of india is probably due to persian teaching. they recognize the claims upon them of no other religion, and yet with manifest indifference they [pg 56] join in the prayers of the mohammedans in their mosques and sprinkle the holy water of the catholic church with the maronites, according as expediency may require. they have seven commandments:
1. speaking the truth (only between druses, however).
2. combination for mutual defense.
3. renunciation of all other creeds.
4. social separation from all who are in error.
5. recognition of the unity of hakim with god.
6. complete resignation of the will.
7. obedience to orders.
they believe in free will and reject the fatalism of the mohammedans.
when the mohammedans inaugurated the massacre of the maronites to check their growing strength under christian enlightenment, the druses joined with the turks as the enemies of christianity. it was this massacre which led to the intervention of europe, resulting in the exclusion of turkish officials from the lebanon and the establishment of a special government for that district with a roman catholic governor and a mixed council under a constitution drawn by the european powers. this has made a great change in the lebanon, affording the people of that vilayet larger freedom of action and greater exemption from turkish persecution than are enjoyed in any other part of the turkish empire. the druses and maronites live on terms of harmony. they are a brave, fine-looking and enterprising people, living mostly by agriculture.
the jews
the jews are too well known in both ancient and modern history to [pg 57] demand space here. while they are found in considerable numbers in syria, possibly as many as eighty thousand, they do not hold an important position in relation to the government of that country, or in the mission problems. while the jews in russia are always at the front, in turkey they seldom appear. the turks seem to have no fear that they will interfere in any way with the affairs of state.
they do not command the prominence commercially in turkey that they do in most other countries. in the city of constantinople it is estimated that there are seventy-five thousand jews, and in the other large cities of the empire they exist in smaller numbers. they are an inoffensive people, attending to their own affairs and not interfering with the other races, all of whom look down upon them as inferior. in many places in the interior where they appear in small numbers they are, for the most part, extremely poor.
syrians or jacobites
there is probably no distinct race in turkey that may be called syrian. dwelling in syria and extending north into mesopotamia and east towards persia are christian peoples who do not belong to any of the races mentioned, but who are the direct descendants of the early christian church. this country has been the great meeting-ground of nations, over which have swept from time to time egyptians, greeks, armenians, persians, mongols, koords, and europeans of every name and race. the presence of the sacred places of the christian faith has called forth pilgrimages and given occasion for conflicts. it was here that the early christian church was named, and here have dwelt some of the greatest of the fathers of the early greek church, such as ignatius, [pg 58] justin martyr, and jerome. in those earlier days missionary influences went out from that land to other regions and countries.
under the special effort of constantine and his mother, helena, pilgrims began to turn their steps towards palestine, and monasteries sprang up all over the country. when chosroes of persia swept over that land, he slaughtered christian monks by the thousand. then came the arabs with mohammedanism, who converted some of the churches into mosques, but left others for the service of the christians. many syrians accepted islam and the strength of the church waned. at the time of the crusades there were not more than five hundred thousand christians in the country, according to some estimates. to win these the roman pontiff had made prodigious efforts, but for the most part they refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the pope.
the syrian church, therefore, is the remnant which remains from the conflicts and persecutions of the last eight centuries. it does not represent a single race or people, but is able to trace its pedigree as a church back to the very beginnings of christianity. the remnants of this early church are found throughout palestine and northern syria, including damascus. they are found also in mosul, mardin, and northern mesopotamia in considerable numbers. in the northern regions they are sometimes called jacobites. there are many strong men among them and in some places not a little of the pride and glory of the old church remains. some of their old churches and monasteries contain valuable manuscripts in the syriac language of ancient date. the spoken language of these people is now, for the most part, arabic.
they have suffered much persecution from the mohammedans, especially [pg 59] from the suljuk turks, which had much influence in arousing the knighthood of europe to enter upon the crusades. after the failure of the crusades these christians were again subject to moslem misrule at the hands of the mohammedan sultans of egypt and invaders from turkey. the whole land was conquered in 1517 by the ottoman turk, selim i. except for the brief period (1832-1841) when syria was held by ibrahim pasha, this country and this church have been under the rule of the sultan who sat upon the throne in constantinople.
as the manuscript bibles, liturgy, and church books were in syriac, while the common people spoke and understood only the arabic, christianity became largely a matter of form from which the spirit had departed. the same conditions prevailed here which we shall discuss later in the gregorian church.
the greeks
the greeks claim that they have the oldest christian church, since they are the heirs to the old byzantine empire at constantinople, and use even now in their worship the greek of the apostles and the liturgy of the early fathers. they constituted the majority at the first seven ecumenical councils, dominating in no small degree by their philosophy and thought the doctrines there established. they contend with the syrian church over priority of origin. the political history of the greek church began with the conversion of constantine in 312 a. d., when persecution ceased and christianity became the state religion.
we do not need for our present purpose to trace the history of the church of constantinople down to its separation from the church of rome in 1054, and the capture of the city by the turks in 1453. [pg 60]
during this period the church conducted a vigorous missionary propaganda. cyril and methodius went into thessalonica and bulgaria and there did substantial fundamental christian work. russia was also reached from this center and the czar was baptized and the nation became christian.
in government, the greek church is episcopal. the temporal power centers in the patriarch. there are several of these, the chief of whom resides at constantinople, although the patriarchs at antioch, alexandria, and jerusalem have nominally the same authority. under turkish rule the office of the patriarch has been exalted into practically the head of the church, the bishops exercising spiritual authority alone. this arrangement is the same that exists in the gregorian church, as we shall see later. the general synod, made up of the bishops of the surrounding provinces, is presided over by the patriarchs, whom they are supposed to elect, but whose election must always be confirmed by the sultan of turkey. the authority by which the patriarch acts comes from a firman or charter granted by the sultan.
in 1833 the branch of the greek church now included in the kingdom of greece severed itself from primary dependence upon the patriarch at constantinople. the church of russia, up to the middle of the seventeenth century, was holden to the constantinople patriarch to confirm the primate of moscow. peter the great in 1712 curtailed the authority of this primate, putting in his place the holy synod, over which the czar is supreme. these changes left the patriarch at constantinople with authority over only the greek churches within the bounds of the turkish empire. the greek church of roumania and servia [pg 61] soon became independent and in 1870 the church of bulgaria withdrew and reunited under one chief bishop called the bulgarian exarch.
one prominent fact that must be constantly kept in mind is that after these churches had separated from the mother church and become independent of her control, they constituted what is virtually another church. relations one with the other were completely severed, and often violent hostility prevailed. in 1905 a severe and bloody conflict was waged in macedonia between officers of the greek church who claimed allegiance to the synod at athens, and officers of the same church who recognized as their head the bulgarian exarch. hostility was as severe and bloody as between moslems and christians. church buildings were captured, the one from the other, and loyal subjects fought to the death in resistance of these attacks. this is a fact that must be taken into consideration as the various churches and christian sects in that part of the world are studied and their relation to mohammedanism and the turkish empire weighed.
we are not especially concerned here with the peculiar beliefs of this church. we are not dealing with the question from a theological standpoint, but from the general standpoint of its relations to the government of turkey and to the other coreligionists within the empire.
the most of the adherents of the greek church within the turkish empire are greeks. they are a strong, hardy, vigorous and intelligent race. many of them are direct descendants, without doubt, of mighty men of valor who held their own in the face of overpowering odds in the early days of greek chivalry. in constantinople, where some 175,000 live to-day, they stand first among the bankers and leading merchants. greeks figure largely in smyrna and in fact in all of the cities of [pg 62] western asia minor, while they are found as far in the interior as marsovan, cæsarea and sivas. as one goes still farther east, greeks for the most part disappear and their place in trade and commerce is taken by armenians. it is an interesting fact that along the upper tigris and euphrates rivers, where mines exist, in many instances there is a colony of greeks close by. tradition reports that these are descendants of the men left behind in the famous retreat of the ten thousand across that country to trebizond upon the black sea.
these greeks, while citizens of turkey, it may be, for fifty generations, not infrequently refer to the king of greece as “our king george.” along the borders of macedonia towards greece they cause the sultan much trouble by their sympathy with that kingdom rather than with him. for the most part, throughout turkey they are quiet and give little trouble by revolutionary propagandism.
in educational institutions the greek youth show superior intellectual ability and unusual eagerness. in commercial affairs they rank second to no other race and as merchants they have already gone into all the earth. destitute of the intense national feeling of the armenians, they have not given the turkish government the trouble and anxiety that the armenians have caused. as their fatherland is outside the borders of the present turkish empire there is no fear upon the part of the turkish rulers that they will attempt to set up an independent government. they have not, therefore, suffered the persecution that has been laid upon the armenians.
