Islam, a challenge to faith; studies on the Mohammedan religion and the needs and opportunities of the Mohammedan world from the standpoint of Christian missions . undoubtedly the oldest treasure ofMecca. Stone-worship was an Arabian form of idolatryin very ancient times, and relics of it remain in manyparts of the Peninsula. Maximus Tyrius wrote in thesecond century, The Arabians pay homage to I know notwhat god, which they represent by a quadrangular Guebars, or ancient Persians, assert that the BlackStone was an emblem of Saturn and was left in the Kaababy Mahabad. It is probably
Islam, a challenge to faith; studies on the Mohammedan religion and the needs and opportunities of the Mohammedan world from the standpoint of Christian missions . undoubtedly the oldest treasure ofMecca. Stone-worship was an Arabian form of idolatryin very ancient times, and relics of it remain in manyparts of the Peninsula. Maximus Tyrius wrote in thesecond century, The Arabians pay homage to I know notwhat god, which they represent by a quadrangular Guebars, or ancient Persians, assert that the BlackStone was an emblem of Saturn and was left in the Kaababy Mahabad. It is probably an aerolite and owes its rep-utation to its fall from the sky. Moslem historians donot deny that it was an object of worship before Islam,but they escape the moral difficulty and justify theirProphet by further traditions about its origin and miracu-lous character. The Mecca pilgrimage is incumbent on every free Mos-?em, male or female, who is of age and has sufficientmeans for the journey. Many of them, unwilling to un-dergo the hardship of the journey, engage a substitute,and thus purchase the merit for themselves. Most Mos- Itak Ibrahim oifTlioTaibnOste. Bab el Zajt or Ball clJUharah Uab <? Abliaa Gat t\ Nahi Qak t\ Sainu PLAN OF THE RITUAL OF ISLAM II3 lems also visit the tomb of Mohammed at Medina andclaim the Prophets authority for this added merit. TheShiah Moslems visit Kerbela and Meshad AH, wheretheir martyr-saints are buried. Pilgrimages to tombs oflocal saints and ancient prophets, to *foot-prints of theApostle, or to graves of his companions are exceedinglycommon. But none of these pilgrimages equal in meritthat to the House of God in Mecca. In conclusion, it isnecessary to state that the two sacred cities of Islam,Mecca and Medina, are hotbeds of every form of immor-ality, and, by the witness of Moslems themselves, sink-holes of iniquity and dens of robbers.^ Other Religious Practices.—In addition to what is saidabout these five pillars of the faith, a
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