about Islam is
the rapidity of its growth. Mahomet begins life a poor and lowly
herdsman, and at his death bequeaths to his successors a kingdom
which he has formed, and which is shortly to prevail over all its
neighbours. In the same way his doctrine, confined at first to a
small circle and bitterly opposed, becomes within half a century the
faith of his nation, and not only of his nation, but of many other
lands. Within that brief space it has entered on the career of a
national religion, and has also passed beyond the national into the
universal stage, at which only two other religions have arrived at
all. The progress which Christianity took centuries to accomplish,
Islam accomplished in so many decades. The title of a universal
religion cannot be denied to it. The truth which it declared--the
doctrine of the unity and the omnipotence of God, and of the
responsibility of every human being to his Creator and Judge--is one
which does not belong to any particular race of men, but to all men.
The attitude of soul which is called Islam--that of implicit
surrender to the great God, of entire acquiescence in his decrees and
entire obedience to his will--is good for all. All should be called
to take an earnest view of their life and to realise their deep
responsibilities; and the idea expressed by the title given to God on
every page of the Koran, "The Merciful and Compassionate," that God
sympathises with the aspirations and efforts of his servants, and
that they may look up to him with love as well as fear, is one which
all can understand and feel helpful. Especially at the stage when the
world is given up to idolatry, Islam may well rank as a universal
religion; when each place has its idol, each nation its greater
idols, religion divides instead of uniting, and the frivolous and
senseless service of such petty deities prevents men from realising
their solemn obligations to the great God before whom they are all
alike, since he is the Governor and Judge of all. Islam is an
admirable corrective of heathenism; it brings the scattered and
bewildered worshippers of idols together in one lofty faith and one
simple rule.

The weakness of Islam is that it is not progressive. Its ideas are
bald and poor; it grew too fast; its doctrines and forms were
stereotyped at the very outset of its career, and do not admit of
change. Its morality is that of the stage at which men emerge from
idolatry, and does not advance beyond that st