lt of the permeation of Western
ideas. Half a century ago the Moslem world was economically still in the
Middle Ages. The provisions of the sheriat, or Moslem canon law, such as
the prohibition of interest rendered economic life in the modern sense
impossible. What little trade and industry did exist was largely in the
hands of native Christians or Jews. Furthermore, the whole economic life
of the East was being disorganized by the aggressive competition of the
West. Europe's political conquest of the Moslem world was, in fact,
paralleled by an economic conquest even more complete. Everywhere
percolated the flood of cheap, abundant European machine-made goods,
while close behind came European capital, temptingly offering itself in
return for loans and concessions which, once granted, paved the way for
European political domination.

Yet in economics as in politics the very completeness of Europe's
triumph provoked resistance. Angered and alarmed by Western
exploitation, Islam frankly recognized its economic inferiority and
sought to escape from its subjection. Far-sighted Moslems began casting
about for a _modus vivendi_ with modern life that would put Islam
economically abreast of the times. Western methods were studied and
copied. The prohibitions of the sheriat were evaded or quietly ignored.

The upshot has been a marked evolution toward Western economic
standards. This evolution is of course still in its early stages, and is
most noticeable in lands most exposed to Western influences like India,
Egypt, and Algeria. Yet everywhere in the Moslem world the trend is the
same. The details of this economic transformation will be discussed in
the chapter devoted to economic change. What we are here concerned with
is its Pan-Islamic aspect. And that aspect is very strong. Nowhere does
Islam's innate solidarity come out better than in the economic field.
The religious, cultural, and customary ties which bind Moslem to Moslem
enable Mohammedans to feel more or less at home in every part of the
Islamic world, while Western methods of transit and communication enable
Mohammedans to travel and keep in touch as they never could before. New
types of Moslems--wholesale merchants, steamship owners, business men,
bankers, even factory industrialists and brokers--are rapidly evolving;
types which would have been simply unthinkable a century, or even half a
century, ago.

And these new men understand each other perfectly. Bound toge