"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!
Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as
hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.
Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods
of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of
the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of
its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The
fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his
absolute property - either as a child, a wife, or a concubine - must
delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has
ceased to be a great power among men.
"Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the
brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die. But the
influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who
follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from
being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytising faith. It
has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors
at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the
strong arms of science - the science against which it had vainly
struggled - the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the
civilisation of ancient Rome."
The Gray Monk
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