B X THE SITUATION IN INDIA REV. W. A. WILSON, M. A., D. D., INDORE ELIEVING that the religion which has the Lord that all men need and which God designs for all men, we must face the fact that among non-Christian religions Mohammedanism, though the most closely related to Christianity in its origin and growth, is, more than any other, antagonistic to its central principles. While it has points of contact in its doctrines regarding the nature of God and His relation to the world, yet in its attitude to the basal Christian doctrines of God's fatherhood, the incarnation, the nature of sin and redemption, it is uncompromisingly hostile; and because of the kindred truth it contains, there is ground for the opinion that the final struggle for the religious conquest of Eastern nations will be between Christianity and Islam. While Hinduism, in some of its reforming sects, is in these days being galvanized into a kind of missionary activity, its genius is not aggressive, but both Mohammedanism and Christianity are bound to seek expansion, each after its kind, the one by accretion out of the material of its environment, the other by the power of its transforming life. Differing though they do in motive, methods and means, they both aim at bringing the world to the obedience of their faith. As Christians, possessing the highest revelation of God. and the knowledge of His redemptive work for humanity, and quickened by the divine life which the Lord Jesus has brought into the world, and knowing that the people of Islam lack what we have to give, and are perishing because of that lack, we owe it to them and to our Lord to supplant at any cost the faith of Islam by the religion of Jesus. For all who would be loyal to the Lord Jesus, Mohammedanism is a force to be reckoned with, as either hindering or helping in the establishing of His kingdom. Whatever relates to its movements, its changes, its trend, should be to them a matter of deep concern. Islam in India has long been marked by religious exclusiveness and political stagnancy, and its followers have lagged far behind in the developing civilization of the nations and in the things that make a people great and good. But now it has begun to realize its want of harmony with the age we live in, and it is unable to resist the many varied and far-reaching influences, due to scientific progress and mental activity in the various departments of thought and life, that have within the last quarter of a century increased in force among Western nations, and that are now penetrating the masses of Eastern humanity, producing new movements, awakening new aspirations and ideals, and stirring up new energies and powers destined to change the character of nations, and the face of the world. During the last half century and more, Islam in India has been free, under the impartial rule of Britain, to develop whatever of good there may be in it, but no vital force for internal regeneration has been manifested. Within the last decade, however, it has awakened to a very marked activity, and to the originating of movements whose results, for weal or woe, only the future can disclose. While it has been responding to the recent world-wide influences of the pan-Islamic movement, there have been political changes in India, great and farreaching, and creating such new conditions fraught with good or ill to the people themselves and to the cause of Christian missions, that practical problems are sure to arise demanding the earnest attention of all working for the establishment of the kingdom of God in this land. Within the last five years the changes in the political relationships of the people of India have created potentialities whose outcome it is beyond our power to forecast. We can do little more than mark the trend of the new movements. The most important event in the history of the administration of government in India for many years has been the launching of the Reform scheme, giving enlarged representation of the people on the Legislative Councils and other bodies. On no community has the effect of this been more marked than on that of Islam. These extended privileges may, to an extent little anticipated, determine the whole future of Mohammedanism. The Mohammedans were not that part of the population of India which seriously manifested discontent with the old order, but they were among the first to take advantage of the new situation, and to turn it to account in their own interests. They have long had what they regard as grievances against the British government. They have imagined that discrimination against their creed has prevented them from obtaining service in the state. They have stood aloof from the government system of education because it affords no facilities for training in the tenets of their faith, and they have regarded it as tending to depress their social, religious, and political standing. They resented interference with the provision for the maintenance of their religious and educational institutions from public funds, and complained of the legal administration which deprived certain of their social functions and religious duties of the support of public law. Nor were there lacking at places and at times, a spirit of unrest such as to lead men of Dr. Hunter's knowledge and political insight to write less than forty years ago, "The Mussulmans of India are and have been a source of chronic danger to the British power in India." But it was only after the great political opportunities of recent years came into view that they began to organize with a view to influence the government of the country. Those especially who have availed themselves of the educational facilities provided by the state have caught the new spirit stirring throughout the East, and feel the stimulus of the political awakening. The prospect of the government acceding to the demands of the Hindus for a larger share in the administration of the affairs of their country stimulated the Mohammedans to take united action in the interests of their community. When the proposals for extended representation were laid before the country, seizing the opportunity they took steps, as they say, "to make permanent arrangements for the protection of the rights and privileges of the Mohammedans of India." In 1906 a widely representative deputation presented to the Viceroy what they regarded as the claims of the sixty-two millions of Indian Mohammedans to special recognition as entitled by number and prestige to elect their own representatives, and that too in larger proportion to their numbers than was allowed to the Hindus. In his reply the Viceroy is reported to have said, "You justly claim that your position should be estimated not merely on your numerical strength, but in respect to the political importance of your community, and the service it has rendered to the Emperor. I am entirely in accord with you." Encouraged by this reception they took further steps to give effect to their sentiments and purposes by defi nitely organizing for political action. In 1908 an association called the "All India Moslem League" was formed as an agency by which their whole community in India might bring its views or wishes or grievances to the notice of the government. At the same time a branch was established in London for the purpose of bringing the leaders of Mohammedan interests into closer touch with the imperial government. Through District and Provincial Leagues, and the Central Association it is now possible for the entire Mohammedan population to take corporate action in any matter they may regard as affecting their interests. Not professing to be a religious association, all the sects holding in common the basal tenet of one God, with Mohammed as His prophet, and the Koran as God's inspired word are invited to sink their differences and combine for common ends. The association has defined its object to be the "steady pursuit of administrative reform and the due satisfaction of the natural ambitions of Indians educated under a liberal system." It has already in several matters, social, educational and political, brought pressure to bear on the government to secure its own ends. The claim is made and reiterated that Mohammedans have special rights. It is maintained that while Queen Victoria's Proclamation gave rights that are common to all classes, irrespective of caste, colour or creed, the "right that Mussulmans should be given high offices according to their numerical strength and political importance belongs particularly to Mohammedans." It is insisted that they have distinct rights which the government is bound to recognize. One can see in all this a concentration of political force that the rulers will be unable to ignore. There has thus |