FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

THE FOLLOWERS OF THE FALSE PROPHET.

It is said that not far from one hundred and eighty million human beings are followers of Mohammed, the prophet of Islam. They are to be found in many portions of the Eastern hemisphere besides those ruled by the Turkish Sultan. In Arabia, Persia, and the kingdoms of Central Asia, the principal religion is Mohammedanism, and millions who accept this faith. are found living by the side of Hindoos and Parsees in India. Wherever the Arabs go they carry this religion, and hence in Africa along the Mediterranean Sea, on the East and West coasts, as well as far in the interior of the continent, the followers of Is

lam abound. The Koran is their sacred book, which they greatly reverence but do not obey. Are they very different in this from many who reverence the Bible as a holy book, but do not follow its commands? Yet these people seem very devout oftentimes, especially in their prayers, for wherever they may happen to be at the hours of prayer, which come several times a day, even if it be in the open street, they will immediately turn their faces towards Mecca, their sacred city, and begin their forms of prayer. The Mohammedans are said to be bitterly opposed to idolatry, and it is true that they never allow any images or pictures to be placed in their mosques or temples, but the following story recently forwarded from Eastern Turkey by Dr. Barnum, of Harpoot, shows that they are hardly a step removed from idolaters. This is his story:

MOHAMMEDAN MUFTI.

REVERENCE PAID TO A SHOE.

"Last Sunday, being in the village of Hoghi, I heard a noise in the street like the passing of a triumphal procession. Inquiring the cause, I was told that they were carrying a 'Sacred Handkerchief' to the house of the Turkish Agha, or chief man of the village. It seems that in the imperial treas

ury at Constantinople, there was a shoe which was said to have been worn by Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam. Some six or eight years ago the mate to it was said to have been found at Mosul or Bagdad, and as the Turkish Government wished to possess this also, it was carried to Constantinople with great pomp. It was escorted from place to place by both

citizens and soldiers. It remained a few days at Harpoot, and was visited by great crowds. Almost everything that was suitable for turbans was appropriated, a sum of money was paid for the privilege of touching the turban cloth to the shoe, and it was then bound around the head. A large number of handkerchiefs had been brought to the shoe at different places and wrapped around it. This contact with the shoe gave to them, in the minds of the people, a part of its own sacred character. One of these handkerchiefs had become the property of the Agha of Hoghi. He had a nice box prepared for it, and assigned it a special room in his house. As he became intemperate, it was not considered proper for it to remain in his house, and so it was taken to the mosque, which is the place of worship.

This man professes to have reformed recently. He had fitted up a room nicely for the sacred handkerchief, and was permitted to have the care of it again, so on Sunday he took the casket on his head, and bore it home amidst the songs and shouts of the crowd."

66

MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMAGES.

The one act which a Moslem thinks more meritorious than any other, is the Hadji," or pilgrimage to Mecca. Mecca is their most sacred city, the birth

place of Mohammed. Thousands on thousands go there every year from almost all parts of the world, from China, India, Africa, as well as from Turkey and Arabia. They believe that if they walk seven times around the Caaba, or great temple, at Mecca, repeating praises to God and in honor of the prophet, and kissing the sacred stone, they shall receive par

don for all their sins, and so be sure of paradise. Hence they go in crowds, and some of them, burdened with their sins, are quite willing to die if they can only reach a shrine, the touch of which, as they suppose, will make their salvation certain. And multitudes of these poor pilgrims do die at Mecca, and a vast cemetery, of which only a little section is given in the

accompanying picture, contains the graves of hundreds of thousands of deluded men who have hoped to enter heaven as a reward for kissing a stone. When will the millions of Islam learn of the true prophet of God? They acknowledge now that Jesus was a prophet, but think him inferior to Mohammed. It is the belief of the missionaries that the religious as well as the political power of Mohammedanism is waning, and though as yet few of its adherents have been converted, a great and speedy turning on their part may be looked for with hope. May they soon learn that the name of Jesus is above every name.

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