The progress and arrest of Islam in Sumatra
'J la § gi ^ %QmH ^OFCAIIFO ^ommw Ik <ril30NVS0' >- ^ -^^•UBRARY mmrmi 0 g <: <C?133NVS01 ^-jmeuniver^ 1^ >- oe: i 6|r » I ffl v/ ^^ ^lOSANCElfx^ %iaAi! ^lUBRARYQ^ so firs ^^OJITVDJO^ ^OFCAUFO^. fig ^0S&^ ^ ■^/^a3AiNn-3ftV^ ^IDSANCElfj)^. ♦. 0-^ c^ ^5 (' / ^""libraRx o.3..y.^ •* » r" o mp EL IN m c\ ,^?^' THE PROGRESS AND ARREST OF ISLAM IN SUMATRA VVyMUN OF Sl'matka. THE PROGRESS AND ARREST OF ISLAM IN SUMATRA By GOTTFRIED SIMON With an Intruductorv Note by SAMUEL M. ZWEMER, D.D., F.R.G.S MARSHALL BROTHERS, LTD PUBLISHERS LONDON, EDINBLRCII & NEW VORL INTRODUCTORY NOTE THIS book marks a new epoch in the scientific study of- missions to Moslems. Following so closely on Johann Warneck's The Living Christ and Dying Heathen- ism, it is in one sense a complementary study to that important work, yet in no wise subsidiary. For while Warneck has given us the philosophy and psychology of Animistic paganism in its conflict with the forces of Christianity, this volume deals with the far more im- portant religion of Islam from a similar standpoint. Lowell, in his Study Windows, tells us that transla- tions are often " only an imitation of natural flowers in cambric or wax " ; but this is not the case in the book before us. Miss E. I. M. Boyd has done her work well. By careful interpretation, rather than by slavish literal- ism, in all difficult passages she has put the German work before English readers in usable and attractive form. The author has had eleven years' experience as a missionary on the Island of Sumatra, where the Moslem propaganda has indeed accomplished its masterpiece. Among a population of four million, over three and a half million profess the faith of Islam, although this religion entered Sumatra at the beginning of the four- teenth century ; and it is in this very island world of Malaysia that Christian Missions to Moslems have had the largest direct results. Not only has his life and environment fitted the author for his task, but he has made a thorough study of all important authorities, especially the masterly works of such scholars as Snouck Hurgronje, Niemann and Poensen. Islam shows its vi INTRODUCTORY NOTE real strength to-day not so much in the ancient seats of its power in Western Asia, as in the border marches of Central Africa and the island world of Malaysia. It was not without reason that the needs of the Animistic tribes and depressed classes were emphasized at the Lucknow Missionary Conference by the following resolu- tion, which in itself might well be considered a call for a prayerful perusal of the volume before us : — " This Conference is persuaded that, in order to stem the tide of Moslem advance, it is important to strengthen the work among Animistic tribes, pagan communities and depressed classes affected by this advance ; for we are clearly of opinion that adoption of the faith of Islam by the pagan people is in no sense whatever a stepping stone towards, or a preparation for Christianity, but exactly the reverse." It was with reason, therefore, that the Conference expressed the hope of a complete investigation regarding the conditions of the Moslem advance not only in Africa but in Malaysia " between now and the next Conference to be held in 1915." The fact that in Malaysia there are now well-nigh forty thousand converts to Christianity from Islam shows that here, if anywhere, we may look for a scientific presentation of right methods of successful evangelization. The book consists of three parts, dealing first with the co-operative factors and the religious motives that have led so many pagans to accept Islam. Among the former the author mentions active Mohammedan propagan- dism, the neutrality of Colonial Governments — often baneful to Christian missions — and the general influence of European culture. Among the latter, the Moslem conception of God, Moslem magic and saint worship, together with the Koran, its eschatology and its doc- trine of absolute surrender to God are specially import- ant. The second part of the book deals with the social and religious conditions of pagans who have become Moham- INTRODUCTORY NOTE vii medan, and the author raises the question whether there has been social and rehgious progress and to what extent, leaving no doubt that, for example, the position of womanhood in Malaysia and Africa is not elevated by the advent of Islam. The third part deals with the conversion of these Mohammedans to Christianity. Islam is not a school- master to lead the pagan races to Christ. The pagan who becomes a Moslem also becomes a fanatic in his opposition to Christianity, and shows at once the strength and weakness of Islam over against the Gospel when Christian missions begin their work. The author leaves no doubt as regards his attitude toward Islam. It is one of uncompromising adherence to the vital truths of Christianity which make the impact of these two religions necessarily a death struggle. He shows the urgency and the possibility of winning over the pagan races in Malaysia and Africa before the advent of Islam, but makes clear no less that the struggle against Islam itself is not hopeless, but if carried on in the spirit of the Gospel is sure to bring results. But the spirit of the Gospel, according to Gottfried Simon, is not the spirit of compromise, or that of deal- ing in superficialities. The impact of Christianity on Islam, especially in the Animistic world, means a death struggle. If any feel disposed to let the idea of a strenu- ous fight drop out of our Christian life and vocabulary, let them read this volume. There seems to be a unanimity in the testimony of all missionaries in Java and Sumatra that " Islam can never be a bridge over the gulf that separates the heathen from Christianity, nor bring them nearer to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." This was the statement of two Dutch missionaries at the Cairo Conference, and they went on to say, " On the contrary, it is an organized power under the direct influ- ence of Satan, to enable him to destroy the souls of men, turning them away from the Light of the World, Jesus viii INTRODUCTORY NOTE Christ, the Son of God." This, I believe, will also be the conclusion concerning the character of Islam and its propaganda on the part of every candid reader of the arguments here presented. The book does not minimize the baffling problem, but points out the way to its solution. It is optimistic without being superficial and the more interesting because it is scholarly. S. M. ZWEMER. Bahrein, Arabia, March 2, 1912. i PREFACE " /^UR chief enemy, says Dr. Mirbt, as can be proved V^ from the present state of the world-religions, is Islam. We must therefore meet it with altogether new strategy, we must hurl ourselves against it and take up the battle all along the line." No non-Christian religion is carrying on propaganda to-day to equal that of Islam. Moreover, does not the measure of a religion's propaganda indicate its living force ? How absurd it is, therefore, to regard Islam as already one of the dead religions of the world, and how important it is to study Moslem propaganda. In many respects the Islam of the Near East may come nearer to the Moslem ideal than that of Eastern Asia, of which we shall chiefly speak in the following pages. The Koran is more widely known there, the knowledge of God is clearer, Mohammedan law and Mohammedan custom are perhaps better established there, but one thing is certain : Islam is displaying its real living power to-day not in the old Mohammedan lands, but among those peoples which have but recently fallen its prey. This has a natural explanation. The strength of Islam lies in propaganda. This has been the case in every age. Islam has aggressive energy ; but it lacks the power to maintain and build up. The same Islam which carries on such propaganda at its outskirts, fails in the Near East, where much is rotten. We should not under-estimate Islam's irresistible power ; but neither should we over-estimate it. Its strength, and also its weakness, lies in one-sided propa- ganda, as is proved by a survey of Islam in the Dutch East Indies, ix b X PREFACE We are, fortunately, well able to make such a study. In the first place from the researches of Dr. Snouck Hurgronje. In his two great works. The Achehnese and Mekka, he has established the fact that this Islam of the Far East has a significance of its own, from the closeness of its contact with the spiritual centre of the Moslem world, and I have naturally taken this famous scholar as my first authority for the description of the pilgrimage to Mecca. In my copious use of his observations, I would have the reader find a token of gratitude on my own behalf as also on behalf of Christian Missions in general, for he has rendered them also very great service. But missionary literature on the Dutch East Indies also contains a mass of individual observations. Among many others at a later period we may here mention G. R. K. Niemann and Poensen, a missionary who after- wards became Professor. So that it was not without hesitation that I undertook the compilation of this work. My eleven years' service as a missionary in Sumatra from 1896 to 1907 left me no time for scientific work. I laboured at four Mission stations, to some extent under very difficult conditions ; extended itinerary tours obliged me to spend many a day in the saddle, or my narrow rowing boat, and many a night in Batak villages ; and long tramps through swampy virgin forests and across burning, grassy steppes do not brace the intellect. However, this very coming and going brought me constantly into intimate contact with the different tribes of the Batak people and I was obliged to be always on the defensive against Moslem propaganda. This unsettled life was forced upon me. What I have set down in my book is, therefore, what I myself have observed, although I have supported my own experi- ence from a wide range of other people's observations, as far as possible in their original form. The actual results of Missions to the Mohammedans of Sumatra can lay claim to special interest. To a large extent they are based upon the fact that the work is con- PREFACE xi nected with the strong flourishing church of the Heathen- Christian Bataks, which numbers some 117,000 members. The dormant Churches of the Near East have failed in the fight against Islam ; but the new pulsating life of the young Heathen-Christian Church is becoming more and more a menace to Islam. This is a hopeful outlook for the future. The death of the Church in the Near East brought new life to Islam. The Moslem community rose out of its crumbling ruins. The living power of our Heathen-Christian Church will, however, deal Islam a mortal blow. If God but grant us out there Christian communities filled with His Spirit and inspired by a living faith, then Moslem propaganda, rage and storm as it may to-day, must break into foam against this breakwater. G. SIMON. Theologische Schule, Bethel bei Bielefeld, May, 1912. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION The " Heathen -Mohammedan " and Christian Missions — The Peeuhar Relation between Animism and Islam — The Intellectual Difficulty of the Problem — The Dan- ger to Missions at the Present Time . . . xix PART I THE TURNING OF THE HEATHEN TO ISLAM yCHAPTEK I ' Moslem Propaganda in the Dutch East Indies The Islamizing of the Dutch East Indies — Indians and Arabs — Java — Sumatra — The Batak Country — The Antipathy of the Heathen at first — The Imposing Impression of the Mohammedan — Forcible Measures — The Work of Conversion — Its Commercial and Religious Motives — Missionary Preaching . . 1 Chapter II / \/ The Colonial Government Neutrality — Favoritism — Holy War — The Pan-Moslem Movement — The Sultan of Turkey — The Wavering Attitude of Europeans — Sympathies — The Further- ance of Islam by Colonial Institutions — The Native Officials — The Language — The Government School — Means of Communication ..... 23 Chapter III / European Civilization V The New Age in Commercial Life — In Political Life — The Pan-Moslem Movement and Magic — Social Incen- tives— The Desire for Education .... 36 Chapter IV ^ ^ God "^ The Religious Lassitude of the Heathen — The Search of the Heathen after God — The Heathen Conception of God — Mohammedan Theology — Practical Signifi- cance of the Mohammedan's God — His Invincible Power and Arbitrariness — He is Fate — He is In- different— The Fear of Spirits is Transferred to God . 46 Chapter V ^^ ><_ The Gifts of God God as the Dispenser of Supernatural Powers (Magic) — The Connection with Animistic Magic — Moslem Magic, Sorcery, Witchcraft, Visions — Criminal Fea- xiii y /. xiv CONTENTS PAGE tures — Spiritualistic Ideas — The Veneration of Graves and Ancestors — Monotheism Overshadowed by Magic — Fatalism and Magic — Depreciation of the Idea of God — Opportunist Syncretism — Magic, the Bridge between Heathenism and Islam .... 58 Chapter VI God's Representatives ^ Mediators between Men and Spirits (Gods) in Heathenism — The Prophet Mohammed — His Historical Person- ality— His Present Place in the Popular Mind — Mo- hammed as a Demi-God — Mohammed and the rest of the Prophets — Jesus — Angels and Saints — The Teachers — Their Social Standing as Court Advisers — Their Religious Standing as Mediators — Their Teach- ing— Their Influence upon the Life of the People — Their Influence upon the Conception of God. 73 Chapter VII The Book of God ^ The Arabic Koran is not Understood — But it Impresses the People — Has Divine Authority — As a Magical Book it casts a Cloud over God .... 89 Chapter VIII The Hereafter Death — Burial — The Resurrection — Judgment — Hell — Paradise — Hope for the Hereafter is not Foreign to Heathenism — But Islam Promises Increased Enjoy- ment of Life in the Hereafter — Hence the Power of Attraction — Yet Man Draws no Nearer to God. 96 Chapter IX ^ ^ ,, Man's Surrender to God The Performance of Ritual, the First Religious Duty — The Creed — Prayer — Religious Taxes — Fasting — Pilgrimage to Mecca — Its Significance for the Pan- Moslem Movement — The Performanceof Ritual tends to Self-adulation — Establishes Discipline. .108 Chapter X The Preparation for the Hereafter Preparatory Exercises — Meals for the Dead — Gifts for the Dead — Works of Merit — Animistic Merit — Moslem Merit — The Teachers as Guardian Spirits in the Here- after ........ 134 Chapter XI *^ Mysticism Mystical Exercises (Ratib, Zikr, Suluk) — The Significance of Mysticism — Reaction against the Conception of God — Animism and Mysticism — The Mystic's Desire After God— The Mystic, The Ideal Moslem. 143 CONTENTS XV PART II THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF THE HEATHEN-MOHAMMEDAN PAGE Introductory The Heathen does not remain the same when he becomes a Mohammedan — Has he made Progress ?. Islam as a Factor of Civilization : the Individu- ality of the People and the Work of the Colonial Government must be taken into Account — Moslem Education has a Stupefying Effect— The Pan-Moslem Idea is Contrary to Civihzation — The Tutelage of and the Exaggerated Hope set upon the Hereafter Life fosters Laziness — The Cruelty of Heathenism is Replaced by Hatred in the Name of God for all those of other Faiths — Egoism remains as strong as ever . 190 PART III THE CONVERSION OF THE MOHAMMEDAN TO CHRISTIANITY Chapter I The Negative Attitude of Mohammedans They do not Want to Become Christians — The Christian is Considered Irreligious : There is no Understanding of the Spiritual Nature of Christianity — Intercourse with Irreligious Europeans. The Christian is Considered Unclean : this Con- firmed by some Christians' Manner of Life. The Christian is Behind the Times : Because Christ is Superseded by Mohammed — Many Europeans Actually Esteem Islam Very Highly. Christianity is False Doctrine — The Doctrine of the Trinity — The Worship of Images. The Moslem is Satisfied : he has what Christianity has — But Christianity knows Nothing of Magic — Has no Visible Guarantees — The Triumphal Assur- ance of Islam — Christianity has Within it the Seed of Death — The Attitude of the Colonial Government has Sometimes Endorsed this Opinion. No Fusion — Neither by Nationalizing Christianity — Nor by Emptying the Doctrine of the Trinity of its Content. Islam not a Protevangclism : it is not a " School- master " (traLdaywybs) — The Prophet Hinders the Apprehension of Christ — Other Moslem Conceptions (God, the Supernatural World, Law, Sin, Grace) also Render the Understanding of Christian Truth only the More Difficult. The Disintegration of Islam : not Demonstrable — Although there is Ebb and Flow — The Modern In- tellectual Movements Within Islam do not lead Men to the Gospel — Islam will have to come to Terms with Them 209 CONTENTS xvii PAGE Chapter II The Undermining of Mohammedan Faith Revival of Animism — But Islam has a Deadening Influ- ence upon the Animist. Christian and Moslem Belief — The Promise of Islam not Fulfilled — Uncertainty Whereas the Christian has Assurance — Although he Rejects Mediators and Works of Merit and Relies on Christ Alone — Interest in Christ Awakened. Fight for the Faith : the Assurance of the Christian not Levity — Rather his Moral Conduct is the More Strict — His Secret Sin is Overcome by the Power of Christ. The Foundations of Belief: the Bible and the Koran — The Knowledge of Christ Founded upon the Word of God — This is Comprehensible and Coherent — Its Moral Purity and Simplicity — Those Who Preach the Word Live in Accordance with it — The Effect of the Word in Missionary Work. The Object of Faith, Christ and Mohammed : Christ inferior to Mohammed — But the Gospels tell the Story of His Life — He Ministers to Others — Has a Corre- sponding Influence with Men — No Regenerating Influence Associated with Mohammed. Christian Charity and the Uncharitableness of Islam — Moslem Uncharitableness Rooted in the Religion It- self— Christians Manifest their Love by Continual Readiness to Help — It Proceeds from Christ, Christian Education and the Illiteracy of Islam : The Christian Elementary School Dispels the Halo of Islam as an Agent of Civilization — It Really Develops the Young and Breaks Down Prejudice — The Chris- tian Teacher Stands out in Contrast to the Moslem Teacher by His Conciliatory Spirit — Even the Ordi- nary Christian can give a Reason for His Faith. Christian Fellozvship and the Moslem Community — Christianity Protects Nationality — It is not European — Christians become Members of the Universal Church — Christian Worship, Missions and the Orga- nized Community Proves this — Mohammedan Fana- ticism Languishes in Contact with Living Christians 246 '&' Chapter III The Triumph of the Gospel. Conversion : A Work of God — Connected with the Know- ledge of Jesus — He is still an Active Personality — Because He is God, Man Trusts in Him, this is the First Modification of the Moslem Conception of God — God, the Omnipotent One, is Apprehended in Ckrist — but He is also the God of Yearning Love — xviii CONTENTS PAGE That Implies a Transformation in the Idea of God — All the More Closely does He Cling to Christ. Salvation — The Study of the Life of Jesus Awakens the Sense of Sin — Not Without Secret Opposition — But the Futility of Human Achievement is Obvious — The " Freely " and " For You " is Thankfully Ac- cepted Instead of what is Relinquished in Islam — The Moslem Conception of God is thus Completely Transformed — God Makes Sacrifice of Himself. Eternity — Jesus' Work of Salvation also Avails for Eternity — The Sensuality of the Moslem Outlook upon the Hereafter Testifies to its Earthly Origin — Christian Reserve Bears its own Hall-mark — Faith in Christ Cleanses the Eschatological Hope — Fan- tastic Exaggerated Ideas as to the Hereafter Yield to the Sober Apprehension of One's Duty in this Life 287 Chapter IV The New Life Faith in God — Fear, Fatalism and the Remnants of Animism Vanish — The Vision of the Father is no longer Obscured. Communion with God — Man now Enters into Com- munion with God — Through Jesus, Who Rose from the Dead — The Worship of Saints and Spirits comes to an end. The Prayer of Faith — The Inmost Soul of Man comes into Contact with God — The Outward Form is Non-Essential — Magic and Mysticism are done away with — God's Unapproachableness is Disproved by Experience. Obedience to God — In Islam Obedience meant Pas- sivity— Man is now Trained in Active Surrender to God — A Life of Cognition and Perception Awakens — The Fight against Sin begins — Many certainly Fail here, hence the Backsliders — The Living Forces of the Gospel are still Bound in many ways — Again and again Fear and Levity, Bondage to Law and Arbi- trariness Prevent the Due Apprehension of Grace — Hence the Mohammedan-Christian is neither Superior nor Inferior to the Heathen-Christian — Both have their own Peculiar Hindrances to Overcome as regards Moral Standards ....... 307 Conclusion Mohammedan-Christians Need our Help as Brethren — The Conflict with Islam will mean Enrichment for Ourselves — It Compels us to Rise to the Fulness of Living Power in the Gospel of Christ — Islam Gathers up all the Religious Forces of the Non-Christian World to Point Mankind to God by a Way which Leaves Out Christ ...... 327 INTRODUCTION ANY one who has tried to fathom the psychology of the Nature peoples knows how difficult it is for a European to grasp their mode of thought. The day is completely past when man in a state of Nature was pronounced barren of mind and his soul as deplete of content as his body is devoid of clothing. For the inner life of man in the state of Nature is saturated with religion : to understand the native, one must understand his religion, Animism. How strange this cult of souls and spirits seems to us. Moreover, the difficulties are increased twofold when the seeds of Islam have found their way into the soul of a heathen people. For Islam too is a strange world to us ; it is only with difficulty that we understand the Moslem Psyche even of the Near East, with which the age-long intercourse between the Near East and the West has brought us into contact and which is so much more akin to us than the Far Eastern type of mind. xix XX INTRODUCTION I can well understand that one's first impression of these people is that they are only heathen with a veneer of Mohammedanism, that their inner life is unaffected by Islam. The Heathen-Mohammedan meets the same fate as has long befallen the Nature peoples : his inner self is disposed of by simply pronouncing him in no way remarkable. The mistake is easily explained. It requires more than superficial knowledge of uncivilized man to appre- ciate the changes wrought within him by Islam ; they are in part microscopic, but for that reason none the less worthy of the attention of the missionary and, as I believe, of the student of Colonial politics. Mortal dis- eases often begin with invisible changes in the human body, only to be diagnosed under the microscope. Moreover, the Nature peoples under the influence of Islam receive but little sympathy. I personally under- stand this very well. My life-long desire has been to work among a people as nearly in the state of Nature as possible, but God has sent me again and again into the fight against Islam. In my last field. Eastern Sumatra, I did come into contact with heathen from the interior of Sumatra, with the inhabitants of North Samosir. How refreshing it was, after a long ride across the hot coast plain, at last to get up into the mountains and meet the fresh mountain breeze on the shores of the Toba Lake, 2,700 feet above the sea. And equally invigorating were the people themselves. A missionary is certainly not likely to be accused of idealizing the heathen ; we generally meet the opposite reproach ; and yet, I found those heathen very attrac- tive. Of course, they are dirty, both outwardly and in- wardly. But they are men cast in one mould. Their Animistic outlook and their life are uniform. Their religion is an unbroken whole. Just as their single tree trunk carries them quickly across the lake with amazing seamanship, just as their tiny, hollowed-out craft suits INTRODUCTION xxi them so picturesquely and is so handy for them, just as their handwoven garment clothes them so simply and is so practical, so it is also with their religious usage. Nothing is made a mystery. The heathen is an Animist and wants to be one. He deceives his spirits, and does not deny the fact. How altogether different is it with the Mohammedan ! The whole man is rent asunder. His soul now nibbles at the old forbidden pap of Animism, now it boldly snatches at the sublimest problems of human thought which Islam has digested and of which it offers an extract to the Animist of the distant islands of the East. With his lips he emphatically renounces heathenism and in- wardly his soul still dallies with heathen conceptions, hopes and fears. There is a continual wavering between the old and new in the soul of the distracted man. This life seems pleasant, and yet it is to be despised because of the vision of the Hereafter. His religious zeal blazons itself abroad and he is consumed with acts of piety, but all the time he suffers from the old languor of fatalism, which does not satisfy the soul, and from an icy coldness which will not melt in the presence of the imperturbable Lord of Heaven, the new, distant, terrible God. Cringing flat- tery on the one hand, which, however, only serves to conceal the most outrageous arrogance. Smooth words full of respect for the gifted European, but carefully concealed behind them, the deepest contempt on the other hand for the unclean, accursed unbeliever. All this rends the Heathen-Mohammedan soul asunder. Just as, after the death of Mohammed, his teaching was preserved on rags, scraps of leather and fragments of camel shoulder-blades and all mixed up together, the present Koran emerging from the medley, so also is it with the soul of the Heathen-Mohammedan : it is con- fused, disordered, torn in pieces and replete with irrecon- cilable contradictions.! Hence the difference of opinion : " They are simply xxii INTRODUCTION heathen," say some ; " They are hopeless," say others, " they are really Mohammedans." The difficulty lies in the fact that it is a case of conver- sion from one religion to another,both of which are strange to us. One has only to try and grasp the mental out- look of the heathen Animist and the Moslem conception of God to realize the difficulty of the problem. I can therefore only undertake to try and solve the problem ; but it is perhaps well that it should at least once be tackled. We shall really get clear upon this matter only when there are converts from Mohammedanism who can describe their own conversion. Such are to be found in the Near East, e.g., B. John Awetaranian ; and in India, e.g., B. Imad ed Din ; but as yet there are none in the Indian Archipelago. And such as might describe from personal experience what happened within their inner self when they passed from Animism to Islam, we shall perhaps never find. For even among our Christian converts from Animism, we notice that they no longer understand their old religion, nor really ever have under- stood it. They may still preserve many remnants of Animism — and here lies the main work of all missions to Animistic peoples — but they have lost any under- standing for Animism. For Animists who have gone over to Islam the experience is too immediate for them to be able to give us an insight into their development. Therefore, however difficult it may be for us to under- stand the Heathen-Mohammedan, we must endeavour to probe his secret for ourselves ; for the Heathen-Mo- hammedan is the most important objective of Missions to the Animistic peoples in the future. Since Islam conquered the Sudan, it has pressed per- petually onwards in Africa. Missions in West and East Africa and also on the Congo have come into contact with it. Whether or not we are to carry on Missions among Mohammedans is an idle question nowadays. It is we who are attacked. Already the flood-tide of INTRODUCTION xxiii Mohammedanism is swirling round the dam of many a Heathen-Christian community ; and Islam will write no tracts as to whether it shall attack us or not ; it will turn the battle against us wherever we seek to arrest its triumphal progress among the uncivilized peoples of Africa. God has granted present-day Missions great success among uncivilized peoples. Among the Waganda, the Kols, the Alfuros in Celebes and the Bataks in Sumatra, great national native Churches have arisen during the last century. Islam is questioning our right of possession. But not only that. We distinctly see the first signs of a great, new missionary epoch among the peoples at this level of civilization. Great conquests lie here before the missionary enterprise, movements of a religious, political and social character are preparing the way for Christianity. There is appearing however beside the Gospel its hideous counterpart, the Koran ; beside the missionary, the clever Moslem propagandist. Again we are realizing the terrible truth in modern Missions that Islam closes the door to Christianity in the very heathen hearts which have already opened gladly to receive it. The conquest of the uncivilized races is a question we must inevitably settle with this mighty rival of Christianity. Let anyone who doubts the fact con- sider the Dutch East Indies. This flourishing Island Empire has fallen a prey to Islam simply and solely be- cause Missions arrived too late. Last century showed what mighty kingdoms our Lord Jesus Christ might have conquered there, if Christians had come at the right time, namely, before Islam. In so far as the heathen were untouched by Islam, they flocked into the fold of Christianity. And yet another reassuring experience justifies our basing a discussion of this problem upon missionary observation in the Dutch East Indies. In no other xxiv INTRODUCTION mission field have Evangelical Missions met with such success among Moslems.^ This fact utterly disposes of the anxious fear even in missionary circles that Moham- medans are lost to the Gospel. The Gospel has enough for all ; even the soul of the Heathen-Mohammedan yields at last, if it is only brought into actual contact with the Gospel. This fact should encourage and reassure us in face of the Moslem peril. Do not let us speak of the hopeless- ness of work among Mohammedans until we have seri- ously tried it. We need confidence. More than is desir- able, Islam is beginning to prescribe the line of march for Evangelical Missions. Doubtless, we must succour first the peoples in immediate danger. But missionary work is also possible among those who have been already overtaken. May this prevent our undue haste. A people that has gone over to Islam is not on that account lost to the Gospel. And further. The political revolution in the Near East has aroused enthusiasm in Christian Europe in a way that has warmed our hearts. We on the outskirts of Islam watch with anxious expectation what goes on at its centre. We would, however, emphatically impress upon Christendom that God long since set Missions at war against Islam, long before there were any Young Turks or New Persians. God, we know not why, intro- duced us into the Moslem world by this byepath, as it seems to us, and has pressed into our hand the battle- axe against this the most formidable enemy of His Kingdom. Come and see. 1 In the Dutch East Indies we may reckon 35,000 Christian converts from Mohammedanism. It is impossible to give an exact figure ; the statistics of Christian converts from Heathen- ism and Mohammedanism in any mission field are seldom given separately. PART I The Turning of the Heathen to Islam Chapter I MOSLEM PROPAGANDA IN THE DUTCH EAST INDIES ISLAM has had the missionary instinct from its cradle. The Koran is an admonition to all mankind (cf. Koran xxxvii. 87). Even the Prophet himself endea- voured to spread his teaching by peaceable methods beyond the confines of Arabia. The amazing expansion of Islam at the present time, extending as it does from Morocco to New Guinea, the growth of the Moslem missionary orders, its apparently irresistible advance in East, West and Central Africa, all go to prove that this mighty impulse has lost none of its original force down through the centuries. Political conditions have doubtless obliged Islam to abandon its old missionary method of fire and sword. That it has nevertheless become a world religion shows that the message must have found a hearing among the nations. The present state of the Mohammedan world therefore raises this question : " Why does the heathen turn Mohammedan, and in particular, why and how does the heathen turn Mohammedan with no fur- ther incentive than his own desire ? " Let the Moham- medan propaganda as already closed and as still going forward in Indonesia to-day furnish the answer. 2 THE PROGRESS OF ISLAM IN SUMATRA i llndonesia did not receive Islam direct from Arabia, ' but by way of an intermediate people, the Hindus.; Islam had reached India at the beginning of the eighth century. Its method of conversion was the sword. For five centuries the governing influence in India was in the hands of Mohammedan rulers ; at almost every court it was advantageous to turn Mohammedan. That nevertheless only one-fifth of the population went over to Islam testifies to the power of resistance in the Hindu religion. Long before Mohammed's time there had been active commercial intercourse between the Archipelago and India. The result of this intercourse was the founding of the Hindu kingdoms in Java. Later on Mohammedan Hindus also came and their doctrine met with peculiar success. In 1345, a certain Arab from Morocco, called Ibn Batutah, was sent by an Indian prince to China and travelled from Bengal by way of Sumatra. He found a Mohammedan kingdom already established at the northern extremity of the island, at the modern Achin. He was welcomed as a guest, because he was a fellow- believer, and was astonished at the zeal of the reigning prince for Moslem learning. He ascertained that the people were even then beginning to propagate the faith ; for when he visited his fellow-believers on his return journey, he found that they had just returned from a Holy War laden with spoil. He was even presented with four slaves, part of the booty from this war. Thus Islam had already reached Sumatra by the fourteenth century. The Mohammedanism of the Dutch East Indies is therefore of no recent date. Even such a far-travelled man as Ibn Batutah was impressed by what he saw of it in Sumatra, and subse- quent history has shown that the Mohammedanism of Indonesia is a living force. From those small begin- nings, there has grown up a body of the faithful which to-day numbers thirty-five million adherents, that is to say, five-sixths of the whole population (forty-two MOSLEM PROPAGANDA 3 millions). Islam has thus gloriously completed its work of converting this Archipelago within six centuries, and achieved " its masterpiece " (J. Richter). liloreover, Islam came into conflict in the Dutch East Indies with its two strongest rivals, Hinduism and Buddhism, and later Christianity. Hinduism it completely over- came," Christian Missions have not been able to arrest it entirely, although of course the conflict with Christ- ianity is not yet ended. iNTor should we underestimate the Animism of the Nature peoples, Islam's third great opponent in the Dutch East Indies.^ The warfare carried on by the heathen Batak population of Sumatra, for example, against their Moslem neighbours makes it probable that in former centuries Animism possessed more vitality there than it does to-day, since the various peoples could then maintain an independent existence. Other- wise it could not possibly have withstood for six cen- turies Islam's not always peaceful efforts to propagate itself nor the terrible Holy Wars which were carried on during the nineteenth century against the Bataks. It is in fact a question whether, for example, the corrupt Byzantine Empire was really a more powerful opponent than those forces in the Dutch East Indies. Political conditions were not favourable to Islam. In Java, it found strong Hindu kingdoms which it had to conquer. From the sixteenth century, Christian conquerors came across its path and from the seven- teenth century it had to carry on its propaganda under the eyes of a Christian Colonial power. Hence the old missionary method of fire and sword hardly came into use at all in the Dutch East Indies. The conversion of the Archipelago to Mohammedanism was for the most part accomplished peaceably. This makes the closer examination of Mohammedan propaganda so especially interesting. It not only carries us back to the past, but even to-day we can still observe the process of the heathen of the Dutch East Indies being Islamized. W 4 THE PROGRESS OF ISLAM IN SUMATRA As we have seen, it was Indian merchants who carried the first tidings of the new religion to the Dutch East Indies. They made no Holy War ; but they were filled with holy zeal for the conversion of souls, and the con- version of the heathen was to their commercial interest. They gradually took possession of the coast of the islands by means of small trade settlements. The resident merchants had of course to find wives ; they received them from the heathen. They had sufficient money to bring the heathen to terms. They of course made these wives become Mohammedans and their relatives in the neighbourhood very soon followed suit. They also bought slaves, j^robably for the most part prisoners of war, and these slaves became Mohamme- dans. Islam still spreads spontaneously in Celebes among the Toradja by traders taking native wives to gain native protection. In Eastern Sumatra, for in- stance, there was a flourishing slave-trade down to the time of the Dutch occupation in the nineteenth century. The small settlements thus grew into Mohammedan communities and eventually into states. These endea- voured to extend their dominion by subduing the sur- rounding country. Such wars may be even called Holy Wars,, because the people that were conquered became Mohammedans. Even to-day the Sultanates on the coast serve as the base for propaganda in the interior of the islands. In the seventeenth century the Indian trade had more and more to give way to European rivals. At the same period a new element appeared in the Archipelago, which has been of the utmost importance ever since in the conversion of the islands to Islam, namely, the Arabs. They continued the work of the Indian Mohammedans. They also founded trade settlements, for example, at Siak, in Sumatra, and at Pontianak, in Borneo.^ They * The trade settlements of the Mohammedans in East Africa exercise a similar influence. There also the teacher follows upon the trader. MOSLEM PROPAGANDA 5 made themselves thoroughly conversant with the lan- guage and customs of the natives. {They substituted the wisdom of Mecca for Indian mysticism. Improved means of transit made pilgrimage to Mecca possible. Pilgrims used to go in sailing ships from Achin to Mecca ; they are still the teachers of the people. Thus the Dutch East Indies came into direct contact with Western Islam. The disadvantage of the apparent isolation of Indonesian Islam, owing to its distance from the Holy City and the heart of Mohammedan life, has been gradu- ally removed by its intercourse with Arabia. Islam spread to Java about 1400, probably from Achin. Arabs, according to Malik Ibrahim, also had a share in the matter. Islam made but slow progress at first. When the Portuguese landed in the sixteenth century, suttee was the universal custom in Western Java. With the increase of the Arab population, how- ever, Islam spread more and more widely. The Arabs were the religious teachers of the people. They gave the Mohammedanism of the island more and more of an Arabian colouring.i The people seem to have been seized with great relig- ious fervour, and even women engaged in propaganda. By 1478 there was serious warfare in the neighbour- hood of Mandjapahit. '., On the whole, however, the conversion of the people was accomplished peaceably. They were won by preaching and persuasion.; The training and sending out of native helpers spread the religion. Connections by marriage into princely families were sought after, and then the common people willingly followed, for the most part, in the train of their princes. The will of their princes was the will of God for them. Much of the old religion was allowed to remain, and conversion was thus rendered easier for the common people. ; An independent religious kingdom arose in the Dutch East Indies, although even there the Sultan of " Rum " (Rome-Constantinople) was recognized as the supreme lord of Islam. 6 THE PROGRESS OF ISLAM IN SUMATRA When the Portuguese appeared in the sixteenth cen- tury, they came into conflict with both Mohammedans and heathen. In many cases the heathen allied them- selves with the Portuguese to gain protection from their Mohammedan oppressors. Thus Islam had often to face a double front, and yet it gained ever firmer footing in Java. The arrival of the Dutch in the Dutch East Indies in 1596 did not therefore coincide with the appearance there of Islam. But neither were they able to stop its expansion. Hinduism retreated further and further, and when the Dutch acquired their trade monopoly from the Sultan of Bantam in 1684, and thereby became virtually rulers of the country, it was to all intents and purposes Islamized. There are still a few thousand heathen to be found in Java, only in the interior however, in the Tenger mount- ains. Their religion is reminiscent of the Hindu period. They are gradually being converted by Mecca pilgrims. Java has about thirty million inhabitants. In 1800, there were said to be only two and a half millions ; in 1824, six millions. The expansion of Islam is therefore_ to be accounted for not only by propaganda but also by an enormous increase in the population. As'early as the sixteenth century Islam was the head- quarters base of Islam for the Eastern Islands of the Archipelago. The Javanese carried on considerable trade in those days in the Archipelago. On many of the islands there were Javanese settlers. As early as 1510 a certain Pati Puteh went to Java from Hitu to learn " the Javanese religion." With the help of the armies of King Hair of Ternate, who intro- duced Islam by force, he converted the inhabitants of Ambon to Islam. At all events Xavier found Mohamme- dans there as early as 1460, although they were very ignorant and knew nothing of their " pernicious " doctrine. About 1500 Islam spread to Ternate from Java. MOSLEM PROPAGANDA 7 How the Mohammedan missionaries carried on their work is seen from the following story. A merchant, Datu Mula Hussein by name, came to Ternate, took his seat in a public place and began to read the Koran aloud. The people of Ternate listened and became curious, probably thinking there was some new kind of magic in the book. They then tried to imitate the writ- ing in the book but found they could not read it. There- upon they asked the merchant how it was they could not read it, when he could. He told them they must first believe in God and the Prophet. So they learnt the creed. He then continued to teach the people and among them a prince's son from Marhum. He in his turn went to Java and attended a school for Moslem teachers ; he took a Javanese priest home with him and installed him as teacher to his family. He then carried Islam to the neighbouring islands. Other influences, however, were also at work. ' When the Malay kingdom on the Island of Malacca was destroyed in 1510, the Malays, who had previously gone over to Islam, were dispersed. Many settled in the south- east of Borneo, where the Sultan of Banjermassin went over to Islam in 1520 with a great part of his subjects, j As yet not one third of the population of Borneo (one- half million) is Mohammedan and the Mohammedans are on the whole confined to the coast regions. The Arabs, who are numerous, make their influence especially felt there ; in Banjermassin alone, the capital of South Borneo, there are some 1,000 Arabs. Active trade with Singapore brings them to the island. Islam was also very successful in Celebes. About 1580 it reached Macassar in Southern Celebes from Ternate, although the Portuguese had been in power there since 1537, and from Macassar it passed to Boni. The northern extremity of Celebes was once also strongly under Mohammedan influence, but in 1679 the chiefs of the region allied themselves with the Dutch Govern- ment, which had been in possession since 1667, to free 8 THE PROGRESS OF ISLAM IN SUMATRA themselves from the oppression of the Mohammedans of Macassar, who were trying to convert them. As is well known this region of Minahassa came over to Christ- ianity in the course of last century. The Islamizing of Sumatra was really begun earlier than that of Java. But it has progressed more slowly. ^In Sumatra, as in Java, Islam met indigenous Animistic religions suffused with elements of Hinduism. That the Malays on the coast, a seafaring people, were easily converted to Islam may be attributed to their inter- course with Indian and Arab traders. It was only in the seventeenth century that Islam gained a firm footing in the interior. The stronghold of Islam was the Malay region of Menangkabau in Central Sumatra, which had been Moslem since the fifteenth century. Southern Sumatra, known as Lampong, was Islamized from Java. 