Mohammedanism would not there, as
at Constantinople, be found a barrier to reform, for Persian Shiism is
an eminently elastic creed, and on the contrary may, it is thought, be
made the instrument of a social reformation; only, as I have said it
would be folly to count on its success; and there are certain moral
defects in Persian character which do not encourage lookers-on. Shiite
Mohammedanism, however, whether Persia be absorbed or not by Russia, is
of little importance in a general review of Islam's future, and may
safely be dismissed as not directly relevant to the main question before
us.
Admitting, then, the probability, nay, the certainty, of considerable
political and territorial losses northwards, caused by the violent
pressure of a hostile Europe, let us see what yet remains to Islam as
her certain heritage, and how the changes foreshadowed may affect her
general life. I cannot myself find any cause of despair for Mussulmans
in the prospect of a curtailment of their religious area in the
directions indicated, or any certain reason of exultation for their
enemies in the thought that with the fall of Constantinople Islam, too,
will have fallen. On the contrary, I see in the coming destruction of
the Ottoman supremacy, and in the exclusion of the northern races, even
at the cost of their religious support, from the counsels of the
faithful, an element of hope in the future far outweighing the immediate
chagrin which may be caused by loss of sovereignty or loss of
population.
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