The Progress and Arrest of Islam in Sumatra #262990

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.