Page:The young Moslem looks at life (1937).djvu/138

 Koran and that is the end of the matter. Consequently in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, India and elsewhere Christian lecturers and organizers of the prohibition movement are received with the greatest cordiality, and given generous support in all their efforts to abolish the liquor traffic. Moslem leaders in these lands greatly deplore the extent to which the use of liquor has made headway in the Moslem community and the shame of it is that this is directly attributable to contact with that part of our Western civilization which is least Christian in spirit as well as in practice. It is only fair to say that when the United States adopted the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution Moslem temperance workers in many lands rejoiced that at last they had a strong ally on their side in the world temperance movement. But when this same amendment was repealed in 1933, they were deeply disappointed, and said, "America has let us down. If we Moslems had our way about it, the whole world would be dry, for Islam is the greatest temperance organization in the world!" They are right; it is. 3. Religious endowments. Religious endowments are carefully watched and protected by Moslems. In this class of property come all sorts of buildings, lands and sums of money set apart for religious purposes, or any fund for the general welfare of the community. In the category of buildings fall particularly mosques, monasteries, tombs and graveyards. A building once used as a mosque may never be used for any other purpose whatsoever. Once having been used as a place

POLITICS