Page:The young Moslem looks at life (1937).djvu/172

 to the Abode of War. In the spiritual realm Islam still challenges the world.

THE CHALLENGE OF NEED
Everywhere throughout the Moslem lands we are faced by the challenge of desperate human need, a need which very largely grows out of the religious ideas and ideals of the Islamic system itself.

Now it is interesting that some people take the position that one religion is as good as another; or, at least, that every people has a religion which satisfies them, and which is best adapted to their needs. They will tell you that devil worship is good enough for the African in his jungles; the worship of evil spirits is good enough for the animist among India's aborigines; and polytheism and idolatry are good enough for the Hindus of Hindustan. In the same way, Islam is good enough for the Arabs, Syrians, and Iranians or at any rate they are satisfied with it. so why worry? The most that can be said for such a position as this is that it is utterly lacking in a proper sense of values. Even the Moslem himself would vigorously disagree with such a view, for he is very certain that Islam is not only superior to the other systems just mentioned, but that it is vastly superior to Christianity as well!

Then there are those who in a spirit of commendable appreciation feel that Christianity has much to learn from Islam. They feel that Islam is a kind of Unitarian religion, and that if Christians do go to