Page:The young Moslem looks at life (1937).djvu/31

 Rh and sense of religious awe that comes to the Christian visitor to the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. They recalled that here in this very city the feet of their beloved prophet Mohammed had trod. When but a young man he had denounced idolatry from the precincts of the Kaaba, the inner sanctuary of the mosque, and had preached his fiery sermons calling people to repent of their sins and follow the worship of the one true god, Allah. From Mecca he had been compelled to fly for safety with his faithful followers, and to this city he later returned in triumph. With his own hands he had forever banished the idols from the Kaaba, and established his authority over the scattered tribes of Arabia.

"How thrilling to be here with fifty thousand Moslem brothers from all over the world!" mused Mohammed Beg. As he thought about how closely all Islam is bound together, the troubled thoughts of the weeks before vanished. He was now quite sure that the religion of the Prophet was capable of taking care of itself, and that all these changes he had been seeing and hearing about were but slight disturbances that would eventually pass away.

Dressed in the usual pilgrim garb and jostling among the milling throngs of brother Moslems from Java, Malaya, Egypt, the Sudan, Iran, India, and even China, they joined in all the rites and ceremonies of the ancient pilgrimage with a glorious ecstasy. Here they felt natural and at home. It was the first time they had known such peace of mind since