What was said above concerning Islam as the hereditary¹ faith of the Ottoman Turk does not hold true of the other Moslem² races of Turkey. Koords, Circassians, Albanians—nearly half as many, all together, as the Turks—are, at best, but half Mohammedan. To a large extent the profession of Islam by Koords and Circassians is purely³ outward and formal, while their esoteric faith is a mixture of Mohammedanism, Christianity and heathenism. In grouping and generalization⁵ we cannot go farther than the statement just made. Take the Koords alone. There is almost infinite variety in their religious beliefs and superstitions⁶. It is well known that there are whole villages among them ready to declare themselves Christians⁷, could they be assured of protection in so doing. The Moslem Albanians—somewhat more than half the race—are more bigoted⁸ and violent Mohammedans than the Turks, just as the Janissaries, likewise of Christian⁴ origin, who were compelled from childhood to embrace Islam, out-Heroded Herod in the fanaticism⁹ of their anti-Christian zeal¹⁰.

With the exception of the Albanians, Islam has, in all the centuries of the reign¹¹ of the Ottoman Power over these lands, made very slight gains from the Christian races. The number of Greek, Armenian, Bulgarian, Roumanian, Servian, Bosnian, or Montenegrin Mohammedans is

分享到：