An account of the empire of Marocco, and the districts of Suse and Tafilelt; compiled from miscellaneous observations made during a long residence in, and various journies through, these countries. To which is added an account of shipwrecks on the western coast of Africa, and an interesting account of Timbuctoo, the great emporium of Central Africa

by James Grey Jackson

1. Believe, implies a belief in one God, and of the day of judgment, the two grand pillars of Islaemism.

2. Believe in Islaemism; this admits of various interpretations: Islaem is performing obedience and prostration before God! in another interpretation it implies Mohammedanism, or a belief in the divine mission of Mohammed.

The generality of religions, which have made any progress in the world, make it indispensable to believe in its own tenets: Mohammed, although he naturally gives the preference to the religion of his own forming, yet he has the liberality to acknowledge, that those who have professed other religions may be saved, after suffering a degree of chastisement or damage in the life to come, as it is termed by him.

“Whoever shall have professed any religion except Islaemism, his belief shall not be acceptable to God, and he shall receive damage in the life to come, or be not so well received, as if he had professed Islaemism, or the law of peace and obedience.”

Although the Prophet reprobated the Jews as well as the Christians, whom he accused of perverting the Scriptures, yet he took care to keep up the latitudinarian principle of his own law, called Dêne-el-Wasah (the extended doctrine) by believing the divine inspiration of both the Old and New Testament, thus giving an opportunity to the expounders of the law, to regulate themselves according to circumstances.

The Mohammedans, when disputing with Christians, which they rarely do, say, that Christians believe faith will save the soul: they also believe so; and that if their religion is the true one, they will go to Paradise; they tell us, if your’s be the true one, we both shall go there, because we believe in the divinity of Christ, but you do not believe in that of Mohammed, therefore, if faith save the soul, we have the advantage of you in being, in any case, on the safe side.[163]

The Mooselmin’s ideas of the Creator are grand and elevated. Whatever is, exists either necessarily and of itself, and is God, or has not its being from itself, and does not exist necessarily, and is of two sorts: substance and accidents: substances are of two kinds, abstract and concrete; abstract substances are, all spirits and intellectual beings: concrete being the matter and form.

Whenever God is spoken of by the Mohammedans, as having form, eyes, &c. it is meant, allegorically, to convey the idea of some particular attribute.

They deny that Christ was crucified.

Finally, the Mohammedan religion recommends toleration; and all liberal Mohammedans insist that every man ought to worship God according to the law of his forefathers. “If it pleased God,” say they, “all men would believe; why then should a worm, a wretched mortal, be so foolish as to pretend to force other men to believe? The soul believes only by the will of God: these are the true principles of Mohammedans.”