R.C. BOYS' SCHOOL.
Writing in 1866, the present Rajah says:—
Twenty years ago, the Sarawak population had little religion of any sort, and the first step towards bringing it to notice was when the English mission was established. The Christian Church gave rise to a Muhammadan mosque. Subsequent years of prosperity have enabled the Malays to receive instruction from the Mecca School. Those who are too old, or too much involved in the business of the country to go on the haj, send annual sums to the religious authorities there; but at the present time I feel sure there is no fanaticism among the inhabitants, and, excepting some doubtful points instilled into them in their education at Mecca, their religion is wholesome and happy. To the building of the mosque very few would come forward to subscribe.[[360]]
Forty years ago the pilgrimage to Mecca was a costly and a hazardous venture. The sufferings that pilgrims for months had to undergo on ill-found, overcrowded, and insanitary sailing ships, and the dangers to which they were exposed on the overland journey from Jedah to Mecca and back, were such that only fervent Muhammadans would face, and few Malays are such. Not many had the means to undertake a journey which would take the best part of a year to perform, as well as to satisfy the insatiable extortions to which they were subjected from the moment they set their feet in Arabia. Now, the welfare of the Muhammadan pilgrim is so well safeguarded by Christian ordinances, that his voyage to Jedah and back to Singapore presents to him but a pleasurable and interesting trip, on which his wife and daughters may accompany him with safety and moderate comfort. Steamers have taken the place of sailing ships, and competition has made the fares cheap. At Jedah the Malay pilgrim is under the protection of his Consul, and, beyond, the influence of a Great Power will protect him at least as far as his life and liberty are concerned, but he will suffer the common lot of all pilgrims, and be subjected to exactions of every kind, returning to Jedah with empty pockets.
Though, owing to the facility with which the pilgrimage can now be made, hundreds yearly go to Mecca and are brought into close contact with the bigotry of western Muhammadans, yet the Malay remains as he was, with an almost total absence of religious fervour. A sure sign of indifference to their religion in the majority of Malays and Melanaus is found in the mean, dilapidated buildings which are dignified by the name of mosques, to be seen in most of the towns and villages along the coast. Kuching practically owes its fine mosque to the benevolence of one man, the late Datu Bandar. There are some devout Muhammadans amongst the Malays, though not many, but there are no bigots. Some content themselves with a loose adherence to outward observances; many do not even do this, and not many attend the mosques for worship, but, however, all would be united in bitter opposition to any intermeddling with their religion.
The remnants of a former paganism still cling to the Malay, who is certainly more superstitious than he is religious. He still strongly believes in spirits, witchcraft, and magic—a belief his religion condemns; he will practise sorcery, and will use spells and charms to propitiate, or to ward off the evil influence of spirits—practices which his religion forbids.[[361]]
Toleration and a deficiency of zeal have made the Malays indifferent propagators of their faith amongst the pagan tribes around them; and the field has been left open to Christian missionaries, whose work of conversion they look upon with unconcern, so long as no attempt is made to convert a Muhammadan, and to do that is not allowed by the law of Sarawak. Their feeling towards the Christian religion is one of respect. They admit Christians readily to their mosques, and will attend church on the occasion of a marriage or a funeral in which they may be interested, and they will converse freely with Christians upon religious subjects, without assuming or pretending to any superiority in their own religion.
Mischievous and clever Arab impostors, usually good-looking men with a dignified bearing, meet with short shrift in Sarawak, and such holy men are very promptly moved on. The heads of the Muhammadan religion will have none of them. Their ostensible object is to teach, but their sole one is to make what they can by trading upon the superstition of the simple-minded. In these men the Dutch see fanatical emissaries sent from Mecca to preach a jihad or holy war, and have more than once warned the Government that such men had gone to Sarawak for this purpose. They may be right, but these pseudo Sherifs and Sayids[[362]] have never attempted to do so in Sarawak, it would be a waste of their time, and be the ruin of their business.
The Sea-Dayaks, as well as the Land-Dayaks, and those tribes inhabiting the interior are alike pagans, and possess but a dim and vague belief in certain mythical beings who, between them, made man and gave him life. These gods are styled Batara or Patara and Jewata—Sanskrit names introduced by the Hindus.[[363]] With them mythical legends, which vary greatly, take the place of religion. They have no priests, no temples, and no worship. They believe in spirits with controlling power over the air, the earth, and the water, and they place implicit reliance on omens as given by birds, animals, and reptiles, and in dreams, through which the spirits convey warnings or encouragement in respect to the affairs they may be engaged upon, or contemplate undertaking. They have a belief in a future life, which will differ in little respect from their life on this earth. These people are not idolaters; their religion is animistic.