The great article of Faith is called Salavat, and is expressed in these words:

“La-Illah, Ill-Allah, Mohammed Ressoul-Ullah.” There is no God, but God, and Mohammed is the Apostle of God.

They deny the doctrine of the Trinity, although they acknowledge the attributes of God, his greatness, goodness, justice, omnipresence, omniscience, and incomprehensibility. Christ is acknowledged to have been a prophet greater than Moses, but inferior to Mohammed. He is styled the Word of God, Kelam-Ullah, in their writings, supposed to have been miraculously conceived by the Virgin Mary, but not of divine origin. The crucifixion they regard as inconsistent with the justice of God; to yield up so mighty a prophet, endowed with power to work miracles, and raise the dead, a victim to the unbelieving Jews, they deem incompatible with divine supremacy, and even say, that when Christ was led out to die, he was, invisibly to his persecutors, transported into heaven, Judas the betrayer being substituted in his stead. No terrors of eternal punishment in a future state distract the unfaithful Moslems, all of whom will, in due time, expiate their offences and be admitted to happiness. Two angels are supposed to attend them through life and in death. One white, glorious and commiserate; the other black, severe, and cruel.

There will also be a last judgment, when a tremendous trumpet will shake the earth to atoms. God will judge all men. Moses, Christ, and Mohammed, will appear at the head of their respective followers, as intercessors. And Cain will lead the immense multitude of the damned, who are doomed to suffer till their sins are cancelled, when they will take their seats in Paradise; while Hell, the Devil, and his wicked angels, will be suddenly annihilated.

A narrow bridge, fine as a hair, called Surat, lies over the region of the damned. The righteous, upheld by their guardian angels, pass over safely; while the guilty fall down into awful flames and torture, doomed to quaff nothing but “boiling water, until their bowels burst.”

Paradise is above the seventh heaven, near the throne of God. A vast and beautiful region, with palaces of gold and gardens of perpetual delight, in the midst of which is the tree of happiness, Tuba, whose roots are in the palace of the Prophet, but whose branches, loaded with luscious fruits and all kinds of meats prepared for food, silken robes and caparisoned steeds, will extend to the dwelling of every true believer. Softly murmuring fountains, cooling shades and grottoes, mountains of sparkling diamonds, and golden trees, will adorn the gardens of delight, while the ravishing houris of these enchanting regions, will be blessed with perpetual youth and virginity.

The most insignificant of the Faithful will have a retinue of 80,000 servants and 72 wives, of the sweetly odoriferous damsels, created of pure musk, in addition to the companions of his earthly sojourn. Delicious streams of wine, milk, and honey, will flow on perpetually; balmy zephyrs will pervade the atmosphere; the very physical excretions of the true believers will be but odoriferous exhalations.

While the senses are thus ravished with delights, the most excelling of all their beatific visions will be the presence of Allah, which is beyond the power of language to describe.

Fatalism is a characteristic item in the Mohammedan creed.

They believe that whatever happens is pre-ordained by the Omniscient, which article of faith is designated Kader or predestination. But the doctrine of “free-agency” the Iradeyi-JÜseeyÉ or the “lesser will,” is also in their creed. Hence every one is bound to exert himself to his utmost; and it is only when he fails, that he resigns himself calmly and philosophically to his disappointment, saying kader, or it is my fate.

The following legend may perhaps serve to illustrate the spirit of Oriental Fatalism:

Half-way across the Bosphorus, and between Seraglio Point and Scutari, in Asia, is the renowned Kiz-Koulessi, or the Maiden’s Tower. It was predicted that the beautiful daughter of a certain sultan would meet with an early death, from the bite of a serpent. Contrary to prediction, her father hoped to avert her fate, by placing her in a situation inaccessible to those reptiles. As he revolved the subject in his mind, from the windows of the Seraglio, his eye rested on the rock in the stream, where he immediately ordered a tower to be erected, and thither the unhappy princess was conveyed and immured in her island home.

But who can resist the decrees of Fate?

Scutari, fruitful in vineyards, and far-famed for its delicious grapes, was destined to furnish the venom, which poisoned the crimson tide in the veins of the beautiful sultana; for a basket of Scutari grapes concealed the viper, which was the instrument in the hand of Fate, and the fulfillment of the prophecy.

It is, doubtless, in the recollection of many of the citizens of New York, that a short time ago an individual passing by Wallack’s Theatre was suddenly killed by the falling of the flag-staff from the top of the building. This sad occurrence was not the result of carelessness or temerity, but purely accidental; and would also be termed in Turkey kaza or accident. Yet why the accident should have happened to this individual more than to any other of the hundreds of persons who passed the same spot—Mohammedan doctrine would simply answer, “it was his kader or predestination.” To mourn, therefore, for the dead, or complain against misfortune, would by them be esteemed a grievous sin, as though censuring the Almighty, without whose knowledge “not a sparrow falleth to the ground.”

It is not Fatalism that makes the Mohammedan indifferent to casualties, but his exaggerated and misconceived ideas of his religious obligations; for human imperfectibility is as prominent an article of their creed as Fatalism, and even induces a disposition to avoid self-improvement either intellectually or externally. Perfection being the attribute of the Deity, it is unbecoming in his creatures to assert, in any form whatever, their capabilities of approximation to such a condition. While, then, their minds repose in the simplicity of innate ideas, they even seek imperfection in the investiture of their bodies. They will rend their garments so as to mar their completeness, assume an air of general slovenliness, or studiously clip the corner of a sheet of paper to destroy its regular uniformity.

It is, then, most erroneous to suppose that the doctrine of Fatalism is so antagonistic to civilization in the East, as it implies resignation to the Divine will, and by no means impedes active personal exertion. But in reality it is the seeming propriety of human imperfection, in contradistinction to the Divine excellence, which has hitherto maintained a spirit of indifference to progressive improvement. While an entire submission to the course of events, as preordained and predestined by the Omniscient, prevents all restless anxiety, and calms the repinings of the heart-broken and weary, this more truly fatal and false notion of inferiority, only leaves the immortal mind in a sort of embryo state, lest, perchance, there should be any assimilation to the great Supreme Essence, from which it is but an emanation, or the spark should glow with the brightness of the fire from which it has been wafted.