Page:Algeria from Within.pdf/138

Having now seen the principles of the faith as set out by the Koran, we must turn our attention to the more superstitious side, which, as in all faiths, has grown up with the course of time.

As stated before, the first great fundaental point which dominates the whole of Islam and makes it un-like other beliefs is summed up in that word mektoub—"It is written." Generally speaking, every Mohammedan is a fatalist, and believes that nothing can occur which is not ordained; there is no free will and all is in the hands of Allah. There are, however, certain philosophers who discuss this point and who say that it is wrong to lay every evil action on the back of the mektoub.

For instance, they say that a man who deliberately buys a bottle of wine and drinks it has no right to say that God predestined this. These philosophers. are, however, in the minority, and ninety per cent of the Arabs believe that they are powerless to avoid what is fated.

The Arabs say, "When God created the world he took a handful of dust in either hand, cast it to right and to the left. The dust to the right was destined to be people who would always be happy and inherit paradise; the dust to the left only contained woes and eternal damnation." "God created you, you and all your actions," Koran Sourate, XXXVII. That is to