Early in the history of Islam there arose a set of free-thinkers, whose theories are held at the present day. They are known as the Mutazalites and were founded by a Persian, Wasil ibn-Ata, who separated from the school of Hasan al-Basri. The Mutazalites hold that man is the governing factor in his own acts, and is perfectly free to choose; predestination being thus abolished from their tenets. They deny the eternity of the Koran, as well as the attributes of God, believing that each attribute would be a separate, eternal quality, and that, therefore, the unity of God would be destroyed.
Mokanna, °the veiled,* is an interesting fig ure in the history of Islam, owing to his ap pearance in Moore's 'Lana Rookit' This fa natic proclaimed himself God incarnate and taught that religion consisted in faith, not works. He sent out many missionaries and quite a force collected under his banners. At the advent, however, of the caliph's forces, which were sent to crush him, he deserted his followers and finally committed suicide to es cape capture. Persian and Indian sources are responsible for many of his doctrines. He had secret followers for many centuries after his death.
Hasan ibn-Sabah, founder of the order of the Assassins, is a figure well known in history, owing to his connection with the Crusaders. He was at first an adherent of another sect and taught the doctrines of that sect throughout Arabia and Persia; but having won the confi dence of. a powerful prince, he gained posses sion of a fortress in Persia. Here he constituted himself grand-master of an order with a large number of minor officials, repudiated many of the tenets of his sect and began to preach reli gious devotion and political assassinations. His followers were many throughout Syria and Per sia and he soon announced himself as al-Mandi, repudiated the Koran, and with it all moral laws. Under the title "Old Man of the Moun tain," he became a terror not only to the Cru sader, but to the Turk as well. They were finally overthrown. "Of these sects there are still scattered remnants in Syria and India, and as late as 1866 an English judge at Bombay had to decide a case of disputed succession ac cording to the law of the Assassins." There is a sect of Mystics in Islam known as the Sufis. They are Moslem in name only, for they deny the necessity of religion, though they admit that its practice is useful as a guide. Their chief doctrine is entirely pantheistic. God is all and is in all, consequently there is no good, no evil, only God. The only occupation of the Sufi is meditation, constant meditation; for by this he is made ready to return to God when his soul is released from captivity. They
are divided into numerous sects, some of them believing themselves simply inspired of God, others believing themselves unified with God. Their belief, they claim, has always been pro fessed. It obtained its chief hold in Persia, where it has stirred up much trouble. Though banished in 1797, "the whole country has been so undermined by this insidious heresy that it can almost be said that Persia, throughout its whole extent, contains no real Moslem." A few words may be added in regard to Islam's hope of a Messiah, A1-Mandi, "the guided one.* He is to come to restore the glory and power of Islam, and has been foretold by Mohammed, in many traditions. According to the Sunnites, he is still to come; but the Shiites believe he has already appeared in the person of the 12th Imam, who having disappeared for a time is to return. Many have announced themselves as the promised Mandi. One, after proclaiming himself in 1881 as Mandi and founding in the eastern Sudan his empire, was overthrown at Omdurman in 1898 by an Anglo Egyptian army.
Mention must be made of Babism, of which Behaism is the latest development. In the year 1844, Ali Mohammed, in Persia, announced him self as the Bab, or "gate," that is, "the source through which revelation comes." As the in augurator of a new dispensation, he set about the reformation of men's lives. Many con verts were made and the antagonism of their Moslem neighbors was aroused. Thousands of adherents to the new faith were slain, and in 1850 the Bab himself met this fate. As perse cution continued many fled from Persia and finally settled at Akka. In this band of exiles was one upon whom the Bab had conferred the title of Bha Allah, that is, "the Glory of God? His declaration that he was the manifestation foretold by the Bab was accepted, and his fol lowers have been styled Beha'is. At his death in 1892, his son, Abbas Effendi, succeeded him and is considered as the third of the divine messengers. The thousands of converts made by this new movement attest its importance. Its missionaries have made converts by thou sands. Here, in the United States, its adher ents are scattered throughout a few of the larger cities, and Professor Browne, the emi nent English authority on Babism, speaking of its influence, states that the number and influ ence of the Babis in Persia is immensely greater than it was a few years ago. See BAB ISM ; KORAN ; MECCA ; MEDINA ; MOHAMMED; SHIITES; SUNNA ; WAHABI ; and consult works referred to under these articles.