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40 Islam
and brotherli-
modesty, honesty, kindness
ness.
When Muhammad fled from Mecca
with his followers, and settled in Madina,
the little
community was a commonwealth,
and that ideal has been retained in wonderful
manner throughout the centuries and
the far wanderings. There is no caste in
Islam, neither the Eastern nor the Western
form of that system. Each man stands in
the same relation to the God Who rules
him, and the consequent brotherhood is a
very real thing.
Poor and rich are not
divided, to be poor
is in itself a claim, and if
a poor man comes to a rich man for aid,
the rich man regards
it as a favour. The
laws of hospitality are most noble ;
strangers are assured in any Muslim house
of a welcome, a meal, a rest, and if need be,
even of clothing. Hospitality
is an act of
worship.
The aged are held in a beautiful
reverence ;
the poor, and especially the
orphan, is cared for as a religious duty ; in