Show ISLAMS HEW PROPHET Chicago Nov HThe dispatches from Constantinople say that the Sultan held Po levee to celebrate the 1300th year of the Mohammedan calendar As the hegira flight Hohammetfrom Mecca to Medina took place July 15 622 how can this be the 1300th year of the era beginning with the hegira What is meant byj the Modhi or now Prophet of Islam R W H The Mohammedan era began with the hegira on the night of July 15622 but the years of the Mohammedan Moham-medan calendar are purely lunar consisting of 12 lunar months or 354 days 8 hours and 4S minutes The year begins with the first day of the month Muharran and thus fell this year on Sunday November 12 making the first day of the year 1300 of the Mohammedan calendar the twelfth day of the eleventh month of the year 1SS2 of our calen dar By the same rule the first day of the year 1400 Mohammedan calendar will fall on Wednesday November 21 187P the hundred years of the Mohammedan calendar calen-dar being equal to about ninety seven of ours According to Mohammedan tradition tra-dition the first ten days of the month Muharran were given up to the writing of the Koran and the centennial anniversary of this event is a great occasion among Moham m ° dans the festival extending over several days j The celebration is the more significant signi-ficant this year because of the be lief among Mohammedans that the Mohdi director whose coming was prophesied by Mohammed is to appear ap-pear this year Concerning this person or prophet Mohammed prophesied pro-phesied that the world should not have an end till one of his own family fam-ily should govern the Arabians whose name should be like his own name and whose fathers name should also be like that of his own father The Mohdi is to fill the earth with righteousness and his coming is to be one of the signs of the general resurrection Among the I other signs of this resurrection are the decay of faith among menthe advancing ad-vancing of meanest persons to highest high-est dignities tumults tu-mults wars with the Jews a great smoke an eclipsethe Mohammedans will return to idolatry a great treasure treas-ure will be found in Euphrates the Kaaba will be destroyed by the Ethiopians and Constantinople will be taken by the descendants of Isaac The time of the resurrection even Mohammed could not learn from Gabriel but the Shiite sect of Mohammedans have long believed that the Modhi is on the earth in the person of some one to be identified iden-tified and announced when the proper time comes They suppose the Modhi to be no other than the last of the twelve inaras named Mohammed Abulkasem This is a Persian view but the coming of the Modhi this year is looked for by the Seminite Mohammedons as well welln It was said at one time that Arabi Pasha was the new prophet and that the persecution of the English would make him in accordance with Mohammeds prophecy ruler over the Arabians Another aspirant aspir-ant for the dignity is the false prophet pro-phet operating against the Egyptian Egyp-tian troops In the fcoudan The Turks seem inclined to head off these movements by securing anew a-new revelation assuring the Sultan Abdul Hamid IL son of Abdul Medjid is the Modhi or new prophet pro-phet of Islam The name does not come up to the requirements of Mo hammeds prophecy but neither does that of any other candidate for the place Chicago InterOcean |