Series 
 
 Islamic World-Syria 
 
The Land 
 
 of 
 
 Veiled Problems 
 
 REV. STANLEY WHITE, D.D. 
 
The William Darling Press, New York 
 
The Land of Veiled Problems 
 
 Rev. Stanley White, D.D. 
 
 One of the most striking things which 
 greets the traveler in Mohammedan lands 
 is the woman with the veiled face. To one 
 accustomed to the freedom of the west the 
 heavily shrouded figures of the women are 
 most significant. Silently they move about 
 presumably able to see what is going on 
 but absolutely hidden from public gaze by 
 their black or variegated colored veils. 
 Even in countries where western civiliza- 
 tion has modified the custom to the extent 
 of the abandonment of the black veil it 
 has not permitted the entire discarding of 
 the covering of the face. In the streets of 
 Cairo one sees many women with a tenu- 
 ous white veil of softest material conceal- 
 ing the lower half of the face and lending 
 just enough of mystery and -subtle charm 
 to tempt one to another look rather than 
 to avert one's gaze. 
 
 In Syria as part of the Turkish Empire 
 the veiled woman is constantly in evidence. 
 The writer, when hurrying to board a tram 
 car in the streets of Beirut, was politely 
 vs^arned from taking his place with the 
 
 1 Note— In illustration on front cover are shown 
 ttiree Minarets of the Great Mosque at Damascus: 
 
 ihat on the roof is a fine specimen of Arabic 
 architecture; it has three galleries, tapers toward a 
 ball, crowned by a crescent: That on the right is 
 c'f. ^"Al? Minaret": That in the centre, Madinet 
 ba , or Minaret of Jesus", is from the tradition that 
 Jesus will take his place on its summit at the be- 
 ginning of the last judgment. 
 
 1 
 
caution that unconsciously he was en- 
 croaching on the part reserved for women. 
 Looking up he felt that numerous eyes 
 were fixed upon him from behind veiled 
 faces, whether in dismay or amusement, 
 he could not tell. Perhaps in no better 
 way can one describe the present situation 
 in the Turkish Empire and in our Syria 
 Mission than by saying that it is one of 
 veiled problems. Politically, socially and 
 religiously, there is an air of mystery 
 which baffles the wisest prophet and most 
 acute observer. The few days spent in 
 Syria en route to India contained many 
 illustrations of this fact. 
 
 I. The Veiled Political Problem 
 
 On the boat crossing from Brindisi to 
 Port Said was a young Greek from the 
 island of Zante, which, together with 
 Cephalonia, lies of£ the west coast of 
 Greece opposite Ithaca. From Zante five 
 thousand men had gone to the Greek fron- 
 tier to guard against Turkish encroach- 
 ment. There was a stern look on this 
 young man's face as he said that there 
 had been a Holy Alliance formed between 
 the Balkan States to settle once for all 
 the matter of the Turkish persecution of 
 Christians. In his opinion the political 
 causes of the war were entirely secondary 
 to the religious. He could see no prospect 
 of a permanent settlement of the question 
 or hope of peace until Christian and Mo- 
 hammedan had decided the matter by a 
 holy war. This was probably an extreme 
 view. I did not find it held by others with 
 
 2 
 
A Mohammedan Woman in street dress, Syria 
 
 3 
 
whom I talked. A less pessimistic opin- 
 ion but none the less tinged with mystery 
 emerged in a conversation with several 
 Syrians. Not once or twice but almost 
 universally did I hear the opinion expressed 
 that there was no hope for the Turkish 
 Empire from within. This is said to be 
 the thought of Christian and Mohammedan 
 alike, although the latter would not ex- 
 press it openly. The idea seems to be that 
 what England has done for Egypt some 
 strong power must do for Turkey. When 
 I inquired what nation the people were 
 looking to, I got the answer, "England, 
 first; Germany, second; with France a pos- 
 sible but poor third." In one instance true 
 Syrian politeness led a man to say: "Of 
 course, we would prefer your country to 
 them all." As I left Beirut in a ship 
 crowded to suffocation with emigrants, 
 most of whom were destined for America, 
 I could not but wonder if there might not 
 be some grain of truth in the wish even 
 though there could be no prospect of its 
 fulfilment in any other way than by the 
 quiet but persuasive influence of Christian 
 teaching. The fact is that Syria is rapidly 
 being denuded of its best young life be- 
 cause of the hopelessness of the present 
 situation. At the time of the establish- 
 ment of the Constitution there was a sud- 
 den revival of patriotic zeal and hope. For 
 a few months national enthusiasm burned 
 brightly but it was only for a while. The 
 conditions are no better and some say they 
 are worse than before the revolution. While 
 we were in Beirut the grounds at the bar- 
 
 4 
 
racks were full of horses and mules taken 
 from their owners for purposes of war, and 
 soldiers, reluctant for their task, were list- 
 lessly going to the front. In the presence of 
 conflicting opinions one dare not venture a 
 forecast, but a reflection of the most 
 thoughtful opinion would seem to indicate 
 that if the Turks are defeated in this war 
 and their territory partitioned, Syria will 
 fall to France, a denouement which the 
 Syrian very much fears. As one dwells on 
 the mystery concealed behind the veil of 
 the political situation he cannot help but 
 wish that he could read the minds of the 
 great powers, England, Russia, Germany, 
 France and Italy, and know just what their 
 silence means while their lesser neighbors 
 of the Balkan States are grappling with 
 the Turk. 
 
 II. The Veiled Social Problem 
 
 A country's safety lies in the love of its 
 people. The willingness of her sons to 
 suffer for her has always been the basis 
 of a nation's prosperity. At the present 
 time Syria's people seem to have no ambi- 
 tion for their country. While its general 
 appearance would indicate that the land 
 of Syria was hostile to cultivation, it is a 
 fact that both in climate and soil there are 
 possibilities of development. As one sees 
 the rough and rocky fields when scratched 
 by the old-fashioned single-stick plow yield- 
 ing itself to the growth of the grape- 
 vine, olive and the mulberry tree, he won- 
 ders what would be the result if Syria's 
 people could be persuaded to remain at 
 
 5 
 
home and experiment with modern agri- 
 cultural implements. There seems, how- 
 ever, little likelihood of this. A former 
 representative of the United States became 
 quite enthusiastic on this subject and sug- 
 gested the introduction of farm machinery. 
 He argued for his proposition on the ground 
 that modern rnethods would enable them to 
 do in a few hours what now took many men 
 several days. He was met by the rejoinder, 
 "What, then, would these men do the rest 
 of the time?" He abandoned his enthusi- 
 asm and the Syrian farmer, with his primi- 
 tive plow, still lazily follows his slow-step- 
 ping bullocks. We visited a large silk mill 
 where upwards of a hundred spindles were 
 busily whirring. I asked what the power 
 was that turned the machinery and was 
 taken to the rear of the building where 
 four men were patiently turning great 
 iron cranks. In a country where there is 
 no more ambition than this there is little 
 to hold the youth of the land after they 
 have heard the somewhat highly colored 
 stories of America or other more progress- 
 ive lands. It is astonishing how many of 
 this land are in touch with America. At 
 a school in Sidon, when the teacher asked 
 all the children who had relatives in 
 America to rise, practically the whole 
 school was on its feet. At a little way- 
 side inn of the most primitive character 
 there was hanging on the wall a picture 
 of a fine looking young man in European 
 dress. I asked the proprietor about him 
 and learned that he was his son who was 
 a successful business man of Yonkers, N. Y. 
 
 6 
 
Street Scene in Tripoli 
 
 The inn-keeper himself had been in Ameri- 
 ca and seeing the effect of Christian- 
 ity on men's lives had become a Christian 
 and was doing what he could as a mission- 
 ary by speaking to those who stopped at 
 the inn. This eagerness of the Syrian to 
 emigrate makes a problem for the mission- 
 ary. It forces our schools to teach the Eng- 
 lish language. Otherwise they could get 
 no pupil's, much less any who would pay 
 the small fee required. In doing so they 
 
 7 
 
distinctly complicate Syria's problem, for 
 they put it into the power of the young men 
 to leave the country. Conditions such as 
 these leave the social problem of Syria 
 shrouded in mystery and create a veiled 
 problem that no one can penetrate. 
 
 III. The Veiled Religious Problem 
 The most difficult of all Syria's problems 
 is the religious one. On the one hand the 
 missionary must face the solid wall of 
 Mohammedanism which, as yet, except in 
 the most general way, has been unyielding. 
 While it is a fact that in the Syrian Prot- 
 estant College there are upwards of 150 
 Mohammedans and that in our schools 
 there are occasional recruits, the number 
 who become Christians is comparatively 
 few. The press connected with our mission 
 has not felt it wise to publish any contro- 
 versial Moslem literature. Were it to do so 
 there would probably immediately come or- 
 ders from Constantinople to close the press. 
 In spite of the fact that the Young Turk- 
 ish Party came into power with the cry of 
 "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity," condi- 
 tions have remained essentially the same as 
 they were before the revolution, or, as one 
 man said, worse. Unless one remembers 
 that Islam has not only a religious but a 
 political standing, he cannot possibly esti- 
 mate Syria's religious problem. The other 
 phase of the religious problem lies in the 
 fact that Syria is the home of a most be- 
 wildering number of Christian sects which 
 present religion to the people on its for- 
 mal and ritualistic side. As we journeyed 
 
 8 
 
A Bedouin Sheik 
 
 toward Syria on a French steamer one was 
 attracted by the large number of priests 
 and nuns that were on board. There was 
 a Greek Bishop with his 'scarlet decora- 
 tions and a Maronite priest with his sandled 
 feet and brown garb, while sweet-faced 
 nuns were in every corner. Enquiry of the 
 missionaries elicited the answer that these 
 were but typical of the many Orders that 
 were working in Syria. As we listened to 
 the long list of names, including the Or- 
 thodox Greek, Greek Catholic, Maronites, 
 Jacobites, Syrian Catholics and many others 
 that have chipped off from the various 
 
 9 
 
sects, we realized what confusion there 
 must be in the minds of those whom the 
 missionary would reach. It Is because of 
 these conditions that the work has thus 
 far taken on so largely an educational 
 character. It is a silent influence and 
 awakens emulation on the part of the other 
 churches. With the spread of education 
 will come enlightenment and then will come 
 the breaking down of superstition. As in 
 the political and social problem there is a 
 veiled future, so is it in the religious life 
 of Syria. If Turkey wins in the present 
 war it would probably serve to solidify the 
 Mohammedan Faith. In this case mission 
 work would face another period of patient 
 waiting and possible persecution. If Tur- 
 key loses there will be a weakening of Islam 
 with a breaking up of the nation. This 
 will be the missionary's opportunity. If, 
 however, Turkey is partitioned and France 
 controls, her problem would again change, 
 for this would give great prestige to the 
 French Orders. In any event the problem 
 is a concealed one. For the present there 
 is nothing for the missionary to do in the 
 presence of these veiled problems but preach 
 Christ and Him crucified until men behold- 
 ing Him with unveiled faces may see in 
 Him the solution of their difficulties and 
 hope for their future. 
 
 10 
 
Board of Foreign Missions 
 of the 
 
 Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 
 156 Fifth Ave., New York 
 
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