ABSTRACT
WE are struck dumb when we consider the activity of the West and the apathy of the East in matters purely Eastern. While we comfortably sit under the aegis of our great leaders—so futilely eloquent in their protestations of unspotted faith, so zealous in their efforts for the maintenance and advancement of Muslim temporal interests—not infrequently weaving plans for starting newspapers and encouraging Muslim learning—schemes which alas! never mature—Germany is putting us to shame by her splendid ventures and actual achievements. To such German Journals as “Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft”: “Zeitschrift fur Semitisch und Verwandte Gebiete”: “Die Welt des Islams”: “Der Neue Orient,” etc., Professor Fischer of Leipzig now adds the “Islamica”. This new Journal is issued from Leipzig, and its first number is an earnest of what is to come. Its scope is wider and more liberal than that of its predecessors, for it will deal both with the language and the culture of the East. Perhaps I should say it will deal chiefly with the languages and the civilizations of the Arabs, Persians and Turks, laying special stress on Persian literature and culture, which have hitherto been much neglected in other journals of its kind. Nor will the phases of Islam, as they exist, in India, in Russia, in China, among the Berbers in Central Africa, be outside its ken. Vast then is the field which it seeks to appropriate and cultivate, and competent the men who have assumed the task. Professor Fischer’s name is a guarantee of its worth, and his reputation it must maintain and enhance. To make the interest general, I should say widespread, the Editor has decided to divide the articles between the German and the English languages. This is a wise decision, for the other learned journals, referred to, are practically sealed books to those who know no German. And nothing is more desirable, nay, imperatively necessary, at this juncture, than to bring home to English-knowing people the rich fruits of recent researches in the domain of Islamic culture. It will draw closer the bond between Islam and true Christianity, for will it not emphasize and strengthen the intellectual and spiritual kinship of the two great religions of the world?
