CHAPTER III.—The Election of Abû Bakr as Caliph—His Allocution—His Injunction to the Troops—Revolt of the Tribes—War with Persia—Defeat of the Persians—War with Byzantium—Its Causes—Death of Abû Bakr—Election of Omar—Conquest of Syria—Capitulation of Jerusalem—Assassination of Omar—Election of Osmân—Conquest of Egypt—Death of Osmân—Election of Ali—Rebellion of Muâwiyah—Death of Ali—The Ommeyades—Butchery of Kerbela—The Martyrdom of Hussain—Conquest of Spain—The Abbassides—Destruction of Bagdad—The Title of the Ottoman Caliphs—The Ommeyade Caliphate of Spain—The Fatimide Caliphate of North Africa—The Crusades—Their Effect on Islâm—The Eruption of the Tartars—Destruction of Science and Learning in Islâm—Granada—The Sunni and Shiah Church—The Sects of Islâm—Ashaarïsm—Mutazalaism, 56-78 SELECTED WORKS ON ISLÂM, 79 ISLÂM CHAPTER I =Foreword.=—In the history of human development probably no subject is more interesting than the gradual evolution of spiritual ideals, or the endeavour to regulate man’s conduct in the ordinary relations of life by determinate ethical standards. Of all the great systems that aim at the elevation of mankind by an appeal to their religious consciousness, the latest-born is the religion preached by the Prophet of Arabia. The fundamental principles of right and wrong are common to all moral creeds; it is in their vitalising force, the life they infuse into humanity and the direction they give to human energies, that we must seek for elements of differentiation. Some have taken centuries to expand beyond their original circles, others have had to absorb foreign conceptions time after time until their primitive form became entirely changed before they could influence large masses of people. The religion of Mohammed, unaided by any extraneous help, under the impulse of a great and dominating Idea, within the space of eighty years from its birth, had spread from the Indus to the Tagus, from the Volga to the Arabian Sea. No Darius, Asoka, or Constantine came to its assistance with royal mandates and imperial homage. Under its influence a congeries of warring tribes consolidated into a nation carried aloft for centuries the torch of knowledge. With the fall of their empire, they ceased to be the preceptors of mankind. The younger nations who succeeded to their heritage continued some of their glory in arms, but less in arts and literature. They too declined in power and influence, and now the greatest of them is but a shadow of its former self. And yet, as an active living Faith Islâm has lost none of its pristine force nor the magic hold it possesses over its followers. In certain parts of the world it is spreading with greater rapidity than any other creed, and its acceptance among the less advanced races has invariably tended to raise them in the moral scale.