community in every time of prayer,’ and I was convinced in my mind that I had been created to be a Muslim.” [1369] If Renan could say, “Je ne suis jamais entré dans une mosquée sans une vive émotion, le dirai-je? sans un certain regret de n’être pas musulman,” [1370] it can be readily understood how the sight of the Muslim trader at prayer, his frequent prostrations, his absorbed and silent worship of the Unseen, would impress the heathen African, endued with that strong sense of the mysterious such as generally accompanies a low stage of civilisation. Curiosity would naturally prompt inquiry, and the knowledge of Islam thus imparted might sometimes win over a convert who might have turned aside had it been offered unsought, as a free gift. Of the fast during the month of Ramaḍān, it need only be said that it is a piece of standing evidence against the theory that Islam is a religious system that attracts by pandering to the self-indulgence of men. As Carlyle has said, “His religion is not an easy one: with rigorous fasts, lavations, strict complex formulas, prayers five times a day, and abstinence from wine, it did not succeed by being an easy religion.” Bound up with these and other ritual observances, but not encumbered or obscured by them, the articles of the Muslim creed are incessantly finding outward manifestation in the life of the believer, and thus, becoming inextricably interwoven with the routine of his daily life, make the individual Musalman an exponent and teacher of his creed far more than is the case with the adherents of most other religions. [1371] Couched in such short and simple language, his creed makes but little demand upon the intellect, and the definiteness, positiveness, and minuteness of the ritual leave the believer in no doubt as to what he has to do, and these duties performed, he has the satisfaction of feeling that he has fulfilled all the precepts of the Law. In this union of rationalism and ritualism, we may find, to a great extent, the secret of the power that Islam has exercised over the minds of men. “If you would win the great masses give them the truth in rounded form, neat and clear, in visible and tangible guise.” [1372]