ense is the feeling of solidarity
between all "True Believers," is as old as the Prophet, when Mohammed
and his few followers were bound together by the tie of faith against
their pagan compatriots who sought their destruction. To Mohammed the
principle of fraternal solidarity among Moslems was of transcendent
importance, and he succeeded in implanting this so deeply in Moslem
hearts that thirteen centuries have not sensibly weakened it. The bond
between Moslem and Moslem is to-day much stronger than that between
Christian and Christian. Of course Moslems fight bitterly among
themselves, but these conflicts never quite lose the aspect of family
quarrels and tend to be adjourned in presence of infidel aggression.
Islam's profound sense of solidarity probably explains in large part its
extraordinary hold upon its followers. No other religion has such a grip
on its votaries. Islam has won vast territories from Christianity and
Brahmanism,[25] and has driven Magism from the face of the earth;[26]
yet there has been no single instance where a people, once become
Moslem, has ever abandoned the faith. Extirpated they may have been,
like the Moors of Spain, but extirpation is not apostasy.

Islam's solidarity is powerfully buttressed by two of its fundamental
institutions: the "Hajj," or pilgrimage to Mecca, and the caliphate.
Contrary to the general opinion in the West, it is the Hajj rather than
the caliphate which has exerted the more consistently unifying
influence. Mohammed ordained the Hajj as a supreme act of faith, and
every year fully 100,000 pilgrims arrive, drawn from every quarter of
the Moslem world. There, before the sacred Kaaba of Mecca, men of all
races, tongues, and cultures meet and mingle in an ecstasy of common
devotion, returning to their homes bearing the proud title of "Hajjis,"
or Pilgrims--a title which insures them the reverent homage of their
fellow Moslems for all the rest of their days. The political
implications of the Hajj are obvious. It is in reality a perennial
Pan-Islamic congress, where all the interests of the faith are discussed
by delegates from every part of the Mohammedan world, and where plans
are elaborated for Islam's defence and propagation. Here nearly all the
militant leaders of the Mohammedan Revival (Abd-el-Wahab, Mahommed ben
Sennussi, Djemal-ed-Din el-Afghani, and many more) felt the imperious
summons to their task.[27]

As for the caliphate, it has played a great historic ro