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Once upon a time there was a king in the old days long ago when kings could put to death whomsoever they wished. This king had a wife whom he was going to put to death the next morning, but she told him a bedtime story which so interested him he wanted to hear another. So, on condition that he would spare her life one moreday, she promised to tell him another story the next night. And again, day after day, he postponed putting her to death in order that he might hear another story at night. This she kept on doing for one thousand nights and one night more for good measure until the king could no longer live without her stories, so his queenwas saved. Some of the most famous of these stories have been translated into English. They are called the“Arabian Nights.”
Arabia was the birthplace of Mohammed, the man who started the Mohammedan religion. Mohammed was born in a place called Mecca about six hundred years after Christ was born. Mohammed thought he was called by God to b His messenger. His wife and friends believed in him, but his neighbors did not, so they ran him out of Mecca. He fled to the next town, Medina, where he preached to the people, and before long there were millions whofollowed him and obeyed his teachings, and now to-day there are about one third as many people who believe in Mohammed as believe in Christ. Mohammedans think Mecca is the center of the World. Jerusalem is one of their holy cities, but Mecca is their holiest of holies. Medina, which means simply “The City,” is second only to Mecca in holiness. The Mohammedans think that one prayer said at Medina is worth a thousand prayers said anywhere else, so Mohammedans send long distances to have prayers said for them in Medina.
