THE BUILDER March 1917

SECRET SOCIETIES OF ISLAM
BY BRO. H. BEDFORD-JONES, CALIFORNIA


The secret societies of the Islamic world-- which no longer includes the
Turks, these having recently been expelled en masse from the ranks of Muslim,
or "enlightened"--is a topic on which no white man, I believe, can speak with
any authority. Their relation to Freemasonry is also hypothetical. There are,
however, certain
facts which we do know.

Africa is the great home of these societies, the greatest of which
is the Senussiyeh, or Beni S'nouss. These sons of S'nouss have an
order, monastic and missionary, tremendously powerful in its
secrecy, scope, and influence. Many travelers have heard of their
Grand Master and other officials, and have confused this society
with Freemasonry.

Here, as it happens, I can speak with some authority. A member of
the Senussiyeh once told me of their "lodges" and "initiations";
these have nothing to do with Freemasonry, being devoted to the
propagation of the pure religion of Muhammad, and nothing else.
Let this dispose of the Senussiyeh, and the random theories
regarding it.

Lesser societies are many. They may be centered about the
teachings of some Muslim saint; they may be a gild, such as the
sorcerers' gild of the Aissaouas; or, like the Anjuman Hidayat
al-Islam, they may be purely missionary in character.

An English army officer told me the following, which I believe
true. On his first trip across the Sahara--and he has made many--a
native friend gave him a strip of sheep-skin on which was written
a 'word" in Arbi. He could never get this "word" translated, but
it carried him safely through many difficult places. He believed
this to be an evidence of native Freemasonry.

Here is an excellent sample of how anything may be twisted to suit
one's fancy. What this "word" was, I do not know, but it was
probably a password of the Senussiyeh. That it had any connection
with Freemasonry, is improbable rather than otherwise.

Thus far, it would appear that I am unduly severe in condemnation
of such theories. But why should we stretch the meaning of things
to serve our own ends? When we find the Cross a tribal emblem of
the Berbers, when we find the Cross upon the weapons of the
ultrafanatical Touaregs--why distort these things ? The Berbers
are the descendants of the ancient African Christians and have
held to that sign; indeed, we should not forget that Islam reveres
Christ and his teachings. The Touaregs found the Cross a powerful
talisman of the French and Norman crusaders, and borrowed it to
lend their weapons power. That is all.

Is there, then, nothing of Freemasonry in the Muslim world, and
particularly in northern Africa? Beyond all question--there is,
and a great deal of it !

Astronomy, which doubtless entered more into ancient than into
modern Masonic practice, was the base of much of Muhammad's
teaching. This is probably coincidence. The society of Assassins
sprang from a society formed to embrace all religions, creeds and
peoples, and which was ruthlessly stamped out by the Arabs. The
Assassins carried on sufficient of its teachings to quite astonish
the crusaders.

That Freemasonry should exist in some form among the Muslims of
north Africa is not at all astonishing. It attained great growth
in France under Napoleon, and was carried to Egypt by the French.
The Barbary coast pirates took great numbers of prisoners from all
Christian countries, and these captives frequently became
renegades. There we have the genesis from which sprang a good deal
of debased and irregular Masonic knowledge among the Arabs.
Further, the Arabs were keen students, and the Moors of Spain
delved in all the mysteries of Christendom.

This is enough of generalities. I need only add that the educated
Muslim finds Freemasonry in astonishing accord with the teachings
of Muhammad, and there is absolutely no reason why a good Muslim
should not be a good Blue Lodge Mason.

Legitimate lodges have been established in Muslim countries, and
these we need not consider. That there is a primitive Freemasonry
in the Hejaz, in the sacred Meccan territories where no Europeans
have openly entered, and that this exists both among the Turks and
Arabs, has very recently been established by A. S. B. Wavell, who
went through all this country in Muslim disguise, shortly before
the Great War.

Unfortunately, he was not a Mason himself. He found, however, that
the existant hatred between Arabs and Turks barred them from each
other's lodges, and that the Arab lodges possibly had political
aims. This has developed, I believe, in the new Kingdom of Arabia.

In the Dutch island of Ceram, in the south seas, we find a society
called the Kakehan. It is a secret society of males only, grouped
around three chiefs whom they must obey blindly. Their object is
the maintenance of old usages against foreign influence, and
mutual aid and succor among the members. All affairs of religion
and society are discussed by the society in general assembly, the
three chiefs presiding. These meetings are held in the communal
house of the society, which no woman may enter.

Is this, then, Masonic? There we find the same temptation to say
"yes." It is very possible that cast aways from wrecked ships
founded this society; it may have been founded by the English
three centuries ago, during the Dutch wars in that part of the
world. Yet we have no definite basis for such an opinion. The
outward resemblance only is known.

So it is with the secret societies of Islam, and we come back to
the opening statement--that no white man can speak with authority
upon this. By collecting  a story here, an experience there, we
may form conclusions on the subject; but to get actual cold facts
on this topic is a task which for long is destined to remain next
to impossible.

