Page 307 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

Miiiunriin .ik.ihi.i
willing tu pay four piastres for a ticket ami to don the yellow leather
slippers, lest they defile the sanctuary; today they welcome missionaries.
My earliest attempt to preach the gospel in the A/.har was some six
years ago in company with a learned Egyptian convert. Mikhail Maiisour,
who knew many of the professors, as a former student, and they were
polite to us both, but it was a cold politeness with no response to our
message, and with very little respect for Christianity. However, at a
second and third visit we were able to place in the library ut this great
University an Arabic Bible, together with a complete commentary, con­
cordance and Bible dictionary. This gift proved the entering wedge,
and in succeeding years I have made many friends. Scarcely a week
goes by when I am in Cairo without visiting the Azhar, either alone or
in company with tourists, missionaries and students of our theological
seminary. To such a degree have I won the friendship of many of the
teachers that they greet me warmly on arrival allowing me to sit and
“listen in” at their lectures, and in one case even made no objection
when I interfered with a case of corporal punishment where a welter
was healing a pupil unmercifully. This man is now my warm li ieud.
During the past few months 1 have found a responsiveness which ii
most encouraging. A number of teachers expressed desire to posscsi
copies of the Bible, and through the courtesy of the American Bible
Society and their agent, we were able to place nearly a dozen copies in
the hands of the professors, and over 150 copies of Matthew’s Gospel
in the hands of students attending the lectures.
In the court of the blind I have many friends, and it is pathetic to
watch how they eagerly approach me when 1 come to wish them
greetings. No class in Egypt is more in need of the gospel than the*
blind or open-eyed blind leaders of the blind. Steeped in Mohammedan
learning, but ignorant of any righteousness save that according to t|)c
law, the gospel is to them indeed a strange message. However, the
isolation of this group of people is broken into by the daily press. o„c
may see them reading the newspapers even during lesson periods.
In the book-selling quarter just outside of the Azhar. copies of
French novels translated into Arabic, and scientific literature uf U*
modern type is also on sale, and finds eager purchasers. Some of thCK
book shops even handle the Scriptures. Controversial work* again^
Christianity, however, nearly all originate within the precinct> of ||,lA
University. It is therefore the more encouraging to find fanaticism
decreasing and a friendly response to the presentation of the principle*
of Christianity and its teaching.
The American University in Cairo has recently begun an exieusi^
TW
course giving popular lectures on hygiene and other subject S.
result was a gathering of -100 Moslem sheikhs from the A/.har m
the Assembly Hall of the American University at Cairo. I'ebriui /
2d, 1925. 'Hie occasion was the exhibition of an educational |j|n) ^
the origin of life and the sex problem, treated from a Christian iUna '
point. Surely when so large a number are willing to come tu a Chn 1
tian institution for an extra-curriculum lecture, when numbers of »i * !
attend the meetings at the V. M. C. A. and hundreds are reading
Scriptures, we are facing a new day of opportunity and a new rest **
bility of intercession. ^

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