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I  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  | 

I     Princeton,  N.  J.     /  J-^C 


^  s<^^»c  £  c^^;^e  s<^^(^  «^^£  e<^^@  0^^@  ^' 


>-l  \ 


I 


Harper'^s  Stereotype  Edition. 


THE 


P  L.IFE   OF  MOHAMMED; 


FOUNDER 

OF 

THE    RELIGION    OF    ISLAM,    AND    OF    THE 
EMPIRE  OF  THE  SARACENS. 


BY  THE    X 

REV.  GEORGE  "BUSH,  A.M. 


PRINTED  BY  J.  <S-  /.  HARPER,  82  CLIFF-ST. 

Sold  by  Collins  fe  Hannay,  Collins  &  Co.,  G.  &  C.  &  H.  Carvill,  Wliite, 
Gallaher,  &  White,  and  Q.  A.  Roorbach ; — Philadelphia,  Carey  & 
Lea,  John  Grigg,  Towar  &  J.  &  D.  M.  Hogan,  U.  Hunt,  E.  L.  Carey 
&  A.  Hart,  and  M'Carty  &  Davis; — Baltimore,  Gushing  &  Sons, 
J.  Jewett,  and  W.  &  J.  Neal ;— Boston,  Richardson,  Lord,  «&  Hoi 
brook,  Billiard,  Gray,  &  Co.,  and  Carter  &  Hendee. 

1833. 


Zntcred,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1834, 

By  Harper  &  Brothers, 

In  tha  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

4 


,*■ 


PREFACE. 


The  present  work  lays  claim  to  no  higher  cha- 
racter than  that  of  a  compilation.  This  indeed 
must  necessarily  be  the  character  of  any  work  at- 
tempted, at  this  day,  upon  the  same  subject.  Ml 
the  accessible  facts  hi  the  life  and  fortunes  of  the 
Arabian  prophet  have  long  since  been  given  to  the 
world.  New  theories  and  speculations,  moral  and 
philosophical,  founded  upon  these  facts,  and  many  of 
them  richly  deservmg  attention,  are  frequently  pro- 
pounded to  the  reflecting,  but  they  add  little  or  no- 
thing to  the  amount  of  our  positive  information. 
A-U  therefore  that  can  now  be  expected  is  such  a 
selection  and  arrangement  and  investment  of  the 
leading  particulars  of  the  Impostor's  history,  as 
shall  convey  to  the  English  reader,  in  a  correct 
and  concentrated  form,  those  details  which  are 
otherwise  diffused  through  a  great  number  of  rare 
books,  and  couched  in  several  different  languages. 
Such  a  work,  discreetly  prepared,  would  supply, 
if  we  mistake  not,  a  very  considerable  desideratum 
in  our  language — one  which  is  beginning  to  be 
more  sensibly  felt  than  ever,  and  which  the  spirit 
of  the  age  loudly  requires  to  have  supplied.  How 
A  2 


6  PREFACE. 

far  the  present  sketch  may  go  towards  meetmg  the 
demajiii,  it  becomes  others  than  the  ^vriter  to  judge. 
He  has  aimed  to  make  the  most  judicious  use  of 
the  materials  before  him,  and  from  the  whole  mass 
to  elicit  a  candid  moral  estimate  of  the  character 
of  the  Founder  of  Islam.  In  one  respect  he  may 
venture  to  assure  the  reader  he  will  find  the  plan 
of  the  ensuing  pages  an  improvement  upon  pre- 
ceding Memoirs  ;  and  that  is,  in  the  careful  colla- 
tion of  the  chapters  of  the  Koran  with  the  events 
of  the  narrative.  He  will  probably  find  the  history 
illustrated  to  an  unexpected  extent  from  this 
source — a  circumstance,  which,  while  it  serves 
greatly  to  authenticate  the  facts  related,  imparts  a 
zest  also  to  the  tenor  of  the  narrative  scarcely  to 
be  expected  from  the  nature  of  the  theme. 

In  order  to  preserve  the  continuity  of  the  story 
from  being  broken  by  incessant  reference  to  au- 
thorities, the  following  catalogue  is  submitted, 
which  will  present  at  one  view  the  principal  works 
consulted  and  employed  in  preparing  the  present 
Life  : — Sale's  Koran,  2  vols.  ;  Universal  History, 
Mod.  Series,  vol.  i.  ;  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  vol.  iii.  ;  Prideaux's  Life  of 
Mahomet ;  Boulainvillier's  do.  ;  do.  in  Library  of 
Useful  Knowledge,  No.  45 ;  Bayle's  Historical 
Dictionary,  Art.  Mahomet ;  Hettinger's  Historia 
Orientalis :  Abul-Faragii  Historia  Dynastarum, 
Pocock's  Transl. ;  Morgan's  Mahometism  Ex- 
plained, 2  vols. ;  Forster's  Mahometanism  Un- 
veiled, 2  vols.  ;  D'Herbelot's  Bibliotheque  Orien- 


PREFACE.  Y 

tale ;  Rycaut's  Present  State  of  the  Ottoman  Em- 
pire ;  Ockley's  History  of  the  Saracens,  2  vols. ; 
"White's  Bampton  Lectures ;  Lee's  Translation  of 
the  Rev.  H.  Martyn's  Controversial  Tracts ; 
Whitaker's  Origin  of  Arianism ;  Faber's  Sacred 
Calendar  of  Prophecy,  3  vols. ;  Buckingham's, 
Keppel's,  Burckhardt's,  and  Madden's  Travels  in 
the  East. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Arabic  proper  names  so 
frequently  occurring  in  this  work,  it  may  be  useful 
to  the  English  reader  to  be  informed,  that  Al  is  a 
particle  equivalent  to  our  definite  article  The. 
Thus,  Alcoran  is  composed  of  two  distinct  words 
signifying  The  Koran,  of  which  the  last  only 
ought  to  be  retained  in  English.  Again,  Ehn  is 
the  Arabic  word  for  son,  as  is  Bint  or  Binta  for 
daughter,  and  with  the  particle  Al  after  it,  accord- 
ing to  the  Arabic  usage,  Ehno''l  is,  the  son.  So 
Ahu,  father,  with  the  article  after  it,  Abu'l,  the  fa- 
ther. Thus,  Said  Ebn  Oheidah  Abu  Omri,  is, 
Said,  the  son  of  Obeidah  father  of  Omri ;  it  be- 
ing usual  with  the  Arabs  to  take  their  names  of 
distinction  from  their  sons  as  well  as  their  fathers. 
In  like  manner,  EbnoH  Athir,  is,  the  son  of  Athir ; 
AbuH  Abbas,  the  father  of  Abbas :  and  as  Abd 
signifies  servant,  and  Allah,  God ;  Abdo^lah  or  Ab- 
dallah  is,  servant  of  God ;  Abdd'l  Shems,  servant 
of  the  sun,  Sfc. 

The  deciding  between  the  different  modes  in 
which  the  prophet's  name  is,  or  ought  to  be,  writ- 


8  PREFACE. 

ten,  and  the  adoption  of  the  most  eligible,  has  been 
a  matter  of  perplexmg  deliberation.  Upon  con- 
sulting the  Greek  Byzantine  historians,  it  appears 
that  the  same  diversity  of  appellation  which  now 
prevails,  has  obtained  for  seven  centuries.  In  some 
of  them  we  meet  with  Maojnetis.,  from  which 
comes  our  Mahomet,  the  most  popular  and  familiar 
title  to  the  English  ear ;  and  in  others,  Machonied. 
Other  varieties  among  ancient  authors  might  doubt- 
less be  specified.  But  it  will  be  observed,  for  the 
most  part,  that  writers  acquainted  with  the  Arabic 
tongue  and  who  have  drawn  their  materials  directly 
from  the  original  fountains,  as  well  as  the  great 
body  of  recent  Oriental  travellers,  are  very  unani- 
mous in  adopting  the  orthography  of  the  name 
which  appears  in  our  title  page.  If  the  Arabic 
usage  be  in  fact  the  proper  standard,  as  will  pro- 
bably be  admitted,  MoJiam?ned,  instead  of  either 
Manomet,  Mahomed,  or  Maho?nmed,  is  the  genuine 
form  of  the  name,  and  the  mode  in  which  it  should 
be  uniformly  written  and  pronounced.  The  fact, 
that  the  example  of  most  Oriental  scholars  of  the 
present  day  has  given  currency  to  this  form,  and 
the  probability  that  it  will  finally  supplant  all 
others,  has  induced  us,  on  the  whole,  to  adopt  it, 
though  with  considerable  hesitation. 

The  following  list  of  names  and  titles  frequently 
occurring  in  connexion  with  the  affairs  of  the  East, 
together  with  their  etymological  import,  will  not  be 
deemed  inappropriate  to  the  object  of  the  present 
work. 


PREFACE.  9 

Mohammed,  >  From  Hamad;  praised^  highly  ce- 
Ahmed.  5      lebrated^  illustrious,  glorious, 

Moslem,  ^  All  from  the  same  root,  Aslam; 
Mussulman,  (  signifying  to  yield  up,  dedicate,, 
Islam,  [       consecrate  entirely  to  the  service 

Islamism.       J       of  religion. 

Koran. — From  Kara,  to  read ;  the  reading,  legend, 
or  that  which  ought  to  he  read. 

Caliph.  — A  successor;  from  the  Hebrew Chalaph; 
to  he  changed,  to  succeed,  to  pass  round  in 
a  revolution. 

Sultan. — Originally  from  the  Chaldaic  Soltan  ; 
signifying  authority,  dominion,  principality. 

Vizier. — An  assistant. 

Had  J. — Pilgrimage;  Hadji;  one  who  makes  the 
pilgrimage  to  Mecca. 

Saracen. — Etymology  doubtful ;  supposed  to  be 
from  Sarak,  to  steal ;  a  plunderer,  a  robher, 

Hejira,  ^  The  Flight ;  applied  emphatically  to  Mo- 
or     >      hammed's  flight  from  Mecca  to  Me- 
Hejra.  )      dina.     See  page  106. 

Mufti. — The  principal  head  of  the  Mohammedan 
religion,  and  the  resolver  of  all  doubtful 
points  of  the  law. — An  office  of  great  dig- 
nity in  the  Turkish  empire. 

Imam. — A  kind  of  priest  attached  to  the  mosques, 
whose  duty  it  is  occasionally  to  expound 


10  PREFACE. 

a  passage  of  the  Koran.  They,  at  the 
same  time,  usually  follow  some  more  lucra 
tive  employment. 

MooLLAH. — The  Moollahs  form  what  is  called 
the  Ulema,  or  body  of  doctors  in  theology 
and  jurisprudence,  who  are  entrusted  with 
the  guardianship  of  the  laws  of  the  em- 
pire, and  from  whose  number  the  Mufti  is 
chosen. 

Emir. — Lineal  descendants  of  the  Prophet  him- 
self, distinguished  by  wearing  turbans  of 
deep  sea-green,  the  colour  peculiar  to  all 
the  race  of  Mohammed.  They  have  spe- 
cial immunities  on  the  score  of  their  de- 
scent, and  one  of  them  carries  the  green 
standard  of  the  Prophet  when  the  Grand 
Seignior  appears  in  any  public  solemnity. 

Pasha. — The  title  given  to  the  provincial  governors. 
A  Pasha  is  to  a  province  or  pashalic,  what 
the  Sultan  is  to  the  empire,  except  that  the 
judicial  power  is  in  the  hands  of  the  cadis, 
the  provincial  magistrates.  The  tails  of  a 
Pasha  are  the  standards  which  he  is  allowed 
to  carry ;  one  of  three  tails  is  one  of  three 
standards,  which  number  gives  the  power 
of  life  and  death. 

Reis  Effendi. — This  officer  may  be  termed  the 
High  Chancellor  of  the  Ottoman  empire. 
He  is  at  the  head  of  a  class  of  attorneys 


PREFACE.  1 1 

which  at  this  time  contains  the  best  informed 

men  of  the  nation. 

\' 
Seraglio. — This  word  is  derived  from  Serais  >& 
term  of  Persian  origin,  signifying  a  palace. 
It  is  therefore  improperly  used  as  synony 
mous  with  Harem,  the  apartments  of  the 
women.  The  SeragHo  is,  in  strictness  of 
speech,  the  place  where  the  court  of  the 
Grand  Seignior  is  held  ;  but  it  so  happens 
that  at  Constantinople  this  building  includes 
thQ  imperial  Harem  within  its  walls. 

Crescent. — The  national  ensign  of  the  Turks, 
surmounting  the  domes  and  minarets  at- 
tached to  their  mosques,  as  the  Cross  does 
the  churches  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in 
Christian  countries.  This  peculiar  and 
universal  use  of  the  Crescent  is  said  to 
have  owed  its  origin  to  the  fact,  that  at  the 
time  of  Mohammed's  flight  from  Mecca  to 
Medina  the  moon  was  new.  Hence  the 
half  moon  is  commemorative  of  that  event. 

Sublime  Porte. — This  title,  which  is  frequently 
applied  to  the  court,  cabinet,  or  executive 
department  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  is  de- 
rived, as  the  words  import,  from  a  lofty 
arched  gateway  of  splendid  construction, 
forming  the  principal  entrance  to  the  Seraglio 
or  palace.  It  is  a  phrase  equivalent  to 
"  Court  of  St.  James,"  "  Court  of  St.  Cloud," 
&c. 


12  PREFACE. 

As  one  grand  object  continually  aimed  at  by  the 
compiler  of  the  ensuing  pages  has  been  to  exhibit 
the  Arabian  prophet  as  a  signal  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  Providence,  and  to  put  the  whole  system 
of  his  imposture,  with  its  causes,  accompaniments, 
and  effects,  where  it  properly  belongs,  into  the 
great  scheme  of  the  Divine  administration  of  the 
world,  it  is  hoped  that  the  prophetic  investigations 
of  this  subject  in  the  Appendix  will  not  be  over- 
looked. The  writer  is  disposed  to  lay  a  peculiar, 
perhaps  an  unreasonable,  stress  of  estimation  upon 
this  portion  of  the  work.  Not  that  he  deems  the 
interpretation  proposed  as  infallible,  but  he  is  in 
hopes  that  this  essay  towards  a  right  explication 
may  contribute  somewhat  to  inspire  a  more  gene- 
ral interest  in  this  province  of  scriptural  elucida- 
tion, and  thus  to  pave  the  way  for  the  eventual 
correction  of  the  errors  of  this  and  every  preceding 
exposition.  No  one  who  admits  the  truth  of  reve- 
lation but  will  acknowledge  that  events,  which  are 
so  overruled  in  the  providence  of  God  as  to  revo- 
lutionize a  great  portion  of  the  civilized  and  Chris- 
tian world,  are  important  enough  to  claim  r„  place 
in  the  prophetic  developements  of  futurity ;  and  if 
predicted,  these  predictions,  when  accomplished, 
are  worthy  of  being  explained.  Otherwise,  we 
willingly  and  culpably  forego  one  of  the  main  ar- 
guments in  favour  of  the  truth  and  divinity  of  the 
inspired  oracles. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface 5 

Introduction 17 

CHAPTER  I. 

National  Descent  of  the  Arabs— Proved  to  be  from  Ishmael,  Son  of 
Abraham 25 

CHAPTER  II. 

Birth  and  Parentage  of  Mohammed— Loses  his  Parents  in  early  Child- 
hood—Is placed  under  the  Care  of  his  Uncle  Abu  Taleb— Goes  into 
Syria  on  a  trading  Expedition  with  his  Uncle  at  the  Age  of  thirteen — 
Enters  the  Service  of  Cadijah,  a  Widow  of  Mecca,  whom  he  atterward 
marries 32 

CHAPTER  III. 

Mohammed  forms  the  Design  of  palming  a  new  Religion  upon  the 
World— Difficult  to  account  for  this  Determination— Considerations 
suggested — Retires  to  the  Cave  of  Hera — Announces  to  Cadijah  the 
Visits  of  Gabriel  with  a  Portion  of  the  Koran— She  becomes  a  Convert 
— His  slow  Progress  in  gaining  Proselytes— Curious?  Coincidence  45 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Prophet  announces  his  Mission  among  his  Kindred  of  the  Koreish 
— Meets  with  a  harsh  Repulse — Begins  to  declare  it  in  Public — View 
of  his  fundamental  Doctrines— His  Pretensions  respecting  the  Koran 
—The  disdainful  Rejection  of  his  Message  by  his  fellow-citizens — 
His  consequent  Denunciations  against  them 56 

B 


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Mohammed  not  discouraged  by  Opposition — Tiie  Burden  of  his  Preaching 
—Description  of  Paradise— Error  to  suppose  Women  excluded— Of 
Hell— Gains  some  Followers— Challenged  to  work  a  Miracle— His 
Reply— The  Koran  the  grand  Miracle  of  his  Religion— Judicial  Ob- 
duracy charged  unon  the  Unbelievers 68 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Koreish  exasperated  and  alarmed  by  Mohammed's  growing  Success 
— Commence  Persecution — Some  of  his  Followers  seek  safety  in 
Flight— New  Converts— The  Koreish  form  a  League  against  him— Abu 
Taleb  and  Cadijah  die — He  makes  a  temporary  Retreat  from  Mecca — 
Returns  and  preaches  with  increased  Zeal— Some  of  the  Pilgrims 
from  Medina  converted 83 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Prophet  pretends  to  have  had  a  Night-journey  through  the  Seven 
Heavens— Description  of  the  memorable  Night  by  an  Arabic  writer- 
Account  i)f  the  Journej'— Ilis  probable  Motives  in  feigning  such  an 
ixtravagant  Fiction 89 

CHAPTER  Vni. 

An  Embassy  sent  to  the  Prophet  from  Medina— Enters  into  a  League' 
with  them — Sends  thither  a  Missionary — Another  Deputation  sent  to 
proffer  him  an  Asylum  in  that  City— His  Enemies  renew  their  Perse- 
cutions— Determines  to  fly  to  Medina — Incidents  on  the  Way — Makes 
a  solemn  Entry  into  the  City— Apostate  Christians  supposed  to  have 
joined  in  tendering  him  the  Invitation 101. 

CHiVPTER  IX. 

The  prophet  now  raised  to  a  high  Pitch  of  Dignity— Builds  a  Mosque 
—A  Change  in  the  Tone  of  his  Revelations— The  Faithful  now  com- 
manded to  fight  for  the  true  Rehgion — His  first  warlike  Attempt 
nnsuccessilil— The  Failure  compensated  in  the  Second—Account  of 
the  Battle  of  Beder— This  Victory  much  boasted  of— Difficulties  in  the 
Division  of  ihe  Spoil— Caab,  a  Jew,  assassinated  at  the  Instance  of 
the  Prophet , ^ 109 


CONTENTS.  15 

CHAPTER  X. 

Mohammed  alters  the  Kebla— Many  of  his  Followers  greatly  offended 
thereby— Mohammedan  Institution  of  Prayer— Appoints  the  Fast  of 
Ramadan— Account  of  this  Ordinance 119 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Koreish  undertake  a  new  Expedition  against  the  Prophet— The 
Battle  of  Ohod— Mohammed  and  his  Army  entirely  defeated— His  Fol- 
lowers murmur — The  Prophet's  poor  Devices  to  retrieve  the  Disgrace 
incurred  in  this  Action — Resolves  it  mainly  into  the  Doctrine  of  Pre- 
destination—Wine and  Games  of  Chance  forbidden— Sophyan,  son  of 
Caled,  slain— War  of  the  Ditch 126 

CHAPTER  Xn. 

The  Jews  the  special  Objects  of  Mohammed's  Enmity — Several  Tribes 
of  them  reduced  to  Subjection— Undertakes  a  Pilgrimage  to  Mecca— 
The  Meccans  conclude  a  Truce  with  him  of  ten  Years — His  Power 
and  Authority  greatly  increased— Has  a  Pulpit  constructed  for  his 
Mosque— Goes  against  Chaibar,  a  City  of  the  Arab  Jews— Besieges 
and  takes  the  City,  but  is  poisoned  at  an  Entertainment  by  a  young 
Woman— Is  still  able  to  prosecute  his  Victories 135 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Mohammed  alleges  a  Breach  of  Faith  on  the  Part  of  the  Meccans,  and 
marches  an  Army  against  them — The  City  surrendered  to  the  Con- 
queror—Abu Sophyan  and  Al  Abbas,  the  Prophet's  Uncle,  declare 
themselves  Converts— Mecca  declared  to  be  Holy  Ground-  -The  neigh- 
bouring Tribes  collect  an  Army  of  four  thousand  Men  to  arrest  the 
growing  Power  of  the  Prophet- The  Confederates  entirely  overthrown 
— A'rival  Prophet  arises  in  the  Person  of  Moseilama— Is  crushed  by 
Caled 142 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Religion  of  the  Prophet  firmly  established— The  prmcipal  Countries 
subjected  by  him— The  effects  of  the  Poison  make  alarming  Inroads 
upon  his  Constitution— Perceives  his  End  approaching— Preaches  for 
the  last  Time  in  Public— His  last  Illness  and  Death— The  Moslems 
scarcely  persuaded  that  their  Prophet  was  dead— Tumult  appeased 
by  Abubeker— The  Prophet  buried  at  Medina— The  Story  of  the 
hanging  Coffin  false 150 


16  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Reflections  upon  the  extraordinary  Career  of  Mohammed— Description 
of  his  Person— General  View  and  Estimate  of  his  Character 156 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Account  of  the  Prophet's  Wives— Cadijah—Ayesha— Hafsa—Zeinab— 
Safya— His  Concubines— Singular  Precepts  in  the  Koran  respecting 
the  Wives  of  Mohammed— His  comparative  Treatment  of  Jews  and 
Christians— Predictions  of  the  Prophet  alleged  by  Mohammedans  to 
be  contained  in  the  sacred  Scriptures 167 

Appendix  A. — Inspired  Prophecies  respecting  Mohammed  and  Moham- 
medanism considered 181 

Appendix  B. — The  Caaba,  and  the  Pilgrimage  to  Mecca 210 

Appendix  C— The  Koran 227 

Appendix  D.— Mohammedan  Confession  of  Faith 241 

Appendix  E.— Account  of  A>''*iors 250 


INTRODUCTION. 


No  revolution  recorded  in  history,  if  we  except 
that  effected  by  the  rehgion  of  the  Gospel,  has  in- 
troduced greater  changes  into  the  state  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  than  that  which  has  grown  out  of  the 
rise,  progress,  and  permanence  of  Mohammedan- 
ism. The  history  and  character,  therefore,  of  this 
religion  becomes  an  object  of  laudable  curiosity 
with  every  enlightened  mind.  Considered  merely 
as  a  department  of  the  general  annals  of  the 
world,  apart  from  any  connexion  with  the  true  re- 
ligion, it  furnishes  some  of  the  most  interesting 
records  of  the  human  race.  But  wlien  viewed  as 
a  part  of  the  great  chain  of  providential  and  pre- 
dicted events,  designed  to  have  a  direct  bearing 
upon  the  state  of  the  Christian  church,  through  the 
whole  period  of  its  disastrous  prevalence,  it  urges 
a  new  and  stronger  claim  upon  our  attention.  By 
many  distinguished  writers,  Avho  have  deeply  stu- 
died its  origin,  genius,  and  history,  the  religion  of 
the  Koran  is  confidently  regarded  rather  as  a 
Christian  heresy,   or   the  product  of  a  Christian 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

heresy,  than  as  a  heathen  superstition.*  Conse- 
quently, its  fate  is  involved  in  that  of  all  false 
doctrines  which  have  corrupted  the  Gospel ;  and  as 
far  as  the  disclosures  of  prophecy,  or  the  present 
posture  of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  hold  out  a 
hope  of  the  speedy  downfall  of  delusion,  and  of 
the  establishment  of  the  truth,  the  eye  is  naturally 
turned  with  deepening  interest  and  anxiety  to  those 
regions  of  the  globe  where  this  religion  has  so 
long  prevailed. 

But  in  proportion  to  the  interest  inspired  in  the 
general  subject  of  Mohammedanism,  is  that  which 
is  felt  in  the  life,  character,  and  actions  of  its 
founder.  That  an  obscure  individual,  sprung  from 
the  roving  tribes  of  Arabia,  following  no  higher 
occupation  than  that  of  a  caravan-trader,  possess- 
ing no  peculiar  advantages  of  mental  culture,  nor 
distinguished  in  the  outset  by  any  pre-eminence  of 
power  or  authority,  should  yet  have  been  enabled, 
in  spite  of  numerous  obstacles,  to  found  such  an 
extensive  empire  over  the  minds,  as  well  as  per- 
sons, of  millions  of  the  human  race,  and  that  this 
dominion  should  have  been  continued  for  more 
than  twelve  hmidred  years,  presents  a  phenomenon 
which  increases  our  wonder  the  more  steadily  it  is 
contemplated. 


*  ''  Hence,"  says  the  learned  and  exemplary  Mede,  "  Mahometanism 
has  frequently  been  accounted  a  Christian  hereay ;  and  as  it  had  its 
origin  in  Christianity,  so  to  Christ  it  looks  in  the  end.  For,  according  to 
the  creed  of  the  Mahometans,  Jesus  is  expected  to  descend  to  earth,  to 
embrace  the  religion  of  Mahomet,  to  slay  Antichrist,  and  to  reign  with 
his  saints."  The  same  authority  affirms,  '•  that  the  Mahometans  are 
nearer  to  Christianity  than  many  of  the  ancient  heretics ;  the  Cerinthiana, 
Gnostics,  and  Manichees." 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

It  is  proposed  in  the  ensuing  pages  to  exhibit 
the  prominent  events  of  the  Hfe  and  fortunes  of 
this  remarkable  man.  It  will  not,  of  course,  be 
expected  that,  at  this  distance  of  time  and  remote- 
ness of  place,  a  mass  of  facts  entirely  new  should 
be  communicated  to  the  world.  The  discreet  use 
of  the  materials  already  extant  is  all  that  can  now  be 
reasonably  required  or  attempted.  Yet  we  are  not 
without  hope,  that  in  one  aspect,  at  least,  our  theme 
may  present  itself  arrayed  in  a  chai^acter  of  novelty 
and  of  unwonted  interest ;  we  mean,  in  its  connexions 
with  Christianity.  An  enlightened  Christian  esti- 
mate of  the  prophet  of  Arabia  and  his  religion  is,  we 
believe,  seldom  formed,  simply  because  the  sub- 
ject has  seldom  been  so  presented  as  to  afford  the 
means  of  such  an  estimate.  A  brief  sketch,  there- 
fore, of  the  state  of  Christianity  at  the  time  of 
Mohammed's  appearance,  especially  in  that  region 
of  the  world  in  which  his  imposture  took  its  rise, 
will  properly  invite  the  reader's  attention  at  the 
outset  of  the  work.  This  will  show  more  clearly 
the  intended  providential  bearings  of  the  entire 
fabric  of  Moliammedan  delusion  upon  the  church 
of  Christ ;  and,  apart  from  this  particular  view  of 
it,  we  are  persuaded  that  an  entirely  correct  or 
adequate  judgment  of  Islamism  cannot  be  formed. 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

State  of  Christianity  in  the  Sixth  Century^ 
particularly  in  the  Eastern  Churches. 

The  distinction  of  Eastern  and  Western  churches, 
in  ecclesiastical  history,  is  founded  upon  a  similai 
geographical  division  of  the  Roman  empire  under 
the  emperors,  into  two  great  departments ;  the  one 
including  the  countries  of  Asia  or  the  East,  which 
had  been  subjected  to  the  Roman  arms,  and  the 
other  those  of  Europe,  more  properly  denominated 
the  West.  This  distinction  became  still  more 
common  from  the  days  of  Constantine,  who  re- 
moved the  seat  of  the  empire  from  Rome  to  Con- 
stantinople, though  the  final  and  complete  rupture 
between  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches  did  not  oc- 
cur till  the  seventh  century. 

Over  the  largest  portion  of  the  Roman  empire 
the  Christian  religion  was  early  propagated,  and 
for  two  or  three  centuries  subsisted  in  a  great  de- 
gree of  its  original  simplicity  and  purity.  Flourish- 
ing churches  were  planted  by  the  Apostles  them- 
selves in  the  different  provinces  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  along  the  eastern  limits  of  Europe;  from  M-hich 
"  the  word  sounded  out"  to  the  adjacent  territories 
with  a  multiplying  power,  so  that  the  cause  and 
kingdom  of  the  Redeemer  continued  to  spread  long 
after  its  first  propagators  had  entered  into  their 
rest.  But  a  gradual  degeneracy  supervened  upon 
the  priniitive  prosperity  of  the  church.  During 
the  fourth  century  "  the  mystery  of  iniquity," 
which   had  been  long  before    working  in   secret, 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

began  to  discover  itself  more  openly,  and  though 
the  Christians,  by  the  laws  of  the  empire,  were  ex- 
empted from  persecution,  yet  from  this  time  for- 
ward a  growing  declension  and  defection  among 
them  is  to  be  traced  through  every  subsequent 
period,  till  at  length,  in  the  seventh  century,  "  the 
man  of  sin"  became  fully  revealed,  and,  according 
to  the  predictions  of  holy  writ,  took  his  seat  "  as 
God  in  the  temple  of  God,  opposing  and  exalting 
himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  is  wor- 
shipped." It  was  about  the  period  at  which  Mo- 
hammed arose  that  this  fearful  apostacy  had  at- 
tained its  height — that  "  the  transgressors  had 
come  to  the  full" — and  the  degree  to  which  the 
nominal  church  had  departed  from  the  standard  of 
faith,  morals,  and  worship  contained  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, well  nigh  surpasses  belief.  Then  it  was  that 
those  foul  corruptions  and  superstitions  were  in- 
troduced mto  the  church,  which  finally  grew  to 
such  a  pitch  of  enormity  as  to  occasion  the  sepa- 
ration of  Luther  and  the  other  reformers  from  what 
they  deemed  and  denominated  the  communion  of 
Antichrist.  At  this  period  it  was,  that  the  venera- 
tion for  departed  saints  and  martyrs — the  idolatrous 
worship  of  images  and  relics — the  rendering  divine 
honours  to  the  Virgin  Mary — ^the  doctrine  of  pur- 
gatory— and  the  adoration  of  the  Cross,  had  be- 
come firmly  established  ;  and  thus  the  lustre  of  the 
Gospel  suffered  a  dark  eclipse,  and  the  essence  of 
Christianity  was  lost  under  a  load  of  idle  and  su- 
perstitious ceremonies. 

In  the  eastern  parts  of  the  empire,  especially 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

Syria  and  the  countries  bordering  upon  Arabia,  as 
well  as  in  some  part3  of  Arabia  itself,  these  evils 
were  aggravated  by  the  numerous  sects  and  here- 
sies that  prevailed,  and  by  the  incessant  contro- 
versial wars  which  they  waged  with  each  other. 
The  church  was  torn  to  pieces  by  the  furious  dis- 
putes of  the  Arians,  SabelUans,  Nestorians,  Euty- 
chians,  and  Collyridians,  by  whom  the  great  doc- 
trines of  Christianity  were  so  confounded  with 
metaphysical  subtleties  and  the  jargon  of  schools, 
that  they  ceased,  in  great  measure,  to  be  regarded 
as  a  rule  of  life,  or  as  pointing  out  the  only  way 
of  salvation.  The  religion  of  the  Gospel,  the 
blessed  source  of  peace,  love,  and  unity  among 
men,  became,  by  the  perverseness  of  sectaries,  a 
firebrand  of  burning  contention.  Council  after 
council  was  called — canon  after  canon  was  en- 
acted— prelates  were  traversing  the  country  in 
every  direction  in  the  prosecution  of  party  pur- 
poses, resorting  to  every  base  art,  to  obtain  the 
authoritative  estabhshment  of  their  own  peculiar 
tenets,  and  the  condemnation  and  suppression  of 
those  of  their  adversaries.  The  contests  also  for 
the  episcopal  office  ran  so  high,  particularly  in  the 
West,  that  the  opposing  parties  repeatedly  had  re- 
course to  violence,  and,  in  one  memorable  instance, 
the  interior  of  a  Christian  church  was  stained  by 
the  blood  of  a  number  of  the  adherents  of  the  rival 
bishops,  who  fell  victims  to  their  fierce  contentions. 
Yet  it  is  little  to  be  wondered  at  that  these  places 
of  preferment  should  have  been  so  greedily  sought 
after  by  men  of  corrupt  minds,  when  we  learn, 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

that  they  opened  the  direct  road  to  wealth,  luxury, 
and  priestly  power.  Ancient  historians  represent 
the  bishops  of  that  day,  as  enriched  by  the  pre- 
sents of  the  opulent,  as  riding  abroad  in  pompous 
state  in  chariots  and  sedans,  and  surpassing,  in  the 
extravagance  of  their  feasts,  the  sumptuousness  of 
princes  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  barba- 
rous ignorance  was  fast  overspreading  the  nations 
of  Christendom,  the  ecclesiastical  orders  them- 
selves not  excepted.  Among  the  bishops,  the  legi- 
timate instructers  and  defenders  of  the  church,  num- 
bers were  to  be  found  incapable  of  composing  the 
poor  discourses  which  their  office  required  them  to 
deliver  to  the  people,  or  of  subscribing  the  decrees 
which  tliey  passed  in  their  councils.  The  little 
learning  in  vogue  was  chiefly  confined  to  the 
monks.  But  they,  instead  of  cultivating  science, 
or  diffusing  any  kind  of  useful  knowledge,  squan- 
dered their  time  in  the  study  of  the  fabulous  le- 
gends of  pretended  saints  and  martyrs,  or  in  com- 
posing histories  equally  fabulous. 

This  woful  corruption  of  doctrine  and  morals  in 
the  clergy  was  followed,  as  might  be  expected,  by 
a  very  general  depravity  of  the  common  people ; 
and  though  we  cannot  suppose  that  God  left  him- 
self altogether  without  witnesses  in  this  dark  pe- 
riod, yet  the  number  of  the  truly  faithful  had  dwin- 
dled down  to  a  mere  remnant,  and  the  wide-spread- 
ing defection  seemed  to  call  aloud  for  the  judg- 
ments of  heaven.  In  view  of  this  deplorable  state 
of  Christianity,  anterior  to  the  appearance  of  Mo- 
hammed, we  are   prepared  to  admit  at  once   the 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

justness  of  the  following  remarks  upon  the  moral 
ends  designed  to  be  accomplished  by  Providence 
in  permitting  this  desolating  scourge  to  arise  at  this 
particular  crisis  of  the  world. 

"  At  length,"  says  Prideaux,  "  having  wearied 
the  patience  and  long-suifering  of  God,  he  raised 
up  the  Saracens  to  be  the  instnnnents  of  his  wrath 
to  punish  them  for  it ;  who,  taking  advantage  of  the 
weakness  of  then-  power,  and  the  distraction  of 
counsels  which  their  divisions  had  caused  among 
them,  overran,  with  a  terrible  devastation,  all  the 
eastern  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire.  And 
having  fixed  that  tjTanny  over  them  which  hath 
ever  since  afflicted  those  parts  of  the  world,  turned 
every  where  then*  churches  into  mosques,  and  their 
w^orship  into  a  horrid  superstition  ;  and  instead  of 
that  holy  religion  M^hich  they  had  abused,  forced 
on  them  the  abominable  imposture  of  Mahomet. — 
Thus  those  once  glorious  and  most  flourishing 
churches,  for  a  punishment  of  their  wickedness, 
being  given  up  to  the  msult,  ravage,  and  scorn  of 
the  worst  of  enemies,  were  on  a  sudden  over- 
whelmed with  so  terrible  a  destruction  as  hath  re- 
duced them  to  that  low  and  miserable  condition 
under  which  they  have  ever  since  groaned ;  the 
all-wise  providence  of  God  seeming  to  continue 
them  thus  unto  this  day  under  the  pride  and  perse- 
cution of  Mahometan  tyranny,  for  no  other  end 
but  to  be  an  example  and  warning  unto  others 
against  the   wickedness  of  separation  and  divi- 


lilFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 


CHAPTER  I. 


National  Descent  of  the  Arabs— Proved  to  be  from  Ishmael,  son  'of 

Abraham 

In  tracing  the  genealogy  of  nations  to  their  pri- 
mitive founders,  the  book  of  Genesis  is  a  docu- 
ment of  inestimable  value.  AVith  those  wno  do 
not  hesitate  to  receive  this  and  the  other  inspired 
books  of  the  Scriptures  as  authentic  vouchers  for 
historical  facts,  the  national  descent  of  the  Arabs 
from  Ishmael,  the  son  of  Abraham,  is  a  point 
which  will  not  admit  of  dispute.  The  fact  of  this 
derivation,  however,  has  been  seriously  brought 
into  question  by  several  skeptical  writers,  par- 
ticularly by  the  celebrated  historian  of  the  De- 
cline and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  With  his 
usual  dexterity  of  insinuation,  he  assails  the  united 
authority  of  Scripture  history  and  Arabian  tradi- 
tion, respecting  the  pedigree  of  this  remarkable 
people.  Yet  in  no  case  does  he  undertake,  in  a 
formal  manner,  to  disprove  the  fact  to  which  he 
still  labours  to  give  the  air  of  a  fiction.*  A  suc- 
cinct view,  therefore,  of  the  testimonies  which  go 
to  establish  the  Ishmaelitish  origin  of  the  Arabs, 

*  Decline  and  Fall,  ch.  1 

c 


26  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

may  form  no  unsuitable  introduction  to  the  pre- 
sent work,  detailing  the  Hfe  and  character  of  the 
individual  who  has  done  so  much  towards  render- 
ing the  race  illustrious. 

From  the  narrative  of  Moses  we  learn  not  only 
the  parentage,  birth,  and  settlement  of  Ishmael  in 
Arabia,  but  the  fact  also  of  a  covenant  m»ade  with 
Abraham  in  his  behalf,  accompanied  with  a  pro- 
phecy respecting  his  descendants,  singularly  ana- 
logous to  the  prophetic  promise  concerning  the 
more  favoured  seed  of  Isaac.  "And  Abraham 
said  unto  God,  O  that  Ishmael  might  live  before 
thee  !  And  God  said,  Sarah,  thy  wife,  shall  bear 
thee  a  son  indeed ;  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name 
Isaac  :  and  I  will  establish  my  covenant  with  him 
for  an  everlasting  covenant,  and  with  his  seed  after 
him.  And  as  for  Ishmael,  I  have  heard  thee  : 
Behold,  I  have  blessed  him,  and  will  make  hmi 
fruitful,  and  will  multiply  him  exceedingly ;  twelve 
princes  shall  he  beget,  and  I  will  make  him  a 
great  nation."*  In  like  manner,  it  wdll  be  recol- 
lected, the  nation  of  Israel  sprung  from  the  twelve 
sons  of  Jacob,  and  was  divided  into  twelve  tribes. 
In  a  subsequent  part  of  the  Mosaic  records  we 
find  the  notice  of  the  incipient  fulfilment  of  this 
prediction  concerning  the  posterity  of  Ishmael 
"  And  these  are  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Ishmael, 
by  their  names,  according  to  their  generations  : 
The  first-born  of  Ishmael,  Nebajoth,  and  Kedar, 
and  Adbeel,  and  Mibsam,  and  Mishma,  and 
Dumah,  and  Massah,   Hadar,  and  Tema,  Jetur, 

•  Genesis,  xvii.  18—20. 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED.  27 

Naphish,  and  Kedemah.  These  are  the  sons  of 
Ishmael,  and  these  are  their  names,  by  their 
towns,  and  by  their  castles :  twelve  princes  ac- 
cording to  their  nations."*  Their  geographical 
residence  is  clearly  ascertained  in  a  subsequent 
verse.  "  And  they  dwelt  from  Havilah  unto  Shur, 
that  is  before  Egypt  as  thou  goest  towards  Assy- 
ria."t  Havilah  and  Shur,  by  the  consent  of  the 
best  sacred  geographers,  are  allowed  to  have  com- 
posed part  of  the  region  between  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Red  Sea,  denominated  Arabia.:]:  From 
causes  now  unknown,  the  tribes  of  Nebajoth  and 
Kedar  appear  to  have  acquired  an  ascendency 
over  the  rest,  so  that  the  whole  country  is  some- 
times designated  from  one,  sometimes  from  the 
other  of  them,  just  as  the  entire  nation  of  Israel  is 
sometimes  called  Judah  from  the  superior  num- 
bers, power,  or  influence  of  that  tribe.  Among 
the  ancient  profane  historians  also  we  find  the 
names  of  Nahitheans  and  Kedarenes  frequently 
employed  as  an  appellation  of  the  roving  inhabit- 
ants of  the  Arabian  deserts.  This  testimony 
is  directly  confirmed  by  that  of  Josephus.  After 
reciting  the  names  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Ishmael, 
he  adds  : — "  These  inhabit  all  the  country  extend- 
ing from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Red  Sea,  giving  it 
the  name  of  the  Nahatenean  region.  These  are 
they  who  have  given  names  to  the  whole  race  of 
the  Arabs  with  their  tribes. ''§  In  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, Jerome,  in  his  commentary  on  Jeremiah,  de- 

*  Genesis,  xxv.  !3— 16.  fVer.  18. 

J  Wells's  Sac.  Geogr,  vol  i.  p.  341.        §  Ant.  Jud.  b.  i.  ch.  19,  ^4. 


28  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

scribes  Kedar  as  a  country  of  the  Arabian  desert, 
inhabited  by  the  Ishmaehtes,  who  were  then  termed 
Saracens.  The  same  father,  m  his  commentary 
on  Isaiah,  again  speaks  of  Kedar  as  the  country 
of  the  Saracens,  who  in  Scripture  are  called  Ish- 
maehtes ;  and  observes  of  Nebajoth,  that  he  was 
one  of  the  sons  of  Ishmael,  after  whose  names  the 
Arabian  desert  is  called. 

Another  source  of  evidence  in  relation  to  the  na- 
tional descent  of  the  Arabs,  is  their  having  prac- 
tised, from  time  immemorial,  the  rite  of  circum- 
cision. Josephus  has  a  very  remarkable  passage 
touching  the  origin  of  this  rite  among  the  Jews 
and  Arabs,  in  which  he  first  makes  mention  of  the 
circumcision  of  Isaac ;  then  mtroduces  that  of 
Ishmael ;  and  states  concerning  each,  as  matter  of 
universal  and  immemorial  notoriety,  that  the  Jews 
and  the  Arabians  severally  practised  the  rite,  con- 
formably with  the  precedents  given  them,  in  the 
persons  of  their  respective  fathers.  His  words 
are  these : — "  Now  when  Sarah  had  completed 
her  ninetieth,  and  Abraham  his  hundredth  year,  a 
son  (Isaac)  is  born  unto  them :  whom  they  forth- 
with circumcise  on  the  eighth  day ;  and  from  him 
the  Jews  derive  their  custom  of  circumcising 
children  after  the  same  interval.  But  the  Ara- 
bians administer  circumcision  at  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  year :  for  Ishmael,  the  founder  of  their 
nation,  the  son  of  Abraham  by  his  concubine,  Avas 
circumcised  at  that  time  of  life."*  Similar  to  this 
is  the  testimony  of  Origen,  who  wrote  in  the  third 

*Ant.  Jud.  b.  i.  ch.  10,  <J5. 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  29 

century  of  the  Christian  era.  "•  The  natives  of  Ju- 
dea,"  says  he,  "generally  circumcise  their  children 
on  the  eighth  day ;  but  the  Ishmaelites  who  in- 
habit Arabia  universally  practise  circumcision  in 
the  thirteenth  year.  For  this  history  tells  us  con- 
cerning them."*  This  writer,  like  Josephus,  lived 
near  the  spot,  and  had  the  best  opportunities  of  ob- 
taining correct  information  respecting  the  Arabians. 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  beyond  contradiction,  from 
his  words,  that  the  fact  of  their  derivation  from 
Abraham  through  Ishmael  was  an  established 
point  of  historical  record,  and  not  of  mere  tradi- 
tionary fame,  at  the  period  at  which  he  wrote. 

The  direct  testimony  to  the  Ishmaelitish  ex- 
traction of  the  Arabs  furnished  by  the  earliest  re- 
cords of  the  Bible,  and  confirmed  as  we  see  by  foreign 
authorities,  is  strikingly  corroborated  by  repeated 
references,  bearing  upon  the  same  point,  in  later 
inspired  writers,  particularly  the  prophets.  Through 
the  long  course  of  sacred  history  and  prophecy, 
we  meet  with  reiterated  allusions  to  existing  tribes 
of  Arabia,  descending  from  Ishmael,  and  bearing 
the  names  of  his  several  sons,  among  which  those 
of  Nebajoth  and  Kedar  usually  predominate. 
Thus  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  in  foretelling  the  future 
conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  makes  mention  of  the 
"  rams  of  Nebajoth^''''  the  eldest,  and  "  all  the  flocks 
of  Kedar ^''  the  second  of  the  sons  of  Ishmael ; 
that  is,  of  the  Arab  tribes  descending  from  these 
brothers  ;  a  passage  which  not  only  affords  strong 


♦  Orig.  Op.  torn.  ii.  p.  16,  eil.  Benec^ 

C2 


30  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

proofed  our  main  position,  but  conveys  also  an  in- 
timation of  the  future  in-gathering  of  the  Moham- 
medan nations  into  the  Christian  Church.  The 
same  Prophet,  in  another  part  of  his  predictions, 
notices  "  the  cities  of  the  wilderness^  the  villages 
that  Kedar  doth  inhabit."  And  again,  when  de- 
aouncing  impending  calamity  upon  the  land  of  Ara- 
bia, he  foretells  how  "  all  the  glory  of  Kedar  shall 
fail ;"  he  employs  the  name  of  this  single  tribe  as 
synonymous  with  that  of  the  entire  peninsula.  In 
this  connexion  the  words  of  the  Psalmist  may  be 
cited : — "  Wo  is  me  that  I  sojourn  in  Mesech,  that 
I  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Kedar.''  These  words  are 
supposed  by  some  of  the  Jewish  commentators  to 
have  been  written  by  David,  under  the  influence  of 
inspiration,  as  the  prophetic  plaint  of  the  Christian 
Church,  labouring  and  groaning,  as  it  has  some- 
times done,  under  the  yoke  of  Mohammedan  op- 
pression. In  Jeremiah,  also,  we  find  mention  of 
Kedar.  He  speaks  of  it  as  "  the  wealthy  nation 
that  dwelletli  without  care,  which  have  neither 
gates  nor  bars,  which  dwell  alone."  Ezekiel, 
moreover,  prophesies  conjointly  of  "  Arabia  and  all 
the  princes  of  Kedar.""  An  allusion  to  Tenia,  the 
nmth  son  of  Ishmael,  as  the  name  of  a  warlike 
people  of  Arabia,  occurs  as  early  as  in  the  book  of 
Job :  "  The  troops  of  Tema  looked,  the  compa- 
nies of  Sheba  waited  for  them."  Lastly,  the  tribes 
sprung  from  Jetur  and  Naphish,  the  tenth  and  ele- 
venth sons  of  Ishmael,  are  commemorated  in  the 
first  book  of  Chronicles,  who  are  there  called  Ha- 
garites,  from  Hagar,  the  mother  of  Ishmael,  and 


LIFE   OF   MOHAMMEb.  31 

of  whom  a  hundred  thousand  males  were  taken 
captives. 

When  to  this  mass  of  Scripture  evidence  of  the 
descent  of  the  Arabs  from  Ishmael  we  add  the  ac- 
knowledged coincidence  between  the  national  cha- 
racter of  this  people  in  every  age,  and  the  predicted 
personal  character  of  their  progenitor — "  And  he 
will  be  a  wild  man ;  his  hand 'will  be  against  every 
man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  him" — and  the 
fact,  that  the  Ishmaelitish  origin  of  the  Arabs  has 
ever  been  the  constant  and  unvarying  tradition  of 
that  people  themselves,  the  subject  scarcely  admits 
of  a  more  irrefragable  proof.  There  are  certainly 
few  landmarks  of  history  more  universal  or  more 
permanent  than  the  names  of  countries  affixed  by 
original  settlers,  or  flowing  from  them,  and  we  may 
as  justly  question  the  derivation  of  Hungary  from 
the  Huns,  France  from  the  Franks,  Turkey  from  the 
Turks,  or  Judea  from  Judah  and  the  Jews,  as  those 
of  the  several  districts  of  Arabia  from  the  respective 
sons  of  Ishmael.* 


*  The  argument  in  this  chapter  is  condensed  from  a  more  ample  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject  in  the  Appendix  to  "  Forster's  Maoometanism 
Unveiled." 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED, 


CHAPTER  II. 


Birth  and  Parentage  of  Mohammed— Loses  his  Parents  in  early  Chili' 
hood — Is  placed  under  the  care  of  his  uncle  Abu  Taleb — Goes  into 
Syria  on  a  trading- expedition  with  his  uncle  at  the  age  of  thirteen — 
Enters  ttie  service  of  Cadijah,atvidoiv  of  Mecca,  whom  he  aftenoard 


Mohammed,  the  Legislator  of  Arabia,  the  Founder 
of  the  Moslem  or  Mohammedan  religion,  and 
thence  dignified  by  himself  and  by  his  followers 
with  the  title  of  Prophet  and  Apostle  of  God,  was 
born  at  Mecca,  a  city  of  Arabia,  A.  D.  569.*  His 
lineage,  notwithstanding  that  many  of  the  earlier 
Christian  writers,  under  the  influence  of  inveterate 
prejudice  against  the  prophet  and  his  religion,  have 
represented  his  origin  as  base  and  ignoble,  is  clearly 
shown  to  have  been  honourable  and  illustrious  ;  at 
least,  when  rated  by  the  common  standard  of  dis- 
tinction among  his  countrymen.  The  ancient  Ara- 
bians, deriving  their  pedigree  from  Ishmael,  and 
inheriting  the  nomadic  habits  of  their  ancestor,  had 
from  time  immemorial  been  divided  into  a  number 
of  separate  independent  tribes,  roving  at  large  over 
the  immense  sandy  regions  of  which  their  country 
is  composed,  except  where  here  and  there  a  few 
thousands  of  them  were  gathered  into  cities,  and 
engaged  in  merchandise.     Som^bf  these  tribes, 


*  other  authorities  place  his  birth  in  A.  D.  571.    The  precise  year  can 
not  be  determined  -with  certainty. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  33 

from  various  causes,  were  more  numerous,  power- 
ful, and  renowned  than  others.  That  of  Koreish, 
from  the  founder  of  which  Mohammed  was  in  a  di- 
rect line  descended,  had  long  been  accounted  the 
most  noble  of  them  all,  and  his  ancestors,  for  se- 
veral generations,  had  ranked  among  the  princes  of 
Mecca,  and  the  keepers  of  the  keys  of  the  Caaba,*  its 
sacred  temple.  His  father's  name  was  Abdallah, 
one  of  the  thirteen  sons  of  Abdol  Motalleb,  the 
chief  personage  in  his  day  among  the  Koreish,  and 
inheriting  from  his  father  Hashem  the  principal 
place  in  the  government  of  Mecca,  and  succeeding 
him  in  the  custody  of  the  Caaba.  This  Hashem, 
the  great-grandfather  of  Mohammed,  was  the  most 
distinguished  name  in  all  the  line  of  his  predeces- 
sors, and  from  him  not  only  is  the  appellation  of 
Hashemites  bestowed  upon  the  kindred  of  the  pro- 
phet, but  even  to  this  day,  the  chief  magistrate, 
both  at  Mecca  and  Medina,  who  must  always  be 
of  the  race  of  Mohammed,  is  invariably  styled 
"  The  Prince  of  the  Hashemites."  The  name  of 
Mohammed's  mother  was  Amina,  whose  parentage 
was  traceable  also  to  a  distinguished  family  of  the 
same  tribe.  Her  lot  was  envied  in  gaining  the  hand 
of  the  son  of  Abdol  Motalleb,  as  the  surpassing 
beauty  of  his  person  is  said  to  have  ravished  the 
hearts  of  a  hundred  maidens  of  Arabia,  who  were 
left,  by  his  choice  of  Amina,  to  sigh  over  the  wreck 
of  their  fondest  t|tppes. 

Abdallah,  though  the  son  of  a  rich  and  princely 

*  »See  Appendix  B. 


34  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

father,  was  possessed  of  but  little  Avealtli,  and  as  he 
died  while  his  son  was  an  infant,  or,  as  some  say, 
before  he  was  born,  h  is  probable  that  that  little 
v/as  seized  with  the  characteristic  rapacity  of  the 
Arabs,  and  shared  among  liis  twelve  surviving  bro- 
thers, the  powerful  uncles  of  Mohammed.  Al- 
though the  laws  of  the  Koran,  in  respect  to  inherit- 
ances, promulgated  by  the  prophet  himself,  breathe 
more  of  the  spirit  of  equity  and  kindness  ;  yet  the 
pagan  Arabs,  previous  to  his  time,  as  we  learn  from 
Eastern  writers,  were  wont  to  treat  widows  and  or 
phans  with  great  injustice,  frequently  denying  them 
any  share  in  the  inheritances  of  their  fathers  and 
husbands,  under  the  pretence  that  it  ought  to  be  dis- 
tributed among  those  only  who  were  able  to  bear 
arms,  and  disposing  of  widows,  even  against  their 
own  consent,  as  a  part  of  their  husband's  posses- 
sions. The  fatherless  Mohammed,  accordingly, 
faruig  like  the  rest  of  his  countrymen,  received,  in 
the  distribution  of  the  patrimony,  no  more  than  five 
camels  and  an  Ethiopian  female  slave. 

The  Moslem  writers,  in  order  to  represent  the 
birth  of  their  pretended  prophet  as  equally  marvel- 
lous with  that  of  Moses  or  of  Christ,  the  ancient 
messengers  of  God  who  preceded  him,  have  re- 
ported a  tissue  of  astonishing  prodigies  said  to  have 
occurred  in  connexion  with  that  event.  If  the 
reader  will  receive  their  statements  with  the  same 
implicit  faith  with  Avhich  they  se^i  to  be  delivered, 
he  must  acknowledge,  that  at  the  moment  when  the 
favoured  infant  was  ushered  into  the  world,  a  flood 
of  light  burst  forth  with  him  and  illuminated  every 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMEl).  35 

part  of  Syria  ;  that  the  waters  of  the  Lake  Sawa 
were  entirely  dried  up,  so  that  a  city  was  built  upon 
its  bottom;  that  an  earthquake  threw  down  four- 
teen towers  of  the  king  of  Persia's  palace ;  that  / 
the  sacred  fire  of  the  Persians  was  extinguished, 
and  all  the  evil  spirits  which  had  inhabited  the  moon 
and  stars  were  expelled  together  from  their  celes- 
tial abodes,  nor  could  they  ever  after  animate  idols 
or  deliver  oracles  on  earth.  The  child  also,  if  we 
may  trust  to  the  same  authorities,  discovered  the 
most  wonderful  presages.  He  was  no  sooner  born 
than  he  fell  prostrate,  in  a  posture  of  humble  ado- 
ration, praying  devoutly  to  his  Creator,  and  saymg,, 
"  God  is  great !  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  I  am-i, 
his  prophet !"  By  these  and  many  other  superna- ; 
tural  signs,  equally  astounding,  is  the  prophet's  na- 
tivity said  to  have  been  marked.  To  some  of  them 
it  would  indeed  appear  that  the  earlier  Christians 
gave  an  honest  credence  ;  with  this  difference,  how- 
ever, between  their  belief  and  that  of  his  followers, 
that  while  the  latter  ascribed  them  without  hesita- 
tion to  the  hand  of  God,  giving  in  this  manner  a 
gracious  attestation  to  the  prophetic  character  of 
his  servant,  the  former  referred  them  directly  to  the 
agency  of  the  devil,  who  might  naturally  be  sup- 
posed, they  thought,  to  work  some  special  won- 
ders on  the  present  occasion.  Upon  the  narrative 
of  these  miraculous  phenomena  the  reader  will  form 
his  own  judgment.  They  ^re  mentioned  in  the  ab- 
sence of  all  authentic  information  touching  the  pe- 
riod and  the  event  in  question.  Until  the  facts  al- 
leged are  proved,  by   competent  liistorical  testi- 


36  LIFE  or  MOHAMMED. 

mony,  to  have  taken  place,  it  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  call  in  the  aid  of  divine  or  diabolical  agency  to 
account  for  them  ;  as  it  is  much  easier  to  imagine 
that  an  imposition  or  illusion  may  have  been  prac- 
tised upon  the  first  reporters,  or  that  the  whole  ca- 
talogue of  wonders  is  a  mere  fabrication  of  inte- 
rested partisans,  than  that  the  ordinary  course  of 
nature  should  have  been  disturbed  at  this  crisis.  » 

The  Arabic  biographers  of  the  prophet,  more- 
over, inform  us  that  Abdol  Motalleb,  his  grandfa- 
ther, the  seventh  day  after  the  birth  of  the  child, 
gave  a  great  entertainment,  to  which  he  invited  the 
principal  m.en  of  the  Koreish,  who,  after  the  repast 
was  over,  desired  him  to  give  the  infant  a  name. 
Abdol  Motalleb  immediately  replied — "  I  name  this 
child  Mohammed."  The  Koreish  grandees  at  once 
expressed  their  surprise  that  he  did  not  call  his 
grandson,  according  to  custom,  by  a  name  which 
had  belonged  to  some  one  of  the  family.  But  he 
persisted  in  the  selection  he  had  made,  saying, 
"May  the  Most  High  glorify  in  Heaven  him 
whom  he  has  created  on  earth  !"  alluding  to  the 
name  Mohammed,  which  signifies  praised  or  glo' 
rified. 

At  the  early  age  of  two  years  Mohammed  lost 
his  father;  and  four  years  after,  his  mother.  The 
helpless  orphan,  now  cast  upon  the  kindness  of  his 
relations,  was  taken  into  the  house  and  family  of 
his  grandfather,  under  whose  guardian  care  he  re- 
mained but  two  years,  when  the  venerable  Motalleb 
himself  was  also  called  to  pay  the  debt  of  nature. 
In  a  dying  charge,  he  confided  this  tender  plant  of 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  37 

the  ancient  stock  of  the  Koreish  to  the  faithful  hands 
of  Abu  Taleb,  the  eldest  of  his  sons  and  the  suc- 
cessor of  his  authority.  "  My  dearest,  best  beloved 
son" — thus  history  or  tradition  reports  the  tenor  of 
his  instructions — "  to  thy  charge  I  leave  Moham- 
med, the  son  of  thine  own  brother,  strictly  recom- 
mended, whose  natural  father  the  Lord  hath  been 
pleased  to  take  to  himself,  with  the  intent  that  this 
dear  child  should  become  ours  by  adoption ;  and 
much  dearer  ought  he  to  be  unto  us  than  merely  an 
adopted  son.  Receive  him,  therefore,  at  my  dying 
hands,  with  the  same  sincere  love  and  tender  bow- 
els with  which  I  deliver  him  to  thy  care.  Honour, 
love,  and  cherish  him  as  much,  or  even  more  than 
if  he  had  sprung  from  thine  ow^n  loins  ;  for  all  the 
honour  thou  showest  unto  him  shall  be  trebled  unto 
thee.  Be  more  than  ordinarily  careful  in  thy 
treatment  towards  him,  for  it  will  be  repaid  thee 
with  interest.  Give  him  the  preference  before  thine 
own  children,  for  he  exceedeth  them  and  all  man- 
kind in  excellency  and  perfection.  Take  notice, 
that  whensoever  he  calleth  upon  thee,  thou  answer 
him  not  as  an  infant,  as  his  tender  age  may  re- 
quire, but  as  thou  wouldst  reply  to  the  most  aged 
and  venerable  person  when  he  asketh  thee  any 
question.  Sit  not  down  to  thy  repasts  of  any  sort 
soever,  either  alone  or  in  company,  till  thy  worthy 
nephew  Mohammed  is  seated  at  the  table  before 
thee ;  neither  do  thou  ever  offer  to  taste  of  any 
kind  of  viands,  or  even  to  stretch  forth  thine  hand 
towards  the  same,  until  he  hath  tasted  thereof.  If 
thou  observest  these  my  injunctions,  thy  goods 
D 


38  LIFE  OF   MOHAMMED. 

shall    always    increase,  and  in  nowise  be   dimi- 
nished."* 

Whether  Abu  Taleb  recognised  in  the  deposite 
thus  solemnly  committed  to  his  trust  an  object  of 
such  high  destiny  and  such  profound  veneration  as 
his  father's  language  would  imply,  we  are  not  in- 
formed ;  but  there  is  good  evidence  that  he  acted 
towards  his  nephew  the  part  of  a  kind  friend  and 
protector,  giving  him  an  education,  scanty  indeed, 
but  equal  to  that  usually  received  by  his  country- 
men. His  followers,  it  is  true,  in  order  to  magnify 
their  prophet's  supernatural  gifts,  and  render  the 
composition  of  the  Koran  a  greater  miracle,  gene- 
rally affirm  that  he  was  wholly  illiterate,  neither 
able  to  read  or  write.  In  this,  indeed,  they  are  au- 
thorized by  the  pretensions  of  Mohammed  himself, 
who  says,  "  Thus  have  we  sent  down  the  book 
of  the  Koran  unto  thee. — Thou  couldst  not  read 
any  book  before  this ;  neither  couldst  thou  write 
it  with  thy  right  hand :  then  had  the  gains ayers 
justly  doubted  of  the  divine  original  thereof."t — 
"  Believe,  therefore,  in  God  and  his  apostle,  the 
illiterate  prophet."J  But  in  the  Koran,  a  complete 
fabric  of  imposture,  the  last  thing  we  are  to  expect 
is  an  honest  adherence  to  truth.  There  is  abun- 
dant evidence,  from  the  pages  of  this  spurious  re- 
velation itself,  that  writing  was  an  art  in  common 
use  among  the  Arabs  at  that  time.  The  following 
precept  concerning  bonds  puts  it  beyond  question. 

*  Morgan's  INIahometaniam  Explained,  vol.  i.  p.  60 
t  Koran,  ch.  xiL\.  J  Ch.  vji. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  39 

**  0,  true  believers,  when  ye  bind  yourselves  one  to 
the  other  in  a  debt  for  a  certain  time,  write  it  down ; 
and  let  a  writer  write  between  you  according  to 
justice,  and  let  not  the  writer  refuse  writing  ac- 
cording to  what  God  hath  taught  him."  We  learn 
also  that  Ali  Taleb,  the  son  of  Abu  Taleb,  and 
cousin  of  Mohammed,  with  whom  the  prophet 
passed  his  childhood,  afterward  became  one  of 
his  scribes,  of  whom  he  had  a  number  employed 
in  making  copies  of  the  Koran  as  its  successive 
portions  were  revealed  to  hhn.  How  did  it  happen 
that  Abu  Taleb  should  have  had  his  son  instructed 
in  writing,  and  not  his  nephew  ?  The  city  of  Mecca, 
moreover,  being  a  place  of  traffic,  the  merchants 
must  have  hourly  felt  the  want  of  some  mode 
of  recording  their  transactions  ;  and  as  we 'are  in- 
formed that  Mohammed  himself  was  for  several 
years  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  before  he 
commenced  the  propagation  of  a  new  religion,  it 
is  scarcely  supposable  that  he  was  miacquainted 
with  the  use  of  letters. 

Of  the  infancy,  childhood,  and  youth  of  the  fu- 
ture prophet  no  authentic  details  have  reached  us. 
The  blank  has  indeed  been  copiously  supplied  by 
the  fabulous  legends  of  his  votaries,  but  as  they  are 
utterly  void  of  authority,  they  will  not  repay  the 
trouble  of  transcription.  Being  destined  by  his 
uncle  to  the  profession  of  a  merchant,  he  was  taken, 
as  some  affirm,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  into  Syria  with 
Abu  Taleb's  trading  caravan,  in  order  to  his  bemg 
perfected  in  the  business  of  his  intended  vocation. 
Upon  the  simple  circumstance  of  this  journey,  the 


40  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

superstition  of  his  folloAvers  has  grafted  a  series  of 
miraculous  omens  all  portending  his  future  greatness. 
Among  other  things,  it  is  said  by  his  historians,  that 
upon  his  arriving  at  Bozrah,  a  certain  man  named 
Boheira,  a  Nestorian  m.onk,  who  is  thought  by  Pri- 
deaux  to  be  otherwise  called  Sergius,  advanced 
through  the  croM^d  collected  in  the  market-place, 
and,  seizing  him  by  the  hand,  exclaimed,  "  There 
will  be  something  wonderful  in  this  boy ;  for  when 
he  approached  he  appeared  covered  with  a  cloud." 
He  is  said  to  have  affirmed  also,  that  the  dry  trees 
under  which  he  sat  were  every  where  instantly 
covered  with  green  leaves,  which  served  him  for 
a  shade,  and  that  the  mystic  seal  of  prophecy  was 
impressed  between  his  shoulders,  in  the  form  of  a 
small  luminous  excrescence.  According  to  others, 
instead  of  a  bright  cloud  being  the  criterion  by 
which  his  subsequent  divine  mission  was  indicated, 
the  mark  by  which  Boheira  knew  him  was  the 
jwophctic  light  which  shone  upon  his  face.  This 
miraculous  light,  according  to  the  traditions  of  the 
Mohammedans,  was  first  placed  upon  Adam,  and 
from  him  transmitted  to  each  individual  in  the  line 
of  his  descendants,  who  sustained  the  character  of 
a  true  prophet.  The  hallowed  radiance  at  length 
rested  upon  the  head  of  Abraham,  from  whom  it 
was  divided  into  a  twofold  emanation,  the  greater 
or  clearer  descending  upon  Isaac  and  his  seed,  the 
less  or  obscurer  to  Ishmael  and  his  posterity. 
The  light  in  the  family  of  Isaac  is  represented  as 
having  been  perpetuated  in  a  constant  glow  through 
a  long  line  of  inspired  messengers  and  prophets, 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  41 

among  the  children  of  Israel ;  but  that  in  the  fa- 
mily of  Ishmael  is  said  to  have  been  suppressed, 
and  to  have  lain  hidden  through  the  whole  tract  of 
ages,  from  Ishmael  down  to  the  coming  of  Mo- 
hammed, in  whom  the  sacred  symbol  was  again  re- 
vived, and  now  pointed  out  to  Boheira  the  high  des- 
tiny of  him  on  whose  person  it  appeared.  Hov/- 
ever  intrinsically  vain  and  visionary  this  legend  may 
be  deemed,  it  may,  nevertheless,  be  worth  advert- 
ing to,  as  affording  perhaps,  in  its  remoter  sources, 
a  hint  of  the  origin  of  the  halo,  which  in  most  of 
the  paintings  or  engravings  of  the  Saviour  is  made 
to  encircle  his  sacred  brows. 

When  Abu  Taleb  was  about  to  return  with  his 
caravan  to  Mecca,  Boheira,  it  is  said,  again  re- 
peated his  solemn  premonition,  coupled  with  a 
charge,  respecting  the  extraordinary  youth.  "  De- 
part with  this  child,  and  take  great  care  that  he 
does  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Jews ;  for  your 
nephew  will  one  day  become  a  very  wonderful 
person." 

The  early  Christian  writers  have  laid  hold  of 
the  narrative  of  this  interview  with  the  Syrian 
monk,  as  affording  a  clew  to  the  true  origin  and 
authorship  of  the  Koran.  According  to  them,  this 
Boheira,  alias  Sergius,  who,  they  say,  was  an  apos- 
tate Jew  or  Christian,  instructed  Mohammed  in  the 
histories  and  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  and  that  they 
in  concert  laid  a  plan  for  creating  a  new  religion, 
a  motley  compound  of  Judaism  and  Christianity,  to 
be  carried  into  execution  twenty  years  afterward  ; 
and  that  accordingly  the  monk,  rather  than  Mo- 
D2 


43  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

hammed,  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  the  most  im* 
portant  parts  of  the  Koran.  Others  agam,  deem- 
ing it  ahogether  incredible  that  a  youth  of  thirteen 
should  have  conceived  the  vast  idea  of  forming 
and  propagating  a  new  religion,  place  this  corres- 
pondence with  Sergius  at  a  later  period  of  his  life ; 
that  is  to  say,  when  he  was  not  far  from  twenty 
years  of  age,  at  which  time  he  is  alleged  to  have 
taken  a  second  journey  into  Syria.  But,  as  we 
shall  see  hereafter,  the  question  how  far  Moham- 
med v/as  assisted  by  others  in  the  composition  of 
the  Koran  is  not  susceptible  at  the  present  day  of 
a  satisfactory  solution. 

The  next  remarkable  event  in  the  life  of  Mo- 
hammed is  his  appearance  in  the  character  of  a 
soldier.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  or,  as  others  say, 
nearer  the  age  of  twenty,  life  served  under  his 
uncle,  who  commanded  the  troops  of  his  tribe,  the 
Koreish,  in  their  wars  against  the  rival  tribes  of 
the  Kenan  and  the  Hawazan.  They  returned 
from  the  expedition  victorious,  and  this  circum- 
stance doubtless  tended  to  render  the  people  of  the 
tribe  still  more  devoted  to  the  uncle  and  the  ne- 
phew, and  to  acquire  for  Mohammed  a  notoriety 
which  he  was  afterward  enabled  to  turn  essentially 
to  his  account. 

From  this  time  to  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  ap- 
pears to  have  continued  in  the  employ  of  Abu 
Taleb,  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  As  he 
advanced  in  years  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
his  personal  endowments,  which  were  doubtless  of 
a  superior  order,  together  with  strong  native  powers 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED  43 

of  intellect,  an  acute  observation,  a  ready  wit,  and 
pleasing  address  combined  to  render  him  both 
popular  and  prominent  among  his  associates. 
Such,  at  least,  is  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all 
his  biographers,  and  we  have  no  means  of  invali- 
dating their  statements.  It  is,  however,  natural 
to  suppose,  that  a  strong  colouring  v/ould  be  put 
upon  every  superior  quality  of  a  pretended  mes- 
senger of  God,  sent  to  restore  the  true  religion  to 
the  world,  and  that  he,  who  was  by  character  a 
prophet,  should  be  represented  by  his  adherents 
as  a  paragon  of  all  external  perfections.  About 
this  period,  by  the  assistance  of  his  uncle,  he  was 
entered  into  the  service  of  a  rich  trading  widow  of 
his  native  city,  who  had  been  twice  married,  and 
whose  name  was  Cadijah.  In  the  capacity  of 
factor  or  agent  to  this  his  wealthy  employer,  he  took 
a  second  journey  of  three  years  into  Damascus 
and  the  neighbouring  regions  of  Syria,  in  which  he 
devoted  himself  so  assiduously  to  the  interests  of 
Cadijah,  and  managed  the  trust  committed  to  him 
so  entirely  to  her  satisfaction,  that  upon  his  return 
she  rewarded  his  fidelity  with  the  gift  of  her  hand 
and  her  fortune.  It  may  be  imagined,  that  in 
entering  into  this  alliance,  she  was  probably  in- 
fluenced by  the  family  connexions  and  the  personal 
attractions  of  her  suitor.  But  whatever  were 
her  motives,  the  union  subsequently  appears  to 
have  been  one  of  genuine  affection  on  both  sides ; 
Mohammed  never  forgot  the  favours  he  had  re- 
ceived from  his  benefactress,  and  never  made  her 
repent  of  having  placed  her  person  and  her  for- 


44  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

tune  at  his  absolute  disposal.  Although  Cadijah, 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  was  forty,  and  Mo- 
hammed not  more  than  tAventy-eight,  yet  till  the 
age  of  sixty-four,  when  she  died,  she  enjoyed  the 
undivided  affection  of  her  husband ;  and  that  too 
in  a  country  where  polygamy  was  allowed,  and 
very  frequently  practised.  By  her  he  had  eight 
children,  of  whom  Fatima  alone,  his  eldest  daugh- 
ter, survived  him.  And  such  was  the  prophet's 
respect  to  the  memory  of  his  wife,  that  after  her 
death  he  placed  her  in  the  rank  of  the  four  per- 
fect women. 


IFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  45 


CHAPTER  III. 

Mohammed  forms  the  design  of  f  aiming  a  new  Religion  vpon  the 
ivorld— Difficult  to  account  for  this  determination — Considerations 
suggested — Retires  to  the  Cave  of  Hera — Announces  to  Cadijah  the 
Visits  of  Gabriel  loith  a  portion  of  the  Koran — She  becomes  a  Con- 
vert— His  sloiv  progress  in  gaining  Proselytes — Curious  Coin- 
cidence. 

Beixg  now  raised  by  his  marriage  to  an  equality 
with  the  first  citizens  of  Mecca,  Mohammed  was 
enabled  to  pass  the  next  twelve  years  of  his  life 
in  comparative  affluence  and  ease ;  and,  until  the 
age  of  forty,  nothing  remarkable  distinguished  the 
history  of  the  future  prophet.  It  is  probable  that 
he  still  followed  the  occupation  of  a  merchant,  as 
the  Arabian  nation,  like  their  ancestors  the  Ish- 
maelites,  have  always  been  greatly  addicted  to 
commerce.  It  was  during  this  interval,  however, 
that  he  meditated  and  matured  the  bold  design  of 
palming  a  new  religion  upon  the  world.  This  there- 
fore becomes,  in  its  results,  the  most  important 
period  in  his  whole  life ;  and  it  is  greatly  to  be 
regretted,  that  the  policy  of  the  impostor,  and  the 
ravages  of  time,  have  deprived  us  of  all  sources  of 
information,  which  might  afford  a  satisfactory  clew 
to  the  real  origin  of  this  design.  The  circum- 
stances which  first  suggested  it,  the  peculiar  train  of 
reflection  which  went  to  cherish  it,  the  ends  which 
he  proposed  to  accomplish  by  it,  together  with  the 
real  agencies  employed  in  bringing  it  forward,  are 


46  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

all  matters  wrapped  in  impenetrable  mystery;  yet 
these  are  the  very  pomts  on  which  the  inquiring 
mind,  intent  upon  tracing  great  events  to  their  pri- 
mary sources,  is  most  eager  for  information.  At 
the  present  day,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  whe- 
ther Mohammed  commenced  his  career  as  a  de- 
luded enthusiast  or  a  designing  impostor.  Those 
who  have  most  profoundly  considered  the  whole 
subject  of  Mohammedanism  in  its  rise,  progress, 
genius,  and  effects,  are,  on  this  point,  divided  in 
their  opinion. 

On  the  one  hand,  it  is  supposed  by  some,  that 
Mohammed  was  constitutionally  addicted  to  reli- 
gious contemplation — that  his  native  temperament 
was  strongly  tinged  with  enthusiasm — and  that  he 
might  originally  have  been  free  from  any  sinister 
motive  in  giving  scope  to  the  innate  propensities 
of  his  character.  As  the  result  of  his  retired  spe- 
culations he  might,  moreover,  it  is  said,  have  been 
sincerely  persuaded  in  his  own  mind  of  the  grand 
article  of  his  faith,  the  unity  of  God,  which  in  his 
opinion  was  violated  by  all  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and,  therefore,  might  have  deemed  it  a  meritorious 
work  to  endeavour  to  liberate  his  countrymen  and 
his  race  from  the  bondage  of  error.  Impelled  by 
this  motive  in  the  outset,  and  being  aided  by  a 
warm  imagination,  he  might  at  length  have  come, 
it  is  affirmed,  as  enthusiasts  have  often  done,  to 
the  firm  conviction,  that  he  was  destined  by  Pro- 
vidence to  be  the  instrument  of  a  great  and  glo- 
rious reformation ;  and  the  circumstance  of  his 
being  accustomed  to  solitary  retirement  would  na- 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  47 

turally  cause  this  persuasion  to  take  a  deeper  root 
in  his  mind.  In  this  manner,  it  is  supposed,  his 
career  might  have  commenced ;  but  finding  himself 
to  have  succeeded  beyond  his  expectations,  and 
the  force  of  temptation  growing  with  the  increase 
of  his  popularity  and  power,  his  self-love  at  last 
overpowered  his  honesty,  ambition  took  the  place 
of  devotion,  his  designs  expanded  with  his  success, 
and  he  who  had  entered  upon  a  pious  enterprise 
as  a  well-meaninof  reformer  deo-enerated  in  the  end 
into  a  wilful  impostor,  a  gross  debauchee,  and  an 
unprincipled  despot. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  maintained,  and  we 
think  with  more  of  an  air  of  probability,  that  his 
conduct  from  the  very  first  bears  the  marks  of  a 
deep-laid  and  systematic  design ;  that  although  he 
might  not  have  anticipated  all  the  results  which 
crowned  the  undertaking,  yet  in  every  step  of  his 
progress  he  acted  with  a  shrewdness  and  circum- 
spection very  little  savouring  of  the  dreams  of  en- 
thusiasm ;  that  the  pretended  visits  of  an  angel,  and 
his  publishing,  from  time  to  time,  the  chapters  of 
the  Koran,  as  a  divine  revelation,  are  wholly  incon- 
sistent with  the  idea  of  his  being  merely  a  deluded 
fanatic ;  and  that,  at  any  rate,  the  discovery  of  his 
inability  to  work  a  mu'acle,  the  grand  voucher  of 
a  divine  messenger,  must  have  been  sufficient  to 
dispel  the  fond  illusion  from  his  mind. 

Many  circumstances,  moreover,  it  is  said,  may 
be  adduced,  which  might  have  concurred  to  prompt 
and  favour  the  design  of  this  arch  imposture. 
1.  Mohammed's    genius   was  bold  and    aspiring. 


48  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

His  family  had  formerly  held  the  ascendency'  in 
rank  and  power  in  the  city  of  Mecca,  and  it  was 
merely  his  misfortune  in  having  lost  his  father  in 
infancy,  and  being  left  an  orphan,  that  prevented 
him  from  succeeding  to  the  same  distinction.  It 
was  therefore  the  dictate  of  a  very  obvious  prin- 
ciple of  human  nature,  that  he  should  contrive,  if 
possible,  to  make  the  fortune  and  influence  ac- 
quired by  his  marriage  a  step  to  still  higher  ho- 
nours, and  to  raise  himself  to  the  ancient  dignity 
of  his  house.  2.  He  had  travelled  much  in  his 
own  and  foreign  countries.  His  journeys  would 
of  course  brmg  him  acquainted  with  the  tenets  of 
the  different  sects  of  the  religious  world,  particu- 
larly the  Jewish  and  the  Christian,  which  were 
then  predominant,  and  the  latter  greatly  corrupted 
and  torn  to  pieces  with  internal  dissensions.  Be- 
ing a  sagacious  observer  of  men,  he  could  not  fail 
to  perceive  that  the  distracted  state  of  the  exist- 
ing religions  had  put  the  Eastern  world  into  a 
posture  extremely  favourable  to  the  propagation 
of  a  new  system.  His  own  countrymen,  the 
people  of  Arabia,  were,  indeed,  for  the  most  part 
sunk  in  idolatry,  but  the  vestiges  of  a  purer  faith, 
derived  from  patriarchal  times.,  w^ere  still  lingering 
among  them,  to  a  degree  that  afforded  him  the 
hope  of  recovering  them  to  a  sounder  creed.  3. 
The  political  state  of  things  at  that  time  was  such 
as  signally  to  favour  his  project.  The  Roman 
empire,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Persian  monarchy 
on  the  other,  had  both  become  exceedingly  en- 
feebled in  the  process  of  a  long  decline,  towards 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  49 

the  last  stages  of  which  they  were  now  rapidly 
approaching.  The  Arabs,  on  the  contrary,  were 
a  strong  and  flourishing  people,  abounding  in  num- 
bers, and  inured  to  hardships.  Their  being  divided 
into  independent  tribes  presented  also  advantages 
for  the  spread  of  a  new  faith  which  would  not 
have  existed  had  they  been  consolidated  into  one 
government.  As  Mohammed  had  considerable  op- 
portunities to  acquaint  himself  with  the  peculiar 
situation  of  these  empires ;  as  he  had  carefully  noted 
the  genius  and  disposition  of  the  people  which  com- 
posed them;  and  as  he  possessed  a  capacity  to 
render  every  circumstance  subservient  to  his  pur- 
pose, it  is  contended,  that  his  scheme  was  much 
more  legitimately  the  fruit  of  policy  than  of  piety, 
and  that  the  pseudo-prophet,  instead  of  being  pitied 
for  his  delusion,  is  rather  to  be  reprobated  for  his 
base  fabrication. 

After  all,  it  is  not  improbable  that  Infinite  Wis- 
dom has  so  ordered  it,  that  a  veil  of  unpenetrated 
darkness  should  rest  on  the  motives  of  the  impos- 
tor, in  order  that  a  special  providence  may  be  re- 
cognised in  the  rise  and  establishment  of  this  arch- 
delusion  in  the  world.  In  the  absence  of  sufficient 
human  causes  to  account  for  the  phenomena,  we 
are  more  readily  induced  to  aclmowledge  a  divine 
interposition.  In  the  production  of  events  which 
are  overruled  in  the  government  of  God  to  operate 
as  penal  evils  for  the  punishment  of  the  guilty, 
reason  and  revelation  both  teach  us  reverently  to 
acknowledge  the  visitation  of  the  Divine  Hand, 
whoever  or  whatever  mav  have  been  the  subordi- 
E 


50  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

iiate  agents,  or  their  motives.  "  Is  there  evil  in 
the  city,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  have  not  done  if?" 
i.  e.  the  evil  of  suffering,  not  of  sin.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  rise  and  reign 
of  Mohammedanism  has  resulted  in  the  infliction 
of  a  most  terrible  scourge  upon  the  apostate 
churches  in  the  East,  and  in  other  portions  of 
Christendom ;  and,  unless  we  exclude  the  Judge  of 
the  world  from  the  exercise  of  his  judicial  prero- 
gatives in  dealing  with  his  creatures,  we  cannot  err, 
provided  we  do  not  infringe  upon  man's  moral 
agency,  in  referring  the  organ  of  chastisement  to 
the  will  of  the  Most  High.  The  life  and  actions 
of  Mohammed  himself,  and  his  first  broaching  the 
religion  of  the  Koran,  are  but  the  incipient  links  in 
a  chain  of  political  revolutions,  equal  in  magnitude 
and  importance  to  any  which  appear  on  the  page 
of  history — revolutions,  from  which  it  v/ould  be 
downright  impiety  to  remove  all  idea  of  providential 
ordainment.  If  then  we  acknowledge  a  peculiar 
providence  in  the  astonishing  success  of  the  Sara- 
cen arms  subsequent  to  the  death  of  Mohammed, 
we  must  acknowledge  it  also  in  the  origination  of 
that  system  of  religion  which  brought  them  under 
one  head,  and  inspired  them  to  the  acliievement  of 
such  a  rapid  and  splendid  series  of  conquests. 

The  pretended  prophet,  having  at  length,  after 
years  of  deliberation,  ripened  all  his  plans,  pro- 
ceeded in  the  most  gradual  and  cautious  manner  to 
put  them  in  execution.  He  had  been,  it  seems,  for 
some  time  in  the  habit  of  retiring  daily  to  a  certain 
cave  in  the  vicinity  of  Mecca,  called  the  cave  of 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  51 

Hera,  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  spending  his 
time  in  fasting,  prayer,  and  holy  meditation.  The 
important  crisis  having  now  arrived,  he  began  to 
break  to  his  wife,  on  his  return  home  in  the  eve- 
ning, the  solemn  intelligence  of  supernatural  visions 
and  voices  with  which  he  was  favoured  in  his  re- 
tirement. Cadijah,  as  might  be  expected,  was  at 
first  incredulous.  She  treated  his  visions  as  the 
dreams  of  a  disturbed  imagination,  or  as  the  delu- 
sions of  the  devil.*  Mohammed,  however,  per- 
sisted in  assiiring  her  of  the  reality  of  these  com- 
munications, and  rising  still  higher  in  his  demands 
upon  her  credulity,  at  length  repeated  a  passage 
which  he  affirmed  .to  be  a  part  of  a  divine  revela- 
tion, recently  conveyed  to  him  by  the  ministry  of 
the  angel  Gabriel.  The  memorable  night  on 
which  this  visit  was  made  by  the  heavenly  mes- 
senger is  called  the  "  night  of  Al  Kadr,"  or  the 
night  of  the  divine  decree^  and  is  greatly  celebrated, 
as  it  was  the  same  night  on  which  the  entire  Koran 
descended  from  the  seventh  to  the  lowest  heaven, 
to  be  thence  revealed  by  (jabriel  in  successive  por- 
tions as  occasion  might  require.  The  Koran  has 
a  whole  chapter  devoted  to  the  commemoration  of 
this  event,  entitled  Al  Kadr.  It  is  as  follows : 
"  In  the  name  of  the  most  merciful  God.  Verily, 
we  sent  down  the  Koran  in  the  night  of  Al  Kadr, 
And  what  shall  make  thee  understand  how  excel- 
lent the  night  of  Al  Kadr  is  ?  This  night  is  better 
than  a  thousand  months.     Therein  do  the  angels 

*  This  is  the  account  given  by  Prideaux.  Sale,  however,  says, 
"  I  do  not  remember  to  have  read  in  any  Eastern  author,  that  Cadijah 
ever  rejected  her  husband's  pretences  as  delusions,  or  suspected  him  of 
any  imposture." — Prelim.  Disc.  ,v-  5S.  note. 


52  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

descend,  and  the  spirit  Gabriel  also,  by  the  per- 
mission of  their  Lord,  with  his  decrees  concerning 
every  matter.  It  is  peace  until  the  rising  of  the 
morn."*  On  this  favoured  night,  between  the  23d 
and  24th  of  Ramadan,  according  to  the  prophet,  the 
angel  appeared  to  him,  in  glorious  form,  to  commu- 
nicate the  happy  tidings  of  his  mission.  The  light 
issuing  from  his  body,  if  the  apostle-elect  may  be 
believed,  was  too  dazzling  for  mortal  eyes  to  be- 
hold ;  he  fainted  under  the  splendour ;  nor  was  it 
till  Gabriel  had  assumed  a  human  form,  that  he 
could  venture  to  approach  or  look  upon  him.  The 
angel  then  cried  aloud,  "  0  Mohamaied,  thou  art 

THE  APOSTLE  OF  GoD,  AXD  I  AM  THE  ANGEL 

Gabriel  !"  "  Read  !"  continued  the  angel ;  the 
prophet  declared  that  he  was  unable  to  read. 
"  Read !"  Gabriel  again  exclaimed,  "  read,  in  the 
name  of  thy  Lord,  who  hath  created  all  things ; 
who  hath  created  man  of  congealed  blood.  Read, 
by  thy  most  beneficent  Lord,  who  hath  taught  the 
use  of  the  pen ;  who  teacheth  man  that  which  he 
knoweth  not."t  The  prophet,  who  professed 
hitherto  to  have  been  illiterate,  then  read  the  joy- 
ful tidings  respecting  his  ministry  on  earth,  when 
the  angel,  having  accomplished  his  mission,  majes- 
tically ascended  to  heaven,  and  disappeared  from 
his  view.  When  the  story  of  this  surprising  inter- 
view with  a  celestial  visitant  was  related  to  Cadijah 
in  connexion  with  the  passage  repeated,  her  un- 
belief, as  tradition  avers,  was  wholly  overcome, 
and  not  only  so,  but  she  was  wrought  by  it  into  a 
kind  of  ecstasy,  declaring,  "  By  Him  in  whose 

♦Koran,  ch  xcvii.  *  Ch.  xcviii 


LIFE  OF   MOHAMMED.  53 

hands  her  soul  was,  that  she  trusted  her  husband 
would  indeed  one  day  become  the  prophet  of  his 
nation."  In  the  height  of  her  joy  she  immediately 
imparted  what  she  had  heard  to  one  Waraka,  her 
cousin,  who  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  in 
the  secret,  and  who,  being  a  Christian,  had  learned 
to  write  in  the  Hebrew  character,  and  was  tole- 
rably well  versed  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
Scriptures.  He  unhesitatingly  assented  to  her 
opinion  respecting  the  divine  designation  of  her 
husband,  and  even  affirmed,  that  Mohammed  was 
no  other  than  the  great  prophet  foretold  by  Moses, 
the  son  of  Amram.  This  belief  that  both  the  pro- 
phet and  his  spurious  religion  were  subjects  of  in- 
spired prediction  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures, 
is  studiously  inculcated  in  the  Koran.  "  Thy 
Lord  is  the  mighty,  the  merciful.  This  book  is 
certainly  a  revelation  from  the  Lord  of  all  crea- 
tures, which  the  faithful  spirit  (Gabriel)  hath  caused 
to  descend  upon  thy  heart,  that  thou  mightest  be  a 
preacher  to  thy  people  in  the  perspicuous  Arabic 
tongue ;  and  it  is  borne  witness  to  in  the  Scriptures 
of  former  ages.  Was  it  not  a  sign  unto  them  that 
the  wise  men  among  the  children  of  Israel  knew 
it?"* 

Havmg  succeeded  in  gaining  over  his  wife,  he 
persevered  in  that  retired  and  austere  kind  of  life 
which  tends  to  beget  the  reputation  of  pre-eminent 
sanctity,  and  ere  long  had  his  sen^ant,  Zeid  Ebn 
Hareth,  added  to  the  list  of  proselytes.  He  re- 
warded the  faith  of  Zeid  by  manumitting  him  from 

*  Koran,  ch.  xxiii 

E2 


54  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

servitude,  and  it  has  hence  become  a  standing  rule 
among  his  followers  always  to  grant  their  freedom 
to  such  of  their  slaves  as  embrace  the  religion  of 
the  prophet.  Ali,  the  son  of  Abu  Taleb,  Moham- 
med's cousin,  was  his  next  convert,  but  the  impe- 
tuous youth,  disregarding  the  other  two  as  persons 
of  comparatively  little  note,  used  to  style  himself 
the  first  of  helievers.  His  fourth  and  most  import- 
ant convert  was  Abubeker,  a  powerful  citizen  of 
Mecca,  by  whose  influence  a  number  of  persons 
possessed  of  rank  and  authority  were  induced  to 
profess  the  religion  of  Islam.  These  were  0th- 
man,  Zobair,  Saad,  Abdorrahman,  and  Abu  Obei- 
dah,  who  afterward  became  the  principal  leaders 
in  his  armies,  and  his  main  instruments  in  the 
establishment  both  of  his  imposture  and  of  his 
empire.  Four  years  were  spent  in  the  arduous 
task  of  winning  over  these  nine  individuals  to  the 
faith,  some  of  whom  were  the  principal  men  of 
the  city,  and  who  composed  the  whole  party  of 
his  proselytes  previously  to  his  beginning  to  pro- 
claim his  mission  in  public.  He  was  now  forty- 
four  years  of  age. 

It  has  been  remarked,  as  somewhat  of  a  striking 
coincidence,  that  the  period  of  Mohammed's  retiring 
to  the  cave  of  Hera  for  the  purpose  of  fabricating 
his  imposture  corresponds  very  nearly  with  the 
time  in  which  Boniface,  bishop  of  Rome,  by  virtue 
of  a  grant  from  the  tyrant  Phocas,  first  assumed 
the  title  of  Universal  Pastor,  and  began  to  lay 
claim  to  that  spiritual  supremacy  over  the  church 
of  Chiist,  which  has  ever  since  been  arrogated  to 
themselves  by  his  successors.     "  And  from  this 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  55 

time,"  says  Prideaux,  "  both  he  (the  bishop  of 
Rome)  and  Mohammed  having  conspired  to  found 
themselves  an  empire  in  imposture,  their  followers 
have  been  ever  since  endeavouring  by  the  same 
methods,  that  is,  those  of  fire  and  sword,  to  pro* 
pagate  it  among  mankind ;  so  that  Antichrist  seems 
at  this  time  to  have  set  both  his  feet  upon  Christen- 
dom together ;  the  one  in  the  East,  the  other  in 
the  West,  and  how  much  each  hath  trampled  upon 
the  church  of  Christ,  all  succeeding  ages  have 
abundantly  experienced."  The  agreement  of  dates 
here  adverted  to  may  be  ^vorth  noticing;  both 
events  having  occurred  within  the  first  six  or  eight 
years  of  the  seventh  century ;  but  we  have  as  yet 
met  with  no  evidence  to  convince  us  of  the  pro- 
priety of  applying  the  epithet  Antichrist  to  Mo- 
hammed. It  is,  however,  the  opinion  of  many 
Protestant  expositors  of  prophecy,  that  this  appel- 
lation is  properly  attributable  to  that  system  of 
ecclesiastical  domination  so  long  exercised  by  the 
Romish  hierarchy,  and  the  continuance  of  which, 
it  is  maintained,  is  limited  by  the  prophetic  term 
of  1260  years.  If,  therefore,  this  predicted  period, 
assigned  to  the  reign  of  the  Roman  Antichrist,  be 
dated  from  near  the  commencement  of  the  seventh 
century,  we  are  not  very  far  from  the  era  of  great 
moral  changes  in  the  state  of  the  world;  and 
there  are  reasons  to  be  adduced  in  a  subsequent 
part  of  this  work,  which  lead  us  to  believe,  that 
the  career  of  Mohammedanism  runs  parallel  to 
that  of  Popery,  and  that,  taking  their  rise  from 
nearly  a  common  era,  they  are  destined  also  to 
synchronise  in  their  fall. 


56  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Prophet  announces  his  Mission  among  his  kindred  of  the  Koreish 
— Meets  with  a  harsh  repulse— Besins  to  declare  it  in  public — Vzei» 
of  his  fundamental  Doctrines — His  pretensions  respecting  the  Ko- 
ran.— The  disdainful  Rejection  of  his  Message  by  his  fellow-citizens 
— His  consequent  Denunciations  against  them. 

The  mission  of  Moliammed  had  hitherto  been 
conducted  in  private.  The  proselytes  he  had  thus 
far  gained  had  been  won  over  from  among  the 
circle  of  his  immediate  friends  and  connexions. 
The  time  had  now  come,  he  affirmed,  when  the 
Lord  commanded  him  to  make  his  message  pub- 
licly known,  beginning  with  his  kindred  of  the 
tribe  of  Koreish.  "  O  thou  covered,  arise  and 
preach,  and  magnify  thy  Lord."*  "  And  admonish 
thy  more  near  relations."!  To  this  end  he  directed 
All  to  prepare  a  generous  entertainment,  and  in- 
vite to  it  the  sons  and  descendants  of  Abdol  Mo- 
talleb,  where,  when  they  were  all  convened,  he 
would  formally  divulge  to  them  the  solemn  fact  of 
his  apostolic  commission.  Some  disturbance,  oc- 
casioned by  Abu  Laheb,  caused  the  company  to 
break  up  before  he  had  an  opportunity  of  effecting 
his  purpose,  which  induced  him  to  give  them  a  se- 
cond invitation  on  the  ensuing  day.  About  forty 
of  them  accordingly  assembled  around  his  board, 
when  the  prophet  arose,  and  thus  addressed  his 

*  Koran,  cb.  Ixxiv.  t  Ch.  xxvi. 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  57 

wondering  guests  : — "  I  know  no  man  in  the  whole 
peninsula  of  the  Arabs  who  can  propose  any  thing 
more  excellent  to  his  relations  than  what  I  now  do 
to  you ;  I  offer  you  happiness  both  in  this  life  and 
in  that  which  is  to  come  ;  God  Almighty  hath  com- 
manded me  to  call  you  unto  him ;  who  therefore 
among  you  will  be  my  vizier  (assistant),  and  will 
become    my  brother   and   vicegerent?"     General 
astonishment  kept  the  assembly  silent ;  none  of- 
fered to  accept  the  proffered  office  till  the  fiery  Ali 
burst  forth   and  declared    that  he   would  be  the 
brother  and  assistant  of  the' prophet.     "I,"  said 
he,  "  O  prophet  of  God,  will  be  thy  vizier ;  I  my- 
self will  beat  out  the  teeth,  pull  out  the  eyes,  rip 
open  the  bellies,  and  cut  off  the  legs,  of  all  those 
who  shall  dare  to  oppose  thee."      The  prophet 
caught  the  young  proselyte  in  his  arms,  exclaim- 
ing, "  This  is  my  brother,  my  deputy,  my  succes- 
sor ;    show  yourselves  obedient  unto  him."     At 
this  apparently  extravagant  command,  the  whole 
company  burst  into  laughter,    telling  Abu  Taleb 
that  he  must  now  pay  obedience  and  submission  to 
his  own  son!    As  words  weie  multiplied,  surprise 
began  to  give  way  to  indignation,  the  serious  pre- 
tensions of  the  prophet  were  seriously  resented, 
and  in  the  issue  the  assembly  broke  up  in  confu- 
sion, affording  the  ardent  apostle  but  slender  pros- 
pects of  success  among  his  kinsmen. 

Undeterred  by  the  failure  of  his  first  public  at- 
tempt, Mohammed  began  to  preach  still  more 
.openly  before  the  people  of  Mecca.  He  an- 
nounced to  them  that  he  was  commissioned  by  the 


58  LIFE  OF    MOHAMMED. 

Almighty  to  be  his  prophet  on  the  earth  ;  to  assert 
the  unity  of  the  Divine  Being ;  to  denounce  the 
worship  of  images ;  to  recall  the  people  to  the 
true  and  only  religion ;  to  bear  the  tidings  of  para- 
dise to  the  believing  ;  and  to  threaten  the  deaf  and 
unbelieving  with  the  terrible  vengeance  of  the 
Lord.  His  main  doctrine,  and  that  which  consti- 
tutes the  distinguishing  character  of  the  Koran  is, 
that  there  is  but  one  God ;  that  he  only  is  to  be 
worshipped ;  and  that  all  idolatry  is  a  foul  abomi- 
nation, to  be  utterly  abolished.  The  112th  ch.  of 
the  Koran,  entitled  '"  The  Declaration  of  God's 
Unity,"  is  held  in  the  most  profound  veneration  by 
the  Mohammedans,  and  declared,  by  a  tradition  of 
the  prophet,  to  be  equal  in  value  to  a  third  part  of 
the  whole  Koran.  It  is  said  to  have  been  re- 
vealed in  answer  to  the  Koreish,  who  inquired  of 
the  apostle  concerning  the  distinguishing  attributes 
of  the  God  whom  he  invited  them  to  worship.  It 
consists  of  a  single  sentence.  "  In  the  name  of 
the  most  merciful  God.  Say,  God  is  one  God; 
the  eternal  God ;  he  begetteth  not,  neither  is  he 
begotten :  and  there  is  not  any  one  like  unto  him." 
In  the  incessant  repetition  of  this  doctrine  in  the 
pages  of  the  Koran,  the  author  is  aiming  not  only 
at  the  grosser  errors  of  polytheism  and  idolatry, 
then  common  among  the  Eastern  nations,  but  is 
levelling  a  blow  also  at  the  fundamental  tenet  of 
Christianity,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  son  of  God, 
"  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father."  Like  others 
in  other  ages,  Mohammed  could  conceive  of  no 
mode  of  understanding  the  doctrine  of  the  fiUa-? 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  59 

tion  of  Christ,  as  held  by  Christians,  which  did 
not  directly  militate  with  the  truth  of  the  essential 
unity  of  the  Most  High  ;  and  in  his  view  the  first- 
born of  absurdities  was,  to  affirm  in  the  same 
breath  that  Christ  Avas  the  son  of  God,  and  yet 
coequal  and  coeternal  with  the  Father.  The  New 
Testament  declarations,  therefore,  respecting  the 
person  and  character  of  the  Messiah  find  no  mercy 
at  the  hands  of  the  author  of  the  Koran,  who 
either  had  not  the  candour  or  the  capacity  to  dis- 
criminate beween  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and 
that  of  Tritheism.  "  O  ye  who  have  received  the 
Scriptures,  exceed  not  the  just  bounds  in  your  re- 
ligion, neither  say  of  God  any  other  than  the 
truth." — i.  e.  either  by  rejecting  Jesus  as  the  Jews 
do,  or  by  raising  him  to  an  equality  with  God  as 
do  the  Christians.  "  Verily,  Christ  Jesus,  the  son 
of  Mary,  is  the  apostle  of  God,  and  his  word, 
which  he  conveyed  into  Mary,  and  a  spirit  pro- 
ceeding from  him.  Believe,  therefore,  in  God  and 
his  apostles,  and  say  not  there  are  three  Gods ; 
forbear  this ;  it  will  be  better  for  you.  God  is 
but  one  God.  Far  be  it  from  him  that  he  should 
have  a  son !  Unto  him  belongeth  whatsoever  is  in 
heaven  and  on  earth;  and  he  is  sufficient  unto 
himself."*  "  They  are  certainly  infidels  who  say, 
Verily,  God  is  Christ  the  son  of  Mary.  Whoever 
shall  give  a  companion  unto  God,  God  shall  ex- 
clude him  from  paradise,  and  his  habitation  shall 
be  hell-fire.  They  are  certainly  infidels  who  say 
God  is  the  third  of  three  :  for  there  is  no  God  be 

♦Koran,  ch.  iv. 


60  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

sides  one  God.  Christ,  the  son  of  Mary,  is  no 
more  than  an  apostle ;  and  his  mother  was  a 
woman  of  veracity  :  they  both  ate  food."*  "  7'here 
is  no  God  but  he  :  the  curse  be  on  those  whom 
they  associate  with  him  in  his  worship."! 

With  this  fundamental  article  of  the  Moslem 
creed,  Mohammed  comiected  that  of  his  being, 
since  Moses  and  Jesus,  the  only  true  prophet  of 
God.  "  We  gave  unto  the  children  of  Israel  the 
book  of  the  law,  and  wisdom,  and  prophecy ;  and  we 
fed  them  with  good  things,  and  preferred  them  above 
all  nations :  and  we  gave  them  plain  ordinances 
concernmg  the  business  of  religion.  Afterward 
we  appomted  thee,  O  Mohammed,  to  promulgate 
a  law  concerning  the  business  of  religion :  where- 
fore follow  the  same,  and  follow  not  the  desires  of 
those  who  are  ignorant.":|:  The  object  of  his  mis- 
sion, he  affirmed,  was  not  so  much  to  deliver  to  the 
world  an  entirely  new  scheme  of  religion,  as  to 
restore  and  replant  the  only  true  and  ancient  faith 
professed  by  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  from 
Adam  down  to  Christ.  "Thus  have  we  revealed 
unto  thee  an  Arabic  Koran,  that  thou  mayest  warn 
the  metropolis  of  Mecca,  and  the  Arabs  w^ho  dwell 
round  about  it.  He  hath  ordained  you  the  religion 
wdiich  he  commanded  Noah,  and  which  we  have 
revealed  unto  thee,  O  Mohammed,  and  which  wc 
commanded  Abraham,  and  Moses,  and  Jesus  ;  say- 
ing. Observe  this  religion,  and  be  not  divided  there- 
in. Wherefore,  invite  them  to  receive  the  sure 
faith,  and  be  urgent  with  them  as  thou  hast  been 

*  Koran,  ch.  v.  t  Cli.  ix.  t  Ch.  xlv. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  61 

commanded."  This  revival  and  re-establishment 
of  the  ancient  faith,  he  taught,  was  to  be  effected  by 
purgmg  it  of  the  idolatrous  notions  of  the  Arabs, 
and  of  the  c«:)rruptions  of  the  Jews  and  Christians. 
For  while  he  admits  the  fact  that  the  books  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  were  originally  written  by 
inspiration,  he  at  the  same  time  maintains,  that  they 
have  been  since  so  shamefully  corrupted  by  their 
respective  disciples,  that  the  present  copies  of  both 
are  utterly  unworthy  of  credit ;  and  therefore,  he 
seldom  quotes  them  in  the  Koran  according  to  the 
received  text.  From  the  following  extracts,  the 
reader  will  perceive  how  unsparingly  the  restorer 
of  the  primitive  faith  deals  forth  his  rebukes  upon 
those  who  had  wilfully  adulterated  and  disfigured 
it.  "  O  ye  who  have  received  the  Scriptures,  why 
do  ye  clothe  truth  with  vanity,  and  luiowingly  hide 
the  truth?'  And  there  are  certainly  some  of 
them  who  read  the  Scriptures  perversely,  that  ye 
may  think  what  they  read  to  be  really  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, yet  it  is  not  in  the  Scriptures;  and  they  say, 
this  is  from  God ;  but  it  is  not  from  God ;  and  they 
speak  that  which  is  false  concerning  God,  against 
their  own  knowledge."*  "Wherefore,  because 
they  have  broken  their  covenant,  wef  have  cursed 
them,  and  hardened  their  hearts ;  they  dislocate 
the  words  of  the  Pentateuch  from  their  places,  and 
have  forgotten  part  of  what  they  were  admonished ; 

*  Koran,  ch.  iii. 

tThe  reader  will  notice  that  notwithstanding  Mohammed's  strenuous 
assertion  of  God's  absolute  unity,  and  his  execrations  of  those  who  as- 
cribe to  him  "  associates,"  yet  when  he  introduces  him  si)eaking  in  the 
Koran  it  is  usually  in  the  plural  number. 
F 


62  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

and  wilt  thou  not  cease  to  discover  the  deceitful 
practices  among  them,  except  a  few  of  them?" 
"  O  ye  who  have  received  the  Scriptures,  now  is 
our  apostle  come  unto  you,  to  make  manifest  unto 
you  many  things  which  ye  have  concealed  in  the 
Scriptures."* 

In  the  execution  of  his  high  behest,  he  declared 
himself  appointed  to  promulge  a  new  revelation 
in  successive  portions,  the  aggregate  of  which  was 
to  constitute  the  Bible  of  his  followers.  The  ori- 
ginal or  archetj'pe  of  the  Koran,!  he  taught,  was 
laid  up  from  everlasting  in  the  archives  of  Heaven, 
being  written  on  what  he  termed  the  preserved  ta- 
ble, near  to  the  throne  of  God,  from  which  the  series 
of  chapters  communicated  by  Gabriel  were  a  tran- 
script. This  pretended  gradual  mode  of  revelation 
was  certainly  a  master  stroke  of  policy  in  the  im- 
postor. "  The  unbelievers  say,  unless  the  Koran 
be  sent  down  to  him  entire  at  once,  we  will  not  be- 
lieve. But  in  this  manner  have  we  revealed  it  that 
we  might  confirm  thy  hea7t  thereby,  and  we  have 
dictated  it  gradually  by  distinct  parcels. "J  Had 
the  whole  volume  been  published  at  once,  so  that 
a  rigid  examination  could  have  been  instituted  into 
its  contents  as  a  whole,  and  the  different  parts 
brought  into  comparison  with  each  other,  glaring 
inconsistencies  would  have  been  easily  detected, 
and  objections  urged  which  he  would  probably  have 
found  it  impossible  to  answer.  But  by  pretending 
to  receive  his  oracles  in  separate  portions,  at  dif- 

♦  Koran,  ch.  v.  j  See  Appendix  C.         X  Koran,  ch.  xxr. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  63 

ferent  times,  according  as  his  own  exigences  or 
those  of  his  followers  required,  he  had  a  ready  way 
of  silencing  all  cavils,  and  extricating  himself  with 
credit  from  every  difficulty,  as  nothing  forbade  the 
message  or  mandate  of  to-day  being  modified  or 
abrogated  by  that  of  to-morrow.  In  this  manner, 
twenty-three  years  elapsed  before  the  whole  chain 
of  revelations  was  completed,  though  the  prophet 
informed  his  disciples  that  he  had  the  consolation  of 
seeing  the  entire  Koran,  bound  in  silk  and  adorned 
with  gold  and  gems  of  Paradise,  once  a  year,  till,  in 
the  last  year  of  his  life,  he  was  favoured  with  the 
vision  twice.  A  part  of  these  spurious  oracles  were 
published  at  Mecca  before  his  flight,  the  remainder 
at  Medina  after  it.  The  particular  mode  of  publica- 
tion is  said  to  have  been  this  :  When  a  new  chap- 
ter had  been  communicated  to  the  prophet,  and  was 
about  to  be  promulgated  for  the  benefit  of  the 
world,  he  first  dictated  it  to  his  secretary,  and  then 
delivered  the  written  paper  to  his  followers,  to  be 
read  and  repeated  till  it  had  become  firmly  im- 
printed upon  their  memories,  when  the  paper  was 
again  returned  to  the  prophet,  who  carefully  depo- 
sited it  in  a  chest,  called  by  him  "  the  chest  of 
his  apostleship."  The  hint  of  this  sacred  coffer 
was  doubtless  taken  from  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant, 
the  holy  chest  of  the  Jewish  tabernacle,  in  which 
the  authentic  copy  of  the  law  was  laid  up  and  pre- 
served. This  chest  Mohammed  left  at  his  death 
iji  the  care  of  one  of  his  wives ;  and  from  its  con- 
tents the  volume  of  the  Koran  was  afterward  com- 
piled.     The  first  collection  and  arrangement  of 


64  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

these  prophetic  reUcs,  more  precious  than  the  scat- 
tered leaves  of  all  the  Sybils,  was  made  by  Abu- 
beker,  but  the  whole  was  afterward  revised  and 
new-modelled  by  Othman,  who  left  the  entire  vo- 
lume of  the  Koran  in  the  order  in  which  we  now 
have  it. 

Mohammed's  first  reception  by  the  mass  of  his 
fellow-citizens  of  Mecca  was  scarcely  more  hope- 
ful than  it  had  been  among  his  kindred.  His  al- 
leged divine  messages,  especially  when  they  as- 
sumed a  tone  of  reprehension  and  reproach  towards 
his  countrymen,  for  their  idolatry,  obstinacy,  and 
perverseness,  were  met  with  indignant  scoffs  and 
railings.  Some  called  him  a  magician  and  a  sor- 
cerer ;  others,  a  silly  retailer  of  old  fables ;  and 
others  directly  charged  him  with  being  a  liar  and 
an  impostor.  The  reader  will  be  amused  and  in- 
terested by  the  insertion  of  a  few  out  of  the  scores 
of  allusions,  with  which  the  Koran  abounds,  to  the 
profane  and  contemptuous  treatment  sho\vn  to- 
wards the  prophet  at  this  time.  "  The  Meccans 
say,  O  thou,  to  whom  the  admonition  (the  Koran) 
hath  been  sent  down,  thou  art  certainly  possessed 
with  a  devil :  wouldst  not  thou  have  come  unto 
us  v/ith  an  attendance  of  angels  if  thou  hadst 
spoken  the  truth  ?  Answer,  We  send  not  down  the 
angels  but  on  a  just  occasion."*  "  Verily  I  have 
permitted  these  Meccans  and  their  fathers  to  live 
in  prosperity,  till  the  truth  should  come  unto  them, 
and  a  manifest  apostle  :  but  now  the  truth  is  come 

•  Koran,  ch.  vi. 


LTFE   OP  MOHAMMED.  65 

unto  them,  they  say,  this  is  a  piece  of  sorcery ; 
and  we  beheve  not  therein.  And  they  say.  Had 
this  Koran  been  sent  down  unto  some  great  man 
in  either  of  tlie  two  cities,  we  would  have  received 
it."*  "  The  time  of  giving  up  their  account  draweth 
nigh  unto  the  people  of  Mecca.  No  admonition 
Cometh  unto  them  from  tiieir  Lord,  but  when  they 
hear  it  they  turn  it  to  sport.  They  say.  The  Ko- 
ran is  a  confused  heap  of  dreams :  nay,  he  hath 
forged  it."t  "  And  the  unbelievers  say,  this  Koran 
is  no  other  than  a  forgery  which  he  hath  contrived  ; 
and  other  people  have  assisted  him  therein :  but 
they  utter  an  unjust  thing  and  a  falsehood.  They 
also  say.  These  are  fables  of  the  ancients,  which  he 
hath  caused  to  be  written  down ;  and  they  are  dic- 
tated unto  him  morning  and  evening.  Say,  He 
hath  revealed  it  who  knoweth  the  secrets  in  hea- 
ven and  earth.  And  they  say.  What  kind  of  apostle 
is  this  ?  He  eateth  food,  and  walketh  in  the  streets 
as  we  do.  The  ungodly  also  say.  Ye  follow  no 
other  than  a  man  who  is  distracted. "|  "  When  our 
evident  signs  are  rehearsed  unto  them,  the  unbe- 
lievers say  of  the  truth.  This  is  a  manifest  piece  of 
sorcery.  Will  they  say,  Mohammed  hath  forged 
it?  Answer,- If  I  have  forged  it,  verily,  ye  will 
not  obtain  for  me  any  favour  from  Grod :  he  well 
knoweth   the  injurious   language  which  ye  utter 

concerning  it. 1  follow  no  other  than  what  is 

revealed  unto  me  ;  neither  am  I  any  more  than  a 
public  warner."§ 


*  Koran,  ch.  xliii.         t  Ch.  xxi.        t  Ch.  xxv.        $Ch.  xlvi. 

F2 


66  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

But  these  stiff-necked  idolaters  were  plainly- 
taught  that  they  were  not  to  promise  themselves 
impunity  in  thus  pouring  contempt  upon  the  testi- 
mony of  an  authorized  legate  of  heaven.  The 
Most  High  himself  was  brought  in  confirming  by 
an  oath  the  truth  of  his  prophet's  mission.  "  I 
swear  by  that  which  ye  see  and  that  VA^hich  ye  see 
not,  that  this  is  the  discourse  of  an  honourable 
apostle,  and  not  the  discourse  of  a  poet:  how 
little  do  ye  believe !  Neither  is  it  the  discourse  of 
a  soothsayer :  how  little  are  ye  admonished  !  It 
is  a  revelation  from  the  Lord  of  all  creatures.  If 
Mohammed  had  forged  any  part  of  these  dis- 
courses concerning  us,  verily  we  had  taken  him 
by  the  right  hand,  and  had  cut  in  sunder  the  vein 
of  his  heart ;  neither  would  we  have  withheld  any 
of  you  from  chastismg  him.  And  verily,  this  book 
is  an  admonition  unto  the  pious ;  and  we  well 
knov/  there  are  some  of  you  who  charge  the  same 
with  nnposture :  but  it  shall  surely  be  an  occa- 
sion of  grievous  sighing  unto  the  infidels  ;  for  it  is 
the  truth  of  a  certainty."*  "Because  he  is  an 
adversary  to  our  signs,  I  will  afilict  him  with 
grievous  calamities  ;  for  he  hath  devised  contume- 
lious expressions  to  ridicule  the  Koran.  May 
he  be  cursed  !  I  will  cast  him  to  be  burned  in 
hell.  And  what  shall  make  thee  understand  what 
hell  is?  It  leaveth  not  any  thing  unconsumed, 
neither  doth  it  suffer  any  thing  to  escape;  it 
searcheth  men's  flesh ;  over  the  same  are  nineteen 

♦  Koran,  cli.  Ixix 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  67 

angels  appointed.  We  have  appointed  none  but 
angels  to  preside  over  hell-fire."*  "  Verily  we 
have  prepared  for  the  unbelievers  chains,  and  col- 
lars, and  burning  fire."t  "  Verily  those  who  dis- 
believe our  signs  we  will  surely  cast  out  to  be 
broiled  in  hell-fire  :  and  when  their  skins  shall  be 
well  burned,  we  will  give  them  other  skins  in  ex- 
change, that  they  may  taste  the  sharper  torment." J 

*Koran,  ch.  Ixxiv.  t  Ch.  xi.  JCh.  ir. 


68  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Mohammed  not  discouraged  by  Opposition— The  burden  of  his  Preach' 
ing— Description  of  Paradise— Error  to  suppose  Women  excluded— 
Of  HeU—Gai7is  s'o)ne  Followers— Challenged  to  work  a  Miracle— 
His  Reply— Tlie  Koran  the  grand  Miracle  of  his  Religion— Judicial 
Obduracy  charged  upon  the  Unbelievers. 

But  no  repulses,  however  rude  or  rebellious, 
operated  to  deter  the  prophet  from  prosecuting  liis 
apostolic  ministry.  No  injuries  or  insults,  how- 
ever gallmg,  availed  to  quench  that  glow  of  phi- 
lanthropy, that  earnest  solicitude  for  the  salvation 
of  his  countrymen,  for  which  his  divine  revela- 
tions plainly  give  him  credit.  "  Peradventure,  thou 
afilictest  thyself  unto  death  lest  the  Meccans  be- 
come not  true  believers."*  "Verily,  God  will 
cause  to  err  whom  he  pleaseth,  and  w^ill  direct 
whom  he  pleaseth.  Let  not  thy  soui,  therefore  be 
spent  m  sighs  for  their  sakes,  on  account  of  their 
obstmacy ;  for  God  well  knoweth  that  which  they 
do."t  And  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  his  firm- 
ness at  this  stage  of  his  career,  in  the  midst  of 
bitter  opposition,  opprobrious  taunts,  and  relentless 
ridicule,  has  very  much  the  air  of  having  been 
prompted  by  a  sincere  though  enthusiastic  belief 
in  the  truth  and  rectitude  of  his  cause.  The 
scope  of  several  chapters  of  the  Koran  promul- 
gated at  this  time  leads  to  the  same  impression. 

•  Koran,  ch.  xxvi.  t  Ch.  xxxr. 


LIFE  OF  MOIL45IMED.  69 

They  are  strikingly  hortatory  and  impassioned  in 
their  character,  inculcatmg  the  being  and  perfec- 
tions of  the  one  only  God,  the  vanity  of  idols,  a 
future  resurrection,  a  day  of  judgment,  a  state  of 
rewards  and  pimishments,  and  the  necessity  of 
works  of  righteousness.  The  marks  of  impos- 
ture are  much  more  discernible  upon  the  pages 
subsequently  revealed,  in  which  the  prophet  had 
private  ends  of  a  sinister  nature  to  accomplish. 
But  he  contented  not  liimself  with  merely  preach- 
ing in  public  assemblies,  and  proclaiming  in  streets 
and  market-places  the  soleirm  and  awakening 
burden  of  his  message.  With  a  zeal  worthy  of  a 
better  cause,  and  with  a  perseverance  and  patience 
that  might  serve  as  a  model  to  a  Christian  mis- 
sionary, he  backed  his  public  appeals  by  private 
addresses,  and  put  in  requisition  all  the  arts  of  per- 
suasion and  proselytism,  in  which  he  was  so  emi- 
nently sldlled.  He  applied  himself  in  the  most 
insinuating  manner  to  all  classes  of  people ;  he 
was  complaisant  and  liberal  to  the  poor,  cultivating 
their  acquaintance  and  relieving  their  wajits  ;  the 
rich  and  noble  he  soothed  by  flattery ;  and  bore 
affronts  without  seeking  to  avenge  them.  The 
effect  of  this  politic  management  was  gieatly  en- 
hanced by  the  peculiar  character  of  those  inspired 
promises  and  threatenings  which  he  brought  to 
enforce  his  message. 

His  promises  were  chiefly  of  a  blissful  paradise 
in  another  life  ;  and  these  he  studiously  aimed  to 
set  forth  in  colours  best  calculated  to  work  upon 
the  fancies  of  a  sensitive  and  sensual  race,  whose 


70  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 

minds,  in  consequence  of  their  national  habits, 
were  little  susceptible  of  the  images  of  abstract 
enjoyment.  The  notions  of  a  purely  intellectual 
or  spiritual  happiness  pertain  to  a  more  cultivated 
people.  The  scorching  heat  of  those  tropical  re- 
gions, the  aridness  of  the  soil,  and  the  consequent 
lack  of  a  verdant  vegetation,  made  it  natural  to  the 
Arabs,  and  other  oriental  nations,  to  conceive  of 
the  most  exquisite  scenes  of  pleasure  under  the 
images  of  rivers  of  water,  cooling  drinks,  flowery 
gardens,  shaded  bowers,  and  luscious  fruits.  The 
magnificence  also  of  many  of  the  Eastern  build- 
ings, their  temples  and  palaces,  with  the  sumptu- 
ousness  of  their  dresses,  the  pomp  of  processions, 
and  the  splendour  of  courts,  would  all  tend  to 
mmgle  in  their  ideas  of  the  highest  state  of  en- 
joyment an  abmidance  of  gold  and  silver  and  pre- 
cious stones — treasures  for  which  the  East  has 
been  famed  from  time  immemorial.  Mohammed 
was  well  aware  that  a  plenitude  of  these  visible 
and  palpable  attractions,  to  say  nothing  of  grosser 
sources  of  pleasure,  was  an  indispensable  requi- 
site in  3,  heaven  suited  to  the  temperament  of  his 
countrj^men.  Accordingly,  he  assures  the  faith- 
ful, that  they  shall  enter  into  delectable  gardens, 
where  the  rivers  flow,  some  with  water,  some  with 
wine,  some  with  milk,  and  some  with  clarified 
hone)'-;  that  there  will  be  fountains  and  purling 
streams  whose  pebbles  are  rubies  and  emeralds, 
their  earth  of  camphire,  their  beds  of  musk,  and 
their  sides  of  saffi-on.  In  feasting  upon  the  ban- 
quets of  paradise,  at  one  time  the  most  delicious 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  71 

fruits  shall  hang  dependent  from  the  branches  of 
the  trees  under  which  their  couches  are  spread,  so 
that  they  have  only  to  reach  forth  their  hands  to 
pluck  them  ;  again,  they  shall  be  served  in  dishes 
of  gold  filled  with  every  variety  of  grateful  food, 
and  supplied  with  wine  of  ambrosial  flavour.  But 
the  prophet's  own  glowing  pictures  of  the  joys  of 
his  promised  paradise  will  do  more  justice  to  the 
subject.  "  They  shall  repose  on  couches,  tlie  lin- 
ings whereof  shall  be  of  thick  silk  interwoven  with 
gold ;  and  the  fruit  of  the  two  gardens  shall  be 
near  at  hand  to  gather.  Therein  shall  receive 
them  beauteous  damsels,  refraining  their  eyes  from 
beholding  any  besides  their  spouses,  having  com- 
plexions like  rubies  and  pearls.  Besides  these 
there  shall  be  two  other  gardens  that  shall  be 
dressed  in  eternal  verdure.  In  each  of  them 
shall  be  two  fountains  pouring  forth  plenty  of 
water.  In  each  of  them  shall  be  fruits,  and  palm- 
trees,  and  pomegranates.  Therein  shall  be  agree- 
able and  beauteous  damsels,  having  fine  black 
eyes,  and  kept  in  pavilions  from  public  view, 
whom  no  man  shall  have  dishonoured  before  their 
predestined  spouses,  nor  any  genius."  "  They 
shall  dwell  in  gardens  of  delight,  reposing  on 
couches  adorned  with  gold  and  precious  stones ; 
sitting  opposite  to  one  another  thereon.  Youths, 
which  shall  continue  in  their  bloom  for  ever,  shall 
go  round  about  to  attend  them,  with  goblets  and 
beakers,  and  a  cup  of  flowing  wine :  their  heads 
shall  not  ache  by  drmking  the  same,  neither  shall 
their  reason  be  disturbed."     "  Upon  them  shall  be 


TZ  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

garments  of  fine  green  silk,  and  of  brocades,  and 
they  shall  be  adorned  with  bracelets  of  silver,  and 
their  Lord  shall  give  them  to  drink  of  a  most  pure 
liquor — a  cup  of  wine  mixed  with  the  water  of 
Zenjebil,  a  fountain  in  paradise  named  Salsabil." 
"  But  those  who  believe  and  do  that  which  is  right, 
we  will  bring  into  gardens  watered  by  rivers, 
therein  shall  they  remain  for  ever,  and  therein 
shall  they  enjoy  wives  free  from  all  infirmities ; 
and  we  will  lead  them  into  perpetual  abodes." 
"  For  those  who  fear  their  Lord  will  be  prepared 
high  apartments  in  paradise,  over  which  shall  be 
other  apartments  built ;  and  rivers  shall  run  be- 
neath them."  "  But  for  the  pious  is  prepared  a 
place  of  bliss :  gardens  planted  with  trees,  and 
vineyards,  and  damsels  of  equal  age  with  them- 
selves, and  a  full  cup."* 

Such  is  the  Mohammedan  paradise,  rendered 
alluring  by  its  gross,  carnal,  and  luxurious  cha- 
racter. It  cannot  indeed  be  denied  that  there  are 
occasional  intimations,  m  the  Koran,  of  some  kind 
of  spiritual  happiness  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  pious 
in  addition  to  their  corporeal  pleasures.  "  Their 
prayer  therein  shall  be.  Praise  be  unto  thee,  0 
God !  and  their  salutation  therein  shall  be.  Peace  ! 
and  the  end  of  their  prayer  shall  be.  Praise  be 
imto  God,  the  Lord  of  all  creatures."!  But  it  is 
beyond  question,  that  the  main  ingredients  in  the 
anticipated  happiness  of  the  Moslem  saints  are  of 
a  sensual  kind,  addressed  to  the  inferior  principles 

*  Koraii,  ch.  iii.  iv.  xxxvi.  xxxvii.  xliii.  xlvii.  Ixxviii.  fCh.  x. 

9 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED.  73 

(li  our  nature,  and  making  their  paradise  to  dif- 
fer but  little  from  the  Elysium  of  the  heathen 
poets. 

The  reader  of  the  Koran  will  meet  with  re- 
peated declarations  subversive  of  the  vulgar  opi- 
nion, that  the  religion  of  Mohammed  denies  to 
women  the  possession  of  souls,  and  excludes 
them  from  all  participation  in  the  joys  of  paradise. 
Whatever  may  have  been  imagined  or  affirmed  on 
this  point  by  some  of  his  more  ignorant  followers,  it 
is  certain  that  Mohammed  himself  thought  too 
highly  of  women  to  inculcate  any  such  doctrine,  as 
the  following  passages  will  evince :  "Whoso  doeth 
evil,  shall  be  rewarded  for  it ;  and  shall  not  find  any 
patron  or  helper  besides  God ;  but  whoso  doeth 
good  works,  whether  he  be  male  or  female,  and  is 
a  true  believer,  they  shall  be  admitted  into  para- 
dise, and  shall  not  in  the  least  be  unjustly  dealt 
with."*  "  The  reward  of  these  shall  be  paradise, 
gardens  of  eternal  abode,  which  they  shall  enter, 
and  whoever  shall  have  acted  uprightly,  of  their 
fathers,  and  their  wives,  and  their  posterity ;  and 
the  angels  shall  go  in  unto  them  by  every  gate, 
saying.  Peace  be  upon  you,  because  ye  have  en- 
dured with  patience ;  how  excellent  a  reward  is 
paradise  !"t 

ff  these  vivid  representations  of  the  future  bliss 
of  the  faithful  were  calculated  to  work  strongly 
upon  the  passions  of  his  hearers,  his  denunciations 
of  the  fearful  torments  reserved  for  unbelievers, 

*  Koran,  ch.  i  v.  t  Ch.  xiii. 


74  LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED. 

were  equally  well  fitted  to  produce  the  same  ef- 
fect. The  most  revolting  images  of  bodily  suf- 
fering, himger,  thirst,  the  torture  of  fire,  and  the 
anguish  of  piercing  cold,  were  summoned  up  by 
the  preacher  to  alarm  the  workers  of  evil,  and  to 
call  ofl"  the  worshippers  of  idols  from  their  im- 
piety. "  But  for  the  transgressors  is  prepared  an 
evil  receptacle,  namely  hell :  they  shall  be  cast 
into  the  same  to  be  burned,  and  a  wretched  couch 
shall  it  be."  "And  they  who  believe  not  shall 
have  garments  of  fire  fitted  unto  them :  boiling 
water  shall  be  poured  on  their  heads ;  their  bow- 
els shall  be  dissolved  thereby,  and  also  their  skins  ; 
and  they  shall  be  beaten  with  maces  of  iron.  So 
often  as  they  shall  endeavour  to  get  out  of  hell, 
because  of  the  anguish  of  their  torments,  they 
shall  be  dragged  back  into  the  same ;  and  their 
tormentors  shall  say  unto  them,  Taste  ye  the  pain 
of  burning."*  "It  shall  be  said  unto  them,  Go 
ye  into  the  punishment  which  ye  denied  as  a  false- 
hood: go  ye  into  the  shadow  of  the  smoke  of 
hell,  which  shall  ascend  in  three  columns,  and 
shall  not  shade  you  from  the  heat,  neither  shall  it 
be  of  service  against  the  flame  ;  but  it  shall  cast 
forth  sparks  as  big  as  towers,  resembling  yellow 
camels  in  colour."!  "  Hath  the  news  of  the 
overwhelming  day  of  judgment  reached  thee  ? 
The  countenances  of  some,  on  that  day,  shall  be 
cast  down ;  labouring  and  toiling ;  they  shall  be 
cast  into  a  scorching  fire  to  be  broiled :  they  shall 

*  Koran,  ch.  xvii.  t  Ch.  IxxviiL 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  75 

be  given  to  drink  of  a  boiling  fountain :  they  shall 
have  no  food  but  of  dry  thorns  and  thistles ; 
which  shall  not  fatten  neither  shall  they  satisfy 
hunger."  "Is  this  a  better  entertainment,  or  the 
tree  of  Al  Zaccum?  How  different  is  the  tree  Al 
Zaccum  from  the  abode  of  Eden !  We  have 
planted  it  for  the  torment  of  the  wicked.  It  is  a 
tree  which  issueth  from  the  bottom  of  hell :  the 
fruit  thereof  resembleth  the  heads  of  devils  ;  and 
the  damned  shall  eat  of  the  same,  and  shall  fill 
their  bellies  therewith ;  and  there  shall  be  given 
them  thereon  a  mixture  of  filthy  and  boiling  water 
to  drink :  afterward  shall  they  return  into  hell."* 

Such  was  the  burden  of  his  exhortations,  while 
he  warned  the  people  of  the  danger  of  unbelief, 
and  urged  them  by  his  eloquence  to  avoid  eter- 
nal damnation  by  putting  faith  in  the  apostle  of 
God.  In  addition  to  these  powerful  motives, 
drawn  from  another  world,  he  was  lavish  in  the 
menaces  of  fearful  punishments  in  this  life  also,  if 
they  hearkened  not  to  his  voice.  For  this  pur- 
pose, he  set  before  them  the  calamities  which  had 
overtaken  those  who,  in  former  times,  had  refiised 
to  listen  to  the  prophets  sent  among  them.  "  Do 
they  not  consider  how  many  generations  we  have 
destroyed  before  them?  Other  apostles  have 
been  laughed  to  scorn  before  thee,  but  the  judg- 
ments which  they  made  a  jest  of  encompassed 
those  who  laughed  them  to  scorn.  Say,  Go 
through  the  earth,  and  behold  what  has  been  the 

*  Koran,  ch.  xxxvii. 


76  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

end  of  those  who  accused  our  prophets  of  impos- 
ture."* "  We  have  already  sent  messages  unto 
sundry  nations  before  thee,  and  we  afflicted  them 
with  trouble  and  adversity,  that  they  might  humble 
themselves :  yet  when  the  affliction  which  we 
sent  came  upon  them,  they  did  not  humble  them- 
selves;  but  their  hearts  became  hardened,  and 
Satan  caused  them  to  find  charms  m  rebellion. 
And  when  they  had  forgotten  that  concerning 
w^hich  they  had  been  admonished,  we  suddenly 
laid  hold  on  them,  and  behold  they  were  seized 
with  despair  ;  and  the  utmost  part  of  the  people 
w^hich  had  acted  wdckedly  was  cut  off:  praise  be 
unto  God,  the  Lord  of  all  creatures  !"t  He  cited 
the  case  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  world,  who 
perished  in  the  deluge  for  not  giving  heed  to  the 
preaching  of  Noah  ;  of  Sodom,  overwhelmed  by 
iire  for  not  receiving  the  admonition  of  Lot ;  and 
of  the  Eg}'ptians,  who  were  buried  in  the  Red 
Sea  for  despising  Moses.  To  give  still  greater 
effect  to  his  warnings,  and  ingratiate  himself  into 
the  favour,  as  well  as  to  awaken  the  fears,  of  his 
auditors,  he  took  repeated  occasions  to  allege  his 
entire  disinterestedness  in  the  work  in  which  he 
was  engaged.  He  preached  because  he  was  com- 
manded to  preach,  and  not  because  he  intended 
covertly  to  make  gain  of  his  hearers.  He  there- 
fore boldly  takes  them  to  witness  that  he  de- 
manded no  compensation  for  his  services.  He 
looked  to  a  higher  source  for  reward.     "  But  we 

*  Koran  ch.vi,  ]Ch.vi. 


LIFE    Of    MOHAMMED.  77 

have  brought  them  their  admonition;  and  they 
turn  aside  from  their  admonition.  Dost  thou  ask 
of  them  any  maintenance  for  thy  preaching  1  since 
the  maintenance  of  thy  Lord  is  better  ;  for  he  is 
the  most  bounteous  provider."*  "  We  have  sent 
thee  to  be  no  other  than  a  bearer  of  good  tidings, 
and  a  denouncer  of  threats.  Say,  I  ask  not  of 
you  any  reward  for  this  my  preaching,  besides  the 
conversion  of  him  who  shall  desire  to  take  the 
way  unto  his  Lord."t  As  the  prophet  therefore 
disclaimed  all  sinister  views  in  the  execution  of 
his  office,  as  he  expressly  renounced  the  expect- 
ancy of  any  earthly  advantage  whatever,  so  he 
was  commanded  to  divest  his  mind  of  all  undue 
anxiety  as  to  the  result  of  his  labours  of  love. 
"  O  apostle,  let  not  them  grieve  thee  who  hasten 
to  infidelity."  "  Whoso  is  wilfully  blind,  the  con- 
sequence will  be  to  himself.  We  have  not  ap- 
pointed thee  a  keeper  over  them  :  neither  art  thou 
a  guardian  over  them."  "  And  be  not  thou  grieved 
on  account  of  the  unbelievers,  neither  be  thou 
troubled  for  that  which  they  subtly  devise."^ 

It  is  not  therefore  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 
rousing  appeals  of  the  prophet  should  have  taken 
effect ;  that  one  after  another  should  have  listened 
— pondered — wavered — and  yielded — especially 
as  the  gravity  and  sanctity  of  his  deportment  seem, 
at  this  time,  to  have  corresponded  with  the  solemn 
strain  of  his  expostulations.  Such  accordingly 
was  the  fact.     The  number  of  his  followers  gra- 


♦  Koran,  ch.  xxUi  t  Ch.  xlii.  t  Ch.  xvL 

G2 


78  LITE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

dually  increased,  so  that  in  five  years  from  the 
commencement  of  his  mission,  his  party,  including 
himself,  amounted  to  forty. 

That  which  operated  more  than  any  thing  else 
to  disconcert  the  impostor  was  the  demand  re- 
peatedly made  upon  him  to  prove  the  truth  of  his 
mission  by  working  a  miracle.  "  Moses  and  Je- 
sus," said  his  hearers,  "  and  the  rest  of  the  pro- 
phets, according  to  thine  own  doctrine,  wrought 
miracles  to  prove  themselves  sent  of  God.  Now 
if  thou  be  a  prophet,  and  greater  than  any  that 
were  before  thee,  as  thou  boastest,  let  us  see  a 
miracle  from  thee  also.  Do  thou  make  the  dead 
to  rise,  the  dumb  to  speak,  the  deaf  to  hear ;  or 
else  cause  fountains  to  spring  out  of  the  earth,  and 
make  this  place  a  garden  adorned  with  vines  and 
palm  trees,  and  watered  with  rivers  running 
through  it  in  divers  channels ;  or  do  thou  make 
thee  a  house  of  gold  beautified  with  jewels  and 
costly  furniture  ;  or  let  us  see  the  book  which 
thou  allegest  to  have  come  do^vn  from  heaven,  or 
the  angel  which  thou  sayest  brings  it  unto  thee, 
and  we  will  believe."  This  natural  and  not  un- 
reasonable demand,  he  had,  as  we  learn  from  the 
Koran,  several  ways  of  evading.  At  one  time,  he 
tells  them  he  is  only  a  man  sent  to  preach  to  them 
the  rewards  of  paradise  and  the  pimishments  of 
hell.  "  The  infidels  say,  unless  a  sign  be  sent 
unto  him  from  his  Lord,  we  will  not  believe. 
Thou  art  commissioned  to  be  a  preacher  only,  and 
not  a  worker  of  miracles."*     "Answer,  Signs  are 

*Koraiij  ch.xiii. 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  79 

in  the  power  of  God  alone ;  and  I  am  no  more 
than  a  piibhc  preacher.  Is  it  not  sufficient  for 
them  that  we  have  sent  down  imto  thee  the  book 
of  the  Koran,  to  be  read  unto  them  ?"*  "  We 
sent  not  our  messengers  otherwise  than  bearing 
good  tidings  and  denouncing  threats.  Say,  I  say 
not  unto  you,  The  treasures  of  God  are  in  my 
power :  neither  do  I  say,  I  know  the  secrets  of 
God :  neither  do  I  say  unto  you,  Verily  I  am  an 
angel :  I  follow  only  that  which  is  revealed  unto 
me."t  At  another,  that  their  predecessors  had 
despised  the  miracles  of  the  former  prophets,  and 
for  this  reason  God  would  work  no  more  among 
them.  Again,  that  those  whom  God  had  ordained 
to  believof  should  believe  without  miracles,  while 
thehapMsnon-elect,  towhom  he  had  not  decreed 
the  ;  g^  of  faith,  would  not  believe  though  ever 
IftOpfTnany  miracles  were  wrought  before  them. 
"  And  though  we  had  sent  down  angels  unto  them, 
and  the  dead  had  spoken  unto  them,  they  would 
not  have  believed,  unless  God  had  so  pleased.";|: 
"  If  their  aversion  to  thy  admonitions  be  grievous 
unto  thee,  if  thou  canst  seek  a  den  whereby  thou 
mtiyest  penetrate  into  the  inward  parts  of  the  earth, 
or  a  ladder  by  which  thou  mayest  ascend  into 
heaven,  that  thou  mayest  show  them  a  sign,  do  so, 
but  thy  search  will  be  fruitless  ;  for  if  God  pleased 
he  would  bring  them  all  to  the  true  direction."^ 
At  a  later  period,  when  he  v/as  at  Medina  at  the 
Dead  of  an  army,  he  had  a  more  summary  way  of 

*  Koran,  ch.  xiii.         t  Ch.  vi.  t  Ibid.  §  Ibid. 


80  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 

solving  all  difficulties  arising  from  this  source,  for 
his  doctrine  then  was,  that  God  had  formerly  sent 
Moses  and  Jesus  with  the  power  of  working  mira- 
cles, and  yet  men  would  not  believe,  and  there- 
fore he  had  now  sent  him,  a  prophet  of  another 
order,  commissioned  to  enforce  belief  hy  the  power 
of  the  sword.  The  sword  accordingly  was  to  be 
the  true  seal  of  his  apostleship,  and  the  remark 
of  the  historian  is  equally  just  and  striking,  that 
"  Mohammed,  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and  the 
Koran  in  the  other,  erected  his  throne  on  the  ruins 
of  Christianity  and  of  Rome."* 

By  some  of  the  more  credulous  of  the  prophet's 
followers,  there  are,  it  is  true,  several  miracles  at- 
tributed to  him ;  as  that  he  clave  the  moon  asun- 
der ;  that  trees  went  forth  to  meet  him ;  that 
water  flowed  from  between  his  fingers ;  that  the 
stones  saluted  him  ;  that  a  beam  groaned  at  him  ;#yN 
that  a  camel  complained  to  him ;  and  that  a  shoul- 
der of  mutton  informed  him  of  its  being  poisoned, 
together  with  several  others.  But  these  miracles 
were  never  alleged  by  Mohammed  himself,  nor  are 
they  maintained  by  any  respectable  Moslem  wri- 
ters. The  only  miracle  claimed  either  by  him  or 
his  intelligent  votaries  is  the  Koran,  the  composi- 
tion of  which  is  the  grand  miracle  of  their  reli- 
gion. On  this  point  the  reader  will  perceive  that 
the  prophet's  assumptions  in  the  following  pas- 
sages are  high-toned  indeed.  "  If  ye  be  in  doubt 
concerning  that   revelation  which  we  have  sent 

*  Gibbon. 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  81 

down  unto  our  servant,  produce  a  chapter  like 
unto  it,  and  call  upon  your  witnesses,  besides  God, 
if  ye  say  the  truth."*  "  Say,  Verily,  if  men  and 
genii  were  purposely  assembled,  that  they  might 
produce  a  book  like  this  Koran,  they  could  not 
produce  one  lilve  it,  although  the  one  of  them  as- 
sisted the  other."t  "Will  they  say.  He  hath 
forged  the  Koran  ?  Bring  therefore  ten  chapters 
like  unto  it,  forged  by  yourselves ;  and  call  on 
whomsoever  ye  may  to  assist  you."|  The  infatua- 
tion of  the  Meccans  in  rejecting  this  inestimable 
"  admonition,"  stamped  as  it  was  with  the  evident 
impress  of  the  divinity,  he  hesitates  not  to  ascribe 
to  the  effect  of  a  fearful  judicial  obstinacy,  such  as 
the  Jewish  prophets  frequently  threaten  against 
the  perverse  nation  of  Israel.  "  If  we  had  re- 
vealed the  Koran  in  a  foreign  language,  they  had 
surely  said.  Unless  the  signs  thereof  be  distinctly 
explained,  we  will  not  receive  the  same  :  Answer, 
It  is  unto  those  who  believe  a  sure  guide  and  a 
remedy ;  but  unto  those  who  believe  not,  it  is  a 
thickness  of  hearing  in  their  ears,  and  it  is  a  dark- 
ness which  covereth  them."^  "  As  for  the  unbe- 
lievers, it  will  be  equal  unto  them  whether  thou 
admonish  them  or  do  not  admonish  them  ;  they 
will  not  believe.  God  hath  sealed  up  their  hearts 
and  their  hearing  ;  a  dinuiess  covereth  their  sight, 
and  they  shall  suffer  a  grievous  punishment."|| 
"  There  is  of  them  who  hearkeneth  unto  thee 
when  thou  readest  the  Koran  ;  but  we  have  cast 

*  Koran,  ch.  ii.  tCh.  xvii.  JCh  xi. 

«Ch.  xli.  llCh.  ii. 


82  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED, 

veils  over  their  hearts,  that  they  should  not  under- 
stand it,  and  a  deafness  in  their  ears  ;  and  though 
they  should  see  all  kinds  of  signs,  they  will  not 
believe  therein ;  and  their  infidelity  will  arrive  to 
that  height,  that  they  will  even  come  unto  thee  to 
dispute  with  thee."*  Still  his  preaching  prevailed. 
He  became  more  and  more  popular  ;  proselytes 
flocked  around  him ;  and,  as  Gibbon  remarks,  "  he 
had  the  satisfaction  of  beholding  the  increase  of 
his  infant  congregation  of  Unitarians,  who  revered 
him  as  a  prophet,  and  to  whom  he  seasonably  dis- 
pensed the  spiritual  nourishment  of  the  Koran."! 

*  Koran,  ch.  vL  t  Dec.  and  Fall,  ch.  L 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED.  83 


CHAPTER   yi. 

The  Koreish  exasperated  and  alarmed  by  Mohammed^s  growing  suc- 
cess— Commence  persecution — Some  of  his  followers  seek  safety  in 
flight— New  converts— The  Koreish  form  a  League  against  him— 
Abu  Taleb  and  Cadijah  die—He  makes  a  temporary  Retreat  from 
Mecca — Returns  and  preaches  with  increased  zeal — Some  of  the 
Pilgrims  from  Medina  converted. 

The  zeal  of  the  prophet  in  proclaiming  his  doc- 
trines, together  with  the  visible  increase  of  his 
followers,  at  length  alarmed  the  fears  of  the  head 
men  of  the  tribe  of  Koreish ;  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  powerful  protection  of  his  uncle,  Moham- 
med would  doubtless  at  this  time  have  fallen  a 
victim  to  the  malice  of  his  opponents.  The  chief 
men  of  the  tribe  warmly  solicited  Abu  Taleb  to 
abandon  his  nephew,  remonstrating  against  the 
perilous  innovations  he  was  making  in  the  religion 
of  their  fathers,  and  threatening  him  with  an  open 
rupture  in  case  he  did  not  prevail  upon  him  to 
desist.  Their  entreaties  had  so  much  weight  with 
Abu  Taleb,  that  he  earnestly  dissuaded  his  rela- 
tive from  prosecuting  his  attempted  reformation 
any  farther,  representing  to  him  in  strong  terms 
the  danger  he  would  incur  both  for  himself  and  his 
friends  by  persisting  in  his  present  course.  But 
the  ardent  apostle,  far  from  being  intimidated  by 
the  prospect  of  opposition,  frankly  assured  his 
uncle,  •'  That  if  they  should  set  the  sun  against 
him  on  his  right  hand,  and  the  moon  on  his  left, 


84  LIFE   OF  MOHAMMED. 

yet  he  would  not  relinquish  his  enterprise."  Abu 
Taleb,  seeing  him  thus  determined,  used  no  far- 
ther arguments  to  divert  him,  but  promised  to 
stand  by  him  against  all  his  enemies ;  a  promise 
which  he  faithfully  kept  till  he  died,  though  there 
is  no  clear  evidence  that  he  ever  became  a  con- 
vert to  the  new  religion. 

The  Koreish,  finding  that  they  could  prevail 
neither  by  fair  words'  nor  by  menaces,  had  re- 
course to  violence.  They  began  to  persecute  his 
followers ;  and  to  such  a  length  did  they  proceed 
in  their  injurious  treatment,  that  it  was  no  longer 
safe  for  them  to  continue  at  Mecca.  Mohammed 
therefore  gave  leave  to  such  of  them  as  had  not 
friends  to  protect  them,  to  seek  refuge  elsewhere. 
Accordingly  sixteen  of  them,  among  whom  was 
Mohammed's  daughter  and  her  husband,  fled  into 
Ethiopia.  These  were  afterward  followed  by 
several  others,  who  -withdrew  in  successive  com- 
panies, till  their  number  amounted  to  eighty-three 
men,  and  eighteen  women,  with  their  children. 
These  refugees  were  kindly  entertained  by  the 
king  of  Ethiopia,  who  peremptorily  refused  to 
deliver  them  to  the  emissaries  of  the  Koreish  sent 
to  demand  them.  To  these  voluntary  exiles  the 
prophet  perhaps  alludes  in  the  following  passage : 
"  As  for  those  who  have  fled  from  their  country 
for  the  sake  of  God,  after  they  had  been  unjustly 
persecuted,  we  will  surely  provide  them  an  excel- 
lent habitation  in  this  world,  but  the  reward  of  the 
next  life  shall  be  greater,  if  they  loiew  it."  * 

*  Koran,  cli.  xvi. 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED.  85 

In  the  sixth  year  of  his  mission,  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  his  party  strengthened  by  the 
conversion  of  his  uncle  Hamza,  a  man  of  distin- 
guished valour,  and  of  Omar,  a  person  of  equal 
note  in  Mecca,  who  had  formerly  made  himself 
conspicuous  by  his  virulent  opposition  to  the  pro- 
phet and  his  claims.  This  new  accession  to  the 
rising  sect  exasperated  the  Koreish  afresh,  and  in- 
cited them  to  measures  of  still  more  active  perse- 
cution against  the  proselytes.  But  as  persecution 
usually  advances  the  cause  which  it  labours  to 
destroy,  so  in  the  present  case  Islamism  made 
more  rapid  progress  than  ever,  till  the  Koreish, 
maddened  with  malice,  entered  into  a  solemn  league 
or  covenant  against  the  Hashemites,  and  especially 
the  family  of  the  Motalleb,  many  of  whom  upheld 
the  impostor,  engaging  to  contract  no  maiTiages 
with  them,  nor  to  hold  any  farther  connexion  or 
commerce  of  any  kind  ;  and,  to  give  it  the  greater 
sanction,  the  compact  was  reduced  to  writing  and 
laid  up  in  the  Caaba.  Upon  this  the  tribe  became 
divided  into  two  factions ;  the  family  of  Hashem, 
except  one  of  Mohammed's  uncles,  putting  them- 
selves under  -4bu  Taleb  as  their  head,  and  the 
other  party  ranging  themselves  under  the  standard 
of  Abu  Sophyan.  This  league,  however,  w^as  of 
no  avail  during  the  lifetime  of  Abu  Taleb.  The 
power  of  the  uncle,  who  presided  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Mecca,  defended  the  nephew  against 
the  designs  of  his  enemies.  At  length,  about  the 
close  of  the  seventh  year  of  the  mission,  Abu 
Taleb  died ;  and,  a  few  days  after  his  death,  Mo- 
H 


86  LIFE    OF  MOHAMMED. 

hammed  was  left  a  widower,  by  the  decease  ot 
Cadijah,  whose  memory  has  been  canonized  by 
the  saying  of  the  prophet ;  "  That  among  men 
there  had  been  many  perfect,  but  of  women,  four 
only  had  attained  to  perfection,  viz.  Cadijah,  his 
wife  ;  Fatima,  his  daughter  ;  Asia,  the  wife  of  Pha- 
raoh ;  and  Mary  (Miriam),  the  daughter  of  Imran 
and  sister  of  Moses."  As  to  Abu  Taleb,  though 
the  prophet  ever  cherished  a  most  gratehd  sense 
of  the  kindness  of  his  early  benefactor,  yet  if  the 
following  passage  from  the  Koran  has  reference, 
as  some  of  the  commentators  say,  to  his  uncle,  it 
shows  that  the  dictates  of  nature  in  the  nephew's 
breast  were  thoroughly  brought  into  subjection  to 
the  stern  precepts  of  his  religion.  "It  is  not 
allowed  unto  the  prophet,  nor  those  who  are  true 
believers,  that  they  pray  for  idolaters,  although 
they  be  of  kin,  after  it  is  become  known  unto  them 
that  they  are  inhabitants  of  hell."  *  This  passage^ 
it  is  said  by  some,  was  revealed  on  account  of  Abu 
Taleb,  who,  upon  his  death-bed,  being  pressed 
by  his  nephew  to  speak  a  word  which  might  enable 
him  to  plead  his  cause  before  God,  that  is,  to  pro- 
fess Islam,  absolutely  refused.  Mohammed,  how- 
ever, told  him  that  he  would  not  cease  to  pray  for 
him  till  he  should  be  forbidden  by  God ;  such  a 
prohibition,  he  affirmed,  was  given  him  in  the 
words  here  cited.  Others  suppose  the  occasion  to- 
have  been  the  prophet's  visiting  his  mother  Amina's 
sepulchre,  who  also  was  an  infidel,  soon  after  the 
capture  of  Mecca.     Here,   while  standing  at  the 

*  Koran,  ch.  ix. 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED.  87 

tomb  of  his  parent,  he  is  reported  to  have  burst 
into  tears  and  said,  "  I  asked  leave  of  God  to 
visit  my  mother's  tomb,  and  he  granted  it  me ;  but 
when  I  asked  leave  to  pray  for  her,  it  was  denied 
me."  This  twofold  affliction  of  the  prophet,  in 
the  loss  of  his  uncle  and  his  wife  on  the  same 
year,  induced  him  ever  after  to  call  this  "  The 
Year  of  Mourning-." 

The  unprotected  apostle  was  now  left  com- 
pletely exposed  to  the  attacks  of  his  enemies,  and 
they  failed  not  to  improve  their  advantage.  They 
redoubled  their  efforts  to  crush  the  pestilent  heresy, 
with  its  author  and  abettors,  and  some  of  his  fol- 
lowers and  friends,  seeing  the  symptoms  of  a 
fiercer  storm  of  persecution  gathering,  forsook  the 
standard  of  their  leader.  In  this  extremity  Mo- 
hammed perceived,  that  his  only  chance  of  safety 
was  in  a  temporary  retreat  from  the  scene  of  con- 
flict. He  accordingly  withdrew  to  Tayef,  a  village 
situated  sixty  miles  to  the  East  of  Mecca,  where 
he  had  an  uncle  named  Abbas,  whose  hospitality 
afforded  him  a  seasonable  shelter.  Here,  how- 
ever, his  stay  was  short,  and  his  prophetic  labours 
unavailing.  He  returned  to  Mecca,  and  boldly 
taking  his  stand  in  the  precincts  of  the  Caaba, 
among  the  crowds  of  pilgrims  who  resorted  an- 
nually to  this  ancient  shrine,  he  preached  the 
gospel  of  Islam  to  the  multitudinous  assemblies. 
New  proselytes  again  rewarded  his  labours ;  and, 
among  the  accessions  now  made  to  his  party  from 
these  pilgiim  hordes,  were  six  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Medina,  then  called  Yatreb,  who,  on  their  return 


88  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 

home  began  at  once  to  relate  to  their  fellow-citizens 
the  story  of  their  conversion,  and  to  extol,  in  no 
measured  terms,  tlieir  new  religion  and  its  apostle. 
This  circumstance  gave  eclat  to  Mohammed  in 
the  city  of  Medina,  and  paved  the  way  to  a  train 
of  events  which  tended  more  than  any  thing  else 
to  promote  his  final  success  in  Arabia.  In  the 
mean  time,  in  order  to  strengthen  his  interest  in 
Mecca,  he  married  Ayesha,  the  daughter  of  Abu- 
beker,  and  shortly  after  Sawda,  the  daughter  of 
Zama.  By  thus  becoming  the  son-in-law  of  two 
of  the  principal  men  of  his  party  he  secured  their 
patronage  to  his  person  and  his  cause. 


LIFE    OF  MOHAMMED.  89 


CHAPTER  VII. 


The  Prophet  pretends  to  have  had  a  night-journey  through  the  Sevm 
Heavens — Description  of  the  memorable  Night  by  an  Arabic  writer—' 
Account  of  the  Journey — His  probable  Motives  in  feigning  such  an 
extravagant  fict  ion. 


It  was  in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  pretended  mis- 
sion that  Mohammed  was  favoured,  according  to 
his  own  accomit,  with  his  celebrated  night-journey 
from  Mecca  to  Jerusalem,  and  from  thence  to  the^ 
seventh  heaven,  under  the  conduct  of  the  angel 
Gabriel.  In  allusion  to  this  the  seventeenth  chap- 
ter of  the  Koran  commences  thus  : — "  Praise  be 
unto  him  who  transported  his  servant  by  night 
from  the  sacred  temple  of  Mecca  to  the  farther 
temple  of  Jerusalem,  the  circuit  of  which  we 
have  blessed,  that  we  might  show  some  of  our 
signs ;  for  God  is  he  who  heareth  and  seeth." 
This  idle  and  extravagant  tale,  which  is  not  related 
in  the  Koran,  but  handed  down  by  tradition,  was 
probably  devised  by  the.  impostor  in  order  to 
raise  his  reputation  as  a  saint,  and  to  put  himself 
more  nearly  upon  a  level  with  Moses,  with  whom 
God  conversed,  face  to  face,  in  the  holy  mount. 
The  story,  however,  is  devoutly  believed  by  the 
Mussulmans,  and  one  of  their  writers  has  given 
the  following  highly-wrought  description  of  the 
memorable  night  in  which  it  occurred.  "  In  the 
H2 


90  LIFE  OF  M0HArfI3IED. 

darkest,  most  obscure,  and  most  silent  night  that 
the  sun  ever  caused  by  his  absence,  since  that 
glorious  planet  of  light  was  created  or  had  its  being; 
a  night  in  which  there  was  no  crowing  of  cocks  to 
be  heard  throughout  the  whole  universe,  no  bark- 
ings of  dogs,  no  bowlings,  roarings,  or  yellings  of 
wild  beasts,  nor  watchings  of  nocturnal  birds ; 
nay,  and  not  only  the  feathered  and  four-footed 
creatures  suspended  their  customary  vociferations 
and  motions,  but  likewise  the  waters  ceased  from 
their  murmurings,  the  winds  from  their  whistlings, 
the  air  from  its  breathings,  the  serpents  from  their 
hissings,  the  mountains,  valleys,  and  caverns  from 
their  resounding  echoes,  the  earth  from  its  produc- 
tions, the  tender  plants  from  their  sproutings,  the 
grass  of  the  field  from  its  verdancy,  the  waves  of 
the  sea  from  their  agitations,  and  their  inhabitants, 
the  fishes,  from  plying  their  fins.  And  indeed 
upon  a  night  so  wonderful  it  was  very  requisite, 
that  all  the  creatures  of  the  Lord's  handy-work 
should  cease  from  their  usual  movements,  and  be- 
come dumb  and  motionless,  and  lend  an  attentive 
ear,  that  they  might  conceive  by  means  of  their 
ears  what  their  tongues  were  not  capable  of  ex- 
pressing. Nor  is  any  tongue  able  to  express  the 
wonders  and  mysteries  of  this  night,  and  should 
any  undertake  so  unequal  a  task,  there  could  no- 
thing be  represented  but  the  bare  shadow :  since 
what  happened  in  this  miraculous  night  Avas  infi- 
nitely the  greatest  and  most  stupendous  event  that 
ever  befell  any  of  the  posterity  of  Adam,  either 
expressed  in  any  of  the   sacred  writings  which 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED.  91 

<;ame  down  from  above,  or  by  signs  and  figures. 
From  the  sublime  altitudes  of  heaven  the  most 
glorious  seraph  of  all  those  which  God  ever 
created  or  produced,  the  incomparable  Gabriel, 
upon  the  latter  part  of  the  evening  of  that  stupen- 
dous night,  took  a  hasty  and  precipitate  flight, 
and  descended  to  this  lower  world  with  an  unheard- 
of  and  wonderful  message,  the  which  caused  an 
universal  rejoicing  on  earth,  and  filled  the  seven 
heavens  with  a  more  than  ordmary  gladness  ;  and, 
as  the  nature  of  the  message  both  required  and 
inspired  joy,  he  visited  the  world  under  the  most 
glorious  and  beautiful  appearance  that  even  imagi- 
nation itself  is  capable  of  figuring.  His  whiteness 
obscured  that  of  the  driven  snow,  and  his  splen- 
dour darkened  the  rays  of  the  noontide  sun.  His 
garments  were  all  covered  with  the  richest  flowers 
m  embroidery  of  celestial  fabric,  and  his  many 
wings  were  most  beautifully  expanded,  and  all  in- 
terspersed with  inestimable  precious  stones.  His 
stature  was  exceeding  tall,  and  his  presence 
exquisitely  awful.  Upon  his  beauteous  capa- 
cious forehead  he  bore  two  lines  written  in  cha- 
racters of  dazzling  light ;  the  uppermost  consisted 
of  these  words,  La  illah  iV  allah — 'There  is  no 
God  but  Allah  ;  and  in  the  lowermost  line  was 
contained^  Mohammed  Rasoul  Allah — Mohammed 
IS  God's  Messenger."* 

In  passmg  from  this  poetical  prelude,  conceived 
in  the  true  gorgeous  style  of  oriental  description, 
to  the  meagre  and  puerile  story  of  the  journey  it- 

*  Morgan's  Mahometanism  Explained. 


93  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

self,  we  feel  at  once  that  the  prophet's  fancy  suffers 
by  comparison  with  that  of  his  disciple,  who  could 
certainly,  from  the  above  specimen,  have  given  a 
vastly  more  interesting  fiction  of  a  celestial  tour 
than  the  miserable  tissue  of  absurdity  which  appears 
in  the  fabrication  of  the  prophet.  Without  detail- 
ing all  the  particulars  of  this  nocturnal  expedition, 
in  which  the  marvels  thickened  upon  him  till  he 
had  reached  the  utmost  height  of  the  empyrean, 
the  following  outline  will  afford  the  reader  an  idea 
of  its  general  character. 

While  the  prophet  was  reposing  in  his  bed,  with 
his  beloved  Ayesha  at  his  side,  he  was  suddenly 
awakened  by  the  angel  Gabriel,  who  stood  before 
him  with  seventy  pair  of  expanded  wings,  Avhiter 
than  snow  and  clearer  than  crystal.  The  angel 
ijiformed  him  that  he  had  come  to  conduct  him  to 
heaven,  and  directed  him  to  mount  an  animal  that 
stood  ready  at  the  door,  and  which  was  between 
the  nature  of  an  ass  and  a  mule.  The  name  of 
this  beast  was  Alborak,  signifying  in  the  Arabic 
tongue,  "  The  Lightning,"  from  his  inconceivable 
swiftness.  His  colour  was  a  milky  white.  As 
he  had,  however,  remained  inactive  from  the  time 
of  Christ  to  that  of  Mohammed — there  having 
been  no  prophet  in  the  inter\^al  to  employ  him — 
he  now  proved  so  restless  and  refractory,  that 
Mohammed  could  not  succeed  in  seating  himself 
on  his  back  till  he  had  promised  him  a  place  in 
paradise.  Pacified  by  this  promise,  he  suffered 
the  prophet  quietly  to  mount,  and  Gabriel,  taking, 
the  bridle  in  his  hand,  conveyed  him  from  Mecca 


LIFE   OF  MOHAMMED.  93 

to  Jerusalem  in  the  twinkling  of  eye.  When  he 
arrived  at  the  latter  place,  the  departed  prophets 
and  saints  came  forth  to  meet  and  to  salute  him, 
and  to  request  an  interest  in  his  prayers  when  he 
came  near  to  the  throne  of  glory.  Going  out  of 
the  temple  he  found  a  ladder  of  light  ready  fixed 
for  them,  and  tying  Alborak  to  a  rock,  he  followed 
Gabriel  on  the  ladder  till  they  reached  the  first 
heaven,  Avhere  admittance  was  readily  granted  by 
the  porter,  when  told  by  Gabriel  that  his  com- 
panion was  no  other  than  Mohammed,  the  pro- 
phet of  God.  This  first  heaven,  he  tells  us,  was 
all  of  pure  silver,  adorned  with  stars  hanging 
from  it  by  chains  of  gold,  each  of  them  of  the 
size  of  a  mountam.  Here  he  was  met  by  a  de- 
crepid  old  man,  whom  the  prophet  learned  to  be 
our  father  Adam,  and  who  greatly  rejoiced  at 
having  so  distinguished  a  son.  He  saw  also  in 
this  heaven  innumerable  angels  in  the  shape  of 
birds,  beasts,  and  men ;  but  its  crownmg  wonder 
was  a  gigantic  cock,  whose  head  towered  up  to 
the  second  heaven,  though  at  the  distance  of  five 
hundred  days  journey  from  the  first !  His  wings 
were  large  in  proportion,  and  were  decked  with 
carbuncles  and  pearls ;  and  so  loud  did  he  crow, 
whenever  tlie  morning  dawned,  that  all  creatures 
on  earth,  except  men  and  fairies,  heard  the  tre- 
mendous din.  The  second  heaven  was  of  pure 
gold,  and  contained  twice  as  many  angels  as  the 
former.  Among  these  was  one  of  such  vast  di- 
mensions, that  the  distance  between  his  eyes  was 
equal   to    the   length  of  seventy   thousand  da)^s 


94  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 

journey.  Here  he  met  Noah,  who  begged  the 
favour  of  his  prayers.  Thence  he  proceeded  to 
the  thhd,  where  he  was  accosted  by  Abraham 
with  the  same  request.  Here  he  found  the  Angel 
of  Death,  with  an  immense  table  before  him,  on 
which  he  was  writing  the  names  of  the  human 
race  as  they  were  born,  and  blotting  them  out  as 
their  allotted  number  of  days  was  completed, 
when  they  immediately  died.  At  his  entrance  into 
the  fourth  heaven,  which  was  of  emerald,  he  was 
met  by  Joseph,  the  son  of  Jacob.  In  the  fifth  he 
beheld  his  honoured  predecessor,  Moses.  In  the 
sixth,  which  was  of  carbuncle,  he  found  John  the 
Baptist.  In  the  seventh,  made  of  divine  light  in- 
stead of  metals  or  gems,  he  saw  Jesus  Christ, 
whose  superior  dignity  it  would  seem  that  he  ac- 
knowledged by  requesting  an  interest  in  his 
prayers,  whereas  in  every  preceding  case  the  per- 
sonages mentioned  solicited  this  favour  of  him. 
In  this  heaven  the  number  of  angels,  which  had 
been  increasing  through  every  step  of  his  progress, 
vastly  exceeded  that  of  all  the  other  departments, 
and  among  them  was  one  who  had  seventy  thou- 
sand heads,  in  every  head  seventy  thousand  mouths, 
in  every  mouth  seventy  thousand  tongues,  in  every 
tongue  seventy  thousand  voices,  whh  which  day 
and  night  he  was  mcessantly  employed  praising 
God ! 

The  angel  having  conducted  him  thus  far,  in- 
formed him,  that  he  was  not  permitted  to  attend 
him  any  farther  in  the  capacity  of  guide,  but  that  he 
must  ascend  the  remainder  of  the  distance  to  the 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  95 

throne  of  God  alone.  This  he  accordmgly  under- 
took, and  finally  accomplished,  though  with  great 
difficulty,  his  way  lying  through  waters  and  snows, 
and  other  formidable  obstacles,  sufficient  to  daunt 
the  stoutest  heart.  At  length  he  reached  a  point 
where  he  heard  a  voice  addressing  him,  saying, 
"  O  Mohammed,  salute  thy  Creator."  Mounting 
still  higher,  he  came  to  a  place  where  he  beheld 
a  vast  extension  of  light  of  such  dazzling  bright- 
ness, that  the  powers  of  mortal  vision  M^ere  unable 
to  endure  it.  In  the  midst  of  the  effulgence  was 
the  throne  of  the  Eternal ;  on  the  right  side  of 
which  was  written  in  luminous  Arabic  characters : 
"  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is 
his  prophet."  This  inscription,  he  says,  he  found 
written  on  all  the  gates  of  the  seven  heavens 
through  which  he  passed.  Having  approached 
to  within  two  bow- shots  of  the  Divine  presence, 
he  affirmed  that  he  there  beheld  the  Most  High 
seated  upon  his  throne,  with  a  covering  of  seventy 
thousand  veils  before  his  face,  from  beneath  which 
he  stretched  forth  his  hand  and  laid  it  upon  the 
prophet,  when  a  coldness  of  inconceivable  intensity 
pierced,  as  he  said,  to  "  the  very  marrow  of  his 
back."  No  injury,  however,  ensued,  and  the  Al- 
mighty then  condescended  to  enter  into  the  most 
familiar  converse  with  his  servant,  unfolding  to 
him  a  great  many  hidden  mysteries,  making  him 
to  understand  the  whole  law,  and  instructing  him 
fully  in  the  nature  of  the  institutions  he  was  to 
deliver  to  mankind.  In  addition  to  this  he  honoured 
him  with  several  distinctions  above  the  rest  of  his 


96  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

race  ;  as  that  he  should  be  the  most  perfect  of  all 
creatures;  that  at  the  day  of  judgment  he  should 
have  the  pre-eminence  among  the  risen  dead ;  that 
he  should  be  the  redeemer  of  all  that  believe  in 
him ;  that  he  should  have  the  knowledge  of  all 
languages  ;  and,  lastly,  that  the  spoils  of  all  whom 
he  should  conquer  in  war  should  belong  to  him 
alone.  After  receiving  these  gracious  assurances, 
he  retired  from  the  presence  of  the  Divine  Majesty, 
and,  returning,  found  the  angel  aM^aiting  him  at  the 
place  where  they  parted,  who  immediately  re- 
conducted him  back,  in  the  same  manner  in  which 
he  came,  to  Jerusalem  and  Mecca. 

Such  were  the  puerile  conceptions  of  the  pro- 
phet. Such  the  silly  rhapsody  which  he  palmed 
upon  the  credulity  of  his  followers  as  the  description 
of  a  most  veritable  occurrence.  The  stor}%  hov/ever, 
carried  on  the  face  of  it  such  glaring  absurdity,  that 
several  of  his  party  forsook  him  at  once,  and  his 
whole  cause  came  near  to  being  utterly  ruined  by  it. 
At  length  Abubeker,  the  man  of  greatest  influence 
among  the  prophet's  friends,  by  professing  to  give 
credence  to  the  tale,  at  once  put  to  shame  the  in- 
fidelity of  the  rest,  and  extricated  his  leader  from 
his  unhappy  dilemma.  He  boldly  vouched  for  the 
prophet's  veracity.  "  If  Mohammed  affirms  it,  it 
is  undeniably  true,  and  I  will  stand  by  him.  I 
believe  every  word  of  it.  The  Lord's  elected 
cannot  lie."  This  seasonable  incident  not  only 
retrieved  the  prophet's  credit,  but  increased  it  to 
such  a  degree,  that  it  made  him  sure  of  being  able 
ever  after  to  impose  any  fiction  he  pleased  upon  the 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  dlt 

easy  faith  of  his  disciples.  So  that  this  senseless 
and  paltry  fable,  which  at  first  threatened  to  blast 
all  the  impostor's  schemes  in  the  bud,  did  in  fact 
serve,  by  a  peculiar  combination  of  circumstances, 
materially  to  promote  his  success.  Abubeker 
henceforth  had  tlie  honorary  title  of  "  Faithful 
Witness"  bestowed  upon  him. 

We  learn  from  Sale,  the  English  commentator 
upon  the  Koran,  that  it  is  still  somewhat  disputed 
among  the  Mohammedan  doctors,  whether  their 
prophet's  night-journey  was  really  performed  by 
him  corporeally,  or  whether  it  was  only  a  dream 
or  a  vision.  Some  think  it  was  no  more  than  a 
vision,  and  allege  an  express  tradition  of  Moawiyah, 
one  of  Mohammed's  successors,  to  that  purpose. 
Others  suppose,  that  he  was  carried  bodily  to 
Jerusalem,  but  no  farther ;  and  that  he  thence  as- 
cended to  heaven  in  spirit  only.  But  the  received 
opinion  is,  that  it  was  no  vision,  but  that  he  was 
actually  transported  in  the  body  to  his  journey's 
end;  and,  if  any  impossibility  be  objected,  they 
deem  it  a  sufficient  answer  to  say,  that  it  might 
easily  have  been  effected  by  an  omnipotent  Being. 

It  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  Mohammed 
had  a  farther  design  in  forging  this  extravagant 
tale  than  merely  to  astonish  his  adherents  by  the 
relation  of  a  miraculous  adventure.  The  attentive 
observer  of  the  distinguishing  traits  of  Islamism 
will  not  fail  to  discover  mnumerable  points  of  re- 
semblance between  that  system  and  the  divinely- 
revealed  religion  of  the  Jews ;  and  it  appears  to 
have  been  an  object  studiously  aimed  at  by  the 
I 


98  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

impostor  to  assimilate  himself  as  much  as  possible 
to  Moses,  and  to  incorporate  as  many  peculiarities 
of  the  Jewish  economy  into  his  own  fabrication  as 
he  could  without  destroying  the  simplicity  of  his 
creed.  This  fact  is  in  keeping  with  what  may  be 
asserted  in  general  terms,  that  the  descendants  of 
Ishmael,  under  a  consciousness  that  the  cove- 
nanted blessings  of  Jehovah  have  flowed  doAvn  in 
the  line  of  Isaac  and  Jacob,  have  ever  shown  a 
disposition  to  imitate  Avhat  they  could  not  attain. 
More  stiking  proofs  of  this  will  appear  in  the 
sequel.  •  We  adduce  the  observation  here  as 
affording  a  probable  clew  to  the  motives  of  the 
prophet  hi  feigning  this  memorable  night-journey. 
Hitherto  he  had  only  imparted  to  his  followers  the 
Koran,  which,  like  the  books  of  Moses,  may  be 
termed  his  written  law.  In  making  this  revelation 
he  had  professed  himself  merely  an  organ  through 
whom  the  divine  counsels  were  to  be  uttered  to 
the  race  of  men.  He  simply  gave  forth  what  was 
communicated  to  him  through  the  medium  of  the 
angelic  messenger,  and  that  without  interposing 
any  comments  or  expositions  of  his  own.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  pressed  by  the  cavils  of  his  adver- 
saries, his  usual  refuge  was  to  affirm  that  the  Koran 
was  not  his  book,  but  God's,  and  that  he  alone 
could  give  a  just  interpretation  of  its  meaning, 
which  M^as  in  some  places  to  be  understood  literally, 
in  others  allegorically.  "  There  is  no  God  but 
God,  the  living,  the  self-subsisting :  he  hath  sent 
down  unto  thee  the  book  of  the  Koran  with  truth, 
confirming  that  which  was  revealed  before  it. 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  99 

It  is  he  who  hath  sent  down  unto  thee  the  book, 
wherein  are  some  verses  clear  to  be  understood ; 
they  are  the  foundation  of  the  book  ;  and  others 
are  parabohcal.  But  they  whose  hearts  are  per- 
verse will  follow  that  which  is  parabolical  therein, 
out  of  love  of  schism,  and  a  desire  of  the  inter- 
pretation thereof;  yet  none  knoweth  the  interpre- 
tation thereof  except  God."*  But  having  by  some 
means  become  acquainted  with  the  fatt,  that  the 
Jews,  in  addition  to  the  written  law  dictated  by 
God  himself,  were  in  possession  of  another,  called 
the  oral  law,  said  to  have  been  given  to  Moses  at 
the  same  time  with  the  former  on  the  holy  mount; 
and  from  him  handed  down  by  tradition  from  age 
to  age ;  understanding,  moreover,  that  this  law  was 
accounted  of  equal  authority  with  the  ^Vritten, 
while  it  had  its  origin  solely  from  certain  verbal 
declarations  or  dictates  of  Moses  which  were  pre- 
served in  the  memories  of  those  who  conversed 
with  him ;  the  prophet  may  from  this  have  taken 
the  hint  of  a  similar  mode  of  advancing  his  autho- 
rity, and  of  giving  the  weight  and  character  of 
oracles  to  his  private  sayings.  To  this  end  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  he  originated  the  fabulous  legend 
of  his  nocturnal  travel  into  the  regions  of  the 
spheres.  He  was  well  aware,  that  could  he  once 
succeed  in  making  it  believed  that  he  had  been  fa- 
voured to  hold  this  high  converse  with  God  in  the 
secret  of  his  presence,  and  that  he  had  been  there 
fully  instructed  in  the  profound  mysteries  of  hea- 
ven, he  could  upon  this  foundation  erect  just  such 

*  Koran,  ch.  iii. 


100  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

a  fabric  of  imposture  as  he  pleased,  and  impose  it 
upon  his  credulous  followers.  Such  at  any  rate 
was  the  actual  result.  From  this  time  fort?i 
a  peculiar  sacredness  attached  to  the  most  trivial 
sayings  and  the  most  inconsiderable  actions  of  the 
prophet  in  every  thing  that  regarded  his  religion. 
They  were  reverently  noted  during  his  lifetime, 
and  devoutly  collected  from  traditional  reports  after 
his  death,  and  at  length  brought  together  in  those 
volumes  of  traditions,  which  compose  the  Sonnah^ 
answering  precisely  to  the  oral  law  of  the  Jews. 
And  as  the  Jewish  Rabbins  employ  themselves  in 
collating,  digesting,  and  explaining  their  ancient 
traditions,  by  many  of  which  they  make  the  law 
of  God  of  none  effect,  so  also  among  the  Moham- 
medan divines,  there  are  those  who  devote  them- 
selves to  the  business  of  expounding  the  Sonnah, 
as  containing  the  sum  of  their  theology,  both 
speculative  and  practical.  It  was  not  without  rea- 
son, therefore,  that  the  impostor  was  extremely 
anxious  to  have  this  mai-vellous  recital  cordially 
believed,  or  that  he  should  have  introduced  the 
Most  High  in  the  Koran  confirming  the  truth  of 
his  servant's  asseverations.  "  By  the  star  when  it 
setteth,  your  companion  Mohammed  erreth  not,  nor 
is  he  led  astray :  neither  doth  he  speak  of  his  own 
will.  It  is  no  other  than  a  revelation  which  hath 
been  revealed  unto  him.  The  heart  of  Moham- 
med did  not  falsely  represent  that  which  he  saw. 
Will  ye  therefore  dispute  with  him  concerning  that 
which  he  saw  ?"* 

*  Koran,  ch.  liij. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED*  101 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

An  Embassy  sent  to  the  Prophet  from  Medina— Enters  into  a  Leagxie 
with  them— Sends  thither  a  Missionary — Another  Deputation  sent 
to  proffer  him  an  Asylum  in  that  City — His  Enemies  renew  their 
Persecutions — Determines  to  fiy  to  Medina — Incidents  on  the 
way — Makes  a  Solemn  Entry  into  the  City — Apostate  Christians 
supposed  to  have  joined  in  tendering  him  the  Invitation. 

The  fame  of  Mohammed  had  now  extended  be- 
yond the  walls  of  his  native  town.  Wliile  he  was 
opposed,  scorned,  and  derided  at  Mecca,  his  repu- 
tation was  growing,  and  his  doctrines  secretly- 
spreading  at  Medina.  This  city,  anciently  known 
by  the  name  of  Yatreb,  and  lying  at  the  northern 
extremity  of  the  province  of  Hejaz,  about  seventy 
miles  from  Mecca,  had  been  distinguished  by  the 
early  introduction  of  letters,  arts,  and  science  ;  and 
its  inhabitants,  composed  of  pagan  Arabs,  here- 
tical Christians,  and  Jews,  were  frequently  desig- 
nated as  the  people  of  the  book.  The  two  princi- 
pal tribes  which  now  had  possession  of  the  city 
were  the  Karejites  and  the  Awsites,  between 
whom  a  hereditary  feud  had  long  subsisted,  and 
the  disturbances  occasioned  by  the  rivalry  of  these 
two  tribes  were  enhanced  by  the  disputes  of  the 
religious  factions,  Jewish  and  Christian,  which  dis- 
tracted all  classes  of  citizens.  It  has  been  al- 
ready observed  that  several  of  the  inhabitants,  in 
a  pilgrimage  to  the  Caaba,  had  been  converted  by 
the  preaching  of  Mohammed,  and  that  on  their  re- 
12 


102  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

turn  they  had  not  been  slothful  in  the  propagation 
of  their  new  sentiments.  That  they  were  both 
sincere  and  successful  disciples  of  the  prophet  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that  on  this  year,  the 
twelfth  of  the  mission,  called  the  accepted  year, 
twelve  men  came  to  Mecca,  and  took  an  oath  of 
fidelity  to  Mohammed  at  Al  Akaba,  a  hill  on  the 
north  of  that  city.  The  amount  of  this  oath  was  : 
"That  they  should  renounce  all  idolatry;  that 
they  should  not  steal  nor  commit  fornication,  nor 
kill  their  children,  as  the  pagan  Arabs  used  to  do 
when  they  apprehended  they  should  not  be  able  to 
maintain  them  ;  nor  forge  calumnies  ;  and  that  they 
should  obey  the  prophet  in  every  thing  that  was 
reasonable."  When  they  had  solemnly  bound 
themselves  to  the  conditions  of  the  oath,  Moham- 
med sent  one  of  his  disciples,  named  INIasab  Ebn 
Oraair,  to  instruct  these  men  fully  in  the  principles 
and  practices  of  the  new  religion.  Masab's  mis- 
sion was  eminently  successhil.  Among  the  prose- 
lytes were  Osaid  Ebn  Hodeira,  a  chief  man  of  the 
city,  and  Saad  Ebn  Moadh,  prince  of  the  tribe  of 
Aws  ;  and  scarce  a  house  in  the  city  but  numbered 
one  or  more  converts.  If  the  terms  may  be  al- 
lowed, the  excitement  was  little  short  of  a  Mo- 
hammedan revival. 

The  next  year,  the  thirteenth  of  the  mission, 
Masab  returned  to  Mecca  accompanied  by  se- 
venty-three men  and  two  women  who  had  pro- 
fessed Islamism,  besides  several  who  were  as  yet 
unbelievers.  The  object  of  this  deputation  was 
to  proffer  to  the  apostle  an  asylum  or  any  assist- 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  103 

ance  in  their  power,  as  they  had  learned  that,  from 
the  strength  and  malice  of  his  adversaries,  he 
stood  in  special  need  of  auxiliaries.  It  was  in 
fact  a  political  association  which  was  proposed  to 
be  entered  into,  "  in  which  we  may  perceive,"  says 
Gibbon,  "  the  first  vital  spark  of  the  empire  of  the 
Saracens."  In  this  secret  conference  with  the 
prophet,  his  kinsmen,  and  his  disciples,  vows  of 
fealty  and  of  mutual  fidelity  were  pledged  by  the 
parties.  The  deputies  from  Medina  promised,  in 
the  name  of  the  city,  that  if  he  should  be  banished, 
they  would  "  receive  him  as  a  confederate,  obey 
him  as  a  leader,  and  defend  him  to  the  last  extre- 
mity, like  their  wives  and  children."  "  But  if  you 
are  recalled  to  your  country,"  they  asked,  "  will 
you  not  abandon  your  new  allies  ?"  "  All  things," 
replied  Mohammed,  "  are  now  common  between 
us ;  your  blood  is  as  my  blood ;  your  ruin  as  my 
ruin.  We  are  bound  to  each  other  by  the  ties  of 
honour  and  interest.  I  am  your  friend,  and  the 
enemy  of  your  foes."  "  But  if  we  are  killed  in 
your  service,  what  will  be  our  reward  ?"  "  Para- 
dise !"  replied  the  confident  apostle.  This  treaty 
was  then  ratified,  and  they  separated,  Mohammed 
having  first  chosen  twelve  out  of  their  number, 
who  were  to  have  the  same  authority  among  them 
as  the  twelve  apostles  of  Christ  had  among  the 
disciples. 

Abu  Sophyan  succeeded  Abu  Taleb  in  the  go- 
vernment of  Mecca,  in  whom  Mohammed  found  a 
mortal  enemy  to  his  family,  his  religion,  and  him- 
self.    No  sooner  was  he  called  to  the  head  of  the 


104  LIFE    OF    MOHAMIVIED. 

State  than  he  determmed  to  exterminate  the  apostle 
and   his   new-fangled   heresy.     A  council  of  the 
Koreish  and  their  allies  was  called,  and  the  death 
of  the  impostor  decided  upon.     It  was  agreed  that 
a  man  should  be  chosen  out  of  each  of  the  con- 
federated tribes  for  the  execution  of  the  project,  and 
that  each  man  should  have  a  blow  at  him  with  his 
sword  in  order  to  divide  the  guilt  of  the  deed,  and 
to  baffle  the  vengeance  of  the  Hashemites ;  as  it 
was  supposed  that  with  their  inferior  strength  they 
would  not  dare,  in  the  face  of  this  powerful  union, 
to  attempt  to  avenge  their  kmsman's  blood.     The 
prophet  declared  that  the   angel  Gabriel  had  re- 
vealed to  him  the  atrocious  conspiracy,  to  which 
he  thus  alludes  some  time  afterwards  :  "  And  call 
to  mind,  when  the  unbelievers  plotted  against  thee 
that  they  might  either  detain  thee  in  bonds,  or  put 
thee  to  death,  or  expel  thee  the  city ;  and  they 
plotted  against  thee ;  but  God  laid  a  plot  against 
them  ;  and  God  is  the  best  layer  of  plots."*     The 
heavenly  minister,   however,    who   disclosed   the 
plot,  pointed  out  no  way  of  defeating  it  but  by  a 
speedy  flight.     Even  this  chance  of  safety   had 
like  to  have  been  cut  ofl"  through  the  vigilance  of 
his  enemies.     He  was  indebted  for  his  escape  to 
the  devoted  zeal  of  Ali,  who  wrapped  himself  in 
the  green  mantle  of  the  prophet,   and  lying  down 
upon  his  bed  deceived  the  assassins  who  had  be- 
sieged the  house  of  his  friend.     Mohammed,  in 
the  mean  time,  in  company  with  his  faithful  friend 

♦Koran. en.  viii. 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  105 

Abubeker,  succeeded  in  getting-  safely  out  of  the 
city,  and  in  reaching  a  cave  three  miles  distant, 
called  the  cave  of  Thor,  where  the  two  fugitives 
concealed  themselves  three  days  from  their  pur- 
suers. A  tradition  of  his  followers  states  that  the 
assassins,  having  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the 
cave,  were  deceived  by  the  nest  of  a  pigeon  made 
at  its  entrance,  and  by  a  web  which  a  spider  had 
fortunately  woven  across  it.  Believing  this  to  be 
sufficient  evidence  that  no  human  being  was  within, 
they  desisted  from  all  farther  examination.  The 
manifest  tokens  of  divine  protection  vouchsafed 
to  the  prophet  on  this  occasion,  afforded  him  signal 
encouragement  ever  after,  even  in  the  entire  des- 
titution of  human  resources.  "  If  ye  assist  not 
the  prophet,  verily  God  will  assist  him,  as  he  as- 
sisted him  formerly,  when  the  unbelievers  drove 
him  out  of  Mecca,  the  second  of  two  (i.  e.  having 
only  Abubeker  with  him) ;  when  they  were  both 
in  the  cave  ;  when  he  said  mito  his  companion.  Be 
not  grieved,  for  God  is  with  us.  And  God  sent 
down  his  security  upon  him,  and  strengthened  him 
with  armies  which  ye  saw  not."*  Leaving  the 
cave  after  the  departure  of  their  enemies,  they 
made  their  way  as  rapidly  as  the  perils  of  their 
flight  would  permit  towards  the  city  of  refuge, 
where  they  arrived  sixteen  days  after  leaving 
Mecca.  Having  halted  at  Koba,  two  miles  from 
Medina,  he  was  there  met  by  five  hundred  of  the 
citizens  who  had  gone  forth  for  the  purpose,  and 

*  Koran,  ch.  ix. 


106  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

by  whom  his  arrival  was  greeted  with  a  cordial 
welcome.  The  prophet,  having  mounted  a  camel, 
with  an  umbrella  spread  over  his  head,  and  a  tur- 
ban unfurled  instead  of  a  banner,  made  his  public 
and  solemn  entry  mto  the  city,  which  was  hereaf- 
ter to  be  sanctified  as  the  place  of  his  throne. 
This  flight  of  the  apostle  of  Islamism,  called  in 
the  Arabic  tongue  the  Hejira,  or  more  properly  the 
Hejra,  has  become  the  grand  era  of  all  the  Mo- 
hammedan nations,  being  employed  by  them  for 
the  same  purposes  as  the  year  of  our  Saviour's 
birth  is  throughout  the  nations  of  Christendom.  It 
took  place  A.  D.  622,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  the 
prophet's  age. 

The  waiting  adherents  of  the  messenger  of 
truth,  composed  of  those  of  his  friends  who  had 
by  his  orders  fled  from  Mecca  a  short  time  before 
him,  and  the  proselytes  of  Medina  whom  he  had 
never  seen,  now  flocked  obsequiously  about  his 
person,  and  the  distinction  henceforth  became  es- 
tablished among  his  followers,  of  the  Mohajerins, 
or  tJie  cojnpanions  of  his  flight,  and  the  Ansars,  or 
helpers;  familiar  appellations  for  the  fugitives  of 
Mecca,  and  the  auxiliaries  of  Medina.  "  As  for 
the  leaders  and  the  first  of  the  Mohajerin  and  the 
Ansars,  and  those  who  have  followed  them  in  well 
doing  ;  God  is  well  pleased  with  them,  and  they 
are  well  pleased  in  him ;  and  he  hath  prepared 
them  gardens  watered  by  rivers ;  they  shall  re- 
main therein  for  ever  ;  this  shall  be  great  felicity."* 

*  Koran,  ch-  ix. 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  107 

At  this  distance  of  time  it  is  not  possible  to  de- 
cide what  class  of  citizens  had  the  principal  share 
in  tendering  this    invitation  to  the  prophet,   and 
granting  him  such  a  ready  reception.     From  the 
following  passage,  occurring  in  the  first  published 
chapter  of  the  Koran  after  entering  Medina,  some 
writers  have  inferred  that  the  nominal  Christians 
of  that  city  were  the  most  active  agents  in  intro- 
ducing the  impostor.     "  Thou  shalt  surely  find  the 
most  violent  of  all  men  in  enmity  against  the  true 
believers  to  be  the  Jews   and  the  idolaters  (i.  e. 
pagan  Arabs) ;  and  thou  shalt  surely  find  those 
among  them  to  be  the  most  inclinable  to  entertain 
friendship  for  the  true  believers  who  say,  We  are 
Christians.     This  cometh  to  pass  because  there 
are  priests  among  them  and  monks,  and  because 
they  are  not  elated  with  pride :  and  when  they 
hear  that  which  hath  been  sent  down  mito  the 
apostle  read  unto  them,  thou  shalt  see  their  eyes 
overflow  with   tears  because  of  the  truth  w^hich 
they  perceive  therein ;  saying,  O  Lord,  we  believe  ; 
write  us  down  therefore  with  those  who  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  truth  :  and  what  should  hinder  us  from 
believing  in  God,  and  the  truth  which  hath  come 
unto  us,  and  from  earnestly  desiring  that  our  Lord 
would  introduce  us  into  paradise  with  the  righteous 
people  ?"*    This  is  certainly  important  as  a  histo- 
rical document,  and  if  the  inference  drawn  from  it 
be  correct,  it  aflbrds  a  melancholy  proof  of  the 
deep  degeneracy  of  the  eastern  churches,  that  they 

*  Koran,  ch.  iii. 


108  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

should  be  among  the  first  to  embrace  the  foul  im- 
posture. If  that  were  the  fact,  it  furnishes  pal- 
pable demonstration  also,  that  when  men  have 
once  began  to  swerve  and  deviate  from  the  truth, 
no  limits  can  be  set  to  the  degree  of  apostacy  into 
which  they  are  liable  to  fall.  A  fearful  illustration 
is  thus  afforded  of  the  law  of  the  divine  judg- 
ments, that  where  men,  under  the  cloak  of  a  Chris- 
tian profession,  receive  not  the  love  of  the  truth, 
but  have  pleasure  in  unrighteousness,  God  shall 
send  them  strong  delusion  that  they  should  believe 
a  lie,  and  that  too  to  their  inevitable  ruin. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  109 


CHAPTER  IX. 

27te  Prophet  now  raised  to  a  high  Pitch  of  Dignity — Biiilds  a  Mosque 
—A  Change  in  the  Tone  of  his  Revelations — The  Faithful  nou)  com- 
manded  to  fight  for  the  true  Religion — His  first  war-like  Attempt 
tmsuccessful — The  Failure  compensated  in  the  Second — Account  of 
the  Battle  of  Beder—This  Victory  much  boasted  of— Difficulties  in 
the  Division  of  the  Spoil — Caab,  a  Jew,  assassinated  at  the  Instance 
of  the  Prophet. 

From  a  fugitive  Mohammed  became  a  monarch. 
No  sooner  had  he  arrived  at  Medina  than  he  found 
him.self  at  the  head  of  an  army  devoted  to  his 
person,  obedient  to  liis  will,  and  blind  believers  in 
his  holy  office*  He  began  at  once  to  make  ar- 
rangements for  a  permanent  settlement,  and  his 
first  busmess,  after  giving  his  daughter  Fatima  in 
marriage  to  Aii,  was  to  erect  a  dwelling  house  for 
himself,  and  a  temple  or  mosque,  adjacent  to  his 
own  residence,  for  a  place  of  religious  worship,  in 
which  he  might  publicly  pray  and  preach  before 
the  people.  For  he  now,  in  his  own  person,  com- 
bined the  temporal  and  the  religious  power ;  he 
was  leader  of  his  army,  judge  of  his  people,  and 
pastor  of  his  flock. 

With  the  change  of  his  fortunes,  his  doctrines 
began  also  to  vary.  Hitherto  he  had  propagated 
his  religion  by  the  milder  arts  of  arguments  and 
entreaties,  and  his  whole  success  before  leaving 
Mecca  is  to  be  attributed  solely  to  the  effect  of  per- 
suasion, and  not  of  force.  "  Wlierefore  warn  thy 
K 


110  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

people  ;  for  thou  art  a  warner  only :  thou  art  not 
empowered  to  act  with  authority  over  them."* 
Up  to  the  period  of  his  flight,  he  had  utterly 
disclaimed  the  use  of  any  species  of  coercion  in 
propagating,  or  of  violence  in  defending,  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  holy  faith.  In  numerous  passages  of 
the  Koran,  published  at  Mecca,  he  expressly  de- 
clares that  his  business  was  only  to  preach  and 
admonish ;  that  he  had  no  authority  to  compel  any 
one  to  embrace  his  religion ;  and  that  whether 
people  believed  or  disbelieved  was  no  concern  of 
his,  but  a  matter  that  belonged  solely  to  God. 
"  We  have  also  spoken  unto  thee,  O  Mohammed, 
by  revelation,  saying,  Follow  the  religion  of  Abra- 
ham, who  was  orthodox,  and  was  no  idolater.  In- 
vite men  unto  the  way  of  thy  Lord  by  wisdom  and 
mild  exhortation  ;  and  dispute  with  them  in  the 
most  condescending  manner :  for  thy  Lord  well 
knoweth  him  who  strayeth  from  his  path,  and  he 
well  knoweth  those  who  are  rightly  directed. 
Wherefore  do  thou  bear  opposition  with  patience ; 
but  thy  pa+ience  shall  not  be  practicable  unless 
with  God's  assistance.  And  be  not  thou  grieved 
on  account  of  the  unbelievers."!  "  Let  there  be 
no  violence  in  religion."  J  Indeed,  so  far  was  he  from 
allowing  his  followers  to  resort  to  violence,  that  he 
exhorted  them  to  bear  with  meekness  the  injuries 
offered  them  on  account  of  their  faith,  and  when 
persecuted  himself,  chose  rather  to  quit  the  place 
of  his  birth,  and  retire  to  a  distant  village  than 

*  Koran,  ch,  Ixxxviii.  tCh  xvi.  It  Ch.  ii. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  Ill 

make  any  resistance.  But  this  exemplary  modera- 
tion, continued  for  the  space  of  twelve  years, 
seems  to  have  been  owing  altogether  to  his  want 
of  power,  and  the  ascendency  of  his  enemies  ;  for 
no  sooner  was  he  enabled,  by  the  assistance  of  the 
men  of  Medina,  to  withstand  his  adversaries,  than 
he  suddenly  "  altered  his  voice,"  declaring  that 
God  had  allowed  him  and  his  followers  to  defend 
themselves  by  human  weapons  against  the  infi- 
dels ;  and  as  his  forces  increased,  he  pretended  to 
have  the  divine  permission  to  act  upon  the  offensive 
also,  to  attack  his  foes,  to  root  out  idolatry  at  all 
hazards,  and  to  urge  the  true  faith  at  the  point  of 
the  sword.  "  War  is  enjomed  you  against  the  in- 
fidels."* "  Fight,  therefore,  against  the  friends 
of  Satan,  for  the  stratagem  of  Satan  is  weak."| 
"  O  true  believers,  take  your  necessary  precaution 
against  your  enemies,  and  either  go  forth  to  war  in 
separate  parties,  or  go  forth  all  together  in  a  body. "J 
And  when  the  months  wherein  ye  shall  not  be  al- 
lowed to  attack  them  shall  be  past,  kill  the  idola- 
ters wherever  ye  shall  find  them,  and  take  them 
prisoners,  and  besiege  them,  and  lay  wait  for  them 
in  every  convenient  place."^  "  When  ye  encoun- 
ter the  unbelievers,  strike  off"  their  heads  until  ye 
have  made  a  great  slaughter  among  them  ;  and  bind 
them  in  bonds ;  and  either  give  them  a  free  dis- 
mission afterward,  or  exact  a  ransom,  until  the 
war  shall  have  laid  down  its  arms."|[  "Verily, 
God  hath  purchased  of  the  true   believers  their 

*  Koran,  ch.  ii.  t  Ch.  iv.  { Ibid. 

$  Ch.  ix,  IJ  Ch.  xlvii. 


112  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

souls,  and  their  substance,  promising  them  the  en- 
joyment of  paradise  on  condition  that  they  fight 
for  the  cause  of  God :  whether  they  slay  or  be 
slain,  the  promise  for  the  same  is  assuredly  due 
by  the  law,  and  the  gospel,  and  the  Koran."*  This 
fierce,  intolerant,  and  sangumary  spirit  will  be  found 
to  distmguish  most  of  the  chapters  revealed  at 
Medma,  so  that  it  can  frequently  be  determined, 
from  the  tone  and  temper-  pervading  it,  without 
consultujg  the  date,  whether  the  portion  was  re- 
vealed before  or  after  the  flight.  The  prophet's 
followers  have  faithfully  acted  up  to  the  spirit  of 
these  precepts  ;  and  the  terrific  announcement  at- 
tendmg  the  Moslem  arms  has  been,  "  The  Koran, 
death,  or  tribute  !"  Even  to  the  present  day,  every 
other  religious  sect  living  under  the  government 
of  Mohammedan  nations  is  compelled  to  pay  an 
annual  tax  as  a  mulct  for  thek  infidelity,  and  are 
sure  to  meet  with  persecution,  if  not  with  death,  if 
they  oppose  or  vilify  any  of  the  tenets  of  the  holy 
prophet.  •  Indeed,  every  thing  like  argument  or 
controversy  wdth  the  unbelievers,  though  not  abso- 
lutely forbidden,  is  far  from  being  countenanced,  as 
we  may  gather  from  the  followmg  precept  to  the 
prophet  himself.  "  Let  them  not,  therefore,  dis- 
pute with  thee  concernmg  this  matter :  but  invite 
them  unto  thy  Lord :  for  thou  followest  the  right  di- 
rection. But  if  they  enter  into  debate  with  thee, 
God  well  knoweth  that  Avhich  ye  do :  God  will  judge 
between  you  on  the  day  of  resurrection  concerning 
that  wherein  ye  now  disagree."! 

*  Koran,  ch.  ix.  t  Ch.  xxii. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  113 

The  prophet  was  now  enabled  to  put  in  opera- 
tion a  more  effectual  system  of  measures  to  com- 
pass his  great  ends  than  he  had  hitherto  had  pow- 
er to  adopt.  He  had  begun  to  wield  the  sword  by 
divine  commission,  and  he  was  not  disposed  to  let 
its  potency  remain  unproved.  Yet  the  first  war- 
like enterprise  undertaken  under  the  auspices  of 
the  martial  apostle,  an  expedition  designed  to  har- 
rass  the  Koreish,  was  unsuccessful.  Having 
learned  that  a  caravan,  the  property  of  the  hostile 
tribe,  was  on  its  way  from  Syria  to  Mecca,  he  des- 
patched his  uncle  Hamza,  with  a  party  of  thirty 
horse  to  capture  it.  But  the  nearer  approach  of  the 
caravan  discovering  to  the  assailants  that  it  was 
guarded  by  a  body  of  three  hundred  men,  they 
deemed  it  prudent  to  forbear  an  attack,  and  to  re- 
turn quietly  to  Mecca. 

The  shame  of  the  prophet's  failure  on  this  oc- 
casion was  more  than  compensated  by  the  success 
of  his  arms  at  the  battle  of  Beder,  so  famous  in 
the  Mohammedan  annals,  which  took  place  the  en- 
suing year.  A  rich  caravan  proceeding  to  Mecca, 
and  guarded  by  Abu  Sophyan  with  between  thirty 
and  forty  men,  tempted  at  once  the  revenge  and  the 
cupidity  of  Mohammed.  The  spies  of  the  prophet 
informed  him  that  their  rich  and  apparently  easy 
prey  was  within  his  grasp.  He  advanced  with  a 
few  followers  m  pursuit  of  it ;  but  before  he  could 
overtake  the  unprotected  band,  Abu  Sophyan  had 
despatched  a  messenger  to  his  brethren  of  Mecca 
for  a  reinforcement.  Roused  by  the  fear  of  losing 
their  merchandise  and  their  provisions,  unless  they 
K2 


114  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

hastened  to  his  reUef,  a  troop  of  nine  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  among  whom  were  the  chief  persons  of 
the  city,  instantly  obeyed  the  summons.  Moham- 
med was  posted  between  the  caravan  and  the  ap- 
proaching succour  with  only  three  hundred  and  thir- 
teen soldiers,  mounted,  for  the  most  part,  on  ca- 
mels. Of  these,  seventy-seven  were  fugitives,  the 
rest  auxiliaries.  Undismayed  by  this  disparity  of 
force  Mohammed  determined  to  tiy  the  event  of 
a  batde,  and  risk  his  fortune,  his  reputation,  and 
perhaps  his  life,  upon  the  issue  of  the  contest. 
The  troops  were  persuaded  to  engage  the  superior 
forces  of  the  enemy,  abandoning  for  the  present 
the  tempting  prize  of  Abu  Sophyan's  wealthy  ca- 
ravan. The  prophet  animated  them  by  his  prayers, 
and,  in  the  name  of  the  Most  High,  promised  them 
certain  victory.  But  however  assured  he  might 
have  been  of  divine  assistance,  he  was  careful  to 
omit  no  human  means  of  securing  success.  A 
slight  entrenchment  was  formed  to  cover  the  flank 
of  his  troops,  and  a  ri\Tilet,  flowing  past  the  spot  he 
had  chosen  for  his  encampment,  furnished  his  army 
with  a  constant  supply  of  water.  When  the  enemy 
appeared  descending  from  the  hill,  Mohammed,  al- 
ludmg  to  his  own  party,  exclaimed,  "  0  God,  if  these 
are  destroyed,  by  whom  wilt  thou  be  worshipped  on 
earth  ?  Courage,  my  children,  close  your  ranks, 
discharge  your  arrows,  and  the  day  is  your  own !" 
Before  the  armies,  however,  could  engage,  three 
combatants,  Ali,  Al  Hareth,  and  Hamza,  on  the  side 
of  the  Moslems,  and  three  of  the  Koreish,  joined  in 
single  combat.     The  Moslem  champions  were  vie- 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  115 

lorious,  and  thus  gave  to  both  armies  a  presage 
of  the  issue  of  the  coming  engagement.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  battle,  the  prophet,  together 
with  Abubeker,  mounted  a  kind  of  throne  or  pulpit, 
earnestly  asking  of  God  the  assistance  of  Gabriel 
with  three  thousand  angels  ;  but  when  his  army- 
appeared  to  waver,  he  started  from  his  place  of 
prayer,  threw  himself  upon  a  horse,  and  casting  a 
handful  of  sand  into  the  air,  exclaiming,  "  Con- 
fusion fill  their  faces  !"  rushed  upon  the  ene- 
my. Fanaticism  rendered  his  followers  invincible. 
The  forces  of  the  Koreish  were  unable  to  break 
the  ranks  or  to  resist  the  furious  charges  of  his 
confiding  soldiers.  They  trembled  and  fled,  leav- 
ing seventy  of  their  bravest  men  dead  on  the  field, 
and  seventy  prisoners  to  grace  the  first  victory  of 
the  faithful.  Of  the  Moslems,  only  fourteen  were 
slain,  whose  names  have  been  handed  down  to  pos- 
terity, and  enrolled  among  the  list  of  martyrs,  whose 
memory  the  pious  Mussulman  is  taught  to  cherish 
with  devout  veneration.  The  dead  bodies  of  the 
Koreish  were  stripped,  and  with  a  savage  barbarity 
cast  into  a  well ;  two  of  the  most  obnoxious  pri- 
soners were  punished  with  death,  and  the  ransom 
of  the  others  fixed  at  four  thousand  drams  of  sil- 
ver. This  sum  would  compensate,  in  a  measure, 
for  the  escape  of  the  booty ;  for,  notwithstanding 
the  defeat,  Abu  Sophyan  managed  to  effect  a  de- 
cent retreat,  and  to  arrive  safely  at  Mecca  with 
the  greater  part  of  the  caravan.  The  spoils  how- 
ever arising  from  the  ransom  of  the  prisoners,  and 
the  partial  plunder  of  the  caravan,  amoimted  to  a 


116  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

considerable  sum,  the  division  of  which  had  like  to 
have  proved  fatal  to  the  victors  themselves.  Foi 
of  the  two  parties  composing  the  prophet's  army 
the  Ansars,  or  auxiharies,  being  the  most  nume 
Yous,  laid  claim  to  the  greatest  share.  The  Mohas 
jerins,  from  being  first  in  the  faith,  assumed  equal, 
at  least,  if  not  superior,  merit  to  that  of  their  com- 
rades, and  a  furious  aUercation  ensued.  Moham- 
med, in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  contention, 
feigned  a  seasonaljle  revelation  from  Heaven,  in 
which  orders  were  given  him  to  divide  the  booty 
equally,  after  having  deducted  a  fifth  part  for  the 
uses  of  the  prophet,  and  certain  specified  purposes 
of  charity.  "  In  the  name  of  the  most  merciful 
God :  They  will  ask  thee  concerning  the  spoils  : 
Answer,  The  division  of  the  spoils  belongeth  unto 
God  and  the  apostle  ;  therefore,  fear  God  and  com- 
pose the  matter  amicably  among  you  ;  and  obey 
God  and  his  apostle,  if  ye  be  true  behevers." 
"  Know  that  whenever  ye  gain  any  spoils,  a  fifth  part 
thereof  belongeth  unto  God  and  to  the  apostle,  and 
his  kindred,  and  the  orphans,  and  the  poor,  and  the 
traveller."*  The  part  which  the  prophet  adjudged 
to  himself  on  this  occasion,  amomited  to  several 
thousand  drams,  or  du-ams,  of  silver ;  how  much 
of  this  sum  he  allotted  to  '•  the  poor,  the  oi-phans, 
and  the  traveller,"  history  gives  us  no  mtimation. 

The  success  of  Mohammed,  with  his  little  band 
of  devotees,  at  the  battle  of  Beder,  is  frequently 
alluded  to  in  the  Koran  in  a  style  of  self-satisfied 

*  Koran,  ch.  viii 


LIFE  CF  3I0IIAMMED.  IIT' 

vaunting  and  triumph,  and  is  often  appealed  to  by 
his  followers  as  nothing  less  than  a  miraculous  at- 
testation of  God  himself  in  favour  of  the  prophet. 
"  Ye  have   already  had  a  miracle   shown  you  in 
two  armies  which  attacked  each  other :  one  army 
fought  for  God's  true  religion,  but  the  other  were 
infidels  ;  they  saw  the  faithful  twice  as  many  as 
themselves  in  their  own  eyesight ;   for  God  strength- 
eneth  with  his  help  whom  he  pleaseth."*     Besides 
the  miracle  of  the  infidels  seeing  the  Moslem  army 
double  to  what  it  was,  two  others  are  said  to  have 
been     wrought  on  this  memorable  occasion.     1. 
The  sand  or  gravel  which  Mohammed  threw  into 
the  air  is  said  to  have  been  carried  by  the  power 
of  God  with  such  force  against  the  faces  of  the 
enemy  that  they  immediately  turned  their  backs 
and  fled.     "And  ye  slew  not  those  who  were  slain 
at  Beder  yourselves,  but  God  slew  them.     Neither 
didst  thou,  O  Mohammed,  cast  the  gravel  into  their 
eyes,  when    thou  didst  seem  to  cast  it ;  but  God 
cast  it."t     2.  We  are  also  taught,  that  God  sent 
down  to  the  prophet's  aid,  first  a  thousand,  and  af- 
terwards three  thousand  angels,  having  their  heads 
adorned  with  white  and  yellow  sashes,  the  ends  of 
which  hung  down  between  their  shoulders ;  and 
that  this  troop  of  celestial   auxiliaries,  borne  upon 
black  and  white  horses,  and  headed  by  Gabriel 
upon  his  steed  Hiazum,  really  did  all  the  execution  in 
the  defeat  of  the  Koreish,  though  Mohammed's  men 
fought  bravely,  and,  until  better  instructed,  gave  the 
credit  of  the  victory  entirely  to  themselves.     "  And 

*  ICoran,  ch.  xii.  t  Ch,  viii. 


118  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 

God  had  already  given  you  the  victory  at  Beder, 
when  ye  were  inferior  in  numbers  ;  therefore,  fear 
God,  that  ye  may  be  thankful.  When  thou  saidst 
unto  the  faithful,  Is  it  not  enough  for  you,  that  your 
Lord  should  assist  you  with  three  thousand  angels, 
sent  down  from  Heaven.  Verily,  if  ye  persevere, 
and  fear  God,  and  your  enemies  come  upon  you  sud- 
denly, your  Lord  will  assist  you  with  five  thousand 
angels,  distinguished  by  their  horses  and  attire."* 
The  vindictive  spirit  of  the  prophet  was  strikingly 
evinced  not  long  after  this  event  by  the  assassination 
of  Caab,  the  son  of  Al-Ashraf,  a  Jew.  This  man, 
having  a  genius  for  poetry,  and  being  inveterately 
opposed  to  Mohammed,  went  to  Mecca  after  the 
battle  of  Beder,  and  with  a  vieAV  to  excite  the  Ko- 
reish  to  revenge,  deplored  in  touching  verses  the 
mihappy  fate  of  those  of  their  brethren  who  had 
fallen  while  valiantly  resisting  a  renegade  prophet, 
with  his  band  of  marauders.  He  afterward  returned 
to  Medina,  and  had  the  hardihood  to  recite  his 
poems  to  the  people  within  the  walls  of  that  city. 
Mohammed  was  so  exceedingly  provoked  by  the 
audacity  of  the  poet,  who  must,  indeed,  have  been 
possessed  of  the  highest  phrensy  of  his  tribe  to 
promise  himself  impunity  m  these  circumstances, 
that  he  exclaimed,  "  Who  will  deliver  me  from  the 
son  of  Al-Ashraf?"  A  certain  namesake  of  the 
prophet,  Mohammed,  the  son  of  Mosalama,  a  ready 
tool  of  his  master,  replied,  "  I,  O  prophet  of  God, 
will  rid  you  of  him."  Caab  was  soon  after  mur- 
dered while  entertaining  one  of  the  apostle's  fol- 
lowers. 

*  Koran  ch.  iii. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  119 


CHAPTER  X. 

Mohammed  alters  the  Kebla — Mam/  of  his  Followers  greatly  offended 
thereby— Mohammedan  Institution  of  Prayer — Appoints  the  Fast  of 
Ramadan — Account  of  this  Ordinance. 

On  the  second  year  of  the  Hejira,  Mohammed 
altered  the  Kebla  for  his  disciples,  that  is,  the 
point  of  the  compass  towards  which  they  were  to 
direct  their  prayers.  It  was  usual  among  the  vota- 
ries of  all  the  religions  of  the  East  to  observe  some 
particular  point  in  the  heavens  towards  Avhich  they 
turned  their  faces  when  they  prayed.  The  Jews, 
in  whatever  part  of  the  world  they  chanced  to  be, 
prayed  with  their  faces  towards  Jerusalem,  the 
seat  of  their  sacred  temple  ;  the  Arabians,  towards 
Mecca,  because  there  was  the  Caaba,  the  centre 
of  their  worship ;  the  Sabians,  towards  the  North 
Star;  the  Persians,  who  deified  fire  and  light,  to- 
wards the  East,  where  the  Sun,  the  fountain  of 
Light,  arose.  "  Every  sect,"  says  the  Koran, 
"  have  a  certain  tract  of  heaven  to  which  they  turn 
themselves  in  prayer."*  Mohammed,  when  he 
first  arri'/ed  in  Medina,  deeming  the  particular  point 
itself  a  matter  of  perfect  indifference,  and  with  a 
view  probably  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  Jews, 
directed  his  disciples  to  pray  towards  Jerusalem, 
which  he  used  to  call  the  Holy  City,  the  City  of 

*  Koran,  ch.  ii. 


120  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

the  Prophets,  and  which  he,  at  one  time,  intended 
to  have  made  the  grand  seat  of  his  worship,  and 
the  place  of  pilgrimage  to  his  followers.  But  find- 
ing the  Jews  too  intractable,  or  that  his  other  con- 
verts still  retained  a  superstitious  regard  for  the 
temple  of  Mecca,  for  so  many  ages  the  place  of 
idolatrous  resort,  and  thinking  it  would  tend  to 
conciliate  the  inhabitants  of  that  city,  if  he  kept  up 
the  sanctity  of  their  temple,  he,  at  the  end  of  six  or 
seven  months,  repealed  his  former  law  regulating 
the  Kebla,  and  thenceforward  required  all  the  faith- 
ful to  offer  their  supplications  with  their  faces 
directed  towards  Mecca.  Though  not  now  in  ac- 
tual possession  of  that  city,  yet  anticipating  the  time 
when  it  would  be  in  the  hands  of  Moslem  masters, 
he  fixed  upon  it  as  the  future  "  holy  city"  of  his 
followers.  "  From  what  place  soever  thou  cemest 
forth,  turn  thy  face  towards  the  holy  temple ;  and 
wherever  ye  be,  thitherward  turn  your  faces,  lest 
men  have  matter  of  dispute  against  you."*  This 
change  was  indeed  an  offence  to  many  of  his  dis- 
ciples, from  its  indicating  a  singular  degree  of 
fickleness  in  a  professed  prophet,  and  large  num- 
bers accordingly  forsook  him  altogether  on  account 
of  it.  But  his  growing  aversion  to  the  Jews  made 
him  steadfast  in  the  present  alteration,  to  which  he 
thus  alludes  in  the  Koran :  "  The  foolish  men 
will  say.  What  hath  turned  them  from  their  Kebla 
towards  which  they  formerly  prayed  ?  Say,  Unto 
God  belongeth  the  East  and  the  West :  he  direct- 
eth  whom  he  pleaseth  in  the  right  way."t     "  We 

*  Koran,  ch.  ii.  t  Ibid- 


LIFE   OF   MOHAMMED.  121 

have  seen  thee  turn  about  thy  face  towards  heaven 
with  uncertamty ;  but  we  will  cause  thee  to  turn 
thyself  towards  a  Kebla  that  will  please  thee. 
Turn  therefore  thy  face  towards  the  holy  temple 
of  Mecca ;  and,  wherever  ye  be,  turn  your  faces 
towards  that  place."*  "  Verily,  although  thou 
shouldst  show  unto  those  to  whom  the  Scripture 
hath  been  given  all  kinds  of  signs,  yet  they  will 
not  follow  thy  Kebla,  neither  shalt  thou  follow  their 
Kebla ;  nor  will  one  part  of  them  follow  the  Kebla 
of  the  other."t  The  bearing  or  situation  of  Mecca, 
with  its  holy  temple,  from  any  particular  region  of 
the  Mohammedan  world,  is  pointed  out  within  their 
mosques  by  a  niche,  which  governs  the  direction 
of  their  faces ;  and  without,  by  the  situation  of  the 
doors  which  open  into  the  galleries  of  the  mi- 
narets. There  are  also  tables  calculated  for  the 
purpose  of  readily  finding  out  their  Kebla,  when 
they  have  no  other  means  of  ascertaining  the  right 
direction. 

No  duty  enjoined  by  the  Mohammedan  creed  is 
more  prominent  than  that  of  prayer.  The  prophet 
himself  used  to  call  prayer  "  the  pillar  of  religion 
and  the  key  of  paradise,"  and  to  say  that  there 
could  be  no  good  in  that  religion  which  dispensed 
with  it.  He  therefore  prescribed  to  his  followers 
five  stated  seasons  in  the  space  of  twenty-four 
hours  for  the  performance  of  their  devotions.  1. 
In  the  morning,  between  daybreak  and  sunrise. 
2.  Just  after  noon,  when  the  sun  begins  to  decline 
from  the  meridian.     3.  At  the  middle  hour  between 

*  Koran,  ch.  ii.  t  ^^i^- 

h 


]  12  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 

noon  and  sunset.  4.  Between  sunset  and  dark. 
5.  An  hour  and  a  half  after  night  has  fully  closed 
in.  At  these  times,  of  which  public  notice  is  given 
by  the  muezzins,  or  criers,  from  the  galleries  of 
the  minarets  attached  to  the  mosques — for  the  Mo- 
hammedans use  no  bells — every  conscientious 
Moslem  engages  in  this  solemn  duty,  either  in  a 
mosque,  or  by  spreading  his  handkerchief,  and 
kneelmg  in  any  clean  place  upon  the  ground.  Such 
extreme  sacredness  do  they  attach  to  this  part  of 
worship,  and  with  such  intensity  of  spirit  do  they 
hold  themselves  bound  to  attend  upon  it,  that  the 
most  pressing  emergency,  the  bursting  out  of  a  fire 
in  their  chamber,  or  the  sudden  irruption  of  an 
armed  enemy  mto  their  gates  or  camps  is  not  con- 
sidered a  sufficient  warrant  for  their  abruptly  break- 
ing off  their  prayers.  Nay,  the  very  act  of  cough- 
ing, spitting,  sneezing,  or  rubbing  their  skin  in 
consequence  of  a  fly-bite,  in  the  midst  of  their 
prayers,  renders  all  the  past  null  and  void,  and 
obliges  them  to  begin  their  devotions  anew.  In 
the  act  of  prayer  they  make  use  of  a  great  variety 
of  postures  and  gestures,  such  as  putting  their 
hands  one  on  the  other  before  them,  bending  their 
body,  kneeling,  touching  the  ground  with  their 
foreheads,  moving  the  head  from  side  to  side,  and 
several  others,  among  which  it  is  impossible  to 
distinguish  those  enjoined  by  Mohammed  himself 
from  those  which  were  common  among  the  ancient 
Arab  tribes  before  he  arose.  Still  it  is  affirmed 
by  travellers,  that,  notwithstanding  the  scrupulous 
preciseness  of  the  Moslem  devotions,  no  people 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  123 

are  more  deeply  tinctured  with  the  pharisaical  spirit 
of  ostentation,  or  love  better  to  pray  in  the  market- 
places, and  in  the  corners  of  the  streets,  that  they 
may  be  seen  of  men,  and  obtain  their  praise. 
Among  the  Turks  especially  it  is  said  that  where- 
ver they  find  the  greatest  concourse  of  spectators, 
particularly  if  they  be  Christians,  there  they  are 
ever  sure  to  spread  their  handkerchiefs,  whatever 
inconveniences  may  attend  the  location,  and  begin 
their  adorations.  In  these  petitions,  a  very  promi- 
nent object  of  request  is,  that  God  would  grant  the 
blessing  of  dissensions,  wars,  and  tumults  to  be 
enkindled  among  Christians  ;  and  the  rumours  of 
such  joyful  events  are  hailed  as  tokens  of  his  gra- 
cious answers  to  their  prayers. 

On  the  same  year  the  prophet  introduced  into 
his  religion  the  holy  fast  of  Ramadan^  or  Rama- 
zan,  so  called  from  its  being  continued  through  the 
whole  of  this  month,  which  is  the  ninth  in  the  or- 
der of  the  mionths  of  the  Arabic  year.  Of  this 
duty  Mohammed  used  to  say,  it  was  "  the  gate  of 
religion,"  and  that  "  the  odour  of  the  mouth  of  him 
who  fasted  is  more  grateful  to  God  than  that  of 
musk."  An  acceptable  fast,  according  to  the  Mos- 
lem doctrine,  includes  abstinence  from  food,  the 
restraining  all  the  senses  and  members  from  their 
accustomed  gratifications,  and  the  withdrawment 
of  the  thoughts  from  every  thing  but  God.  The 
institution  is  thus  announced  in  the  Koran :  "  O 
true  believers,  a  fast  is  ordained  you,  as  it  was  or- 
dained unto  those  before  you,  that  ye  may  fear 
God.     A  certain  number  of  days  shall  ye  fast : 


124  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

but  he  among  you  who  shall  be  sick,  or  on  a  jour- 
ney, shall .  fast  an  equal  number  of  other  days. 
And  those  who  can  keep  it  and  do  not,  must  re- 
deem their  neglect  by  maintaining  of  a  poor  man. 
But  if  ye  fast,  it  will  be  better  for  you,  if  ye  knew 
it.  The  month  of  Eamadan  shall  ye  fast,  in  which 
the  Koran  was  sent  down  from  Heaven,  a  direction 
unto  men."*  By  the  law  of  their  religion,  there- 
fore, the  disciples  of  Islam  are  required  to  fast, 
while  the  sun  is  above  the  horizon,  during  the  en- 
tire month  of  Ramadan,  from  the  time  the  new 
moon  first  appears,  till  the  appearance  of  the  next 
new  moon.  Throughout  that  period  they  abstain 
wholly  from  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  the  pipe, 
and  the  harem ;  they  neither  eat,  drink,  nor  receive 
any  thing  into  their  mouths  during  the  day,  till  the 
evening  lamps,  hung  around  the  minarets,  are 
lighted  by  the  Imam,  or  priest  of  the  mosque,  when 
they  are  released  from  the  obligations  of  abstinence. 
They  then  give  themselves,  v/ithout  restraint,  to  the 
pleasures  of  the  palate,  and  compensate  in  full  mea- 
sure for  the  penance  of  the  day  by  the  indulgence 
of  the  night.  This  is  continued,  according  to  the 
law  of  the  prophet,  "  till  they  can  plainly  distin- 
guish a  white  thread  from  a  black  thread  by  the 
daybreak,"!  when  the  season  of  self-denial  com- 
m'^nces  again  for  the  ensuing  day.  As  most  of 
thr-  Mohammedans,  however,  are  not  too  scrupu- 
lous to  quell  the  annoyance  of  appetite  by  sleeping 
away  the  hours  of  the  day,  the  observance  of  the 

*  Koran,  ch.  ii.  1[Tbid. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  125 

fast  of  Ramadan  is  little  more  than  turning  day  into 
night,  and  night  into  day.  As  the  Arabic  year  is 
lunar,  each  month  in  a  period  of  thirty-three  years, 
falls  mto  all  the  different  seasons  of  the  solar  year, 
and  consequently  the  observance  of  the  fast,  when 
the  month  of  Ramadan  occurs  m  summer,  is  ren- 
dered, by  the  length  and  heat  of  the  days,  ex- 
tremely rigorous  and  trying  ;  especially  as  the  poor 
are  still  compelled  to  labour  during  the  day  ;  and 
yet  are  forbidden,  upon  pain  of  death,  to  assuage 
their  thirst  by  a  drop  of  water. 
L  2 


126 


X.IFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  Koreisk  undertake  a  new  Expedition  against  the  Prophet— Tlie 
Battle  of  Ohod—Mohmnmed  and  his  Army  entirely  defeated— His fol' 
lowers  murmur— The  PropheVs  poor  devices  to  retrieve  the  disgrace 
incurred  in  this  action— Resolves  it  mainly  into  the  doctrine  of  Pre- 
destination^—Wine  and  Games  of  chance  forbidden—Sophyan,  son 
of  Caled,  slain— War  of  the  Ditch. 

The  resentment  of  Abu  Sophyan  and  the  citi- 
zens of  Mecca,  for  the  loss  and  the  disgrace  sus- 
tained the  preceding  year,  stimulated  them  to  un- 
dertake a  new  expedition  against  the  warlike  apos- 
tle. The  Koreish  accordingly  assembled  an  army 
of  three  thousand  men  under  the  command  of  Abu 
Sophyan,  and  proceeded  to  besiege  their  enemy  in 
the  city  of  Medina.  Mohammed,  being  much  in- 
ferior in  numbers  to  the  invading  army,  determined 
at  first  to  await  and  receive  their  attack  within  the 
walls  of  the  city.  But  the  ardour  of  his  men,  en- 
kindled by  the  recollection  of  their  former  success, 
could  not  brook  restraint ;  they  clamorously  de- 
manded to  be  led  out  to  battle ;  and  he  unwisely 
yielded  to  their  request.  Impelled,  also,  himself, 
by  the  same  spirit  of  rash  confidence,  he  unwarily 
promised  them  certain  victory.  The  prophetic 
powers  of  the  apostle  were  to  be  estimated  by  the 
event.  Mohammed,  in  every  encounter,  seems  to 
have  manifested,  in  a  high  degree,  the  talents  of  a 
general.     In  the  present  instance  his  aimy,  con- 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  127 

sisting  of  about  one  thousand  men,  was  advantage- 
ously posted  on  the  decUvity  of  the  mountain 
Ohod,  four  miles  to  the  north  of  Medina.  Three 
standards  were  confided  each  one  to  a  separate 
tribe,  while  the  great  standard  was  carried  before 
the  prophet,  and  a  chosen  band  of  fifty  archers 
were  stationed  in  the  rear,  with  peremptory  orders 
to  remain  there  till  commanded  to  the  attack 
by  Mohammed  himself.  The  Koreish  advanced 
in  the  form  of  a  crescent ;  Caled,  the  fiercest  of 
the  Arabian  warriors,  led  the  right  wing  of  the  ca- 
valry ;  while  Hinda,  the  wife  of  Abu  Sophyan,  ac- 
companied by  fifteen  matrons  of  Mecca,  inces- 
santly sounded  timbrels  to  animate  the  troops  to 
the  approaching  conflict.  The  action  commenced 
by  the  Moslems  charging  down  the  hill,  and  break- 
ing through  the  enemy's  ranks.  Victory  or  para- 
dise was  the  reward  promised  by  Mohammed  to 
his  soldiers,  and  they  strove  with  frantic  enthusi- 
asm to  gain  the  expected  recompense.  The  Ime 
of  the  enemy  was  quickly  disordered,  and  an  easy 
victory  seemed  about  to  crown  the  spirit  and  valour 
of  the  Moslem  troops.  At  this  moment,  the  arch- 
ers in  the  rear,  impelled  by  the  hope  of  plunder, 
deserted  their  station  and  scattered  themselves  over 
the  field.  The  intrepid  Caled,  seizing  the  favour- 
able opportunity,  wheeled  his  cavalry  on  their  flank 
and  rear,  and  exclaiming  aloud,  "  Mohammed  is 
slain!"  charged  with  such  fury  upon  the  disordered 
ranks  of  the  Moslems,  as  speedily  to  turn  the  fate 
of  the  day.  The  flying  report  of  the  death  of  their 
leader  so  dispirited  the  faithful,  that  they  gave  way 


128  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

in  every  direction,  and  the  rout  soon  became  gene- 
ral. Mohammed  endeavom-ed  in  vain  to  rally  his 
broken  troops ;  he  fought  with  desperate  valour ; 
exposed  his  person  where  the  danger  appeared 
greatest;  was  wounded  in  the  face  by  a  javelin; 
had  two  of  his  teeth  shattered  by  a  stone ;  was 
thrown  from  his  horse ;  and  would  in  all  probabi- 
lity have  been  slain,  but  for  the  determined  bra- 
very of  a  few  chosen  adherents,  who  rescued  their 
leader  from  the  throng,  and  bore  him  away  to  a 
place  of  safety.  The  day  was  utterly  lost ;  se- 
venty of  his  soldiers  were  slain,  among  whom  was 
his  uncle  Hamza ;  and  his  reputation  as  a  prophet 
and  apostle  was  in  imminent  peril.  His  followers 
murmured  at  the  disastrous  issue  of  the  conflict, 
and  had  the  hardihood  to  affirm  that  the  prophet 
had  deceived  them ;  that  the  will  of  the  Lord  had 
not  been  revealed  to  him,  since  his  confident  pre- 
diction of  success  had  been  followed  by  a  signal 
defeat.  The  prophet,  on  the  other  hand,  threw  the 
blame  on  the  sins  of  the  people ;  the  anger  of  the 
Lord  had  fallen  upon  them  in  consequence  of  an 
overweening  conceit  of  their  security,  and  because 
he  had  determined  to  make  trial  of  their  sincerity. 
"  After  a  misfortune  hath  beftilen  you  at  Ohod,  do 
ye  say.  Whence  cometh  this?  Answer,  This  is 
from  yourselves  :  for  God  is  almighty,  and  what 
happened  unto  you  was  certainly  by  the  permis- 
sion of  God,  that  he   might  know  the  faithful  and 

that  he    might    know  the   ungodly.- And  we 

cause  these  days  of  different  success  interchange- 
ably to  succeed  each  other  among  men,  that  God 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  129 

might  prove  those  who  beheve,  and  might  destroy 
the  infidels. — Did  ye  imagine  that  ye  should  enter 
paradise,  when  as  yet  God  knew  not  those  among 
you  who  fought  strenuously  m  his  cause  ;  nor  knew 
those  who  persevered  with  patience  1 — Verily,  they 
among  you  who  turned  their  backs  on  the  day 
whereon  the  two  armies  met  each  other  at  Ohod, 
Satan  caused  them  to  slip  for  some  crime  which 
they  had  committed."*     In  order  to  stifle  the  mur- 
murs of  those  who  were  overwhelmed  with  grief 
at  the  loss  of  their  friends  and  relatives,  he  repre- 
sented to  them,  that  the  time  of  every  man's  death 
is  distinctly  fixed  by  the  divine  decree,  and  that 
those  who  fell  in  battle   could  not  have  avoided 
their  predetermined  fate  even  if  they  had  staid  at 
home ;  whereas  now  they  had   obtained  the  glo- 
rious privilege  of  dying  martyrs  for  the  faith,  and 
were  consequently  translated  to  the  bliss  of  para- 
dise.    "  O  true  believers,  be  not  as  they  who  be- 
lieve not,  and  said  of  their  brethren  when  they 
had  journeyed  in  the  land,  or  had  been  at  war, 
If  they  had  been  with  us,  those  had  not  died,  nor 
had  these  been  slain :  whereas,  what  befell  them 
was  so  ordained. — No  soul  can  die  unless  by  the 
permission  of  God,  according  to  what  is  written  in 
the  book  containing  the  determination  of  things. — 
Thou  shalt  in  no  wise  reckon  those  who  have  been 
slain  at  Ohod,  in  the   cause  of  God,  dead :  nay, 
they  are  sustained  alive  with  their  Lord,  rejoicing 
for  what  God  of  his  favour  hath  granted  thera."t 
With  these  miserable  evasions  did  he  excuse  the 

*  Koran,  ch.  iii.  jlbid. 


130  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

falsehood  of  his  prediction,  and  salve  over  the 
ignominy  of  his  defeat.  This  doctrine  of  fatalism 
however,  took  a  deep  root  among  his  followers,  and 
to  this  day  the  Mohammedans  are  the  most  stre- 
nuous sticklers  of  any  people  on  earth  for  the  doc- 
trine of  absolute  unconditional  predestination. 
"  No  accident,"  saith  the  Koran,  "  happeneth  in  tlie 
earth,  nor  in  your  persons,  but  the  same  was  en- 
tered in  the  book  of  our  decrees,  before  we  cre- 
ated it."* 

Abu  Sophyan,  for  reasons  now  inexplicable,  did 
not  pursue  the  advantages  he  had  gained  on  this 
occasion.  He  merely  gave  the  prophet  a  chal- 
lenge to  meet  him  again  in  the  field  on  the  ensu- 
ing year,  which  was  readily  accepted,  although 
somewhat  more  than  a  year  elapsed  before  the 
actual  renewal  of  hostilities. 


*  "  We  had  at  the  same  time  the  following  striking  instance  of  the 
firivolous  appeals  to  the  Deity  among  the  Mohammedans.  A  man  went 
round  the  caravan,  crying  with  a  loud  voice,  'In  the  name  of  God,  the 
just,  the  merciful.  My  cup  is  gone  from  me :  it  disappeared  while  I 
prayed  at  sunset  (and  may  God  grant  my  evening  prayer).  To  whoever 
may  find  the  same,  may  God  lengthen  out  his  life,  may  God  augment 
hispleasures,  and  may  God  bring  down  affairs  of  business  on  his  head  1' 
This  pompous  appeal  to  Heaven,  and  prayers  for  good  fortune  to  the 
finder  of  the  missing  utensil,  were  all  powerless,  however,  in  their 
effect.  The  lost  cup  was  not  found;  and  the  consolation  then  assumed 
was,  '  God  knows  where  it  is  gone ;  but  it  was  written  in  heaven  from  of 
old.'' " — Buckingham's  TVavels  in  Mesopotamia,  vol.  i.  p.  281,  Lond.  182t. 

"  While  this  was  going  on,  the  author  of  our  calamity  [a  vessel'  had 
been  run  aground]  was  pacing  the  deck,  the  picture  of  terror  and  inde- 
cision, calling  aloud  on  Mohammed  to  assist  us  out  of  the  danger.  His 
fears  were  not  mui;h  lessened  by  the  threats  thrown  out  by  each  passing 
tar.  '  I  say,  Jack,'  said  one  of  them,  "  we  '11  string  you  up  for  this  ;' 
making  his  observation  intelligible,  by  pointing  with  one  hand  to  the 
yard-arm,  and  with  the  other  to  the  neck  of  his  auditor,  at  the  same 
time  imitating  the  convulsive  guggle  of  strangulation.  When  called 
to  account  for  his  obstmacy,  the  pilot  gave  us  an  answer  in  the  true 
spirit  of  (Mohammedan)  predestination ;—'//" if  is  God's  -pleasure  that 
the  ship  should  go  ashore,  what  business  is  it  of  mine?'" — KeppeVs  JouT' 
neyfrom  India  tu  England,  in  1824,  p.  33. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  131 

About  this  time,  or  in  the  fourth  year  of  the 
Hejira  (A.  I).  626),  Mohammed  prohibited  the  use 
of  wine  and  of  games  of  chance  to  his  followers. 
"  They  will  ask  thee  of  wine  and  lots.  Answer, 
In  both  these  there  is  great  sin,  and  also  some 
things  of  use  unto  men ;  but  their  sinfulness  is 
greater  than  their  use."*  The  occasion  of  this 
prohibition  seems  to  have  been  the  prophet's  wit- 
nes-sing  their  bad  eifects  in  producing  discord  and 
broils  among  his  disciples.  "  0  true  believers, 
wine  and  games  of  chance  are  an  abomination,  of 
the  work  of  Satan  ;  therefore  avoid  them,  that  ye 
may  prosper.  Satan  seeketh  to  sow  dissension  and 
hatred  among  you  by  means  of  wine  and  lots,  and 
to  divert  you  from  remembering  God,  and  from 
prayer ;  will  ye  not,  therefore,  abstam  from  them  T' 
The  sins  of  the  past,  arising  from  this  source,  are 
graciously  remitted  on  condition  of  future  amend- 
ment. "  In  those  who  believe  and  do  good  works, 
it  is  no  sin  that  they  have  tasted  wine  or  gaming 
before  they  were  forbidden  ;  if  they  fear  God  and 
believe,  and  do  good  works,  and  shall  for  the  future 
fear  God  and  believe,  and  shall  persevere  to  fear 
him  and  to  do  good.  Obey  God,  and  obey  the 
apostle,  and  take  heed  to  yourselves :  but  if  ye 
turn  back,  know  that  the  duty  of  our  apostle  is 
only  to  preach  publicly."!  Under  wine  are  com- 
prehended also  all  kinds  of  strong  and  inebriating 
liquors  ;  and  though  Mussulmans  of  lax  and  liber- 
tine principles,  and  many  such  there  are,  will  indulge 
themselves  with  the  forbidden  beverage,  yet  the 

*  Koran,  ch,  ii.  t  Ch.  v. 


13?  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 

more  conscientious  scrupulously  avoid  it,  and  not 
only  hold  it  criminal  to  taste  of  wine,  but  also  to 
press  grapes  for  the  making  of  it,  to  buy  or  to  sell 
it,  or  even  to  maintain  themselves  with  the  money 
arising  from  the  sale  of  it. 

Another  act  of  blood  stains  the  fame  of  Mo- 
^hammed  in  this  part  of  his  history.  Being  in- 
formed that  Sophy  an,  the  son  of  Caled,  was  col- 
lectmg  men  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  him,  he 
ordered  Abdallah,  the  son  of  Onais,  surnamed 
Dhul-Malldhrat,  that  is,  a  man  ready  to  undertake 
any  thing,  to  assassinate  his  designing  foe.  Ab- 
dallah obeyed  the  prophet's  command,  and  mur 
dered  Sophyan  in  the  valley  of  Orsa.  He  imme 
diately  returned  to  Mohammed,  who,  upon  hear 
ing  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  gave  him  as  a 
token  of  his  friendship  the  cane  with  which  he  usu 
ally  Avalked. 

In  the  fifth  year  of  the  Hejira  occurred  the  voar 
of  the  ditch,  or,  as  it  is  otherwise  termed,  the  war 
of  the  nations ;  which,  but  for  peculiar  circum 
stances,  would  probably  have  resulted  in  the  entir6 
overthrow  of  the  impostor.  The  Koreish,  in  coii 
junction  with  a  number  of  the  neighbouring  tribes 
or  nations,  many  of  whom  were  Jev»^s,  assembled 
an  army  of  ten  thousand  men,  and  making  common 
cause  against  the  grand  adversary  of  their  ancient 
religion,  advanced  to  the  siege  of  Medina.  On 
their  approach,  Mohammed,  by  the  advice  of  So- 
liman,  or  Salman,  the  Persian,*  ordered  a  deep 

*  This  Soliman,  otherwise  called  Suleiman  Pauk  (i.e.  the  Pure),  has 
a  celebrated  tomb  erected  to  his  memory  near  the  ruins  of  the  ancien? 


LIFE   OF  MOHAMMED.  133 

ditch,  or  intrenchment,  to  be  dug  around  the  city 
for  its  security,  behind  which  he  remained  fortified 
for  near  a  month.  During  this  period,  no  other 
acts  of  hostility  occurred  than  a  few  ineffectual 
attempts  to  annoy  each  other  by  shooting  arrows 
and  slinging  stones.  In  the  mean  time,  tradition 
says,  the  prophet  was  busily  employed  by  his  arts 
and  emissaries,  in  corrupting  and  bringing  over  to 
his  interest  the  leading  men  among  the  enemy. 
Having  succeeded  with  several,  he  employed  them 
in  sowing  dissensions  among  the  rest;  so  that  at 
length  the  camp  of  the  confederates  was  torn  to 
pieces  with  divisions,  and  one  party  breaking  off 
after  another,  nearly  the  whole  army  was  finally 
dissipated,  and  the  little  remnant  that  remained 
thrown  into  confusion  and  made  powerless  by  the 
direct  visitation  of  an  angry  God.     For  while  they 

Ctesiphon,  on  the  Tigris.  It  is  among  the  prominent  objects  of  curi- 
osity to  modern  travellers  to  the  East.  "  From  the  ruins  we  went  to 
the  tomb  of  Suleiman  Pauk,  whose  name  has  superseded  that  of  the 
builder  of  this  magnificent  pile,  in  giving  a  name  to  tlie  district.  The 
tomb  IS  a  small  building  with  a  dome ;  the  interior,  to  which  they 
allowed  us  access,  on  our  pulling  off  our  shoes,  was  ornamented  with 
arabesque  arches,  and  the  suTounding  enclosure  was  used  as  a  cara- 
vanserai."— Keppel's  Journey,  p.  82. 

"  After  traversing  a  space  within  the  wall*  «trewed  with  fragments 
of  burnt  brick  and  pottery,  we  came  in  about  half  an  hour  to  the  tomb 
of  Selman  Pauk,  which  is  within  a  short  distance  of  the  ruined  palace 
ofChosroes.  We  found  here  a  very  comfortable  and  secure  retreat, 
within  a  high-walled  enclosure  of  about  a  hundred  paces  square,  in  the 
centre  of  which  rose  the  tomb  of  the  celebrated  favourite  of  Mohammed. 
This  Selman  Pauk,  or  Selman  the  Pure,  was  a  Persian  barber,  who, 
from  the  fire-worship  of  his  ancestors,  became  a  convert  to  Islam, 
under  the  persuasive  eloq\jence  of  the  great  prophet  of  Medina  himself; 
and  after  a  life  of  fidelity  to  the  cause  he  liad  embraced,  was  buried  here 
in  his  native  city  of  Modain  (Ctesiphon).  The  memory  of  this  beloved 
companion  of  the  great  head  of  their  faith  is  held  in  great  respect  by  all 
the  Mohammedans  of  the  country  ;  for,  besides  the  annual  feast  of  the 
barbers  of  Bagdad,  who,  in  the  month  of  April  visit  his  tomb  as  that  of 
a  patron  saint,  there  are  others  who  come  to  it  on  pilgrimage  at  all  sea- 
sons of  the  year." — Buckingham's  Travels  in  Mesopotamia,  vol.  2, 
450. 

M 


134  LIFE  OF  M0HAM3IED. 

lay  encamped  about  the  city,  a  remarkable  tem- 
pest, supernaturally  excited,  benumbed  the  limbs 
of  the  besiegers,  IdIcw  dust  in  their  faces,  extin- 
guished their  fires,  overturned  their  tents,  and  put 
their  horses  in  disorder.  The  angels,  moreover, 
co-operated  with  the  elements  in  discomfiting  the 
enemy,  and  by  crying  "Allah  Acbar!"  {God,  is 
great !)  as  their  invisible  legions  surrounded  the 
camp,  strucit  them  with  such  a  panic,  that  they 
were  glad  to  escape  with  their  lives. 

The  prophet  was  not  insensible  to  the  marks  of 
the  divine  favour  vouchsafed  him  in  these  illus- 
trious prodigies,  nor  did  he  fail  to  hold  them  up  to 
the  consolation  of  his  followers  on  subsequent 
occasions.  "  0  true  believers,  remember  the  fa- 
vour of  God  towards  you,  when  armies  of  infidels 
came  against  you,  and  we  sent  against  them  a  wind, 
and  hosts  of  angels  which  ye  saw  not."*  But,  to 
whatever  it  were  owing,  whether  to  human  or  hea- 
venly agency,  it  is  certain  that  from  this  time  the 
Koreish  gave  up  all  hopes  of  putting  an  end  to  the 
growing  power  and  spreading  conquests  of  Mo- 
hammed. The)j  henceforth  undertook  no  more 
expeditions  against  him. 

*  Koran,  ch.  xxxiii 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED  135 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Jews  the  special  objects  of  MohammeiVs  Enmity — Several  Tribes  of 
them  reduced  to  Subjection — Undertakes  a  Pilgrijnage  to  Mecca — 
The  Meccans  conclude  a  Truce  iiith  him  of  ten  years — His  Power 
and  Authority  greatly  increased — Has  a  Pulpit  constructed  for  his 
Mosque — Goes  against  Chaibar,  a  City  of  the  Arab  Jeivs — Besieges 
and  takes  the  City,  but  is  poisoned  at  an  Entertainment  by  a  young 
Woman — 7s  still  able  to  prosecute  his  Victories. 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  prophet's  early- 
reverence  for  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  his  friend- 
ship towards  the  Jews,  who,  together  with  the  sons 
of  Ishmael,  claimed  in  Abraham  a  common  father, 
their  obstinacy  converted  his  favour  into  impla- 
cable hatred ;  and  to  the  last  moment  of  his  life 
he  pursued  that  unfortunate  people  with  a  rigour 
of  persecution  unparalleled  in  his  treatment  of 
other  nations.  The  Jewish  tribes  of  Kainoka,  Ko- 
raidha,  and  the  Nadhirites,  lying  in  the  vicinity  of 
Medina,  were  singled  out  as  the  next  objects  of  his 
warlike  attempts  ;  and  as  they  fell  an  easy  prey 
to  the  power  of  his  arms,  spoliation,  banishment, 
and  death  were  the  several  punishments  to  which 
he  adjudged  them,  according  to  the  grade  of  their 
crhne  in  rejecting  a  prophet  or  opposing  a  con- 
queror. 

Our  intended  limits  will  not  permit  us  to  enu- 
merate the  various  battles  fought  by  Mohammed 
during  the  five  succeeding  years.     Suffice  it  to 


136  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

Bay,  that,  according  to  the  computation  of  some  of 
his  biographers,  no  less  than  twenty-seven  expedi- 
tions were  undertaken,  in  which  he  commanded 
personally,  and  in  which  nine  pitched  battles  were 
fought.  The  heart  sickens  in  following  a  pro- 
fessed messenger  and  apostle  of  God  from  one 
scene  of  blood  and  carnage  to  another,  making  th** 
pretences  of  religion  a  cloak  to  cover  the  most  un 
bounded  ambition  and  the  vilest  sensuality.  A 
mind  untrained  to  a  deep  sense  of  the  purity  and 
peaceableness  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  may  be  daz- 
zled by  the  glare  of  a  tide  of  victories,  and  lose  its 
detestation  of  the  impostor  in  admiring  the  success 
of  the  conqueror.  But  to  one  who  feels  the  force 
of  Christian  principles,  no  relief  is  afforded  by  the 
view  of  arduous  battles  won,  of  sieges  undertaken, 
or  of  cities  sacked  or  subjected,  by  the  prowess  of 
a  leader  whose  career  is  stained  like  that  of  the 
founder  of  Islam. 

One  or  two  subsequent  expeditions,  however,  are 
too  important  in  the  prophet's  history  to  be  passed 
over  without  notice.  In  the  sixth  year  of  the 
Hejira,  with  fourteen  hundred  men,  he  undertook 
what  he  declared  to  be  a  peaceful  pilgrimage  to 
the  holy  temple  of  Mecca.  The  inhabitants  were 
jealous  of  his  intentions ;  and  w^hile  he  halted 
several  days  at  Hodeibiya,  from  whence  he  des- 
patched an  emissary  to  announce  his  intention, 
they  came  to  a  determination  to  refuse  him  admit- 
tance, and  sent  him  word,  that  if  he  entered  the 
city,  it  must  be  by  forcing  his  way  at  the  point  of 
the  sword.     Upon  this  intelligence,  the   warlike 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  137 

pilgrim  called  his  men  together,  and  it  was  resolved 
to  attack  the  city.  The  Meccans,  in  the  mean 
time,  having  more  accurately  measm-ed  their 
strength,  or  estimated  their  policy,  and  having  been, 
besides,  somewhat  wrought  upon  by  an  unex- 
pected act  of  clemency  on  the  part  of  Mohammed, 
in  pardoning  and  dismissing  eighty  prisoners  of  their 
fellow-citizens,  who  had  fallen  into  his  hands, 
altered  their  purpose  of  resistance,  and  sent  an 
ambassador  to  his  camp  to  confer  upon  terms  of 
peace.  Some  umbrage  was  given  to  the  Moslems 
by  the  facility  with  which  their  leader  waived  the 
title  of  Apostle  of  God,*  but  the  result  was  the 
concluding  of  a  truce  of  ten  years,  in  which  it  was 
stipulated,  that  the  prophet  and  his  folloAvers  should 
have  free  access  to  the  city  and  temple  whenever 
they  pleased,  during  the  period  of  the  truce,  pro- 
vided they  came  imarmed  as  befitted  pilgrims,  and 
remained  not  above  three  days  at  a  time.  In  the 
48th  chapter  of  the  Koran,  entitled  "  The  Victory," 
the  prophet  thus  alludes  to  the  events  of  this  eX' 
pedition  ;  "  If  the  unbelieving  Meccans  had  fought 
against  you,  verily  they  had  turned  their  backs ; 
and  they  would  not  have  found  a  patron  or  pro- 
tector ;  according  to  the  ordinance  of  God,  which 
hath  been  put  in  execution  heretofore  against  the 

*  "In  wording  tlie  treaty,  when  the  prophet  ordered  Ali  to  begin  with 
the  form,  In  the  name  of  the  most  merciful  God,  they  (the  Meccans) 
objected  to  it,  and  insisted  that  he  should  begin  with  this,  In  thy  name, 
O  God ;  which  Mohammed  submitted  to,  and  proceeded  to  dictate :  These 
are  the  coyiditions  onwhich  Mohmmncd,  the  apostle  of  God,  has  made 
peace  ivith  those  of  Mecca.  To  this  Sohail  again  objected,  saying,  (five 
had  acknoidedged  thee  to  he  the  apostle  of  God,  tre  had  not  given  thee 
any  opposition.  Whereupon  Mohammed  ordered  Ali  to  write  as  Sohail 
<tesired,  These  are  the  conditions  which  Mohammed,  the  son  ofAbdal- 
lah,"  S>c. — Sale's  Koran,  vol.  2  p.  384,  note. 

M2 


138  LIFE  OF    MOHAMMED. 

opposers  of  the  prophets.  It  was  he  who  re- 
strained their  hands  from  you,  and  your  hands 
from  them,  m  the  valley  of  Mecca."  The  entrance 
into  Mecca  on  this  occasion  is  vaunted  of  by  the 
apostle  as  the  fulfilment  of  a  prophetic  dream. 
"  Now  hath  God  in  truth  verified  unto  his  apostle 
the  vision,  wherein  he  said,  Ye  shall  surely  enter 
the  holy  temple  of  Mecca,  if  God  please,  in  full 
security." 

This  event  tended  greatly  to  confirm  the  power 
of  Mohammed  ;  and  not  long  after,  he  was  solemnly 
inaugurated  and  invested  with  the  authority  of  a 
king  by  his  principal  men.  With  the  royal  dignity 
he  associated  that  of  supreme  pontiff  of  his  reli- 
gion, and  thus  became  at  once  the  king  and  priest 
of  his  Moslem  followers,  whose  numbers  had  by 
this  time  swelled  to  a  large  amount.  So  intense 
had  their  devotion  to  their  leader  now  become,  that 
even  a  hair  that  had  dropped  from  his  head,  and 
the  water  in  which  he  washed  himself,  were  care- 
fully collected  and  preserved,  as  partaking  of 
superhuman  virtue.  A  deputy,  sent  from  another 
city  of  Arabia  to  Medina  to  treat  with  the  prophet, 
beheld  with  astonishment  the  blind  and  unbounded 
veneration  of  his  votaries.  "  I  have  seen,"  said^ 
he,  "  the  Chosroes  of  Persia,  and  the  Caesar  of 
Rome,  but  never  did  I  behold  a  king  among  his 
subjects  like  Mohammed  among  his  companions." 

With  this  new  addition  to  his  nominal  authority, 
he  began  to  assume  more  of  the  pomp  and  parade 
due  to  his  rank.  After  the  erection  of  the  mosque 
at  Medina,  in  which  the  prophet  himself  ofliciated 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  139 

as  leader  of  worship,  he  had  for  a  long  tune  no  other 
convenience  in  the  way  of  stand,  desk,  or  pulpit, 
than  the  trimk  of  a  palm-tree  fixed  perpendicularly 
in  the  ground,  on  the  top  of  which  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  lean  while  preaching.  This  was  now 
become  too  mean  an  accommodation,  and  by  the 
advice  of  one  of  his  wives  he  caused  a  pulpit  to 
be  constructed,  with  a  seat  and  two  steps  attached 
to  it,  which  he  henceforth  made  use  of  instead  of 
the  "  beam."  The  beam,  however,  was  loath  to 
be  deprived  of  its  honour,  and  the  dealers  in  the 
marvellous  among  his  followers  say,  that  it  gave 
an  audible  groan  of  regret  when  the  prophet  left 
it.  Othman  Ebn  Affan,  when  he  became  Caliph, 
hung  this  pulpit  with  tapestry,  and  Moawiyah,  an- 
other Caliph,  raised  it  to  a  greater  height  by  add- 
ing six  steps  more,  in  imitation,  doubtless,  of  the 
ivory  throne  of  Solomon,  and  in  this  fonn  it  is 
said  to  be  preserved  and  shown  at  the  present  day, 
as  a  holy  relic,  in  the  mosque  of  Medina. 

This  year  he  led  his  army  against  Cliaibar,  a 
city  inhabited  by  Arab  Jews,  who  offering  him  a 
manly  resistance,  he  laid  siege  to  the  place  and 
carried  it  by  storm.  A  great  miracle  is  here  said 
to  have  been  performed  by  Ali,  surnamed  "The  Lion 
of  God."  A  ponderous  gate,  which  eight  men  after- 
ward tried  in  vain  to  lift  from  the  ground,  was 
torn  by  him  from  its  hinges,  and  used  as  a  buck- 
ler during  the  assault  !*     Mohammed,  on  entering 


*  "  Abu  Rafe,  the  servant  of  Mohammed,  is  said  to  have  affirmed  that 
he  was  an  eve-witness  of  the  fact ;  but  who  will  be  witness  for  Abu 
RaSeV— Gibbon. 


140  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

the  town,  took  up  his  quarters  at  the  house  of 
Hareth,  one  of  the  principal  inhabitants,  and  here 
met  with  a  reception  which  eventually  cost  him 
his  life.  Zeinab,  the  daughter  of  Hareth,  while 
preparing  a  meal  for  the  conqueror  and  his  attend- 
ants, inserted  a  quantity  of  poison  into  a  shoulder 
of  mutton  which  was  served  up  at  the  table.  Ba- 
shar,  a  companion  of  Mohammed,  had  scarcely 
began  to  eat  of  it,  before  he  was  seized  wdth  con- 
vulsions, and  died  upon  the  spot.  Mohammed,  by 
spitting  out  the  greatest  part  of  w^hat  he  had  taken 
into  his  mouth,  escaped  immediate  death,  but  the 
effects  of  the  fatal  drug  had  entered  his  system,  and, 
resisting  every  effort  of  medicine  to  expel  or  counter- 
act it,  in  somewhat  more  than  three  years  afterward 
it  brought  him  to  his  end.  If,  as  the  reporters  of 
Mohammed's  miracles  affirm,  the  shoulder  of  mut- 
ton informed  the  prophet  of  its  being  poisoned,  it 
is  certain  the  intelligence  came  too  late.  The 
seeds  of  death  were  henceforth  effectually  sown 
in  his  constitution ;  and  his  own  decline  ever  after 
kept  pace  with  his  growling  power.  When  Zeinab 
was  asked,  how  she  had  dared  to  perpetrate  a 
deed  of  such  unparalleled  enormity,  she  is  said  to 
have  answered,  "  that  she  was  determined  to  make 
trial  of  his  powers  as  a  prophet :  if  he  w^ere  a  true 
prophet,"  said  she,  "  he  would  know  that  tlie  meat 
was  poisoned ;  if  not,  it  would  be  a  favour  to  the 
world  to  rid  it  of  such  a  tyrant."  It  is  not  agreed 
among  the  Mohammedan  writers  what  was  the 
punishment  inflicted  upon  this  second  Jael,  or 
whether  she  suffered  any.  Some  affirm  that  she 
was  pardoned ;  others  that  she  w^as  put  to  death. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  141 

The  progress  of  the  prophet's  disease  was  not 
such  as  to  prevent  him  from  prosecuting  that  suc- 
cessful course  of  conquests  in  which  he  was  now 
engaged.  The  Jews,  the  constant  objects  of  his 
vengeance,  again  tempted  his  victorious  sword. 
He  proceeded  against  Beder,  Watiba,  and  Selalima ; 
places  which  he  brought  under  subjection,  permit- 
ting their  inhabitants  to  retain  possession  on  con- 
dition of  paying  him  one  half  the  product  of  their 
date-trees  as  an  annual  tribute.  On  these  terms 
they  remained  undisturbed  in  their  towns  and  vil- 
lages during  the  lifetime  of  the  prophet;  till  at 
length,  in  the  reign  of  Omar,  who  pretended  that 
Mohammed  in  his  last  sickness  had  given  him  a 
charge  not  to  permit  two  religions  to  coexist  in 
Arabia,  they  were  all  expelled  from  their  ancient 
settlements. 


142  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Mohammed 'alleges  a  Breach  of  Faith  on  the  part  of  the  Meccans,  and 
marches  an  Army  agabist  them— The  City  surrendered  to  the  Con- 
.  queror — Abu  Sophyan  and  Al  Abbas,  the  PropheVs  Uncle,  declare 
themselves  Cojiverts — Mecca  declared  to  be  Holy  Ground — The  neigh- 
bouring Tribes  cMect  an  Army  of  four  thousand  men  to  arrest  the 
grmuing  power  of  the  Prophet— The  Confederates  entirely  overthrown 
— A  rival  Prophet  arises  in  the  person  of  Moseilama—Is  crushed 
by  Caled. 

Two  years  had  scarcely  elapsed  when  Moham- 
med accused  the  Meccans  of  violatmg  the  truce, 
and  made  their  alleged  breach  of  faith  a  pretence 
for  summoning  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men  with 
a  design  to  make  himself  master  of  the  city.  He 
was  now  strong,  and  his  enemies  were  weak.  His 
superstitious  reverence  for  the  city  of  his  birth, 
and  the  temple  it  contained,  served  to  mfluence  his 
determination  for  war.  The  time  since  the  con- 
cluding of  the  truce  had  been  skilfully  employed 
m  seducmg  the  adherents  of  the  Koreish,  and  con- 
verting to  his  religion,  or  enticing  under  his  stand- 
ard, the  chief  citizens  of  Mecca.  By  forced 
marches  he  urged  his  large  army  rapidly  towards 
the  city,  and  so  miexpectedly  was  the  place  invested 
by  the  Moslem  troops,  that  they  had  scarcely  time 
to  put  themselves  in  a  posture  of  defence  before 
they  were  driven  to  such  extremities,  that  the  sur- 
render of  the  city  at  discretion,  or  total  destruction, 
seemed  to  be  the  only  alternative.     In  these  cir- 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  143 

cumstances  the  former  step  was  resolved  upon, 
humiliating  as  it  was,  and  Abu  Sophyan,  the  former 
inveterate  enemy  of  Mohammed  and  his  religion, 
accompanied  by  Al  Abbas,  an  uncle  of  the  impos- 
tor, came  forth  and  presented  the  keys  of  the  city 
to  the  conqueror.  Nor  was  this  all :  they  both 
crowned  their  submission  by  bowing  to  the  pro- 
phetic claims  of  their  new  master,  and  acknowledg- 
ing him  as  the  apostle  of  God.  This  we  may 
suppose  was  a  constrained  admission,  made  under 
the  uplifted  scimitar  of  the  furious  Omar,  and 
yielded  as  the  price  of  life.  Mohammed,  though 
a  conqueror  and  an  impostor,  was  not  habitually 
cruel ;  his  anger  was  directed  rather  against  the 
gods  of  his  country,  than  its  inhabitants.  The 
chiefs  of  the  Koreish  prostrated  themselves  before 
him,  and  earnestly  demanded  mercy  at  his  hands. 
"  What  mercy  can  you  expect  from  the  man  you 
have  wronged  ?"  exclaimed  the  prophet.  "  We 
confide  in  the  generosity  of  our  kinsman."  "  You 
shall  not  confide  in  vain,"  was  the  generous  or 
politic  reply  of  Mohammed.  "  Be  gone  ;  you  are 
safe  ;  you  are  free."  They  were  thenceforth  left, 
unmolested,  and  places  of  honour  and  trust  were 
still  confided  to  them.  On  his  entry  into  the  city, 
of  which  he  had  now  made  himself  absolute  mas- 
ter with  the  sacrifice  of  only  three  men  and  two 
women,  whom  he  ordered  to  be  executed,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  purge  the  Caaba  of  its  three  hundred 
and  sixty  idols,  and  to  consecrate  that  temple  anew 
to  the  purposes  of  his  religion.  The  apostle 
again  ftdfilled  the  duties  of  a  pilgrim,  and  a  per- 


144  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

petual  law  was  enacted,  that  no  unbeliever  should 
dare  to  set  his  foot  on  the  territory  of  the  holy- 
city.  On  the  day  on  which  the  prophet  entered 
Mecca  in  triumph,  he  ordered  Belal,  his  crier,  to 
mount  to  the  top  of  the  temple  at  noon,  and  from 
thence  to  call  the  people  to  prayer  for  the  first 
time  under  the  new  institution.  This  custom  has 
been  religiously  observed  in  Mohammedan  coun- 
tries from  that  day  to  the  present ;  the  crier,  who 
is  called  muezzin,  still  giving  the  people  notice  of 
the  hour  of  prayer  from  tlie  minarets  of  their 
mosques. 

When  the  news  of  the  conquest  of  Mecca 
reached  the  neighbouring  tribes  of  Arabs,  the  Ha- 
wazins,  Takifians,  and  others,  hastily  assembled  a 
force  amounting  to  about  four  tliousand  men,  with 
the  design  of  crushing  the  usurper  before  his  dan- 
gerous power  had  attained  to  any  greater  height. 
Mohammed,  appointing  a  temporary  governor  of 
the  city,  marched  out  with  an  army  of  no  less 
than  twelve  thousand  men,  and  met  the  enemy  in 
the  valley  of  Honein,  three  miles  from  Mecca,  on 
the  way  to  Tayef.  The  Moslems,  seeing  them- 
selves so  vastly  superior  in  point  of  numbers,  were 
inspired  with  a  presumptuous  confidence  of  victory, 
which  had  like  to  have  resulted  in  their  ruin.  In 
the  first  encounter,  the  confederates  mshed  upon 
the  faithful  with  such  desperate  valour,  that  they 
put  nearly  the  whole  army  to  flight,  many  of  them 
retreating  back  to  the  walls  of  Mecca  itself.  Mo- 
hammed, mounted  on  a  white  mule,  with  a  few  of 
his  faithful  followers  at  his  side,  boldly  maintained 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  145 

his  ground ;  and  such  was  his  ardour  in  this  crisis 
of  the  conflict,  that  it  was  by  main  force  that  one 
of  his  uncles  and  a  cousm,  laying  hold  of  his 
bridle  and  stirrup,  restrained  him  from  rushing 
alone  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy.  "  O  my  bre- 
thren," he  exclaimed,  "  I  am  the  son  of  Abdallah ! 
I  am  the  apostle  of  truth !  O  men,  stand  fast  in 
the  faith  !  O  God,  send  down  thy  succour !"  His 
uncle  Abbas,  who  possessed  a  Stentorian  voice, 
exerting  the  utmost  strength  of  his  lungs,  recalled 
the  flying  troops,  and  gradually  rallied  them 
again  around  the  holy  standard  ;  on  which  the  pro- 
phet, observing  with  pleasure  "  that  the  furnace 
was  rekindled,"  charged  with  new  vigour  the  ranks 
of  the  infidels  and  idolaters,  and  finally  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  complete  victory,  though  not,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  Koran,  without  the  special  assist- 
ance of  angels.  The  giving  way  in  the  first  in- 
stance was  a  mark  of  the  Divine  displeasure  against 
the  Moslems  for  their  overweening  confidence  in 
their  superior  numbers.  "  Now  hath  God  assisted 
you  in  many  engagements,  and  particularly  at  the 
battle  of  Honein ;  when  ye  pleased  yourselves  in 
your  multitudes,  but  it  was  no  manner  of  advan- 
tage unto  you ;  the  earth  seemed  to  be  too  narrow 
in  your  precipitate  flight :  then  did  ye  retreat  and 
turn  your  backs.  Afterward  God  sent  down  his 
security  upon  his  apostle  and  upon  the  faithful,  and 
troops  of  angels  which  ye  saw  not."* 

The  remaining  part  of  the  year  was  spent  in 
demolishing  the  temples  and  idols  of  the  subject 

*  Koran,  ch.  ix. 

N 


146  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

Arabs.  Saad,  Caled,  and  others  of  his  Moslem 
chieftains  were  despatched  in  various  directions  over 
the  conquered  provinces  with  orders  to  wage  a  war 
of  extermination  against  the  idols  of  the  ancient  su- 
perstition. This  pious  crusade  was  -crowned  with 
the  conversion  of  many  idolaters,  as  well  as  with 
the  destruction  of  the  "  lying  vanities"  of  their 
worship,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  they  should 
have  admitted  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  unity, 
when  tliQ  destroying  sword  of  the  apostle  had  cut 
off  all  gods  but  one. 

The  prophet  having  now  become  in  fact  the  so- 
vereign of  Arabia,  he  began,  in  the  ninth  year  of 
the  Hejira,  to  meditate  the  conquest  of  Syria. 
He  did  not  live  fully  to  accomplish  this  design, 
which  was  executed  by  his  successors  ;  but  he  en- 
tered upon  it,  and  notwithstanding  the  expedition 
was  midertaken  m  the  heat  of  the  smnmer,  and 
the  scarcity  of  water  subjected  his  men  to  almost 
intolerable  suffermgs,  yet  he  succeeded  in  obtain- 
ing possession  of  Tabuc,  a  town  on  the  confines  of 
the  Greek  empire,  from  whence  he  made  a  victo- 
rious descent  upon  the  adjacent  territories  ofDau- 
ma  and  Eyla.  Their  princes  yielded  to  the  des- 
tiny which  now  seemed  to  accompany  the  arms  of 
the  impostor  wherever  they  were  turned,  and  they 
were  henceforth  enrolled  among  his  tributaries. 
This  was  the  last  expedition  on  which  the  pro- 
phet went  forth  in  person.  The  fame  of  his  power 
had  now  become  so  extensive  and  imposing,  that 
distant  tribes  were  aM^ed  mto  submission,  and  sent 
their  eniissaries  to  tender  to   him  the  voluntary 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMSD.  147 

acknowledgment  of  their  homage  and  feaUy.  The 
numerous  deputations  ^^hich  for  this  and  other 
purposes,  waited  upon  Mohammed  this  year,  in- 
duced him  to  call  it  "  The  Year  of  Embassies." 

The  close  of  this  year  was  distinguished  by  the 
prophet's  last  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  called,  from 
its  being  the  last,  "  The  Pilgrimage  of  Valedic- 
tion." An  idea  of  the  amazing  increase  of  his  fol- 
lowers since  he  last  visited  Mecca  may  be  formed 
from  the  fact,  that  on  this  occasion  he  is  said  to 
have  been  accompanied  by  one  hundred  and  four- 
teen thousand  Moslems ! 

Signal  success  in  any  enterprise  seldom  fails 
to  call  forth  imitators  and  rivals.  Mohammed 
had  now  become  too  powerful  to  be  resisted  by 
force,  but  not  too  exalted  to  be  troubled  by  com- 
petition. His  own  example  in  assuming  the  sa- 
cred character  of  an  apostle  and  prophet,  and  the 
brilliant  success  which  had  attended  him,  gave  a 
hint  to  others  of  the  probable  means  of  advancing 
themselves  to  a  similar  pitch  of  dignity  and  do- 
minion. The  spirit  of  emulation,  therefore,  raised 
up  a  formidable  fellow-prophet  in  the  person  of 
Moseilama,  called  to  this  day  by  the  followers  of 
Islam,  "  the  lying  Moseilama,"  adescendant  of  the 
tribe  of  Honeifa,  and  a  principal  personage  in  the 
province  of  Yemen.  This  man  headed  an  em- 
bassy sent  by  his  tribe  to  Mohammed,  in  the  ninth 
year  of  the  Hejira,  and  then  professed  himself  a 
Moslem ;  but  oh  his  return  home,  pondermg  on  the 
nature  of  the  new  religion  and  the  character  and 
fortunes  of  its  founder,  the  sacrilegious  suggestion 


148  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

occurred  to  him,  that  by  skilful  management  he 
might  share  with  his  countryman  in  the  glory  of 
a  divine  mission  ;  and  accordingly,  in  the  ensuing 
year,  began  to  put  his  project  in  execution.  He 
gave  out  that  he  also  was  a  prophet  sent  of  God, 
having  a  joint  commission  with  Mohammed  to  re- 
call mankind  from  idolatry  to  the  w^orship  of  the 
true  God.  He  moreover  aped  his  model  so  closely 
as  to  publish  Avritten  revelations  like  the  Koran, 
pretended  to  have  been  derived  from  the  same 
source.  Having  succeeded  in  gaining  a  consider- 
able party  from  the  tribe  of  Honeifa,  he  at  length 
began  to  put  himself  still  more  nearly  upon  a  level 
with  the  prophet  of  Medina,  and  even  went  so  far 
as  to  propose  to  Mohammed  a  partnership  in  his 
spiritual  supremacy.  His  letter  commenced  thus  : 
"  From  Moseilama,  the  apostle  of  God,  to  Mo- 
hammed, the  apostle  of  God.  Now  let  the  earth 
be  half  mine  and  half  thme."  But  the  latter, 
feeling  himself  too  firmly  established  to  stand  in 
need  of  an  associate,  deigned  to  return  him  only  the 
following  reply :  "  From  Mohammed,  the  apostle 
of  God,  to  Moseilama,  the  liar.  The  earth  is 
God's :  he  giveth  the  same  for  inheritance  unto 
such  of  his  servants  as  he  pleaseth ;  and  the  happy 
issue  shall  attend  those  who  fear  him."  During 
the  few  months  that  Mohammed  lived  after  this 
revolt,  Moseilama  contmued,  on  the  whole,  to  gain 
ground,  and  became,  at  length,  so  formidable, 
as  to  occasion  extreme  anxiety  to  the  prophet, 
now  rapidly  sinking  under  the  effects  of  his  dis- 
ease.    An    expedition   under    the   command    of 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  149 

Caled,  "  the  Sword  of  God,"  was  ordered  out  to 
suppress  the  rival  sect,  headed  by  the  spurious 
apostle,  and  the  bewildered  imagination  of  Mo- 
hammed, in  his  moments  of  delirium,  was  fre- 
quently picturing  to  itself  the  results  of  the  engage- 
ment between  his  faithful  Moslems  and  these  da- 
ring apostates. 

The  army  of  Caled  returned  victorious.  Mo- 
seilama  himself  and  ten  thousand  of  his  followers 
were  left  dead  on  the  field ;  while  the  rest,  con- 
vinced by  the  shining  evidence  of  truth  that  gleamed 
from  the  swords  of  the  conquerors,  renounced  their 
errors,  and  fell  quietly  back  into  the  bosom  of  the 
Mohammedan  church.  Several  other  insurgents 
of  similar  pretences,  but  of  minor  consequence, 
were  crushed  in  like  manner  in  the  early  stages  of 
their  defection. 


N2 


150  LIFE   OF   MOHAMMED, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The'Religion  of  the  Prophetjirmly  established — TVie  principal  Countries 
subjected  by  him — T%e  effects  of  the  Poison  make  alarming  Inroads 
upon  his  Constitution — Perceives  his  End  approaching — Prearhes 
for  the  lastTime  in  Public — His  last  Illness  and  Death — The  Moslems 
scarcely  persuaded  that  their  Prophet  was  dead— Tumult  appeased 
by  Abubeker—The  Prophet  buried  at  Medina— The  Story  of  the  hang- 
ing Coffin  false. 

We  have  now  reached  the  period  at  which  the 
rehgion  of  Mohammed  may  be  considered  to  have 
become  permanently  established.  The  conquest 
of  Mecca  and  of  the  Koreish  had  been,  in  fact, 
the  signal  for  the  submission  of  the  rest  of  Arabia ; 
and  though  several  of  the  petty  tribes  offered,  for  a 
time,  the  show  of  resistance  to  the  prophet's  arms, 
they  were  all  eventually  subdued.  Between  the 
taking  of  Mecca  and  the  period  of  his  death, 
somewhat  more  than  three  years  elapsed.  In  that 
short  period  he  had  destroyed  the  idols  of  Arabia ; 
had  extended  his  conquests  to  the  borders  of  the 
Greek  and  Persian  empires ;  had  rendered  his 
name  formidable  to  those  once  mighty  kingdoms ; 
had  tried  his  arms  against  the  disciplined  troops  of 
the  former,  and  defeated  them  in  a  desperate  en- 
counter at  Muta.  His  throne  was  now  firmly  es- 
tablished ;  and  an  impulse  given  to  the  Arabian  na- 
tions, which  induced  them  to  invade,  and  enabled 
them  to  conquer,  a  large  portion  of  the  globe.  In- 
dia, Persia,  the  Greek  empire,  the  whole  of  Asia 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  151 

Minor,  Egypt,  Barbary,  and  Spain,  were  eventually- 
reduced  by  their  victorious  arms.  Mohammed 
himself  did  not  indeed  live  to  see  such  mighty 
conquests  achieved,  but  he  commenced  the  train 
which  resulted  in  this  wide-spread  dominion,  and 
before  his  death  had  established  over  the  whole 
of  Arabia,  and  some  parts  of  Asia,  the  religion 
which  he  had  devised. 

And  now,  having  arrived  at  the  sixty-third  year 
of  his  age,  and  the  tenth  of  the  Hejira,  A.  D.  632, 
the  fatal  effects  of  the  poison,  which  had  been  so 
long  rankling  in  his  veins,  began  to  discover  them- 
selves more  and  more  sensibly,  and  to  operate  with 
alarming  virulence.  Day  by  day  he  visibly  de- 
clined, and  it  was  evident  that  his  life  was  hasten- 
ing to  a  close.  For  some  time  previous  to  the 
event,  he  was  conscious  of  its  approach,  and  is 
said  to  have  viewed  and  awaited  it  with  charac- 
teristic firmness.  The  third  day  before  his  disso- 
lution, he  ordered  himself  to  be  carried  to  the 
mosque,  that  he  might,  for  the  last  time,  address 
his  followers,  and  bestow  upon  them  his  parting 
prayers  and  benedictions.  Being  assisted  to  mount 
the  pulpit,  he  edified  his  brethren  by  the  pious 
tenor  of  his  dying  counsels,  and  in  his  own  ex- 
ample taught  a  lesson  of  humility  and  penitence, 
such  as  we  shall  scarcely  find  inculcated  in  the 
precepts  of  the  Koran.  "  If  there  be  any  man," 
said  the  apostle,  "  whom  I  have  unjustly  scourged, 
I  subjnit  my  own  back  to  the  lash  of  retaliation. 
Have  I  aspersed  the  reputation  of  any  Mussulman  ? 
let  him  proclaim  my  faults  in  the  face  of  the  con- 


152  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

gregation.  Has  any  one  been  despoiled  of  his 
goods  ?  the  little  that  I  possess  shall  compensate 
the  principal  and  the  interest  of  the  debt." — 
"  Yes,"  rephed  a  voice  from  the  crowd,  "  thou 
owest  me  three  drachms  of  silver."  Mohammed 
heard  the  complaint,  satisfied  the  demand,  and 
thanked  his  creditor,  that  he  had  accused  him  in 
this  vv^orld  rather  than  at  the  day  of  judgment.  He 
then  set  his  slaves  at  liberty,  seventeen  men  and 
eleven  w^omen ;  directed  the  order  of  his  funeral ; 
strove  to  allay  the  lamentations  of  his  weeping 
friends,  and  waited  the  approach  of  death.  He 
did  not  expressly  nominate  a  successor,  a  step 
which  would  have  prevented  the  altercations  that 
afterward  came  so  near  to  crushing  m  its  infancy 
the  religion  and  the  empire  of  the  Saracens  ;  but 
his  appointment  of  Abubeker  to  supply  his  place 
in  the  function  of  public  prayer  and  the  other  ser- 
vices of  the  mosque,  seemed  to  intimate  indirectly 
the  choice  of  the  prophet.  This  ancient  and  faith- 
ful friend,  accordingly,  after  much  contention,  be- 
came the  first  Caliph  of  the  Saracens,*  though  his 
reign  was  closed  by  his  death  at  the  end  of  two 
years.  The  death  of  Mohammed  was  hastened 
by  the  force  of  a  burning  fever,  which  deprived  him 
at  times  of  the  use  of  reason.  In  one  of  these  pa- 
roxysms of  delirium,  he  demanded  pen  and  paper, 
that  he  might  compose  or  dictate  a  divine  book. 
Omar,  who  was  watching  at  his  side,  refused  his 


*  Saracen  is  the  name  bestowed  by  the  ancien-t/orezigTi  writers  upon 
the  Arabs.  They  may  have  tolerated  the  title,  but  it  is  not  one  of  their 
own  imposition  or  of  their  liking. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  153 

request,  lest  the  expiring  prophet  might  dictate 
something  which  should  suspersede  the  Koran. 
Others,  however,  expressed  a  great  desire  that  the 
book  might  be  written ;  and  so  warm  a  dispute 
arose  in  the  chamber  of  the  apostle,  that  he  was 
forced  to  reprove  their  unbecoming  vehemence. 
The  writing  was  not  performed,  and  many  of  his 
followers  have  mourned  the  loss  of  the  sublime  re- 
velations which  his  dying  visions  might  have  be- 
queathed to  them.  His  favourite  wife  Ayesha 
hung  over  her  husband  in  his  last  moments,  sus- 
taining his  drooping  head  upon  her  knee,  as  he  lay 
stretched  upon  the  carpet,  watching  with  trem- 
bling anxiety  his  changing  countenance,  and  lis- 
tening to  the  last  broken  sounds  of  his  voice.  His 
disease,  as  it  drew  towards  its  termination,  was  at- 
tended at  intervals  with  most  excruciating  pains, 
which  he  constantly  ascribed  to  the  fatal  morsel 
taken  at  Chaibar ;  and  as  the  mother  of  Bashar, 
the  companion  who  had  died  upon  the  spot  from 
the  same  cause,  stood  by  his  side,  he  exclaimed, 
"  O  mother  of  Bashar,  the  cords  of  my  heart  are 
now  breaking  of  the  food  which  I  ate  with  your 
son  at  Chaibar."  In  his  conversation  with  those 
around  him,  he  mentioned  it  as  a  special  preroga- 
tive granted  to  him,  that  the  angel  of  death  was 
not  allowed  to  take  his  soul  till  he  had  respect- 
fully asked  of  him  his  permission,  and  this  per- 
mission he  condescendingly  granted.  Recovering 
from  a  swoon  into  which  the  violence  of  his  pains 
had  thrown  him,  he  raised  his  eyes  towards  the 
iroof  of  the  house,  and  with  faltering  accents  ex- 


154  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

claimed,  "  O  God!  pardon  my  sins.  Yes,  I  come 
among  my  fellow-labourers  on  high !"  His  face 
was  then  sprinkled  with  water,  and  that  by  his 
own  feeble  hand,  -svhen  he  shortly  after  expired. 

The  city,  and  more  especially  the  house,  of  the 
prophet,  became  at  once  a  scene  of  sorrowful,  but 
confused,  lamentation.  Some  of  his  followers 
could  not  believe  that  he  was  dead.  "  How  can 
he  be  dead,  our  witness,  our  mtercessor,  our  me- 
diator with  God  ?  He  is  not  dead.  Like  Moses 
and  Jesus  he  is  wrapped  in  a  holy  trance,  and 
speedily  Avill  he  return  to  his  faithful  people."  The 
evidence  of  sense  was  disregarded,  and  Omar, 
brandishing  his  scimitar,  threatened  to  strike  off 
the  heads  of  the  infidels  who  should  affirm  that 
the  prophet  was  no  more.  The  tumult  was  at 
length^  appeased  by  the  moderation  of  Abubeker. 
"  Is  it  Mohammed,"  said  he,  "  or  the  God  of  Moham- 
med, whom  ye  worship  1  The  God  of  Mohammed 
liveth  for  ever,  but  the  apostle  was  a  mortal  like 
ourselves,  and,  according  to  his  own  prediction,  he 
hath  experienced  the  common  fate  of  mortality."* 

The  prophet's  remains  were  deposited  at  Me- 
dina, in  the  very  room  in  which  he  breathed  his 
last,  the  floor  being  removed  to  make  way  for  his 
sepulchre,  and  a  simple  and  unadorned  monument 
some  time  after  erected  over  them.     The  house 


* "  Mohammpfl  is  no  more  than  an  apostle :  the  other  apostles  hav 
already  deceased  before  him :  if  he  die,  therefore,  or  be  slain,  will  y 
turn  back  on  your  heels  ?"— Koran,  ch.  iii. 

"  Verily,  thou,  O  Mohammed,  shalt  die,  and  they  shall  die  ;  and  ye 
shall  debate  the  matter  [idolatry]  with  oneanother  before  your  Lord  at  the 
day  of  resurrection."— Ibid.  ch.  xxxix. 


LITE  OF  MOHAMMED.  155 

itself  has  long  since  mouldered  or  been  demo- 
lished, but  the  place  of  the  prophet's  interment  is 
still  made  conspicuous  to  the  superstitious  reve- 
rence of  his  disciples.  The  story  of  his  relics  be- 
ing suspended  in  the  air,  by  the  power  of  load- 
stone, in  an  iron  coffin,  and  that  too  at  Mecca, 
instead  of  Medina,  is  a  mere  idle  fabrication ;  as 
his  tomb  at  the  latter  place  has  been  visited  by 
millions  of  pilgrims,  and  from  the  authentic  ac- 
counts of  travellers  who  have  visited  both  these 
holy  cities  in  disguise,  we  learn  that  it  is  con- 
structed of  plain  mason  work,  fixed  without  eleva- 
tion upon  the  surface  of  the  ground.  \^ 


156  LIFE    OF  MOHAMMED. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Reflections  iipon  the  extraordinary  Career  of  3Tohammed — Description 
of  his  Person — General  View  and  Estimate  of  his  Character. 

Thus  closed  the  earthly  career  of  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  men,  and  of  decidedly  the  most  suc- 
cessful impostor,  that  ever  lived.  By  the  force  of 
a  vast  ambition,  giving  direction  to  native  talents  of 
a  superior  order,  he  had  risen  from  small  begin- 
nings to  the  pinnacle  of  power  among  the  Arab 
nation,  and  before  his  death  had  commenced  one 
of  the  greatest  revolutions  known  in  the  history  of 
man.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  an  empire,  which, 
in  the  short  space  of  eighty  years,  extended  its 
sway  over  more  kingdoms  and  countries  than  Rome 
had  mastered  in  eight  hundred.  And  when  we 
pass  from  the  political  to  the  religious  ascendency 
which  he  gained,  and  consider  the  rapid  growth, 
the  wide  diffusion,  and  the  enduring  permanence 
of  the  Mohammedan  imposture,  we  are  still  more 
astonished.  Indeed,  in  this,  as  in  every  other  in- 
stance where  the  fortunes  of  an  individual  are 
entirely  disproportioned  to  the  means  employed, 
and  surpass  all  reasonable  calculation,  we  are 
forced  to  resolve  the  problem  into  the  special  pro- 
vidence of  God.  Nothing  short  of  this  could  liave 
secured  the  achievement  of  such  mighty  results ; 
and  we  must  doubtless  look  upon  Mohammedanism 


LIFE   OF   MOHAMMED.  157 

at  the  present  day  as  a  standing  monument  of  the 
mysterious  wisdom  of  Jehovah,  designed  to  com- 
pass ends  which  are  beyond  the  grasp  of  human 
minds,  at  least  till  they  are  accomplished. 

As  to  his  person,  Mohammed,  according  to  his 
Arabic  biographers,  was  of  a  middling  stature  and 
of  a  florid  complexion.  His  head  was  large  and 
well  formed ;  his  hair  smooth  and  of  a  glossy 
black ;  his  eye  of  the  same  colour ;  and  so  un- 
commonly vigorous  and  robust  was  his  frame,  that 
at  the  time  of  his  death  scarcely  any  of  the  marks 
or  infirmities  of  age  had  appeared  upon  him.  His 
features  were  large,  yet  regular ;  his  cheeks  full ; 
his  forehead  prominent ;  his  eyebrows  long  and 
smooth,  mutually  approaching  each  other,  yet  not 
so  as  to  meet ;  and  between  them  was  a  vein,  of 
which  the  pulse  was  quicker  and  higher  than  usual 
whenever  he  was  angry.  He  had  an  aquiline 
nose  and  a  large  mouth,  with  teeth  of  singidar 
brilliancy  and  somewhat  singular  form,  as  they 
were  pointed  like  the  teeth  of  a  saw,  and  placed 
at  some  distance  from  each  other,  though  still  in 
beautiful  order.  Wlien  he  laughed  he  discovered 
them,  and  they  appeared,  if  tradition  may  be  cre- 
dited, like  hail-stones  or  little  white  pearls.  Even 
his  laughter  is  said  to  have  been  full  of  majesty, 
and  in  his  smile  there  was  such  a  peculiar  contrac- 
tion of  the  muscles  of  the  mouth  and  cheeks,  and 
such  an  expression  given  to  the  countenance,  as 
rendered  it  irresistibly  attractive.  In  his  later 
years  he  became  corpulent ;  but  he  had  always  a 
O 


158  LIFE   OF  MOHAMMED. 

free,  open  air,  a  majestic  port,  and  a  most  engaging 
address. 

The  Moslem  writers  are  mibounded  in  their  eu- 
logy of  the  prophet's  character  as  a  man.  Even 
those  of  them  who  treat  as  it  deserves  the  foohsh 
fiction  of  his  having  been  taken  by  two  angels  in 
his  childhood,  his  body  laid  open  by  a  knife,  his 
heart  taken  out,  and  pressed,  and  wrung,  till  its 
original  corruptions  oozed  out  in  the  form  of  large 
black  fetid  drops,  when  it  was  again  replaced,  pu- 
rified and  perfect,  in  his  bosom,  and  the  wound 
miraculously  healed,  still  maintain  that  his  moral 
qualities  were  such  as  to  lift  him  quite  out  of  the 
grade  of  the  common  race  of  men.  But  here  the 
history  of  his  life  and  the  pages  of  the  Koran  will 
enable  us  to  make  those  abatements  v/hich,  in  re- 
spect to  his  personal  accomplishments,  we  can  only 
suspect  ought  to  be  made.  His  followers  extol 
his  piety,  veracity,  justice,  liberality,  humility,  and 
self-denial,  in  all  which  they  do  not  scruple  to 
propose  him  as  a  perfect  pattern  to  the  faithful. 
His  charity,  in  particular,  they  say,  was  so  con- 
spicuous, that  he  seldom  had  any  money  in  his 
house,  keeping  no  more  than  was  just  sufiicient  to 
maintain  his  family,  and  frequently  sparing  even  a 
part  of  his  own  provisions  to  supply  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  poor.  All  this  may  have  been  so,  but 
in  forming  our  judgment  of  the  exhibition  of  these 
moral  traits,  we  cannot  forget  that  he  had  private 
ends  to  answer,  and  we  thus  find  it  impossible  to 
distinguish  between  the  generous  impulses  of  a 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED.  159 

kind  and  noble  heart,  and  the  actings  of  an  inte- 
rested policy.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  a  strong 
ruling  passion  to  bring  every  other  passion,  even 
the  most  opposite  and  discordant,  into  harmony 
and  subserviency  to  its  dictates.  Ambition  will 
sometimes  control  avarice,  and  the  love  of  plea- 
sure not  unfrequently  govern  both.  A  man  may 
afford  to  be  just  and  generous,  and  to  act  the  part 
of  a  very  saint,  w^hen  he  has  no  less  a  motive  be- 
fore him  than  to  gain  the  character  of  a  prophet 
and  the  power  of  a  monarch.  If  Mohammed  re- 
ally evinced  the  virtues  of  a  prophet,  he  doubtless 
had  his  eye  upon  "  a  prophet's  reward."  But  we 
would  not  be  gratuitously  harsh  in  our  judgment 
of  the  impostor's  moral  qualities.  We  think  it  by 
no  means  improbable,  that  his  disposition  was  natu- 
rally free,  open,  noble,  engaging,  perhaps  magnani- 
mous. We  doubt  not  injustice  may  have  been 
done  by  Christian  writers  to  the  man  in  their  un- 
measured detestation  of  the  impostor.  But  as  long 
as  we  admit  the  truth  of  histoiy,  as  it  relates  to 
Islamism  and  its  founder,  it  is  plain,  that  if  he  were 
originally  possessed  of  praiseworthy  attributes, 
they  ceased  to  distinguish  him  as  he  advanced  in 
life  ;  for  his  personal  degeneracy  kept  pace  with 
his  success,  and  his  delinquencies  became  more 
numerous,  gross,  and  glaring,  the  longer  he  lived. 

Of  his  intellectual  endowments,  his  followers 
speak  in  the  same  strain  of  high  panegyric.  His 
genius,  soaring  above  the  need  of  culture,  unaided 
by  the  lights  of  learning,  despising  books,  bore 
him  by  its  innate  strength  into  the  kindred  subli- 


160  LIFE   OF   MOHAMMED. 

mities  of  prophecy  and  poetry,  and  enabled  him 
in  the  Koran,  without  models  or  masters,  to  speak 
with  an  eloquence  unparalleled  in  any  human  pro- 
duction. But  here  it  has  escaped  them,  that  they 
praise  the  prophet  at  the  expense  of  his  oracles ; 
that  whatever  credit,  on  the  score  of  authorship, 
they  give  to  him,  so  much  they  detract  from  the 
evidence  of  its  inspiration ;  since  Mohammed  him- 
self constantly  appeals  to  his  revelations  as  pro- 
ceeding from  an  "  illiterate  prophet,"  and  therefore 
carrying  with  them,  in  their  miequalled'-style,  the 
clearest  evidence  of  being,  not  a  human,  but  a  di- 
vine composition.  On  the  point,  however,  of  the 
literary  merits  of  the  Koran,  and  of  the  mental 
endowments  of  its  author  as  evinced  by  it,  the 
reader  will  judge  for  himself.  We  can  more  rea- 
dily assent  to  their  statements  when  they  inform  us, 
that  his  intellect  was  acute  and  sagacious,  his  me- 
mory retentive,  his  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
improved  as  it  was  by  travel  and  extended  inter- 
course, profound  and  accurate,  and  that  in  the  arts 
of  insinuation  and  address  he  was  without  a  rival. 
Neither  are  we  able  to  gainsay  their  accounts 
when  they  represent  him  as  having  been  affable, 
rather  than  loquacious ;  of  an  even  cheerful  tem- 
per ;  pleasant  and  familiar  in  conversation ;  and 
possessing  the  art,  in  a  surprising  degree,  of  at- 
taching his  friends  and  adherents  to  his  person. 

On  the  whole,  from  a  candid  survey  of  his  life 
and  actions,  we  may  safely  pronounce  Mohammed 
to  have  been  by  nature  a  man  of  a  superior  cast 
of  character,  and  very  considerably  in  advance  of 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  161 

the  age  m  which  he  Hved.  But  the  age  and  the 
countiy  in  which  he  arose  and  shone  were  rude 
and  barbarous ;  and  the  standard  which  w^ould 
determine  him  great  among  the  roving  tribes  of 
Arabia  might  have  left  him  httle  more  than  a 
common  man  in  the  cuUivated  chmes  of  Europe. 
Men's  characters  are  moulded  as  much  by  their 
circumstances  and  fortunes  as  by  their  native  ge- 
nius and  bias.  Under  another  combination  of  ac- 
cidents, the  founder  of  the  Moslem  faith  and  of  the 
empire  of  the  Saracens  might  have  sunk  to  obli- 
vion with  the  anonymous  millions  of  his  race,  as 
the  drops  of  rain  are  absorbed  into  the  sands  of 
his  native  deserts.  His  whole  history  makes  it 
evident,  that  fanaticism,  ambition,  and  lust  were 
his  master-passions  ;  of  which  the  former  appears 
to  have  been  gradually  eradicated  by  the  growing 
strength  of  the  two  last.  An  enthusiast  by  nature, 
he  became  a  hypocrite  by  policy ;  and  as  the  vio- 
lence of  his  corrupt  propensities  increased,  he 
scrupled  not  to  gratify  them  at  the  expense  of 
truth,  justice,  friendship,  and  humanity.  It  is 
right,  indeed,  in  forming  our  estimate  of  his  con- 
duct in  its  most  repulsive  respects,  that  we  should 
make  allowance  for  the  ignorance,  the  prejudices, 
the  manners,  the  laws  of  the  people  among  whom 
he  lived.  A  heathen  people  cannot  be  fairly 
judged  by  the  rules  of  Christian  morality.  In 
the  mere  circumstance  of  multiplying  his  wives, 
he  followed  the  common  example  of  his  country- 
men, with  whom  polygamy  had  been,  from  the 
earliest  ages,  a  prevailing  practice.  And  so,  though 
02 


162  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

we  cannot  justify,  yet  we  may  in  some  measure 
palliate,  the  murder  of  Caab  and  Sophyan,  if  we 
supposed  the  prophet  to  have  viewed  them  as  ene- 
mies from  whom  his  own  life  was  in  jeopardy  ;  for 
in  this  no  violence  was  done  to  the  common  senti- 
ments of  the  Arab  race.  Even  at  the  present  day, 
among  the  prophet's  disciples  all  over  the  East, 
no  trait  is  more  common  or  more  revolting  than 
recklessness  oflife^  which  is  doubtless  to  be  ascribed 
as  much  to  national  habits  as  to  a  native  cruelty  or 
ferocity  of  disposition.  We  must,  indeed,  think 
but  little  of  the  morality  of  such  a  people,  and 
must  behold  with  indignation  a  pretended  prophet, 
Mobile  professing  to  purify  the  moral  code  of  his 
countrymen,  continuing  still  in  the  practice  of  some 
of  the  worst  of  its  tenets.  Here,  in  fact,  our  hea- 
viest condemnation  falls  upon  Mohammed.  He 
did  not  observe  those  rules  of  morality  which  he 
himself  laid  down,  and  which  he  enforced  upon 
others  hy  such  terrible  sanctions.  Ko  excuse  can 
be  offered  for  the  impostor  on  this  score.  He 
abused  his  claims  as  a  prophet  to  screen  the  guilty 
excesses  of  his  private  life,  and  under  the  pretence 
of  a  special  revelation,  dispensing  him  from  the 
laws  imposed  by  his  own  religion,  had  the  female 
sex  abandoned  without  reserve  to  his  desires. 
"  0  prophet,  we  have  allowed  thee  thy  wives  unto 
whom  thou  hast  given  their  dower,  and  also  the 
slaves  which  thy  right  hand  possesseth,  of  the 
booty  which  God  hath  granted  thee ;  and  the 
daughters  of  thy  uncle  and  the  daughters  of  thy 
aunts,  both  on  thy  father's  side  and  on  thy  mother's 


LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED.  163 

side,  who  have  fled  with  thee  from  Mecca,  and  any- 
other  believing  woman,  if  she  give  herself  unto  the 
prophet ;  in  case  the  prophet  desireth  to  take  her 
to  wife.  This  is  a  peculiar  privilege  granted  unto 
thee,  above  the  rest  of  the  true  believers."*  The 
exceedingly  liberal  grant  thus  made  to  the  prophet 
on  the  score  of  matrimonial  privilege  may  be  con- 
trasted with  the  allowance  made  to  his  followers. 
"  Take  in  marriage  of  such  women  as  4)lease  you 
two,  three,  or  four ;  and  not  more.  But  if  ye  fear 
that  ye  cannot  act  equitably  towards  so  many, 
marry  one  only."t 

Respect  to  decorum  forbids  our  entering  into  de- 
tails relative  to  this  part  of  Mohammed's  conduct 
and  character.  But  from  what  has  been  already 
adduced,  the  reader  cannot  have  failed  to  perceive 
how  completely  the  prophet's  imposture  was  made 
an  engine  for  promoting  the  gratification  of  sensual 
passion.  One  of  the  grossest  instances  of  his  un- 
hallowed abuse  of  the  claims  to  which  he  pre- 
tended occurs  in  the  history  of  his  intercourse  with 
Mary^  an  Eg}'^ptian  slave.  The  knowledge  of  his 
illicit  amours  with  this  "  possession  of  his  right 
hand"  having  come  to  the  ears,  or  rather  to  the 
eyes,  of  one  of  his  lawful  wives,  who  thereupon 
reproached  him  most  bitterly  for  his  infidelity,  he 
went  so  far,  in  order  to  pacify  her,  as  to  promise 
with  an  oath  never  to  be  guilty  of  a  repetition  of 
the  offence.  But  the  infirmity  of  nature  having 
not  long  after  triumphed  again  over  the  strength  of 
his  resolution,  he  had  recourse  to  his  revelations 

*  Koran,  ch.  xxxiii.  t  Ch.  iv. 


164  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED 

to  cover  the  scandal  of  this  shameless  lapse.  The 
expedient  now  resorted  to  forms  one  of  the  black- 
est stains  upon  the  pages  of  the  Koran,  and  upon 
the  character  of  its  author.  It  was  nothing  less 
than  a  pretended  absolution  of  the  prophet  from 
the  obligation  of  his  oath.  "  O  prophet,  why 
boldest  thou  that  to  be  prohibited  which  God  hath 
allowed  thee,  seeking  to  please  thy  wives;  since 
God  is  inclined  to  forgive,  and  merciful  ?  God  hath 
allowed  you  the  dissolution  of  your  oaths,  and  God 
is  your  Master."*  Here  is  an  alleged  dispensa- 
tion of  the  prophet,  which  must  be  construed  as 
actually  legalizing  perjury  on  the  part  of  a  pro- 
fessed messenger  of  truth :  one  too  who  thus  in- 
structs his  followers :  "  Perform  your  covenant 
with  God,  when  ye  enter  into  covenant  with 
him,  and  violate  not  your  oaths  after  the  ratifica- 
tion thereof;  since  ye  have  made  God  a  witness 
over  you.  Verily,  God  knoweth  that  which  ye  do. 
And  be  not  like  unto  her  who  undoeth  that  which 
she  hath  spun,  untwisting  it  after  she  hath  twisted 
it  strongly."  "  Therefore  take  not  your  oaths  be- 
tween you  deceitfully,  lest  your  foot  slip  after  it 
hath  been  steadfastly  fixed,  and  ye  taste  evil  in 
this  life,  and  sufl^er  a  grievous  punishment  in  the 
life  to  come."t  This  is  but  too  fair  a  specimen 
of  the  general  character  of  the  Koran.  By  far 
the  greater  part  of  its  contents  were  fabricated  to 
answer  particular  purposes,  which  he  could  effect 
in  no  other  way ;  and  this  was  an  expedient  which 
never  failed.     If  any  new  enterprise   was  to  be 

*  Koran,  ch.  Ixvi.  t  Ch.  xvi. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  165 

undertaken,  any  new  objections  answered,  any  diffi- 
culty to  be  solved,  any  disturbance  among  his  fol- 
lowers to  be  hushed,  or  any  offence  to  be  removed, 
immediate  recourse  was  had  to  Gabriel,  and  a  new 
revelation,  precisely  adapted  to  meet  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  case,  was  granted.  As  an  inevitable 
consequence,  a  vast  number  of  variations  and  con- 
tradictions, too  palpable  to  be  denied,  occur  in  the 
course  of  the  book.  His  commentators  and  dis- 
ciples acknowledge  the  fact,  but  account  for  it  by 
saying,  that  whenever  a  subsequent  revelation 
plainly  contradicts  a  former,  the  former  is  to  be 
considered  as  having  been  revoked  or  repealed  by 
the  latter ;  and  above  a  hundred  and  fifty  verses 
are  enumerated  as  having  been  thus  set  aside  by 
after-discoveries  of  the  divine  will.  In  this  they 
are  countenanced  by  the  words  of  the  impostor 
himself  "  Whatever  verse  we  shall  abrogate,  or 
cause  thee  to  forget,  we  will  bring  a  better  than  it, 
or  one  like  unto  it."*  "  When  we  substitute  in  the 
Koran  an  abrogating  verse  in  lieu  of  a  verse  abro- 
gated (and  God  best  knoweth  the  fitness  of  that 
which  he  revealeth),  the  infidels  say.  Thou  art 
only  a  forger  of  these  verses :  but  the  greater  part 
of  them  know  not  the  truth  from  falsehood."! 
When  this  feature  of  their  religion  is  objected  to 
modern  Mohammedans,  as  it  was  by  Henry  Mar- 
tyn  in  his  controversy  Avith  them,  they  reply,  that 
"this  objection  is  altogether  futile;  for  the  pre- 
cepts of  God  are  always  delivered  with  a  special 
regard  to  the  necessities  of  his  servants.     And 

*  Koran,  ch.  ii.  t  Ch.  xvi. 


166  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

there  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  must  vary  with 
the  varying  exigences  of  the  times  in  which  they 
are  delivered.  The  divine  Lawgiver  may  here 
be  considered  as  the  spiritual  physician  of  his 
people  ;  who,  like  a  temporal  physician,  prescribes 
such  regimen  and  medicines  as  are  most  likely  to 
suit  the  wants  of  his  patient."*  The  pupil  here  is 
certainly  worthy  of  the  master,  when  they  both 
agree  in  teaching,  that  the  grand  principles  of  mo- 
rality are  not  eternal  and  immutable,  growing  out 
of  the  very  nature  of  the  relation  subsisting  between 
the  Creator  and  his  creatures,  but  are  mere  arbi- 
trary rules,  subject  to  be  relaxed,  modified,  or  dis- 
pensed with,  as  circumstances  may  dictate.  See- 
ing that  this  pitiful  device  of  feigning  dispensa- 
tions and  abrogations  of  particular  duties  subjects 
the  immutable  counsels  of  the  Almighty  to  the 
charge  of  weakness  and  fickleness,  it  is  surprising 
that  his  disciples  should  have  been  blinded  by  so 
flimsy  a  disguise ;  yet  such  is  evidently  the  fact. 
And  it  adds  another  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  re- 
mark, that  as  there  is  no  error  or  absurdity  in  reli- 
gion too  monstrous  to  be  conceived  or  broached, 
so  there  is  none  too  gross  to  be  imposed  upon  the 
credulity  of  others. 

*  Lee's  Translation  of  H.  Martyn's  Controversial  Tracts. 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  167 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Account  of  the  Prophet's  Wives — Cadijah — Ayesha — Hafsa — Zeinab — 
Sa/ya — His  Concubines—Singular  Precepts  in  the  Koran  respecting 
the  Wives  of  Mohammed— His  co/nparative  Treatment  of  Jews  and 
Christians— Predictions  of  the  Prophet  alleged  by  Mohammedans  to 
be  contained  in  the  sacred  Scriptures. 

As  the  subject  of  women  occupies  a  prominent 
place  in  the  Koran,  so  in  a  complete  history  of  the 
prophet's  life  his  numerous  wives,  of  which  the 
number  is  variously  stated  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
one,  form  a  topic  of  too  much  interest  to  be 
omitted. 

During  the  lifetime  of  Cadijah,  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  she  was  ever  pained  with  the  sight  or 
suspicion  of  a  rival.  After  her  death,  when  at 
length  his  reputation  as  a  prophet  had  become  es- 
tablished, and  his  authority  too  firmly  rooted  to  be 
shaken,  the  restraints  which  policy  had  imposed 
upon  passion  were  gradually  thrown  ofif,  and  the 
most  unlimited  license  in  this  respect  marked  his 
subsequent  conduct. 

His  third  and  best  beloved  wife  was  Ayesha, 
the  daughter  of  Abubeker,  whom  he  married  in 
the  first  year  of  the  Hejira.  Vague  rumours  of 
conjugal  infidelity  have  cast  a  stain  upon  the  cha- 
racter of  Ayesha  not  entirely  eff'aced  even  at  the 
present  day.  They  were  not  believed,  however, 
by  the  prophet,  and  the  divine  acquittal  in  the 
twenty-fourth  chapter  of  the  Koran  has  done  much 


168  /         LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

towards  shielding  her  fame  from  reproach.  "  As 
to  the  party  among  you,  who  have  published  the 
falsehood  concerning  Ayesha — every  man  of  them 
shall  be  punished  according  to  the  injustice  of 
which  he  hath  been  guilty ;  and  he  among  them 
who  hath  undertaken  to  aggravate  the  same  shall 
suffer  a  grievous  punishment.  Did  not  the  faith- 
ful men  and  the  faithful  women  say,  This  is  a  mani- 
fest falsehood  ?  Have  they  produced  four  witnesses 
thereof?  Wherefore,  since  they  have  not  pro- 
duced the  witnesses,  they  are  surely  liars  in  the 
eight  of  God.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  indulgence 
of  God  towards  you,  and  his  mercy  in  this  world, 
and  in  that  which  is  to  come,  verily  a  grievous 
punishment  had  been  inflicted  on  you  for  the  ca- 
lumny which  ye  have  spread ;  when  ye  published 
that  with  your  tongues,  and  spoke  that  with  your 
mouths,  of  which  ye  had  no  knowledge ;  and  es- 
teemed it  to  be  light,  whereas  it  was  a  matter  of 
importance  in  the  sight  of  God."* 

Ayesha  was  married — such  is  the  surprising  phy- 
sical precocity  peculiar  to  an  eastern  climate — at 
the  early  age  of  nine  ;  and  survived  her  husband 
forty-eight  years.  Her  memory  is  held  in  great  ve- 
neration by  the  Moslems,  who  have  bestowed  upon 
her  the  title  oi  Prophetess^  and  Mother  of  the  Faith- 
ful, probably  from  the  circumstance  of  her  being 
much  resorted  to  after  her  husband's  death,  as  an 
expositor  of  the  doubtful  points  of  the  law ;  an  of- 
fice which  she  performed  by  giving  the  sense  which 

*  Koran,  cli.  xiv. 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  169 

she  had  heard  the  prophet  affix  to  them  in  his  life- 
time. Her  expositions,  together  with  those  of 
Mohammed's  first  ten  converts,  form  what  is 
called  the  Sonnah^  or  the  Authentic  Traditions,  of 
the  professors  of  Islam,  which  bear  a  striking  re- 
semblance to  the  traditions  of  the  Jews.  Ayesha 
was  the  inveterate  enemy  of  Ali,  the  rival  candi- 
date with  Abubeker  to  the  honour  of  being  the 
prophet's  successor ;  and  when  at  last  he  attained 
to  that  dignity,  she  appeared  in  arms  against  him. 
Her  expedition  was  indeed  unsuccessful,  yet  she 
found  means,  some  time  after,  to  excite  a  defec- 
tion among  All's  followers,  which  finally  resulted 
in  the  ruin  of  himself  and  his  house. 

Hafsa.  the  daughter  of  Omar,  was  next  in  fa- 
vour with  the  prophet.  To  her,  as  being  the  eldest 
of  his  wives,  he  committed  the  Chest  of  his  apos- 
tleship,  containing  the  original  copies  of  his  pre- 
tended revelations,  from  which  the  volume  of  the 
Koran  was  composed  after  his  death,  by  Abubeker. 
She  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six. 

Zeinab,  another  of  his  wives,  was  originally  the 
wife  of  his  servant  Zeid  ;  upon  whom,  as  we  learn 
from  the  Koran,  God  had  bestowed  the  grace  to 
become  one  of  the  earliest  converts  to  the  true 
faith.  The  circumstances  which  led  to  her  be- 
coming the  wife  of  the  prophet,  form  a  story  worth 
relating.  Mohammed,  having  occasion,  one  day, 
to  call  at  the  house  of  Zeid  upon  some  matter  of 
business,  and  not  finding  him  at  home,  accidentally 
cast  his  eyes  on  Zeinab  his  wife.  Being  a  wo- 
man of  distinguished  beauty,  the  prophet  was  so 
P 


170  LIFE    OF    MOHA]>IMED. 

smitten  with  her  charms  at  first  sight,  that  he 
could  not  forbear  exclaiming,  "  Praised  be  God, 
who  turneth  the  hearts  of  men  as  he  pleaseth !" 
and  thenceforth  became  violently  in  love  with  her. 
Zeid,  when  made  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stance, was  thrown  into  great  perplexity.  His  af- 
fection for  his  wife  and  his  wish  to  retain  her 
were  counterbalanced  by  his  sense  of  obligation  to 
his  master,  who  had  not  only  freed  him  from  ser- 
vitude, but  had  also  publicly  adopted  him  as  his 
son  and  heir,  by  a  religious  ceremony  at  the  black 
stone  of  the  Caaba.  Upon  mature  reflection  -he 
determined  to  part  with  Zeinab  in  favour  of  his  be- 
nefactor, whom  he  privately  acquainted  with  his 
intention,  at  the  same  time  giving  out  in  public, 
that  he  no  longer  retained  any  affection  for  her,  in 
order  to  pave  the  way  for  a  divorce.  Mohammed, 
aware  of  the  scandal  that  would  ensue  among  his 
people,  from  his  taking  to  his  bed  one  who  stood 
to  him  in  the  relation  of  a  daughter,  made  a  feint 
of  dissuading  him  from  his  purpose,  and  endea- 
voured to  suppress  the  violence  of  his  passion. 
But  finding  the  flame  which  consumed  him  imcon- 
querable,  a  chapter  of  the  Koran  came  seasonably 
to  his  relief,  which  at  once  removed  all  impedi- 
ments in  the  way  of  a  union.  "  And  remember, 
when  thou  saidst  to  him  unto  whom  God  had  been 
gracious  ."^^eid),  and  on  whom  thou  also  hadst 
conferrea  favours,  keep  thy  wife  to  thyself  and  fear 
God ;  and  thou  didst  conceal  that  in  thy  mind  (i.  e. 
thine  affection  to  Zeinab)  which  God  had  deter- 
aiined  to  discover,  and  didst  fear  men ;  whereas  it 


LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED.  171 

was  more  just  that  thou  shouldst  fear  God.  But 
when  Zeid  had  determined  the  matter  concerning 
her,  and  had  resolved  to  divorce  her,  we  joined 
her  in  marriage  unto  thee,  lest  a  crime  should  be 
charged  on  the  true  believers  in  marrying  the  wives 
of  their  adopted  sons :  and  the  command  of  God 
is  to  be  performed.  No  crime  is  to  be  charged 
on  the  prophet  as  to  what  God  hath  allowed  him."* 
Here  the  Most  High  is  represented  not  only  as 
sanctioning  the  marriage,  but  as  conveying  a  gen- 
tle rebuke  to  the  prophet,  that  he  should  so  long 
have  abstained  from  the  enjoyment  of  this  favour 
out  of  regard  to  public  sentiment,  as  though  he 
feared  men  rather  than  God!  Zeinab  hereupon 
became  the  wife  of  this  most  favoured  of  mortals, 
and  lived  with  him  in  great  affection  to  the  time 
of  his  death  ;  always  glorying  over  her  associates, 
that  whereas  they  had  been  married  to  Mohammed 
by  their  parents  and  kindred,  she  had  been 
united  to  hhn  by  God  himself,  who  dwells  above 
the  seven  heavens  ! 

Another  of  his  wives,  Safya,  was  a  Jewess.  Of 
her  nothing  remarkable  is  related,  except  that  she 
once  complained  to  her  husband  of  being  thus  re- 
proached by  her  companions  :  "  O  thou  Jewess, 
the  daughter  of  a  Jew  and  of  a  Jewess."  To 
which  the  prophet  answered,  "Canst  thou  not  say, 
Aaron  is  my  father,  Moses  is  my  uncle,  and  Mo- 
hammed is  my  husband?"  But  in  reference  to 
these  insulting  taunts,  an  admonition  was  conveyed 

*  Koran,  ch.  xxxiii. 


172  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

to  the  offenders  from  a  higher  source  than  the  pro- 
phet himself.  "  O  true  beUevers,  let  not  men 
laugh  other  men  to  scorn,  who  peradventure  may- 
be better  than  themselves ;  neither  let  women  laugh 
other  women  to  scorn,  who  may  possibly  be  bet- 
ter than  themselves.  Neither  defame  one  another, 
nor  call  one  another  by  opprobious  appellations."* 

In  addition  to  his  wives,  the  harem  of  the  pro- 
phet contained  a  number  of  concubines,  among 
whom  Mary,  the  Egyptian,  was  his  favourite.  By 
her  he  had  a  son,  Ibrahim  (Abraham),  who  died 
in  infancy,  to  the  unspeakable  grief  of  the  prophet 
and  his  disciples.  He  had  no  children  by  any  of 
the  rest  of  his  wives  except  Cadijah,  who  was  the 
mother  of  eight — four  sons  and  four  daughters  ;  but 
most  of  these  died  in  early  life,  none  of  them  sur- 
viving their  father  except  Fatima,  the  wife  of  Ali, 
and  she  only  sixty  days. 

The  following  passages  from  the  Koran  evince 
that  not  the  prophet  only  was  an  object  of  the  di- 
vine care,  beneficence,  and  guidance,  but  that  his 
wives  also  shared  in  the  same  kind  providence,  and 
that  whatever  instructions  or  admonitions  their 
frailties  might  require  were  graciously  bestowed 
upon  them.  From  an  infirmity  not  uncommon  to 
the  sex,  they  had  become,  it  appears,  more  devoted 
to  the  decoration  of  their  persons  than  was  credit- 
able for  the  wives  of  a  holy  prophet,  and  had  de- 
manded of  him  a  larger  allowance  on  the  score  of 
dress  than  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  grant.     1  hey 

*  Koran,  ch .  xlix. 


LIFE   OF    MOHAMMED.  173 

are  thus  rebuked :  "  O  prophet,  say  unto  thy 
wives,  If  ye  seek  this  present  life  and  the  pomp 
thereof,  come,  I  will  make  a  handsome  provision 
for  you,  and  I  will  dismiss  you  with  an  honourable 
dismission :  but  if  ye  seek  God  and  his  apostle, 
and  the  life  to  come,  verily  God  hath  prepared  for 
such  of  you  as  work  righteousness  a  great  re- 
ward."* "  0  wives  of  the  prophet,  ye  are  not  as 
other  women :  if  ye  fear  God,  be  not  too  com- 
plaisant in  speech,  lest  he  should  covet  in  whose 
heart  is  a  disease  of  incontinence ;  but  speak  the 
speech  which  is  convenient.  And  sit  still  in  your 
houses  ;  and  set  not  out  yourselves  with  the  osten- 
tation of  the  former  time  of  ignorance,  and  observe 
the  appointed  times  of  prayer,  and  give  alms  ;  and 
obey  God  and  his  apostle  ;  for  God  desireth  only 
to  remove  from  you  the  abomination  of  vanity, 
since  ye  are  the  household  of  the  prophet,  and  to 
purify  you  by  a  perfect  purification."! 

The  prophet  interdicted  to  all  his  wives  the  pri- 
vilege of  marrying  again  after  his  death,  and 
though  some  of  them  were  then  young,  they  scru- 
pulously obeyed  his  command,  delivered  to  them, 
like  every  thing  else  in  the  Koran,  in  the  form  of 
a  mandate  of  heaven,  and  lived  and  died  in  widow- 
hood. The  passage  in  which  this  severe  edict  is 
found  is  a  curiosity,  and  will  doubtless  lead  the 
reader  to  suspect  that  it  was  prompted  by  a  spirit 
of  mean  jealousy,  the  effects  of  which  he  aimed 
to  perpetuate  when  he  was  no  more.     It  is  pre 

*  Koran,  ch.  xxxiii.  t  Ibid. 

P2 


174  LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED. 

faced  by  some  wholesome  cautions  to  his  followers 
respecting  the  etiquette  to  be  observed  in  their  in- 
tercourse with  the  prophet  and  his  household. 

"  0  true  believers,  enter  not  into  the  houses  of 
the  prophet,  unless  it  be  permitted  you  to  eat 
meat  with  liim,  without  waiting  his  convenient 
time ;  but  when  ye  are  invited,  then  enter.  And 
when  ye  shall  have  eaten,  disperse  yourselves  ;  and 
stay  not  to  enter  into  familiar  discourse ;  for  this 
incommodeth  the  prophet.  He  is  ashamed  to  bid 
you  depart,  but  God  is  not  ashamed  of  the  truth. 
And  when  ye  ask  of  the  prophet's  wives  what  ye 
may  have  occasion  for,  ask  it  of  them  behind  a 
curtain.  This  will  be  more  pure  for  your  hearts 
and  their  hearts.  Neither  is  it  fit  for  you  to  give 
any  uneasiness  to  the  apostle  of  God,  or  to  marry 
his  wives  after  him  for  ever ;  for  this  would  be  a 
grievous  thing  in  the  sight  of  God."* 

In  the  outset  of  his  career,  Mohammed  appears 
to  have  been  more  favourably  disposed  towards  the 
Jews  than  the  Christians.  This  is  inferred  from 
his  enjoying  with  them  a  common  descent  from 
the  patriarch  Abraham ;  from  his  agreement  with 
them  in  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  divine 
unity ;  and  from  his  proffering  to  make  Jerusalem 
the  point  of  pilgrimage  and  of  the  Kebla  to  his  fol- 
lowers. But  conceivhig  a  pique  against  them 
about  the  time  of  his  entrance  into  Medina,  he 
thenceforward  became  their  inveterate  enemy,  and 
in  all  his  wars  pursued  them  with  a  more  relentless 

*  Koran,  ch.  xxxiii. 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  175 

severity  than  he  showed  towards  any  other  people. 
Thus  this  descendant  of  Ishmael,  without  intend- 
ing it,  made  good  the  declaration  of  holy  writ  re- 
specting the  antagonist  seeds  of  Hagar  and  of  Sa- 
rah. "  For  it  is  written  that  Abraham  had  two 
sons,  the  one  by  a  bond-maid  the  other  by  a  free 
woman.  But  he  who  was  of  the  bond-woman 
was  born  after  the  flesh ;  but  he  of  the  free  woman 
was  by  promise.  But  as  then  he  that  was  born 
after  the  flesh  persecuted  him  that  was  born  after 
the  spirit,  even  so  it  is  now."*  Their  opposition 
to  him  can  easily  be  accounted  for  on  the  score  of 
national  and  religious  prejudice.  And  the  oppro- 
brious name  which  they  gave  to  the  corrupt  system 
of  the  heresiarch,  tended  still  more  to  provoke  his 
indignation.  For  while  he  professed  to  be  a  re- 
storer of  the  true  primitive  religion  which  God  com- 
municated to  Abraham,  and  Abraham  to  his  sor 
Ishmael,  and  which  the  prophet  denominated  Islam, 
or  Islamism,  from  a  word  signifying  to  devote  or 
dedicate  to  religion,,  the  Jews,  by  a  transposition  of 
letters,  called  the  new  creed  Ismaelism,  from  the 
prophet's  progenitor,  and  thus  cast  the  greatest 
possible  reproach  on  the  bastard  faith  of  their 
enemy.  Their  effrontery  Mohammed  neither  for- 
got nor  forgave.  Still,  both  Jews  and  Christians 
were  admitted  to  protection  in  ordinary  cases  on 
the  payment  of  a  specified  tribute. 

Towards  the  Christians,  though  the  Koran,  and 
all  who  embrace  it,  breathe  the  most  inveterate  ma- 
lice and  the  most  sovereign  contempt  against  the 
*Gal.  ch.  iv. 


176  LIFE  OF  MOHAMMED. 

"  dogs"  and  "  infidels"  who  profess  the  Gospel  faith, 
yet  rather  more  forbearance  is  exercised  than  to- 
wards the  Jews  ;  and  some  of  the  Moslems  will 
grant,  that  Christianity,  next  to  their  own,  is  the 
best  religion  in  the  world,  particularly  as  held  by 
Unitarians.  Yet  Mohammed,  in  the  Koran,  loses 
no  opportunity  to  pour  his  revilings  indiscriminately 
upon  both.  "The  Jews  and  the  Christians  say, 
We  are  the  children  of  God  and  his  beloved.  An- 
swer, AVhy,  therefore,  doth  he  punish  you  for  your 
sins  ?"*  "  They  say,  Verily,  none  shall  enter  pa- 
radise, except  they  who  are  Jews  or  Christians : 
this  is  their  wish.  Say,  Produce  your  proof  of 
this,  if  ye  speak  truth.  The  Jews  say.  The 
Christians  are  grounded  on  nothing ;  and  the  Chris- 
tians say,  The  Jews  are  grounded  on  nothing  :  yet 
they  both  read  the  Scriptures."!  "  O  ye,  to  whom 
the  Scriptures  have  been  given,  why  do  ye  dispute 
concerning  Abraham?  Abraham  was  neither  a 
Jew  nor  a  Christian ;  but  he  was  of  the  true  reli- 
gion, one  resigned  mito  God,  and  was  not  of  the 
number  of  idolaters. "| 

The  religion  of  the  Koran  tolerates  Christian 
churches  in  places  where  they  have  been  anciently 
founded,  but  permits  them  not  to  be  reared  on  new 
foundations.  Christians  may  repair  the  walls  and 
roofs  of  their  places  of  worship,  but  are  not 
allowed  to  lay  a  stone  in  a  new  place  consecrated 
to  the  site  of  a  holy  building ;  nor,  if  fire  or  any 
other  accident  should  destroy  the  superstructure, 
are  they  suflfered  to  renew  the  foundations,  so  as 

*  Koran,  ch.  v.  f  Ch.  ii.  t  Ch.  iiL 


LIFE    OF    MOHAMMED.  177 

to  erect  another  building.  The  consequence  is, 
that  Christian  churches,  in  the  Mohammedan  do- 
minions, must  necessarily  at  length  sink  to  ruin, 
and  vast  numbers  of  them  have  already  gone  en- 
tirely to  decay.  In  the  great  fires  which  happened 
in  Galata  and  Constantinople  in  1660,  numerous 
Christian  churches  and  chapels  were  reduced  to 
ashes,  and  when  the  piety  and  zeal  of  their  vota- 
ries had  re-edified  and  almost  completed  the  great- 
est number  of  them,  a  public  order  was  issued  that 
they  should  all  be  again  demolished,  it  being  judged 
contrary  to  Turkish  law  to  permit  the  restoration 
of  churches  where  nothing  but  the  mere  foundation 
remained. 

The  fact  may  be  here  adverted  to,  in  drawing 
our  sketch  to  a  close,  that  Mohammed  not  only 
admitted  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  divinely 
inspired  books,  though  corrupted  by  their  disciples, 
but  affirmed  that  they  bore  unequivocal  prophetic 
testimony  to  his  future  mission  as  prophet  and 
apostle  :  "  And  when  Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary,  said, 
O  children  of  Israel,  Verily  I  am  the  apostle  of 
God  sent  unto  you  confirming  the  law  which  was 
delivered  before  me,  and  bringing  good  tidings  of 
an  apostle  who  shall  come  after  me,  and  whose 
name  shall  be  Ahmed  (Mohammed)."*  In  support 
of  what  is  here  alleged,  the  Persian  paraphrast 
quotes  the  words  of  Christ  in  his  last  address  to 
his  disciples :  "  If  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter 
will  not  come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I  go  away,  I  will 
send  him  unto  you."     This  passage  the  Moham- 

♦  Koran,  ch.  Ixi. 


178  LIFE    OF   MOHAMMED. 

medan  doctors  unanimously  teach  has  a  direct  in- 
ference to  their  prophet,  and  is  fulfilled  in  hiro 
only.  But  then,  in  order  to  make  good  their  in- 
terpretation, they  are  obliged  to  hold  that  the 
Christians  in  their  copies  have  corrupted  the  true 
reading,  which,  instead  of  Paraclete  ( Comforter)^ 
is  Periclyte  {illustrious^  renowned),  a  word  per- 
fectly synonymous  with  Ahmed. 

The  following  passage  (Deut.  xxxiii.  2)  is  also 
suborned  to  the  support  of  the  same  bad  cause : 
"  The  Lord  came  from  Sinai,  and  rose  up  from 
Mount  Seir  unto  them ;  he  shined  forth  from 
Mount  Paran,  and  he  came  with  ten  thousand  of 
his  saints ;  from  his  right  hand  went  a  fiery  law  for 
them."  By  these  words,  say  the  Moslem  exposi- 
tors, is  set  forth  the  delivery  of  the  law  to  Moses, 
on  Mount  Sinai ;  of  the  Gospel  to  Jesus  at  Jeru- 
salem ;  and  of  the  Koran  to  Mohammed  at  Mecca. 
By  Seir,  they  maintain  that  the  mountains  of  Je- 
rusalem are  meant,  and  by  Paran,  those  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Mecca.  But  their  geography 
wUl  appear  as  lame  as  their  divinity,  when  it  is 
stated,  that  Seir  was  a  hundred  miles  distant  from 
Jerusalem,  and  Paran  five  hundred  from  Mecca. 
Their  other  glosses  of  this  nature  need  no  con- 
futation. 

In  another  sense,  however,  wholly  difl^erent 
from  that  intended  by  Mohammed  or  his  followers, 
we  doubt  not  that  this  grand  impostor  and  his  re- 
ligion are  distinctly  foretold  in  the  sacred  volume. 
The  religion  promulgated,  and  the  empire  esta- 
blished,  by  the   author   of  Islam,  has  been  too 


LIFE   OF  MOHAMMED.  179 

signal  a  scourge  to  the  Church  and  the  civilized 
world  not  to  be  entitled  to  a  place  in  the  prophetic 
annunciations  of  the  Bible.  As  the  subject  of  the 
rise,  progress,  and  permanence  of  Mohammedan- 
ism cannot  be  duly  appreciated  apart  from  the  pre- 
dictions concerning  it,  we  have  determined  to  de- 
vote a  portion  of  the  Appendix  to  the  consideration 
of  the  most  prominent  and  striking  of  these  pro- 
phecies, to  which  the  reader  will  permit  us  to 
bespeak  his  attention. 


(  181 


APPENDIX. 


[A.]* 
Prophecy. — Dan.  vii.  8—26. 


(the  vision.) 

8  The  he-goat  waxed  very  great :  and  when  he  was  strong,  the  great 
horn  was  hroken  ;  and  for  it  came  up  four  notable  ones  toward  the 

9.  four  winds  of  heaven.  And  out  of  one  of  them  came  forth  a  httle 
horn,  which  waxed  exceeding  great  toward  the  south  and  toward 

10.  the  east,  and  toward  the  pleasant  land.  And  it  waxed  great  even  to 
tlte  host  oi'  heaven ;  and  it  cast  down  some  of  the  host  and  of  the  stars 

11.  to  the  ground,  and  stamped  upon  them.  Yea,  he  magnified  himself 
even  to  the  Prince  of  the  host,  and  by  him  was  the  daily  sacrifice 

12.  taken  away,  and  the  place  of  his  sanctuary  was  cast  down.  And 
a  host  was  given  him  against  the  daily  sacrifice  by  reason  of 
transgression  ;  and  it  cast  down  the  truth  to  the  ground ;  and  it 

13.  practised  and  prospered.  Then  I  heard  one  saint  speaking,  and 
another  saint  said  unto  that  certain  saint  which  spake.  How 
long  shall  be  the  vision  concerning  the  daily  sacrifice,  and  the 
transgression  of  desolation,  to  give   both  the  sanctuary  and  the 

14.  host  to  be  trodden  under  foot]  And  he  said  unto  me,  Unto  two 
tliousand  and  three  himdred  days ;  then  shall  the  sanctuary  be 
cleansed. 

(the  interpretation.) 

21.  And  the  rough  goat  is  the    king  (kingdom)  of  Grecia:   and  the 

great  horn  that  is  between  his  eyes  is  the  first  king  (kingdom). 

22.  Now  that  being  broken,  v/hereas  four  stood  up  for  it,  four  king- 

23.  doms  shall  stand  up  out  of  the  nation,  but  not  in  his  power.  And 
in  the  latter  time  of  their  kmgdom,  when  the  transgressors  are 
come  to  the  full,  a  king  of  fierce  countenance,  and  understanding 
(Heb.  making  to  understand,  teaching)  dark  sentences,  shall  stand 

24.  up.  And  his  power  shall  be  mighty,  but  not  by  his  own  power : 
and  he  shall  destroy  wonderfully,  and  shall  prosper,  and  practise, 

25.  and  shall  destroy  the  mighty  and  the  holy  people.  And  through 
his  policy  also  he  shall  cause  craft  to  prosper  in  his  hand ;  and  he 

*  For  the  materials  of  this  chapter,  and  occasionally  for  some  por- 
tion of  the  language,  the  compiler  acknowledges  himself  indebted  prin- 
cipally to  Faber's  Sacred  Calendar  of  Prophecy,  Foster's  Mahometani.sra 
Unveiled,  and  Fry's  Second  Advent  of  Christ.  He  has  moreover  given 
a  minute  ead  critical  atitation  to  these  prophecies  in  the  original  lan- 
guages. 

Q 


182  APPENDIX. 

shall  magnify  himself  in  his  heart,  and  by  peace  shall  destror 
many  :  he  shall  also  stand  up  aaainst  the  Prince  of  princes  ;  but 
26.  he  shall  be  broken  without  hand.  And  the  vision  of  the  evening 
and  the  morning  which  was  told  is  true;  wherefore  shut  thou  up 
the  vision ;  for  it  shall  be  for  many  days.    Dau.  vii.  8—26. 

The  prophecy  of  Daniel  contains  a  prospective 
view  of  the  providential  history  of  the  world,  in- 
cluding the  four  great  empires  of  antiquity,  together 
with  the  powers  which  should  succeed  them  to  the 
end  of  time,  and  consummation  of  all  things.  It  is 
reasonable  therefore  to  expect,  that  a  system  of  pre- 
dictions thus  large  upon  the  history  of  the  world, 
would  not  omit  a  revolution  of  such  magnitude  and 
prominence  as  that  occasioned  by  Mohammed  and 
Mohammedanism.  No  event,  moreover,  has  had  a 
more  direct  and  powerful  bearing  upon  the  state  of 
the  Church  than  Ihe  establishment  of  tliis  vast  im- 
posture ;  and  as  the  preceding  chapter  contains  a 
full  and  exact  portraiture  of  the  Papal  tyranny  which 
was  to  arise  and  prevail  in  the  western  portion  of 
Christendom,  so  the  present  is.  very  generally  ad- 
mitted to  contain  a  prediction  of  that  great  apostacy 
which  was  destined  to  grow  up  and  overwhelm  the 
Church  in  the  East.  The  reasons  of  this  opinion 
we  now  proceed  to  state. 

The  theatre  of  this  prophecy  is  the  Macedonian 
empire,  founded  by  Alexander ;  from  one  of  the 
four  dismembered  kingdoms  of  which  the  little 
horn  of  the  vision  was  to  spring  up.  In  the  vision, 
the  prophet  saw  the  first  great  horn  of  the  he-goat, 
or  the  kingdom  of  Alexander,  "  broken  ;"  indicating 
that  that  kingdom  was  no  longer  to  have  a  place  as 
a  kingdom  in  the  eye  of  prophecy.  The  dominions 
of  Alexander  at  his  death  were  divided  between 
four  of  his  generals:  Macedon  and  Greece  in  the 
west  were  assigned  to  Cassander ;  Thrace  and  Bi- 
thynia  in  the  north  to  Lysimachus ;  Egypt  in  the 
south  to  Ptolemy ;  and  Syria  with  the  eastern  pro- 
vinces to  Seleucus. 

Ver.  9.     And  out  of  one  of  them  came  forth  a  little 


APPENDIX.  183 

horn. — A  "  horn,"  in  the  symbolical  languag-e  of  pro- 
phecy, represents  a  civil  or  ecclesiastical  king-dom. 
The  little  horn  here  mentioned  was  to  come  forth 
out  of  one  of  the  four  notable  horns  or  members  of 
the  subdivided  king-dom  of  Alexander.  The  ques- 
tion has  been  much  agitated  whether  Alexander 
seized  and  retained  any  portion  «f  the  Arabian  penin- 
sula :  the  fact  of  his  having-  done  so  may  be  seen  in 
any  map  of  the  Macedonian  empire.  "The  empire 
of  Alexander,"  observes  M.  RoUin,  "  was  distributed 
into  four  kingdoms  ;  of  which  Ptolemy  had  Egj^^pt, 
L'lhy^.,  Arabia,  Coelosyria,  and  Palestine."  The  dis- 
trict occupied  was  indeed  no  more  than  an  outskirt, 
but  that  outskirt  comprised  part  of  the  province  of 
Hejaz ;  that  is  to  say,  part  of  that  very  district  which 
gave  birth  to  Mohammed  and  his  religion. — As  the 
horn  in  the  vision  was  a  little  one,  so  Mohammedan- 
ism in  its  first  rise  perfectly  corresponded  with  the 
symbol.  It  originated  with  an  obscure  inhabitant 
of  a  desert  corner  of  Asia,  whose  earliest  converts 
were  his  wife,  his  servant,  his  pupil,  and  his  friend ; 
and  whose  party  at  the  end  of  three  years  scarcely 
numbered  a  dozen  persons. 

Which  waxed  exceeding  great  toward  the  souths 
and  toward  the  east,  and  toward  the  jyleasant  land. 
— Mohammedanism  accordingly,  in  its  primitive 
course  of  conquest,  did  presently  wax  exceedingly 
great ;  and  that  in  the  very  line  marked  out  by  the 
prophecy.  Its  conquests  extended  southward  over 
the  large  peninsula  of  Arabia,  over  Egypt,  and  over 
a  considerable  portion  of  central  Africa  ;  eastward, 
over  Persia,  Bokhara,  and  Hindostan ;  and  north- 
ward, over  Palestine,  Asia  Minor,  Mesopotamia, 
Greece,  and  Tartary,  the  countries  now  forming  the 
Turkish  empire.  "  The  pleasant  land,"  or,  literally, 
*'  the  beauty,"  "  the  ornament,"  is  an  appellation 
bestowed  upon  the  land  of  Judah,  from  its  being  in 
a  peculiar  manner  the  residence  of  the  divine  glory, 
the  seat  of  worship,  containing  the  city  of  Jerusalem 


184  APPENDIX. 

and  the  temple,  which  were  "  a  crown  of  beauty  and 
»  diadem  of  glory"  to  the  nation  of  Israel.  The  ori 
ginal  word  here  employed  is  found  in  a  parallel  sense 
m  Ezek.  xx.  6.  15 ;  "a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
lioney,  which  is  the  glo7'y  of  all  lands."  Jerusalem 
v/as  captured  by  the  Saracens  A.  D.  637,  after  a 
ii'Jige  of  four  months. 

Fer.  10.  And  it  waxed  great  even  to  the  host  of 
Ktaven. — The  "  host  of  heaven"  is  but  another  name 
lor  the  multitude  of  stars  in  the  firmament.  But 
ciars,  in  the  idiom  of  prophecy,  are  a  standing  em- 
r>iem  of  ecclesiastical  officers.  The  word  "  host" 
<iCcordingly  is  not  only  applied  to  the  priests  and 
juevites  performing  the  service  of  the  sanctuary 
(Num.  iv.  3),  but  to  the  nation  of  Israel  as  a  great 
organized  ecclesiastical  body,  or  kingdom  of  priests. 
Ex.  xii.  41.  And  when  Christ  says  (Rev.  i.  20), 
"  the  seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven 
churches,"  his  meaning  undoubtedly  is,  that  these 
stars  are  symbols  of  the  spiritual  rulers  of  the 
churches.  The  grand  scope,  therefore,  of  the  pre- 
sent prophecy  is,  to  point  out  a  spiritual  desolation, 
achieved  by  a  hostile  power  suddenly  attaining 
great  strength,  and  forcibly  thrusting  itself  into  the 
body  of  true  worshippers,  with  a  view  to  their  dis- 
comfiture and  dispersion. 

And  it  cast  down  some  of  the  host,  and  (i.  e.  even)  oj" 
the  stars  to  the  ground,  and  stamped  upon  them. — As  in 
the  figurative  language  of  prophecy  the  stars  denote 
the  spiritual  pastors  of  God's  church,  so  the  violent 
dejection  of  such  stars  from  heaven  to  earth  signifies 
a  compulsory  apostatizing  from  their  religion.  Mo- 
hammedanism strikingly  fulfilled  this  prophecy  from 
the  date  of  its  first  promulgation,  when  it  stood  up 
against  the  allegorical  host,  or  the  degenerate  pas- 
tors of  the  Christian  Church.  Such  of  them  as  lay 
within  the  territories  of  the  Greek  empire  were  espe- 
cially given  into  the  hand  of  this  persecuting  super- 
stition ;  but  by  its  inroads  into  Africa,  and  Spain, 


APPENDIX.  185 

and  France,  and  Italy,  it  waxed  great  against  the 
whole  host.  Of  the  eastern  clerg-y,  it  cast  some  to 
the  ground,  or  compelled  them  altogether  to  renounce 
the  Christian  faith.  And  as  for  those  who  still  ad- 
hered to  the  form  of  their  religion,  it  stamped  them, 
as  it  were,  under  its  feet  with  all  the  tyranny  of 
brutal  fanaticism. 

Ver.  11.  Yea,  he  magnified  Jmnself  even  to  the 
Prince  of  the  host. — If  the  starry  host  be  the  pastors 
of  the  Church,  the  prince  of  that  host  must  obviously 
be  the  Messiah.  Mohammedanism  has  most  clearly 
verified  this  prediction  by  magnifying  its  founder  to 
a  pitch  of  dignity  and  honour  equal  to  that  of  Christ. 
In  fact,  it  has  set  up  Mohammed  above  Christ.  The 
Arabian  impostor  allovv'ed  Jesus  to  be  a  prophet ;  but 
he  maintained  that  he  himself  was  a  greater  pro- 
phet, and  that  the  Koran  was  destined  to  supersede 
the  Gospel.  Thus  did  Mohammedanism  magnify 
itself  "  even  to"  the  Prince  of  the  host. 

And  by  him  the  daily  sacrifice  was  taken  away,  and 
the  place  of  his  sanctuary  zvas  cast  down. — The  term 
rendered  "daily  sacrifice,"  or,  literally,  "the  daily^ ' 
"  the  continual,"  is  a  term  frequently  used  respect- 
ing the  daily  repeated  sacrifices  of  the  Jewish  tem- 
ple, typifying  the  death  of  Christ  till  he  should  come. 
Now,  what  this  continual  burnt-offering  was  with 
respect  to  Clirist's  first  coming,  are  the  daily  offer- 
ings of  prayer  and  praise,  and  all  the  solemnities  of 
the  Christian  Church,  as  administered  by  a  divinely 
appointed  order  of  men.  When,  therefore,  the 
Saracens  and  Turks  by  their  victories  and  oppres- 
sions broke  up  and  dispersed  the  churches  of  the 
East,  and  abolished  the  daily  spiritual  worship  of 
God,  then  did  the  "  little  horn"  take  away  the  "  con- 
tinual offering"  established  by  the  Prince  of  the 
host.  But  the  predicted  desolation  was  to  extend 
yet  farther.  The  place  of  God's  sanctuary  was  to 
be  razed  to  its  foundation,  and  both  the  sanctuary 
and  the  host  for  a  long  course  of  ages  to  be  trodden 
Q2 


186  APPENDIX. 

under  foot.  Accordingly,  Mohammedanism  began 
this  appointed  work  by  the  subversion  of  the  Chris- 
tian churches  and  altars  in  every  stage  of  its  pro- 
gress against  the  Greek  empire  ;  and  has  continued 
the  desolation  during  nearly  twelve  hundred  years, 
until  it  has  all  but  completed  the  extinction  of  Eastern 
Christianity.  Gibbon  observes,  that  upon  the  taking 
of  Jerusalem,  "  by  the  command  of  Omar,  the  ground 
of  the  temple  of  Solomon  was  prepared  for  the 
foundation  of  a  mosque."*  And  it  is  worthy  of 
notice,  that  whereas  the  original  word  used  by 
Daniel  for  "  sanctuary"  is  Kodsh,  the  same  historian 
remarks,  that  the  epithet  Al  Kods  is  used  now,  and 
was  then  among  the  Arabs  as  the  proper  appellation 
of  the  Holy  City,  of  which  the  sanctuary  or  temple 
was  the  distinguishing  ornament  and  glory. 

Ver.  12.  And  an  host  was  given  him  against  the 
daily  sacrifice  hy  reason  of  transgression  :  and  it  cast 
down  the  truth  to  the  ground  :  and  it  practised  and 
prospered. — From  this  it  Avould  appear,  that  power 
was  to  be  given  to  the  little  horn,  not  merely  for  the 
subversion  of  the  true  religion,  but  also  for  the  per- 
manent substitution  of  another  faith.  "  Host,"  we 
may  naturally  suppose,  means  in  this  place  the  same 
as  when  it  was  used  in  a  former  verse, — "  a  host  of 
stars,"  symbolical  of  the  several  orders  of  Christian 
pastors  and  ministers.  "  An  host,"  then,  to  be  given 
to  the  liltle  horn,  implies  that  he  too  should  have 
his  orders  of  teachers^  and  a  regular  system  of  reli- 
gious worship,  and  that  by  means  of  this  new  and 
spurious  ecclesiastical  polity,  the  Christian  ministry 
should  be  opposed  and  superseded,  and  "  the  truth 
cast  to  the  ground."  The  prediction,  thus  inter- 
preted, according  to  the  natural  force  of  the  lan- 
guage and  construction,  is  applicable  to  no  other 
known  power ;  but  as  applied  to  the  heresy  of  Mo- 
hammed, its  fulfilment  appears  perfect.      For  the 

*  Dec.  and  Fall,  ch.  li. 


APPENDIX.  187 

religion  of  Islam  permanently  overthreM''  the  Chris- 
tian priesthood  and  altars,  by  the  permanent  erection 
of  other  altars  and  of  another  priesthood  in  their 
room.  Every  where  throug-hout  its  vast  domains 
the  mosques  replaced  the  Christian  temples;  and 
the  Imams  and  the  Muezzin  were  substituted  for  the 
appointed  ministry  of  Christ.  In  a  more  enlarged 
view,  the  Saracens  and  Turks  themselves  com- 
posed the  antag-onist  host  or  priesthood.  For  in 
Jvlohammedanism,  the  sword  being-  the  grand  engine 
of  conversion,  the  whole  Mussulman  people  became 
virtually  a  priesthood ;  and  each  individual  Saracen 
and  Turkish  soldier  a  missionary  and  maker  of 
proselytes. 

Fer.  23.  And  in  the  latter  time  of  their  kingdom, 
when  the  transgressors  are  come  to  the  full,  a  king 
of  fierce  countenance  and  understanding  (teaching) 
dark  sentences,  shall  stand  up.  We  are  here  fur- 
nished with  a  chronolog-ical  clew  to  the  period  of 
the  commencement  of  this  disastrous  power. — The 
first  three  empires,  forming-  a  part  of  the  symbolic 
image  which  appeared  in  vision  to  Nebuchadnezzar, 
were  indeed  stripped  of  their  dominions  by  the  con- 
quests of  the  fourth,  or  Roman  empire  ;  but  still,  in 
the  view  of  prophecy,  their  lives  are  considered  as 
being- nevertheless  prolonged;  Dan.vii.  12.  Hence 
it  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  the  little  horn  of  Mo- 
hammedanism rose  up  in  the  latter  time  of  the 
Greek  empire. — Another  striking-  note  of  the  time 
of  the  rise  of  this  power  is  contained  in  the  words, 
"  When  the  transg-ressors  are  come  to  the  full,"  or, 
"  when  the  apostacy  shall  be  completed."  By  the 
transg-ressors  or  apostates  here  mentioned,  we  must 
understand  the  corrupt  Christian  Church,  with  its 
degenerate  pastors,  the  smitten  ecclesiastical  stars, 
spoken  of  in  a  former  verse.  We  learn  both  from 
the  civil  and  sacred  history  of  the  time  when  Mo- 
hammed arose,  that  the  Christian  Church  had  then 
arrived  at  tlie  heiglit  of  those  coiTuptions  in  doctrine 


188  APPENDIX. 

and  practice,  which  had  been  so  clearly  foretold  by 
the  Apostle  Paul  in  his  prediction  of  the  Man  of  Sin. 
The  extraordinary  success  of  the  Mohammedan  im- 
posture was  permitted  as  a  punishment  of  this  great 
defection.  The  allegorical  host,  by  reason  of  their 
apostacy  from  the  truth,  were  subjected  to  the  ty- 
ranny of  the  little  horn.  But  this  apostacy,  which 
had  long  previously  infected  both  the  East  and  the 
West,  was  completed,  or  had  reached  its  acme,  about 
the  commencement  of  the  seventh  century,  when 
the  prophet  of  Islam  first  appeared.  Gibbon,  the 
historian,  introduces  his  account  of  Mohammedanism 
by  observing,  that  "  the  Christians  of  the  seventh 
century  had  insensibly  relapsed  into  a  semblance  of 
paganfsm."  From  this  time,  therefore,  the  stars 
were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn,  as  the 
appointed  rod  of  God's  anger :  they  were  penally 
consigned  to  its  tyranny  by  reason  of  their  previous 
apostacy  into  the  idolatrous  superstitions  of  the  Gen- 
tiles. Again,  as  far  as  the  aspect  of  Mohammedan- 
ism is  concerned,  that  wonderful  ecclesiastical 
domination  may  well  be  described  as  a  "  kingdom 
of  fierce  countenance,"  when  the  avow^ed  maxim 
of  its  founder  was  to  employ  the  sword  as  the  grand 
engine  of  conversion.  Of  this  ferocious  spirit  its 
proselytes  have  in  all  ages  largely  partaken.  Some, 
however,  suppose  the  woids  should  be  translated 
"  of  a  firm  countenance,"  denoting  the  bold  effron- 
tery of  the  barefaced,  impudent  liar  ;  and  such  were 
Mohammed  and  his  successors  :  their  religion  is,  in 
truth,  the  most  glaring  imposition  that  was  ever 
palmed  upon  the  credulity  of  mankind. — As  to  the 
remaining  cliaracter  of  this  desolating  power — that 
he  should  "  understand  dark  sentences" — the  expres- 
sion, "  dark  sentences,"  is  equivalent  to  the  familiar 
scriptural  phrases,  "  dark  sayings,"  and  "dark  say- 
ings of  old."  These  phrases,  in  the  language  of 
the  sacred  writers,  will  be  found  uniformly  to  con- 
vey a  spiritual  signification.    Thus  the  Psalmist, 


APPENDIX.  1 89 

"  I  will  open  my  mouth  in  a  parable  ;  I  will  utter 
dai'k  sayings  of  old.''''  It  seems  probable,  therefore, 
that  the  equivalent  expression,  "  dark  sentences," 
relates,  in  one  shape  or  other,  to  religion ;  and  the 
"  understanding  dark  sentences,"  to  real  or  pre- 
tended skill  in  the  interpretation  of  things  spiritual. 
The  Koran,  so  celebrated  in  the  Mohammedan  reli- 
gion, the  book  containing  their  spiritual  mysteries, 
exactly  answers  to  this  description.  And  it  is  not  a 
little  remarkable,  that  the  author  of  the  Koran  should 
have  been  unconsciously  led  to  appropriate  the  lan- 
guage of  this  very  prediction  to  himself.  "  0  Lord, 
thou  hast  given  me  a  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  hast 
taught  me  the  interpretation  of  dark  sayings^  ",We 
taught  him  the  interpretation  of  dark  sayings,  but 
the  greater  part  of  them  men  do  not  understand." 
"  This  is  a  secret  history  which  we  reveal  unto  thee, 
0  Mohammed."*  As  the  fabricator,  therefore,  of  the 
Koran,  Mohammed  has  himself  confirmed  his  claim 
to  the  prophetic  distinction  of  "  understandino-  dark 
sentences ;"  for  it  is  the  declared  object  of  this  pre- 
tended revelation  to  revive  the  traditions  of  ancient 
times  concerning  God  and  religion  ;  and  it  professes 
farther  to  unfold  the  history  of  futurity,  and  the  se- 
crets of  the  invisible  world. 

Ver.  24.  And  his  power  shall  he  mighty,  hut  not 
by  his  own  power. — Of  this  language  a  twofold  in- 
terpretation may  be  suggested,  either  of  which  is 
satisfactory,  though  it  be  not  easy  to  decide  which 
of  them  is  the  true  one.  By  "his  power  being 
mighty,  but  not  by  his  own  power,"  may  be  meant, 
that  the  temporal  power  of  Mohammed  and  his  suc- 
cessors was  to  owe  its  greatness  and  perpetuity  to 
his  spiritual  dominion  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  the 
empire  which  he  founded  was  to  be  upheld  by  the 
imposture  which  he  established.  To  this  purpose 
the  following  passage  from  Demetrius  Cantemir,  the 

*  Koran,  ch.  xii. 


190  APPENDIX. 

historian  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  will  be  found  very 

striking.  "  The  Turks,"  says  he,  "  ascribe  the  for- 
tunate successes  of  the  empire,  not  so  much  to  hu- 
man prudence,  policy,  and  valour,  as  that  their  first 
emperors  washed  war,  not  through  ambition  and  a 
desire  of  dominion,  but  through  the  zeal  of  propaga- 
ting the  Mohammedan  religion ;  and  by  that  means 
they  procured  ihe  divine  assistance  to  their  under- 
takings." The  temporal  power  of  Mohammedanism, 
accordingly,  has  repeatedly  risen  and  declined ;  the 
Mohammedan  Avorld  has  again  and  again  changed 
masters,  but  its  spiritual  tyranny  has  subsisted  in 
undiminished  vigour ;  it  has  lived  and  reigned  un- 
altered, through  the  whole  of  its  period  thus  far  ful- 
filled. It  is  mighty,  therefore,  by  the  power  ofihehost 
given  unto  it.  According  to  another  interpretation, 
the  passage  may  be  simply  designed  to  teach,  that 
the  remarkable  success  of  the  Mohammedan  power 
is  to  be  referred  directly  to  the  special  providence 
of  God,  that  the  results  attained  were  so  entirely  to 
transcend  all  that  could  be  anticipated  from  the  ordi- 
nary operation  of  human  causes,  that  the  hand  of 
God  was  to  be  clearly  recognised  in  every  stage  of 
its  progress.  Viewed  in  this  light,  the  language  of 
the  Most  High  respecting  Nebuchadnezzar  may 
afford  a  commentary  of  most  striking  pertinency  upon 
this  prediction  :  "  O  Assyrian,  the  rod  of  mine  anger, 
and  the  staff  in  their  hand  is  mine  indignation.  1 
will  send  him  against  an  hypocritical  nation,  and 
against  the  people  of  my  wrath  will  I  give  him  a 
charge  to  take  the  spoil,  and  to  take  the  prey,  and  to 
tread  them  down  like  the  mire  of  the  streets.  How- 
beit,  he  meaneth  not  so,  neither  doth  his  heart  think 
so ;  but  it  is  in  his  heart  to  destroy  and  cut  off  na- 
tions not  a  few.  For  he  saith,  by  the  strength  of 
mine  hand  I  have  done  it,  and  by  my  wisdom  ;  for  I 
am  prudent.  Shall  the  ax  boast  itself  against  him 
that  heweth  therewith  1  or  shall  the  saw  magnify 
itself  against  him  that  shaketh  it?  as  if  the  rod 


APPENDIX. 


191 


should  shake  itself  against  them  that  lift  it  up,  or  as 
if  the  staff  should  lift  up  itself  as  if  it  were  no  wood. 

And  he  shall  destroy  wonderfully,  a7id  shall  prosper 
and  practise,  and  shall  destroy  the  mighty  and  the 
holy  people.— It  should  be  borne  in  mnid  that  the 
verses  we  are  now  considering  contain  the  an- 
gel's interpretation  of  the  symbolic  actions  per- 
formed by  the  little  horn  in  the  vision.  Of  these 
the  principal  was  his  rudely  invading  the  emblematic 
"  host,"  or  the  hierarchy,  violently  casting  them  to 
the  ground,  and  stamping  upon  them  with  his  feet. 
The  language  before  us  is  unquestionably  exegeti- 
cal  of  this  figurative  scenery,  and  the  phrases,  "shall 
destroy  wonderfuUv,"  and  "  shall  destroy  the  mighty 
and  the  holy  people,"  are  equivalent  to  saying,  he 
shall  succeed  to  a  surprising  degree  m  causing  mul- 
titudes to  apostatize  from  the  Christian  profession. 
This  was  to  be  done  by  spreading  the  poison  ol  a 
false  reUgion.  For  the  original  word  rendered  "  de- 
stroy" is  a  term  implying  not  merely  physical  de- 
struction, but  moral  corruption,  or  the  vitiating  in- 
fluence of  false  doctrines  and  pnnciples  upon  human 
conduct.  It  is  the  term  employed  in  the  following 
passages :— "  For  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way 
upon  the  earth;"  "  Take  ye  therefore  good  heed 
unto  yourselves,  lest  ye  corrujJt  yourselves,  and 
make  you  a  graven  image,  &c. ;"  "  They  are  cor- 
rupt ;  they  have  done  abominable  works.  In  allu- 
sion to  these  expressions,  it  is  said  in  the  annuncia- 
tion of  divine  judgments  in  the  Apocalypse,  Thy 
wrath  is  come,  that  thou  shouldst  destroy  them  that 
destroy  the  earth;"  i.  e.  those  that  corrw^ahe  earth. 
In  affixino-  this  sense  to  the  destruction  to  be  achieved 
bv  the  little  horn,  or  the  Mohammedan  power,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  exclude  the  idea  of  the  bloodshed 
and  desolation  which  have  marked  the  progress  of 
the  Saracen  and  Turkish  arms  in  planting  and  de- 


*  Isaiah,  ch.  x.  5—15. 


192  APPENDIX. 

fending  their  dominion.  Yet  we  think  the  sense  of 
a  moral  depravation,  brought  about  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  spurious  and  pestilent  faith,  and  accom- 
plishing a  sad  defection  among  the  professors  of  the 
true  religion,  answers  better  to  the  nature  of  the 
symbol  employed,  and  is  equally  accordant  with  the 
truth  of  history. 

Ver.  25.  Jlnd  through  his  policy  also  he  shall  cause 
craft  to  prosper  in  his  hand:  and  he  shall  magnify 
himself  in  his  heart,  and  by  peace  shall  destroy  many: 
he  shall  also  stand  up  against  the  Prince  of  princes. — 
The  institution  of  the  religion  of  the  Koran  with  its 
"  host,"  or  orders  of  teachers,  and  its  system  of  wor- 
ship, was  Mohammed's  masterpiece  of  "  policy." 
It  was  by  this  means  that  his  followers  supplanted 
the  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  converted  to  the 
faith  multitudes  of  those  over  whom  the  temporal 
authority  had  been  extended  by  the  power  of  the 
sword.  "  Policy"  here  is  probably  to  be  understood 
in  the  sense  of  unprincipled  shrezvdncss,  the  working 
of  a  keen  but  depraved  intellect,  laying  its  plans 
with  a  serpentine  subtlety,  and  executing  them  with 
an  entire  recklessness  of  the  moral  character  of  the 
means  employed.  In  this  manner  success  has 
crowned  the  Mohammedan  power ;  their  vile  arts, 
their  "  craft,"  their  perfid)^,  have  stangely  prospered. 
No  more  striking  characteristic  of  the  founder  or 
the  followers  of  Islam  could  be  designated.  "In 
the  exercise  of  political  government,"  says  Gibbon, 
"  Mohammed  was  compelled  to  abate  of  the  stern 
rigour  of  fanaticism,  to  comply  in  some  measure 
with  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  his  followers, 
and  to  employ  even  the  vices  of  mankind  as  the  in- 
strument of  their  salvation.  The  use  of  fraud  and 
perfidy,  of  cruelty  and  injustice,  was  often  subser- 
vient to  the  propagation  of  the  faith."  "  In  the  sup- 
port of  truth,  the  arts  of  fraud  and  fiction  may  be 
deemed  less  criminal ;  and  he  would  have  started 
at  the  foulness  of  the  means,  had  he  not  been  satis- 


APPENDIX.  193 

fied  of  the  importance  and  justice  of  the  end."  The 
recent  Travels  in  the  East  of  Mr.  Madden,  an  English 
gentleman,  furnish  some  very  graphic  sketches  of 
Mohammedan  character,  which  may  be  adduced  to 
fill  up  the  prophetic  portraiture  we  are  now  consi- 
dering. "His  (the  Turk's)  inherent  hostility  to 
Christianity  is  the  first  principle  of  his  law  ;  and  the 
perfidy  it  is  supposed  to  enjoin  is  the  most  prominent 
feature  in  his  character."*  "  The  most  striking  qua- 
lities of  the  Moslem  are  his  profound  ignorance,  his 
insuperable  arrogance,  his  habitual  indolence,  and 
the  perfidy  which  directs  his  policy  in  the  divan, 
and  regulates  his  ferocity  in  the  field."t  "  As  to  the 
outward  man,  the  Turk  is,  physically  speaking,  the 
finest  animal,  and,  indeed,  excels  all  Europeans  in 
bodily  vigour  as  well  as  beauty.  As  to  their  moral 
qualities,  I  found  them  charitable  to  the  poor,  atten- 
tive to  the  sick,  and  kind  to  their  domestics ;  but  I 
also  found  them  perfidious  to  their  friends,  treache- 
rous to  their  enemies,  and  thankless  to  their  bene- 
factors."J  "  I  never  found  a  Turk  who  kept  his 
word  when  it  was  his  interest  to  break  it."<^ 

As  to  the  expression,  "  by  peace  he  shall  destroy 
many,"  it  has  been  interpreted  by  some  as  implying, 
that  the  kingdom  represented  by  the  little  horn 
should  destroy  many  by  v/asting  invasions  while 
their  victims  were  slumbering  in  a  state  of  negligent 
security ;  a  peculiarity  said  to  have  been  exemplified 
in  the  whole  progress  of  the  Saracen  arms.  Such 
may  have  been  the  case  ;  but  we  incline  to  attribute 
another  import  to  the  words.  Adhering  to  the  sense 
before  given  to  the  word  "  destroy,"  as  implying  the 
same  as  to  corrupt,  seduce,  lead  into  destructive  error, 
we  suppose  the  allusion  to  be  to  the  fact,  that  thou- 
sands during  the  victorious  progress  of  the  Moslem 
arms  accepted  of  life,  safety,  and  "  peace,"  on  con- 
dition of  their  embracing  the  foul  imposture  of  the 

*  Madden's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  18.  t  lb.  p.  19. 

J  lb.  p.  29.  $  lb.  p.  31. 

R 


194  APPENDIX. 

conquerors.  Thus  it  was  that  "by  peace  he  de- 
stroyed many ;"  i.  e.  he  corrupted  them  by  the  terms 
on  which  he  granted  peace.  It  is  notorious  that 
these  were  "  death,  tribute,  or  the  Koran,"  and  where 
the  subject  nations  escaped  the  point  of  the  sword, 
they  were  destroyed  by  the  corrupting  and  deadly 
influence  of  the  superstition  which  they  embraced. 

But  he  shall  be  broken  zvithoiit  hand. — That  is  to 
say,  not  by  human  hands,  or  by  the  instrumentality 
of  man,  as  empires  are  usually  overthrown ;  but  this 
spiritual  dominion  is  to  meet  its  fate  when  the  stone 
cut  out  "without  hands"  is  dashed  against  the 
image,  and  reduces  all  the  power  of  despotism  and 
delusion  to  the  dust.  Expositors  of  prophecy  are 
many  of  them  confident  in  the  belief  that  the  Mo- 
hammedan imposture  will  begin  to  be  broken,  with- 
out hand,  at  the  time  when  the  great  antichristian 
confederacy  of  the  Roman  beast  is  destroyed ;  and 
at  the  epoch  when  the  Millennium  is  on  the  point  of 
commencing.  At  this  period  the  Gospel  will  begin 
to  be  successfully  preached  throughout  the  Avhole 
world;  and  the  issue,  it  is  supposed,  will  be  the  uni- 
versal gathering  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  pale  of  the 
Christian  Church.  During  this  period,  the  Moham- 
medans will  be  converted  to  the  true  faith;  and 
when  their  conversion  shall  have  become  general, 
the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Eastern  little  horn  will, 
no  doubt,  be  broken.  But  in  that  case,  it  will  plainly 
have  been  broken  without  hand ;  for  it  will  not  have 
been  broken  by  the  sword  of  violence,  in  the  hand 
of  an  earthly  conqueror ;  but  by  the  invisible  agency 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  inclining  the  hearts  of  its  long- 
deluded  votaries  to  renounce  their  errors,  and  to 
embrace  the  faith  of  the  true  Prophet  of  God. 

Thus  we  have  seen,  that  the  little  horn  of  the 
symbolical  he-goat  answers  in  every  important  par- 
ticular, however  circumstantial,  which  has  hitherto 
been  accomplished,  to  the  successful  imposture  of 
Mohammed.    The  result,  therefore,  of  the  whole  in- 


APPENDIX.  195 

quiry  must  be,  that  by  the  little  horn,  described  in 
this  chapter  of  Daniel,  is  symbolized  the  spiritual 
kingdom  of  Mohammedanism. 

xVnother  parallel  prophecy  is  now  to  be  traced  in 
the  Apocalypse  of  John,  who  has  confirmed  and 
illustrated  the  most  important  predictions  of  Daniel. 


REVELATION,  CH.  IX.  1 — 19. 

1.  And  the  fiflh  angel  sounded,  and  I  saw  a  star  fall  from  heaven  unto 

the  earth :  and  to  him  was  gi\'en  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit. 

2.  And  he  opened  the  bottomless  pit ;  and  thero  arose  a  smoke  out  of 
the  pit,  as  the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace  ;  and  the  sun  and  the  air 

3.  were  darkened  by  reason  of  the  smoke  of  the  pit.  And  there  came 
out  of  the  smoke  locusts  upon  the  eaflh  :  and  unto  them  was  given 

4.  power,  as  the  scorpions  of  the  earth  have  power.  And  it  was  com- 
manded them  that  they  should  not  hurt  the  grass  of  the  earth, 
neither  any  green   thing,  neither  any  tree ;  but  only  those  men 

5.  which  have  not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads.  And  to  them  it 
•was  given  that  they  should  not  kill  them,  but  that  they  should  be 
tormented  five  months  :  and  their  torment  was  as  the  torment  of  a 

6.  scorpion,  when  he  striketh  a  man.  And  in  those  days  shall  men 
seek  death,  and  sliall  not  find  it;  and  shall  desire  to  die,  and  death 

7.  shall  flee  from  them.  And  the  shapes  of  the  locusts  were  like  unto 
horses  prepared  unto  battle ;  and  on  their  heads  were  as  it  were 

8.  crowns,  like  gold,  and  their  faces  were  as  the  faces  of  men.  And 
they  had  hair  as  the  hair  of  women,  and  their  teeth  were  as  the 

9.  teetii  of  lions.  And  they  had  breastplates,  as  it  were  breastplates 
of  inn  ;  and  the  sound  of  their  wings  was  as  the  sound  of  chariots 

JO.  of  many  horses,  running  to  battle.  And  they  had  tails  like  untoscor- 
pions  ;  and  there  were  stings  in  their  tails:  and  their  power  was 

11.  to  hurt  men  five  months.  And  they  had  a  king  over  them,  which 
is  the  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit ;  whose  name,  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue,  is  Abaddon ;  but  in  the  Greek  tongue  hath  his  name  Apol- 

12.  lyon.    One  wo  is  past;  and  behold  there  came  two  more  woes 

13.  hereafter.    And  the  sixth  angel  sounded,  and  I  heard  a  voice  from 

14.  the  four  horns  of  the  golden  altar,  which  is  before  God  ;  saying  to 
the  sixth  angel,  which  had  the  trumpet,  loose  the  lour  angels  which 

15.  are  bound  in  the  river  Euphrates.  And  the  (bur  angels  were 
loosed  which  were  prepared  for  an  hour  and  a  day,  and  a  month 

16.  and  a  year,  for  to  slay  the  third  part  of  men.  And  the  number  of 
the  army  of  the  horsemen  were  two  hundred  thousand  thousand  : 

17.  and  I  heard  the  number  of  them.  And  thus  I  saw  the  horses  in 
the  vision,  and  them  that  sat  on  them,  havnig  breastplates  of  fire,, 
and  of  jacinth,  and  brimstone :  and  the  heads  of  the  horses  were 
as  the  heads  of  lions;  and  out  of  their  months  issued  fire,  and 

18.  smoke,  and  brimstone.  By  these  three  was  the  third  part  of  men 
lulled ;  by  the  fire,  and  by  the  smoke,  and  by  the  brimstone,  which 


196  APPENDIX. 

19.  issued  out  of  their  mouths.  For  their  power  is  in  their  mouth,  and 
in  their  tails :  for  their  tnils  were  lilie  unto  serpents,  and  had 
heads,  and  with  them  they  do  hurt. 

"  In  the  prediction  of  Daniel,"  observes  Mr.  Faber, 
"Mohammedanism  alone  is  spoken  of:  its  two  prin- 
cipal supporters,  the  Saracens  and  the  Turks,  are  not 
discriminated  from  each  other :  a  general  history  of 
the  superstition  from  its  commencement  to  its  termi 
nation  is  given,  without  descending-  to  particularize 
the  nations  by  wiiich  it  should  be  successively  pa- 
tronised. In  the  Revelation  of  John,  this  deficiency 
is  £iupplied ;  and  we  are  furnished  with  two  distinct 
and  accurate  paintings,  both  of  the  Saracenic  locusts 
under  their  exterminating  leader,  and  of  the  Eu- 
phratean  horsemen  of  the  four  Turkish  Sultanies." 
These  two  departments  of  the  prophecy  we  shall 
now  endeavour  to  explain  in  their  minute  parti- 
culars. 

Ver.  1.     And   I  saw    a   star  Jail  (Gr.   "having 
fallen")  Jrom  heaven  unto  the  earth ;  and  to  him  was 
given  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  there  arose  a 
smoke  out  of  the  pit,  as  the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace : 
and  the  sun  and  the  air  were  darkened  by  reason  of 
the  smoke  of  the  pit. — Commentators  at  the  present 
day  are  almost  universally  agreed  in  regarding  the 
fifth  trumpet  as  symbolizing  and  predicting  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Arabian  impostor,  his  spurious  reli- 
gion, and  his  Saracen  followers      But,  as  it  is  by 
no   means    evident,  how  Mohammed   himself   can 
properly  be   represented   as    "a   star  falling  from 
heaven,"  the  usual  symbol  of  an  apostate  Christian 
teacher,  or  of  a  number  of  them,  we  apprehend  the 
design  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  this  imagery  to  be,  to 
teach  us,  that  Mohammedanism,  is  to  be  considered  as 
the  fruit  or  product  of  a  Christian  heresy.     The  star 
had  fallen  before  the  time  of  the  false  prophet,  in 
the  person  of  Arius,  and  other  gross  heretics ;  and 
as  the  consequence  of  their  apostacy  from  the  truth, 
he  providence  of  God  so  ordered  it,  that  the  deso- 


APPENDIX.  197 

lating  delusion  of  Mohammedanism  should  arise  and 
overspread  some  of  the  fairest,  portions  of  the  Church. 
This  view  of  the  arch-imposture  of  Islamism  hag 
been  taken  by  some  very  able  writers  of  modern 
times ;  particularly  by  Mr.  Whitaker  in  his  "  Origin 
of  Arianism."  The  grand  heresies,  therefore,  of  the 
Christian  Church,  previous  to  the  time  of  Moham- 
med, seem  to  be  here  personified  in  the  fallen  star, 
and  represented  as  being  instrumental  in  introducing 
this  master-plague  of  error  and  superstition  into  the 
world.  The  poetical  machinery  of  the  vision  is 
supposed  to  be  taken  from  the  sacred  oracular  caves 
of  the  ancient  Pagans,  which  were  often  thought  to 
communicate  with  the  sea,  or  the  great  abyss,  and 
which  were  specially  valued,  when  (like  that  at 
Delphi)  they  emitted  an  intoxicating  vapour :  it  is 
used,  therefore,  with  singular  propriety  in  foretelling 
the  rise  of  a  religious  imposture.  There  may  pos- 
sibly be  an  allusion  also  to  the  cave  of  Hera,  whither 
the  prophet  was  wont  to  retire  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
cogitating his  system,  and  from  which  it  really  ema- 
nated. The  opening  of  the  bottomless  pit,  tliere- 
fore,  and  the  letting  out  the  vapour  and  smoke  of  the 
infernal  regions,  aptly  represents  the  wicked  and 
diabolical  system  of  religion,  the  dense  and  noxious 
fumes  of  the  corrupt  theology  which  he  broached, 
and  by  means  of  which  so  large  a  portion  of  Chris- 
tendom was  finally  obscured  and  involved  in  dark- 
ness. The  preternatural  darkening  of  the  sun  fore- 
shows the  eclipse  of  the  true  religion ;  and  that  of 
the  air  prefigures  the  uncontrolled  dominion  of  the 
powers  of  darkness.  As  a  striking  coincidence  with 
the  signs  here  predicted,  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that  a 
remarkable  comet  immediately  preceded  the  birth 
of  Mohammed  ;  and  that  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  of  ex- 
traordinary degree  and  duration,  attended  the  first 
announcement  of  his  pretended  mission. 

Fer.  2.     And  there  came  out  of  the  pit  locusts  upon 
the  cari/i.— Arabia  has  long  been  noted  for  giving 
R  2 


198  APPENDIX. 

birth  to  prodigious  swarms  of  locusts,  which  often 
overspread  and  lay  waste  the  neighbouring  coun- 
tries ;  and  it  is  remarkable,  that  in  a  genuine  Arabian 
romance,  the  locust  is  introduced  as  the  national  em- 
blem of  the  Ishmaelites.  The  symbol,  therefore,  of 
the  locusts  issuing  out  of  the  smoke  strikingly  repre- 
sents the  armies  of  the  Saracens,  the  martial  fol- 
loAvers  of  the  prophet,  first  engendered,  as  it  were, 
amid  the  fumes  of  his  religion,  and  then  marching 
forth,  at  his  command,  to  conquer  and  to  proselyte 
the  world.  The  pages  of  history  must  be  consulted 
to  learn  the  devastations  of  those  hosts  of  destruc- 
tive Saracens,  which,  under  the  guidance  of  Moham- 
med and  his  successors,  alighted  upon  and  wasted 
the  apocalyptic  earth.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the 
phantasms  that  came  forth  from  the  pit  of  the  abyss 
bore  a  general  resemblance  to  locusts,  they  were 
marked  by  several  peculiarities,  by  whicli  they  were 
more  perfectly  adapted  to  typify  the  people  designed 
to  be  thus  shadowed  out.  These  we  shall  consider 
as  we  proceed. 

Ver.  4.  And  it  was  comwanded  them  that  they 
should  not  hurt  the  grass  of  the  earih,  neither  any  green 
thing,  neither  any  tree;  but  only  those  men  which  have 
not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads. — By  the  com- 
mand that  tliey  should  not  hurt  the  grass,  nor  the 
trees,  but  men  only,  it  is  evident  that  these  were  not 
natural,  but  symbolical  locusts ;  and  also  that  they 
were  under  providential  control.  The  same  thing 
appears  from  other  attributes  assigned  them,  which 
plainly  belong  to  the  objects  signified,  and  not  to  the 
sign;  as  the  human  face,  the  woman's  hair,  the 
golden  crowns,  the  iron  breastplates.  But  it  is  very 
common  in  the  symbolic  diction  of  prophecy,  to  find 
the  literal  and  the  allegorical  sense  intermixed,  and 
that  even  in  the  same  passage.  We  are  thus  fur- 
nished with  a  clew  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  sym- 
bols. By  the  precept  here  given,  the  emblematic 
locusts  were  required  to  act  in  a  manner  perfectly 


APPENDIX.  199 

dissimilar  to  the  ravages  of  natural  locusts :  and  yet 
how  faithfully  the  command  was  obeyed,  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  following  very  remarkable  injunction 
of  the  Caliph  Abubeker  to  Yezid,  upon  setting  out 
on  the  expedition  against  Syria,  ihejirst  undertaking 
of  the  Saracens  in  the  way  of  foreign  conquest.  It 
can  scarcely  be  doubted,  that  these  instructions  have 
been  preserved,  under  the  providence  of  God,  for  the 
express  pui-pose  of  furnishing  an  illustration  of  this 
prophetic  text.  "  Remember,"  said  Abubeker,  "  that 
you  are  always  in  the  presence  of  God,  on  the  verge 
of  death,  in  the  assurance  of  judgment,  and  the  hope 
of  paradise.  When  you  fight  the  battles  of  the 
Lord,  acquit  yourselves  like  men,  without  turning 
your  backs ;  but  let  not  your  victory  be  stained  with 
the  blood  of  women  or  children.  Destroy  no  pahn- 
irees,  nor  burn  any  fields  of  corn.  Cut  down  no 
fruit-trees ;  nor  do  any  mischief  to  cattle,  only  such  as 
you  kill  to  eat.  When  you  make  any  covenant,  stand 
to  it,  and  be  as  good  as  your  word.  As  you  go  on, 
you  will  find  some  religious  persons,  who  live  retired 
in  monasteries,  and  propose  to  themselves  to  serve 
God  that  way:  let  them  alone,  and  neither  kill  them, 
nor  destroy  their  monasteries.  And  you  will  find 
another  sort  of  people,  that  belong  to  the  synagogue 
of  Satan,  who  have  shaven  crowns:  be  sure  you 
cleave  their  skulls,  and  give  them  no  quarter  till  they 
either  turn  Mahometans,  or  pay  tribute."*  It  has 
accordingly  been  noticed,  that  those  parts  of  the 
Roman  empire  which  were  left  untouched  by  these 
Saracen  hordes,  were  those  in  which  it  appears  from 
history  the  remnant  of  tlie  true  church  of  God  was 
still  found  residing :  they  were  only  to  hurt  the  men 
who  had  not  the  mark  of  God  on  their  foreheads. 

Ver.  5.  And  to  them  it  was  given  that  they  should 
not  kill  them,  but  that  they  should  be  tormented  five 
months;  and  their  torment  was  as  the  torment  of  a 

*  Ockley's  History  of  the  Saracens,  vol.  i. 


200  APPENDIX. 

scorpion^  when  he  striketh  a  man. — Mr.  Gibbon's  un- 
designed commentary  on  these  words  will  show  how 
the  commission  was  fulfilled.  "  The  fair  option  of 
friendship  or  submission,  a  battle  was  proposed  to  the 
enemies  of  Mahomet.  If  they  professed  the  creed 
of  Islam,  they  were  admitted  to  all  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  benefits  of  his  primitive  disciples,  and 
marched  under  the  same  banners,  to  extend  the  re- 
ligion they  had  embraced.  The  clemency  of  the 
prophet  was  decided  by  his  interests  ;  yet  he  seldom 
trampled  on  a  prostrate  enemy,  and  he  seemed  to 
promise,  that  on  the  payment  of  a  tribute,  the  least 
guilty  of  his  unbelieving  subjects  might  be  indulged 
in  their  worship."' — Tlie  period  assigned  for  the 
power  of  the  locusts,  in  this  prediction,  is  "  five 
months."  Prophecy  has  its  peculiar  mode  of  com- 
puting time.  A  day  for  the  most  part  stands  for  a 
year.  Five  months,  therefore,  of  thirty  days  each, 
amount,  in  the  computation  of  prophecy,  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years.  As  five  literal  months  is  the 
utmost  term  of  the  duration  of  the  natural  plague  of 
the  locusts,  so  the  prophetic  five  months  accurately 
denote  the  period  of  the  main  conquests  of  the  Sa- 
racen empire,  computing  from  the  appearance  of 
Mohammed  to  tlie  foundation  of  Bagdad.  "  Read," 
says  Bishop  Newton,  "  the  history  of  the  Saracens, 
and  you  will  find,  that  their  greatest  exploits  were 
performed,  and  their  greatest  conquests  made,  within 
the  space  of  five  prophetic  montlis,  or  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years, — between  the  year  612,  when  Ma- 
homet opened  the  bottomless  pit,  and  began  publicly 
to  teach  and  propagate  his  imposture ;  and  the  year 
762,  when  Almansor  built  Bagdad,  and  called  it  the 
city  of  peace."  The  comparison  of  the  locusts'  tor- 
ments to  that  of  the  scorpion  will  be  considered  sub- 
sequently. 

Ver.  6.  And  in  those  days  shall  men  seek  death,  and 
shall  not  find  it;  and  shall  desire  to  die,  but  death  shall 
Jlee  from  them, — This  prediction  has  usually  been 


APPENDIX.  201 

considered  as  awfully  expressive  of  the  hopeless 
sufferings  and  despair  of  Eastern  Christendom,  under 
the  lawless  insults,  violences,  and  oppressions  sys- 
tematically practised  by  their  Saracen  masters.  We 
would  not  deny  that  this  may  have  been  alluded  to ; 
yet,  as  it  would  seem  that  men  desirous  of  escaping 
suffering  by  death,  might  easily,  in  a  thousand  way§ 
have  accomplished  their  object,  it  may  be  suggested, 
whether  the  Saracens  themselves  are  not  the  persons 
here  refen^ed  to,  as  coveting  death  in  battle,  from  a 
view  to  the  honour,  and  the  rewards  of  such  a  de- 
cease. The  following  passage  from  the  Koran,  is 
worthy  of  special  note  in  this  connexion.  "Morfi- 
over,  ye  did  sometimes  wish  for  death,  before  that  ye 
met  it."*  On  these  words  Sale  remarks,  in  a  note, 
"  that  several  of  Mohammed's  followers,  who  were 
not  present  at  Beder,  wished  for  an  opportunity  of 
obtaining,  in  another  action,  the  like  honour  as 
those  had  gained  who  fell  martyrs  in  that  event." 
The  import  of  the  language,  therefore,  may  be,  that 
God  should  give  to  the  Moslem  hosts  such  an  unin- 
terrupted tide  of  conquests,  they  should  so  uni- 
formly come  off  victorious  in  their  engRgements, 
and  that  with  such  inconsiderable  losses,  that  num- 
bers, in  the  height  of  their  enthusiasm,  should  pant 
in  vain  for  the  glorious  privilege  of  dying  in  the 
field  of  battle. 

Ver.  7.  And  the  shapes  of  the  locusts  were  like  unto 
horses  prepared  unto  battle. — "Arabia,"  says  Gibbon, 
"is,  in  the  opinion  of  naturalists,the  native  country 
of  the  horse."  The  horsemanship  of  tlie  Arabs  has 
ever  been  an  object  of  admiration.  "  The  martial 
youth,  under  the  banner  of  the  Emir,  is  ever  on 
horseback  and  in  the  field,  to  practise  the  exercise 
of  the  bow,  the  javelin,  and  the  scimitar."  In  cor- 
respondence, therefore,  with  the  hieroglyphic  of  the 
prophet,  the  strength  of  the  Saracens  consisted  very 

*  Koran,  ch.  iiL 


202  APPENDIX. 

much  in  their  numerous  cavalry,  and  the  unrivalled 
speed  of  the  Arabian  coursers  forms  the  most  strik- 
ing possible  emblem  of  the  rapid  career  of  the  Sa- 
racen armies. 

And  on  their  heads  were  as  it  were  crowns  like  gold, 
and  their  faces  were  as  the  faces  of  men.— ^'  Make  a 
point."  says  a  precept  of  Mohammed,  "  of  wearing 
turbans;  because  it  is  the  way  of  angels."  The  tur- 
ban, accordingly,  has  ever  been  the  distinctive  head- 
dress of  the  Arabs,  and  their  boast  has  been,  that 
they  wore,  as  their  common  attire,  those  ornaments, 
which  among  other  people  are  the  peculiar  badges 
of  rovalty.  The  notice  of  the  "faces  of  men" 
seems  to  be  intended  merely  to  afford  a  clew  to  the 
meaning  of  the  emblem ;  to  intimate,  that  not  na- 
tural locusts,  but  human  beings,  were  depicted  under 
this  symbol. 

Ver.  8.  And  they  had  hair,  as  the  hair  of  womerif 
and  their  teeth  were  as  the  teeth  of  lions. — The  Arabs, 
as  Pliny  testifies,  wore  their  beards,  or  rather  mus- 
tachios,  as  men,  while  their  hair,  like  that  of  women, 
was  flowing  or  plaited.  The  "  teeth  like  those  of 
lions,"  has  reference  to  the  weapons  and  imple- 
ments of  war ;  and  the  "  breastplates  of  iron"  to 
the  armour  made  use  of  by  the  Saracen  troops  in 
their  expeditions.  The  "sound  of  their  wings  as 
the  sound  of  chariots  of  many  horses  running  to 
battle,"  is  but  a  part  of  the  same  expressive  imagery 
denoting  warlike  scenes  and  preparations. 

Ver.  10.  And  they  had  tails  like  unto  scorpions : 
and  there  were  stings  in  their  tails.  The  interpreta- 
tion of  the  symbols  of  the  Apocalypse  must  be 
sought  for  in  the  Old  Testament.  From  the  follow- 
ing words  of  Isaiah  (ch.  ix.  14,  15)  it  appears  that 
the  tail  of  a  beast  denotes  tlie  false  doctrines  or  the 
superstition  which  he  maintains  :— "  Therefore  the 
Lord  will  cut  off  from  Israel  head  and  tail,  branch 
and  rush,  in  one  day.  The  ancient  and  honourable, 
he  is  the  head ;  and  the  prophet  that  teacheth  lieSf  he 


APPENDIX.  203 

is  the  iail"  The  emblem,  therefore,  strikingly  repre- 
sents the  infliction  of  spiritual  \vounds  by  the  propa- 
gation of  poisonous  and  deadly  errors  and  heresies. 
And  nothinj^  is  more  evident  from  the  page  of  his- 
tory than  that  the  Moslem  followers  of  Mohammed 
have  scattered,  like  scorpions,  the  venom  of  their 
doctrines  behind  them  ;  and  whether  conquering  or 
conquered,  have  succeeded  in  palming  a  new  creed 
upon  those  with  whom  they  have  had  to  do.  By 
this  symbol,  then,  we  are  plainly  taught,  that  the 
plague  of  the  allegorical  locusts  consisted  not  only 
in  the  ravages  of  w^ar,  but  in  the  successful  propaga- 
tion of  a  false  religion,  of  whicli  the  doctrines  should 
be  as  deleterious  in  a  spiritual  point  of  view,  as  the 
sting  of  a  scorpion  in  a  natural.  In  like  maimer, 
when  it  is  said  (ch.  xii.  3,  4)  of  the  "  great  red  dragon 
having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  that  his  tail  drew 
the  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  did  cast 
them  to  the  earth,"  the  explication  is,  that  the  Anti- 
christian  power  shadowed  out  by  this  formidable 
monster  should  be  permitted  to  instil  the  most  per- 
nicious errors  into  the  minds  of  the  professed  minis- 
ters of  the  truth,  and  thus  bring  about  their  entire 
defection  from  Christianity. 

Ver.  1 1.  And  they  had  a  king  over  them,  which  is 
the  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit,  whose  name  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue  is  Maddon,  but  in  the  Greek  tongue 
hath  his  name  ApoIIyon.— Both  these  terms  signify 
destroyer.  Since  the  locusts  are  at  once  secular 
conquerors  and  the  propagators  of  a  false  religion, 
their  king  must  stand  to  them  in  the  double  relation 
of  a  temporal  and  spiritual  head.  Such  accordingly 
w^ere  Mohanmied  and  the  Caliphs  his  successors,  who 
must  be  viewed  as  jointly  constituting  the  locust- 
king  Abaddon;  for  in  the  usual  language  of  pro- 
phecy, a  king  denotes,  not  any  single  mdividual,  but 
a  dynasty  or  kingdom.  The  chief  of  the  locusts, 
when  they  first  issued  from  the  pit  of  the  abyss,  w^as 
Mohammed  himself;  but  during  the  allotted  period 
of  the  wo  w^hich  they  occasioned,  the  reigning  de- 


204  APPENDIX. 

stroyer  was,  of  course,  the  reigning  Caliph.  If 
therefore,  we  were  to  suppose  the  genius  of  Moham- 
medanism  under  the  Caliphs  to  be  personified,  and 
this  symbolical  personage  to  be  designated  by  the 
most  appropriate  title,  Abaddon,  the  destroyer,  would 
be  the  appellation. 

As  the  portion  of  the  prophecy  thus  far  considered 
has  reference  to  the  origin  of  Mohammed's  impos- 
ture, and  to  the  rise,  progress,  and  conquests  of  the 
Saracens,  its  earliest  abettors  and  propagators,  so  the 
remaining  part  announces  the  commencement  and 
career  of  the  Turkish  power,  the  principal  of  its  later 
supporters. 

Ver.  13.  And  the  sixth  ayigel  sounded^  and  I  heard  a 
voice  from  the  four  horns  of  the  golden  altar,  which  is 
be/ore  God,  saying  to  the  sixth  angel  nvhich  had  the  trum' 
pet,  Loose  the  jour  angels  which  are  bound  in  (rather  a^, 
by,  in  the  vicinity  of)  the  great  river  Euphrates,  and 
the  four  angels  were  loosed. — It  is  impossible,  from  the 
tram  of  events,  and  from  the  quarter  of  the  world  in 
which  we  are  directed  to  look  for  the  irruption  of 
these  prodigious  multitudes  of  horsemen,  to  mistake 
to  whom  the  prophecy  refers.  The  four  angels  who 
are  described  as  bound  in  the  regions  bordering  on 
the  river  Euphrates,  not  in  the  river  itself,  are  the 
four  c«)ntemporary  sultanies  or  dynasties,  into  which 
the  empire  of  the  Seljukian  Turks  was  divided 
towards  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century :  Persia, 
Kerman,  Syria,  and  Rhoum.  These  sultanies,  from 
different  causes,  were  long  restrained  from  extend- 
ing their  conquests  beyond  what  may  be  geo- 
graphically termed  the  Euphratean  regions,  but  to- 
wards tlie  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  four 
angels  on  the  river  Euphrates  were  loosed  in  the 
persons  of  their  existing  representatives,  the  united 
Ottoman  and  Seljukian  Turks.  The  historian  of  the 
Decline  and  Fail  of  the  Roman  Empire  must  of  ne- 
cessity be  the  guide  to  any  p]ng] ish  commentator  on 
this  part  of  the  proplietic  history.  The  following  is 
his  testimony  as  to  the  immense  number  of  the 


APPENDIX.  205 

Turkish  cavalry.  "  As  the  subject  nations  marched 
under  the  standard  of  the  Turks,  their  cavalry,  both 
men  and  horses,  were  proudly  computed  by  nnilions.^^ 
"  On  this  occasion,  the  myriads  of  the  Turkish  horse 
overspread  a  frontier  of  six  hundred  miles,  from 
Taurus  to  Erzeroum." 

Ver.  17.  And  thus  I  saw  the  horses  in  the  vision,  and 
those  that  sat  on  them,  having  breastplates  of  fire  and  of 
jacinth,  and  brimstone. — These  prophetic  cliaracter- 
istics  of  the  Euphratean  warriors  accord  in  the  most 
perfect  manner  with  the  description  which  history 
gives  of  the  Turks.  They  brought  immense  armies 
into  the  field,  chiefly  composed  of  horse,  and  from 
their  first  appearance  on  the  great  political  stage  of  na- 
tions their  costume  has  been  peculiarly  distinguished 
by  the  colours  of  scarlet,  blue,  and  yellow,  which 
are  here  denoted  by  the  terms  "  fire,"  "jacinth,"  and 
"  brimstone."  Rycaut's  "  Present  State  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire,"  published  towards  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  will  satisfy  the  reader  on  this 
point. 

And  the  heads  of  the  horses  were  as  the  heads  oj 
lions,  and  out  of  their  mouths  issued  fire  and  smoke 
and  brimstone.  We  have  here  a  symbol  which  is 
not  elsewhere  to  be  met  with  in  the  Scriptures.  The 
prophetic  horses  are  represented  as  vomiting  out  of 
their  mouths  "  fire,  and  smoke,  and  brimstone,"  by 
which  it  is  added,  "  the  third  part  of  men  was  killed." 
Mede,  Newton,  Faber,  and  most  other  eminent  ex- 
positors of  the  Revelation,  agree  in  supposing  tliat 
the  flashes  of  fire  attended  by  smoke  and  brimstone, 
which  seemed  to  proceed  from  the  mouths  of  the 
horses,  were  in  reality  the  flashes  of  artillery.  The 
Turks  were  among  the  first  who  turned  to  account 
the  European  invention  of  gunpowder  in  carrying 
on  their  wars.  Cannon,  the  most  deadly  engine  of 
modern  warfare,  were  employed  by  Mohammed  II. 
in  his  wars  against  the  Greek  empire ;  and  it  is  said 
that  he  was  indebted  to  his  heavy  ordnance  for  the 
S 


206  APPENDIX. 

reduction  of  Constantinople.  The  prophet,  therefore, 
is  to  be  considered  as  depicting  the  visionary  scene  of 
a  field  of  battle,  in  which  the  cavalry  and  artillery 
are  so  mingled  together,  that  while  flashes  of  fire  and 
dense  clouds  of  smoke  issued  from  the  cannon,  the 
horses'  heads  alone  would  be  dimly  discerned  through 
the  sulphureous  mist,  and  would  seem  to  the  eye  of 
the  spectator  to  belch  forth  the  smoky  flames  from 
their  own  mouths.  As  the  design  of  this  striking 
imagery  is  to  describe  the  appearances  rather  than 
the  reality  of  things,  the  prophet  employs  an  expres- 
sion,* "  in  the  vision,"  or  rather  "  in  vision,"  i.  e.  ap- 
pai^enily,  as  it  seemed,  whicii  evidently  conveys  the 
idea  that  tlie  phantasm  of  a  battle  scene  M'as  pre- 
sented to  the  imagination.  We  may  now  see  how 
far  history  confirms  this  interpretation.  "  Among 
the  implements  of  destruction,"  says  Mr.  Gibbon, 
"  he  (Mohammed  II.)  studied  with  peculiar  care  the 
recent  and  tremendous  discovery  of  the  Latins ;  and 
his  artillery  surpassed  whatever  had  yet  appeared  in 
the  v/orld."  "  The  Ottoman  artillery  thundered  on 
all  sides,  and  the  camp  and  city,  the  Greeks  and 
Turks,  were  involved  in  a  cloiid  of  smoke  which 
could  only  be  dispelled  by  the  final  deliverance  or 
destruction  of  the  Roman  empire."  "  The  great  can- 
non of  Mohammed  has  been  separately  an  important 
and  visible  object  in  the  history  of  the  times.  But 
that  enormous  engine,  which  required,  it  is  said, 
seventy  yoke  of  oxen  and  two  thousand  men  to 
draw  it,  M^as  flanked  by  two  fellows  almost  of  equal 
magnitude  :  the  long  order  of  Turkish  artillery  was 
pointed  against  the  wall;  fourteen  batteries  thun- 
dered at  once  on  the  most  accessible  places  ;  and  of 
one  of  these  it  is  ambiguously  expressed,  that  it  was 
mounted  with  a  hundred  and  thirty  guns,  or  that  ii* 
discharged  a  hundred  and  thirty  bullets." 

Fer.  19.     For  their  power  is  in  their  mouthy  a?id  in 

*  'Ev  bpdaei. 


APPENDIX.  207 

their  tails :  for  their  tails  were  like  mito  serpents, 
and  had  heads,  and  with  them  they  do  hurt.— The 
emblematic  import  of  the  tail  of  "a  beast  we  have 
already  considered.  The  imagery  in  the  present 
symbol  is  slightly  different  from  that  of  the  Saracen 
locusts,  which  had  tlie  tails  of  scorpions  ;  but  the  im- 
port is  the  same.  Here  the  tails  of  the  horses  ter- 
minated in  a  serpent's  head ;  and  it  is  not  a  little  / 
remarkable,  that  the  Turks  have  been  in  the  habit, 
from  the  earliest  periods  of  their  history,  of  tying  a 
knot  in  the  extremity  of  the  long  flowing  tails ''of 
their  horses,  when  preparing  for  war;  so  "that  their 
resemblance  to  se^-pents  with  swelling  heads  must 
have  been  singularly  striking.  Striking  too  is  the 
fact,  that  so  slight  a  circumstance  should  have  been 
adverted  to  by  the  historian  so  often  quoted,  who 
thoug-ht  as  little  of  being  an  organ  to  illustrate  the 
predictions  of  Scripture,  as  the  Turks  themselves 
did  of  being  the  agents  to  fulfil  them.  Speaking  of 
Alp  Arslan,  the  first  Turkish  invader  of  the  Roman 
empire,  he  says,  "  With  his  own  hands  he  tied  up 
his  horse''s  tail,  and  declared  that  if  he  were  van- 
quished, that  spot  should  be  the  place  of  his  burial." 
The  scope  of  the  hieroglyphic  here  employed  is  to 
predict  the  propagation  of  a  deadly  imposti.re  by  the 
instrumentality  of  the  same  warlike  power  which 
should  achieve  such  prodigious  conquests.  The 
event  has  corresponded  with  the  prophecy.  Like 
the  Saracens  of  the  first  wo,  the  Turks  were  not 
merely  secular  conquerors.  They  were  animated 
with  all  the  wild  fanaticism  of  a  false  religion  ;  they 
professed  and  propagated  the  same  theological  sys- 
tem as  their  Arabian  predecessors;  they  injured  by 
their  doctrines  no  less  than  by  their  conquests  ;  and 
wherever  they  established  their  dominion,  the  Koran 
triumphed  over  the  Gospel.  Thus  writes  Mr.  Gib- 
bon :  "  The  whole  body  of  the  nation  embraced  the 
religion  of  Mohammed."  "  Twenty-five  years  after 
the  death  of  Basil,  his  successors  were  suddenly 


208  APPENDIX. 

assaulted  by  an  unknown  race  of  barbarians,  who 
united  the  Scythian  valour  with  the  fanaticism  of 
new  converts. ^^ 

Sufficient  proof  has  now  been  afforded,  if  we  mis- 
take not,  that  the  appearance  of  the  Arabian  pro- 
phet in  the  world,  and  the  rise,  progress,  and  results 
of  his  imposture,. are  clearly  foretold  in  the  Sacred 
volume.  Indeed,"  it  would  not  be  easy  to  specify 
any  admitted  subject  of  prophecy,  upon  which  his- 
tory and  Providence  have  thrown  a  stronger  or 
clearer  light,  than  that  which  we  have  considered  in 
the  preceding  pages.  Interpreters  have  been  justly 
struck  at  the  surprising  exactness  of  the  delinea- 
tions, and  their  perfect  accordance  with  the  details 
of  history.  "  The  prophetic  truths,"  says  Dr.  Zouch, 
"  comprised  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse  are, 
of  themselves,  sufficient  to  stamp  the  mark  of  divinity 
upon  that  book.  When  I  compare  them  with  the  page 
of  history,  I  am  filled  with  amazement.  The  Saracens, 
a  people  which  did  not  exist  in  the  time  of  John,  and 
the  Turks,  a  nation  then  utterly  unknown,  are  there 
described  in  language  the  most  appropriate  and  dis- 
tinct." If  then  the  considerations  commonly  ad- 
duced to  account  for  the  rise,  progress,  and  reign  of 
Mohammedanism  appear  to  be  inadequate,— if  the 
human  causes  usually  quoted  to  explain  the  asto- 
nishing success  of  JNIohammedan  imposture  still  seem 
to  us  to  leave  many  of  the  phenomena  inexplicable, 
and  the  greatest  revolution  in  the  world  connected 
with  the  history  of  the  Church  stands  forth  an  un- 
solved problem, — why  should  we  hesitate  to  ascribe 
it  directly  to  the  determinate  will  and  counsel  of  the 
Most  High,  and  thus  find  a  clew  to  all  the  myste- 
ries connected  with  it  1  Why  should  we  be  anxious 
to  escape  the  recognition  of  a  Divine  interference  in 
the  rise  of  this  arch-heresy]  If  we  have  been  cor- 
rect in  our  interpretation  of  the  preceding  predic- 
tions of  Daniel  and  John,  the  Mohammedan  delusion 
is  as  real  and  as  prominent  a  subject  of  prophecy  as 


APPENDIX.  209 

any  in  tlie  whole  compass  of  the  Bible.  Now,  to 
insist  upon  the  operation  of  merely  human  causes 
in  the  production  of  an  event  which  is  truly  a  sub- 
ject of  prophecy,  is  in  fact  to  take  the  government 
of  the  world  out  of  the  hands  of  God.  And  this 
principle  pushed  to  the  extreme  M'ill  inevitably  lower 
and  impugn  the  sure  word  of  prophecy;  for  it  makes 
God  the  predicter  of  events  over  which,  at  the  same 
time,  he  has  no  special  superintendence  or  control. 
Such  a  principle  cannot  stand  the  least  examination. 
When  Daniel  foretels  the  fortunes  of  the  four  great 
empires ;  or  when  Isaiah  speaks  of  Cyrus  by  name, 
as  one  who  should  accomplish  certain  great  pur- 
poses of  the  Infinite  Mind,  is  it  to  be  supposed,  that 
the  events  predicted  were  to  happen  exclusive  of 
Providential  agency?  As  easily  and  as  justly  then 
may  we  acknowledge  a  special  pre-ordainment  in 
the  case  of  Mohammed,  whose  still  more  formidable 
dominion  and  more  lasting  and  more  fatal  agency 
in  the  aifairs  of  men,  are  equally  the  theme  of  un- 
questionable predictions.  No  admission  of  this  na- 
ture militates  with  the  free  agency  of  man,  or  at  all 
affects  the  moral  character  of  his  actions.  The 
mere  fact  that  an  event  is  foreknown  or  foretold  by 
the  Deity,  neither  takes  away  nor  weakens  tlie  ac- 
countability of  the  agents  concerned.  Of  this,  the 
whole  Scripture  is  full  of  proofs.  But  the  reflecting 
reader  will  desire  no  farther  confirmation  of  so  plain 
a  position. 

S  2 


210  APPENDIX. 


[B] 

THE    CAABA. 

Caaba  is  the  name  given  to  a  veiy  ancient  temple, 
in  the  city  of  Mecca,  the  origin  of  which  is  lost  in 
the  darkness  of  remote  ages.  Centuries  before 
Mohammed  was  born,  and  while  the  Arabs  were  yet 
pagans,  this  building  was  held  to  possess  a  peculiar 
sanctity:  pilgrimages  were  made  to  it  from  distant 
regions ;  and  that  tribe  or  family  was  accounted  the 
most  honourable,  who  were  the  keepers  of  its  keys. 
It  is  an  oblong,  massive  structure,  built  of  large 
blocks  of  different  sized  stones,  joined  rudely  to- 
gether, and  is  about  eighteen  paces  in  length,  four- 
teen in  breadth,  and  from  thirty-five  to  forty  feet  in 
height.  It  has  but  one  door,  on  the  north  side,  seven 
feet  above  the  ground,  wholly  plated  with  silver, 
and  embellished  with  gilt  ornaments.  From  the 
door's  being  placed,  not  in  the  centre,  but  near  to  one 
corner  of  the  building,  it  appears  not  to  have  been 
originally  designed  for  a  sacred  use ;  but  at  what 
time,  or  for  what  reasons,  it  became  thus  appro- 
priated, it  is  not  possible  now  to  determine.  Near 
the  door,  in  the  angle  of  the  wall  of  the  north-east 
corner  of  the  Caaba,  about  seven  spans  from  the 
ground,  is  the  celebrated  "black  stone,"  so  de- 
voutly kissed  by  every  pilgrim  visiting  the  sacred 
city.  It  is  of  an  oval  shape,  about  seven  inches  in 
diameter,  composed  of  about  seven  small  stones,  of 
different  sizes  and  shapes,  well  joined  together  with 
cement,  -^ud  perfectly  smooth ;  appearing  as  if  the 
original  btone  had  been  broken  into  many  pieces  by 
a  violent  blow,  and  then  united  again,  Avhich  indeed 
is  reported  to  have  been  the  fact.  A  border  of  some 
kind  of  cement,  rising  a  little  above  the  surface  of 


APPENDIX.  211 

the  stone,  suiTOunds  it,  and  both  this  and  the  stone 
are  encircled  by  a  silver  band. 

According  to  the  fabulous  legends  of  the  Mussul- 
mans, the  "black  stone"  was  brought  down  from 
heaven  by  Gabriel,  at  the  creation  of  tlie  world; 
and  was  then  of  a  pure  white,  but  has  contracted  its 
present  sable  hue  from  the  guilt  of  tlie  sins  com- 
mitted by  the  sons  of  men.  If  a  conjecture,  how- 
ever, may  be  hazaided,  we  should  not  hesitate  to 
refer  its  origin  to  that  peculiar  trait  in  the  character 
of  the  Ishmaelites,  wliich  has  ever  led  them  to  imi- 
tate the  Israelites.  Scarcely  a  feature  in  the  reli- 
gious institutions,  usages,  or  traditions  of  the  Jews, 
but  has  its  spurious  countei-part  in  those  of  the  seed 
of  Hagar.  Jacob's  pillar  of  stone,  at  Bethel,  would 
of  course  become  celebrated  among  his  descendants. 
In  like  manner,  from  causes  now  unknown,  we  may 
imagine  this  stone  to  have  received  a  similar  sanctity 
among  the  Arabs.  This  is  rendered  more  probable 
from  the  circumstance,  that  one  of  the  names  given 
to  the  Caaba,  in  the  Arabic  language,  is  Beit-Allah, 
house  of  God;  a  word  of  the  same  import  and  simi- 
lar sound  with  Beth-el,  from  which  the  Greek  term 
Baitulia  was  frequently  applied  to  sacred  stones  or 
memorial-pillars,  like  that  of  Jacob. 

The  double  roof  of  the  Caaba  is  supported  within 
by  three  octangular  pillars  of  aloes-wood,  between 
which,  on  a  bar  of  iron,  hang  a  number  of  silver 
lamps.  The  four  sides  without  are  covered  with  a 
rich  black  silk  stuff  hanging  down  to  the  ground, 
and  encircled  near  the  top  with  an  embroidered  band 
of  gold,  which  compasses  the  whole  building.  This 
covering,  wdiich  is  renewed  ever>-  year,  was  for- 
merly supplied  by  the  Caliphs,  afterward  by  the 
Sultans  of  Egypt ;  but  is  now  sent  irom  Cairo,  at  the 
expense  of  the  Grand  Seignior,  at  the  tune  of  the 
Hadj,  when  the  old  one  is  cut  into  small  pieces  and 
sold  to  the  pilgrims  for  nearly  as  much  money  as 
the  new  one  costs.    This  curtain  or  veil,  called 


212  APPENDIX, 

Kesoua,  is  blazoned  all  over  with  the  words,  "  There 
is  no  God,  but  God,"  &c.  in  g-old  letters  of  great 
size ;  and  such  a  sacredness  attaches  to  it,  that  the 
camel  which  transports  it  to  Mecca  is  ever  after  ex- 
empted from  labour.  This  circumstance  of  the 
Caaba  being  covered  in  the  manner  described  sug- 
gests the  probability,  that  the  structure  v/as  intended 
as  a  rude  imitation  of  the  Jewish  Tabernacle,  which 
was  also  enveloped  in  embroidered  curtains  without, 
while  within  was  a  golden  candlestick,  with  seven 
branches,  kept  constantly  burning. 

The  Caaba,  at  a  slight  distance,  is  surrounded 
with  a  circular  enclosure  of  thirty-two  slender  gilt 
pillars,  between  every  two  of  which  are  suspended 
seven  lamps,  upon  small  bars  of  silver  connecting 
the  pillars  towards  the  top.  These  lamps  are  always 
lighted  after  sunset.  This  sacred  paling  reminds 
us  again  of  the  Tabernacle ;  the  court  of  which, 
though  of  an  oblong  instead  of  a  circular  form,  was 
constructed  of  pillars,  and  hung  with  curtains,  with 
only  a  single  place  of  entrance.  Within  this  en- 
closure of  the  Caaba,  and  almost  contiguous  to  its 
base,  lies  the  "  white  stone,"  said  to  be  the  sepul- 
chre of  Ishmael,  which  receives  the  rain-water  fall- 
ing off  the  flat  roof  of  the  edifice  through  a  spout, 
formerly  of  wood,  but  now  of  gold.  According  to 
the  account  of  Burckhardt,  the  effect  of  the  whole 
scene,  the  mysterious  drapery,  the  profusion  of  gold 
and  silver,  the  blaze  of  lamps,  and  the  kneeling  mul- 
titudes, surpasses  any  thing  the  imagination  could 
have  pictured. 

At  a  small  distance  from  the  Caaba,  on  the  east 
Bide,  is  the  station  or  place  of  Abraham,  whom  the 
Arabs  affirm  to  have  been  the  builder  of  the  temple, 
where  there  is  another  stone  much  respected  by  the 
Moslems,  as  they  pretend  that  the  patriarch  stood 
upon  it  while  employed  about  the  building,  and  pro- 
fess to  show  the  prints  of  his  footsteps  to  this  day. 
Just  without  the  circular  court,  on  its  south,  north, 


APPENDIX.  213 

and  west  sides,  are  three  buildings  desifrned  as  ora- 
tories, or  places  of  prayer,  where  the  pilnrim  wor- 
shippers perform  their  devotions.  Bcsidejs  these 
there  are  several  small  buildings  near  to  the  main 
structure,  in  one  of  which  is  the  famous  well  of 
Zemzem,  said  by  the  Mussulmans  to  be  the  very 
spring  which  tlie  angel  discovered  to  Hagar  in  the 
wilderness,  and  \vhose  waters  of  course  possess  the 
most  miraculous  virtues.  They  cure  all  diseases, 
both  of  body  and  spirit,  and  supply  the  whole  town 
for  drinking  and  oblation.  It  is  said  to  be  the  only 
sweet  water  in  the  whole  valley ;  but  Pitts,  an  Eng- 
lish traveller,  found  it  brackish,  and  says,  the  pil- 
grims drink  it  so  inordinately,  that  "  they  are  not 
only  much  purged,  but  their  flesh  breaks  out  all  in 
pimples ;  and  this  they  called  the  purging  of  their 
spiritual  corruption."  They  not  only  drink,  but 
have  buckets  of  water  poured  over  them,  and  then 
think  their  sins  are  washed  into  the  well.  One  of 
the  miracles  of  Mecca  is,  that  the  water  of  this  well 
never  diminishes ;  but  this  is  not  surprising  to  the 
true  believers,  who  regard  it  as  having  been  miracu- 
lously created  to  save  the  infant  Ishmael  when  dying 
of  thirst  in  the  wilderness.  Burckhardt,  however, 
explains  it  without  a  miracle,  by  supposing  that  the 
water  flows  through  the  bottom,  being  supplied  by  a 
subterraneous  rivulet.  The  water,  he  says,  is  per- 
fectly sweet,  but  heavy  to  the  taste,  slightly  tepid, 
and  sometimes  in  its  colour  lesembles  milk.  The 
pilgrims  frequently  destroy  the  ropes,  buckets,  and 
other  appendages  of  the  well  in  then-  eagerness  to 
quaff  its  holy  water. 

Surrounding  all  the  objects  now  described,  which 
occupy  the  centre  of  an  open  space,  is  the  square 
colonnade  or  grand  piazza,  consisting  of  a  quadruple 
row  of  columns  on  one  side,  and  a  triple  row  on 
the  other  three  sides,  united  by  pointed  or  Gothic 
arches,  every  four  of  which  support  a  dome,  pkis- 
tered  white— the  number  of  these  domes  amounting 


214  APPENDIX. 

to  one  hundred  and  fifty-two,  and  the  pillars  to  four 
hundred  and  forty-eight.  From  the  arches  of  these 
colonnades  are  suspended  lamps,  some  of  which  are 
lighted  every  night,  and  the  whole  of  them  during 
the  nights  of  the  Ramadan.  The  columns  are  up- 
wards of  twenty  feet  high,  and  somewhat  more  than 
a  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter;  some  are  of  a  reddish- 
gray  granite,  some  of  red  porphyry,  and  others  of 
white  marble.  No  two  capitals  or  bases  are  exactly 
alike  ;  in  some  cases,  by  the  ignorance  of  the  work- 
men, the  former  have  been  placed  upside  down  on 
the  shafts.  The  arches  and  some  parts  of  the  walls 
are  gaudily  painted  in  stripes  of  yellow,  red,  and 
blue,  which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  are  colours 
peculiar  to  Mohammedanism.  At  each  of  the  four 
corners  of  this  immense  quadrangular  court,  tower- 
ing above  the  pillared  domes,  rises  a  lofty  minaret, 
surmounted  with  a  gilded  crescent,  the  invariable 
accompaniment  of  the  Moslem  temple. 

"The  high  antiquity  of  the  Cajiba,"  says  Mr. 
Forster,*  "  is  undisputed.  The  permanent  character 
of  its  rites  is  certified  by  our  knowledge  of  the  ad- 
herence of  the  Arabs,  in  every  age,  to  their  ancient 
customs.  But,  from  the  uniform  consent  of  Maho- 
metan writers,  it  farther  appears  that  the  statues  of 
Abraham  and  Ishmael,  which  from  remote  antiquity 
nad  held  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  Caaba,  and  con- 
stituted the  principal  object  of  its  idol  worship,  re- 
mained to  the  time  of  Mahomet,  and  were  there 
found  by  the  Mussulmans  after  the  capture  of  Mecca, 
Mahomet,  Abulfeda  tells  us,  when  he  took  Mecca 
in  the  eighth  year  of  the  Hejirc,  found  and  destroyed 
in  the  Caaba,  on  his  entering  the  temple,  the  image 
of  Abraham  holding  in  his  hand  seven  arrows  with- 
out heads  or  feathers,  such  as  the  Arabs  use  in  divi- 
nation, and  surrounded  with  a  great  number  of 
angels    and    prophets,  as  inferior  deities,  among 

*  Maliometanism  Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  404. 


APPENDIX. 


215 


whom,  as  Al  Jaiiabi  and  other  writers  add,  was  Ish- 
mael  with  divining  arrows  also  in  his  hand. 

"  Various  external  signs,  betokemngits  patriarchal 
orio-in,    may  be    traced    in    the    Ante- Mahometan 
worship  of  the  Caaba.     Among  these  one  custom  is 
sufficiently  remarkable  to  claim  distmct  notice  in 
this  place,  inasmuch  as  it  has  been  alluded  to  and 
censured  in  the  Koran.*     The  pagan  Arabs  were 
used  to  compass  the  Caaba  naked,  because  clothes, 
they  said,  were  the  signs  of  their  disobedience  to 
God.     The  celebrated  black  stone  of  the  Caaba  also, 
the  primitive  source  and  object  of  Arabian  idolatry, 
stron-lV  indicates  the  origin  to  which  it  has  been 
miiforiJly  referred.     The  Arabs  attribute  its  intro- 
duction  into  the  temple  of  Mecca  to  the  immediate 
pos  erity  of  Ishmael.     The  pecuUar  kind  of  supersti- 
to  is  iust  what  might  be  expected  to  arise  from  the 
abuse  of  an  early  patriarchal  custom-that  of  set  ing 
UD  stones  on  par  icular  spots  in  honom  of  the  rue 
G^od      While  the  connexion  is  farther  made  out  by 
rtie  exact  correspondence  in  this  particular  between 
the  idolatry  of  the  ancient  Israelites  and  that  of  the 
i^ite-Maiometan    Arabians,    their    identity   might 
bf largely  ?^^^        from  the  Old  Testament;  but  a 
De  iargtiy  M  T^voohecv  of  Isaiah  will  suffice. 

offered  a  meat  offering. 


I.  connexion  with  the  P--^;^S,-'=,Sc°!  Z 
Caaba,  the  place  of  'f  'Moslem  s  ^„i. 

'^i  s5h''o/S|n,r,et  ^tca.  fro^n.  the 


*  Koran,  ch.  vii. 


216  APPENDIX. 

Review  (in  tlie  London  Quarterly)  of  Burckhardt's 
Travels  in  Arabia. 

"At  a  certain  distance  from  the  Holy  City,  all  pil- 
grims are  required  to  strip  themselves  naked,  throw 
away  their  garments,  and  put  on  the  ihram,  or  ehram, 
two  pieces  of  linen  or  cotton  cloth,  generally  Avhite, 
one  of  them  wrapped  round  the  loins,  the  other 
thrown  loosely  over  the  neck  and  shoulders,  while 
the  head  remains  wholly  uncovered.  Burckhardt 
at  once  complied  with  this  custom,  which  has  occa- 
sioned the  death  of  many;  for  when  the  pilgrimage 
happens  in  winter,  the  assumption  of  the  ihram  is 
extremely  prejudicial  to  the  most  robust  constitu- 
tion,— more  especially  to  that  of  the  northern  Mus- 
sulmans, who  have  been  accustomed  to  thick  woollen 
clothes;  'yet,'  says  Burckhardt,  'the  religious 
zeal  of  some  who  visit  the  Hedjaz  is  so  ardent,  that 
if  they  arrive  even  several  months  previous  to  the 
Hadj,  they  vow,  on  taking  the  ihram,  not  to  throw  it 
off  till  after  the  completion  of  their  pilgrimage  to 
Arafat.'  It  is  said.,  that  Haroun  Al  Raschid  and  his 
wife  Zobeyda  once  performed  the  pilgrimage  on 
foot  from  Bagdad  to  Mekka,  clothed  only  with  the 
ihram;  but  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  walking  on 
splendid  carpets  the  whole  way. 

"  The  ancient  Arabs,  who  reckoned  time  by  lunar 
months,  and  intercalated  a  month  every  three*  years^ 
had  the  pilgrimage  fixed  to  a  certain  season,  for  the 
Hadj  is  not  a  Mussulman  invention ;  but  when  Ma- 
homet ordained  that  the  same  pilgrimage  should  be 
continued,  in  honour  of  the  living  God,  which,  for 
ages  before  him,  had  been,  in  forgetfulness  of  the 
original  patriarchal  faith  of  the  race,  performed  in 
honoui  of  senseless  idols,  he  prescribed  the  cere- 
mony to  a  particular  lunar  month;  and  as  the 
modem  Arabs  do  not  intercalate,  its  periodical  re- 
turns became  irregular,  and  in  thirty-three  years 
liihjfted  through  all  the  months  of  the  year,  from  tlie 
iieight  of  summer  to  the  depth  of  winter. 


APPENDIX.  217 

"  On  entering  Mekka,  the  temple  or  mosque  must 
be  immediately  visited,  whether  the  strantrer  be  pil- 
grim or  not.  The  prescribed  ceremonies' arc,  first, 
to  repeat  certain  prayers,  in  different  parts  of  the 
temple ;  then  to  begin  the  toxsaaf,  or  walk  round  the 
Kaaba  seven  times,  kissing  the  black  stone  at  each 
circuit;  then  to  proceed  to  the  well  of  Zemzem, 
and  drink  as  much  water  as  they  wish  or  can  get. 
The  second  ceremony  which  the  pilgrim  has  to  per- 
form is,  to  proceed  to  the  hill  of  Szafa,  and  there  re- 
peat certain  prescribed  prayers  before  he  sets  out 
on  the  holy  walk,  or  say,  which  is  along  a  level  spot, 
about  six  hundred  paces  in  length,  terminating  at  a 
stone  platform,  called  Meroua.  This  walk,  whicli 
in  certain  places  must  be  a  run,  is  to  be  repeated 
seven  times,  the  pilgrims  reciting  prayers  uninter- 
ruptedly, with  a  loud  voice  the  whole  time.  The 
third  ceremony  is  that  of  shaving  the  head  and  walk- 
ing to  the  Omra,  about  one  hour  and  a  half  from 
Mekka,  chanting  pious  ejaculations  all  the  way. 
The  two  former  ceremonies  must,  after  this,  be 
again  repeated.  The  walk  round  tlie  Kaaba  seven 
times,  may  be  repeated  as  oft  as  the  pilgrim  thinks 
fit,  and  the  more  frequently  the  more  meritorious. 

"About  seventy  thousand  persons  assembled  at 
Mekka,  when  Burckhardt  made  his  pilgrimage,  and 
submitted  to  the  performance  of  these  ceremonies. 
This  is  the  least  number  which  the  Mussulmans  told 
Ali  Bey  there  must  necessarily  be  assembled  at  every 
pilgrimage,  on  Mount  Arafat;  and  that  in  case  any 
deficiency  should  occur,  angels  are  sent  down  from 
heaven  to  complete  the  number.  Pitts  says  pre- 
cisely the  same  thing.  When  Ali  Bey  went  through 
this  part  of  the  ceremony,  he  tells  us,  an  assemblage 
of  eighty  thousand  men,  two  thousand  women,  and 
one  thousand  little  children,  with  sixty  or  seventy 
thousand  camels,  asses,  and  horses,  marched  through 
the  narrow  valley  leading  from  Arafat,  in  a  cloud  of 
dust,  carrying  a  forest  of  lances,  guns,  swivels,  &c. 
T 


218  APPENDIX. 

and  yet  no  accident  occurred  that  he  knew  of,  ex- 
cept to  himself, — he  received,  it  seems,  a  couple  of 
Avounds  in  his  leg.  One  would  have  thought  that 
Burckhardt's  seventy  thousand  was  a  prodigious 
number ;  yet  he  tells  us,  that  two  only  of  the  five  or 
six  regular  caravans  made  their  appearance  this 
year, — the  Syrian  and  the  Egyptian.  About  four 
thousand  pilgrims  from  Turkey  came  by  sea ;  and 
perhaps  half  as  many  from  other  distant  quarters  of 
the  Mahommedan  world.  The  Syrian  was  always 
considered  the  most  numerous.  It  is  stated,  that 
when  the  mother  of  Motessem  b'lUah,  the  last  of  the 
Abbassides,  performed  the  pilgrimage  in  the  year  of 
the  Hejira  631,  her  caravan  was  composed  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  camels — that  in  1814 
consisted  of  not  more  than  four  or  five  thousand  per- 
sons, and  fifteen  thousand  camels.  Barthema  states 
the  Cairo  caravan,  when  he  was  at  RIekka,  to  have 
amounted  to  sixty-four  thousand  camels; — in  1814 
the  same  caravan  consisted  mostly  of  Mahomet  All's 
troops,  with  very  few  pilgrims.  But  Burckhardt  says., 
that  in  1816,  a  single  grandee  of  Cairo  joined  the 
Hadj  with  one  hundred  and  ten  camels,  for  the  trans- 
port of  his  baggage  and  retinue,  whose  travelling 
expenses  alone,  he  supposes,  could  not  have  been 
less  than  ten  thousand  pounds.  The  tents  and  equip- 
age of  the  public  women  and  dancing  girls  were 
among  the  most  splendid  in  this  caravan.  The 
Moggrebyn  (i.  e.  Western,  or  Barbary)  caravan,  com- 
prised, of  late  years,  altogether  from  six  to  eight  thou- 
sand  men  (it  has  been  forty  thousand) ;  in  the  year 
1814  very  few  joined  it.  The  Eastern  caravan  of 
this  year  consisted  chiefly  of  a  large  party  of  Ma- 
lays from  Java,  Sumatra,  and  the  Malabar  coast.  A 
solitary  Afghan  pilgrim,  an  old  man  of  extraordinary 
strength,  had  walked  all  the  way  from  Caubul  to 
Mekka,  and  intended  to  return  in  the  same  manner. 
Vast  numbers  of  Bedouins  flock  to  Mekka  at  the 
time  of  the  pilgrimage ;  and  others  from  every  part 


APPENDIX.  219 

of  Arabia.  Many  of  these  pilgrims  depend  entirely 
for  subsistence,  both  on  the  journey  and  at  Mekka, 
on  begging:;  others  bring  some  small  productions 
from  their  respective  countries  for  sale. 

"  The  Moggrebjais,  for  example,  bring  their  red 
bonnets  and  woollen  cloaks;  the  European  Turks, 
shoes  and  slippers,  hardware,  embroidered  stuffs, 
sweetmeats,  amber,  trinkets  of  European  manufac- 
ture, knit  silk  purses,  &c. ;  the  Turks  of  Anatolia 
bring  carpets,  silks,  and  Angora  shawls;  the  Per- 
sians, Cashmere  shawls  and  large  silk  handkerchiefs; 
the  Afghans,  tooth-brushes,  made  of  the  spongy 
boughs  of  a  tree  grooving  in  Bokhara,  beads  of  a  yel- 
low soapstone,  and  plain  coarse  shaAvls,  manufac- 
tured in  their  own  country;  the  Indians,  the  nu- 
merous productions  of  their  rich  and  extensive  re- 
gion ;  the  people  of  Yemen,  snakes  for  the  Persian 
pipes,  sandals,  and  various  other  works  in  leather ; 
and  the  Africans  bring  various  articles  adapted  to 
the  slave  trade. 

"When  all  the  required  ceremonies  have  been  gone 
through  at  Mekka,  the  whole  concourse  of  pilgiims 
repair  together  on  a  certain  day  to  Mount  Arafat, 
some  on  camels,  some  on  mules,  or  asses,  and  the 
greater  number  barefooted,  this  being  the  most  me- 
ritorious way  of  performing  a  journey  of  eighteen  or 
twenty  miles.  'We  were  several  hours,'  says 
Burckhardt,  'before  we  could  reach  the  outskirts 
of  the  town,  so  great  was  the  crowd  of  camels.  Of 
the  half-naked  Hadjis,  all  dressed  in  the  white 
ihram — some  sat  on  their  camels,  mules,  or  asses, 
reading  the  Koran, — some  ejaculated  loud  prayers, 
while  others  cursed  their  drivers,  and  quarrelled  with 
those  near  them,  who  were  choking  up  the  pas- 
sages.' Having  cleared  a  narrow  pass  in  the  moun- 
tains, the  plain  of  Arafat  opened  out.  Here  the  dif- 
ferent caravans  began  to  disperse  in  search  of  places 
to  pitch  their  tents.  Hadjis  were  seen  in  every  di- 
rection wandering  among  the  tents  in  search  of  their 


220  APPENDIX. 

companions,  whom  they  had  lost  in  the  confusion 
along-  the  road;  and  it  was  several  hours  before  the 
noise  and  clamour  had  subsided. 

"  In  the  morning-,  Burckhardt  ascended  the  summit 
of  Mount  Arafat,  from  ^dience  he  counted  about 
three  thousand  tents,  dispersed  over  the  plain,  of 
which  two-thirds  belonged  to  the  two  Hadj  cara- 
vans, and  to  the  suite  and  soldiers  of  Mohammed 
Ali ;  but  the  g-reatest  number  of  the  assembled  mul- 
titudes '  were,'  says  our  traveller,  '  like  myself, 
without  tents.'  Those  of  the  wife  of  Mohammed 
Aii,  the  mother  of  Tousoun  and  Ibrahim  Pasha, 
were  mag-nificent, — the  transport  of  her  bag-g-age 
alone,  from  Djidda  to  Mekka,  having  required  five 
hundred  camels. 

"  '  Her  tent  was  in  fact  an  encampment,  consisting 
of  a  dozen  tents  of  different  sizes,  inhabited  by  her 
w^omen ;  the  whole  enclosed  by  a  wall  of  linen  cloth, 
eig-ht  hundred  paces  in  circuit,  the  singrle  entrance 
of  which  was  guarded  by  eunuchs  in  splendid 
di'esses.  Around  this  enclosure  M-ere  pitched  the 
tents  of  the  men  who  fomied  her  numerous  suite. 
The  beautiful  embroideiy  on  the  exterior  of  this 
linen  palace,  with  the  various  colours  displayed  in 
every  part  of  it,  constituted  an  object  Avhich  re- 
minded me  of  some  descriptions  in  the  Arabian  Tales 
of  a  Thousand  and  One  Nights.' 

"Mr.  Burckhardt  says,  he  estimated  the  number  of 
persons  assembled  on  the  plain  at  seventy  thousand ; 
but  whether  any,  or  how  many  of  them,  were  sup- 
plied by  '  angels,'  he  does  not  say :  it  is,  however, 
deserving  of  remark,  that  he  is  the  third  traveller 
who  mentions  the  same  number.  This  enormous 
mass,  after  washing  and  purifying  the  body  accord- 
ing to  law,  or  going  through  the  motions  where 
water  was  not  to  be  had,  now  pressed  forwards 
towards  the  mountain  of  Arafat,  and  covered  its 
sides  from  top  to  bottom.  At  the  appointed  hour, 
the  Cadi  of  Mekka  took  his  stand  on  a  stone  plat- 


APPENDIX.  221 

form  on  the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  beg^an  his 
sermon,  to  which  the  muhitude  appeared  to  listen  in 
solemn  and  respectful  silence.  At  every  pause, 
however,  the  assembled  multitudes  waved  the  skirts 
of  their  ihrams  over  their  heads  and  rent  the  air 
with  shouts  of  '  Lebeyk,  allahuma  lebeyk !'— « Here 
we  are,  at  thy  commands,  0  God !'  '  During  the 
wavings  of  the  ihrams,''  says  Burckhardt, '  the  side 
of  the  mountain,  thickly  crowded  as  it  was  by  the 
people  in  their  white  garments,  had  the  appearance 
of  a  cataract  of  water ;  wnne  the  green  umbrellas, 
with  which  several  thousand  hadjis,  sitting  on  their 
camels  below,  Avere  provided,  bore  some  resemblance 
to  a  verdant  plain.'  The  assemblage  of  such  a 
multitude, — to  every  outward  appearance  humbling 
themselves  in  prayer  and  adoration  before  God, — 
must  be  an  imposing  and  impressive  spectacle  to  him 
who  first  observes  it,  whether  Mahommedan,  Chris- 
tian, Jew,  or  Pagan.  'It  was  a  sight,  indeed,' 
says  Pitts, '  able  to  pierce  one's  heart,  to  behold  so 
many  in  their  garments  of  humility  and  mortifica- 
tion, with  their  naked  heads  and  cheeks  watered  with 
tears,  and  to  hear  their  grievous  sighs  and  sobs,  beg- 
ging earnestly  for  the  remission  of  their  sins.' 
Burckhardt  mentions  the  first  arrival  of  a  black 
Darfoor  pilgrim  at  the  temple,  at  the  time  when  it 
was  illuminated;  and  from  eight  to  ten  thousand 
persons  in  the  act  of  adoration,  who  was  so  over- 
awed, that,  after  remaining  prostrate  for  some  time, 
*  he  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears ;  and  in  the  height  of 
his  emotion,  instead  of  reciting  the  usual  prayers 
of  the  visiter,  only  exclaimed—"  O  God !  now  take 
my  soul,  for  this  is  paradise  !" ' 

"  As  the  sun  descended  behind  the  western  moun- 
tains, the  Cadi  shut  his  book :  instantly  the  crowds 
rushed  down  the  mountains :  the  tents  were  struck, 
and  the  whole  mass  of  pilgrims  moved  forward 
across  the  plain  on  their  return.  Thousands  of 
torches  were  now  lighted ;  volleys  of  artillery  and 
T2 


222  APPENDIX. 

of  musketry  were  fired:  sky-rockets  innumerable 
were  let  off;  the  Pasha's  band  of  music  were  played 
till  they  arrived  at  a  place  called  Mezdelfe,  when 
eveiy  one  lay  down  on  the  bare  ground  where  he 
could  find  a  spot.  Here  another  sermon  was 
preached,  commencing  with  the  first  dawn,  and  con- 
tinuing till  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  appear,  Avhen  the 
multitude  again  move  forward,  with  a  slow  pace,  to 
Wady  Muna,  about  three  miles  off.  This  is  the 
scene  for  the  ceremony  of  '  throwing  stones  at  the 
Devil;'  every  pilgrim  must  throw  seven  little  stones 
at  three  several  spots  in  the  valley  of  Muna,  or 
twenty-one  in  the  whole ;  and  at  each  throw  repeat 
the  words,  '  In  the  name  of  God  ;  God  is  great ;  we 
do  this  to  secure  ourselves  from  the  Devil  and  his 
troops.'  Joseph  Pitts  says,  '  as  I  was  going  to 
throw  the  stones,  a  facetious  hadji  met  me ;  saith 
he,  "  You  may  save  your  labour  at  present,  if  you 
please,  for  I  have  hit  out  the  Devil's  eyes  already." ' 
The  pilgrims  are  here  shown  a  rock  with  a  deep  split 
in  the  middle,  which  was  made  by  the  angel  turning 
aside  the  knife  of  Abraham,  when  he  was  about  to 
sacrifice  his  son  Isaac.  Pitts,  on  being  told  this, 
observes, '  it  must  have  been  a  good  stroke  indeed.' 
The  pilgrims  are  taught  also  to  believe,  that  the  cus- 
tom of  *■  stoning  the  Devil'  is  to  commemorate  the 
endeavour  of  his  satanic  majesty  to  dissuade  Isaac 
from  following  his  father,  and  whispering  in  his  ear 
that  he  was  going  to  slay  him. 

"  This  '  stoning'  in  the  vallej^  of  Muna  occupies  a 
day  or  two,  after  which  comes  the  grand  sacrifice 
of  animals,  some  brought  by  the  several  hadjis, 
others  purchased  from  the  Bedouins  for  the  occasion ; 
the  throats  of  which  must  always  be  cut  with  their 
faces  towards  the  Kaaba.  At  the  pilgrimage  in 
question,  the  number  of  sheep  thus  slaughtered  *  in 
the  name  of  the  most  merciful  God,'  is  represented 
as  small,  amounting  only  to  between  six  and  eight 
thousand.     The  historian  Kotobeddyn,  quoted  by 


APPENDIX.  223 

Burckhardt,  relates,  that  when  the  Caliph  Moktedn 
performed  the  pilgrimage,  in  the  year  of  the  Hejira 
350,  he  sacrificed  on  this  occasion  forty  thousand 
camels  and  cows,  and  fifty  thousand  sheep.  Bar- 
thema  talks  of  thirty  thousand  oxen  being  slain,  and 
their  carcasses  given  to  the  poor,  who  appeared  to 
him  '  more  anxious  to  have  their  bellies  filled  than 
their  sins  remitted.'  One  is  at  a  loss  to  imagine 
where,  in  such  a  miserable  country,  all  these  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  of  camels,  cows,  and 
sheep  can  possibly  be  subsisted;  the  numbers  may 
be  exaggerated,  but  there  is  no  question  of  their 
being  very  great.  The  feast  bemg  ended,  all  the 
pilgrims  had  their  heads  shaved,  threw  off  the  ihrami 
and  resumed  their  ordinary  clothing ;  a  larger  fair 
was  now  held,  the  valley  blazed  all  night  with  illu- 
minations, bonfires,  the  discharge  of  artillery,  and 
fireworks ;  and  the  hadjis  then  returned  to  Mekka. 
Many  of  the  poorer  pilgrims,  however,  remained  to 
feast  on  the  offals  of  the  slaughtered  sheep.  At 
Mecca  the  ceremonies  of  the  Kaaba  and  the  Drura 
were  again  to  be  repeated,  and  then  the  liadj  was 
truly  perfumed.  Burckhardt  makes  no  mention  of 
any  females  becoming  hadjis  by  a  visit  to  Arafat, 
though  Ali  Bey  talks  of  two  thousand.  There  is  no 
absolute  prohibition;  but  from  what  follows,  no  great 
encouragement  for  the  fair  sex  to  go  through  the 
ceremonies. 

" '  The  Mohammedan  law  prescribes,  that  no  un- 
married woman  shall  perform  the  pilgrimage ;  and 
that  even  every  married  woman  must  be  accompa- 
nied by  her  husband,  or  at  least  by  a  very  near  re- 
lation (the  Shaffay  sect  does  not  even  allow  the 
latter).  Female  hadjis  sometimes  arrive  from 
Turkey  for  the  hadj ;  rich  old  widows  who  wish  to 
see  Mekka  before  tliey  die  ;  or  women  who  set  oirt 
with  their  husbands,  and  lose  them  on  the  ro^d  by 
disease.  In  such  cases  the  female  finds  at  Djidda 
delyls  (or,  as  this  class  is  called,  Muliallil)  ready  to 


224  APPENDIX. 

facilitate  their  progress  through  the  sacred  territory 
in  the  character  of  husbands.  The  marriage  con- 
tract is  written  out  before  tlie  Kadhy ;  and  the  lady, 
accompanied  by  her  delyl,  performs  the  pilgrimage 
to  Mekka,  Arafat,  and  all  the  sacred  places.  This, 
however,  is  understood  to  be  merely  a  nominal  mar- 
riage ;  and  the  delyl  must  divorce  the  woman  on  his 
return  to  Djidda :  if  he  were  to  refuse  a  divorce,  the 
law  cannot  compel  him  to  it,  and  the  marriage  would 
be  considered  binding :  but  he  could  no  longer  ex- 
ercise the  lucrative  profession  of  delyl ;  and  my  in- 
formant could  only  recollect  two  examples  of  the 
delyl  continuing  to  be  the  woman's  husband.  I  be- 
lieve there  is  not  any  exaggeration  of  the  number, 
in  stating  that  there  are  eight  hundred  full-grown 
delyls,  besides  boys  who  are  learning  the  profession. 
Whenever  a  shop-keeper  loses  his  customers,  or  a 
poor  man  of  letters  wishes  to  procure  as  much 
money  as  will  purchase  an  Abyssinian  slave,  he 
turns  delyl.  The  profession  is  one  of  little  repute ; 
but  many  a  prosperous  Mekkawy  has,  at  some  period 
of  his  life,  been  a  member  of  it.' 

"  Burckhardt  remained  at  Mekka  a  whole  month 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  hadj,  at  which  time  it 
appeared  like  a  deserted  town. 

"  '  Of  its  brilliant  shops  one-fourth  only  remained; 
and  in  the  streets,  Avliere  a  few  weeks  before  it  was 
necessary  to  force  one's  way  through  the  crowd,  not 
a  single  hadji  was  seen,  except  solitary  beggars  who 
raised  their  plaintive  voices  towards  the  windows  of 
the  houses  which  they  supposed  to  be  still  inhabited. 
Rubbish  and  filth  covered  all  the  streets,  and  no- 
body appeared  disposed  to  remove  it.  The  skirts 
of  the  town  were  crowded  with  the  dead  carcasses 
of  camels,  the  smell  from  which  rendered  the  air, 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  town,  offensive,  and  cer- 
tainly contributed  to  the  many  diseases  now  preva- 
lent.' 

"Disease  and  mortality,  which  succeed  to  the 


APPENDIX.  225 

fatigues  endured  on  the  journey,  or  are  caused  by  the 
light  covering  of  the  ihram,  the  unheaUliy  lodgings 
at  Mekka,  the  bad  fare,  and  sometimes  abs7)hite 
want,  fill  the  mosque  with  dead  bodies  carried  thither 
to  receive  the  Imam's  prayer,  or  with  sick  persons, 
many  of  whom  when  their  dissolution  approaches, 
are  brought  to  the  colonnades,  that  they  may  either 
be  cured  by  the  sight  of  the  Kaaba,  or  at  least  to 
have  the  satisfaction  of  expiring  within  the  sacred 
enclosure.  Poor  hadjis,  worn  out  with  disease  and 
hunger,  are  seen  dragging  their  emaciated  bodies 
along  the  columns ;  and  when  no  longer  able  to 
stretch  forth  their  hand  to  ask  the  passenger  for 
charity,  they  place  a  bowl  to  receive  alms  near  the 
mat  on  which  they  lay  themselves.  When  they  feel 
their  last  moments  approaching,  they  cover  them- 
selves with  their  tattered  garments ;  and  often  a  whole 
day  passes  before  it  is  discovered  that  they  are  dead. 
For  a  month  subsequent  to  the  conclusion  of  the 
hadj,  I  found,  almost  every  morning,  corpses  of  pil- 
grims lying  in  the  mosque ;  myself  and  a  Greek  hadji, 
whom  accident  had  brought  to  the  spot,  once  closed 
the  eyes  of  a  poor  Moggrebyn  pilgrim,  who  had 
crawled  into  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Kaaba  to 
breathe  his  last,  as  the  Moslems  say,  '  in  the  arms 
of  the  prophet  and  of  the  guardian  angels.'  He  inti- 
mated by  signs  his  wish  that  we  should  sprinkle 
Zemzem  water  over  him ;  and  while  we  were  doing  so 
he  expired :  half  an  hour  afterward  he  was  buried. 

"  The  situation  of  Mekka  is  singularly  unhappy,  and 
ill  adapted  for  the  accommodation  of  the  numerous 
votaries  of  Islam  that  flock  thither  to  perform  the 
rites  of  the  pilgrimage.  The  town  is  built  in  a  nar- 
row valley,  hemmed  in  by  barren  mountains  ;  the 
water  of  the  wells  is  bitter  or  brackish  ;  no  pastures 
for  cattle  are  near  it ;  no  land  fit  for  agriculture ; 
and  the  only  resource  from  which  its  inhabitants  de- 
rive their  subsistence  is  a  little  traffic,  and  the 
visits    of   the  hadjis.     Mr.   Burckhardt  estimates 


226  APPENDIX. 

the  population  of  the  town  and  suburbs  at  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  thousand  stationary  inhabitants,  to 
which  he  adds  three  or  four  thousand  Abyssinian 
and  black  slaves. 

"  On  the  w^hole,  notwithstanding  all  that  Burckhardt 
records  as  to  certain  symptoms  of  enthusiasm  in  the 
course  of  his  hadj,  it  is  sufficiently  plain,  that  even 
in  the  original  seat  of  Mahommedanism,  the  reli- 
gious feelings  of  the  people  have  cooled  down  con- 
siderably. The  educated  Moslems  every  where  are 
mostly  of  the  sect  of  Mahomet  Ali  of  Egypt,  nor  can 
we  have  any  doubt  that  all  things  are  thus  working 
together  for  the  re-establishment  of  the  true  religion 
in  the  regions  where  man  was  first  civilized,  and 
where  the  oracles  of  God  Avere  uttered.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  decline  of  the  arch-heresy  of  the 
East  will  be  regretted  by  no  one  who  judges  of  the 
tree  by  the  fruit.  '  A  long  residence,'  says  Burck- 
hardt, '  among  Turks,  Syrians,  and  Egyptians'  (and 
no  man  knew  them  better)  'justifies  me  in  declar- 
ing that  they  are  wholly  deficient  in  virtue,  honour, 
and  justice  ;  that  they  have  little  true  piety,  and  still 
less  charity  or  forbearance ;  and  that  honesty  is  only 
to  be  found  in  their  paupers  or  idiots.'" 


appj:ndix.  '427 

[C] 

THE    KORAN. 

The  word  Koran,  derived  from  the  verb  Kara,  to 
read,  properly  signifies  the  reading,  legend,  or  that 
which  ought  to  be  read;  by  which  name  tlie  Moham- 
medans denote  not  only  the  entire  book  or  volume 
of  the  Koran,  but  also  any  particular  chapter  or  sec- 
tion of  it,  just  as  the  Jews,  in  their  language,  call 
the  whole  Scripture,  or  any  part  of  it,  by  the  name 
of  Karah,  or  Mikra,  words  of  precisely  the  same 
origin  and  import  as  Koran.  This  book  must  be  re- 
garded as  the  code  of  laws,  religion,  and  morality, 
which  Mohammed,  in  his  character  of  legislator  and 
prophet,  promulgated  to  the  people  of  Arabia.  As 
it  is  therefore  the  only  book  of  law  among  the  Mus- 
sulmans, and  comprehends  also  the  religious  doc- 
trines which  they  are  taught  to  believe,  it  follows, 
that  with  them  a  doctor  in  the  law  is  also  a  doctor 
in  theology,  which  two  professions  are  wholly  inse- 
parable. This  law,  upon  which  is  founded  all  tlieir 
theology  and  jurisprudence,  is  comprised  in  the 
Koran,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  civil  code  of  the 
Jews  is  comprised  in  the  five  books  of  Moses. 

The  collection  of  moral  traditions,  composed  of 
the  sayings  and  actions  of  the  prophet,  and  forming 
a  kind  of  supplement  to  the  Koran,  the  Moslems  call 
the  Sojinah;  just  as  the  Jews  have  denominated  the 
book  containing  their  oral  traditions,  the  Mishua. 

The  entire  Koran  is  divided  into  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  portions,  which  are  denominated  Suras,  or 
chapters;  and  these  again  into  smaller  divisions, 
called  Ayat,  answering  nearly,  though  not  exactly, 
to  our  verses. 

There  appears  to  be  an  entire  absence  of  any  thing 
like  desiffn  or  method  in  either  the  larger  or  the 


"228  APPENDIX. 

smaller  divisions.  Neither  the  time  at  which  they 
were  delivered,  nor  the  matter  they  contain,  was  the 
rule  by  which  they  were  arranged.  They  were,  in 
fact,  apparently  thrown  together  without  order  or 
meaning.  One  verse  has  seldom  any  connexion 
with  the  preceding;  and  the  same  subject,  unless  it 
be  some  narrative,  such  as  that  of  Abraham,  Joseph, 
or  Pharaoh,  distorted  from  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  is 
in  no  case  continued  for  a  dozen  verses  in  succes- 
sion ;  each  one  appears  an  isolated  precept  or  ex- 
clamation, the  tendency  and  pertinence  of  which  it 
is  often  difficult  and  frequently  impossible  to  dis- 
cover. The  first  nine  titles  will  convey  to  the  reader 
a  fair  conception  of  the  arrangement,  and  something 
of  the  natme,  of  the  subjects  enbraced  in  the  M'hole. 
1.  The  Preface.  2.  The  Cow.  3.  The  Family  of 
Iram.  4.  Women.  5.  Table.  6.  Cattle.  7.  Al 
A.raf.  8.  The  Spoils.  9.  The  Declaration  of  Im- 
munity. 

As  to  the  plan  or  structure  of  this  pseudo-revela- 
don,  it  is  remarkable  that  Mohammed  makes  God 
ihe  speaker  throughout.  This  shoidd  be  borne  in 
mind  by  the  reader  in  perusing  the  extracts  given  in 
2he  preceding  work.  The  addresses  are  for  the 
most  part  made  directly  to  the  prophet,  informing 
him  what  he  is  to  communicate  to  his  coimtiymen 
and  the  world;  in  other  cases,  the  precepts,  pro- 
mises, or  threatenings  are  addressed  immediately  to 
the  unbelievers,  or  the  faithful,  according  as  the 
burden  of  them  applies  to  the  one  or  the  other.  The 
following  citations  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the 
whole  book.  "  Now  we  know  that  what  they  speak 
grieveth  thee :  yet,  they  do  not  accuse  thee  of  false- 
hood ;  but  the  ungodly  contradict  the  signs  of  God. 
And  apostles  before  thee  have  been  accounted  liars : 
but  they  patiently  bore  their  being  accounted  liars, 
and  their  being  vexed,  until  our  help  came  unto 
them."  "  Say,  Verily  I  am  forbidden  to  worship  the 
false  deities  which  ye  invoke  besides  God.    Say,  I 


APPENDIX,  22& 

will  not  follow  your  desires ;  for  tlien  sliould  I  err, 
neither  should  I  be  one  of  those  who  are  rightly  di- 
rected. Say,  I  believe  according  to  the  plain  decla- 
ration which  I  have  received  from  my  Lord ;  but  ye 
have  forged  lies  concerning  him."  The  word 
"  Say,"  which  is  almost  of  perpetual  occurrence  in 
the  Koran,  is  generally  prefixed  to  the  sentences  or 
paragraphs  containing  a  message  to  the  people ;  and 
the  word  "Answer"  is  employed  wherever  any 
hypothetical  or  foreseen  objections  are  to  be  ob- 
viated, or  any  doubtful  questions  to  be  resolved. 
"  They  will  ask  thee  also  what  they  shall  bestow  in 
alms :  answer.  What  ye  have  to  spare.  They  will 
also  ask  thee  concerning  orphans  :  answer,  To  deal 
righteously  with  them  is  best ;  and  if  ye  intermeddle 
with  the  management  of  what  belongs  to  them,  do 
them  no  wrong;  they  are  your  brethen:  God 
knoweth  the  corrupt  dealer  from  the  righteous;  and 
if  God  please  he  will  surely  distress  you,  for  God  is 
mighty  and  wise."  To  others  the  Divine  mandates 
are  usually  couched  in  the  following  style :  "  0  men, 
now  is  the  apostle  come  unto  you  with  truth  from 
the  Lord ;  believe,  therefore ;  it  will  be  better  for 
you."  "We  have  formerly  destroyed  the  genera- 
tions who  were  before  you,  O  men  of  IMecca, 
when  they  had  acted  unjustly,  and  our  apostles  had 
come  unto  them  with  evident  miracles,  and  they 
would  not  believe.  Thus  do  we  reward  the  wicked 
people."  "  O  true  believers,  wage  war  against  such 
of  the  infidels  as  are  near  you ;  and  let  them  find 
severity  in  you :  and  know  that  God  is  with  those 
that  fear  him."  "  O  true  believers,  raise  not  your 
voices  above  the  voice  of  the  prophet;  neither 
speak  loud  unto  him  in  discourse,  as  ye  speak  loud 
unto  one  another,  lest  your  works  become  vam,  and 
ye  perceive  it  not." 

Immediately  after  the  title,  at  the  licad  of  every 
chapter,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  nmth,  is 
prefixed  the  solemn  form,  "In  the  name  of  thb 


230  API  ^NDIX. 

MOST  MERCIFUL  GoD."  This  foriii  is  called  by  the 
Mohammedans,  Bismillah,  and  is  invariably  j,!aced 
by  them  at  the  beg-inning  of  all  their  books  and 
writings  in  general,  as  a  peculiar  mark  or  distin- 
guishing characteristic  of  their  religion:  it  being 
deemed  a  species  of  impiety  to  omit  it.  The  Jews, 
for  the  same  purpose,  make  use  of  the  form,  "  In  the 
name  of  the  Lord,"  or,  "  In  the  name  of  the  great 
God:"  and  the  Eastern  Christians  that  of,  "In  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Hoh 
Ghost." 

In  its  general  outline  of  facts,  the  Koran  corres 
ponds  with  the  Old  Testament  in  the  following  his 
torical  details :  the  accounts  of  the  creation  of  the 
world ;  of  the  fall  of  Adam ;  of  the  general  deluge ; 
of  the  deliverance  of  Noah  and  his  family  in  the 
ark ;  the  call  of  Abraham ;  the  stories  of  Isaac  and 
Ishmael ;  of  Jacob  and  the  patriarchs ;  the  selec- 
tion of  the  Jews  as  God's  chosen  people ;  the  pro- 
phetic office,  miracles,  and  administration  of  Moses ; 
the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Hebrew  histo- 
rians, prophets,  and  psalmists,  especially  of  David 
and  Solomon ;  and,  lastly,  of  the  promise  of  the  ad- 
vent of  the  Messiah,  Avith  many  of  the  accompany- 
ing predictions  respecting  it. 

Again,  with  the  New  Testament  the  Koran  con- 
curs in  the  recognition  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  pro- 
mised Messiah  of  the  Jews  ;  in  his  miraculous  con- 
ception by  the  breath  or  Spirit  of  God ;  his  imma 
culate  nativity  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  his  title  of 
Logos,  or  Word  of  God ;  in  the  miraculous  birth  of 
John  the  Baptist,  son  of  Zecharias,  as  his  forerunner ; 
in  his  performance  of  many  mighty  signs  and  mira- 
cles, such  as  healing  the  sick,  raising  the  dead,  and 
controlling  and  casting  out  devils ;  in  his  rejection 
and  persecution  by  his  own  countrjTnen;  his  con- 
demnation to  the  death  of  the  cross ;  his  bodily  as- 
cension into  heaven ;  his  officiating  there  as  a  Me- 
diator and  Intercessor  between  God  and  man,  and 


APPENDIX.  231 

as  Judge  of  all  men  at  the  last  dav.  After  ilic  ex- 
ample, however,  of  some  of  the  ancient  heretics, 
Mohammed,  as  appears  from  the  followinfr  passao-es, 
denied  the  reality  of  the  Saviour's  crm-ifixion:  — 
"  And  for  that  they  have  not  believed  in  Jesus,  and 
have  spoken  against  Mary  a  grievous  calumny;  and 
have  said,  Verily  we  have  slain  Christ  Jesus,  the 
son  of  Mary,  the  apostle  of  God ;  yet  thev  slew  him 
not,  neither  crucified  him,  but  he  was  rcpres(mted 
by  one  in  his  likeness.  They  did  not  really  kill 
him;  but  God  took  him  up  to  himself:  and  God  is 
mighty  and  wise."  "  And  the  Jews  devised  a  stra- 
tagem against  him;  but  God  devised  a  stratagem 
against  them ;  and  God  is  the  best  deviser  of  stra- 
tagems." This  stratagem,  according  to  the  Mos- 
lems, was  God's  taking  Jesus  up  into  heaven,  and 
stamping  his  likeness  on  another  person,  who  was 
apprehended  and  crucified  in  his  stead.  Their  con- 
stant tradition  is,  that  it  Avas  not  Jesus  himself  who 
underwent  that  ignominious  death,  but  somebody  else 
in  his  shape  and  resemblance. 

These  numerous  coincidences  of  the  Koran  with 
the  facts  and  doctrines  of  the  Bible  are  strangely- 
interspersed  with  matter  the  most  incongruous; 
with  extravagant  fables,  monstrous  perversions  of 
the  truth,  and  ridiculous  and  endless  puerilities. 
This  is  accounted  for  on  the  supposition,  that  while 
the  authentic  facts  were  derived  immediately  from 
the  canonical  Scriptures,  the  fictions  and  absurdities 
were  deduced  in  part  from  the  traditions  of  the  Tal- 
mudic  and  Rabbinical  writers ;  and  in  part  from  the 
apocryphal  Gospels,  or  from  the  books  of  Adam,  of 
Seth,  of  Enoch,  of  Noah,  and  other  similar  fabrica- 
tions, well  known  in  church  history  as  having  been 
extensively  in  use  among  the  heretics  of  the  first 
centuries. 

A  specimen  or  two  of  the  manner  in  which  some  of 
the  best-known  narratives  of  the  Old  Testament  ap. 
pear  in  the  Koran,  may  not  be  unsuitably  adduced  here. 


232  APPENDIX. 

"Our  messeng-ers  also  came  formerly  unto  Abra- 
ham with  good  tiding-s.  They  said,  Peace  be  upon 
thee.  And  he  answered,  And  on  you  be  peace  !  and 
he  tarried  not,  but  brouglit  a  roasted  calf.  And  his 
wife  Sarah  was  standing-  by;  and  she  laughed:  and 
we  promised  her  Isaac,  and  after  Isaac,  Jacob.  She 
said,  Alas !  shall  I  bear  a  son,  who  am  old :  this  my 
husband  also  being  advanced  in  years  1  Verily,  this 
would  be  a  v/onderful  thing.  The  angels  answered, 
Dost  thou  wonder  at  the  effect  of  the  command  of 
God  1  The  mercy  of  God  and  his  blessings  be  upon 
you.  And  when  his  apprehension  had  departed  from 
Abraham,  and  the  good  tidings  of  Isaac's  birth  had 
come  unto  him,  he  disputed  with  us  concerning  the 
people  of  Lot;  for  Abraham  was  a  pitiful,  compas- 
sionate, and  devout  person.  The  angels  said  unto 
him,  0  Abraham,  abstain  from  this ;  for  now  is  the 
command  of  thy  Lord  come,  to  put  their  sentence  in 
execution,  and  an  inevitable  punishment  is  ready  to 
fall  upon  them.  And  when  our  messengers  came 
unto  Lot,  he  Avas  troubled  for  them;  and  his  arm 
was  straitened  concerning  them ;  and  he  said.  This 
is  a  grievous  day.  And  his  people  came  unto  him, 
rushing  upon  him :  and  they  had  formerly  been  guilty 
of  wickedness.  Lot  said  unto  them,  O  my  people, 
these  my  daughters  are  more  lawful  for  you  :  there- 
fore fear  God,  and  put  me  not  to  shame  by  wronging 
my  guests.  Is  there  not  a  man  of  prudence  among 
you]  They  answered,  Thou  knowest  that  we  have 
no  need  of  thy  daughters ;  and  thou  well  knowest 
what  we  would  have.  He  said,  If  I  had  strength 
sufficient  to  oppose  thee,  or  I  could  have  recourse 
unto  a  powerful  support,  I  w^ould  certainly  do  it. 
The  angels  said,  O  Lot,  verily  we  are  the  messen- 
gers of  thy  Lord ;  they  shall  by  no  means  come  in 
unto  thee.  Go  forth,  therefore,  with  thy  family,  in 
some  part  of  tlie  night,  and  let  not  any  of  you  turn 
back :  but  as  for  thy  wife,  that  shall  happen  unto  her 
which  shall  happen  unto  them.    Verily,  the  predic- 


APPENDIX.  238 

tion  of  their  punishment  shall  be  fulfilled  in  the 
morning-. 

"  And  Abraham  said,  Verily,  I  am  going  unto  my 
Lord  who  will  direct  me.  0  Lord,  grant  me  a 
righteous  issue!  Wherefore  we  acquainted  him 
that  he  should  have  a  son,  who  should  be  a  meek 
youth.  And  when  he  had  attained  to  years  of  dis- 
cretion, and  could  join  in  acts  of  religion  with  him, 
Abraham  said  unto  him,  O  my  son,  verily  I  saw  in  a 
dream  that  I  should  offer  thee  in  sacrifice :  consider 
therefore  what  thou  art  of  opinion  I  should  do.  He 
answered,  0  my  father,  do  what  thou  art  commanded: 
thou  shalt  find  me,  if  God  please,  a  patient  person. 
And  when  they  had  submitted  themselves  to  the 
divine  will,  and  Abraham  had  laid  his  son  prostrate 
on  his  face,  we  cried  unto  him,  O  Abraham,  now 
hast  thou  verified  the  vision.  Thus  do  we  reward 
the  righteous.  Verily,  this  was  a  manifest  trial. 
And  we  ransomed  him  with  a  noble  victim." 

The  following  passage  may  serve  to  illustrate  the 
correspondence  of  the  Koran  with  the  historical  re- 
lations of  the  New  Testament : — 

"  Zacharias  called  on  his  Lord,  and  said.  Lord, 
give  me  from  thee  a  good  offspring,  for  thou  art  the 
hearer  of  prayer.  And  the  angels  called  to  him, 
while  he  stood  praying  in  the  chamber,  saying, 
Verily,  God  promiseth  thee  a  son,  named  John,  who 
shall  bear  witness  to  the  word  which  conieth  from 
God ;  an  honourable  person,  chaste,  and  one  of  the 
righteous  prophets.  He  answered.  Lord,  how  shall 
I  have  a  son,  when  old  age  hath  overtaken  me,  and 
my  wife  is  barren  1  The  angel  said.  So  God  doth 
that  which  he  pleaseth.  Zacharias  answered.  Lord, 
give  me  a  sign.  The  angel  said,  Tiiy  sign  shall  be, 
that  thou  shalt  speak  unto  no  man  for  three  days, 
otherwise  than  by  gesture.  And  when  the  angels 
said,  O  Mary,  verily,  God  hath  chosen  thee,  and  hath 
purified  thee,  and  hath  chosen  thee  above  all  the 
women  of  the  world :  when  the  angels  said,  0  Mary, 


234  APPENDIX. 

verily,  God  sendeth  thee  good  tidings,  that  thou 
shalt  bear  the  word,  proceeding  from  himself;  his 
name  shall  be  Christ  Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary;  honour- 
able in  this  world  and  in  the  world  to  come,  and  one 
of  those  who  approach  near  to  the  presence  of  God : 
She  answered.  Lord,  how  shall  I  have  a  son,  since 
a  man  hath  not  touched  me  1  The  angel  said,  So 
God  createth  that  which  he  pleaseth :  when  he  de- 
creeth  a  thing,  he  only  saith  unto  it.  Be,  and  it  is : 
God  shall  teach  him  the  Scripture,  and  wisdom,  and 
the  law,  and  the  Gospel ;  and  he  shall  appoint  him 
his  apostle  to  the  children  of  Israel." 

But  besides  agreements  with  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  of  this  palpable  kind,  the  Koran  betrays 
its  obligations  to  the  sacred  volume  by  numerous 
coincidences,  more  or  less  direct,  with  the  senti- 
ments, the  imagery,  and  the  phraseology  of  Scrip- 
ture. Indeed,  the  most  interesting  light  in  which 
the  Koran  is  to  be  viewed  is  as  a  spurious  resem- 
blance of  the  inspired  oracles  of  Jews  and  Christians. 
The  extent  to  which  the  Bible  of  Mohammedans 
is  made  up  of  plagiarisms  from  the  true  revelation 
can  scarcely  be  conceived  by  one  who  has  not  insti- 
tuted a  special  inquiry  into  the  contents  of  each, 
with  the  express  design  of  tracing  the  analogy  be- 
tween them.  Of  the  fact,  however,  of  the  Koran 
being  constructed,  in  great  measure,  from  the  mate- 
rials furnished  by  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  no 
one  can  doubt,  who  is  assured  that  the  following  is 
but  a  specimen  of  hundreds  of  similar  correspon- 
dencies which  might  easily  be  made  out  between 
the  two. 


Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  Make  not  your  alms  of   none 

alms  before  men  to  be  seen  of  them ;  effect,  by  reproaching  or  mischief; 

otherwise  ye  have  no  reward  of  as  he  that  layeth  out  what  he  hath, 

your  Father  which  is  in  lioaven.  to  appear  unto  men  to  give  alms. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  ap-  We  gave  unto  Jesus,  the  son  of 

proved  of  God  among  you  by  mira-  Mar>-,  manifest  signs,  and  strength- 

cles  and  wonders,  and  signs  which  ened  hhn  with  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Gfod  did  by  him. 


APPENDIX. 


230 


BIBLE. 

Thou  Shalt  give  life  for  life,  tooth 
for  tooth,  foot  for  foot,  burning  for 
burning,  wound  for  wound,  stripe 
for  stripe. 


But  their  minds  were  blinded: 
for  until  this  day  remaineth  the 
same  veil  untakcn  away  in  the  read- 
ing of  the  Old  Testament-.  But 
even  unto  this  day  when  Moses  is 
read,  the  veil  is  upon  their  heart. 

They  said  therefore  unto  him, 
Wliat  sign  shewest  thou  then,  that 
we  may  see  and  believe  thee  ! 

In  the  beginning  God  created  the 
heaven  and  the  earth.  And  God 
said,  Let  there  be  light,  and  there 
was  light. 

And  when  he  (Moses)  was  full 
forty  years  old,  it  came  into  his 
heart  to  visit  his  brethren,  the  chil- 
ren  of  Israel. 

And  in  the  latter  time  of  their 
kingdom,  w^hen  the  transgressors 
are  come  to  the  full,  a  king  of  fierce 
countenance,  and  understanding 
dark  sentences,  shall  stand  up. 

I  will  open  my  mouth  in  para- 
bles; I  will  utter  things  which 
have  been  kept  secret  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world. 

And  the  seventh  angel  sounded  ; 
and  there  were  great  voices  in 
heaven,  saying.  The  kingdoms  of 
this  world"  are  become  the  king- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 

For  behold,  I  created  new  heavens 
and  a  new  earth.  We  look  for  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth.  I  will 
cause  you  to  come  up  out  of  your 
graves'  And  every  man  shall  re- 
ceive his  own  reward  according  to 
his  own  labour. 

I  was  envious  at  the  foolish  when 
I  saw  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked. 
Thus  my  heart  was  grieved. 


If  thou,  Lord,  shouldst  mark  ini- 
quities, O  Lord  who  shall  stand  ? 


KORAN. 

We  have  therein  commanded 
them  (hat  they  should  give  life  for 
life,  and  eye  for  eye,  and  no!»c  for 
nose,  and  ear  for  oar,  and  tooth  for 
tooth,  and  tliat  wounds  should  be 
punished  by  retaliation. 

There  is  of  ihem  who  hoarkeneth 
unto  thee  when  tiiou  readest  the 
Koran ;  but  we  have  cast  veils 
over  their  hearts,  that  they  should 
not  understand  it,  and  deafness  in 
their  ears. 

The  infidels  say,  Unless  some 
sign  be  sent  down  unto  him  from 
his  Lord,  we  will  not  believe. 

It  is  he  who  hath  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth:  And  when- 
ever he  saycth  unto  a  thing,  Be,  it 
is. 

I  have  already  dwelt  among  vou 
to  the  age  of  forty  years  bet''»re  I 
received  it  (the  Koran).  Uo  ye 
therefore  not  understand  ? 

According  to  thy  dream  ?nall  thy 
Lorti  -hoose  thee  and  teach  thee 
trie  interpretation  of  darU  sayings. 

We  taughi  him  the  interpreta- 
tion of  dark  sayings,  bu'  the  greater 
part  of  men  do  not  understand. 

O  Lonl,  thou  liast  given  me  a 
part  of  the  kingdom,  and  hast 
taught  me  the  interpretation  of  dark 
sayings. 

And  his  will  be  the  kingdom  on 
the  day  whereon  the  trumpet  shall 
be  sounded. 


The  day  will  come  when  the 
earth  shall  be  changed  into  another 
earth,  and  the  heavens  into  other 
heavens ;  and  men  shall  come  forth 
from  their  graves  to  appear  before 
the  only,  the  mighty  God.  That 
God  may  reward  cvcrj'  soul  accord 
ing  to  what  it  shall  have  deserved. 

Cast  not  thine  eyes  on  the  good 
things  which  we  have  bestowed  on 
several  of  the  unbelievers,  so  as  to 
covet  the  same ;  neither  be  thou 
grieved  on  their  account. 

If  God  should  punish  men  for 
their  iniquity,  he  would  not  leave 
on  the  earth  any  moving  thing. 


23G 


APPENDIX. 


BIBLE. 

Dust  tliou  art,  and  unto  dust 
Shalt  thou  return. 

Tho  merciful  doeth  good  to  his 
own  soul ;  but  he  that  is  cruel 
troubleth  his  own  flesh. 

Not  rendering  evil  for  evil,  but 
contrariwise,  blessing. 

Call  ye  on  the  name  of  your  gods, 
and  I  will  call  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  And  they  cried  aloud.  And  it 
came  to  ])ass  that  there  was  neither 
voice  nor  any  to  answer. 

All  that  are  in  the  graves  shall 
hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth. 
All  nations  shall  be  gathered  be- 
fore him. 

But,  beloved,  be  not  ignorant  of 
this  one  thing,  that  one  day  is  with 
the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and 
a  thousand  years  as  one  day. 

Go  to,  now,  ye  that  say,  To-day 
or  to-morrow  we  will  go  into  such 
a  city,  and  continue  there  a  year  ; 
and  buy  and  sell  and  get  gain : 
Whereas  ye  know  not  what  shall 
be  on  the  morrow.  For  that  ye 
ought  to  say.  If  the  Lord  will,  we 
Khali  live  and  do  this  or  that. 

But  of  that  day  and  that  hour 
knoweth  no  man  ;  no,  not  the  an- 
gels which  are  in  heaven,  neither 
the  Son,  but  the  Father 


KORAN. 

Out  of  the  ground  have  we 
created  you,  and  to  the  same  will' 
we  cause  you  to  return. 

If  ye  do  well,  ye  will  do  well  to 
your  own  souls  ;  and  if  ye  do  evil, 
ye  will  do  it  unto  the  same. 

Turn  aside  evil  with  that  which 
is  better. 

And  it  shall  be  said  unto  the 
idolaters,  call  now  upon  those 
whom  ye  have  associated  with 
God:  and  they  shall  call  upon 
them  but  they  shall  not  answer. 

And  the  trumpet  shall  be  sounded 
again,  and  behold  they  shall  come 
forth  from  their  graves,  and  shall 
hasten  unto  the  Lord. 

But  God  will  not  fail  to  perform 
what  he  hath  threatened  :  and  re- 
rily  one  day  with  the  Lord  is  as  a 
thousand  years  of  those  which  ye 
compute. 

Say  not  of  any  matter,  I  will 
surely  do  this  to-morrow  ;  unless 
thou  add,  If  God  please. 


They  will  ask  thee  concerning 
the  last  hour ;  at  what  time  its 
coming  is  fixed?  Answer,  Verily, 
the  knowledge  thereof  is  with  my 
Lord  ;  none  shall  declare  the  fixed 
time  thereof  except  he. 


From  the  foregoing  examples  it  will  appear  mani- 
fest, that  the  plagiarisms  of  the  Koran  are  not  limited 
to  the  leading  facts  and  narratives  of  the  Bible,  but 
extend  to  many  of  its  minuter  peculiarities ;  to  its 
modes  of  thought,  its  figures  of  speech,  and  even  to 
its  very  forms  of  expression.  Yet,  in  several  in- 
stances, we  meet  with  such  egregious  blunders,  as 
to  plain  matters  of  fact,  stated  in  the  sacred  volume, 
as  must  convict  the  copyist  of  the  most  arrant  igno- 
rance, or  of  downright  falsification.  Thus  he  makes 
the  prophet  Elijah  (Al  Kedr)  contemporary  with 


APPENDIX.  237 

Moses,  Ishmael  to  have  been  offered  in  sacrifice  in- 
stead of  Isaac,  Saul  to  have  led  the  ten  thousand 
down  to  the  river's  brink  instead  of  Gideon,  and,  by 
the  most  monstrous  anachronism  represents  Mary, 
the  mother  of  Jesus,  to  have  been  the  same  person 
with  Miriam,  the  sister  of  Moses ! 

The  palpable  obligations  of  this  spurious  revela- 
tion to  Holy  Writ,  and  the  real  or  supposed  incom- 
petence of  its  nominal  fabricator,  have  very  natu- 
rally given  birth  to  inquiries  into  the  history  of  its 
composition.  The  great  mass  of  writers  on  Mo- 
hammedanism, following  the  opinion  of  the  Eastern 
Christians,  have  generally  agreed  in  supposiug  tliat  in 
the  cojistruction  of  the  Koran,  the  Prophet  was  in- 
debted to  the  assistance  of  one  or  more  accompUces. 
It  is  certain,  from  the  pages  of  the  work  itself,  that  this 
was  objected  to  him  at  the  outset  of  his  career.  "  We 
also  know  that  they  say.  Verily  a  certain  man  teacheth 
him  to  compose  the  Koran."  "  And  the  unbelievers 
say.  This  Koran  is  no  other  than  a  forgery,  which 
he  hath  contrived :  and  other  people  have  assisted 
him  therein:  but  they  utter  an  unjust  thing  aud  a 
falsehood."  But  this  emphatic  disclaimer  of  the 
Apostle  has  failed  to  produce  conviction.  The  un- 
believers of  Christendom  have  continued  to  side 
with  those  of  Mecca,  and  as  many  as  eight  or  ten 
different  persons  have  been  designated  as  having 
been,  some  one  or  more  of  them,  associated  with 
the  impostor  in  the  promulgation  of  his  counterfeit 
oracles.  The  more  general  belief  has  been,  tliat  Mo- 
hammed received  his  principal  aid  from  a  Nestorian 
monk,  named  Sergius,  supposed  to  be  the  same  per- 
son as  the  Boheira,  with  whom  he  became  ac- 
quainted at  an  early  period  of  his  life,  at  Bosra,  in 
Syria.  On  this,  the  learned  Sale  remarks  :  "  If  Bo- 
heira and  Sergius  were  the  same  men,  I  find  not  the 
least  intimation  in  the  Mohammedan  writers,  tliat 
he  ever  quitted  his  monastery  to  go  into  Arabia, 
and  his  acquaintance  with  Mohammed  at  Bosra  was 


238  APPENDIX. 

too  early  to  favour  the  sunnise  of  his  assistmghim  in 
the  Koran,  though  Mohammed  might,  from  his  dis- 
course, gain  some  knowledge  of  Christianity  and 
the  Scriptures,  which  might  be  of  some  use  to  him 
therein."  The  same  writer,  however,  admits  with 
Prideaux  and  others,  that  while  Mohammed  is  to  be 
considered  as  the  original  projector  and  the  real 
author  of  the  Koran,  he  may  have  been  assisted,  in 
some  measure,  by  others,  though  his  successful  pre- 
cautions of  secrecy  make  it  impossible  to  determine, 
at  this  day,  by  what  agents,  or  to  what  extent,  this 
was  done.  After  all,  the  assertions  advanced  in 
respect  to  the  part  borne  by  others  in  the  compo- 
sition of  the  Koran  have  never  been  authenticated 
by  proofs,  and  the  whole  story  has  the  air  of  an 
hypothesis  framed  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  the 
case.  And  even  were  the  popular  belief  on  this 
question  to  be  admitted,  it  would  not  do  away  all  the 
difficulties  which  embarrass  the  subject.  For  who 
was  capable,  in  that  dark  period,  of  producing  such 
a  work "?  This  pretended  revelation,  independently 
of  its  plagiarisms  from  our  Scriptures,  contains  pas- 
sages as  much  superior  to  any  remains,  whether 
Jewish  or  Christian,  of  the  literature  of  the  seventh 
century,  as  they  are  utterly  inferior  to  the  contents 
of  that  sacred  volume  which  the  Koran  blasphe- 
mously assumes  to  resemble  and  supplant.  The 
whole  subject,  therefore,  of  the  origin  of  this  re- 
markable book,  with  the  history  of  its  composition, 
as  well  as  the  question  how  far  Mohammed  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  Christian  Scriptures,  must  doubt- 
less remain  an  unsolved  problem  to  the  end  of  time. 
Of  the  literary  merits  of  the  Koran,  a  fair  esti- 
mate is  not  easily  to  be  formed  from  a  translation. 
By  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  original,  it  is 
universally  acknowledged  to  possess  distinguished 
excellences,  which  cannot  be  transfused  into  any 
other  language.  It  is  confessedly  the  standard  of 
the  Arabic  tongue  ;  is  written,  for  the  most  part,  in 


APPENDIX.  239 

a  pure  and  elegant  style,  abounding  with  bold  figures 
after  the  oriental  manner ;  and  aimhig  at  a  concise- 
ness which  often  renders  it  obscure.  Thoujrli  u-rit- 
ten  in  prose,  the  sentences  usually  conclude  in  a 
long  continued  rhyme,  for  the  sake  of  wliicli,  the 
sense  is  often  interrupted,  and  unnecessary  rejjcti- 
tions  introduced.  This  feature  of  the  composition, 
though  a  disadvantage  and  a  deformity  to  a  transla- 
tion, is  one  of  its  superlative  charms  in  tlie  estimate 
of  the  native  Arabs,  whose  ear  is  singularly  sus- 
ceptible to  the  harmony  of  the  rhythmical  cadences 
with  which  the  periods  conclude. 

When  ^ve  pass  from  the  mere  sound  and  diction 
which  mark  "  the  perspicuous  book,"  it  is  indubitable 
that  its  finest  passages  are  devoid  of  the  merit  of 
originality.  Sir  William  Jones  remarks  ;  "  The 
Koran  indeed  shines  with  a  borrowed  light,  since 
most  of  its  beauties  are  taken  from  our  Scriptures  ; 
but  it  has  great  beauties,  and  the  INIussuhnans  will 
not  be  convinced  that  they  are  borrowed."  In  de- 
scribing the  majesty  and  the  attributes  of  God,  and 
the  variety  and  grandeur  of  the  creation,  it  often 
rises  to  an  impressive  elevation ;  but  in  almost  every 
instance  of  this  kind,  it  is  evident  that  some  pas- 
sage of  inspiration  of  corresponding  import  was  in 
the  eye  of  the  writer,  and  the  copy  is  invariably  in- 
ferior to  the  original.  Yet  the  result  of  a  candid 
examinatian  of  this  pseudo-bible  of  Mohammedans, 
even  in  our  English  version,  would  probably  be  a  more 
favourable  impression  of  the  book  on  the  score  of 
its  composition,  and  a  conviction  that  amid  the  mul- 
titude and  heinonsness  of  its  defects,  scarcely  com- 
mon justice  had  been  done  by  Christian  writers 
either  to  the  character  of  its  beauties,  or  the  extent  in 
which  they  obtain.  Taken  however  as  a  whole,  so 
far  from  supporting  its  arrogant  claims  to  a  super- 
human origin  and  eloquence,  it  sinks  below  tlie  level 
of  many  confessedly  human  productions,  to  be  found 
in  different  languages  and  regions  of   the  earth. 


240  APPENDIX. 

"With  occasional  passages  of  real  beauty  and 
power,  it  is,  on  the  whole,  a  strange  medley,  in 
which  the  sublime  is  so  nearly  allied  to  the  bom- 
bastic, the  pathetic  to  the  ludicrous,  the  terrible  to 
the  absurd,  that  each  chapter,  each  page,  almost  each 
paragraph,  is  sure  to  give  rise  to  the  most  opposite 
emotions.  Respect,  contempt,  admiration,  abhor- 
rence, so  rapidly  succeed  each  other,  in  the  perusal, 
as  to  leave  no  fixed  or  uniform  impression  on  the 
mind."* 

*  Forster. 


APPENDIX.  241 


LD] 

MOHAMMEDAN  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  ;   TRANSLATED  FROM 
THE  ARABIC. 

(From  Morgan's  Mahometism  Explained.) 

The  articles  of  our  faith  which  every  good  Mus- 
sulman is  bound  to  believe  and  to  receive  with  an 
entire  assurance  are  thirteen  in  number,  whereof  the 
first  and  principal  is, 

I. — Of  God'' s  Existence. 

To  believe  from  the  heart,  to  confess  with  the 
tongue,  and  with  a  voluntary  and  steadfast  mind  to 
affirm,  that  there  is  but  one  only  God,  Lord  and  Go- 
vernor of  the  universe,  who  produced  all  thhigs  from 
nothing,  in  whom  there  is  neither  image  nor  re- 
semblance, who  never  begot  any  person  whatsoever, 
as  he  himself  was  begotton  by  none  ;  who,  as  he 
never  was  a  son,  so  he  never  hath  been  a  father.  It 
is  this  Lord  and  vSovereign  Arbiter  of  all  tilings 
whom  we  Mussulmans  are  bound  to  serve  and  adore ; 
so  that  none  among  us  may  deviate  from  this  arti- 
cle, but  every  one  must  imprint  it  deeply  in  his 
heart ;  for  it  is  unquestionable. 

IL — Of  the  Prophet  Mahomet  and  the  Koran. 

We  must  believe  from  our  hearts  and  confess  with 
our  mouths  that  the  Most  High  God,  after  liaving 
revealed  himself  to  mankind  by  his  ancient  pro- 
phets, sent  us  at  length  his  Elected,  the  blessed 
Mahomet,  with  the  sacred  and  divine  law,  which 
through  his  grace  he  had  created,  tlie  which  is  con- 
tained in  the  venerable  Koran,  that  hath  been  from 
him  remitted  unto  us.  By  this  holy  law  it  is  that 
God  hath  abolished  all  the  preceding  ones,  and  hath 
X 


242  APPENDIX. 

withdrawn  from  their  doubts  and  errors  all  nations 
and  people  in  order  to  guide  them  to  a  finn  and  last- 
ing state  of  happiness.  Wherefore  we  are  obliged 
exactly  to  follow  the  precepts,  rites,  and  ceremo- 
nies thereof,  and  to  abandon  eveiy  other  sect  or  reli- 
gion whatsoever,  whether  instituted  before  or  since 
this  final  revelation.  By  this  article  w^e  are  distin- 
guished and  separated  from  all  sorts  of  idolatry,  lying 
rhapsodies,  and  false  prophecies,  and  from  all  those 
sects,  societies,  and  religions  different  from  ours, 
which  are  either  erroneous,  abrogated,  or  exagger- 
ated, void  of  faith,  and  without  truth. 

III. — Of  Providence  and  Predestination. 
We  must  firmly  believe  and  hold  as  a  certainty 
that,  except  God  himself  who  always  was  and  always 
shall  be,  every  thing  shall  one  day  be  annihilated, 
and  that  the  Angel  of  death  shall  take  to  himself 
the  souls  of  mortals  destmed  to  a  total  and  uni- 
versal extinction,*  by  the  command  of  God,  our 
pOAverful  Lord  and  Master,  Mho  was  able  and  hath 
vouchsafed  to  produce  out  of  nothing,  and  in  fine  to 
set  in  form  this  universal  world,  with  all  things 
therein  contained,  both  good  and  evil,  sweet  and 
bitter;  and  hath  been  pleased  to  appoint  two  angels, 
the  one  on  the  right,  and  the  other  on  the  left,  to 
register  the  actions  of  eveiy  one  of  us,  as  well  the 
good  as  the  bad,  to  the  end  that  judicial  cognizance 
may  be  taken  thereof,  and  sentence  pronounced 
thereupon,  at  the  great  day  of  judgment.  It  is  there- 
fore necessary  to  believe  predestination:  but  it  is 
not  permitted  to  discourse  thereof  to  any  whom- 
soever, till  after  being  perfectly  well  versed  in  the 
study  of  our  written  law,  viz.  the  Koran,  and  of  our 
Sonnah,  which  is  our  oral  law.  Seeing  then  all 
things  are  to  have  an  end,  let  us  do  good  works,  and 
deport  ourselves  so  that  we  may  live  for  ever. 

*  Notwithstanding  this  annihilation,  it  Is  taught  in  the  Koran  that  all 
intelligent  creatures  will  be  reproduced  again  at  the  resurrection. 


APPENDIX. 


243 


lY.— Of  the  Interrogation  in  the  Grave. 

We  must  truly  and  firmly  believe  and  hold  as  cer- 
tain and  assured,  the  Interrogation  of  the  sepulchre, 
which  will  after  death  be  administered  to  every  one 
of  us  by  two  angels  upon  these  four  important  ques- 
tions:—!. Who  was  our  Lord  and  our  Godi  2. 
Who  was  our  Prophet  ]  3.  Which  was  our  reli- 
gion'*  4.  On  what  side  was  our  Keblah  ?  He  who 
shall  be  in  a  condition  to  make  answer,  that  God 
was  his  only  Lord,  and  Mahomet  his  Prophet,  sliall 
find  a  great  illumination  in  his  tomb,  and  sliall  him- 
self rest  in  glory.  But  he  who  shall  not  make  a  pro- 
per answer  to  these  questions  shall  be  involved  in 
darkness  until  the  day  of  judgment. 

y.—Of  the  Future  Dissolution. 
We  must  heartily  believe  and  hold  as  certain,  that 
not  only  shall  all  things  one  day  perish  and  be  anni- 
Mated,  viz.  angels,  men,  and  devils,  but  ikew.se 
fhis  shin  comelo  pass  at  the  end  of  the  world,  when 
the  ano-el  Israfil  shall  blow  the  trumpet  in  such 
sort  that  except  the  Sovereign  God  none  of  the 
universal  creation  shall  remain  alive  immediately 
Xr  the  dreadful  noise,  which  shall  cause  the  moun- 
tains tJTtremble,  the  ^-^^r^:^:^,^::^^ 

..(nno-pd  to  the  colour  of  blood.  In  tlii;.  total  oximc 
tSfhe  las  who  shall  die  will  be  Azarael.  the  An?e 
of  death;  and  the  power  of  the  Most  H,gh  God  «ill 

be  evidently  manifested. 

yi  —Of  the  Future  Resurrection. 


244  APPENDIX, 

which  each  belonged ;  some  of  which  shall  be  des- 
tined to  glory,  and  others  to  torment.  But  upon 
earth,  the  first  whom  God  Avill  raise  shall  be  our 
blessed  prophet  Mahomet.  As  for  the  earth  itself, 
it  shall  open  on  all  sides,  and  shall  be  changed  in  a 
moment ;  and  by  God's  command  fire  shall  be 
kindled  in  every  part  thereof,  which  shall  be  ex- 
tended to  its  utmost  extremities,  God  will  then 
prepare  a  vast  plain,  perfectly  level,  and  of  sufficient 
extent  to  contain  all  creatures  summoned  to  give  an 
account  of  their  past  conduct.  May  this  solemn, 
definite,  and  irrevocable  judgment  awaken  us  from 
our  security ;  for  to  nothing  that  hath  been  created 
shall  favour  be  showed.  Every  soul  shall  be  judged 
there  by  the  same  rule,  and  without  exception  of 
persons. 

VII. — Of  the  Day  of  Judgment. 

We  must  believe  from  our  hearts  and  hold  for 
certain,  that  there  shall  be  a  day  of  judgment, 
whereon  God  shall  ordain  all  nations  to  appear  in  a 
place  appointed  for  this  great  trial,  of  sufficient  vast- 
ness  that  His  Majesty  may  there  be  evident  in  splen- 
dour. It  is  in  this  magnificent  and  spacious  station 
that  the  universal  assembly  of  all  creatures  shall  be 
made,  about  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  in  the  bright- 
ness of  noon :  and  then  it  is,  that  accompanied  by 
his  prophet  (Mohammed),  and  in  the  presence  of  all 
mankind,  God  shall  with  justice  and  equity  judge 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  general,  and  every 
person  in  particular.  To  this  effect,  every  one  of 
us  shall  have  a  book  or  catalogue  of  our  actions  de- 
livered to  us ;  that  of  the  good  in  such  wise  that  it 
shall  be  received  and  held  in  the  right  hand ;  that  of 
the  wicked,  so  that  it  shall  be  received  and  held  in 
the  left  hand.  As  to  the  duration  of  that  day,  it 
shall  be  as  long  as  the  continuance  of  the  present 
age.  This  shall  be  a  day  of  sighs  ai-id  griefs,  a  day 
of  tribulation  and  anguish,  when  the  cup  of  sorrow 


APPENDIX.  245 

and  misery  must  be  drunk  up,  even  the  very  dre^s 
thereof.  But  this  is  what  shall  be  partieularly  ex- 
perienced by  the  ungodly  and  the  perverse ;  every 
thing  shall  present  to  them  ideas  of  sorrow  and 
affliction.  To  them  every  thing  shall  become  aloes 
and  bitterness.  They  shall  not  obtain  one  moment 
of  repose.  They  shall  behold  nothing  tliat  is  agree- 
able, nor  hear  one  voice  that  shall  delight  them : 
their  eyes  shall  see  nothing  but  the  torments  of  hell; 
their  ears  shall  hear  nothing  but  tlie  cries  and  bowl- 
ings of  devils  ;  and  their  terrified  imaginations  shall 
represent  unto  them  nothing  but  spectres  and 
tortures. 

VIII. — OfMahomeVs  Intercession. 

We  are  bound  to  believe,  and  hold  as  certain,  that 
our  venerable  prophet  Mahomet  shall  with  success 
intercede  for  his  people  at  the  great  day  of  examina- 
tion. This  will  be  the  first  intercession ;  but  at  the 
second,  God  will  be  entirely  relented,  and  all  the 
faithful  Mussulmans  shall  be  transported  into  a  state 
of  glory,  while  not  one  excuse  or  supplication  in 
behalf  of  other  nations  shall  be  accepted.  As  to  the 
greatness  of  pain  which  those  among  us  are  to  un- 
dergo, who  have  been  offenders  by  transgressing  the 
precepts  of  the  Koran,  it  is  known  to  God  alone,  as 
there  is  none  but  Him  who  exactly  knoweth  how  long 
the  same  is  to  continue,  whether  its  duration  sliall  be 
more  or  less  than  that  of  the  examination  or  Judg- 
ment. But  to  us  it  belongeth  to  shorten  its  con- 
tinuance by  good  works,  by  our  charity,  and  by  all 
the  endeavours  we  are  capable  of. 

IX.— Of  the  future  Compensation  at  the  last  Judgment. 

We  must  sincerely  believe,  and  hold  as  a  certainty, 

that  we  must  every  one  of  us  give  up  our  accounts 

before    God,   concerning   the    good    and   evil   we 

have  transacted  in  this  world.     All  who  have  been 

X  2 


246  APPENDIX. 

followers  of  Mahomet  shall  be  before  all  others 
summoned  to  this  examination,  because  they  it  will 
be  who  shall  bear  witness  against  all  other  strange 
nations.  It  shall  come  to  pass  on  that  day,  that 
God  will  take  away  out  of  the  balance  of  him  who 
has  slandered  his  brother  some  of  the  good  works, 
and  put  them  unto  that  of  him  who  hath  been  slan- 
dered ;  and  if  the  slanderer  is  found  to  have  no  good 
works,  he  will  then  deduct  from  the  punishment  of 
the  slandered,  to  include  them  in  the  list  of  those 
of  the  slanderer,  insomuch  that  his  great  justice  will 
be  fully  manifest.  At  least,  then,  that  we  not  run 
the  hazard  of  this  terrible  compensation,  let  us  not 
think  of  wronging  others,  or  of  diminishing  their 
substance,  their  honour,  or  their  good  name. 

X. — Of  the  Balance,  and  of  Purgatory. 

We  must  believe  from  the  heart,  and  confess  with 
the  mouth,  that  all  our  actions,  good  and  bad,  shall 
one  day  be  weighed  in  the  balance,  the  one  against 
the  other,  insomuch  that  those  whose  good  works 
outweigh  their  bad  shall  enter  into  Paradise ;  and 
that,  on  the  contrary,  they  whose  bad  works  shall 
outweigh  their  good  shall  be  condemned  to  the 
flames  of  hell.  And  for  those  whose  scales  shall  be 
equally  poised,  because  the  good  they  have  done  is 
equivalent  to  the  evil,  they  shall  be  detained  in  a 
station  situate  in  the  middle,  between  Paradise  and 
hell,  where  consideration  will  be  made  both  of  their 
merits  and  of  their  demerits,  since  besides  their 
being  confined  in  that  place,  they  shall  have  no 
punishment  inflicted  on  them,  nor  shall  they  enjoy 
any  part  of  the  glory  ordained  for  the  beatified 
righteous.  It  is  true  that  all  those  among  that  num- 
ber who  are  Mussulmans  shall  be  at  length  released 
from  their  captivity,  and  shall  be  introduced  into 
Paradise  at  the  second  intercession  of  our  blessed 
prophet  Mahomet,  whose  great  compassion  will 


APPENDIX.  247 

be  sigiialized  by  his  engaging,  in  order  to  our  re- 
demption, to  supplicate  the  power  and  the  mercy  of 
the  Most  High,  as  well  as  his  justice,  already  satis- 
fied by  the  long  captivity  of  the  criminals.  Where- 
fore let  us  from  henceforward  weigh  our  good 
works,  to  the  end  that  we  may  assiduously  strive  to 
increase  their  weight,  and  that  they  may  have  the 
advantage  over  the  bad. 

XI. — Of  the  Sharp-edged  Bridge,  and  the  unavoidable 
passage  thereof. 

We  are  obliged  to  believe  from  our  hearts  and  to 
hold  as  assured,  that  all  mankind  in  the  world  must 
pass  one  day  over  the  Sharp-edged  Bridge,  wliose 
length  shall  be  equal  to  that  of  this  world,  whose 
breadth  shall  not  exceed  that  of  one  single  thread 
of  a  spider's  web,  and  whose  height  shall  be  propor- 
tionable to  its  extent.  The  righteous  shall  pass  over 
it  swifter  than  a  flash  of  lightning ;  but  the  impious 
and  the  ungodly,  shall  not,  in  as  much  time  as  the 
present  age  shall  endure,  be  able  to  surmount  the 
difficulties  thereof,  and  that  through  the  want  of 
good  works.  For  which  reason,  they  shall  fall  and 
precipitate  themselves  into  hell-fire,  in  company 
with  the  infidels  and  blasphemers,  with  those  of 
little  faith  and  bad  conscience,  who  have  done  few 
deeds  of  charity,  because  they  were  void  of  virtue. 
There  shall  be  some  among  the  good,  notwnhstand- 
ing,  whose  passage  shall  be  lighter  and  swifter  than 
that  of  many  others,  who  shall  therein  meet  wim 
temptations  and  obstructions  from  every  precept 
which  they  shall  have  ill-observed  in  this  life.  Oood 
God  !  how  dreadful  to  our  sight  will  this  formidable 
bridge  appear!  What  virtue,  what  secret  grace 
from  the  Most  High  shall  we  not  need  to  be  enabled 
to  pass  over  it  1 


248  APPENDIX. 

XII.— 0/"  Paradise. 

We  are  to  believe  and  to  liold  for  a  certainty,  that 
God  did  create  a  Paradise  which  he  prepared  for  the 
blessed,  fiom  among  the  number  of  the  faithful,  by 
which  are  meant  the  followers  of  the  true  religion, 
and  of  our  holy  prophet,  Mahomet ;  where  with  him 
they  shall  be  placed  in  peipetual  light,  and  in  the 
enjoyment  of  heavenly  delights  ;  for  ever  beautiful 
in  the  vigour  of  their  age,  and  brighter  than  the  sun ; 
and  where  they  shall  be  found  worthy  to  contem- 
plate and  adore  the  face  of  the  Most  High  God.  As 
for  those  who  shall  be  detained  in  the  tortures  of 
hell,  to  wit,  the  sinners  and  transgressors,  Avho  have 
nevertheless  believed  in  one  only  God,  they  shall  be 
released  at  the  second  intercession  of  the  prophet,  by 
whom  they  shall  immediately  be  washed  in  the 
sacred  laver,  from  whence  being  come  forth  whiter 
than  snow  and  more  refulgent  than  the  sun,  they 
shall,  with  the  rest  of  the  blessed,  behold  them- 
selves seated  in  paradise,  there  to  enjoy  all  the 
glory  they  can  desire.  This  is  what  shall  befall  the 
body  composed  of  clay ;  and  what  then  shall  be  the 
state  of  our  souls  1  To  the  which  it  shall  be  granted 
eternally  to  behold  the  light  and  brightness  of  the 
divine  majesty.  Let  us  then  endeavour  to  do  works 
of  such  a  character,  that  we  may  have  no  cause  to 
fear  hell-fire.  Let  us,  I  say,  chiefly  apply  ourselves 
to  good  works,  let  us  not  refuse  to  exert  our  utmost 
strength  in  the  exact  observation  thereof,  and  of  the 
fast  of  our  venerable  month  of  Ramadan,  and  of  the 
prayers  and  ceremonies  w^hich  are  ordained ;  and 
let  us  not  defraud  the  poor  of  a  tenth  of  all  cur 
goods. 

XIIL— 0/Ke/Z. 

We  must  sincerely  believe  and  hold  for  certam, 
that  there  is  a  hell  prepared  for  the  unrighteous,  the 
refractory  transgressors  of  the  divine  law,  accursed 


APPENDIX.  249 

of  God  for  their  evil  works,  and  for  whom  it  would 
have  been  better  had  they  never  have  been  l)()rn,  and 
to  have  never  seen  the  light  of  day.  It  is  for  such 
as  those  that  a  place  of  torment  is  appointed,  or 
rather  a  fire  which  burneth  without  toucliin<r  them, 
a  fire  of  ice  and  north  winds,  where  there  sliall  bo 
nothing  but  snakes  and  serpents,  with  other  venom- 
ous and  ravenous  creatures,  which  shaU  bite  them 
without  destroying  them,  and  shall  cause  them  to 
feel  grievous  pains.  That  place  shall  be-the  abode 
of  the  impious  and  of  the  devils,  where  these  shall, 
with  all  sorts  of  cruelty  and  rage,  incessantly  tor- 
ture those ;  and  lest  the  sense  of  their  pain  should 
cause  them  to  relent,  a  new  skin  shall  continually 
succeed  in  the  stead  of  that  which  has  been  burned 
or  mortified.  It  is  for  us  Mussulmans  to  conceive 
and  entertain  a  just  horror  of  this  detestable  place ; 
such  reflections  are  the  duty  of  all  God's  servants. 
As  for  those  others  who  have  declared  war  agamst 
our  religion,  they  shall  one  day  feel  the  torments  of 
hell.  Let  us  all  dread  this  punishment  and  these 
frightful  terrors.  Let  us  confirm  our  faith  by  the 
sentiments  of  our  hearts,  and  by  the  confession  of 
our  tongues,  and  let  us  engrave  it  m  the  bottom  of 
our  souls. 


260  APPENDIX. 


[E] 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  ARABIC,  GREEK,  AND  LATIN 
AUTHORS,  WHO  HAVE  TREATED  THE  SUBJECT  OF  MO- 
HAMMEDANISM AND  ITS  FOUNDER. 

(Collected  chiefly  from  Prideaux.) 

Abul  Faragius  ;  a  physician  of  Malatia,  in  Lesser 
Armenia,  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  of  the  sect  of 
the  Jacobites.  He  is  a  writer  of  distinguished  note 
in  the  East,  both  among  Mohammedans  and  Chris- 
tians. His  Historia  Dynastarmn  embraces  the  pe- 
riod from  the  creation  of  the  world  to  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1284.  He  flourished  near  the  close  of  the 
13th  century,  about  the  time  when  his  History  ends. 
His  work  Was  published  in  4to  at  Oxford,  A.  D.  1663, 
with  a  Latin  Version  by  Dr.  Pocock.  His  entire 
name  is  Gregorius  Ebn  Hakim  Abul  Faragii.  He 
is  thus  spoken  of  by  Gibbon.  "  Yet  in  that  long 
period  some  strangers  of  merit  have  been  con- 
verted to  the  Monophysite  faith,  and  a  Jew  was  the 
father  of  Abul  Pharagius,  primate  of  the  East,  so 
truly  eminent  in  his  life  and  death.  In  his  life,  he 
was  an  elegant  writer  of  the  Syriac  and  Arabic 
tongues,  a  poet,  a  physician,  and  historian,  a  subtle 
philosopher,  and  a  moderate  divine.  In  his  death, 
his  funeral  was  attended  by  his  rival,  the  Nestorian 
patriarch,  with  a  train  of  Greeks  and  Armenians, 
who  forgot  their  disputes,  and  mingled  their  tears 
over  the  grave  of  an  enemy."* 

Abui  t^eda;  an  author  eminently  distinguished 
among  tne  oriental  writers  for  two  Avorks  well  known 
among  the  learned ;  the  one,  a  General  Geography 
of  the  world,  after  the  method  of  Ptolemy ;  the  other, 

*  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  v.  p.  508,  Dublin  edition,  1788. 


APPENDIX.  251 

a  General  History,  which  he  calls  the  Epitome  of 
the  History  of  Nations.  He  was  born  A.  I).  1273, 
and  finished  his  Geography  A.  D.  13-31.  Twenty 
years  afterward  he  was  advanced  to  the  princiijuhty 
of  Hamah,  in  Syria,  from  whence  he  is  commonly 
called  Shahah  Hamah,  i.  e.  prince  of  Ilainali,  wlicn 
after  a  reign  of  three  years  and  two  months,  he  (hed 
A.  D.  1345,  aged  seventy-two.  He  was  by  nation  a 
Turk,  of  the  noble  family  of  the  Jolida%  from  which 
also  Saladin,  the  famous  Sultan  of  Egypt  was  de- 
scended. Ecchelensis  quotes  him  by  the  name  of 
Ishnael  Shiahinshiah. 

Abunazar  ;  a  legendary  writer  among  the  IMoliaii?.- 
medans,  often  quoted  by  Hottinger. 

Agar;  the  name  of  a  book  of  great  authority 
among  the  Mussulmans,  containing  an  account  of 
the  life  and  death  of  Mohammed,  .loliannes  An- 
dreas makes  great  use  of  it  under  the  name  of  Azaer, 
as  does  Bellonius  in  the  third  book  of  Ids  Observa- 
tions, under  the  name  of  Asaer.  Guadagnl,  who 
had  a  copy  of  the  work,  draws  from  it  the  most  of 
the  particulars  which  he  objects  against  the  life  and 
actions  of  Mohammed. 

Ahmed  Ebn  Edris  ;  an  author  who  wrote  m  the 
defence  of  the  Mohammedan  religion  agamst  the 
Christians  and  the  Jews. 

Ahmed  Ebn  Yuseph  ;  a  historian  who  flourislied 
A.  D.  1599,  when  he  completed  his  history. 

Ahmed  Ebn  Zin  Alabedin  ;  a  nobleman  of  Ispa- 
han, in  Persia,  of  the  sixteenth  century,  ^vllo  wrote 
one  of  the  acutest  works  against  the  Christian  reli- 
ffion  and  in  defence  of  the  Mohammedan,  ever  pub- 
lished. Jernimo  Xavier,  a  Jesuit  Missionaiy  to  the 
court  of  Ecbar,  Great  Mogul,  had  written  m  the 
Persian  language,  two  works  in  favour  of  Chistian- 
ity,  one  entitled,  the  History  of  Jesus  P^"'-^' collected 
for  the  most  part  out  of  the  legends  of  the  church 
of  Rome:  the  other  called  ^^l^ookm^-CAassoftM 
Truth,  intended  as  a  defence  of  the  Gospel  agains* 


252  APPENDIX. 

the  Mohammedans.  This  latter  work,  unluckily  for 
the  author,  soon  after  its  publication,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  tlie  learned  Persian  Ahmed  Ebn  Zin,  who 
immediately  wrote  an  answer  to  it  which  he  entitled, 
The  Brusher  of  the  Lookmg-Glass.  The  college  of 
the  Propaganda  at  Rome  were  so  exceedingly  nettled 
by  the  masterly  manner  in  which  their  missionary's 
work  had  been  answered,  that  two  Franciscan  Friars 
were  ordered  each  of  them  to  prepare  a  reply  to  the 
rude  Brusher  of  the  Jesuit's  Mirror.  But  as  their 
arguments  in  defence  of  Christianity  were  mostly 
drawn  from  the  authorities  of  Popes  and  Councils, 
the  palm  of  victory  was  fairly  left  in  the  hands  of 
their  Moslem  opponent. 

Al  Bochari  ;  an  eminent  Arabic  writer,  who  has 
given  the  fullest  account  of  the  Traditionary  Doc- 
trines of  the  Mohammedan  religion.  He  is  enume- 
rated, by  Johannes  Andreas  and  Bellonius,  among 
the  six  Mohammedan  Doctors  Avho  met  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  one  of  the  Caliphs  at  Dam.ascus  in  order 
to  make  an  authentic  collection  of  all  the  traditions 
which  compose  their  Sonnah.  His  work  contains 
the  Pandects  of  all  that  relates  either  to  their  Law  or 
their  Religion,  digested  under  their  several  titles 
through  twenty  books,  and  from  its  antiquity  and 
authenticity  ranks  among  their  sacred  writings  next 
to  the  Koran.  He  was  born  at  Bochara,  A.  D.  809, 
and  died,  A.  D.  869. 

Al  Fragani  ;  an  astronomer  of  Fragana  in  Persia, 
whence  his  name ;  which  is  at  length  Mohammed 
Ebn  Katir  Al  Fragani.  He  wrote  a  book  called 
The  Elements  of  Astronomy,  which  has  been  several 
times  republished  in  Europe,  as  at  Nuremburgh, 
A.  D.  1537;  at  Paris,  1546  ;  at  Frankfort,  cum  notis 
Christmanni,  A.  D.  1590,  in  Latin ;  and  aftersvard 
by  Golius  in  Arabic  and  Latin  at  Leyden,  A.  D. 
1669,  with  copious  notes  extremely  useful  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  Geography  of  the  East.  He  flou- 
rished under  the  Caliph  Al  Mamon,  who  died  A.  D.  833. 


APPENDIX.  253 

Al  Gazali;  a  famous  philosopher  of  Tasa  in 
Persia.  He  wrote  many  works  not  only  in  the  de- 
partment of  philosophy,  but  also  ni  defence  of  the 
Mohammedan  religion  against  Christians,  .lews, 
Pagans,  and  every  class  of  unbelievers.  Tiie  most 
noted  of  his  works  is  that  entitled  The  Destruction 
of  Philosophers,  written  ag-ainst  Avicenna  and  otiier 
philosophers,  who,  in  order  to  solve  tlie  absurdities 
of  Islamism,  were  for  turning-  into  figure  and  alle- 
gory numerous  points  of  that  religion  which  had  all 
along  been  understood  literally.  Tliese  writers  he 
violentl}^  opposes,  accusing  them,  on  account  of 
these  mystical  interpretations,  of  heresy  and  infi- 
delity, as  corrupters  of  the  faith  and  subverters  of 
religion,  for  which  reason  he  had  the  honorary  appel- 
lation bestowed  upon  him  of  Hoghatol  Islam  Zainod- 
din,  i.  e.  The  Demonstration  of  AloJuunincdanisin,  cnid 
the  Honour  of  Religion.  He  was  born  A.  D.  1058,  and 
died  A.  D.  11 12.  His  name  at  length  is  Abu  Hamcd 
Ebn  Mohammed  Al  Gazali  Al  Tusi. 

Al  Jannabi  ;  a  historian  born  at  Jannaba,  a  city 
of  Persia,  near  Shiraz.  His  History  extends  down 
to  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1588,  and  in  tlie  course  of 
it  he  informs  his  reader  that  he  took  a  pilgiimage  to 
Mecca,  and  went  from  thence  to  Medina,  to  pay  his 
devotions  at  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet,  in  that  year  of 
the  Hejira  which  answers  to  A.  D.  155G. 

Al  Kamus  ;  i.  e.  The  Ocean ;  a  noted  Arabic  Dic- 
tionary, so  called  from  the  ocean  of  words  con- 
tained in  it'.  It  was  written  by  Moliamined  Al  8hi- 
razi  Al  Firauzabadi.  He  was  a  person  of  great 
esteem  among  the  princes  of  his  time,  for  his  emi- 
nent learning  and  worth,  particularly  with  Ismael 
Ebn  Abbas,  king  of  Yemen,  Bajazet,  king  of  the 
Turks,  and  Tamerlane  the  Tartar,  the  last  of  whom 
made  him  a  present  of  five  tliousand  pieces  of  gold 
at  one  time.  He  was  by  birth  a  Persian,  born  A.  D. 
1338,  but  lived  mos-tly  at  Sanau  in  Yemen  of  Arabia. 
He  finished  his  Dictionar>-  at  Mecca,  and  dedicated 


254  APPENDIX. 

it  to  Ismael  Ebn  Abbas,  whose  patronag-e  he  had 
long  enjoyed,  and  died  at  Zibit,  in  Arabia,  A.  D.  1414, 
having  attained  nearly  to  the  age  of  ninety  years. 

Al  Kodai;  an  Arabic  historian.  He  wrote  his 
history  about  A.  D.  1045,  and  died  A.  D.  1062. 

Al  Masudi  ;  an  historian.  He  is  the  author  of  a 
history  called  the  Golden  Meadows,  but  his  era  it  is 
not  possible  now  to  discover.  His  name  at  length 
is  Ali  Ebn  Housain  Al  Masudi.  He  Avrote  another 
work  also,  with  the  professed  design  of  exposing 
the  base  fraud  practised  by  the  Roman  Christians  in 
Jerusalem,  in  lighting  the  candles  at  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre on  Easter  Eve.  A  full  account  of  this  vile  im- 
position may  be  seen  in  Thevenot's  Travels,  Book 
ii.,  chap.  43. 

Al  MoTAREzzi ;  the  author  of  a  book  called  Mo- 
grel;  he  was  born  A.  D.  1143,  and  died  A.  D.  1213. 
He  was  of  the  sect  of*  the  Motazali,  and  seems  by 
his  name,  Al  Motarezzi,  to  have  been  by  occupation 
a  tailor,  as  that  is  the  signification  of  the  word  in 
Arabic. 

Bedawi;  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
commentators  on  the  Koran.     He  died  A.  D.  1293. 

DiALOGus  Mahometis  Cum  Abdollah  Ebn  Salem  ; 
a  book  written  in  Arabic,  containing  a  great  many 
of  the  absurdities  of  the  Mohammedan  religion,  in 
the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  the  Impostor  him- 
self, and  the  Jew  who  was  supposed  to  have  been 
his  assistant  iii  forging  the  Koran.  It  was  trans- 
lated into  Latin  by  Hermannus  Dalmata,  whose 
version  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  Bibliander's 
Latin  translation  of  the  Koran. 

DispuTATio  Christiani  contra  Saracenum  de  lege 
Mahometis.  This  work  was  written  in  Arabic  by  a 
Christian,  who  Avas  an  officer  in  the  court  of  a  king 
of  the  Saracens,  to  a  Mohamm.edan  friend  of  his,  a 
fellow-officer  with  him  in  the  same  court ;  and  con- 
tains a  confutation  of  Islamism.  Peter,  the  famous 
Abbot  of  Cluny,  in  Burgundy  who  flourished  A.  Dr. 


APPENDIX.  255 

1130,  caused  it  to  be  translated  into  Latin,  by  Peter 
of  Toledo.  An  epitome  of  the  work  occurs  in  lii- 
bliander's  Koran. 

Elm  ACINUS,  usually  written  Elmacin  ;  an  Arabic 
author,  who  has  written  a  history  of  the  Christian 
religion,  which  extends  from  the  creation  of  the 
world  to  A.  D.  1118.  The  latter  part  of  it,  com- 
mencing from  the  rise  of  Mohammedanism,  was 
published  by  Erpenius,  under  the  title  of  llistoria 
Saracenica,  A.  D.  16-25.  He  was  son  to  Yaser  Al 
Amid,  secretary  of  the  council  of  war  under  the 
Sultans  of  Egypt,  of  the  family  of  .Tobidre,  and  in 
the  year  1238,  Elmacin  succeeded  his  father  to  the 
same  office,  by  whom  it  had  been  occupied  for  forty- 
five  years  together.  His  whole  name  is  Georgius 
Ebn  Amid;  but  for  his  eminent  learning,  was  styled 
Al  Shaich  Al  Rais  Al  Macin,  i.  e.  The  prime  Doctor^ 
solidly  learned.  By  the  last  of  these  titles,  or  Elma- 
cin, he  is  generally  called  by  Erpenius ;  but  by 
others  he  is  frequently  cited  by  the  name  of  Ebn 
Amid. 

Ebnol  Athir  ;  a  Mohammedan  author,  born  A.  D. 
1149,  and  died  A.  D.  1209. 

Ali  Ebnol  AxmR;  an  historian,  brother  to  the 
former,  who  died  A.  D.  1232.  His  history,  which  he 
calls  Camel,  extends  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  to  the  year  of  our  Lord  1230. 

Ebnol  Kassai  ;  author  of  the  book  called  TaarifaU 
or  an  explication  of  the  various  Arabic  terms  used 
by  philosopliers,  lawyers,  divines,  and  other  classes 
of  the  learned  professions  among  them. 

Eutychius  ;  a  Christian  author,  of  the  sect  of  the 
Melchites,  whose  name  in  Arabic  is  Said  Ebn  Ba- 
trik.  He  was  born  at  Cairo  in  Egypt,  A.  D.  876, 
where  he  became  eminently  distinguished  in  the 
medical  profession.  But  towards  the  latter  part  of 
his  life,  addicting  himself  more  to  the  study  of  di- 
vinity, he  was  A.  D.  933,  chosen  patriarch  of  Alex- 
andria, when  he  first  took  the  name  of  Eutychius. 


256  APPENDIX. 

He  died  seven  5^ears  after,  A.  D.  910.  His  Annals 
of  the  Church  of  Alexandria,  were  published  in 
Arabic  and  Latin  at  Oxford,  by  Dr.  Pocock,  A.  D. 
1656,  at  the  charge  of  the  learned  Selden. 

Liber  de  Generatione  et  Nutritura  Mahometis  ; 
a  most  silly  and  frivolous  Tract,  vrritten  originally 
in  Arabic,  from  which  it  was  translated  into  Latin  by 
Hermannus  Dalmata,  and  published  with  the  Latin 
Koran  of  Bibliander. 

Geographia  Nubiensis  ;  one  of  the  most  noted 
Oriental  works  on  the  subject  of  geography.  This 
title  was  given  it  by  Sionita  and  Hesronita,  Maron- 
ite  Christians,  who  published  it  in  Latin  with  a  geo- 
graphical appendix,  A.  D.  1619.  But  the  Geographia 
Kuhiensis  is  in  fact  only  an  abridgment  of  a  much 
larger  and  much  better  work,  written  by  Sherif  El 
Edrisi,  at  the  command  of  Roger,  king  of  Sicily,  for 
the  purpose  of  explaining  a  large  terrestrial  globe 
which  that  prince  had  constructed  entirely  of  silver. 
He  completed  his  work  A.  D.  1153,  and  entitled  it 
Ketab  Roger,  i.  e.  The  Book  of  Roger,  from  the  name 
of  his  patron.  The  author  was  by  extraction  of  the 
race  of  Mahomet,  and  therefore  called  Sherif,  the 
title  appropriated  to  all  the  descendants  of  the  pro- 
phet. There  was  a  beautiful  copy  of  this  work 
among  the  Arabic  MSS.  of  Pocock. 

Georgius  Monachus  ;  Abbot  of  the  monastery  of 
St.  Simeon.  He  wrote  a  tract  in  defence  of  the 
Christian  religion  against  the  JMohammedans,  in  the 
form  of  a  disputation  held  by  himself  with  several 
Mussulmans,  of  whom  the  principal  speaker  was 
Abu  Salama  Ebn  Saar,  of  Mosul. 

Jauhari  ;  the  author  of  a  noted  Arabic  Dictionary 
called  Al  Sahah.  He  was  of  Turkish  origin,  and 
died  A.  D.  1007.  This  dictionary  is  considered  in- 
ferior only  to  the  Ramus.  Golius,  in  his  Arabic  Lexi- 
con, has  drawn  largely  from  its  resources. 

Jalalani  ;  i.  e.  The  two  Jalals,  They  were  two 
individuals  of  the  same  name,  who  wrote  a  shor* 


APPENDIX.  257 

commentary  on  the  Koran,  wliich  was  bciran  by  the 
nrst,  and  finished  bv  the  second.  The  latt«^r  com- 
pleted the  work  A.  I).  1466,  and  was  author  also  of  a 
history  called  Mezhar. 

Sharestani. — A  scholastic  writer  of  considerable 
repute  among  the  IMohammedans.  He  was  born  at 
Sharestan,  A.D.  1074,  and  died  A.  D.  1151. 
_  Zamach-shari.— The  author  of  a  work  called  Al 
Keshaf ;  which  is  an  extensive  commentary  on  the 
Koran,  the  most  highly  esteemed  among  "the  Mo- 
hammedans of  any  work  of  this  kind.  He  died 
A.D.  1143. 


GREEK  AUTHORS. 

Bartholomei  Edessim  Confutatio  Hagarexi. — A 
treatise  in  the  Greek  language  written  agains«t  the 
Mohammedan  religion,  published  by  Le  Moyne 
among  his  Faria  Sacra.  The  author  was  a  monk 
of  Edessa  in  Mesopotamia,  but  in  what  age  he  lived 
is  unknown. 

CONTACUZENUS    CoNTRA    SeCTAM    MaHOMETICAM. 

This  work  contains  four  apologies  for  the  Christian 
Religion,  and  four  orations  against  the  Mohamme- 
dan. The  author  had  been  emperor  of  Constanti- 
nople, but  having  resigned  his  empire  to  John  Pale- 
ologus,  his  son-in-law,  A.D.  1355,  lie  retired  into  a 
monastery,  accompanie-d  by  one  Meletius,  whom  he 
had  converted  from  the  xMohammedan  to  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  The  work  now  mentioned  was  written 
for  Meletius  in  answer  to  a  letter  addressed  to  him 
by  Sampsates,  a  Persian  of  Ispahan,  with  a  view  to 
reclaim  him,  if  possible,  again  to  the  religion  of 
Islam. 

Cedreni  Compendium  Historiarum. — A  work  em- 
bracing a  concise  history  of  all  ;iges  from  the  ere- 
ation  of  the  world  to  the  year  of  our  Lord  lOS". 
Y2 


258  APPENDIX. 

CoNFUTATio  Mahometis. — A  Greek  tract  published 
by  Le  Moyne  in  his  Varia  Sacra ;  author  unknown. 

Theophanis  Chronographia. — The  work  of  one 
of  the  Byzantine  historians,  containing  a  chronolo- 
gical history  of  the  Roman  Empire,  from  the  year 
of  our  Lord  285  to  A.  D.  813.  The  author  was  a 
nobleman  of  Constantinople,  where  he  held  an  of- 
fice of  distinction  in  tlie  imperial  court,  but  after- 
ward retiring  from  public  life  and  secluding  himself 
in  a  monastery,  he  wrote  this  history.  He  died 
A.D.  815  in  prison,  in  the  island  of  Samothrace,  a 
martyr  to  his  zeal  for  image-worship,  for  which  he 
was  a  most  strenuous  advocate  in  the  second  coun- 
cil of  Nice. 

ZoNARiE  Compendium  Historiarum. — Another  of 
the  series  of  the  Byzantine  historians.  It  contains 
a  history  reaching  from  tlie  creation  to  the  death 
of  Alexius  Comnenus,  emperor  of  Constantinople, 
which  happened  A.D.  1118,  when  the  author  flou- 
rished. He  was  at  first  a  person  of  distinguished 
rank  in  the  court  of  Constantinople,  but  afterwara 
becoming  an  ecclesiastic,  he  wrote  the  history  now 
mentioned,  and  was  author  also  of  a  celebrated 
Comment  on  the  Greek  Canons. 


LATIN  AUTHORS. 

Clenardi  Epistol^. — The  author  of  these  epi^ 
ties  was  the  famous  grammarian  of  his  age.  Urged 
by  his  high  opinion  of  the  literary  treasures  locked 
up  in  the  Arabic  language,  he  went  to  Fez,  A.  D. 
1540,  on  purpose  to  make  himself  master  of  this  in- 
valuable tongue,  and  that  at  an  advanced  period  of 
life.  From  this  place  he  wrote  the  epistles  above- 
mentioned,  containing  a  minute  account  of  the  man- 
ners and  religion  of  the  Mohammedans.  He  died 
at  Granada  in  Spain,  immediately  after  his  return. 


APPENDIX.  259 

CusANi  Cribatio  Alcorani. — The  author  of  this 
book  was  the  celebrated  Nicolas  de  Tusa,  the  most 
eminent  scholar  of  the  n^e  in  which  he  lived.  He 
was  made  Cardinal  of  Rome,  A.  D.  1418,  with  the 
title  of  St.  Peter'' s  ad  vinaila,  and  died  A.  D.  1164, 
about  ten  years  after  the  capture  of  Constantinople 
by  the  Turks.  This  event  gave  occasion  to  the 
work,  in  which  he  aimed  to  provide  an  antidote  to 
that  banefid  religion  which  he  saw  was  now  likely 
to  overspread  a  great  part  of  Christendom. 

AbRAHAMI     ECCHELEN;51S     IIlSTORIA    AraBIM. This 

work  is  subjoined  by  the  author  to  his  Chronicon 
Orientale,  collected  out  of  the  Arabic  writers.  Kc- 
chelensis  wasaMaroniteof  r^louut  Libanus  in  Syria, 
and  was  employed  as  Professor  of  the  Oriental 
Languages  in  the  College  De  Propaganda  Fide,  at 
Rome,  from  whence,  about  the  year"  1640,  he  was 
called  to  Paris,  to  assist  in  the  publication  of  the 
great  Polyglot  Bible,  and  was  there  made  the  king's 
Professor  of  Oriental  Languages  in  the  college  of 
that  city.  His  part,  however,  in  the  execution  of 
that  great  work  was  said  by  some  of  the  doctors  of 
the  Sorbonne  to  have  done  him  little  credit.  His 
inaccuracies  were  almost  infinite,  and  such  as  to 
evince  that  his  judgment  came  far  short  of  his  eru- 
dition. . 

J.    H.    HOTTINGERI    HiSTORIA   OrIENTALIS.— Of  tlUS 

valuable  work  there  are  two  editions ;  the  first  of 
A..  D.  1651 ;  the  second,  much  enlarged,  of  A.  I). 
1660.  The  author  was  Professor  of  Oriental  Lan- 
guages, first  at  Zurich  in  Switzerland,  and  afterward 
at  Heidelburgh  in  Holland.  From  this  place  he  was 
called  to  a  similar  Professorship  at  Leydcn,  but  was 
unforiunately  drowned  in  the  Rhine  during  his  re- 
moval  thither.  Hottinger  was  a  man  of  amazing 
industry  and  of  vast  learning;  but  from  having 
written  so  much  in  so  short  a  compass  of  time,  for 
he  died  young,  his  works  want  that  accuracy  which 


200  APPENDIX. 

the  maturity  of  a  few  more  years  in  the  author  wouLd 
have  given  them.     As  it  is,  they  are  all  useful. 

Johannes  Andreas  de  Confusions  Sect^e  Maho- 
METAN.E. — The  author  of  this  work  was  formerly  an 
Alfaki,  or  doctor  of  the  Mohammedan  Law ;  but  in 
the  year  1487,  being  at  Valencia  in  Spain,  he  was 
converted  to  Christianity,  and  soon  after  received 
into  holy  orders ;  whereupon  he  wrote  this  treatise 
in  Spanish  against  the  religion  which  he  had  aban- 
doned. From  the  Spanish,  it  was  translated  into 
Italian  A.  D.  1540 ;  and  again  into  Latin  in  1595,  and 
reprinted  by  Voetius  at  Utrecht  in  1656.  His 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject  enables  him  to 
manage  the  controversy  with  a  force  and  pertinency 
which  has  since  been  rarely  equalled. 

PococK. — The  celebrated  Professor  of  the  Hebrew 
and  Arabic  tongues  at  Oxford ;  for  piety  and  learn- 
ing one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  his  age.  He 
was  born  A.D.  1604,  and  died  A.  D.  1691.  For  up- 
wards of  sixty  years  he  was  a  constant  editor  of 
useful  and  learned  works,  connected  for  the  most 
part  with  the  history  or  literature  of  the  East.  His 
most  valuable,  though  by  no  means  his  most  exten- 
sive, work  is  the  Spechnen  Historice  ArabiccE,  pub- 
lished A.D.  1650,  which  Mr.  Gibbon  thus  signifi- 
cantly characterizes  in  one  of  his  notes : — "  Consult, 
peruse,  and  study  the  Specimen  Historiae  Arabicae ! 
The  three  hundred  and  fifty-eight  notes  form  a 
classic  and  original  work  on  the  Arabian  antiqui- 
ties."* Again,  "  the  English  scholar  (Pocock)  un- 
derstood more  Arabic  than  the  Mufti  of  Aleppo."t 

RlCHARDI     CONFUTATIO      LeGIS     SARACENICiE. TllC 

author  of  this  very  valuable  tract  Vv-as  a  Dominican 
friar,  who  in  the  year  1210  went  to  Bagdad  with 
the  sole  purpose  of  studying  the  Mohammedan  reli- 
gion out  of  their  own  writings,  in  order  the  more 
successfully  to  confute  it.     This  learned  and  judi- 

♦  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  v.  p.  1S9.  t  lb  vol.  v.  p.  22a 


APPENDIX.  2GI 

eious  treatise  was  the  fmit  of  his  foreijrn  rosidenrc, 
which  lie  piibhshed  upon  liis  return.  It  was  trans- 
lated from  the  Latin  into  Greek  by  Dcnietriuy  Cydo- 
iiius  for  the  ex-emperor  Cantacuzenr,  who  niakcjf 
great  use  of  it,  deriving  from  it  whalrvor  is  of  most 
real  value  in  his  four  Orations  aoainst  tlie  Moham- 
medan religion.  From  this  Greek  version  of  Cydo- 
nius  it  was  re-translated  into  Latin  by  Pi('iMuis,'and 
published  in  the  Latin  Koran  of  Bibliander.  Tliis  is 
all  we  now  have  of  it,  the  original  being  lost.  This 
tract  of  Richard,  and  that  of  Johannes  Andreas  be- 
fore mentioned,  were  the  ablest  which  had  been 
written  by  Europeans  in  the  Mohammedan  con- 
troversy previous  to  those  of  the  Rev.'  Hemy  Martyn, 
which  were  originally  published  in  Persian,  and 
have  since  been  translated  into  English  by  Prof.  Lee 
of  Cambridge. 

RoDERici  ToLETANi  HisTORiA  Arabum. — Containing 
a  histoiy  of  the  Saracens  from  the  birlli  of  Moham- 
med to  the  year  of  our  Lord  1150.  'J'he  author  was 
Roderic,  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  in  Spain,  Avho  was 
present  at  the  Lateran  Council  in  1215.  His  liis- 
tory,  from  the  tenth  chapter,  is  mostly  confined  to 
the  Saracens  of  Spain,  where  his  accounts  may  be 
generally  relied  on;  but  little  credit,  it  is  said,  is  due 
to  him  wherever  he  follows  them  out  of  the  bounds 
of  the  Peninsula.  Tlie  work  was  published  with 
Erpenius'  Historia  Saracenica  at  Leyden,  A.D.  1G25. 


THE  END, 


VALUABLE    WORKS 

PUBU8HKD  BY 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  No.  82  CLIFF-STREET , 

NEW-YORK, 
And  for  Sale  by  the  principal  Booksellers  in  the  United  States. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS.     By  the  Rev. 

H.  H.  MiLMAN.     In  3  vols.  18mo.     Illustrated  with  origi- 
nal Maps  and  Woodcuts. 

«*The  narrative  of  the  varioua  and  highly  interesting  events  In  that 
period  flows  on  in  a  chaste  style ;  and  a  thorough  knowledf?e  of  his  sub 
ject  is  evident  in  every  page.  The  wori;  is  spirited,  well  arranped.  and 
Hill  of  information,  and  of  a  wise  and  well-cultivated  spirit."— XtAcn.ny  m. 

"Professor  H.  H.  Milman  is  one  of  the  most  chaste  and  classiral 
writers  of  the  age.  The  History  of  the  .Jews  embraced  in  the  volumes 
before  us,  has  already  passed  through  three  editions  in  England,  and  is 
highly  and  justly  commended  by  many  of  the  most  respectable  period- 
icjds." — iV.  Y.  Journal  of  Commerce. 

"It  is  written  in  a  very  interesting  manner— in  a  more  philoaopliical 
spirit,  and  with  more  depth  of  reflection,  than  is  generally  found  m  his- 
tories of  this  nature.  It  is  not  wanting  in  historical  condensation,  and  th« 
colouring  of  the  style  Ls  lively  and  picturesque.*'— A'.  Y.  Evening  Post 

LIFE     OF    NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE. 

By  J.  G.  LocKHART,  Esq.     With  copperplate  Engrav- 
ings.    In  2  vols.  ISmo. 
"We  anticipate  a  prodigious  circulation  for  this  attractive  work.     It 

is  drawn  up  with  consummate  ability.    Indeed,  we  hrive  Beldom  p«.>ruBed 

a  work  more  uniformly  interesting  in  its  details."— i'li^i. 
"  It  is,  unquestionably,  in  a  brief  and  tangible  form,  the  most  popular 

History  of  Napoleon  that  has  been  vet  produced.'"- yir/a.j. 
"  This  is  a  much  belter  book  than  any  other  in  Englwh  on  the  same 

subject." — AthentBum. 

LIFE  OF  NELSON.    By  Robt.  Southey, 

Esq.     With  a  Portrait.     l8nio 

"  This  is  the  best  work  that  ever  came  from  the  pen  of  the  la^^eal^ 
and  it  is  an  excellent  epecimcn  of  biography."-.Vwf>i^.  PuZ/odmrn. 

"The  merits  of  this  work  are  so  well  known  that  it  is  altoKcther  un- 
necessary to  recommend  it  to  our  readers."— A'.  V.  Lvming  lost 

"Southcy's  fine  and  popular  bioi;raphy  of  Nel«on  '^^/;^;^^^?^^ 
wanted,  and  ii  now  to  he  had  very  che«i),  m  a  very  neat  and  eonrentent 
form."— A".  Y.  Commncial  Advertiser. 


2  VALUABLE     WORKS. 

LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT. 

By  Rev.  J.  Williams.     Y/ith  a  Map.     19mo. 

"  The  style  ia  good,  and  the  narrative  well  conducted.  A  modern 
history  of  this  famous  warrior  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting."— A'.  Y". 
Daily  Advertiser. 

"  The  work  is  instructing,  and  inherits  a  greater  share  of  interest  from 
the  fact,  that  the  history  of  this  ancient  Napoleon  is  disintegrated  from 
the  mass  of  general  history,  and  presented  by  itself.  The  style  is  lucid 
and  well  studied."— TV.  Y.  Journal  of  Commerce. 

"■  It  is  ably  and  eloquently  written." — B.  Journal. 

NATURAL    HISTORY    OF    INSECTS 

Illustrated  by  numerous  Engravings.     18mo. 

*'  Of  all  studies,  perhaps,  there  is  none  more  captivating  than  that  of 
animated  nature. . .  .The  present  volume  is  peculiarly  useful  and  agree* 
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"The  subject  is  full  of  interest  and  satisfaction,  and  is  adapted  to  all 
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cannot  but  recommend  the  work  to  general  perusal  in  families."— iV.  Y. 
Standard. 

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persons  of  all  classes,  and  occupy  an  appropriate  place  in  the  Family 
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LIFE  OF  LORD  BYRON.    By  John  Galt, 

Esq.     18mo. 

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est to  this  work,  and  he  appears  to  have  done  perfect  justice  to  its  in- 
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"  Mr.  Gait  ia  one  of  the  most  fascinating  writers  of  the  s.gG.'"— Journal 
of  Commerce. 

LIFE    OF  MOHAMMED,  Founder  of  the 

Religion  of  Islam  and  of  the  Empire  of  the  Saracens. 
By  the  Rev.  George  Bush,  M.A.    With  a  plate.    18mo. 

^   "It  seems  to  us  to  be  a  good  narrative  of  the  life  of  the  great  Arabian 

Impostor,  written  in  a  fine  style We  are  not  aware  that  any  other 

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"Mr.  Bush  is  a  scholar  of  extensive  acquirements,  and  well  fitted  for 
the  task  which  he  has  undertaken  in  this  volume."— iV.  Y.  Observer. 

"In  the  collection  of  materials,  the  author  appears  to  have  neglected 
no  source  from  which  valuable  aid  was  to  be  expucted."— Philadelphia 
Daily  Chronicle. 

"  The  history  of  the  eminent  impostor  cannot  but  be  a  work  of  interest 
to  every  enlightened  mind."— PtTir,.  Inquirer. 


I 


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BP75.B97 

The  life  of  Mohammed  :  founder  of  the 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


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