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MOHAMMED

AND

MOHAMMEDANISM

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♦*L1BP.ARY, **

f

MOHAMMED

AND

MOHAMMEDANISM

Many false prophets shall rise^ and shall deceive many.

Matt. xxiv. ii.

Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid^ which is
Jesus Christ, i CoR. in. ii.

MOHAMMED

AND

MOHAMMEDANISM

Critically constidcceti

r

BY

{.W. KO

I^OELLE, Ph.Dr.

CORRBSPONOIMC UBMBBR OF THB ROYAI. ACADEMY OP SCIENCES IN BERLIN, AND FOR

OVER THIRTY YEARS MISSIONARY OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN

SIERRA LBONB AND IN TURKEY; AUTHOR OF THB POLYCLOTTA

AFRICANA. A VEI GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY. A BORNU

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY, ETC.

RIVINGTONS
WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON

MDCCCLXXXIX

[All rig^hts reserved.\

■ I

FT
KT7

So2 f 6 J7-/J^

PREFACE

A NEW work on Mohammed and Mohammedanism
seems to require some words of explanation to the reading
public whose attention it claims. There exists already a
goodly number of such works, both in the English language
and in other European languages. It stands to reason that
any further addition should be able to justify itself, either
by opening fresh sources of information, or by placing old
materials into a new and clearer light Is this possible?
Have the previous works, with the widely diverging results
of their investigations, wholly exhausted the topic, or have
they left room, if not for startling discoveries, at least for the
useful gleanings of earnest and painstaking followers ? One
of my English predecessors wrote, fifteen years ago, that the
treatment of the subject * hardly now admits of originality.'
Probably many are of the same opinion. But I would in
all modesty, and yet with confidence, appeal to the judg-
ment of any qualified reader, whether the following work
possesses a degree of independence and originality sufficient
to vindicate its place amongst all the more or less meri-
torious productions by which it has been preceded. It is
true, the historical data exist for all alike, and we cannot
multiply them at will ; but in their investigation and utilisa-
tion there remains a wide field for the play of a variety of
talents and of sundry measures of judgment

As in nature, so in history, objects assume a different
aspect according to the standpoint from which they are
contemplated. In the suitability of the different stand-
points also there is a gradation from the worst to the best.

vi PREFACE.

As a rule, the higher and freer the standpoint, the more
serviceable it is for obtaining a correct view. He would be
a bold man who affirmed that he had so entirely exhausted
the momentous subject of Islam and its Prophet, as to leave
nothing more to be don^ by those who follow after. Taking
for granted that my predecessors, whose merits I gratefully
acknowledge, rather wished to encourage than prohibit
further research, I kept my eyes open, whilst following in
the way they had trodden, and judged for myself, as they
had done before me. The intelligent reader, by accompany-
ing me on the stern and bracing march of research, will be
able to say, whether I have succeeded in observing here and
there what had been left unnoticed by those who went before
me, and in occasionally placing in a fuller and truer light
what was already known.

I would especially invite the thoughtful reader to direct
his attention to the manner in which I have traced the
development of Mohammed into the prophet he became ; to
the inward harmony which I have shown to exist between
his Meccan and Medinan periods, notwithstanding their out-
ward dissimilarity ; to the large mythical element in the
Moslem biographies which I have laid bare, together with
the leading idea from which it sprang ; and to the peculiar
character of the Mohammedan opposition to Christianity and
Christendom, which I have pointed out in its fundamental
principle and in its practical manifestation throughout the
course of its history. It appears to me almost impossible
that any judicious reader could honestly and impartially
ponder the grave array of data and records which I unroll
before him, without becoming convinced, with me, of the
designedly and deeply antichristian character of the entire
system of Islamism.

Many have wondered at the haughty complacency and
air of superiority with which the devout Mohammedans are
wont to look down upon Christianity and its professors.
Often the scanty success of Christian Missionary efforts

PREFACE. vii

amongst Mussulmans has been discussed as something
strange, and calling for explanation. But leaving aside
the intimate union between the secular and the religious
in the Islamic system, which places the sword of coercion
in its hand, and looking only at the transcendent halo of the
mythical Mohammed, as it is set forth in my Second Book,
who can wonder any longer that if such a Mohammed sits
enthroned in the hearts of the Mohammedans, they should
see in Christ but scant * comeliness and beauty ' that they
* should desire Him ' ? What a mass of superstitious rubbish
has to be swept away from the path of the pious Moslem,
before his vision can become unimpeded and free enough to
perceive the all-surpassing spiritual majesty of Him who
could say, * He who hath seen me hath seen the Father ! *
(John xiv. 9.) I repeat. Let any one who wonders why
a greater number of Mohammedans do not become Chris-
tians, carefully read our Second Book, and he will understand
the self-sufficiency of men who regard such fancy-pictures of
Mohammed as real, and such fairy-tales about his apostolic
pre-eminence as true. In order to become Christians, the
Moslems have as much to unlearn as to learn.

Some Christian writers have considered it an act of jus-
tice towards them to endeavour to prove that their Prophet
was innocent of much with which Christians had charged
him. No one will deny that justice is a virtue which
we are bound to exercise even towards adversaries. But
if our goodwill to the Mohammedans is of the sterling kind
which wishes to help them into the full daylight of Chris-
tian Truth, we are more likely to benefit them by frankly
pointing out the distortion of tlie lengthened shadow they
are following, and the perfect symmetry of the image it
reflects, than by assuring them that however distorted the
shadow may be, yet it is not quite so distorted as has been
represented. Fashions are proverbially tyrannous. So
strong has the modern fashion of * justice to Mohammed*
grown, that it has sometimes manifested itself by positive

viii PREFACE,

misstatements in his favour. What hollow and undeserved
praise has, e.g.^ been lavished on the Arabian Prophet by
reason of his retirement to a cave on Mount Hira ! To such
a degree these fancies have been repeated that they have
become a widespread superstition. I trust that the advocates
of fairness and justice, whom I claim as colleagues, will feel
beholden to me for having reduced their exaggerating cave-
story to its proper historical dimension.

I have not concealed, throughout the work, that my
standpoint, in forming a judgment, is that of Christianity.
All civilised and well-informed men who have impartially
studied the subject agree in this, that, as a whole, Christianity
is far superior to Islam, or to any other existing religion.
It further admits of not any doubt, that only by the light
of the higher religion can the lower be rightly estimated:
just as in nature, in science, and in art, the higher develop-
ment throws the necessary light on the less developed
forms. In judging anything, a standard is required to guide
our judgment. I have not heard of any one having dis-
cpvered a worthier standard for judging the claims of Moham-
med than is given in the Person of Christ ; or the claims of
Islam, than genuine Christianity. Any one who declines to
judge the lower religion by the higher one, rejects the only
standard by which he can hope to arrive at a correct and
sure judgment.

When I lived amongst the Mohammedans as a Christian
Missionary, I, in dealing with them, "naturally felt it an
incumbent duty to seek to discover all the bright spots, all
that is true and good, in their religion, all that might form a
bond of agreement between us, and a starting-point for a
still higher advance. But it was no less a plain duty to
have an open eye for all the defects and faults inherent
to the system, in order to be able to point them out to its
votaries, and thus to help them to a just sense of the pos-
sibility and necessity of rising to something far higher and
better. No one more than a Missionary to the Mohammedans

PREFACE, ix

n>ust see how indispensable it is for him to form a correct
estimate as well of the bright as the dark side of Isl^^m,
and to meet its professors in a spirit of fairness and
benevolence. The Moslems deserve our esteem as fellow-
worshippers with us of the Great God of the Universe ; and
they need our heartfelt sympathy, our loving help, as un-
happily deprived, by the Islamic veil, of a full sight of the
One Mediator between God and man, the only Saviour of
sinners. In this spirit I found it quite possible to have
friendly intercourse with them, which in several cases ripened
into actual friendship.

My practical acquaintance with Mohammedans began
over forty years ago, when I held the post of Professor of
Hebrew and Arabic in the Church Missionary College at
Fourah Bay, near Freetown, on the west coast of Africa. I
often visited a Mohammedan village in the immediate
vicinity, and was on such friendly footing with its spiritual
head as to be often invited to accompany him to the mosque,
and to be present during their service. In Egypt, in Pales-
tine, and in European Turkey, I had ample opportunity,
during more than a quarter of a century, of still further
extending my acquaintance with Mohammedanism and the
Mohammedans. I had the pleasure of counting amongst
my friends some of all the classes of Moslem society, from
the highest to the lowest We must not look for perfection
in fallen man anywhere, but I have met with truth-loving,
honest men, and fine natural characters, amongst the Mussul-
mans of my acquaintance. If one has the opportunity of an
insight into men's inner life and religious aspirations, one
may still be disposed to say, with Tertullian, Anima humana
naiuraliter Christiana. Man as such, no matter of what
country or nationality, has a natural sensorium and capacity
for the Divine verities of Christianity. Often I said to
myself, in becoming acquainted with God-fearing, open-
hearted Moslems, 'What noble Christian characters these
men will become, if once they receive Christ ! ' But the

X PREFACE,

Mohammedans are, as it were, defrauded of their faith in
Christ by the counterfeit obtruding itself to their vision, and
intercepting their heart's ready trust in a Mediator and
Saviour, of whom they stand as much in need as other men.
Islam has an undoubted tendency to engender in its votaries
an excessive sense of religious superiority, and a contempt
for every other faith and its professors. The Moslems are
not accustomed to examine into the foundation and proofs
of their own religion. They are taught to look upon the
question * Why ? ' in matters of religion, as blamable rather
than laudable. They take for granted that their Islam is
the Divine revelation in the absolute sense, and their
Prophet the seal and chief of all other prophets. They have
to be taught to think and reason, to ask for proof and weigh
evidence, to rise from a blind faith to an enlightened faith.
When once they consent to learn tliat all the boasted
equality or superiority of Mohammed to Christ rests on
mere fiction, devoid of all foundation in fact ; and if their
Governments make religious liberty a reality, — then we
may hope that they will as readily enter the common bond
of European Christianity, as they have already begun to
adopt the advantages of European civilisation.

I trust it will not be deemed unbecoming in one, who
has spent the best part of his life in seeking to interpret
Christ and Christianity to the Mohammedans, to have
devoted some of his declining years to this present attempt
of interpreting Mohammed and Mohammedanism to the
Christians. May it prove useful in fostering a true, i.e, a
Christian, estimation of Mohammed and Mohammedanism,
and in stimulating the zeal of the Church of Christ to pro-
mote amongst our Moslem fellow-men the Kingdom of God
and of Christ, which is a Kingdom of Truth !

S. W. KOELLE.

Richmond House,
28 LiLLiB Road, FuLif am, London.
In Advent 1888.

CONTENTS

BOOK L

MOHAMMED VIEWED IN THE DAYLIGHT OF HISTORY.

PAGB

Hb is to be understood in his Relation to his Surroundings, i, 2

CHAPTER L

Mohammed developing into the Prophet he became, or his

history up to the fortieth year of his life, . . . 3-71

I. The Political Factor, 3-17

II. The Religious Factor 17-28

III. The Ancestral or Family Factor 28-36

IV. The Personal Factor 36-48

V. The Product of the afore-mentioned Factors, or Mohammed as-
suming the character of a prophet and messenger of God, . 48*71

CHAPTER //.

Mohammed exercising the Prophetic Mission he claimed, or
His History during the last twenty-three years of his
Life, 72-241

Essential Inward Union of the Meccan and Medinan Periods, notwith-
standing their Outward Difference, 7^-75

I. Mohammed's ill success in seeking recognition as the Prophet of
Islam, or the Meccan Period of his Public Life, from about the
Fortieth to the Fifty-Third Year of his age 76-115

1. Mohammed's diffident start as a Prophet, .... 76-77

2. Mohammed's earliest converts, 77-8$

3. A further increase in the number of converts emboldens

Mohammed, but, at the same time, arouses persecution, . 85-88

4. Mo]^amn\ed finds safety from persecution by removing to the

house of Arkam ; and his believers by emigrating to Abyssinia, 88-89

5. Mohammed, by sacrificing principles, enters into a compromise

with the Koreish, 90-92

xii CONTENTS.

PACE

6. Mohammed's withdrawal from the compromise fans afresh the

flames of ridicule and persecution, 92*93

7. The two important conversions of Hamza and Omar take place

notwithstanding the prevailing persecution, .... 93*97

8. After these conversions, persecution bursts out more fiercely,

and Mohammed, with his entire family, is put imder a ban, 97-99

9. Mohammed, bereA by death of Khadija and Abu Talib, finds

Mecca increasingly unsympathetic, and at last fixedly hostile, 99-101

10. Definitively rejected by Mecca, Mohammed addresses himself to

other Arab Communities, but meets with no better reception, 101 > 104

11. Mohammed succeeds in gaining a number of partisans amongst

the people of Medina, 104-107

12. The spread of Islam amongst the' people of Medina prepares

the way for Mohammed and his whole party to emigrate
thither, 107-I15

II. Mohammed's complete success in securing recognition as a Prophet,
and in rendering Islam the dominant power of Arabia, or his
Medinan Period, comprising the last ten years of his life, . 1 15-241

1. Mohammed settles in Medina, and seeks to unite around him

the different sections of the population, as a first step in the
realisation of his Plan, - 1 15- 1 24

2. Mohammed, by establishing Islam as the paramount power

of Medina, displaces the previous Polytheism, and forces
the dissenting Arabs either to emigrate, or to simulate sub-
mission. In this sense he shows himself anti-Pagan, . 124-128

3. Mohammed at first accommodates himself to the Jews, in the

hope of gaining them over to Islam ; but failing in this, h^
deliberately turns against them, and shows himself decidedly
anti-Jewish, 128-134

4* Mohammed, unsuccessful to convert the Christians by way of
theological disputations, seeks to degrade their religion, and
reduces them to a state of vassalage. He shows himself
positively an ti -Christian, 135-140

5. Mohammed engages in a number of warlike expeditions

against the Koreish, for the purpose of revenge and plunder,
which culminate in the victorious battle at Bedr, . . 140-152

6. The Meccans, under a sense of their disgraceful defeat at Bedr,

stir up their confederates against Mohammed, and avenge
themselves by the decided victory at Ohod, . . . 152-159

7. In consequence of his defeat at Ohod, Mohammed has to meet

several hostile demonstrations of Bedouin tribes, and after-
wards a protracted siege of Medina by a formidable Meccan
army, 159-168

8. Mohammed's anti-Jewish policy leads to the heartless over-

throw of the Jewish tribes of Medina, and the unjust conquest

of Khaibar, with other Jewish communities, . . 168-185

CONTENTS, xiii

PAGB

9. Mohammed extends his policy of conquest, subjugation, and
plunder to a number of Bedouin tribes, and injures Mecca
whenever he can, 185-188

10. Mohammed shows his veneration for the Kaaba by arranging

a pompous pilgrimage to it ; but the Koreish prevent his
caravan of pilgrims from approaching nearer than Hodeibia,
where he succeeds in concluding an armistice with them, 188- 191

1 1 . Mohammed, making good use of his armistice with the Koreish,

seeks to extend his influence abroad by sending messengers
to neighbouring potentates, summoning them to embrace
Islam, ......... 192-196

12. Mohammed, with 2000 followers, visits the pilgrim-festival,

according to treaty right ; and, after despatching marauding
expeditions to various parts, including one to Muta, finds
a pretext for breaking the armistice, and easily conquers
Mecca, with an army of 10,000 men, .... 196-203

13. After the conquest of Mecca, Mohammed's power rapidly

increases, and he gains the important battle of Honein,
which yields him an immense booty, and leads to the
capitulation of the rich town of Taif, .... 203-206

14. Mohammed starts with a military expedition against the

Roman empire, but only reaches as far as Tabuk, whence

he despatches some troops against Duma, and then returns, 206-210

15. The Arab power of resistance being broken by the rapid

extension of Mohammed's triumphs, so many tribes are
induced by fear and self-interest, to send special deputies
to Medina, offering their submission to Islam, that the 9th
year after the Flight is styled, * The Year of the Deputa-
tions,' 211-215

16. The superficiality of the conversions and compacts effected

by those deputations, is illustrated by the instances of two

Arab tribes, and of two rival Prophets, . . . 215-221

17. Mohammed celebrates the complete triumph of Islam over

Arabia by attending the reformed pilgrim-festival of the year

632, with a company of 114,000 Moslem followers, . 221-223

18. Mohammed seeks to tighten his grasp on Arabia by the

despatch of Collectors or Residents to its different provinces ;
and then directs his earnest attention to a fresh attack upon
the Roman empire, by collecting an army to invade S3nria, 224-228

19. Mohammed is arrested in his career of conquests and sensu-

ality by the unsparing hand of death 229-233

20. Mohammed has scarcely closed his eyes, when discord among

his followers threatens to break up the whole fabric he had
erected ; but Abu Bekr manages to be chosen first Cali^
and, as such, takes up the plans of his late friend, 233-241

xiv CONTENTS.

BOOK II.

MOHAMMED VIEWED IN THE MOONSHINE OF TRADITION.

PAGE

Difference between Book I. and Book II. Explained, 242-245

CHAPTER I.

The Biographies of Mohammed by Moslem Authors, attri-
buting TO THEIR Prophet an equality with, or even a
superiority to, the Prophet of Nazareth, appear in the
light of a thinly disguised Plagiarism of the Evan-
gelical Records, and Mohammed himself as an obvious
Parody of Jesus Christ, 246-374

1. Pre-existence is ascribed, as first to Qirtst, so afterwards to

Mohammed; and each of them is represented as the Cause or
Medium of the existence of all other creatures, . . . 246-252

2. Mohammed's geneal<^ is traced through Abraham to Adam, just

as that of Jesus Christ, 252-253

3. As the angel Gabriel announced the conception of Jesus Christ by

the Virgin Mary, so he also announced that of Mohammed by
Amina ; but the latter ' to every place on the face of the earth,' 253-254

4. As before the birth of Jesus, so also before that of Mohammed, an

angel announced the name he was to bear, 254

5. The birth of both was distinguished by the glory of a heavenly light,

the appearance of angels and by signs on the earth and in the
starry sphere, 254-257

6. Though both were subjected to the rite of circumcision, yet there

was a difference in favour of Mohammed, 257

7. A benediction is uttered on the breasts that gave them suck ; but

in the one case it came from the visible, and in the other, from

the invisible, world, 258

8. Not long after their birth, their Nature and Destiny are made

known by special revelation, 259-261

9. Like Jesus, Mohammed also was presented in his early infancy to

the Deity in the national Sanctuary, 261

|i 10. They both developed in their childhood under the special favour of

God, and showed marks of an uncommon measure of Divine Grace, 261-265

11. Both were lost in their childhood, but found again : the one by his

mother's diligent search, the other by supernatural revelation, 265-266

12. Twelve years old, their special relation to God and uncommon

destiny was made known during a journey ; and then they were
taken away from the place where their presence might prematurely
have roused the hostility of the Jews, 267-269

CONTENTS, XV

PAGE

13. The appearance both of Jesus Christ and of Mohammed was expected

amongst the Jews and others, having been foretold by Prophets, 270-271

14. Whilst they were honouring a penitentiary institution by accom-

modating themselves to it, a supernatural occurrence and voice
inaugurated their own public mission, 271-273

15. Witness is borne to them, and their Divine mission is made known

to men, by another distinguished servant of the true God, who

soon afterwards is removed from this world, . . 273-276

16. They and their public mission are the object and end of all previous

prophecy, as ushering in the grand era of fulfilment, . . 276-279

17. After the commencement of their public ministry, both of them

had to pass through the ordeal of a remarkable Satanic temptation,
which aimed at seducing them into a most important change of
their mission, but without success, 8S0-2S2

If 18. As Jesus Christ chose twelve apostles from amongst His disciples,
so also Mohammed selected twelve apostles from his Moslem
followers, but he not only from amongst men, but also from
amongst spirits, . 283-284

f^ 19. In the exercise of their public ministry, they gathered disciples
around them, and zealously preached the Faith, one sermon on a
mount being especially noted; and they also made diligent use
of the gathering of great multitudes, during the annual festivals
of the nation, 284-286

f\ 20, In order to tempt and test them, difficult questions were submitted

to them by their opponents, which they were able to solve, . 286-290

21. The impression made by their words and presence was such as often

to disarm their enemies, and frustrate the hostile designs they
entertained against them, 290-293

22. They were reviled and persecuted in their own home because of

their testimony and the unflinching discharge of their prophetic
mission, especially when this involved opposition to the then ^
existing state of religion, and exposure of prevailing abuses, 294-297

23. Unconvinced by their words and acts of the Divine mission they

claimed, the people proffer them unacceptable demands, which
are not granted, and only widen the breach between the prophet
and the people, 297-299

24. Both of them came in contact with spirits from the unseen world,

who Tec(^;nised, honoured, and obeyed them more readily than

the people 6f this world to whom they addressed themselves, 299-302

25. Both of them received visits from good angels, . . . 302-303

26. The most remarkable story concerning the mythical Mohammed

is that of his 'Ascension into Heaven.* Whilst Jesus Christ,
during His earthly life, conversed only with two of the long-
departed saints, Moses and Elijah, and did not ascend into heaven
till after his death, Mohammed, honoured with an ascension into
heaven long before his natural death, had personal communion with
all the previous prophets ; and, leaving Jesus far below in the
second heaven, himself mounted high above the seventh ; and,

J

xvi CONTENTS.

PAGE

entering into the immediate presence of the Divine Majesty,
attained to the most exalted degree of God-likeness, so that God
said unto him, ' I and thou,' and he unto God, ' Thou and 1/ 304-314

27. Persecuted and threatened with death by their fellow-citizens in the

town in which they had grown up, they escaped from their hands
as by a miracle ; and, together with their disciples, transferred
their domicile to another town, willing to receive them, . 315-322

28. In this new domicile they developed a great activity ; and from it, as

their headquarters, they undertook expeditions, in order to carry

out their mission, and to secure for it a more extensive recognition, 322-324

29. They united their followers in the closest ties of brotherhood, which

caused a relaxation in the stringent laws of possession and in-
heritance, 324-326

30. They introduced a mode of worship in which Jerusalem with its

temple ceased to be looked upon as the seat of the Divine Presence,
or the Kibla, that is, the quarter towards which prayers had to be
directed, . 326-328

31. They were called upon to decide what punishment should be inflicted

on adulterers, regard being had to the punishment prescribed by

the Law of Moses, 329-330

32. They publicly invited the Jews to believe in their heavenly mission,

and to embrace the religion they preached, but met only with
partial success, 330-33I

33. Besides their efforts amongst the Jews, they also commissioned

ambassadors to distant nations and their rulers, for the purpose of
inducing them to become disciples of the new Faith, . . 332*333

34. They opened up to men the way of atonement and pardon of sin,

to find salvation 333*33^

35. They had the mission of overcoming the devil and destroying his

works, 33^-339

36. As Jesus Christ, so also Mohammed, was above all other men in

worth and dignity, 339*340

37. Each of them was the greatest and best of all God's messengers, 340-341

38. Each of them is the Holder of the Keys, 342

39. Their body is the true temple, that is, the abode of the Divine

Presence, or Shechina, 342-343

40. They are both stamped with the Divine Seal, .... 343

41. Both of them have seen God, and heard Him speak, 343

V 42. They taught their people how to pray, 344

43, Each of them sanctioned the drinking of his blood, and ascribed to

it a saving virtue, 345

. 44. Jesus speaks of stones which would cry out under certain circum-
I ' stances, but Mohammed of stones and trees which actually did

call out, 345-346

45. Each of the two prophets illustrated the hopelessness of a case by

referring to a camel passing through the eye of a needle, . . 346

CONTENTS, xvii *

PACE

46. Both the prophets sometimes imparted Divine benefits and blessings

by the laying on of their hands, 347 -34^

|f 47. By their mediation and benediction a small quantity of food miracu-
T lously sufficed to feed a large number of people, .

348-350

48. Towards the close of their earthly course, both the prophets

triumphantly re-enter the capital city and national sanctuary,
accompanied by a vast multitude of exultant followers, though
previously they had to flee from it, their liberty and even their
life being threatened by the parties in power ; and they authorita-
tively rid the sanctuary of what was desecrating it, . . 350-355

49. Both Jesus and Mohammed continued up to the close of their

career, and with death already at the door, in the zealous discharge

of their respective life-work, 355*358

50. The death of both these prophets was no less wonderful than their

birth and life, 358-374

a. Their approaching death was foreknown and foretold by them, 358-359
h. Their death was not unavoidable, but freely accepted by them, 359-361

c. Angels would have been ready to prevent their death, had

they desired it, 361

d. They died a martyr's death, 361-362

e. As the sufferings in their death were greater than other men's,

so also is their reward, 362-363

/ Their sufferings and death are meritorious, taking away sin

and helping all their people into paradise or heaven, . 363-364

g. In their sufferings of death, Satan had no power over them, 364-365

A. Their death-agonies were so extreme, tWat in their distress

they called out after God 3^5

i. The fact of their death was indubitably established by the

state of their body, 365-366

/. Their death was accompanied by extraordinary phenomena,

and its effects reached even to the invisible world of spirits, 366-368

k. They were expected not to succumb to the power of death,

or to remain in its grasp, 368-369

/. They received an honourable burial, their friends preparing
their body, wrapping it in fine linen, and, with an ample
use of costly spices, depositing it in a new sepulchre, 369-37'

m. Their sacred tomb had been the subject of a previous Divine

revelation, 371-372

n. Devoted friends visited their tomb, and there received super-
natural revelations, showing that, even after death, they
were still living, 372-374

b

* xviii CONTENTS,

CHAPTER 11,

PAGE

Sundry Sketches of Mohammed under various aspects,

DRAWN BY Moslem hands, 375-446

I. Physical Qualities and Moral Virtues of the Lord of the world, 375-383

1. Mohammed's bodily or physical qualities, . , 375-377

2. Mohammed's mental qualities, 377*3^3

II. Habits of the Prince of Princes, 383-405

1. His habits in regard to dress, 383-385

2. His habits as regards eating and drinking, 385-389

3. His noble travelling habits, 389-390

4. His habits in the intercourse with his pure wives, . . 390-392

5. His habits in the intercourse and conversation with his friends

and companions, 392-396

6. His habits in using ornaments and ointments, 396-397

7. His habits in r^;ard to auguries, 397-398

8. His habits as regards the Akika-offerings, .... 398

9. His habits in asking permission, and in saluting, . 398-399

10. His habits as to sneezing and yawning, 400

11. His habits as to walking and riding, ..... 400

12. His habits as to waking and sleeping, 401

13. His habits in administering medicines to the sick, . 401-405

III. The Religious Services of that Prince, 406-416

IV. Peculiarities of the Prophet, 416-422

1. The religious duties peculiar to the Prophet, . . 417-418

2. Things unlawful and forbidden to the Prophet, . . 418-420

3. Things permitted to him, i,e, things whose legality was

peculiar to that prince, ^zo-^zz

V. Mohammed's Excellencies and Miracles, .... ^22-446

1, His excellencies, 422-434

2. His miracles, 434-446

CONTENTS, xix

BOOK IIL

MOHAMMEDANISM VIEWED IN ITS HISTORICAL POSI-

TION, ESPECIALLY AS REGARDS ITS RELATION

TO CHRISTIANITY AND CHRISTENDOM.

PACE

Our Canon of Judgment, 447-448

I. Mohammedanism, by its historical hostility to Christianity, has
proved itself a weapon of the kingdom of darkness against the
kingdom of light, thus taking rank, side by side, with anti-
Christian Judaism and anti-Christian Paganism, . . 448-458

11. Unbelieving Judaism diabolically opposed Christianity in its

personal manifestation, 458-461

III. The Heathenism of Rome diabolically opposed Christianity in its

congregational or ecclesiastical manifestation, . . . 461-464

IV. Islamism, a compound of Jewish fanaticism and Roman despotism,

likewise opposed Christianity, but more especially in its national

and political manifestation, 465-468

V. Mohammed, the Prophet and Propagator of Islam, laid the founda-
tion of the anti-Christian and permanently hostile policy of the
Mussulman world against Christianity and Christendom, . 468-474

VI. The Mohammedan world, under the direction of the Arabs, and
acting in the spirit of its prophet, pursues an interior and exterior
policy, decidedly anti- Christian, 474-479

VII. The Mohammedan world, under the direction of the Turks, retains
and carries out the anti-Christian policy started by the Arabs,
as long as its power of doing so lasts, .... 479-485

APPENDIX I. Mohammed's Wives and Concubines, . 487-509

APPENDIX II. Mohammed's Children and Grandchildren, 510-524

INDEX, 525-540

CORRIGENDA.

Page 17, line 7,/i?r hcl up read held up

^37) If iS, /or EX Amrzn read Al-i-AmnLU.
159» ,» 13. >. id. „ id.

I95f >f 3i» <>/?^^ had iffj^r/ after claiming to be a prophet.
210, , , 7, /or capitulation read capitation .
250, ,, 20, iiM^r/ " fl/?^ mothers.
,, ,, 2i,y&r true."' r^tf^true.*
^7^t it 23 and 2$, /or Him, His read him, his.
288, „ 27, a/ter deemed add them.
307, line 3 from {ooi, /or Aksa read Mosque of Omar.
349, line 29, /or ^ read '.
469, last line, /or national read rational.
475, line 30, yi^ religion. r^a</ religion.'
508, lines 8 and 19^ /or Leili read Leila.

BOOK L

S^ofiamtneh bfetoeh in t|e 9DapUgf|t of !^f0torp.

As every man, in his place and degree, is an architect of
the world's history, and contributes his share, great or small,
for good or for evil, to the work of his time : so also is
every one the child of the age in which he lives, and bears
the impress of the generation to which he belongs. This
becomes all the more manifest, the greater the power he
wields and the closer the contact he experiences amongst
his fellow-men. No man can be fully understood, nor his
character duly appreciated, without regard to the family in
which he was born, the circumstances under which he grew
up, the social organism of which he was a member, not even
without a reference to the country which furnished him with
a home. In like manner, any age can only be rightly
estimated, if considered as the result of previous ages ; and
any nation, if viewed in the light of its own past history and
in its relation to other nations.

If, therefore, we undertake to form a true estimate of the
character and work of Mehammed} who was so prominent a
figure of his age, and left such deep and strongly marked

^ This is the proper form of the Arabic name as pronounced in the polished
and highly euphonic language of the Turks, and it deserves to be generally
adopted amongst Europeans. ' Muhammad* is the harsher pronunciation of the
same word used by Eastern Moslems who are accustomed to more guttural and
less polished sounds. 'Mahomet/ ' Makhumet,' etc., are simply corruptions of
the proper word, and are justly discarded as having no foundation whatever in
Arabic gnunmar. It is surely a false conservatism which retains such obviously
faulty forms ; and the reading public has a right to expect that the proper names
should be brought before it in their true form.

A

2 HIS RELATION TO HIS SURROUNDINGS.

* footprints in the sands of time/ we must not regard him
as a mere individual, but in his organic connection with the
world around him, in his family relationship and social ties,
in short, as a child of the age and country by which he was
moulded, and which he influenced in return.

Mohammed was not only the Ruler of a State^ but
pre-eminently also the Founder of a Religion. Though not
ignorant of Jesus Christ and the Divine adoration paid Him
by the Christians, yet was he bold enough to claim for
himself a heavenly mission as the last and greatest of all
Grod's messengers for the guidance of mankind. His utter-
ances, as God's mouthpiece or prophet, were to be un-
questioningly received by his Arab countrymen and by the
world at large. It is in this extraordinary character and
with these astounding pretensions that he presents himself
to us in history ; and as such he is still reverenced by the
world of Moslem believers. Hence, in seeking rightly to
apprehend Mohammed as an historical phenomenon, the
first great question confronting us with a demand for solu-
tion, is this: How and by what moving influences came
Mohammed of Mecca to conceive the lofty pretension of
being God's highest Apostle, God's final Prophet ? And the
second, of no less moment, and necessarily following from
the first, is this double question : What was the actual life
and work of Mohammed? and how did it bear out his
extraordinary claims ?

The succeeding biographical sketch of the Arabian
Prophet And Potentate is intended to materially assist the
intelligent reader in forming a correct answer to these
important questions ; and its division into two chapters is
naturally suggested by the subject-matter itself.

CHAPTER I.

MOHAMMED DEVELOPING INTO THE PROPHET

HE BECAME^ OR HIS HISTORY UP TO THE

FORTIETH YEAR OF HIS LIFE.

According to the principles just mentioned, we have here
to bring to light the different elements entering into the
composition of the Arabian Prophet ; or to point out how
Mohammed's claim of prophetship is the product of a variety
of factors, which we shall distinguish as apolitical^ a religious^
an ancestral^ and a personal factor.

I. The Political Factor.

The physical character of Arabia as a Peninsula with
extensive deserts and high mountain-ranges ; the common
descent and national affinity of its Semitic inhabitants ; the
peculiar language or dialects spoken by them ; their passion-
ate love of liberty and their war-like disposition — ^had co-
operated for several thousand years in preserving national
independence and in preventing the invasion of foreign
conquerors. Neither the Egyptians and Assyrians, nor the
Babylonians and ancient Persians, nor finally the Mace-
donians in their rapid march of Asiatic conquests, subjugated
and held any part of Arabia. But at last the want of
national union and the greatly increasing internal discords
which frequently led to sanguinary inter-tribal feuds gradu-
ally prepared the way for foreign invaders. After ages of
independence, the liberty-loving roamers of the desert and
the proud dynasties of warlike kingdoms had to bend their
necks repeatedly to Roman^ Abyssinian^ and /Vrjiiar» domina-
tion, though they sought, by desperate but mostly isolated
efforts, to regain their independence as soon as favourable
circumstances seemed to offer them any prospect of success.

4 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

The war-expedition consisting of 10,000 Roman troops
and several thousand Eastern auxiliaries which the Roman
Emperor Augustus despatched in the year 24 B.C. under
Aelius Gallus to the southern kingdom of Yemen, for the
purpose of securing a direct trade-route to India, appears not
to have led to any real conquest. But from the time when
Trajan first sent an expedition under his General, Cornelius
Palma, against Northern Arabia, which conquered the kingdom
of Nabathea, A.D. 105, and when he himself, after having
subdued Mesopotamia, invaded Arabia with his victorious
army and completely devastated its eastern coast along the
Persian Gulf, A.D. 116, Roman influence maintained itself
more or less. Several of the Arab chiefs in the northern
parts of the country yielded submission, and accepted the
position of Roman vassals. Roman historians record that
about 536 A.D. the Emperor Justinian conferred the chieftain-
ship of the Arabs of Palestine upon the Emir Abu Karib, in
exchange for a country he had possessed on the shores of
the Red Sea ; and likewise assigned an Arab principality to
Kais, a prince of the Kinda tribe. The kingdom of Hira
in the north-east of Arabia, though mostly under Persian
influence and frequently at war with the Emperor of Con-
stantinople and his allies, had yet also to suffer, at times,
from the power of Rome. One of its kings, Munzir iv., who
ascended the throne A.D. 580, repaired with his suite to
Constantinople to secure the Emperor's favour and support ;
but aflerwards turning against him and siding with the
Persians, he was defeated, dethroned, and banished by the
Romans. The kingdom of the Ghassanides in North-western
Arabia was almost uninterruptedly dependent on the Roman
power, since its establishment about the end of the third
Christian century till the time of Mohammed.

'The dynasties of Hira and of the Ghassanides were
native to Arabia, and it was through them that the Arabs
communicated with the external world and received their
ideas as well of Europe as of Asia. Hira, moreover, since
the fall of the Himyar line in Yemen, became the paramount
power of Central Arabia. To this cause, and to the per-
manence and prosperity of its capital, it was owing that
Hira enjoyed a larger /(;/r/^a/ influence than the Ghassanide

CHAP. I. SEC l] the political factor. 5

kingdom. But the latter, though inferior in magnificence
and stability, possessed, especially over the Western Arabs, a
more important social power. It lay closer to the Hejaz and
in the direct line of its commerce. There was therefore with
its prince and people a frequent interchange of civility, both
in casual visits at the court and in the regular passage of
the mercantile caravans through the country. It is to this
quarter therefore, that we must chiefly look for the external
influences which moulded the opinion of Mecca and Medina.'
Sir W. Muir, from whose able Life of Mahomet the
preceding passage is quoted, also further observes: 'It is
remarked even by a Mohammedan writer, that the decadence
of the race of Ghassan was preparing the way for the glories
of the Arabian prophet*

But this kind of preparation for Mohammed's later ex-
ploits and military triumphs to which Mohammedan writers
draw attention, is not what we chiefly mean in speaking of
a political factor as contributing to the very rise itself of
a prophet-king in Mecca and Medina. True, the relatively
weakened state of the Empires of Persia and Rome rendered
the Mohammedan foreign conquests at all feasible : but it
was the oppressive power they had acquired over great por-
tions of Arabia, and the humiliation this implied for the
Arabs, which first of all roused the latter into searching for
means by which they might resist the foreigner and recover
their own independence. The truer the patriot and the
greater his love of country, the more he burned with indig-
nation at the existing state of things, and the more earnestly
he cast about for a remedy. The nearer foreign usurpation
pressed, the stronger became the incentives to see it removed,
and rendered impossible for the future.

Now, when Mohammed had already attained the age of
manhood, Roman domination made itself felt for a time in
the sacred metropolis of Mecca itself. For shortly after his
accession to the throne, A.D. 6io, the Emperor Heraclius
nominated Othman, then a convert to Christianity and
(earlier) a friend and follower of the Hanif Zeid, as Governor
of Mecca, recommending him to the Koreishites in an authori-
tative letter. Othman endeavoured by moderation and kind-
liness to make himself acceptable with the Meccans. He

6 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. i.

pointed out to them that it vras to their own interest to
acknowledge his authority, inasmuch as the Emperor had it
in his power materially to damage or greatly to foster their
commerce abroad. Thus they were induced to accept him,
though reluctantly, as their Governor. But before long they
rose in rebellion agfainst him, at the instigation chiefly of
his cousin Abu Zama. Othman was driven from the country,
having to flee for his life, and straightway went to the
Emperor to inform him of what had happened. Upon this,
Heraclius sent an order to Amr, the Governor of Arabia
Petraea, to imprison every merchant from Mecca whom
Othman might denounce to him. Othman no doubt believed
that he was working for the true welfare of his country, sunk
in heathenism, by helping the Roman Grovemment, as the
exponent of the superior Christian religion, to extend its
influence over his native city. But this made him obnoxious
to his countrymen who were jealous of their independence
and wedded to their own ancestral institutions. His later
interference with their commerce still further exasperated
them against him, and he is reported to have been assassinated
in Arabia Petraea.

These facts were well calculated to prove instructive to his
Hanifite friends in Mecca and to other awakened patriots who
were equally desirous of raising their country politically, and
of leading it to a purer Faith. For they showed them how
precarious and dangerous it was to make use of foreign
support and to encourage political influence from abroad for
securing the realisation of their object, and thus suggested
to them the adoption of less irritating and more strictly
patriotic measures, such as we afterwards find Mohammed
actually employing.

The Abyssinian wars and conquests in Arabia during the
century preceding the age of Mohammed are expressly
mentioned and their origin is circumstantially related by
Ibn Ishak, in his celebrated Life of Mohammed. This is
the earliest of the Mohammedan biographies by Moslem
authors, still preserved to us, and it is constantly referred to
as an authority throughout the following pages. Ibn Hisham,
who edited that work, with additions and omissions, tells
us that the reason why Ibn Ishak at all referred to those

CHAP. I. SEC I.] THE POLITICAL FACTOR. 7

wars was * their connection with the life of the Apostle of
God' That the Abyssinian and other foreign conquests in
Arabia had an important bearing on the rise and victorious
career of Mohammed, can be accepted as an historical truth,
though we have to view it in a light and to trace it in a
manner widely different from that of the Mohammedan
historians. The details with which they adorn their account
make it clear that in their eyes the connection of those events
with the life of Mohammed was, that they appeared to point
to a special Divine Providence for the protection of the holy
cities of Mecca and Medina from foreign subjugation and for
the prevention of Christian Governments from permanently
establishing their power within the Peninsula of Arabia.

Their narrative, evidently much embellished, if not wholly
fictitious, is as follows : One of the Himyarite kings, Tiban
Asad Abu Karib by name, whose son had been killed in
Medina, brought an army before that city, intending to
destroy it, to slay, its inhabitants, and to cut down its palm-
trees. But two learned Jewish doctors came before him,
earnestly trying to dissuade him from carrying out his inten-
tion, lest he should draw upon himself a speedy punishment ;
for, said they, this city is destined to become the refuge and
home of a prophet, who, in the latter times, will rise up
amongst the Koreish in the holy city. The Himyarite
Tobba or king was so impressed with the speech of the
Jewish doctors that he not only spared the city, but also em-
braced the Jewish religion. On his departure, he was met
by a deputation whose object was to induce him to sack the
temple of Mecca, by promising him that he would find there
great treasures of pearls, precious stones, gold and silver.
But being again enlightened by the Jewish doctors that this
was a mere stratagem to lead him and his army to certain
destruction and that the only temple chosen by God upon
earth, the temple of their father Abraham, was the one in
Mecca : he rewarded the deputation by cutting off their hands
and feet Thereupon proceeding to Mecca to perform the
usual religious services in its sanctuary, he was the first to
cover it with costly striped linen, as bidden in a dream. He
also offered sacrifices and regaled the inhabitants of Mecca
at a feast But the last of his successors in the Himyarite

8 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

kingdom, Yusuf dzu Nowaz, a Jewish zealot, attacked the
Christian province of Najran, and, having conquered it, gave
its inhabitants the choice between Judaism and death. On
their preferring death, he caused a long ditch to be dug for
them, where he had some of them burned, and the rest slain
with the sword, till about 20,000 of their number were killed,
amongst them Abd Allah Ibn Thamir, their chief and priest
Thus we are given to understand that whilst Mecca and Medina
were signally preserved from the cruelty and cupidity of Him-
yar. Christian Najran was delivered up to become an easy prey.

This Jewish atrocity became the cause of the conquest
of Yemen by the Abyssinians and of their subsequent rule
in Arabia. For one of the doomed Christians, Dauz dzu
Thalaban by name, escaped into the desert on so fleet a
horse that the Jew^ could not overtake him. He went
straight to the Emperor of Constantinople to tell him what
misfortune had befallen the Christians of Najran and to sup-
plicate help against Dzu Nowaz. The Emperor replied :
' Your country is far from mine ; but I will give you a letter
to the king of Abyssinia who is also of our Faith and nearer
to your home.* Accordingly he wrote to the Nejashi or
king of Abyssinia, requesting him to help and avenge the
Christians. When Dauz had delivered the Emperor's letter,
the king placed 70,000 Abyssinians at his disposal, under the
command of Aryat The army was conveyed across the sea
to Yemen in many hundred vessels, and the opposing
Himyarites, with their allies, were totally defeated. The
king Dzu Nowaz sought his death in the sea, and the Abys-
sinians took possession of his country.

After some years, the command of the army of occupation
passed from the hands of Aryat into those of Abraha, whom
Ibn Ishak describes as 'a good Christian.' He built so
magnificent a cathedral in the capital, Sana, that nothing
like it could be seen anywhere. When he informed the king
of this, he also expressed his determination not to rest till he
had turned the course of the pilgrimages of the Arabs from
their temple in Mecca to this cathedral. The Arabs, on
hearing of this resolve, were much irritated; and one of them,
connected with the national sanctuary, went to Sana and
polluted the grand Christian church. Abraha was highly

CHAP. I. SEC I.] THE POLITICAL FACTOR. 9

offended by this act of contempt and swore he would in
retaliation level the temple of Mecca to the ground. He at
once ordered an expedition for this purpose which he com-
manded in person, being mounted upon an elephant.

On the route he encountered a hostile army of confederate
Arab tribes, under Dzu Nefr, which he defeated, and further
on another under Nufeil, which he likewise routed, and finally
encamped at Moghammas, whence he despatched horsemen
to plunder the tribes of Mecca. By Abd ul M6ttaleb's advice
the whole population of Mecca left the threatened city and
took refuge in the mountains, to await what further steps
would be taken by Abraha. But on the following morning,
when the army was ready to enter the city, his elephant lay
down and would not move a step in that direction. Then,
according to Ibn Ishak's further account, God sent against
them, from the sea, birds like swallows, each of which carried
three pebbles as lai^e as a pea, one in the beak and two
between the claws ; and any person on whom these pebbles
were dropped, died immediately. The warriors fell down on
every side and perished in every path. Those who were not
hit, precipitately fled by the way they had come. They
carried Abraha along with them, who had likewise been hit
His limbs fell from him, one after another, so that on reach-
ing Sana he looked like an unfledged bird, and ere he died his
chest and heart had become dissolved. But immediately after
the close of this dreadful story Ibn Ishak adds a remark which
far better accounts for the hasty retreat of the Abyssinian
army, saying, ' Yakub Ibn Otba told me that in the same
year small-pox had for the first time been seen in Arabia.'

This disastrous expedition against Mecca which hap-
pened A.D. 570, the very year of Mohammed's birth, and
generally known as * the year of the elephant,' on account of
the elephants employed by Abraha, greatly damaged the
Abyssinian power in Arabia and revived the patriotic hopes
of the native tribes. But it was not till nearly the end of the
century that the Abyssinians were finally expelled from
Arabia, by the help obtained from Persia. Ibn Ishak says :
' The dominion of the Abyssinians in Yemen lasted seventy-
two years, under the four princes, Aryat, Abraha, Yaksum,
and Masruk.'

lo THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk, I.

These events happened, so to speak, before the eyes of
Mohammed, and he would not have been the refiecting, cal*
culating, and shrewdly observant man he appears in history,
if they had not impressed upon him the danger of inviting
one foreign power in order to get rid of another, and taught
him to rely on Arabs alone for the security of his country
against foreign domination. He vras wise enough to learn a
lesson where many others remained uninstructed.

Galling as the tribes of Southern Arabia felt the yoke of
Abyssinia, they did not summon enough patriotism and
heroism to shake it off, but rather looked abroad for help.
This they found in Persia \ but thus they only passed from
one foreign oppressor to another. Ibn Ishak interestingly
narrates this change in the following words: •When the
oppression of the Himyarites had lasted a long time, the
Himyarite Abu Murra Seif went to the Emperor of Byzanz,
requesting him to drive the Abyssinians out of the country
and to take possession of it in their stead. But as the
Emperor did not listen to him, he departed, and applied to
the Persian Governor of Hira, who accompanied him to the
Persian court and presented him to Chosroes. The audience
took place in the saloon where the king's golden crown,
studded with hyacinths, smaragds, and pearls, was sus-
pended from the cupola by a golden chain. As it was too
heavy to be worn, the king only put his head into it, and
every one who saw himfor the first time had reverentially to
prostrate himself before him. Accordingly Seif did the same,
saying to the monarch, " O king, strangers have subdued our
land, and I am come to seek thy help and to ask thee to take
possession of it" Chosroes excused himself, on the ground
that the country was far off and offered few advantages ; and
then presented Seif with the gift of 10,000 dirhems and
a beautiful garment. After having quitted the kingfs
presence, Seif distributed the money amongst the people.
When the king, who gathered from this that he must be of
high rank, asked him for the reason of his conduct, he
replied, " What should I do with this money ? The moun-
tains of the land from which I come consist of gold and silver,
for which reason it is so much coveted."

'Upon this Chosroes assembled his satraps to consult

CHAP. I. SEC I.] THE POLITICAL FACTOR. ii

them about Self s request. One of them said : ^ O king, thy
prisons contain many who are condemned to death whom
thou mightest send with him. If they perish, thy will is
accomplished ; and if they conquer, thou hast gained another
kingdom." Chosroes being persuaded, sent with him 800
men out of the prisons, and gave them an elderly man from
one of the noblest families for a commander, whose name
was Wehrez. They embarked in eight vessels, of which two
were lost and six landed safely at Aden. There Seif col-
lected from his countrymen as many as he could and
brought them to Wehrez, saying, " My foot shall stand by
thine, till we together conquer or die."

* Meanwhile Masruk also, the Abyssinian prince of Yemen,
had collected his troop& Wehrez first sent his own son against
him, in order to exercise him in the practice of war ; but he
was slain, and his death greatly increased the wrath of the
Persians. When afterwards the two armies met in battle-
array, Wehrez took up his bow, which was so strong that none
but himself could bend it, and aimed at the Abyssinian com-
mander. His arrow cleft the hyacinth worn by Masruk
between his eyes and penetrated his head to the neck, so
that he reeled and fell from his mule. Then the Persians
made an impetuous attack, defeated the Abyssinians with
great slaughter and dispersed them in every direction. On
arriving before the city of Sana, Wehrez had the gate demo-
lished ; for he said, **My banner shall not enter bent but erect."

* Thus the Persians occupied Yemen instead of the Abys-
sinians. On the death of Wehrez, Chosroes appointed his
son Merzeban to succeed him ; and his second successor was
Badzan, who remained Governor of Yemen till the time of
Mohammed. In those days Chosroes wrote to him : " I have
heard that a Koreishite in Mecca pretends to be a prophet: go
to him and tell him to desist; and if he does not comply,
send me his head" Badzan forwarded Chosroes* letter to the
Apostle of God who sent him the following reply : " God has
sent me the assurance that in such and such a month and on
such and such a day Chosroes will be slain." Badzan, on receiv-
ing this letter, waited to see what would happen, thinking, if
he is a prophet, then what he has foretold will come to pass.
God actually slew Chosroes by the hand of his son Shiruweih

12 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. i.

on the same day which the Apostle of God had foretold. As
soon as Badzan learned this, he sent to inform the Prophet
that himself and all the Persians under him had embraced
Islam.'

This narrative of the Moslem historian evidently seeks to
attribute to Mohammed a supernatural knowledge of a future
event, and connects Badzan's conversion to Islam with the
fulfilment of that prophecy. But it is known from history
that when Chosroes II. was completely defeated, A.D. 627,
near the ruins of ancient Nineveh, and his capital Destagerd
(= Artemita), with all its accumulated treasures, fell into the
hands of the Emperor Heraclius, he was so enraged against
his satraps and grandees, that a conspiracy headed by
Shiruweih, one of Chosroes* own sons, was formed amongst
them which led to his assassination. Badzan, whose disloyalty
is apparent from his communicating his royal master's letter
to Mohammed, had, as we learn, previously received an offer
from the prophet that, if he embraced Islam, he should be
confirmed in his dominion and have other portions of Persia
added to it

Some time before Mohammed claimed to be a prophet
in Mecca, a request of Chosroes to his vassal, the ruler of
Hira, for a supply of Arab beauties to replenish his harem,
led to a conflict in which the powerful Arab tribe of the Beni
Bekr became involved. The Persians mustered a large
army, comprising many Arab auxiliaries, with the view of
crushing the Beni Bekr. A battle ensued^ but it terminated
in favour of the Arabs, as is thus grraphically described by
Sir W. Muir : * The word of alarm had been given, and as it
rapidly passed from clan to clan amongst the ramifications
of that great tribe, the Arabs flocked to the rendezvous in
the valley of Dzu Kar. The opposing ranks were about to
close, when the iron-hearted Hanzala, their commander, with
his own hand severed the girths of the camels on which were
seated his wife and the other women of the tribe, and thus
abandoned them, in case of defeat, to certain captivity. The
Arabs fought with desperate bravery, and the Persian army
was completely routed. This defeat, ominous of the fate of
Persia, took place A.D. 611, a few months after Mohammed
had entered on his prophetic career.'

CHAP. I. SEC I.] THE POLITICAL FACTOR. 13

This gjeat military success, crowning the united and
determined efforts of a single, but large and powerful tribe,
clearly proved the possibility of entirely throwing off the
Persian yoke. It took place when Mohammed was just
rather timidly beginning to offer himself to the faith of his
countr)anen, and could hardly fail to inspire him and the
Arabs who were half disposed to listen to his proposals
with the hope of far gjreater successes in the future, if they
were but united as one nation, and fought the foreigner under
a generally recognised leadership.

The preceding rapid glance at Arab politics has shown us
that for ages before the Mohammedan era Arabia had been
forced to yield part of its independence to foreigners : to
Romans, Abyssinians, and Persians. From them it had in
turn to accept that domination and interference which is
always felt the more humiliating and vexatious by any
people the greater its national pride and the stronger its
love of liberty. We have seen that since 'the year of the
elephant,' or about the time of Mohammed's birth, the
Abyssinian power began to wane, but that the Persian
influence steadily waxed stronger, so that at the time when
Mohammed sprang into manhood, Persian domination had
become firmly established both in Yemen and Hira, and
was gradually extending from these southern and northern
centres over the interior portions of the Peninsula. Even
Mecca and Medina seem to have been claimed as under
Persian suzerainty. For when Mohammed sent his summons
to Chosroes IL to embrace Islam, that potentate angrily tore
up the letter, saying, 'Shall Mohammed, who lives in my
dominion and is my subject, write to me such a letter?'
Still, it could not escape the observation of the keen-eyed
sons of Arabia, that whilst Persian domination was seeking
to tighten its hold upon their country, desperate struggles
for supremacy were going on in the north between Persia
and Rome, necessarily tending to exhaust both those
national adversaries. These were circumstances eminently
calculated to revive the hopes of independence amongst the
liberty-loving tribes of Arabia. They would particularly
influence the merchants of Mecca, who knew more about
foreign politics, and were naturally eager to extend their

I
k

14 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I,

influence abroad, and to secure for themselves free commerce
and low duties.

The Arabs had now been taught, by long and painful
experience, that it was chiefly owing to their division into
independent and often hostile tribes, to their want of
brotherly union and national cohesion, that they had been
unable to keep themselves from foreign subjugation ; that
their national sanctuary had been in danger; their com-
merce, that vital condition of their existence, threatened ;
and that they had even been compelled to submit to the
degradation of fighting against each other in the interest of
foreigners. We need only call to mind the modem instances
of Germany and Italy, in order to understand how, when a
great nation has been forced, through its internal dissensions,
to submit to contempt, invasion, and conquest, all the pride
and patriotism of its citizens are roused to contend for the
restoration of their national honour and power. Though
their efforts may for a time be defeated, or prove only parti-
ally successful, strength and wisdom are gained by the very
conflict, till that surest and saddest cause of national degra-
dation, internal disunion and mutual antagonism, is removed,
and their great object accomplished.

It cannot be doubted that the thoughtful and patriotic
Arabs were no less keenly sensible of the dishonour and weak-
ness resulting from their disunion, and equally determined on
vigorous efforts for gaining national strength and security.
In point qf fact, we find Mohammed, by suasion and con-
straint, uniting all the hitherto isolated tribes of Arabia into
one political organisation under his own rule; and then
sending forth vast hosts of horsemen on foreign expeditions
of conquest Surely it cannot be supposed that he effected
these great political results, without having actually aimed
at them, or formed some plan for their accomplishment It
is but rational to infer from what he has done, what he wished
to do.^ In all probability his political plan, as it happens
generally, was not at once definite and complete, but grew
out of more or less vague ideas and indistinct cravings for

' This inference is fully borne out by the opinion of so powerful a thinker as
Hegel, who says in his Logic^ p. 281 :' In respect of the union between the inner
and the outer, it is to be acknowledged that the great men wished to do that
which they have done and that they did that which they wished to do.'

CHAP. I. SEC ij THE POLITICAL FACTOR. 15

power ; but it must have formed an integral part of the vast
scheme before the eye of the prophet's mind, just as its realis-
ation constituted an essential and prominent portion of the
stupendous work which he achieved. Armies of thousands
and tens of thousands of men are not formed and employed
by chance, or by a mere sudden impulse; but they presuppose
in their originator a deliberate purpose, and, in the world
around, inviting causes and favourable conditions. The
important political exploits of Mohammed demand for their
explanation corresponding political designs ; and the forma-
tion of these designs implies a political situation which called
for them and suggested their feasibility. This is the rational
principle here contended for, and this the explanation why in
the development of so singular a prophet as the one before
us we have to recognise a Political Factor.

A tacit recognition of this principle plainly underlies the
fact that the Moslem historians recite the above-mentioned
political events as an introduction to their narrative of Mo-
hammed's history ; and it is with the same view that they also
record an extraordinary prophecy, which is evidently a pre^
dictio post eventum. The fabulous story, seriously narrated
by Ibn Ishak as history, is this : Rabia Ibn Nazr, one of the
weakest of the Tobbas or kings of Yemen, had a dream
which so frightened him that he called together all the sooth-
sayers, sorcerers, augurs, and astrologers of his realm, saying
to them : ' I have had a bad dream which terrifies me : tell
me what I have dreamt and what is the meaning of the
dream.' They said, ' Tell us thy dream and we will give thee
its interpretation.' He replied, ' If I tell it you, I shall have
no guarantee as to the correctness of the interpretation : he
who is able to interpret it correctly, must also know what the
dream was, without my telling it him.* Then one of them
answered, ' If the king requires this, then let him send for
Satih and Shik, who will tell the king what he wishes to
know ; for these are the two most learned men.' The king
sent for them ; and Satih arriving first, told the king that he
had seen in his dream a fire proceeding out of darkness,
spreading over the sea-coast, and consuming everything
having a skull. The king said, * Thou hast truly stated the
dream, O Satih I and now, how dost thou interpret it?'

i6 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

Satih continued, ' I swear by the wild beasts of the field that
the Abyssinians will invade your land and take possession
of the provinces between Abjan and Jorash.' The king said,
' By thy father, O Satih I this is sad news ; and when is it to
come to pass, in my tidie or later ? ' Satih replied, ' Not for
sixty or seventy years.' The king inquired, ' Will their do-
minion be lasting or not ? * Satih answered, * After continuing
for upwards of seventy years, part of them will perish and
part be routed.' The king asked, ' Who will defeat them and
drive them out of the country ? * Satih answered, * Arim dzu
Yezen will come against them from Aden and will not leave
one of them in Yemen.* The king : ' Will his dominion last ? '
Satih : *It also will come to an end.' The king: * Who will put
an end to it ? ' Satih : A pure prophet, the receiver of revela-
tions from the Most High, with whose people the dominion will
remain to the end of time.' The king : Hast thou told me
the truth ? ' Satih : ' By the evening redness, by the night,
and by the early dawn, I have told thee the truth-' Then
also came Shik, narrated and interpreted the dream in
substantially the same way. King Rabia was so impressed
with what he heard that he sent away his wife and children
with provisions for the journey and a letter to Sabur I., king
of Persia, who assigned a residence to them in Hira,

It is nothing more than retranslating the scope of this
spurious prophecy into history, to affirm that Mohammed,
by pondering the political events which had lately passed
or were just passing in his country, was led to conceive the
idea that it was fully as practicable for him, in the character
of a heaven-commissioned ambassador, to gain political
authority over the multitudinous tribes of Arabia, as for
those foreigners who had successively exercised their
humiliating domination ; and that, having once formed this
conviction, he also possessed enterprise, self-confidence, and
daring enough to attempt the proud plan, and, favoured by
circumstances, marvellously to succeed in its realisation. In
the sense of Rabia's symbolical dream, Mohammed, by the
system of violence and conquest in the name of religfion,
which he inaugurated and began to carry out with all the
rapidity and irresistibility of a conflagration, only fulfilled
the fore-ordained decree of an inscrutable Providence.

CHAP. I. SEC II.] THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR. 17

It is a known fact that in the age and fatherland of
Mohammed, politics and religion were closely intertwined
and inseparably bound up together. The several political
parties exercising power and dominion, also represented
different tenets of belief and sundry religious interests. The
Romans and Abyssinians were identified with Christianity.
Whole tribes and districts held up the banner of Judaism
and waged war in its propagation. The Persian power was
the exponent of fire-worship ; and the Arabs in general were
devoted to that native idolatry which had its centre in the
national sanctuary of the Kaaba. Under these circumstances
it could hardly be otherwise, but that any great national
movement for breaking the yoke of foreign usurpation and
enforcing the principle of * Arabia for the Arabs, under one
central government purely native,' should also essentially bear
a religious character.

II. The Religious Factor,

The religion most widely prevalent in Arabia, when
Mohammed began life, was a species of heathenism or idol-
worship, which had its local centre in Mecca and its temple.
The city of Mecca was the religious metropolis of the nation,
and consequently its influence extended to every part of
Arabia where the sanctity of its shrine was acknowledged.
In the days of Mohammed the Kaaba or Meccan temple
was already of high antiquity ; and as early as the time of
Christ, the Roman historian Diodorus Siculus mentions a
celebrated temple in the Hejaz which was revered and
visited by all the Arabs. According to a theory held by
many, this temple had been originally connected with the
ancient worship of the sun, moon, and stars, and its circum-
ambulation by the worshippers had a symbolical reference
to the rotation of the heavenly bodies.^ Within its precincts

^ Dr. L. Krehl, in his carefully written Dcu Leben des Muhammed, says on
p. 21 : The primitive religion of the Arabs was a worship of the stars, itself a
transmutation of the still more ancient worship of light, which was intended for
the powers on high, symbolised by the visible heaven, and in which idea and
symbol were easily confounded. Taking the image for the ideal itself, man came
to regard the celestial bodies as deities, and as controllers of his own destiny to
whom he owed worship.

B

i8 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. i.

and in its neighbourhood there were found many idols, such
as, Hobal, Lat, Ozza, Manah, Wadd, Sawa, Yaghut, Nasr,
Isaf, Naila, etc. A black stone in the temple wall was
regarded with superstitious awe as eminently sacred. It is
not quite clear what was the origin of the worship of this
black stone : whether it was held to be supernatural as being
an aerolite ; or whether its supposed sanctity was a relic of
the stone-worship anciently more or less prevalent in Arabia ;
or whether it had some connection with the Eastern practice
of erecting stone altars for the purpose of sacrifices, and
stone pillars as monuments of gratitude for Divine favours,
a practice which we meet with in the history of the Patriarchs.
The attempt of the Mussulmans to derive it direct from a
stone altar or pillar, erected by Abraham and his son
Ishmael, in that identical locality, is altogether unsupported
by history, and, in fact, flagrantly contrary to the Biblical
record of the life of Abraham and his son. The pagan
character of the temple is sufficiently marked by the state-
ment of Mohammedan writers that before its purification by
their Prophet, it contained no less than 360 idols, as many
as there were days in their year ; and that on its walls were
painted the figures of angels, prophets, saints, including those
of Abraham and Ishmael, and even of the Virgin Mary with
her infant Son.

The Meccan religion was therefore not one of a narrow,
exclusive kind, but so elastic and comprehensive that its
temple could well serve as the national sanctuary for entire
Arabia. This was in perfect agreement with the relatively
liberal spirit and enlarged horizon of the Meccans as habi-
tual travellers and intelligent merchants. Their commercial
interests brought them into contact with the professors of
many different religions, and dictated to them the policy of
living in friendship with them all. They were thus prepared
to tolerate and recognise the various creeds, and to please
the Heathens, the Ishmaelites, the Jews, and the Christians
alike, by opening the Kaaba to the several objects of their
veneration. From the same latitudinarian standpoint they
were also afterwards by no means indisposed to recognise
Mohammed as a prophet : if he, in return, had but continued
to acknowledge their idols as useful mediators, and as worthy

CHAP. I. SEC II.] THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR. 19

of worship. They only opposed him when he claimed an
exclusive right for his new way, and wished to abolish the
old religion altogether.

The influence exercised by the sanctuary of Mecca over
the Arabian tribes, far and near, was very considerable : it
was, in fact, the greatest national power, and the most ex-
tensively recognised authority then existing in all Arabia.
The Kaaba was looked upon as the Beit Ullah or House of
God, where Divine revelations and decisions were sought
in doubts, difficulties, and disputes. The reputed sanctity
of the temple extended to the whole surrounding district,
which was treated as Haram^ or an inviolable territory, at
whose border all hostilities and combats had to be hushed.
To facilitate the pilgrimage to this national Holy Place,
from even the remotest provinces, four months of every year
were set apart as sacred, during which all feuds and wars
had to cease throughout the land, so that every one might
travel without danger or molestation. In consequence, mul-
titudes from every part of Arabia annually flocked to Mecca
to worship at God's Holy House, whose very guardians were
looked upon with special respect and reverence. The people
of Mecca were fully sensible of their dignity and privilege,
as the keepers and ministers of the national temple.
Amongst their leading families the right of directing the
ritual observances during the annual pilgrimage, the pre-
rogative of providing the pilgrims with food and water, and
the honour of keeping the key of the Kaaba, were considered
so desirable and valuable as often to become the cause of
mutual jealousy and even of sanguinary conflicts.

It is therefore no matter of surprise, but a thing to be
reasonably expected, that, in case a native of Mecca were
to conceive the idea of establishing a power over the scattered
tribes of Arabia, and of uniting them under one central
government, he should avail himself of a means already in
existence and with which he had been familiar from his youth.
Mohammed, with great practical insight and shrewdness,
seized on this advantage and retained the heathen shrine of
his native city as the local centre of Islam. He sanctioned
it by his own example as a place of religious pilgrimage for
all his followers ; and though, after his flight to Medina, he

20 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

for a short time adopted Jerusalem as his Kibla, in the
hope of thus reconciling the Jews to Islam ; yet when he
saw the device fail, he, in the second year, returned to his
former practice of worshipping towards the Kaaba. It is
not impossible that this was his concealed intention all
through the period of his outward accommodation to Judaism,
and if so, he would no doubt, after securing the submission
of the Jews, have reverted to his original practice, by ag^in
transferring the Kibla from Jerusalem to Mecca. His
prudence naturally dictated to him to delay the step until
the strength of his Arab following had sufficiently increased
to warrant him in disregarding the opposition sure to come
from the great number of Jewish converts hoped for. In
what light Mohammed wished Mecca, as the guardian of
God's Holy House, to be considered, is well seen from the
public address which, on the day after the conquest of the
city, he delivered, and which will be found recorded in its
proper place.

Thus the belief in the sanctity and unique character of
the Meccan temple became firmly established amongst the
Mussulmans ; and it will perhaps not be uninteresting to
the reader to find here their teachings on this subject, as
translated from the well-known Rawzet ul Ahbab : * When
Adam had been sent out of Paradise to this earth, he became
exceedingly sad and downcast, and thus made complaint
to God : *' O God, I am distressed because I can no longer
hear the voice of the angels."^ The Most High gave him
this answer : " O Adam, I have sent a House to the earth
which the angels compass about, just as they surround my
Throne in heaven ; therefore turn towards it and become
familiar with it" Upon this Adam, who at that time was in
India, walked to the House of the Kaaba, God sending an
angel with him to show him the way. Every one of Adam's
steps was 50 parasangs long ; and every spot on which he
trod was destined to become a city, as also the space be-
tween his feet to become cultivated. In a very short time he
reached the Haram, where he found a temple, consisting of

^ Notice how here the sad consequence of the fall of man is placed in his
separation from angelic company, and not in the interruption of communion with
his Maker.

CHAP. I. SEC 11.] THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR.

21

a single celestial hyacinth, with two doors of green smaragd,
one on the east side and the other on the west side. Then
God sent an angel to teach Adam the ceremonies of the
pilgrimage.

' According to another report, the Most High commanded
Adam to build the House of the Kaaba, and sent angels to
assist him in doing so. Gabriel swept the place with his
wing, till it lay open down to the seventh foundation of the
earth ; and other angels brought stones, of such a weight
that thirty men could not lift one of them. In this way Adam
laid the foundation and completed the building. The Black
Stone was sent by God from Paradise, to be inserted in a
certain fixed place of the structure. This stone was a white
hyacinth, as is stated in a tradition derived from the
Prophet ; and when it first came from Paradise it was whiter
than milk, but men's sins made it black. It is recorded on
the authority of Ibn Abbas that Adam made forty pilgrimages
from India to the Kaaba. After him, his children also paid
their visits to the House, till the time of the flood of Noah.
Seth was the first to repair it with stone and mortar. At the
Deluge the House of the Kaaba was taken up to the seventh
heaven ; and Gabriel was sent to hide the Black Stone in
the mountain Abu Kabis, to prevent its becoming immersed.
The prophets succeeding Noah went to the Haram territory,
with the purpose of visiting the House ; but did not know
the exact spot where the building had stood.

* This state of things lasted till the time of Abraham, to
whom God showed again the exact locality, and gave him a
command to rebuild the Kaaba. The way in which God
made this known to him is differently reported : (i) God
made the creature Shechina, in the shape of a little cloud,
and ordered Abraham to follow it whithersoever it went,
and to build the Kaaba on the spot where it should happen
to alight^ (2) In that Shechina there was something like the
head of a lion, or like the head of a lion's whelp, which said to
Abraham, '' Make the building of the Kaaba exactly as large
as my shadow, neither larger nor smaller." (3) God sent a
storm which so thoroughly swept the place of the Kaaba

^ This is obviously a travesty of the Biblical pillar of fire and cloud and the
Shechina, in glorification of Islam.

22 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

that Abraham could lay its foundation. (4) Gabriel came
and showed him the place. These different views can be
reconciled by assuming that the place was first shown to
Abraham by means of the Shechina, and of the storm, and
that afterwards Gabriel came to confirm and ratify the choice
of the spot

'Then Abraham rebuilt the House of the Kaaba ac-
cording to Gabriel's instruction, and with the assistance of
Ishmael. Having reached the height of the Black Stone
he said to Ishmael, "Fetch me a fine stone to serve as a
token to the servants of God." When he had brought one,
Abraham said, '^ Fetch me a finer one ; " and as Ishmael was
going to look for one, the mountain Abu Kabis called out,
" O Abraham, what thou requirest (viz. the Black Stone) is
with me : take it." Then Abraham took the Black Stone
and built it firmly in its place.

'When the building was finished, Gabriel came and
taught Abraham all the ceremonies of the pilgrimage, by
practically going with him through them all. At the close
of this instruction, Abraham mounted the place of stones and
called out : " O ye servants of God, the pilgrimage to the
House of the Kaaba is a religious duty for you." God caused
this call to be heard by all, even by those who were still in
the reins of their fathers and in the wombs of their mothers,
so that all who are predestined to make the pilgrimage, until
the day of the resurrection, replied to Abraham's call, " We
are ready at thy behest, O God ! we are ready."

' It is recorded that the stones with which the Kaaba was
built were taken from five, or according to some, from six
different mountains ; and that the angels helped Ishmael to
quarry and carry them. After the days of Abraham the
House of the Kaaba was repeatedly rebuilt, namely, first by
the Amalekites, then the Jorhamides, then the Koreishites,
and lastly by several Moslem potentates. In its present
form it is to remain, till the time when it will be demolished
by the Abyssinians, as the Prophet has foretold.* ^ End of
the quotation from the Rawzet ul Ahbab.

History shows us that Mohammed, by declaring the

^ The reader will observe that this extravagant story is only a loose collection
of the several accounts circulating amongst the Mussulmans on the subject.

CHAP. I. SEC II.] THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR. 23

national sanctuary of Mecca a Divine Institution and by re-
enacting the obligatoriness of a pilgrimage to its temple as
God's House, only adopted one of the most effectual means
within his reach for extending his authority over all Arabia.
In like manner we can see by the aid of the same light of
history, that there exists no constraining reason for tracing
his reformation of the national religion, or his rejection of
idols and idol-worship, to a supernatural revelation and a
miraculous Divine interposition made specially to himself;
but that all this can be perfectly well accounted for by the
religious condition of society in his days. In the age of
Mohammed, heathen idolatry was no longer universally
dominant in Arabia, but had suffered greatly in extent and
prestige. Whole tribes and districts were under the sway of
Judaism, the stubborn advocate of an absolute Monotheism.
Christianity, equally opposed to Polytheism, prevailed in
great portions of Najran and other parts, and its tenets were
known far and wide. A picture of the Virgin Mary with her
infant Son was found in the Kaaba itself, and the Abyssin-
ians had started a military expedition from Yemen, in the
jrear of Mohammed's birth, for the purpose of demolishing
the idol-temple of Mecca. The idea of worshipping only one
God, instead of many, was therefore nothing new in Arabia,
nothing which Mohammed could only learn by a direct reve-
lation from heaven : but something widely known and with
which every Arab who cared for it could easily acquaint himself.

But what shows still more conclusively that even in
Mecca the prevailing idolatry was no longer unquestioningly
followed by all, and that there were thoughtful men wishing
for something better, is a fact with which Mohammedan
historians themselves acquaint us. Ibn Ishak gives us the
following interesting narrative :

'The Koreish had an annual festival on which they
assembled round their idols whom they worshipped, to whom
they sacrificed and whom they carried about in procession.
But four men kept aloof and made a secret covenant of
friendship with each other. These four men were : Waraka
Ibn Nawfal, Obeid Allah Ibn Jahsh whose mother Omeima
was Abd ul Mottaleb's daughter, Othman Ibn el Huweireth,
and Zeid Ibn Amr. They said to each other, " Ye know, by

24 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

God, that your nation has not the true Faith and that they
have corrupted the religion of their father Abraham : how
shall we compass a stone which neither hears nor sees, neither
helps nor hurts ? Seek ye another faith for yourselves : for
the one you have is useless." Thereupon they separated and
travelled in different countries, seeking the true faith of
Abraham. Waraka absorbed himself in Christianity and
studied the books of the Christians, till he was well acquainted
with their doctrine. Obeid Allah continued in his doubts
till he embraced Islam. Then he emigrated to Abyssinia,
together with his wife 0mm Habibeh, Abu Sofyan's
daughter, who also was a believer. Whilst they were there,
he embraced Christianity and died as a Christian. • After
Obeid Allah had become a Christian, he said to his com-
panions who had emigrated with him to Abyssinia, " We see
clearly : but you are still seeking and do not yet see." He
made use of a word which is employed in speaking of the
young of a dog opening its eyes for the first time and not
yet able to see clearly. Later on Mohammed married Obeid
Allah's widowi sending Amr Ibn Omaia to the king of
Abyssinia to ask for her; and the king accepted the
application in consideration of a dowry of 400 dinars.
Othman went to the Emperor of Byzanz, became a Christian,
and attained to great honour there. Zeid embraced neither
Judaism nor Christianity, yet relinquished the faith of his
nation, kept aloof from the idols, abstained from eating dead
carcasses or of the meat of an animal sacrificed to idols,
and from drinking blood ; and he condemned the practice of
burying female infants alive. He said, " I worship the Lord
of Abraham," and also openly rebuked the faults of his nation.
In his old age he sometimes leaned against the Kaaba, saying,
" O ye assembly of the Koreish, by Him in Whose power my
soul is, there is none of you in the faith of Abraham, except
myself" Then he continued, " O God, if I knew in what
manner Thou likest best to be worshipped, I would do so :
but I know it not." When once Mohammed was asked by
a woman related to Zeid, whether she might pray for him
(Zeid), he answered, " Yes, you may : he will be raised at the
resurrection as a distinct religious community." He wrote
verses about separating himself from the faith of his nation,

CHAP. I. SEC II.] THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR, 25

saying: "Shall I believe in one Lord, or in a thousand
Lords ? If so, dominion would have to be divided. I have
forsaken Lat and Ozza : thus acts the strong, the faithful • • .
I worship my Lord, in order that He, the Gracious, may
forgive my sins. O ye people, preserve the fear of God, your
Lord : then you will not perish. Thou shalt see how gardens
shall be assigned to the pious for their habitations, but to the
unbelievers the flaming fire of hell. In life they find reproach,
and after death what oppresses their bosoms." '

This quotation from Ibn Ishak's work proves conclusively
that the religious fermentation, produced among Arab society
in general by the spread of Monotheism in its Jewish and
Christian forms, had actually reached Mecca ; and that the
idolatry practised in the national temple of the Kaaba was
exposed by men of character and standing as contrary to
sound reason and inconsistent with true notions of the Divine
Being. Nor can it be doubted that this opposition to the '
prevailing form of religion in Mecca became notorious
throughout the city. For Ibn Ishak further tells us that El
Khattab, Zeid's uncle, * reproached him (Zeid) with forsak-
ing the religion of his people, and so persecuted him that he
was compelled to leave Mecca and to remain outside the city
on Mount Hira. £1 Khattab even instigated the young folks
to prevent his re-entering the town. Therefore when they
heard of his having come secretly, they drove him back again
and ill-treated him, lest he should harm their religion and
lest any one should follow him in turning away from the
ancient Faith.* Sprenger, one of Mohammed's latest and
ablest biographers, says of this Zeid : * It is probable that
he travelled and discoursed with men acquainted with the
Scriptures on religious matters ; and he may have been a
Deist before Hanifism was being propagated in Mecca : but
Ibn Ishak is mistaken in saying that he was murdered on
his way home. He did return to his native city, but had to \
live in banishment on Mount Hira, because of his faith, and
after dying as a Hanifite, was buried at the foot of the
mountain.'

Besides the four men named by Ibn Ishak, there were
others who likewise repudiated the prevailing idolatry, e,g,
Abu Amir of Medina and his followers there ; and Omaia Ibn

26 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

Zalt of the important town Taif, two days from Mecca, who
was at the same time a renowned poet These men naturally
ixjet with more or less sympathy from the intelligent portion
of thQir countrymen, and were in fact a small sect of Deists,
distinguished by the appellation of * Hanifitesl i.e. Separatists,
Dissenters, Nonconformists, Protestants, on account of their
having turned away and separated from the national Poly-
theism and professing only the one true God.^ This step of
separation and turning away from idols to God, being similar
to what Abraham did in his days, they also professed that
they were holding * the Faith or Religion of Abraham.' One
of these Nonconformists was the son of an aunt of Moham-
med ; and two others were near relatives of his wife Khadija.
' Is it surprising that a reflective mind like Mohammed's should
be attracted by the more enlightened religious views of in-
fluential and intelligent men, so closely related to him?
May we not go still further than this? It was, we are
informed, Mohammed's custom during the hottest season of
the year to retire to that very Mount Hira where' the zealous
Hanif Zeid lived in banishment for many years. There
he may perhaps have enjoyed many an instructive interview
with this persecuted but steadfast reformer, and have received
from him much of that light on religious matters which,

^ The transient assumption of a similar name by a number of Turks who
were disposed to break loose from orthodox Islamism, became the direct cause
of the notorious violent interference of the Turkish Government with the Protestant
missions in Constantinople, in the year 1864. Rumours were then spreading that
30,000 or 70,000 or 120,000 Turks had become Protestants and were petitioning
the Government to hand over to them one of the mosques for their own separate
worship. We, the Missionaries of several Societies, were astonished at those
rumours, because we had no connection with, nor even knowledge of, a Protes-
tant movement of anything like those dimensions. The Government nevertheless
suspected us of being at the bottom of the movement, and perhaps not unnatur-
ally, on account of the name mixed up with it. The Sublime Porte, wishing to
stop the movement and silence the rumours, determined to close and seal up all
the offices of the different Protestant Missionary Societies then at work in
Constantinople. A long correspondence ensued between the English and the
Turkish Governments. The end of this was, that we Missionaries were restricted
in our work to mere private intercourse with individual Turks, and enjoined
to avoid anything the least calculated to draw public attention upon us. The
rumoured existence of so widespread a reputedly Protestant movement long
remained an unsolved mystery to us.

A number of years later, when on a Missionary tour in Western Turkey, I was
requested by some Albanians to assist them in procuring the recall of one of their

CHAP. I. SEC. II.] THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR, 27

after the master's death, he gave out as having been derived
direct from heaven, dirough an angel specially sent to him
by the Almighty. As a matter of fact and history we find
Mohammed glory in the appellation of * Hanifite' and openly
declare that his doctrine is nothing but the ancient * Faith
or Religion of Abraham.'

The very idea of some one becoming * the prophet of his
country,' that is, specially of Arabia, does not seem to have
been originated by Mohammed, but to have been extensively
entertained by the Hanifite sect For it is expressly recorded
by El Zobair, that Omaia, the celebrated poet of Taif, him-
self a Hanifite, * had a desire to be chosen to the prophetic
office, because he had read in the Sacred Books that a
prophet was to rise up amongst the Arabs ; and it was believed
that he might himself be that prophet When Mohammed
had received his mission, people said to Omaia, " This is he
of whom thou didst speak, and whom thou didst expect"
But he envied him and said, "I had hoped to be chosen
myself."'

It must therefore be accepted as an established fact of
history that the religious condition of Arabia, about the age
of Mohammed, was such that no new supernatural revela-
tion, nor even uncommon originality of mind, was required

friends, a native Bey, who had been banished to a fortress in Syria, ostensibly on
the charge of having had a share, at Constantinople, in an attempt to place
Marad Effendi on the throne, but in reality, they affirmed, because he had
become a 'Protestant.' On closer inquiry I found that this Bey had nothing
whatever to do with our Christian Protestantism, but that in fact he was a kind
of Protestant Mussulman, repudiating traditional Mohammedanism, as the
Protestant Christians had repudiated Roman Catholicism. There were thousands
of Mohammedans in those parts, generally called Pektashis, but, as it would
seem, occasionally also Protestants, who were described to me as men abstaining
from the Ramadan fast and the five daily prayers, but retaining the Mussulman
form of a deistic belief in God.

Now if the many thousands of rumoured Protestants in Constantinople who,
without any desire to embrace historical Protestantism, wished to occupy a
position within Islam, corresponding to that of Protestants within Christendom ;
the alarm of the Porte at those rumours and the fact that the whole movement
was kept apart and concealed from the Protestant Missionaries, became equally
intelligible. It is evident that in name and in religion these Mussulman
Protestants of Turkey closely resembled the ancient Hanifites of Ara> ia. Their
movement was virtually an attempted return to pre-Islaraic Hanifism, which
latter had itself been the protoplast from which historic Islamism developed
itself.

28 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

for any one living in Mecca, to perceive and expose the folly
of idolatry, to profess Monotheism, and, at the same time, to
retain the ancient customs and ceremonies of the national
sanctuary, the Kaaba. Mohammed in attempting all this
only followed the example of others. They were unable to
bring about the change in the national religion which they
desired : but he succeeded in the difficult undertaking because
he was more favoured by circumstances, and because he did
not shrink from freely adopting the means of violence and
coercion, or of craftiness and bribery, which lie outside the
domain of pure religion. Zeid Ibn Amr signally failed in his
attempted national reformation, because, instead of being
supported by a powerful family, he was shamefully abandoned
by his nearest relatives and delivered over to the cruel per-
secution and heartless contumely of an ignorant and frivolous
populace. Mohammed, on the contrary, when likewise at
the point of succumbing to popular annoyances and vexations,
was protected by mighty friends and patrons ; and it is
abundantly clear that what saved him from the fate of Zeid
and others, was his kinship to a powerful aristocratic family.
This, therefore, aptly forms our next subject for consideration.

III. The Ancestral or Family Factor.

f It is a great mistake to represent Mohammed as a poor
. man of low birth and as having been in his youth a mere
'camel-driver.' His biographer, Ibn Hisham, concludes the
genealogy he gives of him with this remark : * Accordingly
the Apostle of God was the noblest of the sons of Adam, as
regards descent, both on the paternal and the maternal side.'
The fact is, that he belonged to one of the most distinguished
tribes of Arabia, and was the scion of one of the most pro-
minent aristocratic families in the important mercantile city
of Mecca, that religious metropolis of the whole nation.

Several generations before Mohammed, Kussei, a leading
man of the tribe of the Koreish, a branch of the larger
Kinana tribe, married the daughter of Huleil, at that time
the chief man of Mecca and the overseer of the temple.
When Huleil died, Kussei's influence had already so far in-
creasedf that he could meditate on plans of securing for him-

CH. I. SEC. 111.] THE FAMIL Y FACTOR. 29

self the position hitherto occupied by his father-in-law. He
united round his person the family of the Koreish, who till
then had been divided and dispersed amongst the Kinana
tribe, together with many of the Kinanites themselves, and
with the help of the party thus gained, he overcame his rivals
and made himself the chief man of Mecca and the protector
of its temple. The Koreish, thenceforth, were the ruling
tribe or clan in Mecca, and Kussei's the most influential
family. In recognition of his having united them into one
tribe and raised them to their commanding position in Mecca,
they sumamed him * the Uniter or Gatherer* (El Mojammi).

After Kussei's death, the privileges connected with the
supervision of the temple and the annual pilgrimage caused
rivalries and discord amongst his sons. They formed two
opposite factions, each allying itself with native clans and
entering into solemn pacts and covenants with them, faith-
fully to support each other, and never to deliver any of their
number to the opposite party, ' as long as the sea availed to
wet a fleece of wool.' When both sides were already muster-
ing for an open fight, the fratricidal combat was happily
avoided by an agreement to share the coveted privileges
between the two rival factions. The alliances and covenants,
however, by which the opposite parties had severally united
themselves with other clans, remained in force and imparted
a certain dual character to the social state of Mecca, which
lasted till the time of Mohammed and essentially contributed
to ensure to him a protection without which he would cer-
tainly have been crushed by his enemies. No wonder, there-
fore that, as Ibn Ishak informs us, the Prophet at one period
declared, ' The alliances which existed in the time of idolatry,
are rendered only the more firm by Islam.'

In the above-mentioned peaceable arrangement, the im-
portant privilege of providing the pilgrims with food and
water was assigned to Abd Menaf, the son of Kussei, and at
his death, passed to his son Hashim, because he was wealthier
than his elder brother Abd Shems. On one occasion Hashim
made a journey to Medina and there married into an influ-
ential family. Salma, the new wife, had been married before,
and Ibn Hisham says of her that she was so independent
and held in such high repute that she could presume to

30 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. i.

boast, * she would not marry any man who did not leave her
the liberty of quitting him again as soon as she liked.' She
bore a son to Hashim ; but when her husband returned to
Mecca, she did not accompany him and also retained her
infant son Sheiba with her. After a time, Hashim died at
Gaza, during a mercantile journey, and his privileges passed
to his younger brother El Mottaleb, who discharged his duties
with such liberality in his new position that the Koreish sur-
named him *the Bountiful* (El Feiz). When Sheiba had
grown up to man's estate, his uncle El Mottaleb went to
Medina to fetch him. But Salma being unwilling to part
with her son, he had to use great firmness, declaring, ' I shall
not depart without him. My nephew is grown up. We are
an honoured family amongst our people and enjoy many
privileges. It is better for him to go home to his own
family and his own tribe, than to live here amongst strangers.'
At last Salma gave her consent, and El Mottaleb placed his
nephew behind him on his magnificent she-camel and returned
with him to Mecca. On their arrival, the Koreishites, taking
the young man for a newly acquired slave, called him ' Abdu-
1-Mottaleb,' {i.e, the slave of El Mottaleb) ; and by this sur-
name he was known ever afterwards. But El Mottaleb said,
* Do not call him my slave : he is my brother Hashim's son
whom I have fetched from Medina.'

Abdu-1- Mottaleb, therefore, is a native of Medina, where
he grew up to man's estate, and where his mother and all his
maternal relatives lived. What more natural than that he
should always preserve a certain partiality for, and keep up
a connection with, his native city ? That the kinship was
remembered and cultivated in his family is established by
historical facts. His favourite son, Abd Allah, being taken
ill on a mercantile journey to Gaza, remained with his
relatives in Medina and died theref Abd Allah's widow,
Fatlma, with her little son Mohammed, likewise paid them
a visit and stayed amongst them for a month, in the very
house where her husband had died ; she herself also dying
on her homeward journey. This Abdu-1-Mottaleb is Moham-
med's grandfather, under whose protection and as whose
special favourite the lad grew up, after the premature death
of his father Abd Allah. Thus we see that the way for the

CH. I. SEC. III.] THE FAMIL Y FA CTOR. 31

famous Flight to Medina had been prepared, not merely by
the conversion of a number of Medinites to Islam, but
obviously also by the previously existing family ties and
influences. This is nothing but what naturally resulted from
the clannish character of Arab society in those days, and
from the mutual jealousies of those two rival cities, Mecca
and Medina.

After El Mottaleb's death, the right and honour of pro-
viding for the pilgrims reverted to the line of his elder
brother and thus passed to Abdu-l-Mottaleb^ his nephew from
Medina. Abdu-1-Mottaleb was a rich man, as heir of his
father Hashim's property. He had the wisdom and discre-
tion to abstain from introducing novelties which might have
given offence. Ibn Hisham, the historian, says of him : * He
retained everything which his fathers had introduced, and
acquired an esteem beyond any of his predecessors, being
loved and honoured by his entire people.' Ibn Ishak records
that Abdu-1-Mottaleb, guided by a dream, rediscovered the
celebrated well Zemzem, near the temple, which the Jorho-
mides had formerly covered over and obliterated, and that he
successfully asserted his right over the well against the claims
of the other Koreishites. The good quality and great abund-
ance of the water of Zemzem soon brought the other wells
into disuse ; and so valuable was the discovery considered,
that poets celebrated it in song and extolled the Hashimites
as thereby surpassing all other Koreishites and all the rest
of the Arabs in fame.

That Mohammed did not spring from an obscure family,
but that his grandfather Abdu-1-Mottaleb was the most in-
fluential and powerful man of the aristocratic city of Mecca,
will also appear from the following historical incident
narrated by Ibn Ishak in his account of the unsuccessful
expedition of Abraha against the idolatrous shrine of Mecca.
He says : ' When Abraha was encamped at Mogammas, he
sent his general. El Aswad, with a body of cavalry to plunder
the neighbourhood of Mecca Amongst the spoil which he
collected, there were 200 camels, the property of Abdu-1-
Mottaleb who was then the chief and lord of the Koreish.
Abraha despatched the Himyarite Hunata to Mecca with
this injunction : " Inquire after the chief and lord of the city^

yx THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP, [bk- I.

and tell him that I am not come to make war against him,
but only to destroy the temple. If they will not oppose
this, I thirst not for their blood ; and if he will not make
war against me, bring him here to me." When Hunata, on
making the necessary inquiry in Mecca, was taken to Abdu-1-
Mottaleb and delivered Abrahams message to him, he replied :
" By Allah, we will not war against him ; for we are too weak
for it As regards the temple of Allah ; if He will protect
it against Abraha, it is His own temple and sanctuar}" ; but
if He will deliver it up, then we ourselves cannot protect
it" After this, Abdu-1-Mottaleb accepted the invitation to
the Abyssinian camp, where he made the acquaintance of
the commander's elephant-keeper who thus introduced him
to his master: "The Lord of the Koreish is before the
door, soliciting admittance. He is the lord of the well of
Mecca, feeding the men in the plain and the wild beasts
on the mountain-tops: allow him to enter and to submit
to thee his request" Permission being given, he entered
and said, " I wish that the king would restore to me the 200
camels which have been taken away." Upon this Abraha,
speaking through an interpreter, said : " When I saw thee
first, I was pleased with thee ; but thy words have lowered
thee in my estimation. Thou makest mention of the 200 lost
camels, but sayest nothing about the temple which I am
come to destroy and which is the sanctuary of thyself and
thy fathers." To this Abdu-1-Mottaleb replied : " I am the
master of the camels : the temple also has its master, who
will take care of it" Abraha said, " He probably will not
stop me ; " to which Abdu-1-Mottaleb again replied, " That is
a matter between Him and thee." Abraha then ordered the
camels to be restored to Abdu-1-Mottaleb who, on his return,
informed the Koreish of all that had happened, and com-
manded them to leave Mecca and to retire to the mountain-
recesses, from fear of the Abyssinian soldiery. Then Abdu-
1-Mottaleb took hold of the ring of the temple-door, and,
together with other Koreishites, implored God's help against
Abraha and his army, adding, ** O God, Thy servant looks
after his camels : do Thou protect what belongs to Thee, and
suifer not their cross and their cunning to prevail against
Thy power.'

n )

CHAP. I. SEC III.] THE FAMILY FACTOR. 33

Next morning, when Abraha wished to proceed to Mecca,
his elephant, with whose keeper (be it observed) Abdu-1-
Mottaleb had made friendship, would not rise from the
ground ; and a virulent epidemic of small-pox broke out in
the camp, necessitating the hasty retreat of the Abyssinians.
But besides the fact that Abdu-1-Mottaleb had 200 camels to
lose on a single occasion, there may be mentioned another
indirect proof of his opulence. The Fihrist contains the
following notice : ' In the museum of Mamun there was a
document in the handwriting of Abdu-1-Mottaleb Ibn
Hashim, written on leather. It was to the effect that Abdu-
1-Mottaleb of Mecca had a claim on a certain Himyarite of
Wark Sana, amounting to 1000 dirhems of silver, not
counted, but weighed with an iron weight; and that, on
demand, he received payment of that debt'

Abdu-1-Mottaleb not only occupied a most influential
social and political position in Mecca, but he was also a rigid
devotee of idol-worship, as is proved by his readiness to
sacrifice one of his own sons at the Kaaba. The following
narrative is taken from Ibn Ishak : ' It is believed that when,
at the time of the digging of the Zemzem well, the other
Koreishitcs showed hostility to Abdu-1-Mottaleb, he made
the vow that if he should ever have ten sons of an age to give
him assistance, he would sacrifice one of them at the Kaaba.
As soon as his ten sons had grown up to the requisite age,
he informed them of his vow, and requested them to submit
to its fulfilment On expressing their readiness, and inquir-
ing how it was to be done, he said to them, " Let every one
of you write his name on an arrow and give it me." This
done, he went to the idol Hobal who was placed within the
Kaaba and before whom the sacrifices of the temple were
offered. Hobal had seven arrows, each with a different in-
scription. If the arrow with the inscription " atonement "
was drawn, the person for whom it was drawn had to pay
the price of blood ; if with " yes " or " no," a question was
answered in the affirmative or negative; if with "water,"
the digging of a well was agreed to ; if with ** from you,"
or "not from you," a person was declared to belong, or
not to belong, to a certain tribe; and if with "remain-
ing," the case remained undecided. If they wished for

C

34 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIF, [bk. I.

the answer " y^s^' but received the answer " no," they used
to wait a year, and then repeat the inquiry till it became
possible for them to act in agreement with the oracle. Abdu-1-
Mottaleb's dearest son was Abd Allah, Mohammed's father ;
yet when the lot fell on him, Abdu-1-Mottaleb, provided with
his sword, at once took him to the idols Isaf and Naila, to
sacrifice him. But his other sons and the Koreish in general
interfered, saying, " By Allah, thou shalt not slay him ! for
if thou do, any one might bring his son for an offering,
and then how could mankind continue ? " Upon this they
agreed to submit the case to a priestess in Khaibar who
had •* a spirit that followed her." After she had learned from
them that in their home the atonement for a man was ten
camels, she told them, " Go home, place Abd Allah on one
side and ten camels on the other, and let lots be drawn
between them. If the arrow for the camels comes out, then
sacrifice them in his stead — he is saved, and your Lord
satisfied ; but if the arrow for Abd Allah comes out, then
add ten camels more ; and go on in this way until the arrow
for the camels is drawn." Having returned to Mecca, they
acted on this advice, and the arrow for the camels was not
drawn till their number had been increased to one hundred.'

To show Abdu'l-Mottaleb's special affection for his
grandson, Ibn Ishak further narrates : *The Apostle of God
lived with his mother and grandfather ; but his mother died
in Abwa, between Mecca and Medina, when returning with
him from a visit to his uncles, the Beni Adi, he being only
six years old. After her death, he lived entirely with his
grandfather. Abdu-1-Mottaleb had his couch near the Kaaba
and when his sons attended on him, they stood around the
couch ; but such was their reverence for him, that none of
them ever ventured to sit upon it Once the Apostle of God,
when yet a little boy, came and sat down on the couch. His
uncles wanted to remove him, but Abdu-1-Mottaleb forbade
it, saying, " Leave my son alone : by Allah, he will one day
occupy a high rank ! " Then he allowed him to remain sitting
by his side and to stroke him, being pleased with whatever
the child did. When the Apostle of God was eight years old,
eight years after the elephant year, Abdu-1-Mottaleb died.'

One of his daughters lamented him in the following dirge.

CHAP. I. SEC III.] THE FAMILY FACTOR, 35

*Shed tears in abundance, O mine eye, over the bountiful,
the noble, the very best that ever rode on camel ; over the
excellent father who diffused blessings like the Euphrates.
He was a lion, when anything great had to be fought for :.
every eye looked up to him. He was the prince of the Beni
Kinana : of him they expected help, when the times brought
misfortune; he was their refuge, when war threatened de-
struction ; and he combated for them against every calamity.
Oh weep for him, and weary not to mourn him, as long as
there are weeping women ! '

After Abdu-1-Mottaleb's death, the little boy Mohammed '
was taken to the house of his uncle Abu Talib, to whom
Abdu-1-MottaIeb had commended him, because his father
Abd Allah was Abu Talib's double brother, that is, they had
not only a common father, but also one and the same
mother, Fatima, the daughter of Amr Ibn Aid. * Abu Talib
now took care of the Apostle of God and always kept him
near his person.'

It must, therefore, be admitted as beyond dispute, that )
Mohammed belonged to a family and a tribe which enjoyed
a high position in their country, and were the distinguished
exponents of a pure and genuine Arab nationality. The
tribe of the Koreish, amongst which he was bom and brought
up, greatly prided itself on the purity of their descent and
the services they had rendered to the fatherland and its
temple. After having long felt the disadvantages and evils
accruing from the disunion and disruption to which they had
been a prey, in common with the whole nation, they at last
wisely united, and, by valour no less than by a prudent use
of circumstances, succeeded in making themselves masters,
of the important city of Mecca, at once the religious metro-
polis and an opulent emporium of the entire nation. The '
family in which Mohammed was born and bred, exercised a
most powerful political and social influence ; and, as we have
seen, took the most prominent part in the negotiations with
the invading Abyssinian army which had penetrated to the
neighbourhood of Mecca, but was successfully kept from
taking and sacking the city by Abdu-l-Mottaleb*s dexterous
management The highest interests of this family centred
in the national sanctuary, of which they had acquired the

36 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

superintendence, and whose pilgrims they were privileged to
supply with food and water. Their riches were gained and
multiplied by a diligent participation in the mercantile enter-
prises of the leading Meccan houses ; and the regular trading
expeditions to foreign lands which they assiduously used
widened the circle of their knowledge and raised the scope
of their aspirations.

All these more or less favourable circumstances could not
but have a very decided effect and produce a certain inefface-
able impress upon any Meccan citizen of a susceptible
nature and a calculating turn of mind Now of such a
nature and of such a bent of mind was Mohammed. View*
ing the Arabian Prophet from the standpoint of family and
kinship, we cannot but be struck with the thought that the
religious aims and worldly projects which he mixed up in his
mind and resolutely pursued by means as unscrupulous as
they proved successful, were in full accord with his birth and
education, and, in fact, the natural outcome of his antecedents.
Belonging to a family of lordly merchants, the self-constituted
guardians of the national temple, and inheriting alike their
mercantile enterprise and their religious enthusiasm, he did
not shrink from present self-denial and privation in order to
secure the rich prize he saw glittering in the distance. As a
merchant in a higher sphere and on a grander scale, he risked
much and gained more. His later successes did credit to
the mercantile family amongst which he had obtained his
early schooling. But manifold and powerful as were the
influences acting upon Mohammed from without, their actual
results were necessarily shaped in accordance with the
physical and psychical constitution, and with the strongly
marked personality^ of the man himself.

IV. The Personal Factor.

Mohammed was the only child of his father Abd Allah,
the son of Abdu-1-MottaIeb, and of his mother Amina, the
daughter of Wahb, lord of the Beni Zuhra. Ibn Ishak calls
Amina * the noblest woman amongst the Koreish, both by
descent and rank.' He also states that Abd Allah died
before the birth of his son ; and Amina when he was only

CHAP. I. SEC IV.] THE PERSONAL FACTOR. 37

six years of age. From this early death of both his parents
it may perhaps be inferred that they were not of a sound
constitution and robust health, and that his own highly sensi-
tive and delicate nature may have been inherited from them.

At all events, his mother must have been a nervous,
visionary person, if the traditional accounts of her have any
foundation in facts, and are not altogether gratuitous inven-
tions. The following narrative is attributed to her : ' When
six months of my pregnancy had passed, I once happened
to be in a state between waking and sleeping, and some one
said to me : '* Knowest thou that thou art with child ? " and
on my replying in the negative, that person continued,
** Verily thou art bearing the Lord and Prophet of this nation."
As the time of parturition drew near, that person again
appeared to me in a vision, and said, ** Commit him to the
protection of the One, against the harm of every envier ; and
call his name Mohammed." Then this speaker from the
unseen world^ added, " The sign of the truth of my word is»
that, together with that Mohammed, a light shall be bom
which will fill the palaces of Bosra." On another occasion,
likewise before Mohammed's birth, I saw in reality that a
light proceeded from me by which the whole world became
illuminated. It was by a reflection from this light that
previously the palaces of the land of Bosra had become
visible to me, so that I clearly saw them in Mecca.

' In the night when labour-pain seized me, I heard a great
voice by which I was terrified ; and I saw, as it were, a white
wing brush across my bosom, whereupon that terror left me.
Then I saw a cup with a white beverage, placed before me,
resembling milk ; and as I was thirsty I drank it and became
quite calm and composed. In the same night there also
appeared in my house a peculiar kind of birds which filled
the whole house. Their beaks were of emerald, and their
wings of ruby. The Most High lifted the veil off my eye,
so that I saw the eastern and the western portions of the
earth, and I beheld them plant three banners: one in the
east, one in the west, and one on the roof of the Kaaba. At
the birth there issued forth from me, together with the child,
a light by which I saw the palaces of Bosra in Syria. When
Mohammed was bom, a white cloud from heaven enveloped

38 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. i.

him, and took him up to heaven, so that he disappeared out
of my sight. In that state I heard a caller call out, "Pass
him through the east and west of the earth, and take him to
the birthplaces of the prophets, that they may bless him,
and pray for him, and that they may clothe him in the dress
of the Hanifites, and present him to his father Abraham ;
and take him also to all the seas, that all their inhabitants
may know his name, his attributes, and his form. Verily, in
the seas his name is Annihilator, for not a grain of Polytheism
remains on the face of the earth that shall not be annihilated
in his time." Then in an instant they brought Mohammed
back' to me, wrapt in wool whiter than snow,' eta etc

Ibn Ishak narrates : ' The Apostle of God was bom on a
Monday in **the year of the elephant" (see p, 9), when
twelve nights of the month Rabia-1-ewwel had passed.
After he was bom, his mother sent for Abdu-1-Mottaleb,
b^^ing him to come and see the child. When he came, she
told him what she had seen during the time of her pregnancy,
what she was told about him, and how she had been com-
manded to name him. It is believed that his grandfather
then took him in his arms, and carried him to the Kaaba,
to thank God for the gift ; and after this was done, he
brought him back to his mother and began to look out for
a wet-nurse.'

In the Mohammedan biography entitled Rawzet ul Ahbab,
the subject of the wet-nurse is thus introduced: 'It was
customary amongst the noble families of the Arabs to give
their children to wet-nurses, so that their wives might without
care or trouble occupy themselves with their husbands, and
bear the more children ; and also because it is acknowledged
that the enjoyment of fresh water and a healthy climate
by children predisposes them to clearness of speech and
eloquence. Hence they used to have their children nursed
amongst Arab tribes, whose localities were celebrated for
their pure water and salubrious air. Of all the Arab tribes
the Beni Saad enjoyed the highest reputation on the score
of the excellency of their air and water. Accordingly the
women of the tribes in the neighbourhood of Mecca used to
come to the city twice a year, in spring and autumn, for the
purpose of obtaining infants to nurse ; and when they had

CHAP. I. SEC IV.] THE PERSONAL FACTOR, 39

received any, they took them away with them to their own
tribe, to suckle and tend them there.'

Ibn Ishak has preserved to us the story which, in after-
day^, the Saadite woman Halima is reported to have told
as to the way in which she became Mohammed's wet-nurse.
It is highly coloured, to suit Moslem notions as to the special
providences which ought to have signalised their Prophet
from his infancy, and runs as follows : * In a year of grievous
famine I left my home with my husband and sucking babe,
together with other women of the Beni Saad, who likewise
were in search of babies for suckling. I had a troublesome
journey, because my baby was crying with hunger. Neither
myself nor the she-camel we took with us had milk enough
to satisfy him ; and the donkey on which I rode was so lean
and weak that it could not keep pace with the caravan, and
proved an irksome drag to it. But we buoyed ourselves up
with the hope of help and deliverance, till we at last reached
Mecca. The Apostle of God was offered to all the women ;
but none of them would accept him as soon as they learned
that he was an orphan. For we expected presents from the
fathers of the sucklings, and thought that a mere grandfather
and widow mother were not likely to do much for us. But
when all the other women had found sucklings, and we were
about to return home, I said to my husband, " By Allah ! I
do not like to go back with my companions without a
suckling ; I will take this orphan." He replied, " Thou wilt
not be a sufferer by taking it : God may bless us on its
account" So I took the child, from no other reason than
that I could not find another. When I laid him on my bosom,
he found so much milk that he could drink till he had enough,
and likewise his foster-brother drank, and was satisfied.
Then they also both slept quietly, whilst before that my
own child had been so restless as to give us no sleep. My
husband, on going to our camel, found her quite swollen with
milk, and drew so much from her that both he and I could
drink as much as we liked ; and we spent a most happy night.
The following morning my husband said to me, " Know, O
Halima, that thou hast obtained a blessed child." 1 replied,
" By Allah, I hope so !" Then we departed, and I took him
with me on my ass, which now ran so nimbly that my fellow-

40 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. l,

travellers, with their asses, could hardly follow, and asked
me whether this was the same animal as that on which I
came. After our arrival at home, in the land of the Beni
Saad, the most unfruitful of lands, my cattle returned every
evening satisfied and full of milk, so that we had milk enough
to drink whilst others suffered great want. Thus we found
God's blessing and abundance in everything, till two years
had passed, when the boy was weaned, having grown stronger
than any other child. We now took him to his mother,
though desirous to keep him longer, on account of the bless-
ing he had brought to us. Accordingly I said to his mother :
" Will you not leave your child longer with us, till he has
grown stronger ; for I fear the bad air of Mecca might prove
hurtful to him ? " We urged the matter until she consented,
and sent the child back with us.'

The necessity which thus appeared to have existed, and
to which Halima's story only covertly alludes, of securing to
the child the benefit of a more invigorating climate beyond
the usual term of suckling, confirms the assumption of his
constitutional delicacy. An event happening not long after
his second return to the country of the Beni Saad is a
palpable proof that he was organically and from childhood
an hysterical, visionary subject. Ibn Ishak reports that,
when their Prophet was one day asked by some of his friends
for an account of his early life, he described that event in
the following words : * Once, whilst I was tending the cattle,
together with my foster-brother, two men clothed in white
and bearing a golden wash-basin, filled with snow, came
towards me, seized me, split open my body, took out my
heart, cut it open, and removed from it a black clot, which
they threw away. Then they washed my heart and body
quite clean with the snow, and one of them said to the other,
" Weigh him against ten of his people ;" and when he did so,
I outweighed them. Then he said, " Weigh him against a
hundred of his people ; " but I again outweighed them. He
continued, " Weigh him against a thousand of his people ; "
and when I outweighed them too, he said, " Leave him now :
for if thou wert to put his entire people into the scale, he
would outweigh them all." '

Halima also refers to the same subject, proceeding with

CHAP. I. SEC IV.] THE PERSONAL FACTOR. 41

her story as follows : ' Some months after our return home,
when he was with the cattle, in company of his foster-brother,
the latter, one day, came running to us, and said, '' Two men
robed in white, have seized my brother, the Koreishite,
stretched him on the ground, cut open his body, and felt
about in it" ^ I and his father hastened to the spot, and,
finding him quite altered in appearance, we asked him what
had happened. He answered thus : '* There came towards
me two men in white clothes, stretched me on the ground,
split open my body, and sought something in it, I know not
what" We brought him to our tent, and his father said to
me, ^ I fear this boy is plagued by evil spirits : take him back
to his family, before it becomes known." We therefore soon
started to take him to his mother. She, on seeing us so
unexpectedly, exclaimed, •* O nurse, what has happened to
bring thee hither, after all thy solicitation to keep the child
longer ? " I answered, " God has allowed my son to grow
up ; I have done my part, and am afraid lest any misfortune
should happen to him." Amina rejoined, " This is not the
reason : tell me the exact truth ; " and she urged me, till I
told her all that had taken place. Upon this she said to me,
** Fearest thou that he is possessed with an evil spirit ? " and
on my answering " yes," she continued, " Never, by Allah !
Satan finds no access to him ; for he will one day have to
occupy a high position. Shall I tell thee something about
him ? " On my again answering ** yes," she went on, saying,
" When I was with child I saw a light shining forth from me,
so bright as to illuminate the palaces of Bosra in Syria. My
pregnancy was lighter and pleasanter than I had ever seen.
As soon as he was bom he stretched out his hands on the
ground, and raised his head towards heaven. But leave him
now with me, and return safely to thy home." '

This account of an event happening in Mohammed's
childhood, when, however, he cannot have been merely two
or three years old, but must have been about double that
age, is of great importance in rightly estimating his character
and history. It proves that the hysterical paroxysms from
which he suffered in after life, and to which he attributed his

^ The boy, of course, narrates, not what he had seen himself, with his own eye,
but what Mohammed had seen and told him.

42 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. u

prophetic call, did not result from the visit of an angel bring-
ing him Divine revelations, as is believed by the Moham-
medans, but were the natural outcome of a diseased state of
health, and of an abnormal physical constitution, dating back
to the earliest period of his life. Just as in his mature age
he remained conscious of the sensations he felt during his
cataleptic fits, so also in the instance of his childhood, related
by his Bedouin nurse and himself, he was able to describe
the subjective play of a disordered imagination during the
paroxysm, as if it had been an objective reality. The dis-
order from which he suffered is supposed by his medical
biographer Sprenger to have been hysteria muscularis, and
although its attacks closely resembled common epileptic fits,
yet they also differed from them, inasmuch as he retained a
recollection of the workings of his mind during the parox-
ysms, which is not the case in ordinary epilepsy. Moham-
med's hysterical sensations and visionary fantasies obviously
were involuntary, and yet proceeded only from within his
own psychical world, just as our ordinary dreams come in-
voluntarily, but are nevertheless originated by ourselves.
The nature of both phenomena is one purely subjective.

When Mohammed was six years old, his mother took him
with her on a visit to their relatives in Medina. His great-
grandmother Salma belonging to the powerful family of the
Beni Adi, and his father Abd Allah having died, and lying
buried amongst them, the little orphan was naturally
remembered with interest by a number of friends and con-
nections in Medina. The widowed Amina, on her part, whose
entire hope centred in the one child, was equally disposed to
keep up and refresh that interest amongst her son's kindred
in the sister-city, which was at once his father's last resting-
place and his grandfather's birthplace. They remained a
whole month with the Beni Adi, living in the very house
where Abd Allah had died ; and, when many years later-
Medina opened her gates to the fugitive Prophet, he said
that he could still recollect several scenes of this early visit
The short stay in the feverish climate of Medina seems to
have been too much for his mother's delicate health ; for she
died during their return journey, before they reached Mecca.
Such a tragic event was eminently calculated to intensify

CHAP. I. SEC. IV.] THE PERSONAL FACTOR. 43

the sympathy for the now fatherless and motherless orphan
amongst his kinsmen and well-wishers in Medina ; and it is
but natural to imagine that they always made it a point to
look after and befriend him, whenever they performed their
pilgrimage to the shrine of Mecca, which was situated close
to his grandfather's dwelling-house. This family relation-
ship and its mutual cultivation prepared the way for, and
doubtless first suggested the idea of, Mohammed's later
emigration to Medina. It also supplies an easy explanation
of the early conversion of a number of Medinites to Islam.

After Amina's death, her orphan son passed to the sole
guardianship of his aged grandfather, the revered and in-
fluential Abdu-1-Mottaleb, who seems to have doted upon
him with all the fondness and over-indulgence so often met
with in grandparents towards their grandchildren, and who,
before he died, urgently commended him to the care of Abu
Talib, the child's paternal uncle. The biographers say that
Abu Talib's love for his ward was such that he preferred
him to his own children, and would never allow a meal to
be begun until he was present. It requires no stretch of
imagination to understand how such unusual deference to a
young lad, could hardly fail to engender in his extremely
susceptible mind strong notions about his own peculiar
importance, dignity, and destiny ; and, as fortune-tellers were
then in great repute amongst the Meccans, it could easily
be conceived that, for a trifle, those notions were fostered by
their prognostications, even if Mohammedan history did not
make express mention of the subject. But Ibn Ishak writes
thus : * A fortune-teller of the tribe Sihb often came to Mecca
and prophesied to the lads taken to him by the Koreishites.
On Abu Talib one day coming with some, the fortune-teller
specially noticed the Apostle of God ; but his attention was
just then occupied with something else. As soon as he had
finished, he again inquired after him, and desired that he
should be brought. Abu Talib, suspecting those pressing
solicitations, concealed him, whereupon the soothsayer called
out, " Woe unto you ! bring me that lad again whom I have
just seen: by Allah, he will one day occupy a high posi-
tion ! " '

Early travelling with the far-famed mercantile caravans

44 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. I.

of Mecca could not but widen the mental horizon of the aspir-
ing youth, afford ample scope for his calculating mind, and
prove a good school for becoming acquainted with different
classes of men and for learning how to deal with them. His
father, his uncles, his grandfather and great-grandfather, all
took part in mercantile pursuits, and derived much of their
wealth from joining other merchants in regular trading expedi-
tions of large dimensions to foreign lands. Mohammed him-
self also had in all probability joined many of these caravans
before he had developed those mercantile qualifications and
trading abilities which afterwards recommended him as a fit
and desirable agent to the wealthy merchant widow Khadija
who engaged him.

But what appears to be his first journey of the kind, when
he was still quite young, is fully narrated by the biographers.
They tell us that, on one occasion, when Abu Talib was
ready to start, his orphan nephew clung to him saying,
' O my uncle, I have neither mother nor father : with whom
wilt thou leave me? Take me with thee on the journey.'
This so touched the uncle's heart that he replied : * By Allah !
I take thee with me and allow nothing to separate us.' So
they set out together, and the caravan halted, as was their
wont, near the abode of a Christian anchorite, Bahira by name.

The biographers* predilection for the marvellous, and for
discovering prognostications concerning Mohammed's later
career, fastens on this journey ; and they seriously narrate
that Bahira, whom they represent as * well acquainted with
the Christian Scriptures,' had a book in his cell from which
the monks instructed themselves, and which passed from one
to another, as an heirloom. In this book the Arabian Prophet
is reported to have been so minutely described that Bahira
recognised him without difficulty in Abu Talib's nephew.
On examining his back, he found the so-called 'seal of
prophetship,' in the very place between his shoulders where
it was to be, according to the description of the book. It
had the appearance of the cicatrice left by cupping; and
taking into consideration the lad's previous state of ill-health, '
it very probably was nothing more than what it looked.
Bahira is then reported to have addressed this counsel to
Abu Talib : ' Go home with the lad and carefully keep him

^

CHAP. I. SEC IV.] THE PERSONAL FACTOR, 4S

from the Jews : for if they see and recognise him as I do,
they will seek to do him harm. Surely this thy nephew
will one day occupy a high rank.' Abu Talib acted on this
advice as soon as he had finished his business transactions
in Syria.

Thus Mohammed grew up in the bosom of a mercantile
family and in the midst of a busy city of traders; and
turning these favourable circumstances to good account, he
became himself an accomplished man of business and a
practical merchant His attractive personal qualities and
eminent fitness for doing a profitable trade led to his
marriage with the wealthy widow Khadija ; and the vast
increase of worldly means thus placed at his disposal
favoured his conception and pursuit of still higher and more
pretentious aims.

Ibn Ishak mentions the circumstances leading to the
marriage with Khadija ; and faithful to the general Moslem
propensity of embellishing the ordinary eventsin Mohammed's
life with traits of the supernatural, narrates as follows :
'The Koreish were a mercantile tribe, and Khadija an
honourable merchant lady who placed her goods in the
hands of agents for trading purposes and allowed them a
share in the profits. When she heard of Mohammed's
faithfulness, truthfulness, and good manners, she proposed to
him to take the charge of her goods for Syria, offering better
terms to him than to any one else. Mohammed accepted
the proposal and took her merchandise to Syria, accompanied
by her trusted servant Meisara. When he rested under the
shadow of a tree, near the cell of an anchorite, the latter
said to Meisara : " Under this tree no one has ever rested
except a prophet." Afler having disposed of their goods
and bought otihers instead, they returned to Mecca ; but on
the way, as is believed, l^^eisara saw two angels overshadow
Mohammed, whilst he was riding on his camel, in the heat
of the day. On their reaching Mecca, the goods they had
brought with them were sold, and Khadija found that the
^ capital invested had been doubled, or nearly so. Meisara
also told her what the anchorite had said, and what he
himself had seen of the overshadowing angels.

' When Khadija, who was an intelligent, good, and noble

46 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP, [bk. I.

lady, whom God had destined to high favours, had heard
these things, she sent for Mohammed and said to him, " My
cousin, I love thee on account of thy kinship with me, on
account of the esteem thou enjoyest among thy people, as
well as on account of thy faithfulness, truthfulness, and good
manners ; " and she wound up by offering herself to him for
his wife. Khadija was at that time the most renowned of
the Koreish ladies, both as regards her descent and her great
wealth, so that every man amongst her people exceedingly
desired to obtain her in marriage. Mohammed, who was
then twenty-five years old, gladly accepted her flattering
offer and went with his uncle Hamza to Khuweiled Ibn
Asad, her father, formally to ask for her hand, and giving
her twenty young camels as her wedding gift. Khadija was
Mohammed's first wife, during whose lifetime he married no
other, and she was the mother of all his children, with the
only exception of Ibrahim, whom he had by the Coptic
woman Mary.'

We are further informed by the biographers that Khadija
lost no time in communicating Meisara's report about the
anchorite and the overshadowing angels to her cousin,
Waraka Ibn Nawfal, known as a learned Christian, reading
the Scriptures ; and that he said to her, ' If what thou hast
told me is true, then Mohammed will become the prophet of
this nation ; for I know that such a prophet is to be expected
and that the time is near.' He also made the following
declaration on the subject in verse : * Mohammed shall
become the lord of this nation and shall conquer those who
make the pilgrimage ; he shall produce a light in the land by
which unsteady mankind shall be kept straight; he shall
destroy his enemies and bless those who are at peace with
him.'

Now though this prophecy bt nothing more than a
vaticinium post eventum, put into Waraka's mouth for the
glorification of Mohammed, it still tends to show that, in the
eyes of his admiring Arab countrymen, it did not appear as
at all unnatural or unreasonable to anticipate for him,
even at that early period, an exalted position, both religious
and political. For they saw that by his lucky marriage
command of wealth had been added to his prestige as a

CHAP. I. SEC. IV.] THE PERSONAL FACTOR, 47

distinguished member of the most powerful aristocratic
family of Mecca, which, at the same time, held the highest
rank in religion, as the special guardians of the national
sanctuary.

But this account of Khadija's visit possesses a still
further significance of moment by showing that, already at
this early period, she felt so drawn to her Hanifite friend
Waraka, as to consult with him on delicate matters of
affection and family interest It is therefore exceedingly
probable that she herself also sympathised at heart with the
views and aspirations of the Hanifite sect. Fifteen years
later, when perplexed and distressed on account of her
husband's strange visions, we find her again resorting to the
same counsellor for guidance and relief Now by allowing
due weight to both these facts, expressly reported by the
historians, \^ may justly infer that likewise during the
fifteen years' interval Hanifite sympathies and Hanifite
influences were no strangers in the household of Khadija and
her husband. In that household it was not the youthful
husband but the staid wife who gave the tone and bore the
sway. Khadija was evidently an Arab lady of a strong
mind and mature experience, who maintained a decided
ascendency over her husband, and managed him with great
wisdom and firmness. This appears from nothing more
strikingly than from the very remarkable fact that she
succeeded in keeping him from marrying any other wife, as
long as she lived, though at her death, when he had long
ceased to be a young man, he indulged without restraint in
the multiplication of wives. But as Khadija herself was
favourably disposed towards Hanifism, it is highly probable
that she exercised her commanding influence over her
husband in such a manner as to promote and strengthen
his own attachment to the reformatory sect of monotheists.

Under these conditions of religion, rank, wealth, domestic
influence and friendly intercourse with awakened patriots
who were fretting beneath the shackles of prevailing super-
stitions and anxiously feeling after religious reform, Mo-
hammed's otherwise uneventful life smoothly passed on,
till a serious and protracted return of his early cataleptic fits
brought to the surface what had long been working in the

J

48 THE FACTORS OF HIS PROPHETSHIP. [bk. i. ch. i.

depths of his soul, and placed him before the public in an
entirely new character — that of a man claiming to be God's
specially commissioned Apostle or Ambassador. It is to
the more direct tracing of this gradual inward process
from its first inception till it reached its full manifestation,
or, as it were, crystallised into solidity, that we have now to
direct our attention.

V. The Product of the afore-mentianed Factors^ or Mohammed
assuming the character of a Prophet and Messenger of
God.

The facts and data hitherto mai-shalled furnish us with
adequate means, apart from all reference to any special
intervention of Providence, for comprehending that remark-
able character which stamped itself so mysteriously on the
pages of history as the Prophet and Ruler of Arabia and as
the Author of the Politico-religious System of Islam.

We have seen that by birth Mohammed belonged to a
family which, from its influential political position, and from
its enjoyment of valuable privileges connected with the
national sanctuary, naturally took a special interest in the
concerns of the whole nation, and regarded with indignation
and pain the progress of foreign domination in the common
Arab fatherland. It can be easily conceived, especially if we
take into account the sociable manner in which the Arabs
like to spend their leisure hours, how inevitably these matters
must have formed, within the temple precincts, that regular
rendezvous of the people, the topic of frequent and earnest
conversations, to which Mohammed could not possibly have
remained a stranger.

These deliberations about the degraded, suffering state of
the nation, about the urgency and best method of doing
something for its deliverance, necessarily affected Mohammed
all the more deeply and strongly, the more he was distin-
guished by susceptibility, pensiveness, and activity of mind.
Whatever stirred his soul, stirred it to the bottom, and
took possession of it with something like overwhelming
force. The patriotic feelings, extensively called into play
around him, were sure to find in him a patriot of uncommon

SEC v.] POLITICAL UNION NEEDED &* AIMED AT. 49

devotion and of a planning, plotting thoughtfulness. The
ills and wounds of the country lay patent to all. The Arab
nation was one only in name, was a mere 'geographical
idea;' but in reality it was broken up into endless sub-
divisions of independent tribes and «clans, kept asunder
by frequent inter-tribal feuds and worried by acrimonious
internal dissensions, so that they fell an easy prey to the
covetous designs of surrounding nations. Under these cir-
cumstances the earnest patriots could not easily mistake
their duty. It must have appeared plain to them that, before
everything else, they were to seek to unite the discordant
elements into one political whole, and thus to form a power
strong enough to effect a speedy emancipation from the
foreign yoke, and to guard against the danger of a return of
such calamities in the future Of some such kind as this,
were, in all probability, the political thoughts and aspirations
which occupied and possessed Mohammed's mind, up to the
time of the great personal crisis from which he emerged as
the Prophet of his people ; and their reflex action can be
distinctly traced in the excessive political colouring of the
religion which he bestowed on his followers.

But let Mohammed and his fellow-patriots set about
realising their political plan, and by what truly appalling
obstacles will they find themselves confronted! To call
into existence a great political union — how difficult every-
where, and what a truly Herculean task in a country like
Arabia I Where was the authority, the overawing power,
likely to command recognition and submission from so many
independent tribes, jealous of their liberty and morbidly
suspicious of each other, or even from the small but proud
aristocratic oligarchy of Mecca ? The only thing known to
them as possessing a sort of national influence was their
temple in Mecca and the religion it represented : but this had
wholly failed thus far in proving the uniting force required.
Still it seemed that nothing short of a power possessing
Divine authority could serve the purpose. Might not,
therefore, the traditional religion be rendered serviceable by
means of reform? Or might, perhaps, any other religion,
with its supernatural prestige, be found preferable? Was it
not by their religion, that the Christian Abyssinians and the

D

50 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS, [bk, i.ch. i.

Christian Romans were united powers ? Surely, if questions
like these arose in the minds of Mohammed and other Arab
patriots, it was very natural ; and if religion was looked upon
by them as one of the strongest bonds of union, they only
gave proof of a just appreciation of facts.

As by birth Mohammed belonged to a family which was
at once the chief representative of political power and the
principal exponent of the traditional religion ; so by marriage
he had become the husband of an able and high-minded
wife, old enough to be his mother, and exercising a con-
trolling influence over his whole life. She not only herself
entertained strong leanings towards the reform movement
that had lately sprung up, but also cultivated familiar inter-
course with near relatives and friends who took a leading
part in the new religious fraternity. If Mohammed was not
yet a Hanifite before his marriage, he surely soon became
one, either openly or secretly, under the dominant conjugal
influence of Khadija, and through the encouraging example
of her esteemed kinsmen and acquaintances. For he was of
. a plastic nature and easily influenced by those to whom he
/ felt attached. The Hanifltes, though primarily a religious
sect of Deists, in opposition to Polytheism, were mostly also
warm patriots, intent on promoting the political union and
well-being of their nation. One of their number, Khadija's
cousin Othman, sought to establish a strong central govern-
ment in Mecca, with the aid and under the prestige of the
Roman Emperor, and, doubtless, in the hope of thus event-
ually securing for his country the inestimable blessings of
Christianity, to which Hanifism was only a sort of midway-
station, or stepping-stone, as indeed it had proved in his own
case. But Othman completely failed with his scheme, and,
after a very brief rule, had to save his life by a precipitate
flight from the fury of his countrymen, who looked on his
mild government as an intolerable yoke.

This very failure of Othman, through his relying on the
aid and religion of a foreign country, plainly conveyed the
lesson to the Hanifite friends whom he had left behind him
in Mecca, that an entire dependence on their own people,
the recognition, to a certain extent, of the ancient central
sanctuary, and the preservation of a strictly national charac-

SEC. v.] THE NEED OF RELIGIOUS REFORM FELT. 51

ter, might form a surer and a safer road to the goal after
which they aspired. They had had a proof before their very
eyes that to put forward the Christian religion as a shibboleth
implied, in the estimation of the public, a reliance on the
foreign States of Abyssinia and Rome and was sure to evoke
all the national jealousies and animosities of the proud and
sensitive Arabs. The religion prevailing in Mecca, notwith-
standing its tolerant and comprehensive character, had no
less failed as a rallying-point and uniting force to bring
about the desired national union and national strength. For
though the Kaaba enjoyed a wide reputation and included
a great number of idols, yet different towns and districts
possessed images and tutelary deities of their own to which
they fondly clung, and which they were not prepared to give
up or degrade in favour of others. Moreover, belief in the
polytheistic shrine of Mecca had become greatly under-
mined by a widespread monotheistic ferment, the outcome
of Judaism and Christianity. The Hanifites had indeed
personally risen above the national idol-worship : they had
clearly discerned that its time was fast passing away, that
the spirit of the age demanded progress, and that a religion
was needed more in keeping with the higher aspirations of
man and with the truer ideas of the sacred writings by which
the Jews and the Christians were raised so far above the
benighted Pagans. But to be guided exclusively by the
spiritual interests of pure religion might most seriously con-
flict with their much cherished political plans ; and to yield
to the latter the paramount importance they seemed to
demand, might fatally interfere with the supreme interests
of the revealed religion to which their consciences had be-
come more or less awakened.

It is clear, then, that in this critical state two courses still
presented themselves as possible to the partisans of Hanifism.
Some of them might conscientiously subordinate their poli-
tical aspirations and worldly plans to the deepest cravings
of their God-seeking heart and openly embrace the religion
of revelation and salvation, regardless of temporal conse-
quences. Others might remain entangled in national political
schemes and seek to find out a middle path. These would
endeavour to unite the superior religious truths which had

52 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS, [bk. I. CH. I.

dawned upon them with such a recognition of the hereditary
sanctuary and its guardians as might prove helpful in gain-
ing over a majority of the people to the intended compro-
mise, and thus prepare the way for more extended national
projects.

As a matter of fact, such a division between the leading
advocates of religious reform actually took place. Ibn Ishak
narrates that Waraka and Othman became Christians.
Obeid Allah at first joined his cousin Mohammed, but after-
wards likewise entered the Christian Church in Abyssinia,
where also he remained till his death. Zeid, however, neither
embraced Judaism nor Christianity, but professed to hold the
Faith of Abraham and boldly repudiated all idol-worship.
He openly rebuked his countrymen for their idolatry and evil
practices, and strenuously sought to make propaganda for
his views. In consequence of his zeal, he was persecuted and
had to take up his abode outside the city on Mount Hira,
where he probably remained for the rest of his life and was
buried at the foot of the mount, though some traditions have
it that he finally left his country and was killed amongst
the Lachmites.

Mohammed, it appears, chiefly moulded himself after the
pattern of Zeid, and, like him, professed to hold and teach
nothing but the ancient Faith of Abraham. Though not
really a great mind or original thinker, and rather of a soft,
impressible nature, yet Mohammed possessed a good deal of
tenacity ; and what he had once mentally seized upon, he
held fast, ruminated over it, and strove to carry it out with
as much firm perseverance as shrewd calculation. Men of
Mohammed's hysterical disposition are often found to have
such an unexpected amount of strong will and quiet resolve,
bordering on stubborn obstinacy, that their whole soul be-
comes absorbed in their aspirations and they seem more
possessed by their ideas than possessing them. Mohammed
venerated Zeid, and quietly, but tenaciously, took up his
views and aims. We are informed by Ibn Ishak that, on
being asked after Zeid's death whether his soul might be
prayed for, Mohammed unhesitatingly declared such prayer
lawful, adding, ' In the resurrection he will be raised up as a
distinct religious community.' Wakidy, another of his bio-

SEC v.] HE SHARES THE STANDPOINT OF ZEID. 53

graphers, narrates that the Prophet gave Zeid the salutation
of peace, an honour vouchsafed only to Moslems ; that he
invoked God's grace on him and affirme'd, * I have seen him
in Paradise : he is drawing a train after him.' Sprenger, one
of his most learned biographers, says, ^ Mohammed openly
acknowledged Zeid as his precursor, and every word known
as Zeid's we find again in the Koran.'

An indirect proof of Mohammed's veneration for the Hanif
Zeid, before he claimed to be a prophet, may also be dis-
cerned in the fact that the young slave whom he received as
a present from his wife Khadija, and whom he manumitted
and adopted for his own son, was named Zeid. For as Ibn
Hisham tells us that he had been brought from Syria, where
Christianity was already dominant, he most probably was of
Christian parentage and bore a Christian name. Now if his
Meccan master gave him instead the new name of Zeid, he
obviously did so in honour of the esteemed Hanif reformer
of the same name whom he revered as his own spiritual
guide.

Neither Zeid nor Mohammed was spiritually prepared, nor
had their conscience been sufficiently stirred by an adequate
sense of their fallen condition and sinfulness, thankfully to
accept the salvation and earnestly to long for the sanctifica-
tion offered in the Gospel of Christ. They both were and
remained mere * natural men,' unable to discern ^ the things
of the Spirit of God ' (i Cor. ii. 14) ; and, as far as we know,
they died without having experienced the second birth and
the renewing of their mind by that same blessed Spirit. But
notwithstanding this, both were equally persuaded and
sincerely believed that it would be a desirable thing, making
for their countrj^s good, to have its irrational idolatry re-
placed by the more reasonable profession of a deistic Mono-
theism. Had Mohammed been actuated by truly ethical
motives, and had he aimed at purely religious objects only,
there would have been no reason why he should not have
followed a Waraka, an Othman and others in embracing the
religion of the God-man Christ Jesus, which offers to fallen
man salvation from sin and communion with the reconciled
* Father in heaven.' But as he yielded to the allurements of
the world and the attractions of secular power, and as he

J

54 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS. [bk. I. CH. i.

contented himself in religion with a mere formal worship and
an external relation to God, like that between slave and
master, ignoring altogether the indispensable regeneration
by the Holy Spirit, he fell into the same snare as Zeid.
Like him he stubbornly adhered to Hanifism, as distinct
from Christianity, Paganism, and Judaism, and thus occupied
a religious position which necessarily bore not only an anti-
Polytheistic and anti-Judaistic, but also an anti-Christian
character. It is on account of this unsatisfactory ethical
condition of Mohammed personally, and as its unmistakable
reflex, that the Islam which he afterwards instituted was
essentially and from the first not merely opposed to Poly-
theism, but also to Christianity. Even the marked Jewish
colouring which for a brief term he gave it in Medina, was
not genuine, but the result of shrewd political calculation,
and consequently was at once discarded when he saw the
latter fail.

Accordingly, the most momentous and fatal turning-point
in Mohammed's ethical history is to be looked for not within
his prophetic period, but some considerable time before it
Then already he was placed in the critical balance and found
wanting. What followed upon this was only the natural
outcome of his first momentous lapse. At the time when
the more enlightened Hanifites quitted their intermedial
position of Deism and consistently advanced to the goal of
Christian Theism, to which it naturally tends and for which
it is a mere preparation, Mohammed, with his religious
guide Zeid, obstinately held back, and treated the prepara-
tory and temporary as the perfect and the final. This was
the fatal step, the moral and religious lapse which led to all
the subsequent vagaries and errors. Both these men were
then acting as the Jews also had acted, when invited by their
Messiah to the sublime consummation for which their whole
past history had been merely a preparation. The Jews shut
their ears to Christ's voice, and instead of allowing their
ancient religion, on which they so greatly prided themselves,
to issue into ' the new and living way,' degraded it into a
dead formalism.

It would have been as possible for Mohammed to follow
the wisest of his Hanifite friends into the daylight of

SEC v.] HE REFUSES TO BE LED ON TO CHRIST. 55

Christianity, as obstinately to wrap himself up in the dim
twilight of a perverted Hanifism. But by refusing to be led
on to Christ, the Saviour of man, he culpably closed his eyes
to * the Light of the world,' and turned the Hanifite twilight,
by means of which he might have found the right way, into
the dense darkness of night. He had heard the Gospel
invitation : * Come unto Me ; ' and this could not but produce
a crisis in his inner life. The gates of darkness and of light,
of death and of life, stood open before him. It was for him
to choose which of them to enter. Unhappily he allowed
the crisis to pass away without coming to the light, that he
might have life ; and preferred to take his stand and his
portion with those whose conduct on one occasion was thus
censured by the mouth of truth, ' But ye would not ' (Matt
xxiii. 37). We see, therefore, that Mohammed's position with
respect to Christianity was fully decided in principle, years
before he presented himself as a prophet The fatal decision
happened when he practically rejected its claims to suf-
ficiency, finality, and universality, by his stubborn clinging
to Hanifism.

Such appears to have been the spiritual and ethical
condition of Mohammed's own person, when the notorious
physico-psychical phenomena of his disordered health led to
his posing himself as the prophet of a religion whose his-
torical basis and personal substratum we have now sufficiently
brought to light The fuel is prepared and laid ready.
Only the igniting spark is required to kindle the whole and
set the sinister fire ablaze. This spark proceeded from the
darkness of the inner and unseen world, like the flash of
lightning from a black cloud.

A new religion, pretending to possess a better title than
Judaism and Christianity for replacing the prevalent and
time-honoured Idol-worship of Arabia, had, at the very least,
to claim for itself an origin in Divine revelation ; and for its
Prophet a special call and heaven-imparted mission, similar
to that of Moses at the burning bush and to that of Jesus,
whose coming had been announced by the angel Gabriel.
Mohammed's visionary predisposition and unsound state of
health furnished the ready means needed for the occasion.
All his ancient biographers agree in ascribing to him symp*

\

56 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS, [bk. I. CH. i.

toms of a state of nervous derangement, called listeria
muscularis, which in his case often manifested itself by acute
paroxysms, culminating in cataleptic fits. During these par-
oxysms, as we have already learned, he retained conscious-
ness, so that when they were over, he could still remember
the wild fantasies and strange ravings of his overwrought
imagination, which he held to be supernatural communica-
tions from a higher world. But it has been ascertained by
medical observation that such hysterical subjects frequently .
develop a tendency to dissimulation and deception, and
this they seek to conceal so dexterously from themselves
and others, that it requires experienced skill to detect it
Thus the patriotic sentiments and ambitious aims, both of a
political and religious character, which for a long time had
taken possession of Mohammed's mind and had increasingly
become the all-absorbing subject of his day-dreams, also
retained their hold on his soul in sleep. They formed the
burden of the strange reveries and excited fancies which
agitated his mind during his cataleptic fits and mental
hallucinations, and were in fact the birth-throes which
ushered the unlooked-for 'Arabian Prophet' into the world.

Ibn Ishak, the renowned collector of Mohammedan
traditions and the author of the earliest history of Moham-
med's life preserved to us, who already has been repeatedly
mentioned, lived about a hundred years after Mohammed,
and on the ground of his communications we trace, in the
following pages, Mohammed's gradual transformation into
a prophet. All the later Arab historians follow in his
track, only that, as a rule, the later the historian, the more
his recital abounds with the marvellous.

Ibn Ishak opens the fourth section of his book by the
following statement, based on a tradition derived from the
Prophet's favourite wife Aisha : * When the time had come
that God wished to honour Mohammed and to show mercy
to mankind, Mohammed*s prophetic mission began by his
having true dreams^ like the bright morning dawn^ and by
his partiality for solitude^ The biographer, in pointing out
the origin of what he regards as the Divine mission of his
Prophet, only goes back to his dreams. He might have
gone still further back, as we have done, and have traced

SEC v.] HIS DREAMS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 57

those dreams to the ideals and aims which filled his imagin-
ation in a waking state. The dreams possessed for him a
certain impress of * truth/ because they were the reflection
of his waking thoughts ; and in a subject of such supreme
excitability of nerves as Mohammed, they assumed a vivid-
ness which suggested a comparison with the ' dawn of morn-
ing.' As we are not told what the dreams themselves were,
we may suppose ths^t they had substantially the same
character with which we are all familiar from our own
experience in dreamland. A man brooding over such far-
reaching and momentous plans as Mohammed, will naturally
acquire an air of gravity and contract a partiality for solitude
in which he may undisturbedly indulge his reveries.

From this first stage in the formation of the Arabian
Prophet, that of dreams^ Ibn Ishak proceeds in due order to
the second^ that of visions. He tells us in his narrative, on
the authority of another tradition derived from * some learned
man,' that, *One day, when Mohammed had gone out on
some business, he remained away so long that he was missed
everywhere, having wandered far in the deep valley of
Mecca; and whenever he passed a tree or a stone, they
called out, " Peace to thee, thou Apostle of God I " But on
turning round and looking in every direction, Mohammed
saw nothing but stones and trees. In this state Mohammed
remained a long time, seeing and hearing many a thing.'
In a later biography, the Rawzet ul Ahbab, we are told that,
* Before the coming down of the Koran, for the space of
eleven years, Mohammed was hearing voices, without seeing
any person ; and for the space of seven years he was seeing
a light' Here, then, we have hallucinations of the ear and
the eye and the former beginning before the latter, an order
which has also been observed in other individuals of a
similar organisation. As in our dreams the involuntary
activity of our imaginative soul presents its images to us as
objective realities, though on waking we become conscious
that these had no existence out of ourselves, but were merely
the half-conscious play of our own psychical powers, so also,
in a diseased state of the nervous system, the imaginations
and cogitations of the soul can reflect themselves in a
person's waking consciousness or half-consciousness under

5« THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS, [bk. I.

the form of objective realities. In both cases the affected
individual has the sensation of seeing and hearing, although
he does not actually see and hear in the ordinary sense of
the word. There is plainly a close affinity bet\yeen the
soul's activity which, in an abnormal state of health, pro-
duces these hallucinations of the senses and that which is at
the bottom of our ordinary dreams. But however much
Mohammed's hallucinations of this indefinite sort were a
step in advance of his vivid dreams, they were not yet
sufficient to constitute a prophet The voices coming he
knew not whence and the lights flickering at random had
to take a more definite shape : the lights had to become a
supernatural person to his eyes and the voices intelligible
words of revelation to his ears.

Xlbn Ishak's next paragraph is headed : * How Gabriel
first descended^' and thus sets before us the third stage
of the process by which Mohammed unexpectedly developed
into the Prophet of his people. The account given by him
is derived from Obeid Ibn Omair, who, under the early
Califs, used publicly to recite their Prophet's personal history
in Medina, and he narrated the supposed apparition in
the following way : * The Prophet used annually to spend
a month on Mount Hira, as it was a custom with the
Koreishites, in their heathen state, to regard this as
tahannuth {ije. penance). He fed the poor who came to him ;
and when the month was over, he first circumambulated the
Kaaba seven times, or as many times as it pleased God ;
and not till then returned he to his own house. Now when
the year of his mission came, he went to Hira as usual,
together with his family, in the month of Ramazan. In
the night when God, from mercy towards his servant,
honoured him with His message, Gabriel brought to him
God's behest I was asleep, Mohammed himself narrated,
when he brought to me a silk cloth, written all over, and
said to me, "Read!" I replied, "I cannot read." Then
he pressed me upon the cloth, so that I thought I must die ;
and, on releasing me, he said to me again, " Read 1 " On
my answering him as at first, " I cannot read," he again
covered me with the cloth, so that I nearly gave up the
ghost. Having released me and repeating his previous

CH. 1. SEC. v.] GABRIEL APPEARS TO HIM. 59

command, I, from fear of being treated as before, asked,
" What shall I read ? " He answered, " Read in the name of
thy Lord who has created man from a clot of blood. Read,
thy Lord is the Most MergifULwha .has-laughLJBaa-hjLjJxe
pen what he did not J^nnw." , I now read and Gabriel
departed from me. Then I awoke, and it was as if these
words stood inscribed upon my heart I came forth from
the cave and stood in the midst of the mount, when F heard
a voice from heaven calling unto me, " Mohammed, thou art
the Apostle of God, and I am Gabriel." I raised my head
towards heaven to look for him who was speaking, and I
saw Gabriel in the form of a man with wings, and his feet
on the horizon. He called out, '* Mohammed, thou art the
Apostle of God, and I am Gabriel." I remained standing
and gazing, going neither forward nor backward. Then I
turned away from him : but to whichever side I directed my
looks I still saw him before me. So I remained standing,
without going forward or backward, till Khadija sent people
to look after me. They having gone as far as the height of
Mecca, returned to her ; but I remained standing till the
angel went away and then returned to my family. When I
came to Khadija, I sat down on her lap and pressed myself
against her. She asked me where I had been, and told me
that she had sent people to look after me who had gone as
far as the height of Mecca and returned to her. On recount-
ing to her what I had seen, she said : " Rejoice, my cousin,
and be of good courage : by Him in whose power my soul
is, I hope thou wilt become the Prophet of thy people!"
Then she arose, dressed herself and went to her cousin,
Waraka Ibn Nawfal, who was a Christian, had read the
Scriptures and acquired much knowledge from the Jews and
Christians, and told him what I had seen and heard. Waraka
exclaimed, " Holy I Holy ! by Him in Whose hand Waraka's
soul is, if thou hast told me the truth, then the greatest
Namus (=1/0^09, Law) has come to him which also appeared
to Moses, and he is the Prophet of this nation. Tell him to
be constant" Thereupon Khadija returned to Mohammed
and communicated to him what Waraka had said.' ^

^ The reader will no doubt have noticed that Waraka 's exclamation bears a
strong Mohammedan colouring. For if he was a Christian and had read the

6o THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS, [bk. I. CH. I.

But either Khadija was not fully convinced by what she
is reported to have heard from her Christian cousin, or she
wished to make assurance doubly sure ; for Ibn Ishak gives
his next paragraph the superscription : * How Khadija tested
Mokammed^s revelation^ and thus introduces the fourth
stage, which brought conviction to Khadija and through her to
her husband, that he was indeed the recipient of Divine revela-
tion as a chosen prophet of God, The story is derived by
tradition from Khadija's own mouth. ' I said to Mohammed,
"Canst thou give me notice when thy friend appears to
thee?" He said, "Yes." I begged him to do so. Now
when Gabriel appeared to him next he informed me of it
I thereupon said to him, " Sit here on my left thigh ; " and
when he had done so, I inquired, " Dost thou still see him } "
He replied, " Yes." Then I made him sit on my right thigh
and asked whether he still saw him ; and he having answered
in the affirmative, I made him sit on my lap and repeated
my question. On his again answering by " Yes," I sighed,
threw off my veil, and inquired once more whether he still
saw him, whereupon he replied "No." Then I said, " Rejoice,
O my cousin, and be of good courage. By Allah, it is an
angel and not a Satan 1 " '

Khadija's singular reasoning was this, that a good angel
could not bear to see her in a state of undress, permitted
only to the eyes of a husband ; but that an evil spirit would
enjoy the illicit sight and therefore remain. Truly a very
earthly and questionable criterion for discriminating between
angels and demons : as if clothes could be to the sight of
spirits what they are to the eyes of men, an impenetrable
covering, or, as if the sexless spirits needed such a protection !

Mohammed's Moslem biographers have connected his
periodical retirement to Mount Hira with his development
into a prophet ; and even modem Christian writers have
made much of the circumstance, with the view of enhancing
the spiritual character of their hero. According to these

Scriptures, he could not look forward to a still higher stage of Divine revelation,
through a new prophet. But it is quite usual with Moslem historians to put
such fictitious speedies into the mouths of men, to heighten the prestige of their
Prophet. The idea put into Waraka*s mouth is thoroughly Mohammedan, but
altogether unbecoming a Christian.

SEC. v.] HE SPENDS A MONTH ON MOUNT HIRA. 6i

representations Mohammed appears like a great, original
mind whose consuming thirst for religious truth and certainty
drove him into a new and lonely path to seek by abstraction
from everything earthly, and by uninterrupted intense medi-
tation, that light and spiritual communion with God after
which his soul panted. But the historical record just quoted
informs us that his annual retirement to Hira, instead of
being the newly opened path of an original mind whose
extraordinary energy shapes for itself uncommon forms of
manifestation, was rather ' a custom with the Koreishites in
their heathen state,' which he docilely followed, with a
characteristic want of originality; and as for the ascetic
recluse he has been painted, at those times, we are told that
he not only did not leave his cherished Khadija behind him
in Mecca, but always went ^witk his family'^ Khadija was
near him when he had his dream in the cave, and she had
servants at hand to send in search of him when, on rising,
she found that he had gone. They went ' as far as the height
of Mecca,' and not finding him, returned to their mistress on
Mount Hira. After having regained his consciousness, he,
of his own accord, returned to his family and sat on Khadija's
lap, pressing himself against her like a frightened child. We
have evidently to understand that his family was accommo-
dated in tents not far from the cave. For the cave itself is
small, extending only a dozen feet, or so, into the rock. It
could not hold the entire family, but was a cool and quiet
recess for one or a few at a time. We are told that the
Koreishites regarded these annual sojourns on Mount Hira
as ta/tannuth: and in whichever sense we take this word,
it gives us to understand that the religiously disposed of
the people made special use of their leisure, during these

^ It is really strange that in the teeth of such clear statements by the earliest
Mohammedan history preserved to us, even theologians like Dr. Marcus Dods
should present to their readers such pictures of their own imagination as he does
in his published Lectures on Mohammed^ saying, on p. 19, *Who can doubt
the earnestness of that search after truth and the living God, that drove the
affluent merchant from his comfortable home and his fond wife, to make his
abode for months at a time in the dismal cave of Mount Hira?' It is time that
the mistaken representation of Mohammed's annual retirement to Mount Hira,
as if he tore himself from every creature and was not rather following the general
custom of his heathen countrymen, should at last give way to the sober truth
of histcfy.— See also Sir W. Muir's Life of Mohamet^ voL ii. p. 55, 59, 82, 83.

I

i

62 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS. [bk. i.

■

seasons, for religious exercises. But such regular changes
to the purer country air from the confined and not over-
clean city, especially during the heat of summer, have been
of old, and are still, a widespread custom throughout the
East, for the purposes of health, retirement, or pleasure.

Perhaps in earlier years Mount Hira had a still more
particular attraction for Mohammed. For "it was here that
the persistent Hanif Zeid, his spiritual guide and pattern,
lived in banishment, after his expulsion from Mecca ; and
here he may have enjoyed undisturbed intercourse with
Mohammed and other Meccan sympathisers, during their
annual retirement from the bustle of city life, till his death.
This opinion seems to be' borne out by the note in which
Ibn Hisham comments upon Ibn Ishak's statement that
Mohammed annually retired to Mount Hira for the purpose
of penance. For he observes that the word of the original
translated by 'penance' {tahannutK) ought, in accordance
with an Arab custom, to be pronounced with /for its final
consonant {^tahannuf) and rendered by 'Hanifdom or
Hanifism,' that is, 'the exercise of the true Faith,' which,
with Hanifs, meant pure Deism, as opposed to the prevailing
idolatry. Within the city of Mecca it was part of common
propriety and good manners, especially for one so closely con-
nected by birth with the national sanctuary as Mohammed,
to conform to the practice of its polytheistic religion. Out-
side its precincts this yoke could be shaken off, in favour
of a simple, liberal Deism, either from a sincere conviction
of its superiority or as merely a more convenient substitute
for the accustomed ritual observances. But it was in the
interest of Islam as a religion directly revealed from heaven,
for its historians to keep out of sight Mohammed's inter-
course with better instructed, superior minds, like Zeid and
others, to whom he stood in the relation more of a learner
and pupil than of a prophet According to the teaching of
Islamism, Mohammed derived his prophetic qualifications
not from any human instruction, but from direct communica-
tion with the angel Gabriel, whose first apparition, as just
related, is therefore of special importance and ought to be
well understood.

The first part of the vision, in which Mohammed was

CHAP. 1. SEC. vj DO ALU BUKERE. 63

commanded to read, was obviously a dream ; for he says
himself that at its close he ' awoke.' Mohammed, knowing
perfectly well that the religion of the Jews and of the
Christians was affirmed to have been derived from Divine
revelation, necessarily felt that he could not well present
himself to the Arabs with a new Law, or a new Gospel, unless
he was able to point to something like a supernatural com-
mission. Such waking desires of great intensity not infre-
quently lead to dreams which seem to bring their fulfilment
Towards the middle of the present century, there lived near
Cape Mount on the West coast of Africa, an interesting man,
named Doalu Bukere, who, when a little boy, was taught a
few Scripture passages in English, but not how to read and
write, because the missionary who had taught him soon left
the country. Doalu burnt with desire to learn to read and
write, but lacked the opportunity. Such hold had this wish
taken on his mind that at last, when he had reached the age
of manhood, he, one night, had a dream in which the white
teacher of his childhood appeared to him again and taught
him to make a number of syllabic signs in the sand, for
writing his native language. In this way he was able to
form a complete syllabarium of original signs wherewith to
write the Vei language : the only instance on record of
negroes having invented a mode of writing of their own
and applied it practically to one of their languages. Doalu
described his dream as so vivid, that, on waking in the morn-
ing, he still distinctly recollected many of the signs taught
him, and the very attitude assumed by his teacher in writing
them for him on the sand.^ In a manner exactly similar
Mohammed declared concerning the words which he dreamt
that Gabriel had taught him, * These words stood inscribed
upon my heart.' The more nervous and visionary the pre-
disposition of the dreamer, the more impressive and vivid are
his dreams and the more easily they pass into actual halluci-
nation of the senses. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at
that Mohammed, as he tells us, on leaving the cave where he
had dreamt, heard the voice he so much wished to hear, * Thou
art the Apostle of God ; ' and that, in raising his head towards

^ See the Appendix to ' Outlines of a Grammar of the Vei Language, together
with a Vei- English Vocabulary, by S. W. Koelle.* Church Missionary House, 1854.

64 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS. [BK. i.

heaven, he ' saw Gabriel in the form of a winged man, with
his feet on the horizon.'

That the things which Mohammed heard and saw had
no objective reality, but were merely the subjective workings
of an overwrought and morbidly excitable imagination,
seems also to be confirmed by his own statement, *To
whichever side I directed my looks, I still saw the angel be-
fore me.' For if Gabriel had really been standing with his
feet on the horizon, like any ordinary object of the senses, it
would have been quite possible to look away from him ; but
if, on the contrary, he had no existence except in Mo-
hammed's own vision, then he was naturally seen by
Mohammed's eyes in whichever direction they might be
turned. It can be easily conceived that the more uncommon
and abnormal the experience was, the easier it became for
Mohammed and his friends either sincerely to form, or
interestedly to feign, a belief in its supernatural origin ;
and the heavenly character of the vision once assumed and
abetted, Mohammed could come before his countrymen
with the claims of a divinely commissioned ambassador and
prophet This was quite enough to begin with. First let
him be widely reciognised as the Prophet speaking in the
name of heaven and it will become easy, ere long, to assert
himself as the paramount authority and irresponsible dictator
on the earth.

His clear-headed and affectionate wife Khadija natur-
ally employed all her influence to have her husband's ecstatic
visions regarded as a Divine call to become the religious and
political reformer of his nation, rather than allow them to
be looked upon as indications of his being a sorcerer and
possessed by demons, which would have been the only other
alternative according to the prevalent Arab notions in those
days. Thus Mohammed became persuaded by the help of
his circumspect and kind-hearted wife to look upon his
dreams and hallucinations as Divine revelations, and on
himself as a heaven-commissioned ambassador and chosen
prophet.

This may be called the fourth and final stage of his de-
velopment into a prophet His prophetic character appeared
now indubitably established, being based upon the extra-

CH. I. SEC. v.] HE MORBIDL V CRA VES FOR VISIONS, 65

ordinary experience of what looked like a direct call and
commission from heaven.

But it was not without great difficulty that Mohammed
maintained himself on the height of this elevated position.
His Arab biographers narrate that a cessation of those visions
took place, lasting for a number of days, according to some
account ; or for longer periods, varying up to three years,
according to other accounts. He, therefore, fell a prey to
doubts again, being afraid lest Gabriel might have altogether
deserted him. So great became his grief and despondency
that he contemplated suicide, and repeatedly went to the
neighbouring mountains, intending to cast himself over some
precipice. It is plain that his whole soul was now possessed
with this one idea and that his life had no longer any value
for him, unless he could become the prophet he wished to be.
No wonder that this all-absorbing desire soon issued in a fresh
hallucination. According to the Rawzet ul Ahbab, he nar-
rated it in these words : * Walking in the way, I suddenly
heard a voice from heaven ; and lifting up my head, I saw the
angel who had come to me in the cave of Hira, sitting upon
a throne between earth and heaven and saying to me, " O
Mohammed, thou verily art the apostle of God ! " * According
to Ibn Ishak, the angel further addressed to him the following
words, which were afterwards embodied in the Koran as the
93rd Surah : * By the morning brightness and by the night
when it darkeneth I Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither
hath He been displeased. And surely the Future shall be
better for thee than the Past ; and soon shall thy Lord give
thee, and thou shalt be satisfied. Did He not find thee an
orphan and gave thee a home ? and found thee erring and
guided thee ? and found thee needy and enriched thee ? '
Ibn Ishak explains the promised gift which shall ' satisfy '
him, by * Victory in this life and reward in the next.* Thus
he suggests that from the very first beginning of Islam worldly
conquests, power and riches, entered the contemplation and
hope of its exponents, and that their realisation in Medina was
nothing but the natural unfolding of these early germs.

After this fresh hallucination, as his biographers inform us,,
the revelations succeeded each other without further inter-
ruption, which we must take to mean, if we adopt the inter-

E

66 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS, [bk. i. CH. i.

pretation given by Sprenger, that * he now no longer waited
for angel-visits, but took the voice of his own mind for Divine
inspirations/ Such, indeed, may have been the case gener-
ally ; and it is an accepted doctrine with the Moslems them-
selves, that there were revelations which Gabriel only com-
municated to Mohammed's heart, without visibly appearing
to him : yet the hallucinations do not seem to have ceased
altogether, but to have also subsequently occurred from
time to time. Amongst others, Ibn Ishak communicates
the following account which he received from *a learned
man,' as to the first institution of legal prayer, with the ab-
lutions by which it must be preceded : — * When prayer was
prescribed to Mohammed, Gabriel came to him on the height
of Mecca, and pressed his heel into the ground, towards the
valley, so that there welled forth water. Then Gabriel
washed himself, whilst Mohammed was looking on to see
how purification is to be made before prayer. When he had
finished, Mohammed also washed himself in like manner,
and when Gabriel performed the prayers, he repeated them
after him. As soon as Gabriel had departed, Mohammed
went to Khadija, and showed her how one is to wash be-
fore prayer, just as Gabriel had shown it to him. Then
he also performed the prayers, as Gabriel had done ; and she
repeated them after him.'

Mohammedan history describes the more violent fits
during which the supposed supernatural communications were
made, as marked by the following traits : — He felt oppressed
and his countenance was troubled, turning deadly pale or
glowing red. He fell to the ground like one intoxicated or
overcome by sleep, and foam would appear at his mouth.
Sometimes he would hear the coming of the revelation like
the ringing of a bell. If this state came upon him whilst
riding on a camel, that camel's leg would bend from the
weight of it. Even if it happened during the cold of a
winter's day, perspiration would roll from his forehead. The
Rawzet ul Ahbab enumerates these seven different modes in
which Mohammed received his supposed revelations : i, by
true dreams ; 2, by suggestions to the heart, without Gabriel
being visible ; 3, by Gabriel assuming the likeness of a man ;
4, by the resemblance of the ringing of a bell, which of all

SBC. v.] CAUTION NEEDED AS TO HIS VISIONS, 67

was the hardest and most painful to the prophet; 5, by
Gabriel in his own proper form ; 6, by Gabriel coming to
him in the highest heaven on the night of the ascension ; 7,
by God speaking to him direct from behind a curtain on the
night of the ascension.

From all this it can be readily perceived how easy and
tempting it must have been for Mohammed to pass off as a
Divine revelation any thought, wish, or fancy of his own which
he liked to see invested, in the eyes of others, with a super-
natural origin and a more than human authority. Still it is
highly probable that all the visions reported of him are not
the mere product of dishonest fabrication, without any foun-
dation in fact. On the contrary, it appears that what formed
the important turning-point in his outward course of life and
what led him to regard himself as a chosen ambassador of
God, such as he had long conceived to be the chief want of
his country, was really a hallucination of his senses producing
in him the sensations of seeing and hearing the angel Gabriel.
It is likewise not impossible that, after the first hallucination,
other similar ones supervened ; and we have already seen
how intensely and morbidly he yearned for them. But the
manner in which they are narrated, and even the fact of
their occurrence have to be received with stringent dis-
crimination and great caution, because of the impure motives
undeniably at work, as e.g.y in the case concerning Zeinab ;
and because of the strong tendency to dissimulation in
subjects afflicted with the nervous derangement from which
he suffered.

Those night-regions, where the half-conscious soul ap-
proaches the precincts of the invisible world of spirits, appear
to be such treacherous ground that persons who venture upon
it are ever in danger of falling under the misleading delusions
of the Powers of Darkness, especially when their mind is still
ethically undecided, and not firmly grounded in what is pure
and true and good. It is freely to be admitted thatMohammed,
in his character of a prophet, showed much zeal to overthrow
idolatry and erect a kind of Deism in its place. In this way
he conferred an undoubted boon upon his countrymen. But
he had already, years before, refused to be led on, like some
of his more enlightened Hanifite friends, from Deism to

68 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS. [bk. i.

Christianity, and he now set himself up as a rival to Christ,
boldly denying both His Divine Sonship and His atoning
death upon the cross.^ He thus assumed a directly anti-
Christian position, barring the way of his followers to the
true and only Mediator between God and man. Thereby he
inflicted upon them the greatest conceivable injury ; and in
doing so he, of course, cannot have acted under the influence
and by the will of a holy God of love. This lamentable
position of an open rival and virtual enemy, he occupied
ifrom the moment and by the very act of his starting a re-
ligion of his own in the face of Christianity, which was already
asserting its claim to finality and to a destiny for all
mankind.

There is, therefore, no alternative for any one who recog-
nises in Jesus Christ the Divine Saviour of man and in Chris-
tianity the highest revelation of religious truth, but to look
upon Mohammed as a false prophet, and upon Islam, despite
its borrowed truths, as in its religious distinctness, a stupend-
ous system of fatal delusions. As such, their origin surely
cannot be derived from the realms of Light, but must be
traced to the mysterious agency of the kingdom of Dark-
ness.*

Only if people forget that God * who spake in time past
unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days
spoken unto us by His Son ' (Hebrews i. i, 2) and if they
define the prophet of the Bible in some such manner
as to make him out to be ^ a man so penetrated by the
idea of God, His omnipotence. His glory, that fie takes his
own conceptions of God for thoughts of God Himself com-
municated to him by revelation^ can they mistake the author
of Islam for a true prophet, or affirm that 'quite undeni-
ably there was something of prophetship in Mohammed*

^ Compare the Tract, ' The Death of Christ upon the Cross, a Fact, not a
Fiction : Being a Word in defence of Christianity against Mohammedan attacks *
(Church Missionary House, London, 1885).

' Sir W. Muir, who expresses such exaggerated views of Mohammed's sincerity
and piety at the beginning of his prophetic career, and even admits that the
author of Islam might have been a true prophet of God, but for his secular aims
and immoralities, cannot help gravely to discuss the question of a Satanic in-
fluence on Mohammed, though his manner of doing so is open to objections.
See his Life of Mahomet ^ vol. ii. pp. 90-96.

CHAP. I. SEC. v.] MOHAMMEDS * SINCERITY: 69

(see pp. 55 and 56 in Dr. Ludolf Krehl's Das Leben des
Mii/iammed,) ^

Much stress is often laid on * the sincerity of Mohammed's
convictions.* But in the instructive chapter, i Kings xx.,
four hundred prophets are mentioned as prophesying, and
one of them appears so sincerely persuaded about the truth
of his prophecy that he made him horns of iron to symbolise
the manner of its fulfilment ; and he smote the true prophet
Micaiah on the cheek, saying ' Which way went the Spirit of
the Lord from me, to speak unto thee ? ' Yet all these four
hundred were not prophets of God, making known His will,
but prophets of falsehood, uttering the inspirations of ' a lying
spirit* Earnestness and sincerity in promoting a cause are
not in themselves proofs of its goodness. There are false
prophets as well as true prophets. Between them there may
often be a close similarity in appearance ; but in reality they
differ as widely as darkness differs from light Instead of
being dazzled by the zealous earnestness of Mohammed and
by the Divine truths incorporated in Islam, it rather behoves
us soberly to admit that error becomes all the more danger-
ous a masterpiece of Satan the better it succeeds in assuming
the semblance of Truth or mixes itself up with it ; and the
more its advocates uphold it with an air of sincerity and
earnestness.

^ Dr. Krehl, in making these hyper -liberal concessions to Mohammed's claims,
feels constrained, on page 343 of his work — where he admits that the prophet
' often pretended to spei^ under the influence of Divine inspiration, whilst he
was consciously only trying to palliate selfish dispositions* — ^thus to confess the
dilemma into which his theory has brought him : ' In such cases one often really
does not know where the God-inspired prophet ceases and the ^otistical man
begins who is only thinking of thii^ earthly, and is enclosed within the hazy
atmosphere of earth.' This perplexity of the amiable biographer is the natural
outcome of his false position, which prevents him from seeing that any man who
diametrically opposes Jesus Christ and seeks to supplant Him, can only be a
' false prophet,* whatever his zeal and good intentions may otherwise be. The
true Prophets are described by the Bible as ' holy men of God, speaking as they
are moved by the Holy Ghost * (2 Pet. i. 21.) They therefore did not confound
their own personal thoughts with the Divine inspirations, but clearly distinguished
between their own ideas and the message which they were commissioned to
deliver (comp. i Cor. vii. 25 to 40.) On the other hand, it is mentioned as
characteristics of the false Prophets that they * prophesy out of their own hearts *
and ' follow their own spirit * (Ezek. xiii. 2, 3), and that they ' speak lying words
in God*s name which he has not commanded them * (Jer. xxix. 23).

70 THE PRODUCT OF THOSE FACTORS, [bk. i. CH. i.

Hitherto Mohammedanism has proved no common barrier
to the spreading of the Gospel ; and its aggressive hostility
to the Kingdom of Christ has been marked by no ordinary
violence and persistency. Should the future happen to differ
from the past, by presenting to us the novel spectacle of
Islamism becoming a stepping-stone to Christianity, even
this could not change its original character or clear the
Arabian prophet of his anti-Christian designs. We should
then only have a fresh illustration placed before us of the
fact that it is one of the most glorious achievements of the
great God who guides the destinies of man to call light out
of darkness and to overrule evil for good.

Mohammed's antipathetic behaviour towards Christianity
could not but have the most fatal consequences for himself
and the world. As soon as he made up his mind not to
follow his friends who placed themselves under the leader-
ship of Christ, but rather to set himself up as His rival and
opponent, by founding a counter-religion, he practically
violated the highest principle of Truth, and placed himself
more completely under the dominion of error. Thus he
fatally laid himself open to being used by spiritual powers
as an instrument for carrying out dark designs, far beyond
the horizon of his own will and perception.

From a general historical and religious standpoint, there-
fore, the question is of subordinate importance, How far
Mohammed realised the sinister nature and fatal bearings
of his enterprise and how far he believed himself God's chosen
apostle ; or, to what extent he was a conscious deceiver and
to what extent the unconscious victim of deception. In either
case — and there can be no doubt that sometimes the one
and sometimes the other predominated — the indisputable
fact remains that he consciously rejected Christianity and
strenuously sought to supplant it. He made himself guilty
of the great * sin of the world,' by not believing in Jesus,
the Saviour of man (John xv. 8, 9). He branded himself
with the stigma * Not of the Truth ! ' by refusing to follow
the guidance of * the good Shepherd ; ' according to the word
of Christ, * Every one tJuit is of the Truth heareth my voice '
(John xviii. 37). Consequently his politico-religious system
also, as being essentially anti-Christian, and implying the

SEC. v.] FRANK ADMISSION OF GOOD IN ISLAM, 71

principle of cruel war and galling subjugation to all non-
Mussulmans, cannot have been initiated in the interest of
the kingdom of God or propagated for the promotion of the
cause of righteousness and truth.

But in giving expression to this frank avowal, we need
hardly add that it is not intended to convey the impression
as if we held that Islam may not at some times .and under
some circumstances have proved, and still prove, a positive
temporal boon and a relative spiritual blessing to its pro-
fessors. The borrowed truths, embodied in the system, and
the overruling government of an all-wise and all-merciful God,
indeed amply justify us in expecting so much. We readily
make this candid admission to those who may feel disposed
to remind us of the brighter periods in the dark history of
Islam, or who wish to lay stress on the superiority of the
Mohammedan religion and civilisation, as compared with
the utter darkness and deep degradation of many heathen
lands.

Thus far we have traced how Mohammed became the
prophet he was, and what were the different elements com-
bining to produce in him the belief that he had to fulfil a
great mission in the world. We have contemplated him in
his own distinct individuality, his family relationship, his
religious tendencies, and his political aspirations, till he stood
before us in the form of a fully developed prophet and a
miraculously commissioned ambassador. It now is our duty
in the following chapter to inquire how his pretensions were
received by his countrymen, and what success he achieved
in the Arab nation.

The well-known Flight or Hegira (pronounce : Hetchrd)

naturally divides the period about to be treated into two

halves, of pretty equal duration, but of very unequal result :

firsty the prophet's Meccan period of ill success ; and secondly,

his Medinan period of complete triumph.

CHAPTER II.

MOHAMMED EXERCISING THE PROPHETIC MISSION

HE CLAIMED, OR HIS HISTORY DURING THE LAST

TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE,

What history clearly places before us is the well-known
fact that, when Mohammed died, he had virtually succeeded
in making himself the paramount chief and sovereign ruler
of the Arab nation. And what is no less notorious, is the
other fact, that, about twenty years before his death, he had
presented himself to his countrymen with the claims of a
messenger of God, a bearer of new revelations, the founder,
or at least restorer, of an absolutely true and final religion.
He began his public career as a Prophet and finished his
course as, in fact, a ruling Sovereign.

To us, in this present age, which distinguishes so widely
between * the things which are God's * and * the things which
are Caesar's,* there appears in this something glaringly in-
consistent and anomalous. Hence it has happened in our
days that Mohammed's public life was sometimes represented
as broken up into two heterogeneous halves — the one, that
of a sincere man and true prophet of God ; the other, that
of a base apostate and carnal worldling.^

In the original records of Mohammed's life we cannot
discover proofs of such an apostasy. He is never represented
as betraying the least apprehension that the connecting link
between his earlier and his later public life might have been

^ The views expressed by Sir W. Muir in his different works on Mohammed
belong to this category. See, e,g^ his Life of Mahomet, vol. ii. chap. iii. In his
last and shortest work entitled Mahomet and Islam, he asks, 'Whether, in
fact, the eye (of Mohammed) being no longer single, the whole body did not
become full of darkness ? * (p. 25), and exclaims, ' How has Xht fine gold become
dim / ' (p. 129) : thus concisely indicating his appreciation of the difference of
Mohammed's character in the two great periods of his prophetic activity.

INWARD UNION OF MECCA N &» MED IN AN PERIODS. 73

a spiritual lapse. On the contrary, he and his followers
recognised in his military exploits and political ascendency
nothing less than the natural outcome and the due reward of
his earlier labours and sufferings as a prophet To Moham-
med and the Mohammedans his public life from beginning
to end is one congruous whole, which leaves room for no
radical change of principles, but only for the development
and maturing of what was originally aimed at and hoped for.

Therefore the historian of Mohammed's life seems bound,
in order to do justice to his subject, to lay bare, if possible,
this essential union, notwithstanding all the difference of
outward appearances, and to give the most careful attention
to all those historical records which may help him in explain-
ing the intimate connection subsisting between the political
and the religious, the worldly and the spiritual, throughout
Mohammed's prophetic career. He must try to discover, from
the materials transmitted to us, those traits and data which are
calculated to demonstrate the inward connection and agree-
ment of the different periods in Mohammed's life. He must
seek to furnish historical proof that, as in his later period,
when he ruled Arabia with the harshness of a military despot,
he did so in the name of religion and by virtue of his pro-
phetic character, so also, when he began his career as a
religious reformer and apostle of God, he already entertained,
more or less consciously, those secular and political designs
which he afterwards realised. An historical view and psycho-
logical study of the subject must greatly enhance its claims
to soundness and correctness, if it can produce in us the
conviction, so natural in itself and so plainly entertained by
the Moslem historians, that Mohammed became what he
desired to become, and that he aimed from the first at what
he obtained at last ; and not, that the single-eyed, spiritually-
minded prophet of the Meccan period rather suddenly, as if
by accident, by the mere change of outward circumstances,
turned into the cunning deceiver, the sensual worldling, of
Medina.

Islam being evidently an attempted amalgam of God and
the world, of religion and politics, the source from which it
flowed cannot have been one of limpid purity. The prophet
who instituted it, and whose impress it bears, surely cannot

74 MOHAMMED AIMS AT SECULAR [bk. i.

have been a character of pure gold and unalloyed piety. It
is by the fruit that the nature of a tree is made known. The
impure secular and sensual outcome of Mohammed's second
period was nothing else, as this work will plainly show, than
the full development of the potentialities, the matured fruit
of the seeds and germs, already covertly operative in the first.

That the political power and military conquests which
mark Mohammed's second period were already contemplated
by him, when he was still an opposed and persecuted reformer
in Mecca, is not a mere surmise founded on the historical
sequence of the two periods, but must necessarily be gathered
from sundry express statements by his earliest biographers.
Ibn Ishak narrates that on one occasion, when the prophet
was still destitute of any political power, and owed the
toleration which he enjoyed solely to his powerful family and
influential friends, the elders of the Koreish came to his
uncle Abu Talib, for the purpose of effecting a modus vivetidi
with his nephew, based on mutual concessions. Abu Talib
called the troublesome nephew, and thus addressed him
before them : ' Thou seest the nobles of thy people are
assembled here to concede to thee certain things, and, in
return, to receive concessions from thee.' Mohammed made
this reply : * Well, then, give me a word whereby the Arabs
may be governed and the Persians subjugated! Abu Jahl
responded to this request in the name of his fellow-elders by
saying : * Thou shalt have ten words.' But Mohammed, set-
ting him right, and indicating what kind of word, in his
opinion, could alone answer the purpose, rejoined : * Say,
There is no God except Allah ; and renounce what you
worship besides Him.' These two remarkable words of
Mohammed, taken in their context, as reported by his earliest
biographer, plainly entitle us to the logical conclusion that
Mohammed looked upon religion as the best means for
securing worldly power : for he says in effect, — * If you wish
to govern the Arabs and to subjugate the Persians, then
exchange your idolatry with the profession of Monotheism
and you will succeed.'

Ibn Ishak further reports that, when rough and combatant
Omar, a near relative of Mohammed's precursor Zeid, had
openly cast in his lot with the new prophet's movement.

CHAP. II.] POWER ALREADY IN MECCA. 75

he was in consequence attacked by some Koreishites.
Having struggled with them from early morning till the
sun stood above their heads, and being well nigh exhausted,
he addressed them thus : * Do what you think best ; but, by
Allah, if we were only three hundred men in number, we
would fight till either you had to give way to us, or we to you/

These and such-like incidents plainly show that, with
Mohammed and his early coadjutors, aspirations after secular
power no less than after the dominance of their creed, and
a disposition to use force, were not at all foreign to their
iconoclastic zeal and their wish for religious reform even in
Mecca. The Meccans were keen-sighted enough to perceive
this full well. The historian, from whom we quote, expressly
ascribes their sending the above deputation to the motive
of fear. He informs us that they said : * We are not
sure whether the dominion will not be taken from us.* Re-
ligious profession and political pursuits were evidently as
much blended in Mohammed's own thoughts and life as
religion and politics are inseparably mixed up in Islam.
The words spoken by him on the formal occasion referred
to clearly show that when apparently he laboured for the
subversion of idolatry and the propagation of Monotheism
only, he was in fact already aiming at civil government at
home and at military conquests abroad.

It is in this light that the two distinct periods of Moham-
med's public life have to be viewed, and thus their essential
continuity and their substantial inward union will without
difficulty be discerned. Mohammed's apostolic cloak was
loose and elastic enough to cover both the prophet and the
tyrant, as the circumstances seemed to require it. The ardent
preacher, the zealous reformer, the austere prophet of Mecca,
pleading amidst annoyances and opposition for mere tolera-
tion and the bare recognition of his teaching, is in reality the
seed and the precursor of the military commander, the in-
satiable conqueror, the despotic autocrat of Medina. In both
places he is essentially the same man : only in Mecca he is
trying to succeed with his plan, and in Medina he actually
succeeds. This sameness, as well as distinctness of the two
periods now to be passed in review before us, is intimated
by the superscriptions which they respectively bear.

^(i MOHAMMEjyS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. I.

I. — Mohammed's ill success in seeking recognition as the
Prophet of Islam, or, The Meccan Period of his
Public Life from about the fortieth to the fifty-
third YEAR OF his AGE.

(i.) Mohammed* s Diffident Start as a Prophet.

When, by the process described in the first chapter,
Mohammed had become persuaded that he might regard
himself as a chosen apostle of God, he was, according to the
common belief of his followers, just forty years old. His age
at the Flight to Medina being 53 years, his prophetic period
in Mecca must have lasted about 13 years. But during all
this time he did not succeed in effecting anything like a
general recognition of his assumed new character ; and at its
close there was nothing left him but to flee from his home
in despair and to seek in a distant city a better starting-point
for realising his plans.

The cautious, not to say timid, manner in which
Mohammed entered upon his prophetic mission is quite in
keeping with the assumption that he did not consider
religious reform as his exclusive object, but that he rather
looked already beyond it to a more material and secular
goal. His start as a prophet by no means calls to mind
the saying: *The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up'
(John ii. 17). He did not court martyrdom, or give proof,
at this time, that he had the stuff in him of which martyrs
are made. Ibn Ishak has a short sentence in his biography
of the prophet which throws an important light on his
personal character and courage, namely, * For the space of
three years, after his mission, he concealed his faith.' So long
an interval he needed, before he could summon courage
enough to profess openly what he contemplated and believed
in secret. It required a fresh supposed admonition from God
to induce him to take that further step. Ibn Ishak reports :
'Then God commanded him to come forward with his
revelation, to acquaint the people with it, and to invite them
to embrace Islam.' The Rawzet ul Ahbab, instead of saying
that Mohammed 'concealed' his faith, uses the expression
that he invited to Islam * secretly , so that only one or two at

CH. II. SEC. I. I.] HIS TIMID START AS A PROPHET 77

a time embraced the faith.' In either case the admission is
forced upon his biographers that at first he showed great
diffidence and timidity in spreading the imagined revela-
tions.

This is also confirmed by the circumstance that his
earliest converts all belonged to the circle of his own family
and friends. His biographers are careful to enumerate
them by name. The lists handed down to us date from
about a century after his own life, when priority of belief in
Islam and its prophet, among ancestors, already constituted
an honourable distinction in Moslem society with which
valuable privileges and worldly advantages were connected.
This naturally caused a tendency amongst the believers to
date the conversion of their ancestors as early as possible ;
and we may take for granted that none of them was omitted
from the list of early converts, and that every one's claims
were insisted upon without any lack of interest and zeal.

The fact that Mohammed * concealed ' his faith for three
years and invited to Islam * secretly,' or ventured to persuade
only members of his own family and dependent persons,
might be looked upon as little creditable to a prophet called
in so supernatural a manner and commissioned with so
wonderful a charge direct from heaven. Perhaps Ibn Ishak
felt something of this kind, and wanted to forestall possible
objections on that score, when he found it judicious to make
the following observation : * The office of a prophet carries
its troubles and burdens with it which only the constant and
strong of God's apostles can bear, with His help and
assistance ; for they have to suffer much from men, and
people quarrel with them about that which they proclaim in
the name of God. But Mohammed acted according to the
command of God, despite all the contradiction and ill-
treatment from his people.* Such an assurance by the
biographer is all the more opportune the less the actual
life and conduct of his hero renders it superfluous, at this
period.

(2.) Mohammed! s Earliest Converts,

The first of his converts was his devoted wife Khadija,
Traditions differ with regard to the order in which others

78 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. i. ch. il

embraced the faith : but there exists complete unanimity on
the point that Khadija's conversion preceded that of all the
rest. There is not any reason for doubting this. Khadija,
as we have seen above, had so great a share in Mohammed's
persuasion of his prophetic call, and welcomed it with such
fervid eagerness, that it is not easy to decide whether
historical truth is better expressed by calling her his convert
or him hers. Already at their marriage she was the propos-
ing and he the consenting party. Mohammed was decidedly
wanting in lofty independence and robust manliness of
character. He had something nalCve and almost feeble in his
mental constitution, which at a later period invited the
dominating influence of men like Abu Bekr, Omar, and others,
and at the present kept him abjectly dependent on his high-
minded and clear-sighted wife Khadija. Ibn Ishak says of
her : ^ She was the first who believed in God, in His apostle,
and in the revelation. Thereby God sent him comfort : for
whenever he heard something unpleasant, or was grieved by
contradiction or charges of lying, God comforted him by her,
when he returned home to her. She cheered him, made
things easy for him, assured him of her faith in him, and
represented to him the talk of the people as utterly in-
significant' Hers was plainly the stronger mind of the two,
and he was aware of it, and good-naturedly accepted his
position of subordination. She was rich, and he profited
by her wealth. It was in her family that Hanifdom had
obtained an extensive footing, whilst his own was identified
with the interests of idolatry. He had to look up to her in
every respect. She was full of resorts and kept her clear head
above water, when he was engulfed in melancholy and fears.
It has been found strange that a man who later on
manifested such an excessive passion for women, and pro-
vided himself with more than twice the complement of wives
he permitted to his followers, should have remained a prac-
tical monogamist so long as Khadija lived ; and the circum-
stance has been seized upon by his advocates as a proof of
his earlier spirituality and purity. But the cogency of this
proof is more than questionable, because the general authority
and sway she exercised over him was quite sufficient to keep
him within bounds in this respect. The true reason why he

SEC. I. 2.] HIS QUALIFIED EARLY CONTINENCY, 79

remained a monogamist so long, was plainly not his personal
continence and spirituality, but his dread of Khadija, whom
he did not dare to offend, by adding to her rival objects of
his affection. He, later on, gives the drastic counsel to
husbands to punish refractory wives by * removing them into
beds apart and scourging them ' (Surah iv. 38); but who can
conceive that he himself would have ventured to carry out
this advice against Khadija ?

By her death he lost a master, and was set free to carry
out his long-checked propensities. What these were can be
gathered from the following anecdote of the Rawzet ul Ahbab.
Shortly after Khadija's death, when Mohammed is represented
as having been in a very dejected state of mind, Khawla, the
sympathising wife of one of his friends, paid him a visit and
asked him why he did not marry again. He replied : * Who
is there that I could take ? ' She answered : ' If thou
wishest for a virgin, there is Aisha, the daughter of thy friend
Abu Bekr ; and if thou wishest for a woman, there is Sewda
who believes in thee.' He without hesitation, solved the
dilemma by saying to Khawla: 'Then ask them both for
me.' She lost no time in doing what she was bidden, so
that two months after Khadija had closed her eyes, Moham-
med was already married to the attractive widow Sewda, who
is described as tall and corpulent ; and betrothed to Aisha,
who was then only a girl six years old, and actually became
his wife three years later. Aisha herself thus refers to the
way in which her mother reared her to meet the prophet's
taste : * When I was betrothed to the prophet, my mother
endeavoured to make me fat ; and she found that with me
nothing succeeded so well as gourds and fresh dates. Eating
well of them I became round.'

This carnal taste and tendency of the Arabian prophet,
which he showed already under his adverse circumstances in
Mecca, naturally increased with his prosperity and oppor-
tunities in Medina, and furnished Aisha with a telling retort
only a few days before his death. According to the Rawzet ul
Ahbab, Aisha narrated as follows : * The beginning of his
Excellency's illness happened in Meimuna's room, whose turn
it was that day. Then he came to my room, and as I had
a headache, I said, " Oh, my head aches I " His Excellency

8o HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. i.

replied, "What harm would it be to thee, if thou wert to
leave this world before me, — for then I would lay thee out,
wrap thee in a winding-sheet, and say the prayers over thee."
Being roused, I thus retorted on him : " This is exactly what
thou wishest for ; and I believe that on the same day thou
buriest me, thou wouldest be bridegroom and bride with a
new wife in my very room." His Excellency smiled.'

Khadija's superior mind and good manners were so highly
appreciated by Mohamnved that long after her decease he
frequently praised her virtues ; and it is reported of Aisha
that the lavish praise bestowed upon her, though dead, raised
feelings of jealousy in her own bosom, she being annoyed by
his * constantly holding up that toothless old woman as the
pattern of a wife.' Before her death, which happened when
she was 65 years old, her husband comforted her by saying,
* I have been commanded to announce to Khadija that in
Paradise she will receive a house excavated out of one pearl
to which neither noise nor illness can penetrate.'

Next in order to Khadija, Ali is mentioned as a con-
vert to Islam : the first from amongst males. He was then
only a little boy ten years of age ; and his conversion can
therefore not have been the result of mature conviction at
all, but merely of that gratitude and affection which tied
him to Mohammed as his benefactor and foster-father.
Young and dependent as he was, he naturally accepted as
true, without examination, whatever the prophet and the
prophet's wife told him.

Their mutual relation can be gathered from the following
account by Ibn Ishak : * The first male person who believed
in Mohammed, prayed with him and credited his revelations,
was the ten-year-old Ali. It was a work of Divine favour
and grace towards Ali, that once the Koreish were visited
by a great scarcity. For then, as Abu Talib had a numerous
family, Mohammed said to his uncle Abbas, who was the
richest among the Beni Hashim, "Thou knowest that thy
brother Abu Talib has a numerous family, and that all the
people are suffering during this year of scarcity : let us go to
him and lighten his burden by each of us taking one of his
sons off his hands." Abbas consenting, they went together
to Abu Talib, and made their offer. Then Mohammed took

CHAP. II. SEC I. 2.] ALI IBN ABU TALIB, 8i

AH, pressing him to himself, and Abbas did the same with
Jafar. Thus Ali remained with Mohammed till he received
his prophetic mission, when he followed him, believed in him,
and acknowledged him to be true.'

The same biographer also narrates, on the authority of
' some scholars,* that when the time for saying the prayers
arrived, Mohammed went to the valleys of Mecca ; and that
Ali, without the cognisance of his father and uncles, accom-
panied him to pray with him thei-e. One day Abu Talib
surprised them in the act ; and being requested by Mohammed
likewise to embrace Islam and become his helper, he replied,

* Dear nephew, I cannot forsake the faith of my fathers, but,
by Allah, so long as I live, no harm shall be done to thee.'
Thus it appears that Abu Talib protected the new prophet,
without accepting his revelations, simply because he was his
nephew and the generous benefactor of his son Ali ; and
that, therefore, the fate of Islam, from its earliest infancy,
did not depend solely on its religious merits, but was very
largely shaped by the earthly interests of family and clan-
ship.

Some time later, Ali became Mohammed's son-in-law and
a valiant combatant in the cause of Islam ; but Aisha's
spite against him greatly marred his fortune, and at last
issued in an open rupture and the sanguinary * battle of the
camel.'

Zeidy Ibn Haritha, is Mohammed's third convert, likewise
from his own household. How he became one of its members
is thus told by Ibn Hisham : ^ Hakim had arrived from Syria
with a batch of slaves, amongst whom was Zeid,^ Ibn Haritha,
a lad just passing out of boyhood. When his aunt Khadija,

^ Above (p. 53) the opinion has been expressed that originally he had a
Christian name, and that it was not till he became an inmate of Mohammed's
house that he was called Zeid. This opinion is not weakened by the fact that
Ibn Hisham here introduces him at once by the latter name. For it is quite usual
with Mohammedan historians to call Moslems by their later appellations long
before they had adopted them, so much so, that their originsil and proper names
sometimes became lost altogether. Thus, e,g, the name of 'Abu Bekr' {ue,

* father of the virgin ') can only have been applied to him since his daughter
Aisha became Mohammed's wife ; and yet he is always spoken of by that name,
long before he can possibly have borne it Even as r^;ards Mohammed's own
name, it is doubtful whether it was given him originally, or whether it was not
rather adopted by him late in life.

F

82 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA, [bk, i.

who was then Mohammed's wife, visited him, he made her
the offer of choosing one of the slaves for herself. Her
choice falling on Zeid, she took him away with her. When
Mohammed saw him, he begged him of her as a present, and
having received him, he gave him his liberty and adopted
him for his own son. This happened before the time of his
mission. Haritha, Zeid's father, was much grieved by the
loss of his son, and went in search of him, till at last he found
him with Mohammed. Zeid, on being asked whether he
would return with his father or remain where he was, pre-
ferred his new home, and so stayed with Mohammed till
his prophetic mission, when he believed in him, became a
Moslem, and prayed with him.'

Though made a free man by manumission, Zeid always
belonged to Mohammed's family, and, since his adoption,
was called his * son.* This position kept him in complete
dependence on Mohammed, whose wishes he dared not dis-
regard. Zeid was a dexterous archer, and later on made
himself very useful to Mohammed, being frequently intrusted
with the command of an army. But how slavishly dependent
he remained on his adoptive father, even after the migration
to Medina, is made glaringly manifest by the scandalous
affair about his wife Zeinab.

One day Mohammed unexpectedly called at Zeid's
dwelling to see him on some business. He found him absent,
but surprised his wife Zeinab in a state of undress, not cal-
culated for a visitor. The prophet was so smitten with her
white delicate skin and beauty, that he could not refrain from
showing his feelings. The indiscretion was a grave one. From
that time her conduct to her own husband became changed,
and gave him cause for complaint. He at last found it best
to divorce her, so as no longer to be in the way of her new
relation to his old benefactor. Mohammed married her forth-
with, and in his cruel selfishness thus far presumed on Zeid's
good-nature and subordinate position as to make him go
in person to ask her hand for him, in order that he might
appear to the world a willingly consenting party and not a
most deeply injured husband.

But though Mohammed, by this heartless trick, screened
himself from the wrong inflicted on the husband, the im-

.CHAP. II. SEC I. 2.] ZEID. ABU BEKR. 83

morality perpetrated against the adopted son and his wife
still remained/ The Arabs were scandalised by such conduct
of a supposed prophet towards his adopted son and his
daughter-in-law. Aisha boldly charged him with serious
misconduct. Mohammed, who degraded religion into a
stepping-stone to worldly empire, was, of course, not too
scrupulous to extricate himself from this awkward personal
difficulty by a pretended revelation. Heaven inspired him
to declare that all this had happened by Divine appointment
to make known to the world the benign purpose that thence-
forth it should not be a sin for a man to marry the divorced
wife of an adopted son ! As if the world could be much
benefited by having conferred upon it so questionable a
liberty. At the same time, Zeid was forbidden to call himself
any longer ^Ibn Mohammed,' and had to revert to the
original ' Ibn Haritha.'

Now of how little value must Zeid's early testimony to
Mohammed's prophetic mission appear, if we find him, at
a riper age, quietly submitting to all these extravagances,
without being staggered in his profession of Islam and in his
allegiance to its prophet ?

Abu Bekr is mentioned next in order. He is the first
convert, not, strictly speaking, belonging to Mohammed's own
household. But he was his best friend, and, since Mohammed
lived in Khadija's house, his close neighbour. ' Abu Bekr,'
the appellation by which he is invariably mentioned, means
' father of the virgin.' He was thus designated, because his
daughter Aisha was the only one of Mohammed's wives
whom he married as a virgin. He can therefore have borne
this name only since that marriage. Ibn Hisham says of
him : ' His proper name was Abd Allah {}) and he was sur-
named Atik (=aged, noble), on account of his beautiful, noble
face. He was a kind, amiable man, whom every one liked.
He was the most learned of the Koreish, and best acquainted
with their genealogy, their weaknesses, and their excellences.
He was a benevolent merchant, of good manners, and the
people of his tribe frequently came to him to consult with
him about their own affairs, because he was experienced in
commerce and other matters, and his conduct pleased every
one. He invited to Islam those who trusted him and who

am 9"SL*-^m'-^mi^^v^amM

84 H/S ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. i.

sought his society. Mohammed, as I have learned, is re-
ported to have said, " I have not called any one to Islam who
had not first his doubts, hesitation, and gainsaying, except
Abu Bekr, who showed no objection and no hesitation." '

If Abu Bekr is here represented as already fully prepared
for the adoption of Islam, the explanatory cause was no doubt
this, that he now had likewise joined the Hanifite fraternity,
who, for some time, had relinquished idol-worship in favour
pf Deism. Such an assumption is quite natural, because of
his intimate connection with Khadija's family where Hanif-
dom had so strong a footing. The new doctrine of Islam,
that Mohammed was its heaven-sent apostle, presented no
serious difficulty to the affectionate regard in which Abu
Bekr held his visionary friend. Their friendship had long
been so close that it could not but favour a gradual approxima-
tion of thoughts and ideas ; and Abu Bekr's superiority of
judgment and forethought necessarily must have had a great
influence on his impressible friend and on the religion offered
by him to his heatiien countrymen. These two men were,
from the first, joined in Islam, and treated it as their common
cause and as the highest object of their aspirations, with
which all their personal and private interests became in-
separably interwoven.

Nothing can be more certain than that Islam is not the
product of Mohammed alone, but that he was materially in-
fluenced and assisted in its concoction by others, notably by
Abu Bekr and Omar, besides sundry renegade Christians
and Jews whom he used as channels of imformation. How
dependent Mohammed ordinarily was on his friends Abu
Bekr and Omar, is well illustrated by the following statement
of Ali : * The prophet always said, " I, Abu Bekr, and Omar
went to, or came from, such and such a place ; I, Abu Bekr,
and Omar have done such and such a thing." ' There is also
a tradition, mentioned by Sprenger, according to which
Mohammed declared : * Every prophet has two heavenly and
two earthly Viziers: my heavenly Viziers are Gabriel and
Michael, and my earthly Viziers Abu Bekr and Omar/
As Omar's courage and strength, so Abu Bekr's knowledge
and wealth, were made subservient to Islam, and had no
small share in its rise and progress.

CHAP. II. SEC. I. 3.] PERSECUTION ARISES. 85

It is recorded of Abu Bekr that he possessed a fortune of
40,000 dirhams, but that he so liberally devoted it to the
promotion of the new religion that, at the time of the Hegira,
it had dwindled down to 5,000 dirhams. By his early pros-
elytising efforts, Othman, Zobeir, Abd Errahman, Saad, and
Talha embraced Islam, some of whom were mere lads, and
all were related either to Mohammed's or to Abu Bekr's
family. At a time, therefore, when Mohammed himself could
only boast of three male converts (viz., AH, Zeid, and Abu
Bekr), Abu Bekr had succeeded in gaining no less than five.
Ibn Ishak says concerning these early converts : * These eight
men preceded all the rest in Islam. They prayed, believed
in Mohammed, and accepted his revelation as Divine.'

(3.) A further Increase in the Number of Converts
emboldens Mohammed^ but^ at the same time^ arouses
Persecution.

After enumerating these eight precursors of the Moslem
converts, Ibn Ishak gives a list of the names of 44 persons —
viz., 35 men and 9 women — who gradually followed their
example by likewise embracing Islam. At first Mohammed
and his converts provoked no opposition or persecution ;
that is, so long as they cautiously and timidly abstained from
coming forward with the claims of their new religion. It is
expressly stated that, at that time, the people did not keep
aloof from the prophet or refute him. But as soon as they
opposed others, they were opposed in return. Ibn Ishak, who
tells us that Mohammed concealed his faith for three years
after he had received the supposed mission from heaven, also
informs us that the prophet, whilst enjoying the protection of
his influential family, quietly and one by one, gained upwards
of forty adherents whose religious devotion naturally still
further encouraged him and strengthened his position. It is
significant that only after this, the historian assures us,
'Mohammed obeyed the command of God, and sufiered
himself to be detained by nothing in revealing his faith.'

This frankness in opposing a new religion to the old, and
the one Allah to the idols, slow as it had been in coming, at
once led to a change in the conduct of the general public

86 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. I.

towards the prophet and his small party of followers. Ibn
Ishak distinctly notices the change and its cause in these
words: *When Mohammed came openly forward with his
religion among the people, as God had commanded him, they
did not keep aloof from him or gainsay him, until he spoke
of their gods and reviled them. Then they thought it worth
their while to deny him, and they resolved to oppose and per-
secute him ; except those whom God kept by Islam, but they
were few in number and despised. Mohammed, however, was
pitied by his uncle Abu Talib, who protected him and inter-
fered on his behalf/ The change, as affecting the converts,
is thus set forth : * When the companions of Mohammed
wanted to pray, they went to ravines and concealed their
praying from the people. One day, when Saad, with other
companions, was praying in one of the ravines of Mecca, there
appeared several idol-worshippers, who censured them, and,
by annoyances, provoked them to fight. Saad, on that
occasion, struck one of the idol-worshippers with the jaw-
bone of an ass, and wounded him. This was the^rj"/^ blood
spilt in Islam.'

From these records it appears that the earliest Moslems,
for several years, hid their faith from their countrymen, to
avoid being laughed at or annoyed, but that they did not
scruple to have recourse to violence and bloodshed, as soon
as they considered their number strong enough to warrant
such a step. In like manner Mohammed himself, from fear
of man, did not at once, after having laid claim to a prophetic
mission, openly profess his faith or venture to speak publicly
against idolatry, but only summoned courage enough to do
so when he had gained a number of trusty adherents and made
sure of his uncle Abu Talib's protection. Thus it becomes
patent how very early Mohammed made ' flesh his arm,' by
relying on his kinsman for protection and on the number of
his followers for support

^ In calling this the ' first ' blood shed in Islam, Ibn Ishak evidently thinks
of the profuse bloodshed by which it was followed, down to his own days. But
how much more significative must the expression appear to us now, when we
remember the countless streams of blood poured out in the cause of Islam, during
all the subsequent centuries I ^liat a contrast between Christ Who founded His
religion by the shedding of His own blood, and Mohammed who established
Islam by shedding the blood of others !

A

CH. II. SEC. I. 3.] ANNO YED AND OPPRESSED, 87

But this courage, based on such a foundation, and tardily as
as it came, was yet sufficient to stir into activity the much
dreaded hostility of his countrymen. They called him bad
names, such as * liar, sorcerer, poet, soothsayer, demoniac/
Ill-disposed neighbours, some of them near relatives, threw
unclean things before his door, to annoy him. Even at the
public sanctuary, which he continued to visit, he was assailed
with cutting words, so that on one occasion he turned
round in anger, and said to his persecutors sharply, * Hear, ye
congregation of the Koreish, I come to you with slaughter!'
This was a threat which he could not carry into effect till
many years later. But some of the Koreishites seem to have
taken the hint seriously, so that, when he came to the Kaaba
on the following day, they surrounded him, and one of them
seized him by the front of his cloak. Abu Bekr had to come
to his rescue, and, delivering him from their hands, said to
them, weeping : * Will you kill a man who says, " Allah is
my Lord " ? ' Ibn Ishak, on the information ' of a scholar,'
reports that * The worst which happened to Mohammed from
the Koreish was, that, one day when he went out, there was
no man, either free or slave, who, on passing him, did not call
him a liar and insult him.'

But besides these petty annoyances and private persecu-
tions, more serious and formal steps were taken to get rid of
the unwelcome prophet and his vexatious denunciations.
Ibn Ishak specifies three distinct deputations from amongst
the leading men of the city, for the purpose of inducing Abu
Talib to withdraw his protection from the troublesome nephew,
so that they might silence him by force, without thereby
incurring the vengeance of his family. The charges they
brought s^ainst him were, that he blasphemed their gods,
reviled their faith, seduced their youths, and condemned their
fathers. Abu Talib is represented as having, on each
occasion, declined their demand with dignified firmness, and
continued his protection as before. But after one of these
deputations had departed, Abu Talib called Mohammed to
communicate to him the charges which had been brought
forward, and gravely added, * Spare both me and thyself ; and
do not burden me with more than I can bear.' Mohammed
believed that his uncle, not feeling strong enough to protect

88 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA, [bk. i. ch. li.

him any longer, had already made up his mind actually to with-
draw his protection and to surrender him to his adversaries.
Yet we are informed that far from yielding, he plainly told
his uncle he would never give up his cause ; and, bursting
into tears, rose up to go away. Abu Talib, moved by seeing
his nephew in such a plight, called him back and said, ' Go on,
speak what thou wilt : by Allah, I shall in no case surrender
thee to them.' Still, it appears, that Mohammed was not
altogether free from anxiety, as to the precariousness and
danger of his position.

(4.) Mohammed finds Safety from Persecution by removing
to the house of Arkam ; and his believer Sy by emigrating
to Abyssinia,

It was most probably under these circumstances, about
five or six years before the Hegira, that Mohammed quitted
his own residence, where he had been surrounded by unfriendly
and vexatious neighbours, to live at some distance on Mount
Safa, in the house of one of his welUto-do followers, Arkam
by name. This change of habitation, by which he placed
himself under the protection of Arkam and his clan, reflected,
according to Arab notions, on the honour of his own family,
to which he clung, and whose protection he had hitherto
enjoyed. Therefore he remained in this place of safety no
longer than was found quite necessary. Still it appears that
he had to continue his stay on Mount Safa for a term lasting
about two years. In Arkam's house Mohammed was indeed
sufficiently safe for his own person, and even found the
opportunity of proselytising with some success ; but he had
no power to shield his more dependent followers, especially
the slaves, from the persecution to which they were exposed.
Ibn Ishak thus continues his narrative : * The Koreish showed
themselves hostile to those who believed in Mohammed,
each clan rising up against the weak Moslems who were in
their midst These were shut up, beaten with stripes, had to
suffer hunger and thirst, and were exposed to the sun, so that
many of them relinquished their faith, to escape from ill-treat-
ment, whilst others were strengthened by God to persevere.'

SEC I. 4-] AD VISES EMIGRA TION TO AB YSSINIA. 89

When Mohammed saw the persecution of his defenceless
followers, whom he was powerless to protect, and who could
find no other influential men under whose auspices they might
place themselves, he said to them : * Had you not better
emigrate to Abyssinia ? There reigns a prince who tolerates
no injustice. It is a land of honesty,^ where you can remain
until God delivers you from the present condition.' A small
number of his followers acted on his advice without delay ;
and others did so, from time to time, during the following
years, down to the Hegira, so that eventually all the emigrants
in Abyssinia were computed to amount to no less than 83
men. This emigration to Abyssinia was greatly facilitated
by the close commercial relations which existed with that
country. Besides, the Abyssinians being professed Christians,
they doubtless felt all the more disposed to treat the fugitives
kindly. These were at present needy suppliants, not the
haughty adversaries of a later period ; and their Deism could
still be expected to prove a stepping-stone to the religion of
Christ. Such hope was actually realised in the case of several
of the emigrants, who joined the Church in Abyssinia and
died there as Christians.

It is a remarkable circumstance that Mohammed, who,
by setting up a rival religion, practically tried to supplant
Christianity, had to apply to a Christian country for the
protection of his early converts ; and that the Mohammedan
historians dwell with complacency on the kind hospitality of
the Abyssinian king to the refugees and on his laudable
firmness in refusing their extradition, when demanded by a
formal embassy from the idolatrous Koreishites of Mecca
But Mohammed soon forgot these strong obligations under
which Christianity had placed him ; and in his later dealings
with the Christians, he did not extend to them the same
magnanimous treatment which they had shown to his early
followers in their distress.

^ This important admission deserves to be well pondered by those advocates
of Mohammed who try to excuse him for his rejection of the Christian religion by
assuming that its professors, in his days, were oif so low a morality that they could
inspire him only with feelings of contempt We are here informed, on the
contrary, that Mohammed looked upon Christian Abyssinia as ' a land of honesty,
where no injustice was tolerated.*

go HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA, [bk. i. ch. ll.

(S.) Mohammed^ by sacrificing principles^ enters into a

Compromise with the Koreish.

As by all their hostile measures the authorities of Mecca
did not succeed in stopping the evil at its source, and could
not effectually silence Mohammed, they tried to accomplish
their object — for the Arabs are a cunning people — by induc-
ing him to accept a compromise which was to put an end to
the existing dissension. With this view, one of the leading
men of the Koreish, Otba by name, was deputed to him, and
addressed him thus : * Thou knowest, my cousin, that thou
occupiest a high rank in our tribe, and that thou hast brought
before us a grave matter by which thou hast divided the
community. Thou hast called us fools, hast blasphemed our
gods, reviled our religion, and charged our departed fathers
with unbelief Now, listen to me whilst I submit to thee
proposals, which, after reflecting upon them, thou mayest
deem acceptable/ Then Mohammed was offered 'money
enough to make him the richest man, honour like that of an
Elder or even a Prince, physicians to heal him if he con-
sidered himself troubled by evil spirits' — ^all this on the
condition that he would openly recognise their local deities,
or at least some of them, as mediators and intercessors with
Allah, the Creator and Preserver. The Koreish, in their
turn, were ready to acknowledge and worship Allah.

Mohammed was not at once prepared to accept the
proposition, but promised to see what God would reveal to
him on the subject. After this interview, Otba counselled
his friends to leave Mohammed alone, shrewdly assigning
for his reason, * If the Bedouins fight him, you will get rid
of him by others ; if he conquers them, his dominion will
also become your dominion, his power your power, and you
will be made the happiest men through him.' This advice
of Otba to the Koreish was no doubt suggested, in substance,
by the interview he had with the prophet, and throws light
on the kind of subjects discussed between them. Viewed
thus, it incidentally reveals that Mohammed's plans of con-
quest by no means sprang from his altered circumstances in
Medina,' but were harboured from the first, and never lost
sight of, even amidst his gloomiest prospects in Mecca. He

SEC 1. 5] ACCEPTS A COMPROMISE. 91

wished to reduce the Arab tribes under one rule : and it was
with this object in view that he strove so hard to become the
highest authority of his own tribe, and to obtain a solid centre
for his power in his native town. Accordingly we are told
that he was now most desirous to receive a fresh revelation
which might lead to a reconciliation with the people and a
recognition of his claims.

Deeply occupied with these hopes and wishes, he em-
braced an opportunity, when the leading men of Mecca were
assembled round the temple, to openly accept the proposed
compromise. He rehearsed before them what was to be
regarded as the Divine revelation which he had promised, and
it contained the words : * Do you see the Lat and the Ozza
and the Manah, as the third of them ? They are exalted
Gharaniks and, verily, their intercession can be expected.*
The Meccans were much pleased with this recognition of
their idols, and in token of their acceptance of the concession,
there and then prostrated themselves together with him and
his remaining partisans as a public act of united worship.
It was felt a relief by the whole town that a reconciliation
had been effected and openly manifested in so unequivocal
a manner.

But this result was obtained by a sacrifice of principles on
the part of the new prophet. He had sustained a moral
defeat, and allowed his adversaries to gain a victory. Such
weakness could not much recommend him to the leadership
of Arabia, nor raise his prophetic character in the estimation
of his keen-eyed countrymen. . He could not be long in
discovering that, with regard to his ulterior design, the com-
promise into which he had been led was not a gain but a
decided loss. Those of the Hanifite fraternity, whose Deistic
convictions were clearer and purer than his own, could not
approve of the compromise, and that portion of his followers
who had fled to Abyssinia could not fail to become still more
decidedly opposed to any recognition of idol-worship, by
their sojourn in a Christian land. Mohammed awoke to the
consciousness that he had made a great mistake, and that it
was necessary to extricate himself from his unsatisfactory
position as best he might For he saw no chance of becom-
ing the dictator of Mecca and of Arabia, except in a prophet's

92 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA, [bk. i. ch. IL

garb ; and he found that no one would seriously accept him
as a prophet, whilst he was paying homage to idols.

So he gave out that the words as far as * Do you see the
Lat and the Ozza and the Manah, as the third of them ? '
were a correct repetition of Gabriel's dictate ; but that then
the Devil, aware of his strong desire to conciliate the Meccans,
had put' on his tongue the false declaration : * They are
exalted Gharaniks, and, verily, their intercession can be
expected/ These compromising words were therefore can-
celled, and their place supplied by harmless ones, as they
still stand in the 53d Sura. Mohammed is reported not to
have become aware of the mischievous character and Satanic
origin of the words he had uttered, till the angel Gabriel
came and pointed it out to him. What a sorry picture is
here presented of a prophet who pretends to speak the words
of God, whilst he is uttering the inspirations of the Evil One,
and needs an angel to point out to him so gross a mistake 1
Who can feel any confidence in the utterances of a man
who is driven to make so humiliating a confession !

■

(6.) Mohammed's withdrawal from the compromise fans afresh

the flame of ridicule and Persecution.

The effect of Mohammed's palpable error and his clumsy
way of extricating himself from it, could not but be an
increased contempt of his prophetic pretensions on the part
of his astute fellow-townsmen. No wonder they now cruelly
mocked him with proposals such as these : * Thou knowest
we have great lack of water in our narrow valley : pray,
therefore, to thy Lord who has sent thee, that He may
enlarge our land by moving the mountains further back ; and
that He may water it with rivers, like Syria and Irak. Or,
if thou wilt not do this for us, provide at least for thyself.
Ask God to send one of His angels to remove our objec-
tions by declaring thee true ; or solicit Him to send thee
gardens, palaces, and treasures of gold and silver, so that
thou mayest no longer have to go to market to buy victuals,
like any one of us. Then we shall know thy privilege and
rank with God, and whether, as thou affirmest, thou really
art a messenger of God. Surely thy Lord knows that we

SEC. 1. 6, 7.] EFFECTS OF THE COMPROMISE. 93

are sitting with thee here and making certain requests to
thee : why does He not come and tell thee how to refute us,
or what He will do if we refuse to listen to thee ? We have
heard that a man in Yemama, called Rahman, is thy teacher ;
but, by Allah, we shall never believe in Rahman. We have
now done what behoved us, and we shall no longer tolerate
thee with thy machinations, till we have destroyed thee or
thou hast destroyed us.' Thus Mohammed's prophetic claims
were ridiculed, his pretended revelations openly attributed
to some human source, and he was given to understand
that still stronger repressive measures should now be adopted
against him and his party.

We are informed that ' he went away dejected because
his hope in the conversion of his fellow-tribesmen was dis-
appointed, and he saw that they were further and further
withdrawing from him.' The wonder is that, after this more
than dubious instance of their prophet's reliableness, any of
his adherents should remain ; and if the faith of intelligent
men like Abu Bekr did not become effectually disabused
by such glaring inconsistencies, we may assume either that
they had been consenting parties to the transaction, or that
what they expected of Mohammed was not so much the revela-
tion of God's pure truth, as rather the realisation of political
and national aims, such as later on were actually achieved.

The sad compromise had lasted long enough to admit of
the despatch of a messenger to Abyssinia to recall the
refugees. But when they returned, the expected reconcilia-
tion and amity had come to nothing, and the old persecution
was still raging as fiercely as ever. Hence only those of
them ventured to remain who found influential men in Mecca
under whose protection they could place themselves, whilst
the rest went back to their Abyssinian asylum. %

(7.) The two important Conversions of Hamza and Omar
take place^ notwithstanding the prevailing persecution,

A short time before the prophet's notorious lapse which
has just occupied our attention, Hamza, one of his uncles,
espoused his cause ; and this instance of a conversion, if so
it may be called. Veil illustrates how personal or tribal con-

94 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA, \^Yi. L

siderations sometimes entirely outweighed religious interests
in tljose who joined him and his party.

One day as Hamza, still an idolater, was returning from
the chase, he was met by a woman who told him how rudely
his nephew had just been reproached by Abu Jahl, when
passing him on Mount Safa. This communication so touched
the uncle's honour and family pride, that he forthwith took
the nephew's part, as narrated by Ibn Ishak in these words :
* Hamza, since God was about to bless him with His grace,
was filled with wrath, and resolved to attack Abu Jahl at
once, if he should still happen to be near the Kaaba. Then
taking the way to the Kaaba, and finding him sitting with
others, he went straight up to him, and gave him a severe
blow with his bow, saying, " Wilt thou also dare to revile
him, if I confess his faith and make his words my own ?
Return the blow if thou hast the courage ! " Abu Jahl did
not retaliate, and said to some Makhzumites who were ready
to take his part, " Leave him alone ; for, by Allah, I have
badly reviled his nephew." From that moment Hamza
remained a Moslem, following Mohammed's teaching in every
thing ; and the Koreish perceived that in Hamza's protection
Mohammed had acquired a strong support, so that they
desisted from many a vexation which they had hitherto
been giving him.*

Hamza possessed a powerful frame, and is described as
one of the strongest men among the Koreish. The prowess
which he afterwards displayed in Mohammed's wars earned
for him the distinction of being sumamed by him, 'The
Lion of God.' Now a man who so obviously embraced
Mohammed's cause from pity and a sense of family honour
rather than from religious conviction, would naturally exercise
his ^fluence in favour of the unprincipled compromise which
was brought about soon after, and was to have stilled for
ever the bitter strife. Thus it is quite possible that Hamza's
so-called conversion may have had something to do with
Mohammed's notorious compromise, which reflects so un-
favourably upon the prophet, and had to be given up again
as soon as it was found that it did not effect the results
which were looked for from it

Mohammed was still living in the house of his Makhzumite

<:hap. II. SEC 1. 7.] OMAR* 95

friend Arkam, and under the shadow of his protection, when
he acquired another convert of equal importance, in the
person of Omar Ibn ul Khattaby whose influence on the fate of
Islam was of a most decided character. He, like Abu Bekr,
gave Mohammed one of his daughters for a wife, succeeded
him in the capacity of Calif, to extend the power of Islam by
victorious armies, and had no small share in its formation
from the time he became a convert It is recorded of him
that he declared: 'God agreed with me in three things.'
These are specified to be : the adding of the so-called place
of Abraham to the temple proper ; the introduction of the
practice of veiling the women ; and the quelling of a mutiny
of the prophet's wives, by the threat that they might have to
make place for others more submissive. The agreement in
point of fact consisted in this, that the pretended revelations
on these points were made at Omar's suggestion. It was
quite natural that the trenchant, strong, and impetuous mind
of the highly esteemed disciple should leave its marked
impress on the weaker and far more pliable mind of the
visionary teacher.

Omar was closely related to the reforming party ; for he
was first cousin to Zeid, the distinguished Hanifite leader,
and his sister was married to Seid, the surviving son of Zeid
He probably had views and plans of his own, as to who
might be best fitted for the fuller development and chief
direction of the Hanifite movement Perhaps doubts of
this nature had hitherto kept him back from joining
Mohammed as a subordinate. That Omar had already
previously exercised an independent activity on behalf of
religion, may be gathered from a public declaration made at
a later period in Kufa by his brother-in-law, Seid, who said :
'There was a time when Omar strengthened me and my
wife in our faith, even before he had himself joined Islam.'

Mohammedan tradition gives several contradictory ac-
counts of Omar's conversion, all with a tendency to show
that it was owing to the striking beauty of a portion of the
Koran which he accidentally heard, and by which his enmity
to the new prophet was suddenly turned into friendship and
devotion.^ But the question of personal protection, the

^ See Book 11., chap. i. sec. 21, footnote.

96 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. l

growing strength of the Moslem party by the accession of
vah'ant men like Hamza, and perhaps even concern for the
fate of Deism, so dear to every Hanifite, which had been
endangered by the recent compromise with idolatry, may
have been factors in Omar's decision more cogent than the
beauty of the Koran, though this also may have operated in
favour of the step.

Omar was then twenty-six years old, of unusual bodily
strength, and so tall that in a crowd he towered above all the
rest. He could use the left hand as easily as the right, and
his natural impetuosity was reflected by his rapid walk and
long steps. Such a man could not but be a most valuable
acquisition to a cause so fundamentally allied to the principle
of physical force, as Islam. Mohammed's dreamy* specula*
tion and relative weakness found its needed complement
in the trenchant determination and rude vigour of a man of
action like Omar. If Mohammed was the mouth of Islam,
and Abu Bekr its calculating head, Omar proved its strong
arm and heavy fist

Mohammed so fully appreciated this mighty arm of fleshi
that he soon quitted Arkam's house and Makhzumite pro-
tection, to rely again on his own family and his few, but
increasing and fearless, followers. One of the latter, Zohaib by
name, made the following declaration : * After Omar's conver-
sion we confessed and preached Islam openly. We ventured
to sit round the Kaaba, and to perform the circumambula*
tion of the black stone. We no longer submitted to rough
treatment, and as much as possible returned blow for blow.'

Omar himself, whose family either would or could not
sufficiently protect him, had taken the precaution, notwith-
standing his own strength, of placing himself under the
protection of the influential Lahmite Az Ibn Wail, who,
when the people surrounded his house with hostile intentions,
calling out, ' Omar has turned Sabi,' put an end to the uproar
by saying, ' What matters it if Omar has turned Sabi ? I
am his protector.' Having secured so effectual a protection,
and being fully conscious of his own personal strength, Omar
appears to have somewhat ostentatiously displayed his
religious profession. According to Ibn Ishak's narrative, he
purposely went to Jemil, who was reputed as being the man

CHAP. IL SEC. I. 8.] PUT UNDER A BAN. 97

best versed in the ancient traditions of the Koreish, to
inform him boldly that he had embraced the faith of
Mohammed. When Jemil thereupon exposed him before an
assembly of people at the temple, saying, * The son of El
Khattab has apostatised,' Omar called out aloud, * He tells
a falsehood. I have turned Moslem, and confess that there is
no God besides Allah, and that Mohammed is His minister
and ambassador.'

(8.) After t/tese Conversions^ Persecution bursts out more fiercely,
and Mohammed, with his entire family , is put under a ban.

The accession of two such bold and powerful men as
Hamza and Omar to the cause of Mohammed, showed the
aristocracy of Mecca that the new movement was not to be
despised, and that the division it had produced in their
community really threatened to become serious. In con-
sequence, they resorted to a far more drastic measure, by
placing Mohammed and his entire clan, as far as it openly
espoused his cause or joined in his defence, under a regular
social ban. Ibn Ishak narrates : * When the Koreish saw
that Mohammed's companions had found rest and shelter in
Abyssinia, that Omar was converted and Hamza openly ./"'^
, took his part, and that Islam gradually spread amongst the
clans, they resolved to join in pledging themselves, by -a
written document, thenceforth not to contract any more
marriages or have any sort of commercial dealings with the
Beni Hashim and Mottaleb ; and this document was to be
suspended within the Kaaba to enhance its binding force.
Thus they lived two or three years in great trouble, because
it was only by stealth that their friends amongst the Koreish
could take any provisions to them.'

The clan of Hashim and Mottaleb to which Mohammed
belonged inhabited a confined, ravine-like quarter of the
town, called Shib ; and to this quarter all their scattered
members who did not repudiate their family obligations to
Mohammed, together with any other partisans, had now to
withdraw, for the sake of greater personal safety and mutual
protection. Being prevented from joining the mercantile
caravans of the town and from trading as before, they

G

■tf*

98 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. i. ch. ii.

naturally had to suffer great privation and hardship in their
social isolation, though it appears that they were not closely
blockaded or forbidden to move about singly.

It is likely that at this juncture any Moslems who had not
previously emigrated or could find effectual protection in
Mecca, went to participate in the shelter which a number of
their fellow-believers were already enjoying in Abyssinia.
For it is recorded that even Abu Bekr decided on emigrating,
and had actually left the town with that view, when he was
brought back again by one of the leading men who met him on
the way and compassionately took him under his protection.

Mohammed himself could remain, protected by his family,
though burning with feelings of resentment at the contumely
to which he was exposed whenever he showed his face. We
read : ' When the family of Hashim and Mottaleb, together
with his uncle, prevented the Koreish from using violence
against him, these latter maligned and ridiculed him ; where-
upon there appeared revelations in the Koran against the
Koreish and all those who signalised themselves by their
hostility to Mohammed.' Against one of his uncles and his
wife who persevered in rejecting the upstart prophet these
words were revealed, *May Abu Lahab*s hands wither and
himself perish ! Of no avail shall be to him the wealth he has
acquired. He shall be burned in a flaming fire and his wife .
shall have a rope tied round her neck ! * Many instances are
given by the biographers of persons openly contradicting
and exposing Mohammed. Amongst others it is reported
that when he recited passages of the Koran to assemblies
of Koreishites, El Nadhr used to object, 'Mohammed's
recitations are not better than mine : they are only copied
from ancient books like my own.*

It appears that under these circumstances Mohammed
moderated himself and that his preaching assumed a less
aggressive form. Abu Jahl had said to him, 'Cease
blaspheming our gods, or else we will blaspheme the God
whom thou worshippest ; ' and we are told that, in conse-
quence, * Mohammed desisted from blaspheming their gods
and only called upon them to believe in Allah.* This
moderation on the part of Mohammed, and the inconvenience
caused by the state of things to the community at large,

SEC 1. 9.] DEA TH OF KHADIJA AND ABU TALIB, 99

seems to have gradually led to a relaxation, and ultimately
to have brought about the formal discontinuation of the
social ban. A growing party of sympathisers ventured to
propose in a public assembly the* tearing up of the ban-
document, suspended in the Kaaba. The biographers do not
omit tracing in the event a special Divine interposition, by
informing us that when the document was fetched, it was
found to have been completely obliterated by worms, and
that the hand of the man who originally wrote it had after-
wards withered away.

(9.) Mohammed, bereft by death of Kliadija and Abu Talib,
finds Mecca increasingly unsympathetic and at last
fixedly hostile.

The ban was indeed removed, but it had been sufficiently
severe and protracted to show how determined was the
opposition of the 'majority of the Meccans to the would-be
prophet, and how little chance he had of ever being volun-
tarily recognised by them as their supreme teacher and ruler.
About this time ajgreat loss befell him which still further
darkened his prospects in Mecca. In one year death de-
prived him*of his uncle Abu Talib and his wife Khadija.
The place of the former was ill supplied by another of his
uncles, Abu Lahab ; and we have already seen (p. 79) that,
in compensation for the latter, he with great haste engaged
himself to two ladies at once, namely, the widow Sewda,
and the extremely youthful maiden Aisha. Ibn Ishak says,
concerning his loss, ' This was a great misfortune to him ;
for Khadija had been his faithful support in Islam with whom
he always found reassurance ; and Abu Talib had been his
staunch defender and protector against his fellow-tribesmen.
They died three years before the Flight to Medina. After
Abu Talib's death the Koreishites ill-treated Mohammed in
a way they would) never have ventured to do during his
lifetime. One of the fools went so far as to strew dust on
his head. When this had happened and he went to his house,
with the dust still on his head, one of his daughters washed
his head, weeping. He said to her, " Weep not, my daughter,
God will protect thy father;" and he added, "Whilst Abu

loo HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

Talib was alive, the Koreish could not do to me anything so
disagreeable." '

Five very influential men are mentioned by name as
being his worst revilers. When the offensive and contemptu-
ous words of one of them reached Mohammed, he is reported
to have prayed, * O God, make him blind, and deprive him
of his son ! ' And when they hardened themselves in their
wickedness and continued to mock him, God revealed the
verse, 'Proclaim aloud what is enjoined upon thee. Turn
away from the idolaters. We shall protect thee against the
mockers.' No wonder, then, that all these five mockers met
with a condign retribution at the hand of God, according to
the following story narrated by Ibn Ishak, and evidently
invented to illustrate the effects of a prophet's vindictive
prayer and of God's promise to protect him against the
mockers. * Yezid Ibn Ruman has told me on the authority
of Urwa or some other learned man, that once Gabriel came
to Mohammed, whilst those mockers were circumambulating
the temple. Mohammed arose and placed himself at his side.
When El Aswad Ibn El Mottaleb passed by, the angel cast
a green leaf in his face, and he became blind. Then came
El Aswad Ibn Abd Yaghut, when the angel pointed at his
body, and he was overtaken by dropsy, of which he died.
Then came El Welid, when Gabriel pointed at the scar of an
old wound on his heel, and the wound re-opened, so that he
died of it. After him El Az passed by, and Gabriel pointed
at the sole of his foot ; and it happened soon after that the
ass on which he was riding lay down on a thorny place and
a thorn pierced the sole of his foot, so that he died of it
Lastly, when El Harith passed by, Gabriel pointed at his
head, and it began to suppurate, till he died.'

But notwithstanding all these retributive judgments of a
later date, the experienced bereavement left Mohammed in
a very dejected condition, so that we are informed his uncle
Abu Lahab, on hearing of his grief, went to him with the
comforting assurance, ' Go about and do what thou wilt, as
during the life of my brother Abu Talib. I swear by the
goddess Lat, that no harm shall happen to thee as long as
I live.' But Abu Lahab proved no Abu Talib. Not long
after he had given this inspiriting promise, he changed his

SEC. 1. 9, lo.] HIS POSITION CRITICAL. loi

mind and again declared himself his nephew's enemy, on the
professed ground that when asked about the present state of
his late father, Abdu-1-Mottaleb, Mohammed had pronounced
him to be in hell, an answer by which he gave great offence
to Abu Lahab and all the Koreish.

The position of Mohammed as one protected by his family
at great inconvenience was very delicate, and imposed on him
the obligation of refraining from steps disapproved of by his
protectors. For although it was a matter of honour for the
whole clan to guard his life and personal safety so long as
he was recognised as one of themselves ; yet in case he
should give them grave cause of offence, they might with-
draw their countenance from him and openly repudiate his
claim to their protection. The unbelieving Koreish had long
been making great efforts to induce his family thus to aban-
don him to their vengeance. This danger had now become
more acute and Mohammed did not conceal it from himself.
Abu Talib having been under deep obligation to him for acts
of kindness, such as the adoption of one of his many children,
allowed him great freedom of action, so long as the responsi-
bility for his safety rested mainly with him. But after his
death no leading member of the family was disposed to under-
take the serious charge of making himself answerable for the
good conduct of one who had already given so much trouble.
Abu Lahab indeed came forward from a sense of duty and
honour ; but we have already seen how gladly he availed
himself of the first chance of withdrawing again from the
responsibility he had undertaken. The necessity was now
forced upon Mohammed of acting with very great caution
and of leaving unavenged the many petty annoyances to
which he was still exposed. Thus his life in Mecca became
more and more intolerable, and his prospects of gaining over
the Meccans to his views, gloomy in the extreme.

(lo.) Definitively rejected by Mecca, Mohammed addresses him-
self to other Arab Communities ; but meets with no
better reception.

Not minded, like Jesus Christ and His apostles, to trust
implicitly and solely in God, Mohammed now cast about

I02 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. I. CH. Ii.

whether he might not find that worldly protection, that fleshly
arm of human help, in one of the neighbouring towns, or
amongst the roaming Bedouin tribes, which was refused him
by his fellow-citizens in Mecca. The first attempt of this
kind he made in Taif, the nearest town of importance,
in whose neighbourhood many of the Meccan grandees
kept gardens. The close intercourse thus fostered between
the two towns afforded him an opportunity of which he
availed himself. He went in company with his liberated
slave Zeid, and addressing himself to the leading men of the
Thakifites, requested them, as Ibn Ishak tells us, ' to aid and
protect him against his own tribe, hoping that they would
receive his revelation,* But they turned from his proposals
in derision, and did not even heed his expressed request, at
least to keep secret the interview which he had with them.
Instead of promising protection or encouraging his pretensions
to a heavenly mission, they stirred up the mob to drive him
away with ignominy. A hostile crowd pursued him with
missiles, so that he was wounded in his legs, and Zeid, who
endeavoured to protect him with his own body, received a
severe injury in his head.

The attempt to obtain in Taif what had been denied him
in Mecca signally failed ; and the biographers, always partial
to their hero, endeavour to compensate for the humiliating
disappointment, by treating us to the story that when Mo-
hammed, on his way back to Mecca, performed his evening
prayers at Nakhla, a number of demons who were just
coming from Nissibin, stopped to listen to him. What they
heard induced them to embrace Islam, which henceforth
they spread amongst their fellow-demons.

After his ignominious failure in Taif to find partisans and
protectors against the hostile Koreish, Mohammed did not
venture to re-enter Mecca, but halted at Mount Hira for the
purpose of first securing the protection of some mighty man.
His trust in God evidently did not raise him above the fear
of man. In two cases his application for protection was
coldly declined on some slight excuse ; but finally he
succeeded in obtaining the consent of Motim Ibn Adi.
Accordingly Motim, with his armed retainers, awaited
Mohammed and Zeid at the Kaaba, and on their arrival

SEC I. la] VAIN EFFORTS AMONGST THE ARABS, 103

called out, ' Hear, ye Koreishites, I am protecting Mo-
hammed : take care not to offend him.'

. Thus protected, Mohammed could, for his own person,
live quietly in Mecca ; but it had become abundantly clear
that the bulk of his fellow-townsmen had fully made up
their minds to treat his arrogant pretensions with sovereign
disdain. Ibn Ishak says, ' When Mohammed had returned
to Mecca, the people gainsaid him more than before and
kept aloof from his faith, except a few weak ones who
believed in him.' There being, therefore, no hope left him
of gaining over so important a city as Mecca, or even Taif,
he employed all his efforts to obtain a foothold amongst any
of the Arab tribes who visited the Kaaba during the annual
festival. According to Ibn Ishak, ' he showed himself to the
Kabiles on the days of the feast, exhorted them to believe in
God, whose prophet he was, and requested them to acknow-
ledge and protect him as such, so that he might expound to
them God's revelation ; and in the same way he also pre-
sented himself to individual persons whom he knew to
possess great influence.' Evidently his motto was not,
* The poor have the Gospel preached unto them ; ' but he
cared for men of influence and power, for the adhesion of
whole tribes, to secure his own protection and the establish-
ment of a worldly dominion.

The following narrative in which Ibn Ishak communi-
cates the result of these efforts, shows that Mohammed's
designs were looked through, and that the Kabiles had no
wish to risk their necks for his aggrandisement and the dom-
ination of his party. ' Mohammed visited the Beni Kinda
in their encampment, whose chief was Muleih, and requested
them to believe in Allah whose prophet he was : but they
turned away from him. He also went to the camp of a
branch of the Kalbites, inviting them to believe in Allah and
in himself; but neither did they hearken to him. In like
manner he visited the Beni Hanifa, exhorting them to accept
Islam ; but no Arab ever gave him a ruder answer than they
did. He also wanted to convert the Beni Amir, on which
occasion one of them, Beihara by name, said to him, " By
Allah, if I took this man from the Koreish, I could, with him,
stir up all the Arabs into rebellion. Now, O Mohammed, if

104 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. i. ch. li.

we pay allegiance to thee, and God gives thee the victory
over thy adversaries, shall we receive the dominion after
thee ? " Mohammed answered, " Dominion belongs to God :
He gives it to whomsoever He pleases." To this Beihara
replied, " Shall we expose our necks to the Arabs for thee,
and, if God makes thee victorious, leave the dominion in the
hands of others ? We will have nothing to do with thee."
Thus they also turned away from him.' Surely we need no
clearer proof than this, that Mohammed's plans of conquest
were not engendered by his favourable circumstances in
Medina ; but that they formed a chief feature of his *aspira-
tions already in Mecca, by means of which he sought to
attract the Arabs. But the latter were clear-sighted enough
to perceive that their desired conversion was but to furnish
him with the means of establishing his own dominion, and
for such a purpose they did not wish to risk their lives.

Mohammed's failure in Mecca was complete, and all the
Kabiles he tried were too wary to cast in their lot with his.
All the means at his disposal as the unarmed Prophet of
Mecca — his personal virtues, his eloquence, his high social
position, his family connection with the keepers of the
Kaaba, his deistic teaching, the prospects of political
domination and worldly gain which he held out with
undisguised plainness — availed for him only to procure
a small number of partisans amongst interested persons.
The many means in his favour proved wholly inadequate
to convince the intelligence of Mecca, or even the bulk of the
common population, that he was a messenger of God whose
words had to be believed and his behests obeyed.

(i I.) Mohammed succeeds in gaining a number of Partisans

amongst the People of Medina,

To all appearance the Meccan Prophet and his Islam
would have been nipped in the bud, had not Mecca's old rival,
the city of Yathreby snatched at the chance of supremacy
now offering, and opened its gates to the desperate
suppliants. Yathreb, or Medina^ i.e. *the city,* as it was
named by the Mohammedans for becoming the first home
of their politico-religious oi^anisation, was not, as we have

SEC I. II.] HE TURNS TO YA THREE. 105

already learned, a stranger to Mohammed. His great-
grandmother and his grandfather were natives of that town.
His father died and was buried there. When he was six
years of age, his mother paid a visit to the place, and took
him with her to form the acquaintance of his distant
relatives and to see his father's grave. The sickly mother
never returned to Mecca, but died on her homeward journey.
An interest in the orphan child and his fate must, therefore,
have survived in Medina, and when the tidings reached it
that he professed himself God's Prophet to the Arab nation,
this could not but form a subject for frequent lively con-
versations in that city.

Mohammed tenaciously clung to his own tribe, the
Koreish, and would infinitely have preferred his native
Mecca ; but when all hopes from that quarter had vanished
and he was driven to look abroad for safety and shelter,
what was more natural for him than to turn his hopes
and enthusiasm to the other town with which he was
likewise connected by such strong links .^ And what
could offer more attraction to the ancient jealousy of the
Yathrebites, than an accession of strength from the Meccans
themselves, including such men of mark as Abu Bekr,
Hamza, Omar, Othman, together with the much-talked-of
new prophet? Moreover, the strong Jewish colony in
Yathreb, with their ancient Monotheism, must have in a
sense prepared the way for the reception of a religious
reformer. Without Yathreb, Mohammed would in all
probability have died as a derided enthusiast, and his name
been utterly forgotten. By opening herself as a refuge to
him and his partisans, Medina became the real birthplace
of Islam, the cradle of its political power, and the centre of
its conquests throughout Arabia. It fully deserves its name
as * the city,* and its early converts that of * the assistants
or helpers ' of Islam.

The biographers duly appreciate the nature and im-
portance of the transfer of incipient Islam from Mecca to
Medina, and give a detailed account of the manner in which
it was brought about. It is highly instructive as showing
the predominantly political and secular character of the
Mohammedan movement, already at this period. For now

io6 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. i. ch. ii.

it still appeared in its best and purest form, as the natural
outcome of its gradual development amidst the restrictions
and persecutions of Mecca, and was not yet affected by the
sunshine of worldly prosperity and power.

Ibn Ishak narrates ' the beginning of Islam amongst the
assistants ' in these words : * When God wished to make
His faith victorious, to glorify His Prophet and to fulfil
His promise to him, Mohammed, at the time of the pilgrim
festival, went as usual to the Kabiles to present himself to
them as prophet, and on the eminence he met a party of
Khazrajites by whom God intended something good. He
asked them, " Who are you ? " They answered, " We are
Khazrajites." Then Mohammed inquired, "Are you friends
of the Jews?" and they said " Yes." He then invited them
to sit down with him, propounded to them the doctrine of
Islam, and read out portions from the Koran. It belongs
to God's works that the Jews, those men of Scripture and
science, who lived amongst the idolatrous Khazrajites and
were oppressed by them, often said in their brawls, "The
time is nigh when a prophet will arise : we shall follow him
and with his help destroy you, like Ad and Iram." Now,
therefore, when Mohammed exhorted these people to believe
in Gody they said to each other, "Know, that this is the
prophet with whom the Jews have threatened us : let us
anticipate them." So it came to pass that they listened to
Mohammed, believed in him, and accepted Islam. They
also said to Mohammed, " We belong to a people amongst
whom there is much ill-will and enmity ; perhaps God will
unite them through thee. We will invite them to the faith
which we now possess ; and if God unites them around thee,
there will then be no more powerful man than thou." After
this, they returned to their home as believers. They were
six in number; and when they had reached Medina, they
talked with their fellow-tribesmen about Mohammed and
invited them to Islam, so that soon the Prophet of God was
spoken of in every house.'

Thus, in the course of the year, the movement began to
spread in Medina, and we are told that when the festival
came round again, twelve Ansars, or 'Assistants,* were
amongst the pilgrims to Mecca. They arranged a meeting

SEC. I. 1 1, 12.] SPREAD OF ISLAM IN MEDINA. 107

with Mohammed, which is known as ' the first meeting on
the eminence/ and it was on the same occasion that they
also took an oath of allegiance to him, ' after the manner of
women/ that is, they did not yet engage to fight for Islam,
but only to give up idolatry, stealing, fornication, and the
killing of infants, and to obey Mohammed in all that is good.
When they returned to Medina, Mohammed sent with them
Mosaby for the express purpose of spreading the knowledge
of Islam and the Koran amongst their countrymen ; and it
is in consequence of this, that he became generally known
as ' the reading-master of Medina:' Asad, in whose house he
lived, pointed out to him Saad^ the lord of his people,
saying, ' If he follows thee, not two of his clan will remain
behind/ As soon as Saad was gained over, he said to his
clan, ' I vow not to speak a word either with your men or
your women, till you believe in God and His Prophet' So
it came to pass that, after a time, not a man or a woman of
the clan remained who had not embraced Islam. Although
these conversions, at the mere dictate of a chief, must have
been very unspiritual and superficial, yet they were perfectly
consistent with the external nature of Islam, and fully served
the purpose of its Prophet.

(12.) The Spread of Islam amongst the People of Medina
prepares the way for Mohammed and his whole Party
to emigrate to that City.

At the pilgrimage festival of the following year, Mosab,
who had been most successful in his missionary operations,
returned to Mecca in the company of a caravan of pilgrims.
On their arrival he lost no time in arranging another formal
meeting, known as *the second meeting on the eminence,*
between Mohammed and those of his fellow-pilgrims who
were converts to Islam. Kaab^ one of the leading men
present at the meeting, gives the following account of it:
* We slept till a third part of the night was over. Then we
left t^e caravan and crept silently to the ravine near the
eminence. We were seventy-three men and two women.
When we had waited a while, Mohammed arrived, accom-
panied by his uncle Abbas, who, though still a heathen, yet

io8 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. i. ch. ii.

wished to be present, in order to secure a sure covenant for
his nephew. After taking their seat, Abbas first took the
word, saying, "Ye know, O ye Khazrajites — as then all
the Arabs of Medina were called, inclusive of the Awsites —
that Mohammed is one of us. We have hitherto protected
him against those of the people who share my opinion
respecting him. Though he now lives in power amongst his
people and enjoys the shelter of his home, yet he wishes to
go and unite himself with you. Now if you are sure that
you can fulfil what you promise him, and that you will
protect him against his enemies ; then accept the burden
with which you wish to load yourselves. But if you think
that you might deceive and betray him, then leave him here ;
for in his own home he is strong and protected." We
returned this answer, "We have heard thy words, and
Mohammed has only to declare what is to be our obligation
with r^ard to him and to God." Then Mohammed made a
speech to us, invited us to Allah, recited the Koran,
awakened in us a love to Islam, and concluded by saying,
"Now, swear that you will preserve me from everything
from which you preserve your own wives and children." El
Bara, seizing his hand, replied, "Yea, by Him who hath
sent thee a prophet with truth, we shall protect thee as our
bodies : receive our allegiance, O Apostle of God ! By
Allah ! we are the sons of war and men of arms which we,
the valiant, have inherited from the valiant." While he thus
spake, another interposed, saying, "O Apostle of God,
there are ties between us and others — he meant the Jews —
which now we shall have to tear asunder ; but if we do
this, and God gives thee victory, wilt thou then leave us
again and return to thy own home?" Mohammed made
answer in this wise : " Your blood is my blood ; what you
shed, I also shed ; you belong to me and I belong to you ; I
declare war to whom you declare war, and make peace with
whom you make peace." *

What a light this covenant throws on Mohammed as a
prophet and on the nature and bearings of the religion he
undertook to establish! That this whole movement was
essentially of a secular and political kind into which religion
merely entered as an element, is abundantly evident from

IBP

SEC I. 12.1 SECULAR NATURE OF CONTRACT. 109

the fact that the actual contractor on Mohammed's side was
his uncle Abbas, who positively repudiated his nephew's
religious pretensions, but was naturally eager to rid his
family of so troublesome a client, without dishonour, by
assisting to secure for him the protection of a distant town.
The stipulations entered into, the promises given between
Mohammed and the Khazrajites of Medina, only reveal what
kind of relationship he had all along striven to establish,
though unsuccessfully, with the Koreishites of Mecca. It
was plainly a civil and political compact, defensive and
offensive, with express reference to the contingencies of war,
bloodshed, and conquest, but based on a profession of Deism
and the recognition of Mohammed as its prophet, or highest
authority in all religious and secular matters. His own
prerogatives and personal protection always constituted a
prominent feature of his scheme. But he had to advance
step by step. On the first pilgrimage his sympathisers from
Medina had only to avow the fealty of women ; but on the
second, when further progress had been made, so that their
number exceeded seventy, they had to promise the fealty of
men and of warriors.

Consequently the view propounded in this work is fully
justified that, although indeed the ulterior design of worldly
gain and military conquest is less apparent in Mohammed's
earlier period, this was not the case because the design did
not exist, but because the suitable time for its prominent
manifestation had not yet arrived. The calculating prophet
could not help seeing that a premature resort to arms would
infallibly have led to a complete frustration of all his plans.
As soon as he could command about a hundred men able
to fight, and before he had actually set out to place himself
at their head in Medina, he received the commission from
God, as Ibn Ishak tells us, to make war and to resist by
force of arms all those who molested him or his followers.
Hitherto Mohammed had tried hard, but tried in vain, to
accomplish his first step amongst the Koreish and other
tribes, that of inducing them to accept him as the prophet of
Deism. Had he succeeded in this, the next step would have
followed as naturally and necessarily in their case, as it now
did in that of the more confiding people of Medina. The

I lo HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA, [br. i. ch. ii.

political form and military development obtained by Islam
in Medina were not something foreign to the minds and
aspirations of its originators in Mecca, but something which,
by the force of circumstances, had to be left to the future,
until it should be sufficiently grounded in its initiatory stage
as a deistic form of Atabian Heathenism. The politico-
religious compact between Mohammed and the Khazrajites
which we have just considered, embodies at once the growing
development of the principles of Islam in its Meccan period
and the foundation for its national and foreign conquests of
the period on which it was now about to enter. The inward
character of both these periods is perfectly homogeneous, and
the transition from the one to the other natural, and
designedly brought about by Mohammed and his coadjutors.

Despite all precaution the nightly rendezvous and its
object had transpired in Mecca. Kaab continues his nar-
rative thus : * On the following morning the leading men of
the Koreish came to us and* said, " We have heard that you
intend to take away Mohammed and to swear to him that
you will make war against us!' Then several unbelievers
from our tribe arose and declared with an oath that this was
not so, and that they knew nothing about it They were
speaking the truth ; for they did not know what had hap-
pened. But we who knew looked at each other.* Kaab
also mentions an incident which is quite characteristic of the
disposition and hopes of those early converts to Islam.
Before the Koreish left, Kaab said, in their hearing, to a
leading man of his own party, * Why dost thou not also
wear sandals as these Koreish do?' Then one of the
Koreish took off his sandals and threw them to Kaab, re-
questing him to put them on. Kaab did so ; and on being
advised by his own party to throw them back, replied, ' By
Allah ! I will not give them back to him, for this is an omen ;
and in fulfilment of it / shall one day take his goods front him!
The suspicions of the Koreish were not removed by this
interview, and on the Yathrebite pilgrims returning home,
the Koreish pursued them for some distance.

When the people of Mecca had ascertained beyond a
doubt that Mohammed had gained over a considerable party
in the city of Medina and allied himself with them, they

SEC. I. 12.] EMIGRATION TO MEDINA. iii

perceived that there really existed grave cause to dread a
movement which was depriving them of a number of power-
ful fellow-citizens to augment the jealousy and antagonisqn
of a formidable rival city. The movement now really con-
stituted a political danger of no small magnitude. The
Meccans, therefore, renewed their persecutions, and at the
same time sought to retain by force those who showed a
disposition to emigrate to Medina. The latter had to use
great circumspection and to evade their adversaries* vigilance
by leaving in small groups and by taking different directions.
Ibn Ishak says : * When Mohammed had received the per-
mission to make war, and when the tribe of "assistants" had
sworn to accept Islam and to aid him and his followers, he
commanded his companions, both those who had already
emigrated and those who had remained with him in Mecca,
to remove to Medina and there to join their brethren, " the
assistants," saying to them, "God has given you brethren
and a sure dwelling-place." They now left in groups, but
Mohammed himself still remained in Mecca, waiting for
permission from God likewise to emigrate to Medina.
Besides those who were detained by force and those who
were made to apostatise, only Ali and Abu Bekr remained
with him in Mecca. The latter frequently asked for per-
mission to follow the other emigrants ; but Mohammed said
to him, " Do not hasten, perhaps God will give thee a com-
panion." Abu Bekr hoped that this companion would be
Mohammed himself.'

The account of Mohammed's own emigration or 'Flight'
to Medina is thus given by Ibn Ishak, according to several
contemporary authorities whom he mentions by name, and,
as every one will observe, is not without a strongly mythical
element. 'When the Koreish saw that Mohammed had
gained companions and adherents outside their own tribe,
in another town to which his friends emigrated, and where
they found a refuge and protection, they feared Mohammed
might also join them and then resolve on war against them-
selves. They, therefore, assembled in their council-house to
deliberate what steps to take against Mohammed, whom
they now dreaded. The devil also came, in the form of an
old man, wearing a threadbare garment, and stood at the

1 12 HIS ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

door of the council- house. On the Koreish asking him who
he was, he said, " I am an old man from Nejd, who has
heard what you have arranged and who has come to listen
to your deliberations, and perhaps to give a useful counsel."
They said, "All right," and admitted him to the assembly
of the Koreishite nobles. Several proposals being made how
to deal with Mohammed, he pointed out their objectionable-
ness, on the ground of not being effective enough, till at last
Abu Jahl took the word, saying, " My proposal is, that we
select from every clan a powerful suitable youth of good
family, and provide them with sharp swords, to fall on him
as one man and to slay him ; then we shall have rest and
his blood will be on all the clans, so that the sons of Abd
Eddar, unable to make war against an entire people, will be
content to accept the price of atonement which we shall
willingly pay," Thereupon the old man from Nejd said,
" This man's proposal is the only good one ; " and the assem-
bly, indorsing the opinion, dispersed.

' Now when the third part of the night was over, the
Koreish gathered before Mohammed's door and waited till
he went to sleep, so that they might fall upon him. As soon
as Mohammed perceived this, he said to Ali, " Do thou sleep
on my bed and wrap thyself up in my green cloak of Hadra-
maut — the same in which he himself used to sleep, — they
will not hurt thee." Whilst the Koreish were before Mo-
hammed's door, Abu Jahl, who was amongst them, said,
" Mohammed believes that, if you follow him, you will become
the mcLsters of the Arabs and ifie Persians ; that, after death,
you will rise again and receive gardens like those on the
river Jordan ; but that if you do not follow him, he will slay
you ; and on being raised again after death, you will have to
bum in hell." Then Mohammed came out, cast a handful
of earth on their heads, and said to Abu Jahl, " Yes, indeed,
I have spoken thus ; and thou wilt be one of the latter."
God had deprived them of their sight, every one of them, so
that they could not see him. Then came some one who was
not of their party and asked them for whom they were
waiting. They answered, " For Mohammed. " He con-
tinued, "May God put you to shame! he came out long
ago, cast earth 'upon your heads and went his way. Do you

SEC 1. 12.] ESCAPES, WITH ABU BEKR, TO MEDINA. 113

not see what is upon you ? *' They felt their heads, and
found them covered with earth. Then they entered the
house ; and seeing All on the bed, wrapt in Mohammed's
cloak, they said, "By Allah, Mohammed sleeps, wrapt in
his cloak ; " and they remained of that opinion till the morn-
ing. At length, when Ali rose from the bed, they said,
" After all, the man who accosted us has spoken the truth."

' Abu Bekr, who was a rich man, had, as soon as Moham-
med gave him the hint not to hasten with his departure,
bought two camels which he fed in his own house, so as to
have them ready for this occasion. Therefore Mohammed
went to Abu Bekr ; and they both left the house through an
opening at its back part. They first went to a cave of the
Mount Thaur, below the city. Abu Bekr considerately entered
the cave before Mohammed, to see whether there was no wild
beast or serpent in it. They remained concealed there for
three days, because the Koreish, as soon as they missed
Mohammed, had offered a hundred camels to any one who
should bring him back. Abu Bekr's son, Abd Allah, mixed
with the Koreish, to hear what they were saying about
Mohammed and his father, and in the evening he reported
to them what he had heard. His shepherd remained with
the other shepherds of Mecca ; but in the evening he took
his sheep to the cave to provide them with milk and meat ;
and in the morning, when the son left, the shepherd followed
him with his flock, to avert suspicion.

* After three days, they sent for the two camels, together
with the man they had hired for the journey, who also
brought with him a third camel, for his own use. Asma,
Abu Bekr's daughter, brought provisions for their journey ;
and having forgotten the rope with which to fasten them,
she took her girdle from her body and tied them on with it.
Then Abu Bekr led forth the better of the two camels for
Mohammed to mount But the Prophet said, " I ride on
no camel which does not belong to me." Abu Bekr replied,
"It belongs to thee; for thou art to me as father and
mother." Mohammed rejoined, " No ; but for how much
didst thou buy it ? " and having been told the price, he said,
** I buy it for this price." Then they mounted, Abu Bekr
allowing his freed slave Amir to sit behind him on the same

H

114 ^^S ILL SUCCESS IN MECCA. [bk. I. CH. ll.

camel, so as to attend on them during the journey; and
they started forthwith. To avoid capture, the guide whom
they had hired did not take the usual route, but one of his
own choosing, and thus brought them safely to the place of
their destination.

'They arrived in the neighbourhood of the city, on a
Monday, the 13th day of the month Rabia-1-ewwel (A.D.
622), when it was already very hot, the sun standing nearly
in mid-heaven. He had been anxiously awaited by his
people in Medina ; and one of them narrates the event of
his coming thus : "When we had heard that Mohammed had
left Mecca, and we could expect his arrival, we daily went
out, after morning prayer, to the stony field, waiting for him,
till we found no more shadow. Then we returned, for the
days were hot Thus we also acted on the day of his actual
coming ; and we had already returned home, when he arrived.
It was a Jew who discerned him first ; and as he had noticed
how we had been waiting for him, he called out in a loud
voice, * O ye sons of Keilah, your fortune has come.' We
went out and found Mohammed in the shade of a date-tree,
together with Abu Bekr." ' Thus far Ibn Ishak's narrative.

The emigration of Mohammed and his partisans to
Medina, which in Arabic is called Hetchra^ i.e. a * Flight,*
because it had to be accomplished by stealth, amounts in
itself to a virtual proof of his utter failure to convince the
people of Mecca that he was a prophet sent by God. He
had persevered for ten or thirteen years in trying to persuade
his countrymen, but met only with determined opposition
and contemptuous slight. His flight to Medina openly set
the seal to his complete fiasco in Mecca. The Koreish were
acute enough to look through his professions and to perceive
that their realisation would lead to an intolerable civil
despotism, exercised by him in the name of religion. But
they, having been accustomed to bear rule themselves, showed
no inclination to become the pedestal for Mohammed's
elevation. Of all the well-to-do men in Mecca, only a very
few joined him ; and they, probably, entertained the hope
that, by their influence on him, they might secure for them-
selves a full share in his contemplated power, should he
ever be able, with their assistance, to establish it

SEC II. ij PREPAREDNESS OF MEDINA, 115

The state of affairs in Medina offered a much more
favourable prospect, and presented a far greater chance of
success. There the Jews had already awakened the ex-
pectation of a heaven-commissioned Messiah, destined to
become a universal Monarch, and had popularised the idea
that the profession of religion may be turned into a means
of secular power and military conquest Whereas in Mecca,
Mohammed was merely a distrusted reformer of religion, not
yet able to stretch out his hands after earthly dominion, and
even trying in vain to obtain the recognition of his deistic
teaching : in Medina he could set out, from the first, as the
acknowledged head of a popular party which expected to be
made dominant by his help, and therefore encouraged rather
than checked, his ulterior political aspirations. Such aims
as these required no repentance of sin, no regeneration by
the Holy Spirit, but merely implicit obedience, daring
courage, and physical force. It was in Medina that Islam
found the ground prepared for it freely and fully to develop
its true nature, and to attain to that completeness and
maturity from which it had been hopelessly debarred in
Mecca. The historical fact stands out in bold relief that
Mohammed's failure in Mecca was properly that of the
Prophet, and his triumph in Medina that of the Chieftain
and Conqueror.

II. — Mohammed's complete success in securing recognition as
A Prophet, and in rendering Islam the dominant power
OF Arabia, or, his Medinan Period, comprising the last

TEN years of his LIFE.

(i.) Mohammed settles in Medina^ and seeks to unite around
him the different sections of the population^ as a first
step in the realisation of his plan.

When on a Friday in June (or, according to other accounts,
in September) A.D. 622, Mohammed, after warily resting for
several days in one of the suburbs, held his public entrance
into the city of Medina, he was welcomed by a considerable
number of adherents who came forth, well armed, to meet him.

Ii6 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

The population generally was indeed willing to let him come
amongst them, but it was by no means agreed on his claims
as a divinely commissioned apostle and prophet Especially
the most powerful tribe of the city, the Awsites, amongst
whom Christianity seems already to have gained an entrance,
were very incredulous on that point This did not prevent
him from entering Medina with some degree of ostentation ;
and it would seem that he already looked forward in imagina-
tion to the time of the realisation of his far-reaching plan.

With prudent forethought, and masterly appreciation of
Arab proclivities, he, from the first day of his arrival,
managed to secure for himself that independence of position
and freedom of action which he deemed indispensable for
the success he afterwards achieved. Had he chosen openly
to accept the exclusive hospitality of any one clan, and
formally placed himself under its special protection, his
own liberty would have been restricted, and he would have
excited jealousies in so clannish a town as Medina, which
might have fatally interfered with the accomplishment of
his ambitious designs. But he cautiously evaded this danger.
When, on entering the city, the chief men of the Beni
Salem invited him to take up his quarters with them,
saying, ' We are numerous, and well able to protect thee ; '
and when the heads of several other clans, amongst them
that of his great-grandmother Salma, urged the same request
on similar grounds, he oracularly informed them that the
camel on which he was mounted had received Divine
direction to halt on the spot where it was ordained his head-
quarters should be. The camel proceeded till it reached
a large neglected and seemingly ownerless place, partly
fenced in, where it stopped and knelt down, as a sign for
the rider to dismount, stretching out its neck upon the
ground, and uttering the well-known sounds of relief
common to its kind. In this manner Mohammed had
reached his destination, not by his own human choice,
but by a Divine decree, manifested through the action of
a brute.

The place happened to be situated in the quarter of
the Beni Najjar, of which clan the Beni Adi, that is, the
family of Mohammed's great-grandmother, formed part ; and

SEC IL I.] MOSQUE BUILT IN MEDINA. 117

it belonged to two orphan children whose guardian, Asad
Ibn Zorara, the chief of the Beni Najjar, was one of the first
six converts of Medina. He had erected some sort of
sheltered enclosure upon it for Moslem worship, when
Mohammed was still in Mecca. Now he hastened to offer
it to his spiritual chief, as the most suitable spot for his
headquarters ; and Mohammed requested Abu Bekr to pay
him its value of ten dinars, in compensation for the rights
of the two orphans.

The acquired site was cleared without delay, in pre-
paration for building upon it a substantial mosque and
several private dwellings, to meet the Prophet's requirements.
As all the converts helped together, it did not take many
months before the buildings were finished. Till then,
Mohammed lived close by, in the house of Abu Eyub, one
of his converts, who felt honoured by having him for his
guest

Mohammed needed no house specially for himself,
because the mosque served both as a place of religious
worship and as an office for business transactions. When
he desired retirement, he withdrew to the apartment of one
of his wives, each of whom had a little cottage to herself.
At first only two such private dwellings had to be erected :
one joining the mosque, for Aisha, his favourite spouse,
then only nine or ten years of age ; and one by its side for
Sewda, whom he had married as a widow a few weeks afifcer
his first wife's death. Afterwards more cottages were added,
as the inmates of the Prophet's harem multiplied.

The mosque with its surroundings was the proper
centre of Islam, the court and official residence of its
founder. Thence proceeded the military and political orders,
the pretended Divine revelations and inspirations which
transformed all Arabia into one commonwealth, and laid
the foundation for the world-wide empire of Islam. The
Prophet's pretence about the supernatural guidance of his
camel had marvellously succeeded. Though a refugee and
guest, he, without wounding the jealous sensitiveness of
Yathrebite clanship, had at the outset secured for himself,
in the very midst of a tribe to which he was related by
descent, a position of relative independence, a home of his

1 18 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. ch. ii.

own, a material centre for his new religion round which all
the converts might cluster, as their common headquarters, to
whatever family, or clan, or tribe, they might otherwise belong.
But with all this, the artifice cannot be ethically justified.
It throws a prejudicial light on the man ; and the ease with
which he had already accustomed himself in Mecca to
handle the sacred subject of Divine revelation, to his own
advantage, bodes ill for his future conduct in the same line,
when his power will have increased, and his perplexities
become more pressing.

The Arab population of Medina was mainly composed of
two great tribes, the Awsites and the Khazrajites, the former
more powerful than the latter, and each joined by Jewish
confederates who for long had been settled amongst them.
The Awsites had allied themselves with the two Israelitish
clans the Beni Nadhir and the Beni Koreiza ; and the
Khazrajites with the Beni Keinoka, The jealousy between
the two Arab tribes sometimes led to sanguinary encounters
which were shared by their Jewish allies. In their most
recent battle, that of Buath, where many leading men were
slain, the victory had remained with the Awsites. This
naturally all the more disposed the defeated Khazrajites to
welcome the addition of strength offering in the Moslem
party from Mecca. It is true, a small number of Awsites
also embraced Islam ; but the great majority of Mohammed's
adherents as yet belonged to the Khazrajites, who included
the Beni Najjar. Thus the ancient jealousy between these
leading tribes was only moderated a little, but by no means
wholly removed. Under these circumstances Mohammed
could not but see, from the very outset, that his great aim
must be to bring these two tribes more closely together and
to neutralise their old antipathies, by placing before them
attractive objects for their common aspiration, and by im-
posing on them a supreme authority which both would have
to respect equally.

Living no longer far off, but in their very midst, on
property he had acquired by the supposed intervention of a
miraculous agency, the Prophet could now personally press
his wishes upon them by all his powers of persuasion. What
wonder, that the number of his followers from both sides

SEC. II. M BROTHERHOOD OF EMIGRANTS, ETC, 119

daily increased, and that, ere long, entire families and clans
were amongst his declared partisans ? The Meccan disciples
who had not previously emigrated to Medina or who had fled
elsewhere for protection, now also speedily joined their
master in his place of safety. They were hospitably received
by the converts of the city which had freely opened its gates
to Islam. There were thus two main bodies of professed
believers, the natives and the immigrants ; and these had first
of all to be welded into one homogeneous whole, to form the
attracting nucleus round which all the still isolated and
hostile elements might gradually gather. By their means
Mohammed hoped soon to unite all Medina under his
leadership and to confer upon it the distinction which Mecca
had so contemptuously rejected, that of becoming the power-
ful centre for extending the triumph of Islam throughout all
Arabia. This plainly was the object he aimed at ; and the
following pages will show us that, by the means, fair and foul,
which he employed, in concert with his chief friends, he also
carried out his plan with astonishing success.

Union of all in the bonds of Islam, and, what was its
indispensable correlative, submission of all to the Prophet, as
the highest authority — this was the great principle which had
now to be practically carried out in Medina, in order to heal
its divisions and to provide it with the needed supreme
authority. In doing so, Mohammed made use of the means
at his disposal with a dexterity and efficacy which testify to
his eminent talents as a ruler of men.

The refugees from Mecca, on whose fidelity he could
naturally rely most, were now no longer to be regarded as
strangers, dependent on the charity of their new fellow-
believers, but formally united with them, as if they had
always belonged to one and the same tribe, or even as if
they were all members of one family, brothers of a common
parent. To this end Mohammed arranged a feast of f rater-
nisatum between his fellow-refugees and the Medinan converts^
whereby the former, at that time amounting to about fifty,
were one by one united with selected individuals of the
latter, in the bonds of a brotherhood so close and complete
that, in case of death, they were even to inherit from each
other, to the exclusion of their natural heirs.

I20 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. II.

This new brotherliood^ besides promoting general concord
and tribal fusion, evidently favoured the refugees, who, as
the poorer party, were the chief gainers by it. They much
needed such an encouragement and such a material attraction
to their new home. For they not only felt the ordinary
privations of strangers and refugees, but they also found the
damper and colder climate of Medina, especially during the
winter months, injurious to their health. All of them were
more or less prostrated by the prevailing intermittent fevers,
so that they pined for the healthy air of their native home,
and Mohammed found it necessary to pray, *0 God, give
us so much love for Medina as we have for Mecca ; yea, even
more!' The refugees being his main stay, he felt that if
they deserted him, all his plans might be frustrated. He
certainly could not have done more at this time to reconcile
them to their adopted country, despite its relative insalubrity,
than what he accomplished by this institution of fraternity.
For it at once secured them against destitution and provided
them with the solace and comforts of an actual home. Not-
withstanding the delicate stipulation concerning inheritance,
this communistic brotherhood remained in force till after the
battle of Bedr, when a new and wider vista opened before
them to material wealth and earthly pleasure.

Another measure, no less worldly wise and equally directed
to the promotion of union, Mohammed soon found it possible
to adopt, in order to strengthen the foundation on which he
might safely rear the vast superstructure he was contemplat-
ing. This measure, much more comprehensive than the one
just mentioned, consisted of a kind of constitution for all his
followers^ or a formal pact of solidarity^ a written treaty^
defensive and offensive^ which he established between the
converts from the Koreish and those from the city of Medina,
and which he also extended to the Jewish tribes who,
without embracing Islam, might join them for warlike
purposes.

In this document it is declared that the believers form one
compact community, distinct from all other men, and that in
any doubts or dissensions which may arise, they will submit
to the decision of God and His Prophet They are not to
leave any heavily burdened one amongst themselves, be he

SEC. II. I.] TREATY DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE, 121

such through the required payment of blood-money or of the
price of redemption from bondage, without affording him the
needed assistance. No believer may kill a fellow-believer to
avenge the blood of an unbeliever, nor may he assist an un-
believer against a believer. God's protection is one, even for
the lowest, and the believers are to protect each other s^ainst
all other men. Whoever kills a believer shall likewise be
killed, except if the nearest relative can be otherwise satisfied :
all the Mussulmans shall rise against the murderer. Those
of the Jews who follow the believers shall receive assistance
and equal rights. They shall not be wronged and their
enemies shall not be helped against them. In all war-expe-
ditions which they join, the horsemen shall charge in turn.
One shall avenge the other, if blood has been shed in the holy
war. The Jews contribute to the war-expenses equally with
the believers. The Jews retain their religion, the Moslems
theirs. None of the Jews shall take the field without the
permission of Mohammed ; but they shall not be hindered
from avenging bodily injuries. The Jews have to defray
their expenses, the Moslems theirs ; but they are bound to
help each other against any one who attacks one of the
parties of this pact To both parties Medina shall be sacred
and inviolable. Persons taken under protection shall enjoy
the same privileges as their protectors. No protection shall
be given to the unbelieving Koreish or their confederates ;
and all must combine to repel any one who threatens Medina.
For the conclusion of peace the consent of both parties is
required, except when the believers are engaged in a religious
war. Both he who takes the field and he who remains at
home shall be secure in Medina, with the exception of the
wrong-doers and the guilty ; for God protects the loyal and
the pious, and Mohammed is God's ambassador.

By bringing about such a compact as this, Mohammed, it
is plain, created a firmly united and solid power which he
could employ, later on, with the certainty of a machine. He
established himself as the sovereign director not only of the
religious, but also of the civil, political, and military affairs of
his followers. The Jews he desired to make use of as
valuable auxiliaries in war, and he so highly estimated the
hoped-for accession of strength that, to secure it, he unhesita-

122 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il

tingly guaranteed to them the free exercise of their reh'gion
and dealt with them on the footing of religious equality. *
This he could do all the more readily, as the Jews were
Monotheists like himself, and he hoped either to draw them
over to Islam, by considerately meeting them half-way, or, at
least, to obtain from them the open acknowledgment, so much
coveted by him, of his prophetic mission, if not to them-
selves, yet to the idolatrous Arabs.

Had Mohammed's own conviction of his Divine mission
been surer and freer from doubt, he would probably have
cared less for what the Jews thought about him ; and had he
been more concerned for men's salvation than for worldly
domination, he need not have brought such heavy pressure to
bear upon the Arabs of Medina that somepreferred emigration,
whilst many others, wholly unconvinced, feigned belief in him
from sheer dread, and were consequently looked upon, even
by himself, as mere hypocrites. But his actual conduct shows

^ The curious fact may here be noticed that the Arabic verb from which the
word ' Mohammed ' is formed, and the Hebrew verb from which the word ' Juda
or Jew ' is derived, are identical in meaning, both signifying ' to praise * (see
Gen. xxix. 35). It is also, to say the least, doubtful whether Mohammed bore
this name from his childhood, or whether he was not then known by another,
perhaps one taken from some idol, in accordance with an extensive practice. If
so, he must have wished to drop it since he came publicly forward as the
apostle of a rigid Monotheism. Was it perhaps about this time, when he took
such great pains to make himself agreeable to the Jews, that he adopted in its
stead the new name which was at the same time Arabic in form and Jewish in
meaning ? However this may be, the singular and significative fact remains that,
as Islam might aptly be designated ' Judaism in an Arabic guise,' so also the
name of Mohammed (* praised ') is an Arabic reproduction of the Hebrew word
'Jew, * only with this telling difference that in 'Jew' the intended object of the
' praise ' is God ; and in ' Mohammed ' it is the Prophet's own person. If the
name ' Mohammed ' has been intentionally adopted by the Arabian Prophet, in
order to apply the meaning of the Hebrew ' Juda ' to himself, this would not be
an isolated instance of the kind ; for we are expressly informed in vol. i. p. 693
of the Mirat el Kainaty that he also gave to his grandsons the names of ' Hasan,
Hosein, and Mohassen,' on the ground that these names had the same meaning in
Arabic which ' Shabbar, Shobeir, and Moshabber,' the (imaginary) names of the
sons of Aaron, brother of Moses, had in Hebitw. As we are here told that
Mohammed sought to establish a connecting link between himself and Aaron and
Moses by giving to his grandsons Arabic names whose meaning he derived from
Hebrew, the supposition is plainly not outside the bounds of probability, that he
may also have wished to figure as the true 'Juda,' and the heir of the great
promises attached to him, by appropriating to himself this Hebrew name in a
suitable Arabic form. (Compare also the note on p. 81.)

SEC. IL I.] BECOMES CHIEF OF THE BENI NAJJAR. 123

that Divine truth and pure religion were not the all-absorb-
ing subject with him, and that he looked beyond them to
something else, which made him both apprehensive and
oppressive.

It is interesting, in this respect, to notice what Ibn Ishak
narrates in connection with the death of Asad Ibn Zorara,
also named Abu Umama. We must gather from the nar-
rative that his death greatly alarmed Mohammed, on account
of the effect he dreaded it might have on the opinion of the
Jews concerning himself ; and also that then already, only a
few months after his arrival in Medina, when the mosque was
not yet finished, unconvinced Arabs had cause hypocriti-
cally to simulate faith. The passage referred to, reports the
following complaint from Mohammed's own mouth: 'Abu
Umama's death is unfortunate in regard to the Jews and the
hypocrites amongst the Arabs ; for they will now say, if I
were a Prophet, my companion would not have died, and they
will believe that I can obtain nothing from God, either for
myself or for my companions.'

But the death of his helpful friend led to a still more
telling manifestation of the importance attached by Moham-
med to worldly influence, and of the eagerness with which
he snatched at secular power, as soon as his observant eye
discovered the slightest chance. Ibn Ishak further states :
* When Abu Umama had died, the Beni Najjar, whose chief
he was, assembled before Mohammed and requested him to
appoint for them a successor who might attend to their
affairs, as he had done while alive. Mohammed answered
them thus : " You are my maternal uncles, I belong to you,
and I myself will be your chief." ' Ibn Ishak palliates this
step of his Prophet by saying, * Mohammed acted thus,
because he did not wish to place one of them above the
other.' But the impartial reader cannot help perceiving that
Mohammed, by considerately refusing to raise one of the
Beni Najjar above the other, only raised himself above them
all, and reduced them all equally to the position of subjects.
The Beni Najjar could not decline their prophet's interested
proposal, and in course of time counted it a special privilege
to have had him for their peculiar chief

Mohammed's eager haste thus to thrust himself into

124 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il.

positions of worldly influence and supremacy, contrasts
strongly with the single-eyed and resolute determination of
the Lord Jesus Christ in withdrawing Himself from the Jews,
when He observed their resolve to make Him their king,
and their readiness to resort even to force, in order to effect
this purpose (John vi. 15).

(2.) Mohammed^ by establishing Islam as the paramount
power of Medina^ displaces the previous Polytheism and
forces the dissenting Arabs either to emigrate^ or to
simulate submission. In this sense he shows himself
anti-Pagan,

Mohammed had now attained to the position of civil
chief both amongst the Beni Najjar and amongst the
refugees who had followed him from Mecca. He thus had
at his disposal no inconsiderable amount of secular influence
and power. This greatly aided him in gaining converts to
his creed and in rapidly extending his authority as a prophet
throughout the town. He now could take steps to consoli-
date Islam, and to establish it, with all its obligations, as a
regular public institution, in the place of the hitherto pre-
vailing religion.

Ibn Ishak continues his history in these significant
words: 'When Mohammed had found a safe abode in
Medina, when his friends, the refugees, had united around
him, and when the concerns of his helpers {i,e, his converts
from Medina) had been arranged, then Islam became firmly
established. Public prayers were performed, fasts and poor-
rates were instituted, penal laws were executed, things lawful
and unlawful were determined, and Islam gained strength
amongst the tribe of the helpers, both as regards faith and
as regards the sure provision for its professors.' The new
religion, not many months after its importation, had prac-
tically become the chief power in Medina, which not only
swayed its avowed adherents in every relation of life, but
was also strongly pressing on that portion of the population
which wished to keep aloof from it

Besides the enactments mentioned by Ibn Ishak in this
passage, another decided onward step in the public assertion

SEC. II. 2.] CALL TO PRAYERS INSTITUTED, 125

of Islam was the introduction of the loud call to prayer
from some elevated spot. In Mecca, as a matter of course,
and also for some time in Medina, there was no public
summons to prayer, and the intending worshippers simply
came at certain times, without being specially called. But
now, when the new religion claimed for itself the rank of a
public institution, it naturally also adopted a public mode
of invitation to its formal services.

We are told that for a time Mohammed wavered in his
choice. He at first thought of using a trumpet, in imitation
of the Jews ; but he afterwards relinquished that idea in
favour of the ringing of a bell, as was the custom with the
Christians ; and we learn that a bell was actually procured
for the purpose. Eventually neither the method of the Jews
nor that of the Christians was adopted ; and Mohammed
struck out a path of his own. It is reported that several
believers had visions in which the loud call was recom-
mended. Ibn Hisham says, *Omar was already on the
point of purchasing two beams for the scaffold of a bell,
when he had a vision in which he was commanded not to
introduce a bell, but to invite to prayer by a loud call.
Omar went to Mohammed to apprise him of his vision.
But Mohammed, having received the same direction by
revelation, met him with the declaration, "Revelation has
anticipated thee ; " and Omar had hardly returned home,
when Bilal was already shouting out the call to prayer.'

Thus Islam, so deficient in originality generally, avoided
the appearance of dependence on either Judaism or Chris-
tianity, in this trifling particular. But after we have seen
the Arab Prophet guided to his new quarters in Medina by
an inspired camel, it can no longer surprise us to find his
choice of the mode of announcing the time for public
worship decided by a special revelation from heaven.
Religion and revelation are evidently at this Prophet's beck
and call for any purpose he chooses.

As soon as Islam had become the professed religion of
the majority of the Arabs in Medina, it asserted its claim
to supreme authority and exclusive domination with such
unbending persistency against all those citizens who still
kept aloof from it, that their position became increasingly

126 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. li.

untenable. In consequence, their number rapidly dwindled
down, and in a short time Medina had become a town in
which Islam reigned paramount, the capital and stronghold
of its apostle. As such, the city could not continue to afford
even to Jewish Monotheism the shelter of a home, notwith-
standing the formal treaty in which the Prophet had declared
it to be safe and inviolable for all the confederates, and had
guaranteed to the Jews the free exercise of their religion.
But as for the Arab inhabitants who sided with Christianity,
or remained wedded to Polytheism, they had no choice
left them but either to emigrate, or outwardly to accept the
inevitable.

Of the former — that is, of those who had courage and
character enough rather to forsake their native home than
to submit to the rule of a prophet whom they deemed un-
worthy of faith — ^was Abu Amir, who enjoyed great respect
and influence amongst the Awsites, to whose tribe he be-
longed. Ibn Ishak says of him, ' In the time of Heathenism
he led the life of an anchorite, wore a rough garment and
was called a monk.' He, therefore, appears to have been a
believer in some kind of Christianity, and Wakidi simply
calls him a ' Christian.' In all probability he was not alone
amongst the Awsites in giving preference to Christianity ;
and this may have been the chief reason why this powerful
tribe was so slow in acknowledging Mohammed. Even at
the battle of Bedr there were amongst those who fought under
Mohammed's banner and shared in the booty, only 6i
Awsites, whilst the smaller tribe of Khazraj was represented
by no less than 170 individuals. Abu Amir had a personal
interview with Mohammed, in which he frankly charged him
with * adulterating * the Faith of Abraham, which he pre-
tended to revive. But he had to give way before the new
prophet, whose views already enjoyed the support of those
in whose hand was the preponderating secular power. Ibn
Ishak continues: 'Abu Amir remained an unbeliever,
separated himself from his tribe, which embraced Islam, and
went to Mecca with ten other men.' These ten do not seem
to represent the entire number of those who found Medina
too hot for themselves. For at the battle of Ohod, which
was opened by an attack of archers headed by Abu Amir,

SEC II. 2.] THE RISE OF HYPOCRITES. 127

he is reported to have been accompanied by * sixty ' of his
fellow-tribesmen. He remained with the Koreish, to whose
victory at Ohod he had materially contributed, till Mecca
was conquered by Mohammed, when he fled to Taif ; and,
on this town also succumbing to Islam, he retired into Syria,
where he died.

Of those Arabs who did not quit Medina but outwardly
submitted to the dominant new faith, there seems to have
been a still larger number. They were as unconvinced of
Mohammed's Divine mission as Abu Amir and his fellow-
emigrants, and still remained as fondly attached to Poly-
theism as they had ever been. To whatever tribe they
belonged, they grouped round Abd Allah Ibn Obei, a
Khazrajite of the highest rank and influence. His disbelief
in Mohammed is ascribed by Ibn Ishak to mere jealousy.
He says, 'The tribe of Abd Allah Ibn Obei had already
prepared the jewels for a crown, in order to make him their
king, when God brought His ambassador to them. Now, as
soon as Abd Allah saw that his people turned to Islam, he
was disappointed and understood that Mohammed had
deprived him of the dominion. But perceiving that his tribe
would not be kept back from Islam, he yielded to the force
of circumstances, by also professing it, though continuing in
his ill-will and hypocrisy.' This is but another of the early
instances, which render it manifest that what Mohammed
aspired after and seized upon, was not merely the religious
authority of a prophet, but also the influence and power of
a secular ruler. Those who disbelieved or opposed him had
to dread both the spiritual and temporal sword, which he
claimed equal authority to wield. Hence the feigned sub-
mission and unmistakable hypocrisy of great numbers, —
till, later on, they were reconciled by worldly gain and the
spoils of war. Ibn Ishak says of this class, * Many Awsites
and Khazrajites clung to idolatry, according to the faith of
their fathers, and, like these, disbelieved in the resurrection.
They, to save themselves from death (!), were compelled to
accept Islam, at least in appearance, which had been em-
braced by their entire people. But they were hypocrites and
inwardly inclined towards the Jews, who rejected Islam and
called Mohammed a liar.'

1

128 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. II,

Thus it is manifest that Mohammed, as soon as he
possibly could, employed violence and force in stopping the
spread of Christianity, and in seeking to replace the ancient
Heathenism by his newly manufactured Islam. The Chris-
tians had to emigrate, and those who differed from him, by
adhering to the traditional idolatry, had to fear for their life,
and simulated faith in the new order of things, from sheer
fear of death. Though to all who look below the surface
and judge by the high standard of *the truth as it is in
Jesus,' it cannot but be abundantly patent that the religious
standpoint occupied by this singular prophet was essentially
of a heathen character, opposed to the * worship in spirit and
in truth,' and that he knew only of an external relation to
the Deity; yet it will also be readily admitted that he
stoutly opposed the outward forms of Paganism, the honour
paid to idols of wood and stone, and that he went so far in
his iconoclastic zeal as to place before the unfortunate
idolaters the trenchant alternative of * Death or Islam ! ' In
this way, and to this extent, he amply merited the praise
which has always been claimed for him, that the object for
which he laboured and fought was anti-Pagan, But it
must never be forgotten that this anti-Paganism was such
more in form than in substance. False views, underlying
Heathenism, were retained in a modified form. A man so
consciously and honestly striving to give full weight to
whatever may be urged in favour of Islam and its author,
as Professor Dr. L. Krehl, one of Mohammed's most recent
biographers, has yet to confess that ' under the apparently
Islamic and Monotheistic surface. Heathenism long con-
tinued to live on in Arabia and even to-day is not yet fully
eradicated.' (See p. 325 of Das Leben des Muhammed^
dargestellt von Ludolf Krehl.)

(3.) Mohammed at first accommodates himself to the Jews^ in
the hope of gaining them over to Islam; but y failing in
thiSy deliberately turns against them and shows himself
decidedly anti-Jewish.

It was unfortunate for the Jews that the unconvinced
Arabs betrayed a tendency rather to side with them than

SEC. II. 3.] HE TRIES TO CONCILIATE THE JEWS. 129

with the Moslems, and that they often justified their own dis-
belief in Mohammed by theirs. Such a combination might
become dangerous, might even prove subversive to the very
foundation of Islam, and therefore could not be viewed with
indifference by the new ruling power of Medina. It helped
to bring on a crisis in the position of the Jews, which had
already become shaken by other causes. Mohammed's re-
lations and dealings with the Jews, which now begin to claim
our attention, form an important chapter in his history, and
cast a dark shadow on his character. This is all the more
remarkable, as he had set his eyes upon them from the time
when he first formed the idea of removing to Medina, and
had reckoned on their sympathy and support in asserting
himself as a prophet.

The Arabs, being heathens, and possessing no religious
literature, were accustomed, from olden times, to look up to
the Jews and Christians as *the people of the book,* the
depositaries of Divine revelations. Mohammed shared this
view ; and as he professed that his new religion was nothing
else than the ancient * Faith of Abraham,' he felt naturally
called upon to trace a connection between it and those previous
religions which likewise regarded Abraham as * the father of
the faithful.' He maintained that Islam, with the religion of
the Jews and Christians in its primitive purity, had but one
common source : Divine revelation of * the Book,' preserved
in heaven. In return for this admission he expected of the
Jews and Christians that they would admit the same heavenly
origin for his religion which they claimed for their own.
Already in his conversation with the leading Khazrajites,
before he left Mecca, he had referred to the Jews ; and from
the beginning of his residence in Medina he made it a special
aim to conciliate the Beni Israel, and to obtain from them
the acknowledgment that he was a divinely chosen prophet,
at least for the Arabs, and equal in rank with the heaven-
sent prophets of former times. He even affirmed that his
coming had been foretold in the Law and the Gospel.
We have already seen that in the document embodying his
first constitution for Medina, he treated the Jews as valuable
confederates, whom he guaranteed in the free exercise of
their religion. As they, in worshipping God, turned their

I

130 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. l. ch. ii.

faces towards Jerusalem, he, with his followers, also imitated
them by adopting the same Kibla or direction for saying
their prayers. Likewise, finding that the Jews observed their
Feast of Atonement on the tenth day of the month, by sacri-
fices and a rigorous fast, he further ordained the slaying of
rams as a Korban, and enjoined on his community a strict
fast on that day, retaining for it even its Jewish name Ashura
ie. * the tenth.*

This accommodation to the Jews and their religion, though
betokening a certain dependence and want of originality,
yet in some small degree seems to have had the effect of
smoothing the path for the Jews to pass from their old to
the new religion. Ibn Ishak mentions by name Abd Allah
Ibn Salam and Mukheirik as two learned Rabbis who became
converts to Islam, through recognising in Mohammed the
traits of the prophet they were expecting. The former went
over to the prophet with his whole family, and the latter, not
merely a learned Rabbi, but also a landed proprietor ex-
tremely rich in palm-trees, bequeathed all his wealth to Mo-
hammed, fell fighting on the Moslem side in the battle of Ohod,
and is said to have been called by Mohammed 'the best of the
Jews.' These Jewish Rabbis, who, in becoming converts to
Islam, were no doubt accompanied by a number of less noted
followers, formed a most useful acquisition for Mohammed
Being acquainted with the ancient Scriptures, they could
furnish him with much information which he lacked, and even
direct him to passages which, by a plausible misinterpretation,
he might insist upon as prophecies referring to himself. It was
fair to expect of him that he should possess a full acquaint-
ance with the previous revelations, since he averred that he
was receiving the whole text of God's Book, of which portions
only had been revealed to the prophets of old. How help-
ful, therefore, for obtaining the needed information, must he
have found the ren^ade Jews and Christians who joined his
cause, and thus made his interests their own! On such
authorities as these he in fact relied, in pretending that he
was the prophet whose coming had long been foretold in the
ancient Scriptures.

But whatever confidence he and his uninstructed fol-
lowers may have put in such support, the great body of the

SEa II. 3.] THE JEWS REJECT HIS CLAIMS^ 131

Jews were of a very different opinion. They indeed were
aware that the advent of a remarkable prophet was foretold
in their Holy Book, but they also knew that he was to spring
from the Beni Israel, the house of David, not from the Koreish
or any other Arab tribe. The Jews were unquestionably
right in their view of the ancient prophecies, and on this very
account formed all the more formidable an impediment in
the way of the prophet They were a standing protest
against his pretensions. It thus became evident that Islam
could as little remain in harmony and amity with the dis-
believing Jews, as with the disbelieving Arabs. The Jews
were given to understand that they must either believe in
the prophet, or take the consequences of unbelieC The
prophet's right was established by his might. To resist him
was a crime deserving punishment Ibn Ishak says : ' Under
these circumstances the Rabbis of the Jews became Mo-
hammed's enemies. They were filled with envy and wrath,
because Grod had chosen His ambassador from amongst the
Arabs.' But the Moslem historian, in thus attributing the
disbelief of the Jews to mere jealousy of race, overlooks the
fact that the disbelieving Arabs of Mecca and Medina had
no such motive for their want of faith, and that Mohammed
had himself provoked and almost necessitated the opposition
of the Jews, by claiming, without any justification, that he
was the subject of prophecies in their Holy Scriptures. At
all events it is perfectly clear that the cause of the rupture
between Mohammed and the Jews was his claim to be the
Great Prophet promised in their Scriptures, and their stout
denial of this pretension.

Thenceforth Mohammed's policy assumed a decidedly anti-
Jewish character. Regretting the civil concessions and
religious accommodation by which he had hitherto vainly
tried to bring over the Jews to Islam, he now began to
retrace his previous steps, and to make the Jewish unbelievers
feel that his aims and claims could not be contravened with
impunity. The pressure he brought to bear on them had a
similar effect to that produced amongst the Arabs. A number
of Jews, always keen to discover means of worldly advantages,
simulated submission to the new prophet and his religion,
merely to evade the dangers resulting from an open anta-

132 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

gonism. There was now a class of Jewish hypocrites, just as
there was one amongst the Arabs. Ibn Ishak enumerates
a long list of * Jewish Rabbis who sought shelter in Islam
and accepted it only in appearance, whilst they were hypo-
crites at heart' They were sharp enough to perceive Mo-
hammed's failings and the groundlessness of his pretensions.
They sought to undermine his religion in secret, whilst
they accommodated themselves to it in public Ibn Ishak
says : * These hypocrites attended the mosque and listened
to the conversations of the Moslems, but afterwards they
mocked at them and ridiculed their faith ; ' and again : * Some
of them said to one another, " Come, let us believe Moham-
med's revelations in the morning and deny them in the
evening, in order to confuse them in their religion : perhaps
they will then do as we do, and renounce their religion alto-
gether." ' But less forbearance was shown to these Jewish
than to the Arab hypocrites. We read : * On one occasion
several of them came to the mosque, spoke to each other in an
undertone, and kept close together. When Mohammed saw
this, he ordered that they should be ejected from the mosque
by force.' This order was promptly executed, and we are
graphically informed how one was seized by the leg, another
by the collar, a third by the beard ; how they were struck in
the face, knocked down, violently thrust out and angrily told
* not to come near again to the mosque of God's Apostle.*
Thus was raillery treated in Medina, which had often been
borne with such apparent meekness and gentleness in Mecca.
The entire body of the Jews was now accused of unbelief,
jealousy, and dishonesty, for disbelieving in Mohammed and
for refusing to regard him as that Great Prophet with whose
expected advent they had formerly threatened their Arab
enemies. Revelations were issued against them, holding
out condign punishment for their enmity, envy, and unbelief,
many of them being embodied in the second Surah of the
Koran. The Moslems were enjoined to sever the close ties
of friendship which had hitherto united many of them with
the Jews, through their being neighbours or allies. They
were asked : ' Will you love them, though they, on account
of your believing the entire Scripture, do not love you ? '
Nay, Mohammed, only seventeen months after his arrival in

SEC. II. 3.] CHANGE OF KJBLA AND ITS RESULTS. 133

Medina, took the decided step of changing his Kibla from
Jerusalem to the temple of Mecca, and thus purposely-
widened the breach between him and the Jews.

As soon as this was done, a number of the latter went to
Mohammed, saying : * What has caused thee to give up thy
former Kibla, though thou still professest to be in the faith of
Abraham ? Return to thy former Kibla, and we will follow
thee.' But the narrator adds that, by this, they only intended
to lead him away from his faith. Mohammed proved him-
self equal to the occasion, by giving forth this revelation :
* The fools say, "What has turned him from his former Kibla?"
Answer, " To God belong the east and the west ; He leads in
the right way whomsoever He will. So we have made you
{sc, the Arabs) the centre of the nations, that you should
bear witness to men, and the ambassador should bear witness
to you. We appointed the former Kibla only for the purpose
of seeing who should follow the ambassador and who turn away
from him. As for Abraham, he was neither a Jew nor a
Christian, nor an idolater, but one turning from what is evil
and resigning himself to God. Nearest to Abraham are those
who follow him and this prophet and those who believe." '

The Jews remained unconvinced. They declined to follow
him in the direction of the idol shrine of Mecca, saying : * We
remain in that in which we have found our fathers, who were
better and more learned than we are.' They were not dis-
posed to recognise the Arab nation as the religious centre
of the world, but held fast to their settled belief, which they
had already expressed to the renegade Abd Allah, by
telling him : * Prophetship does not belong to the Arabs :
thy master is a mere secular chief.'

This being their conviction, the Jews sought to expose
Mohammed's disqualification as a prophet, by perplexing him
with knotty questions, and demanding of him supernatural
signs, just as the Koreishites had previously puzzled him in
Mecca. He was to give them information about * Alexander
the two homed,' to tell them what punishment God intended
for adulterers, or to let them hear God speak w^ith him, as
He spoke with Moses, and the like. Ibn Hisham narrates
one of their interviews and its consequences in the following
words : ' A number of Jews came to Mohammed and said,

134 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. ii.

" God has created the world ; but who has created God ? "
This put Mohammed in so violent a rage that he turned quite
pale, and, from zeal for God, seized them by the head. Then
came Gabriel to quiet him, sa3ang : " Restrain thyself, O
Mohammed ! " and conveyed to him this answer to their
question about God : " Say, God is one, God is strong. He
never begets nor is begotten, and nothing is like unto Him."
When Mohammed read out this communication to them,
they said : " Describe to us the form of God and His arm."
Thereupon Mohammed's anger grew still more violent, and
he seized them a second time. But Gabriel returned, and
quieting him as before, brought this reply to their request :
" They have no correct notion about God's power. On the
day of the resurrection He taketh the whole earth with one
hand ; and the heavens, rolled up, lie in the other. Praised
be the Lord and exalted above their idolatry." '

They also, in the hope of injuring Mohammed's cause,
tried to rekindle the ancient jealousies between the Arab
tribes of Medina, by reminding them of their former bloody
conflicts ; and they sought to rouse their self-interest, by
exhortations like this : * Waste not your wealth : you might
fall into poverty. Be not in such a hurry to part with your
money, without knowing for what purpose.' Of the Jews
who had apostatised to the new faith, they spoke thus : * Only
the worst of us follow Mohammed and believe in him. Did
they belong to the better class of us, they would not apostatise
from the religion of their fathers, to embrace another.'

Thus Mohammed's temporary coquetting with the Jews,
by which he hoped to gain them over in a body to his cause
and to purchase their united testimony to his being the Great
Prophet foretold in their sacred books, proved a complete
failure, and terminated in a mutual alienation of a deeply
hostile character. Thenceforth the Jews were determinately
anti-Mohammedan and Mohammed intensely anti-Jewish.
But such a state of things, amongst the population of a single
city, could not last long without leading to open war, to a
conflict of life and death, in which the prophet took the
initiative, and from which the strongest and most unscru-
pulous party came forth victorious. This will form the subject
of a subsequent paragraph.

SEC II. 4.] HOSTILE POUCY TOWARDS CHRISTIANS. 135

(4.) Mohammedy unsuccessful in his efforts to convert the
Christians by way of theological disputation, seeks to
degrade their religion and reduces them to a state of
vasscUage. He shows himself positively anti-Christian,

Mohammed, in his endeavour to make Islam the para-
mount power of Arabia, could not afford to be more tolerant
to Christianity than to Judaism, although the former did not
confront him in Medina with such compact force and political
organisation, as the latter. We have already seen (cp. p. 126)
that the monk Abu Amir and his ten or sixty fellow-Christians,
the representatives of the slender beginning of Christianity in
Medina, could not maintain themselves against his growing
and overbearing power, but were compelled to quit their
home and seek for security, free from molestation, in the
more liberal heathen city of Mecca. At a somewhat later
period, when Mohammed's victorious warriors extended his
dominion through the length and breadth of the country,
they, in an interior district of Najran, came in contact with
Christianity, as the openly professed religion of whole com-
munities. These also, despite Mohammed's professed regard
for the Christians and the Gospel, had to yield their inde-
pendence and to acknowledge the supreme power of Islam,
by submitting to the payment of an annual tribute.

Ibn Ishak gives us an account of the deputation which
the Christians of Najran felt themselves necessitated by the
march of events to despatch to Mohammed, in order to
regulate their position with regard to what was then rapidly
becoming the dominant power of all Arabia. The deputation
consisted of sixty individuals, of whom fourteen were leading
men and three the religious and civil chiefs who mainly
conducted the negotiations. They are described as * Chris-
tians according to the Emperor's faith,' that is, as belonging
to the orthodox Catholic Church, in contradistinction to the
semi-Christian sects of the Arians and others. The Moham-
medan historian informs us that the leading man amongst
them, Abu Haritha, their bishop and the director of their
schools, had studied much, and was highly esteemed as a
learned theologian. The Christian kings of the Greeks,
hearing of his pious zeal and great learning, showed their

136 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. li.

veneration by sending him goods and servants, building
churches for him, and loading him with favours. But even
such high distinction and patronage could not save the
Christian deputation from being humiliated by the authori-
ties of Islam. When they presented themselves before
Mohammed, they were clothed in fine raiment, lined with
silk ; and the prophet, observing this, refused to speak with
them till they had first stript themselves of their fine robes
(probably the gifts of Christian princes), and put on the
monastic dress instead. So plainly they were given to under-
stand, at the outset, that they must not presume to carry
their heads high, or pretend to a position of equality, before
the Mussulmans and their prophet.

Ibn Ishak, in the following words, summarises the exposi-
tion of their faith, which they gave on that occasion : * Like
all the Christians they said, " Jesus is God, the Son of God,
and the third of three." They proved His being God, from
His having raised the dead, healed the sick, revealed the
hidden, made the form of a bird out of clay, and converted it
into a real bird by breathing into it They proved His being
the Son of God, from no father being known of Him, and from
His having spoken already in the cradle, which no other
child of man had done before Him. They proved further
that He is the third of three, namely, God, Christ, and Mary,
because it is said, " We have created, we have decreed ; "
whereas if God were one, it would have to be said, / have
created, /have decreed."'

This summary is obviously not one of diplomatic exact-
ness, but was made from a Mohammedan point of view, so
as to admit of an easy and triumphant refutation in the
Koran. For no Bishop of the orthodox Catholic Church and
distinguished theologian, of those days, could possibly have
represented the Holy Trinity to consist of God, Christ, and
Mary, after the whole Eastern world had been resounding for
centuries with the profound and searching controversies and
the sharply defined dogmas respecting that fundamental
subject of the Christian Faith. But how could it be expected
that the founder of a rival religion should fairly examine
and duly weigh the arguments in favour of Christianity,
which, if accepted, would have left no room whatever for

SEC. II. 4.] OVERBEARING CONDUCT TO CHRISTIANS. \yj

the very existence of Islam? Instead of wishing to be
enlightened on the all-important subject of Christianity,
Mohammed's one desire plainly was, to show its insufficiency
and imperfection, so as to enhance the superior claims of
his own rival system.

The result of his controversy with the Najranite Christians
and their learned Bishop, as communicated by Ibn Ishak,
fully confirms this view. He says : * When the priests had
thus spoken with Mohammed, he called upon them to become
Moslems. They replied, "We are Moslems" {i,e. resigned
and surrendered to God). He repeated his request, and they
answered, " We have long been Moslems." Then Moham-
med said : " You lie : if you were Moslems, you would not
affirm that God has a Son, would not worship the cross, nor
eat swine's flesh." Thereupon they asked : " Who, then, was
Christ's Father ? " Mohammed remained silent, giving no
answer at all. Then, in order to refute these words, God
revealed the Sura El Amran (the third), up to beyond its
eightieth verse.' In the Koran Mohammed had his own
way and found it easy, without being staggered by opposing
argumentation, to enunciate the nullity of the Christian
doctrines, or rather what he represented as such ; and to
declare that 'the true religion before God is Islam ' (Sura iii.
17), or ' the Faith of Abraham, who was neither a Jew, nor
a Christian, but a Hanif and a Moslem ' (Sura iii. 60).
Mohammed also made a proposal, to settle the question of
superiority between Christianity and Islam, by a mutual
invocation of God's wrath upon the party in the wrong
(Sura iii. 54) ; and, in doing so, he may have been looking
not only to God's retributive judgment, but equally to
his own material power for preventing or producing the
intended effects of such invocation. No wonder the Chris-
tians declined the proposed strange method of solving
doctrinal problems.

As the views and arguments of the Najranite Christians
had to give way before Mohammed's religious dictatorship,
so also their civil rights and national independence had to
succumb to the overbearing power of the political despot.
The Christian commissioners were sent back to their country
in the company of Abu Obeida, who had to go with them

138 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. ll.

in the capacity of judge and political controller. A treaty
also was imposed on them, in which Mohammed claimed the
right to all their land produce and even to their persons,
whom he might use as slaves. But he magnanimously
waived the full application of that right, and promised them
protection for their life, land, property, and faith, under the
following humiliating conditions. The Najranites had to
pay an annual tribute consisting of 2000 hollas or suits of
clothes, each of the value of one ounce of gold. They had
to provide Mohammed's commissaries, sent to their country,
with food and other necessaries for twenty days, free from
all charge. In case of a war or encampment in Yemen, they
were to furnish thirty suits of armour, thirty horses, and
thirty camels. They were not allowed to lend money on
interest ; and if any Moslem took one of their daughters for
a wife, he should have to pay to the family one half only,
of the usual compensation. Thus Mohammed made it
patent to all that, in his eyes, Christianity was inferior to
Islam, and that the relation between the Christians and the
Mussulmans was to be that between subjects and their
masters.^

Though Mohammed loved to represent his new religion
as nothing more than the ancient * Faith of Abraham : * yet,
as he also emphatically declared it to be the only one now
desired and sanctioned by God, and to differ essentially from
the faith of the then living Jews and Christians, he could not
consistently wish to countenance Judaism and Christianity
in any way, but had to oppose them both, and to seek to
supplant the one as well as the other. When he speaks of the
Law and the Gospel as Divine revelations, it is not with the
view of recommending them to his people, but rather for the
purpose of extolling his own Koran, as the last and complete
edition of God's Book, of which they were only subservient
precursors. Even if he claims for himself to be the subject
of prophecies in the Old and New Testament, it is only to
enhance his own prestige as a prophet and to draw Jews and
Christians over to his side ; and not to uphold the eternal
validity of the Law and the Gospel, as marking essential

^ For farther instances of Mohammed's application of his anti-Christian
measures, see the dose of Paragraph 17 in the present Section.

SEC II. 4.] UN HISTORICAL CHARACTER OF ISLAM. 139

Steps in the revelation of God's entire truth for the salvation
of man.

In fact, it appears that Mohammed himself had not the
faintest idea of the development and organic growth of
Divine Revelation,.from its elementary b^inning in the days
of Adam, till its perfect maturity in the Person of the God-
man Christ Jesus. Else, how could he have supposed that
the religion of Abraham, as such, could simply- be brought
back again, after thousands of years, to re-occupy the place
which it had filled before, and to set aside the Law and the
Gospel which meanwhile had formed God's way for man ?
All God's plans being marked with infinite wisdom and
carried out with unerring consistency, no truly thoughtful
man can regard it agreeable to the supreme wisdom and
perfection of God, first to reveal the religion of Abraham,
then to replace it for ever so long by the Law and the
Gospel, and at last to send it back again by the Archangel
Gabriel to a prophet in Arabia, thus, as it were, altering and
correcting His previous measures.

When Mohammed hazarded the assertion in the Koran
that the Law and the Gospel contained prophecies about his
own coming (see Sura vii. 155-156 and IxL 6 ; ii. 141), it was
no doubt from a sense of the propriety, in which every think-
ing person must share, that, to be recognised as the last and
greatest of all the prophets, and as the mediator of the final
and perfect covenant, such prophecies ought really to have
existed, as witnesses to his exalted character. In order to
discover them, if possible, he must have been fain to avail
himself of the renegade Jews and Christians who, having
made his interests their own, would readily show him pas-
sages in the Scriptures which, taken out of their context
and apart from their obvious import, might be misinterpreted
as referring to his own person. But all honest Jews and
Christians could not for a moment remain doubtful as to the
utter baselessness and futility of such interpretation. For
the former knew full well that the great Prophet and King,
promised them in their Holy Books, must be an Israelite of
the house of David, not a Koreishite Arab ; and the latter
found it unequivocally explained in the Gospel itself, that
the coming Paraclete, instead of being the Arabian prophet,

140 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. il.

was no human being at all, but the Holy Spirit — the Spirit
of Truth.

It is plain that neither the personal character of Mo-
hammed, nor the prophecies he wrongly invoked in his
behalf, could ever have produced amongst his countrymen a
general opinion in his favour, strong enough to make his
religion dominant in Arabia. This result was only accom-
plished by an arm of flesh, by a warfare which was not
spiritual but carnal ; and history leaves no doubt that the
halo of victory and triumph with which Islam figures on its
pages, is owing mainly, if not solely, to the fact that it was
the religion of the sword.

(5.) Mohammed engages in a number of warlike expeditions
against the Koreishy for the purposes of revenge and
plunder^ which culminate in the victorious battle at Bedr,

We have now, in following the example of the Mo-
hammedan biographers, to turn to those incessant marauding
expeditions, wars, and conquests by which Mohammed's
biography, after the Hegira, appears less that of a prophet
than of a warrior. As an unscrupulous conqueror, he sheds
men's blood and coolly seizes the property of those weaker
than himself. With regard to the earlier of those warlike
expeditions, it was especially clear that their direct and main
object was by no means the propagation of Islam, though
this also followed, as a necessary consequence, wherever
Mohammed could gain a footing for his power. The aim
with which the martial enterprises against the Koreish were
undertaken in such quick succession, for the space of about a
year, was rather the double one of plundering Meccan cara-
vans, with whose booty Mohammed ar\d his fellow-fugitives
might supply the wants of their poverty, and of avenging
themselves for the hostility of Mecca, which had forced them
from home, to seek a place of refuge abroad.

Mohammedan historians themselves are not quite agreed
as to the exact order in which these first martial attempts of
the Moslems took place ; but they inform us that in some of
them Mohammed personally took the lead, whilst for others
he appointed a commander who acted under his instruction

SEC. II. 5.] FIRST FOUR MARA UDING EXPEDITIONS. 141

and in his name. Ibn Ishak states that the Meccan refugees
had hardly recovered from the attacks of fever which befell
them in the unaccustomed climate of Medina, when Mo-
hammed 'prepared for war against his enemies, the Arab
idolaters, according to the command of God.'

Scarcely twelve months after his arrival in Medina, he
started on his first war expedition, that to Waddan and Adwa,
He was in search of the Koreish, but returned home without
having encountered them. The only thing he accomplished
was the conclusion of a treaty of peace with the Beni Dhamra,
by which he detached them from the Koreishites, their
former allies. In a second expedition against the same
enemy, he reached as far as Bowat^ and returned, as Ibn
Ishak informs us, 'without having met with anything
untoward.' The third enterprise he undertook with nearly
200 followers and 30 camels, against a rich caravan proceed-
ing from Mecca to Syria, under the leadership of Abu Sof-
yan. He hoped to intercept the caravan at Oslteira^ in the
plain of Yembo ; but on arriving there, he found that it had
already safely passed on towards Syria. This same caravan
was again pursued, but with no better success, during its
return journey the following spring; when, however, the
pursuers were fortunate enough to defeat, in the cele-
brated battle of Bedr, the Meccan army, sent forth for its
protection. Mohammed remained a month in Osheira, and
utilised his time by concluding a treaty of amity with the
Beni Modlij and that branch of the Beni Dhamra living
under their protection. Then he returned to Medina, with-
out meeting an enemy. After his return from Osheira, he
remained not quite ten nights in Medina, before he marched
forth again. This time it was in pursuit of Kurz Ibn Jabir,
who had made a raid on Medinan territory and carried away
some flocks. Kurz belonged to the Fihri tribe, which was
allied with the Koreish, and Mohammed pursued him as far
the valley of Safwan, near Bedr (wherefore this expedition is
called * the first of Bedr '), but without being able to overtake
him. These four expeditions, all of them unsuccessful, the
prophet had headed in person.

The earliest of the expeditions against the Koreish which
Mohammed despatched under the command of one of his

142 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. ll.

companions, is that under Obeida Ibn El Haritk His was
the first banner reared by the prophet's hand. He was sent
with 60 or 80 horsemen from amongst the emigrants against
the unbelievers, without being joined by a single individual
from amongst * the Helpers.* They went as far as the water
of Hejaz, below Tanijat el Murat, where they came upon a
Koreishite caravan, already encamped and, therefore, in a
position not so easily attacked. No conflict took place :
only Saad Ibn Abu Wakkas shot an arrow against them,
reputed to be the first arrow shot in behalf of Islam. Then
the Moslems retired, and were joined by two men from the
caravan, who are represented as being already secret believers
in Mohammed.

Soon after this failure, the prophet sent his uncle Hantza
with 30 mounted emigrants, again unaccompanied by any of
the Helpers, against a caravan of 300 mounted Meccans,
headed by Abu Jahl and returning from Syria. Hamza
came upon them near the shore of the Red Sea, on the
territory of the Beni Johaina, from whom, by way of pre-
caution, they had engaged a guard, under their chief MejdL
Now as the Beni Johaina had a treaty with Medina, Mejdi
placed himself between the two parties, and induced them to
separate, without coming to blows. Ibn Ishak appends a
remark to his account of the affair which is worth communi-
cating, as throwing some light on the manner in which Mo-
hammedan historians used their materials. It is to this
effect : * Some affirm Hamza's banner to have been the first
reared by Mohammed, and that the expedition of Hamza
and that of Abu Obeida took place contemporaneously, so
that they became confounded. It is also asserted that
Hamza mentioned himself, in a poem, as the first who
received a banner from Mohammed. Now if he really said
so, it must be true, as, of course, he only spoke the truth.
God knows how it was. Still, we have learned from scholars
that it was Obeida who received the first banner.*

Another marauding party was despatched, under Scuid
Ibn Abu Wakkas^ to lie in wait for a Meccan caravan near
Kharrar, and to seize the right moment for surprising it.
This party was very small, consisting of twenty emigrants,
according to Wakidi, or only of eight, according to Ibn

SEC II. 5.] A RAID IN THE SACRED MONTH. 143

Ishak. As the caravan had already passed the day before
they reached Kharrar, * they returned without having seen an
enemy.*

Seven expeditions had now been undertaken, four headed
by Mohammed himself and three by his trusted lieutenants :
but all had signally failed. Not one of them had inflicted
any perceptible damage on the Koreish, or returned home
laden with spoil. Such want of success ill comported with
the pretence that these marauding expeditions were all
organised by God's chosen ambassador and with a special
Divine sanction. In order to ensure success, and thereby to
justify his assumed position before the eyes of his followers,
Mohammed resolved on a very bold and hazardous step.
He organised a raid against the Koreish for the very month
which had been kept sacred from ancient times by all the
Arabs.

This season of universal peace, during which all wars had
to cease and enemies met each other like friends, was the
middle month of the lunar year, called in consequence Rejeb
el Arabf ie. *the honoured (month) of the Arabs.* Mo-
hammed knew that the Koreish, relying on the sacredness of
this ancient usage, would not suspect any danger, and suffer
their caravans to depart without special guards. But he was
also equally aware that he could not depend on the general
approval of his intended violation of a popular custom, even
amongst his own followers. His cousin Abu Obeida declined
the honour he offered him of heading the expedition. He
then fixed his choice on Abd Allah Ibn Jahsh and nominated
him for the occasion as the * Commander of the Faithful '
{Emir el Mufnenin\ a title afterwards retained by the Califs.
Sealed orders were put into his hands, with the injunction
not to open them till he had advanced two days on his
march. Abd Allah had with him only twelve, or, according to
Ibn Ishak's account, only eight emigrants, mounted on six
camels. On breaking the seal of his instructions at the time
appointed, he read as follows : ' Go in the name and with the
blessing of God to Nakhla (a place between Mecca and Taif),
and there lie in wait for the Koreishite caravans. Compel
none of thy men to come with thee ; but carry out my order
with those who follow thee voluntarily.* All his companions

144 ^^S FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

agreed to go on with him ; and only two afterwards remained
behind, because they were detained, as we are told, by a
search for their camel, which had happened to go astray.

When the party had reached Nakhla, and was lying in
ambush, a small caravan of the Koreish, headed by Amr Ibn
el Hadhrami, was passing by, earring dried grapes, leather,
and other goods. In order to remove their suspicion, one of
the Moslems had his head shaven, thus giving his party the
appearance of pilgrims to the sacred shrine, of whom nothing
was to be feared. It being the last day of Rejeb, the Mos-
lems thus deliberated in their council : * If we let the caravan
alone this night, it will enter the sacred territory and be safe
there ; but if we attack them now, we shall commit murder
in the sacred month.* At first they felt afraid and hesitated ;
but soon they took courage and * decided to kill as many of
the caravan as they could and to seize upon the goods.' In
the attack which ensued, the leader of the caravan was shot
dead with an arrow, two of his men made prisoners, the rest
dispersed, and the spoil taken in triumph to Medina. Abd
Allah apportioned a fifth of the booty to the prophet who
had sent him, and only retained four-fifths for himself and
party : this at a time when such a distribution had not yet
been enacted as a Moslem law.

This violation of the sacred month was having a very
unfavourable effect amongst the people ; and Mohammed
noticing this, became afraid, and at first disavowed the action
of his emissaries. In consequence, these showed great dis-
couragement, feeling sure that in what they had done they
had but carried out their instructions. The prophet observ-
ing this, and rightly gauging the true character of the people
of Medina, discovered a ready means of extricating himself
from this novel difficulty. God had to come to his aid,
favouring him with the following revelation : * They question
thee about the lawfulness of war in the holy month. Say, a
war in the holy month is a serious matter ; but obstructing
the way of God and unbelief, and debarring from the sacred
place of worship and expelling its people therefrom, is still
more serious before God. Tempting to apostasy is more
serious than murder' (Sura ii. 214). Ibn Ishak thus inter-
prets this verse : * If you make war in the holy month, they

SEC. II. 5.] REJEB DESECRATED TO MAKE SPOIL. 145

kept you from the way of God, are unbelievers and debar
you from the holy temple, having chased you from it, you
who are its guardians. This is more serious before God
than the death of some men whom ye killed/ The effect of
this opportune revelation he makes known in the following
words: 'After God had delivered the believers from their
fear, by this revelation, Mohammed took his share of the
spoil and of the prisoners. When the Koreish sent to
Mohammed to redeem the two prisoners, he said, " I shall
not give them up until my two companions, Saad and Otba,
about whom we are concerned, come back : if you kill them,
we shall also kill your prisoners." As soon as Saad and Otba
had returned, Mohammed accepted the redemption-money
and set the two prisoners free. One of them turning a good
Mussulman remained with him ; and the other returned to
Mecca and died there an unbeliever.* Ibn Hisham observes
that the said two men were the first prisoners taken by the
Moslems, the spoil of Nakhla their first booty, and Amr el
Hadhrami the first man killed by them.

Nice first-fruits these, which ushered in so abundant a
harvest ! As with a beast of prey, when it has once tasted blood,
so also with the Moslems, this first success only stimulated
their desire for further acts of violence, unchecked and un-
abashed by the stinging reproach of the Koreish : * Mohammed
and his companions have desecrated the holy month by
shedding blood, seizing goods, and making captives in it*

The opportunity of making a decided step onward in the
path of bloodshed and plunder, now fairly entered upon, had
not long to be waited for. The large caravan, consisting of
a thousand camels, laden with costly merchandise and
guarded by only two or three score of men, which Moham-
med had in vain tried to intercept at Osheira, on its way to
Syria, was now returning home under the leadership of Abu
Sofyan. This presented an opportunity far too attractive for
the Prophet, not to make a fresh attempt at securing so rich
a booty. As soon as the information reached him that Abu
Sofyan was approaching, he called * the believers * together,
and said to them, * There comes a caravan of the Koreish
laden with goods ; march out to meet them, perhaps God will
give them to you for a prey.' They considered the prospect

K

146 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. ll.

too inviting not to seize it with alacrity. Not merely * the
believers/ but also some of the heathens responded to the
call, thus proving that the motives which gathered men
around the Arab Prophet were not of a purely religious, but
also of a very worldly nature. So eager were even the
heathens to participate in the affair, that several of them,
there and then, professed Islam, rather than lose so splendid
an opportunity of making booty. Mohammed gathered a
larger army on this occasion than had ever before served
under his banner. For though his direct object was only to
overmatch and plunder the caravan, he could not be sure
whether he might not have to encounter armed troops, sent
out for its protection. His army consisted of more than 300
men, namely all the refugees from Mecca, 83 in number, 61
Awsites and 170 Khazrajites, as specified by Ibn Ishak.

Mohammed, always keen-eyed to discover advantages in
his favour, decided to attack Abu Sofyan at Bedr^ where the
caravan route approached Medina to about a couple of days*
march, and where a number of wells furnished a rich supply
of fresh water. Thither he despatched two spies to collect
information for him, about the movements of the caravan.
When the Moslems had reached the neighbourhood of Safra,
Mohammed inquired after the names of the tribes living
there, and on being told that one was called Beni Nar
( = *the sons of fire'), and another Beni Hurak ( = 'the sons
of burning*), he, superstitious as he was, considered the
names of evil omen, and would not remain amongst them,
but passed on to the valley of Zafiran where he encamped.
Here he received the important tidings that the Koreish had
despatched a body of troops from Mecca to protect their
caravan. The latter could therefore no longer be looked
forward to as an easy prey, but the prospect arose before
him of a serious fight, a sanguinary battle. Hence Moham-
med, before advancing further, had to make sure whether,
under these altered circumstances, he could still rely on the
fidelity of all his followers. For it must be remembered that
the men of Medina had as yet only given him the pledge of
protecting him in their own home, but not outside their
territory or in a war of aggression. He therefore asked them
to say whether they were ready to stand by him in the

SEC II. 5.] A TTACK OF CARA VAN DECIDED UPON. 147

present enterprise. Several high-flown speeches were made,
in which all protested their firm allegiance, and promised
Mohammed that not one would remain behind, even should
he lead them against the enemy the very next day. He was
rejoiced by these assurances of his troops, and told them, in
return, that God had shown him that the enemies whom they
were going to meet should be few, and that either the cara-
van or the army should be delivered into their hands, adding,
* By Allah ! I already see them, in spirit, lying stretched out
before me.' But as the enemies, instead of beii^ few, turned
out to be twice the number of the Moslems, Mohammed,
later on, sought to justify his statement, by letting himself be
thus addressed in a verse of the Koran : * God showed them
to thee in thy sleep as few ; for if He had shown them to
thee as many, you would certainly have become faint-hearted
and would have disputed about the matter : but from this
God kept you, for He knows what is in the heart ' (S. viii. 45).
After having assured himself of the fidelity of his entire
army, Mohammed quitted Zafiran to move nearer to Bedr.
On the way he was met by his two spies, who told him that
they had proceeded as far as the wells where they overheard
the conversation of two damsels. The one said to the other,
'When the caravan arrives to-morrow, or the day after, I
shall work for it, and then be able to repay thee my debt.'
From this information Mohammed could conclude that he
had full time to prepare his attack upon the caravan, without
any haste. But wary Abu Sofyan, travelling with all speed,
already arrived that same evening at the wells ; and having
ascertained that two riders on camels from Medina had been
there, he at once perceived the necessity of trying to avoid a
possible surprise from Mohammed and his party. Accord-
ingly he did not encamp there, much as his beasts required
rest, but continued his journey with the least possible delay.
Travelling all night, he succeeded in putting a safe distance
between himself and his would-be plunderers. He was also
aware that troops from Mecca were on their way for his pro-
tection ; for, rightly gauging his danger, he, at the proper
time, had urgently demanded such succour by a special
messenger. Therefore the faster he marched, the sooner he
could hope to meet with his protectors. But, after all, he

148 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk, i. ch. il

owed his safe escape to his own watchful circumspection, by
which he again eluded Mohammed, and could now dispense
with the help from Mecca which he had taken the pre-
caution to request. As soon as Abu Sofyan had succeeded
a second time in outwitting Mohammed, by placing his
caravan beyond the reach of pursuit, he despatched a mes-
senger to Abu Jahl, the commander of the Meccan troops, to
apprise him of his safety and to advise his return home
without advancing any further to meet him.

Well would it have been for Abu Jahl had he taken this
advice from one who was evidently his superior in tact and
prudence. Several of the chiefs who served under him, acted
on Abu Sofyan's counsel and returned home with their men,
consisting of several hundred. But the main army from
which they separated, was still over 600 strong. Abu Jahl,
as Ibn Ishak informs us, resolved on a different course,
saying, * We will not return, but proceed to B^dr to attend
the annual feast and market there. We will stay three days,
slay animals, feed the people, regale them with wine, and
amuse ourselves with singing-girls. The Arabs, seeing our
expedition and our concord, will highly esteem us for all
future times : therefore let us march on ! * This boastful
speech of the commander is well calculated to prepare us for
the ignominious overthrow of his army, a few days later,
though double the number of the Moslems. Evidently the
Meccan army was not guided by the wisest and ablest hands.
They marched forward in the direction of a daring enemy,
without a thought of fighting, bent only on feasting and
pleasure, and desirous of profitably bartering the supply of
leather and other goods they carried with them. When they
arrived at Bedr, they found Mohammed and his determined
followers already in possession of the wells.

What a different material these Moslems presented for
the ensuing conflict! A horseman sent forth from the
Koreish to reconnoitre them, gave the following description
on his return : ' They are about 300 men, with no reserve.
But know, O ye Koreish, that temptation brings destruction ;
for the camels of Medina carry sudden death with them.
These are men who have no other protection or refuge but
their sword. Surely, none of them will fall without having

SEC II. 5.] SINGLE COMBATS AT BEDR. 149

first killed one of your number.* The army of Mecca had
been looking forward to a kind of military promenade : that
of Medina was terribly in earnest and ready to fight with
the courage of despair. They felt that their very exist-
ence was at stake. A defeat of Mohammed was likely
to prove crushing, and to lead to the dissolution of his
whole party.

The conflict itself was commenced by the daring
Moslems who forcibly prevented the Koreish from helping
themselves to water, or approaching the wells which they
were occupying. According to Arab fashion, the day of
battle was mostly occupied with a series of single combats,
in which several of the Meccan champions were killed by
Hamza, Ali, and Obeida. Gradually the two armies drew
nearer to each other. Mohammed had commanded his
men not to attack till he gave the signal. Only in case the
enemy should approach too near, they were to drive him
back by a discharge of arrows. Having first ordered the
line of battle himself, the Prophet retired to a hut prepared
for him. Here a fleet camel was kept ready on which he
might make his escape, in case of need. He anxiously
prayed for Divine help, saying, * O God, if this army
perishes to-day, thou wilt be worshipped no more.' On the
general charge being made, he incited his men to fight
bravely, promising them that every one who, from love to
God, persevered in battle till he was slain, should eoter
paradise without fail. Ibn Ishak gives us some instances,
showing what effect such teaching had on his credulous
followers. One Omeir^ who was just eating some dates,
called out, 'Then there lies nothing between me and
paradise, but death at the hand of these people ; * and,
casting away his dates, he seized his sword and fought till
he was killed. Another, Awf by name, asked Mohammed
whereby man could cause joy to God. On being answered,
* By casting himself upon the enemy without any arms of
defence,* he laid aside his armour, grasped his sword, and
likewise fought till he was slain.

Against such fanatical heroism the Meccan army, which
had come to Bedr not for risking, but for enjoying, life, had
little chance of success. They cowardly turned their back

ISO HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. ii.

as soon as the united body of Moslems made a determined
onslaught. Thus the disgraceful rout becomes fully ex-
plicable, without having recourse to hosts of interfering
angels, or attributing any efficacy to Mohammed's super-
stitious act of casting handfuls of sand against the enemy.
Ibn Ishak seriously narrates : ' A reliable man told me on
the authority of several persons, that Ibn Abbas said, " On
the day of Bedr the angels wore white turbans and took
part in the fight, whereas in other battles they were only
present to increase the number, without fighting themselves," '
and again : ' Mohammed took up a handful of sand, and,
turning towards the Koreish, flung it against them, saying,
"May God confound their sight!" Then he commanded
his people to press upon the enemy, whose defeat was
decided. God killed many of the nobles ; and others He
allowed to be made prisoners.' The slain enemies were
ruthlessly cast into one of the wells and covered over with
earth. The battle had not been very bloody: it cost the
lives of little over a dozen from amongst the Moslems ; and
the Koreish had seventy, or, according to another account,
only forty-nine, men killed — mostly cut down, it would
appear, after the rout had commenced. About the same
number were made prisoners.

The result of the battle proved of immense advantage
to the Moslem cause. The spoil, though not so rich as it
would have been if the caravan itself had been captured, was
yet very considerable, and greatly relieved the pressing
poverty in Medina. It consisted of lo horses, 150 cameb,
valuable arms, beautiful robes, and a great quantity of
leather, besides the captives, for whose ransom large sums
were demanded. After Mohammed had taken the fifth
part for his own portion, and given sundry prizes for special
acts of bravery, the remainder was divided into 313 portions,
each of the value of about two camels, and distributed by
lot amongst the warriors. Othman, Mohammed's son-in-
law, also received his share, though he had not joined the
army, but remained at home to attend on his dying wife.

The life of the Meccans taken captive was in jeopardy for
a while. Such was the fanaticism of many of the Mussul-
mans, Omar foremost amongst them, that they wished to

SEC. II. 5.] CAPTIVES TAKEN A T BEDR. i S i

massacre them all forthwith. But, at the end, calmer
counsels prevailed, especially by Abu Bekr's influence ; and
it was agreed upon to allow the captives to be ransomed at
a high price, thus consulting at the same time the claims
of humanity and the dictates of mercantile self-interest
Only a few of the prisoners who had made themselves
specially obnoxious to Mohammed, in Mecca, fell as victims
of revenge, being massacred in cold blood, before the victors
reached Medina. One of them, just before being killed,
asked the vindictive Prophet, * Who is to be the guardian of
my little children ? * and received the heartless answer from
his lips, * Hell-fire.' The remaining captives were treated
kindly, for Mohammed still felt his family ties connecting
him with the Koreish. In consequence, several of them
consented to embrace Islam and were set free without a
ransom, whilst the rest were allowed to return to Mecca
after their ransom had been paid. But, as already intimated,
sterner measures would have been so consonant to the
fanaticism of early Islam, that even Mohammed soon felt,
or perhaps feigned, regret at his temporary leniency. For
Omar is reported by a tradition derived from himself, to
have visited the Prophet on the following day and to have
found him weeping. On asking him the reason of his tears,
he received this answer, * I weep because we have consented
to accept a ransom : and verily the punishment which will
overtake me for it is nearer than this tree ' — he pointing to a
tree close by. Mohammed and his victorious party returned
to Medina in triumph, where they were welcomed with
joyous acclamation.

This signal success was regarded as a sign of Divine
approval, and raised the Prophet mightily in the eyes of
the whole population. Not only in Medina and Mecca,
but also amongst the Bedouin tribes, the victory made a
great impression. It was now plain that Mohammed repre-
sented a military force not to be despised, and that he had
already become a formidable power in the countrj'. Not
two years had elapsed since he had come to his new home
as a refugee, and already he had inflicted a humiliating
defeat on the great rival city of Mecca and made Medina
renowned far and wide. No wonder that the battle of

152 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

Bedr should be sung by numberless bards, and that the
very names of the combatants engaged in it should have
been carefully preserved by the Mohammedan historians.

(6.) The Meccans, under a sense of their disgraceful defeat at
Bedr^ stir up their Confederates against Mohammed^
and avenge themselves by tfte decided Victory at Ohod,

The battle of Bedr, which had taken place early in
spring 624 A.D., inaugurated a period of bitter warfare
between the two rival communities of Mecca and Medina,
in which, for three years, the former took the offensive and
the latter defended itself with more or less success. Then,
for three years longer, Mohammed indeed refrained from
open attack, but indirectly worked against the Koreish, by
steadily pursuing a policy of conquest elsewhere, and
stealthily concluding treaties of amity with sundry Bedouin
tribes, up to the very confines of the Meccan territory. He
was evidently much impressed with the power of his great
adversary, and perhaps also not a little influenced by the
kinship subsisting between the refugees and leading Meccan
families, and by a lingering regard for his native city with its
cherished sanctuary. His slow and prudent tactics proved
eminently successful. At the end of the six years under
consideration, the coveted prize fell into his lap, like a ripe
fruit. Proud Mecca, after a bare semblance of resistance,
tamely submitted to its wily adversary, and became a
Moslem city in the year 630 A.D.

It may also be mentioned in this place, though the
subject will be more fully treated further on, that the first
half of this sexennial period, or the three years* defensive
warfare against Mecca, was at the same time marked by active
aggression and exterminating persecution against the three
Jewish tribes of Medina. They persistently rejected
Mohammed's prophetic claims, and were therefore looked
upon by him as disguised enemies, or, at best, as doubtful
allies. He therefore determined to get rid of them by any
means, so as to free the seat of his power from all
appearance of religious discord and from every possible
danger of political treachery. Thus relieved of anxieties

SEC II. 6.] ABU SOFVAATS RAW ON MEDINA. 153

about home affairs, he could hope to direct his attention
with safety to the extension of his conquests in Arabia and
to deal a successful blow against Mecca. The three Jewish
tribes of Medina fell victims to this policy, in rapid suc-
cession, and only a year after he had got rid of them,
Mohammed consummated his anti-Jewish plans by the
unprovoked and cruel conquest of the flourishing colony
of Khaibar, A.D. 628. The rich' spoil taken from the Jews
greatly increased his means for effectually operating against
the Arabs.

The defeat of Bedr was keenly felt as a vexatious
surprise and galling humiliation by the over-confident
Koreish. They mourned their dead in silence, abstaining
from the usual lamentations, Mest Mohammed and his
companions should hear of it and maliciously rejoice in
their misfortune.' They also purposely avoided all appear-
ance of haste, in treating for the release of their prisoners of
war, ' lest Mohammed and his companions should demand
too high a ransom.' It was no easy matter to stir this
cautious city of traders into measures of a magnitude suf-
ficient to ensure the overthrow of their formidable enemy
and to vindicate their own tarnished honour. But Abu
Sofyan — who had already, on several occasions, shown his
superiority over Mohammed, as a strategist — possessed
confidence in himself, and did not allow the Moslems to
believe that Mecca was cowed and afraid of meditating
retaliation. Ibn Hisham narrates that when Abu Sofyan
arrived at Mecca, simultaneously with the fugitives from
Bedr, he made a vow, not to wash his head with water until
he had made a warlike demonstration against Mohammed.
After a delay of only a few weeks, he started with 200,
or, according to another account, with only 40 horsemen,
marched warily along the pathless highlands and reached
the neighbourhood of Medina unobserved. During the
night he went alone to the house of a chief of the Beni
Nadhir, at some distance from the town, received refresh-
ments and information, and, having rejoined his party,
set fire to some huts and date-plantations, belonging to
Medina, and killed several of its people. So rapidly did
he execute this feat, that Mohammed was again signally

J

154 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il.

out-marshalled. As soon as the latter had received tidings
of the mischief done, he hotly pursued the party some
distance, but failed to overtake them. It seems that the
Koreish, in order to facilitate their retreat, had thrown away
sacks of crushed wheat, called sawik^ which they were
carrying with them for food, and that the Moslems picked
them up, on their way back. This is the reason why the
expedition became known by the name of that of Sawik.

During the same year, 624 A.D., Mohammed had to
undertake three more expeditions, likewise on a small scale,
to avert dangers, threatening him from tjie side of the con-
federates of Mecca. Two powerful Bedouin tribes, the
Beni Ghatafan and the Beni Soleim, occupied the extensive
highlands to the east of Medina, but were allied to the
Koreish of Mecca, and consequently participated in the
hostile feelings against the rising Moslem power of Medina.
The Beni Soleim first concentrated their fighting men near
El Kadr, one of their water wells, and Mohammed no sooner
heard of it than he suspected that the measure was directed
against himself He started with a body of 200 men, but,
on arriving at El Kadr, learnt that the enemy had received
tidings of his approach and withdrawn. The Moslems
could only seize 500 camels, with which they had to content
themselves for their spoil. Mohammed had not returned
long, when he received intelligence of a similar concentration
of troops by the Beni Ghatafan, On this occasion he set
out with more than double the previous number of warriors.
But on reaching Amarr, he found the place deserted, the
Bedouins having retired, with their families and flocks, to
the mountain fastnesses, where he could not venture to
attack thenfL This time he had to return empty-handed.
In the autumn, information reached him that the Beni
Soleim were again assembling. He set out with 300
followers and advanced as far as the mines of BaAran, near
Foro ; but the enemy once more eluded him by a timely
retreat

Perhaps it was to compensate himself for all this un-
successful trouble, that Mohammed now reverted to his former
tactics of waylaying and pillaging Meccan caravans. It must
have been during his last return journey, or soon after, that

SEC. I. 6.] ZEID PLUNDERS A MECCAN CAR A VAN. 155

»

he despatched his adopted son Zeid with a hundred chosen
men, for that purpose. The season for the departure of the
great caravan from Mecca to Syria had come round. But
the affair of Bedr having closed the usual route alongside the
Red Sea coast to the merchants of Mecca, they had now to
make a long detour eastward, in the direction of the Persian
Gulf, hoping thus to avoid the Moslem marauders. Moham-
med knew this and was not minded to leave the new route
undisturbed. He had ascertained that the caravan was going
to pass by Karada; and thither Zeid was ordered to direct
his march. He was more successful than his master. For
whilst all Mohammed's efforts to seize and plunder Meccan
caravans had hitherto failed, Zeid arrived in good time.
The Koreish not suspecting any danger in this direction, had
sent no extra guard with their caravan, though one of great
value, chiefly in precious metals. The men in charge of the
caravan seeing no chance of resisting such an armed force,
took to flight, without striking a blow, and the whole rich
booty fell into Zeid's hands. The value was so great that
each warrior received a thousand dirhems for his portion and
Mohammed's fifth amounted to 20,000 or, according to others,
25,000 dirhems. This was the first Meccan caravan falling
as a prize into the hands of the Moslems ; and it was a most
costly one. No wonder that Zeid's fame as a successful
leader was at once established, and that in the following wars
he was often intrusted with the supreme command.

The blow thus inflicted by Zeid upon Mecca was not re-
stricted to the loss of an entire caravan, though this was a
very serious disaster by itself. What the Koreish must have
felt still more acutely was the conviction, thus forced upon
them, that as their western, so also their eastern, route to
Syria, was actually at the mercy of their Moslem adversaries ;
and that, in fact, their very existence was threatened, which to
a great extent depended on their trade and the safety of the
roads for their mercantile expeditions. Seeing that they were
now hemmed in, and that their most vital interests were at
stake, they could no longer postpone a supreme military effort
The trading interests themselves, though as a rule opposed
to war, now loudly demanded the punishment of the daring
Moslem marauders, by an immediate attack upon their terri-

156 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

•

tory. Already a year ago, after the disaster of Bedr, the
grandees of Mecca had agreed that the bulk of the profit
accruing from the caravan which Abu Sofyan's clever
management had brought back in safety, should be devoted
to war preparations against Medina, and Abu Sofyan himself
is reported to have contributed the large sum of 40 ounces of
gold. But nothing decisive was done, till now it had become
plain that either trade must cease, or Medina be severely
chastised. By enlisting the neighbouring Bedouin tribes,
Mecca raised an army of 3000 men, amongst them 700 clad
in armour, with 3000 camels and 200 horses. The chief
command of these troops was deservedly intrusted to the
dexterous hand of Abu Sofyan, and they reached the neigh-
bourhood of Medina early in spring 625. They laid waste
the barley fields ; but found that the rural population, with
their implements and cattle, had taken shelter in the city.
For Mohammed had been informed of their approach, and
there may be some truth in the tradition that his uncle
Abbas, looking to future contingencies, was already acting
a double part, and had sent timely warning to his nephew
of the war preparations going on in Mecca.

Mohammed, advised by men of experience like Abd Allah
Ibn Obei, at first wished to act on the defensive, by letting
his men protect the town and placing the women and children
on the tops of the houses, supplied with stones and other
missiles, to be used against an attacking foe. But the
younger and more daring men did not wish to remain quiet
whilst their fields were being devastated by the enemy.
They were afraid their Bedouin neighbours might interpret
it as cowardice and afterwards likewise venture to attack
them. Moreover, they alluded to the supernatural aid so
repeatedly promised by their prophet. Mohammed yielded
to these representations, and adopted the plan of quitting
the town and meeting the enemy in the open field. Events
proved this change to have been an unwise one ; and had
the Koreish shown more pluck during the battle, and made
a sudden rush on the city, it might have led to a catastrophe.

Mohammed relied on the daring courage of his followers,
though they amounted to only one thousand. Seeing the
Jewish confederates join his army in a disorderly crowd, he

SEC. II. 6.] BATTLE OF OHOD, 157

bade them stop behind. He evidently no longer entertained
any confidence in the fidelity of the Jews, and already
meditated getting rid of them altogether. When he had
advanced three miles from the city, to the foot of the rugged
mountain of Ohod^ he found himself face to face with the
enemy. Abd Allah Ibn Obei was now struck still more
forcibly with the great mistake made by Mohammed in
rejecting his counsel; and he avenged himself by at
once returning to Medina with 300 partisans from the Beni
Salama and Beni Haritha. Thereby the Moslem army be-
came indeed reduced to 700 combatants, of whom 100 were
clad in armour, but they were all the more firmly united by
a common sense of their extreme danger. Their rear was
protected by the mountain, on a spur of which Mohammed
had placed himself with fifty well-trained archers, to ward
off the hostile cavalry.

The battle began, as usual, with a series of single combats
in which several of the Koreishite champions were killed by
Moslem heroes. Abu Amir, the Christian monk, began the
attack. He led a company of from fifty to sixty, or, accord-
ing to other accounts, of only fifteen, like-minded compatriots
who had all been forced to leave their home in Medina and
seek an asylum in the rival city. They opened the battle by
a vigorous discharge of arrows and stones, but met with so
stubborn a resistance that they had to retreat The Moslem
warriors now made a desperate onslaught, sword in hand,
and, according to the account of their own historians, com-
pletely put the Meccans to flight and sent their women, who
had been brought to stimulate them with their music,
clambering up the mountains, screaming with terror. But
considering the very small number of the slain, it would rather
seem that this flight was a mere feint, for entrapping the
Moslems into the ditches which had previously been dug for
this very purpose. The Moslems, in the joy of their sup-
posed victory, had no sooner begun what always had an
irresistible attraction for them, namely, to plunder the
enemy's camp, when the clever cavalry leader Khalid, who
had been carefully watching the enemy's movements, swept
round with his horsemen and took the Moslems in the rear.
By this manoeuvre he caused such consternation amongst

\

158 N/S FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il.

the enemies that some were killed by their own party, and
their main army with difficulty managed to retreat to the
mountain of Ohod, to re-form under its shelter.

This cavalry charge had proved most destructive to the
Moslems. Their slain amounted to 70 or 75, amongst whom
was Mohammed's valiant uncle Hamza and three other re-
fugees. The victory was decidedly on the side of the Meccans,
who lost altogether only 22 men killed Mohammed's own
life had for a while been in danger. He was hit by a stone,
bruising his lip and depriving him of a tooth. A blow from
a sword drove two helmet-rings into his flesh ; and he fell
into one of the ditches from which he could not extricate
himself alone, being weighed down by a double armour
with which he had guarded himself against the dangers of
the day. His enemies already believed that their triumph
had been crowned with his death ; but his cry, * Who
will sacrifice himself for us } ' was heard in time to bring
friends to his rescue, and he was soon taken to a place of
safety, on the mount, where his defeated army had likewise
found shelter. The two armies remained for a time at
speaking distance and reproached each other in Arab fashion :
but the revenge taken was considered sufficient for the pre-
sent, and they parted with the mutual threat, * Next year we
shall meet again at Bedr.' Abu Sofyan, it is true, showed a
disposition to complete his work forthwith, by utterly crush-
ing the defeated enemy ; but he could not persuade the
cautious moderation of his fellow-citizens. They were afraid
of goading the enemy into a resistance of despair and advised
the return home, content with having thus far repaid the
debt of Bedr.

Some time after the enemy had departed, Mohammed
followed in the same direction with his whole army, as far
as Hamra, where they remained several days, in order to
produce the appearance of not being cowed, but able to
pursue an enemy retreating before them. However, the
defeat was undeniable, and threatened the prestige of the
militant prophet, whilst in Medina the loss of so many brave
men was deeply felt. The lamentations by the women, for
their loved dead, were so loud and heart-rending that they
had to be checked by a special order. Mohammed was not

SEC. II. 6J COMFORT FOR THE LOSSES AT OHOD. 159

at a loss for words of comfort and explanation. According
to Ibn Hisham he declared concerning his uncle Hamza,
whose dead body had been found shockingly mutilated,
' Gabriel has paid me a visit to bring me the glad tidings
that Hamza is amongst the inmates of the seven heavens,
and that there is an inscription to this effect: "Hamza,
Abdu-1-Mottaleb's son, the lion of God and of His apostle." '
According to Ibn Ishak he af&rmed, that all those who had
been slain in the path of God would rise on the day of the
resurrection, with their wounds shining red and emitting a
blood of musk-like aroma. The same authority also assures
us that, amongst the revelations concerning the affair of
Ohod, the single Sura £1 Amran contains sixty verses in
which Mohammed's measures are justified and the blame of
defeat is laid on the greed and disobedience of his followers.
But in spite of all these extenuations, the awkward fact
remains that the Prophet rejected the good advice of a man
whom he had supplanted, in favour of other counsels, which
led to a great disaster.

(7.) In consequence of his defeat at Ohod^ Mohammed has to
meet several hostile demonstrations of Bedouin tribes^
and afterwards a protracted siege of Medina by a
formidable Meccan army.

The sham pursuit of the retreating Meccans by Mo-
hammed deceived no one; and the undeniable defeat he
had sustained, encouraged the keen-eyed Bedouin tribes to
sundry hostile movements, against which he had to defend
himself by warlike enterprises of a less important character.
These occupied a great part of the two years which inter-
vened between the battle of Ohod and the formidable but
fruitless siege of Medina, by another Meccan army, again
under the command of Abu Sofyan.

The first who attempted to turn the calamity of Ohod to
their own advantage, were the Beni Asad of Faid^ in the
Nejd. Their chief Toleiha^ trusting in his horsemen and
fleet camels, prepared a raid on Medinan territory, with the
view of carrying away a portion of its flocks. But Mohammed
received early information of the plan, and at once despatched

i6o HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [br. i. ch. ii.

150 chosen men under Abu Salma, at whose unexpected
approach the Bedouins hastily dispersed, leaving a numerous
herd of camels in their hands. Abu Salma had received a
wound at the battle of Ohod which now re-opened, in con-
sequence of this fresh exposure, and six months later caused
his death. His wife, Om Salma, had only been a widow
four months, when the Prophet put an end to her widowhood
by adding her to the number of his own wives.

A similar danger of invasion also threatened from the
Beni Likyatiy near Taif, which the unscrupulous Prophet
averted, by sending one of his fanatical tools to assassinate
their chief. The assassin first insinuated himself into the
confidence of the chief, and one night, when he was alone
with him, treacherously murdered him by cutting off his
head. This dastardly act earned for him a commendation
from his master and an honourable reward in the shape of
Mohammed's own staff.

The Bedouins were not slow to repay such treachery in
the same coin, and with interest. Instigated by the Lih-
yanites, a caravan of the Beni Adhl and Kari applied to the
Prophet for teachers, pretending that their tribe was* inclin-
ing towards Islam. Mohammed unsuspectingly sent six or
eight of his followers with them ; but having reached the
well of Raji in the Hejaz, the teachers were suddenly
pounced upon and slain. Still more serious was the case
when a chief of the powerful Beni Amir of Nejd^ who, on a
visit to Mohammed was pressed to embrace Islam, declined
this for his own person, but said that if teachers were sent
to his tribe, they would probably become converts. The
Prophet was again taken in. He sent forty, or by some
accounts even seventy, Moslems who had learned to read.
But when they reached the well of Mauna, belonging to the
Beni Soleim, they were surrounded and put to death.
Mohammed was so indignant at this cruel perfidy, that for
some weeks he, after morning prayer, invoked a solemn
malediction on the heads of the guilty and their entire tribe.

According to the mutual engagement after the battle of
Ohod, the Meccans and the Moslems were to meet again in
hostile array, at the fair of Bedr^ in spring 626. But the
former, though making a great show of preparation, did not

SEC. II, 7] MARCH TO BEDR, RIKA, AND DUMA, i6i

keep their word, on account of a severe drought which
rendered it inadvisable to march with a large body of camels.
They only proceeded a day's journey to Majanna, where
they attended the fair and then returned. Mohammed, who
probably received secret information of this, had therefore a
good opportunity of re-establishing his prestige. He duly
appeared at Bedr, with 1500 followers, the largest number
he had as yet commanded. They had brought with them a
rich supply of goods for the fair, and, as no enemy showed
himself, they did a good business, realising 100 per cent, or,
according to others, 200 per cent, profit

Abu Sofyan was not remiss in collecting means for
another stroke; but for the present the advantage rested
with Mohammed. He was prepared, when soon after he
learned that the Beni GJiatafan were collecting troops
against him. He started with 400 or 800 men, and on
reaching the mountains of Rikc^^ found the Bedouin camp in
so formidable a position that he did not venture on an
attack. The two armies were so near each other that, at
the usual time of prayer, the Moslems alternated their ser-
vice, one portion praying, and the other facing the enemy
in battle-array. This mode of worship, in war, was thence-
forth denominated * the service of danger.' Mohammed was
contented with this demonstration of religious discipline and
courage, and soon withdrew, carrying with him a number of
captured womea This whole enterprise occupied only a
fortnight.

The next expedition, that against Duma^ took up double
that time. Duma lay fifteen days' march in a directly
northern line from Medina, not far from the borders of
Syria ; and its annual fair was frequented by many
merchants and Bedouins. Mohammed's attempt in this
direction was not occasioned so much by a threatening
danger, as rather by the hope of plunder and the wish thus
to make some impression on Syria and the Roman empire.
He was accompanied by 1000 men, travelling at night and
resting concealed by day. He did not attack the town of
Duma itself, but, on having reached the oasis in which it was
situated, he sent out corps in different directions to seize as
many camels as they could. With many of the latter, but

L

i62 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii,

only a single prisoner, he returned to Medina. On the way
he made friendship with Oyeina, chief of the powerful Beni
Fezara, whom he permitted to pasture his flocks at a day's
journey from the town.

The great danger for Mohammed came from the south,
from the direction of Mecca. Abu Sofyan was very active
and tried to enlist on his side all the Bedouin tribes of the
neighbourhood. Mohammed received information that on
the north-west of Mecca, near the coast of the Red Sea, the
Beni Mostalik were gathering with hostile intentions, under
their chief Harith Ibn Dhirar. To overthrow them would
be a discouragement to other confederates of the Koreish,
and, at the same time, clear the way in the direction of Mecca
Mohammed was well supported by every class in Medina
and started with a large army and thirty horses. Against
such a force the Mostaliks deemed resistance useless. They
killed only one enemy, whilst ten of their own number were
slain. The whole tribe, 200 families, with all their goods,
including 2000 camels, fell into the hands of the victors.
The chief's daughter Jowairia^ was so beautiful and attrac-
tive that Aisha, as Ibn Ishak tells us, hated her from the
moment she first set eyes on her. She augured right
Mohammed could not resist those charms, and, without delay,
procured her liberty and added her to the number of his
wives. In honour of the occasion the whole tribe was
liberated, as now joined to the Prophet by the ties of
kindred. It was good policy to attach to himself, by this
liberal treatment, a Bedouin tribe living so near Mecca,
and on the usual caravan road to Syria.

An incident, happening before he left the territory of the
Beni Mostalik, showed that his position in Medina was not
yet altogether free from internal danger. Amidst the bustle
round the well of Moreisi an altercation, resulting in blows,
arose between a native of Medina and a refugee, during
which each of them called on his own party for assistance.
The excitement grew hot on both sides, and Abd Allah Ibn
Obei gave vent to the threat, 'I look upon these low
Koreish in the light of the ancient saying, " Fatten a dog
and it will eat thee up : but, by Allah ! when we return to
Medina, the strong shall cast out the low."' As soon as

SEC. II. 7] AISHA SUSPECTED. 163

Mohammed heard of this, he ordered the camp to be struck,
and marched his troops for a day and a night, without halt-
ing, to make them forget the quarrel. Peace was restored,
and even Abd Allah, who soon saw cause to regret his out-
spokenness and to fear for his life, was spared. One of his
friends said to Mohammed, concerning him, ' He himself is
the low and thou the strong ; if thou wilt, thou canst cast
him out But pity him ; for when God brought thee to us,
his people were already preparing the pearls for crowning
him, and he believes that thou hast robbed him of his empire.'
It appeared more prudent, at the time, to be conciliatory to
such a man, than to drive him into the open arms of the
Koreish enemies who still aimed at crushing the entire
Moslem power.

Another unpleasant affair resulted to Mohammed from
this expedition against the Mostaliks. On the homeward
journey of the army, Aisha remained behind at the last
halting-place before Medina and next morning arrived alone,
mounted on a camel, which was led by a young man named
Safwan. She affirmed that, whilst walking about in search
of a precious necklace which she had dropped, the army
departed and unwittingly left her behind, whereupon Safwan,
who had been accidentally delayed by some business,
observed her, and safely conducted her home. But the
general talk was, that the adventure implied a conjugal
misconduct on her part. This was all the more natural, on
account of the recent addition to the objects of her rivalry in
the person of the beautiful Jowairia. Mohammed seems to
have at first shared the general opinion and let his youthful
wife feel that he suspected her. She became ill and received
permission to return home, in order to be cared for by her
mother. Repudiation seemed impending and Ali hinted to his
father-in-law that there was no lack of women to supply her
place, a suggestion which may account for the ill-feeling ever
afterwards shown by Aisha to Ali. But it was not politic
to wound his oldest and best friend Abu Bekr by disgracing
his daughter. Her tears and attractions, after a few weeks'
estrangement, softened the Prophet's heart. The slanderers
were silenced by being publicly flogged ; and he paid his
injured wife a visit in the house of her parents. Whilst there,

J

i64 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

he had one of those singular revelations which were but
expressions of the thoughts and bent of his own mind. He
exclaimed, *Good news for thee, Aisha! God has revealed
thy innocence.' Aisha herself was surprised, and when
narrating the story in after life, modestly confessed, 'I
considered myself too mean and insignificant to hope that
on my account God would reveal what thenceforth had to
be read in the mosques and recited at prayers, as part of
the Koran.'

About the same time, the scandalous affair also took place
between Mohammed and Zeinab, his adopted son Zeid's wife,
which is already recorded (p. 82-3). That conduct, marked
by such loose morality and such thinly disguised deception,
did not at once prove ruinous to Mohammed's assumed
character as a prophet and his general influence, plainly
shows the indiscriminating credulity of his followers and the
ascendency he had already gained in Medina, by the support
of a compact body of warriors and the secret terrorism of his
system of government A fresh stroke was now about to be
aimed at him from Mecca, more threatening than any
previous one ; but he dexterously parried it, and the storm
only served him to strike the roots of his power more deeply
and widely.

Abu Sofyan, especially since the Moslems had appeared
in gfreat force at Bedr and he been obliged to break his
engagement of meeting them there, had been very busy
preparing for a decisive blow against Medina. He collected
money from house to house, accepting no contribution
under one ounce of gold and bringing all possible pressure to
bear upon the people, so jthat soon a considerable sum was
at his disposal. Thus it had become possible to raise a
great army and to secure the co-operation of many Bedouin
tribes. Sufferers from Mohammedan oppression, such as
Abd Allah Ibn Obei and sundry Jews, especially from the
lately expatriated Nadhir tribe, zealously assisted in promot-
ing these objects, hoping the complete destruction of the
Moslem cause might thus be brought about Ibn Ishak
narrates that the Koreish said to these Jews, * You are the
men who possess the ancient Scripture and know what we
contend about with Mohammed ; now tell us which religion

^tmammm'tmfm

SEC II. 7.] MECCANS MARCH AGAINST MEDINA. 165

is the best, ours or his ? ' They, incensed by his unjustifiable
religious pretensions, and smarting under the recent effects
of his political violence, unscrupulously replied, * Your reli-
gion is the better of the two, and you are nearer the truth
than he.' Wily Abu Sofyan gladly accepted any assistance
in promotion of his plan, and Mecca resounded with the din
of preparations for war. Even if the Moslem historians
exaggerate in estimating the hostile army at 10,000 strong,
its number was no doubt a formidable one. Mecca alone
raised 4000 men, including 300 horse and 1 500 camels ; the
Bedouins of the Beni Soleim, Ghatafan, Fezara, Asad, Ashja,
and Morra, joined with several thousands more. The chief
command naturally was in the hands of Abu Sofyan ; but
the chieftains of the different tribes retained much indepen-
dence, a circumstance which did not enhance the efficiency
of the army. It was in spring 627 that these hosts began
to move northwards, in the direction of Medina.

Mohammed had received full information of what was
going on in Mecca, and prepared to ward off the threatening
blow. At the battle of Ohod he had acted contrary to the
wise counsel of his rival Abd Allah Ibn Obei, by marching
forth to meet the enemy, and suffered defeat by so doing ; now
he benefited by past experience and kept his men close to the
town, leaving the attack to the enemy. It was evidently a
wise disposition, to assign to his army, which was by far the
smaller of the two, consisting of only 3000 men, the less
onerous task of acting strictly on the defensive. The town,
with its houses built of stone and closely joining each other,
was comparatively easy of defence, and this advantage was
heightened at the suggestion of Salman, a Persian resident,
by the formation of a deep ditch, lining an open space on
which the army could be collected, secure against any sudden
surprise from the enemy's cavalry. As soon as the con-
federate army had reached the neighbourhood, Mohammed
and his warriors took up their position in the wide open
space, bordered by the city on one side and by the newly
made ditch and rampart on the other. The city had thus
been converted into a sort of fortified camp, which was quite
a new thing in Arab warfare. The confederates taunted the
Moslems with the innovation, as an intended substitute for

i66 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

personal valour ; but the ditch and dike proved an effectual
barrier to their cavalry and largely contributed to their
Ignominious failure. Another great advantage on the side
of the besieged was this, that they had been able toi collect
all the produce of the field within the city, so that there was
plenty of food for man and beast, whilst the enemy found the
whole neighbourhood bare and had to send foraging parties
to a great distance. The ditch and rampart keeping the two
armies apart, there could not be the single combats so usual
in Arab warfare. But it was easy for the confederates, from
their superiority of numbers, to keep the city in perpetual
alarm, by incessant and constantly changing attacks on
different parts of the city, compelling the defenders to divide
into several corps, so as to be speedily at hand on every
point which might be threatened. These sudden attacks
were generally made and repulsed by means of shooting
arrows and throwing stones. They were rather harassing
than sanguinary.

After these resultless alarms had been kept up for some
time, a little band of four daring horsemen succeeded in
crossing the ditch, at a spot where it was narrow, and thus
broke the novel spell of the fortifications, for a moment.
But instead of immediately securing the ground they had
gained and seeking to facilitate the crossing over of the army
after them, they recklessly advanced, and one of them, the
aged Amr, who wished to avenge a wound he had received
at Bedr, loudly challenged any of the Moslems to single
combat The Moslems were not slow in occupying the weak
point of the ditch ; and one of them, the heroic Ali, took up
the challenge to the duel. After a brief combat, Amr was
killed, and lay stretched upon the ground * like the trunk of
a tree.' Then his three companions sought safety in a swift
retreat, but only two of them succeeded, and the third, unable
to clear the ditch, was cut down there by a pursuer. In the
night the dangerous part of the ditch was widened and
deepened, under the direction of Salman the Persian, and for
some days longer the hostile armies remained face to face,
and exchanged showers of arrows across the ditch which
kept them asunder. These arrows did little harm, and we
can form an idea of the very unbloody character of the

SEC. IL 7.] SIEGE OF MEDINA. 167

blustering Arab wars of those days, and especially of the
absence of martial qualities amongst the allied forces of
Meccan traders and greedy Bedouins, when we are told that,
during this close siege of several weeks, the Moslems had
only five men killed, and the entire loss of the confederates
amounted to three, inclusive of the two heroes who dared to
beard the Moslem lions in their den behind the ditch.

Both sides evinced a greater partiality for cunning and
secret machinations, than for self-sacrificing heroism. Mo-
hammed was ready to buy off the powerful Beni Ghatafan
and to induce them to desert the Meccans, by the offer of the
third part of Medina's date harvest He had already made
progress in his secret negotiations with their chiefs, one of
whom, Oyeina, was under obligation to him for a former act
of kindness, during a season of drought ; but the plan had
to be relinquished, because the leading men of Medina were
reluctant to part with their dates. Abu Sofyan, on his part,
made underhand efforts to induce the Beni Koreiza, the only
Jewish tribe still remaining in Medina, to play falsely to
Mohammed by raising the banner of revolt in the city itself
and openly embracing the cause of the besiegers. But the
Jews considered such a step fraught with too great a peril ;
for Moslem soldiers were constantly patrolling the streets,
and the Jews were well enough acquainted with Arab fidelity
to apprehend that they might be deserted and left to Moslem
vengeance, in case the confederate cause did not triumph.
All these intrigues from both sides did not lead to any
practical result, and, as spies were freely employed, only
served to increase distrust against the suspected parties and
to lessen the disposition to risk a decisive engagement

When the siege had lasted for two or three weeks, Medina
was still intact behind its dike and effectually guarded by
its untiring defenders ; but the hosts of besieging Bedouins
were sorely pressed by want of provisions for the men and
fodder for their numerous camels. The hardships of the
Meccan army were increasing, and no gain accrued to com-
pensate for them. At last a violent tempest, with cold wind
and pouring rain, swept over the district, so that the tents
were blown down, the cooking-pots upset, and the fires
extinguished. According to Ibn Ishak, one of Mohammed's

J

"1

I

i68 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

spies returned from the hostile camp, reporting that he had
heard Abu Sofyan making this address to his people, * We
cannot remain here any longer. Cattle and camels are dying.
The Beni Koreiza have deserted us and we have heard evil
tidings of them. The wind troubles us, so that, as you see, no
pot and no tent remains standing and no fire bums. Up ! I
remain here no longer.' To depict Abu Sofyan*s haste, the
Mohammedan historian says, ' He mounted his camel and
urged it on by blows, even before it was untied' The
Bedouins were but too glad to repack their camels and
march in front of the soldiers. The whole army left in
good order, having its rear protected by the cavalry.

Mohammed also was greatly relieved by the turn events
had taken. Not to have been defeated in combat, not to
have his stronghold wrested from him by force, despite the
number and formidable appearance of the enemy opposed to
him, could not but raise his prestige almost as much as if
he had gained an actual victory. But he did not think it
prudent, this time, to quit the shelter of his rampart, and
risk an encounter with the retreating enemy's cavalry by
another pretence at pursuit, as he had done at the close of the
Ohod affair. He now saw a nearer and an easier road to the
promotion of his prestige and power. The Jews of Medina
were to be entirely crushed, and thus every vestige of danger,
threatening his capital through their neutrality or hostility,
removed for ever. Accordingly, the final consummation of
his anti-Jewish policy will now have to occupy our attention
for a while.

(8.) Mohammed's anti-Jewish policy leads to the heartless
overthrow of the Jewish tribes of Medina and the unjust
conquest of Khaibar with other Jewish cotmnunities.

We have already traced the growth of the complete
rupture which took place between Mohammed and the Jews,
owing to their determined refusal to recognise in him the pro-
mised Messiah, the long-expected prophet of God (p. 13 1-4) ;
and we have also surveyed his equally antagonistic position
towards Christianity and the Christians (p. 135-9). Now we
can give a consecutive account of the arbitrary measures

SEC II. 8.] ASSASSINATION OF INDIVIDUAL JEWS. 169

which he adopted against the Jews, as soon as he dared to
do so, and which he persistently carried through to the
bitter end, by his heartless massacre of the Beni Koreiza
and by his no less brutal conquest of the Jewish colony at
Khaibar. We therefore now turn back a couple of years, to
about the time of the battle of Bedr, and take up the thread
of our narrative where we then left it

The three Jewish tribes who lived in Medina formed a
very important portion of the population of that place.
They were distinguished for their learning, their industry,
and even their warlike ability. Had they combined, they
could have presented a formidable front to Mohammed which
he would not have found easy to break through. But being
disunited, and even, at times, fighting against each other, as
allies of mutually opposed Arab factions, they were doomed
to succumb.

The first to fall as victims of Mohammed's vengeance, were
some individuals of the Jewish persuasion who had made
themselves obnoxious above others, by attacking him in
verse. He managed to produce an impression amongst the
people that he would like to be rid of them. The hint was
readily taken up by persons anxious to ingratiate themselves
in the Prophet's favour. The gifted woman Asma and the
hoary poet Abu Afak were both murdered in their sleep:
the former while slumbering on her bed, with an infant in her
arms ; the latter whilst lying, for coolness* sake, in an open
verandah. No one dared to molest the assassin of either of
these victims ; for it was no secret that the foul deeds had
been approved of by the Prophet, and that he had treated
the perpetrators with marked favour.

Finding that the public thus quietly accepted and tacitly
indorsed the murder of individual Jews, Mohammed con-
sidered the way open for taking another and a more decisive
step towards the execution of his anti-Jewish projects. An
entire Jewish tribe was now to be got rid off, and this despite
the defensive and offensive treaty-engagements which existed
between Mohammed and the Jews, since the early part of his
residence in Medina

In selecting the tribe which was to fall as the first victim
of his avarice and cruelty, the calculating Prophet showed

I70 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

his usual shrewd appreciation of circumstances. Two of the
Jewish tribes of Medina, the Beni Nadhir and the Beni
Koreiza, had long been the allies of the powerful Awsites,
amongst whom Islam had as yet made slower and smaller
progress ; but the third, the Beni Keinoka^ who had been the
ancient allies of the less powerful Khazrajites, in whose midst
the profession of Islam had become general, were now left
isolated, because the brotherhood of the new religion had
superseded the former bonds of amity and alliance. They
could therefore be attacked with comparatively little risk,
inasmuch as their Arab allies had either become staunch
Moslems, or at least outwardly conformed to the new order
of things ; and their removal appeared all the more desirable,
because, as artisans, they occupied a convenient and central
part of the city. Hence the Beni Keinoka were fixed upon
by the astute Prophet as the first victims of a policy which
aimed at the entire removal of the Jews, in order to make
room for himself and his followers.

He did not delay the execution of this selfish purpose
longer than was necessary, but entered upon it as soon as
his victory at Bedr enabled him to do so. Ibn Hisham
narrates, * When God had visited the Koreish on the battle-
day of Bedr, Mohammed returned to Medina and assembling
the Jews on the bazar of the Beni Keinoka, said to them,
" O ye Jews, believe in Islam, ere God visit you like the
Koreish." But they answered, " Be not deceived by thy
imagination. Thou hast indeed slain some Koreishites who
were without experience and knowledge of war ; but, by
God ! if thou make war with us, thou wilt find that we are
men the like of whom thou hast not yet encountered " ' — a
boast which they soon after flagrantly belied. Mohammed
was not the man to be turned aside from his plans by vain
boasts or empty threats.

The actual outbreak of hostilities had not long to be
waited for, and Mohammedan historians narrate it in this way.
A Moslem woman went to the market of the Beni Keinoka
to sell milk, and sat down in front of a goldsmith's shop.
Being veiled, the Jewish shopkeeper annoyed her in a
manner which caused her to blush and to weep. This was
witnessed by a Mussulman, who forthwith slew the offending

SEC II. 8.] CONQUEST OF THE KEINOKA JEWS. 171

goldsmith ; and he, in his turn, was slain by the Jews. The
Moslems, indignant at this, now called all their brethren to
arms : and thus the war began. If this story, told by Mos-
lem biographers to explain the cause of the conflict, was
well founded on fact — which is improbable, because at the
time to which it refers the injunction to veil had not yet
been given, — it could only account for the outbreak of hostili-
ties at this particular moment. Its real cause lay much
deeper, and must surely have led to war, sooner or later,
without any such accidental occurrence, which, moreover,
could have been so easily settled by gentler means than war
and expatriation. Mohammed, only too glad to avail him-
self of any plausible pretext for commencing open hostilities,
summoned his followers to arms and surrounded the quarter
of the Beni Keinoka. This was all the more easy, because,
being artisans, mostly gold and silver smiths, they lived close
together within the city and were not scattered on planta-
tions like the other Jews.

The beleaguered Jews defended their fortified houses for
a fortnight; but being deserted, in this hour of need, by
their former allies, the Khazrajites, in whose cause they had
often shed their blood, and expecting no help from the two
other Jewish tribes, against whom they had often fought on
the side of Arabs ; they thought it better to surrender, than
further irritate their implacable foe. Obada, one of the lead-
ing Khazrajites, went to Mohammed and formally renounced
his obligations towards his former allies, handing them over
to the Prophet's discretion. Abd Allah Ibn Obei, whose
attachment to Islam was not so strong, indeed sympathised
with his former confederates, but dared not openly join their
ranks. The only thing he ventured to do was, to insist
strongly on having their lives spared. When they had
surrendered, and were already being bound, in preparation
for execution, he went to Mohammed to induce him not to
slay them. Ibn Ishak thus describes the scene : * Moham-
med at first turned away from him, and when Abd Allah
held him by the armour, to stop him, he called out, " Let me
go!" and became so enraged that his face turned quite
dark. But Abd Allah swore, saying, " I will not let thee
go till thou relentest towards my clients : they are 700

^

172 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. 11.

warriors, including 300 clad in armour, who have often
protected me against the red and against the black : them
thou mayest not cut off in one morning ; for, by Allah ! I
apprehend a change of fortune." Thereupon Mohammed
said, " Well, I will grant them to thee." * Thus it is seen
that it required all the importunities of Abd Allah, who
was looked upon by Mohammed as a hypocrite, to keep the
sanctimonious Prophet from crowning his violence against
the Keinokas by massacring them in cold blood. Their
lives were spared, but their houses and goods, including
their arms and suits of armour, were seized as prey, and
they themselves, with women and children, expelled the
country. Obada was commissioned by Mohammed to
superintend and expedite their departure. They went first
to Wadi el Kora where the Jewish inhabitants assisted
them, and then proceeded further, to settle in Syria.

A beginning had now been made by Mohammed to
carry out his plan of pushing the Jews out of the way, so
as to establish himself in their stead, and to increase his
power with their spoil. After the expulsion of the Keinoka,
he at once cast his longing eyes on the rich palm-plantations
of the Bent Nadhir^ but a short distance from the city.
They boasted of a sacerdotal descent, and lived together
by themselves in a comely suburb, fortified by a number of
strong towers. One of their more influential Rabbis was
Kab Ibn Ashraf who had looked favourably upon Moham-
med, till he changed the Kibla from Jerusalem to Mecca.
Then he became his decided opponent, attacking him and
his religion in verse, and working against him in various
ways. He was to fall first as a victim to Mohammed's
vindictiveness. The Prophet despatched four men, amongst
them Kab's own foster-brother, to assassinate him, and
sanctioned beforehand any lie or stratagem which they
might see fit to employ, so as to lure him aside. It was
dark when they arrived at his house, and he was already
in bed ; but they cunningly prevailed upon him to come
out to them, and when they had him alone in the dark,
they foully murdered him. Mohammed remained up, to
await their return ; and when they showed him Kab's head,
he commended their deed, and praised Allah. But on the

SEC. 11. 8.] ATTACK ON THE NADHIR JEWS, 17s

following morning, when the assassination had become
generally known, the Jews, as Ibn Ishak informs us, were
struck with terror, and none of them regarded his life safe
any longer.

The blow intended for the whole Nadhir tribe did not
delay many months. One day Mohammed, with a con-
siderable suite, including Abu Bekr, Omar, and Ali, appeared
amongst the Beni Nadhir, for the ostensible purpose of
asking them to contribute their share towards the blood-
money which had to be paid to a confederate tribe, because
some of their men had been wrongfully slain by a Moslem.
The Beni Nadhir received the party with marked respect,
promised ready compliance with their request, and hospitably
invited them to a repast On account of the heat, they
were sitting in the open air, Mohammed leaning his back
against the wall of a house. After a while, he suddenly
rose and walked away, without saying a word. He was
expected to return directly ; but as he delayed, his friends
looked after him, and found that he had returned to the
city. They followed him ; and he told them that the
cause of his sudden departure was an intimation he had
received from heaven, that one of the Jews was going to
ascend the roof of the house, beneath which they were
sitting, to throw down a stone upon him. Unlikely as it
is that the Jews meditated such a step under such circum-
stances, it is quite possible that the dastardly assassination
of Kab now weighed on Mohammed's conscience, and
engendered in him the fear which he expressed in language,
adapted to his prophetic character. Judging others by
himself, he coukl not but dread vengeance, from the hand
of those who had suffered from his treachery and violence.

The preconceived plan, which the story about the
intended stone-throwing had to justify, was now at once
carried out. Mohammed collected his followers, and
marched with them against the Beni Nadhir, who barricaded
themselves in their houses and towers. When they
showed no signs of surrender, after a siege of six days,
but still valiantly defended themselves with arrows and
stones, Mohammed had recourse to a barbarous measure,
contrary to the Arab usages of war, and expressly forbidden

174 ^^S FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

by the Law of Moses (Deut xx. 19). He gave orders to
cut down and burn the trees of their fine palm-fields, their
chief wealth, so as to drive them to despair, and to force
them to yield. They gave vent to their indignation, by
calling out, ' Oh Mohammed ! didst thou not forbid to cause
devastation, and blame him who does it ? How canst thou
let these date-trees be cut down and burnt ? * But seeing
him determined to destroy the future means of their
livelihood, and having no longer any hope of military
succour from Arab sympathisers and former allies, not
even from their fellow Jews, the Beni Koreiza, they at last,
after a siege of two or three weeks, capitulated.

Through the intercession of old friends amongst the
professed Moslems, their lives were spared, and they were
allowed a camel-load of their substance, with the exception
of arms and suits of armour ; but their emigration from the
country, within a few days, was rigidly insisted upon.
According to some tradition, each three men were only
allowed one camel and one sword ; and in several instances
the camel's load had to be completed by the ornamented
door-posts of their houses. They are reported to have left
with their wives, and children, and substance, amidst the
sounds of music, some singing songs, others playing cymbals
and flutes. If this is true, they must have been strongly
impressed with the peril, in which they had been, of losing
not only their possessions, but also their lives, and of having
their wives and children reduced to a state of abject slavery.
A portion of them joined their brethren in Khaibar, and the
rest, with greater prudence and foresight, went on to Syria.
Only two of the number consented to save their property,
by embracing Islam.

The spoil falling into the hands of the Moslems was
considerable ; and as there had been no regular fighting,
Mohammed claimed the right of freely disposing of it. He
saw his opportunity for compensating his fellow-refugees
from Mecca, by making them rich landowners in Medina.
The whole booty was distributed amongst them, and only
two of the Moslem natives, who were poor, also received a
share. This happened in summer 625. Mohammed's high-
handed disposal of the spoil, the barbarous destruction of

SEC II. 8] INJUNCTION TO ATTACK THE KOREIZA. 175

date-trees, and his whole conduct towards the Beni Nadhir,
naturally caused much unpleasant talk amongst the dis-
affected. But he knew how to silence every objection. A
revelation from heaven justified him in every particular, and
can still be read in the 59th Sura of the Koran.

Two years later, as we have already seen, the great
army of Meccans and Bedouins laid siege to Medina, and
threatened to involve it in a catastrophe. Fugitives of the
Beni Nadhir, smarting under a sense of their wrongs, helped
to incite the Koreish to this vast effort of revenge ; and,
during the siege, attempts were made to induce the Beni
Koreiza, the only Jewish tribe still left in Medina, openly
to break with Mohammed, and to join the side of the
besiegers. Though it does not appear that those attempts
convinced the cautious foresight of the Jews, and proved
successful with them, yet they sufficed to show Mohammed
that the continuance of a Jewish tribe in Medina might,
under certain circumstances, endanger the town. Accus-
tomed, as he already was, to regard as right whatever seemed
to advance his interests, he did not scruple to make this
last remaining tribe of Jews a holocaust to his selfishness.
The cruel project was to be carried out forthwith ; and the
Jews were to be taken by surprise.

But the Mussulman historians, as is their wont, represent
that the sanguinary measure was only taken in obedience
to a direct injunction from heaven. Ibn Ishak's narrative
is this : * On the following morning, after the withdrawal of
the confederate army from Medina, Mohammed, with the
faithful, left the rampart and returned into the city to lay
down their arms. But about noon the angel Gabriel,
wearing a turban of silk, and mounted on a mule, in
trappings of damask, came to Mohammed and asked him,
" Hast thou already laid down thy arms ? " He answered
" Yes." Gabriel continued, " But the angels have not yet
laid down their arms ; and I am come to summon the
people to war ; for God commands thee to march against
the Beni Koreiza, and I myself am going thither to shake
their towers." Mohammed at once ordered a proclamation
to be made that no man was to say the afternoon prayer
an)^here but in the Koreiza quarter. He sent Ali with a

«i

176 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

flag in advance against the Beni Koreiza, and the people
gathered around him in haste/

The quarter of the Jews was now closely invested ; but
they bravely defended themselves, for twenty-five days, from
their towers and barricaded houses. When it had become
evident that Mohammed would not raise the siege, before
he had obtained his object, one of their number proposed to
them, either to acknowledge the Arab Prophet, or, by a
desperate effort, to break through the circle of besiegers. But
his proposal was rejecjted, and he then indignantly upbraided
them with never having formed any serious resolution since
their birth. They preferred to treat with Mohammed ; and, at
their request, he sent to them as delegate one of the Awsites,
their former confederates. On their asking him whether he
would advise them to surrender to Mohammed, he told
them they had better do so ; but, at the same time, he put his
hand to his throat, signifying that they must be prepared to
have their throats cut. He was touched by the women and
children pressing round him, weeping and trembling; but
he had no authority to offer them better terms than uncon-
ditional surrender. They longed to escape from the
privations of the siege, and with the example of the Beni
Keinoka and Nadhir fresh in their minds, whose lives,
though likewise threatened, had yet been spared, they
capitulated, trusting in the Prophet's clemency.

But he had now his hands freer than formerly and could
afford to disappoint their hope. In the night of the surrender,
four Jews embraced Islam and thus saved their life and
liberty ; and in the morning, the Awsites approached Mo-
hammed to intercede for the lives of the rest, saying, * These
Jews are our confederates ; and thou knowest how thou didst
formerly deal with those who were confederates of the Beni
Khazraj.' This placed him in a dilemma : he wished to kill
the Jews and yet not to offend the Awsites. His cunning
was equal to the occasion : he discovered a way of extricat-
ing himself from his dilemma. A prominent man of the
Awsites, Saad Ibn Moadz by name, had been wounded during
the siege and lay in the mosque, without hope of recovery.
With him Mohammed had a conversation and then addressed
the Awsites thus, 'Are you content, if I appoint one of

SEC II. 8.] SLAUGHTER OF THE KOREIZA JEWS. 177

your own tribe as arbiter in the matter ? ' and as soon as
they had reph'ed in the affirmative, he added, 'Saad Ibn
Moadz is the man I appoint' Saad being too ifl to walk, a
leathern bolster was laid on a donkey for him, and he was
thus conveyed before Mohammed and the assembled people.
On the way he was exhorted by humane persons to be lenient
to his former confederates whose destiny had now been placed
in his hands ; but he answered, ' It is now time that I should
do nothing blameworthy in the sight of God.' He was
received with an unusual demonstration of respect, by Mo-
hammed's special order ; and having first taken the formal
promise that his decision should be accepted as final, he said,
* My judgment is, that the men should be killed, their goods
divided, and their wives and children treated as captives.'
The Prophet, relieved by this utterance, indorsed it on the
spot, by saying, *Thy judgment agrees with that of God
above the seven heavens.'

He was now free to indulge his feelings of revenge
against the Jews. They were to pay dearly for persevering
in the denial of his pretensions to a prophetic mission. The
women and children were torn from their husbands, brothers,
and fathers ; the men, all manacled, were penned up for the
night in a large shed, and Mohammed ordered long ditches
to be dug in the market-place. On the following morning
the butchery began under the Prophet's own eyes and lasted
till night. The manacled Jews were led forth in small batches,
made to sit down on the brink of the ditch, and after being
cruelly put to death, hurled into it as their common
grave. According to the Mohammedan historians, 600 to
700 or 800 to 900 Jews were thus massacred in cold blood.
Their lands, houses, and chattels were distributed among the
conquerors, and the women and children appropriated as
slaves. In dividing the booty, Mohammed assigned three
portions to each horseman, one for himself and two for his
horse, in order thus to encourage his followers to possess
themselves of horses, which proved so invaluable to them in
their future campaigns, especially when they undertook to
invade the Roman empire and Persia. The spoil was so
great that the Prophet's fifth alone included two hundred
women and children. He selected the beautiful widow

M

178 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il

Raihana for his own harem, and the rest he bartered away to
Bedouins for horses and arms. By such means as these, a
man who called himself an ambassador of God solved his
difficulties, and smoothed the way to wealth and power for
himself and his followers.

Seeing that Mohammed himself did not scruple to own
and sell his fellow-men as slaves, how can we wonder that
slavery has always been a recognised institution throughout
the Mohammedan world ? It is but natural, that the religion
of such a prophet should be as tolerant and favourable to the
continuance of slavery, as the religion of Jesus Christ tends
surely, though perhaps slowly, to bring about the cessation
of this degraded condition of humanity .^

Medina was now clear of the Jews : two of the tribes had
been banished, the third massacred, and those individuals
who still remained, conformed, at least outwardly, to the new
order of things and professed Islam. Mohammed had com-
pletely triumphed and all his rivals were humbled to the dust
The Jews were relatively weak, forming mere colonies of
strangers in a land not originally their own, and the alliances
they had formed with native Arabs could, therefore, be disre-
garded by the latter with comparatively little risk. This,
Mohammed and his friends were shrewd enough to perceive
and to turn to their own advantage. They succeeded in
getting rid of the three Jewish tribes, one by one, without
having to encounter armed forces of confederates, hastening
to their assistance.

Thereby they became emboldened to extend their anti-
Jewish policy still further and to aim at subjugating all other
Jews of Arabia to their power, so that, thus strengthened,

^ The celebrated philosopher Hegel beautifully recognises the superior
excellency of Christianity in this respect, by saying in his Logic, p. 322, * The
question has been raised as to the cause of the fact that slavery has disappeared
from modem Europe, and, in answering it, sometimes one'circumstance has been
mentioned, sometimes another. The true cause why there are no longer any
slaves in Christian Europe is not to be looked for in anything but in the very
principle of Christianity itself. The Christian religion is the religion of absolute
liberty ; and it is only for the Christian that man as such possesses worth in his
infiniteness and universality. What is lacking in the slave is the acknowledg-
ment of his personality ; but the principle of personality is universality. The
master tf^gards his slave not as a person, but an impersonal thing. The slave
is not counted as a self, but the master is his self.'

SEC. II. 8.] ASSASSINA TION OF THE JEW SALLAM. 179

their ulterior object of uniting all Arabia under the banner
of Islam might be all the more easily accomplished. The
massacre of the Beni Koreiza took place A.D. 627, and
in the spring, or, according to others, the autumn, of the
year 628, the Moslem army marched against the Jewish
colonies situated four or five days' journey to the north of
Medina, the richest and most flourishing of which was
that of Kliaibar^ with its extensive and fertile plantations
of far-famed date-palms. This expedition was to deal
the finishing stroke against Jewish independence and
Jewish nationality in Arabia.

But some time before it was actually carried out, the
inhabitants of Khaibar were horrified by one of the dastardly
assassinations to which Mohammed did not scruple to stoop,
for the purposes of revenge. The victim selected this time
was ScdlatHy a leading man of the Beni Nadhir who, after the
expulsion of the tribe from Medina, had settled in Khaibar
and enjoyed great influence there. He was accused of having
had a hand in stirring up the Meccans to the war in which
they laid si^e to Medina. Mohammed never had any
difficulty in finding amongst his followers willing tools for
executing such secret missions. Ibn Ishak mentions it as
one of the Divine favours to Mohammed, that ' the two tribes
of the Awsites and Khazrajites were as jealous about his head
as two male camels.' Accordingly, as the former had assas-
sinated Kab Ibn Ashraf, the latter aspired after an equal
distinction and asked the Prophet's permission, which was
gladly given, to do away with Sallam. Five Khazrajites, one
of whom Mahommed had appointed chief for the occasion,
reached Khaibar after dark, and, professing to have come for
the purpose of buying corn, were admitted to Sallam's upper
apartment, where he was already lying on his bed. But as
soon as they had him thus in their power, they fell upon him
with their daggers and massacred the defenceless man, with-
out the slightest shame or compunction. By the time the
startled Jews came to see what had happened, the assassins
had decamped and 'were on the way to their master, to
receive his thanks.

Mohammed, with a considerable army of followers, in-
tended to celebrate the pilgrimage festival of the yea^r 628, at

i8o HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

the shrine of Mecca. But on approaching the sacred territory,
they were debarred from entering it by a formidable Meccan
army. The only concession they could obtain was a long
armistice, and the promise that next year they might attend
the festival for three days, but unarmed. It was to compen-
sate his followers for this disappointment, that the Prophet
promised them the conquest and spoils of Khaibar. They
slaughtered their sacrifices at Hodeibia, outside the sacred
confines, and returned to Medina to prepare for the promised
expedition the spoils of which should only be shared by those
who had taken part in the disappointed pilgrimage.

To take the Jews by surprise, the Moslem army managed
to arrive near Khaibar during the night. Early in the morning,
when the people went forth to their field-work, they met the
enemy and hasted back with the cry of alarm, * Mohammed
and his army are upon us.' The Jews hastily withdrew into
their fortified houses or towers, and defended themselves, as
well as they could, against an over-matching enemy. They
had made an alliance with the Ghatafan Bedouins, to secure
their help in such an emergency ; but the selfish Bedouins
did not wish to run any serious risk for the sake of the Jews,
and contented themselves with a harmless demonstration.
Ibn Ishak thus narrates their movements : * When the Ghat-
afan heard that Mohammed was encamped before Khaibar,
they gathered together, in order to assist the Jews agfainst
him. But when they passed through the narrow valley where
their families and goods were collected, they heard a noise
behind them, and, thinking the enemy was about to attack
them in the rear, they turned back to remain with their
families and substance, and did not molest Mohammed in his
war against Khaibar.'

Thus coolly deserted by their Arab confederates, the
Jews were doomed. All their strongholds, one after another,
were besieged and taken. To strike terror into them and
lame their resistance, Mohammed mercilessly put to the
sword all armed Jews who fell into his hands. Nine hundred
Jews were thus killed, whilst on the Moslem side scarcely
a score were slain. The actual fighting, therefore, does not
appear to have been of a very sanguinary character, and the
resistance of the Jews, who soon saw the hopelessness of

SEC. II. 8.] JEWISH COLONIES TAKEN. i8i

their cause, was easily overcome. In the usual single
combats, which were not wanting, some of the Jews fought
valiantly, but still were overpowered by their antagonists.
Ali had his shield struck from his hand, and then seized a
house-door with which to defend himself. The last two
strongholds, in which many of the escaped defenders of
towers already surrendered, had sought refuge, resisted the
besiegers for ten days, and at last capitulated to save their
lives and some of their substance, whilst all their arms,
treasures, and landed possessions, fell into the hands of the
conquerors.

When this news reached the Jews olFadaky some distance
to the north of Khaibar, they sent a deputation to Moham-
med, begging him similarly to spare their blood and allow
them to depart unmolested, in return for which favour they
would leave in his hands all their possessions. Also the
Jewish colony of Taimay still further to the north in the
direction of Syria, were induced to despatch a deputation
and sue for peace, offering to accept the same conditions.
Mohammed granted their request and also admitted the
Jews of Wadi elKora^ a short distance south-west of Khaibar,
tojthe like favours.

Thus Mohammed put an end to the independence of all
the Jewish communities in Arabia and substituted his own
authority over the extensive districts formerly owned by them.
He had at first used every effort to gain them over to his
cause. They would have been a most important accession
to his fighting strength ; and their acceptance of him as a
prophet would, he believed, have had a great effect upon the
Arabs, in leading them to regard him in the same light.
But when he found they would not voluntarily own his claim,
he determined that they should be made to serve his cause
against their will. They were now separately attacked and
conquered, tribe by tribe, till they were either swept away
or reduced to a state of bondage and disposed of at the will
and for the benefit of the conquerors. Refusing to become
the willing abettors of the Prophet, they were used as step-
ping-stones in the onward march of the Potentate. Not by
the spiritual weapon of truth, but by the carnal means of
violence, and intrigue, not by seeking to follow the example

i82 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. n.

of God, * the Merciful, the Compassionate,' but as a sanguin-
ary warrior, Mohammed made his cause triumphant

The booty taken from these industrious and thrifty Jewish
communities was very great. The treasure of the Beni
Nadhir alone, which had been removed from Medina merely
to fall into the Moslems' hands in Khaibar, contained a
single set of jewels, often hired out at weddings, which was
estimated at a value of 10,000 dinars in gold. All the move-
able property was treated as lawful spoil, of which one-fifth
was appropriated by Mohammed and the remaining four-
fifths divided amongst his warriors. The latter also obtained
one half of the lands of Khaibar, whilst Mohammed claimed
the other half; and, on the plea that Fadak, Tamai, and
Wadi el Kora, were not taken by actual fighting, but had
freely surrendered, the modest prophet demanded the entire
spoil of those places for himself, to be disposed of as he
pleased.

It was first intended to send all the Jews who had capitu-
lated out of the country. But as then there would not
have remained cultivators enough for the lands they left
behind, their proposal to be allowed to continue in the
occupation of the ground was accepted, on the condition of
their yielding up half the produce to the Moslems. This
formal arrangement remained in force till the Calif Omar
arbitrarily set it aside, by removing the Jews to lands in Syria,
in order that, as it already had been Mohammed's wish, there
should only exist one religion throughout all Arabia.

Some episodes of this campaign are recorded which like-
wise show up Mohammed in the light of a common, rather
unscrupulous, conqueror, and as glaringly wanting in the
characteristics of the true, heavenly-minded prophet Among
the women made captive in one of the first Khaibar strong-
holds taken, was Sofia ( = Sophie), daughter of the chief of
the Beni Nadhir, and hence probably known to Mohammed
by sight Her husband, Kinana, was accused by Mohammed
of concealing part of his treasure, and was cruelly tortured
to death. Safia and some other females, on being taken to
Mohammed, passed their newly slain husbands and relatives
on the way, and naturally burst into a paroxysm of grief.
The Prophet, seeing them in this state, said, *Take these

SEC. 11. 8.] THE JEWISH SAFIA MADE HIS WIFE, 183

demons away from me ; ' but he detained Safia, casting
his mantle over her, thus marking her as destined for his
own harem.

According to the rules of his religion, such captives
may not be married till at the expiration of three months ;
but this Prophet's carnal passions were so strong that he
could not brook the delay, and he actually made her his wife,
almost within sight of the place where her husband and
friends had been slaughtered only a few days before. Abu
Eyub, with drawn sword, unbidden, circumambulated the tent
where they spent the first night together ; and when Moham-
med, in the morning, asked him for the reason of his solicitude,
he replied, * I felt anxious for thee on account of this woman,
whose father, husband, and relatives thou hast caused to be
slain, and who herself has been an unbeliever till quite lately/
Mohammed's cruel outrage of the feelings of a woman whose
nearest relatives he had just put to death, casts so unfavour-
able a light upon his character, that, to screen him, his
biographers tell a story, obviously invented for the purpose,
which represents Safia as a willingly consenting party.
According to this story, Mohammed observed a blue mark
on her eye, and inquiring after the cause, she told him that
having communicated to her late husband one of her dreams,
to the effect that she had seen the moon fall into her lap, he
gave her a blow in the face which left the blue mark on her
eye, saying, *Thou wishest to have Mohammed for thy
husband, the king of the Hejaz.'

Another Jewish woman, Zeinab by name, whose husband
and male relatives had likewise been killed, nearly succeeded
in avenging herself on Mohammed by poisoning him. She
roasted a lamb for his party, and having first ascertained
that he had a predilection for the shoulder, rubbed more
poison into that part than the rest. The biographers say,
that he only took a mouthful and threw it out again without
swallowing it, exclaiming, * This shoulder tells me that it is
poisoned.* But this is again an obvious invention of pious
Mussulmans, for the purpose of investing their prophet with
that supernatural knowledge which they thought he ought
to have possessed. The actual fact seems to have been, that
Mohammed really did eat some of the poisoned shoulder.

1 84 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

and suffered from its evil effects ; but that his friend Bishr^
to whom he handed some of it, being less cautious, ate a larger
quantity and died in consequence. This can be gathered
from an incident recorded to have happened during Moham-
med's last illness. Bishr's mother (or, according to other
accounts, sister) visited the Prophet on his deathbed and
condoled with him in his illness, observing that it was sup-
posed to be pleurisy, whereupon he replied, * No, the Lord
would not permit that illness, which is from Satan, to befall
His apostle : but I feel now the artery of my heart bursting,
in consequence of the morsel which I ate with thy son (or
brother) Bishr, in Khaibar.' The early tendency amongst
the Mussulmans to attribute to Mohammed traits which they
thought ought to have distinguished him as prophet, is also
apparent from the remark which Ibn Ishak adds to this
recital, viz., * The Moslems may infer from this, that God also
permitted him to die a martyr^ after having honoured him
with the office of prophet.'

Ibn Ishak favours us with another story, which is a sad
illustration of the want of truthfulness in early Islam, and
shows how unscrupulously Mohammed himself authorised
the circulation of untruths. We are told that, as soon as
Khaibar was conquered, Hajaj Ibn Ildt, one of his followers,
asked permission of Mohammed to leave the army and go
to Mecca, in order to collect some debts which were owing
to him there. Having obtained the permission asked for, he
added, * But I shall have to tell lies.' Mohammed not only
abstained from expressing any displeasure, but he approv-
ingly replied, * Say what thou wilt'

Hajaj narrates that, thus authorised, he told the first party
of Meccans whom he met, and who asked for news about
Khaibar, *that storehouse of the Hejaz,* whither, according
to their information, * that corrupter had gone,' the following
story, fabricated by him for the occasion. * I have joyous news
for you : he has been completely defeated and his companions
are slain. Mohammed himself has been taken prisoner by
the Jews ; but they do not intend to kill him themselves,
wishing that this should be done in the midst of Mecca,
whither they are now bringing him, so that the Meccans
may avenge their brethren whom he has slain.' This good

SEC. II. 8, 9.] RAPID ADVANCE IN HIS CONQUESTS. 185

news was at once proclaimed throughout the city. Hajaj adds,

* I requested them to aid me in collecting my debts, so that
I might hasten back to Khaibar and buy of the booty, taken
from Mohammed and his companions, before the arrival of
other merchants ; and they used great pressure in forthwith
collecting my debts.' But having speedily settled his busi-
ness, he went to Abbas, Mohammed's uncle, and taking a
promise that he would not publish before the end of three
days (when he hoped to be beyond the reach of pursuit) what
he had to confide to him, made this startling communication,

* By Allah ! when I left thy nephew, he was marrying the
daughter of the chief (he meant Saiia) ; he has conquered
Khaibar and taken as spoil all it contained, so that it now
belongs to him and his companions.'

(9.) Mohammed extends his policy of conquesty subjugation^
and plunder y to a number of Bedouin tribes^ and injures
Mecca whenever he can.

Mohammed's success in effectually resisting the siege of
Medina by the numerous army of the Koreish and their
confederates, and in completely overcoming and dispossess-
ing the three Jewish tribes who had owned such valuable
property in the home of his adoption, greatly increased his
prestige and power. His rapid onward march in the path
of conquest, since that time, can really not be wondered at.
We have just seen that a year after those events he was able
to consummate his anti-Jewish aspirations, by subjugating
Khaibar and all the different colonies of Jews, as far north
as Fadak and TamaL Now it behoves us to trace his
exploits and successes amongst the native Arabs.

Only a few weeks after the massacre of the Beni Koreiza,
Mohammed sent a body of troops under the command of
Ibn Maslama southward, against the Korta Bedouins, a
branch of the Hawazins. Concealing themselves by day,
and marching only by night, they surprised the Bedouins
before the dawn of morning. A number of these were
killed in the confusion of the sudden attack and the re-
mainder put to a precipitate flight. The Moslems possessed

i86 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA. [bk. i. ch. ii.

themselves of their flocks, and returned to Medina with the
booty of 1 500 camels and 3000 sheep.

In the summer of the same year, the Prophet himself
headed a select army to take revenge on the Bent Lihyan,
near the sea-coast to the north-west of Mecca, for the share
they had had in massacring some Moslem emissaries, not long
after the battle of Ohod. These being first invited to come
and teach the new religion, were treacherously attacked in
their sleep at the station of Raji, as already mentioned
(p. 160). Though Mohammed tried to take the Lihyanites
off their guard, by starting in an opposite direction, they had
obtained timely information of his approach, to enable them
to withdraw to the heights of the Hejaz mountains where
they were beyond his reach. Thus finding his plan of ven-
geance frustrated, he contented himself with a harmless
demonstration against the Koreishy by advancing on the way
to Mecca as far as OsfaUy accompanied by 200 mounted
followers, ^nd then returned to Medina, with the sole satis-
faction of having shown a bold front to his enemies.

But the Bedouins were not behind him in boldness, where
there was a prospect of plunder. Ibn Ishak tells us that
Mohammed had only slept a few nights at home, after his
return from the Beni Libyan, when, early one morning, a
cry of alarm was raised, because the Fezara chief Oyeina^
with a score of Ghatafan horsemen, had suddenly shown him-
self near Medina and driven away Mohammed's valuable she-
camels, killing their keeper and carrying off his wife. Moham-
med at once despatched some horsemen to hang on their rear,
he himself following with several hundred warriors. They
pursued them as far as Zu Karady and succeeded in killing
a few and retaking some of the camels, whilst the rest
retreated tlnscathed. Mohammed had to slaughter some of
his own camels to provide food for his men, who, in the
hurry of starting, had been unable to bring the necessary
provisions with them.

The camel-keeper's widow afterwards escaped from her
captors, on one of the camels they had carried away. Mo-
hammed showed in her case that he did not humour the
pious emotions of his followers, if they ran counter to his
own interests. When she told him that she had vowed to

SEC II. 9.] MARAUDING EXPEDITIONS. 187

sacriiice the camel, if it became the means of her escape, he
smiled and, as Ibn Ishak informs us, said to her, 'Thou
badly recompensest the animal, by wishing to slay it, after
God had lifted thee upon it and made it the means of thy
safety. A vow displeasing to God is not binding. Thou
canst not sacrifice what thou dost not possess, for this camel
belongs to me. Therefore, go thou home, with God's bless-
ing.'

In this same year, 627, several more plundering expedi-
tions were undertaken, not by Mohammed himself, but by
his lieutenants at his request Thus Okasha^ with forty
horsemen, was sent to attack the Beni Asad and brought
back 200 captured camels. Ibn Maslama^ with only ten
companions, had to march against the Beni Ghatafan, whose
flocks were encroaching on the Moslem pasture-lands near
Zu Kassa ; but instead of taking booty, his men were slain,
he himself wounded, and when troops were sent in pursuit,
they found the Bedouins gone. Zeid Ibn Haritha was
despatched against the Beni Soleim from whom he took flocks
and prisoners, including Mohammed's wet-nurse, Halima,
and her husband, both of whom were naturally set at liberty
on reaching Medina. Zeid also attacked the Bent Talab^ of
whom he seized forty camels, and a Meccan caravan which
he surprised at Iss and robbed of its treasure of silver. On
this same occasion he took a number of captives, amongst
whom was Abu-l-As, Mohammed's son-in-law, who was set
free in Medina and there embraced the religion of his father-
in-law. Soon after, Zeid started with a trading caravan for
Syria, but on reaching the neighbourhood of Wadi el Kora
was plundered and wounded by the Beni Fezara, As soon
as he had recovered from his wounds, at the beginning of
the following year, he took his revenge, by attacking them
with several hundred men. He seized the aged wife of one
of their chiefs and ordered her to be torn asunder, by having
a camel tied to each of her legs.

That such inhuman punishments were quite in keeping
with the spirit of Islam, appears from one which the Prophet
himself inflicted on some oflenders about the same time. A
small number of poor and sickly Bedouins, of the Orain and
Okla families, professed their faith in the Prophet and then

1 88 HIS FULL SUCCESS W MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

obtained permission to stay on the pasture of his she-camels
and drink their milk, for the benefit of their health. But as
soon as they had recovered, they decamped with fifteen
milk-camels and slew the keeper who tried to prevent them.
Mohammed sent twenty fleet horsemen in their pursuit who
easily captured them. When they were brought back to
Medina, he had their eyes put out, their hands and feet cut
off, and their bodies impaled, till death delivered them from
their miseries (compare also Sura v. 39). It argues no
tender feelings of humanity, to inflict such terrible punish-
ments for these offences ; and they are little creditable to a
prophet claiming to supersede Jesus Christ, though they
may not have been unusual amongst the Arabs in those
days. So also we have to discriminate between the two
cases, when we are informed that both Abu Sofyan and
Mohammed despatched assassins, each with the object —
fortunately unattained by either side — of ridding himself of
his adversary : for, in the one case, the intended assassination
was prompted by a person who claimed to be God's chosen
prophet, and in the other, by a man of the wof Id who put
forth no such claim.

(10.) Mohammed shows his veneration for the Kadba by
arranging a pompous Pilgrimage to it ; but the Koreish
prevent his caravan of pilgrims from approaching nearer
than Hodeibiay where he succeeds in concluding an
armistice with them.

Meanwhile, in spring A.D. 628, the time of the annual
festival at the shrine of Mecca was coming round, and Mo-
hammed resolved to attend it, with a great number of his
followers. This was the first attempt of the kind since his
flight to Medina, six years previously. To please the Jews,
he, for two years, as we have already learned, disregarded
the Kaaba and took the temple of Jerusalem for his Kibla.
But now, since the power of the Jews in Medina was com-
pletely broken, he was free to humour and conciliate the
Arabs, by an ostentatious participation in the annual pilgrim-
age. Thus he afforded them a proof that he was not hostile
to their renowned national sanctuary, as they might — not

SEC II. lo.] ATTEMPTED PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. 189

without apparent good reason — have supposed ; but that
he rather allowed it a central position in the deistic religion
of which he claimed to be the prophet It must be
owned that, in a man whose supreme object of aspiration
was not Divine truth, but worldly influence and power, the
intended step argued a wise and clever appreciation of
circumstances, and was justified by its substantial and
prospective, though not formal and immediate, success.
Mohammed could reasonably hope that> his show of power,
thus far, had made a sufficient impression upon the Koreish,
not to insist on excluding him, by force, from a visit to the
sacred territory, professedly undertaken only for purposes
of devotion.

It is true, this hope was not at once completely fulfilled ;
but his present attempt secured for him a guarantee of its
realisation a year later ; and the wisdom of the step was
shown by an immediate rapid increase of accessions to his
cause, amongst the Arabs generally. He took with him
seventy camels, marked for sacrifice, and donned the pilgrim's
garb, to let it be seen that he did not intend war, but
came merely to do honour to the Meccan temple. Still, he
wished to be prepared for any eventuality, by inviting the
Arabs and Bedouins within reach, to swell his train. He
thus succeeded in raising the number of his followers
altogether to about 1400 men, more or less armed.

When the company had reached Osfan, they heard that
the Meccans were preparing to oppose them by force and
that Khalid had already set out with the cavalry. On re-
ceiving this information, Mohammed said, *Woe to the
Koreish, who are already nearly ruined by war I AVhat harm
would it have done them, had they let me fight out- the
matter with the Arabs ? For had I succumbed, their wish
would have been fulfilled ; and had God made me victorious,
they could either have embraced Islam in a body, or fought
against me with their whole strength.* This declaration,
reported by Ibn Ishak, shows how naturally it came to
Mohammed to assume, that jnen in general were prepared
to subordinate religion to politics, and that, if he could but
show them great military success, they would readily join
his banner and accept his religion into the bargain. Thus

I90 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. l ch. ii.

he furnishes us with a glimpse of what was the current of
his own thoughts : politics and power seem to be the great
motors, religion the indispensable, but still subordinate,
adjunct. Mohammed, anxious to avoid a hostile encounter
with the Koreishite force, took his way over rocks and
through ravines where cavalry could not easily follow, to the
plain of Hodeibia in the Nakhla valley, and there encamped,
close to the border of the sacred territory.

From this position a sudden rush upon the city of Mecca
might perhaps have been effected with success, and accord-
ing to one account Mohammed actually made the proposal,
and was only kept from attempting it by Abu Bekr's wise
and moderating counsel. But, according to another account,
he openly declared, 'There is no favour whereby the
Koreish may this day request me to prove my love of
kindred towards them, that I will not grant ; ' and he even
ascribed the peaceful lying down of his weary camel to
Divine agency, saying, * He who once prevented the
elephant from entering Mecca, has also now stopped my
camel.*

The propinquity of Hodeibia to the city rendered
negotiation by means of messengers easy. It was therefore
speedily entered upon and actively carried on. Mohammed
protested against the injustice of excluding him from the
sanctuary, urging that he had no hostile intentions, but was
actuated merely by motives of devotion. The Meccans,
on their part, were afraid that, by letting him come in, they
might assume the appearance of yielding to force and being
swayed by a dread of his power. They said, * Even if he
does not come for war, yet shall he not force us to let him
enter ; the Arabs shall never taunt us with his having done
so.' After much discussion and mutual protestation, a
formal agreement was arrived at, by which the Meccans
saved appearances and the Moslems secured substantial
advantages. Such an issue is scarcely to be wondered at,
if we bear in mind that, in consequence of Mohammed's
rapid advance in wealth and power, he had already gained
many secret sympathisers in Mecca, both amongst his
relatives and others, so that Ibn Ishak could report, 'The
Beni Khoza, as well believers as unbelievers, were Moham-

SEC. II. 10.] TREATY WITH THE KOREISH 191

med*s secret partisans and communicated to him whatever
happened in Mecca.'

According to the stipulations of the treaty entered upon,
there was to be a cessation of war for ten years, during
which term neither party might commit any act of hostility,
robbery, or theft, against the other. Both parties should be
perfectly free to form alliances with whomsoever they
pleased ; but in the case of fugitives whose extradition is
demanded, only the Moslems, not the 3Ieccans, should be
bound to surrender them. On the present occasion Moham-
med and his followers should not be allowed to cross the
sacred precincts, but in the following year, the Koreish were
to vacate the city for three days, in favour of the Moslems,
who might then enter, unarmed and with their swords
sheathed, as mere pilgrims. Mohammed certainly acted
with prudence in accepting these conditions and thus avert-
ing a sanguinary conflict under unfavourable circumstances,
though, by doing so, he caused disappointment to his more
bellicose followers, notably Omar, who expected to enter
Mecca triumphantly, according to a dream which the
Prophet had previously had to that effect. But even they
were soon compensated for the present disappointment by
the far easier conquest of the Jewish colonies in Khaibar
and elsewhere, as we have already seen (p. 179- 181).

The important advantages which Mohammed secured
by his treaty with the Koreish are thus referred to by Ibn
Ishak : * No greater victory had as yet been obtained for
Islam. Hitherto there had been war everywhere. But
after this treaty of peace, when war had ceased and people
met in security, then they entered into conversation, and
every intelligent person with whom the merits of Islam were
discussed, embraced it, so that, within the two following
years, as many or more people joined it as had done so since
it first began. This is proved by the fact that Mohammed
went to Hodeibia with only 1400 followers, according to
Jabir's account, whereas, two years later, he marched out
for the conquest of Mecca with an army 10,000 strong.'

192 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

(II.) Mohammed^ making good use of his armistice with tlie
Koreish^ seeks to extend his influence abroad^ by sending
messengers to neighbouring Potentates^ summoning
them to embrace Islam.

It surely was no small triumph for Mohammed to
conclude, on even terms, a formal treaty with proud Mecca,
and thus to see himself recognised as the sovereign head of
a rival commonwealth, entitled to form alliances and extend
his power, as he might see fit The state of long and bitter
warfare between the two rival powers was now succeeded
by one of tranquillity and peace, secured by a solemn treaty.
The Beni Khoza, who lived in the immediate neighbourhood
of Mecca, and had hitherto been united with the Koreish,
though of late secretly favourable to Mohammed, forthwith
availed themselves of the treaty-stipulation, by entering into
an open league with him, even before he started on his
return journey.

There can also be no doubt, that the circumspect
prophet made good use of his proximity to the city and
of the constant passing to and fro of messengers, amongst
them his own son-in-law Othman, for seeking to convert
influential men, by various promises, from open enemies
into secret friends. The Meccans, especially those of them
who were near relatives, shrewdly calculating the chances of
the future in genuine Arab fashion, were now much more
open to influences of this kind than formerly. It is
certainly remarkable that, within a few weeks of the
apparently unsuccessful pilgrimage, he despatched a
messenger with rich presents to the king of Abyssinia, in
order to woo the widowed daughter of his old adversary
Abu Sofyan, the most prominent man of Mecca ; and that
she at once consented to return with the messenger and
swell the number of the Prophet's wives. This points to a
probability that he had found means to act even on the
feelings of Abu Sofyan and secretly to inspire him with
more benevolent sentiments.

From underhand inquiries Mohammed ascertained with
satisfaction, that the general current of opinion was begin-
ning to take a turn in his favour. This could not but

SEC. II. II.] HE CASTS LOOKS BEYOND ARABIA. 193

greatly raise his expectations as regards the future. He
was so fully cognisant of the military weakness of the
trading city in which he had grown up and which he
had now again observed from the close proximity of
Hodeibia, and he had so high an appreciation of his
own strength, as the chief commander of a devoted army
of tried warriors who looked upon his orders as Divine
injunctions, that, to his sanguine mind, the time already
seemed near, when the two greatest cities of Arabia would
own him as their head, and he be acknowledged as the virtual
dictator of the entire Arab nation. Once beholding, with
the eager eye of hopeful anticipation, all Arabia united
under his more than Imperial sceptre, it was not too great
a step for him to go still further, by casting his longing eyes
beyond the borders of the Arabian Peninsula, and to
indulge the hope of one day imposing his religion and his
dominion upon the rulers and people of the surrounding
countries, in every direction.

The Mohammedan biographers agree in recording that,
immediately after his return home from Hodeibia, their
prophet addressed formal letters, stamped with a seal
specially made for the occasion, to a number of neighbour-
ing potentates. He boldly summoned them to embrace
Islam, and thus to accept him as their virtual suzerain
whose utterances were to be regarded as the law paramount.
These letters were forwarded to their respective destina-
tions by special messengers. The whole ceremony appears
to have been intended as a parallel to the mission given by
Jesus Christ to His twelve apostles, to *go into all the world
and preach the Gospel to every nation.' But it is clear that,
by seeking to substitute and enforce a universal dominion of
the Koran, in place of the universal destiny of the Gospel,
which was already in course of realisation, the Arab Prophet
only gave an historical expression to the essentially anti-
Christian character both of himself and of his new religion.

Ibn Ishak's account of the transaction is in these words :
* One day, after his return from Hodeibia, Mohammed came
to his companions and said, " O ye people ! God has sent
me to you with grace and to avert evil from you ; therefore
do not resist me, as the apostles cesisted Jesus, the Son of

N

194 ^^S FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il.

Mary." The companions asked, "How did they resist
Him ? " Mohammed answered, ** He called them to the
same thing to which I now call you, but only those whom
He sent to a near place were content and did well, whilst
those whom He sent to a distance were displeased and
raised difficulties, whereupon Jesus laid the matter before
God, and on the following morning all those who had raised
difficulties spoke the language of the people to whom they
were sent" Amongst the apostles and their successors
whom Jesus sent forth, were Peter and Paul, which latter
belonged to the successors and not to the apostles. These
two were sent to Rome, but Andrew and Matthew into the
land where people eat each other; Thomas eastward into
the land of Babel; Philip to Carthagena, that is, Africa;
John to Ephesus, the land of the sleepers in the cave ; James
to Jerusalem, the city of the Holy Temple ; Ibn Talma
( = Bartholomew) to Arabia, the land of Hejaz ; Simon to
the land of the Berbers ; and Jehuda, who had not belonged
to the apostles, was put in Judas' place.* Ibn Ishak also
mentions the names of nine different messengers who had to
carry Mohammed's letters to the following potentates :
(i) to the Emperor of the Greeks ; (2) to Chosroes, the king
of Persia ; (3) to Najashi, the prince of Abyssinia ; (4) to
Mokawkas, the prince of Alexandria ; (5) to Jeifar and lyaz,
the princes of Oman ; (6) to Thumama and Hawza, the
princes of Yemama ; (7) to Munzir, the prince of Bahrein ;
(8) to El Harith, the prince of the border districts of Syria ;
and (9) to the Himyarite Harith Ibn Abd Kulal, the prince
of Yemen.

These letters may have made some impression on those
recipients who lived near enough to see cause for apprehend-
ing that the Prophet might follow them up with measures of
violence, such as he had already employed against the Jews
and others. But what the biographers tell about the effects
they produced on the Emperor Heraclius and the king of
Abyssinia, who are represented as becoming fully convinced
of Mohammed's Divine mission, and as only kept back from
giving public effect to this conviction, by the dread of their
Christian subjects, is plainly a gratuitous invention. Thus
the Moslem historians seek to magnify the influence of their

SEC. 11. II.] LETTER TO NEIGHBOURING POTENTATES, 195

prophet ; but this only shows us what great need there exists
for a wise discrimination, in making use of the Mohammedan
biographies as sources of history. Probably Mohammed
himself did not seriously expect that his letters and embassies
would produce the effect which was their professed object.
He may have imagined that the potentates whom he dared
to address with such an air of authority, might, by silently
ignoring or contemptuously rejecting his summonses, afford
him a sufficiently plausible justification for the invasion of
their countries by hostile armies, which he already contem-
plated.

In sending to Abyssinia, he had the additional object of
increasing his harem. For he aspired after the hand of Om
Habiba, Abu Sofyan's daughter, who lived there as a widow,
since her husband's death. The messenger who took the
letter to Abyssinia was commissioned to bring her back with
him. There also returned with him fifty other emigrants who
now wished to join the victorious prophet, though perhaps
some of them had not previously been professors of Islam,
but stayed in Abyssinia for purposes of trade. They reached
Mohammed when the conquest of Khaibar was barely
accomplished, and he admitted them to a share in the rich
spoil, as a token of welcome.

It is narrated that the governor of Alexandria, after
having ascertained the Prophet's fancies, and probably in
consideration of presents received from him, accompanied his
answer with the gift of a white mule and two beautiful slave
girls. One of the latter, a baptized Christian, Mary by name,
became so great a favourite with the Prophet that she was
envied by his other spouses. She gave birth to Ibrahim,
the only son he ever had, but who died in infancy.

As regards his expectation of ultimately conquering Persia
and the eastern empire of Rome, it was not so chimerical as it
may at first appear ; for he well knew the strength of his com-
pact and daily increasing army of followers, and he was fully
acquainted with the devastating wars by which, for a long time,
those two neighbouring countries had been weakening each
other, and preparing the way for the invasion and conquest
of them both. The Emperor Heraclius was on his way to
Jerusalem, to render thanks to God for his recent victories

196 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

over the Persians, when Mohammed's letter reached him.
But far from showing any sign of a disposition to accede
to the summons it contained, Heraclius stationed a lai^e
body of troops in the districts of the'empire bordering on
Arabia, to guard against any possible trouble from that
quarter.

(12.) Mohammed^ with 2000 followers, visits the Pilgrivt
Festival, according to treaty-right, and, after despatch-
ing marauding expeditions to various parts, including
one to Muta, finds a pretext for breaking the armistice
and easily conquers Mecca with an imposing anny of
10,000 men,

Mohammed, having once risen to the comtemplation of
early conquests in foreign parts, naturally redoubled his efforts
first to consolidate and still further to extend his power within
Arabia itself. The conquest of Khaibar which had greatly
added to his sinews of war, was speedily followed by a series
of smaller expeditions, despatched to different parts, under
sundry chosen leaders. Thus we read of one, under Omar,
against a Bedouin tribe to the south-east of Mecca, on the
road to Sana and Najran ; of one, under Abu Bekr, against
the Kilabites in the Nejd ; of another, under Bashir, against
the Morrites, near Fadak ; again of one, under Ghalib, against
the Owalites at Mafaa, to the north-east of Medina ; and
finally of one, again under Bashir, against the Gliatafanites,
in the neighbourhood of Khaibar.

But the crowning object of Mohammed's aspirations, for
the present, was, to obtain possession of Mecca where, in con-
sequence of his rapidly expanding power, the number of his
secret partisans was daily increasing. Therefore, in spring
629, he gladly availed himself of the treaty-right, which he
had acquired the year before, by visiting, with his followers,
the national shrine from which they had been debarred for
seven years. The occasion could be turned to account for
strengthening the footing already obtained there, though the
Meccans would, during the visit, haughtily retire from the
city to its environs.

That the ostentatious observance of this prudent stipulation
did not prove an insuperable barrier to mutual intercourse,

SEC. II. 12.] VISIT TO THE KAABA, 197

appears clearly from the fact that, though the Moslems
were not permitted to extend their visit beyond the three
days agreed upon, yet this short time afforded Mohammed
opportunity enough to engage himself to another Meccan
lady, Meimuna, the younger sister of his uncle Abbas' wife.
He even proposed to celebrate the wedding there, and to
regale the Meccans by a sumptuous wedding repast, which
would, of course, have been a splendid opportunity for
further lessening their remaining antipathy ; but his proposal
was looked through by the wary Koreish. Being not yet
prepared, as a body, to humour him, they firmly insisted
on his departure at the close of the stipulated three days,
and his new bride had to follow after him, to be married
during the return journey.

It was obvious to all that, even in this hurried pilgrimage,
the Prophet's sole wish was not to give himself up to devout
worship at the Kaaba, but that he, at the same time, pursued
other and very different objects. He had come with 2000
followers, a sufficient force to make an impression on the city,
though they were bound to deposit their arms outside the
sacred territory, and to enter with only a sheathed sword on
their side. They were left entirely unmolested, whilst they
performed their devotion ; and it must, of course, have been a
secret satisfaction to the Meccans to see the Moslems, the
reputed foes of all idolatry, pay such high honour to the
national sanctuary, still full of idols. According to Ibn Ishak,
many Meccans had remained in the city, and were standing
in rows, * to see what Mohammed and his companions would
do ; ' and he describes the scene thus : * When Mohammed
entered the temple, he cast his garb on the left shoulder, so
that his right arm appeared, and said, " May God be gracious
to the man whom He shows them to-day in his strength ! "
Then he embraced the pillar and came out leaping, his com-
panions leaping after him, till he was hid from them by the
temple. After this, he embraced the pillar towards Yemen,
and the Black Stone. Thus he made three circumambula-
tions, leaping ; and then marched again slowly.'

By publicly paying so much honour to the ancient temple
of idolatry and its proud guardian city ; by at the same time
strengthening old ties of friendship and forming new ones.

198 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il.

amongst the citizens of Mecca ; and by his quiet demon-
stration of power, at the head of such an army of devoted
followers, — Mohammed decidedly advanced his cause during
this pilgrimage, and effectually smoothed the way for his
almost unopposed seizure of the city, a year later. Nothing
shows more the success of these measures, and the attraction
already possessed by Islam for military talent, than the fact
that, almost immediately after this pilgrimage, the two great
cavalry generals of Mecca, Khalid Ibn Walid and Amr Ibn
As, who had taken a distinguished part against the Moslems
at the battle of Ohod and the siege of Medina, openly went
over to Mohammed, and took service under his banner in the
rival city. Others followed their example, and many more
became convinced of his ultimate triumph, and prepared to
join him on the first occasion.

Not quite a year elapsed between this first successful
pilgrimage to Mecca and the conquest of the city, with
the sacred territory in which it was situated; and this
short interval was again crowded with exploits of the usual
marauding and military character. Only a few weeks after
the pilgrimage, a small expedition, of not more than fifty
warriors, was sent against the Beni Soleim^ at some distance
to the east of Medina. But having already been attacked
once before, they were now on their guard, and so effectually
resisted their invaders, that most of these were slain, and
their leader fled back to Mohammed, wounded. To avert
an attack in greater force, which they had now to dread,
several of their chief men thought it best to treat with
Mohammed, and to conciliate him, by promising him their
conversion to Islam. These matters were so speedily
settled, that, nine months later, we find looo Soleimites
marching under his banner to the conquest of Mecca.

Another party of Moslems was sent against a section of
the Beni Leith. Having arrived in their neighbourhood,
they concealed themselves till night had set in ; and when
the Bedouins were fast asleep, they rushed upon their flocks
and drove them away in great haste. Though hotly pursued,
they effected their escape, being aided by a swollen brook.

To avenge the defeat inflicted on Bashir, 200 warriors
were despatched against the Beni Morra, near Fadak, with

SEC II. 12.] FIRST INVASION OF SYRIA. 199

the injunction to kill all the enemies who might fall into
their hands. Still, Mohammed afterwards rebuked them for
having killed a man, who had professed himself a Moslem, at
the time, though, in self-justification, they expressed their
opinion that he had made that profession merely from the
fear of death.

A small body of only twenty-four chosen Moslems was
sent to attack a camp of the Beni Amir, a section of the
hostile Hawasin. They were so successful, despite their
small number, that each one's share in the booty amounted
to fifteen camels. About the same time, fifteen men pro-
ceeded to Zat Atlahy north of Wadi el Kora and not far
from Syria, where they were all slain by a party of Bedouins
whom they had requested to embrace Islam, with the ex-
ception of a single one who returned to Medina, badly
wounded. Mohammed would at once have sent a strong
body of troops to punish them, had he not been informed
that the victorious Bedouins could not be found, having
quitted that locality.

But in the autumn of 629 he sent an army of revenge,
3000 strong, still further northward, for the bold purpose of
invading the southern parts of the Roman empire. The
Mohammedan historians affirm that one of the messengers,
who was the bearer of a letter in which the Emperor
Heraclius was summoned to embrace Islam, had, on his
return jou^^ney, been slain amongst the Ghassanide tribe, in
the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. This death had to be
avenged and, at the same time, a way was to be opened, if
possible, to the much coveted riches of the north. The
army was placed under the command of Zeid Ibn Haritha,
who, as originally coming from Syria, may have had some
acquaintance with those parts. When leaving, Mohammed
told them that he expected to see them come back * laden
with spoil.' But though, a few years later, the overwhelming
hosts of Moslem horsemen bore down everything before
them, on this first occasion, notwithstanding all their
bravery and daring, the comparative smallness of their
number invited a signal defeat. It is probably a great
exaggeration, when we are told that Zeid found himself
opposed by an army of 100,000 Christian warriors, and that,

200 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. 11.

at some distance, another 100,000 of Imperial troops were
in reserve ; but of his being vastly outnumjbered there can
be no doubt

The first battle on Roman ground took place at Muta,
at the south-east end of the Dead Sea, the country of the
ancient Moabites. In coming upon the enemy, the Moslems
first retired to a favourable position and there awaited the
attack in close lines. Their leaders dismounted, and Jafar,
Ali's brother, is reported to have hamstringed his horse with
his own hands, in token that he had discarded every thought
of fleeing. The banner was held by Zeid, and as he was
soon struck down, Jafar took it up after him, but met with
the same fate. Then Abd Allah Ibn Rawaha seized it, and
having both his hands cut off, pressed it to his body with
the stumps of his arms, till he likewise fell. The Moslems
were beaten and put to flight. They lost their bravest men,
and would have suffered still more severely, had not the
celebrated Khalid, though but a recent convert, taken the
command, and with great dexterity somewhat restored the
fight, so as to secure an orderly retreat.

The defeated army was coldly received by the people of
Medina, who called them runaways ; but Mohammed, who
had been the first to make known the disaster, as soon as
the news had reached him, defended them and expressed
the conviction that they would resume the conflict in the
future and amply make up for their late repulse. He much
felt the loss of the slain who had so bravely defended them-
selves, and showed kindness to their bereaved families ; but,
to be able to avenge their death, it was plain that he would
first have greatly to increase the number of his army. For
the present he could only despatch a few hundred chosen
men, under Amr Ibn As, the future conqueror of Egypt,
who, by rapid night-marches, surprised and scattered the
tribes on the Syrian border, and thus restored the Mussulman
prestige in those quarters which had been dangerously
shaken by the reverse of Muta.

Effectually to cope with the Roman power in the north,
it was clearly necessary first to give greater strength and
wider dimensions to the new Arab empire at home. This
object was accomplished by the conquest of MeccUy whereby

SEC 11. 12.] PRETEXT FOR ATTACKING MECCA, 201

that primitive barrier to Islam was converted into its lasting
bulwark, and the way opened for the Arab tribes throughout
the Peninsula to join Mohammed's cause in rapid succession.
According to the agreement of Hodeibia, the peace between
Medina and Mecca was to last for ten years. But two years
had not yet fully elapsed, when a pretext conveniently
offered itself to the Prophet for breaking it

The Khozaite Bedouins, near Mecca, who, as has been
already noticed (p. 192), had allied themselves with Moham-
me'd, were attacked by the Beni Bekr, allies of the Koreish,
because of some existing blood-feud, and lost a score of men
in the encounter. They applied to Mohammed for assistance
and accused the Koreish, against whom their alliance with
the Prophet was mainly directed, of having abetted the Beni
Bekr in the late fight He now felt strong enough to deal a
decisive blow against the city which had persecuted him, and
therefore welcomed such an opportunity for reaching his goal.
He promised the help which the Khozaites demanded, and
at once made preparations for a war-expedition, on a larger
scale than any previous one. Abu Sofyan went to Medina
in person, to confer with the Prophet, who was now his
son-in-law, and to smooth over matters, but, as might be
anticipated, without success.

In January 630 we find Mohammed on the march against
Mecca with an army of 10,000 men, all of them professed
believers and including many Bedouins. We are not told,
but can form our own surmises, whether Abu Sofyan's
late diplomatic mission had resulted in a secret understanding
with his son-in-law, to facilitate his taking the coveted city.
In any case, we must allow due weight to the fact that in
Medina he was the guest of his daughter, Om Habiba, one
of the Prophet's wives. Thus it came to pass that the
Moslem army, on its arrival, found the sacred city so little
guarded and so little on the alert, that its approach was not
known till it encamped at Marr el Zahran, close by, and its
ten thousand watch-fires startled the deluded city from its
false security. Mohammed's uncle, Abbas, is represented as
having set out, at this very time, to emigrate to the city of his
nephew ; but he conveniently met him on the way, marching
with his army, and therefore came back in his company.

202 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

Abu Sofyan also sallied forth, to ascertain what the thou-
sands of watch-fires meant ; and he most opportunely fell in
with Abbas, who, on his own mule, took him at once into
the presence of the Prophet Here he became so deeply
impressed with the irresistible power of the Moslems,
especially when he saw the mail-clad ^lite of their army,
that his religious scruples vanished in a moment, and he
then and there made profession of his faith in Islam and
its apostle.

Mohammed was mightily pleased with the submission of
this his old antagonist and new father-in-law, and, to give an
open expression to his feelings of gratitude, sent him back
to the city, with the message of peace that all the inhabitants
who would take refuge in Abu Sofyan's house, or in the
sanctuary, or would quietly remain in-doors, might consider
themselves safe. The people readily accepted Abu Sofyan's
advice to abstain from every attempt at resisting the over-
whelming forces of the conqueror. Mohammed, on his part,
issued orders that no harm should be done to any, except
those who might offer armed resistance. In four columns,
from four different sides, the Moslem army made its
triumphant entrance into the city, without encountering any
opposition. Only the column commanded by Khalid was
opposed by a small body of patriots. They killed two of
the invaders, but were easily put to flight, with a loss on
their side of twelve men, according to one account, of
twenty-eight, according to another account.

Mohammed's coup de main had proved a complete success :
the whole city lay prostrate at his feet, and the former objec-
tions to his prophetic claim had vanished as by magic. He
could afford to be magnanimous : the city was spared, the
kinship with the Koreish upheld and honoured, and a general
amnesty proclaimed. From the amnesty, only ten persons,
amongst them four women, were excluded, because they had
personally insulted the Prophet or ridiculed his religion ; but
even most of these were finally spared, through their suing
for pardon and making profession of Islam.

Mohammed lost no time in visiting the temple, riding
round it seven times and saluting its Black Stone, as a public
act of religious worship. He, indeed, ordered the idols which

SEC II. 12, 13.] HIS MARKED REGARD FOR MECCA. 203

it contained to be destroyed, and had the painted images
on its walls whitewashed over ; but the Kaaba itself was
retained as the local centre of Islam and as the Kibla for all
its worshippers. By this local feature impressed upon it,
Mohammedanism must always appear stamped with a mark
of inferiority, as compared to the sublime spirituality of the
Christian religion, which it aims to supersede. Ibn Ishak
records that, on the day after the conquest, Mohammed
made the following public address to his assembled followers :
*0 ye people I God has sanctified Mecca on the day He
created heaven and earth ; and it will remain sacred until
the day of the resurrection. It is not lawful for any believer
to shed blood in it, or fell a tree : it was not lawful for any
one before me, nor will it be lawful for any one after me.
It was only made lawful for me, in this hour, because of
God's wrath against its inhabitants ; and it has now been
sanctified again, as before. Let those present make this
known to the absent'

So marked was now the Prophet's esteem and partiality
for his native city, with its time-honoured temple, that his
followers from Medina gave expression to their fear lest
he should relinquish their town and remain here altogether.
He had to appease them by pledging his word that he
would never forsake them, but with them would live and
with them die.

(13.) After the conquest of Mecca^ Mohammed's power rapidly
increases y and he gains the important battle of Honein^
which yields him an immense booty and leads to the
capitulation of the rich town of Taif

The conquest of Mecca could not but enhance Moham-
med's prestige and greatly promote the extension of his
power and of his religion. Eight years ago he had to quit
the town as a persecuted enthusiast and a despised outcast :
now he had returned to it in triumph at the head of a vast
army, before which every opposition had to cease. Two
years ago it was permitted him, as a favour, to remain for
three days with his followers, restricted to acts of devotion
at its shrine : now the whole sacred territory was in his

204 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

possession, and his will the law paramount, to which the
proudest of the Koreish had to bow in humble submission.
The national sanctuary, which had hitherto repudiated him,
was now converted into an institution which reflected and
recommended to the multitudes of annually arriving pilgrims
the religion he taught. At his command, the Kaaba was
purged of its idols. He, by a sovereign disposition, con-
firmed to Othman the office of keeping its key, and to
Abbas the privilege of providing the pilgrims with water.
Before departing from the city, he appointed a governor to
rule in his stead, and to lead the people in their public
worship. He forbade idolatry in Mecca and despatched
Khalid and others, at the head of armed soldiers, to destroy
the idols of the land and to invite their worshippers to the
adoption of Islam.

No wonder, the profession of the new faith spread most
rapidly. With it, the military power which it implies, as an
integral part, advanced apace. This found a striking illus-
tration at this juncture. Mohammed had only remained a
fortnight in Mecca, after its conquest, when he had to
march out against the hostile camp which the Hawazin
Bedouins had formed near Honein. Yet, during this short
period, his army had gained an accession of no less than
2000 men from the conquered Meccans. For whereas he
had arrived with an army io,ooo strong, we are informed
that he could face the new danger at the head of 12,000
armed followers. This was very fortunate for him, because
the enemy he had to encounter was of the same numerical
strength.

The Hawazins, together with the confederate town of
Taif, had perceived the imminent danger which threatened
their own independence, from the moment that Mohammed
had added Mecca to his dominion. They resolved to ward
off, if possible, a similar fate from themselves ; and their chief
sought to stimulate them to a desperate resistance, by order-
ing all their women and children, as well as their treasures,
to be removed to the camp. In consequence of this, Moham-
med's forces suffered a check in their first onslaught, and
his levy of new converts betrayed a strong tendency to bolt ;
but the tried and mailed portion of his army soon restored

SEC. II. 13.] DISPOSAL OF THE SPOIL OF HONEIN. 205

the fight and obtained an easy victory over the undisciplined
Bedouins, scattering them in all directions. A rich spoil
fell into the hands of the conquerors, namely, 6000 captive
women and children, 24,000 camels, over 40,000 sheep, and
4000 ounces of silver. The fifth part of this booty was
claimed by the Prophet, as his share, and enabled him to
reconcile the Koreish to the new order of things, by the
bestowal of bountiful presents.

How munificently he treated the aristocracy of Mecca,
whose conversion to Islam had so long formed a chief object
of his desire, is seen from the fact that to Abu Sofyan alone he
gave 40 ounces of silver and 100 camels, and an equal amount
to his two sons Yazid and Moawia. This lavish liberality to
the Meccans, whom he thus wished to bind to himself by
the tie of self-interest, roused afresh the jealousy of his
friends from Medina, so that he had to pacify them in these
touching words, 'Are you sad on account of the earthly
things which I have given to these people, in order to attach
them to Islam, whilst I have full confidence in your faith ?
Can you not be content, if others return home with sheep
and camels, but yourselves with the apostle of God ? ' The
Hawazins also, with true Bedouin shrewdness, came forward
to benefit by the Prophet's liberality to converts : they hastily
made up their minds to profess Islam, and, in return, had
their 6000 captives restored to them. Thus the result of the
battle of Honein considerably added to the strength of the
Moslem power. But this was not all ; it materially helped
to open the gates of the important town of Taif

The ThakifiteSy or inhabitants of Taif^ who had fought
valiantly by the side of the Hawazins, as is known by their
loss of 70 men killed, entrenched themselves after the defeat
they had shared, behind the walls of their city. Mohammed
besieged them for several weeks, with his whole army ; but
he encountered a most determinate resistance and could
not break it, even by seeking to entice their slaves to desert
with a promise of emancipation, or by adopting the bar-
barous measure of cutting down the vines in their renowned
vineyards. Having lost quite a number of his followers in
the attack, he thought it prudent to raise the siege and trust
to easier means for their reduction. Malik^ the commander-

2o6 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. CH. li.

in-chief at the battle of Honein, who on his defeat had taken
refuge in Taifi was induced by promises and presents to quit
Jiis asylum and, after turning Mussulman, to place himself
at the head of the recently converted Hawazins. He was
enjoined to harass the population of Taif in every possible
way, till they should be ready to submit. This method proved
successful. The Thakifites, tired of the incessant warfare, and
despairing of ultimate success against the rapidly increasing
power of their enemy, sent a deputation to the Prophet,
offering to accept his rule and his religion, in return for
the protection of their persons and their possessions : a pro-
posal he had confidently anticipated and with which he
gladly complied.

(14.) Mohammed starts with a military expedition against the
Roman empire ; but only reaches as far as Tabuk, whence
he despatches some troops against Duma and then returns.

The deputations from numerous Arab tribes, anxious to
secure treaties of amity, by surrendering their liberty and
faith — as we shall see in the next paragraph — had already
commenced to arrive, when the ostentatious march to and
from Tabuk was carried out. This was nothing less than a
military enterprise, on a large scale, against the Christian
empire of Rome^ from which it became afresh manifest what
bold and vast designs Mohammed entertained, whilst trying
to melt the disunited Arab tribes into one compact nation.
Two years had already passed since his despatch of special am-
bassadors to neighbouring rulers, amongst them the Emperor
Heraclius, summoning them to submit to Islam. But the sub-
sequent military expedition under Zeid, intended to be helpful
in giving effect to that summons, only showed how much
more difficult it was to make headway against the Emperor
of Rome, than to subdue undisciplined Bedouin tribes ; for
Zeid, as we have seen, instead of conquering, was completely
routed at Muta, and, with many of his companions, remained
slain on the battle-field. Mohammed could not allow him-
self thus to be turned from his great object, an attack on the
Roman empire, but kept it steadfastly in view, and placed
it prominently before the eyes of the Moslem community,

SEC. II. 14.] PREPARATIONS FOR INVADING SYRIA, 2<yj

determined to carry it out as soon as circumstances presented
a fair chance of success. The Emperor Heraclius had like-
wise been shown by the affair of Muta what serious danger
was menacing his empire from the south. It was, therefore,
natural for him to keep considerable bodies of troops near
the southern borders, ready to meet the Mussulman hordes,
in the not unlikely event of a renewed incursion.

Mohammed, though probably not unaware of this, yet
was resolved, by planning a war-expedition on the largest
scale, to try the attempt afresh, of forcing open the southern
gate of the Roman empire, strongly guarded though it was.
The contemplated enterprise was indeed one of no common
magnitude and difficulty ; but his followers and allies had
now swelled into an immense multitude, and so he lost no
time in publicly making known his intention and ordering the
extensive preparations requisite. Ibn Ishak says, 'When Mo-
hammed undertook a war, he usually concealed his true object,
by feigning another ; but, in the case of the Tabuk expedition,
he mentioned it at once, because of the great distance, the
difficulty of the season, and the strength of the enemy to be
encountered. In order that they might make the necessary
preparation, he told them openly that they were to prepare
for an expedition against the Romans! He intended to raise
a vast army with which he might overwhelm the Emperor's
forces ; and, if all the Bedouin tribes who were already
brought under his suzerainty, had responded to his call and
joined his standard, he might have commanded an armed
host of a hundred thousand followers.

But the recently and superficially converted Bedouins
showed no great disposition to be pitted against the Roman
legions who had so gallantly defeated the flower of the
Moslem warriors at Muta ; and even in Medina itself, many
searched for excuses to justify them in stopping at home.
Some pretended that the heat of the season was too great for
them ; others, that the fruits of their gardens had to be
gathered in ; and some even, that they were afraid the beauti-
ful Roman women might prove too great a temptation for
them. To the latter Mohammed answered, that the tempta-
tion to desert the Prophet was worse than the temptation of
the Roman women. The whole party known as * hypocrites,'

2o8 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

or those who had turned Moslems a^inst their will, from
the mere force of circumstances, were thoroughly averse to
the hazardous expedition, and anxious to escape from its
hardships and dangers. Some of them are said to have
been assembling outside the city in the house of Suweilim, a
Jew ; and when Mohammed heard of it, he sent a number of
trusty followers and had the house burned over their heads.
The other ' dissemblers and doubters ' in Medina made the
requisite preparations for the war, but formed a distinct camp
under their leader Abd Allah Ibn Obei ; and Ibn Ishak
observes that the number of the dissemblers was supposed to
have been not inferior to that of the sincere Moslems. It
must have been no small disappointment to Mohammed to
find that, at the decisive moment, when he issued the order
to march, a very considerable body of men, with their
leader, made excuses and stopped behind, so that, to pre-
vent them from doing mischief during his absence, he had
to request AH, that formidable champion, likewise to remain
in Medina.

But even the ixiain army, gathered from so many tribes,
was not free from ' hypocrites * ; and Ibn Ishak informs us
that some, with the intent of disheartening others, expressed
their apprehensions, during the march, in words such as these,
' Do you suppose that a war against the Romans is the same
thing as a war against the Arabs ? To us it seems as if we
were already bound with ropes, like captives.' Mohammed
had also urged on the believers the duty of contributing
money and beasts of burden to * the cause of God,' as he was
pleased to call this war-expedition. Many of the rich re-
sponded liberally, and Othman alone is said to have con-
tributed a thousand gold pieces ; but others were behind-
hand even in this, and the Prophet is reported to have said,
concerning some of them, a section of the Aslamites, * What
hindered these people, if stopping behind themselves, from
at least lending their camels to those who gladly march in
the path of God ? '

The army which Mohammed succeeded in collecting did
not come up to the standard desired by him, as regards
number and equipment. Ibn Ishak gives no particulars on
these points ; but later historians represent it as consisting

SEC. II. 14.] MARCH TO TABUK. 209

of 30,(XX) men, with lOfiOO horses and 12,000 camels. If
this IS not an exaggeration, the force was still such as to
cause surprise that Mohammed attempted no more with it
than he actually did. He had summoned the people to a
war against the Romans ; but he arrested his northward
march at Tabuky little more than half the distance to Muta,
where, the year before, Zeid had first met the Roman troops,
and where he, no doubt, would also have found them, had he
still had the courage to engage them in battle. But he had
evidently given up his original intention and come to the
conclusion that his safer and more prudent course was, to
avoid a hostile encounter with the Romans. The multitude
of his converts, about the hoUowness of whose conversion he
ought never to have entertained any illusion, sadly disap-
pointed his expectation : the army was far less numerous
than he had hoped it would be, and yet abounded in
doubtful elements. Besides, he could not conceal from
himself that the * hypocrites ' staying at home, constituted
a most serious danger, especially if he were to meet with a
reverse similar to Zeid's. Mohammed was always more
distinguished for prudent calculation than for manly
courage. He evidently shrank from attempting, with his
not inconsiderable army, what a year ago he had expected
Zeid to accomplish with a much smaller force.

At Tabuk he mounted an eminence, and, turning to the
north, said, 'This is Syria;' then, turning to the south,
said, 'This is Yemen,' as if content to leave the confines
between Rome and Arabia undisturbed, for the moment.
Ibn Ishak sums up the whole exploit in these few words,
' Mohammed remained about ten nights in Tabuk, and did
not go beyond it. Then he returned to Medina.' His plan
of invading and conquering Syria was postponed, under
existing circumstances, but by no means relinquished. A
year later, another army was equipped for the same purpose ;
and then Mohammed found it practicable to devolve the
responsibilities and risks of commandership upon younger
shoulders. The present much trumpeted expedition against
the Romans dwindled down to a mere armed demonstration,
to impress the border tribes with the stirring activity and

O

2IO HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il

power of the Moslems, and to smooth the way for a future
successful invasion of the empire.

Some practical consequences of an immediate character,
resulting from the expedition to Tabuk, were a treaty with
Yohanna, the ruler of a small Christian principality at Aila,
or Akaba, on the Red Sea, who went to Tabuk and agreed
to pay a capitulation tax, in return for the promise of friend-
ship and protection ; as also similar treaties, concluded with
the petty Jewish communities of Makna, Jarba, and Azruh,
in adjoining localities. Of greater importance was the de-
spatch of Khalid from Tabuk, with a force of 420 chosen
horsemen, against the oasis of Dutna^ where Okaidir, a
Christian prince, ruled. He was taken prisoner, with his
suite, whilst out hunting wild cows, and had to surrender his
town and fortress, with all its arms, 400 mail-suits, and
2800 camels, to the hands of the exacting captor. He was
brought to Medina, where he was induced to accept the
conquering prophet's religion, in return for a treaty of
amity, confirming him in the government of Duma.

On his return home from what proved to be the last
expedition which he commanded in person, Mohammed
showed his displeasure to *■ the hypocrites ' who had abstained
from accompanying him. They were compelled to make a
humble apology, and the mosque, which they had erected
near Medina, and where they used to assemble together, was
utterly demolished and levelled with the ground. Several
men from amongst the professed Moslems who were not
suspected of hypocrisy, and had yet remained at home, were
put under a sort of ban, all the believers being prohibited
from speaking to them, or having any dealings with them, for
many weeks. Thus it becomes apparent that, even during
the Prophet's lifetime, his followers were induced to keep
and act together, more by fear and self-interest, than by
purely religious and conscientious motives.

SEC II. 15.] \THE YEAR OF THE DEPUTATIONS, 211

(15.) The Arab power of resistance being broken by the rapid
extension of Mohammed s triumphs^ so many tribes
are induced by fear and self interest to send special
Deputies to Medina^ offering their submission to Islam^
that the ^th year after the Flight is styled * The Year
of the Deputations^

When once Mecca, with its temple and sacred territory,
had passed into Mohammed's possession, and the far-famed
Koreish were enlisted under his banner, the most powerful
influence existing in Arabia, from being exercised against him,
as heretofore, was turned in his favour and contributed most
effectually to the rapid extension of his dominion over the
whole land. The national sanctuary of the Kaaba was now
the local centre of Islam, and the annual pilgrimage to it,
from every quarter, could not, therefore, but enhance the
fame and power of its Prophet. The triumphant and ever-
increasing hosts, whom he guided by his sovereign will, no
longer met in Arabia with any truly formidable obstacle
to their incessant advance. On the contrary, Arab tribes,
from far and near, acutely appreciating the new situation,
sent deputations, of their own accord, to arrange terms of
friendship with the irresistible prophet and to share in the
manifest advantages of belonging to the politico-religious
organisation of his followers. So it came to pass that,
before his death, all Arabia was virtually under his sway,
and he could collect his hosts of emulating warriors, with
the reasonable hope of proving a match for the weakened
forces of the long-contending empires of Rome and Persia.
After the battle of Honein, the advance of Islam to universal
domination in Arabia had, in reality, become either a mere
military promenade, or an easy triumph of diplomatic nego-
tiation over parties, who clearly saw it to be their worldly
interest to embrace the offered religion.

About two years before Mohammed's death, deputations
began to be sent from every part of Arabia, offering sub-
mission and the profession of Islam. They soon became so
frequent that the 9th year of the Hegira, from spring 630
to spring 631, is distinguished by Mohammedan historians
as * 714^ Year of the Deputations^ Ibn Ishak, in a passage

212 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. il.

of his work, honestly tells us what, in his opinion, led up
to so decisive a result, and unconsciously admits that it
was not religious conviction, but political calculation and
fear, which moved these tribes, one after another, to proffer
their submission to the redoubtable prophet and accept the
faith he pressed upon them with so much zeal. He says,
' When Mohammed had conquered Mecca, and come back
from Tabuk, and when the Thakifites had been converted
and taken the oath of allegfiance, then deputations arrived
from all parts of Arabia. For the Arabs had waited to see
what turn matters would take between Mohammed and the
Koreish, because the latter were the guides and directors of
the people, the lords of the sacred temple, and the declared
descendants cyf Ishmael, the son of Abraham. This was
well known to the chief men of the Arabs, as also that it
had been the Koreish who first gainsaid Mohammed and
kindled war against him. As soon, therefore, as Mecca was
conquered, and the Koreish had submitted to him, being
humbled by Islam, the Arabs, understanding that they
themselves had not the power to oppose Mohammed and
make war against him, professed the faith of Allah.'

It is undeniable that the vaunted Deputations, recorded
in honour of the attractive nature of Islam, mainly resulted
from fear and from the secular pressure brought to bear on
the different Arab tribes. Moslem bands of daring horse-
men, under leaders like the irresistible Khalid, scoured the
country in every direction, so that all the tribes who had not
yet bowed to the new authority were in constant danger of
sudden attacks, and could not lie down to sleep, without the
harassing consciousness that prowling Moslems might pounce
upon them during the darkness of the night, dealing death
to the men, and carrying away the women, children, and
flocks. Moreover, at the pilgrimage-festival in the 9th year
of the Hegira, the existing covenant, that no one should be
prevented from visiting the temple or be molested during the
holy month, was formally annulled, as regards non-Moslems;
and the believers received the injunction, 'When the holy
months, granted for a respite, are over, then slay the idola-
ters where you find them, or take them captive, or shut
them up, and lie in wait for them on every road ; but if they

SEC II. 15.] NON-MOSLEMS FORBIDDEN THE TEMPLE. 213

believe, say the prayers, and give the alms to the poor, then
let them go free.' Mohammed, who but a few years ago had
himself been excluded from the temple, and pleaded the
common right of all to visit it, naturally did not care to give
so unexpected and intolerant a message in person, to the
collected heathen pilgrims, but preferred to stay at home and
convey the declaration by deputy. Abu Bekr, who this year
headed the caravan of pilgrims to Mecca, was already far
advanced on the way, when Ali was sent after him, with
the direction to accompany him to the holy city, and there
publicly to proclaim the unwelcome message.

The disbelieving Arabs now could not help seeing that
if they continued any longer in their old religion, they would
thenceforth be excluded from their national sanctuary and
have to bear the active hostility of the united and irresistible
Moslem power. The only alternative before them was,
either to embrace the offered new religion, with all its con-
comitant advantages, or to accept a mortal contest, with the
certain prospect of defeat and galling subjugation. The
choice could, therefore, not appear difficult to them. So, in
like manner, the isolated Christian and Jewish communities,
still surviving in distant parts of the land, could only avoid
an exterminating war, by accepting Islam, or submitting to a
vexatious capitation tax and other humiliating conditions.
Individual conversions, mostly from interested motives, had
been of frequent occurrence among many tribes ; and the
fanaticism of these neophytes, who fancied they possessed a
Divine sanction for breaking all the ties of kindred, honour,
and duty towards those of another faith, had caused a
widespread distrust, a radical unsettlement of the notions of
right and wrong, of honour and shame, hitherto prevailing
in Arab society. Ancient bonds and bases being thus
entirely dissolved, the need of a new stay and reuniting
power was all the more generally felt ; and such a centralising
authority was now offering, or rather obtruding, itself in
victorious Islam and its iron laws. What wonder, then, that
during the last few years of Mohammed's life, deputations
from the shrewd, keen-sighted Arabs all over the Peninsula,
should crowd to Medina, as anxious to strike a profitable
bargain with the compatriot prophet, as he was willing to

214 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

recognise their natural claim to his jurisdiction ? The ten-
dency towards Islam now assumed the form of a national
movement, swaying the current of public opinion ; and the
cause which long had been the source of heart-burnings,
violence, and bloodshed, was now rapidly becoming the
strongest bond of union, the universally acknowledged
authority amongst the countless tribes and clans of the
Arab nation.

The Moslem historians delight in enumerating the
different deputations, consisting of a few individuals, or of
tens, or of hundreds, flocking to Medina, to profess faith in
their prophet and submission to his laws. They arrived from
every quarter : from the confines of Syria ; from the provinces
of Bahrein and Oman, on the Persian Gulf; from Mahra and
Hadramaut, on the shores of the Indian Ocean ; from Yemen
in the south-west ; from the widespread area of the central
districts; and, in fact, from every part where the power of
Islam had not as yet been established.

These deputations from distant tribes were generally pre-
sented to Mohammed in the mosque, after the public service,
with the view of favourably impressing them ; and, in their
reception, he strove to fascinate and attach them by much
affability and kindness, never forgetting to supply them with
rich presents at their departure. He often granted special
privileges of a worldly nature to those who solicited them,
and showed an inclination to render the new order of things
as little irksome as possible, provided always, that his
authority as a prophet was accepted, idol-worship abolished,
and the tithes and taxes regularly paid. Sometimes he
despatched armed parties to destroy idols and shrines ; and
to the Thakifites he conceded, as a special favour, that their
idol should be destroyed, not by their own hands, but by men
whom he would send for the express purpose. Chiefs, as a
rule, were continued in office, if they readily submitted to
Islam ; and to induce them to do so, the Prophet did not
hesitate to unroll before their minds pictures of a most
attractive worldly character. According to Ibn Hisham, the
Tay-chief Adi^ a professed Christian, took flight, when Mos-
lem hordes seized his land, but afterwards was persuaded
to visit Mohammed, who addressed him in these words :

SEC. II. 15, 16.] WORLDLY PROMISES. 215

* Perhaps thou declinest our Faith, because its professors are
so poor ; but, by Allah ! the time is not distant when money
will become so abundant that people will be wanted to
receive it. Or art thou frightened by the great number of
their enemies and their own fewness ; but, by Allah ! thou
wilt soon hear that a woman can travel safely on a camel
from Kadesia to visit the holy temple. Or dost thou refuse
our Faith because empire and dominion are with others ;
but, by Allah ! thou wilt soon hear that the white castles of
Babylon have been taken by conquest' Whether this con-
versation took place exactly as recorded by Ibn Hisham, or
not, the fact, that Mohammed had already given a tangible
form to his plan of conquering the northern countries, quite
justifies him in not considering its substance improbable or
unhistorical. He also narrates that Adi used to say in later
times, ' Two of these prophecies are already fulfilled : I have
seen that the white castles of Babylon have been taken, and
that a woman can, without fear, perform her pilgrimage to
this temple, riding from Kadesia on a camel ; and the third,
I hope, will also soon come to pass : such abundance of
money that none will any more care to take it*

(16.) The superficiality of the Conversions and Compacts,
effected by those Deputations, is illustrated by the in-
stances of two A rab Tribes and of two Rival Prophets.

That Mohammed, in seeking to make converts, gave so
much prominence to purely secular considerations, argues
ill for the spirituality of his own character, and throws light
on the unsatisfactory nature of the conversions he aimed at,
which plainly consisted of a mere outward change, or a
substitution of one sort of religious forms and formulas, in
the place of others. Heart-religion was of little moment to
him, if only he obtained the profession of the mouth and
submission to his legal enactments. Hence the conversions
to Islam could be so rapid and so general.

What Ibn Ishak reports of the Beni Saad is very instruc-
tive, in this respect They sent Dhimam Ibn Thalaba as their
deputy, to bring about an arrangement with the Prophet.
On arriving in Medina, he found him sitting in the mosque,

2i6 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

surrounded by his companions. He therefore tied his camel
to the door of the mosque, and, being admitted to Moham-
med's presence, addressed him thus, * I adjure thee to tell
me, whether God did really send thee to us as His ambassador
and forbid the worship of idols, and whether He commanded
thee to enjoin five daily prayers, alms, fasts, the pilgrimage,
and other ordinances?' On Mohammed answering these
questions in the affirmative, he forthwith exclaimed, * I con-
fess that there is no God but Allah and that Mohammed is
His ambassador, whose precepts I shall obey, neither adding
thereto, nor taking therefrom.' Then, untying his camel, he
remounted and hastily travelled back to his tribe. On
arriving, his first word to them was, *The idols Lat and
Ozza have been put to shame,' They called out, 'Keep
silence, Dhimam ! be afraid of leprosy, elephantiasis, and mad-
ness ! ' He answered, * Woe to you : they can neither harm
nor help.' Having added some further account of his visit,
the effect was truly magic, and the historian describes it in
these words, ' By Allah ! before it had become evening, all the
men and women in the whole camp were converted to Islam.'
Sometimes, when deputations, suing for treaties of sub-
mission, did not come forward as fast as Mohammed
expected, he used means to bring them about, quite char-
acteristic of his peculiar method. When the Christians of
Najran, as recorded above (p. 138), had already secured a
treaty for themselves, the Bent Haritky a heathen tribe of
Najranites, were still sullenly holding back. Mohammed,
apprehending that this might lead to unpleasant conse-
quences, by unsettling others, despatched his daring cavalry
commander Khalid, with a body of chosen troops, to either
convert or conquer them. Khalid was instructed not to fight
them till he had first, for three days, invited them to Islam
and they had refused. Accordingly he sent forth his horse-
men in every direction, calling out to the people, *0 ye
Beni Harith, believe in Islam, and you shall be spared.' The
invitation of these martial missionaries had the desired result.
All the people turned Moslems ; and the cavalry commander,
as far as his own knowledge went, instructed them in the
doctrine and usages of Islam. On writing to the Prophet
whether he was to continue his teaching still longer, he was

SEC II. i6.] MOSEILAMA. 217

directed to return home and to bring with him a deputation
from those new converts, to solicit and receive a formal
treaty. This was accordingly done ; and when the deputies,
on their arrival in Medina, wished to show some indepen-
dence, and calmly reiterated that they were men who, after
being beaten, returned to the attack, Mohammed cowed
them by the declaration, ' If Khalid had not written to me
that you did embrace Islam, without going to war, I should
now lay your heads before your feet' It is evident, therefore,
that the treaties of amity, concluded with the deputations of
so many different tribes, proceeding as they did from a sense
of fear and worldly interest, were often of a very hollow
character, and glaringly failed in establishing a state of
mutual confidence and cordial agreement

Sometimes they did no more than momentarily conceal
and gloss over a still-continuing and deep-seated disagree-
ment, which at any moment might break out into an open
rupture. The treaty effected with the Beni Hanifa of
Yemama was of this nature. Their deputation to Medina
included Abu Thumama^ who, in Mohammedan documents,
figures only by the opprobrious appellative of * MoseUama '
{i.e, * the diminutive Moslem '). He claimed to be Moham-
med's equal, entitled to share with him the authority over
Arabia, and eventually to succeed him. Mohammed, as was
his wont, received him in the mosque, sitting amongst his
companions ; and though we are assured that, in reply to the
rival's demands, he, holding a dry palm-branch in his hand,
declared to him, ' Even if thou wert to demand this branch
only, I should not give it thee ' ; yet the subsequent pact
seems to have resulted from concessions on both sides.
Tradition affirms that Moseilama received presents, like his
fellow-deputies, but that, on returning to Yemama, he apo-
statised, like an enemy of God, and began to speak to his
people in rhyme, imitating the Koran. After a time, he de-
spatched two messengers to Mohammed, to hand to him the
following letter : * From Moseilama,^ the Apostle of God, to

^ The reader will observe that the Mohammedan historian makes the rival
prophet call himself by the nickname with which the Moslems invariably stig-
matise him. This can hardly be in accordance with the terms actually employed
in the letter.

1

2i8 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

Mohammed, the Apostle of God, Peace to thee. Then
know, that I am thy equal in dominion : half of the land
belongs to us and half to the Koreish, though they are evil-
doers.' Having read the letter, Mohammed asked the
messengers, 'And what is your opinion?' They replied,
* We speak as he does.' Thereupon Mohammed said to the
messengers, 'If ambassadors were not inviolable, I should
have your heads cut off;' and he sent them back to Mosei-
lama with the following letter : ' In the name of God, the
Merciful, the Compassionate! From Mohammed, the
Apostle of God, to Moseilama, the liar. Peace to him who
follows the guidance. Then know, the earth belongs to
God, He gives it to the servant He pleases. The pious
shall have a good end.' Notwithstanding this epistolary
antagonism between the two rival prophets, the compact
with the Beni Hanifa seems to have been silently admitted
as still in force, inasmuch as we are not told of any open
hostility or actual fighting between the two parties, till after
Mohammed's death, when we find Moseilama a leading
figure amongst those who made a desperate, though finally
unavailing, effort to throw off and break the yoke of Mussul-
man domination.

If Moseilama of Yemama in the Nejd contented himself
during Mohammed's lifetime with a war of correspondence,
and a mere theoretical assertion of equal claims, another rival
prophet who made his appearance further south, in Yemen^
openly unfurled the banner of revolt, four months before
Mohammed's death, and for a short time drew the whole
southern portion of Arabia after him. This was Ayhala
Ibn Kaby of the Beni Madhij, who is only known amongst
the Mussulmans by the nickname of ' El Aswad^ (i.e. * the
Black '). He also had for a time professed Islam. But when
Mohammed made sundry arbitrary changes in the governor-
ships of the south, substituting men of his own choice, often
strangers, to the native chiefs whom he had at first confirmed
in their office, and when he directed the tithes to be forwarded
to Medina, instead of having them spent where they were
raised, Aswad availed himself of the general discontent
caused thereby, drove the Moslem tax-gatherers out of Naj-
ran, and in a few weeks made himself master of the fortified

SEC. II. i6.] EL ASWAD, 219

town of Sana^ whose governor, appointed by Mohammed,
fell in its defence. Aswad, to make his triumph more telling,
forthwith espoused the governor's widow. This proved his
ruin. For she was actuated more by thoughts of revenge for
her former, than by feelings of affection for her present, hus-
band. Mohammed, through his unscrupulous agents, who
were amply furnished with means, found the way to Aswad's
generals and to Aswad's wife. She herself placed a lamp
to direct the assassins to her husband's sleeping apartment,
where they foully murdered him. This is stated to have
happened only one day before Mohammed himself breathed
his last in Medina.

Mohammed must have felt the rivalry and hostility of
Moseilama and El Aswad all the more deeply, as they are
both reported to have, for a time, made profession of Islam.
Ibn Ishak records a tradition according to which he said
one morning, 'To-night I dreamt that I saw two golden
rings upon my arm ; but, being displeased with them, I blew
upon them, and they flew away. I interpret this of the
two liars, the lords of Yemen and of Yemama.' With a
reference to the same inconvenient rivals, he is also reported
to have said on another occasion, * The hour of the resurrec-
tion will not come before thirty Antichrists will have risen
up, pretending to be prophets.' But who can help seeing
that his rivals, and any impartial persons, could with equal
justice regard Mohammed himself as one of the thirty? If
he treated as false prophets those who put forth claims
similar to his own, in what character must he appear, if it is
considered that he claimed to be equal with Christ, yea, even
superior to all the previous prophets, as being their * seal ' }
Moseilama and Aswad only wished to restrict his dominion
within certain limits and to prevent his encroachment upon
other parts of Arabia ; but he aimed at subjugating the
Christian world, as is seen from the summonses he sent to
the Christian rulers, and from the humiliating capitation
tax he imposed on the Arab communities who made their
retention of Christianity a stipulation in the treaties to which
they had to submit By his own practice he has justified
being himself called an Antichrist.

In connection with * The Year of Deputations,' two in-

220 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk^i. ch. li.

stances are mentioned by which the anti-Christian character
of his aims becomes particularly apparent When the
deputies of the Beni Sohaim, connected with the Beni
Hanifa, returned to their home, the Prophet, besides having
imposed a treaty upon them, also gave them a leather bag
full of water, wherewith he had made his ablution, adding this
injunction, * Having arrived in your country, demolish your
church ; then sprinkle the place with this water and build a
mosque upon it/ And the Beni Taghliby who sent a deputa-
tion of sixteen men, had to accept a treaty which, in addition
to the usual burdensome stipulations, contained also a clause
to the effect that, though they themselves might remain
Christians, their children were no longer to be baptized, or
brought up in the doctrines of Christianity.

These treaties, though Mohammed judiciously strove to
make their conditions, at the first, as little galling as his vast
and autocratic ulterior designs permitted, could not but be
felt irksome and oppressive by tribes who hitherto were
wont to manage their own affairs independently and without
being interfered with by other tribes. The national move-
ment in favour of Islam, which manifested itself by the
arrival of a multitude of pliable deputies from every quarter,
was spontaneous rather in appearance, than in reality. As a
rule, these deputations were brought about by solicitations,
very peremptory in tone, and by the application of more or
less of direct and indirect pressure. Left to their own free
choice, the tribes would have far preferred their ancient
independence, with its relative weakness, to their union
under the iron yoke of Islam, with its concomitant increase
of power. Therefore* Mohammed's great national work
was not of a very sound and solid quality, as we can see
from the fact that it threatened altogether to crumble to
pieces, the moment he closed his eyes in death. But for the
present, and in appearance, Mohammed's plan had proved
completely successful ; and the prophet of Medina, by means
of the formidable military power which he had called into
existence, ruled with the sovereign authority of an autocrat,
over all the multitudinous tribes of Arabia.

Arrived at this pinnacle, he could afresh revert to his long-
cherished idea, by preparing another serious attempt to invade

SEC II. Jg.] PILGRIMAGE OF MOSLEMS ONL K 221

and conquer the Roman empire. But first of all he gave a
grand spectacle to all Arabia, by exhibiting before their eyes
the vastness of his success, in replacing the ancient religion
of the whole nation by the victorious institution of Islam.

(17.) Mohammed celebrates the Complete Triumph of Islam
over Arabia^ by attending the Reformed Pilgrim-
Festival of the year 632, with a company of 1 14,000
Moslem followers.

Meanwhile the season for the annual festival of the
pilgrimage to Mecca had come round again, which appears
to have always been celebrated in spring, about March ;
and Mohammed resolved to give it this time a character
of unprecedented gfrandeur. It was at the Festival of the
previous year that he had caused a proclamation to be
published by his son-in-law Ali to the effect that then, for
the last time. Pagans were admitted to share in the ceremony ;
but that thenceforth the privilege should be open to pro-
fessed Moslems only. Thus this ancient festival of Arabian
heathenism was at one stroke converted into an exclusively
Mussulman institution, for all future times ; and, as such, it
was also a token and proof of the public recognition of
Islam as the national religion, for the whole of Arabia.
Mohammed determined, formally to usher in this new era of
the complete national triumph of the religion whose prophet
he was, by arranging a pilgrimage for the spring 632, on the
grandest scale, and by joining it in person, with his entire
household. To make known his intention, he sent out
messengers in all directions. The professors of the new
religion responded to the call in vast numbers. It is recorded
by some Mohammedan historians that the Prophet's retinue
on this occasion consisted of 1 14,000 persons ; by others, of
124,000 ; and again by others, that the multitude of pilgrims,
accompanying him, was so immense that none, save God,
could know their number. Ali was at this time commanding
a body of troops in Najran, and therefore took Mecca on
his march back, arriving early enough to have a share in the
sacrifices at Mina No special mention is made of the
Prophet's concubines ; but all his surviving married wives,

222 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk.;. ch. ii.

nine in number, he took with him, having them comfortably
seated in litters, on the backs of camels. Starting from
Medina five days before the beginning of the month of
pilgrimage, the caravan reached the sacred territory in very
good time ; and Mohammed made his entrance into Mecca
from the same gate by which he had entered it, as its
conqueror, little more than two years before.

During the following days he went through the accustomed
ceremonies, as they had to be performed in the sundry
traditional spots of the sacred locality, only making slight
alterations here and there, and omitting throughout whatever
had been a direct homage to idols. On the tenth day of
the month, the high day and climax of the entire festival,
the offering of animal sacrifices took place at Mina. Who-
ever had brought animals for that purpose, slew them, and
divided amongst the people the flesh he did not require for
his own use. So abundant was the flesh, that it could not
be consumed at once, but had to be cut in slices and dried
in the sun, for future use. Mohammed alone had brought
with him lOO camels, intended for sacrifice. Of them he
slaughtered 63 himself, by cutting their throat with his
own hand This number, as the historian obSferves, corre-
sponded to that of the years of his age. The remaining
37 camels he assigned to the hand of his son-in-law, Ali, to
be sacrificed by him. The three days spent at Mina, when
the sacrificing was over, were a time of feasting, merriment,
and barter ; and Mohammed is reported to have proceeded
every evening to a certain spot in the valley, for the purpose
of casting a number of little stones at the devil, in compliance
with a superstitious custom of ancient date.

All the festival observances being finished, Mohammed
and the rest of the pilgrims had their heads shaved ; and it
is mentioned that he distributed his hair amongst his friends
for mementoes. His famous cavalry general, Khalid, re-
ceived, at his special request, some hairs from his forehead,
which he fixed to his skull-cap, as a talisman ; and we are
told that, in consequence, he was always victorious in his
attacks on the enemy. After being shaved, Mohammed had
himself anointed by his favourite wife, the youthful Aisha,
with an ointment largely consisting of musk. The time for

SEC II. 17.] THE FAREWELL PILGRIMAGE. 223

observing the pilgrimage festival was now changed, and fixed,
for the future, to be always the last month of the lunar year.
Thus it happened ever since that, in the course of thirty-three
years, it makes a complete circle through all the solar months.
Ibn Ishak concludes his account of this celebrated festival
in the following words, * By thus performing the pilgrimage,
Mohammed showed its usages to the people and instructed
them in the Divine precepts respecting it, as also concerning
the halting-places, the stone-casting, the circumambulation
of the temple, and the things allowed and forbidden during
the pilgrimage. Hence this is called the ^^ Pilgrimage of
Instruction!' and also, on account of its being the last per-
formed by Mohammed, the " Farewell Pilgrimage" *

This ostentatious visit to the sanctuary of his native city,
which was now entirely under his control, and from which
every one who rejected his pretensions to sovereign authority
in civil and religious matters, was rigidly excluded, shows
Mohammed at the height of his success and in the pleni-
tude of his power. Surrounded by a vast army of followers,
from all parts of Arabia, he reformed the national sanctuary
at his will, and reconstituted it as the local centre of his new
religion and^the annual rendezvous of its votaries. This
reformed, that is, purely Mussulman, pilgrimage, whose first
celebration by its author proved also his last and his final
farewell, was in fact the initiation of a lasting institution of
welcome to all future Moslem generations, from every quarter
of the globe. Hither they were to direct their steps, once a
year, as obedient, humble pilgrims, and hence they were to
carry back to their homes a deeper sense of mutual brother-
hood, a livelier appreciation of the common faith and the
common interests, and a more fanatical zeal to make their
cause triumphant throughout the world, by every means in
their power. Mohammed's farewell pilgrimage was the
crowning of his successes, the zenith of his power. He had
triumphed over every obstacle and rendered his cause un-
deniably victorious. But he had achieved his triumph by
force, by fear, and by fraud. Therefore the proud edifice
he left behind him to the world, was lacking in solidity,
and contained within itself the germs of inevitable decay.
These, however, could not fully develop till after his death.

224 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. l ch. il.

(i8.) Mohammed seeks to tighten his grasp on Arabia by the
despatch of Collectors or Residents to its different
provinces^ and then directs his earnest attention to a
fresh attack upon the Roman empire^ by collecting an
army to invcule Syria.

Returned from his pilgrimage, and conscious of the g^eat
power which he wielded, and with which the immense
multitude of pilgrims had just strongly impressed him,
Mohammed speedily reverted to his grand idea of conquer-
ing Syria and began active preparations for making another
vigorous attempt in that direction. He had reached Medina
before the end of March 632 ; but finding that Badzan,
the chief of Yemen, whom he had confirmed in his post
after making his submission, had just died, his attention
necessarily had first to be directed to affairs in the south.
He permitted Shahr, Badzan's son, to succeed his father at
Sana ; but ordained that the highest political power should
pass into the hands of Mohajir, whom he had sent thither
from Medina as collector of the taxes. Similar collectors
of taxes and political agents had, for some time past, been
sent forth from Medina, to promote the interests of Islam, by
replenishing the Prophet's treasury and by controlling the
action of the native chiefs. Ibn Ishak furnishes us with
the following list of such collectors or residents : Mohajir
to Sana, Ziyad to Hadramaut, Adi to the Beni Asad and
Tay, Mcdik to the Beni Hanzala, Ala to Bahrein, Ali to
Najran.

What the biographers say about this last-mentioned
mission requires some elucidation. Ali was sent at the
head of a body of troops to that portion of Najran which
had already made its submission, in order to 'collect the
alms and the capitation-tax.' This mission seems to have
taken place in the summer of the year 631. Some time
after he had left, Khalid was despatched with more troops
to second him, and received the instruction, * If you meet,
then AH is to have the chief command/ We do not read
that they met, but Khalid remained in Najran and brought
the still refractory Beni Harith to terms. Their deputies
accompanied him to Medina, to make their submission to

SEC II. i8.] ALI IN YEMEN. 225

the Prophet in person, according to superior orders, and Ibn
Ishak remarks that they returned to their own country
• not quite four months before Mohammed^s death,' that is,
about a month before the farewell pilgrimage. Ali appears
to have marched further south than Khalid, to the remoter
parts of Yemen, but to have returned to Medina about the
same time as he did. Now as Ibn Hisham states that AH,
at this period, undertook two expeditions to Yemen, he can
only have remained a very short time at head-quarters, and
must have started again soon after, with a fresh body of
troops. In all probability the object of this second mission
was, to keep order and quiet in the province, whilst the
collector, who had been sent in company with the returning
Najranite deputies, was entering .upon his unpopular office.
It must have been at the close of this second expedition,
that he rejoined Mohammed, during the farewell visit to
Mecca in March 632, as already mentioned. His own
actual coUectorship can only have lasted a very short
time.

The great number of men who were responding to
Mohammed's pressing invitation to swell the bulk of his
followers, on his ostentatious pilgrimage to Mecca, naturally
caused, by their departure from home, an almost complete
disappearance of the more decided and trusted supporters of
Islam. Ali also, with his army, departing soon after, to join
the pilgrim-throngs at Mecca, still further denuded the
south of the guardians of public tranquillity. This was
seized upon by those who had only from sheer necessity
submitted to the new order of things, as the opportune
moment for casting off the hated yoke of Mussulman
domination. The rival prophet. El Aswad, as we have
already seen, forthwith placed himself at the head of the
discontented, and, fpr the brief space of two or three months,
held up the banner of independence in the south. The
patriots of Najran received him with open arms, and
Mohammed's delegate had to flee for his life. As Mo-
hammed had hitherto pursued the political aim of ' Arabia
for the Arabians,' so El Aswad, in adapting the same
principle to his own circumstances, insisted on the project
of * The South for the Southerners,* and treated Moham-

P

}

226 JI/S FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii,

med's collectors and plenipotentiaries as odious intruders.
In a letter addressed to Moadz, Mohammed's political
Resident in southern Yemen, El Aswad used the bold
language : * Give back to us, ye intruders, the land which
you have seized, and restore to us in full what you have
taken from us.'

These occurrences wore a sufficiently threatening aspect
to engage Mohammed's serious attention, when their report
reached him after his return from the farewell pilgrimage.
For a few weeks they kept his settled designs upon Syria in
the background. But to get rid of a dangerous adversary
and rival, this fighting prophet possessed such great means,
and had such little scruple in using them, that the rising of
Aswad did not cause him great alarm, or turn him aside
from his northern scheme. We have already seen that Sana,
the capital of Yemen, which was the scene of Aswad's great
triumph, also shortly after witnessed his assassination.
Mohammed had not found it necessary to despatch a
great army to the south : he accomplished his object in a
simpler way, by applying a golden key to those in whom
his rival trusted.

As soon as Mohammed had made arrangements to
restore his supremacy in the south, by such easy means, he
felt again at liberty to direct his whole attention to the
renewal of attacks on the Roman empire, which he still
contemplated as the consummation of his long-cherished
and far-reaching plans. United Arabia, under his leader-
ship, was not only to remain free from foreign domination
and invasions, but it could aspire after subjugating foreign
nations and supplying its wants from their riches. Towards
the end of May, A.D. 632, two months after his last visit to
Mecca, Mohammed issued orders to the people that the
fighting men were to assemble, prepared to start on a war
expedition against the Romans.

His own career was now rapidly drawing to a close, and
the enterprise he thus commenced, but did not live to
accomplish, fittingly crowns his life, and afresh reveals to
us the ambitious goal to which it had long been directed.
Mohammed began his activity as a prophet, by trying to
make himself the supreme authority in heathen Mecca;

SEC II. i8.] OSAMA APPOINTED TO INVADE SYRIA . 227

he spent the last ten years of his life as autocratic Ruler
of Medina, whence he gradually extended his power over the
whole of Arabia ; and when death was already hovering over
him, to snatch him for its prey, we find him absorbed in
preparations for a renewed attempt to wrest dominion from
the hands of the Christian Emperor of Rome.

In this last military enterprise it was not his intention
to take the command of his army in person. His late
experience with the expedition to Tabuk let it appear
preferable for him to devolve the hardships and great
responsibilities of such a campaign on younger shoulders.
On the day following his call to arms, Mohammed sent for
Osama, the son of his emancipated slave and constant friend
Zeid, who had lost his life in the first invasion of. Syria,
which he commanded, and addressed him thus : ' Osama, I
appoint thee Commander-in-Chief of the army. March
against the infidels of the country where thy father has
been killed. Set fire to their goods and dwellings. March
rapidly, so as to arrive before tidings of thy approach reach
them. If the Most High give thee victory, do not long
delay in the country, but return hither. Take guides and
spies with thee, and send on archers in front.' Is it not
remarkable and characteristic of this martial prophet that
his course was cut short in the midst of the bustle of pre-
parations for such a war, and that he died with these orders
for slaughter, fire, and devastation, as it were, still on his lips ?

In confiding to youthful Osama so responsible a post,
the acute prophet was not only guided by feelings of
gratitude for his late heroic friend, but also by the shrewd
calculation that a young man who burned with the desire
to avenge his father's death, and gallantly to win his spurs as
a successful commander, would carry out most faithfully and
fully the sanguinary instructions given him. Three days after
Osama's appointment, Mohammed was seized with a violent
attack of illness, an acute form of remittent fever, which was
not of rare occurrence in Medina. On the following day,
when the malady was steadily settling on his system, he fixed
the army's standard with his own hands and presented it to
Osama, saying : ' Enter thou on the holy war, in the name of
God, and in behalf of the religion of God, and fight every one

228 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. ii.

who disbelieves in Allah.' Osama, thus accredited and in-
structed, took up his quarters outside the city, in a place called
Jorfy about three miles distant, where the army was to gather
round him, and to get into a state of readiness for starting.

But as Osama was still very young for so important a
post, only about twenty years old, and as experienced
elderly men, such as Abu Bekr, Omar, Othman, etc., had to
serve in the- army, murmurs against the appointment soon
became loud, and it was said : * He has appointed this youth
over the most noble refugees and helpers ! ' When this
reached the Prophet's ears, he became very angary, we are
told, and although fever and headache had already a strong
hold on him, yet he left his room to ascend the pulpit in the
mosque close by, and, with a cloth tied round his head,
freely vented his mind to the people, saying : * What word
is this which has reached me from some of you, concerning
my appointment of Osama as commander of the army ? If
you now object to his appointment, you also blamed that of
his father Zeid, in the late expedition to Muta. But I
swear by God that Zeid was a man worthy of the com-
mandership, and that his son Osama is likewise worthy of it
Zeid was most dear to me, and his son also is one of those
I love. Both of them are worthy the esteem of all good
persons. Therefore, accept my appointment of him with
pleasure, and fulfil your duties respecting it.'

Returned to his own room, the fever naturally became
aggravated. Yet he still urged the departure of the army
upon those of its leading men who, before leaving, paid him
their farewell visit But Osama was r^^larly informed about
the progress and alarming character of the sickness, by
his mother, who attended on the Prophet. He therefore
delayed his departure under these critical circumstances.
So it happened that he did not actually start till some time
after Mohammed's death, when Abu Bekr, the first Calif,
insisted on the despatch of the army, exactly as the Prophet
had appointed it The expedition retained the character,
probably intended for it from the first, of being a mere
sudden incursion to strike terror into the population of Syria,
and as the precursor of a speedily succeeding permanent
conquest.

SEC. II. 19.] NIS LAST ILLNESS, 229

(19.) Mohammed is arrested in his career of conquests and
sensuality, by the unsparing hand of Death,

In the midst of the preparations for this unprovoked
aggression upon the Christian empire of Rome, Mohammed
was struck down by the interposing hand of death. The
course of unrestrained sensuality, in which, for years, he had
been indulging,^ had a naitural tendency to undermine his
constitution and to ruin his nervous system — not of the
strongest from the first — so that he had no stamina left to re-
sist the ravages of disease. We cannot wonder that despite the
exhilarating air he breathed, especially during his frequent
war-expeditions, the oil of his lamp of life was consumed so
soon. The fever which at last fastened upon him, exhausted
his vital powers and caused death in less than a fortnight

His illness began in the chamber of his wife Meimuna,
whose turn it was to have him stay with her that day. From
her he went to his favourite wife Aisha. She relates that,
suffering herself also from headache, she called out, *0h,
my head ! ' He said to her, * Thy headache will pass away
easily ; but mine is one whose cure is difficult.' * So he
went back to Meimuna's room ; and as his symptoms grew
worse, all his wives gathered there to see him. He asked
them several times in whose apartment he was to be on the
day following; and they, perceiving his desire to be with
Aisha, consented with one accord to his remaining in Aisha's
chamber for the rest of his illness, promising to come and
attend upon him as occasion might require. Accordingly
he removed from Meimuna's to Aisha's apartment; and
the fever had already so much told upon him, that he could
not walk the short distance without assistance. The malady
progressed rapidly, and, with it, the distress he felt He
could not lie quiet ; but, turning from one side to the other,
restlessly threw himself about in his bed. So great was his
impatience and disquiet, that Aisha felt called upon to
rebuke him, saying, * O Apostle of God, if one of us had been
ill and shown so much distress and restlessness, thou surely
wouldest have been angry with us.' He replied, * O Aisha,
my illness is exceedingly severe ; and verily the Most High

1 Compare Book 11. Chap. 11. Sec ii. 4. ^ Compare also pp. 79, 80.

230 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ll.

sends the severest troubles to the true believers ; but He
does so only with the intent of raising them to a higher
degree and wiping out their sins, even if that trouble should
merely be a thorn in their foot*

Many visitors called to inquird after the health of their
prophet. Amongst them was the mother (or, according to
some account, sister) of Bishr. She relates that, finding
him in a very hot paroxysm of intermittent fever, she thus
expressed her surprise, * O Apostle of God, I have never seen
such fever as thine in any one else.' He answered, * There-
fore my reward also will be double that of others ; but tell
me, O mother of Bishr, what the people say about my
illness.' On her replying, ' They say, the Prophet is suffering
from pleurisy.* He said to her, * It is not in accord with the
goodness of the Most High to inflict that illness on His
Prophet. The illness of which thou speakest is caused by
Satan, and he has no power over me. My illness is the effect
of that poisoned meat which I ate, together with thy son, in
Khaibar. Many times have I suffered from it ; but now I
feel as if the artery of life was being cut through.* The
historian, recording this interview, observes that in all pro-
bability God*s purpose with regard to this poisoned meat was,
that the Prophet might thus share in the dignity oi martyrdom.

Remedies were indeed applied, as was sure to be done in
the case of a sick husband, surrounded by so many anxious
wives : but they failed in subduing the violence of the fever.
Aisha remembered that, with the view of assuaging pain in
himself and in others, her husband had sometimes uttered
certain words of incantation, whilst stroking the affected parts
with his hand. She, therefore, repeated the same words, and
took his hand to draw it over his body. But he soon withdrew
it from her, saying, ' Formerly such incantation did me good ;
but now it is of no use.* His fever rose so high that the
burning heat of *his body could be felt through the bed-
clothes. He had the sensation of a fire raging within his
veins ; and this suggested to him the application of a more
drastic remedy which, however, only afforded him relief
for the moment. He ordered that seven water-skins/ never
before used, should be filled from seven different wells and
simultaneously poured over him. Accordingly they placed

SEC. II. 191] HB WISHES TO MAKE A LAST WILL, 231

him in a bathing-tub, belonging to his wife Hafza, Omar*s
daughter, and poured the water over him, as he had directed.
But he soon made signs with his hands for them to desist ;
and the fever yielded as little to this sevenfold mixture of
water, as to incantation. His strength decreased fast, and
fainting fits supervened. During one of these, his wives
dropped some medicine into his mouth, such as was used in
Abyssinia against pleurisy. When he ascertained this, on
recovering consciousness, he was so vexed with them that,
sick as he was, he insisted on their all partaking of the same
medicine, for a punishment. Every one of them had to
swallow some of the objectionable drug in his presence ; and
it is expressly remarked that even Meimuna had to submit
to the ordeal, although she was fasting at the time.

On the Thursday preceding his death, when his weakness
was already very great and his mind clouded, he asked for
writing materials, to make a last will, probably urged to do
so by some interested person of his surroundings. As he
left no son, and there were several parties looking forward to
the privilege of succession, this caused quite a scene and
unseemly quarrel in the very sick-room of the Prophet,
several of the persons interested dreading lest he should bar
their chance. Some were for complying with the sick Pro-
phet's request ; others loudly opposed it, on the ground of it
causing him too great an effort, or, as being the dictate of a
delirious mind, under the effect of a burning fever. So
boisterous became the altercation, that the patient expressed
his displeasure and relinquished his wish in anger. Yet we
are told that, in this last illness, he bequeathed to his followers
the legacy of three verbal injunctions. The first was, that
they should drive all non-Moslems out of the country, so as
to have only one religion in Arabia ; the second^ that they
were to continue his practice of giving presents to Arab
communities offering to embrace Islam ; but the third is
mysteriously withheld by the biographers, and may possibly
have had reference to a successor, which it was deemed
prudent to keep secret Only so much he is reported to
have Said on this subject, that it was his wish the Califate
should remain in the hands of the Koreish.

He also still found it necessary to exhort the Refugees

^'w^B^^^^^^^^^'^amm

232 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

from Mecca and the Helpers from Medina to recognise each
other's merits, and to exercise mutual forbearance and
kindness. In the early part of his illness he freely conversed
with visitors, and at the public prayers occupied his usual
place in the mosque, to which he had a private entrance, by
a door from Aisha's apartment ; but for the last few days he
was too weak to rise, and Abu Bekr, his father-in-law and
old friend, officiated for him as Imam, by taking the lead
in conducting public worship. On one occasion Abu Bekr
was late and Omar took his place as Imam ; but no sooner
did Mohammed hear his voice, than he called through the
window, opening into the mosque from Aisha's room, and
ordered him to desist and to give way to Abu Bekr.

The Mohammedan biographers, in their account of their
prophet's death-bed, as in fact of his life in general, make
mention of many extraordinary circumstances, calculated to
throw a supernatural halo around him, as, e,g. that, for the
last three days, God daily sent Gabriel to inquire after his
health ; that, on the third day, Gabriel was accompanied by
the angel Ismael, who was at the head of 70,000 or 100,000
angels, each one of whom again headed a like number of
other angels ; that the angel of death obediently waited
outside the room, till the sick man gave him permission to
enter ; that the keeper of hell was ordered to extinguish
the infernal flames, whilst Mohammed was passing by, on his
way to heaven ; that the houris of Paradise were requested
to adorn themselves, and the angelic hosts received command
to form in lines, in honour of the Prophet's advent to the
celestial realms, etc. But no sober-minded person can for a
moment doubt that these stories are wholly without founda-
tion in fact, and are nothing but the gratuitous invention of
friends and partisans, according to whose heated imagination
the close of their prophet's life ought to have been thus
marvellously distinguished.

In reality, Mohammed's death-agonies seem rather to
have been unusually severe, than otherwise. We are in-
formed that he alternately grew red and pale ; that some-
times he pulled back his right, sometimes his left, hand ; that
large drops of perspiration, like pearls, fell from his cheeks ;
and that Aisha declared : * Since I have seen his Excellency

SEC II. 19, 20.] HIS DEA TH. 233

yield up his soul with so much difficulty, I have no longer
wished for an easy death : for if an easy death were best, God
would certainly have chosen it for His Prophet'

The circumstances of Mohammed's death were in keeping
with his life : he was surrounded by a circle of nine surviving
wives, to whom another was just about to be added (but who
only received his matrimonial promise together with the
tidings of his death) ; he expired in the apartment of his
favourite Aisha, with his head reposing on her bosom,
' between her lungs and her neck ' ; and whilst he lay on his
death-bed, his army was collecting at a small distance from
Medina, for the purpose of carrying death and devastation
into the Roman empire.

Who can help being struck with the contrast of all this
to the close of the earthly life of Christ, who died upon the
cross, and prayed for His tormentors : * Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do.' Mohammed strove to
supersede Christ : but how long the distance between them,
how great the difference between their respective life and
death ! Christ was * a prophet mighty in deed and in word
before God and all the people' (Luke xxiv. 18), and sealed
His testimony with His blood ; Mohammed was a worldly
ruler in a prophet's garb who, to extend his tyrannical power
and compass his selfish ends, did not shrink from employ-
ing cunning, assassination, and war. Can any one, with the
least spiritual perception, remain a moment doubtful as to
which of the two deserves our confidence in the paramount
concerns of the soul and of eternity ?

(2a) Mohammed has scarcely closed his eyes, when Discord
amongst his followers threatens to break up the whole
fabric he had erected: but Abu Bekr manages to be
chosen as the first Calif andy as such, takes up the
plans of his late friend.

The Arabian Prophet, not more than sixty-three years
old, had hardly breathed his last, about noon on Monday,
June 8th, A.D. 632, when the politico-religious structure he
had reared, threatened to crumble to pieces ; and those who
had helped him in fabricating it, had to resort to the same
sinister means which he had used himself, in order to keep it

234 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. ii.

together. Directly after he had expired, an unpleasant
scene occurred between Omar and Abu Bekr, which is
graphically narrated by Ibn Ishak. He tells us that, before
the death had become known to the people generally, Omar
thus harangued the dense congregation, assembled in the
mosque : * Some hypocrites assert that Mohammed is dead :
but, by Allah, Mohammed is not dead, he has only gone to
his Lord, like Moses who remained away from his people for
40 days and yet returned, after he had already been reported
dead. Surely the apostle of God will return like Moses,
and cut off the hands and feet of those who reported him
dead.' Whilst speaking in this way, Abu Bekr, who had just
had ocular demonstration of his friend's death, entered the
mosque, and called out to Omar : * Gently, Omar ! Listen to
me ! ' But he took no notice of him and went on speaking
as before. Abu Bekr seeing this, now also began to address
the people, who soon turned away from Omar and listened
to him. Abu Bekr said : * O ye people, whoever of you
worshipped Mohammed, let him know that he is dead ; but
whoever worshipped God, let him know that He lives and
will never die.' Then he recited the following verse, now
incorporated in the Koran as verse 138, or, according to
another division, verse 144, of the third Surah. * Mohammed
is only an apostle, and other apostles have died before him.
Now if he die or be killed, will ye turn on your heels ? Who
does so, will not harm God ; but God rewards the grateful.'
Ibn Ishak proceeds to remark : ' By Allah, it was as if the
people had not known anything about the revelation of this
verse, until Abu Bekr recited it on that day. Then the
people received it of Abu Bekr, and still have it in their
mouth.' This quite looks as if Abu Bekr had improvised
the verse for the occasion ; and if we combine this with the fact
that he, directly after, took up and carried on the Prophet's
plan, so exactly in the Prophet's way and in the Prophet's
spirit, we shall probably not go far wrong by surmising that
these are not the only instances where Abu Bekr contributed
in giving shape and substance to Islam. But whoever may
have been the real author of this verse, it proved very
opportune in calming Omar and bringing him over to Abu
Bekr's mode of thinking.

SEC. II. 20.] A THREA TENING RUPTURE A VOIDED, 235

It was plainly necessary that these two influential men,
as well as the rest of the refugees, should show a firm and
united front, in the present critical moment For already
the * helpers * of Medina were assembling in a court of the
Beni Saida, in order to appoint a chief from amongst them-
selves, in the person of Saad Ibn Ubada. Abu Bekr and
Omar hastened to them, the same afternoon, to prevent the
threatening mischief. Matters indeed looked very grave.
Mohammed had not yet grown cold, and was still lying on
the couch where he had died, when his followers were
already on the verge of separating into two antagonistic
parties, the helpers and the refugees, whilst Ali and his
friends kept aloof from them botL The helpers, or natives
of Medina, formulated their grievances thus : ' We are the
helpers of Allah, the army of Islam : but you refugees
have come upon us, in a body, to tear us away from our root,
and to deprive us of our dominion.' Abu Bekr, speaking
the mind of himself and his fellow-refugees, replied in a
very conciliatory tone, and said : * You helpers certainly
deserve all the good which you claim for yourselves : but the
Arabs will concede the right of sovereign dominion to none
but the Koreish. These are the centre of the Arabs, both
as regards descent and habitation. Therefore direct your
choice to one of their number.*

The helpers now showed signs of readiness to come to a
compromise, and their speaker, by boasting of their strengfth,
hoped to succeed, at least, with a proposal of such a nature.
He said in their name : * I am the stem against which the
camel rubs itself, the well-supported date-tree : let, therefore,
one chief be chosen from amongst us, and one from amongst
you, the Koreish.* Thereupon the noise became so great, and
the voices grew so loud, that a violent collision and final
rupture seemed imminent. But Omar, who doubtless acted
in unispn with Abu Bekr, and probably under his thoughtful
inspiration, suddenly led the way to a peaceable solution, by
saying to Abu Bekr : * Stretch out thy hand ! ' Abu Bekr
having done so, he seized it and instantly took the oath of
allegiance to him. The refugees, all of whom seem to have
followed Abu Bekr and Omar to the meeting, forthwith did
the same; and their example drew even the helpers after

236 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA. [bk. i. CH. ll.

them, who likewise took his hand and pledged their troth.
The yptended chief, Saad Ibn Ubada, thus deserted, could
easily be disposed of. Omar proceeds with his narrative:
' We fell upon Saad, so that one of them said, " You are
murdering him ; " but I replied : " May God kill him ! " *

This looks remarkably like a coup de main^ such as are
not uncommon in the sphere of worldly politics ; aiid the
Arabs were too keen-sighted not to have viewed it in this
light. Ibn Ishak records that, towards the end of Omar's
Califate, some talked to him of overruling the choice of a
successor, in favour of a certain individual, in case it should
become necessary, and that they justified their intention
by saying : * Verily, the oath of allegiance to Abu Bekr was
nothing but a surprise, which was afterwards ratified.' The
public reply which Omar made to this suggestion shows,
that he could not altogether deny this character of Abu
Bekr's appointment, and that he justified it merely on the
ground of its inevitableness. He said : * Let none be so
blinded as to affirm that the allegiance to Abu Bekr was
only a coup de niain which succeeded. For though it was
such, God thereby averted evil, and there was none amongst
you before whom the people bowed more readily than
before Abu Bekr.*

By these efforts to prevent an open rupture between the
helpers and the refugees, and to unite the leading men of
both parties in th§ election of Abu Bekr to the Califate,
the whole afternoon and evening of Monday were taken up.
The great work ren^aining to be done on Tuesday was, to
consolidate and secure the success of the previous day, by
laying it before the general assembly of the Moslems, and
by having it publicly indorsed by the entire population of
Medina. For a Calif, once chosen and obeyed by all
Medina, would be the exponent of a strong centre of power,
for upholding the Koran and the Mohammedan institutions
throughout Arabia, where the Prophet's death might possibly
unchain centrifugal forces, similar to those which had so
soon manifested themselves in Medina. Accordingly, on
Tuesday, when the way had been sufficiently prepared
amongst the bulk of the inhabitants, Abu Bekr occupied
Mohammed's place in the mosque, and Omar, rising up

SEC. II. 20.] HIS DELA YED BURIAL. 237

before him, addressed the following oration to the assembly,
as reported by Ibn Ishak : * O ye people, I have yesterday
spoken words to you which I had neither found in God's
Book, neither had the Apostle of God commissioned me with
them. It tad only appeared to me that Mohammed would
direct our affairs by his last word. But God has left His
Book amongst you, which contains the directions of His
apostle. If you hold this fast, God will direct you by it,
as He directed him. Now God has united you around the
best amongst you, around the " companion of the Apostle of
God," who had been the only one with him in the cave.
Therefore arise and take the oath of allegience to him ! '
To this exhortation the whole body of Moslems at once
responded, by taking the oath proposed to them, and thus
ratified the arrangement and oath of the previous day.

These State affairs, claiming precedence before even the
Prophet's burial, furnish us with a fresh illustration of the
predominance of the political and secular in the system of
Islam. Notwithstanding the intense summer-heat, prevail-
ing at the time, the Prophet's dead body was left unburied,
Contrary to the universal practice, from noon on Monday,
all through Tuesday ; and it was not till late at night, be-
tween Tuesday and Wednesday, that the pressure of State
business permitted a grave being dug for him. This was
done in a corner of Aisha's room, on the very spot where he
had died, and there his more immediate friends, during the
hours of midnight darkness, consigned his mortal remains
to the keeping of mother earth. He still tenants the grave
which then received him ; and no resurrection has as yet
testified to his pretended equality with Christ, Whom he
ventured to call his brother-prophet For a time, the tomb
was only separated by a partition-wall from the rest of the
apartment, which continued in Aisha's occupation ; but
later on, the whole area was added to the mosque, of which
it still forms part, and where it is annually visited by crowds
of Moslem pilgrims.

No sooner had the news of Mohammed's death reached
the city of his birth, than most Meccans, as Ibn Ishak
records, wanted to throw off the fetters of Islam, which, for
some years, they had been obliged to bear. Attab, Moham-

238 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. i. ch. ii.

med's representative, who presided at public worship, became
so frightened by the mutinous manifestations, that he hid
himself. Many of those whom the Prophet believed he
had effectually conciliated by rich presents, now wholly
forgot the largesses they had received. But ^Soheil Ibn
Amr, one of those whose present from the booty of Taif
amounted to lOO camels, summoned courage, and openly
declared in the name of other partisans, * The death of
Mohammed will only have the effect of increasing the power
of Islam ; and we shall not hesitate to cut off the heads of
those whom we may have cause to suspect.* This show of
a bold front had the desired effect. The people were afraid
of the consequences of actual mutiny and re-assumed a
quiet attitude. Attab left his hiding-place and once more
became the champion of Islam in Mecca.

It was not equally easy, in other places, to suppress the
anti-Islamic aspirations after freedom, which were not long
in manifesting themselves all over Arabia. Ibn Ishak
refers to the gloomy state of things in the following words :
* By the death of Mohammed great misfortune overtook
the Moslems. I have been informed that Aisha said :
" When Mohammed died, the Arabs rebelled, Judaism and
Christianity raised up their heads, and the Hypocrites showed
themselves openly. The Moslems resembled a wet flock
on a winter's night, because of the loss of their prophet,
until God re-united them round Abu Bekr." '

But Abu Bekr, the Prophet's devoted friend from the
first, whose calm reflection and open-handed liberality had
been no strangers to the development and successes of Islam
thus far, also proved the right man for the present emergency.
He was fully imbued with the spirit of his late friend,
thoroughly acquainted with his aims and plans, and, on
being chosen for his successor or Calif, was found in every
way qualified to maintain and extend the Islamic common-
wealth, by the same means and tactics by which it had
been founded. Despite the advice of some, to keep back
the army intended for an attack upon Syria, or, at least, to
replace its youthful commander by an older and more
experienced man, Abu Bekr insisted on carrying out the
prophet's wishes to the letter, and on doing so at once.

SEC. II. 20.] ABU BEKR RETAINS WARLIKE POLICY, 239

Osama crossed the borders of Syria; spread death and
desolation before him, as he advanced ; committed to the
flames what he could not carry away ; and after having
avenged his father's death, and the disaster of Muta, by
devastating that whole neighbourhood, he, with his army,
returned to Medina in triumph, having carried out his
movements with such rapidity that the whole expedition
lasted only little more than a month.

This speedy return of the army was most opportune and
necessary ; for already the contagion of disaffection and
opposition to the Moslem rule was openly showing itself
far and wide amongst the Arab tribes ; and the rival
prophets, Toleiha and Moseilama, lost no time in availing
themselves of the anti- Mohammedan movement. Abu Bekr
and his friends saw clearly that boldness and physical force
were indispensable, to maintain the cause established by
wiliness and warfare. The Calif had already intimated the
warlike nature of the policy he intended to pursue, when, in
the public speech by which he acknowledged his election,
whilst Mohammed was still lying unburied, he used these
words : * Never did a people desist from warring in the cause
of God, without God delivering it over to shame ; and never
did a people commit flagrant acts, without God bringing
misfortune upon it' It was no easy matter to secure the
domination of Islam by the force of arms. But what
Mohammed had accomplished, with scantier resources, could
assuredly also be done by his successor, with far ampler
means.

The great advantage on Abu Bekr's side was, that his
party was compact, being held together by a rigidly enforced
discipline ; that they were conscious of fighting for their
very existence, defeat meaning ruin ; and that, for a con-
siderable time, warfare had been their regular employment,
by which they had been converted into practised warriors,
accustomed to act together with one common purpose,
always ready for war, like a standing army, and having
learnt to fight with the hope of victory, even against superior
numbers. Abu Bekr felt all the confidence of superiority on
these grounds, and was fully aware of the martial inferiority
of his adversaries from corresponding disadvantages. Thus

1

240 HIS FULL SUCCESS IN MEDINA, [bk. I. CH. ll.

the Calif could venture to divide the bulk of his military
forces into smaller armies, and, placing them under efficient
commanders, send them forth in every direction, wherever
they were most needed at the moment Resistance was
borne down with great rapidity, by the united onslaught of
these fierce and valiant corps of Mussulman warriors. The
isolated Arab tribes were no match for the iron union of
martial Islam.

Only, in the centre of the Peninsula, the rival prophet
Moseilama had collected around him so powerful an army,
that he could rout two Moslem corps which successively
advanced against him. But when the able and daring
Cavalry-General Khalid, who till then had been ruthlessly
quelling the anti-Islamic rebellion further north, arrived on
the field with a fresh army, flushed with a succession of
victories, his impetuous valour and dexterous generalship
soon prevailed ; and the opposing army was completely
overthrown with great slaughter, though not without severe
losses to the Moslems themselves. By this crushing defeat
of the Beni Hanifa in Yemama, in which Moseilama himself
lost his life, being afterwards discovered under a heap of
slain, the backbone of the general but disunited resistance
to Mussulman rule was broken ; and, before Abu Bekr had
completed the first year of his Califate, all Arabia was com-
pelled to acknowledge his sovereign authority.

With Arabia at his feet, the Calif had his hands free to
resume the cherished plan of foreign conquests. This open-
ing prospect of abundant plunder was, at the same time, also
the best means for keeping* together in one commonwealth
the multitude of reluctant and inwardly disunited Arab
tribes, by beckoning them to a common goal of self-interest,
possessing irresistible attraction to the marauding instincts
of the whole nation. What wonder, then, that already in
the second year of Abu Bekr's Califate, we find the hungry
and fanatical hosts of Arab warriors leaping the northern
boundaries of their Peninsula and casting themselves, almost
simultaneously, on the already much-weakened empires of
Rome and Persia.

This is the manner in which Abu Bekr understood and
carried out the duties bequeathed to him by the author of

SEC II. 20.] H'ARS AND WOES CA USED B Y ISLAMISM, 241

Islam ; and thus it came to pass, that the Mohammedan
armies entered upon that furious march of conquest through
the world, the ti^ck of which has been lurid for centuries
with fire and blood. Now, as the saying is true, that the
nature of a tree becomes known from the fruit it bears, so
also we may be prepared, by what has hitherto passed in
review before our eyes, to admit that the untold miseries
and woes which the politico-religious amalgam of Islamism
has, age after age, inflicted on mankind, as the pages of
history testify, are really the outward and tangible manifesta-
tion of its true inward nature. As such they revert, in due
proportion, to the prophet and author of the system, their
indirect cause, and brand them both with the stigma of well-
merited reprobation.

BOOK 11.

9^o|iammeti bietotH in t^£ 9^oon0||fn£ oC "ZEraHttion.

The object of the First Book was, to set forth Mohammed
in his true historical character, as, from the materials and
data transmitted to us, he can be conceived t6 have lived
and acted, to have been influenced by his surroundings, and
to have exercised an influence upon others. Our historical
information concerning him being derived almost exclusively
from his enthusiastic admirers and implicit believers, the
picture with which they have furnished us is not the least
likely to do injustice to the actual man. It might possibly
have had to be drawn still more to his disadvantage, had the
stream of Mohammed's history flowed from purer and less
partial sources. It was a plain duty for the author, in avail-
ing himself of the material at our disposal, to make use of a
due measure of critical discrimination, and to put the reader
on his guard against the exaggerations of blindly uncritical
narrators.

In this Second Book the author's duty is changed. He
no longer aims at placing before the reader an image of the
Arabian Prophet, as he actually lived in the body ; but he
wishes, by mere literal quotations from professed Mussulman
writings, to illustrate how the glowing imagination and
devout admiration of the Moslem believers have metamor-
phosed him, and enveloped the genuine natural original in
the fictitious halo of a dazzling radiance and a supernatural
glory.

There can be no doubt, that the first impulse to this
transfiguration of the eminently earthly Prophet into the
all, but in name, superhuman Apostle and transcendent
Favourite of God, was given by Mohammed himself. What

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOOK L AND BOOK IL 24

we have seen of him in the First Book must have sufficiently
convinced us that he was by no means given to the rational-
istic method of seeking to explain supernatural things by
natural causes ; but that he was rather prone to raise himself
in the estimation of others, by imparting a miraculous
colouring to things perfectly natural. From the moment he
affirmed himself to be equal, nay superior, to all the pre-
ceding prophets, as their chief and seal, he was almost com-
pelled also to claim ascendency over them as the recipient
of Divine favours. This he must have found very difficult,
especially with regard to Jesus Christ ; and it could not but
draw him on to very hazardous assertions.

His partisans soon understood how he wished to be
estimated by them, and that it was their interest to please
him by responding to his wishes. Once having indorsed his
pretension of being God's highest Apostle, they became
naturally disposed to attribute to him what they fancied so
transcendent a dignity should actually comprise. They
reasoned thus, if they reasoned at all, *■ Mohammed is the
last and greatest of the prophets ; and therefore it is but
right and fitting that he should possess, in a superlative
degree, those gifts and favours which distinguished former
prophets.' In this way the true dimensions of their prophet's
figure imperceptibly magnified themselves to them into
gigantic proportions ; more especially after his death, when
they looked at him through the radiance of almost unex-
ampled military glory and undreamt-of riches of spoil. The
not unnatural admiration of his successes soon degenerated
into a superstitious credulity, which accepted whatever was
told about him, with all the greater avidity, the more extra-
ordinary and fantastic it appeared. To the dazzled vision
of devout Moslems, a story possessed the highest degree of
probability, when it most tended to raise the founder of
their triumphant religion far above any other messenger
of God.

Hence we find that what is to correspond, in Mohammed,
to the ' signs and wonders * of former prophets, notably of
Jesus Christ, assumes- such an offensively grotesque and
utterly incredible character. What an immense contrast
between the miracles of the Bible and the miracles of Moslem

244 CHRISrS &* MOHAMMEHS MIRACLES CONTRASTED.

Tradition ! The Biblical wonders resemble beautiful flowers
of Paradise, springing up from a purely ethical ground,
where the ever-faithful God of Love pities the need of His
children, hears their prayers, and helps them. The Moham-
medan marvels look like unreal phantoms of the air, pro-
duced for the purpose of ostentatious display, and result
from an unethical trifling with the supernatural. The
miraculous works of Jesus Christ were deliverances from
death, disease, and distress, with the only exception of the
withering of a fruitless fig-tree, as the symbol of the punish-
ment awaiting a favoured nation in which God looks in vain
for the fruits of repentance and righteousness. But even
this one exception, how favourably does it compare, on the
ground of reasonableness and chaste propriety, with the
date-tree which is said to have been caused by Mohammed's
prayer to grow forth from a camel's hump, and instantane-
ously to bear fruit of which a whole assembly of men could
eat, the dates being exceeding sweet to the palates of be-
lievers, but becoming stones in the mouths of unbelievers !
or with the other tree which, in obedience to a. message sent
by Mohammed, swayed from side to side, as is reported, in
tearing up its roots, and walked to his Excellency, greeting
him with the salutation, * Peace be on thee, O thou Apostle
of God ! '

Surely the extravagant descriptions of Mohammed's
supposed * excellencies ' and * miracles,* by which Mussulman
devotees have sought to sustain his pretension to the highest
rank amongst God's ambassadors, can only lower him in the
estimation of truth-loving men, whose sense of religious
propriety and spiritual decorum is not vitiated ; and invest
him, to their view, with the character of prophetic charlatanism
and religious monstrosity. Reading an account of Moham-
med's fictitious virtues and fantastic miracles, after perusing
the Scriptural record of God's true prophets and their
wondrous works of faith, is like turning from a sunny walk
through life-teeming nature to the unrealities of a phantas-
magoria.

The author is fully conscious that this is strong language
concerning a character which the many millions of Moslems
throughout the world regard with religious reverence and

THE MYTHICAL MOHAMMED, 245

superstitious devotion ; but he confidently anticipates that
it will be fully justified and deliberately indorsed by all his
Christian readers who pay due attention to the subject. It
can hardly be otherwise than that every one, whose judicial
faculties have matured under the influence of Christian truth,
should at once discover a repulsive and truly blasphemous
caricature of the Divine beauty of the Son of Man, if he
carefully peruses the following pages in which Mussulman
pens have so hyperbolically described, and so excessively
coloured, the physiognomy of the author of Islam.

The image now about to be unrolled is not that of the
historical Mohammed, as he actually lived in the flesh, an
Arab amongst the Arabs, but that of a mythical Moham-
med, as he was portrayed by the vivid imagination of his
uncritical admirers, on the ground of outlines drawn by
himself Stories which had come into circulation about
the Prophet, with his ready connivance, were embellished
on their passage by his admirers. What was known of the
lives of previous prophets was exaggerated to suit the
conception of the chief and seal of all the prophets, such as
Mohammed claimed to be, and was most unscrupulously
applied to him. He had to unite in himself the excellencies
and virtues of all former prophets, and something more.
His biographers looked at his person through this magnify-
ing mirror. It is mainly this unnaturally magnified, this
unhistorical, and fictitious Mohammed, who sways the hearts
of the Moslems and keeps them from recognising in Jesus
Christ the true Saviour of man, * the Way, the Truth, and the
Life,' in the full sense of the word. But this supernatural
halo, this transcendent glory, with which he shines in the
following pages, is not really his own. It is a borrowed
lustre, just as the moonshine of the night is merely a dim
reflection from the king of day. As the moon unconsciously
bears witness to the glory of the sun, so also the so-called
'Light of Mohammed' involuntarily testifies to the prim-
eval glory of Him who said, ' I am the Light of the world *
(John ix. 5).

CHAPTER I.

THE BIOGRAPHIES OF MOHAMMED BY MOSLEM
AUTHORS, ATTRIBUTING TO THEIR PROPHET AN
EQUALITY WITH, OR EVEN A SUPERIORITY TO, THE
PROPHET OF NAZARETH, APPEAR IN THE LIGHT
OF A THINLY DISGUISED PLAGIARISM OF THE
EVANGELICAL RECORDS, AND MOHAMMED HIM-
SELF AS AN OBVIOUS PARODY OF JESUS CHRIST

Remark : In the following numerous illustrations of the
subject of this chapter, the method, uniformly observed,
is : first {a) to point out the Christian Original, by the
quotation of a few verses from the Bible ; and then {b)
to show the Mohammedan Imitation thereof, by a literal
translation of ample portions from Moslem biographical
works. The reader is requested to remember that what
he is reading about Mohammed, in both the chapters of
this Second Book, is merely a faithful translation of
Mohammedan records, and not a statement of the
author's own opinion, or an indorsement of those records.
Only the headings of the first chapter and the footnotes
of both, conveying the requisite explanations and
elucidations, are by the author.

(l.) Pre-existence is ascribed as first to Christ, so afterwards
to Mohammed, and each of them is represented as the
Cause or Medium, oft/te existence of all other creatures,

a. In the New Testament we are taught that Jesus Christ
had pre-existed, before He came to live the life of man upon
this earth ; and that all things received their being through
Him. St. John opens his Gospel thus, *In the beginning

BK. II. CH. I.] THE FIRST OF CREA TION, . 247

was the Word ( = Logos), and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him ; and without him was not
anything made that was made' (John i. 1-3). St Paul, in
writing to the Colossians, refers to the same subject, Jesus
Christ, in these words : * Who is the firstborn of every
creature : for by him were all things created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers :
all things were created by him, and for him ; and he is
before all things, and by him all things consist* (Col. i.

15-17).

b. In Mohammed's biography, * Rawzat ul Ahbabl we

read as follows : * The learned doctors of religion differ as to
which thing was the first of the creatures. Some regard
Reason {=Logos\ others the Pen {^kalaniy with which
destiny was written), and, again, others the Light of Moham-
med's prophetship, as the first created thing. Each of these
views is supported by tradition. If all three views are true,
they can best be thus reconciled, that absolutely the first
creature is the Light of our Prophet ; and that the priority
of Reason and the Pen is only qualitative, i,e. Reason is the
first created power, and the Pen the first created substance.
But there are men of deep research who hold that these
three expressions mean one and the same thing, which, being
considered from different points of view, is called by different
names ; that is to say, this one and self-same thing is called
Reason, because it knows itself and its origin, and compre-
hends all other things ; Pen, because by its instrumentality
the impresses of knowledge upon the Preserved Tablet and
other works, were made ; and Light of Mohammed,^ because
all perfections possible are but rays of this Light In some
books of history it is recorded that Ibn Abbas said : The
first creature which God made was a Pen, whose length was
500 years, and its thickness 40 years. When God said to it,

^ ' The Light of Mohammed ' is apparently a counterfeit of the IhS^ rov Oeov
which, according to John xii. 41, is identical with the d6^a 'I170-OC XpurroD, or
the manifestation of the pre-existing X&yos (see John i. 14). This opinion also
derives confirmation from the tradition that Mohammed said, in referring to the
time when heavenly messengers purified his heart and body, * They filled my
heart with the Shecfiina,*

248 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. li.

" Write ! " it asked, " What shall I write, O my Lord ? " The
Most High answered, "Write those things which I have
pre-determined for all creatures, till the day of the resurrec-
tion." The Pen at once carried out this Divine behest,
writing first of all these words on the Preserved Tablet : " In
the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate : I am
God, beside whom there is no God, except myself; and
Mohammed is my Apostle. Whoever yields himself Up to
my decrees, submits patiently to my adversities, is thankful
for my favours, and agrees with my judgment, him I write
down as a just one, and him will I raise up, on the day of
the resurrection, amongst the just" According to another
account, the Pen, on being commanded to write down all
the things that are, and are to be, first wrote on the foot of
the Throne : ** There is no God but Allah : Mohammed is
the Apostle of Allah" — ^and then wrote down the drops
that were to descend from the sky, the leaves that were to
fall from the trees, the pieces of stone on the face of the
earth, all the plants that were ever to grow, and all Ithe
nourishment that was to be obtained by every creature.

* There are several different accounts of the creation of
the Light of Mohammed. The sum and substance of them,
as God knows best, amounts to this: Many thousands of
years before the Lord Most High created heaven and earth,
the upper and the lower Throne, the Tablet and the Pen,
Paradise and Hell, the Angels, Men, and Genii, and the other
creatures, He created the Light of that Excellency's
prophetship, and trained it in the arena of the world of
holiness, sometimes commanding it to prostrate itself in
adoration, at other times employing it in praising and
ascribing holiness. In the abode of this Light God created
curtains, in each of which He kept it for a long space of
time, and caused it to offer a special hymn of praise. When,
after the lapse of a very long time, it came forth from these
curtains, it breathed out after the manner of a lover, and
from its blessed breath God created the spirits of the
Prophets and Saints, and the spirits of the Righteous, the
Martyrs, and the other Believers, and the spirits of the
Angels. God also divided that blessed breath into several
parts, creating out of one of them the upper and the lower

CH. I. I.] THE LIGHT OF MOHAMMED. 2Atf^

Throne, the Tablet, the Pen, Paradise, Heaven and Earth,
Sunlight and Moonlight, the Stars, the Vapours, the Winds
and the Mountains. After this, He spread out the earth,
and divided heaven and earth into seven stories, appointing
each of them as the abode of one class of creatures ; and
caused day and night to appear. Then he commanded
Gabriel to go and fetch a handful of pure earth from the
buryihg-place of his Excellency the Prophet, and to mix
it with that Light Gabriel did as he was commanded, by
mixing up that Light with the pure earth, and made it into
a dough, with water from the highest fountain, giving that
dough the shape of a white pearl. This white pearl he
flung into the rivers of Paradise, and presented it to the
earths and to the skies, to the seas and to the mountains,
so that they should know and understand who he (the
Prophet) was, before he was created.

* It is recorded that Meiseret ul Fejr narrated as follows :
I asked his Excellency the Prophet, "When didst thou
becdme a Prophet ? " and he replied to me thus, " When
God created the great Throne, and expanded the heavens
and the earths, and placed the great Throne upon the
shoulders of the angels who are the bearers of the throne,
He, by means of the Pen, wrote on the foot of the Throne,
' There is no God but Allah : Mohammed is the Apostle of
Allah, and the seal of the prophets ; ' and He wrote and
impressed my name upon the gates of Paradise, upon the
leaves of the trees of Paradise, and upon its cupolas and
tents, though at that time Adam was still between body
and spirit, that is to say, no spirit was as yet dwelling in his
body. After that, the Almighty created Adam, the pure,
fully; and placed that Light on his forehead, saying, "O
Adam, this Light which I have placed on thy forehead is
the Light of the noblest and best of thy oflFspring, and of
the Prince of the Prophets who are to be sent."

* It is also recorded that, in order to preserve and honour
that Light, a formal promise was taken from Adam, that
his children should not convey that Light to pure wives,
without previous purification ; and that the angels became
witnesses to this covenant ; and that it was arranged that
from every one of Adam's children, on whom that Light

2SO MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. li.

may be placed, promise should be taken that he also was to
preserve and honour that Light, and not to transfer and
communicate it to any woman except to one duly married,
and who is the fittest and best of her time. Then Adam
had many children, until that Light was communicated to
Eve and she bore Seth. Whenever Eve gave birth, she
brought forth twins, a boy and a girl, till the turn came for
Seth to be born, whom she brought forth alone, without a
twin-sister, because of the honourable distinction of the
Light of Mohammed. Though this is the more generally
received account, there is also another, according to which
Seth likewise was born with a twin-sister ; but, according to
both accounts, the Light of Mohammed was only transferred
upon Seth. Afterwards that pure Light was conveyed, by
proper covenants, pacts, and marriage, from the best of men
to the purest of women, till it reached Abd Allah Ibn
Mottaleb (Mohammed's father), and from him was conveyed
to Amina Bent Wahb Ibn Abd Menaf (his mother), accord-
ing to the generally received tradition, " I was conveyed
from the best of fathers to the purest of mothers.'* But God
knows best what is true.'^'

In the Kitabi Ahwal el Kidntat we read the following
singular account : * It is recorded by tradition that God first
created a Tree, with 4000 branches, and called it the Tree
of Life. Then He created the Light of Mohammed^ in a
veil of white pearl, of the shape of a Peacock, and placed it
upon that Tree, where it praised Him for 70,000 years.
Then Grod created the Mirror of Shame and placed it before
it ; and when the Peacock looked into it, it beheld its own
form most beautiful, and its figure most elegant, wherefore it
blushed before God with a true shame, and prostrated itself
five times in worship. This is the reason why God has
imposed prostrations and five daily prayers upon Mohammed
and his people. When God looked upon that Light it per-
spired, from a sense of shame, because of Him. Then God
created from the perspiration of its head the angels ; from
the perspiration of its face the upper and the lower Throne,
the Tablet, the Pen, Paradise, Hell, the Sun, the Moon, the
Stars, the Veil, and all that is in heaven ; and of the per-
spiration of its breast He created the Prophets, the Apostles,

CH.I.I.] RANK DERIVED FROM THE PRETEXTS TENT. 251

the Ulemas, the Martyrs, and the Righteous ; from the per-
spiration of its back He created the Flourishing House and
the Kaaba, the temple of Jerusalem, and the places of the
houses of worship in the world ; of the perspiration of its
eyebrows He created the people of believing men and
women, the Mussulmans of both sexes ; of the perspiration
of its ears He created the spirits of the Jews, the Christians,
the Magi, and what is like them ; of the perspiration of its
legs He created the Earth, from the west to the east, and
what is in it After this, when the Light of Mohammed had
praised God for 70,000 years, God created the Light of the
prophets, out of the Light of Mohammed, and looked upon
that Light and created their spirits ; and they said, " There
is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the apostle of
Allah." Then God created a Lamp of transparent red*car-
nelian, and the figure of Mohammed, just as he afterwards
was in this world, and put it on that Lamp, exactly in the
form he had when he was saying his prayers.^ Then the
spirits went round the Light of Mohammed, praising and
worshipping, for the space of 100,000 years. Then God
commanded the spirits to look upon the form of Mohammed,
and they all obeyed : and whoso saw his head became a
Calif and a Sultan amongst men ; whoso saw his forehead
became a just commander ; whoso saw his eyes became one
who knows the Word of God by heart ; whoso saw his eye-
brows became a painter ; whoso saw his ears became a
listener and forward-comer ; whoso saw his cheeks became
virtuous and intelligent ; whoso saw his nose became a
doctor, physician, and apothecary ; whoso saw his lips be-
came a minister of state ; whoso saw his mouth became one
who keeps the fast ; whoso saw his teeth became one of a
beautiful countenance ; whoso saw his tongue became an
ambassador amongst men ; whoso saw his throat became a
preacher, a crier who calls to prayer, and a councillor;

^ This notion of a fully-formed pre-existing Mohammed appears to be an
imitation both of the Logos of the Gospel and the Kabbalistic Adam kadmon^
who is represented in the Kabbala as the first Divine manifestation, the source
of all other forms and ideas. Altogether these Mussulman speculations have a
remarkable affinity with the teaching of the Talmud, where we read : ' Seven
things existed before the creation of the world, viz., the Law, the Temple, the
Messiah, Paradise, Hell, Repentance, and the Throne of Glory.''

252 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

whoso saw his beard became a combatant for the religion of
God ; whoso saw his neck became a merchant ; whoso saw
both his arms became a spear-maker and a sword-manu-
facturer ; whoso saw his right arm became a surgeon ;
whoso saw his left arm became an igjnoramus ; whoso saw
the hollow of his right hand became a banker and an em-
broiderer ; whoso saw the hollow of his left hand became a
corn-measurer; whoso saw both his hands became liberal;
whoso saw the back of his hollow hands became a miser ;
whoso saw the back of his right hand became a dyer ; whoso
saw the tips of his fingers became a writer; whoso saw
the back of the fingers of his right hand became a tailor ;
whoso saw the back of the fingers of his left hand became a
blacksmith ; whoso saw his chest became learned, generous,
and diligent ; whoso saw his back became humble and
obedient to the ordinances of the law ; whoso saw his sides
became a warrior ; whoso saw his stomach became content
and frugal; whoso saw his knees became a kneeler and
worshipper; whoso saw his legs became a hunter; whoso
saw the soles of his feet became a walker ; whoso saw his
shadow became a singer and player ; whoso saw nothing
became a Jew, a Christian, an infidel, and magician ; and
whoso not even looked at him became an infidel arrogating
to himself divinity, such as Pharaoh and other similar
infidels.

*Be it also known that God has created man after the
form of the name of Mohammed («X4o.^), namely, the head

round like the first M (^), the arms like the h (rw), the

stomach like the medial m C*), and the legs like the d (j).
Of the infidels, however, He creates none after this form, but
changes them after the form of swine/

(2.) MokammecPs Genealogy is traced through Abraham to

Adam^just as that of Jesus Christ

a. See Matt i. 1-16, and Luke iii. 23-38.

A The oldest extant biography of Mohammed, compiled
by Mohammed Ibn Ishak, and edited by Abu Mohammed
Abd el Malik Ibn Hisham, opens thus: — *This book con-
tains the life of the Apostle of God : Mohammed was the

CH. 1. 1-3.] GENEALOGY TRACED TO ADAM, 253

son of Abd Allah, son of Abdu-1-Mottaleb, son of Hashim,
son of Abd Menaf, son of Kussei, son of Kilab, son of Murra,
son of Kaab, son of Luei, son of Ghalib, son of Fihr, son of
Malik, son of Nadhr, son of Kinana, son of Khuzeima, son of
Mudrika, son of Alya, son of Mudhar, son of Nizar, son of
Maad, son of Adnan, son of Udd, son of Mukawwam, son
of Nahor, son of Teira, son of Yarub, son of Yashyub, son of
Nabit, son of Ishmael, son of Abraham, the Friend of God,^
son of Tara, son of Nahor, son of Sarukh, son of Rau, son
of Falih, son of Fiber, son of Shalih, son of Arphakhsad,
son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamek, son of Metushalakh,
son of Khanukh, — who, as is believed, was the prophet Idris,
the first prophet, and the first who wrote with the reed, — ^son
of Yared, son of Mahaleel, son of Kainanan, son of Yanish,
son of Sheth, son of Adam, to whom may God be Gracious ! *

(3.) As tite angel Gabriel announced the Conception of Jesus
by the Virgin Mary^ so he also announced that of
Mohammedy and the latter to * every place on the face
of the earth!

a. * The angel Gabriel was sent from God ... to a
virgin, . . . and said unto her, Fear not, Mary ; for thou
hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt con-
ceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son/ etc (Luke i.
26-38.)

b. In the Rawzat we read : * The biographers have re-
corded that the Light of Mohammed was transferred from
Abd Allah to Amina in the days of the pilgrims^e, in the
middle of the three days following the feast of sacrifices,
which by one account was a Friday night. In that night
God commanded the treasurer of Paradise to open the gates
of Paradise, in honour of the Light of Mohammed, which
then took its abode in Amina's body. The angels of heaven
also rejoiced and were glad ; and the angel Gabriel descended
to the earth, bringing Mohammed's green standard with him,

^ It will be observed that the genealogy from Abraham, IshmaeFs father, up
to Adam is identical with Luke iii. 34-38, with the only exception that the
Cainan of ver. 36 is omitted, evidently from the reason that there is another
Cainan in ver. 37.

254 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ll.

and planting it upon the roof of the Kaaba ; and he gave the
glad tidings to every place on the face of the earth that the
Light of Mohammed had taken up its abode in Amina, in
order that the foremost of the creatures should come forth
from her, and receive a mission to the foremost one of the
nations.'

(4.) As before the birth of fesuSy so also before that of
Mohammedy an Angel announced THE NAME he was
to receive,

a. In Matt i. 2 1, it is written : * The angel of the Lord said
unto Joseph, She (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his people from
their sins.'

b, Ibn Hisham narrates : * When Amina was pregnant
with the Apostle of God, a spirit appeared to her, saying.
Thou art bearing the Lord of this people ; say at his birth :
" I place him under the protection of the One that He may
protect him against the envious ; " and call his name
" Mohammed." '

(5.) The birth of both was distinguished by the glory of a
heavenly Lights tlu appearance of Angels^ and by signs
on the earth and in the starry sphere,

a. 'And Mary brought forth her first-born son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flock by night And, lo, the
angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them ; and they were sore afraid. And the
angel said unto them, Fear not : for, behold, I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto
you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which
is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you ; Ye
shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men' (Luke ii. 7-14). 'When Jesus was bom in Beth-

CH. I. 5.] HEA VENLY GLORY A TTENDS THE BIRTH. 255

lehem of Judaea, there came wise men from the east to
Jerusalem, saying. Where is he that is bom King of the
Jews ? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come
to worship him* (Matt. 11. i, 2).

b. * Abd ur Rahman Ibn Awf narrates that his mother,
Shefa, declared as follows : I was Amina's midwife : in the
night when labour-pains seized her, and Mohammed Mus-
tapha fell into my hands, at his birth, a voice reached my ears
from the unseen world, saying, " Thy Lord shew mercy unto
thee!" and the face of the earth became so illuminated, from
the east to the west, that I could see some of the palaces of
Damascus by that light. Soon after that, darkness, fear, and
trembling came upon me ; and then there appeared a light
on my right hand, and in that state I heard some one from
the invisible world say, "Whither didst thou take him?"
Another answered, " I have taken him westward to all the
blessed and holy places, and I have presented him to Abraham,
the Friend of God, who pressed him to his bosom, purified,
and blessed him." It is also recorded that in the same night
the Most High sent down a host of angels upon the earth,
in order that they should guard Amina, and keep her from
the eyes of the demons. Again, it is reported that Amina
said: " In that night a flight of birds turned into my house, in
such numbers as to fill the whole house. Their beaks were of
emerald and their wings of ruby. The Most High took off
the veil from my eyes, so that I saw the entire east and west
of the earth ; and I beheld how they planted three standards,
one in the east, one in the west, and one on the flat roof of
the Kaaba." '

Abdu-1-Mottaleb, after narrating marvellous things which
he saw and heard in the Kaaba, continues thus : ' I was
astonished and knew not what to say, and, putting my hand
to my eyes, I said to myself, " Am I asleep or awake ? " and
I saw that I was awake. The same moment I arose and
turned towards Amina's dwelling ; and, when I came near
her door, I found that house adorned with sundry lights
and sweet-smelling scents. Knocking at the door, Amina
answered with a feeble voice. I said, " Open the door
quickly, or else my gall-bladder will burst." Amina opened
the door with haste. I looked in her face ; and when I did

256 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

not see a trace left of the Light of Mohammed, my strength
left me, and I said, " O Amina, what has become of that
Light ? " She answered, " I have given birth to a son." '

* Sheikh Zarandi says, in his Book of Signs, that in the
night of Mohammed's birth the courts of Chosroes parted
asunder, and remained so till now, i.e. till A.H. 746 ( = A.D.
1368). Their remaining so is one of the greatest facts ; and
the great and adorable God alone knows how long they
will still be left/

* It is reported that, in the night of the birth of that prince,
the sea of Sawa overflowed the land ; and that the Wady
of Samawa, whose water had been stopped for a thousand
years, began to be flooded with the waters of a great river,
and the courts of Chosroes became shaking and trembling,
and their fourteen towers fell to the earth. Chosroes seeing
this, lamented and feared exceedingly; for he knew that these
occurrences portended a national calamity. But, assuming
an air of fortitude and courage, he kept his distress and
trouble of mind concealed, for a while, from his people ; and
then made up his mind not to hide those occurrences any
longer from his ministers of state and intimate friends. So
he put on his crown, sat upon his throne, called a council,
and when the ^lite of the people and his friends were
assembled, there arrived a letter from his Persian empire.
In this letter it was stated that the fires of the fire-temples
of Persia, which for a thousand years had not been extin-
guished, but were continually burning, had gone out in a
certain night, namely, in that in which also the towers of
Chosroes* palaces had fallen down. This circumstance, there-
fore, still further increased Chosroes' grief and sorrow. A
wise philosopher, also, the chief Judge, called the chief Fire-
priest, said, " O Shah, I also have seen in a dream, on that
night, that swift and indomitable camels were drawing Arab
horses from the Tigris and were spreading over town and
country." On hearing this from his chief Fire-priest, Chosroes
said to him, " O chief Fire-priest, what is the interpretation
of this dream ? and what is to happen in the world ? " The
chief Fire-priest answered, * A great event is to happen in
the direction of Arabia." '

Ibn Ishak reports, * Hassan Ibn Thabit said, "I was a

CM. I. 5, 6.] HE WAS BORN CIRCUMCISED. 257

lad of seven or eight years, understanding quite well what I
heard, when a Jew, on one of the buildings of Yathreb, called
together an assembly of his fellow-Jews and said to them,
To-night the star has arisen under which Mohammed is to
be bom. I asked Said, Hassan's grandson, how old his
grandfather was when Mohammed came to Medina, and he
answered. Sixty years. Now, as Mohammed was then fifty-
three years of age, Hassan must have been seven years old
when he heard those words." * (I. I. and I. H.)

Othman Ibn Abu-l-As narrates that Fatima, Abd Allah's
daughter, said, * I was with Amina, when the symptoms of
her approaching confinement set in ; and, on looking up to
heaven, I saw the stars to such an extent incline towards the
earth, that I thought they must fall down ; or, according to
another account, the stars were so near the earth that I
thought they would fall upon my head.' (Rawzat.)

(& Though both were subjected to tJie rite of circumcision^
yet there was a difference in favour of Mohammed,

a. * When eight days were accomplished for the circum-
cision of the child, his name was called Jesus ' (Luke ii. 21).

b, * The majority of the biographers and historians agree
in this, that Mohammed was born circumcised and with his
navel-string cut The Ulemas say that the reason why he
was born in this state is, that no creature should have any-
thing to do with his perfect natural frame, by depriving his
foreskin and navel of strength. Another reason is this,'that
he might not remain dishonoured, by uncircumcision, till he
could be circumcised ; and still another reason is, that not
any man might see his natural parts. It is recorded, on the
authority of Uns Ibn Malik, that the Prophet said, " I was
bom circumcised, and none has seen my nakedness." But
some of the later historians have objected to this tradition,
and declared that any traditionist who mentions it, without
also making known its weakness, will have to answer for it
on the day of the Resurrection. And some of the later
biographers have affirmed that Gabriel circumcised him, at
the same time when he purified his blessed heart in his child-
hood ; and yet another saying is, that Abdu-1-Mottaleb cir-
cumcised him on the seventh day after his birth.' (Rawzat)

R

258 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. II.

(7.) A Benediction is uttered on the breasts tfiat gave them
suckf but in the one case it came from the visible^ and
in tfie other y from the invisible ^ world.

a, * As Jesus spake those things, a certain woman of the
company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is
the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast
sucked * (Luke xi. 27).

b. * Ibn Abbas states, all creatures, even birds, air, clouds,
and winds contended for and contested the privilege of suck-
ling the prophet ; for, when some one from the unseen world
had taken that Excellency away from his mother's sight and
carried him about to all the places of the east and of the west,
a Caller from the Compassionate was calling out thus, " O, all
ye creatures, this infant is Mohammed Ibn Abd Allah Ibn
Abdu-1-Mottaleb : blessed are the breasts that give him milk,
and blessed are the hands that bring him up, and blessed are
the places where he dwells." Then all the creatures which
heard this call, were seized with the desire of suckling him,
and all of them, birds, clouds, winds, and others, claimed a
prerogative and priority in the matter. Thereupon another
call came from the unseen world, to this effect, " Stand ye
back from this matter : in the beginning of eternity this
blessed writing has been drawn up in the name of Halima
Saadia, the daughter of Abu Zuweib." It is recorded that
Halima narrated as follows : When the women of my people
went to Mecca in search of a living, I joined them, with the
same object. On arriving in the neighbourhood of Mecca,
we heard a voice (Jiatif) from the unseen world, calling out
thus, *' Know and understand that the Most High has this
year rendered it unlawful for the women to take girls, on
account of that male child which has been born amongst the
Koreish. That child is the sunshine of the day, and the
moonshine of the night ; and blessed are the paps that shall
give it milk. O ye women of the Beni Saad tribe, walk
quickly, make haste, that ye may obtain that child." ' (R.)

L

CH. I. 8. HE IS NAMED THE « DESTRO YER: 259

(8.) Not long after their birthy their Nature and Destiny are

made known by special Revelation,

a, *The angel said unto the shepherds, Fear not: for,
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be
to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David,
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord* (Luke ii. 10, 11). —
' Simeon took him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said.
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, accord-
ing to thy word : for mine ^y^s have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people ;* etc.
(Luke ii. 28-32). — *And Anna the prophetess coming that
instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him
to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem ' (Luke

ii. 38).
• b, ' Shefa Bint Awf says, After that, the person speaking

from the unseen world called, " O Mohammed, the honour
and glory of the world are promised to thee. Verily thou
art he who holds firmly under the strongest protection every
one that lays hold on the branches of the tree of thy religion,
and peculiar people, and acts according to thy words, and will
be known to belong to thy people, on the day of the Resurrec-
tion."— Amina heard another Caller call thus, " Verily in the
seas his name is the Destroyer ; ^ for he will destroy all
idolatry, so as not to leave a particle of it on the face of the
earth." — It is recorded that Abdu-1-Mottaleb said, I was
that night in the Kaaba. At midnight I saw that the four
side-walls of the Kaaba inclined toward the place of Abraham,
and worshipped before it. Then they rose again and returned
to their former places; and I heard a wonderful thing in
them, namely, a voice calling out, "God is great! God is
great I The Lord Mohammed, the chosen, has now cleansed
me, my Lord, from the pollution of idols and from the

^ The word in the Arabic original is El MdhL This is an appellative
specially applied as a proper name to Mohammed. It signifies ' the Destroyer,
the AnnihHator,' derived from the verb mahw, 'to wipe out, to cause to disappear,
to annihilate, to destroy.' It is rather singular, and perhaps significant, that also
in Rev. ix. 1 1 we read of a remarkable personage whose name is stated to be in
the Hebrew tongue Abaddon and in the Greek ApoUyon, both which words
likewise signify • The Destroyer.' The opposite to this is : * The Preserver, the
Saviour.*

26o MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk, ii.

uncleanness of the idolaters." And the idols which were
about the Kaaba were broken in pieces, as an old rag is torn
up ; and the largest idol, named Hobal, lay prostrate, with his
face upon the stones ; and I heard a Caller call, " Mohammed
is bom of Amina." — Irvet Ibn Zobeir narrates, that a company
of the Koreish had an idol in the idol-house, which they
visited once a year, on a certain day, which they regarded as
a festival, and on which they sacrificed camels and drank
wine in their assemblies. When they arrived on one such
occasion, they saw that the idol was undeniably fallen down
upon his face. They lifted him up and replaced him, but in
a moment they saw him fallen down again, head foremost.
This happened twice; and when they had again strongly
posted him in his place, they heard a voice proceeding from
the hollow part of the idol, reciting these verses :

" Rejoicing because of the child,
And radiant with his light,
Are all the mountain-passes of the earth,
Both in the east and in the west ;
And bowing down to him are all the idols,
And trembling are the hearts of all the kings.
Throughout the world, from fear."

This occurrence happened on the night of that Excellency's
birth.

* Halima, Mohammed's wet-nurse, relates : When we were
returning from Mecca, with our nurslings, to the tribe of the
Beni Saad, all the women of the tribe wondered at the change
that had come over my donkey, saying, " O Halima, is not
the donkey on which thou ridest the same as that on which
thou camest to Mecca > How strange, that the donkey which
then could not walk straight, now cannot be overtaken by
any other donkey. There must be something uncommon
and mysterious in this donkey." Upon this I heard my
donkey say, "Yes, for God's sake, there is something
uncommon and mysterious in me whom God, the Nourisher,
has quickened, and, when emaciated, has fattened. O ye
tawny Beni Saad women, ye are ignorant of my state. Do
ye know that he who is riding on me is the seal of the
prophets, the Lord of the apostles, superior in nature to the
former and the latter, and the loved one of both worlds ? "

CH. 1. 8, 9.] PRESENTA TION IN THE TEMPLE. 261

When I met a flock of sheep, on that journey, the sheep
would come near me and say, ** O Halima, knowest thou who
thy nursling is ? He is Mohammed, the Lord of heaven and
earth, and thq first of the sons of men." — The nursing being
over and Halima about to take the child back to Mecca, she
heard in the night an invisible Caller call, " The fountain of
blessing and safety is departing from the Beni Saad tribe :
O valley of Mecca, thy time is propitious, thy light, ray, life,
beauty, paradise, and ornament is to come back to thee ; and
thou art always to remain preserved and protected by his
blessing."' (R.)

(9.) Like Jesus y Mohammed also was presented^ in his early
infancy y to the Deity of the national Sanctuary.

a. 'When the days of Mary's purification according to
the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Jesus
to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord [in the temple] "
(Luke ii. 22, 27).

b, Ibn Ishak narrates : ' When Mohammed was born, his
mother sent for Abdu-1-Mottaleb, begging him to come and
see the child. When he came, she told him what she had
seen during the time of her pregnancy, what she had been told
concerning him, and what name she was to give him. It is
believed that Abdu-1-Mottaleb then took him, carried him to
the Kaaba, thanked God for the gift, and then took him back
again to his mother, and went to find a wet-nurse for him.'

(10.) They both developed in their childhood under the special
favour of Gody and showed marks of an uncommon
measure of Divine Grace.

a. 'The child Jesus grew, and waxed strong in spirit,
filled with wisdom ; and the grace of God was upon him '
(Luke ii. 40).

b. * Amina said, When Mohammed was born, he put his
hands upon the earth, lifted up his face heavenwards, knelt
upon his knees and moved his fingers, as if using the rosary.
He also sucked his thumb, whereupon milk flowed from it
Afterwards he took a handful of earth, turned towards the

262 MOHAMMED A PAROD V OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

Kaaba and began to worship. And together with him a
light came forth from me, by which I could see the houses
of Bosra in Syria.

* Halima thus describes her first interview with her nursling:
Abdu-1-Mottaleb took me to the house in which Amina,
Mohammed's mother, was. I saw a beautiful and strong lady,
from whose forehead, as it were, the new moon shone forth,
and from whose visage brilliant stars were glittering. When
Abdu-l-Mottaleb made known my state and name to Amina,
she said, " Well and good, O Halima." Then she took me
by the hand and brought me to the house in which
Mohammed was. I saw Mohammed wrapt in white wool,
which yielded a sweet fragrance, like musk ; and he was
sleeping, covered with green silk. When I uncovered his
face and saw his fairness and beauty, I became enamoured.
I put my hand upon his breast to awaken him. Then he
smiled, and, on opening his eyes, a light beamed forth from
them, reaching up to heaven. I took him up in my arms
and pressed him to my bosom, to give him suck. When I
put my right breast into his mouth, he sucked, but when' I
wanted to give him the left, he did not Ibn Abbas remarks,
** In this matter God inspired him with equity ; for Halima's
son was his partner, therefore, having regard to justice, he
halved his wet-nurse's breasts with his foster-brother."
Halima adds. After this I always nourished him from my
right breast, and the left I gave to his foster-brother ; and my
own son did not wish for milk, except Mohammed had enough.
When we returned to our tribe, the high and adorable God
counted our beasts and flocks and possessions worthy of such
countless blessings and unlimited favour that, in the same
year, all our sheep had lambs and in their udders was
abundance of milk ; and the sheep of no one else in that tribe
were blest like our own. Thereupon most other shepherds
led their sheep to pasture with ours, and God bestowed a
blessing on them also, so that as long as Mohammed remained
with our tribe, there were not wanting to it prosperity and
blessings.

' Halima further said : God imparted to the hearts of those
who saw Mohammed such a love towards him that they
could not contain themselves. That Excellency also did not

CH. I. lo.] HIS WONDERFUL INFANCY. 263

wet or soil his bed-linen like other infants. Every time
I wanted to wash and clean his blessed mouth from the
milk, I found it already washed and cleaned by some one
from the unseen world. When he was uncovered he became
angry, and did not cease crying till he was covered again.
When that noble one had begun to walk, and saw other
children playing, he moved away from them, and, forbidding
them their play, would say, " We have not been created in
order to play." — ^There are some accounts to the effect that
Mohammed grew in a day as much as other children in a
month ; and in a month as much as other children in a year ;
so that when he was in his second year, he had already the
strength of a young man. — Halima says, He did not cry,
nor was naughty like other children ; and never took up a
thing with his left hand, but whatever he ate, he seized with
his right hand ; and when he had begun to speak, he always
said " In the name of God," as often as he stretched out his
hand after anything ; and for fear of him I did not let my
husband come near me for two full years. One day that
noble one was on my lap, whilst some sheep were walking
about ; and one of them approached this noble one, made a
low bow before him, kissed his hand and then walked away
again ; and every day a light, like the sun, came down,
enveloped him, and then let him come forth from it again ;
and every day two white birds or two men in white clothes
went in by his collar and disappeared.

' Halima's account of the angelic purification of his heart
is as follows: One day Mohammed expressed a wish to
accompany his foster-brothers, who were tending the sheep,
so that he might likewise be usefully employed. I,
therefore, next morning combed his blessed hair, put oint-
ment to his eyes, dressed him and hung a necklace of
Yemen beads round his neck to prevent the effects of the
evil eye. According to one account, that Excellency at once
tore this necklace from his neck, and threw it away, saying,
**My guardian and keeper is with me." Then Mohammed
took a stick in his hand and joyfully went away with his
foster-brothers ; and they were engaged in tending the sheep
somewhere near our dwelling. About mid-day I saw my
son running in, dripping with perspiration, and calling out.

264 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. n.

" O mother, O father, help Mohammed ! " I asked, " What
has happened to him ? " He answered, " When we were
sitting together with Mohammed, we suddenly saw some
one come, take him from the midst of us, carry him to the
top of the mountain, throw him down and split open his
body : what happened to him afterwards I do not know ;
but I do not expect him to be still alive." Then I and my
husband ran thither, stupefied. When we reached him, we
found him sitting on the mountain-top and looking up to
heaven. Seeing us, he smiled. I kissed his head and his
eyes, saying, "My soul be a sacrifice for thine. What has
happened to thee } " He answered, " O mother, I was sitting
with my brothers, when suddenly I saw three men appearing
to me, and according to another account they were two men,
dressed in white raiment, and they said that they were
Gabriel and Michael, on both of whom be peace ! In the
hand of one of them there was a silver ewer, and in the
other's hand a washing-basin of green emerald, filled with
snow. They came, took me from the midst of my brothers,
and carried me to the top of the mountain. One of them
drew me kindly and gently to himself and split me open
from my chest to my navel ; and I saw him, but there was
not any pain. Then he plunged his hand into my body,
took out my intestines, and, after having washed them with
snow-water in that washing-basin, put them back again to
their place. Then the other said to him, * Thou hast now
done what thou hast been commanded : stand back, that I
also may carry out what has been enjoined upon me.' Then
he thrust his hand into my body, took out my heart, split it
in half, removed the blood with which the dot of desire was
polluted and threw it away, saying, * This is the portion of
Satan from thee, O thou loved one of God.' Then there
was something in his hand which he had brought with him,
and with which he filled my heart, after which he put it
back to its place, and sealed it with a seal of light, whose
charm and ease now remains in my limbs and joints. Then
again another rose up .and said, 'Stand back, both of you
who have done what you have been commanded.' When
they had stood back, he came, put his hand on the place
where my chest was split, passing it on to the navel ; and

CH. I. lo, 1 1.] HIS HEART SPLIT AND PURIFIED. 265

that instant my wound closed and healed, whilst I was stand-
ing and looking on. After this they kissed me on my
forehead, and said, * O loved one, fear not : if thou knewest
what good things are ready prepared for thee, thine eyes
would brighten up.' Then they left me in this state, flew
away, and entered mid-heaven. I saw them entering heaven^
and if thou wishest, I will show thee where they entered."
When I had brought him back to my dwelling, my husband,
relatives, and acquaintances said, '^ Take him to a seer, that
he may ascertain what is the matter with him." The true
and honest of the tribe and people said, '* Surely he is
possessed : it is proper to take him to a seer."

* As regards this subject of the splitting of the heart, there
is a difference in the accounts : according to one, it happened
either during his flrst or second stay amongst the Beni Saad ;
according to another, it took place in his sixth year ; and
according to yet another, in his tenth year ; and by trust-
worthy traditions it is affirmed that the splitting of his chest
came to pass in the night of his ascension. If it please God,
the truth resulting from these different accounts is this, that
the splitting of the chest took place several times.* (R.)

(11.) Both were lost in their childhood^ but found again: the
one by his mother^ s diligent search, the other by a super-
natural revelation,

a, * When they found him not, they turned back again to
Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after
three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions '
(Luke ii. 45, 46).

b. * Halima, in narrating how she took back Mohammed
to his mother, relates as follows : When I reached Mecca,
I set Mohammed down at the chief city gate, to go a little
aside, as there was a crowd of people in the place. On my
return directly after, I did not find him. I therefore asked the
people where the boy was whom I had just put down there,
and swore by the God of Abraham that I would cast myself
down a mountain and kill myself, if I did not find him again.

266 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. Ii.

Seeing no trace of him, I became disconsolate, and, putting
my hands to my head, called out, "O Mohammed, O my
boy ! " A crowd of people gathered round me, men, women,
and children, who also cried because of my grief. Suddenly
I saw an old man approach me, saying, "Weep not and
grieve not : I will lead thee to one who can let thee find
him, if he please." Then that old man took me to the idol-
house, walked seven times round the idol, kissed his head,
and, after having lauded and praised him according to rule
and precept, said, " O exalted Hobal, wilt thou be pleased
to bring back Mohammed Ibn Abd Allah whose wet-nurse
this woman is ?" When the old man had uttered these words,
I saw that Hobal and the other idols fell prostrate upon
their faces, and out of their hollow part a voice proceeded,
saying, '' O old man, remain thou far from us, and do not
mention Mohammed's name before us: the destruction of
ourselves and the other idols and the idolaters is to be in
his hand ; and his God does not lose him, but keeps him
by any means. Tell the idol-worshippers that our greatest
sacrificer is to be Mohammed, that is, he is to kill us all,
whilst they that follow him shall be safe." Halima then
went and told Abdu-1-Mottaleb what had happened. He at
once called the Koreish together ; and with them, on horse-
back, searched the high and low parts of Mecca, but without
success. He therefore also went to the temple, and inquiring
of the idols, heard in reply this Voice from the invisible
world, " O ye men, grieve not ; for Mohammed has a God
vi^o does not lose him." Abdu-1-Mottaleb again asked,
•' O Voice, where is Mohammed ? " The Voice replied, " He
is sitting under a tree in the Wady of Teham." Upon this,
Abdu-1-Mottaleb started and found Mohammed in that valley,
sitting under a tree and gathering leaves. Asking him who
he was, the child answered, " I am Mohammed Ibn Abd
Allah Ibn Abdu-1-Mottaleb." Abdu-1-Mottaleb rejoined,
" My soul be a sacrifice for thee. I am thy grandfather ; "
and taking him up on horseback, carried him home. Ibn
Abbas observes that, in recognition of having found Moham-
med, Abdu-1-Mottaleb gave away much gold and silver
money, camels, and sheep, as alms, and also enriched and
rejoiced Halima with a variety of gifts and favours.' (R.)

CH.I.I2.] TWELVE YEARS OLD, VISITS BAHIRA. 267

(12.) Twelve years old, their special relation to God and
uncommon destiny was made known during a
Journey ; and then they were taken away from the
place where their presence vtight prematurely have
roused the hostility of the Jews,

a. * When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to
Jerusalem after the custom of the feast And when they had
fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried
behind in Jerusalem. . . . And his mother said unto him,
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us ? behold, thy father
and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them.
How is it that ye sought me ? wist ye not that / must be
about my Father's business ? And they understood not the
saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with
them [away from the dangerous city], and came to Nazareth,
and was subject unto them : but his mother kept all these
sayings in her heart' (Luke li. 42-51).

b, * The biographers and historians of Mohammed record,
that when that noble one was twelve years, two months, and
ten days old, he expressed the desire of accompanying Abu
Talib on a mercantile journey to Bosra in Syria. Abu Talib
had already laden his beasts, and was ready for the journey,
without intending to take Mohammed with him, when that
noble one addressed him thus, "O uncle, I have neither
father nor mother: with whom wilt thou leave me ? I will go
with thee." Abu Talib willingly consenting, said, " By Allah,
I shall go together with thee, and not separate from thee."
Then, journeying in company with the Lord of the world,
they reached a village called Kefer, six miles from Bosra.
In that village the monk Bahira, who was a Christian scholar
and divine of great asceticism and piety, had his monastery.
He had acquired a knowledge of the nature and attributes
of the Prophet from the Gospel and other heavenly books,
and had long been expecting to see that prince in his monas-
tery ; for he had found in the heavenly books that he was to
come at such a time, and in such a place, and that he was to
alight under the shadow of a certain tree in a particular monas-
tery. When the Koreishite caravan came with that noble one
and encamped by the side of Bahira's monastery, he went

268 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [BK. ii.

upon the roof, and saw a cloud overshadowing that caravan,
moving when it moved, and resting when it rested. When
Bahira observed this, he wondered, saying, " This can only
be, if the Prophet is in this caravan ; to all appearance he
whom I have so long desired and expected is now there."
Another account informs us that when the caravan came to
a hilly and stony spot, Bahira heard the trees and stones of
the monastery calling with a loud voice, " Peace be unto thee,
O Apostle of God ; " and, when the Prophet and his uncle
alighted under a tree, the said cloud overshadowed it, and its
branches multiplied, became green, young, and fresh, and bore
fruit When the monk saw these things, he knew for certain
that the Prophet of the latter time was there ; and he ordered
his disciples and servants to prepare a dinner and lay the
table for that caravan. The people of the caravan accepted
his invitation ; but after they had come, he still saw the cloud
in its former place. He therefore inquired which of their
number had been left behind ; and, hearing it was the lad
Mohammed, he at once caused him to be sent for ; and when
he came, the overshadowing cloud came with him.

' Another account is this, that when the caravan had en-
camped near the monastery, Bahira came and searched it, till
he arrived where Abu Talib sat, and there saw the blessed
beauty of Mohammed, the chosen one, whose blessed hand he
took, saying, " This the Lord of both worlds. God has sent
him out of compassion for both worlds." The old men of the
Koreish said, " O Bahira, whence knowest thou that this one
will be a prophet ? " Bahira answered, that it was from those
signs and tokens which he had witnessed ; and he declared
unto them all, that the noble form and proportioned figure of
that prince had become known to him from the heavenly books,
adding, " I know the prophetic seal to his being the prophet
of the latter days ; it is between his shoulder-blades, and is
of the size of an apple." Then he returned to his convent,
and prepared the dinner, as narrated before. After dinner,
when the other chief men had left, Bahira said to Abu Talib,
** What relationship is there between thee and this youth ?"
Abu Talib answered, " He is my son." Bahira, " It is impos-
sible that his parents are still living." According to Ibn
Ishak's account Bahira said, " He is not thy son : this boy

CH. 1. 12.] BAHIRA MAKES KNOWN THE PROPHET, 269

no longer needs a father^ Abu Talib replied, " Thou hast
rightly spoken ; he is my nephew, but is to me like a son."
After this, Bahira, for the purpose of trying that prince and
making known his true state, turned to Mohammed, saying,
" I adjure thee by Lat and Ozza ! " to which the Prophet
replied, " O Bahira, do not adjure me by Lat and Ozza, to
whom I am a greater enemy than to anything else in the
world." Bahira continued, " Then I adjure thee, by the Most
High God, to tell me whether there is not a certain sign and
mark of such a form and nature between thy shoulder-
blades." That Excellency answered, " Yes, there is." Then
Bahira jumped up, kissed that prince between his eyes, and
said, " I testify that he is the Apostle of God in truth ; " and
it is said that he also kissed the feet of the Lord of the world.
Another account adds that, on Bahira's entreaty, that prince
took off his mantle from his blessed shoulders, so that Bahira
could see the seal of prophetship between his two shoulder-
blades, and he found it to be such as he had ascertained
it from the heavenly books ; and he kissed that place.

* It is recorded that some Jews, or, according to another
account, some Greeks, amongst whom were three distin-
guished priests, came to kill that prince. They entered
Bahira's convent that day, saying, "O Bahira, we have
learned from the heavenly books that to-day Mohammed is to
come with a caravan of the Koreish and to encamp near this
monastery ; we have come in order to kill him." But Bahira,
instead of assisting them in their purpose, demonstrated to
them by clear proofs that this youth was the Prophet of the
latter time, and thus induced them to desist from their design.
It is recorded that Bahira saici to Abu Talib, " This youth is
to be the Prophet of the latter days, and his law is to spread
over the whole world, and his religion is to abrogate all
other religions; if thou lovest this youth, beware, do not
take him to Syria, for the Jews are his enemies ; God forbid
that they, recognising him, should do him any harm." Upon
this, Abu Talib sold his merchandise with a good profit in
Bosra, and returned to Mecca. But there is also another
account, according to which Abu Talib sent the Prophet back
to Mecca with another company, whilst he himself went to
Syria, and there completed his mercantile transactions.' (R.)

270 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk.ii.

(13.) TJu appearance both of Jesus Christ and of Mohammed
was expected amongst the Jews and others^ having been
foretold by prophets,

a. 'When John had heard in the prison the works of
Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art
thou he that should come, or do we look for another ? ' (Matt
xi. 2, 3.)

' Philip iindeth Nathanael, and saith unto him. We have
found him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets,
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph' (John i.

45).

b, * The Jewish Rabbis and the Christian Priests, as well

as the Diviners amongst the Arabs, had already been speaking
of Mohammed before his public mission, when its time had
drawn near: the former, in accordance with the testimony of
their prophets, which they found in their books, concerning
him and his time; and the latter, in accordance with the
information, which evil spirits had brought them, of what they
had overheard of the celestial conversations, before they were
prevented from listening, by stars being hurled at them.
Assim Ibn Amr narrated that men of his tribe assured him
that, next to God's grace and guidance, they had been led to
adopt Islam by what they had heard from the Jews, saying,
** We were polytheists and idolaters, but they possessed a book
and knowledge which we were without. We often had war
with them and when we did them any harm, they would say,
" The time is at hand when a prophet will be sent with whose
help we shall destroy you, like Ad and Irem." Generally we
paid no attention to this threat ; but when God sent Moham-
med, and he preached to us, we followed him ; for then we
understood that with which they had been threatening us ; but
we anticipated them, by believing in him, whilst they them-
selves remained unbelieving." — Salama Ibn Wakash, one of
the warriors of Bedr, related, " Once, when I was still very
young, a Jew who enjoyed their protection, came to the Beni
Abd el Ashhal and spoke of the Resurrection, the Account, the
Balance, Paradise, and Hell. When the idolaters asked him
what sign he had in proof of this, he answered, A prophet
is to arise from that land, pointing to Yemen and Mecca ;

CH. L 13, 14.] THE PROPHETS COMING FORETOLD, 271

and on their inquiring further, When will this happen?
he replied whilst pointing at me, the youngest among them,
If this lad reaches his proper age, he may live to see it And in
fact, continued Salama, a day and a night did not pass, before
God sent Mohammed into our midst and we believed in him,
whereas he, from envy and stubbornness, remained unbelieving.
When we said to him. Woe unto thee ; didst not thou say
so and so of him ? he replied. Yes, I did, but this is not the
right one." A sheikh of the Beni Koreiza gave this report :
Some years before Islam, a certain Jew from Syria, Ibn el
Haggaban by name, settled amongst us, who certainly was the
most excellent non- Moslem I ever knew. Whenever there
was a drought, he, at our request, went out with us to the
field and offered up prayers for rain ; and scarcely had he
risen, before a cloud passed by and drenched us, a thing which
happened very often. When his dying hour approached,
he said," O ye Jews, the reason why I have left a land of wine
and corn, and come into a land of want and hunger, is this, that
I have expected the appearance of a prophet whose time is
at hand, and who is to emigrate to this country. I have been
waiting for him, in order to follow him. Do not let others
anticipate you by their believing in him, for, in accordance
with his mission, the blood of his adversaries will be shed,
their children made captives, and nothing can protect you
against him." Afterwards, when God sent Mohammed, and
he besieged the Beni Koreiza, those men, who then were still
young, said, " O ye sons of Koreiza, by God, this is the pro-
phet promised by Ibn el Haggaban." But they said, " No,
he is not." Those men, however, took God for a witness
that he was exactly such as he had been described ; and
they embraced Islam, and thus their blood, their goods, and
their families were saved.' (Ibn Ishak.)

(14) Whilst they were honouring a Penitentiary Institution^ by
accommodating themselves to it^ a Supernatural Occur-
rence and Voice inaugurated their own Public Mission.

a. 'John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins * (Mark i. 4).

* Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John,
to be baptized of him. And Jesus, when he was baptized,

272 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

went up straightway out of the water : and, lo, the heavens
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God^
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him : and lo a
voice from heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased" (Matt iii. 13-17).

b, Ibn Ishak narrates: *The Prophet used annually to
spend a month on Mount Hira, for it was a custom amongst *
the Koreishites in their heathen state to look upon this as
Tahannuth, i,e. * penance/ During that time he fed the poor
who visited him, and, when the month was over, he first
.went seven times round the Kaaba and then returned to
his own house. In the year of his public mission he went
there, as usual, in the month of Rhamadan, and, whilst there,
Gabriel brought to him God's behest, in the night, in which
God, from compassion to His servants, honoured him with
his mission,' etc. (see pp. $8, 59).

The Rawzat refers to the same event in these words :
'When that Excellency was sitting in the cave of Hira,
bending forward, Gabriel came behind him, and once more
roused that Excellency's attention, saying, " Rise, O Mo-
hammed : I am Gabriel." Rising up, that Excellency saw
some one walking before him and the Lord of the world
followed him. When that person went between the
mountains of Safa and Merva, his feet were on the earth
and his head was in the sky, and when he opened his wings,
he took in the space between the east and the west His
feet were yellow, his wings green. He wore two necklaces
of red ruby. His forehead was radiant and bright, his cheeks
light-like, his teeth white, his hair had the colour of red coral,
and between his two eyes were the words written, " There
is no God but Allah : Mohammed is the apostle of Allah."
When the Prophet saw that form and figure, he, afraid of
his greatness and rank, said, "Who art thou? God have
mercy on thee: verily I have never seen any one greater
and more beautiful than thee." Gabriel replied, " I am the

^ It is worthy of special notice that, according to Mohammedan theology, the
word 'Holy Spirit,* which also occurs in the Koran, e.g. Sura ii. 81 (87), is
only another name for ' the angel Gabriel. ' According to Ibn Ishak, Moham-
med himself answered the question put to him by the Jews, ' Who is the
Spirit ? ' by saying, < It is Gabriel who visits me.* This makes the imitation
still more striking.

CH. 1. 14, 15.] GABRIEL TEACHES HIM TO READ. 273

faithful Spirit ^ to all the prophets and sent ones : Read, O
Mohammed." That prince answered, " What can I read
who have never read ? " * Then Gabriel took from under his
wings a book, made of the silk of paradise, and embossed
with pearls and rubies, held it to that prince's face, and said,
"Read!" Mohammed replied, and was treated as before.
Then Gabriel stamped with his foot on the earth, so that
water gushed forth from it« in which he made an ablution,
by rinsing his mouth, snuffing up water with his nostrils,
and washing his face and feet Having done this three
times, and once rubbed his head, he also commanded
that prince to make the abljution exactly in the same
manner. When he had finished, Gabriel took a handful of
water, and splashed it in that Excellency's face, and then
placing himself before him, performed two prostrations of
prayer, that Excellency following him. After this, Gabriel
said to him, '* O Mohammed, behold, thus are the prayers
performed." Then Gabriel disappeared, and that Excellency
returned home, trembling in mind, and calling out, " Cover
me ! cover me ! " And they covered him, till his fear and
terror had passed off.'

(15.) Witness is borne to thenty and their Divine Mission is
made known to men^ by anot/ter distinguished Servant
of the true Gody who soon afterwards is removed from
this world}

a, 'John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This
was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is
preferred before me : for he was before me. And of his
fulness have .all we received, and grace for grace. For the

^ See the previous foot-note.

* One is here reminded of the word, 'How knoweth this man letters,
having never learned ? ' (John viL 15.)

* This parallelism between the two precursors, John the Baptist and Waraka,
is further sustained by the circumstance of kinship, for, as the mothers of John
and Jesus were 'cousins' (Luke i. 36), so also Waraka was the 'cousin' of
Mohammed's wife Khadija, and by the fact that as John's disciples, through
their master's testimony, became the first believers in Jesus (John L 35-42), so
also Waraka's testimony convinced Khadija, who, as Ibn Hisham tells us, was
* the first who believed in God, and His apostle, and His revelation.'

S

274 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. • . . Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world ! . . . That he should be made
manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
... I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove,
and it abode upon him* (John i. 15-34; Matt. xiv. 1-12).

b. Waraka's connection with Mohammed is thus referred
to in the Rawzat : ^ * After Gabriel's first appearance to
Mohammed on Mount Hira, that Excellency returned
home, trembling in mind, and afterwards said to Khadija,
" Verily, I fear for my life." Khadija replied, " Fear not ;
for God will not bring trouble upon thee ; " and, after having
thus comforted that Excellency, Khadija continued, "If
thou wishest it, I will lay thy state before my cousin Waraka
Ibn Nawfal, that we may see what he will say about it'*
This Waraka was a person who, even in the time of
ignorance, had turned away from the religion of the Koreish,
had become a Christian and professor of the Unity, know-
ing the Gospel well, which he had copied in Arabic, or,
according to another account, in Hebrew, and at this time
he had become very aged and blind. When she had
received that prince's permission, Khadija went to Waraka,
saying, " O my cousin, give me information about Gabriel"
Waraka exclaimed, " Holy ! holy ! " or, according to
another account, "Praiseworthy! praiseworthy!" and then
went on saying, '* O Khadija, who amongst the idolatrous
people of this land knows anything about Gabriel, that
fiaithful one between God and His prophets? and who
mentions his name ? " Khadija declared to him how that
Excellency had said, " Gabriel has come down to me," and
what state and condition he was in. Waraka replied, " If
Gabriel has descended to this place, then God is to send to
this land many favours and countless blessings. O Khadija,
if thou hast spoken this word in truth, then know that the
same excellent Law which came down to Moses and Jesus
has also come down to Mohammed. When that person who
came to him comes again, it is right that thou shouldest be
present in that place, and when he has come, then uncover
thy head and let thy hair be seen : if that person is from God

' Refer to p. 60.

CH. 1. 13.] IVARAKA DECLARES HIM A PROPHET. 275

he will not be able to see thy hair." Khadija says, I
returned and told that Excellency Waraka's words, adding,
"If that person comes again, let me know." Then, on
Gabriel again appearing to that Excellency, he informed
me of it I set that prince on my right thigh, and said,
" Dost thou see that person ? " He answered, " I do."
Then I uncovered my head, dishevelled my hair, and again
asked, ** Dost thou see that person ? " He replied, " No, I
do not : he is gone." Then I said, " Good news to thee :
that person coming to thee, comes down from God, and is
a good angeL" When I went again to Waraka and told
him the story, he said, "In truth, an excellent Law has
come down to the earth." Waraka also composed some
poetry on the subject, and said to Khadija, " Send Moham-
med to me, that he may make known unto me his own
state." The Prophet went to Waraka, whereupon Waraka
said, " Rejoice, O Mohammed, again and again rejoice :
I bear witness in truth that thou art that prophet whom
Jesus has announced in the words : " After me an apostle is
to be sent whose name is Ahmed,^ and I testify that thou
art Ahmed and God's apostle ; and verily that Law which
came down to Jesus has also come down to thee, and it will
soon come to pass that thou shalt be commissioned to war
and battle with the unbelievers.^ If I shall be alive in those
days I shall certainly assist thee ; " and bending his head
forward, he kissed that prince's forehead. Another account
adds that Waraka said to that prince, " Would that I were
still young and alive in those days, when thy people will
drive thee out of this city." His Excellency asked, "O
Waraka, will they then indeed drive me out?" Waraka
answered, "Yes, they will do it: for no one ever has
brought such a thing as thou, without his people having

^ This is another of the prophet's proper names. Whilst ' Mohammed '
means simply 'praised/ 'Ahmed' signifies 'most praised, or most praise-
worthy.' It is an intensive form expressing an eminent or superlative degree
of the radical verb hamada^ 'to praise.' The words put into Waraka's mouth
refer to the well-known passages in St John's Gospel about the promised
Spirit, the Comforter, and give the notorious Mohammedan mistranslation of
the Greek Paraclete.

* This is very unlike John's 'Lamb of God,' and reminds one rather of
' the wrath of the Lamb ' in Apoc. vL 16.

276 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

been hostile to him, injuring, and persecuting him." ^ Not
long after this, Waraka died, without reaching the time of
the gathering of disciples.' *

(i6.) Th^ and their public mission are the Object and End of
all previous Prophecy ^ as ushering in the grand era
of Fulfilment

a. * Jesus began to say unto them, This day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears' (Luke iv. 16-21).

* This that is written must yet be accomplished in me, . . •
for the things concerning me have an end ' (Luke xxii. 37).

* All this was done that the scriptures of the prophets
might be fulfilled * (Matt xxvi. 56).

'And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning himself (Luke xxiv. 27).

* God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake
in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son.' (Heb. i. i, 2).

b. Ibn Ishak says, * When Mohammed was forty years
old, God sent him as a prophet, from compassion towards
the world and all mankind. He had already before rendered
it obligatory on every prophet whom He sent, to believe
in Him, to declare Him to be true, to assist Him against His
enemies, and also to announce this to all those who were
going to believe in Him. Therefore it is written in the
Koran : " When God made a firm covenant with the prophets,
saying, I have brought you a Scripture and instruction,
then also there comes an apostle to you, confirming what
you had already : verily, ye are to believe in him and to
assist him. Do you acknowledge this and do you recognise
the burden of my covenant } They answered, We acknow-
ledge it Then God said. Bear witness, and I myself shall
bear witness with you." In this way God took a promise

^ Waraka here speaks from his own experience as a Hanifite and a Christian,
and with the recollection of a Zeid and an Othman fresh in his mind. These
words sound like a faint echo of the Baptist's ' Behold, the Lamb of God.'

' Here we may be reminded of the Baptist's word, ' He that hath the bride
is the bridegroom. ... He must increase, but I must decrease' (John iii.
29. 30)-

CH.I. i6.] SATIH, THE EXTRAORDINARY DIVINER. 277

from all the prophets, to declare Mohammed to be true, and
to assist him against his enemies : and they proclaimed this
to those who believed in them ; and many of the professors
of both the sacred books believed it'

In the Rawzat we read : * Sundry portentous events,
which took place in the night of Mohammed's birth, having
been brought to the knowledge of Chosroes, the king of
Persia, he wrote a letter to Naeman Ibn Munzir, saying,
" Send us a man who is able to answer questions which we
may put to him." Then Naeman sent Abdu-1-Massiah, to
whom Chosroes narrated what had taken place, and then
asked him what was portended thereby. Abdu-1-Massiah
replied, "The answer to this question is not with me, but
with my friend Satih, who is now living in Syria." It is
said that Satih was a diviner, of the tribe of the Beni Zeeb,
who had no joints in his body, so that he could neither stand
up nor sit down, but only, on being angered, he became
swollen up, bloated, and sitting. In his limbs there were no
bones at all, except that he had a skull and bones in the top
of his fingers : he was, as it were, a flat surface (sssath) of
flesh. When he had to be taken anywhere, he was rolled
up and folded together like a cloth. His face was on his chest,
and he had no neck. The historians say that Satih lived
in a district of Syria, called Gabie. He was born in the days
of Seil the Syrian, and, after quitting the country Marab,
with the tribe of Azad, and wandering over the world, he
had come with them to Gabie. Living till the birth of the
Prophet, he must have been about 600 years old : but God
knows it best And it is said that when they wanted him
to prophesy and to announce something unknown, they
shook him, as the buttering-skin is shaken in making butter,
and thus they caused him to move ; then he spake and made
unknown things known. It is recorded, on the authority
of Heb Ibn Munhib, that they asked Satih, " Whence didst
thou obtain the knowledge of prophecy ? " Satih answered,
" I have a friend amongst the demons Oi^)> who hears the
news of heaven, and who told me many of the things which
God had told Moses on Mount Sinai, and which I tell the
people."

* Abdu-1-Massiah was ordered to resort to his friend in

278 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

Gabie and to fetch the answer to that question. Then
Abdu-1-Massiah went to Satih ; and on reaching him, found
him in the agonies of death. When he saluted Satih and
gave him the salutations and felicitations of Chosroes, there
came no reply. Then Abdu-1-Massiah recited to him some
verses which Chosroes had sent to Satih, and in which he
had expressed the hope of receiving a favourable reply to
his query. When Satih heard those verses, he raised his
head, and said, '' Abdu-1-Massiah has come to Satih upon a
^^'Sssd camel, when Satih had already received the honour
of entering the grave. O Abdu-l-Massiah, the king of the
Assanides, i^. Nushirvan, has sent thee to me, because his
palaces have been distressed and shaken, and their towers
fallen to the earth, and the fire-altars of the Persians have
been extinguished, and the chief fire-priest hks seen in his
dream unruly camels, drawing after them Arab horses
beyond the Tigris, to be spread over the land of Persia : in
the time when the reading of the Koran is to come to pass,
and when the Lord of the stick,* i,e. Mohammed, is to
appear, and the Wady of Semawa shall flow with water, and
the sea of Sawa shall overflow the land, and the fire of the
fire-worshippers shall be extinguished^ — in that time shall
Babylon be no longer Persian, and Syria shall no longer
belong to Satih, i,e. the Persians shall be driven out of the
empire of Babylon, and Satih shall quit the world, so that
the science of prophecy shall no longer remain in Syria ; and
according to the fourteen dilapidated towers of the palace
of Chosroes there shall still be fourteen rulers from amongst
his males and females, after which mighty and great things
will come to pass and all that is to be will be."

* Satih had no sooner given utterance to these words
than he collapsed, and expired. But Abdu-l-Massiah re-
turned to Chosroes, and told him all he had heard from
Satih. Chosroes was somewhat comforted, and said, "It
will take a long time before the reigns of fourteen of our
descendants can have passed away." But Chosroes had no
knowledge of the Divine decrees. It is reported that ten of

^ Mohammed is here called ' the Lord of the stick ' to represent him as
making free use of the stick, that is, as destined to administer severe chastisement
and to execute unsparing judgment upon the evil-doers.

CH. 1. 16.] HE IS THE END OF PROPHECY. 279

their kings passed away in four years ; and the reigns of the
four other kings were completed under Omar ; and God
granted the overthrow of Yezdejerd, who was the last king
of Persia, by the hand of Saad Ibn Abi Wakaz. Yezdejerd
escaped, and many times collected soldiers to war against
the Mussulmans, till A.H. 31, under the Califate of Osman,
he fled from the battle of Nehavend to Khorassan, where a
miller killed him. But God knows best

'The masters' of biographical and historical science have
stated that when Satih died, prophecy was taken away from
the world. ^ This statement indicates that the original
object of the existence of prophets and diviners was, as it
were, to make known in Arabia the mission of Mohammed ;
and the expression in the traditions, "There is no more
prophecy after the mission of the prophet," confirms this
meaning. And the import of the word "prophet" in the
tradition, " They believed in what came to the prophets and
diviners, but they rejected in unbelief what was sent down
upon Mohammed," shows, that whoever claims the gift of
prophecy, after the prophetic mission of Mohammed, is a
mere diviner, whereas he who disclaims it, has the reality
of prophetic gift and is not a diviner. For whoever dis-
claims prophetic gifts after Mohammed's prophetic mission,
IS a true prophet, like Satih and Suwad, and to testify to
what is true is not unbelief: but whoever lays claim to
being a prophet, after God had taken away the prophetic
gift from amongst men, when He made known the prophetic
mission of Mohammed the chosen, — he is a liar and makes
the prophet a liar ; and whoever bears testimony in favour
of such a liar, must certainly be counted an infidel."** (R.)

^ This statement is a complete parallel to the Lord's word : ' All the
Prophets and the Law prophesied until John ' (Matt xi. 13). As John passed
away with Christ's coming, so Satih with the appearance of Mohammed. Each
was the last of the prophets, to make way for the era of fulfilment.

' The thoughtful reader cannot help seeing that the very same method of
reasoning here employed by these learned ' masters of biographical and historical
science ' must lead the Christian thinker, from the standpoint of Christianity, to
come to the incTitable conclusion that Mohammed, who claimed a prophetic
mission after revelation had reached its climax and goal in tht San^ who was the
end of the Law and the prophets (Heb. i. 2 ; Luke xvi. 16), cannot have been a
true prophet, sent by God, but must belong to the category referred to in Christ's
word : ' Many y^j^ prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many' (Matt. xxiv. II).

28o MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. il.

(17.) After the commencement of their public ministry, both
of them had to pass through the ordeal of a remarkable
Satanic Temptation, which aimed at seducing them
into a most important change of their mission, but
without success}

a. In Matt. iv. i-ii we read concerning Jesus Christ that
'He was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted of the devil/ and that He victoriously passed through
the ordeal, without the least wavering in His resistance to
the tempter, by meeting the first temptation with the word,
* It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God ; ' the second,
with the declaration, *It is written again. Thou sbalt not
tempt the Lord thy God ; ' and the third, with the rebuke,
' Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written. Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.*

^ Let the reader be expressly reminded that this heading (as are also other
similar ones) is not in the least intended to convey the notion as if there was a
real parallelism between the two cases. The parallelism results only from
the Mohammedan invention of a story in excuse of an unethical action of
Mohammed. In Christ's case we stand before a real, though unsuccessful,
Satanic temptation, to lead Him astray from the Messianic course marked ont
for Him ; in Mohammed's case, before an unprincipled compromise which he
formally accepted, and from which he afterwards cunningly tried to extricate
himself, by throwing the whole blame on the devil, and by representing himself
as merely the innocent sufferer of his unsuccessful temptation. Sir W. Muii
expressly asserts the possibility of a true and real parallel between the two cases, by
saying, in his Life of Mahomet, voL ii. p. 95, 'If we admit that our Saviour was
at the commencement of His mission the subject of a direct and special tempta-
tion by the Evil One, we may safely assuiAe that a similar combat possibly was
waged, though with far other results, in the case of Mahomet.' This assertion
not only needs the apology from which he boldly dispenses himself ; but it is
so gravely objectionable that no apology could make amends for it. From a
Christian standpoint it is altogether inadmissible. For it presupposes the
belief that, as Jesus had the Divine mission to be the prophet of Israel, so
Mohammed had equally a Divine mission to become the prophet of the Arabs ;
and that the Evil One naturally felt the same interest in spoiling the one and
the other of these Divine missions.

Sir W. Muir, in several places of his work, speaks of Mohammed as if he
had fiurly begun to be a true prophet, a kind of Messiah for Arabia ; and that
this Divine purpose was only frustrated by the moral delinquencies to which he
yielded. But if Christ was sent by God as the true prophet and only Saviour of
aU mankind (which Sir William undoubtedly believes), how can Mohammed^
as the founder of a non*Christian and anti-Christian religion, by any possibility

CH. 1. 1 7.] TEMPTED BY SA TAN, 281

b. The Rawzat narrates Mohammed's notorious tempta-
tion and its result in the following manner : ' It is recorded
that that Excellency's anxiety for the conversion of the
Koreish to the faith was so great, that he desired the Most
High might send a spirit to subdue the people's mind, and
to incline their hearts to the Faith, and that he read to the
polytheists revelations which from time to time came down
from the One, in order that thus their hearts might be
softened and themselves turned into Mussulmans. When
the Sura " By the Star" {i,e. the S3d) came down, the Lord
of the world went to the holy house of prayer and read that
Sura in the assembly of the Koreish. In reading it out, he
paused between the verses, to enable the people to take
them in and remember them entirely. When he had reached
the noble verse, " Do you see Lat, Ozza, and Manat, the
third, besides ? " then Satan found it possible to cause the
stupefied ears of the polytheists to hear these words, " These

have likewise had a Divine mission from which it required a special Satanic
temptation to turn him aside? Theoretical Monotheism is of itself not so
certain a token of the presence of God's kingdom as to be intolerable to Satan«
The Jews were strict monotheists, and yet they were so completely under the
influence of the devil that Jesus could affirm, he was their father (John viii. 44).
In fact, the devils themselves, as St. James teaches us (James iu 19), are pro-
fessed monotheists ; but to no good, except to make them 'tremble.' Accord-
ingly, Mohammed's iconoclastic advocacy of Monotheism cannot by any means
be relied upon as a proof that even during the best period of his prophetic
career, when some regard him as a true prophet, with a special Divine mission
for the Arabs, he was anything but an instrument in the hand of the Powers of
Darkness for raising up one of the most formidable obstacles to the coming of
the Kingdom of God and the spreading of the Faith in Christ, as the Divine
and only Saviour of man. The theological views, plainly underlying Sir W.
Muir's valuable work on Mohammed, demand, if consistently carried to their
logical conclusion, a rectification of the manner in which he has hitherto
represented the outwardly purer period in the life of a fictitious prophet whose
claims to replace Christ as a Divine Ambassador, from the very time they were
first put forth, could not be anything but the outcome of deception. Not his
immoralities constitute Mohammed 2l false prophet, but his claimed prophetship
itself, his gratuitous assertion of a Divine mission to supersede Christ, as th
last and greatest of all God's messengers. Therefore whatever appears to prove
Mohammed z, prophet ^ can, in the face of Christ, only prove him a false prophet.
The kingdom of Darkness had obviously a far greater interest in upholding
Mohammed's anti-Christian prophetship, than in demolishing it by an extraor-
dinary Satanic temptation. The whole ' parallel,' discovered by Sir W. Mnir,
therefore reduces itself to this : that Christ's temptation was a fact and Mo*
hammed's a fiction.

282 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

are the exalted Goddesses whose intercession may be hoped
for." In hearing these words, the infidels were exceedingly
delighted. After having read the whole Sura, his Excellency
worshipped, and the polytheists also followed his example,
by doing so. When the infidels rose up from that assembly,
they said, " Mohammed has mentioned our Gods in the
handsomest manner ; and, although we know that the Most
High God is the Lord of life and death, the Creator and
Preserver, yet we also, at the same time, affirm that these
our Deities are Intercessors with the highest God. In the
present state of affairs, now that Mohammed has agreed
with us in the matter, by declaring them to be * those
exalted Goddesses whose intercession may be hoped for,'
we make peace with him and desist from persecuting him."
The news of this peaceable arrangement spread abroad, and
on reaching the fugitives in Abyssinia, they, on the strength
of it, returned to their fatherland Mecca.

* It is recorded that Gabriel came and informed the pro-
phet, upon whom be prayers and peace, of the words, " These
exalted Goddesses," which Satan had suggested ; and on that
Excellency becoming exceedingly pained and sad, God, in
order to comfort his blessed heart, sent him this verse, " We
did not send any apostle or prophet before thee, but when he
desired anything, Satan cast evil suggestions into his desires.
But God cancels that which Satan suggests. Then God
establishes His revealed verses ; for God is knowing and
wise." Then, on this verse reaching the ears of the infidels,
they said, " Mohammed has repented of his declaration that
there is room and a standing for our Deities, with God :
therefore we also now withdraw from that peace." There-
upon they resumed their persecution.* *

^ It is evident from the preceding account, that the Mohammedan nanators
strove to screen Mohammed from having uttered the compromising words, and
to represent the latter as a mere magical effect produced by Satan upon the ears
of the listening polytheists. The design of screening Mohammed from the
readiness shown by him to come to a compromise with idolaters, so damaging to
his prophetic pretensions, is already apparent in the earliest biographers. For
whilst Tabari in his first account of the affair says expressly, ' Satan put upon
hb tongue that of which his soul had been discoursing to him,* he altogether
omits these words in his second version ; and though Ibn Ishak had related the
story in his biography, as is known by Tabari quoting it from that source, yet
Ibn Hisham, in editing Ibn Ishak *s work, eliminated the entire story, so that

CH.L 1 8.] SPIRITS CONVERTED TO ISLAM, 283

(18.) As Jesus Christ chose Twelve Apostles from amongst
His discipleSy so also Moluimmed selected Twelve
Apostles from his Moslem followers : but he not only
from amongst men^ but also from amongst spirits,

a, *When it was day, Jesus called unto him his dis-
ciples : and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named
Apostles ' (Luke vi. 1 3).

* These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them,
saying, As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is
at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,
cast out devils : freely ye have received, freely give ' (Matt.
X. 5-7).

b. 'When Mohammed returned from the Arab tribes
whom he had invited to accept him for a prophet, but who
in return had persecuted and ridiculed him, he, at a day's
journey from Mecca, made the acquaintance of a number of
spirits (jin) whom he converted to Islam ; and a month

now it is no longer found in Ibn Ishak's biography. Sir W. Muir treats this
subject well, in his Life of Mahomet^ vol. ii. pp. 149-160. He also gives the
more unfavourable account, on Tabori and Wakidi's authority, of Gabriel's in-
terference, in these words, 'Gabriel said, What is this that thou hast done?
Thou hast repeated before the people words which I never gave unto thee. So
Mohammed grieved sore and feared the Lord greatly; and he said, I have
spoken of God that which He has not said.' The same author makes the fol-
lowing just remarks on the af!air : ' Mohammed was not long in perceiving the
inconsistency into which he had been betrayed. His only safety now lay in dis-
owning the concession. The devil had deceived him. The words of compromise
were no part of the Divine system received from God through His heavenly
messenger. The lapse was thus remedied. The heretical verses spoken under
delusion were cancelled, and others revealed in their stead denying the existence
of female angels, such as Lat and Ozza, and denouncing idolatry with a sentence
of irrevocable condemnation. But although Mohammed may have completely
re-established his own convictions, there is little doubt that the concession to
idolatry, followed by a recantation so sudden and so entire, seriously weakened
his position with the people at large. They would not readily credit the excuse
that words of error were cast by the devil into his mouth. Even supposing it to
have been so, what faith could be placed in the revelations of a prophet liable to
such influences?' But the biographers, whose great object was to represent
Mohammed as in no way inferior to Christ, were fain, as soon as they found what
unpleasant use could be made of the passage, to extricate themselves from a
serious difficulty by resorting to the stratagem of either suppressing the story
altogether, or so modifying it that the devil did not put the objectionable words
on the Prophet's tongue at all, but only caused them to be heard by the un-
hallowed ears of the people.

}

284 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [BK. il.

later he was visited by a vast host of spirits who likewise
became Mussulmans. In that night his Excellency selected
twelve from amongst the nobles of the spirits^ to whom he
taught the ordinances of the Law, and whom he commanded
to teach the same unto others.' (R.)

* In the thirteenth year of Mohammed's prophetship, about
three months before the Hegira, seventy-two of the people of
Medina who had come to Mecca on the occasion of the pil-
grimage, took the oath of submission and allegiance to him.
Out of these he chose twelve men^ whom he appointed as over-
seers over the rest ; and he said on the occasion, " Let not
those whom I did not choose to the office of overseer grieve or
be vexed ; for it is not I who have chosen them, but Gabriel
has chosen and selected them for me ; " and to those who
were chosen and appointed as overseers, his Excellency said,
"You are the sureties of the people over whom you are
appointed as overseers, Just as the Apostles were Jesus*
sureties} and I am the surety of my entire people." * (R.)

(19.) In tJte exercise of their public ministry ^ they gathered Dis-
ciples around them and zealously preached the Faithy one
Sermon on a Mount being specially noted ; and they
also m,ade diligent use of the gathering of Great Multi-
tudeSy during the annual Festivals of the nation.

a. * From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,
Repent : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus,
walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, . . . and he
saitn unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed
him, etc. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a

^ This express reference to a Christian institution, as the pattern for its
Mohammedan imitation, is of importance, as strongly supporting the idea under-
lying this whole chapter, namely, that there is in Islam an obvious tendency to
represent Christianity as rendered no longer necessary, and therefore justly
superseded and replaced by its own revelation and ordinances. Once the postu-
late being admitted, that Islam offers benefits and blessings as great or greater
than those of Christianity, it follows, as a matter of course, that it is justified in
asserting a position of equality and superiority, which must turn into one of direct
antagonism whenever the assumed superseded religion presumes to maintain
itself against its rival. Thus Islam proved itself a»/f-Christian in the doable
sense of the ' anti,' by first affecting a correspondence and equality of worth with
regard to Christianity, and then assuming an attitude of open hostility.

CH. 1. 19.] BEGINS TO PREACH. SERMON ON A MOUNT. 285

mountain : and when he was set, his disciples came unto
him : and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven,' etc. (Matt. iv. 17-20; v. vi. vii.)

* Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the passover, in
the feast day, many believed in his name' (John ii. 23).
* After this there was a feast of the Jews ; and Jesus went up
to Jerusalem,' etc. (John v. 1-47). •Now about the midst of
the feast (of tabernacles), Jesus went up into the temple,
and taught' (John vii. 14-53).

b. ' The biographers and historians record that when that
Excellency knew by clear proofs that he was a prophet, he
preached Islam first of all to Khadija, and she believed in
him without any hesitation. One day later, or, according to
another account, at the close of that same day, Ali Ibn Abu
Talib, who was being brought up by that Excellenty, be-
lieved in him. After him, Zeid Ibn Haritha, who was a
liberated slave of Khadija, came to the faith. After him,
Abu Bekr, the faithful, became ennobled with the nobility
of the faith, etc.

' It is recorded that at first Mohammed invited the people
to Islam in a private, secret manner, and that they embraced
the faith by ones or by twos. This state lasted for three*
years, till Gabriel came and brought down this verse, "O
Mohammed, bring thou openly forward that with which thou
art commissioned, and turn away from the idolaters." Then
that Excellency tied the girdle of preaching round his loins,
and openly called upon the people to embrace Islam, so^that
men and women believed in numbers ; and Islam was much
spoken of in Mecca.

* On receiving the command in the words of this verse,
** Warn thy own tribe, thy relatives ; and spread thy wing
over the believers who follow thee," his Excellency went up
to mount Safa^ and called together all the different branches
of the Koreish. On hea/ing his voice, they said, " Moham-
med has gone up to Mount Safa and calls us." So all the
heads of the Koreish were gathered to him, and even those
who could not come themselves sent some representative in
their stead. Being gathered round him, they said, " What is
the matter with thee, O Mohammed, and what dost thou

286 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. il

want ? " Then the Lord of the world addressed them, say-
ing, " Redeem your souls from God : God is not enriched
from you by anything. O ye sons of Abdu-1-Mottaleb, God
is not enriched of you by anything. O Abbas, thou son of
Abdu-1-Mottaleb, God is not enriched of thee by anything.
O Safiya, thou aunt of the Apostle of God, God is not en-
riched of thee by anything. O Fatima, thou daughter of
Mohammed, ask of me what thou wilt of the things which
concern me: God is not enriched of thee by anything."
After that he said, " If I told you that hostile soldiers were
coming from the other side of the mountain, who would
suddenly pounce upon you and wish to make you prisoners,
would you believe me in giving you such information, or
would you not ? " They all answered, " We would believe
thee : for thou art not known amongst us as a liar, and we
have seen nothing in thee but what is true." His Excellency
continued, "Then know and understand that I warn and
threaten you with a severe punishment" That Excellency's
uncle, Abu Lahab, replied, "What a pity, O Mohammed,
that thou callest us together for such a purpose as this."*
(Ibn Hisham, Part IV.)

' It is recorded that that prince presented himself to the
• people during the seasons of pilgrimage, and invited them to
embrace Islam, saying, " O ye people, call out. There is no
God but the true God." ' (R.)

(20.) In order to tempt and test t/unty difficult questions were
submitted to them by tluir opponents^ which they were
able to solve,

a, * Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they
might entangle him in his talk. . . . But Jesus perceived
their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ?
Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him
a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and
superscription ? They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith
he unto them. Render therefore unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's ; and unto God the things that are God's.
When they heard these words, they marvelled, and left him,
and went their way. The same day came to him the Sad-

CH. I. 2a] TESTED BY DIFFICULT QUESTIONS. 287

ducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked
him, saying/ etc. (Matt. xxii. 1 5-46).

b, * El Nadhr was of the Satans of the Koreish, one of
those who reviled and opposed Mohammed. Having visited
Hira, he had there heard the history of the Persian kings,
and of Rustem and of Isfendar. So when Mohammed
warned his people of the Divine punishments which had
befallen former nations, he would rise after him, and say,
" I know more beautiful stories than Mohammed ; " and
having told them, he would ask, " Now, whereby are Moham-
med's stories distinguished above mine?" He also once
said, " I can reveal to you similar things to those which Allah
reveals." When El Nadhr had spoken thus, the Koreish sent
him with Okba Ibn Abi Mueit to the Jewish Rabbis of
Medina, in order to tell them about Mohammed, and to ask
them what they thought of him, because they had knowledge
of the ancient books and knew more about prophets than
themselves.^ Having gone to Medina and delivered their
errand, the Rabbis said, "Address three questions to him,
which we will communicate to you : if he answers them, he
is sent as a prophet ; if not, he is a liar ; * and you will know
how to deal with him. First ask him concerning the men
who went away in former times ; for marvellous things are
told about them. Secondly ask him concerning the wanderer
who reached the remotest east and west of the earth. And
lastly ask him concerning the Spirit, what it is." On their
return to Mecca, El Nadhr and Okba communicated the result
of their journey to the Koreish; and then went to Mohammed
and proposed to him the three questions. Mohammed
replied definitely, " To-morrow I shall give you the answer."
But when fifteen nights had passed, without his having
received a revelation on the subject, the Meccans assembled

^ The reader will here notice the further parallelism, that not only were Jesus
and Mohammed alike subjected to the test of hard questions, but also that in
both cases the puzzling questions proceeded from the same Jewish source.

' According to another accoimt communicated in A. Sprenger's Leben und
Lehre des Mohammed^ voL ii. p. 231, the Rabbis said, 'In order to test- him,
submit to him three questions : if he answers them all three, he is not a pro-
phet ; but if he answers some and evades others, he is a prophet' This would
seem to show that Mohammed's definition of ' the Spirit ' was r^;arded, even
by some early Mohammedans, as not a solution, but a mere evasion of the
difficulty.

288 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. li.

together and said, ^ Mohammed has promised to give us an
answer on the following day, and now fifteen nights have
passed away, without his giving an explanation." Moham-
med himself was sad, because of his non-reception of a revela-
tion and because of the Meccans' talk against him. At last
God sent Gabriel with the Sura of the Cave {i,e. the i8th),
in which he is rebuked on account of his grief, and informed
about the men who had gone away, and about the wanderer,
and about the Spirit* Mohammed said to Gabriel, " Thou
hast been long in coming, so that I feared for the worst."
Gabriel replied, "We can only come down to thee at the
behest of God, thy Lord." In the said Sura the story of the
men who had gone away is thus elucidated : ** When the
youths betook themselves to the cave, they said, O our Lord,
grant us mercy from before thee, and order for us our affair
aright Then struck we upon their ear with deafness, in the
cave, for many years. Then we awakened them that we
might know which of the two parties could best reckon the
space of their abiding. We will relate to thee their tale with
truth. They were youths who had believed in their Lord,
and we had increased them in guidance. And we had made
them stout of heart, when they stood up and said, Our Lord
is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth : we will call on
no other God but Him. • . . And thou mightest have seen
the sun, when it arose, passing on the right of their cave ;
and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in
its spacious chamber. . . . And thou wouldest have deemed
awake, though they were sleeping: and we turned them
to the right and to the left ; and at the entrance lay their
dog with outstretched paws. Hadst thou come suddenly
upon them, thou wouldest surely have turned thy back on
them in flight, and have been filled with fear of them. . • .
Some say they were three, their dog the fourth ; others say
five, their dog the sixth, guessing at the secret ; others say
seven, and their dog the eighth. Say, my Lord best knoweth
the. number: none, save a few shall know them. . . , And

^ In point of fact only the two first questions are answered in the i8th Sura
(entitled ' the Cave '), whereas the third answer, concerning the Spirit, is found
not in the i8th, but in the 15th Sura, so that either Ibn Hisham's account is
inexact in this particular, or the verse defining * the Spirit ' originally formed
part of Sura 18.

CH. I. 20.] HE SOLVES HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES. 289

they tarried in their cave 300 years and 9 years over. Say,
God best knows how long they tarried : with Him are the
secrets of the heavens and of the earth." ^ The story of the
wanderer who reached to the remotest east and west is thus
explained : " They will ask thee about Dzu-l-Kamain.^ Say,
I will recite to you an account of him. We stablished his
power upon the earth, and made for him a way to every
thing, and a route which he followed until he reached the
setting of the sun. He found that it set in a miry fount ;
and, hard by, he discovered a people. We said, O Dzu-1-
Kamain, either chastise them or treat them generously. . . .
Then followed he a route until he reached the rising of the sun.
He found that it rose on a people to whom we had given no
shelter from it. . . . Then followed he a route until he came
between the two mountains between which he discovered a
people who scarce understood a language. They said, " O
Dzu-1-Karnain, verily Gog and Magog waste this land.
Shall we then pay thee a tribute, so that thou mayest build
a rampart between us and them ? " . . . He said, " Bring me
blocks of iron," until, on having filled the space between the
mountain-sides, he said, "Ply your bellows," until, after
having made it red with heat, he said, " Bring me molten brass
that I may pour it all over it." And Gog and Magog ' were
not able to scale it, neither were they able to dig through it.

^ The stoiy of the men who had gone away or disappeared from amongst their
fellow-men, is the well-known legend De septem dormientibus aptid urbem
Ephesum, according to which seven Christian youths, in order to escape the
cmel persecution under the Emperor Dacius, entered a cave in Mount Kalion,
near Ephesus, a.d. 251, and, falling asleep, remained there till the reign of
Theodosius, when they were awakened by the accidental re*opening of the cave,
A.D. 446 ; and after having been seen by the Emperor and a bishop, died, with
a halo of glory round their head« This legend became widely spread in the
East, reaching even to Abyssinia and Arabia.

' Of Dzu-1-Kamain (lit. 'the two-homed,' from his representation by a ram's
head with horns). Ibn Hisham says, that his name was Iskander (ue. Alexander),
the founder of Iskanderia {ue, Alexandria), which city bears his name ; but he
adds, that some one, well versed in Persian traditions, had told him that he was
an Egyptian, called Marzulan, and descended from Jonan, the son of Japhet, the
son of Noah.

' Gog and Magog are believed by the Mussulmans to be powerful nations
living in the northern and eastern parts of Asia, and their future irruption upon
the lands of the believers will be one of the signs of the approaching day of
judgment and the end of the world. So vast will be their hosts that they will
drink the Lake of Tiberias dry, on their march to Jerusalem, where they will

T

290 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

* The answer to the third question is found in Sura 17,
verse 87, where we read, " They will ask thee about the
Spirit Say, The Spirit belongs to the things of my Lord
(or, the Spirit is owing, as a creature, to a command of my
Lord);^ but the knowledge given to you is only a small
measure."

* But when Mohammed, by answering their questions and
giving an account of the unknown, had demonstrated to
them that what he spoke was true and that he was a real
prophet, envy prevented them from believing in him and
following him, so that they remained rebellious against God,
turned away from him with open eyes, and continued in
unbelief (Ibn Ishak and Ibn Hisham in Part IV.)

(21.) The impression made by their words and presence was
such as often to disarm their enemies^ and frustrate tlu
hostile desigfis which they had entertained against them.

a, * The Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to take
him. And some of them would have taken him ; but no
man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to the
chief priests and Pharisees ; and they said unto them, Why
have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never
man spake like this man ' (John vii. 14-46). Compare also
John viii. 3-1 1.

' As soon as he had said unto them, I am he, they went
backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked he them

greatly distress Jesus, who will have returned to this earth, and His companions.
But at their request God will destroy them and send birds of prey to carry away
and consume them. Their bows, arrows, and quivers will last the surviving
Mussulmans as fuel for seven years ; and at length God will send a pouring rain
to cleanse and fertilise the land. The idea of these innumerable hosts of Gog and
Magog seems to have been suggested to the Western Asiatics by the westward
incursions of hundreds of thousands of horsemen from Eastern Tartary and
China, for centuries before the Qiristian era. (Compare Ezek. xxxix. I -16 and
Rev. XX. 7-10.) The 'Rampart' mentioned, seems to refer to the 'Chinese
Wall.'

^ The word used in Arabic (emr\ having the double meaning of ' command '
and ' thing,' the verse can be literally translated by either, ' The Spirit is (one)
from (amongst) the things of my Lord,' or, ' The Spirit is (proceeding) from
(f.«. owing to) the command of my Lord.' In either case Mohammed's pro-
bable intention was, to represent the Spirit as one of the many things or
creatures of God, produced by His creative fiat ; and therefore the verse
conveys a latent and indirect opposition to the Christian Faith in the Spirit, as
one of the Three eternal h3rpostases of the Holy Trinity.

CH. 1. 21.] HE A WES HIS OPPONENTS, 291

again, Whom seek ye ? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore
ye seek me, let these go their way ' (John xviii. 3-9).

b. * Abd Allah Ibn Omar said, I was present one day,
when the chiefs of the Koreish were assembled in the temple
and thus spoke about Mohammed : " We have never endured
anything like what we endure from this man: he calls us
fools, dishonours our fathers, reviles our faith, divides our
congregation, and blasphemes our gods. Verily, we endure
hard things from him." While they were thus speaking,
Mohammed arrived, embraced the pillar of the temple, and
passing them in going round the temple, I observed from
his face that they had been saying something offensive to
him. I made the same observation, when he passed them
the second and the third time. Then he stood still, and said
to them, " Hearken, O ye congregation of the Koreish, by
Him in Whose power Mohammed's soul is, I come to you
with sacrificing." The people being struck by this word,
every one felt as if a bird had alighted upon his head, so
that the worst amongst them addressed him with tender
words, saying, ** Go home, O Abu-1-Kasim ; by Allah ! thou
art not a fool," whereupon Mohammed went away.

* Otba Ibn Rabia, one of the chief men of the Koreish,
said once in their assembly, whilst Mohammed was sitting
alone in the temple, "Shall I not go to Mohammed and
make him certain offers which, perhaps, he will accept, so
that he may not any longer trouble us with his faith?"
They approved his proposal ; and he went to lay his offers
before Mohammed, who in reply recited to him a Sura from
the Koran. When Otba returned to his friends, after this
interview, they said one to the other, " We can swear by God
that Otba has returned with quite a different countenance."
On having seated himself near them, they asked him, " What
is the report thou bringest ? " He answered, " By Allah, I
heard words such as I have never heard before: they are
neither poetry, nor enchantment, nor soothsaying ; therefore
trust and follow me, by leaving Mohammed in peace."
Upon this they replied, "By God; he has enchanted thee
with his tongue." But he said, " This is my view, do ye what
you deem proper."

292 MOHAMMED A PAROD Y OF CHRIST, [bk. ii.

' When Mohammed had left the Koreish, Abu Jahl said,
"You see that Mohammed will only despise our religion,
revile our fathers, call us fools, and blaspheme our gods. I
therefore take God for a witness that to-morrow I will take
with me a stone into the temple, as heavy as I can carry ;
and when he prostrates himself in prayer, I will smash his
head with it. Then you may either protect me, or give me
up to be dealt with by the Beni Abd Menaf, as they please."
To this the Koreish replied, We shall never give thee up : do
what thou wilt." The next day Abu Jahl took a heavy stone
and waited for Mohammed in the temple. In the morning
the latter went to the temple to worship, as he always did
in Mecca, with his face turned towards Syria, between the
Black Stone and the southern pillar, so that the Kaaba lay
between himself and Syria.^ The Koreish were all assembled
to see what Abu Jahl was going to do. When Mohammed
prostrated himself, Abu Jahl went towards him with the
stone ; but on approaching him, he turned back again like a
fugitive, pale and terrified, his hands sinking down with the
stone, till he let it drop. The Koreish went towards him
and asked what was the matter with him. He answered,
" I wanted to carry out what I had told you yesterday ; but
when I came near him, I saw a camel between him and me,
with a head, neck, and teeth, such as I had never seen in a
camel, and it showed signs as if it was going to devour me."
At the close of this account Ibn Ishak adds, I have been
informed that Mohammed said, ''This was Gabriel who
would have annihilated him, had he approached nearer." *

Abd Allah Ibn Abi Nejih reported that the Calif Omar
narrated his conversion to Islam as follows : ' I was an
enemy of Islam, loved wine, and drank a great deal of it.
One night I went to a certain wine-seller of Mecca, in order
to drink wine ; but not finding him at home, I resolved to
go to the Kaaba to circumambulate it seven or fourteen times.
On my arrival there, I found Mohammed praying between the
Black Stone and the southern pillar, and with his face turned
towards Syria, having the Kaaba between him and Syria.

^ The drift of this observation seems to be to intimate that Mohammed did
not neglect any one of the two Kiblas, but that in facing the one he at the
same time also faced the other.

CH. 1. 21.] OMAR'S CONVERSION TO ISLAM. 293

When I saw him, I thought I will listen to-night to what he
says ; but lest I should frighten him, I went near him softly
from the side of the northern wall and passed behind the
curtains of the Kaaba, by which alone I was separated from
him. On hearing how Mohammed prayed and read the
Koran, my heart softened, I wept, and Islam gained entrance
with me. I remained in my place till Mohammed had
finished his prayer and went away. Going after him, I over-
took him between the houses of Abbas and Ibn Azhar.
Recognising me, and supposing that I had followed him, in
order to harm him, he called out aloud, '^ What dost thou
want at this hour, thou son of Khattab i " I answered, " I
come, in order to believe in God and His apostle, and that
which he has brought from God.*' Mohammed praised God,
and said, " God has guided thee aright" ^

^ It is worthy of remark that immediately before this account of Omar's
conversion, Ibn Ishak, on the authority of Abd-er- Rahman Ibn el Harith, gives
a wholly different narrative of it with equal minuteness ; and, as both cannot by
any possibility be true, the truth of the one necessarily demonstrating the false-
hood of the other, we have here an undeniable proof that the most detailed
circumstantiality of description and the most plau^ble semblance to a graphic
account by eye-witnesses, in these Mussulman %ources of history, cannot by any
means be relied upon as of themselves safe guarantees for the historical truth of
a narrative. According to Abd-er- Rahman's account, Omar took his sword
one day and went out with the intent of killing Mohammed. Being met on the
way by Nueim Ibn Abd Allah, and asked what he was about, he communicated
to him his intention. Nueim said. Thou hadst better righten matters in thy
own family. Omar asked. Whom dost thou mean? Nueim replied. Thy
brother-in-law Seid and thy sister Fatima have embraced Islam and followed
Mohammed: first occupy thyself with them. Thereupon Omar went to his
brother-in-law's house, where he found them engaged in reading a portion of the
Koran. He smote Seid in the face, and on Fatima interfering, he also gave her a
blow which wounded her. When he saw his sister bleeding, he regretted what
he had done, was frightened, and said to her, Give me the manuscript from
which I have just now heard you read, so that I may see what Mohammed has
brought to you. After having read a little, he exclaimed, ' How beautiful, how
sublime are these words! Take me to Mohammed that I may become a
Moslem in his presence.' They told him that Mohammed was in a house near
Safa, together with some of his companions ; and after having gone there and
confessed his faith in Islam, Mohammed exclaimed, God is great ! and all those
assembled in the house knew from this, that Omar had become a Moslem. At
the end of these stories Ibn Ishak, evidently feeling their mutual contradiction,
observes, ' God knows which of the two traditions is the correct one ; ' and the
scrutinising reader may add with equal candour, ' God knows whether any is
correct, and whether both are not false, and merely invented, as so many other
things, to glorify the Koran and its earliest professors.'

294 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. ii.

(22.) Tkey were reviled and persecuted in their own home,
because of their testimony and the unflinching discharge
of their prophetic mission, especially when this involved
opposition to the then existing state of religion and
exposure of prevailing abuses,

a, 'Jesus began to say unto them, This day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears. . . . And he said, Verily I
say unto you, No prophet Is accepted in his own country.
. . . And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these
things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him
out of the city' (Luke iv. 21-29). Compare John v. 15-18 ;
vL 41, 42 ; Heb. xii. 3.

' The world cannot hate you ; but me it hateth, because
I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil * (John vii. 7).

'And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve
disciples apart in the way, and said unto them. Behold, we
go up to Jerusalem ; and the Son of man shall be betrayed
unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall
condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles
to mock, and to scourge,^ and to crucify him : ^ and the third
day he shall rise again ' (Matt. xx. 17-19).

b. * The mission of a prophet is accompanied by troubles

^ It may here be remarked that, as regards the termination of their persecu-
tions, the life of Christ and the life of Mohammed present a striking contrast.
Jesus Christ deliberately went up to Jerusalem, knowing for certain that He
would then and there be condemned to death by crucifixion ; but Mohammed,
on seeing his life seriously threatened in Mecca, fled from his persecutors to
Medina ; and, in order to secure his own escape, condescended even to deceive
the Koreish who were watching his house, by causing his nephew Ali to lay
himself on the Prophet's bed in the Prophet*s clothes. Besides, as long as
Jesus lived in this world, the eminence of His Person drew all the persecutions
upon Himself, thus saving His disciples from likewise becoming the special
objects of persecution (John xviii. 8, 9) ; but Mohammed's personal influence,
even taken together with that of his protectors, did not suffice to screen his
foUowers fipom ill-treatment ; for Ibn Ishak tells us, ' The weak amongst the
Moslems were imprisoned, beaten, exposed to hunger and thirst, and to the
heat of the sun, so that many of them forsook their faith in order to escape the
persecutions, whilst others were strengthened by God to defy and resist.' After
they had endured persecution for a while, they, by the advice of Mohammed,
who thus confessed his own inability to keep them, emigrated to the Christian
country of Abyssinia, where they found the needed protection, till Mohammed
had become the chief of a powerful party in Medina, when they, at his request,
rejoined him, in order to help in rendering that party dominant.

CH.I.22.] HIS PREACHING STIRS UP PERSECUTION. 295

and burdens which only the persevering and strong amongst
God's apostles can bear, with God's help ; for they have to
endure much from men who contend with them concerning
that which they proclaim in the name of God." (Ibn Ishak.)

* Waraka said to that prince : " Would that I were still
living, and young and strong on that day, when thy people
will drive thee out of this city." ^ Upon this his Excellency
said, " O Waraka, are they, then, going to drive me out ? "
Waraka replied, "Yes, certainly, they will drive thee out;
for no one has ever brought such a thing as thou bringest,
without his people having shown him enmity and troubled
and persecuted him." * * (R,)

' As Mohammed continued to publish the religion of God
and to invite to its adoption, the discord between him and
the Koreish increased, so that they shunned him, hated him,
spoke against him, and excited each other to hostilities
against hinL Then they went again to Abu Talib, saying,
" Thou art a learned and distinguished man amongst us, and
we have already requested thee to put a stop to thy nephew's
doings, but thou hast not done so : therefore, by Allah, we
shall no longer tolerate his reviling our fathers, misleading
our youths, and blaspheming our gods; either thou restrainest
him, or we shall combat you both" On their leaving, Abu
Talib was very sorry for the discord and enmity of his
people; and yet he could not forsake and deliver up
Mohammed. • • •

*Then the Koreish became hostile to the companions of
Mohammed who had embraced Islam and lived amongst
them : every clan rose against the Moslems amongst them,
sought to induce them to give up their faith, and ill-treated
them. But God protected Mohammed by his uncle Abu
Talib, who, on seeing the conduct of the Koreish, called
upon the Beni Hashim and Mottaleb to join him in pro-
tecting Mohammed and taking his part They accepted

1 f.r. the city of Mecca where Mohammed was born and had grown up, as a
complete paraUel to Jesus' being thrust out of the city of Nazareth, * where He
had been brought up ' (Luke iv. 16).

' This word, put into Waraka*s mouth, shows that the Moslem writers
believed it to be their duty to illustrate that Mohammed's equality with the
previous prophets also consisted in his having to suffer persecutions, for delivering
a message purporting to come from God.

296 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

this invitation and joined him, with the exception of Abu
Lahab, that wicked enemy of God. When Abu Talib had
the pleasure of seeing that his tribe inclined towards him
and shared his zeal, he praised them, recalling the memory
of their ancestors, and the excellencies of the apostle of
God, and his position amongst them, in order to strengthen
them in their love towards him.^

* The Koreish became still more violent on account of the
unpleasantness which they had brought upon themselves by
their hostility to Mohammed, they incited the most daring
ones against him ; and these called him a liar, a sorcerer, a
poet, a soothsayer, a demoniac, and ill-treated him. Mo-
hammed, in openly carrying out God's commands, said aloud
what they did not like to hear, reviled their faith, rejected
their idols, and separated himself from the unbelievers.

'Yahya Ibn Urwa narrates that his father heard Abd
Allah Ibn Omar say, One day the Koreish were in the
temple and I with them, and I heard one of them say to the
other. Do you remember what he did to you and you to him,
so that he said to you what you did not like, and yet you
leftf him alone ? While they were thus speaking, Mohammed
entered. They fell upon him like one man, surrounded him,
and asked. Didst thou revile our gods and our Faith in
such and such a manner ? He answered, Yes, I did. Then
I saw how one of them seized him just in the place where
the cloak is folded over. Abu Bekr placed- himself weeping
before him, and said. Will you kill a man who says, God is
my Lord ? Upon this, they left him and went away. This
is the worst of what they did to Mohammed. Ibn Ishak
says, One of the family of Om Koltum, Abu Bekr's daughter,
told me that she said. When Abu Bekr came home that
day, part of his head was bare, so violently had they torn
him by his beard ; for he had a beautiful beard. A learned
man also told me. The worst which Mohammed experi-
enced from the Koreish was this, that one day, when he

^ This plainly shows that Mohammed, the grandson of the most influential
man of Mecca, was, from the first, never so wholly independent of the help of
man and so entirely left to the resources of his own person as Jesus Christ, the
carpenter's son of Nazareth ; and that Islamism, even in its nascent state in
Mecca, was supported by an arm of flesh and benefited by the sympathies and
antipathies of Arab clanship.

CH. I. 22, 23.] FAITH OFFERED CONDITIONALLY. 297

went out, no one, neither freeman nor slave, met him
without calling him a liar and insulting him. He went
home and wrapt himself up ; but God said to him, O thou
who art wrapt up, arise and preach ! ' (Ibn Ishak and Ibn
Hisham, Part IV.)

(23.) Unconvinced by their words and acts of the Divine
Mission they claimed, the people proffer them Un^
acceptable Demands which are not granted^ and only
widen the breach between the prophet and the people.

a, 'The Jews said unto him, What sign shewest thou
then, that we may see, and believe thee ? what dost thou
work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is
written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then
Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven ; but my Father giveth
you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is
he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto
the world. . . . Many therefore of his disciples, when t];iey
heard this, said. This is an hard saying ; who can hear it ? *
(John vi. 28-33, 60). Comp. John ii. 18-22, Matt. xii. 38-40.

* The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempt-
ing desired him that he would shew them a sign from
heaven. He answered and said unto them, ... A wicked
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign ; and there
shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet
Jonas. And he left them, and departed * (Matt. xvi. 1-4).

b. * When Islam began to spread in Mecca amongst the
men and women of the clans of the Koreish, the chief men
of each clan assembled on one occasion, after sunset, at the
back wall of the Kaaba and sent for Mohammed that they
might dispute with him and be excused, afterwards. When
he had seated himself by them, they repeated their former
accusations and again, as previously through Otba, offered
him money, honour, and power, if that were his aim ; or to
procure a physician for him, in case he was visited by a
spirit of whom he could not rid himself. Mohammed
answered, My state is not such as you suppose, neither do I
seek money, honour, and power ; but God has sent me as

298 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. il.

His apostle, revealed a book to me, and commanded me to
bring you glad tidings and warnings. Now, if you will
accept what I have brought to you, it will be for your good
in this world and in the next ; but if you reject it, I wait
patiently till God will decide between us.

' Then they said to Mohammed, " If thou wilt not accept
these our offers, then, knowing how hard our life is, and how
we lack water in this our narrow valley, pray to thy Lord
who has sent thee, that He may remove the straitening
mountains and widen our land, and dissect it by rivers, like
Syria and Irak, and that He may cause our late fathers to
rise again, especially the truthful elder, Kussei Ibn Kilab, so
that we may ask them whether thou speakest true or false.
If they declare thee to be true and thou dost what we ask of
thee, then will we believe in thee, acknowledge thy high rank
with God, and regard thee as His Apostle." Mohammed
replied, " I have not been sent to you with this. I bring
you that with which God has commissioned me."

'Thereupon they said, " If thou wilt not do this, care for
thyself: pray God to send an angel to declare thee to be true
and to refute our objections; beg of Him to send thee
gardens, palaces, and treasures of gold and silver, that thou
mayest no longer have to go to market, like any one of us,
to buy victuals, and we will acknowledge thy distinction and
rank, if thou art an apostle of God as thou assertest"
Mohammed replied, " I will not do so and not ask any
thing of God for myself: I am sent as a wamer and bearer
of glad tidings ; * if you accept my message, it will be for
your own happiness in this and the next world."

' They further said, " Then cause the heaven to fall down
upon us in pieces, as thou affirmest God does, if it pleases
Him, else we will not believe in thee." Mohammed replied,
** This belongs to God : He will do it ; as soon as it pleases
Him."

* Again they said, ' O Mohammed, since thy Lord knows
that we are here sitting with thee and addressing certain
demands to thee, why does He not come and tell thee how

^ These mild answers, which would be so natural and true in the month of
Jesus, seem plainly framed in imitation of the spirit of the Gospel and Christian
practice.

CH. 23, 24.] THE PEOPLE BECOME ALIEN A TED. 299

to refute us and what He will do, if we continue not to listen
to thee? We have heard that a man of Yemama, called
Rahman, is thy teacher ; but, by Allah, we shall never believe,
in Rahman. We have now done our duty ; and we shall no
longer tolerate thee and thy doings, till either we succumb
to thee or thou to us."

* Then Mohammed rose up to go home. His cousin Abd
Allah Ibn Abi Omeia accompanied him and spoke to him
thus, "Thy people have made offers to thee which thou
hast rejected. Then they desired of thee sundry things to
prove the high esteem thou art held in by God, so that they
might believe in thee and follow thee; but thou didst not
comply. Then they requested thee to ask for thyself such
things by which they might know that thou enjoyest more
favour with God than themselves ; but thou hast declined.
Then they wished thee forthwith to carry out a portion of
the punishment with which thou threatenest them ; but thou
didst not accede. Therefore, by Allah, I shall not believe in
thee, till thou, before my eyes, ascendest up to heaven on
ladders and comest back with a writing in which four angels
testify to thee; but I think that even then I should not
believe in thee." With these words he left Mohammed, who
returned home, sad and cast down, because he was dis-
appointed in his hope of the conversion of his tribe, and
saw that they further and further separated themselves from
him.' (Ibn Ishak and Ibn Hisham, Part IV.)

(24-) Both of them came in contact with Spirits from the
unseen worlds who recognised^ honoured, and obeyed
them^ more readily than the people of this world to
whom th^ addressed themselves,

a. *And there was in their synagogue a man with an
unclean spirit ; and he cried out, saying. Let us alone ; what
have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth ? art thou
come to destroy us ? I know thee who thou art, the Holy
One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying. Hold thy
peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit
had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of
him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they

300 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this?
what new doctrine is this ? for with authority commandeth
he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him * (Mark
i. 23-27).

*And unclean spirits, when they saw Jesus, fell down
before him, and cried, saying. Thou art the Son of God.
And he straitly charged them that they should not make
him known' (Mark iii. 11, 12). Compare Mark i. 32-34; v.
1-20.

b. When Mohammed returned from his fruitless mission-
ary efforts amongst the Kahtanites and Thakifites, sad at
heart, and spent the last night of the journey, we are told,
* Whilst he was at his evening prayers, seven or nine spirits
from Nisibin or Nineveh accidentally came that way, and
seeing the Teacher of all creatures at prayer, and hearing
him read the Koran, they stayed and listened, till that
Excellency had finished. Then they made themselves
known to him, and he invited them to the Faith. They,
without any hesitation, became believers, and that Excel-
lency said unto them, " When you have gone to your home,
invite also your people to the Faith, and deliver unto them
my message." It is said that those seven spirits were of the
Jewish persuasion. Therefore, on reaching their people,
they said to them, " We have heard a book which has been
sent down, after Moses," and further invited them to the
Faith. Thus many of them embraced the Faith, without
having seen that Excellency's blessed face, and desired to
be honoured with the distinction of an interview with hinL
When this was communicated to the Lord of Lords, he
appointed a night on which they might meet him. It is
said that the night fixed upon was a Wednesday night

* About a month after this, Gabriel came and informed
that Lord of men and spirits that a host of spirits were
coming. Therefore he said, " I have been commanded this
night to go out to the spirits, in order to invite them to
embrace Islam and to recite to them the Koran ; who is
there amongst my friends that will accompany me ? " But
all his companions remained silent, except Ibn Masud who
said, " I am ready to accompany thee." When they
together had reached the appointed place, the apostle of

CH. 1. 24.] SPIRITS CONVERTED TO ISLAM, 301

God drew a circle upon the ground with his blessed finger,
and said to Ibn Masud, " Enter thou within this circle and
then do not again step beyond this line, lest suddenly a
calamity might befall thee."^ After this, his Excellency
ascended a hill to perform his prayers, and while thus
engaged, 12,000 or, according to another account, 600,000
spirits, or, according to still another account, 40 banners
and under each banner a vast assembly of spirits, joined
him. When that chosen one had finished his prayers, he
invited them to embrace the Faith, and all of them became
Mussulmans.'

Another account adds, * When some of those spirits
asked his Excellency, " Who art thou ? " he answered, " I
am the apostle and prophet of God." They again said,
" Who is thy witness that thou art the prophet and apostle
of God ? " He replied, " My witness is this tree which stands
here;" and, addressing the tree, he continued, "O tree,
come hither at the command of God." Thereupon that tree
at once began to walk, and, dragging along its boughs and
branches, stood over-against that Excellency, who said,
" O tree, to what art thou a witness } " The tree, acquiring
an eloquent tongue, called out, *' I bear witness that thou
art the apostle of God." Then his Excellency said to that
tree, ** Return to thy place," whereupon it returned in the
same way as it had come.'

It is recorded that Ibn Masud said, ' In that night I saw
that several black figures, resembling vultures, went near his
Excellency ; and I heard great voices, so that I feared lest
some grievous thing might befall that prince. So many black
figures crowded upon that Excellency that he was entirely
hid by them and I was no longer able either to see his person
or to hear his voice. Then they became broken up and
divided into parts, like a cloud and, going away, disappeared.
When it had become morning, the Prophet came to me and
asked, " Ibn Masud, What didst thou see ? " I answered, " O
apostle of God, I saw black persons wrapt up in white." His

^ The tendency of this report plainly is, to convey the impression that
Mohammed freely invited witnesses to be present at the expected strange inter-
view, and that it was anything but intentional that, after all, he was by himself
alone, when the interview took place.

I

302 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. li.

Excellency said, " They were spirits from Nisibin, and as they
asked provisions of me for themselves and the animals on
which they rode, I decreed that bones and manure should be
their provisions." I asked further, " O apostle of God, why
are bones and manure sufficient for them ? " His Excellency
answered, "Because on every bone God causes as much meat
to grow for them as there was originally meat upon it ; and
for the animals on which they ride, God causes so many
grains of corns to grow in the manure as that manure con-
tains old grains." ' (Ibn Ishak.)

* Sehil Ibn Beiza narrates : " One day, during the expedi-
tion to Tabuk, his Excellency made me ride behind him on
his camel, when we suddenly saw an enormous serpent on
the road, so that the people ran away from fright. That
serpent came and stood a considerable time opposite him,
the people seeing it and wondering. Then it glided away
and at a distance stood again on one side of the road. His
Excellency now said to the people around him, * Do you at
all know what this serpent is ? ' They answered, * God and
His prophet know it best* Thereupon his Excellency con-
tinued, * This is part of those spirits who came to me in Mecca
and listened to the Koran. Their abode being in these
regions, they, as soon as God's apostle reached it, came to
welcome and salute us, and to ask what were our difficulties ;
and after having received the answer, they stood again for
a while and saluted you.' The companions replied, * With it
also be peace and God's mercy and blessing.' His Excellency
added, * Salute ye the servants of God, whoever they may
be." ' (Rawzat.)

(25.) Both of them received Visits from Good Angels.

a, * Verily, verily, I say unto you. Hereafter ye shall see
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descend-
ing upon the Son of man '.(John i. 51).

' Behold, angels came and ministered unto him ' (Matt,
iv. 11).

*And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven,
strengthening him ' (Luke xxii. 43).

CH. 1.25.] GABRIEL APPEARS IN DIFFERENT FORMS. 303

b. * It IS recorded that his Excellency said, " I was in the
cave of Hira, when suddenly some one appeared to me and
said, O Mohammed, to thee be the good news that God has
sent me, Gabriel, to thee, and thou art God*s apostle over
His people." ' %

' Be it known that revelation was brought down to that
Excellency by Gabriel, who sometimes came to him in the
form of a beautiful man, visible now and then even to his
friends ; and sometimes appeared in his own original form,
without assuming that of any one else.'

* In the year A.H. 10, Gabriel came to one of the Prophet's
meetings, in the form of a man whose robes were exceedingly
white and his hair extremely black, his scent superlatively
fragrant and his face supremely beautiful, so that those who
were present in the meeting saw him and wondered at him.
For there was no appearance of travelling, that one might have
taken him for a traveller ; and not any one of those present
knew him, so as to say, he belongs to such or such a country.
On drawing near, he said, " Peace be on thee, O Mohammed,"
and sat himself down in such a way that his knees touched
the knees of his Excellency. When his Excellency had re-
turned his salutation, he put his hands upon his Excellency's
thighs and asked questions about faith, surrender, doing good,
the resurrection, and the signs of the resurrection ; but no
sooner had his Excellency answered these questions, than he
rose up again and went away. The Lord of the world said,
" Go and bring this person back." His friends went out, but
however much they searched, they could not find him. His
Excellency said, " This was Gabriel : with this one exception,
I always recognised him in whatever form he came ; but as
soon as he had disappeared, I knew that it was Gabriel."
Another account states that, three days afterwards, the
Prophet asked Omar Ibn Khattab, " O Omar, knowest thou
who that person was who asked me those questions ? " Omar
answered, "God and His apostle know it better." His
Excellency rejoined, " It was Gabriel : he came to teach you
religion." ' (Rawzat.)

304 MOHAMMED A PAROD Y OF CHRIST, [BK. u,

(26.) The most remarkable story concerning the mythical
Mohammed is that of his * Ascension into Heaven'
Whilst Jesus Christy during his earthly life^ conversed
only with two ofJhe long-departed Saints, Moses and
Elijah^ and did not ascend into heaven till after his
deaths Mohammed^ honoured with an Ascension into
heaven long before his natural deaths had personal com-
munion with all t/u preinous prophets^ andy leaving
Jesus far below in the second heaven, himself mounted
high above the seventh^ and, entering into the immediate
presence of the Divine Majesty ^ attained to the most
exalted degree of God-likeness^ so that God said unto
him, * / and thou, and he unto God, * Thou and //

a. ' As Jesus prayed, the fashion of his countenance was
altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And,
behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses
and Elias ; who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease
which he should accomplish at Jerusalem' (Luke ix. 28-
36). Compare Matt, xviii. 1-9.

* So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was
received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God '
(Mark xvi. 19). Compare Acts i. 2-1 1.

'God raised up Christ from the dead, and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all
principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come ; and hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church'
(Eph. i. 20-22).

b. 'According to most high Ulemas, the ascension of
Mohammed took place in the twelfth year of his prophetic
mission ; but according to some, in the fifth ; and it is re-
corded in different ways by the traditionists, commentators,
and biographers. But all the different narratives are based
on what twenty of his companions severally declared to have
heard from his own lips.^

' The Mohammedan authors give such long and detailed accounts of
Mohammed's night-visit to the Aksa of Jerusalem and of his ascension to the
seven heavens and iju beyond them, that what here follows is in places somewhat

CH. 1. 26.] HE MOUNTS THE BORAK, 305

*That Excellency said, "When I was in my house in
Mecca, its roof opened," or, according to another account,
" When I was sitting upon my place of prayer in the house
of Imhani, and had gone a little to sleep, Gabriel came and
said, O Mohammed, arise, and come out of thy house. Then
I arose, went out, and there saw an angel and a saddle-beast
standing, or, by another account, I saw Gabriel and 50,000
angels with him, all singing praises." According to another
account, that Excellency began his story thus : " I was
in the holy temple of Mecca, when suddenly Gabriel and
Michael came, who, after splitting me open from the chest
to the navel, washed my inside clean, and removed the
refuse and alloy that was there ; and then bringing a ewer
full of wisdom and faith, filled my heart with them and put it
back to its place Thereupon Gabriel, taking my hand, drew
me forth from the temple, and I saw the Borak (or Barak ^)
standing between Safa and Merwa. He was smaller than
a mule, larger than an ass, having a human face, elephant's
ears, a horse's mane, a camel's neck, a mule's chest, a camel's
tail, with the l^s of an ox ; or, according to another account,
with the legs of a camel and the hoofs of an ox. His breast
was like red emerald, his back like a white pearl, on his sides
he had two wings covering his legs, and on his back was one
of the saddles of Paradise.

'Gabriel said, O Mohammed, mount thou Abraham's
Borak on which he visited the Kaaba. Then Gabriel held
the stirrup, and Michael took the reins, and Borak bending
himself down to the ground, I mounted. Gabriel accom-
panied me, with a host of angels before and behind, on
my right and on my left hand. When we were on our way,

epitomised, without, however, omitting anything at all characteristic or essential.
The narrators wish ns expressly to understand that what they communicate
was derived from their prophet's own lips.

* ' Barak ' is the usual Hebrew word for ' lightning,' and was plainly obtained
from Mohammed's Jewish instructors, like several others, e,g, Ashura, Shechina,
Klsse, Torah, etc. These Hebrew terms unmistakably betray the human source
of many of Mohammed's pretended supernatural revelations. A vehicle of the
rapidity of lightning was required to convey the prophet, in the space of a few
hours, to the temple of Jerusalem, and thence far beyond the seventh heaven,
and back again to Mecca. Either ignorance or design converted the natural
barak, or lightning, into the grotesque creature described in the text, and
dubbed it with the proper name of Borak.

U

3o6 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

some one called after me from my right, wishing to ask me
something, but I did not heed him. Some one likewise
called to me from the left, desiring to put a question to me,
neither did I heed him. After that I saw a woman who
had adorned herself and was standing on my way; and
when she also called me to stop, that she might ask a ques-
tion of me, I again passed onward, without heeding her
in the least Then I asked Gabriel who those had been,
and he answered, The first was a Jew, and if thou hadst
attended to him, all thy people would after thy time have
turned Jews ; the second was a Christian, and if thou hadst
attended to him, all thy people would after thy time have
turned Christians ; and the third was the world, if thou hadst
attended to her, all thy people would after thee have become
worldlings, choosing this world rather than the next.

* Then, pursuing our journey, we arrived at the temple of
Aksa, where I found a congregation of holy angels who had
come from heaven to meet me. They gave me honour and
good news from the Lord of Glory, and saluted me in these
words. Peace be with thee, O thou who art the first and the
last and the ingatherer (viz. of men, for the day of judgment).
Upon this, Gabriel took me down from Borak, and tied him
to the same ring of the temple to which previous prophets
had tied the animals on which they rode. Then I entered
the Aksa and there saw an assembly of the prophets, or, by
another account, of the spirits of the prophets. They saluted
and felicitated me ;• and on my asking Gabriel who they were,
he replied. They are thy brethren, the prophets of God. I
desired that we should offer up prayers, whereupon the pro-
phets and angels formed lines, and Gabriel said to me. Be
thou the Imam. Then I stepped forward and acted as
Imam, the prophets and angels following me. When I had
finished the prayers, several of the most distinguished pro-
phets gave praise to God for the special virtues and favours
with which He had endowed them. The first was Abraham,
the second Moses, the third David, the fourth Solomon, and
the fifth Jesus. The latter said. Praise and honour be to
that God who is the Nourisher of all the dwellers on the
earth. He has made me His Word, and has formed me like
Adam, whom He made of earth, and then said to him, ^ Be ! '

CH. I. 26.] HE ASCENDS TO THE FIRST HE A VEN. 307

and he was. He has taught me the book of the Gospel,
endowed me with wisdom, and enabled me to make a bird
of clay, which, when I blew upon it, by His permission,
became a living bird. He also has enabled me to heal the
deaf and cleanse the lepers ; He has taken me up to heaven
and purified me, and has so protected me and my mother
from the wickedness of Satan that he never gained any
power over us.

* As soon as these prophets had finished their praises of
God, I also began mine, saying, Praise and honour be to that
God who has made me (a means of) mercy for the dwellers
on the earth, and has sent me with an apostolic mission to all
men, making me their evangelist and their wamer. He has
sent the Furkan^ down to me, which contains the clear proofs
of all things. He has made my people to be the first of all
others, and given them a name for fair dealing and equity.
He has made me the first and the last, has cleft open my
breast and removed from it the weight (viz. of sin and guilt,
or perhaps even of peccability). He has made my name
exalted, and called me the Beginner and the Finisher.

* After this Gabriel took me by the hand and led me up
upon the Rock.* There appeared a ladder, reaching from
the Rock up to heaven, of such beauty, as I had never before
seen. Angels were ascending by it into heaven. By this
ladder the angel of death also descends, when he is going to
take away men's spirits. The apostle,' mounting Borak, like-
wise ascended by this ladder. But, according to another ac-
count, Gabriel took him with both his wings and carried him
up to the first heaven. The angelic door-keeper, Ishmael,
having opened, they entered, and Adam met Mohammed
with the salutation. Welcome, thou righteous prophet and
son of a righteous one ! On Adam's right hand there was
a door by which the righteous of his children passed into
Paradise, and which yielded a sweet fragrance, so that he
was delighted, as often as he looked that way; but on
his left hand there was a door by which the wicked of his

^ Another name for Koran, It signifies 'distinction,' viz. between truth
and error.

' Still shown in the Aksa, as the starting-point of his ascension.

' From here, by an irregularity, the narrative is carried on in the third
person, till, with the next new line, a return is made to the first person.

3o8 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

ofTspring passed into hell, and from which a bad smell issued,
so that he became sad, whenever he looked to that side.

* In the second heaven I saw the two youths John and
Jesus, who were cousins, and they saluted me thus. Welcome,
thou righteous prophet and righteous brother ! In the third
heaven I saw Joseph, who saluted me with the same words.
His beauty was such as to excel the beauty of all other
creatures, in the same degree, in which the light of the full
moon surpasses the light of all other stars ; or, according to
another account, he represented half the beauty in existence,
whilst the other half is distributed amongst the rest of
creation. Then Gabriel took me to the fourth heaven, where
I saw Enoch, who also saluted me by saying. Welcome, thou
righteous prophet and righteous brother ! Then he took me
to the fifth heaven, where I saw Aaron, who welcomed me in
the same words ; and afterwards to the sixth, where I saw
Moses, who did the same. When I had passed by him, he
wept ; and on being asked why he wept, he answered,
Because a young man has been sent as an apostle after me,
whose people will be more virtuous than my own, and of
whom more will enter Paradise than of my people. After
this he brought me to the seventh heaven, where I saw
Abraham, my Father, who saluted me, saying. Welcome,
thou righteous prophet and son of a righteous dne !

* Thence they took me to the remotest Tree, and I saw
that its fruit was like the Medina-pitchers, and its leaves
resembled an elephant's ear, and the light of God overspread
the whole Tree, and angels flew round it like golden moths,
in such numbers that none could count them except God.
This Tree is Gabriel's abode. Under the Tree I saw four
rivers, two of which flowed within, and two without Gabriel
informed me that the former watered Paradise, and the latter
were the rivers Euphrates and Nile.

* Another account is to this effect : " In the highest parts
of the seventh heaven he took me to a river, called the River
of Abundance, on whose banks tents of emerald, pearls, and
smaragd were erected, and where I saw gfreen birds. Gabriel
said, This river God has given to thee. It flows over pebbles
of emerald and smaragd, and its water is whiter than milk.
Filling one of the golden cups standing there, and drinking

CH. 1. 26.] HE ADVANCETH TO GOD'S THRONE. 309

a little, I found the water sweeter than honey and more
fragrant than musk. After this they showed me the Visited
House which, situated in the seventh heaven, so closely
corresponds with the Kaaba, that, if e,g, a stone were to
fall from it, it would exactly hit the roof of the Kaaba. This
house is daily visited by 70,000 angels, and always by fresh
ones, so that those who visit it one day do not come again
on another day. I was also offered three covered cups : the
first I took contained honey, so I drank a very little of it ;
the secqnd was milk, of which I drank till I had enough.
Gabriel said, Wilt thou not also drink of the third ? but I
answered, I have enough. Upon this Gabriel said, The
Lx>rd be praised, who has guided thee aright ; hadst thou
taken the cup of wine, thy people would have gone astray.

'When we left the Tree, Gabriel said to me. Do thou
pass before, for thou art more highly esteemed of God than
I. Then I went on first, and Gabriel followed me, till we
reached a curtain of gold cloth. On Gabriel announcing
who it was that had come, an angel called out from behind
the curtain, There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is
the apostle of Allah ; and stretched forth his hand to take
me in. I said to Gabriel, Why dost thou remain behind in
such a place ? He answered, O Mohammed, every one of us
has his place assigned him, beyond which he cannot pass.
If I advance only a finger's breadth further, I shall be burnt
up ; and it is only in honour of thee that I have come thus
far to-night, otherwise my appointed place is the Tree.
Then I myself moved on alone, and, one after another, passed
through 70 curtains of light and darkness, each of which was
500^ years' march in width, and separated from the other by
a space of again a 500 years' march. Then Borak ceased
walking, and there appeared a green carpet, brighter than the
sun. I was set upon it, and moved on till I reached the foot
of God's Throne of Glory, and then was moved forward still
further to the place of * Honour.* " — Another account states
that God said to Mohammed a thousand times, Come nearer

' If this measurement is not directly taken from the Talmud, it certainly
has a close resemblance to it : for, according to the Talmud, the distance from
our earth to the firmament is a 500 years' journey : such also is the thickness of
the firmament, and the distance between the different firmaments.

3IO MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. li.

to me! and that each time that prince was raised higher,
until he reached the place of * Nearness,' and then that of
' Intimacy/ whence he entered the innermost Sanctuary, at a
distance of two bow-ranges ; and then approached still more
closely.!

' Some cautious Ulemas thought it best not to define and
publish what God revealed to His apostle in that night, but
a number of others hold that we may well mention what in-
formation, on this subject, is derived from the Prophet himself
or from his companions, and what conclusions have been
arrived at by those learned in the Faith. According to an
accredited tradition, the following three were amongst those
things which God revealed in the night of the ascension :
I. The obligatoriness of the five daily prayers ; and the fact
of their being instituted in the night of the ascension, without
the intermediatory action of Gabriel, shows that they are
the most meritorious occupation. 2. The injunctions con-
tained in the latter part of the second Sura. 3. The declara-
tion that all Mohammedans shall obtain forgiveness of all
their sins, with the only exception of Polytheism.

' According to another tradition, Mohammed also said, '' I
saw my Lord in the most beautiful form, and He said unto
me : O Mohammed, on what subject do the angels of the
higher world contend } I replied, O my God, thou knowest
it Upon this I was favoured with an especial manifestation :
for the supreme Lord put His hand on me, between my
shoulders, so that I felt its soothing and pleasurable effect
between my breasts, and became cognisant of and knowing,
the things in heaven and on earth. Then I was addressed
thus, O Mohammed, knowest thou on what subject the
highest angels contend ? I answered. Yes, O my Lord, on
the subject of atonement, that is to say, on the services and
degrees which are the cause of the atonement of sins.
Thereupon the word was addressed to me. What is atone-
ment? I answered, Atonement is the remaining in the

^ It is hardly possible not to be struck with the intention, concealed in these
expressions, to transfer to Mohammed, in effect, though not exactly in the very
same words, what is said in Holy Scripture respecting Jesus Christ, a^. ' Sit
thou at my right band ' (Ps. ex. i), and ' Then the Lord was received up into
heaven, and sat on the right hand of God ' (Mark xvi. 19).

CH. 1. 26.] HE RECEIVES THE HIGHEST DISTINCTION. 3 1 1

house of prayer after the service has been performed ; the
going to the meetings on foot ; and the taking an ablution
when trials and troubles befall : whoever does these things
will live and die well, and be as pure from sin as if he had
just been bom of his mother.^ Then the question was
addressed to me, O Mohammed, what are the degrees?
I replied, To give or deliver a salutation, to provide others
with food, and to rise up and perform prayers whilst people
are asleep."

' According to another account, that prince, when in the
Divine presence, was thus addressed, " O Mohammed, I and
thou, and whatever exists besides, I have created for thy
sake." His Excellency replied, " Thou and I, and whatever
exists besides, I have left for Thy sake," Some also affirm
that on the same occasion this word was said to him, '' O
Mohammed, until thou shalt have entered Paradise, all the
other prophets are forbidden to enter."

* It is likewise recorded that that prince said, " When I
reached the foot of the throne and saw its grandeur, fear and
trembling seized on my mind, but at that moment a drop
was dropping down, and I opened my mouth so that it fell
on my tongue. That drop was so delicious that, by Allah I no
one can ever have tasted anything sweeter ; and by its blessing
I became possessed of the knowledge of the first and of the last,
and was delivered from an impediment of speech ^ which had
been the result of my seeing the dreadness and majesty of
the Most High." God also said to me, " I have forgiven thee
and thy people ; and thou mayest ask of me whatever thou
likest and I will give it thee." I replied, " O our Lord,
rebuke us not if we forget and sin." Thereupon this answer
came, *^ I have taken away sin and forgetfulness from thy

^ The reader will understand that the things here mentioned are not legal
duties, binding on every Moslem, but supererogatory works, and as snch are here
represented to be eflkacious in atoning for sin. But what a degree of spiritual
blindness is presupposed by the assumption that man can do more than his duty
(see Matt» xxii. 37-40), and that such paltry works of supererogation can super-
sede the ' eternal atonement by the blood of Him, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God' (Heb. ix. 1-15) I

' Perhaps an intended parallel to Moses' slowness of tongue and the Lord's
promise, ' I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say ' (Exod. iv.
ID- 1 2).

312 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

people, and I have moreover passed by what they do by com-
pulsion and against their own will." After this I asked, " O
our Lord, do not lay upon us a covenant such as thou didst
lay on those who have been before us." To this I received
the following reply, " O Mohammed, I have accepted thy re-
quest, and not laid upon you the covenant of former people."^

' It is also recorded that in that night Mohammed wit-
nessed the worship of the angels of the seven heavens ;
some performed it by standing erect ; others by kneeling ;
others by prostrations; others by rehearsing the creed ; others
by magnifying ; others by praising ; and others by lauding
(i,e. singing the Hallel). When fifty daily prayers had
been enjoined, this word came to Mohammed, " O Moham-
med, I have made a service of prayer obligatory on thee and
thy people, which consists of standing erect, kneeling, pros-
tration, recitation of the creed, reading, magnifying, praising,
and lauding : in order that their worship should comprise
that of all the angels from the Throne to the carpet, and
that they should acquire the merit of all those classes of wor-
shippers who severally worship in all these different ways.

* His Excellency thus continued his narrative : " After the
Prayers had been enjoined upon me and my people, I received
permission to return, and accordingly I went back as I had
come, till I again reached Gabriel's abode. Gabriel welcomed
me back by saying, " O Mohammed, receive thou the good
news that thou art the first and most chosen of creatures.
To-night the Most High has advanced thee to a degree which
has not been reached by any other created being, neither the
most favoured angels nor the prophets that have been sent.
O Mohammed, may this distinction be blessed and pleasant
to thee I After this, Gabriel led me onward to Paradise, and
showed me the abodes and order of the spirits ; and I saw
all its black-eyed ones, its castles, its youths, children, trees,
fruits, orchards, fragrant herbs, rivers, gardens, ponds, upper
rooms, and high galleries."

According to another account, Mohammed also said,
" When I entered Paradise I saw large tents made of pearls,

^ This emancipates the Moslems from conforming to the Christian and Jewish
religion, though it is theoretically held that the Gospel and the Law were sent
down from heaven, like the Koran.

CH. I. 26.] HE IS SHOWN HELL AND ITS INMATES. 313

and the soil of Paradise was musk ; and I observed that most
of its inhabitants were poor people and dervishes ; and I
also found that most of the inhabitants of Hell were women,
boasters, and oppressors." It is also established that he
said, "They showed me Hell and its chains, its fetters,
serpents, scorpions, the loud groaning and moaning, the cold,
fetid discharges, and its black smoke."

* According to some biographies, that Excellency also
narrated as follows : " In that night I also saw one of the
angels whose face was altogether without cheerfulness and
pleasure, and who never smiled at me, as all the other angels
had done whom I met On my asking Gabriel who this was,
he answered, This angel has never smiled, and will never
smile at any one ; if he did, he would have smiled at thy
blessed face. This is the angel who has power over Hell.
He always shows a sour face, and his anger and the fury of
his wrath is always against the inhabitants of Hell, because
of the wrath of God against them. At my request Gabriel
asked him to show me hell-fire, whereupon he drew the
curtain from its opening ; and I saw the fire flaming, black,
without giving any light, and it rustled with moans and
groans ; and it rose so high up that I thought it would seize
me. Then I saw Hell. There are so many diflferent torments
and dishonours and indignities in it that even stones and
iron have not the strength to bear them. I asked Gabriel to
tell the angel to withdraw the fire, as I could no longer bear
the sight of it, and he did so." In that night his Excellency
also met the Taker-away-of-life ; and he begged of that high
angel, " When thou takest away the souls of my people, do
so easily, kindly, and gently." The angel of death replied,
" O Mohammed, I g^ve thee the joyous news that the Most
High says often to me, by night and by day, Deal easily and
gently with Mohammed's people." ^

' It is also authentic that that Excellency said, " When I
was returning from the Throne of Glory and met Moses, he
asked me. How many prayers were enjoined upon thee and
thy people ? I answered, Fifty for one day and night. Moses
said. Verily thy people will not be able to perform prayers fifty

^ It is singular that this promise of an easy death was not fulfilled in Mo-
hammed's own case, as we have been informed on pp. 232, 233.

314 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. ii.

times in one day ; for I knew peof)le before thee, and have
tried the children of Israel ; and thy people is weaker than
others ; return, therefore, to the Lord's Throne and solicit an
alleviation for thy people. I went back and had ten taken
off. On telling Moses of it, he advised me to seek a further
reduction. So I went back, again and again, and had each
time ten more taken off, till the fifth time, when only five were
taken off, so that five remained. Moses thought them still
too many, and wished to induce me to return once more. But
I answered, I have already returned to my Lord so often that
I am quite ashamed ; I will return no more, but be content
and satisfied and walk in the way of resignation." According
to another account, Mohammed said, '^ I returned for reduc-
tions of the number of prayers, till my Lord said to me, O
Mohammed, I have made five daily prayers obligatory on
thee and thy people, and I accept each prayer in the stead of
ten prayers, so that the five prayers shall count for fifty
prayers ; and if one of thy people purposes to do a good
action, but is prevented by a legal hindrance from performing
it, it yet shall count in the register of his good actions ; and
if he carries that purpose into execution, there shall be
registered into the register ten good works, or 700, or still
more, beyond counting ; and for every one of thy people who
had intended to commit a sin, but for God's sake leaves it
undone, one good action shall be noted down ; but if he
commits the sin, only one evil deed shall be marked."

'That Excellency concluded his narrative by saying,
" When I returned, Gabriel accompanied me till I entered the
house of Om Hani ; and all this travelling and journeying
took place in what is to you one night" It is also reported
that Omar said, ^' The time in which that prince went and
returned was three hours of a night ; " but others say that it
took four hours." God knows best.'^ (Rawzat.)

^ The Ulemas differ as to the nature of Mohammed's ascension. Some think
that his purified body ascended with the spirit ; others, that it was only the
s|nrit, wMlst the body slept ; and again others assume that the ascenaoo took
place several times, and that thus the contradictory accounts may be reconciled.
How dexterous the Ulemas are in reconciling such difficulties, may be gathered
from some of them removing the contradiction that one account places the Tree
in the 7th heaven and another in the 6th, by the assumption that the branches
were in the former and the roots in the latter.

CH. I. 27.] PREPARES FOR THE FLIGHT TO MEDINA. 31$

(27.) Persecuted and threatened with death by t/ieir fellow-
citizens in the town in which they had grown up^ th^f
escaped from their hands^ as by a miracle, and, together
with t/uir disciples, transferred their domicile to another
town, willing to receive them,

a, *And Jesus camo. to Nazareth, where he had been
brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the
synagogue on the sabbath-day, and stood up for to read.
. . . And he began to say unto them, This day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears. . . . And they said, Is not
this Joseph's son ? And he said unto them, Ye will surely
say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself, etc. . . .
And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things,
were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the
city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city
was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he,
passing through tiie midst of them, went his way, and came
down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on
the sabbath-days " (Luke iv. 16-31).

b. Mohammed's celebrated Flight from Mecca to Medina
is itself an undoubted historical fact ; what is fictitious in it
is the supernatural halo with which it has been invested, as
will appear from the following narrative taken from the
Rawzat ^ : ' When the covenant and allegiance between the
people of Medina and his Excellency were firmly established,
and the friends of that prince were no longer able to remain
in Mecca, on account of the persecution by the Polytheists,
then he gave them permission to flee to Medina, saying, '' I
have been shown the place to which you will flee ; it is a place
of date-palms, between two mountains." It is recorded by the
trustworthy Bokhari that when Abu Bekr, the true, was
engaged with preparations for the journey, his Excellency
said to him, " O Abu Bekr, have patience for a few days
longer, for I have hopes that I myself also shall shortly
receive the command to flee, so that I may become thy com-

^ It will be observed that this account contains sundry particulars which are
not given in Ibn Ishak's narrative, pp. Iii-ii3.

316 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

panion, and we may flee together." ' In those days Abu Bekr
had a dream in which he saw the moon descending on Mecca,
and illuminating that mother of cities. Then that shining
moon rose again and, moving towards Medina, alighted and
abode there, ^ illuminating with its brightness the whole
neighbourhood of Yathreb. There the moon was joined by
a multitude of stars, and, after a time, it rose with many
thousands of them into the air and descended upon the temple
of Mecca, whilst Medina remained aS bright as before, with
the exception of 360 or, according to another account, 400
houses. After a while it rose again towards heaven and re-
turned to Medina, where it abode in Aisha's dwelling, and
illumininated the whole land of Yathreb with its radiant
light, those innumerable stars being still with it Then the
earth was divided, and a hole was formed in which that moon
disappeared.' When Abu Bekr awoke, he began to weep ;
for he was renowned amongst the Arabs for his knowledge
in the interpretation of dreams, and therefore knew that the
moon he had seen signified the prophet ; the stars, his com-
panions and relatives ; their return to Mecca, the conquest of
that city ; its descent upon Aisha's dwelling, that Aisha alone
should be ennobled in Medina with the nobility of that
Excellency's bed ; and its disappearance in a hole, that the
prince of the prophets should die in Medina.

The biographers record that as soon as the companions of
the apostle of God had learned that they might flee to so
near a place, as the city of Medina, they went thither. The
unbelievers of Mecca, knowing that his Excellency would join
his companions, and that the Medinites would protect him,
formed a plan to prevent this. To this end they assembled
together and carefully shut the door, lest any of the Beni
Hashim should be present and become aware of the plan.

^ From this it may be inferred that it had been intended Abu Bekr shoald
fly first, but that Mohammed was reluctant to be left behind alone and without
that intimate friend, by whose calm reflection and firm wiU he had probably
been long accustomed to be helped and guided.

' A plain intimation that the intended flight was to become an accomplished
fact.

' An unmistakable historical ouUine down to Mohammed's burial, in the
form of a prophetic dream. If the dream was a fact, and not a mere invention,
it shows how completely the thoughts of the two friends moved in the same
groove.

CH. i. 27.] HE ESCAPES, BY A LI LYING ON HIS BED, 317

Still, Satan, in the form of an old man, dressed in old clothes,
made his appearance in their assembly, and, as on being
asked who he was, he professed to be a stranger from Nejd,
who sympathised with the object of their meeting, he was
allowed to remain and to join in their deliberations. After
the danger had been pointed out that Mohammed, finding
confederates and helpers in Medina, might one day return with
them and make war against Medina, the assembly were
invited to suggest means for preventing such an eventuality.
To put him in fetters and cast him into a dungeon, or to expel
and banish him from the city, were the measures successively
proposed, but objected to by the old man from Nejd, on the
ground that, in the first case, his relatives might set him at
liberty again ; and, in the second, that his persuasive speech
inight gain adherents for him abroad. Upon this, the wicked
and ill-reputed Abu Jahl Ibn Hisham said, " My proposal is
this, that we choose a courageous young man from each of our
clans and provide them with sharp swords, so that they may
fall upon him and kill him together, in which case his family
will be obliged to accept the blood-money from us, as they
will not be able to fight all the other clans united." The old
man from Nejd fully approving this proposal, the assembly
broke up, forthwith to carry it into execution.

* But the faithful Gabriel came to the Lord of the two
worlds and informed that prince of what had taken place,
at the same time also delivering to him the Divine command
to flee, and telling him not to sleep that night in his usual
bed, but to leave next day for Medina. As soon as it was
night, the infidels assembled about the door of his house, in
order, after he had gone to sleep, to fall upon him as one
man and kill him. The prophet being cognisant of this,
said to the well-beloved AH : " The infidels having formed
an evil design against me, I leave this place : do thou rest
to-night upon my bed, and cover thyself with my green
cloak, and be confident they will not be able to play thee
any trick." Then Ali laid himself down on the prophet's
bed, and drew his cloak over him for a Cover. His Excel-
lency himself rehearsed the 36th Sura as far as the verse,
"We have set a barrier before them, and we have set a
barrier behind them, and we have enshrouded them with a

3i8 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

veil, so that they cannot see ; " and then threw a handful of
earth upon them, and thus, passing through them, escaped
without being perceived by those erring ones.^

' At that time God thus addressed the angels Gabriel and
Michael : " I have made you brothers by establishing a
covenant of brotherhood between you, and have given to
one of you a longer life than the other, which of you, then,
prefers his brother's life to his own, by. giving up as a
present to his brother that part of his own life by which he
might have survived him ? " They both answered, " O
God, we do not wish to give up our life for any one, we
want it for ourselves, and what could we do with the life of
another ? " The Most High then spoke to them thus, " O
Gabriel and Michael, why are ye not like Ali Ibn Abu
Talib ? I have made him and Mohammed brothers by a
covenant of brotherhood, by virtue of which Ali has made a
sacrifice of his life to Mohammed, and preferred his life to
his own, therefore go ye both down to the earth and guard
him against any harm from his enemies." In compliance
with this command they descended to the earth and stood,
Gabriel at the head and Michael at the feet of the well-be-
loved Ali ; and Gabriel said to him, " O AH, who is like unto
thee, of whom the Most High boasts before His angels ? "

* The infidels looking through a crack of the door, saw
some one lying on Mohammed's bed, whom they took for
his Excellency himself. Saying to themselves : " By God,
Mohammed lies there covered with his clothes," they rushed
into the room and stretched out their hands to seize him,

^ It is hard not to recognise in this, 'and thus, passing through them,
escaped without being perceived,' a direct dependence on the, 'But he,
passing through the midst of them, went his way,* used in the description of
, Jesus Girist's remarkable escape from his imminent danger. But what a contrast
here, between Mohammed, exposing his dependent nephew Ali to a possible
great danger, for the purpose of securing his own escape, and Jesus Christ in
the garden of Gethsemane, manfully confronting his enemies and voluntarily
surrendering Himself, in order to secure the safety of his disciples, by saying to
his enemies, * I have told you that I am he. If therefore ye seek me, let these
go their way ' (John xviii. 1-12) I Both behaviours are significant : Mohammed
used his followers for his own protection, gratification, and aggrandisement ;
Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for the protection, salvation, and glorification of
His people. Hence the needed justification of Mohammed's conduct, implied
in what immediately follows.

CH. I. 27.] HE AND ABU BEKR HIDE IN A CA VE. 319

when, lo, that very moment, Ali, the well-beloved, rose from
the bed. Seeing that it was Ali, they asked him, " Where
is Mohammed ? " He answered, " I know not." Jhey,
feeling perplexed and ashamed, occupied themselves with
searching after Mohammed and did nothing to Ali.

'Aisha, the true, narrated that on the day following,
when it was already hot, Mohammed suddenly appeared
at her father's house, and, on being informed that there
were no strangers there, entered and said to Abu Bekr,
" Know, that God has given me permission to flee." Abu
Bekr answered, " I shall be thy companion." He also
offered the prophet one of two fleet camels, which the latter
accepted on the condition that he should be allowed to pay
for it, and Wakidi states its price to have been 800 dirhems.
During the remainder of the day they hastily prepared
provisions for the journey, Aisha getting together a bag full
of them, and Asma, in the absence of string, took off her
girdle from her loins, tore it in half, and tied the bag with it.
Abu Bekr took with him all the money that was found in
the house, amounting, as Asma tells us, to 5000 dirhems.
After Abu Bekr had directed his son, Abd Allah, to be
amongst the Koreish during the day, and bring him news of
them in the night, and ordered a liberated slave to furnish
them regularly with milk, and likewise secured a guide for
the journey, they left at night, through an upper window,
for the cave Thaur, where the guide was to meet them, three
days later, with the camels.

* It is also recorded that when they were on the way to
the cave, the prophet took off his shoes and pressed them
under his toes, so that his footprints might not be known,
and when his blessed feet became sore, Abu Bekr took him
on his shoulders, and thus brought him to the opening of
the cave. That cave was known as a place where flocks
took shelter, and lest anything unpleasant should meet the
prophet, Abu Bekr went in first to get it ready, and stopped
the little crevices with pieces torn from his clothes, and then
called out : ** O Apostle of God, come in." They spent the
night in the cave, and in the morning, when the prophet saw
Abu Bekr denuded, and asked of him the reason, he was
told that it was because he had torn up his clothes to shut

320 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

the holes, whereupon the prophet invoked a blessing on him.
Abu Bekr was also troubled by serpents aiid scorpions, so
that tears rolled down his cheeks, and when the Lord of
beings saw this, he said to him : " Be not sad, for God is
with us." Upon this the Glorious One sent such patience
and composure into the heart of Abu Bekr that he felt quite
light and at rest, and from that time those creatures could
no longer hurt him. God also caused an acacia tree to grow
before the opening of that cave, and inspired a pair of wild
pigeons to make a nest on that tree, and to lay eggs that
very night, and He commanded a spider to spin its net
across the entrance of that cave.

The Polytheists, knowing what faithful friendship existed
between that prince and Abu Bekr, went to the latter's
house-door to obtain information about the former. Asma,
Abu Bekr's daughter, being asked where her father was,
answered, " I do not know." For this answer the cursed
Abu Jahl lifted up his hand and dealt her such a heavy
blow in her face that her ear-ring fell upon the ground.
The Polytheists, having brought a sorcerer with them,
searched till they found the footsteps of the fugitives, and
then, with sword or stick in hand, pursued their track to the
vicinity of the cave of Thaur where they lost it The sorcerer
being puzzled, said : " Behold, they came as far as these
footprints, but whither they went hence I do not know ; "
and on having come close to the cave, he added, " The men
whom you seek have not passed beyond this cave." At that
moment Abu Bekr, the true, said, "O Apostle of God, if
any of them were to look down underneath their feet, they
would see us." The Teacher of all beings replied, " O Abu
Bekr, God is as the Third amongst those who in thy opinion
are but two." When they came to the door, the pigeons,
being frightened, flew from their nest, and the Polytheists, on
seeing the eggs and the spider's web, gave up all hope and
said, " If Mohammed had entered this cave, those eggs
would have been broken and those spider-webs torn." Then
the Lord of the world knew that by this means God had
turned away from them the harm which those men had in-
tended. It is reported that the pigeons, now flying about the
temple of Mecca, are descendants of that pair upon which

CH. 1. 27.] HIS SAFE JO URNE Y TO MEDINA. 32 1

the prophet had then invoked a blessing, and assigned
the temple of Mecca for their abode, to roost there where
they like. As for the infidels, they returned home utterly
disappointed. Abu Jahl had caused it to be proclaimed,
throughout the high and low parts of Mecca, that he would
give 100 camels to any one who brought back Mohammed
and Abu Bekr, or showed the place of their concealment
It is from this reason that the infidels continued their search
for a long time.

'In the morning after the third night, the hired guide
and the man with camels arrived at the entrance of the cave.
The Prophet and Abu Bekr mounted one of the two camels
and the two men the other, and then started for Medina.
After having travelled for a day and a night, Abu Bekr
looked round and, seeing no pursuers, he invited the Prophet
to dismount and take some rest, whilst he procured a bowl
of milk from some shepherd. On continuing their journey
further, they reached some Bedouin tents where no food
could be obtained, on account of a prevailing famine. But
Mohammed, seeing a sheep which was so emaciated that it
could not walk, rubbed her udder with his blessed hands,
and then could milk from it enough to give drink to the
inmates of the tents and his own companions, as well as to
fill all the procurable vessels. The same sheep continued to
give abundance of milk daily, both morning and evening, for
eighteen years, till it died in Omar's Califate.

• Bokhari also narrates that the Koreish sent to the Beni
Modlej to inform them that if they would either kill Moham-
med and Abu Bekr, or make them prisoners, they should
receive their price of blood, consisting of 100 camels each.
Suraka started in pursuit of the fugitives, without letting
any one know it ; but when he had approached them to
within two spears' distance, his horse's fore-legs, or, accord-
ing to another account, four legs, suddenly sunk in the
ground, so that they could not be withdrawn, till Suraka
begged the Prophet to pray for him, and promised that he
would desist from further pursuit — It is likewise reported
that Beride Ibn el Khasib pursued Mohammed with seventy
horsemen, in the hope of earning the offered prize, but on
reaching the fugitives, he, instead of making them prisoners,

X

322 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

embraced Islam, and presented Mohammed with his turban-
cloth and a lance for a flag with which to enter Medina.

' As soon as the Moslems of Medina learned the approach
of the fugitives, they went out in a body and welcomed
them with demonstrations of joy. Ibn Ishak states that all the
other Moslems likewise emigrated to Medina, and that none
of them remained in Mecca who had not either been com-
pelled to renounce his faith, or was detained there by force.'

(28.) In the town of their new domicile they developed a great
activity^ and from it, as their headquarters ^ they under-
took expeditions, in order to carry out their mission and
to secure for it a more extensive recognition.

a. *And Jesus came down to Capernaum, a city of
Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they
were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with
power,* etc. (Luke iv. 31-44).

* And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease
among the people, . . . And there followed him great
multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and
from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.
. . . And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and
came into his own city.^ And, behold, they brought unto
him a man sick of the palsy,' etc. (Matt iv. 13-25). Com-
pare Matt. V. I, 2 ; viii, 5-7, 18-20; ix. 1-38.

h, ' God commanded Mohammed to build a mosque ;
and he remained with Abu Eyub till his own dwelling and
the mosque were finished. In order to encourage the
believers, he himself shared the labours ; so both emigrants
and assistants worked with zeal. In the first sermon which '
he preached in the mosque, as soon as it was finished, he

^ Is it not a singular coincidence that as the city to which Jesus transferred
his headquarters, after having been expelled from Nazareth, is in Scripture
called *his own city,' so also the town of Yathreb, to which Mohammed migrated,
and in which he displayed his great politico-religious activity, and fh>m which
he started on his numerous war-expeditions, is since that time called Medina,
i.€, 'city,' viz., his peculiar city, or the city panxcelinfce ?

CH. I. 28.] ACTIVITY IN MEDINA, HIS NEW HOME. 323

said, " O ye people, send on good works before you. Know,
by Allah ! that none of you can escape death : then he will
leave his flock without a shepherd, and God will say unto
him, without an interpreter and without a go-between. Did
not my apostle come to thee and bring thee my message ?
I have granted thee goods and shown thee favours. "Wiat
didst thou send on before thee for thy soul ? Then he will
look to the right hand and to the left hand, but find nothing ;
and he will have to look forward and there only see Hell.
Whoever can guard his sight against Hell, let him do so, and
if it should only be by a piece of a date ; whoso cannot find
even so much, let him do it by a good word ; for in this way
the action is recompensed from 10 to 700 times. Peace be
on you, and God's blessing and mercy I "

* Mohammed also drew up a contract between the emi-
grants and the assistants, and between them and the Jews,
whose faith and property, under certain conditions, were to
be respected, beginning thus, " In the name of God, the
Merciful, the Compassionate ! This is the contract from
Mohammed the Prophet between the believers of the Koreish
and of Medina, and those who follow them, unite with them,
and join with them in war. They form but one people,
separated from all other men," etc. — He likewise established
a covenant of brotherhood between the believers from Mecca
and those of Medina, by joining one fugitive to one assistant,
thus forming forty-five, or, according to another account, fifty,
pairs of adopted brothers who, in case of death, were even
to inherit each other, to the exclusion of previous relatives.

' When Mohammed had found a secure abode in Medina,
and his friends, the refugees, had joined him, and the affairs of
the assistants had been arranged, Islam became firmly estab-
lished, the public prayers were performed, fasting and alms-
giving were made obligatory, the administration of justice
was carried out, things allowed and forbidden were deter-
mined, and Islam acquired strength amongst the tribe of the
assistants, both as regards faith, and as regards the certain
maintenance of its professors.

* During the ten years of his residence in Medina, Moham-
med organised thirty-eight military expeditions and twenty-
seven of these he accompanied in person, as chief commander.

324 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. II.

for the furtherance of the cause of Islam.' (Ibn Ishak and
Ibn Hisham.)

* The war-expeditions which that prince accompanied in
person are stated by some biographers to have amounted to
19 ; by others, to 21 or 24 or 27 ; the difference of numbers
probably arising from this, that either some were omitted,
or several happening close together, counted as one. In 9
of these expeditions it came to a battle with the infidels,
viz. in those of Bedr, Ohod, Ahzab, the Beni Koreiza, Beni
el Mo^talik, Khaibar, the conquest of Mecca, at Honein and
Taif. — The expeditions which that Excellency despatched
against enemies, under the command of lieutenants, without
being himself present, amounted to 56. But it must be
mentioned that some authors give the number at more,
others at less than 56.' (Rawzat.)

(29.) They united their followers in the closest ties ^BROTHER-
HOOD, which caused a relaxation in the stringent laws
of possession and inheritance,

a. ' If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will
pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of
truth ' (John xiv. 15-17).

* When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were
all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came
a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting. . . . And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost. . . . And all that
believed were together, and had all things common; and
sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all
men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from
house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and single-
ness of heart, praising Grod and having favour with all the
people ' (Acts ii. 1-47).

b, ' When it pleased God to make His religion victorious
and to glorify his Prophet and to fulfil His promises unto
him ; Mohammed, as he was wont to do during the pilgrim-

CH.I.29.] UNITES HIS FOLLOWERS LIKE BROTHERS. 325

festivals, went to the different tribes, in order to present
himself to them as Prophet ; and on one of these occasions
he met a number of Khazrajites from Medina who hearkened
to him, believed in him, and embraced Islam. They also
said to Mohammed, " We come from a people amongst whom
there is much ill-will and enmity ; perhaps God will unite
them through thee ; we shall invite diem to the faith which
we ourselves now profess, and if God unites them around
thee, then no man will be more powerful than thou." After
this they returned to their home, as believers. — At the
festival of the following year, when the Medinan converts
consisted of seventy-three men and two women, Mohammed
gave them this assurance, " Your blood is my blood ; what
you shed I also shed ; you belong to me and I belong to
you ; I fight whomsoever ye fight, and I make peace with
whomsoever ye make peace."

* Not long after his emigration to Medina, Mohammed
established a formal treaty, in writing, between all his
followers, whether from Mecca or Medina, in which he
declared, "The believers form but o?ie people, separated
from all other men. They shall not leave any one heavily
burdened amongst them, without assisting him, whether a
price of blood or redemption-money may have to be paid.
No believer may commit acts of hostility against the con-
federates of another believer. No believer may slay another
believer on account of an unbeliever, nor may he assist an
unbeliever against a believer ; but the believers are to protect
each other against all other men," * etc. (Ibn Ishak.)

' Five or eight months after his arrival in Medina, that
prince established a covenant of brotherhood^ constituting the
respective parties adoptive brothers of one another, between
forty-five or fifty of the refugees on the one side, and of the
assistants on the other. He selected the individuals him-
self, and in the house of prayer joined them together, two
and two as brothers. This is universally accepted amongst
the historians. But Bokhari also narrates that besides this
fraternity, another similar one was established, exclusively
amongst the refugees, and to which the assistants were not
admitted. It is reported that at that time they mutually
bound themselves to assist and help each other and to inherit

326 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. ii.

from each other. According to this covenant, the friends of
the Apostle of God inherited from one another, till after the
battle of Bedr, when that covenant of brotherhood and the
assignment of inheritance to one another was abrogated by
Divine revelation.' ^ (Rawzat.)

(30.) They introduced a mode of worship in which Jerusalem
with its temple ceased to be looked upon as the seat of
the Divine Presence or the Kibla^ that isy the quarter to
which the prayers had to be directed,

a. * Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour
cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet in
Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not
what ; we know what we worship : for salvation is of the
Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth :
for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is spirit :
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth ' (John iv. 19-24). Compare Luke xi. 1-13.

b. 'The traditionists and biographers record that when
Mohammed had emigrated to Medina, he, for sixteen or
seventeen months, performed his prayers towards the Holy
House of Jerusalem, wishing to draw the hearts of the
possessors of the Scriptures to Islam, by showing himself in
accord with them in the matter of the Kibla. The Jews of
Medina used to say, "It is a strange thing that whilst
Mohammed is opposed to us in religion, he yet agrees with
us in the Kibla." When this reached the blessed and noble

^The reader will have noticed that as the followers of Christ became a
united organised body or church, when Christ, alter having ascended the throne
of the Majesty on high, sent down the promised Spirit on the day of Pentecost,
so also the followers of Mohammed were organised into a politico-religious com-
monwealth, when Mohammed, after the Hegira to Medina, began to rule over
them as lord«paramount, and gave them laws and institutions which were
invested with all the sanctity and authority of Divine revelation ; and that the
introduction of both systems was accompanied by a kind of temporary com-
munity of goods. But this communism as to worldly possessions, and the entire
organisation of the fraternity itself, was, in the one case, the natural free result
of an indwelling Holy Spirit of love, and in the other, the effect of a super-
imposed external law, soon after formally abrogated, and of the enforcement of
a commander's absolute will. How great the difference, therefore, notwith-
standing the apparent similarity I

CH.I. 30.] THE KAABA BECOMES THE NEW KIBLA. 327

ear of the Apostle of God, he knew that they would obstin-
ately remain in their own objectionable way. His precious
mind, therefore, set itself upon changing the Kibla from the
Holy House to the Kaaba, this having been the Kibla of
his father Abraham, on whom be peace ! He said to Gabriel,
" I wish God would change the Kibla to the Kaaba ; " but
he answered, "Thou hadst better ask God thyself; for thou
art highly esteemed by Him." He therefore always looked
up towards heaven, waiting for tidings to change the Kibla.

* On a Tuesday of the month Rejeb in the second year
of the Hegira, Gabriel brought down the following verse,
authorising the change of the Kibla : " We have seen thee
turn thy face towards heaven ; we will have thee turn to a
Kibla which shall please thee : turn, then, thy face towards
the sacred Mosque; and, wherever ye be, turn your faces
towards that part" The biographers report that, when that
prince was in the house of Beshr Ibn Bara's mother, and the
time for the noon-day prayers had come, he entered the
mosque of that quarter and, with a congregation of his com-
panions, performed the noon-day prayers. It was whilst
they were on their knees in the second genuflection, that his
Excellency turned round in the direction of the Kaaba, and
the companions also, at his back, turned round in the same
way and completed the prayers in that position — from which
circumstance that mosque was called "the mosque of the
two Kiblas."

* It is recorded that when the news of the change of the
Kibla reached the public, every section of the population
had something to say about it. The hypocrites said, " What
has happened that they gave up their Kibla and chose
another ? " Some of the Jews said, " Mohammed pines after
his original fatherland, and turns towards his native city."
The polytheists said, " Mohammed is confused on the subject
of religion, not knowing what he wants." And the chief
men amongst the Jews said, " Mohammed has given up our
Kibla from nothing but jealousy." Ibn Akhtab and his
followers thus addressed the Mussulmans, " Tell us, whether
the prayers which yoii hitherto offered in the direction of
the Holy House were in accordance with revelation or with
error : for, in the former case, it is plain that you have now

328 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. II.

turned away from revelation ; and in the latter, that you
were then in error, and that whilst in error, ye offered up
prayers to the true God," To this the Mussulmans replied,
" Whatever God commands, is revelation ; and whatever He
forbids, is error." The Jews continued, " What do you say
of those who died whilst you were praying towards our
Kibla : are they blessed or condemned } " Upon this, the
Most High sent the verse, "God did not put your faith
{ji.e, your prayer) towards the Holy House."

*The earliest Ulemas differ as to the Kibla which Mo-
hammed observed before his flight to Medina. Ibn Abbas
and many others affirm that he had been praying towards the
Holy House ; but that in doing so, he always took up such a
position that he had the Kaaba on one side and never turned
his back upon it This is the correct view. But another
account is, that he had been performing his prayers towards
the Kaaba ; and that during the early part of his residence
at Medina he turned towards the Holy House, in order to
conciliate the Jews and predispose them in favour of Islam.
Sheikh Ibn Hajr says, that this view is not well supported,
and that it implies a double abrogation of a previous injunc-
tion. But God knows best

'It is recorded that at the time when the Kibla was
changed, the Prophet went to the Kaba-mosque and changed
its walls in such a manner that it exactly faced the Kaaba ;
and that he laid its foundation with his own blessed hands ;
and that his own blessed self, together with his friends,
carried the stones and built them up. It is also credibly
reported that his Excellency went every Saturday to that
mosque, either on foot or on horseback, and that he declared
its virtue to be such that any one who, after a complete
ablution, performs his prayers in it, acquires the merit of a
pilgrimage to Mecca.' ^ (R.)

^As regards the general subject of praying in a certain local direction, it
maybe observed that, from passages like Dan. vi. ii, 12, Psalms v. 8, xxviii. 2, it
is plain that the Jews made the temple of Jerusalem their Kibla in prayer, as
Mohammed also at first did, with his earliest followers, in obvious imitation of
the Jewish practice. But Mohammed, instead of rising altogether above the use
of a local Kibla, as did Jesus Christ, stuck fast, in this as in many other matters,
on the Jewish standpoint, and only transferred the Kibla from one locality to
another.

I

I

CH. 1. 31.] ADULTERERS STONED. 329

(31.) They were called upon to decide what punishment should
be inflicted on adulterers^ regard being had to the
punishment prescribed by the Law of Moses.

a. *The scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a
woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in
the midst, they say unto him. Master, this woman was taken
in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law com-
manded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest
thou ? This they said, tempting him, that they might have
to accuse him. . . . Jesus said unto them, He that is with-
out sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. . . .
He said unto the woman. Hath no man condemned thee ?
She said. No man. Lord And Jesus said unto her, Neither
do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more' (John viii. 2-1 !)•

b. * In the fourth year after the Flight, his Excellency
had a man and a Jewish woman stoned. The Jews wanted
to deceive his Excellency in this matter by a trick, saying,
"In our Law the punishment of adultery is this, that the
guilty party, be he man or woman, should have his face
blackened, and being placed in a reversed position upon a
camel, should be publicly paraded on the market-place."
Abd Allah Ibn Selam, who had been a Jewish priest, but
had been ennobled with the nobility of Islam, said to his
Excellency, " O thou Prophet of God, these men tell a lie ;
according to the Torah, adulterers have to be stoned." His
Excellency commanded a Torah to be brought, in order to
have the statement verified. Then a Jew read from the
Torah, but with his hand covered the verse about stoning.
Ibn Selam observing this, said, "Take thy hand away;"
and when the Jew withdrew his hand, the verse about
stoning was seen ; and Ibn Selam read that verse to the
Prophet: whereupon they stoned that adulterer and adul-
teress. In this year he also requested Zeid Ibn Thabit to
learn the Torah, so as to prevent the Jews in the future from
tampering with or altering any of its verses. Zeid Ibn
Thabit learned the whole of the Torah in fifteen days.

In the year 9 A.H. Mohammed also ordered a woman
of the Ghamid tribe to be stoned, for having committed

330 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

adultery. She had come to him three years previously,
confessing her adultery, and asking him to make her pure
from her sin, that is, to deal with her according to law. He
asked her whether she was with child, and on her answering
in the affirmative, he directed her to be kept till the child
was born, exhorting her, at the same time, to repent, and ask
pardon of God. When the child was bom, Mohammed said,
" It will not do to make the child destitute ; let her suckle
it" When it was weaned, the mother took it to Mohammed,
telling him that she had weaned it, and adding, " It is for
thee to give further orders." Mohammed gave the child to
some Mussulman, ordered the woman to be buried, up to her
chest, and then stoned to death. Khalid threw the first
stone on her, so that some drops of her blood soiled him, for
which he reviled her. But Mohammed said to him, "O
Khalid, do not revile her ; by Him in Whose mighty hand
my soul is, this woman has made such repentance and
penance, that if any one who has committed even a greater
crime, makes a like repentance, he will surely be forgiven."
After this, he ordered her to be dug out, washed, wrapt in
a winding-sheet, and buried with prayers.' (R.)

(32.) They publicly invited the Jews to believe in their heavenly
mission and to embrace the religion they preached : but
met only with partial success.

a. * Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their syn-
sigogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease
among the people' (Matt. iv. 23).

* Jesus answered and said unto them [the Jews], This
is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom he hath
sent* (John vL 29). Compare John v. 24, vii. 14-37.

'Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the
light of the world : he that followeth me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life' (John viii. 12).

*0 righteous Father, the world hath not known thee:
but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast
sent me. And I have declared unto thena thy name, and

CH.I.32.] THE JEWS INVITED TO ISLAM, DECLINE. 331

will declare it ; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me
may be in them, and I in them ' (John xvii. 25, 26).

b, * Mohammed called upon the Jews, the possessors of
holy books, to embrace Islam, and endeavoured to gain
them for it, threatening them with the punishment and
vengeance of God, in case of refusal. Rafi Ibn Kharija and
Malik Ibn Awf made answer to him thus, " We remain in
that in which we have found our fathers, who were better
and more learned than we are."

' When God had visited the Koreish on the day of the
battle of Bedr, Mohammed gathered together the Jews in
the Bazaar of the Beni Keinoka, as soon as he had returned
to Medina, and said to them, " O ye Jews, embrace Islam,
before God visits you, as He visited the Koreish." But they
answered, etc.

* Once Mohammed went into a Jewish synagogue and
called upon the assembled Jews to believe in God. On
being asked by them, what religion he had, he replied, " The
religion of Abraham." They said, "Abraham was a Jew."
But when Mohammed proposed to submit the question to
the decision of the Torah, they declined. When sontie of
them were converted to Islam, the unbelieving Rabbis
said, "Only the bad amongst us follow Mohammed and
believe in him ; if they belonged to the better ones amongst
us, they would not forsake the faith of their fathers and
embrace another.

' On one occasion, when speaking with the Rabbis of the
Jews, Mohammed addressed them thus, "O ye Jews, fear
God, and become Moslems : by God, ye know that my reve-
lation is true." They replied, " This is exactly what we do
not know ; " and they denied what they knew, and continued
in unbelief Then God revealed this, "O ye men of the
Book, believe in our revelation, which confirms what you
have, before we destroy their faces and turn them back-
wards, or curse them, as we cursed the Sabbath-breakers,
and God's behest was carried out forthwith.' (Ibn Ishak
and Ibn Hisham.)

332 MOHAMMED A PAROD Y OF CHRIST. [BK. II.

(33.) Besides their efforts amongst the Jews, they also com-
missioned Ambassadors to distant nations and their
rulers, for the purpose of inducing them to become
disciples of the new Faith.

a, * Jesus came and spake unto his disciples, sajring, All
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye there-
fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you ; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of
the world ' (Matt, xxviii. 1 8-20).

* The Lord said unto Ananias, Go thy way : for he [Saul]
is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel ; for I will
shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's
sake' (Acts ix. 15, 16).

b. Ibn Ishak records, 'Mohammed sent ambassadors
from amongst his companions and gave them letters to
different princes in which he called upon them to embrace
Islam. A trustworthy person has told me the following,
on the authority of Abu Bekr el Hudsali. One day, after
Mohammed had returned from the pilgrimage, on the day
of Hodeibia, he went to his companions, and said, " O ye
people, God has sent me to you out of mercy, in order to
avert evil from you ; do not, therefore, resist me, as the
apostles resisted Jesus the son of Mary." The companions
asked, "Whereby did they resist him? and Mohammed
answered, " He charged them with what I charge you ; but
only those whom he sent to a near place were content and
did well, whilst those whom he sent to a distance showed
discontent and raised difficulties. Jesus committed the
matter to God, and next morning all those who had raised
difficulties, spoke the language of the nation to which they
were respectively sent" Of the ambassadors whom Mo-
hammed then chose amongst his companions and sent to
the princes, with letters inviting them to Islam, there were :
Dihye Ibn Khalifa, whom he sent to the Emperor of the
Greeks ; Abd Allah Ibn Hudsafa, to Chosroes, the King of
the Persians; Amr Ibn Omeia, to Najashi, the Prince of

CH. I. 33, 34.] AMBASSADORS SENT TO PRINCES, 333

Abyssinia ; Hatib Ibn Abi Balta, to Mokawkas, the Prince
of Alexandria; Amr Ibn el Aasi, to Jeifar and lyaz, the
Princes of Oman ; Selit Ibn Amr, to Thumama Ibn Uthal,
and to Hawza Ibn All, the Princes of Yemama ; Ala Ibn
el Hadhrami, to Munzir Ibn Sawa, the Prince of Bahrein ;
Shuja Ibn Wahb, to El Harith Ibn Abi Shamir, Prince of the
border districts of Syria ; and Mohajir Ibn Omeia, to Harith
Ibn Abd Kulal, the Prince of Yemen. — ^Yesid Ibn Abi
Habib told me that he found a manuscript in which
those are mentioned by name whom Mohammed sent to
the Princes of the Arabs and of foreign countries ; and
which also contains what Mohammed told his companions
in giving them their commission. He sent that manuscript
to Ibn Shihab ez Zuhri who took knowledge of it'

(34.) They opened up to men the Way of Atonement and

Pardon of Sin ^ to find Salvation,

a, 'The Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many'
(Matt XX. 28 ; Mark x. 45).

* As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believ-
eth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever-
lasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through him might be
saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned : but
he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath
not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God '
(John iii. 14, 18).

* We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom we have now received the atonement ' (Rom. v. 1 1).

* Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the true ; but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us : nor yet
that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth
into the holy place every year with blood of others ; . . .

334 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii-

but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is ap-
pointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment : so
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ; and unto
them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation ' (Heb. ix. 22-28).

b. Remark : Above, in the account of Mohammed's
ascension into heaven, there was already an incidental
reference to the subject of atonement (see pp. 3 10, 31 1),
which shows that, to his mind, this was so puzzling
a question that he fancied even the angels in heaven
contended about it, and he ascribes to a very special
Divine manifestation what light he possessed on the
subject, and which he embodies in the following defini-
tion : * Atonement, that is, what causes atonement for
sin, are — the abiding in the places of worship, after
the prescribed prayers have been performed ; the going
to assemblies on foot ; and the regular and complete
performance of the legal ablutions during seasons of
calamities and troubles. Whoever does these things
will live and die well, and become so entirely purified
from sins, as if his mother had only just given him
birth,' If we may judge of the amount of light
Mohammed possessed on ethical and religious ques-
tions, from this definition, how truly disappointing and
lamentably sad is the result: and this, six centuries
after the rise of the religion of atonement and recon-
ciliation between God and man! But we may also
infer from this recital that the great subject of Atone-
ment, that cardinal point of the Christian religion,
duly forced itself on the attention of Mohammed,
though he never took it in. This ought never to have
been left unnoticed by Christian writers.
* Omar Ibn Aas, after narrating how in the year 8 A.H.
he went to Medina to profess his faith in Mohammed, and
how, on the way, he fell in with Khalid Ibn Walid who was
travelling in the same direction for the same purpose, thus
continues his narrative: When we arrived at Medina, we
went straight to that Excellency, who first required the con-
fession of the Unity from Khalid. After him, I also went

CH. I. 34.] HE POINTS OUT HIS WA Y OF ATONEMENT 335

into the presence of that prince saying, " Stretch out thy hand,
that I may take the oath of all^iance to thee." But when
he stretched out his blessed right hand, I withdrew my owa
Thereupon he asked, "What has become the matter with
thee, O Omar ? " and I replied, " I wish to make a condition,"
On asking me again, " What is the condition thou wishest to
make ? " I answered, " I take the oath of allegiance with this
condition, that all my sins shall be forgiven." His Excellency
rejoined, " Dost thou not know, O Omar, that Islam blots out
all previous sins, and that the Hegira ( = flight, migration)
from the domain of unbelief to the domain of Islam, and the
religious visits to the house of the Kaaba, equally demolish
the structure of former trangressions ? "

* On the war-expedition to Tabuk, A.H. 9, his Excellency
rose one night, took down the provender-bag with his own
hand, and gave barley to one of his horses ; and then wiped
and cleaned its back and shoulder with his own mantle.
When his friends said to him, " O Apostle of God, how can
this be a proper use for thy blessed mantle ? " he replied, " Ye
do not know that Gabriel came and ordered me to do this ;
and that last night angels came and rebuked me on account
of want of attention to the horses, and told me that every
Mussulman who, with the intention of going to war and
battle in the cause of God, ties a horse, will not do so with-
out the Most High writing down for him a good action, and
pardoning a sin for every grain of com he has given to the
horse."

' It is also recorded that when Adam was punished and
sent into the world on account of his sin, he repented of his
sins with weeping and sorrow ; but his repentance was not
accepted, until at length he took Mohammed, the Apostle
of God, for his mediator, saying, " O God, forgive my sins for
Mohammed's sake 1 " God asked him, " Whence knowest thou
Mohammed ?" Adam replied, " At the time when thou didst
create me, the foot of the Throne was straight opposite my
sight, and I beheld written upon it : There is no God but
Allah : Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah. Then I knew that
the dearest and noblest of beings in thy sight is Mohammed,
whose name thou hast joined close to thy own name." After
this, the voice came, " O Adam, know thou, that one of thy

336 MOHAMMED A PAROD Y OF CHRIST. [bk. ll.

offspring is the last of the prophets : I have created thee
in order that thou shouldest be a residuary portion of him/'
It is said that on that same day Adam was commanded by
God to assume the surname of " Abu Mohammed " {ue. father
of Mohammed).^

'Another account is this, that the glorious God asked
Adam, saying, " O Adam, knowest thou who he is whom
thou hast taken for a mediator and intercessor with me, in
order to obtain pardon of sins ? " Adam gave this answer, "^ I
know that he is thy chosen and loved one, and that the light
which thou didst put on my forehead is his light ; and from
the words written upon the foot of the Throne, upon the
Preserved Tablet, and upon the gates of Paradise, I know
that this Mohammed is regarded by thee as the noblest and
dearest of beings." Thereupon this glorious voice came, " O
Adam, I have pardoned thee and condoned thy sins ; and
(I swear) by my own glory, (that) whoever of thy offspring
takes him for a mediator and presents him to me as his
intercessor, him I will pardon and his wants I will supply." '
(Rawzat.)

(35.) They had the mission of Overcoming the Devil and

Destroying his Works.

a. * If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the
kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one
enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except
he first bind the strong man.^ and then he will spoil his
house' (Matt xii. 28, 29).

Now is the judgment of this world : now shall the
prince of this world be cast out' (John xii. 31). Compare
Luke X. 17-20.

* For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that
he might destroy the works of the devil ' (i John iii. 8).

* Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom
of our God, and the power of his Christ : for the accuser of

^ It is clear that the name 'Adam Abu Mohammed' requires fo its cor-
relative ' Mohammed Ibn Adam,' so that the appellation ' Son of Adam, or San
ef Man^ by which the Lord Jesus so frequently called himself, is here, by impli-
cation, appropriated for Mohammed.

CH. I. 35.] SATAN SADDENED BY HIS CONCEPTION. 337

our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our
God day and night And they overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they
loved not their lives unto the death ' (Rev. xii. 10-12).

b. * It is related that in the night of Mohammed's con-
ception, when the light of Mohammed passed from Abd
Allah (his father) to Amina (his mother), all the idols on the
face of the earth were thrown down, and remained in that
prostrate state for forty days and forty nights. At the end
of these forty days and forty nights the angel in charge of
the Devil's headquarters removed it down to the abyss of the
sea. Then Satan became sad, crest-fallen, ashamed, burn-
ing with indignation and g^'ief ; and thus that cursed one
walked about, uttering loud lamentations, till he reached the
mountain Abu Kabis. Then all the evil spirits gathered
around him, and said, *' O our leader, what has happened to
thee that thou makest such lamentations ? " Satan answered,
** You have become lost, in a manner as you have never been
lost before." On their asking again, " How is this ? what has
happened ? " he replied, " This woman, ix, Amina, has con-
ceived Mohammed, that glory of the visible and invisible
world. Henceforth no one is to worship idols ; for that
Mohammed, being sent with a sharp sword, will change the
false religions, destroy Lat and Ozza, break the idols, and
will make fornication, wine, and gambling unlawful; and
during his empire we shall be prevented from going up to
heaven and listening ; divining will cease from amongst men ;
and he will do what is just, speak what is true, and make an
end of oppression ; and his people will adorn the face of the
earth with mosques as the sky is adorned with stars, so that
wherever we may go in the world, we shall find God's praise
and Unity openly proclaimed ; and his people are to become
a congregation, on whose account my Lord will have me
stoned, and cursed, and driven from His court, and no part
will henceforth remain to us in this world." The evil spirits
answered thus, " O master, grieve not, for God has created
seven categories of men, and they have riches and children ;
as we had our wish gratified by the former categories, so we
shall surely also not be disappointed by these, but obtain a
portion." Satan asked, " How can you obtain from them a

Y

338 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. li.

portion for yourselves, seeing that they are a people of
laudable principles and praiseworthy maxims, such as the
injunction of what is good, and the prohibition of what is
evil, kind-heartedness, beneficence, and charity?" They
replied, " Do not grieve : for we shall excite desires in their
hearts, leading to error and sin, and shall render oppression
and avarice attractive to their views ; surely they will be
caught by our temptations and be ruined." On hearing these
words from them, the Devil rejoiced and laughed, and said to
them, " Ye have now delivered my mind from vexation and
grief, and made me happy."

* The commentators affirm that the Devil uttered a loud
wail on four different occasions, viz. first, on being cursed ;
second, on being driven from Paradise to the earth ; third,
when Mohammed was bom ; fourth, when the opening
chapter of the Koran was sent down.

* It is reported that twenty days after the beginning of
that Highnesses public ministry, the Satanic spirits were
forbidden to listen. It is recorded that Ibn Abbas said,
" Before the Prophet's public mission, the Satanic spirits went
up close to heaven and held their ears to it, so that they
overheard some words concerning events, about to take place
on ' the earth ; and after having mixed up these true words
with falsehoods, they went to tell them to the people of the
earth : this they did until they were entirely prevented, at
the time the Prophet was charged with his public mission." *
(Rawzat.)

' The Jewish Rabbis and the Christian Priests, as also
the Diviners amongst the Arabs, had already spoken of Mo-
hammed, when his mission was drawing near — the former
on account of what they found concerning him in their
sacred books and prophetic Scriptures, the latter on account
of what the evil spirits had communicated to them of those
things which they overheard, before they were prevented by
stars being hurled at thentL The male and female Diviners
dropped many things about Mohammed, but the Arabs did
not heed them, till they were accomplished by the mission
itself; but since that time the evil spirits could no longer
listen, for they were prevented from returning to the places
where they previously used to listen, by stars being hurled

CH. 1. 35, 36.] SHOOTING'STARS EXPLAINED. 339

down upon them. By this they knew that now had come
to pass what God had decreed respecting his servant

' Mohammed, on one occasion, asked the Ansars, ^* What
was formerly your notion about the shooting-stars ? " They
answered, " We thought they indicated the death or acces-
sion of a king, or the birth or death of a child." Mohammed
replied, " It was not so : rather, when God decreed anything
concerning His creatures, the Bearers of the Throne praised
Him, and the angels below them followed their example, and
thus the praise spread down to the lowest heaven. There,
one asked the other, * Why did you praise God ? ' and the
answer was, *• Because the higher ones did so ;' and then the
higher ones were asked, till the question reached the Bearers
of the Throne. Then when these made known God's decree,
the answer by degrees came down to the lowest heaven, and
here the evil spirits overheard it ; and, misunderstanding or
misinterpreting some of it, they returned to the Diviners of
the earth, and sometimes led these astray, sometimes told
them the truth, till God kept off the evil spirits, by hurling
stars at them : therefore now divining is at an end, and there
are no longer any foretellers or soothsayers," ' (Ibn Ishak.)

(36.) As Jesus Christy so also Mohammed was above all other

men in worth and dignity,

a. * He that cometh from above is above all ;* he that is
of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth ; he that
cometh from heaven is above all ' (John iii. 31).

* He is the head of the body, the church : who is the
beginning, the first-bom from the dead ; that in all things he
might have the pre-eminence ; for it pleased the Father that
in him should all fulness dwell ' (Col. i. 18, 19).

b. Ibn Hisham concludes the second, part of his biography
of Mohammed in these words, 'He was the best of his
people, as regards descent and nobility, both on the paternal
and maternal side.'

When Halima, Mohammed's wet-nurse, returned with
her charge from Mecca to her own home, and they were met
by a flock of sheep on the way, the sheep came near her and

340 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. li.

said, * O Halima, knowest thou who thy nursh'ng is ? He is
Mohammed, the Apostle of the Lord of heaven and earth,
and the first of the sons of men.' (R.)

Ibn Ishak narrates, on the authority of Thaur Ibn Yezid,
that when on one occasion some of his companions asked
the Apostle of God for information concerning himself, he
spoke to them in this wise, *I am he to believe in whom
men were already invited by my father Abraham, and whose
coming was foretold by Isa ( = Jesus). When my mother
had conceived me, she saw a light proceeding from her,
which illuminated the houses of Syria. I was nursed among
the Beni Saad ; and one day, when I tended the cattle
behind our house, together with my brother, two men robed
in white, and holding a golden laver filled with snow, came
upon us, seized me, split open my body, took out my heart,
split it open, and, after removing from it a black clot,
washed it and my whole body quite clean with the snow,
and then one of them said to the other, "Weigh him against
ten of his people." He did so, and I outweighed them.
Then he said, " Weigh him against a hundred of his people ; '*
and when I outweighed them also, he said, '' Weigh him
against a thousand of his people ; " and when I outweighed
these likewise, he said, " Leave him now, for if thou wert
to lay his entire people into the scale, he still would
outweigh them all." ' (I. I.)

(37.) Each of them was the greatest and best of all GoeTs

Messengers.

a. * Behold, a greater than Jonas is here. . . . Behold, a
greater than Solomon is here' (Matt xii. 41).

* Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead ?
and the prophets are dead : whom makest thou thyself?
Jesus answered, . . . Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day : and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews
unto him. Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou
seen Abraham ? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, before Abraham was, I am ' (John viii. 53-58).

* Last of all he sent unto them his son, saying. They will
reverence my son. . . . Did ye never read in the Scriptures,

CH. 1. 37] HEIR OF ALL PROPHETIC GIFTS, 341

The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become
the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is
marvellous in our eyes ? * (Matt. xxi. 37-42.)

b, Amina, Mohammed's mother, told the following story
about her child : * Afterwards another little cloud appeared,
brighter and greater than the former, and I heard sounds like
the neighing of horses, like the clapping of the wings of birds,
and like the voice of the talking of men, proceeding from it ;
and a Caller called out, " Carry Mohammed about, all over
the earth, and present him to all mankind, and to all the
spirits ; and honour him as possessing the purity of Adam,
the tender compassion of Noah, the faithful friendship of
Abraham, the circumcision of Isaac, the patience of Job, the
eloquence of Ishmael, the beauty of Joseph, the voice of
David, the austerity of John the Baptist, and the kindness of
Jesus ; " and according to another account, the Caller also
called, " Plunge him into the sea of the qualities of the
prophets and the apostles;" on which account it is said
of him in poetry,

'^ Thou art the heir of all prophetic gifts,
Combining all the attributes of all Apostles.'' '

It is likewise reported that Amina said, ' When Moham-
med was born, there appeared unto me three persons from
the unseen world, with faces of such surpassing beauty that
the sun took its rise from them. One of these, who by Ibn
Abbas was declared to be the Treasurer of Paradise, after
having washed the child seven times in a silver laver, and
tied him up with a musk-scented band in a piece of silk,
kept him for about one hour under his wings. Then he
whispered many things into his ear, of which I understood
nothing, and kissed him between his eyes, saying, "O
Mohammed, hear thou this glad tidings, that thou hast been
esteemed worthy to receive the knowledge of all the prophets,
and thy knowledge and thy courage shall be more than all
theirs ; and the keys of victory shall accompany thee, and all
hearts shall be so impressed with thy dread and majesty
that no one shall be able to hear thy name without fear and
trembling, though he have never seen thee, O thou loved
one of God."' (R.)

342 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

(38.) Each of them is the Holder of the Keys.

a, Jesus saith, ' I am he that liveth, and was dead ; and
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys
of hell and of death' (Rev. i. 18).

Jesus IS *he that hath the key of David, he that
openeth, and no man shutteth ; and shutteth, and no man
openeth ' (Rev. iii. 7).

Jesus said unto Peter, *I will give unto thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven * (Matt xvi. 19).

b. In the Rawzat it is reported that when Mohammed
had been taken away by the angels, immediately after his
birth, to be carried over the length and breadth of the earth
and sea, and brought back again to his mother, he was
wrapt — ^so she affirmed — in some wool, whiter than snow or
whiter than milk. He lay on a piece of green silk, and was
holding in his hands a number of keys ; and a voice from
the unseen world was heard calling out, 'Mohammed has
taken the key of prophetship, the key of victory, and the key
of the treasures of the air.* (R.)

* According to a trustworthy source of information, Abu
Hureira used to say, at the time of the great conquests
during the Califate of Omar and Othman, " Conquer as
much as you like : by Him in whose hand Abu Hureira's
soul is, you have not conquered a town, neither will you
conquer one until the day of the resurrection, whose key
God has not already given to Mohammed."* (I. I. and 1. H.)

(39.) Their body is the true Temple^ that is, the abode of the

Divine Presence^ or of the Shechina.

a, *" Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up. . . . But he spake of the temple of his body ' (John ii*
19-21). .

* The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth * (John i. 14).

b. Mohammed, in narrating the affair of the splitting of
his body, says, * When the angel had washed my inside

CH. 1. 40, 41.] HE IS SEALED AND SEES GOD. 343

with snow-water, he said to the other angel, " Bring hail-
water." Then they agreed with each other, and washed my
heart with hail-water. After this, one of them said, " Bring
the Shechina." Then they filled my heart with the
Shechina.' (R.)

(40.) They are both stamped with the Divine Seal

a, 'Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for
that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the
Son of man shall give unto you : for him hath God the
Father sealed ' (John vi. 27).

b. Mohammed, after having related the splitting and
cleaning of his heart by an angel, thus continues his recital :
' Then there was something in his hand which he had
brought with him, and with which he filled my heart ; and
after having put it back to its place, he sealed it with a seal
of light whose charm and ease still remain in my limbs and
joints. . . . And the angel said again, " Stamp him with the
seal of prophecy," whereupon they stamped my heart with
the seal of prophecy.' (R.)

(41.) Both of them have seen God and heard him speak.

a. * No man hath seen God at any time ; the only-
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
declared him* (John i. 18).

* Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which
is of God, he hath seen the Father ' (John vi. 46).

* All things that I have heard of my Father I have made
known unto you * (John xv. 15). Compare viii. 26.

b. In the place where the Rawzat makes known the
different modes in which Mohammed received his revelations,
the seventh and last is thus mentioned : ' At the ascension,
the Most High spoke to that prince without an intermediary
angel, and without any other medium, from behind the Veil ;
and according to one account that prince saw God with the
eyes of his own head, in the night of the ascension.' (R.)

344 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. II.

(42.) Tkey taught their people how to pray.

a, * When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the
heathen do : for they think that they shall be heard for their
much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them : for
your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before
ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye : Our
Father,' etc. (Matt. vi. 5-13.)

' He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men
ought always to pray, and not to faint* (Luke xviii. i).

b. * When Gabriel had departed, Mohammed returned to
Khadija, and showed her how it is necessary first to wash
before prayer, as Gabriel had taught him ; then he prayed,
as Gabriel had prayed before him, and she prayed after his
example.* (Ibn Hisham.)

Ibn Ishak narrates : * Salih Ibn Keisan told me what he
had heard of Urwa Ibn Zobeir, who had been told it by
Aisha, namely, that at first, prayer with two genuflexions
only, was prescribed to Mohammed, which is still the duty
incumbent on travellers, but afterwards God increased it to
four genuflexions, for those who are at home.' (I. I.)

We have already learned from the account of the
ascension, how Mohammed, by bargaining with the Most
High, obtained a reduction of the fifty daily prayers at first
required, to five, and how, when Moses invited him to try
for a still further reduction, he answered, *I have already
returned so often to my Lord that I am ashamed to do so
again ; but I am content with this and walk in the way of
submission.' ^ According to another account he said, * I
returned to my Lord for the purpose of obtaining a reduction
in the number of prayers, till He said, "O Mohammed, I
have made five prayers obligatory upon thee and thy people ;
and I accept each one prayer in the stead of ten prayers, so
that their five prayers shall be as good as fifty prayers." ' (R.)

^ What a contrast between prayer in a Mohammedan and prayer in a Chris-
tian sense ! The former is a duty, imposed upon God's slaves, who, in discfaarg-
ing it, regard it an indulgence to be let off with five prayers rather than ten :
the latter is a privilege, enjoyed by children, for conversing with their heavenly
Father, and therefore it becomes to them, as it were, a spiritual atmosphere in
which they breathe freely and habitually.

CH. 1. 43, 44,] HIS BLOOD IS DRUNK. 345

(43.) Each of them sanctioned the drinking of his bloody and

ascribed to it a saving virtue,

a, * Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise him
up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed ; he that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him ' (John vi. 53-56).

b. Abu Saad Khodri relates : * When, at the battle of
Ohod, the helmet-rings had been taken out of the Prophet's
cheek, blood flowed from the radiant face of that Lord of
the pure, and my father Malik Ibn Sinan sucked the wounds
with his mouth, swallowing the blood. When they said to
my father, " Malik, is blood to be drunk ? " my father replied,
"Yes, the blood of the Prophet of God I drink like a bever-
age." At that time his Excellency, the Prophet, said, " Who-
ever wishes to see one who has mixed my blood with
his own, let him look at Malik Ibn Sinan : any one whose
blood touches mine, him the fire of hell shall not desire."

' It is narrated that when the false report of Mohammed's
death in the battle of Ohod had reached Medina, fourteen
Mussulman women combined to hasten to the battle-field.
When they met him, Fatima clung round him, and wept, so
that the Lord of the world showed great emotion. Then she
cleaned the blood from that prince's blessed head and face,
the well-beloved Ali bringing water on his shield, and
Fatima swallowing that prince's blood. She succeeded in
stanching the flow of blood by burning a piece of mat she
found, and applying its ashes to the wound.' (R.)

(44.) testis speaks of stones which would cry outy under certain
circumstances ; but Mohammed of stones and trees which
actually did call out.

a. 'The whole multitude of the disciples praised God,
saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of
the Lord ; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And

"1

346. MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. il.

some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto
him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and
said unto them, If these should hold their peace, the stones
would immediately cry out' (Luke xix. 37-40).

b. *The biographers narrate that when that Excellency
had completed his fortieth year, the Most High gave him
his apostolic mission to all people. But previously there
appeared many signs and tokens to that prince, such as true
dreams, and salutations from trees and stones. Jabir Ibn
Simre reports that he heard the Prophet make this statement :
"At the time I was about to receive my mission, I, for
several days and nights, did not meet a tree or a stone
which did not say to me, * Peace be on thee, O thou Apostle
of God.'"

*In the narrative of the visit of Abu Talib, with his
nephew Mohammed, to the monk Bahira, it is recorded
that when the caravan with the future prophet reached a
certain hilly and stony spot, Bahira heard how all the trees
and stones of that place called out with a loud voice, " Peace
be on thee, O thou Apostle of God ! " ' (R.)

(45.) Each of the two prophets illustrated the hopelessness of a
case by referring to a cameFs passing through the eye
of a needle,

a. 'Jesus said to his disciples. Again I say unto you, It
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God' (Matt
xix. 24).

b, 'Amar narrates that Hadifa told him he heard
Mohammed say, on their return from the expedition to
Tabuk, A.H. 9, " There are twelve^ hypocrites amongst my
companions who shall not see the face of Paradise, or smell
its fragrance, until the time when a camel may pass through
the eye of a needle." * (R.)

^ These ' twelve ' hypocrites in Islam may perhaps be regarded as a sort of
counterpart to the twelve apostles. It is also stated that ' twelve hypocrites '
were partners in the building of a mosque near Medina, with the view of uphold-
ing Christian tendencies, which Mohammed, after his return from Tabuk, com*
manded to be burnt over the heads of those who worshipped in it.

CH. I. 46.] BLESSES BY THE LA YING ON OF HIS HAND. 347

(46.) Both the prophets sometimes imparted Divine benefits and
blessings by the laying on of their hands.

a, * After that Jesus put his hands again upon the blind
man's eyes, and made him look up : and he was restored,
and saw every man clearly' (Mark viii. 22-25). Compare
Mark vii. 32-35.

*And they brought young children to Jesus, that he
should touch them. . . . And he took them up in his arms,
put his hands upon them, and blessed them' (Mark x. 13-
16).

* Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any
sick with divers diseases, brought them unto him ; and
he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them'
(Luke IV. 40).

b. * Amongst the Beni Beka, who, A.H. 9, came to Medina
to profess Islam, there was Moawia Ibn Thor, a venerable
old man, a hundred years of age. He begged his Excellency
graciously to lay his blessed hand on his son Beshr, because
he behaved so well towards him. That Excellency granted
his request, and stroked Beshr's face with his blessed hand,
and invoked a blessing upon him. In consequence, when-
ever a famine happened in the country of the Beni Beka, it
did not reach them.'

* In the same year, A.H. 9, Zeiyad Ibn Abd Allah also
embraced Islam, together with some others. He went to
the house of Meimuna, one of the Prophet's wives, because
he was her nephew. It happened that, soon after, his Ex-
cellency also came to Meimuna's dwelling, but, on seeing
Zeiyad with her, he became angry and turned away. Meim-
una called after him, " O Apostle of God, this is my sister's
son." Then that prince turned back, and sat down with
them. At noonday prayers they went to the mosque
together, and his Excellency made Zeiyad sit by his side.
He also prayed for him, and with his blessed hand stroked
him, bringing down his blessed hand over Zeiyad's face to
the end of his nose. It is recorded that the Beni Halal
said, " After this, we always saw in Zeiyad's face a light,
and the traces of a blessing."

*A.H. ID, Jerir Ibn Abd Allah came to Medina with 150

348 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

men from his tribe and embraced Islam. When Mohammed
requested him to return home and destroy their idol forth-
with, Jerir said, ** O Apostle of God, the way is long ; if I
ride on a camel, I shall be late, and I cannot ride on horse-
back, for if I mount a horse, it throws me down." Jerir
continues his narrative thus : ^ Then that prince laid his
blessed hand on my breast, so that I saw the traces of his
blessed fingers upon my breast, and said, ' O God, stablish
him and make him a rightly guided guide.' Then I left
that Excellency, and, by that God who sent him with truth,
mounted an intractable horse, which at once became under
me as gentle as a lamb, so that I speedily reached the idol-
temple, demolished, and burned it When this news reached
his Excellency, he rejoiced, and prayed for a favour and
blessing on Jerir's horse."

' Some one went to Moseilama, the false prophet who
wished to be named Mohammed's successor, and asked him
to bless his son, and to pray for him, on the ground that
Mohammed did the same for the children of his companions.
Moseilama then prayed for the boy, and stroked his head,
when, lo, the boy's head turned bald ; and every child to
whom Moseilama was called to lay his hands on its head,
or to put his fingers into its mouth, became bald-headed,
and received a stammering tongue.' (R.)

(47.) By their mediation and benediction a small quantity of
food miraculously sufficed to feed a large number of
people,

a. * Jesus took the loaves ; and when he had given thanks,
he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them
that were set down ; and likewise of the fishes as much as
they would. When they were filled, he said to his disciples,
Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost
Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve
baskets with fragments of the five barley-loaves, which re-
mained over and above unto them that had eaten * (John

vi. 5-13).

*And he blessed, and commanded to set them also
before them. So they did eat, and were filled : and they

CH. 1. 47.] HIS BLESSING MULTIPLIES FOOD. 349

took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.
And they that had eaten were about four thousand (Mark
viii. 1-9).

b. Ibn Ishak narrates : ' Said Ibn Mina told me that he
heard Beshir Ibn Saad's daughter relate the following
story : My mother Omra called me, and put a handful of
dates into my dress, saying, " Go, take this breakfast to thy
father and uncle." I went away with the dates, and on pass-
ing Mohammed, in seeking my father and uncle, he called
me, and asked what I was carrying. I answered, " These are
dates with which my mother has sent me to my father and
uncle." He said, " Give them to me ; " and when I put them
into his hands, they did not quite fill them. He then com-
manded a cloth to be spread, and threw the dates upon it,
saying to a man who was standing there, "Call the men of
the ditch ^ to breakfast." All the men of the ditch collected
around him and ate of them, and they continued to multiply,
so that when the people left, they were still falling down
from the side of the cloth.

'Said Ibn Mina has also told me that Jabir Ibn Abd
Allah narrated to him as follows : " When we were working
tc^ether with Mohammed in digging the ditch, I had a lamb
which was not very fat, and I said to myself, * By Allah, we
can prepare this lamb for the Apostle of God.' I requested
my wife to prepare a little barley-flour and bake bread,
whilst I killed the lamb and dressed it for Mohammed. In
the evening, when he wanted to go home, I said to him, * I
have caused a lamb to be prepared for thee which we had in
our house, and we have also baked barley-bread ^ for it I
shall be glad if thou wilt come home with me.' Mohammed
consented, but caused a Caller to call out aloud, * Follow
the Apostle of God into the house of Jabir Ibn Abd Allah.'
Then I thought, We are God's, and return to Him. How-
ever, Mohammed soon came with the people and sat down.
We brought the food to him. He pronounced a blessing upon

1 The * men of the ditch ' were the people who, at Mohammed's command,
fortified Medina by digging a ditch, in a comparatively short time, alongside
its exposed part, on the occasion when an attack was expected from a Meccan

army.

* Compare the five * barley-loaves * in John vi. 9.

350 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

it ^ in the name of God and ate. Then the people all ate in
turn, one company after another,* till all the men of the
ditch went away satisfied." ' ^

(48.) Towards the close of their earthly course^ both the prophets
triumphantly re-entered the capital city and national
sanctuary y accompanied by a vast multitude of exultant
follower Sy though previously they .had to flee from it^
their liberty and even tfieir life being threatened by
the parties in power ; and they authoritatively rid the
sanctuary of what was desecrating it,

a, * Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a
council, and said, What do we ? for this man doeth many
miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on
him : and the Romans shall come and take away both our
place and nation. • • • Then from that day forth they took
counsel together for to put him to death. Jesus therefore
walked no more openly among the Jews : but went thence
unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called
Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples * (John xi.

47-54).

*Then Jesus, six days before the passover, came to

Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he

raised from the dead. — And when they drew nigh unto

Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage ... his disciples

brought an ass and colt, and put on them their clothes, and

set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their

garments in the way; others cut down branches from the

trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes

that went before, and that followed, cried, sa)ring, Hosanna

to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the

name of the Lord ! Hosanna in the highest ! And when he

was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying,

Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the

^ Compare the '^ving thanks' of Jestts in John vi. 11.

' Compare Mark vi. 40 : ' And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by
fifties.'

' These instances of Mohammed's many miracles must suffice here, as they
will form a subject by themselves, further on.

CH. I. 48.] HE MAKES A PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA, 351

prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the
temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought
in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-
changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said
unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house
of prayer ; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the
blind and the lame came to him in the temple ; and he
healed them' (John xii. i ; Matt xxi. 1-14).

b. What, in the* biographies of Mohammed, corresponds
to this triumphant entrance of Christ into Jerusalem, separ-
ates into three distinct acts : aa, the three days* visit, after
a wholly abortive attempt ; bb. the conquest of Mecca and
cleansing of the Kaaba ; cc, the grand Farewell Pilgrimage.^

acu 'Six years after Mohammed and his followers had
fled from Mecca, where their liberty and even their lives
were endangered, and had been received with open arms in
Medina, he resolved on a visit to the sacred city, in the
character of a pilgrim. But fearing the Koreish might
oppose him by force, he invited the friendly Arabs and
Bedouins to accompany him. Many of these indeed slighted
his invitation, but others joined the refugees and assistants.
Then they put on the pilgrim's garment and carried with
them animals for sacrifices, so that it might be quite obvious
they were not coming for war, but merely on a religious visit
to the temple The Koreish, knowing with whom they had
to do, put no confidence in Mohammed's professions, and

^ As it can be gathered from the narrative of the four Gospels that the whole
course of Christ's public life tended towards Jerusalem, where He knew His
' Father's House ' to be ; where it was assigned Him to ' accomplish His min-
istry \ * and where His Church was to be founded, by the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit: so also it appears plain from the Mohammedan records that
Mohammed, so long as he was forcibly debarred from Mecca, never ceased to
keep its subjugation steadily in view, and persistently strove to obtain possession
of the holy city and temple, as the centre and sanctuary of Islam» But how
great a difference between the two prophets ! Christ went to Jerusalem to be
crucified, and to found a spiritual kingdom, ' not of this world ; ' but Mohammed
entered Mecca as a conqueror, establishing a worldly empire under the guise of
religion. It is, of course, not intended to affirm that Mohammed undertook these
journeys to Mecca and the Kaaba for the express purpose of establishing a parallel
to Christ's visit of Jerusalem and the Temple ; but the description given by his
bic^raphers renders it not improbable that in their minds a desire existed to
draw attention to Christ's royal entrance into Jerusalem, and to show how
entirely it was eclipsed by Mohammed's pompous entrance into MecciL

352 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. il.

said, " Even if he does not come for war, the Arabs shall
never be able to say that we received him because we could
not help it" Mohammed was not permitted to visit the
temple on this occasion, and had to content himself with a
written compact containing this clause, ^' Mohammed is to
go back this year without entering Mecca, but next year
the Koreish are to vacate the city for three days, so that he
and his companions may enter and remain there in the dress
of pilgrims, and without any other weapon but a sheathed
sword."

'In the following year Mohammed and his followers
returned to Mecca, which he found vacated, and they re-
mained three full days. But at the end of this term the
Koreish sent a deputation to them, reminding them of their
stipulation to leave. Mohammed replied, " What harm is
there, if I remain a little longer among you to celebrate my
marriage and to prepare a wedding feast for you?" But
they said, " We do not want your feast : depart from us."
Accordingly Mohammed quitted Mecca in such a hurry
that he had to leave his freedman, Abu Rafi, behind him,
to follow with Meimuna, the newly engaged bride. They
overtook the Prophet at Sarif, where the marriage was con-
summated.' (Ibn Ishak.)

bb. 'Although it had been stipulated in the pact of
Hodeibia that there should be peace for ten years, yet as
there happened acts of hostility between the confederates
of the Koreish and the confederates of Mohammed, which
led to bloodshed, the Prophet, already two years later,
A.H. 8, determined to undertake an expedition of war and
conquest against Mecca. According to the narratives of the
biographers he started from Medina with his army in the
month of Ramadan, proclaiming it optional for every one
either to fast or not to fast on that occasion, and taking
with him Om Salma from amongst his chaste wives. When
the army encamped four parasangs from Mecca, it numbered
10,000 or 12,000 men. Abu Sofyan, through the mediation
of Abbas, went out to Mohammed, and thus interceded for
the city, " For God's sake, and for the sake of thy affinity
with the Koreish, forgive them, and spare their blood, and
show them kindness and favour; for thou art the best of

CH. 1. 48.] HE TAKES MECCA AND BREAKS ITS IDOLS. 353

men, and most merciful towards relatives." That Excellency
replied, ." O Abu Sofyan, this is a day of mercy ; a day in
which God brings glory to the Koreish ; and a day in which
God's House, the Kaaba, shall be greatly exalted." After
this he ordered the different commanders of his troops to
advance against the city, and to enter it simultaneously, from
seven different directions ; but he enjoined on them all to
fight with none who did not attack them. Only the troops
commanded by Khalid were attacked, so that he had to
fight, and his opponents lost twenty-four men in killed, or
according to another account, seventy men, this being the
number Mohammed had once vowed to slay from amongst
the Koreish, in revenge for his uncle Hamza, who fell in the
battle of Ohod. It is recorded that the remaining Meccan
soldiers, on seeing the slain, fled ignominiously, without
looking back.

'When Mecca was in the possession of the Mussulman
army, Mohammed washed the dust off his face and hands,
took a bath, then put on again his armour and helmet, and,
accompanied by his friends, rode to the holy place of the
temple, between drawn-up lines of cavalry. He first saluted
the Black Stone, as it was usual, with the crooked stick he
had in his hand, and, together with his fellow-Moslems, raised
such a loud cry of " Allahu dkbar, i,e. God is great ! " that fear
and trembling fell on all Mecca. Having performed his pro-
cessional circumambulation of the sanctuary, he upset the
360 idols, set up around the. Kaaba, by striking them with
a javelin or club which he held in his hand, so that some of
them lay prostrate on their faces, others on their backs. The
large idols Hobal, Asaf, and Naila, were broken in pieces.
A few great idols being placed so high that they could not
be reached with the hand, Ali, God's favourite, said to the
Prophet, " O Apostle of God, hadst thou not better stand on
my shoulders and pull these idols down?" To this Mo-
hammed replied, " O Ali, thou hast not strength enough to
bear the weight of the prophetship that is in me: thou
hadst better stand on my shoulders, and do this act thyself."
Ali obeying, cast down those idols and broke them up into
fragments. Then he threw himself down upon the ground
in honour of the Prophet, and smiled ; and his Excellency

z

354 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. ii.

asking him why he laughed, he answered, '^ I laugh, because
though I let myself down from so great a height, yet no
harm has happened to me." The Prophet rejoined, " O AH,
how could any harm have come to thee, seeing that he who
held thee was Mohammed, and he who let thee down,
Gabriel." Mohammed also sent Omar and Othman into the
Kaaba, to efface the figures of angels, prophets, etc which the
infidels had drawn on its walls. But on afterwards entering
himself, with some companions, and observing that Omar
had not ventured to efface the images of Abraham and
Ishmael, he ordered that these should likewise be obliterated,
adding these words, "Let God's curse be on that (=any)
people who make figures of those things which they cannot
create."

* When he again came out of the Kaaba, and found the
people of Mecca standing and waiting for a declaration from
him, as to how he intended to treat them, he addressed this
question to them, " What do you yourselves think and say,
as to how I should deal with you } " They answered, " We
speak of thee and hope from thee nothing but what is good :
thou art our kind brother and our kind brother's son, who
hast now obtained power and dominion over us." With
these words they referred to the story of Joseph and his
brethren. His Excellency replied, " Inasmuch, then, as your
thoughts concerning me are such, I also say to you what
Joseph said to his brethren, * No censure and reproof shall
be on you to-day : may God forgive you, for He is the Most
Merciful." '

cc, *The biographers record that A.H. lo, that is, in the
year of his death, that prince performed the pilgrimage to
Mecca which is called " The Farewell Pilgrimage," on account
of his taking leave of his friends in his addresses during that
pilgrimage, saying, " I shall perhaps not see you again after
this year." But it is affirmed, on the authority of Abbas, that
his Excellency disliked that appellation and preferred to call
it " The Pilgrimage of Islam." He sent news to all the sur-
rounding tribes of Arabs that he had decided on making
the pilgrimage, and invited them to join ; and God afflicted
with measles and small-pox those who did not wish to join
him in the pilgrimage. On that journey so many people

CH. 1. 48, 49.] HE WORSHIPS A T THE KAABA. 355

came together that none but God can know their number.
Another account, however, states their number at 114,000,
and still another at 124,000 persons.

*His Excellency entered the sacred mosque, saluted the
Black Stone, and went seven times round the Kaaba, the
first three times in haste and the last three times' slowly,
saluting the Black Stone and touching the Yemenite pillar
each time. He also went to the place of offering, in order to
slay his sacrifices. The camels brought by him from Medina,
and by the well-beloved Ali from Yemen, amounted to 100.
Of these camels his Excellency slaughtered 63 with his own
blessed hand, in correspondence with the number of the
years of his age ; and the remaining 37 he ordered AH to
slay. On having his blessed head shaved, he distributed his
sacred hair, giving one half of it to the Ansar Abu Talha,
and the other half to his chaste wives, and also one or two
hairs each to every one of his friends, according to their
different rank. After that, faithful Aisha anointed that
prince with an ointment in which there was musk,^ where-
upon he put off his pilgrim dress, and rode into Mecca
before the noonday prayers.' (R.)

(49.) Both Jesus and Mohammed continued up to the close of
their career^ and with death already at the door^ in the
zealous discharge of their respective life-work.

a. * And Jesus taught daily in the temple. But the chief
priests, and the scribes, and the chief of the people, sought
to destroy him, and could not find what they might do : for
all the people were very attentive to hear him ' (Luke xix.

47, 48).

* And in the day-time he was teaching in the temple ;

and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is

called the Mount of Olives. And all the people came early

in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him'

(Luke xxi. 37, 38).

Compare also, in illustration of Christ's wonderful activity

^ Is this notice, perhaps, a covert reference to Mary's ' ointment of spikenard,
very costly ' ? (John xii. 3.)

356 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. II.

during the last few days of His life, what is written in Matt.
XIX. to xxvi., and in John xi. to xviii.

b, \ The biographers report that when the Apostle of God
had returned from the farewell pilgrimage to Medina (a few
months before his death), he was seized with some illness,
before the last in which he died. When the news of that
illness became known in the country, several individuals
openly pretended to be prophets, such as Moseilama, Talha,
Aswad, and even a woman, named Sajah. Moseilama wrote
a letter to Mohammed, in which he offered to divide the
worid equally with the Koreish ; but Mohammed declined
the offer, concluding his answer in these words, " Thou hast
ruined the people of Yemama : may the Almighty ruin thee
and thy followers ! " Aswad was a diviner who had two
devils telling him what was going to happen amongst men.
When Badzan, Mohammed's Commissioner of Sana in Yemen,
had died, he, with the help of his followers, seized and sub-
dued Sana, and even made Badzan's widow ^ his wife. As soon
as Mohammed had learned this from his other Commissioners
in those parts, he ordered them by letter to unite and undo
that mischief " in any way they might be able." Thereupon
they secured the co-operation of Aswad's new wife, and with
her help — she intoxicating him for the occasion — they suc-
ceeded in cutting off his head. Although the letter in which
Mohammed was informed of this success reached Medina
only after his death, he had received the same information by
a heavenly messenger a day before he died, which he com-
municated to his friends, saying, "Last night Aswad has
been killed ; " and on being asked by those around him, he
was able to give them even the names of the murderers.

* During his last illness, the Prophet also rose from his bed
and went at night to the graveyard to pray for the dead.
Ata Ibn Yesar says, " One night that Excellency was told,
Arise, go to the Bekia cemetery, and pray for the pardon of
those who lie in the graves. He arose and did so ; and
having gone back to sleep, he received the same injunction
a second time, and complied with it in the same manner.

^ Or, according to another account, the widow of Shahr, Badzan's son, who
had succeeded his father for a very short time, and was slain in his struggle with
VA Aswad.

CH. 1. 49-1 LAST WAR EXPEDITION ARRANGED. 357

Having once more returned to rest, he was told, Arise and
pray for the pardon of the martyrs of Ohod. His Excellency
arose, went to Ohod, and prayed for them ; but when he
returned from Ohod, he suffered from headache, and tied a
cloth round his blessed head." Akba Ibn Amir says, "Eight
years after the affair of Ohod, the Prophet of God performed
prayers over the martyrs of Ohod — that is, he blessed them
and prayed for pardon for them. In this way he bade fare-
well, as it were, both to the living and to the dead" * (R.)

*Abd Allah Ibn Kaab said, "On the day on which
Mohammed prayed for the martyrs of Ohod, he also mounted
the pulpit, and said, O ye company of the refugees, deal
kindly with the assistants. Other people increase in number,
but they remain the same. They were the shelter to which
I turned : be kind to those who befriend them, and punish
those who oppose them. Then Mohammed left the pulpit,
and his illness increased so much that he fainted."

'The last war-expedition which Mohammed arranged was
that of sending Osama Ibn Zeid to Syria, to the districts of
fialka and Darum, belonging to Palestine. When the people
were busily preparing for this expedition, and the oldest
emigrants were already gathering around Ibn Zeid, that ill-
ness commenced by which God in mercy was pleased to take
him away. On being informed, during the illness, that the
people hesitated with the mission of Osama Ibn Zeid, and
that some objected to his placing a young man over the
honourable refugees and assistants, he came forth from his
chamber, and, with his head tied up, mounted the pulpit, and,
after praising God, thus addressed the people : " O ye people,
carry out Osama's mission. By my life, if ye object to his
leadership, ye also object to that of his father before him ;
but he is as worthy of it as his father has been." When
Mohammed quitted the pulpit, and the people expedited
their preparations, his illness became aggravated. Osama
left the city with his army and encamped at Jorf, three miles
from the city ; but, as Mohammed was very ill, Osama
remained with his men in the camp, waiting to see what God
had decreed concerning His Apostle.' (I. I. and I. H.)

*On Monday some of the Mussulmans who were to
accompany Osama, came to bid farewell to the Prophet, and

358 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [BK. ii.

then returned to the soldiers' camp. They found him very
ill, yet he urged them, saying, " Send Osama's soldiers on-
ward !" Osama also came again that day, and his Excellency,
on taking leave of him, said, " Fight, with the blessing of
God !" As soon as Osama returned to the soldiers' camp, he
gave orders to be mounted and start ; but at that moment
his mother sent him word, " The Apostle of God is in his
death-struggle." On hearing this, he returned with the
leading men of the companions, and had the great banner
planted before the door of his Excellency's room.' (R.)

(so.) The Death of both these prophets was no less wonderful

than their birth and life,

a. The approaching death was foreknown and foretold
by them.

aa, * From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his
disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer
many things of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and
be killed, and be raised again the third day' (Matt. xvi. 21).
Compare Luke xviii. 31-33. .

' Now, before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew
that his hour was come that he should depart out of this
world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in
the world, he loved them unto the end ' (John xiii. i).

* It is enough, the hour is come ; behold, the Son of man
is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go : lo,
he that betrayeth me is at hand ' (Mark xiv. 41, 42).

bb, 'The biographers record that his Excellency was
made aware, towards the close of his life, that this year he
was to migrate from this transitory world to the vicinity of
the Lord of Glory. He undoubtedly alluded to this subject
in his Farewell Pilgrimage, when he said, "Learn ye the
ceremonies of the pilgrimage well of me ; perhaps after this
year I shall not make any more pilgrimage ; " and again,
" They have, as it were, invited me to the abiding world ;
and I also have accepted the invitation, and have become
one who is going to the eternal world."

'It is narrated that Abd Allah Ibn Masud said, "Our
loved one and our prophet, that is, Mohammed, the chosen.

CH. I. 50, a, 6.] HE ANNOUNCES HIS NEAR END. 359

apprised us of his approaching death a month before he
died. He invited us, his special friends, to the house of
Aisha, the faithful, that mother of the believers ; and when
we came into his presence, so that his blessed eyes saw us,
he began to weep. This weeping in all probability proceeded
from his most tender feelings, and affection, for his friends,
and from his picturing to himself his separation from them.
On my asking, O Apostle of God, when will thy appointed
time be completed } his Excellency replied. The time of
separation has drawn nigh ; and the hour of the return to the
Most High, and to the remotest Sidra, and to the abode of
Paradise, and to the upper companions, is at hand." ' (R.)

b. Their death was not unavoidable, but freely accepted
by them.

aa. 'Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay
down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it
from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay
it down, and I have power to take it again * (John x. 17, 18).

* But that the world may know that I love the Father ;
and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.
Arise, let us go hence' (John xiv. 31).

* Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same ;
that through death he might destroy him that had the power
of death, that is, the devil * (Heb. ii. 14).

bb. * It is a well-accredited tradition that Aisha gave the
following narrative : " I heard the Prophet say in his healthy
days, No prophet leaves this world for the next, without the
option being given him whether he will choose the present
world or the world to come.^ When his last illness befell
him and he was seized with a cough, his Excellency said,
'With the higher companions,' or, according to another ac-
count, * With the higher and most blessed companions, with
Gabriel, Michael, and Asrafel.' Then I knew that the option
had been given him, and that his Excellency had chosen the
next world" It is also reported that in all his former

^ It requires little acuteness to perceive that the following story, with all its
extraordinary details, owes its origin to the desire of illustrating and verifying
this declaration of the Prophet by his own personal experience.

36o MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bk. il.

illnesses the Prophet had asked God for recovery and health,
but that in this last illness he never prayed for restoration.

* According to tradition, Gabriel came three days before
his Excellency's death, and said to him, " Thy Lord salutes
thee, and has sent me to thee, as a special mark of honour
and distinction, to ask of thee what He knows before,
namely, how thou art" His Excellency replied, " O thou
faithful messenger of God, I am sad, sorrowful, and distressed."
Gabriel came also on the second and third day to ask the
same question and received the same answer. On the third
day there further came the angel of death, and another angel
called Ishmael, who is the ruler of 70,000, or, according to
another account, of 100,000 angels, each of whom, in his turn,
is again the ruler of 70,000 or 100,000 other angels ; and all
these thousands of thousands of angels accompanied Ishmael.
When Gabriel made his usual inquiry after the Prophet's
health, that same day, he added, " O Mohammed, he that has
now come, is the angel of death : he stands at the door and
desires permission from thee to enter. Hitherto he has never
asked and henceforth he will never ask such permission of
any one." His Excellency replied, " O Gabriel, give him per-
mission and let him come in." As soon as the angel of death
had received permission, he entered, saluted that Excellency,
and said, " O Mohammed, the Most High has sent me to thee
and commanded me to obey thy behest : if thou commandest
it, I am to take thy spirit and convey it to the higher world ;
but, if not, I am to go back." That prince looked towards
Gabriel, that is to say, he made a sign to Gabriel to hear from
him what he was to say. Gabriel replied, " O Ahmed, the
truth is, that thy Lord longs to see thy noble face." Upon
this that Excellency said to the angel of death, " Accomplish
the work with which thou art commissioned." Gabriel further
said, " O Ahmed, peace be with thee, I am now no more to
descend to the earth to bring revelations : thou alone hast
been my object and desire from amongst the people of this
world.*

' It is reported that Ibn Abbas said : On the day of that
Excellency's death God commanded the angel of death,
" Go down to the earth, to Mohammed my beloved, but take
heed not to enter and not to take his spirit, without permis-

CH. 1. 50, c, d:\ THE ANGEL OF DEA TH, 361

sion. Then the angel of death, with many hundreds of
thousands from amongst his angelic assistants, mounted pie-
bald horses, put on robes woven with pearls and rubies, and
came to his Excellency's door, bringing in their hands a letter
from the Lord of the Universe. The angel of death stood
before the door in the form of an Arab, saying, " Peace be
with you, O ye inmates of the Prophet's house and of the
Apostle's residence ! will you grant me permission to enter ? "
Fatima, the chaste, who was standing at his Excellency's head,
made answer thus, " The Prophet is just now engaged with
himself, so that an interview is not quite convenient." The
angel of death asked permission a second time, and received
the same reply. On the third occasion he asked so loud that
all the inmates of the house trembled, from the awfulness of
his voice. When his Excellency came to himself, he opened
his eyes, and inquired what it was. On being told, that
prince said to Fatima, " Knowest thou with whom thou hast
been holding converse ? " She answered, " God and His
Prophet know it best" Then his Excellency said, "The
person who came to the door is the angel of death, the
spoiler of pleasures, the crosser of wishes, the separator of
friends, the converter of wives into widows, and of sons
and daughters into orphans." ' (R.)

c. Angels would have been ready to prevent their death,
had they desired it.

aa. ' Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of
angels ? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that
thus it must be?' (Matt xxvi. 53, 54.)

bb. * It is recorded that Gabriel came from God, during
the Prophet's last illness, and said, " O Mohammed, of a truth
thy Lord sends thee greeting ; and He has ordered that if
thou wishest it, I am to cure thee and to deliver thee from
this illness ; and also that, if thou desirest it, I am to let thee
die and to pardon thee." His Excellency answered thus :
" O Gabriel, I have committed my affairs to my Lord.
Let Him do whatsoever He pleases." * (R.)

d. They died a martyr's death.

aa, * To this end was I born, and for this cause came I

362 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST, [bK- II.

into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth '
(John xviii. 37).

* But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you
the truth, which I have heard of God ' (John viii. 40).

' The Jews answered, We have a law, and by our law he
ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. . . .
They cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify
him ! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your king?
The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
Then delivered he him therefore to be crucified. And
they took Jesus, and led him away ' (John xix. 7-19).

bb. Ibn Hisham, in narrating the attempt made by a
Jewess in Khaibar to poison Mohammed, transcribes the
following passage from Ibn Ishak, *Merwan Ibn Othman
related to me that when Om Bishr visited Mohammed in his
last illness, he said to her, " I feel now how my heart-artery
is bursting in consequence of the bit I ate with thy son (or
brother) Bishr at Khaibar." From this, let the Moslems
infer that God, after having honoured Mohammed with the
prophetic mission, also permitted him to die a martyr.'
(I. I. and L H.)

' According to a sound tradition, Aisha, the faithful, said,
The Prophet used to utter the following magic sentence as a
charm over the sick :

Move far away this ill !
O Lord of men, do heal !
Thou art the healer sure :
No cure, except thy cure !
God, with thy healing heal,
That we relieved may feel.

Whenever his Excellency was taken ill, he charmed himself
with this spell, whilst passing his blessed hand over his noble
body. During his last illness, when it had become very
severe, I pronounced this prayer, and wanted to pass his
blessed hand over his body ; but he drew his hand away
from me and said, " May the Lord pardon me and join me
with the higher companions " ' (R.)

e. As the sufferings in their death were greater than
other men's, so also is their reward.

CH. I. 50, ej?i HE SHE WS GREA T DISTRESS, 363

aa. ' And, being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly :
and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling
down to the ground ' (Luke xxii. 44).

'After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now
accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I
thirst,' etc. (John xix. 28-30.)

* Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him
a name which is above every name ' (Phil. ii. 8, 9).

*He, for the joy that was set before him, endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand
of the throne of God * (Heb. xii. 2).

bb. ' It is recorded that Aisha, the faithful, related what
follows : The Apostle of God showed much restlessness in
his last illness ; unable to remain in his bed, he turned from
one side to the other. We said to him, " O Apostle of God,
if one of us, when ill, had shown such restlessness and wish
for change, thou surely wouldst have been angry with us."
To this his Excellency replied thus, " O Aisha, my illness is
extremely painful : the truth is, that the Most High sends
exceedingly painful and severe afflictions to the jjust and
to the believers ; but that no affliction or trouble befalls
the believer, without God, in return, raising him a degree
higher and blotting out one of his sins." Aisha also said,
*'I have never seen in any man a more painful and violent
illness than the Prophet's." *

Abu Sayid narrated, * When we went to the Prophet, he
was covered with velvet, and we felt his fever-heat through
that velvet ; and on account of that violent heat, we could
not endure laying our hands on his blessed body ; and we,
being astonished, said, " Great God, what fever is this ! " His
Excellency answered, " There is no one more afflicted than a
prophet : but just as their afflictions are multiplied, so also is
their reward." The mother of Bishr Ibn Bara said, " I went
to the apostle of God in his last illness, and finding him in
an exceedingly hot fever, I said to him, ' O Apostle of God,
thou hast a fever such as I have never seen in any one else.'
His Excellency replied. On this account our reward also
will be double that of other men." ' (R.)

364 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

f. Their sufTerings and death are meritorious, taking away
sin and helping all their people into Paradise or Heaven.

aa. * We thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all
dead ' (2 Cor. v. 14).

' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the
tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteous-
ness : by whose stripes ye were healed * (i Pet. ii. 24).

'Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by
the things which he suffered ; and being made perfect, he
became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey him ' (Heb. v. 8, 9).

bb, *It is an accredited tradition that Abd Allah Ibn
Masud said, I went to the Apostle of God, when the fever
had seized him ; and, on laying my hand upon his face, it
was so burning hot that my hand could not bear it I
said, " O Apostle of God, thou hast a wonderfully hot fever."
His Excellency responded, " Yes, and the truth is, that the
violence of my fever is as great as that of any two of you,
suffering from fever, put together." I said again, " O Apostle
of God, then thou acquirest also a double merit and reward."
His Excellency rejoined, " Yes, so it is ; and by that God in
whose mighty hand my soul is, no one suffers pain or
affliction from illness or anything else, without casting off
his sins, like a tree in autumn casts off its leaves."

* When Bilal, soon after Mohammed's death, sounded the
call for prayer and thereby caused a universal weeping in
Medina, he added, " O friends, for you are these glad tidings
that every eye which weeps for his Excellency, the apostle,
shall never see hell-fire." It is known that this virtue is not
confined to his Excellency's contemporaries, but we have the
hope that it extends to all believing people, until the day of
the resurrection, if, touched and moved by that prince's death,
they weep over his trouble and departure, they all reap the
same benefit, for it is established that his death is the calamity
of the entire people.^ Ibn Abbas declares, I heard the Prophet
say, " Every one of my people who loses two children by
death will, at God's behest, be taken to Paradise, when he dies,
by those two precursors." Aisha said, " But if only one child

^ Compare with this the word of Jesus : ' Weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves, and for your children " (Luke xxiii. 28).

CH.i.50,^,;fc.] IN HIS DISTRESS HE CALLS UPON GOD. 365

has died, what then ? " The Prophet answered, " Then the one
precursor shall be reckoned for two." Aisha asked again,
" But if any one has had no precursor at all, what then ? "
The Prophet answered, "Then I am in the stead of the
precursor, that is, I am my entire people's precursor (taking
them to Paradise), so that no such calamity is to befall them,
as the calamity of my own death." ' (R.)

g. In their suffering of death Satan had no power over
them.

aa, 'Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the
prince of this world cometh,^ and hath nothing in me '
(John xiv. 30).

bb, ' When Om Bishr visited Mohammed in his last
illness, he asked her, " O Om Bishr, what do the people say
about my illness ? " She replied, " They say that thou hast
the pleurisy." Upon this, his Excellency said, "It is not
consistent with the goodness and kindness of the Most High
to let that illness seize on His Prophet The illness thou
hast mentioned arises from Satanic influences ; but Satan
has no power over me. My illness is the effect of the poisoned
meat I ate in Khaibar, together with thy son." ' (R.)

A. Their death-agonies were so extreme, that in their
distress they called out aloud after God.

aa, * Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over
all the land unto the ninth hour ; and about the ninth hour
Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli ! Eli 1 lama sabach-
thani? that is to say, My God! my Godl why hast thou
forsaken me? .... Jesus, when he had cried out with a
loud voice, yielded up the ghost ' (Matt, xxvii. 45-50).

bb. * It is reported that the death-struggle of that Excel-
lency was so painful and violent, that he at times turned
red ; at times, pale ; sometimes pulled away his right hand,
sometimes his left ; and that his illustrious face streamed
with the sweat of death ; and he dipped his blessed hand
into a cup of water standing there, to moisten his face, and

^ It is undoubted that the * prince of the world/ here, means Satan. Never-
theless, the Mohammedans sometimes quote this verse as one of the passages in
which the coming of Mohammed, as both a prophet and a worldly ruler, has
been foretold.

366 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

called out, *'0 God, help me against the death-struggle!
O God, help me against the death-struggle ! " or, according
to another account, " There is no God but Allah : but there
is struggle in death." Aisha, the faithful, said, " After having
seen his Excellency yielding up his soul with so much
violence, I never longed again to be of those who yield up
the soul with ease ; for if it were best to yield up the soul
easily, the Almighty would have chosen such an easy death
for His Prophet" ' (R.)

i The fact of their death was indubitably established by
the state of their body.

aa. * Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the
first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But
when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already,
they break not his legs : but one of the soldiers with a spear
pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and
water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is
true ; and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might
believe ' (John xix. 32-35).

bb. * It is recorded that some of the hypocrites of Medina
said, " If Mohammed had been a prophet, he would not have
died." Omar Ibn Khattab drew his sword, placed himself
before the door of the mosque, and said, " I shall cut in two
any one who says that his Excellency the Prophet has died."
On account of this word of Omar, the people doubted
whether that Excellency was really dead. Thereupon Asma,
the daughter of Amish, examined that Excellency's back
between his shoulders with her hand, but no longer found
the seal of prophetship in its place, so she said, " Of a truth,
that prince has migrated from this present world ; for the
seal of prophetship has disappeared from its place." With
this word Asma convinced a number of the companions of
the fact of that Excellency's real death.' (R.)

j\ Their death was accompanied by extraordinary pheno-
mena, and its effects reached even to the invisible world of
spirits.

aa, * Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voicfe,
yielded up the ghost And, behold, the veil of the temple
was rent in twain from the top to the bottom ; and the

CH. I. 50,/] CONVERSE WITH 'ANGEL OF DEATH.' 367

earth did quake, and the rocks rent ; and the graves were
opened ; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went
into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now, when the
centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw
the earthquake, and those things that were done, they
feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God*
(Matt xxvii. 50-54).

bb, * When the angel of death was admitted into Moham-
med's chamber, he said, " Peace be with thee, O Prophet :
the Most High sends thee greeting, and has commanded me
not to take thy spirit, except with thy permission." That
prince answered, " O angel of death, I have something to
ask of thee ; " and, on being requested to say what it was,
his Excellency continued, " It is this : that thou shouldest
not take my spirit until Gabriel has first come again to me."
Then God addressed the angel who has the power over
hell, saying, " Exting^uish hell-fire ; for they are now going
to bring the pure spirit of Mohammed my beloved to
heaven." He also said to the black-eyed houris, "Adorn
yourselves ; for Mohammed's spirit is coming." An order
was issued to the angels of the Kingdom and to the dwellers
in the strong places of the highest Ruler to this effect, " Arise
and stand in lines ; Mohammed's spirit is coming." And to
Gabriel this behest was given, "Go down to the earth, to
Mohammed my beloved, and take to him a handkerchief of
Sindis-silk." Then Gabriel went his way weeping, and on
his arrival, that prince said to him, " O my friend, thou hast
left me so long alone." Gabriel answered, " O Mohammed,
I bring thee the glad tidings that the dames have been
extinguished, the spirits have dressed, and the black-eyed
houris have adorned themselves, and the angels have formed
lines, to meet thy spirit." His Excellency said, " All these
are good things : but tell me something wherewith to cheer
up my soul." Gabriel responded thus, "The truth is, that
until thou and thy people have entered Paradise, Paradise
will be forbidden to all other prophets and their people."
Mohammed said, " Give me yet more of these glad tidings.'
Gabriel continued in these words, " O Mohammed, God has
counted thee worthy of several things which He has not

368 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

given to any other prophet, namely, the pond of nectar, the
lauded place, the intercession on the day of the resurrection ;
and then He will also give thee so many of thy people that
thou shalt be content and pleased." His Excellency replied,
" Lo, now I am pleased and rejoiced, and my eyes are full of
light" Then he turned to the angel of death and said,
"Come now and perform the service with which thou art
commissioned."

' Aisha related : " When his spirit quitted the body, there
was observed such a sweet fragrance as had never before
been perceived by any of the Meccan travellers." Ali is
reported to have said : I heard a voice from heaven saying,
" O Mohammed ! " It is also narrated that when the awful
event had happened, the males and females of the Prophet's
household heard a voice from the comer of the house, saying,
" Peace be with you, ye inmates of the house, and the mercy
and blessing of God ! Know and understand that with God
there is a comfort for every affliction, and a successor for
every one dead : therefore trust in the highest Lord and turn
to Him, but do not wail and lament; for in truth, the
unfortunate person is he who has not yet been rewarded by
the Almighty." On Ali, the well-beloved, asking them, " Do
you know at all whose the voice is that you have just
heard?" the companions answered "No." Then Ali con-
tinued, " It is the voice of a messenger from the unseen
world who has come to comfort us." ' (R.)

k. They were expected not to succumb to the power of
death or remain in its grasp.

aa, * We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth
for ever: and how sayest thou. The Son of man must be
lifted up ? " (John xii. 34.)

' Now the next day, that followed the day of the prepara-
tion, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto
Pilate, ' saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said,
while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until
the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him
away, and say unto the people. He is risen from the dead
so the last error shall be worse than the first Pilate said

CH. 1. 50, k,] OMAR ADMITS HIS DEA TH, 369

unto them, Ye have a watch : go your way, make it as sure
as ye can ' (Matt, xxvii. 62-65).

* Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer,
and to rise from the dead the third day ' (Luke xxiv. 44-46).

bb. Ibn Ishak states on the authority of Zuhri and Said
that Abu Horeira narrated as follows : * When Mohammed
had died, Omar rose up and said, " Some hypocrites affirm
that Mohammed has died : but, by God, Mohammed has
not died, but has gone to his Lord like Moses, Amram's son,
who remained away from his people for forty days and then
returned, after he had already been announced dead. By
Allah, the Apostle of God will also come back again like
Moses, and cut off the hands and feet of those who pro-
nounced him dead." Then Abu Bekr, on having received
tidings, came to the door of the mosque, whilst Omar was
speaking to the people. He looked at no one, but went
straight into Aisha's room, where Mohammed lay in a corner,
covered with a striped cloak. He approached him, uncovered
his face, kissed it, and said, " Thou art dearer to me than
father and mother: thou hast now tasted death, as God
decreed ; but after this death, thou wilt be immortal." Then
he again covered his face with the cloak, went out, and said
to Omar, who was still speaking, " Gently, Omar, listen to
me ! " Omar refused, and continued speaking. Abu Bekr
seeing this, turned himself to the people, and they, as soon
as they heard his voice, left Omar, and listened to him. Abu
Bekr, after praising God, said, "O ye people, whoever
adored Mohammed, let him know that he is dead : but
whoever adores God, knows that He still lives and will never
die." Then he read out this verse, " Mohammed is only an
apostle, other apostles have passed away before him : will
ye turn on your heels, when he dies or is slain ? " And, by
Allah, it was as if the people had known nothing of the
revelation of this verse, till Abu Bekr read it out on that
day. The people then accepted it of Abu Bekr, and still
quote it.' Abu Horeira also stated that Omar said, ' By
Allah, as soon as I heard Abu Bekr read out this verse, I
was quite overcome, so that my legs would no longer carry
me, and I fell down : then I knew that the Apostle of God
had died/ (L L)

2A

370 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. II.

/. They each received an honourable burial, their friends
preparing their body, wrapping it in fine linen, and, with an
ample use of costly spices, depositing it in a new sepulchre.

aa. ' In that she hath poured this ointment on my body,
she did it for my burial ' (Matt xxvi. 12).

' There came also Nicodemus, and brought a mixture of
myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight Then
took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes
with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now
in the place where he was crucified there was a garden ; and
in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet
laid : there laid they Jesus ' (John xix. 39-42).

' The women returned, and prepared spices and ointments ;
and rested the sabbath-day, according to the commandment
Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the
morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices
which they had prepared, and certain others with them :
and they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre '
(Luke xxiii. 55 — xxiv. 2).

66. * Abd Allah Ibn Masud narrated : We asked Moham-
med in his last illness, who was to wash him after death,
and he replied, "Those males of my household who are
nearest to me ; " and our question, how he was to be
shrouded, he answered thus, " If you like, you can shroud
me in the linen I now wear, or in Egyptian linen, or in
Yemen-vestment, or in white linen." When we asked him
who was to say the prayers over him, we began to weep,
and he also wept Then he said, " After having washed
and shrouded me, and laid me on one side of my grave in
this room,^ then go out and leave me for a while alone:
the person who will say the prayers over me is to be my
friend Gabriel, next him Michael, next him Asrafel, and
next him Azrael, together with a vast host of angels."
When we asked him again, " Who is to lower thy blessed
body into the grave?" he replied, "A great congregation

^ That this reference to Aisha*s room is a bare invention can almost with
certainty be inferred from Ibn Ishak*s narrative, according to which there
was a dispute as to whether he was to be interred in the common burying-plaoe,
or in the mosque : for such a dispute could not have arisen, had he himself,
during his illness, designated the chamber in which he was lying as the place
where his grave was to be.

CH. I. 50, /.] HE IS BURIED WHERE HE DIED. 371

of angels, together with the people of my house, are to
lower me : and those angels will see you, but you will not
see them." ' (R.)

* On Tuesday, after the oath of allegiance to Abu Bekr
had been taken, preparations were made for Mohammed's
funeral. Ali washed him, leaning him against his own
breast ; Abbas and his sons helped to turn him over, Osama
and Shokran poured water upon him. Mohammed had his
under-clothing on, and Ali rubbed him over it, without his
hand touching the body, saying, " How fair art thou, both
living and dead ! " Nothing was observed in Mohammed
that is seen in other dead bodies. Yahya narrated on the
authority of his father Abbad, that. Aisha said, "When
Mohammed was to be washed, they were not agreed as to
whether he was to be undressed like other corpses, or to be
washed with his clothes on. Then God let them all fall
asleep, so that their chins sank down on their breasts ; and
then some unknown voice from the side of the house said,
" Wash the Prophet in his robes." Then they washed him
in his under-clothes, pouring the water upon them, and
rubbing him, so that the clothes were between him and their
hands. After being washed, he was wrapt in three cloths,
two of white Sohar and a striped cloak, and laid upon his
bed in his dwelling. When there was a dispute as to where
he was to be buried, some wishing it to be in the mosque,
others, with his companions ; Abu Bekr said, I have heard
Mohammed say, " Every prophet is to be buried on the spot
where he dies." Then they lifted up the carpet on which
Mohammed had died, and dug his grave underneath. Mo-
hammed was buried in the middle of the night from
Tuesday to Wednesday.* (I. I.)

' It is also narrated that, after the washing, a few drops
of water remained in the corner of that Excellency's eye
and in the hollow of his navel, which Ali the well-beloved
drank, and these drops of water, drunk by him, caused his
extraordinary knowledge and memory. After that, they
shrouded the Lord of the world in three white cotton
cloths, none of which was either a shirt or turban-cloth.
According to another account, that prince's winding-sheets
were two white linen cloths and a striped piece of Yemen-

372 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ii.

cloth. They also scattered musk and spices on his winding-
sheet and on his prayer-place. And it is said that Gabriel
brought the spices for that prince from Paradise.' (R.)

m. Their sacred tomb had been the subject of a previous
Divine revelation.

aa, * For he was cut off from the land of the living, on
account of the transgression of my people : stricken for
them. And they appointed his grave with the wicked, but
[he was] with the rich in his death; because he had done
no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth' (Isa.
liii. 8, 9, according to the original).

*When the even was come, there came a rich man of
Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus'
disciple : he went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.
Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And
when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean
linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had
hewn out in the rock : and he rolled a great stone to the
door of the sepulchre, and departed ' (Matt xxvii. 57-60).

bb. * It is recorded of Aisha, the faithful, that she narrated
as follows: I once saw in a dream, during the Prophet's
lifetime, that three moons came down from heaven into my
room. I communicated this to my father, Abu Bekr, and he
said, " Please God, it will prove an omen for good." Then
he asked me, " My daughter, how dost thou interpret it } **
I answered, "I interpret it as signifying that I shall have
three sons by the Prophet" To this Abu Bekr did not
make any observation. Afterwards, when they had interred
his Excellency in my room, Abu Bekr said to me, "O
Aisha, this is one of the three moons which thou sawest
in thy dream, and the best of them." * (R.)

n. Devoted friends visited their tomb, and there received
supernatural revelations, showing that even after death they
were still living.

aa. ' In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn
towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene,
and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there
was a great earthquake : for the angel of the Lord descended

CH. I. 50, «.] VOICES PROCEED FROM HIS TOMB. 373

from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the
door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning,
and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the
keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the
angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye ; for
I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not
here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place
where the Lord lay ; and go quickly, and tell his disciples
that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth
before you into Galilee ; there shall ye see him : lo, I have
told you' (Matt, xxviii. 1-7).

bb, ' Many of Mohammed's companions, after his death,
chose to remain in Medina, in order to derive comfort from
visiting his grave. When they had any difficulty, they used
to come and stand over-against his sepulchre, and then were
caused to hear an answer from that Excellency, solving their
difficulties : to some of them it was given to hear it with the
ears of their body ; to others with the ears of their soul.
That prince's sepulchre was exceedingly bright and
extremely light and shining. Those who did not see his
Excellency openly, but merely his illumined tomb, used
to bear witness that he who lies in that tomb must be a
prophet So it is narrated that once an Arab came upon
that prince's tomb, and seeing it illumined, he called out on
the spot, " I testify that there is no God but Allah ; and I
testify that Mohammed is His servant and His apostle."
On being asked how he had known that this was a prophet's
tomb, that Arab swore, " I had never seen this grave, and
did not know whose it was, but a Divine inspiration reached
my heart, and I anon knew it beyond a doubt"

* It is recorded of Ali, the Emir of the believers, that he
gave this account : Three days after his Excellency's funeral
there came an Arab, who threw himself down upon that
prince's grave, and took a handful of earth from it, casting it
on his own head, and then called out, " O Apostle of God,
thou hast spoken it, from thee we have heard it, thou hast
received it from God, and we have received it from thee, and
it is derived from those who came down to thee, that noble
verse, * And if they have darkened their souls, let them come
unto thee 1 ' I have brought darkness on my soul : but I

374 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [bk. ll.

am come to thee as a confounded, bewildered sinner, that
thou mayest ask pardon for me of the Most High." Then
there came forth a voice from that Excellency's tomb,
saying three times, *' Thou hast been pardoned, thou hast
been pardoned."

* All the Ulemas are agreed that to visit the tomb of the
Apostle of God is a solemn duty and an acceptable virtue ;
and that it is very meritorious. It is recorded that his
Excellency said, "Whoever visits my tomb, to him my
intercession is due on the day of the resurrection ; " or,
according to another account, "Whoever visits my tomb,
his advocate and witness I shall be on the day of the
resurrection." He also said, "Whoever visits my tomb
after my death, it shall be all the same to him as if he
had visited me in my lifetime." ' ^ (Rawzat.)

^ The attentive reader will probably have found the apparent parallels between
the lives of Christ and Mohammed, which this chapter has brought before his
eyes, far too close and numerous to be considered accidental. It seems really
difficult to avoid arriving at the conviction that, where there appears a sameness
or rivalry between both these extraordinary characters of histoiy, and seeing
that the antecedent cannot imitate the subsequent : the later biography can
only be a designed, though more or less disguised, copy of the earlier. Such a
conclusion must appear all the more justified, by the traces we have discovered
of Mohanmied expressly referring to Christian precedents, as the cause and
model for his own institutions, see e,g, p. 332. Now if this fact is duly pondered,
that Mohammed is represented as having dared, directly or indirectly, to usurp
to himself the known position of Jesus Christ, the God -man Saviour, the avowed
Mediator between God and man : then he appears in the full light of an Anti-
christ. It can also no longer surprise us, but must appear quite natural, if we
find that Islam, the system he initiated, ruthlessly destroyed every vestige of
Christianity in Arabia, and that, in the course of its foreign conquests, it speedily
invaded Palestine, the land of its birth ; Asia Minor, the field of St. Paurs
labours ; Egypt, the early seat of Christian anchorites and learned divines ;
North Afiica, where St. Augustin had long been a burning and a shining
light ; and even Constantinople, the capital of the first Christian monarch, and
the locality of the earliest Councils of the Church. As Mohammed tried to
usurp the place of Christ, in a religious sense, so the Mohammedan worid has
laboured, during successive centuries, to displace Christendom, as a dominant
Factor of History.

CHAPTER II.

SUNDRY SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, UNDER VARIOUS
ASPECTS, DRAWN BY MOSLEM HANDS.

Remark : If the place assigned to these sketches suggests
their strong mythical colouring by Tradition, this is
not meant to affirm that they may not comprise much
which is really historical. Free scope is left to the
reader's own tact and taste to discriminate between the
historical and the mythical./' All the sketches and their
headings are translated from the popular Biography,
Rawzat'Ul-Akbab (i,e, the Flower-garden of Friends),
which is an elaborate collection of the records and tradi-
tions concerning the Life of Mohammed, for the edification
and enjoyment of the Mussulman believers. The reader
will bear in mind, that, as in the preceding Chapter, so
also in this, he reads the statements of Moslem writers./

I. — ^Physical Qualities and Moral Virtues of the Lord

OF THE World.

(i.) MohammecFs Bodily or Physical Qualities,

Respecting that prince's stature, appearance, and limbs,
the biographers and traditionists communicate that his body,
like the bodies of his successors, was of a middle size, whose
perfect limbs and members were indications of the complete
moderation of his dispositions. Although his blessed stature
was of middle height, yet, whenever he was walking with
tall people, he appeared taller than they ; and whenever he
sat in an assembly, he was the greatest of those present.
That blessed prince's head was large, and yet was he not
big-headed. His head-hair was black, yet it was not very
frizzled or very dangling, but just right ; and his musk-
scented curls were hanging down sometimes to the middle

376 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. il.

or end of his ear, and sometimes to his shoulders. At times
/ also his hair was parted into four parts and then left to
itself. His blessed forehead was open. His eyebrows ap-
peared to be joined to each other, but were not really so.
There were two veins between his eyebrows, which filled and
became visible when he was angry. His bright eyes were
the essence of lustre and beauty. Their black part was
exceedingly black and their white part exceedingly white ;
and there appeared red veins in the white and in the black
of his blessed eyes. He was almond-eyed. His power of
sight was such that he could see as well in the dark as in the
(light His blessed cheeks were not higher than his cheek-
bones. His blessed nose was not longer than is usual, and a
light encircled it ; but if any one looked at it without reflec-
• tion, he might regard his nasal bone as exceedingly long,
though in reality it was not so. His blessed mouth was open,
but exceedingly graceful ; and his good teeth were white and
shining, with thin, sharp ends. The space between his teeth
was open, so that when he spoke, it appeared as if light was
flowing forth from between them. His blessed face was
radiant and round, shining like the moon when it is a fort-
night old. His complexion was not excessively white, but
inclined a little to redness ; but his body was so super-
latively white and luminous that it looked as if it had been
newly (Jast of silver. His blessed beard was thick, and his
neck high and exceedingly clear, as if it were of silver, or a
gazelle's neck. The space between his blessed shoulders was
grand ; his hateless bosom broad, his abdomen and chest were
uniform and even ; and from his chest, full of rest, down to
his navel there was drawn a thin line of hair, while the other
parts of the chest and stomach were hairless, although there
was hair on his blessed arms and shoulders and the upper
part of his chest. The ends of the bones of his limbs were
large. His blessed body was firm, and not flabby. His
wrists were long, his hands open and softer than silk. His
thighs were not without fineness ; and his fingers and toes
were long and strong. On his heels there was not much
flesh. The sole of his feet was bent up and not equal with
the ground. The back of his foot was even and soft.
There was on him nothing broken or cleft, so that no water

CH. II. SEC. 1. 1, 2.] HIS 'SEAU MENTAL QUALITIES. 377

could stand upon him. In short, all the limbs and members
of that Excellency were regular and perfect ; and those who
described that prince said, that they had never seen his equal
either before or after him. Ibn Abbas said that the Prophet
never sat opposite the sun or a light, without outshining
them by his own light.^

The seal of prophetship was between his two shoulder-
blades, or, according to another account, upon the left
shoulder-blade. It consisted of a lump of flesh, about one
handful in quantit}^ around which there appeared moles of
the size of peas. According to another account, the words
'Mohammed the Apostle of God,' were written upon it*
The perspiration from that seal was superlatively fragrant.
Uns Ibn Malik narrates that when the Prophet of God had
passed through one of the streets of Medina, the people
knew it, from the scent of musk he left behind.

(2.) Mokammeds Mental Qualities.

As Mohammed the chosen was commanded in the Koran
to follow the other prophets, he united in himself all their
several virtues by which they had each been distinguished,'
namely, the gratitude of Noah, the meekness of Abraham,
the sincerity of Moses, the trustworthiness of Ishmael, the
patience of Jacob and Job, the penitence of David, the
humility of Solomon, and the abstinence of Jesus. When
Aisha the faithful was once asked what had been the Pro-
phet's practice, she replied, * The Koran ; that is, he carried
out those commands and prohibitions, those good qualities
and manners which are known from the Koran.' The good

^ 'W^o is not here reminded of passages like Ps. xlv. 2, and Cant. v. 10?

' Even admitting the existence of some such physical peculiarity, there
plsunly was no connection between it and the proofe of his prophetship, except
the genuineness of its superscription be granted, which, however, the Moslems
themselves allow to rest upon ' weak ' tradition. This last-mentioned tradition
only proves the activity of the Mohammedan imagination to discover or invent
tokens in support of their Prophet's claims.

' This sentence furnishes a key for the explanation of much of the marvellous
which enters into the constitution of the Prophet's mythical character. Once
admitting that he was a real prophet, nay, the last and best of the prophets, he
had also to resemble or surpass them in word and deed. This necessity must
have been felt both by Mohammed himself and his adherents. Thus the door
became widely open for the play of fancy and the flow of fiction.

378 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. n.

manners of that prince were such, that he never grieved
any one of his friends and servants. Uns Ibn Malik says,
* I served that prince for ten years, both at home and on
journeys, and he never said to me, " Why didst thou do this ?
or why didst thou not do that ? " that is to say, whenever I
was at fault in my service, he never slapped my face, saying,
" Why didst thou do this ? or why didst thou not do that ? " '
Aisha the faithful declared, * No one had better manners
than the Prophet of God : to any one calling him by his
name, he would answer, " Here am I." He always accom-
modated himself to his friends : when they spoke of the
the world, he did the same ; and if they mentioned the next
world, he joined them in that ; and if they laughed at what
had been done in the days of ignorance, he would likewise
smile/ Once when Aisha the faithful was asked how the
Prophet had lived in his family, she replied, ' Like other
men : he would help in sweeping the house, he would sew
his clothes, mend his sandals, give water to the camels,
milk the sheep, assist the servants in their work, take his
meals together with them, and himself fetch the necessary
things from the market'

Hasan Ibn Ali narrates : * When I asked my father how
the Prophet spent his time in his own house, he answered,
" He divided his time into three parts : one he devoted to
the service of God, the other to inquiring after the members
of his household, and the third to his own private wants ;
and sometimes he also employed a portion of the latter part
by improving the state of the people, and instructing the
leading men amongst them." '

Hosein Ibn Ali narrates : ' When I asked my father how
the Prophet lived in public, he answered, "He kept his
tongue from what is unprofitable, conciliated and pleased his
companions, and did not offend them. He treated the
honourable men of the people with distinction, and gave to
the people their due. He never neglected good manners,
duly saluted his companions, and inquired after their state.
He approved of what was good, and condemned what was
bad. Those nearest to him were the best of the people ;
and the most honoured those who were most benevolent to
the Mussulmans."' In reply to my question after his

CH. II. SEC. I. 2.] HIS MENTAL QUAUTIES, 379

Excellency's conduct in assemblies, my father said, ^He
never sat down or rose in an assembly, without mentioning
the name of God ; and in going to an assembly, he always
sat down in any place which he found vacant, and enjoined
also upon his friends to do the same. He gave to every one
present what was due to him, and treated all with respect and
honour. When any one had an interview and conversation
with him, he had patience till it was over, without occupying
himself with his own concerns. Whoever asked help of him
was sure to be relieved, or, at least comforted with kind words.
He showed such kindness to the people, as if he was the father
of them all. In the administration of justice he was no
respecter of persons : his council-chamber was a place of
knowledge, modesty, patience, and faithfulness. No one was
allowed to raise his voice high in his council ; and if any of
those present was guilty of a fault, he would not expose but
conceal it. These councils were all virtue and piety, where
the great were honoured, the small had mercy shown them,
and the absent and needy were protected.'

It is recorded that the abstinence of that prince was such
that if the entire world had been offered unto him, he would
not have looked at it; and when he departed from this
world, his armour had been pawned to a Jew ; and for three
successive days his stomach did not taste bread. It is likewise
recorded that, for two days in succession, he could not satisfy
himself with barley-bread. It might happen in the Prophet's
family that no fire was lit for a whole month, but that they
lived upon dates and water. So also it could happen that his
Excellency laid himself down at night hungry, when on the
following day he was going to fast ; and yet, if he had asked
for it, God would have given him more than could enter
any one's imagination. ^ It is recorded that Gabriel once
came to that apostle and said, * Verily, the Most High sends
thee greeting, and lets thee know that if thou desirest it, I
am to convert these mountains of Mecca into gold and silver,

^ In this whole account of the Prophet's abstinence and poverty, it must not
be forgotten that, as the climax and sum-total of all the previous prof^iets,
Mohammed had necessarily to be represented as participating in the privations
of previous messengers of God, all the more so, as this was not quite a matter of
course in the husband of a wealthy merchant lady or the ruling chief of a
commonwealth.

38o MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii.

for thy sake ; and that they should accompany thee wherever
thou mayest go/ When that prince heard these words from
Gabriel, he lowered his head and reflected for a while. Then
he raised his blessed head, and said, * O Gabriel, this world is
the house of those who have no house (viz. in heaven) ; the
wealth of those who have no wealth (viz. of a spiritual, eternal
kind) : the foolish only make it their portion. ' ^

That Excellency's humility was so great that, when he was
sitting in an assembly, he would not extend his blessed
knees beyon3 the knees of those who sat by him ; that he
greeted those he met and was first in shaking hands ; and
that he never stretched out his legs before his companions,
or made the place narrow for any one. He showed regard
and honour to those coming to the assemblies ; and some-
times would let them sit upon his own cushion. He would
mention his companions by their patronymics and call them
by the names they liked best. He never interrupted another
in speaking ; and if any one in need came to him, whilst he
was at prayer, he W9uld shorten his prayers, help the
person, and afterwards complete his prayers. Ibn Malik
narrates that once, when that Excellency was accosted by a
woman in one of the streets of Medina, he said, * In what-
ever street of Medina thou likest, thou mayest sit down, and
I also will sit down and attend to thy affair.' At another
time, a little slave-girl of Medina took that Excellency's
hand and put it wherever she liked. On account of his
exceeding great humility and unceremoniousness, he would
sit down, lie, and sleep on the dry earth, would accept an
invitation from a slave, even to dry barley-bread.

His kindness^ liberality^ and generosity^ were such that he
never sent any beggar empty away from his door. Once a
Bedouin begged something from that Excellency, and he
gave him so many sheep that they filled the space between
two mountains ; and when the said Bedouin returned to his
people, he addressed them thus, * O my friends, turn ye

^ Observe the tendency in this story of outshining the self-denying abstinence
of Christ. Whilst He only declines an offer of Satan, and rejects the wealth of
the world, already in the hands of others, Mohammed declines an offer of the
Almighty, made to him through the angel Gabriel, and refuses mountains of gold
and silver, which he could have had without dispossessing others of what they
claimed as their own.

CH. II. SEC. I. 2.] HIS MENTAL QUALITIES, 381

Mussulmans ; for Mohammed gives such gifts as will put an
end to poverty and fear.' It is related that, on the day of
Honein, he gave away so much wealth to the people that
they were astounded, and that it became the cause of
several leading men from amongst the Koreish embracing
Islam ; for they said to themselves, * He gives so many
presents that a person can no longer dread poverty, but must
feel confident that God will never let him want, but provide
for his sustenance.*^ It is creditably narrated that once some
one came to his Excellency to ask for something, and that
he gave this reply, ' At the present moment nothing remains
in my hand : but buy whatever thou desirest and put it to
my account ; and as soon as anything comes to my hand I will
defray the debt' On another occasion, when 100,000 dirhems
were brought to that Excellency, he had them all forthwith
poured out on a mat and divided amongst the people, so that,
on rising up, not a single dirhem remained in his hand.

The meekness of that prince was such that he endured
all the persecution from relatives and strangers without a
thought of revenge, but rather blessing them for it * Abd
er Rahman said, * The Apostle of God was the meekest and
most patient of the people, and could better suppress his
anger than any of them.' Uns Ibn Malik narrates that when
he was once sitting in the mosque with a number of his
companions, and had wrapped himself in a mantle of Nejran,
there suddenly came a Bedouin, seized that cloak, and so
pulled at it that that prince's blessed shoulder touched the
Bedouin's breast, and the edge of the cloak left a mark on
that Excellency's blessed bosom. His Excellency looked at
the Bedouin, and said, *What wilt thou?' The Bedouin
answered, 'Command that some part of the wealth thou
possessest may be given to me.' His Excellency then ordered
that something should be given him. Men of research have
remarked that the persecutions did not affect that Excellency,
because his mind and eye were looking towards God and
regarding His favour.

' Thus one of the main causes is pointed out of the rapid and wide spread of
early Mohammedanism. Here the motto was not ' Forsake all, and follow me,'
but ' Follow me, and you shall share in the riches of the world.'

' The eulogist is here strangely oblivious of a very different conduct with
which the First Book of this work has acquainted us, see e.g, p. 98.

382 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii.

That Excellency counted it incumbent on himself to
fulfil engagements^ and he never broke a promise. It is related
that once, before his mission, he sold something to some one,
and that this person, not having the whole price with him,
said to his Excellency, ' Stop here, till I go and fetch the
remainder of what I have to pay.' Then that person went
away, but forgot all about his promise, till after three days,
when it came back to his mind, and he at once took what
he was owing and still found his Excellency in his former
place, only saying to him, * Young man, thou hast put me
to inconvenience : for on account of thy promise I have
been waiting here ever since.*

In courage and bravery no one could equal that prince.
Uns Ibn Malik affirmed, * The Apostle of God is the best of
men, the bravest of men, and the most generous of men.'
Ali Ibn Abu Talib said, ' In the day of battle we put our
trust in that Excellency, and he was nearer the enemy than
all of us.* Omran Ibn Hasin states, * Each time when, in
battle, we came upon hostile troops, the first who went
amongst the enemies and laid hands on them, was that prince.'
In the battle of Honein, as is reported, that Excellency went
alone and single-handed against 4000 enemies and charged
them. It is also established that, one night, the report
reached Medina that a well-armed body of enemies were
approaching the town with the intent of plundering it, so
that the people became much frightened and distressed ; but
that Excellency girded on his sword, mounted a horse with-
out saddle, and went out before all the rest of the people ;
and, after having ascertained the causelessness of the alarm,
he returned, saying to his friends who went out after him,
* Fear not ; for that report is unfounded.'

Of that Excellency's bashfulness and modesty the recorder
records, *The Apostle of God was more bashful than a
virgin in her veil.' Owing to his great modesty, a change
would come over his face, when he saw anything loathsome
in a person, though without remarking upon it to that person.

In the enumeration of the Prophet's qualities it is declared
that his heart was kind to creatures, his bosom joyous, and
yet always weeping from the fear of God ; that he was high
in sadness and great in hope, remembering favours always,

CH. II. SEC II. I.] HIS DRESS. 383

and wrongs only a short while ; he was of a kindly disposi-
tion and noble acts, keeping secrets hid, and yet the confidant
of heaven ; he was amicable, meek, affectionate, and tender,
a lover of hospitality, benevolent, wise, assiduous in the
cause of God, a fulfiller of promises, a diligent servant of
God, and one seeking after Divine approval. ^

II. — Habits of the Prince of Princes.
(i.) His Habits in regard to Dress.

Be it known that his Excellency's mode of dressing was
not rigid and fashionable, but that he only wore a shirt,
drawers, a kerchief, a jacket, a marked and plain cloth, a
tunic, a fur, leather socks, and a pair of easy sandals. His
cloth was generally of cotton material, and his noble com-
panions adopted the same material. Sometimes they also
wore wool, or linen. That Excellency valued and liked the
striped cloth of Herat above any other. Of all the articles
of clothing that prince loved the shirt best. Of colours
he generally preferred the white, saying, *Wear ye white
clothes : they are the most blessed and pure ; and wrap also
your dead in white winding-sheets.' He forbade the men to
wear purely red or purely yellow clothes. But he himself
wore red-spotted, green-spotted, and black-spotted clothes,
and approved and admired the green.

He desired that every one, in putting on a new article of
dress, should recite this prayer, * Praise be to God who has
clothed me with this dress, and has provided it for me, with-
out my efforts and strength ; ' and he affirmed that, by using
this prayer, every one shall have all his past and future sins
forgiven. On Fridays he mostly wore a new dress. In
putting on a new dress, he began on the right side; and
in putting it off, on the left side ; and when he had taken
a new dress into use, he gave the old one to some poor man.

Round his blessed head he wound a white cloth in the

^ The candid student of Mohammed's historical character can hardly fail to
be immediately struck with the gross exaggeration in these fulsome eulogies.
They suggest the idea that the eulogists laboured under the apprehension that,
if they did not expressly ascribe certain virtues to their hero, there might be
reason to suspect him of the correlative vices, e,g, in lauding his basbfulness
and continence.

384 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ll.

form of a turban, of which he sometimes let the end dangle
down between his blessed shoulders. He wore the turban
either over a white cap, or without it ; and at times contented
himself with the white cap only. Occasionally he also wore
a black turban, e,g.y as some say, on the day of the conquest
of Mecca. The biographers indeed do not state the exact
length of his turban-cloth, but a number of Hanifa Imams
affirm that, for every day, it was seven ells, and for Fridays
and feast-days, twelve ells long. .When he anointed his
blessed head, he covered it with a towel, lest any of the
unguent should soil his other clothes.

Uns Ibn Malik narrates that that prince often only wore
a shirt and a cloth over it. The shirt-sleeves reached to
his wrists or to the top of his fingers, and were rather wide.
The shirts were either with or without buttons.

That prince's mantle was four ells long, or, according to
another account, two ells ; or two ells and a handbreadth ;
or, according to later traditionists, six ells, with a width
of three ells and a handbreadth. On certain occasions, such
as feasts, or at the reception of ambassadors, he wore most
costly robes; and once a grandee presented him with a
cloak for which he had paid 30 camels. Once a silk robe,
bordered with bells, was sent him for a present ; but when
that prince came to prayers in it, Gabriel intimated to him
that it was unlawful, whereupon that prince quickly took it
off, and cast it aside with disdain.

He wore a seal on the little finger of his right hand ; but
it is also recorded that he wore it on the little finger of his
left hand. Either is lawful ; but according to the Hanifa
Imams, it is better- to wear it ^n the left ; and according to
the Shafi Imams it is more correct to wear it on the right
hand. He wore the seal with its fiat part inside the hand ;
and sometimes went out with a thread tied to it, to help him
in remembering some important matter. After the Prophet,
that seal was taken possession of by Abu Bekr ; and after
him by Omar ; and after him by Othman ; from whose
hand, after being worn for six years, it dropped into a well
whence it could never be recovered. It is said, that this
circumstance turned away people's hearts from Othman, and
opened the door of sedition.

CH. II. SEC II. 1, 2.] HIS SANDALS.— HO W HE A TE. 385

That prince also wore sandalsy made of tanned ox-hide
and provided with two leather straps ; but sometimes he
walked barefoot The author of the Rawzat ul Ahbab
states in his work that he possessed an exact copy on paper
of his apostolic Excellency's sandals, with the places of
his five toes severally marked. The renowned Khoja Abu
Nasr, that cream of traditionists, that model of men of re-
search, and proof of law, piety, and religion, had written
upon it, in his own noble handwriting, that it represented the
exact size of the sandals of the Apostle of God, according to
an uninterrupted chain of traditional testimony, and that the
following are amongst the tried blessings of the copy of those
exalted sandals : ' If any one always carries it with him, he
will become loved, and appreciated amongst men, and will
certainly visit the Prophet, or see him in a dream, which is
of the same virtue as if he had seen him actually ; and if
a soldier wears that copy, he will never be routed ; and if
a caravan wears it, it will never be plundered ; and if a
merchant wears it, he will meet with fortune and success ;
and whosoever wears it, he will never be drowned ; and
whosoever puts himself under the protection of one who
wears it, he will surely be accepted and remain exempt
from trouble and distress, and only find pleasure.*^

(2.) His Habits as regards Eating and Drinking,

The Prophet observed no ceremony in eating, but partook
of any good food that had been prepared ; and sometimes he
would get up and fetch himself what was to be eaten or
drunk. Before eating he said, ' In the name of God,* and
requested his friends to do the same ; and if they happened
to forget it, before a meal, they were to say at its conclusion,
* In the name of God, for the first and for the last' He ate
with the three fingers of his right hand. He always took
what lay just before him, except when there were fresh and
dried dates, or a certain soup, in which case he would take
from any part of the dish that which he liked. Sometimes
he made use of his four fingers in eating. But he never ate
with only two fingers, saying that Satan was eating thus.

^ A drawing of those sandals, with Abu Nasr's writing upon it, is given in
the Rawzat-ul-Ahbab.

2B

386 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. II.

He never ate proudly, leaning on anything, or sitting down
square, but resting upon his knees, saying, ' I am one of
God's servants, and eat as servants eat and sit as servants sit'
Sometimes, however, he would sit on his left leg, posting up
the right ; and if he was very hungry, he would sit down
altogether and post up both legs. He liked best not to eat
alone, but with a goodly number at the table, saying, * The
worst of men is he who eats alone.' When he ate in com-
pany with other people, no one ever took anything which
lay just in front of that Excellency.

He generally ate at a table, but at times also on the
ground. After a meal he would thank God for it It is
said that whoever, on eating, recites the words, ' Praise be
to Him who has fed us with this food, and provided us with
it, without our own efforts and strength,' he will have his
sins forgiven. When he ate with other people, as their guest,
he prayed for them. He used to wash his pure hands, both
before and after meals, and then stroked his blessed face
and arms, saying, 'The blessing of a meal consists in the
washing of the hands before and after it' He forbade
eating and drinking with the left hand, saying, ' Satan eats
and drinks with the left hand.^ After he had finished eating,
he licked his blessed fingers : first the middle one, then
the prayer-finger, and last the thumb. He never wiped his
fingers before having licked them. He also commanded his
friends to lick their fingers and to scrape the basin, saying,

* You do not know in which particular part of the food the
blessing is contained ; besides, the basin which ye scrape
after eating will ask pardon of God for you.'

He used to converse during the meal, and repeatedly
offered food to the guests, saying, *Eatl' He never ate
from a table with legs, nor drank from a cup with a broken
rim. Very fiat bread, bread with air-dried meat, lizards, the
milt, kidneys, onions, garlic, and leek he did not eat, and said,

* Let every one remain far from me who eats these ill-smelling
vegetables.' If the tradition derived from Aisha the faithful
is correct, that at a later period the Prophet ate onions, it
must have been either as a medicine, or to show that it is
lawful to eat them. That Excellency never combined fish or
sour things with milk ; or grilled meat with boiled meat ; or

CH. II. SEC II. 2.] IVI/A T HE A TE. 387

dried meat with fresh meat ; or meat with milk or milk with
meat ; or two binding and two relaxing dishes ; or two heavy
and two light ones. Nor did he eat very hot food, but let it
stand for a moment, till the greatest heat had passed. He
never rejected any lawful food, but ate of it, if he had an
appetite, and if he had not, he did not taste it Once, when
they brought lizards to his table, and he did not taste them,
his friends said, ' O Apostle of God, thou didst not eat of
these : is it because they are not lawful ? ' He answered, * I
do not declare them unlawful, but as they are not found in
our own country.M do not relish them.' On another occasion,
when they again served lizards to him, he said, 'Once, in
ancient times, these were a people, but were transformed
into lizards.'

That prince ate exceedingly little He said, * When you
have eaten, spend the strength of the food in prayer and
praise, and do not sleep directly after a meal, lest your
hearts should be oppressed* He used to eat barley-bread,
made of unsifted barley-flour, retaining all the bran. He
ate the meat of sheep, camels, wild asses, hares, bustards,
and fish, and sometimes also dried meat. Meat was the
food he liked best, and he used to say, ' Meat strengthens
the power of hearing,' yet was he not very greedy for it,
nor ate too much of it He habitually preferred the meat
of the fore-leg and shoulder, but also praised the meat of
the back. He also ate fried sheep-liver. He cut the meat
with his teeth, not with a knife, and used to say, * To cut
the meat with a knife is the work of the Persians : ye had
better cut it with the teeth, for then it is more digestible
and wholesome.' The Ulemas say that this prohibition of
the use of the knife refers only to such meat as does not
require being cut with a knife ; or that its import is, ' Do
not form the habit of cutting the meat with a knife.' For
it is an established fact that his Excellency himself cut up
roast shoulder or baked loin with a knife.

What that prince ate most frequently were dates, so that
if he ate two meals a day, one of them was sure to be dates.
He also liked Helwa, honey and fresh butter; and ate
dates mixed with milk. When he ate fresh or dried dates,
he took the stones out of his blessed mouth, and laying

388 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [BK. li.

them on the nail of his prayer and middle fingers, threw
them away. Sometimes also he collected the stones in his
left hand ; and it is narrated that once when he was eating
fresh dates, and had gathered the stones in his left hand, he
showed them to a sheep, which at once came and ate them
out of his left hand, whilst that prince continued eating
fresh dates with his right hand.

The Prophet also liked pumpkins, saying, ' The pumpkins
are from the tree of my brother Jonas.' It is also narrated
on the authority of Aisha that he said, * When you set up
a stone jar, it is proper to put many pumpkins into it, for
this is useful for a sad heart.' It is narrated that when
once Othman brought a jelly to that prince he pronounced
it to be excellent, and inquired how it was made. One of
his favourite dishes was made of cheese and melted butter.
Sometimes also he ate bread with olive-oil. On the ex-
pedition to Tabuk they brought him dry cheese, which he
cut with a knife, and ate. He also ate fresh dates with
cucumbers or melons. According to some books, that
prince liked melons and fresh grapes better than any other
green fruit In eating grapes, he put the berries into his
blessed mouth, squeezed them with his teeth, and then threw
out the husks. It is reported that he ate the cucumbers
with salt There is a tradition that when a first-fruit was
brought him, he would give it to a little child to eat, if one
happened to be present

That prince loved milk exceedingly, and to any one
giving him milk to drink he would say, * God bless us with
it, and grant us more of it' He also said, ' I know nothing
that takes the place of food and drink like milk, and is
equally useful.' Sometimes when he drank milk, he would
press it between his lips, and say, ' It has something buttery.'
When that prince drank water, he would do so in three
draughts, saying before each, * In the name of God,' and
after the last, ' Praise be to God.* So long as the water-cup
was at his mouth, he stopped breathing. Every day he
drank a glass of honey-sherbet Sometimes he drank toast-
water, prepared with roasted barley or wheat; and, as the
water of Medina was a little bitter, he put in dates to sweeten
it Generally he drank sitting, but sometimes standing.

CH. 11. SEC II. 2, 3.] TRA VELLING HABITS. 389

When he had company who had to be served with water
or sherbet, he gave them first, himself drinking after them,
and it is established that he said, * He who gives drink to
the people, drinks after them.* But sometimes also he
himself drank first, and then gave the cup to the person
sitting on his right hand. On one occasion, after having
drunk of a cup, filled with milk and water, he handed it to
an Arab, sitting on his right side, when Omar called out,
' O Apostle of God, hand it to Abu Bekr,' who sat on his
left. But he replied, ' The right-hand man is the right-hand
man.' On another occasion a youth was sitting on his right
hand, the youngest of the company, whilst the elders and
magnates were sitting on his left. After having drunk him-
self, he asked the youth's permission to hand the cup first
to the elders on his left. But on that youth refusing consent,
he let him have the cup first He loved cold sweet water
best Such water was brought for him from a place two
days' journey from Medina. That Excellency also said,
* When night sets in, say, " In the name of God," and cover
the vessels in which you keep your eatables and drinkables,
if it should only be with a chip of wood.' ^

(3.) His noble Travelling Habits,

His day for starting on a journey was Thursday ; and
sometimes he also chose Monday, or Sunday, or Wednesday.
When he had risen up to start, he would say a short prayer,
and after having mounted, he would repeat three times,
• God is most great' During the journey he used to say a
Magnificat, whilst going up an ascent, and a Doxology, whilst
going down a descent That prince said, * If you travel in a
year of plenty, do not let your beasts remain hungry ; and
if you travel in a year of scarcity, travel quickly, that you
may reach your destination before your beasts become lean
and weak ; and if you wish during the journey to dismount
at night for sleep and rest, do so in a place off the road, for
the places on the road itself are dangerous.' He forbade

^ The limitation shows that the object of the advice was not so much to
keep any foreign matter from falling into the vessel, as rather to avert from it the
evil influences of the powers of night and darkness.

390 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ll.

going alone on a journey, saying, ' If people knew what it
is to travel alone on the roads at night, no one would enter
any road alone at night* ^ The women he wholly prohibited
from travelling, except under the protection of a man or near
relative. He also declared that the good angels do not
accompany those who have a d(^ with them, or a bell,
which, he said, belongs to the devil's music. On warlike
expeditions and journeys he would sometimes leave his
companions to bring on the weak and others, lagging
behind, whom he might even take on his own beast and
pray with them.

He began and concluded a journey by uttering pious
ejaculations. As he was coming back, his friends would go
out to meet him, taking their children and wives with them.
When returning from a journey, he never entered the city at
night and also forbade his friends from doing so. He would
have a camel or a bullock slain, to regale those who came
to welcome him back. On his return, he first entered the
mosque and said two genuflexions of prayers. To travellers
he would say, ' Start at night ; for to those who do so the
road is shortened.' He also advised, ' It is proper that no
less than three companions should set out together, so that
they may appoint one of their number for a commander.*
If any one came to bid him farewell before starting on a
journey, he would say, *I commend to God thy religion
and the result of thy labours ; ' or sometimes also, ' May
God increase thy piety, pardon tliy sins, and prosper thee
wherever thou turnest ! '

(4.) His HcAits in the Intercourse with his pure Wives.

Be it known that his apostolic Excellency was the best
amongst the people, as regards the beauty of intercourse and
kindness of companionship with his wives. That prince
was exceedingly demonstrative of affection towards his
wives ; and when they came to solicit a command from him,
and there was no obstacle in the way, he granted their

^ This hint also has reference to the dangers threatening from the invisible
world of spirits and spectres, and not to the ordinary dangers of a night-journey.

CH. II. SEC. II. 4.] BIS PARTIALITY FOR AISHA. 391

request liberally. It is firmly established that sometimes,
when Aisha the faithful drank water from her cup, that
Excellency would take the cup out of her hand, and drink
exactly from that place from which she had been drinking,
and when she was eating meat from a bone, he would take
the bone out of her hand and would put his blessed mouth
exactly on the spot where Aisha had put hers, in order to
eat the meat. When it was with Aisha as it is with women,
that prince would lay his blessed head upon her bosom, or
lean over her and read the Koran to her. Amongst other
things, the Prophet once raced with Aisha the faithful, and
in the first race she outstripped him, but in the second, after
she had become corpulent, he passed her, and then said to
her, 'This is for that,' i.e. this triumph makes up for my
former defeat. At another time they pulled each other about
till they came outside the door of Aisha's chamber.

Aisha also narrates : * When once there had been words
between that prince and myself, he said to me, '*0 Aisha,
whom wishest thou me to bring as umpire to judge between
us ? wishest thou for Abu Obeid Ibn Jarrah ? " I answered,
** No, he is not of a tender nature, and leans towards thee."
Then he asked, "Wilt thou be satisfied with Omar?" I
replied: "No, I am not, for I am afraid of Omar." His
Excellency rejoined, " Even Satan is afraid of Omar ; " and
then asked again, " Wouldest thou accept Abu Bekr ? " On
my answering in the affirmative, he sent for my father, Abu
Bekr, and said to him, " O Abu Bekr, judge thou between
me and this one, and decide our affair." Then, on his
Excellency opening his mouth to state his case, I called out,
" O Apostle of God, be just ! " As soon as my father heard
this word, he raised his hand and gave me such a slap in the
face that blood streamed down from both my nostrils, and
he said, " Thou shalt have no mother : who will be just, if
the Prophet is not ? " His Excellency rejoined, " O Abu
Bekr, we did not wish for more from thee than to judge
between us." Then that prince rose up, and with his own
blessed hand washed the blood off my face and clothes.'

It is recorded that when Aisha became angry, that
prince would lay his blessed hand upon her shoulder, and
say, • May God forgive her sins, subdue the wrath of her

392 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ll.

heart, and free her from excitement!* Sometimes it
happened that when he was in the midst of the entire
company of his pure wives, he would stretch out his blessed
hand after one of them and make some fun and jest

Every day, after finishing the afternoon prayers, he made
the entire round of the private apartments of his wives, to
inquire how they were ; and when it had become evening,
he went to spend the night with her whose turn it was. As
regards sustenance and portions and all things within his
power, he observed a careful equality ; and he used to say,
* O God, this is my portion in that which I possess : do thou
not blame me in that which I do not possess,' that is, do
thou not blame me {sc. for my want of continence) in the
matter of love and conjugal intercourse.
[N,B, — Then follows a passage in the text which is calcu-
lated to offend feelings of propriety, though of interest
as characterising the Arabian prophet The Mussulmans
indeed read it with devout admiration ; but we omit it
from its place and put it as a footnote at the bottom of
the page, so that it may be easily passed over by any
reader who prefers leaving it unread.^]

(5.) His Habits in the Intercourse and Conversation with his

Friends and Companions.

Amongst his friends and companions the Prophet sat
down and rose up humbly. It often happened that he

^ Passage omitted from the text: ' Sometimes it happened that his Excellency
would have the intercourse at the beginning of the night, then take a bath, and
go to sleep ; sometimes, that he would only take an ablution after the intercourse,
then sleep, and take the bath at the close of the night. It frequently happened
that in one night or one day that prince made the round with all his nine wives,
contenting himself with only one bath ; or sometimes, in visiting them all, take
a bath after every intercourse. When they asked him, ** O Apostle of God, why
dost thou not content thyself with only one bath?" he answered, ''Because this
is purer, cleaner, and better." It is firmly established that in the matter of coha-
bitation that Excellency had the power of thirty strong men given him. There-
fore it was lawful for that prince to take as many wives as he pleased, be they
nine or more.*

Could anything more strikingly illustrate the wide divergence in the ethical
character of Islam and Christianity than the fact that Moslem writers unblush-
ingly mention such things as proofs of their Prophet's divinely conferred pre-
eminence, whilst Christian authors dare not even historically reproduce their
words without an apology and warning to the reading public ?

CH. II. SEC. II. 5.] HIS CONDUCT IN SOCIETY. 393

assumed a vaulted posture, by stiffening his knees and
embracing his feet with his blessed hands. Sometimes he
sat down leaning against something, or he lay on his blessed
back ; and in this latter position put one foot upon the other.

He spoke considerately and slowly, so that it would have
been possible for any one so minded to count his words and
sounds. But mostly he chose to be silent, and only spoke
when necessary. Avoiding redundancy, prolixity, weari-
someness and confusion, he spoke to his friends concise,
useful words, — all ivisdom and prudence. Sometimes he
would repeat the same words thrice, so that those present
might well remember and understand them. Whilst speak-
ing, he used to gesticulate, and sometimes put the palm of
his right hand upon the thick part of his left thumb ; and
when he wondered at a thing, he used to turn the palms of
his blessed hands towards it ; but when he was angry, he
turned away. He could be exceedingly angry; and as a
sign of his anger his blessed countenance would change and
he would finger his beard. When that Excellency spoke in
an assembly, those present would keep silence, and lean
forwards with their heads. What his companions admired,
he also admired ; and when they laughed, he either was
silent or smiled. He would laugh so that his teeth could be
seen. That prince's weeping also was most moderate : his
tears flowed ; and from his bosom, void of rancour, a sound
was heard like the seething of a pot. His weeping was either
on account of a dead person, or from tender affection for his
people, or from the fear of God.

He sometimes swore, in important matters. His most
frequent oath was, * By Him in whose hands my soul is,' or,
*By Allah.' When he arose from an assembly, he would
say, by way of atonement for the assembly, * Praise be to
God, and for Thy honour I testify that there is no God but
Thou : I ask pardon of Thee, and repent towards Thee.'
From whatever tribe men came to follow him, he would speak
to them in their own language. He would take counsel with
his friends about things ; and Aisha the faithful declared, * I
have not seen any one amongst the people who so readily
asked advice as that Excellency.' Some Persian words
became current from that Excellency's blessed language.

394 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. ll.

In the Prophet^s assemblies poems also were recited,
sometimes as many as a hundred verses. He himself did not
compose poetry, except sometimes in a metre to which he
was accustomed. Once, when in reciting a poem, he changed
some expressions, and Abu Bekr corrected him, he said, * I
am not a poet' In those assemblies they also told stories
and kept wakes. Sometimes he told stories to his com-
panions and his wives about what had happened in ancient
times.

That prince made also fun and jests with his friends.
Abd Allah Ibn Harith relates: 'I never saw a man who
made more fun and jests than the Apostle of God ; but his
jests were always just and true.' When once his companions
said to him, ' O Apostle of God, thou tellest us jokes and
jests, which does not become thy position,' he replied, * I say
nothing but what is true ; ' and Aisha the faithful declared,
* The Prophet made many jests, and said that God does not
punish just jokes made in fun.' Khawat Ibn Jabir narrates
as follows : ^ Being once on a journey with the Apostle of
God, we alighted at a halting-place. After a while I went
out of my tent, but, seeing a number of beautiful ladies
standing there, and talking with each other, I went back
to my tent, dressed myself, and then went towards those
ladies, and sat down by them. All at once the Apostle
of God came forth from his tent and, seeing me, said, ' O
Abu Abd Allah, why sittest thou by them ? ' I, fearing the
Prophet, answered, * O Apostle of God, I have an intoxicated
bad camel, and am come to these that they may twist a rope
for me to tie it with.' The Prophet passed on a little, but
came back again saying, ' O Abu Abd Allah, what did that
intoxicated camel do ? ' After we had left that halting-place,
the Prophet, whenever he saw me, would, after saluting,
ask me again, ' What did that intoxicated camel do ? ' So
when we had returned to Medina, I absented myself from
the mosque, fearing that his Excellency might put me to
shame by asking me that question there. Then I waited
my opportunity to meet the Prophet alone in the mosque ;
and as I went there and said my prayer, that prince came
out of his private chamber and performed a short prayer
of two genuflexions, and then sat down near me. I

CH. 11. SEC. 11. 5.] HE ENJO YS yOKES. 395

lengthened my prayers^ hoping that Excellency, having
finished before me, would return to his chamber, without
saying that word to me again. But on his observing this,
that Excellency said, ' O Abu Abd Allah, make thy prayer
as long as thou wilt, but I shall not go away till thou hast
finished.' I thought with myself I now must find an excuse
to appease that Excellency. So I finished and saluted him ;
and when he returned my salutation, and asked again, ^ What
did that intoxicated camel do?' I answered, 'O Apostle
of God, by that God who has made thee a cause of pros-
perity, that camel has given up its habit of intoxication since
I have become a Mussulman.' Upon this that Excellency
said three times, ' God has had mercy on thee ; ' and thence-
forth ceased asking me that question.

That Excellency used to laugh when they made jokes in
their assemblies. It is recorded that, one day, Dhahak Ibn
Sofyan, who was exceedingly plain, made a contract with the
Prophet ; and, as at that time the verse enjoining the veiling
of women had not yet been sent down (from heaven), Aisha
was sitting by his Excellency's side. Dhahak said, 'O
Apostle of God, I have two ladies, both of whom are more
beautiful than this fair one, i.e, Aisha : I will divorce one
of them that thy Excellency may marry her.' Aisha, on
hearing this word, said at once, 'Who is more beautiful,
the lady or thyself?' Dhahak replied, *0f course I am
the more beautiful of the two.' His Excellency laughed
heartily at this question of Aisha's.

There was one of the assistants, named Naamiyan, who
was much addicted to jokes and to drinking, and therefore
was frequently brought before the Prophet to be beaten with
his blessed sandals for his intoxication. But as he did not
mend, one of the Prophet's companions said to him, ' May
God curse thee 1 ' Hearing this, that prince said, ' Do not say
so : for he takes God and His Apostle for his friend.' This
happened during the Khaibar expedition. Then as often as
caravans brought beautiful things to Medina, this Naamiyan
would buy them on credit, and take them to the Prophet,
saying, ' O Apostle of God, I have brought thee this for a
present' On payment being demanded of him, he took the
creditor to the Prophet, saying, * O Apostle of God, give the

396 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk- ll.

price of that beautiful thing to this man.' When the Pro-
phet asked, * Didst thou not bring it to me as a present ? '
Naamiyan would reply, * O Apostle of God, the price of
that present was not within my power ; but I wished that
thou shouldest have it and no one else : so pay for it now
and the object is accomplished/ Then that Excellency
laughed and paid the value of the present

(6.) His Habits in using Ornaments and Ointments,

Amongst all the habits of the Prophet there was also this,
that he combed his hair and beard, but not every day, like
the rich ; and that he anointed his blessed head and beard.
His moustache he clipped, and commanded also his com-
panions to do the same. Every Friday, before going to
mosque, he attended to his moustache and cut his nails. He
made use of his right hand for making ablutions, for eating,
combing his hair and beard, for cleaning his teeth, snuffing
up water and the like ; but his left for removing what is un-
pleasant and for cleaning impurities. When he had to take
anything from any one or to give something, he did so with
his right hand. Every night he applied three spoons-full of
coUyrium to his eyes, or sometimes three to his right and
two to his left eye. Whenever he went on a journey, he took
with him a looking-glass, a comb, an ointment-bottle, a box
of aromatic substances, a pair of scissors, and an oil-bottle ;
and when he was in the house, he took the said things with
him to the room of whichever wife he spent the night with,
so that they were at hand, in case he liked to make use of
any of them. He prohibited the rounding of the face, the
plucking out of the hairs from the face, or the white hairs
from the beard or the head.

According to some sound traditions, that prince coloured
his blessed hairs with collyrium, or, according to another
account, with collyrium and indigo-leaves, or, according to
still another account, with waras and saffron. Some accounts
state that the Prophet was not so grey as to need dyeing,
and that, according to a sound tradition, the g^ey hairs in his
beard and head did not amount to twenty. In reconciliation
of these traditions we suggest that that prince sometimes

rs>#^

CH. II. SEC. II. 6, 7.] HE BELIE VES IN A UG URIES, 397

applied coUyrium to his blessed hair in order to cure head-
ache, but that some people, who saw the colour, thought it
was for dyeing the hair ; or that he used so much aromatic
ointment that sometimes the colour of his hair was changed
thereby, so that it looked like dye. But a number of Imams
regard the traditions concerning his using dyes for his hair
as the stronger ones.

That prince made use of a depilatory unguent, and his
pure wives also applied it to him. But there is also an
account that he did not apply depilatory unguents, but used
the scissors. All the traditionists and biographers agree
that that prince never entered a public bath ; ^ and that he
only once bathed in the place in Medina which is still re-
nowned as the Prophet's bath, a structure having afterwards
been erected over the place where he had bathed, so as to
secure the blessing and luck resulting therefrom. But some
Hanafi Ulemas state in their works that the Prophet did
enter public baths.

(7.) His Habits in regard to Auguries,

One of all the habits of that Excellency was that of
drawing auguries from fine names or beautiful words, saying,

* Auguring is a good thing.' But he condemned bad augur-
ing. When they asked him, ' O Apostle of God, what is an
augury?' he answered, *A good word which one of you
hears.' He rejoiced to hear such good words as * correct,'

* sound,' etc., when he was going forth in a matter of import-
ance or necessity. He liked good names, and used to say,

* The names most loved by God are, Abd Allah (= Servant
of God), Abd ur Rahman (= Servant of the Merciful); and
the name most disliked by God is, Shah-i-Shahin ' ( = king of
kings). He used to change bad names into good ones, e.g,
Berre (properly, a wound) into Zeinab (properly, a certain
beautiful, fragrant tree). In case he wished to send an agent

^ Another striking instance of his scrupulous and somewhat suspicious care to
prevent any one from seeing his body. Even after his death a ' voice ' had to
direct his friends not to wash him like any other dead body, but over his clothes
in which he died. Is this perhaps connected with what Gibbon says in his
Latin footnote ?

398 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. 11-

to a district, he would ask what his name was : if his name
was good and pleasant, he was glad ; but if it was the reverse,
sig^s of displeasure arose in his blessed countenance. He
said, ' If any of you sees something bad, let him say this
prayer, " O God, no one brings good except Thou ; and no
one keeps off evil besides Thee ; and there is no power and
strength except in God." '

(8.) His Habits as regards the Akika Offerings.

That prince ordained the Akika offering, saying, ' When a
boy is born to you, offer two sheep ; and if a girl is bom to
you, then offer one sheep ; and it is proper that the sacrifice
should be slain on the seventh day ; and that the new-bom
child should likewise receive its name on that day.' When
the commanders of the faithful, Hasan and Hosein, were
born, he offered for each of them one sheep, or, according to
another account, two sheep; and when those infants were
bom, they were taken to that Excellency that he should open
their mouths with his blessed hand, and cause them to taste
a little date, and invoke a blessing upon them. ^

(9.) His Habits in asking Permission and in Saluting.

Of all the habits of that prince one was, that when he
went to any one's house, he did not place himself opposite
the door, but stood either on the right or on the left hand
side of it, asking permission to enter in these words, * Peace
be upon you ! Peace be upon you ! ' He also directed his
friends, saying, * If ye go to any one's house, first give the
peace ; and do not admit any one into your house, who, in
coming, does not first give you the peace.* He also said,
* Greeting is before asking : if any one begins by asking any-
thing of you, without first giving you the peace, then do not
answer him.' It is reported that once some one came to that
prince's house asking, ' Shall I enter ? ' But he sent some one
out to him, saying, 'Teach that person the way of asking
permission, and let him first say, " Peace be upon you ! " and
afterwards, " May I come in ? " ' And not till this order had
been complied with did that Excellency give the permission

CH. II. SEC. II. 9.] HIS SALUTA TION. 399

to enter. He likewise said, * If any one sends you a messenger
to invite you, and ye go with that messenger, he is your
permission, and ye need not ask permission a second time, on
arriving at the house of the host' It is also established that
he declared, ' When God had created Adam, He said to him,
'' Go to that company of angels, sitting there, and see in what
way they will welcome thee : and the mode of their greeting
shall be yours and your children's." Then Adam went to
them, saying, " Peace be upon you ! " They replied, " Peace
be on thee and the mercy of God ! " '

That Excellency also said, * Peace be upon you!' or,
* Peace be upon thee ! ' but did not at first like to say, ' Upon
thee be peace!' He also said, *Ye cannot enter Paradise,
except ye believe ; and ye cannot believe, except ye make
friendship with each other. Mark therefore the means I
indicate to you for securing mutual friendship, namely, the
open declaration of peace both to the known and to the
unknown.' He also said, 'Give peace to the little and to
the great ; to the few and to the many ; to the standing and
to the sitting 1 ' It is also recorded that that prince once
entered into a company of boys, and another time into a
company of women, and on both occasions he saluted by
giving the peace. He also gave the peace when he met a
mixed company consisting of Mussulmans and polytheists.^
Most times it was impossible to anticipate that Excellency
in saluting ; but if any one saluted him first, he would return
the salutation in the same or in a still better way. He
returned the salutation anon, without any delay, except for
some special reason. He saluted in an audible voice, and did
not content himself with a mere sign with his finger. In
returning a salutation, he said, ' And upon thee be peace ! '
When he went to a house at night, he saluted in a manner
that those who were awake could hear him, but that those
asleep were not awakened. He also enjoined not to give
the salutation of peace to Jews and Christians.

^ From this we are left to infer that he would not have given the salutation of
peace to a company of polytheists only. With them he was not at peace, but at
war. To this day the pious Mussulmans do not salute Christians and other
non-Moslems with the usual Selam (= peace) which they employ amongst them-
selves. A few lines further on the reader will find that Mohammed expressly
forbade his followers doing so.

400 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. il.

(lO.) His Habits as to Sneezing and Yawning,

It was one of the Prophet's habits that when he made
' Atsa,' that is, when he sneezed, he made a moderate noise,
covering his blessed face with his robe-sleeve and putting
his blessed hand before his nostrils. He used to say, ' God
loves sneezing, but detests yawning: let every one who sneezes
say, " Praise be to God ! " and let him who hears him rejoin,
" God have mercy on him ! " ' Once two persons sneezed in
that Excellency's presence, and one of them who said, * Praise
be to God ! ' heard from his Excellency the reply, * God have
mercy on thee!' but the other, who had omitted to say,
* Praise be to God 1 ' did not hear any reply from that prince.
The Prophet also said, * To any one sneezing, reply up to
three times, " God have mercy on thee 1 " and never think it
a mere cold, even if it be more than three times.'

(i I.) His Habits as to Walking and Riding,

The walking of that prince was a perfect motion, that is,
he was not exceedingly slow, dragging his legs, like the
proud and affected ; nor did he show excessive haste and
anxiety, like the light-minded and foolish. That prince's
walk appeared so measured and grave as if he was descend-
ing from a height. Sometimes he walked as if his blessed
feet did not touch the earth, or as if the ground turned from
under his feet. When walking with his friends, they some-
times walked in front, he following behind. At one time he
walked in sandals, at another time he dispensed with them
and walked barefooted. On some war expedition that
prince knocked his blessed toe against a stone so that
blood flowed from it.

At home and on journeys that prince would ride with and
without a saddle, on horses, camels, mules, and donkeys. He
was mostly mounted alone, but occasionally he had some one
mounted behind him as his Redif(= reserve), or even before
him. Sometimes he had one of his pure wives mounted
behind him. Most generally he rode on horses and camels.

CH. II. SEC. II. 12.] HO W HE SLEPT. 401

(12.) His Habits as to Waking and Sleeping,

That prince and his noble companions did not manifest
too much concern about their habitations and dwellings^ but
contented themselves with structures sufficient to keep out
heat and cold, sheep and cattle, and the gaze of the eyes of
men. When night set in, that prince took an ablution, put
off the clothes he had worn by day, and put op his night-
robes. Then he blew on the palms of his blessed hands, and,
after repeating a verse from the Koran, rubbed his limbs
with them. He lay on his right side, putting the palm of
his right hand under his right cheek, and saying, * O God, in
Thy name I die and live,' or, according to another account,
*In Thy name, O Lord, I lie down and rise again.' He
sometimes lay on his night-clothes, sometimes on a carpet,
sometimes on a mat, sometimes on sacking, and even on
the dry earth. When he slept, he had under his head a
leather cushion, filled with date-palm fibres.

To that prince dreams were shown in his sleep which he
narrated and interpreted to his friends. Sometimes also
his friends told him their dreams, and requested him to
interpret them. That prince also said, * When one of you
has a dream which appears to him bad, then let him spit
three times to his left side, and ask protection from God
against the evil of that dream and Satan ; and let him turn
himself to lie on the other side, and not tell his dreams
to any one, so that the evil it portended may not come to
pass. But if he sees a good dream, let him tell it to a
friend or to a man of understanding.' When that prince
rose from sleep, he used to say, 'Praise be to God, who
has made us alive after we were dead : to Him we move and
wake.* In no condition did he omit the mention of God.

(13.) His Habits in administering Medicines to the Sick.

Amongst all his other habits, that "prince also was wont
to administer medicines to the sick. Intermittent fever he
medicinally treated with cold water. It is narrated that
when intermittent fever seized that Excellency, he caused a
skin of water to be brought and poured over his blessed head

2C

402 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii.

for a bath ; and he used to say, * If intermittent fever seizes
any of you, then sprinkle him with water for three nights at
early dawn.' He also said, * Fever comes from the heat of
hell, but it is cooled with water/ The Ulemas remark that
the use of this remedy was peculiar to the people of the
Hejaz ; because most of their intermittent fevers were the
effect of the heat of the sun ; and the fever lasted only a
day. He ordered the treatment with cold water, by letting
the patient go into it and drink it.

When that prince happened to suffer from headache^ he
used to apply collyrium to his blessed head, saying, 'Verily
collyrium is good for headache, by the permission of God.'
When any one complained of headache to that Excellency,
he would say, * Apply collyrium to thy head.' The Ulemas
affirm that this remedy suits the kind of headache which
does not arise from matter, but is caused by the heat of the
sun ; and most of their headaches and fevers were of the
latter description.

In the medical treatment of eye-ache he recommended
quiet and rest: and when Ali suffered from pain in his
eyes, he forbade him to eat fresh dates ; and as often as one
of * the mothers of the believers ' ^ suffered from pain in her
eyes, he did not approach her till she was well again.

The swollen throat of infants, in which blood appeared
from their throat, he cured with the Indian Kostus, and
forbade the practice of midwives, who tried to cure it by
pressing the children's throat to make them bleed. On one
occasion, when that Excellency went to Aisha's room, he
saw there a boy bleeding from his nostrils, because they
had been pressing his throat in order to cure him of the
swollen throat He asked, * What is this ? ' They replied,
* On account of his swollen throat, or his pain in the head.'
His Excellency answered, * Woe unto you ; do not kill your
children. Every woman whose child suffers from a swollen
throat or from pain in the head is to dissolve the Indian
Kostus in water, and drop it into the child's nose.' They did
as that prince had bidden them, and the child recovered.

The stomach-ache arising from the superabundance of
matter, that Excellency cured by aperient medicines. It is

^ A designation of the Prophet's married wives.

CH. II. SEC. II. 13.] HIS PRESCRIPTIONS. 403

proved that once some one came to him, saying, * O Apostle
of God, what dost thou recommend for my brother's stomach-
ache?' His Excellency replied, 'Let him drink honey-
sherbet' The person did so two or three times, but after each
time came back, saying that it had produced no effect. On
the third or fourth occasion his Excellency said to the person,
' God has spoken true, but thy brother's stomach has acted
falsely.' The Ulemas observe that the meaning of * acting
falsely' is here, that on account of the abundance of bad
matter, the honey-sherbet did not effect a cure. But that
person gave his brother one more draught of honey-sherbet
and it produced the desired effect. The Ulemas say that the
reason why his Excellency told that person to give his
brother another dose, was to show that a dose of medicine
must have respect to the nature of the complaint : if the
dose is too small for the complaint, it does not operate ; and
if it is too large, it proves weakening. When the last dose
was given to that person's brother, it was equal to the
complaint, and caused the cure.

Dropsy was treated by that prince with milk and camel's
urine; and a dry constitution with opening medicine. As
opening medicine he chose senna : and he used to say, * If
there had been any remedy against death, that remedy
would have 'been senna.'

The pleurisy he treated with red ^Kostus and olive-oil ;
and for the itch and louse-disease he ordered the wearing of a
silk shirt. For wounds he ordered complete restraint and for
heartache Medina dates. The pustules and eruptions of the
body he cured with Indian calamus aromaticus ; and the
sweat of women with the tail of the Arab sheep, by dividing
a tail into three parts and causing one of them to be drunk
fasting, on three successive mornings.

That prince cupped frequently, and said, * One of the best
things with which cures are effected is cupping : in the night
of the ascension the angels told me to recommend to my
people the use of cupping.' As a remedy for the poison
which he had eaten at Khaibar, he twice had himself cupped
between his shoulders, and also on his blessed head. He pro-
duced vomiting as a remedy for the stomach ; and he used to
say, * Do not force the sick to take food or drink against their

404 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [br il

will : for God is giving them food and drink/ The Ulemas
explain this latter expression to ipean, that the nature of the
sick has to cook and eject the noxious substances, and to gain
strength thereby. That prince also recommended abstinence
to the sick, and beverage prepared with unsifted barley-
flour and honey, resembling milk in substance and appearance.
He also said, ' Cheer up the sick with pleasant words, and free
their minds from grief and sadness.' He forbade the use of
unlawful things as remedies, saying, ' God will not cure you by
what He has made unlawful unto you.' When once some
one had asked that prince for permission to make wine^ but
had been refused, he rejoined, ' But, O Apostle of God, I
want to make the wine as a medicine.' To this rejoinder
his Excellency replied, ' It is not a receipt, but a deceit'

He forbade intercourse with those who had an infectious
disease^ such as lepers. Abu Horeira narrates that his
Excellency said, * Flee from a leper as ye flee from a lion ; '
and again, * Speak with a leper in such a manner that there
be the distance of one or two javelins between you.' In the
later traditions it is creditably affirmed that that prince
opposed infection, saying, ' There is no infection : one man's
illness does not reach another man.' We explain this diflfer-
ence thus : He who is of a strong faith suflers no harm from
contact with infectious disease, because the power of faith
repels the power of infection ; but he who is of a weak faith
must avoid contact: on these accounts that prince was
charged by God with both these lines of conduct, i.e, he both
came in contact with lepers, and also ordained to keep aloof
from them, so that the strong in faith might follow him in
the way of trust, and the weak in faith in the path of self-
preservation. The traditions concerning plague and pesti-
lence are also of this nature.

That prince has authorised the use of charms against the
evil-eye. It is recorded that once whilst Sehl Ibn Hanif was
bathing. Amir Ibn Rabia, seeing him naked, was so struck
with the beauty of his body, that he exclaimed, * By Allah !
I have never seen so beautiful a body, neither among men,
nor among the veiled girls.' As Amir was saying this, Sehl
dropped down unconscious. When this report was brought
to that prince, he became angry with Amir, saying, * Why

CH. II. SEC. II. 13.] PECULIARITY OF HIS CURES. 405

dost thou not rather offer up a prayer of thanksgiving to
God in seeing another's beautiful body, instead of killing
him ? ' He ordered Amir forthwith to take a full ablution
and to pour the water of it over Sehl ; and lo, that same hour
Sehl's consciousness returned. It is likewise recorded that
when that Excellency observed in the face of a slave-girl in
Om Salma's room the appearance of a spirit, he said, ' Make
incantations for that slave-girl, for in her face are the marks
of the appearance of a spirit' It is also reported that when,
on one occasion, that Excellency performed his prayers in a
place and was stung by a scorpion, he, after having finished
his prayers, said, ' God's curse be upon the scorpions for not
leaving alone God's prophet and others,' Le, for stinging them.
Then he applied a poultice of salt and bread, and repeated
some verses from the Koran till the pain ceased. It is estab-
lished by sound traditions that that prince made incantation
with the first Sura, the verse of the Throne, and a number
of other Koranic verses, and that he used sundry other en-
chanting formulas, on which we cannot enlarge in this book.
It is to be observed that a number of sound .traditionists
have declared that there is no connection between the cures
performed by that prince and those performed by other
doctors ; for his were absolute cures, really effecting restora-
tion and health, inasmuch as he acted by Divine revelation
and inspiration ; but the cures of others are mostly based on
conjecture, opinion, and trial. Whoever is not benefited by
the prophetic remedy, must know for certain that the cause
of this is his want of faith ; and whoever applies it in sincere
dependence and pure faith, will surely be benefited by it.
Just as the noble Koran is a remedy for the hearts and
minds, but whosoever does not receive it with gladness and
sincerity, to him it only causes an aggravation of his spiri-
tual maladies. It is admitted that any medicine benefits
the patient only on the condition of his receiving it with faith,
so that nature may meet and assist it in expelling the dis-
temper. Thus a number of distinguished men have used
honey for all diseases, because in the glorious Koran it is
written concerning the virtue of honey, *In it there is
healing for men ; ' and by the blessing of their faith those
diseases were removed.

4o6 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii.

III. — ^The Religious Services of that Prince.

Be it known that the Ulemas differ as to what kind of
service the Prophet performed before he was commissioned
with his prophetic office. Some say it was meditation,
others, it was commemoration (viz. of God's perfections). So
they also differ as to the Law he previously practised :
whether it was that of Jesus, or that of Moses ; or whether he
practised the religion of Abraham, or of Noah, or of Adam ;
or whether he practised the religion of all the previous pro-
phets together. But after having been commissioned as a
prophet, he, according to one view, chose from every Law
what was most difficult and painful ; and according to
another view, based on the Koran, he practised the religion
of Abraham ; but according to a still more preferable view,
he practised his own Law. In the service of God the efforts
and power of that Excellency attained perfection ; and in-
asmuch as the best service, next to faith, is prayer, prayer
also was established on purification. It is therefore most
becoming here to begin with the ablution^ as a prefatory
and introductory step to prayer.

It is established that when the Prophet wanted to enter
into a place for certain purposes, he took off the ring from
his blessed finger, and then stepped in, with his left foot first,
saying, * O God, I take refuge with thee from all impurity.'
When he left that place, he did so with his right foot first,
saying, * Thy pardon ! '

Mostly he took an ablution before every performance of
prayer, sometimes only one ablution before several perform-
ances of prayer ; and before the ablution he made use of the
wooden tooth-brush. On this matter he insisted most
strongly both by word and deed. He also would rinse his
mouth and sniff up water ; and he never omitted this in his
ablution, using either one, two, or three handfuls of water.
The sniffing up of water he performed with his right hand,
the blowing of his nose with his left. In taking the ablu-
tion, he would wash his limbs twice or thrice; and would
rub his head once or oftener, finishing up with smoothing
his turban. The inside of his ear he would rub with his

CH. II. SEC. III.] HO IV HE PERFORMED HIS PRA YER, 407

prayer-finger, and the outside with his thumb. Respecting
his washing of the neck there exists no trustworthy tradition.
He would clean his beard, and also his fingers, taking off
the ring, if he wore any. At the beginning of the ablution
he would say, * In the name of God ; ' and at the end, * I
testify that there is no God, but Allah alone, who has no com-
panion ; and I testify that Mohammed is His servant and
His apostle. Make me penitent, pure, and Thy faithful
servant I ask Thy forgiveness, and repent towards Thee ; '
or sometimes, * Forgive me my sins, relieve me in my straits,
and bless me in my substance.' He would never dry his
limbs after the ablution, even if a towel was at hand for the
purpose. He forbade the wasting of water at ablutions and
baths. In washing he poured the water with his right hand
upon the left, washing both hands. . . . Then he rinsed his
mouth, sniffed up water, and washed his hands again. Then
he poured water over his head, and washed the remainder
of his blessed body, after which he moved to another place
and washed his feet. He decided on wiping his leather
socks once every day when at home ; and once every
three days when on a journey. Where there was no water
the practice of Teyemmum was lawful, in accordance with
which he first struck his flat hands upon the earth, and
then rubbed his face and hands with them ; or he struck
his flat hands twice upon the earth, and then rubbed his
arms up to the elbows.

He also paid the utmost attention to the observance of
the Kibla^ to the decent covering of the body, and to the
other requisites of legal prayer.

At the time oi public prayers he would come to the
mosque and act as Imam for his companions. In lengthening
or shortening the service, he would have regard to the state
of the congregation. In entering the mosque, he always
stepped in with his right foot first, saying, * I take refuge with
the great God, His presence and power, from Satan the
stoned.' When he stood erect in prayer, he raised his blessed
hands to a level with his shoulders and with his ears, spread-
ing out his fingers and saying, * God is the greatest.* After
this opening exaltation of God, he would place his right hand
upon the left, and then say the opening prayer. The Bismillah

4o8 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOAaMMED. [bk. il

he sometimes said aloud, sometimes in silence. After repeat-
ing the first chapter of the Koran, he said, * Amen,* which
the congregation repeated after him. In two places of the
prayers he would leave room for silence.

He opposed and forbade the protracting of the services ;
and when he was once told that an Imam had read out the
long second Sura in the evening service, he became exceed-
ingly angry, and said, * Verily some of you cause the con-
gregation to loathe the services : every one who acts as Imam
must make the service short ; for in the assembly there are
many sickly, weak, and needy ones.'

When he read from the Koran, he did so with distinct-
ness, modulation, and expression, stopping at the end of every
verse, and prolonging his voice. When he made the pro-
strations, he did not raise his hand, but first put his knees
upon the ground, then his hands, and after that his forehead
and nose. His arms he held far away from his chest, and put
them on the ground, level with his shoulders, and his fingers
he kept joined together. In sitting up for the confession of
faith, he laid down his left foot and sat upon it ; and planting
his right foot, he put his right hand upon his right thigh, and
his left hand upon his left thigh. But in the last of these
sittings for confession, he put his left foot under the right, and
sat on the ground.

It is narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas that during
prayers the Prophet was looking from the comers of his
eyes to the right and to the left When he had finished the
prayers following the confession, he said, * Peace be upon
you, and the mercy of God,' turning first to his right side, so
that they who sat there could see his blessed cheek; and
then to the left, saluting in the same way. And after the
peace {i^, at the close), he said three times, * I ask pardon
of the great God, besides whom there is no other God, the
living, the eternal One ; and I repent towards Him.'

Be it known that that Excellency read daily a certain
portion from the Koran^ besides the services, elucidating and
explaining what he was reading. He read the Koran at all
times, standing or sitting, after an ablution or without one ;
and nothing whatever prevented his reading, except cohabita-
tion. He never finished the Koran in less than three days

CH. II. SEC. III.] FRIDA Y AND FESTIVAL SERVICES. 409

and three nights.^ When he heard the Koran read out by
others, tears flowed from his blessed eyes. On journeys his
custom was to shorten the services.

That prince observed Friday^ on which day he performed
a great many services, cleaned his clothes, and recommended
the Friday-bath. When the people were assembled for
prayers, on Friday, that prince went to mosque alone, with-
out a chamberlain or servant ; and on arriving, he first greeted
those present ; then he ascended the pulpit, and saluted again
before sitting down. As soon as Bilal had finished his call
to prayers, he rose up and delivered an address in which he
praised God ; confessed the Faith ; exhorted and commanded
the believers to fear and obey God, to loathe and despise the
world, and to desire eternity ; read a verse from the Koran,
and prayed for the male and female believers. When he
had finished the address, he leaned upon a bow or a staff,
never upon a sword or a spear. But afterwards, when the
pulpit was properly fitted up, this leaning upon a bow or a
staff, was not continued. In his address he would also com-
mand the people to be near the Imam, and to keep silence
during the address. If, after the Friday service, he returned
to his house, he said four more genuflexions of prayers ; if
he prayed in the mosque, never more than two. He used to
say, * There is one short space of time on Friday : if any
one knew that time and prayed in it, God would grant him
all he asks for. That hour is not confined to the lifetime
of the prophet, but recurs until the day of the resurrection.'
The Ulemas entertain eleven different views as to which is
that hour for acceptable prayer, of which the following two
are the most probable : first, the time from the Imam's
entering the desk to the conclusion of the service ; secondly,
the time between the afternoon prayers and sunset.

The festival service he performed outside Medina, in a
place for prayer, except once, when the rain prevented their
going outside the town, and the service had to be held in the
mosque. On the day of the feast he put on his best garments,

^ This statement seems to presuppose that the Koran existed as a collected
whole in the Prophet's lifetime, which, as is well known, was not the case. True,
the original term for reading is also applicable to a recital from memory, but it is
very questionable whether the whole Koran, as we have it now, was so impressed
upon the tablet of his memory that he might read it from that.

4IO MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [BK. ii.

sometimes one with red or with green stripes. On the fes-
tival of breaking the fast, he, before going to the outside place
of prayer, broke the fast by eating some dates, but always an
uneven number ; and besides these dates he ate nothing till
his return from the house of prayer. On the feast of sacrifices
he patiently abstained from breaking the fast till he returned
from the place of prayer, after having slain the sacrifices.
On the occasion of the feast he took a whole ablution, and
went out to the place of prayer on foot, having a short spear
carried before him. On the way he loudly recited praises ;
and when they arrived at the prayer-place, that short spear was
stuck in the ground as a mark for his Excellency whither to
turn in prayer ; for in those days the prayer-place was in the
open field, and not yet surrounded by walls. After the service
was over, he stood before the people, and gave them an ad-
dress, which he began with praise to God, and then exhorted
and commanded the people to give alms ; and also gave notice
of any war-expedition which he might have in contemplation.
The women of Medina also used to be present in the place of
prayer; and his Excellency went to them, exhorting them
with great vehemence, and saying, *Give alms!'^ It is also
established that after the prayer of the festival he sacrificed
two rams, which were to have horns, black fore-legs and
hind-legs, and black rings round the eyes ; and before he
slaughtered them he turned their faces towards the Kibla and
recited a prayer. He also commanded the people, saying,
* Take the fattest and best of the sheep for sacrifices, those
free from defects, whose ears are not cut off or pierced
through, those not very lean or sick.* He likewise ordained
that from amongst the sheep one, a year old, and from
amongst others one, two years old, should be proper for
sacrifice ; and that it should be lawful for seven persons to-
gether to sacrifice one bullock. In returning to Medina from
the place of prayer, he always went by a different way from
that by which he came. The Ulemas state that the reason of
this was, that many places might witness his good works, and
that the hypocrites might be cowed by seeing the splendour
of the true Mussulmans ; and that the people on both roads
might salute him ; and that the earth of both roads might
be benefited by his blessed footsteps.

^ No wonder, considering their use : see p. 414.

CH. II. SEC. III.] HE DREADS THUNDERSTORMS. 41 1

That Excellency also offered up prayer for rain. Some-
times he first ascended the pulpit and delivered an address,
and sometimes, without doing so, he recited the prayer for
rain in the place where he was sitting. It is also established
that during that prayer he held up the back-side of his hands
towards heaven. When a storm was blowing, and clouds
Arere seen, the visage of that Excellency showed signs of dis-
tress ; and he would go inside and not come out again as
long as this lasted ; but as soon as rain began to come down,
that state passed off, and he cheered up. Aisha the faithful
narrates that on her asking the Prophet for an explanation of
this, he replied, * O Aisha, lest what happened to the people
of Ad should happen again ; for when they saw clouds of
punishment in the sky, they said, " These clouds come to
bring us rain," whereas that was a storm and clouds bringing
them a grievous punishment* His Excellency also said,
* The wind is from the Spirit of God (in Arabic, the riah is
from the ruah) : it brings gracious rain to His friends, and
sore punishment to His enemies.' When once some one was
cursing the storm in that prince's presence, he said, ' Do not
curse the storm, for it is a commissioned officer, and, verily,
whoever curses what is undeserving of curse, on him will that
curse return.' Ibn Abbas narrates, that there never was a
storm or thundering without that prince kneeling down to
pray.

During an eclipse that prince used to say two genu-
flexions of the eclipse-service. Ibn Abbas relates that he
was present once when the Prophet recited that prayer, and
that on that occasion he prolonged the standing up to an
unusual extent, about as long as it would take to read the
second Sura, and that as soon as the prayer was over, the sun
reappeared. The Prophet also said, * Truly, sun and moon
are signs of God ; but although their eclipse does not portend
any one's life or death, yet, if you see any, remember God.'
His friends said to him, * O Apostle of God, we saw that whilst
thou wast saying the prayer, thou didst grasp at something,
and then let it go again.' His Excellency replied, * Verily,
I have seen Paradise, and I wanted to seize one of the branches
of its vines ; if I had taken it, you could have been eating
therefrom till eternity sets in. I have also seen hell ; but I

412 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ll.

have never witnessed anything to equal its terrible and awful
aspect; and most of the inhabitants of hell were women.'
When his companions asked, * O Apostle of God, why are
most of the people of hell women ? ' he answered, * Because
they are ungrateful respecting the kindness and rights of
their husbands.'

Be it known that his apostolic Excellency also paid visits
to the sick, and commanded his friends to do the same. When
he went to see a sick person, he used to say, * Please God,
no misfortune, but purification,' or * Atonement and purifi-
cation.' He seated himself on the sick person's cushion,
and inquired, * How art thou ? what is thy condition ? hast
thou a fancy for anything ? ' If the person fancied a thing
that was not hurtful, he ordered it to be given. He would
lay his right hand on the sick person's body, and say,

* Remove the ban,
Thou Lord of man I
O Healer, heal, relieve !
There is no cure
Besides Thy cure :
Help, Helper, we believe.'

If any one had a wound or an ulcer, he would first press
his prayer-finger upon the earth, and then lifting it up, say,
* In the name of God ! Dust of our earth and milk mixed
with olive-oil shall heal our distempers with the permission
of our Lord.' He had no fixed day or hour for visiting the
sick, but did so at any time, by day or by night He used to
say, ' If any one pays a sick-visit to a Moslem brother, he is
walking in the garden of Paradise as long as he is going to
him, and whilst he is sitting by the side of the sick, the grace
of God is descending upon him till he is quite immersed in
it If he' visits in the morning, 70,000 angels are interceding
for him till evening, and if in the evening, 70,000 angels are
interceding for him until morning.' When he observed the
premonitory symptoms of approaching death in a person, he
would bring eternity to his mind, and enjoin repentance and
the making of a testament Of the customs which prevailed
during the time of ignorance, he altogether forbade the
lamentations for the dead, the tearing of the collar, the
beating of the face, and the like, and he enjoined upon the

CH. II. SEC. III.] HIS DIRECTIONS FOR BURIALS. 413

people to be grateful and patient, and to say, * We belong to
God, and to Him we return,' and willingly to submit to the
decrees of the Almighty.

He insisted on promptly washing, dressing, perfuming, and
burying the dead, requiring the corpse to be washed three or
five times, or oftener, according as those who wash may find
it necessary, and with the last washing to use some camphor.
Do not wash a chief,^ but only divest him of his breastplate
and arms ; and a pilgrim bury without drawing his pilgrim-
dress over his head, so that on the day of the resurrection he
may stand up and say, * Here am I.' He directed that in
case the winding-sheet is too short for a corpse, the head was
at all events to be covered with it, and some hay put on the
feet. He commanded that the dead be buried wrapt in a
white sheet Over the dead, — male or female, infant or adult,
present or absent, — he performed a service of four, five, or six
Magpnificats, in each of which he lifted up his hands. The
service over, he quitted the place, with one Selam, or with two.
If anything prevented his saying the prayers over the corpse,
he said them afterwards over the grave. When the prayers
were ended, he walked on foot before the corpse to the grave,
and did not sit down till it was deposited in the earth. Whilst
they were bringing the body, he used to say, * Make haste :
for if the dead is one of the blessed, he is quickly to enter
into Paradise ; and if he is one of the wicked, he is a burden
to be cast off the sooner the better.' His Excellency also
said, 'Whoever follows a corpse, let him carry it three
times, verily, he will receive his reward.'

In ordaining the legal and other alms^ that prince had
regard both to the wishes of the poor and to the mental
pleasures of the rich. He enacted the legal almsgiving from
four kinds of property, most common and most used amongst
the people, viz. first, from camels, cattle, and sheep ; second,
from gold and silver ; third, from corn and fruit ; and, fourth,
from all kinds of merchandise. It is not established that the
giving of alms from property, as a legal duty, was incumbent
on the Prophet himself;^ but according to the enactments of

' Was this exception enjoined with a view to Mohammed's own case ?
' From this it is seen that the exceptional privileges of the Prophet were not
confined to the number of wives allowed, but extended also to other matters.

414 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. il.

the Law, he tcx)k the alms from the rich, and gave them to
those who were worthy. He would tie the alms-camels with
his own hand, and mark them generally on the shoulder ; and
if any one was bringing the legal alms from his possessions
to that Excellency, he would invoke a blessing upon him.
To the neighbouring tribes he sent agents who collected the
property-alms ; and after spending on those who were worthy
in that place, brought the rest to Medina, for his Excellency
to expend. He exceedingly loved a surplus of the alms,
and also required the people to have a strong desire for it

The Prophet had a great zeal for the manumission of
slaves^ and pointed out its meritoriousness. He gave liberty
to a number of male and female slaves ; but to more of the
former than of the latter.^

Be it known that his Excellency never began to fasty
till he, or some reliable witness, had seen the new moon of
Ramadan, or thirty days were passed of Shaaban. At the
end of Shaaban he made an oration in which he said, ' O ye
men, an exceedingly great moon has now overshadowed you.
It is a blessed month in which there is one night which is
better than a thousand other nights. The Most High has
appointed the fast during its days as an indispensable rite
for you, and the staying up during its nights as a custom.
Whoever does a supererogatory work this month, will be
rewarded as much as if he does a legally enjoined work in
another month ; and whoever performs a legally prescribed
work this month, will be rewarded the same as if he had
performed seventy such works in any other month. This is
the month of patience ; and the reward for the patience of
this month is Paradise. This is a month of bravery and
kindness. This is a month in which the believer's means of
living shall increase ; and whoever this month gives food to
a faster to break the fast with, becomes the cause of the
forgiveness of that man's sins and of his deliverance from
hell-fire, and becomes partaker of a portion of the reward of
that faster, without this latter losing anything by it'

1 Mohammed bad evidently a personal reason for making this difference ; and
as long as Islam renders a female slave as lawful for her master as his own wife,
the abrogation of slavery is likely to be opposed from the secret motives of those
personal prerogatives of masters.

CH. II. SEC. III.] HIS PRACTICE AS TO FASTING, 415

In reply to the observation of his companions that,
perhaps, one of them might not have enough to spare for
another faster wherewith to break his fast, his Excellency
declared, * If any one gives to a faster only a spoonful of
milk, or a date, or a draught of water, yet will the Most
High give him that reward ; and if any one fully satisfies
the faster, the Most High will give him a beverage from my
own pond, so that he will thirst no more till he enter Paradise.'
'This month is a month whose beginning is mercy, its middle
pardon, and its end freeness from hell-fire; and whoever
will this month lighten the service of his slave, him will God
pardon and deliver from the fire of hell.' According to
authentic traditions the gates of heaven ; or, according to
another account, the gates of mercy ; or, according to still
another account, the gates of Paradise, are opened with the
beginning of the month of Ramadan, and the gates of hell
closed, and the devils dragged in chains.

Before saying the evening prayers, the Prophet used to
break the fast by eating a few fresh dates ; or, if there were
no fresh ones, other dates ; or, if there were not any dates,
by taking one or two draughts of water ; and he made his
friends do the same. That Excellency persevered in taking
the early meal before sunrise, enjoining the same upon his
people ; and he used to say, * The taking a meal early before
sunrise distinguishes our fast from the fast of the people
of the book.* During his fast he would kiss his ladies, let
blood by cupping, and use aperients ; and if he needed an
entire ablution by night, he would take it just before dawn.

That prince also fasted voluntarily, as a work of super-
erogation, Aisha the faithful narrates : * That prince fasted
so much that we thought he would never take breakfast ;
and he took so much breakfast that we thought he would
never fast. I never saw him fast for a whole month, except
in Ramadan.' In the month of Shaaban he fasted more
than in other months, sometimes two days in succession ; and
on the day of Ashur he fasted as a matter of course On
Mondays and Thursdays he frequently fasted ; for he said,
'Because on these two days the works are presented (to
God), I wish to be fasting on them.' Sometimes he also
fasted on Saturday and Sunday. Each month he fasted

4i6 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. II.

three days ; and on Friday he rarely broke the fast When-
ever he fasted on Friday, he also added either Thursday or
Saturday as a fast-day ; for he forbade fasting on Friday
only. Sometimes he would enter the abode of bliss {i,e. his
harem), and ask, 'Is there anything to eat?' and if the
answer was, 'No;* he would say, 'Then I fast to-day.'
Sometimes also he would decide upon a supererogatory
fast, without completely carrying it out.

In the third decade of Ramadan he retired to a retreat^
showing much zeal in acts of devotion, services, and vigils.
He would have little to do with the people, but recite the
Koran. He also would retire into a retreat in the first and
middle decade. When he knew that * the Night of Destiny '
would happen in the last decade, he would insist on holding
the retreat in the last decade. On the day in which he
retired to his retreat, he would first perform morning prayers,
and then go to the place he had chosen for the retreat
That Excellency's place of retreat was a tent within the
mosque. Whilst in the retreat, he would sometimes stretch
his blessed head from the mosque into Aisha's apartment,
so that she might comb it ; and whichsoever of his pure
wives that prince desired, she came to be with him during
the night in the mosque.

IV. — Peculiarities of the Prophet.

Be it known that it is the custom of the Shafii section of
the orthodox Ulemas to mention that Excellency's peculiar-
ities at the beginning of the marriage-book, because most of
his peculiarities have a connection with marriage. Some
of their doctors indeed hold that the things which were
peculiar to that prince ought not now to be discussed,
because they are things of the past, having no present
utility ; but by far the greatest majority of the doctors teach
that such discussion is lawful, and that it is no error to
affirm that it is even desirable and a duty : because one
igpnorant of the fact that certain things were peculiar to the
Prophet, might wish, in finding them amongst the sound
traditions, to imitate them as examples. Be it known,
therefore, that the Most High has conferred special distinc-

CH. II. SEC. IV. I.] HIS ESPECIAL RELIGIOUS DUTIES. 417

tions upon that Excellency, which are divided into four
classes, viz. first, religious duties ; second, things forbidden
and illicit to him ; third, things lawful and permitted to him ;
fourth, excellencies and miracles. But as the latter are so
many, they have been treated in a special chapter by them-
selves, and in the present, only the first three will be concisely
stated.

(i.) Religious Duties peculiar to the Prophet

The cause of such peculiar duties is the greater measure
and higher degree of the Divine presence vouchsafed to
this prince ; or, according to some Imams, the circumstance
that the merit of the performance of a religious duty is
seventyfold that of the performance of a work. of super-
erogation. His peculiar duties were : —

1. Prayers in addition to those legally enjoined.

2. Prayer in the early part of the day, after the first legal
prayer.

3. The slaying of sacrifices. — It has here to be observed,
that the Imams of the Shafii section declare the voluntary
and early prayers to be duties peculiar to the Prophet ; but
that the followers of the Imam Abu Hanifa hold, that volun-
tary prayers and sacrifices are incumbent on the people also ;
but the fact is, that the Shafiites here use the term * duty '
in the sense of an absolute duty, and the Hanifites in the
sense of less than an absolute duty.

4. Vigils or night-watches. — The Shafiite Imams hold,
that at first this was one of his Excellency's peculiar duties,
but that afterwards it was abrogated, which view is also
supported by a tradition derived from Aisha.

5. The use of a tooth-brush. — This is supported by a
tradition from Aisha, but opposed by others.

6. Consultation with relatives, in important matters.

7. To pay the debts of those who at their death leave
no property behind them. — There is a difference of opinion
amongst the Ulemas as to whether Mohammed paid those
debts out of his own private treasure, or from the property of
the State ; and also as to whether or not the same duty is
likewise incumbent upon the sovereigpns who succeeded him.

2D

4i8 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii.

8. To persevere against the enemy in war. — ^This persever-
ance was incumbent on him, even if the enemy was more
than twice as numerous as himself ; but it is not incumbent
upon the people, if their enemy is more than twice as
numerous as themselves.

9. To repair every reverse that he suffered, though in
doing so there should be fear and danger, because God had
promised to keep him ; but if the people are afraid to repair
a reverse, their duty of doing so ceases.

10. God Himself choosing for him his pure wives, caus-
ing them to decide between selecting the fashion of the
world and separating from that Excellency, on the one
hand, and selecting the eternal things, with being found
under the shadow of that prince's innocence, on the other.
In compensation for their choosing eternity it was made
unlawful for that prince to marry another wife in addition
to them, or in the stead of any one of them. But the verse
of the Koran enjoining this was afterwards abrogated, and
another sent down in its stead, freeing him from that restraint.

(2.) Things unlawful and forbidden to the Prophet

The reason why some things have been specially made
unlawful to him is this, that the reward attached to refrain-
ing from things unlawful is greater than that attached to
abstaining from things disliked and detested.

I. One of the things unlawful to that Excellency was the
taking of canonical alms. This unlawfulness extends also to
his family and children. For, according to a sound tradition,
canonical alms have been called man's filthiest thing, and the
rank of that prince's family is far above accepting men's
filthiest things. Another of those things is, that the taking
of the vile legal alms means their spending them again in
acts of mercy to the poor and others. In compensation
for this, God gave them a portion of the spoil taken in war.
But because at present they are deprived of the fifth of the
spoil, some Ulemas have pronounced it lawful for them to
take the canonical alms. The Ulemas disagree as to whether
or not other prophets shared this restriction, and as to whether
the Prophet and his family may lawfully take voluntary alms

CH. II. SEC. IV. 2.] THINGS FORBIDDEN TO HIM, 419

or not The Shafiite Ulemas hold that to take voluntary
alms was unlawful to the Prophet himself, but is lawful to
his family.

2. Not to eat onions, garlic, leek, and other similar
things of an unpleasant smell. There is conclusive proof
that he did not partake of these things. When they were
offered, where he was present, he used to say to his com-
panions, * Do ye eat them : I therefore do not eat them,
that persons unable to talk secretly with you, may do so
with me.' The Shafiite Ulemas affirm that these things
were not * unlawful ' to his Excellency, but disliked by him.

3. Not to eat in the same place where he slept. The
Shafiite Ulemas again affirm that this was not ' unlawful ' to
him, but only disliked by him, as by others. There is no
positive proof on the subject ; and his abstaining from a
thing does not imply its being unlawful.

4. Not to write.

5. Not to poetise.

6. After having put on his armour to fight with an
enemy, not to take it off again without having been engaged
in combat.

7. Not to look and aim at the pomp of the world used
by the people.

8. Not to have a treacherous eye. The meaning of this
is, not to give a sig^ with the hand, head, or eye that any
one was to be smitten or killed, whilst the surrounding
circumstances pointed to no such fate.

9. Not to give anything to any one with the object of
obtaining in return more than its value,

10. Not to consummate marriage with any woman who
solemnly protests against it. The Ulemas establish this
by a tradition from Aisha, who said, 'When the Prophet
married the daughter of a man called Gon, and was about
to sit close to her in her bridal chamber, that girl said, " I
take refuge from thee with God." Upon this, that prince
said, "Verily thou hast taken refuge with a Great One,
go and return to thy father's house." *

11. Not to marry a free woman from *the people of the
book,' Le, from the Jews and Christians. It is recorded that
his Excellency said, * I begged of my Lord that I might not

420 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. ii.

have to marry any woman but one who can be with me in
Paradise ; and my Lord accepted this my request' It is
also reported by tradition that once there was a dispute
between Aisha and Fatima, in which Fatima said to Aisha,
* I am nobler than thou, because I am a morsel from the
Prophet of God.' Aisha replied, * In an earthly point of
view it is so ; but mine is the eternal glory that I am to be
together with the Prophet in Paradise, and thou shalt only
have Ali's rank in Paradise : consider, therefore, what differ-
ence there is between these two ranks.' On Fatima bursting
out weeping because of this word, Aisha arose, kissed her
blessed head, and said, * Would that I were but a hair of
thy head ! ' Now when it is declared that that Excellency's
ladies shall be with him in Paradise, it must be unlawful
for him to marry a free woman from the people of the book,
because no unbeliever can enter Paradise, and he must
naturally also be averse to marrying such a woman.

12. Not to marry a Mussulman slave-woman ; for the
legality of her marriage depends on these two conditions,
viz. first, the fear of adultery ; and, secondly, the inability to
marry a free woman. But the Prophet was innocent of the
fear of adultery. Nor could the second reason operate with
him, because he was not bound to bestow either an initial
or a final dowry.

(3.) Things permitted to him, i.e. things whose legality was

peculiar to that Prince.

The object in legalising these things to his Excellency
was his comfort and convenience. The term * legalised or
lawful things ' is here employed to designate things respect-
ing which that Excellency was free from guilt, whether he
did them, or left them undone. They were : —

1. Enjoyment during a fast, as stated in the chapter of
' Religious Services.'

2. To select and take away whatever he liked from the
spoil of war, before the regular distribution is made.

3. To enter the sanctuary of Mecca, without being robed
in the sacred vestment of pilgrims.

4- To kill within the sanctuary of Mecca. This is proved

CH. II. SEC. IV. 3.] THINGS PERMITTED TO HIM. 42 1

by the fact that at the conquest of Mecca that Prince
commanded Ibn Khadl to be killed, though he had wrapt
himself up in the curtains of the Kaaba.

5. To pass a judgment merely by his own knowledge ;
whereas it is not lawful for other judges to do this.

6. To give a judgment concerning himself and his chil-
dren, because that prince was innocent of partiality.

0 7. To accept the testimony of a man testifying of him-
self. This is based on the following tradition : The Prophet
had bought a horse from a Bedouin. The Bedouin denying
the sale, demanded a witness. The Ansar Khazinat Ibn Zabit
came and bore witness. The Prophet said, 'O Khazinat,
how canst thou witness to an affair at which thou hast not
been present ? ' Khazimat replied, * O Apostle of God, if we
believe thee in the matter of the messages from heaven, why
should we not believe thee in things of this world ? ' ^ Upon
this the Apostle of God surnamed him 'the witness-bearer.'

8. To keep for himself anything forbidden. But this
privilege he did not always exercise.

9. In time of need to take eatables and drinkables from
any one who has, whilst it is the duty of the latter to yield
up to him whatever food he possess, in order to keep the
Apostle of God alive, though he may apprehend that by so
doing he may perish himself. Of this privilege likewise he
did not always avail himself.

ID. Sleep on his part does not invalidate his ablution as it
does that of others ; for even when the eyos of that prince
slept, his mind was awake, as he himself once said, ' My
eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.' In this particular
the other prophets were his partners. For Bokhari has a
tradition to the effect that his Excellency said, * And of the
other prophets also the eyes only slept, but not the heart'
But some Imams, overlooking this tradition, classed this
particular amongst his peculiarities.

II. To remain in a place of worship in a state of canoni-
cal uncleanness.

^ This mode of reasoning by Moslems plainly shows how naturally the
acknowledgment of Mohammed as a prophet engendered other errors and false-
hoods ; and how impossible it is to give implicit credence to even the most
positive assutances of his believers and partisans.

422 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. ii.

12. To curse a believer, though he may not have been
guilty of anything meriting a curse ; because that Excel-
lency's curse is an act of mercy. This is supported by a
tradition derived from Abu Harira to this effect : * That
Excellency addressed a petition to the Almighty, saying,
" O God, I am nothing but a man, if therefore I hurt, or
revile, or curse, any one of the believers, turn it all into an
act of mercy to him, and into a means of approach, so that
on the day of the resurrection he may thereby approach to
thee." '

^ 13. To unite to himself in marriage more than four ladies.
The proof of this is based on the unanimous opinion of the
doctors of the Law and on the practice of the Prophet.
In this particular privilege also other prophets were that
prince's partners. For it is established that Solomon had
taken 100 ladies at once, and David 99 ladies.

14. That he could contract a marriage on the strength of
the word * gift' This is proved by the noble verse of the
Koran : ' And if a believing woman gives herself to the
Prophet, and the Prophet be so minded, he can marry hdr.
She has acted with purity of mind towards him, above the
believers.'

15. That his marriage was valid, even if contracted
without any relative or any witness being present. This
is natural, because that prince is above any sureties or
witnesses, and would never deny a marriage he had entered ;
but if the woman were to deny it, and thus contradict the
Prophet's affirmation, her word could not be accepted against
his ; and some Imams have declared that she would have
become an unbeliever by that very contradiction. His com-
panions were in doubt as to whether he had taken Safia by-
way of marriage or by way of concubinage. The marriage
of Zeinab also proves this particular privilege.

V. — Mohammed's Excellencies and Miracles.

(l.) His Excellencies,

In point of purity and goodness God has created the
souls as three different classes: highest, lowest, and middle.
The souls of the prophets are the purest and best; and

CH. II. SEC V. I.] HIS EXCELLENCIES, 423

Mohammed is the purest, best, and noblest amongst them.
To enumerate and detail all his excellencies would require
a book, so they are here given in an abridged form.

1. His spirit was created first, and the spirits of all other
beings were derived from his. Mohammed said, * I am the
first of the prophets as to creation, and the last as to
mission.'

2. God took a covenant and promise from all the other
prophets, that if they attained to the time of Mohammed's
mission, they would believe in him, and aid him. The
prophets are, therefore, placed in the position of followers
with regard to Mohammed.

H 3. Whilst God, in the Koran, addresses every prophet
simply by his name — e.g, *0 Adam, dwell thou with thy
wife in Paradise ; ' * O Jesus, son of Mary, remember my
grace towards thee and towards thy mother,' — He addresses
our own Prophet by honouring attributes and epithets, e,g,
O thou Apostle, O thou Prophet, O Mohammed the Apostle.

4. To the former nations it was lawful to address their
prophets simply by their names, but to the people of this
prince, this is not lawful. They have to say, O Apostle of
God, or O Prophet of God.

5. In the glorious Koran God swears by Mohammed's
life, his city, his apostolic mission, and his religion {lit. guid-
ance), whereas, according to Ibn Abbas' statement, God has
never sworn by the life of any other prophet.

6. God gave to Mohammed 'concentration of speech
{lit collection of words), i.e. such speech whose expressions
are short and their meaning comprehensive.

7. Mohammed was granted victory in such a degree that
his enemies at a month's distance feared on account of the
dreadness of that prince.

8. The possession of booty was made lawful for him
and his people, whereas when the former people made
booty, they had to bring it before their prophet, to be con-
sumed by fire from heaven.

9. The whole face of the earth was given him and his
people for a place of worship, and for purification, so that
they can perform their services where they like ; and if they
find no water, they can use earth instead, whilst the former

424 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. il

people could only perform their services in the place ap-
pointed, and were not allowed to use earth instead of water.

10. That prince was sent unto all creatures. Noah's
mission after the deluge was indeed also a general one to all
men, but as regards its previous character, the Ulemas are
divided in opinion, whether it extended to all men, or was
restricted to a single nation. Even admitting that Noah's
mission was one to all men, we have still to affirm that the
mission of our own Prophet was both to men and spirits.

1 1. His appearance was the end of prophecy (or of the
prophetic office). The second coining of Christ, at the end
of time, is not opposed to this, because He is not to bring an
abrogating Law, but to preach the Law of Mohammed, and
to conform to it.

12. In his wars with unbelievers he was helped and
strengthened, more than any other prophet before him, by
hosts of angels.

13. God has made Mohammed a means of mercy for
the inhabitants of the whole world.^ Some commentators
-explain that he is such by guiding the believers, by securing
immunky for the insincere from being killed, and by delaying
the punishment of the unbelievers.

14. Since the time of his mission the evil spirits (or
Satans) have been kept away from heaven by shooting
stars, which previously had not been the case.

15. The angel Asraphel several times came down to him
which he had not done to any other prophet.

16. God, in His book, mentions the repentance and pardon
of many prophets, and also their fall into what was unworthy
of their character, e,g, of Adam, Noah, Jonas, David, and
Moses, but respecting our own prophet God said, * God will
surely forgive thy sins, both the past and the future,' thus
veiling what the sin itself was.

17. Whatever God gave to the previous prophets, He
gave on account of their having asked for and desired it,
but whatever He gave to that Excellency, He gave without
being asked and solicited.

* Mohammed is here invested with the character both of the * mercy-seait *
in Israel (Exod. xxv. 17-22) and of Jesus Christ, * whom God hath set forth to
be a propitiation through £dth in His blood ' (Rom. iii. 25).

f

CH. II. SEC. V. I.] HIS EXCELLENCIES. 425

18. God said concerning him, * We have made thy men-
tion exalted/ what the commentators explain to mean, that
Mohammed is to be mentioned wherever God is mentioned,
e.g. in the Creed, the Praises, etc.

19. In order to exalt his Excellency, God made his pure
wives the mothers of the believers ; i.e. He appointed them
to be honoured and revered by the believers as their own
mothers, so that it should be unlawful for them to marry
them. It is said that this was done because Talha Ibn Abd
Allah had said, 'When the Prophet has left the world, I
shall marry Aisha-'

20. God declared the supererogatory prayers of Mo-
hammed, performed sitting, to be of the same merit as those
performed standing: whereas the supererogatory prayers
performed by any one else in a sitting posture, have only
half the merit of those performed standing.

21. That prince could see behind him, just as well as he
could see before him. Some of the Ulemas affirm that this
vision was a mental one; others, that it was ocular. The
latter say, that Mohammed had two eyes between his
shoulders, similar to the eyes of a needle, with which he
could see behind, and that the clothes he wore did not
prevent these eyes from seeing.

22. His Law has abrogated all other Laws, but will itself
remain established till the day of the resurrection.

23. That prince's blessed body was so light-like that,
when he walked against the sun, or the moon, it produced
no shadow.

24. The glorious God made Mohammed His own dearly
beloved friend. According to Ibn Abbas, Mohammed once
said to his companions, ' You truly ^aid, that Abraham was
the friend, Moses the confidant, Jesus the spirit, and Adam
the pure one, of God : but know, tiiat I am the dearly beloved
friend of God.'

25. That prince had revealed to himself the world and
those that are in the world, from the time of Adam to the
first blast of the last trumpet, so that he knew it all, and at
times communicated some of the information to his friends.

26. God ennobled him in this world with His beauteous
grace, as He had not done to any other creature.

426 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. il.

27. God commissioned him in the best of ages.

28. God raised him up from the best of tribes.

29. God declared his people, or his religious community,
to be the best of the religious communities.

30. The assembling together of his people is an absolute
duty, but that of other people is not so.

31. His people do not agree on error or falsehood.

32. In the resurrection his people are to be witnesses to
all the other peoples, or religious communities.

33. On the day of the resurrection the favourable answers
to his people shall be more numerous than those to the
people of any other prophet.

34. His people are to constitute the third part of the
inhabitants of Paradise.

35. His people are not to perish from famine.

36. No other people is to rule over his people.^ Mo-
hammed said, he had prayed for this and God had accepted
his prayer ; but that when he also prayed that there should
never be war or conflict between themselves, God refused.

37. The painful duties which had been enjoined upon
former peoples, were not imposed upon his.

38. God made the hosts of his people like hosts of angels.

39. It was not lawful for any person to raise his own
voice above his.

40. When Mohammed called any one who was saying his
prayers, it was obligatory to him to respond to the call ; and
in so doing he did not invalidate his prayers.

41. To accept presents implied no blame, but was perfectly
lawful for that Excellency, but not for any other judges or
governors.

42. Intentionally to speak a lie against that Excellency is
not like intentionally lying against any one else, but is the
most infamous of infamies.

43. Whoever sees that Excellency in his dream, has seen
him really and truly, according to the tradition that
Mohammed once said, * Whoever sees me in a dream, has
seen me really : for Satan cannot imitate me.'

^ From this it may be gathered how far the sincere loyalty of the Mo-
hammedans can be relied upon by any non-Mussulman government through-
out the world.

f

CH. II. SEC. V. I.] HIS EXCELLENCIES, 427

45.^ The dignity has been conferred on that prince of acting
as Intercessor on the day of the resurrection. The parties
on whose behalf he will intercede are classified as follows : —

1. The great intercession will be for those about to be

judged, namely for those who, despairing of all the
other prophets, flee for refuge to Mohammed.

2. For those who find their way into Paradise, without

an account

3. For those deserving punishment

4. For those of the believers who go to hell, but will by

his intercession be taken out again and translated
into Paradise.

5. Some who have entered Paradise will by his interces-

sion obtain a higher place in it

6. Some unbelievers will have their punishment made

lighter through his intercession, such as, e,g,^ Abu
Talib.

7. For all those who die in Medina ; for according to a

tradition Mohammed said, * Let those who can, die
in Medina ; because I shall intercede for every one
dying there.

46. The intercession of that Excellency will be the first
to be received.

47. On the day of the resurrection the banner of praise
will be in his hands.

48. In the estimation of the Most High he is the noblest
and worthiest of all creatures ; and will be their leader on
the day of the resurrection.

49. All the prophets and apostles are to be under the
shadow of that prince's glorious standard, on the day of the
resurrection.

50. That prince will be the first to enter Paradise. Accord-
ing to tradition Mohammed said, ' When I shall knock at the
gate of Paradise on the day of the resurrection, and the
Treasurer of Paradise shall ask, " Who art thou ? " I shall
answer, " I am Mohammed." Then the Treasurer of Paradise

^ It is the Rawzat ul Ahbab itself which passes from Nos. 43 to 45. Whether
this is an omission of No. 44 in the Turkish Edition of which I made use, or merely
a mistake in numbering, I cannot say ; probably the former, because in the latter
case, the ' excellencies ' would only amount to 59, instead of the round number 60.

428 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. ii.

shall say, " I have never been commanded to open the gate
to any one before thee." ' So likewise his people shall enter
Paradise before every other people.

51. On the day of the resurrection the celebrated Pond
shall pass into his possession.

52. The praiseworthy Place (niakam-i-mahmud) shall be
his.

53. That prince will have the rank of Mediation which is
the highest rank of Paradise. Abu Horeira narrates that
Mohammed once said, * Only a single person can reach that
highest rank, and my hope is that I may be that person.'
His Excellency employed the optative form because of his
good manners and caution, although it is eternally decreed
that he shall have that highest rank.

54. As that prince could see in the light, so he could also
see in darkness. But this rests on a weak tradition, derived
from Aisha.

55. Yawning, which is one of the works of Satan, never
happened to that prince, as stated by Iman Bokhari in his
great history.

56. No fly alighted on that prince's blessed body.

57. The character and disposition of that prince was supe-
rior to the character and disposition of every other creature.

58. That prince was the noblest of creatures respecting
the form of his body and the symmetry of its members.

59. In the pages of the writings of the previous prophets
mention is made of his description (or attributes) and renown,
and of his being the prophet of the latter time ; and their
authors foretold the glad tidings of his coming. So likewise
the doctors and wise men of the possessors of the Scriptures
foretold the coming of that prince ; as did also the diviners,
the theosophers, and those who had dealings with spirits,
testifying to the truth of that prophecy. The great and dis-
tinguished of every age, have also had dreams pointing to
the beneficent coming of that prince. The biographers term
these men Beshair^ i.e. bearers of good news. It is proper
here to introduce some of them.

God sent a revelation to Adam, the import of some of
whose pages was to this effect, * I am the Lord of Mecca
whose inhabitants are my neighbours, and those who visit

CH. IT. SEC. V. I.] PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIM, 429

that House are my guests, under the wings of my protection,
and under the shadow of my keeping. I will people that
House with heavenly and earthly beings ; and they shall
come to it in troops, dusty, and with disordered hair, saluting
and praising it with a loud voice, and shedding tears. And
whoever visits that House with no other object in view but
me, in effect visits me, becomes my guest, and is worthy of
my favour ; I will confer the nobility and high honour of that
House upon a prophet from amongst thy children, named
Abraham ; and I will let him finish its building, and I will
show him the Zemzem well in it, and give him the right of
opening and closing it for an inheritance. After him the
people of every age shall keep that House in repair, until
the time of a prophet from among thy children, called Mo-
hammed, and him I will make one of its inhabitants and
governors and chamberlains and water-distributors. Every
one who seeks me and desires to ask anything of me, must
know that I am with that company whose hair is mingled
up with their beard, who are covered with dust and earth,
but who fulfil their vows, and turn to their Lord.'

In the Rolls of Abraham, that prophet was addressed
thus, * I have heard thy prayer for thy son Ishmael, and
have blessed him and his seed, and have made him great
and honoured. An illustrious son shall come from him,
Mohammed by name, who shall be an elect and chosen one.
I will send him a revelation to be communicated to his
people ; and his people shall be better than any other people.'

In the Torah God refers to the truth of Mohammed in
a passage which being interpreted reads thus, *0 thou
renowned prophet, verily we have sent thee to be a witness
and a bearer of good news to the good, a warner to the bad,
and a refuge to the unlettered. Thou art my servant and
my apostle. I have named thee the trusting one.' Then
Grod continues, but changing from the second to the third
person, * He is not a man of vulgar speech or bad habits, or a
stony heart, or one who cries in the market-places. He does
not requite evil with evil, but pardons and yields. The Most
High will not raise him up until the time when a peculiar
people shall be born who shall say, "There is no God but
God." With this word he shall open blind eyes and deaf ears,

430 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii.

and set minds at liberty.' In another place of the Torah it
is also stated that Mohammed was to be the son of Abd
Allah, that the place of his birth was to be Mecca and that
of his flight Medina ; and that his power should extend over
Syria; that his people should give thanks, and say, 'God is
great,' whenever they ascend up high, and render praise
whenever they descend low ; that they should bind their loins
with a girdle and take ablutions ; and that their Moezzins
should call out from high places, and that their line of battle
and their line of prayer should be straight ; and that at night
their voices should be like the humming of bees. It is further
affirmed that Moses in his Torah was acquainted with seventy
attributes of the people of the latter time ; and that as often
as he had considered one of them, he asked of God that that
congregation might be his own people. But the answer came
to him, * They are to be Mohammed's people.' At last, when
he saw that Mohammed's people were to have so many
excellencies, he said, *0 God, let me also be amongst
Mohammed's people.'

In the book of the prophet Habakkuky the contemporary
of Daniel, the following prophecy occurs, * God came from
Teman, and the Holy One from the mountain Paran ; and the
earth was filled with the praise of Ahmed and his holiness ;
and he possessed the earth, and subdued the nations.' And
in another place of the same book it is written, * Heaven
was illumined with the dignity of Mohammed, and the earth
filled with his grandeur.'

Wahab Ibn Minbeh said, that the Most High sent the
following revelation to the prophet Isaiah: *I will send a
prophet who is to be unlettered, and by his name I will open
the ears of the deaf, and the minds of the listless ; and I will
clothe him with gravity, and I will make goodness his out-
ward mark, and godliness and temperance his inward mind ;
and wisdom his understanding ; and truth and purity his
nature, and propriety his disposition ; and equity his practice ;
and truth his law ; and right guidance his leader ; and Islam
his people ; and his name Ahmed. And through him I will
show to his people the right way out of error, and the way of
knowledge after ignorance; and by his name I will make
the few many and the divided united ; and will bring amongst

CH. 11. SEC. V. I.] PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIM. 431

the separated hearts and the antagonistic nations harmony
and intimacy; and his people shall be superior to every other;
and they shall pay respect to the light of the sun, ix, they
shall look to the sun to know the right time for prayer.*

In the Gospel the Most High gave the following revela-
tion to Jesus, * Declare Mohammed to be true, and believe in
him ; and tell also thy people that those of them who reach
his time should believe in him. O thou son of the Virgin,
ix, O thou Jesus, know thou, that if it had not been for
Mohammed, I should not have created Adam and Paradise
and Hell ; and the truth is, that when I made the Throne, it
shook and would not stand firm till I wrote upon it, " There
is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the Apostle of
Allah," whereupon it steadied itself and became quiet' ^

The prophecies by sundry learned Christians and others
are very many ; e,g, Seif Ibn Yazan, a king of Yemen, to
whom a deputation was sent from Mecca, to congratulate him
on having reconquered his land from the Abyssinians, said
to Abdu-1-Mottaleb who was one of the deputation, * A pro-
phet shall arise from thy seed, Mohammed and Ahmed by
name. The time of his birth has now come. His parents
will die, and he will be under the care of his grandfather and
uncle. God will make him known, and suddenly give him
assistants and helpers, so that with their aid he will make
his friends glorious and his enemies despised. At his birth
shall the fire of the fire-temples be extinguished ; the people
shall worship the one incomparable God ; infidelity and sin
shall disappear from the world ; Lat, Ozza, and the other
idols shall be broken ; his word shall be decision and his
judgment justice; and he shall make his commands respected.'

It is recorded that when that Excellency was seven years
old, a number of Christians came to Mecca from Syria for
purposes of trade, and one of them recognised that prince

^ If the Mohammedans fabricated prophecies such as these, and ventured to
ascribe them to sundry Biblical books, mentioned by name, for the purpose of
extolling their Prophet, of how many other frauds, with the same pious object,
may they not have been guilty, where it is far less easy for us than in these
instances clearly to distinguish between fact and fiction ! If their pretended
prophecies have obviously not any foundation in truth, may it not justly be
suspected that the applicability thereof to the historical Mohammed is equally
supposititious and unjustified ?

432 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii

from the signs and tokens he had read in their own books.
On their asking Mohammed who he was, he replied, * I am
Mohammed Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abdu-1-Mottaleb/ Then
that Christian made a sign towards heaven, towards the
earth, and towards the mountains, and asked again, * Who
is thy nourisher ? ' Upon this Mohammed answered, * God,
who is without a partner and without an opponent' Hear-
ing this, the Christian exclaimed, 'O ye people of Syria,
know ye that this is the prophet of the latter day.'

The prophecies of the Soothsayers and Diviners concerning
the coming of that prince are also so many that we only
give one as a specimen : — Nazr Ibn Babia, one of the kings
of Yemen, who is said to have been the builder of Samarkand
and Herat, had a dream which frightened him. He gathered
his soothsayers and astrologers to tell him the dream, as a
guarantee for the correctness of their interpretation. They
confessed that they themselves were not able to do so, but
recommended Satih and Sak to be sent for, which was
accordingly done. Satih stated that Nazr had seen in a
dream a black-burnt substance, proceeding out of darkness,
or out of a black cloud, and falling upon the land of Yemen,
burning up everything in it. When Nazr had declared that
such had really been his dream, Satih interpreted it thus :
* Sixty or seventy years after Nazr's death, the Abyssinians
will conquer Yemen. Then Seif Ibn Yazan will rise up and
retake it from them. Then a pure prophet who receives
revelations from the Lord of both worlds, will conquer it
from the Yazanites ; and in the hands of his people Yemen
will remain till the day of the resurrection.'

The spirits (jins) also gave many prophecies of that
prince's appearance. Abu Amir narrates that he went to
Syria to inquire of diviners about the future, and says in
his account, * One moonlight night I fell asleep on my camel,
which then went astray ; and on awaking I found myself in
an unknown wilderness, so that I was in great fear. Seeing
several fires before me, I went towards them, when I per-
ceived people around them who did not the least resemble
men. They were warming themselves, and talking with each
other in a loud voice, so that the hairs of my body stood up,
and the camel on which I rode, stopped and began to tremble.

CH. II. SEC V. I.] HIS RISE MADE KNOWN BY SPIRITS. 433

When I dismounted, those people disappeared from my sight.
I called out aloud after them, " I put my trust in the chief
of this people." Thereupon four of them became visible to
me, saluting me, and sitting down opposite me. Their form
was exceedingly ugly and awful. One of them asked me,
" Whence art thou ? " and I answered, " I am from Ghazan,
and am going to Syria, there to inquire concerning the future
of the Diviners ; and my name is Abu Amir." Then they
made a sign to one of their number, saying, " Now is the
opportunity." I turned towards him, and laid my request
before him, remembering that the Diviners receive their
information from the spirits G'^s). That spirit said to me,
" I swear by the rain that pours down from the clouds, and
by those who people the waterless deserts, that thin-bodied,
quickly-marching camels shall be brought to one who is the
best of heroes, of covenant-keepers, of exhorters and com-
manders, and to whom word also shall be brought down
from heaven. Surely the time is near, that one shall be
called and raised up who will be a subduer of Caesars and
Chosroeses." Then he described the form and beauty of
that Excellency, and the seal of his prophetship, adding,
" He shall be unlettered, and whosoever follows him shall
find happiness. O Abu Amir, these things I have heard
from the good angels with my own ears." '

Of the true dreams^ pointing to the coming of that prince,
we will only mention one of Abdu-1-Mottaleb's, thus related
by himself: * I once slept in the Kaaba, and saw in my dream
a tree growing forth from my loins, whose top reached up to
heaven, and its boughs and branches took in the east and the
west. There was light in it equalling that of seventy suns,
to which both the Arabs and the Persians bowed down in
worship, and that light was still increasing from moment to
moment. And I saw a number of the Koreish clinging to the
boughs and branches of that tree, and another number ready
to cut it down. But when they approached the tree, I saw
a youth of matchless beauty keep diem back and pluck out
their eyes. I myself stretched out my hand to seize one
ray of that light, when the same youth said to me, " Those
may seize it who cling to the boughs and branches of the
tree." Then I was frightened and awoke. When I told this

2£

434 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [BK.n.

dream to a soothsayer, his colour changed, and he said to
me, '* One will come from thy loins who will rule over the
people of the east and the west, and to whom the people of
the whole earth shall become subjected." '

60. Mohammed's sixtieth excellency consists of the evi-
dent miracles and wonders which he was enabled to perform,
and which will now be specially treated of

(2.) His Miracles.

The Divines affirm that the miracles of all the previous pro-
phets were given to Mohammed, and that he surpassed them
all, so that, e.g.y if Noah received the miracle of the Ark which
floated upon the waters of the deluge, our own prophet could
command stones to float on the water : and it is certainly
more wonderful to cause stones to move upon the waters
than k vessel. It is reported that when he invited Abu Jahl
to embrace the Faith, Akrima requested him, first to show
a miracle, and then he also would believe. Now, as they
just happened to be near a lake which was full of water and
surrounded with stones, Mohammed said to him, * Go to that
stone and say to it, " Mohammed calls thee." ' Akrima did
as he was bidden, and, lo, instantly that stone began to
move and to swim on the water, till it stood opposite his
Excellency. But every one knows that it is more wonderful
for a stone to swim on the water than, e,g,y for a tree or a
board.

Likewise, if fire was made obedient to Abraham, so that
it could not burn or singe him, Mohammed the chosen was
so eminently endowed with miraculous power that fire would
not even singe the pocket-handkerchief which he held in
his hand. It is recorded that Uns Ibn Malik visited that
Excellency, who, after dinner, sent for a soiled handkerchief
which he threw into an oven where a fire had been kindled,
and then took it out again, when the fire had not had any
other effect except that of thoroughly cleaning it It is
stated that, on the day of the resurrection, the Most High
will command the fire of hell to obey Mohammed, so as to
burn any one of whom he will say, * Burn him ; ' and not to
touch any one of whom he will say, * Do not bum him.*

If Moses was endowed with the miraculous power of

CH. II. SEC. V. 2.] HIS MIRACLES MOST MIRACULOUS. 435

causing water to flow from the rock, our own prophet was
counted worthy of the power of causing water to flow from
his fingers. For it is creditably affirmed by his companions,
Abd Allah Ibn Masud and Jabir Ibn Abd Allah, that
during the war of Hodeibia the people complained of thirst,
when that Excellency said, * Look, whether any one has still
some water.' His friends searched, and having found a
small quantity, brought it to him. That Excellency asked
for a cup, into which he poured that water, and then also put
his blessed hand into it, whereupon water began to bubble
forth from between his fingers, as it bubbles forth from a well ;
and all the people came, drank to their full, and performed
their ablutions. When Jabir was afterwards asked how
many they were on that occasion, he replied, * We were
5500 : but if we had been 10,000, that water would have been
enough for us.' But it is an established fact that it is much
more wonderful for water to proceed from flesh and skin
than from stones and earth.

If the prophet Salih was given the miraculous power of
bringing forth she-camels from the hard rock, our own
prophet was counted worthy that by his prayer he could
cause a date-tree to grow forth from a camel's hump and
instantaneously to bear fruit, so that all who were present in
the assembly could eat of the fruit, and that the dates of that
tree were exceedingly sweet to the palate of those having
an established faith in theology, but became stones in the
mouths of all who were unbelievers. So likewise Salih's
she-camels never spoke to him, whereas our own prophet
had camels speaking to him again and again. One of these
many cases is the following. 'That Excellency .was on a
journey, when suddenly a camel approached him, saying,
" O Apostle of God, I have no master : hitherto he has been
using me, but now that I am become old, he wants to
slaughter me ; therefore I am come to take refuge with thee
that thou mayest save me." The Apostle of God sent for
its master, and requested of him to let him have that camel
The master acceding to the request, his Excellency liber-
ated it'

Likewise, if the wind was made subject to Solomon, so
as, morning and evening, to carry his throne a month's dis-

436 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. il

tance, that prince was counted worthy of a Borak which, in
one portion of the night, carried him to the seventh heaven
and back again.

So likewise, if it was given to Jesus to raise the dead and
to cleanse the lepers : for our own prophet, even the side of a
poisoned kid was endued with life, so that it said to that
Excellency, ' Eat not of me, for I am poisoned.' It is related
that Maath Ibn Afra had taken a wife who refused to live
with him, because she had been told that he had leprosy on
his chest, whereupon he laid the case before the Prophet, as
a clever physician. The prophet requested him to uncover
his chest ; and then taking up a club, rubbed with it that
part of the chest which was leprous, and the leprosy dis-
appeared instantly. It is also told that once a woman
brought a present to his Excellency, begging him to cure
the eyes of her girl, who had been blind from her birth. His
Excellency turned up her ^y^s with his blessed hands, and
she could see at once.

Some Ulemas affirm that that prince had performed looo
miracles ; others 3000. Besides those signs and wonders
already mentioned, as connected with his birth, mission, and
flight, we have still to record some miracles of that Lord of
Lords.

I. His first and greatest miracle is the Koran. For as
the miracles of Moses, such as his dividing the sea, turning
the water of the Kopts into blood, and his staff" into a serpent,
corresponded to a prevailing tendency of his age, viz., magic ;
and as the miracles of Jesus, such as the raising of the dead,
the cleansing of lepers, etc, bore on the healing art which
was a pre-eminent science of his age ; — so in the age of our
own prophet, eloquence, poetry, and beautiful composition,
were more particularly in vogue, and therefore he brought
to the world a word of consummate perspicuity and eloquence,
of perfect grandeur of expression and solidity of meaning,
and yet free from prolixity and circumlocution, as well as
exempt from confusing breviloquence and abridgment, com-
prishig a truthful and just account of former nations and
other prophets and apostles, as also of future events ; and
including marvels of wise sentences and gems of beautiful
sayings ; having in its order and arrangement not the least

^^.u-J .m ^i— 1"^— ^^^i^qiW^>»qp—^eqsw.K..LrKJL.^^ ■■J*^ JT^T-

CH. II. SEC. V. 2.] THE MOON SPLIT IN TWO, ETC 437

resemblance to other men's words, and being preserved from
changes, alterations, and contradictions; and will have to
remain in this state till the time of the resurrection.

2. The splitting of the moon into two parts. AH, the
commander of the faithful, affirmed to have heard the account
from several persons, that once a number of polytheists
came to Mohammed, and said, * If thou claimest to be a
prophet, split the moon which is now in the sky into two
parts.' Mohammed asked them, * If I do so, will you then
believe?' and on their answering in the affirmative, he
stretched out his hands in prayer, or, according to another
account, he made a sxga to the moon with his fore-finger,
when instantly the moon became divided in two, one part
remaining where it was and the other descending behind the
mountain and disappearing ; or, according to another account,
one half was seen over one mountain and the other half over
another mountain ; or, according to still another account, the
moon was divided in such a manner that the mount Hira
could be seen between the two halves. But the Koreish
said, ' Mohammed has used magic before us.'

3. On the Farewell-pilgrimage they brought an infant
to the Prophet of God which was only born that very day,
and when his Excellency asked, 'Who am I?' the infant
answered, * Thou art the Apostle of God.' After this the
infant did not speak again till the time had arrived when
it could naturally do so. •

4. Om Salma and others narrated: *Once the Prophet
was walking in the field, when he suddenly heard a person's
voice saying, " O Apostle of God ! " When his Excellency
first looked round he saw nothing ; but on looking carefully,
he observed a hind tied in a tent which said in a clear voice,
" O thou Apostle of God, come to me ; " and when his Ex-
cellency went and asked, " What dost thou want ? " the hind
replied, " I have two kids on this mountain : loose me that I
may go and suckle them, after which I will return to thee."
His Excellency said, " Wilt thou come back again?" .The
hind replied, " God shall punish me, if I do not return." Upon
this his Excellency let it go ; and when it had suckled its
young, it returned ; but Mohammed requested its owner to
let it go.'

438 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii.

5. Ibn Abbas and Abd Allah Ibn Omar narrated that there
was a Bedouin hunter who once returned with a lizard which
he had caught and which he intended to slay and roast for
his family, when he met a crowd who, on being asked, told
him that they had gathered, because Mohammed was claim-
ing to be a prophet. The Bedouin pressed through the
crowd and said, * O Mohammed, by Lat and Ozza, I shall
never believe in thee, till this lizard does the same ; ' and
with these words threw the lizard down before Mohammed.
The lizard wanted to run away ; but Mohammed called it
back. It then said in plain Arabic, understood by all
present, * Here am I : what is thy behest ? ' Mohammed
asked, * Whom dost thou worship ? ' The lizard answered, ' I
worship that God whose throne is in the heaven. His
dominion on the earth. His path in the sea, His mercy in
Paradise, and His punishment in Hell/ His Excellency
further asked, * Who am I ? ' to which the lizard thus made
answer, * Thou art the apostle of both worlds, the seal of the
prophets : those who acknowledge thee find luck and pros-
perity, and those who reject thee shall suffer loss and harm.*
When the Bedouin heard these words from the lizard, he was
astounded, and said, * I shall not desire any further sign after
what I have now witnessed : I testify that there is no God
but One, who has no companion, and I 'testify that thou art
His servant and apostle. By Allah, I love thee more than
my eye and my ear, my mother and my father, my wife and
my children.'

6. Akil Ibn Abu Talib related, * I once accompanied that
prince on a journey, and, after travelling about two parasangs,
I saw several miracles from him. The first was this, that
when I complained to his Excellency that I was very thirsty,
and he sent me to a mountain close by, to ask water of it,
that mountain began to speak, saying, " Go to the Prophet
and say to him that since the Most High has made known
in the Koran the verse * Kindle the fire which will burn up
men and rocks,' I have wept so much from the fear of God
that no water has remained within me." The second was
this, that, once, when that prince wished to go aside privately
and there was no sheltered spot near, he saw some trees at
a distance, in the field, whom he addressed, saying, " Cover

CH. II. SEC V. 2.] A CAMEL AND STAG OBEY HIM. 439

me ; " whereupon those trees at once gathered in one place
and formed a kind of vault which that Excellency entered.
The third was this, that we reached a place where we found
a camel lying which as soon as it saw his Excellency, rose
up, went near him, and bowed before him, as humbly as
children bow before their parents. On his Excellency asking,
" What dost thou want ? " that camel answered, *' O Prophet
of God, my people lie down and sleep without saying their
evening prayers, so that I fear God will punish them." Then
his Excellency had those people brought to him, and for-
bade them to be so negligent'

7. Once a stag fled before a wolf and entered the holy
place for protection, the wolf remaining outside. Abu Sofyan
Ibn Harb and Mahzama Ibn Nowfal saw this and wondered,
when the wolf spoke to them thus : * Do ye wonder at this ?
I tell you that your own case is still more to be wondered at ;
for Mohammed is inviting you to the profession of the Unity
and to the Faith, but ye do not believe him ; and, by Allah,
none of you has ever seen one like him, nor has any ear
heard of attributes like his.' They wondered at this : but on
account of their exceedingly great envy they did not tell it
to any person, until they embraced Islam.

8. Seid Ibn Zeid relates that once the Apostle of God,
together with Abu Bekr, Omar, and Othman, was on Mount
Hira. Then that mount began to move and tremble, but his
Excellency addressed it thus, * O thou Mount Hira, be still
and quiet : for the persons on thee are no other than the
Prophet, the faithful one, and the martyr.*

9. Abu Dhirr narrates that once the Prophet sat some-
where with Abu Bekr, Omar, Otham, and, according to
another account, also with- Ali, when he took up seven
pebbles from the earth ; and they, in his blessed hand,
praised God with a loud voice, Uke the buzz of bees. He
then put them down, and they became silent. After this he
placed them into the hands of his companions in turn, and
they again praised God ; but on putting them into my hand,
they remained silent ; and on my asking the Prophet the
reason of this, he replied, ' O Abu Dhirr, wishest thou to be
equal to the orthodox Califs ? *

10. Once a Bedouin came to the Prophet, saying, * I have

440 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. il.

embraced Islam, and am come to ask of thee to show me a
sign, in order to increase the certainty of my faith.* Mo-,
hammed sent him to a tree to request it, in his name, to come
to him. As soon as he delivered the message, the tree began
to turn from one side to the other, tearing up its roots, and
then walked to that Excellency, saying, * Peace be to thee,
O thou Apostle of God!' Then the Bedouin said, *It is
enough, it is enough I * and the Prophet commanded the
tree to return to its former place.

1 1. Ibn Abbas avers that when once some person came
and said to that Excellency, * Whence can I know that thou
art a prophet come from God?' he replied, * Wilt thou believe,
if at my request a branch of this date-tree comes down ? '
The Bedouin having answered in the affirmative, Mohammed
called the branch, and lo, it at once fell down on the ground
and then stood up erect and walked to his Excellency, who
then sent it back to its former place.

12. It is narrated that once, during the Taif expedition,
that prince mounted his camel during a very dark night and
rode onward, till he stood before a lotus-tree, which then, of
itself, split in two, so that his Excellency could safely pass
through it

13. Jabir Ibn Abd Allah narrated that when they were
digging the ditch, he had been preparing a supper with a fat-
tened kid, for the Prophet, and a few friends. On inviting the
Prophet, the latter asked him to tell his wife, not to take the
pot, with the kid, from the hearth, nor to put the dough into
the oven, before they came ; and then the Prophet asked all
the people employed in the ditch to accompany them. Jabir
went and said to his wife, * Woe to thee : his Excellency has
invited all the people.' His wife replied, 'Grieve not: for
God and His apostle know best' When we arrived, that
Excellency pronounced a blessing on the pot of kid and on
the dough, and then caused the people to enter and sit down
by tens. After they had all eaten and were satisfied, that
Excellency ordered the pot to be kept covered and the oven
closed, and then called in the rest of the people, amounting
in all to nearly 1000 who likewise ate, till they had enough.
His Excellency also told them to take some of the food to
their neighbours, because of the prevailftig famine. We all

CH. II. SEC V. 2.] MIRACLES ON CORN, SHEEP, ETC. 441

ate and sent to our neighbours, and the supply was not
. finished till that prince left our house.

14. Jabir again narrates that, after his father's death, the
creditors came, demanding payment ; and on offering them
the entire produce of the field, they refused to accept it,
deeming it too little. He then went to the Prophet to ask
help of him ; and he ordered him to gather all the produce
in different heaps. This being done, the Prophet walked
three times round the first heap, and then measured from it
the whole amount due to the creditors, without apparently
diminishing it, whilst all the other heaps remained for Jabir.

1 5. It is recorded that the Apostle of God once stroked
the back of a barren sheep with his blessed hand, when the
udder of that sheep instantaneously filled with milk, so
that he could milk it, drink of the milk himself, and also
let Abu Bekr drink of it

16. Abu Horeira narrates : * I once went to the Apostle
of God with a few dates, asking him to bless them for me.
After he had taken them into his own hand and blessed
them, he told me to put them into a sack, which I was
never to empty upon the ground, but from which I was to
take as often as I might want. I did as I was bidden, and,
by Allah, I ate of those dates, giving also to my guests
and people, as long as that Excellency lived and even
during the Califates of Abu Bekr, Omar, and Otham, till,
at the martyrdom of the latter, my house was pillaged,
together with that sack.'

17. Omar Ibn el Khattab related: 'During the Tabuk
expedition the companions asked permission of the Apostle
of God to slaughter camels, because of the scarcity of pro-
visions. But he refused, requesting them to bring all the
remaining provisions and to pour them upon a mat. This
done, he invoked a blessing, and then all those present ate
of the provisions till they were satisfied, and what remained
over, they put into sacks.'

18. Abu Horeira averred : * Once they brought a cup of
delicious food to the Prophet, and he invited also those
present to partake of it, with him. When they had all eaten,
his Excellency, with his blessed finger, stroked together
what was sticking to the basin, amounting to a mouthful.

442 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. il.

which he asked me to eat: and, by Allah, I ate of it till
I became quite satisfied/

19. The same related : * Once when I was very hungry,
his Excellency asked me to his house, and on arriving I
found that he had prepared a cup of milk. After all had
drunk of it and only a little remained, this was given to me
to drink. I then drank of it, and went on drinking, till there
remained no more room in my stomach ; and what I left
that Excellency drank himself.'

20. Uns Ibn Malik related : * Once that Excellency put
a few loaves of bread into my arm, with which he satisfied
the appetite of seventy men: and yet these loaves were
still remaining in my arms.'

21. It is reported that once the Prophet requested Omar
Ibn Khattab to prepare dates as provision for 400 soldiers,
mounted on camels. Then those 400 soldiers provisioned
themselves from those few dates, and when they had done so,
the dates remained just as before, as if none had been taken.

22. Jabir Ibn Simre stated, that once his Excellency
said, * You ought to conquer the lands of Chosroes and the
Caesar, and divide their riches and treasures.' Eventually
matters turned out as that Excellency had predicted.

23. Ibn Horeira narrated : * On one of the expeditions I
was with his Excellency and there was also a certain Kazman
of whom he said, * He will surely go to Hell.' When they
told the Prophet that Kazman had fought better than all the
rest, he repeated, * He surely will go to Hell.' This was so
strange, that one of the companions went after the man to
learn his state ; and then saw him draw an arrow from his
quiver to kill himself, he being reluctant to bear the pains from
a spear-wound which he had received. When Mohammed
heard this, he told Bilal to call out aloud, * No one who is
not a Mussulman can enter Paradise.'

24. Abu Musa narrated : * I once sat with his Excellency
in one of the gardens of Medina, when some one came and
knocked at the door. That Excellency asked me to open
the door for the coming person and to salute him with
the promise of Paradise. I did as I was bidden, and that
person was Abu Bekr. Then some one else knocked, and
his Excellency spoke as before. This was Omar. After

CH. II. SEC. V. 2.] HE UNVEILS SECRETS. 443

a while again some one knocked, and Mohammed, who was
reclining, said, " Go, open the door, and salute him with the
promise of Paradise, on the condition that he is to suffer a
great calamity." I went and found that it was Othman.'

25. Ibn Horeira said: 'The Prophet stated that the
resurrection is not to take place till the time when you will
have made war with a people whose sandals are of leather,
and with the people of the Turks whose t:y^s are narrow,
their faces red, their noses extended, and whose visage is, as
it were, a shield covered over with leather.' ^

26. Ibn Abbas reported : * The Prophet one day went
round the Kaaba, when he met Abu Sofyan, and said to him,
" O Abu Sofyan, thou hast spoken such and such words to
thy wife Hind." Abu Sofyan said to himself, " My wife has
betrayed my secrets : I will go home and do so and so to
her." After that Excellency had finished his circumambula-
tion, he went again to Abu Sofyan, and said to him, " O Abu
Sofyan, do thou no harm to thy wife ; for she has not be-
trayed thy secrets." Upon this Abu Sofyan said, " I testify
that thou art the Prophet of the Most High God, and
knowest my mind and my secrets." '

27. Aisha the faithful stated : * Once the Prophet sent me
to see a lady whom he desired to marry. On my return I
said, " O Apostle of God, I did not see anything that would
answer." His Excellency replied, "The truth is, that thou
hast seen in her face such a charm of beauty as raised thy
jealousy." On hearing this, I became just, and said, "O
Prophet, who is there that can conceal anything from
thee ? " '

28. Abu Nawfal narrated : * When Hajaj killed Abd
Allah, he sent his head to his mother Asma, and she returned
to him this answer : " The Apostle of God says that a liar
and a shedder of blood is to arise from the Thakifite tribe ;
and although thou hast seen the liar, thou dost not think
that there is a spiller of blood besides thyself."' The
Ulemas declare that the liar here referred to was Mukhtar
Ibn Abu Abid.

29. Once, when the Apostle of God left Medina on a

^ This description applies to the genuine Turks as being originally a branch
of the great Tartar stock in Central Asia.

444 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [bk. ii.

military expedition, a woman, Om Waraka, begged him to
let her accompany the expedition, to attend on the sick and
wounded, and, if God should appoint it for her, to obtain
martyrdom. But Mohammed told her to remain in Medina,
and there to attain to the rank of a martyr. Now in Omar's
Califate her two slaves murdered her, so as to obtain their
liberty the sooner. Omar, on hearing it, pronounced it to be
the fulfilment of the Prophet's word. Still, he commanded
the two slaves to be hanged.

30. Abu Horeira stated that he heard the Prophet
say : ' A number of the strong men of the Koreish will
destroy some of my people.' Abu Horeira adds, * If I wished,
I could designate them by name.' The Ulemas affirm, that
the Beni Harb and Beni Omeia were meant

31. It is recorded that when the Sura in which it is said,
' Do not you raise your voice above that of the Prophet,' was
sent down, Thabit Ibn Kis did not come to the mosque for
some days, knowing that the verse referred to him. Moham-
med inquiring what was the matter with him, whether,
perhaps, he was ill, some one went to see him, and reported
to the Prophet that he had found him very sad and melan-
choly because of the verse, whereupon the Prophet sent the
man back to Thabit with this message, * Art thou not ready
to live happy, to die a martyr, and to enter Paradise prais-
ing ? ' It is a fact that Thabit became a martyr in the
battle of Yemama, after the time of his Excellency.

32. Abu Dhirr narrated that the Prophet said, ' Be quick
to conquer Egypt ; and, O Abu Dhirr, when thou seest that
two men quarrel with each other, on account of a piece of
land, the size of a brick, then leave that country. Abu Dhirr
adds, * After the conquest of Egypt I saw Abd ur Rahman
quarrel with his brother for so much land as his Excellency
had intimated ; and I at once left that place.'

33. Uns Ibn Malik related that once the Prophet took
breakfast in the house of Om Haram, his pure wet-nurse,
after which he fell asleep. On awakening he smiled ; and
Om Haram asking him for the reason, he replied, * Because I
have been shown part of my people embarking in ships to
make war with the infidels.' When Om Haram said, *,0
thou Apostle of God, pray that I also may be amongst

CH. II. SEC. V. 2.] HE IS MARVELLOUSLY PROTECTED, 445

them/ he rejoined, * Thou shalt be of their number.* In the
reign of Omeia, when they made war with the Greek infidels,
the soldiers embarked in ships, and Om Haram went with
them ; but on the way to the ship she fell from her camel
and died.

34. Hazim Ibn Aws averred that he heard the Prophet
say, it had been revealed to him that his people was to
conquer Herat, and that a fair Amazon, riding on a white
mule, should be taken captive. Hazim begged that she
might become his ; and Mohammed consented. The pre-
diction was fulfilled under Khalid Ibn Walid.

35. When the Sura Tebbet (i,e. Sura iii.) came down,
concerning Abu Lahab, his wife, Om Jamila, went to abuse
the Prophet of God. Abu Bekr, who just happened to be
with him, seeing her come, said to Mohammed, * O thou
Apostle of God, this woman has an exceedingly bad
tongue : go out of her way that she may not see thee.' So
when she had departed, without having seen him, the
Prophet said, 'The Almighty has sent an angel who
covered me with his wings.'

36. Abu Horeira narrated, that one day Abu Jahl wished
to put his unclean foot on Mohammed's pure neck and to rub
his face upon the ground, as the latter was performing his
prayers ; but when he approached him with that intention*
he was seen suddenly to withdraw and to make motions with
his hand, as if he was turning something away. On being
asked the reason of his having done so, he replied, * A ditch
of fire appeared between him and me ; and I saw a multitude
who drove me away with their wings, wherefore I was over-
whelmed by an exceedingly great fear.* His Excellency
said to his companions, ' If Abu Jahl had come near me, the
angels would have torn off his limbs one by one.'

37. Abu Imama stated, that the Apostle of God was
once about to put on his boots, and had already put on one,
when a raven came and carried off the other to some
distance, where a serpent was seen to creep out of it

38. Hitham Ibn Adi narrated that in the battle of Ohod
Katada Ibn Naaman was hit in his eyes with a spear, so
that the eye came out and he held it in his hand. In this
condition he went to seek help of Mohammed, who said to

446 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED, [bk. ii.

him, * If thou desirest it, I will ask God to give thee patience
and Paradise ; and if thou desirest it, I will ask Him to
restore thine eye.' Katada replied, * Paradise is indeed a
great reward ; but I am one who is wrapt up in the love of
women, and if they saw me thus, they would say, " He is
one-eyed : " therefore I beg of thee to restore my eye.*
Thereupon that Excellency took Katada's eye in his own
blessed hand, put some saliva upon it, ^ and restored it to
its proper place. Katada could at once see with it as before,
nay, it was his best eye and never ached the least, till he died.

39. Ibn Abbas stated that once a woman brought her
child to the Prophet of God, saying, * In truth this child has
a sort of spirit which seizes it when we eat, so that we are
in great distress.* That Excellency rubbed his blessed hand
over the child's chest and prayed over it Then the child
retched, and there came forth an animal from its stomach
like a puppy, and ran away. But the child was cured.

40. It is reported that once Abu Talib was ill and was
visited by the Prophet of God, to whom he said, * O nephew,
pray to the God whom thou worshippest, that He may heal
me.* Mohammed complying with the request, Abu Talib
was cured instantaneously, and said to his nephew, * O Mo-
hammed, verily thy God obeys thee.' Mohammed replied,
* O uncle, if thou worshippest Him, He will also obey thee.'

41. Abu Nehik narrated that he heard Omar Ibn Akhtab
say, * Once the Apostle of God asked me for a draught of
water. On reaching him a cupful, I observed a hair^ in it,
which I first picked out, and then gave him the water. His
Excellency drank it, and then said, * O God, the Creator,
keep thou Omar Ibn Akhtab beautiful and fresh.* Abu
Nehik adds, 'When I saw him, he was ninety-one years
old, and yet not a hair of his beard had turned white.' But
God knows best

^ This trait seems borrowed from the instances recorded in the Gospels where
Jestts Christ employed his own saliva in restoring their sight to blind persons,
€,g, Mark viii. 23 ; John ix. 6.

BOOK III.

a^o$ammetianf0m btetoeti in ita l^ifitovltal ^ofiitlon^
e0pecfall; a0 regatta it0 Kelattoit to C|ir(0tfaitftp
anh Ct)ri0tmtiom.

After having taken a full view of the historical figure of
Mohammed, as it impressed itself upon his time and nation ;
and after having contemplated the mythical form, with its
exaggerated proportions, which the Prophet assumed in
the fond recollection of his devoted admirers, it may be
opportune briefly to direct our attention to the grave and
important problem of the real nature of the position occupied
by Mo/iammedanisnty as an historical power in the worlds sur-
viving cbwn to our own days.

In doing so, we must not be guided by mere subjective
impressions, but judge by an objective canon of unquestion-
able authority. Accordingly we take our stand on the
frank profession, in which all will join us whose belief in
Christianity, as the highest stage of Revealed Religion,
rests on personal conviction, that the Religion of Christ
presents the Standard by which all other religions have to be
judged, Christianity being the religion of the God-man, in
whom the true ideal of religion was fully and perfectly
realised, any person can only be genuinely religious in
proportion as he resembles Christ, and any system of religion
can only sustain its claim to truth so far as it harmonises
with the plan of salvation laid down in the Gospel. Christ
is the perfect man, the 'teacher come from God.' He
solemnly declared, *I am the way, and the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me' (John
xiv. 6). Christianity is the true religion, the right way that
leads to communion with God. In this we have the test,

448 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

the only decisive test, by which the real character of
Mohammed can be correctly ascertained, and the oft-
repeated question, whether Islam is a true or a false religion,
authoritatively settled. Only if a critic is still doubtful in
his own mind, as to whether Divine Revelation has reached
its climax in the God-man Christ Jesus, and whether this
Sun of the realm of mind is powerful enough to penetrate
all human spheres and illuminate all mental paths, can he
think of deciding the great question about Mohammed and
Mohammedanism by any other standard. In any sphere it
is only by the light of the higher stage that the lower can
be fully understood. Only on the standpoint of the animal
kingdom can we rightly estimate the vegetable and mineral
kingdoms ; and only rational man forms the key for the
understanding of all the rest of terrestrial creation. So like-
wise in Christianity alone have we the right criterion by
which to judge all other religions.

I. — Mohammedanism^ by its historical hostility to Christianity^
Itas proved itself a Weapon of the Kingdom of Dark-
ness against the Kingdom of Lights thus taking rank^
side by side^ with anti-Christian fudaism and antt-
Christian Paganism,

The sudden rise and rapid spread of Mohammedanism in
the world has something enigmatical and startling for the
student of history. When the historian has successfully
sailed down the misty and difficult stream of remote
antiquity, wafted onward by side winds from the right
and the left, through rapid currents and intricate channels,
till he has arrived at that grand epoch marked by the
Second Adam, the God-man Saviour, towards which the
whole ancient world tends as to its goal, — then he feels like
a mariner who has reached a harbour of rest and safety,
after a tedious and dangerous voyage. The Central Sun of
Divine Revelation which has risen for him in the wonderful
Person of the Prophet of Nazareth, now sheds its illuminat-
ing rays over all the apparently pathless regions, the wide
expanse of highlands and plains, of cultured fields and
arid deserts, through which he has been steering ; and

SEC. I.] CHRISTIAN EXPANSION BARRED BY ISLAM, 449

relieves the darkness of their * Why ? and Wherefore ? ' by
its radiant light He has discovered a goal for the march
of nations, a living centre for human history.

From under the Temple of God, * broken down, and after
three days raised up again* (Jol\n ii. 19-21), a stream issues
forth (Ezek. xlvii. 1-12), destined to flow onwards to the
ends of the earth, and to restore freshness and healthi-
ness to all the national waters with which, in its course of
universality,' it comes in contact. This stream of Christian
light and life is the motive power of all real progress and
healthful development in the spiritual condition of the world.

As every other stream, this also had its small beginning,
then widened its bed, and is still continuing its onward flow,
till at last it will issue into the boundless ocean of eternity.
From its narrow dimension at the source, where it was
wholly spanned by personal individualities^ it speedily
spread to a congregational or ecclesiastical width, and
after a flow of three centuries, had already acquired a full
national breadth. The mightiest nationality then extant,
the Roman, had itself been subjected by it to a process
of permeation and absorption. Thus the wonderful stream
had risen to fill with its swelling volume the entire channel
of its course, up to the brink.

In such majestic fulness it rolled onward the renovating
waters of its personal, ecclesiastical, and national influences,
diffusing fertility right and left along its shores. Nothing
else could apparently be expected than that it should un-
interruptedly continue its mighty, though quiet, onflow, — till
it had accomplished its circuit through the world, and
enriched, with its bountiful blessings, all the nations of the
earth.

But scarcely had Christianity been at work for three
centuries longer, in the gigantic task of renovating and re-
forming the heathen character of the Roman empire, and
Christianising the other nations within its reach, when
suddenly we find a formidable bar drawn across its hitherto
steady course of progress ; and Islam is in arms, threatening
not merely to stop its onward march, but to repress and
crush it altogether. Thus Mohammedanism presents itself to
the student of history as a surprise, an enigma, a crux. It

2F

450 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. III.

had not been expected, like a season in its turn, or a child
at its birth : it came suddenly, like the disastrous overthrow
of an earthquake. How must we interpret this startling
phenomenon ? how account for this fiery meteor ?

In point of time, Islam was the direct successor of
Christianity, which was then already practically affirming
its claim to finality and universality amongst different
nations, the Arabian not excepted ; and addressing itself
generally to the moral nature of man, as a free agent
Hence it would have been natural and easy for the new
religious movement in Arabia, to fit itself into the organic
growth of history, by resting content with a subordinate
position and becoming the handmaid of the Christian Cause.
Had Islam been willing to minister to the Divine energies
of the religion of Christ, and to smooth the way for its
wider propagation, it might have claimed the rank of a
perfectly natural and truly beneficial evolution of history.

Even now there are not wanting thoughtful men who
attribute to it this very character, and believe in its having a
mission from Providence to minister to the Cause of Christ,
— notwithstanding its own outspoken profession to the con-
trary and the undeniably hostile policy towards Christianity
and Christendom, of which its entire history is one continuous
illustration. What these men have affirmed about a Prom-
dential character of Mohammedanism, is this : that Grod
raised it to be intrusted with the double mission of chastising
Eastern Christendom or *the Eastern Church,' for many
grievous errors, by conquering the finest Christian lands ;
and also of preparing the heathen nations for the reception
of the Gospel, or at least benefiting them, by imposing on
them the discipline of its strict Monotheism and rigid law.^

^ Even the theolc^an Dorner, in his great work System der Christlicken
GlaubensUkrey apparently ascribes to Mohammedanism an essentially pro-
vidential character, by declaring that ' on the whole it can only be r^arded as
a preparation of the masses of heathen populations for Christianity, by means of
its law and monotheism ' (vol. i. p. 713). But at the same time, and in virtual
contradiction to this, he also says, that it ' occupies a hostile position against
Christianity, and, being inferior to it, can only be looked upon as ordained to
serve Christianity in its historical course, contrary to its own will* (p. 7iS).
Now what Islam is made to do ' contrary to its own will,' does not constitute its
proper essence and true nature. Professor Dorner being constrained to admit
that it is in itself hostile to Christianity, or anti-Christian, and, as such, not

SEC.1.] IS ISLAM A PROVIDENTIAL INSTITUTION f 451

Now it IS quite true, that in a certain sense everything
which is or happens can be called Providential. The
omniscient Creator naturally foreknows all the possible
outcomes of the faculties with which He has endowed His
personal creatures. As the Supreme Ruler He also controls
whatever exists or happens. Even what is done contrary to
His command and in opposition to His will, by those whom
He has made free agents, is yet under His laws and shaped
by the nature which He has bestowed on them. Whatever
exists, sin not excepted, is, in this manner, subject to the
laws of God and embraced by the unlimited sphere of His
Providence. But examining Islam as to its character of a
Divinely revealed religion, which it claims for itself, it cannot
be admitted that it was raised up to fulfil a mission in
harmony with Christianity, by seconding its efforts to
advance the highest interests of mankind, nor, in fact, that
its origin and rise was caused by the spontaneous action of
that Holy God who sent Jesus Christ into the world.

Unfortunately it is but too true that the spread and
enforcement of Islam did bring an untold amount of suf-
ferings, degradation, and misery upon a vast portion of
Christendom; and that the visible Church of Christ, on
this earth, has never at any period been so entirely free from
imperfections and blemishes that those calamities might not
more or less have had the appearance and the intent of
Divine judgments. But this as little suffices to account for
the rise and progress of Mohammedanism, as our Lord
Jesus permitted the inference that Pilate's slaughter of
certain Galileans in the temple, or the fall of a tower in
Siloam killing eighteen persons, were special acts of Divine

providental, but anti-providential, he ought not to have characterised it as * on
the whole a preparation of the masses of the heathen populations for Chris-
tianity,* as if God had raised it for this purpose ; but he ought to have qualified
it according to its own nature and design, as an anti-Christian power, which,
however, has to submit, like everything else, to being controlled and overruled
by Divine Providence. If Dorner, in speaking of the divisions and schisms of
the Christian Church, says (vol. ii. p. 912), ' As all obscurations, so these also,
must be derived from error and sin,' i,e, from the kingdom of darkness, how
can he avoid tracing Mohammedanism to the same source, seeing it not only
obscures, but flatly denies, the Christian truth ? In the interest of consistency
with the whole, the heading of § 69 of the admirable System der Christlichen
Glaubenslehre ought to be differently worded.

452 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

vengeance for sins of an unusually provoking character
(Luke xiii. 1-5). It would certainly require an unwarrant-
able amount of hardihood to affirm that there was such a
difference between Eastern and Western Christendom, in their
religious faithfulness and faultiness, as to account for the
fact that in the seventh century Palestine and Egypt and
Syria were trampled under foot by Islam, and in the eighth
the sturdy sons of Gaul and Germany, by their glorious
victory near Tours, rolled back for ever the surging tide
of Mussulman invasion. It is not very rational to suppose
that God subjected the Eastern Christians to Mohammedan
oppression, because they were not so faithful to the Gospel
as they ought to have been ; and that He raised up and
prospered the Mohammedan oppressors, though they sought
with all their might to degrade and repress the evangelical
religion whichit was His special aim to preserve and to protect

Nor is it a more fortunate idea, in seeking to fasten on
Providence the paternity of Islam, to credit the latter with
a Divine destiny to prepare the Pagan nations for the adop-
tion of Christianity. For this is opposed by the hard fact
that, throughout the thirteen centuries of its existence, it
not only has never favoured, but actually prohibited and
prevented, as far as it could, all its votaries from embracing
the Faith of the Gospel ; and that as a system for the special
purpose of preparing the way for Christianity, it would at
any rate have made its appearance 600 years too late.

All these attempts to discover in the existence of Islam
a Divine teleology, and to represent it as a necessary link in
the chain of Providential actions and institutions, for the
good of mankind, are opposed by the decidedly anti-Chris-
tian character both of its essential nature and its historical
manifestation.^

^ A view entirely opposed to the one here propounded is expressed in a work
which only came into my hands when my manuscript was already folly pre>
pared for the press. I refer to the published Lectures on Mohammed and
Mohammedanism^ by R. Bosworth Smith, 1874. Mr. Smith tells us that his
object in writing the work was ' to render some measure of that justice to Mo-
hammed and to his religion which has been all too long denied to them ' (p. 206).
Accordingly he has to be looked upon not so much in the light of a judge, as
rather in that of an advocate. This r61e he keeps up throughout his book. The
Koran is to him ' a miracle indeed * (182) ; Mohammed ' the greatest of all Re>

i.w. - . ^^'•^mmm^tmi^^^m^m^i^K^mm^mmmmmmmmmm^mmmmumiaB^ffr^'^

SEC. I.] THE PROVIDENTIAL THEORY INVITING. 453

It can indeed hardly surprise us that a theory which
would eliminate so jarring an element, so perplexing an
enigma from history, should have found favour with many.
The thoughtful mind finds it more gratifying to discover in
history what is harmonious, than what is discordant To
the devout believer, in particular, it may seem more God-
honouring to recognise in so important an historical factor as
Islamism rather a work of God than an institution opposed
to His will, rather an ally and helper to Christianity, than

formers * (60) ; * too great to be designated merely as ** The Great " ' (233) ; * half
a Christian and half a Pagan,* but the Utter half, ' uniting in a marvellous degree
the peculiar excellencies of them both' (235); in short, 'a very Prophet of God'
(238}. Whilst thus extolling Mohammed in terms which no sober judge can
indorse, * the author of these Lectures has thought it right mainly to dwell on
that aspect of the character of Christ, which is admitted by Mussulmans as well
as Christians, by foes as well as friends ' (Preface x). But does not the question
suggest itself to every reader : Is the character of Christ admitted by Mussulmans ^
His true character, or do not these Lectures rather place before us, as a ficti-
tious Mohammed, so also a fictitious Christ ? It is a mere illusion of the con-
fident author to suppose that, by this method, he has discovered * a basis for an
ultimate agreement ' between real Mohammedanism and real Christianity.

Under the spell of this illusion, and evidently knowing Islamism mainly from
books and from hearsay, Mr. Bosworth Smith indulges the visionary hope that
these two religions will one day agree in brotherly harmony, ' each rejoicing in
the success of the other, and each supplying the other's wants, in a generous
rivalry for the common good of humanity.' To realise thb vision, they will
have to keep within ' their respective spheres : the one the religion of the best
parts of Asia and Africa, the other of Europe and America ' (232). He does
not say, what is to become of the worst parts of Asia and Africa. Apparently
they are to content themselves indefinitely with Paganbm. But what must we
think of the Christianity of a writer who thus wishes to restrict the * all power
in heaven and on earth,' claimed by Christ, and who indirectly stultifies his
Master's solemn covimand, ' Go ye into eUl the world, and make disciples of all
the nations ' ? (Mark xvi. 15, Matt, xxviii. 18, 19); what of his philanthropy, when,
after professing that 'Christianity is immeasurably superior to Mohammedanism'
( 106), he yet composedly resigns himself to the perpetual domination of Islam-
ism and Heathenism over Asia and Africa, and even expects the Christian to
' rejoice ' in such a future ?

It is truly surprising that a scholar, such as this author, did not perceive the
many self-contradictions in which his hazardous assumption that Mohammed
was * a very Prophet of God,' could not fail to involve him. He flatters himself
with the discovery that Islam is ' not an anti-Christian, but merely a non-Chris-
tian faith ' (51)' Su^ how does this discovery tally with Christ's positive declar-
ation, *He that is not with me hs against me'? (Matt. xii. 30.) The learned
author found it convenient to omit all reference to this passage, whilst laying an
exclusive and one-sided stress on Mark ix. 40. Can a »^»-Christian religion,
springing up in the face of Christianity, and with the undeniable intention of
displacing it, be anything but aM/;-Christian ? Mr. Smith lays great stress on

454 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

its hinderer and irreconcilable foe. But, with all our just
desire to discern plan and harmony in a world created and
ruled by God, we are forced to admit, if we judge soberly,
that not everything which is or comes to pass, is good. Sin
and evil are a terrible reality in this present world ; and no
one who reads history with open eyes can fail to trace it
there, throughout its course.

Yet whatever is not good cannot, as such, claim God
for its author. As ethically constituted creatures of a Holy

Mohammed's morality and sincerity. In fact, these are the main pillars which
sustain his belief in Mohammed as 'a very Prophet of God.' As if what con-
stitutes a man a prophet was his morality and sincerity, and not rather the
message he bears ! If Mohammed had been the most moral man in the world,
his false teaching would alone suffice to stamp him as a ' false ' prophet. Mo-
hammed*s morality and sincerity are rather delicate subjects for boasting. So
warm an advocate as Mr. Smith feels constrained to admit that ' he had faults,
and great ones ; ' still, as ' he was always the first himself to confess and deplore
them,' they did not undo 'the noble sincerity of his character' (238). But is
it really true that Mohammed was so ready to confess his faults ? Let us put the
assertion to the test of facts. David committed adultery. Mohammed also
committed adultery. For his favourite wife Aisha boldly accused him thus, 'O
Apostle of God, thou hast paid Zeinab a (conjugal) visit, without asking her in
marriage, and without witnesses. ' The ' penitential Psalms ' still witness to the
profound and poignant repentance with which David confessed and condemned
his sin, and thus mentally separated himself from it. But Mohammed, far from
confessing and condemning, rather tried to palliate and justify his adultery, by
pretending *the giver in marriage was God, and the witness Gabriel.'

The theory of men like Messrs. Smith and Carlyle respecting Mohammed
as 'a very prophet, of God' or ' a hero*prophet, ' and respecting Islamismas a
genuine twin-sister of Christianity, remains very far indeed from being proved
by the self-contradictory statements, the half-truths and unhistorical assertions with
which these Lectures abound. But even if it rested on a better foundation, what
would be its practical utility, seeing that it could, only tend to prolong the domi-
nation over Asia and Africa of religions which these authors themselves cannot
help admitting to be vastly inferior to Christianity. If *the poor have the
gospel preached to them ' (Matt xi. 5), neither the best nor the worst parts of
Asia and Africa can be beyond the limit of its applicability. Mr. Boswoith
Smith, in an article published in the December number 1887 of 77te NineUatik
Century i still affirms (p. 807) that he has ' as yet seen no good reason to depait
from the spirit and object' with which he discussed the 'great kindred religion'
in the afore-mentioned Lectures. At the same time, he also avows (p. 792) that
he would now think certain ' modifications and explanations ' of his earlier vievrs
* essential ; ' and he does not disguise that he has made great progress in his
estimation of the relative position of the two religions, by concluding his artidc
in these far more judicious words, ' If we are able to believe in God at all, we
must also believe that the ultimate triumph of Christianity is not problematical
but certain, and in His good time, across the lapse of ages, will prove to be not
local but universal, not partial but complete, not evanescent but eternal.'

SEC. I.] GOD NOT THE AUTHOR OF SIN AND EVIL. 455

God, we must admit that sin is not the free product of His
will, nor enjoys His loving approbation. There is a sense
in which it must be fearlessly affirmed that all sin and its
consequent evil exist in spite of God and contrary to His
will. Ethically opposite forces flow from ethically opposite
sources. Much seed is scattered on God's field, to spring
up and yield a bitter, baneful fruit, respecting which it must
be sorrowfully confessed, * An enemy hath done this ' (Matt,
xiii. 28). The harvest is not benefited by confounding weeds
with wheat Harmony is not enhanced by a premature
recourse to synthesis, before due scope has been given to
discriminating analysis. God is not honoured by attributing
to His causation what He only overrules, in working out
His sovereign designs. God is greater in permitting the
exercise of free action, even if opposed to His own will, and
in yet finally accomplishing His purpose, than if He were
to exercise His sovereignty to the extent of rendering every
counter- current impossible, and monopolising the whole
channel of history by the unchecked flow of His own voli-
tion. Man could not have been the crown and masterpiece
of God's workmanship, if he had not been made a free agent,
able to determine himself for good. But the capacity of
becoming voluntarily good, necessitates the possibility of
becoming what is not good. Had it been physically
impossible for man to become evil, his goodness could
never have been really voluntary, i.e. no ethical goodness
at all. Now if ethically constituted man, instead of realis-
ing the good on whose account he has been created a free
agent, realises the evil which had only been made possible
for him in order that he might be able to become good by
his own free will, he abuses his liberty and acts contrary to
the intention of his Creator. By means of a God-given
faculty he actually offends God and contravenes His will.

So little can the moral responsibility for the actuality of
sin and evil rest with God. It must be traced to a being
opposed to God and hostile to man^ as the Bible traces it No
great acuteness is required to perceive that antagonistic
forces are at work throughout the world. As everywhere
around us our eyes are met by the opposites of life and
death, light and darkness, good and evil, so likewise the

456 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

stream of past history by no means presents itself to us as
one of crystalline limpidity, but as a turbid mixture of good
and evil, love and hate, bright sunlight and deep night
shadows. These contradictory forces cannot have sprung
from one and the selfsame original source, but must have
emanated from very opposite fountain-heads.

Mohammedanism also occupies a place in the current
of history, and contributes a quota to its composition and
movement. This could not be, if God had not permitted it.
But this fact of itself as little proves a Divine initiation and
approbation, as the impurities by which many a river is
allowed to be polluted, can be looked upon as natural and
necessary ingredients of its original water. Mohammedan-
ism, though controlled by the universal government of God,
yet cannot have been called into existence by His holy, good,
and perfect will, to which we owe the coming of Christ ; nor
did its actual pretensions ever include a supposed mission
to promote the high interests of Christianity and Christen-
dom. The essential nature and true character of Islam, with
regard to Christianity, is not that of harmony and willing
helpfulness, but that of a conscious and undisguised anta-
gonism. This is abundantly apparent from the first two
Books of the present work. The Mohammedan world, as
general history clearly demonstrates, never has been and
never wished to be /r^- Christian. It always has been and, so
long as it remains what it is, always will be, ^7;i//- Christian.^

But if Christianity is derived from heaven ; if it bears the
stamp of true religion by having for its central idea that of
God-manhood, the union of God and man ; if it brings God
to man and man to God, then a religious system diametri-
cally opposing it, and claiming a destiny to supersede it,
cannot likewise be from God, or share in its Providential

^ It is with satisfaction I find that the views here expressed are borne out by
the sound judgment and vast learning of the author of a note-worthy work
originally published in Danish and entitled : ' Humanity and Christianity in
their historical Development, or, Philosophy of History from a Christian stand-
point,* by C. H. Scharling, Professor of Theology in Copenhagen. On p. 174,
vol. i. of the German Translation of that work we read : ' It surely is alt<^ether
false, if some, in modem time, assert that Islam has a mission in this world,
namely, of serving as a preparation of idolatrous nations for the faith in the one
true God. History most positively contradicts this assertion. Islam has never
operated to prepare the way for Christianity, and least does so to-day.'

SEC. I.] DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY, 457

mission. The nature of their relationship cannot possibly be
that of a common descent and natural affinity, but must be
that of heterogeneity and essential antagonism. In fact,
Islamism and Christianity are as far apart by the respective
spirit that animates them, as the Crescent and the Cross are
dissimilar in form. If the religion of Christ is the light of
truth, come down from heaven, the religion of Mohammed,
the false prophet, must have darkness for its element, and
derive its origin from below. God does not annul His own
work. His Kingdom is not divided against itself. What
opposes the reign of Light can only be a power of Dark-
ness.

Accordingly we have to look upon Mohavwiedanism
as, in its deepest nature, a reaction and aggression of tlie
Kingdom of Darkness against the Kingdom of Light The
innate antagonism and historical warfare of Islam against
Christianity and Christendom are, in reality, only a revival,
under a new form, of the dark opposition and Satanic con-
flict which had previously proceeded from anti-Christian
Judaism and anti-Christian Paganism.

Christianity, in entering this world and taking its place
amongst the religions of mankind, made three successive
steps, or evolved its intrinsic potentiality in three ever-widen-
ing concentric circles : the personal^ the ecclesiasticaly and the
national. The early history of the Christian religion exhibits
an advance by these three stages, in three clearly marked
periods. First, a solid foundation was laid in the land of
its birth, by the preparation and spiritual conversion of
individuals. Then congregations or Churches were formed
throughout the Roman empire. At last the Emperor him-
self bowed to Christ, and the faith in a crucified Saviour
became the acknowledged religion of tlie State,

The very same stages have still to be passed through,
when at present the religion of Christ is being spread in
foreign lands by the great Missionary organisations which
form so important a feature of our age. There always is first
the conversion and baptism of individuals. Then follows the
* gathering of Native Christians into organised Communities,
for Church and religious purposes!'^ This ultimately leads to

' See Church Missionary Intelligencer^ vol. ix. pp. 193, 194.

458 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

the Christianisation of the nation^ or to a renewed national-
isation of Christianity.

Upon each one of these three stages of its primitive de-
velopment and organic progress Christianity was opposed, in
succession, by the fierce onslaught and obstinate resistance of
one of the following mortal enemies : the Jews^ the Romans^
and the Mussulmans, Jewish fanaticism sought to strangle
Christianity at its birth, by shedding the blood of Christ and
His apostles. Roman heathenism and despotism persecuted
the youthful Churches with imprisonment, tortures, and death.
Asiatic Islamism, that mysterious compound of a fanatical
faith and an iron tyranny, strove, with all its might, to cast
Christianity from its political pinnacle and to rule the nations
in its stead. These three historic adversaries of the Kingdom
of God, widely as they differ amongst themselves, are yet
inwardly united against Christianity by the same malicious
spirit they breathe and the one impious aim they pursue.

But Jesus Christ being the sole Monarch, who is immor-
tal, and whose kingdom is * an everlasting kingdom,* every
attempt to dethrone Him and to overthrow His kingdom
cannot but fail, and eventually recoil with overwhelming
force upon the guilty heads of the enemies themselves.
The fanaticism of the Jews was unable to exterminate
the Christian believers, and to prevent them from uniting
into Churches : but their own commonwealth has ceased
to exist for the last 1800 years. The sanguinary and pro-
tracted persecutions of the humble Christian communities,
by the Heathenism of tJie Roman Empire^ only gave rise to
the remarkable saying, ' The blood of martyrs is the seed of
the Church ; ' and Pagan Rome herself became for centuries
the capital of Christendom. Islamism so palpably failed in
its gigantic attempts to dethrone and denationalise Christi-
anity in the world and to supplant the Cross by the Crescent,
that now the remaining Mussulman Governments exist only
through the forbearance of the rulers and nations of Chris-
tendom. Past history teaches that, through the action of
an overruling Providence, the ultimately winning Cause in
the world is the Cause of Christ, and the inevitably losing
Cause, that of all who fight against Him.

SEC. II.] EARL V GREA T PERSONALITIES. 459

II. — Unbelieving Judaism diabolically opposed Christianity

in its Personal Manifestation.

The age when Christianity first made its appearance in
the world was one of grand and powerful Personalities. John
the Baptist, who pointed to ' the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world/ had none greater than himself
among all them that were born of women before him (Matt.
xi. ii). St. Paul's master-mind directly reached and pro-
foundly stirred the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin worlds. Each
one of the twelve Apostles was a strongly marked represen-
tative character, whose type will still be seen impressed upon
the Church in her future state of perfection and glory (Rev.
xxi. 14). The great central figure of that age and, in fact, of
all ages, at once the archetype of humanity and the historical
realisation of the perfect man, Immanuel, the God-man, —
stands out so boldly in unique excellence, that the very best
of mankind can but distantly approach, never surpass or equal
Him. In this wonderful Person, primarily, and in the strong
Personalities attracted and ennobled by Him, secondarily,
Christianity first took human form and earthly subsistence.
The Kingdom of God had at last * come nigh,' inviting men
to enlist under its banner, and to acquire citizenship in it
The long-expected Saviour of man had become an historical
reality, and discerning eyes could behold * the Son of God
manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil '
(i John iii. 8). Jesus testified to the Jews, ' If I, by the
finger of God, cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God
come upon you' (Luke xi. 20).

But the Kingdom of God is spiritual in its nature ; arid
therefore spiritual faculties are required for its perception and
apprehension. As the acutest intellect can, of itself, only
imagine but not see a colour ; and in order actually to see it,
has needs to employ the physical organs of sight, so also
the sharpest material eye cannot pierce through to the sphere
of mind or see the Kingdom of God. To perceive and find
it, kindred organs, appropriate spiritual faculties, are needed.
The unenlightened Jewish spectators had no such faculties.
For them the Kingdom of God had no visibility. The great
Architect of God's Temple, who was actually standing be-

46o HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

fore their faces, appeared to them only as the common
'carpenter's son of Nazareth' (Matt. xin. 55).

As a matter of course, eyes which could not discern the
Kingdom of Heaven in its coming, nor the King, greater than
Solomon, who brought it nigh, were as little capacitated to
perceive the Kingdom of Darkness which surrounded them,
and that fully armed Strong One upon its throne, who was
now about to be overcome, stript, and spoiled by One still
stronger (Luke xi. 21,22). The Jews did not understand
Jesus, when He offered them true freedom from the worst of
slaveries, and bluntly answered Him, *We be Abraham's
seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any one : how
sayest thou, Ye shall be made free ?' (John viii. 32, 33.)

To the God-man's penetrating eye, however, the intimate
connection between the Seen and the Unseen, the Natural
and the Supernatural, lay fully open. He saw that the Jews,
in their fanatical resistance to His Kingdom of Truth, and
in their deadly hatred to His holy Person, were plainly influ-
enced by the loveless, hateful power of Darkness. They were
in reality only the willing visible instruments of a crafty
invisible Instigator. In spite of their vaunted Monotheism,
their ancient privileges as the * chosen people,' their daily
services and sacrifices, their sanctimonious scrupulousness in
legal observances, — they had to hear the judicial denuncia-
tion : ' Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him' (John viii. 44). We read that it was ' the devil *
who put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray
Him (John xiii. 2) ; and when the chief priests and captains
of the temple and elders went out to seize Jesus in the
Garden of Gethsemane, He told them, ' This is your hour,
and the power of darkness' (Luke xxii. 53). Surely we
need search for no stronger proof of the reality of Satanic
influences amongst men than the fact that Jesus Christ, the
Sinless, the Holy, was hated, condemned, and crucified by
the Jews, and that the claim of the Christian religion to
universal acceptation is still so persistently and so exten-
sively resisted in the world. St. Paul lays bare the naked
truth when he says, concerning the unbelievers, that the

SEC. II.] JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY, 461

Gospel is 'veiled' to them, and that 'the god of this world
has blinded the ^yt,s of their minds, so that the light of the
glory of Christ cannot dawn upon them ' (2 Cor. iv. 3, 4).

Thus, an authority which cannot be questioned by any
believing Christian, and which must be decisive for us, in
judging historical phenomena, leads us to acknowledge in
the hostile acts of tangible men against Christ and His Cause
the intangible agency of mysterious powers of Darkness. It
was the Jews who crucified Jesus, and afterwards persecuted
and killed His disciples, and His death is even declared to
have been foreordained by Divine counsel (Acts iv. 28), yet
notwithstanding all this, the Jews, in what they did to Jesus
and His disciples, were not acting as the seed of Abraham,
or as God's people, but as 'children of the devil,' and as
tools of the Murderer from the beginning, and the father of
lies (John viii. 44).^

Therefore also their triumph could only be apparent
and their success temporary. God's purpose yet prospered.
The Crucified became the centre of a Church, the rejected
Prophet the crowned Monarch of a universal and everlasting
kingdom. St, Peter could say to the Jewish Council, ' The
God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging
him on a tree. Him did God exalt with his right hand to
be a Prince and a Saviour' (Acts v. 30, 31); and St. Paul
could write to the Philippians, 'God highly exalted him,
and gave unto him the name which is above every name ;
that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things

^ As, therefore, the profession of a monotheistic religion did not protect the
Jews from being entirely out of the right way, so also it is quite possible, as is
sometimes done, to over-estimate the religious standing of the Mohammedans
by excessively emphasizing their profession of Monotheism. But even H^el,
the Philosopher, has intimated that what we need is not so much the knowledge
of the existence of one God, as rather the knowledge of what that God is to us,
or in what relation we stand to Him ; and he has pronounced the Deistic con-
ception of God to be of a most elementary character in a religious point of view,
by saying in his Logic ^ p. 141, 'If the really necessary thing, now, would only
be to effect this much that the &ith in the existence of God should be preserved,
or even that such a faith should be produced, then what would have to be
wondered at most would be the poverty of a time which presents this most
elementary of religious knowledge as a gain ; for the pretended advance would
really consist in a return to the ancient altar of Athens, which was dedicated to
the unknown God.*

462 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth ;
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father' (Phil. ii. 9-1 1).

III. — The Heathenism of Rome diabolically opposed Christi-
anity in its Congregational or Ecclesiastical Manifes-
tation.

The second form in which Christianity manifested and
established itself in the world was the congregational or
ecclesiastical. It naturally developed from the personal stage
and retained it within itself. The individual Christians,
attracted and moulded as they all are by Christ, are related
to each other like the radii of a common centre. They
all trace their new life to Him as its source, and recognise in
Him the type and regulating law of its development and
manifestation. The same bond of union which connects
them with their spiritual Head also joins them to one
another, as living members of one spiritual body. ' Who-
soever loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is
begotten of him' (i John v. i). Christianity is essentially
a uniting, communion-forming principle: its natural out-
come are religious communities, Churches,

During the lifetime of Christ, and for a number of years
after His death. His disciples were only united by the inward
tie of faith and love, but outwardly continued members of the
Jewish community. In Antioch they were first recognised
as a distinct denomination, that of * Christians ' (Acts xL 26).
At the close of the first century from the birth of Christ,
whole portions of the Roman empire were dotted with con-
gregations of Christians ; and St. John, in his old age, was
directed to write letters to the seven most celebrated and
representative Churches of Asia Minor (Rev. i. 11).

It is notorious how these youthful and rapidly multiplying
Christian communities were persecuted for nearly 300 years ;
and how long the Roman empire, so tolerant in matters of
religion generally, treated Christianity as a * religio illicita,'
and sought to prevent its propagation and profession by all
the rigour of its laws and the whole weight of its secular force.
Lactantius, a Christian historian of that time, thus refers to

SEC. III.] PAGAN ROME AND CHRISTIANITY, 463

the sad drama : * Had I the power of language a hundredfold,
still I could not relate all the crimes that were committed,
nor recount all the torments which the ingenuity of rulers
devised against unnumbered multitudes of innocent Chris-
tians.' Eusebius, another historian of the same period, in
recording the effects of the persecution by the Emperor
Diocletian in the single Province of Egypt, where churches
had greatly multiplied, declares that 70,000 Christians
had to suffer imprisonment, slavery, and banishment, that
140,000 died the death of martyrs, and that sometimes so
many were beheaded in a single day, that the executioners
became weary of their butcheries, and their instruments were
blunted. By such inhuman means Heathenism, the State-
religion of Rome, strove to rid itself of what it felt to be
a formidable rival, full of youthful ardour and energy.

No crimes could be carried home to the Christians in
their religious assemblies, as their heathen adversaries had
so often attempted to do ; but the real cause of all this
hatred and enmity is already referred to in Pliny's cele-
brated letter to the Emperor Trajan, where he informed his
Imperial master that all over the Province of Bithynia, of
which he was the Procurator, the public temples and altars
were deserted, and there remained but few who brought
offerings to the idols and their priests. Now if St. Paul
speaks truly 'that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to demons and not to God' (i Cor. x. 20),
then the interests of Idolatry and the interests of the
spiritual powers of Darkness, which formed the background
of Idolatry, were virtually identical. The cause threatened
and the cause to be defended were a common cause.
Demoniacal inspirations and impulses can therefore hardly
have been wanting in the cruel persecutions against the
rising Christian Church, by which the Idolaters of the
Roman empire so pertinaciously tried to uphold their ances-
tral religion. The ancient Fathers, Justin Martyr, TertuUian,
and others, were quite consistent in tracing the origin of
these atrocious persecutions back to that source.

But, as every one can easily understand, it does not
follow from this, that the powers of Darkness must have
equally regarded it as their interest, some centuries later, to

464 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. in.

uphold and defend Idolatry in Arabia. In the Roman
empire the Heathen religion was threatened by the Kingdom
of God, under the form of Christianity ; in Arabia only by
the dominion of Islam. It is notorious that Islam, under the
form of a rigid Monotheism, has retained and legalised the
essentials of Heathenism, such as: a self-chosen earthly
sanctuary, or House of God {beit'Ullah)\ ritual ceremonies,
in the stead of a worship in spirit and in truth ; fictitious
revelations ; a false Prophet and unqualified Mediator ; and
dispensation from the necessity of a spiritual regeneration in
heart and life. Christianity called the Heathens out of their
religious night into the bright daylight of the Sun of
righteousness and truth. Islam transferred them from the
starlight night into the moonlight night. In the latter case
their change was a comparatively slight one, and only dis-
posed them still more fatally to confound night with day,
and to prefer darkness to light

The same Satanic influence, which had moved the Jewish
priests and elders to crucify the Master and to persecute the
Disciples, also stirred up the whole Roman empire to scatter
and destroy the rising Church. For by the truth they taught,
and by the holy love they practised, the Christians were a
standing rebuke to the errors and vices, so largely prevalent
everywhere around them, and so genial an element for the
sinister influence of the powers of Darkness. In the Apoca-
lyptic epistle to the Angel of the Church of Smyrna it is
expressly written, * Behold, the devil is about to cast some
of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have
tribulation ten days' (Rev. ii. 10). The visible persecutors
and actual imprisoners, of course, were the Roman magis-
trates and soldiers : but Holy Scripture, which looks through
the outward appearance to the inward essence of things,
makes the startling announcement, * The devil will cast some
of you into prison.' So certain it is, that the sanguinary
persecutions of the Christian Church by the Pagan empire
of Rome had their deepest spring in the infernal spheres
of Darkness.

But Light is destined to triumph over Darkness, and Good
to prevail against Evil. Therefore, as the heavenly faith and
love of the Christians survived the persecution of a Jewish

SEC. IV.] CHRISTIANITY CHRISTIANISES NATIONS, 465

fanaticism, so they also gained the victory over the Roman
prison, fire, and sword. The ^religio illicitae the perse-
cuted Church, became a privileged institution, a protected
Church-Establishment New Rome came forth from Old
Rome. Christianity superseded Paganism as the * Religion
of the State.* The laws of the Empire were gradually
reformed in a Christian direction, and its public institu-
tions increasingly harmonised with the word of God. The
Pontifex maximus of a bygone superstition was replaced
by the Christian Emperor of a new and higher order of
things. The mighty people of Rome became the first
Christian Nation,

IV. — Islamismy a compound of Jewish fanaticism, and Roman
despotism^ likewise opposed Christianity^ but more
especially in its National and Political Manifestation.

In the way described, Christianity had now advanced to
the third of the ever-widening circles of its healthful life and
influence : from the personal, through the ecclesiastical, to the
national. Its progress from one of these stages to the other
was a perfectly natural and necessary one, being nothing
more than the organic unfolding of its inward life and the
fuller realisation of its destiny. Christ's parting injunction
to His Apostles was, * Go ye, and make disciples of all the
nations^ {JA^Xt. xxviii. 19). He claims the whole man, and
all men. His rich storehouse of blessings is intended for
the Individual, the Church, and the Nation.

As soon as a nation accepts Christianity for its religion,
it, in a sense, becomes a Christian nation. From that
moment it is no less incumbent upon it to Christianise its
institutions, laws, habits, and entire national life, than an
individual Christian is bound to lead a Christian life. But
as in this present world of development everything is imper-
fect, and the true ideal is only pursued, never completely
overtaken, we neither find the Christian individuals perfect,
nor the Christian churches immaculate. If, therefore, we
see Christian life and influence, in its widest, its national,
circle even still more extenuated and marred, — this must not
make us blind to what is actually Christian, or induce us

2G

466 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [biciii.

to give up faith in the power and destiny of our religion
to bring forth Christian nations. The Christian individual
progresses from infancy to maturity, and a nation may
be called Christian, when its Christianisation is but really
begun and still far from perfect.

The national Christianity or Christian nationality, result-
ing in the Roman empire from the elevation of the Church
of Christ into the religion of the State, and from its consequent
effects upon the nation at large, was no doubt far behind the
standard of its aspiration and vocation, and it is not difficult
to point out its serious failings and faults ; but nevertheless
it marked a progress compared with the previous state of
things. Christianity really made a long stride towards
actualising its nature and destiny, it accomplished a decided
advance in unfolding an unquestionable latent potentiality,
when it passed from the obscurity of secret conventicles and
the ignominy of a religio illicita into the broad daylight of a
recognised chief power in the State, for securing the highest
interests of the entire nation. A spiritual potency so mighty,
intense, and salutary, as Christianity, demands and deserves
the widest scope for its energy and action. It will bring its
benefits not only to the individual believer in his private
closet, or to the devout assembly in their public temple, but
also to the nation at large as a fivst-r^X.^ public power.

Some, indeed, have doubted whether it was right for
Christianity ever to have assumed a national garb ; and
whether it ought not to have confined itself to the ecclesi-
astical robe, or to the still more tightly fitting individual
dress ; but at the time it was first raised to national emi-
nence, the universal feeling produced amongst the Christians
was that of intense relief and gratitude. Every one recog-
nised in its new character the hand of Providence and the
seal of Divine approval.

If it be remembered how long and how cruelly the
Church had been persecuted by the Heathen State, and that
at the first General Council of Nice, there were Bishops
present, as its members, with maimed limbs and blinded
eyes, the result of tortures suffered for their faith : then who
can wonder that the magnificent appearance of the first
Christian Emperor in that memorable assembly seemed to

I

SEC. IV.] HEREDITARY ENEMY OF CHRISTENDOM. 467

many like the visit of a heavenly messenger ; and the sump-
tuous banquet in the Imperial palace, to which they were
invited at its close, as something like an anticipation of
millennial enjoyment ?

Surely the national character and political aspect which
Christianity assumed in the course of providentially ordered
history, was nothing but its natural development, the legiti-
mate outcome of its destiny for the whole world. Chris-
tianity national and political^ is Christianity stilly though in
a wider circle and with a fuller scope than Christianity
personal and ecclesiastical.

Now if, as we have seen, Christianity has been violently
opposed in its infancy, when its sole exponents were Christian
individuals, and cruelly persecuted in its youth, when it
established itself in the form of numerous congregations or
Churches, we must be prepared to find that, when, in its
manhood, it sought to pervade with its vigorous life the
entire national organism, and to assert itself as a new national
force amidst the peoples of mankind, its onward course was
again obstructed by all the might of its ancient adversary,
and this more particularly with the intent of annihilating it
as a national force and a dominating political power.

The spiritual kingdom of evil, whose main policy is to
prevent or spoil what is good, and which therefore has to
accept its temporary shape from the development and mani-
festation of the kingdom of God, took good care that such
an expectation should not be disappointed. The consciously
anti-Christian policy of Julian the Apostate overshot the
mark and mistook the time in trying to revive and re-establish
effete Heathenism ; hence it was but short-lived, and Julian
had* to cede the victory to the great * Galilean.* Two still
more serious, because much more lasting, movements were
soon after let loose against the Christianly remodelled
Roman empire. The one consisted in the irruption of those
northern nations — the Goths, Alani, Suevi, Vandals, Huns,
and the like, who, impelled by a mysterious impulse, con-
vulsed the whole Western empire and gave an entirely
new face to the population of Europe and North Africa.
The other, springing from the fire-worshipping power of
Persia, extremely imperilled the Eastern empire. Both these

468 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [biciii.

hostile movements lasted for several centuries. But in the
one case, the earth, as it were, opened her mouth and
helped in absorbing the foaming waters of the inundation,
which might have engulfed the newly Christian State ; and
in the other, the fires of Persia were quenched by the
opening of the flood-gates from Arabia.

Decidedly the greatest, and, from its long duration, no
less than the vastness of its power, by far the most formidable
adversary of Christianity^ as a national institution and dom-
inant political force in the world, is the politico-religious
system ushered in by Mohammed. Mo/tammedanism stands
forth in history as the great anti-Christian Power ^ tlu heredi-
tary enemy of Christendom, This, its historical character, at
once precludes us from attributing its origination to Divine
will and Providential purpose, and stamps it as essentially
the outcome of that spiritual kingdom whose element is tlie
reverse of truth and light, of love and life. Islamism is
misjudged, if represented as a Providential Dispensation,
needed for the enlightenment, progress, and happiness of,
the world, or by supposing its design to have been the
helping forward and benefiting Christ's Cause and Kingdom.
Its proper nature is of a directly opposite kind, though
subject — ^be it repeated — like everything else, to the all-
controlling Government of God, and having in the end
to subserve the plan of His all-wise Providence.

V. — Mohammed, the Prophet and Propagator of Islam^ laid
the Foundation of the anti-Christian and perfnanently
hostile Policy of the Mussulman world agaifist Chris-
tianity and Christendom.

The anti-Christian character of the religion and policy
of the Islamic world derives its origin from the Founder of
Islam. Mohammed was diametrically opposed to Christ,
both in his religious teaching and in his practical aims. It
is simply preposterous to attribute to him a mission to
benefit, develop, and complete, the great Cause introduced
into the world by Jesus Christ : instead of helping it on, his
aim was rather to hinder, humble, and undo it. The devas-
tating wars of conquest, carried on by the Mohammedan
nations against Christendom, for so many centuries, are

SEC. v.] CHRISTS A/Af A CONTRAST TO HIS RIVALS. 469

nothing but the direct and natural outcome of Mohammed's
own hostile position towards Christ and Christianity, ren-
dered patent by his acts, though attempted to be disguised
by his words. Islam historically proved itself anti-Chris-
tian, because Mohammed personally was an Antichrist

Mohammed's character and work differ essentially and
totally from that of the Founder of our own religion. Christ
Jesus, the God-man, was in His own Person a new beginning,
a spiritual centre, for mankind. His unflinching and compre-
hensive demand was, * Ye must be bom anew ' (John iii. 7).
He laboured for the regeneration of man and of mankind.
As a wise master-builder He laid His foundation deep in
the inmost personal life of man. His work is a vital organism
by which the regenerate Christian individual expands into
the Christian Church, and the Christian Church leads to the
Christian State ; all of which retain their separate existence
and legitimate independence within their respective spheres.
Mohammed, on the other hand, was not a new or a
r^enerate man, but a natural individual like all the rest,
with a strong predominance of the sensual in him. He did
not even rise above the narrow shackles of the Arabian
nationality. His great aim was not the regeneration, but the
subjugation, of individuals and nations, not a spiritual
kingdom of God, but a secular empire in a religious guise.
His main efforts were not devoted to the spiritual elevation
of the character and personal life of his followers, but to
their organisation into a compact body with which he might
operate after the manner of worldly despots. Therefore
the structure he erected became, so to speak, top-heavy,
lacking the organic cohesion of life, and had to be artifici-
ally held together either by the allurements of worldly gain
and carnal pleasure, or by the iron clasps of compulsion
and rude force. Two systems so widely different as to
their nature and object could not possibly co-exist in
harmony ; and the author of the rival system could not but
oppose the work of his great Predecessor, however liberal
he might be in verbal protestations of esteem for His
Person and His Gospel,

Mohammed, as we have seen in the First Book, formed
the plan of politically uniting the entire Arabic nation on
the basis of a more national religion, after which many of

470 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

his countrymen were already feeling, likewise not without
political aspirations. Accordingly he made his start as a
Reformer of the prevailing religion. Retaining the national
sanctuary, with its religious veneration of a black stone, he
accepted from the Monotheistic religions the Faith in
One God and the repudiation of idols. He borrowed,
particularly from Jewish sources, much historic and religious
information which, with other enactments, he sought to
palm off on the people as direct revelations from heaven to
himself, through the angel Gabriel. In this sinister enterprise
he was materially aided by the hysterical, visionary con-
stitution of his nature, an inheritance from weakly parents,
and an open channel for impure and deceiving influences
from the realm of Darkness. Once presenting himself to
the people as a Prophet and religious Reformer, he had
necessarily to talk much about God and religion. But it
must not be forgotten that pious phraseology, which has
deceived so many, is not by itself a proof of sincere spiri-
tual piety, and that the language of Canaan has often been
heard from the lips of Philistines.

That Mohammed was not a spiritually quickened or re-
generate man, breathing the pure atmosphere of a ' worship
in spirit and in truth/ must inevitably be gathered from
his religion with its mechanical formalism of worship, its
wearisome repetition of prayers, its conception of God as
mainly the sovereign Lord and omnipotent Master,^ and

^ Even the philosopher Hegel clearly discerned and declared the decided
inferiority of the Mohammedan conception of God, as compared with the
Christian. He says, 'If we regard God merely as the Absolute Being, and
nothing more, we know Him only as the general, irresistible Force, or, in other
words, as ihi Lard. Now it is true that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, but it is likewise true that it is only its beginning. It is in the
Jewish, and further, in the Mohammedan, religion that God is conceived as the
Lord, and, in fact, only as the Lord. Now although this conception of God is
an important and necessary step in the development of religious consciousness,
it yet by no means exhausts the depth of the Christian idea of God. ' And
again, ' The definition of God in Deism is the conception of God by the mere
understanding, whereas the Christian religion, which knows God as the Triune,
contains the conception of God by the reason.' (See G. W. F. HegeKs Werke^
vol. vi. pp. 226 and 348. ) Therefore, according to the judgment of Heel's
vigorous and penetrative mind, Mohammed not only did not advance the
knowledge of God, but sunk back, in his conception of the Deity, below the
Christian level, to the long-superseded standpoint of Judaism and Deism.

SEC v.] ISLAM NECESSARIL Y ANTI-CHRISTIAN. 47 1

with its perfunctory practice of dead works. The religion
concocted by Mohammed is properly that of the unre-
generate, natural man. It remains at an immeasurable
distance behind the lofty spirituality of the Gospel and the
loving communion with the * Father in heaven ' to which it
shows the way. The word which Jesus addressed to the
Jews becomes fully applicable here : * Ye are from below, I
am from above* (John viii. 23). Mohammed, from his low,
earthly standing-point, could neither apprehend the unique
excellence of the character of Christ, nor the real nature of
His all-sufficient and all-comprehending salvation.

Not want of opportunity, but want of sympathy and
compatibility, kept him aloof from the religion of Christ
His first wife introduced him to her Christian cousin ; one of
his later wives had embraced Christianity in Abyssinia ;
and the most favoured of his concubines, was a Christian
damsel from the Copts of Eg^pt He was acquainted with
ascetic monks, and had dealings with learned Bishops of the
Orthodox Church. In those days the reading of the Holy
Scriptures in the public services of the Catholic Church was
already authoritatively enjoined and universally practised ;
if he had wished thoroughly to acquaint himself with them
he could easily have done so. But having no adequate
conception of the nature of sin and man's fallen state, he
also lacked the faculty of truly appreciating the remedy for
it, which was offered in the Gospel.

Unable and unwilling to recognise in Christ the Saviour
of man, and in Christianity the right way to God, Moham-
med dared to set himself up against Christ, as the last and
greatest of all God's Messengers, and to claim the right for
his new religion of replacing Christianity. So it came to
pass that Islamism, the only religion starting up in broad
Christian daylight, and in the face of Christ, was essentially
and from its birth not a sort of imperfect or half-Christianity,
a younger brother and helpful ally, but a determined rival
and implacable foe. The Koran is a book not merely
different from the Gospel, but hostile and contradictory
to it It is notorious that it categorically denies the great
truths upon which all Christianity reposes as its immov-
able foundation, to wit, the Divine nature and Sonship of

472 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

Christ, His atoning Death, and the final character of the
Gospel as God's highest and fullest revelation. The very
essence, therefore, of the character of Mohammed, as the
author of Islam, must have implied an uncompromising
hostility to Christianity and its advocates.

Besides, Mohammed must submit, like every one else, to
being judged, not by his words and teaching only, but
especially also by his acts and living. We have already
seen how overbearingly he acted towards the Christians with
whom he came in contact, and how he inflicted on them
and their religion the stigma of inferiority and contempt
(p. 138). As everything about Christ testified to the truth of
His declaration, * My kingdom is not of this world' (John
xviii. 36), so Mohammed's whole life and conduct showed him
to be earthly-minded, and to aim at worldly power. By some
of his acts he shocked the moral sense even of his heathen
countrymen. The first armed expedition which he under-
took with his followers was to rob and plunder. So eagerly
bent was he on the acquisition and exercise of secular
domination, that he can hardly be said to have waited till
he had sufficiently established himself as Prophet, before he
turned warrior and conqueror. He had not secured more
than a few hundred adherents, and was, as it were, still offer-
ing his pretended revelations to an unsympathetic nation
with one hand, when he took up the sword of violence with
the other, and thus put a sudden sinister life into his move-
ment Both, this haste with which he seized the sword of
conquest, and the unscrupulous harshness with which he
wielded it, show unmistakably what kind of ideal floated,
with more or less distinctness, in his mind from the first
The clank of arms and bustle of war were so incessant with
this fighting prophet, that they must have absorbed most of
his time and attention, leaving very little for the care of
religion. During the ten years between his Flight to Medina
and his death he organised no less than thirty-eight mili-
tary expeditions, twenty-seven of which he accompanied in
person ; and it is easy to conjecture how all-absorbing they
must have been in their preparation, execution, and results,
to the time, labour, and thoughts, of the Prophet-Emir, with
whom rested the responsibility for them all. With feverish

SEC. v.] ATTACK ON ROMAN EMPIRE EXPLAINED, 473

restlessness he was pushed on, as if by an unseen hand, from
one enterprise to another ; and the same precipitate haste,
with which he rushed from the pulpit and the mosque to the
sword and the sceptre, in his adopted home, he also betrayed
in seeking to extend his power beyond its borders.

Scarcely had the majority of the Arab tribes been sub- *
jugated to his rule by the force of arms, the enticement of
worldly advantages, and the promise of a sensual Paradise,
when he took the notorious step of despatching formal
embassies to the surrounding rulers, summoning them to
accept Islam. Five of these letters were addressed to Chris-
tian potentates, including the Roman Emperor. These
arrogant, though harmless, missives failing to accomplish
their object, as previously his preaching had remained ineffi-
cacious to convince and convert his Arab countrymen, he was
not long in resorting to the more effectual argument of the
sword. After several more or less successful incursions into
the border districts of the Roman empire, a large and well-
appointed army was collected to invade Syria. Mohammed
instructed the commander to make the utmost haste, so as
to fall upon the inhabitants before the tidings of his approach
could reach them, and to set fire to their dwellings, fields,
and palm-plantations. This characteristically turned out
the last public act in which the whole policy of the
warrior-prophet, as it were, culminated. The hand of death
was already upon him ; and before the army could start on
its sanguinary mission, he had breathed his last But Abu
Bekr, his like-minded successor, carried out the plan be*
queathed to him, and opened his Califate by the despatch of
the still-assembled host. Thus it is unmistakable that the
deeds of war and conquest, which filled up the lives of the
Califs, were nothing but the continuation and further expan-
sion of the work begun by Mohammed himself.

Nor can it be less undoubted that the man who arrogated
to himself secular authority and military command, as soon
as his altered circumstances in Medina offered him the
slightest chance, would have done the very same thing in
Mecca, had he found it equally practicable there. If he did
not persecute and fight in Mecca, this was not because he
was morally elevated above doing so, but because he lacked

474 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk, hi.

the power. He naturally could not show himself intolerant
so long as his own existence depended upon the toleration of
others ; or insult and fight the Christians, whilst his followers
enjoyed the protection of Christian Abyssinia. If a man
steals as soon as he is let out of prison, his abstaining from
theft whilst shut up between four walls, cannot prove him to
be an honest character. The difference between the preach-
ing prophet of Mecca and the fighting prophet of Medina
is not owing to a change of principles, to a spiritual lapse
— as some wrongly regard it — but simply to the removal of
restrictions whereby his real character obtained scope for
manifestation.

In the light of impartial history, Mohammed appears
equally anti-Christian by the religion he taught and by the
policy he practised ; and Islamism has ever since retained
the anti-Christian stamp impressed upon it by its author. *

^ That the Islamic system is not at all intended to co-exist in loving harmony
with Christianity as a sister of equal rank, but that it rather regards it with
disdain and hostility, appears particularly also from its notorious law, deeredng
capital punishment on every Mussultfian who secedes from the Mohammedan t9
the Christian religion. How deeply this odious law is ingrained in Islam, and
how it is still regarded as forming an integral part of it, became glaringly mani-
fest by its application to a Christian convert from Mohammedanism in Turkey,
as recently as the middle of the present century. The case formed the subject
of an official correspondence between the English and the Ottoman Govern-
ments, and is recorded in Part xviii. of the printed papers presented to both
Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, A.D. 1856. It appears from
those documents that in the latter portion of the year 1853, when the Englldi
and French fleets were assembled in Turkish waters for the protection of Turkey,
a young man was judicially condemned to death and publicly executed in
Adrianople, by the Ottoman authorities, for the crime of having apostatised fiom
Islam to Christianity. He had openly declared that Christ was the true Prophet,
and that having Him, we had no need of Mohammed, who therefore was a false
Prophet. He was cast into prison and cruelly tortured to induce him to recant,
but in vain. On being beheaded, he exclaimed with his last breath, ' I profess
Jesus Christ, and for Him I die.' On September 17th, 1855, the Earl of
Clarendon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, wrote to Lord Stratford de Reddiffe, the
British Ambassador at Constantinople, ' The Christian Powers, who are making
gigantic efforts and submitting to enormous sacrifices, to save the Turkish Empire
from ruin and destruction, cannot permit the continuance of a law in Turkey,
which is not only a standing insult to them, but a source of cruel persecntion to
their co-religionists, which they never can consent to perpetuate by the successes
of their fleets and armies. They are entitled to demand, and Her Majesty's
Government do distinctly demand, that no punishment whatever shall attach to the
Mahometan who becomes a Christian.* The same noble language of Christian
patriotism had also been held earlier by the Earl of Aberdeen, who wrote to Sir

.1

SEC. VI.] CONVERTS PUNISHED WITH DEATH. 475

VI. — The Mohammedan Worldy under t/te direction of the
Arabs, and acting in the spirit of its Prophet^ pursues
an interior and exterior Policy decidedly anti-Christian.

The xyyo years of the existence of Islamism in the world
can be divided into two not very unequal periods, in the
first of which the Arabs^ and in the second the Turks^ were
the chief exponents of its power and the directors of its
policy. They have proved of one and the same mind in
their hostile attitude towards Christianity and its professors ;
because they were equally animated by the anti-Christian
spirit of their religion.

As it was by Mohammed's own inspiration and instiga-
tion that the army of Mussulman Arabs, in first crossmg the
borders of their country, attacked the Christian world, so,
during the subsequent ages of war and conquest, it was by
virtue of their Faith, and in full accord with the innate
tendencies of Islam, that the Mohammedan Powers kept the
one aim constantly in view, namely, the overthrow of the
Christian Governments and the subjugation of the Christians
throughout the world. In carrying out this policy they were

Stratford Canning on January i6th, 1844, 'The Christian Powers will not endure
that the Porte should insult and trample on their faith, by treating as a criminal
any person who embraces it.* The intention was, to induce the Porte to renounce
and abrogate the law in question. But the spirited correspondence with the
Turkish Government, even under those exceptionally favourable circumstances,
led to no greater result than that, early in the year 1856, a Memorandum was
agreed upon containing these words : ' As all forms of religion are and shall be
freely professed in the Ottoman dominions, no subject of His Majesty the Sultan
shall be hindered in the exercise of the religion that he professes, nor shall be in any
way annoyed on this account. None shall be compelled to change their religion.
The discovery had been made that the objectionable law, being r^arded as
invested with a Divine character, could not be annulled or abrogated by any
human authority whatsoever. Therefore the British Ambassador considered it
best to advise his Government to be content with the afore-mentioned claus e,
saying in his despatch to the Earl of Clarendon, dated February 12th, 1856,
'The law of the Koran is not abolished, it is true, respecting renegades,
and the Sultan's Ministers affirm that such a stretch of authority would
exceed even His Majesty's legal powers. But, however that may be, the practi-
cal application of it is renounced by means of a public document, and Her
Majesty's Government would at any time be justified in complaining of a breac h
of engagement if the Porte were to authorise or to permit any exception to its
own official declaration. *

476 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM. [BK.111.

indeed guided by what appeared feasible and profitable, but
the policy itself was never relinquished. With what vigour
the champions of Islam pursued their anti-Christian designs
from the first, is made apparent by what Moslem historians
record in honour of Mohammed's second successor, Omar,
namely, that during his brief Califate of only ten years* dura-
tion, 1036 towns were conquered, 4000 Christian churches
destroyed, and 4000 mosques erected in their stead.

With the Mussulmans all wars of conquest are at the
same time also religious wars, intended to promote the
interests, and to effect the propagation, of Islam. Hence
every Moslem warrior who falls in such a foreign war is held
to be a martyr for the Faith. As in Mohammed's own case,
religion was a stepping-stone to worldly dominion, so in the
case of his followers, the secular power they possessed and
extended was used as a means for spreading their religion,
which, in turn, had to support their power. In any war
against Christians, the Moslems were bound first to invite
them to embrace Islam ; and they seconded their invitation
by the offer of all the privileges of the conquerors. Then,
in case of refusal, they indeed might permit them to retain
their religion, but at the cost of a full surrender, without
fighting, and the payment of a perpetual capitation tax in
token of their political dependence and subjugation. But if
the decision was left to the sword, they were to seize all the
women and children as slaves, and to slay the men, or other-
wise dispose of them. It is self-evident that the first and
third of these military canons were calculated directly to
effect a reduction in the number of Christians, and an increase
of Moslems at their expense ; whereas the second annihilated
the political independence and social liberty of those to
whom it was applied, and further tended indirectly to a
gradual diminution of the Christians and a corresponding
increase of the Mohammedans.

The subjugated Christians in the Mussulman State were
placed under the most humiliating and irksome disabilities.
They had to submit to Mohammedan courts of law, where
their testimony was not received against a Moslem, and the
judge considered it a religious duty to favour the party
belonging to his own Faith. In social life they had to defer

SEC VI.] ANTI-CHRISTIAN HOME-POLICY, 477

to the meanest Mussulman as their superior in rank. In
their mode of travelling, in their dress, in their dwellings,
and even in their graves, they were to be marked by a badge
of inferiority. For the maintenance of their religious insti-
tutions, and the instruction of their children, they received
no help whatever from a Government whose revenues they
had to swell. Many of their churches were demolished or
converted into mosques, and those permitted them were not
allowed to be increased in number by the building of new
ones. The exercise of their religion was deprived of its
publicity, and of everything which might have appeared as
a recognition or sanction of Christianity by Government
Hence all religious processions had to be discontinued, the
church-bells were to be destroyed or silenced, and all the
crosses removed from the top of ecclesiastical edifices, or any
other place where they might have offended the Moslem
eye. In short, the Christian communities could not become
organic parts of a Mohammedan State, and were not even
counted worthy to bear arms and to defend the common
country on an equal footing with the Moslems.

The Christians were treated as if they formed a mere
colony of helots within the State, tolerated and protected by
the ruling class and for their benefit, on about the same
principle on which domestic animals are kept and fostered
by their masters. Accordingly, the poll-tax, collected from
every male adult of the Christians, was designated by a word
(Jizyek) properly signifying ' ransom, satisfaction,* because it
was, as it were, generously accepted in lieu of their lives,
which in the eyes of Islam had legally been forfeited. The
land-tax they had to pay was called by a word (kharaj)
which had originally been employed as a designation of that
portion of a slave's earning which he had to pay to his
master for being allowed to exercise a trade on his own
account So, likewise, the term RayUy ordinarily applied
to the Christian section of the population under a Mo-
hammedan Government, has its meaning thus rendered in
Lane's well-known Arabic-English Lexicon, * Cattle pastur-
ing, cattle kept, tended, or pastured ; especially cattle kept
or pastured for the Sultan, and upon which are his brands
and marks.'

478 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

Therefore, though the Mohammedan State did not
directly interfere with Xh^ private profession and exercise of
Christianity, but rather tolerated, and in a manner protected,
it, yet it most effectually deprived its Christian subjects of
d\\ political and military power, and reduced them to a state
of civU inferiority and helpless dependence on tJte armed and
ruling class. Thus it could not fail to damage the Christian
cause itself, though indirectly and covertly.

But the anti-Christian character of Islamism lies especially
patent in its exterior policy, which it stamped upon the pages
of history by its most pertinacious and stupendous efforts
to bring the entire Christian world under its crushing rule.
The Arab Mussulmans first pressed northward, wresting
Palestine, the cradle of the Christian Faith, all Syria and
Armenia, from the hands of the Christians. They indeed
also subjugated fire-worshipping Persia, and pushed their
conquests towards India, as also, by way of Khorassan,
Bokhara, and Samarkand, deep into Central Asia, where
Christianity disappeared from the Tartar tribes to which it
had already found its way ; but the chief object of their
warlike ambition remained Western Christendom and its
powerful capital on the Bosporus.

This was so clearly marked a plan of the Mussulmans,
that scarcely had they established their power in Northern
Syria, when they began to overrun Asia Minor, and, in less
than thirty years from the death of Mohammed, besieged
Constantinople by land and by water for six successive
years. Fortunately they could not prevail against the
valour and art — especially the so-called 'Greek fire' — ^by
which the city was defended.

Being baffled again and again in their direct attempts to
dethrone Christianity in its political capital, they started on
a long detour in order, if possible, to reach their goal from
the west, instead of from the east Agricultural Egypt had
fallen an easy prey into the hands of the hardy Arab
warriors ; and the Coptic Patriarch had obtained for it com-
paratively easy terms from the conquerors. This rich land,
so conveniently near to the Arab home of Islam, was made
the starting-point for extending the Mohammedan conquests
westward over the whole of North Africa. Here the fanatical

SEC. VI.] EUROPE SA VED BY BATTLE OF TOURS. 479

Arabs pursued their anti-Christian policy with such deadly
effect that soon the remnant of the once flourishing Church
of which a Tertullian, a Cyprian, and an Augustine, had been
ornaments became entirely effaced, and the sound of church-
bells was silenced for ages by the call of the Moezzin.

Mohammedanised Africa became the stepping-stone for
invading Christian Europe from the west. Before Islam had
completed the first century of its existence, it sent its daunt-
less propagators, in the form of numerous troops of armed
horsemen, across the straits into Spain; and in the short
space of two years the rule of the Peninsula had passed from
Christian into Mussulman hands. But Spain was only the
first stage of the intended march of conquest through the
heart of Europe to the crowning goal of Constantinople, the
then capital of Christendom.

Not many years were allowed to pass before an army
of hundreds of thousands of horsemen sallied forth from
Spain, to make France the second stage on the expedition
for the conquest of Christian Europe. The whole south of
France was fearfully devastated, houses ruined, churches
burnt, women ravished, children enslaved, till in the neigh-
bourhood of Poitiers and Tours the barbarous Mussulman
hosts encountered Charles Martel at the head of a powerful
Franco-Germanic army, and fought with such desperate
obstinacy that most of them fell under the crushing blows of
these hammering arms, before the small remnant confessed
themselves vanquished by seeking safety in a precipitate
flight. Reinforced by fresh Arab hordes, they renewed their
sanguinary onslaughts for several years, but with no better
result, so that they had to retire for ever behind the
Pyrenees, and to give up their attempted march, through
Central Europe to the Bosporus, as impracticable.

The national independence of Christendom survived
these desperate attacks, and the religion of Christ had time
to confer its blessings, in a fuller measure and to a wider
extent, upon the nations of Europe. Islamism, as represented
by the Arabs, had clearly manifested alike its determined
resolve and its utter inability, to overthrow and replace
Christianity as a political force and a national power in the
world.

48o HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [BK.11L

VII. — The ' Mohammedan worlds under the direction of t/te
Turks, retains and carries out the anti-Christian
Policy started by the Arabs ^ as long as its power of
doing so lasts.

Whilst, during this welcome respite, Christianity was
deepening its roots and spreading its branches in Europe,
Islam was slowly and surely preparing in Asia tougher and
rougher instruments, than even the Arabs, for making
another supreme effort to carry out its old plan of altogether
supplanting Christian supremacy by its own. The loose
morality and unscrupulous violence which had distinguished
the Mohammedan system from its birth, soon, like an evil
seed, produced its corrupt and poisonous fruit in ever-widen-
ing circles of the Mussulman world. During the Abasside
dynasty, when Bagdad was the seat of the Califate, so de-
generate, untrustworthy, disunited, and factious had Arab
society become, that the Califs found themselves compelled
to look to the hardier and more reliable race of the recently
Mohammedanised Tartar tribes from the deserts and high-
lands of Central Asia, as the fittest recruiting ground for an
army on which they could rely.

These Tartars and Turkomans — all bom horsemen and
inured to the hardships and simplicity of nomadism from
time immemorial — enlisted with alacrity under the Califs
banner, as offering so much more favourable a prospect to
their daring and greed. Finding the gates of Central Asia
so widely open to the riches and luxuries of the south and
the west, these nomad hordes issued forth in ever-increasing
numbers, pushed on, at times, by the teeming population of
the remotest Ceist. They — either as mercenaries of the Calif
over whom they gradually gained a commanding influence,
or, independently of him, as isolated bands of freebooters —
helped to extend Mussulman domination at the expense of
Christendom, and infused a new element of strength into the
disunited and decaying world of Islam.

One of these Tartar tribes, the Seldjuks, established them-
selves in different parts of Western Asia, sometimes in direct
opposition to the Califs authority ; and soon turning its
victorious arms westward, conquered vast portions of Asia

SEC, VII.] TURKISH CONQUESTS, 481

Minor, which, till then, had remained in the hand of the
Christians. Another such horde of Mohammedanised Tartars
were the Turks} a number of whom, under their leader
Ertogrul, joined their Seldjuk brethren in the province of
Angora, They speedily developed such military prowess
and strength, in the conflict with the Greek empire, that
under their next leader, Othman, they could supplant
their Seldjuk confederates, and, joined by fresh bands of
countrymen from the east, overrun and subjugate all that
the Christians still held of Asia Minor.

These Turks^ or Ottomans^ as they generally call them-
selves, after their distinguished chief, Othman, extended their
power, in course of time, over the greater part of the Moham-
medan world, became the heirs of the Califate, and vigorously
took up the Mussulman policy of universal domination, which
the Arabs were no longer able to carry out. We have seen
that this policy implied, as its highest and most difficult aim,
the subjugation of Christendom, and particularly the conquest
of Constantinople, its strongest remaining citadel eastward.
To this object the Ottoman Turks, on becoming the leading
nation of Islam, directed their most persevering and gigantic
efforts : this forms the open secret of their devastating wars
and their ambitious policy of conquests.

Othman terminated his victorious career with the seizure
of Broussa, A.D. 1326, which at once became the Turkish
capital, almost within sight of Constantinople. From Broussa
as his starting-point, Othman's first successor attacked the
Romano-Greek Empire in Europe, making himself master
of Gallipoli and Rodosto ; and his second successor extended
his European conquest beyond Adrianople, which he raised
to the rank of second capital ; and his third successor devas-
tated Albania and Bosnia and incorporated the Christian
kingdoms of Servia and Bulgaria with his own dominion,
which now bordered on the Danube as far as Belgrade.
Later Sultans enlarged and consolidated their conquests on
the Balkan Peninsula and elsewhere, till nothing remained
to the Greek Emperor but his capital Constantinople.

' On the etymology of the words * Tartar ' and * Turk * may be compared an
article by the author in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xi. Part ii.
p. 148.

2H

482 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. hi.

At length for this also the fatal hour arrived. A Turkish
army of more than 200,oc» warriors and a powerful fleet
surrounded the doomed city. This was the twelfth and
final Mussulman siege it had to suffer, namely, seven from
the Arabs and five from the Turks. It was stormed after
a desperate resistance by the inadequate number of its
defenders, and delivered for three days to the pillage and
brutality of its conquerors. The luckless year 1453 thus
had to witness the last Romano-Greek Emperor, Constan-
tine IX., falling sword in hand in his fruitless resistance to
the Turks, the ardent Mohammed II. occupying his ancient
throne as Sultan, the first Christian capital converted into a
new centre of Mussulman conquests, and its finest churches
turned into mosques. What had remained a constant but
vain object of Moslem ambition for eight centuries, was now
accomplished by Turkish pertinacity and valour, and the
youthful victor of Constantinople had earned for himself
to all posterity the proud title of El-Fatihy the Conqueror.
This constituted the crowning victory both of Ottomanism
and Mohammedanism.

From the height of this vantage-ground it is easy to
foresee that, when once will have come to pass what already
appears so decidedly within the range of possibilities, viz.,
the expulsion of the Turks from Constantinople, and the
restoration of the still remaining church- mosques, about
twenty in number, to their original destination for Christian
worship, then also the anti-Christian system of Islamism
will have made a long stride in the process of its inevitable
dissolution.

Fortunately the fall of Constantinople into the hands of
the Turks had been delayed till it no longer involved the
fall of Christendom itself. In the interval between the Arab
failure and the Ottoman success in their Mussulman assaults
of the Imperial stronghold on the Bosporus, a number of
more or less powerful Christian capitals had dotted the
European west One of the most eastern of them was
Vienna, and not even this could be taken by the Turks,
notwithstanding their utmost efforts during the culminating
period of their power. It is a matter of history compara-
tively recent and well known, with what brutality, cruelty,

SEC. VII.] TURKISH DESIGNS A GAINST E UROPE. 483

and treachery, the Turks pushed their conquests in the lands
of the Mediterranean, as the terror of Christendom by sea
and land ; how persistently they invaded and devastated the
countries on the left bank of the Danube ; how recklessly they
employed sword, fire, impaling, and torture ; how their whole
system of keeping down the distant peoples whom they had
subjugated, was one of unsparing oppression and heartless
terrorism ; how many tens of thousands of virgins and women
they captured in Christian lands, sometimes fastening them
together, in large gangs, by their hair, to be afterwards
distributed in the harems of voluptuous Mussulmans ; and
how they crowned their anti-Christian measures by the insti-
tution of the Janissaries, whereby annually thousands of the
most promising Christian boys were forcibly taken from their
homes and brought up as Mohammedans, to form a standing
army for the further conquest of Christian lands and the
keeping in subjection of those already conquered.

It is equally patent how steadily the Ottomans kept the
great Moslem idea in view of a victorious march through
the heart of Europe for the entire overthrow of Christian
dominion, and how repeatedly they attempted to achieve
from the east what the Arabs in Spain had failed to accom-
plish from the west They considered as Dar el harb^ or
* domain of war,' not only this or that Christian country, but
every Christian land within their reach. No wonder, then,
that at the time when the Turkish hosts overran Malta and
Hungary, their ultimate aim was so well understood all over
Europe, that even in its remotest west the Church of insular
England was anxiously reminded by its Archbishop, under
Queen Elizabeth,^ that the Isle of Malta was * invaded with
a great army and navy of Turks, Infidels and sworn enemies
of the Christian religion, and that if they should prevail
against that Isle, it is uncertain what further peril might
follow to the rest of Christendom ; ' and as regards Hungary,
that * if the Infidels should prevail wholly against that most
goodly and strong kingdom, all the rest of Christendom
would lie open to the incursion of the said savage and most
cruel enemies the Turks, to the most dreadful danger of
whole Christendom.' So deep was the interest in the

^ See the Book of Common Prayer of that time.

484 HISTORIC POSITION OF MOHAMMEDANISM, [bk. in.

common Christian cause that pubh'c prayers were offered up
in the churches of England on behalf of *the Emperor's
excellent Majesty as God's principal minister, and all the
Christian army assembled with him against the Turks;'
and it was openly acknowledged here that *our own
danger or safety doth follow upon success of them.'

The plan and policy to subjugate all Christendom was
genuinely Mohammedan. It was Islam which inspired it
first in the Arabs and then in the Turks. The Arabs and
the Turks adhered to it as long as they could, to the utmost
of their power. If the desolating march upon Vienna, and
the siege of that city by the Ottoman hosts two hundred
years ago (A.D. 1683), was the last of its kind, it was so, only
because experience had taught them that the enterprise they
had taken in hand was beyond their power, that the national
vitality of the Christian religion could not be crushed out by
all the massive weight and fierce onslaught of the Mussul-
man world.

These hazardous and fanatical attacks upon Christendom,
whose success would only have extended the reign of spiritual
desolation and death over mankind, proved injurious to Islam
itself, by the habits they fostered and the resources they
squandered ; and their final complete failure could not but
accelerate that utter collapse and prostration of the Ottoman,
and, in fact, of the whole Mohammedan, world, which is now
bringing the rottenness of its foundation and the cancer in
its vitals more and more to light. The entire Dar el Islanty
or Islamic community, disunited and dismembered for gen-
erations, has now sunk into such a state of spiritual torpor
and political impotence that, apart from fitful outbursts of
fanaticism and spasmodic paroxysms of savagery, any serious
aggressions against Christian nations are out of the question,
and the signs of its approaching complete disintegration are
rapidly multiplying. If, in some far-off places, such as the
continent of Africa, Islam has of late been spreading to some
extent, this has been effected by the notorious means of
its propagandism, and can only remind one of those sparse
green twigs sometimes still appearing at the extreme ends
of half-dried-up boughs in trees whose core has for long
been decaying from old age.

SEC. VII.] OUTLOOK. 485

The Christian world, on the other hand, far from being
stifled, was only stimulated, by the Mohammedan pressure
of bygone ages, and has now reached such a commanding
height of political power and general influence, that the
Christian Governments of the day virtually exercise their
sway over the whole earth. Thus far, then, the verdict of
history has been clearly pronounced in favour of Christianity,
on each stage of its past development, and against all those
who strove to deprive the world of this salutary ferment and
saving force. The Christian policy of Europe has already
effected much in resuscitating and liberating the Christian
nationalities which were so long kept in base subjection by
Islam, and unpityingly trampled upon by its iron hoof. This
Christian work of justice and mercy will, no doubt, be
ultimately crowned with complete success, whilst the re-
maining Mussulman States are themselves hastening on
the process of their final dissolution.

The external obstructions being thus providentially
removed out of the way, one by one, Christianity can, in
the future, more freely advance towards a still higher and
wider sphere of its historical realisation, by assuming a
predominantly universal or cosmopolitan character, and by
effecting its final evolution as the one Church of Mankind^
the Kingdom of God for all Nations,

Should the road to this great ulterior goal again be
obstructed, perhaps from the midst of an apostate Christen-
dom, and with all the fierceness of a desperate last effort, by
an Adversary whose concentrated hostility to all that is
Christian will merit for him the black distinction of * the
Antichrist,' then the past entitles us to hope that this severest
combat between the kingdom of Light and the kingdom of
Darkness on our earth will but prove the decisive birth-throe
ushering in the crowning victory and everlasting peace. We
read in the Word of God that at the most momentous final
crisis, the King of kings shall descend in Person with the
armies of heaven (Rev. xix. 11 -16) and shall consume that
Wicked One with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy him
with the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. ii. 8), and, all
conflict over. Himself shall reign as Prince of Peace for
ever and ever (Rev. xi. 15; Heb. vii. 2, 3).

APPENDIX L

MOHAMMEUS WIVES AND CONCUBINES,

Remark. — What follows are again mere translations, which
present the reader with an interesting account of the several
persons mentioned. The account consists of sundry biographical
notices from Moslem authors, as collected and introduced by
the Rawzat ul Ahbab.

It is recorded that the Prophet said, * I have not taken any wife,
nor given away a daughter to any one, without Gabriel having first
brought me an order from my Lord ; and I only acted according
to that order.* 1 The biographers record that his Excellency had
twelve married wives with whom he consummated marriage. They
are all agreed respecting eleven of them; but in regard to the
twelfth, their opinion differs as to whether she was a married wife
or a slave concubine.

I. Khadija was the first of those pure wives. As she had a
common lineage of descent with the Prophet, she was of all his
chaste wives nearest to him. From the children of Kassy that
Excellency married Khadija and Om Habiba. Khadija had been
twice married before, in each of which marriages she had bom two
children. Hind^ one of her sons, was brought up by the Prophet
of God, after he had married her. It is recorded that Hind used
to say, * I am the most noble through father, mother, brother, and
sister ; for my father is the Apostle of God, my mother Khadija,
my brother Kasim, and my sister Fatima.' Khadija was a virtuous,
wise, and determined lady, whom even in the time of ignorance
they called ' the pure.' She had an exalted lineage and an ample
fortune.

^ This assertion was evidently made for the purpose of shielding Mohammed
against a charge of sensuality and carnal passion in the matter of taking wives.
It was felt that his notorious conduct lay open to censure, and this had to be
forestalled, as in many similar cases, by the fabrication of a story conveying a
justification.

488 KHADIJA. [app.

Although the chiefs and nobles of the KoreisH asked her in
marriage, after Abu Hala's death, she refused them, because in a
dream she had seen the sun come down to her house from the sky,
and diffuse such light, that there remained not a house in Mecca
without being illuminated by it. On waking from her sleep, she
went to her cousin Waraka Ibn Nawfal and told him her dream,
because he was exceedingly expert in the science of interpretation.
He said to her, * O Khadija, the prophet of the latter time is to
be thy husband.' She asked, * From which country is that prophet
to appear?' Waraka answered, 'From Mecca.' Khadija in-
quired, * From which tribe ? ' Waraka replied, * From the Koreish.'
Khadija asked again, * From which family?' Waraka answered,
* From the Beni Hashim.' Khadija inquired, * What is his name?'
Waraka replied, 'Mohammed.' Khadija thus knowing whence
that sun was to arise, at once began to wait for it So it happened
that one day, when that Excellency was dining at Abu Talib's
table, Atika, the sister of the latter, was also present, and both
observed his propriety and good manners. When he had left, after
dinner, Abu Talib said to Atika, ' Mohammed is a grown-up youth,
and the time has come for him to marry, but he never speaks to us
on the subject O Atika, what is to be done in the matter?'
Atika replied, 'Khadija is an exceedingly blessed lady of noble
birth and station who is about sending a caravan to Syria ; we can
do nothing better than take some merchandise from Khadija for
Mohammed, to trade with at their joint profit' After having
consulted with Mohammed, who approved the plan, Atika went to
Khadija and communicated to her the state of affairs. Khadija,
reflecting for a while, said, 'Is this perhaps the interpretation of
my dream? This person is an Arab of Mecca, a Hashimite of
the Koreish ; his name is Mohammed, he is of a beautiful counten-
ance and pleasant manners, a truth-speaking, faithful man : is this,
perhaps, the promised prophet ? ' Then she accepted the proposa],
and became ennobled with the nobility of the bed of the Lord of
the apostles. She was the first lady whom that Excellency married,
she being 40 and he 25 years of age. All that Excellency's male
and female children were by her, with the only exception of
Ibrahim, who was born by Mary the Copt As the Lord of the
world paid much respect to Khadija's wishes, he did not take
another wife in addition to her.

The good qualities and virtues of Khadija were many. All
agree that she was the first person who was ennobled with the
nobility of Islam, believing in his Excellency, and spending property

I.] KHADIJA. 489

for his pleasure. According to sound tradition, his Excellency
declared that Mary, the daughter of Amram, and Khadija, were the
two noblest women of Paradise ; and he also said that the mistresses
of the ladies of Paradise were, Mary, Fatima, Khadija, and Asia,
Pharaoh's wife. According to a tradition derived from Abu
Horeira, Gabriel once came to his Excellency and said, ' O Apostle
of God, Khadija is coming to bring thee a basin full of savoury
food ; when she has come, give her a salutation from her Preserver
and from me, and announce to her the good news that she has a
house in Paradise, made of ^ hoUowed-out pearl, in which there is
not any adversity or affliction/ When that Excellency delivered
the salutation from the Most High and from Gabriel, Khadija
said in reply, * Truly, God is peace, and from Him comes peace ;
and peace be upon Gabriel and upon the Apostle of God, and upon
every one who hears the salutation, except Satan.'

It is recorded that Aisha the faithful said, * I felt no jealousy
with regard to any one of the Prophet's wives, except Khadija,
though she was no longer living when I was ennobled with the
nobility of that Excellency's bed. He so much remembered her,
that sometimes he would slay a sheep and divide it amongst her
friends. So I said to his Excellency, **It seems there is no woman
in the world except Khadija." His Excellency replied, " Khadija
had many fine points, and my children came from her." On
another occasion Khadija's sister Hala knocked at the door, in
a way which reminded the Prophet of Khadija's knocking. He
became sad and sorrowful, according to one account, or bright
and cheerful, according to another, and said, " The person knock-
ing must be Hala." This word of his Excellency so roused my
jealousy that I called out, " How much thou rememberest an old
woman from amongst the old females of the Koreish, who had no
tooth left in her mouth, and had already spent her life, and yet
the Most High has given thee something better in her stead ! "
This observation made his Excellency so angry that the hairs stood
up on his forehead, and he said, " By Allah ! the Most High has
not given me a better one than she was ; she had believed in me
at a time when all the people were still unbelievers, and testified in
my favour when all the world was denying me ; and she assisted
me with her fortune when all other people were shunning me ; and
by her the Most High gave me children." * Aisha adds, * After this
I made up my mind never again to say anything derogatory of
Khadija.'

The biographers are not agreed as to the time of Khadija's death.

490 SEVDA. [app.

but most probably she died in the month of Ramadan of the ninth
year of the prophetic mission. His Excellency went in person to
her grave to pray for her, and was exceedingly sad and cast down
by her death. On the day of her death Khadija was sixty-five
years old.

2. Sevda^ a Koreishite, sumamed Om Eswad. She had become
a believer in Mecca at the beginning of the prophetic mission, and
was first married to Sakran Ibn Omar, by whom she had a son
named Abd ur Rahman. Sakran is reckoned amongst the Ansar.
She had emigrated with him to Abyssinia, and after sojourning there
for a time, they returned to Mecca.

Sevda had seen in a dream that the Prophet came and put his
foot upon her neck. When she narrated this dream to Sakran, he said,
' If thou hast really had this dream, I am to die, and Mohammed
will marry thee.' After this, Sevda had another dream, in which she
saw the moon come down from heaven upon her. On telling this
dream also to her husband, he replied, ' If thou hast really dreamed
thus, I am to die shortly, and thou wilt marry another husband'
Sakran fell ill that very day, and died a few days later, leaving
Sevda a widow. Then in the tenth year of the prophetic mission,
after Khadija's death, and before the marriage with Aisha, that
Excellency married Sevda, according to sound tradition, settling a
dowry upon her of 400 dirhems.

On becoming aware of her great age, he, a.h. 8, divorced her,
or, according to a more correct tradition, intended to divorce her.
Then, one night, when that Excellency was going to Aisha's house,
Sevda stood in his way, and said to him, ' O Apostle of God, do
not divorce me, neither return to me, for I have no wish for any
one besides thee, and there is no sensual desire remaining in me,
only I wish to rise amongst thy wives on the day of the resurrection,
and I freely surrender my turn to Aisha, thy loved one.' Upon
this, his Excellency desisted from divorcing her, or re-accepted her.
It is recorded that Sevda, from time to time, said some words to
that prince which made him laugh.

Five traditions are derived from Sevda. Her death took place
in the latter part of Omar's Califate, but Wakidi credits a tradition,
according to which she left this world in Moawia's reign. She was
exceedingly tall and corpulent.

3. Aisha the faithful, the daughter of Abu Bekr, was the
Prophet's third wife. She belonged to the jurists and lawyers, and

I.] AISHA. 49J

the learned^ and virtuous, and eloquent, of his companions. Some
of the ancients affirm that one-fourth of the legal ordinances be-
came known through her, and it is notorious that the Prophet of
God said, in reference to her, * Take ye a third of your Faith from
this fair one/ It is recorded that Arwa Ibn Zobeir said, * I know
of no one more learned in the meaning of the Koran, and in the
laws concerning what is permitted and forbidden, and in the other
ordinances, and in the sciences of poetry and genealogy, than
Aisha.' Aisha herself is recorded to have declared that she
possessed the following distinctive excellencies above all other
wives of the Prophet : —

1. That Excellency married no other virgin except myself.

2. The parents of not any other of his wives emigrated for

the cause of God.

3. A verse was sent down from heaven in behalf of my justi-

fication and innocence.

4. Before that Excellency married me, Gabriel showed him

my image upon a piece of silk, saying, ' Marry this one,'
and upon this he married me.

5. I bathed with his Excellency under one cover, a dignity

not shared by any other.

6. I was reclining and lying opposite the prayer-place where

he performed his prayers.

7. A revelation came to him in my bedroom only, and not in

that of any of his other wives.

8. His spirit was taken from him when he was lying between

my bosom and my liver.

9. He died on the day when it was my turn to spend the

night with him.
10. He was buried in my apartment.

These points show that he had more inclination and love for
Aisha the faithful than for any other of his wives. It is also
established that when the Apostle of God was asked, ' Who is most
loved by thee amongst all the people ? ' he replied ' Aisha.' And
when he was asked again, *Who is it amongst the males?' he
answered, * Her father, Abu Bekr.'

It is also a correct statement that when the people wished to
give the Prophet a present, they watched for an opportunity of pre-
senting it to him on the day when it was Aisha's turn to be with him.
Their object in doing so was to gain that Excellency's goodwill.
When some of his other wives sent Cm Selma to him, requesting him

492 AISHA. [app.

to tell the people not to wait for Aisha's day with their gifts, but to
bring them on the day of any of his other wives, he said to her, ' O
Om Selma, do not trouble me about Aisha.' She replied, * O Apostle
of God, I repent towards God for having given thee trouble.' So,
despairing of Om Selma, they sent Fatima on the same errand.
To her the Prophet said, * O sweet daughter, dost thou not love
whomsoever I love ? ' and when she replied, * Yes, O Apostle of
God, I do,' he added * Then love Aisha.'

It is established that Aisha narrated as follows : ' When once I
asked the Prophet, " O Apostle of God, how much lovest thou me ? "
he answered, " As the knot of the cord." Thereafter I would ask
him from time to time, " O Apostle of God, how is the knot of the
cord ?" and he would answer, "As before," i.e. I love thee as much
as at first ; my love to thee has not changed' When the Calif
Omar assigned a pension to Mohammed's widows, he gave each
10,000 dirhems ; but to Aisha he gave 20,000, on the ground of her
having been the Prophet's best beloved.

It is recorded that Aisha stated : * When the Apostle of God
married me, I was in my sixth year, and when he consummated the
marriage with me, I was in my ninth year, and was still playing with
other little girls. These girls would run away when that prince
came near me, being ashamed ; but he would go after them
and bring them back to continue our play.^ One day he visited
me, when I had been playing with my dolls, whom I had laid on a
cushion, and drawn a curtain over them. After a while the wind
blew the curtain aside, and the Prophet seeing them, asked, " What
is that ? " I answered, " These are my dolls." Then seeing something
like a horse with wings on both sides, he inquired again, " And
what is that other thing I see amongst them ? " I replied, " A horse"

^ Dr. Ludolf Krehl, who, in his Leben des Muhammedy shows a decided dis-
position to take the most favourable view of Mohammed the prophet, yet
unhesitatingly calls his marriage with Abu Bekr*s youthful daughter 'open to
objection, and offensive beyond a doubt* (p. 104). He also, on the same
occasion, makes the following just remarks : ' Mohammed, obviously, was not
capable of clearly recognising, and fully estimating woman's true worth. He, in
effect, saw nothing more in woman than a ministering slave ; and this entire
view has been adopted into Islam, to its great disadvantage. Amongst the
nations professing Islam, the refining element which lies in the intercourse with
ladies, and in the influence of educated mothers on the early training of thdr
children, has never been duly recognised, and this is a fatal cancer from which
Islam will always suffer. ' The reader who wishes to see more on the inferiority
of woman's position in Islam, is referred to Part 11. Chapter v. section 6 of the
pamphlet — Food for RffUction: a Comparison between the three Monotheistic
Religions, Church Missionaiy House, London.

I.] AISHA. 493

He, " And what is that on both its sides ? " I, " Those are its wings."
He, " Have horses wings, then ? " I, " Hast thou not heard that
Solomon had winged horses ? " Upon this his Excellency laughed
so heartily that the whole row of his teeth was seen.'

It is also recorded that Aisha narrated, ' When, on one occasion,
the Apostle of God said to me, " I know when thou art pleased with
me, and when thou art angry with me ; " I asked, "O Apostle of
God, whereby dost thou know it?" He replied, "When thou art
pleased with me and swearest, thou sayest. By the Lord of Moham-
med ! but when thou art angry with me and swearest, thou sayest,
By the Lord of Abraham ! " I then said, " O Apostle of God, it is
exactly as thou hast stated ; but, O Apostle of God, it is not, that
I wish thee away from me or to leave thee ; I only omit thy name,
but my love for thee is unalterable."'

It is further recorded of Aisha: *The Apostle of God said to me,
" O Aisha, if thou wishest to reach my state, and to remain united
with me, then so live in this world that the provisions of a rider
may suffice for thee, and never call a dress old as long as it has
not been patched; also, be very careful in having to do with
riches."' According to another account, Aisha also narrated:
* When one day I begged of the Prophet, saying, " O Apostle of God,
pray for me, that the Most High may also make me one of thy
wives in Paradise," that Excellency replied, " If thou aspirest after
that dignity, thou must never store up food for the next day, or put
off a dress before it is patched ; and thy provision from this world
must be no more than a horseman takes with him for a journey." '
It was by the blessing of this advice that Aisha so much preferred
poverty to wealth, that she never stored any provisions ; and Arwa
Ibn Zobeir states, * I saw Aisha give away 70,000 dirhems in the
cause of God, and yet a corner of her own chemise was patched.'
On another occasion, when 100,000 dirhems were sent her, she
forthwith distributed them all amongst her relatives and the poor,
though she herself was fasting. Her fast being over when she had
finished the distribution, she ordered a slave to bring her breakfast,
which was then seen to consist only of a bit of bread and some dry
dates. It is said that her marriage portion from his Excellency
amounted only to 50 dirhems, or, according to another account,
to 500 dirhems, which he had borrowed for the purpose. The
honoured books record 2210 traditions from her, 174 of which are
generally received.

It is recorded that when Aisha was near her death, Ibn Abbas
visiting her, said, ' Be glad that thou hast been the wife of the

494 HAFZA, [app.

Apostle of God, and that thou hast been the only wife he married
as a virgin, and that a verse came down from heaven in thy justi-
fication.' After he had left, Abd Allah Ibn Zobeir entered, to
whom she said, *Ibn Abbas has been here and praised me,
although to-day I do not take pleasure in any one's coming and
praising me. What would it have mattered, if I had been a sun*
dried brick ? Would, I had been some such thing, so that no one
had taken my name in his mouth ; and would, I had never been
created ! ' She died, a.h. 58, more than 66 years of age.

4. Hafza^ the daughter of Omar Ibn Khattab. Before she
became the Prophet's wife, she had been married to Khanis, who
was one of the fugitives to Abyssinia, and afterwards one of the
combatants of Bedr. After his death, a.h. 2 or 3, the Prophet
married her, as soon as her legal time of waiting was over.

It is reported that when Hafza's first husband was dead, her
father, Omar, offered her to Othman, whose wife Rokaia, daughter
of Mohammed, had just died. Othman asked for time to consider,
and then declined the offer. Omar went to Mohammed to complain
of Othman's conduct, and the Prophet settled the affair by saying,
* May God give to Othman a better woman than thy daughter, and
to thy daughter a better husband than Othman ! ' This wish was
speedily fulfilled ; for Mohammed himself married Hafza, and gave
his own daughter Om Koltum to Othman.

It is also reported that Omar had offered Hafza to Abu Bekr,
who gave him no answer whatever, so that he felt greatly incensed.
But one day, after Mohammed's marriage with Hafza, when Abu
Bekr met Omar, he accosted him thus, * Perhaps thou art offended
with me for having left thee without an answer, when thou hadst
offered me thy daughter Hafza.' Omar replying, * Yes, I was very
much offended,' Abu Bekr continued, * The truth is, that nothing
prevented me from accepting her, except my knowing that the
Apostle of God had set his heart on having her, and it was in order
not to betray that Excellency's secret, that I did not give thee an
answer then.'

It is recorded that later on the prince of the world divorced
Hafza. Omar, as soon as this news reached him, cast earth upon
his head and became very disconsolate. On the next day Gabriel
descended^ saying *0 Mohammed, in order to show mercy to
Omar, God requests of thee to return to Hafza.' Hafza was bom
five years before the prophetic mission, and died in the reign of
Moawia, a.h. 45 or 48 or 50, about sixty years old. The current

I.] ZEINAB, OM SELMA. 495

books derive sixty traditions from her, of which six are generally
received.

5. 2^%naby Bint Khazima, had been married to three successive
husbands before Mohammed, the first of whom divorced her, and
the second and third were killed respectively in the battles of
Bedr and Ohod. His Excellency married her a.h. 9. She had
only been eight months in his house when she died, or, according
to another account, three months. She was called * the Mother of
the Poor,' because of her compassion for them, and the abundant
alms which she bestowed upon them.

6. Om Selma or Hindy Bint Abu Omia, was first married to Abu
Selma, Mohammed's cousin, to whom she bore four children. Of
these, two emigrated with their parents to Abyssinia, and afterwards
to Medina. Abu Selma was wounded in the battle of Ohod,
and his wound closed. When Mohammed sent him on an ex-
pedition, it reopened and became the cause of his death. Their
love for each other was so great that they mad^ a covenant to the
effect that whoever should survive the other, should not marry
again. But before his death, Abu Selma said to his wife, * When I
die, do not thou suffer trouble, but marry again, and may God give
thee a husband better than myself, who will never pain or grieve
thee.'

Om Selma says, * When Abu Selma was dead, I thought of these
words, but said to myself^ Who can be a better husband to me than
he was ? I had no idea of marrying again. I went to his Excellency,
saying to him, "Thou knowest that Abu Selma is dead, what
prayer shall I offer in my loneliness ? " He replied, '' Say, O God,
forgive me and him, and give me something better in his stead."
Then I persevered in offering up this prayer, and God gave me
something better than Abu Selma ; he gave me in wedlock to the
Apostle of God.' According to another account, his Excellency
went to Om Selma's house, after her husband's death, to condole
with her, and prayed, ' O God, assuage her grief, remove her trouble,
and compensate her by some one better than Abu Selma.' After-
wards, events turned out in accordance with this prayer.

It is recorded that when Om Selma's time of mourning was over,
both Abu Bekr and Omar desired to marry her, but she declined
them both. On his Excellency proposing to her, she replied,
* Welcome, O Apostle of God ; but I am a lady of a certain age,
with orphans, and also am very jealous, unable to endure having

496 OM SELMA, ZEINAB, [app.

only a share with thy many other wives; and, moreover, my
guardians are not here now, whose consent is requisite.' To these
objections the Prophet replied thus : * Thou sayest, " I am old," but
I am still older, and it is no shame for women to be the wives of
husbands older than themselves. Thou sayest, " I have orphans,"
but the guardianship and education of thy orphans belongs to God
and His Apostle. Thou sayest, '^ I am jealous, and cannot endure
partnership," but I will pray for thee, that God may take away
those feelings from thee. Thou sayest, "My guardians are not
here," but all thy guardians, whoever they may be, and whether
present or absent, will not object to my marrying thee, but be
quite agreeable.' Thereupon Om Selma said to her son Omar,
* Arise and marry me to the Apostle of God.' He arose and gave
her to the Prophet, though at that time he was not yet of age.
This happened in the fourth year after the Flight. Her dowry
consisted of furniture worth about lo dirhems.

As at that time Zeinab had just died, and her room was still
unoccupied, the Prophet assigned it to Om Selma. On taking
possession of the room, she found there a small jar containing a
quantity of barley, an earthen pot, and a handmill. She ground a
little barley in this mill and boiled it into a porridge, adding some
grape-bulama, and pouring melted suet over it. This she took to
the Prophet, and it formed their wedding repast. It is recorded
that the Apostle of God remained three days with Om Selma and
then wished to leave, in order to pay the portion of honour due to
his other ladies, but Om Sehna seized him by his skirt and wanted
to keep him back.

Om Selma died, 84 years old, a.h. 59 or 60, in the reign of
Yezid Ibn Moawia. It is said that when she heard of the murder
of Hosein, she cursed the people of Irak. The current books
contain 378 traditions attributed to her, of which thirteen are
generally acknowledged as genuine.

ft

7. Ziinaby Bint Jahsh, whose name Berre (=a wound) his
Excellency changed into Zeinab. Before the Prophet married her
she was the wife of Zeid Ibn Haritha. When Zeid had divorced
her, his Excellency married her, in the year 5 a.h.

It is recorded that when, in the first instance, that prince asked
Zeinab in marriage for Zeid, she, supposing he had asked her for
himself, at once consented. But on understanding afterwards that
he had been asking her for Zeid, she refused, for she was a lady of
beauty, the Prophet's first cousin, and of a determined aristocratic

I.] ZEINAB MARRIED, DIVORCED, WOOED. 497

nature. She said to his Excellency, * O Apostle of God, I do not
want Zeid, for he is a liberated slave.' Her brother also, agreeing
with her, did not accept him, although that prince had bought,
liberated, and adopted him before the appearance of the prophetic
mission. When the Prophet said to her, * Thy refusal is useless :
thou must accept him,' she replied, * O Apostle of God, give me
some time to think the matter over.' Then a verse was sent down,
enjoining compliance with the will of God and His apostle ; and
Zeinab said, * O Apostle of God, if it is really thy will that Zeid
should be my husband, I will make no more objections, but accept
him.' Thereupon his Excellency gave her to his adopted son Zeid,
and also added a dowry.

Upwards of a year after their marriage the Most High made
known to His Prophet that in His foreknowledge it had been
decreed that Zeinab should be one of the Prophet's own wives.
Then a coldness arose between 2^id and Zeinab, as it sometimes
happens between husband and wife. This went so far that Zeid, in
anger, repaired to the Prophet to complain of Zeinab, saying, ' O
Apostle of God, I wish to divorce Zeinab, because she is so violent
and reproachful towards me.' His Excellency replied, * Keep thy
lady, and fear God.' When afterwards God made known to him
that Zeinab was to become his own wife, that Excellency's blessed
mind desired Zeid to divorce Zeinab. But he was ashamed to
command him to do so, fearing the tongues of the people, lest they
should say, ' He has taken his adopted son's wife.' For in the time
of ignorance they regarded the marriage with an adopted son's wife
as illegal as that with the wife of a natural son. But Zeid came
again before his Excellency, and said, ' O Apostle of God, I have
divorced Zeinab.' A verse also was sent down rebuking Mohammed
for having concealed in his mind that which God wished to have
manifested, and for having been afraid of the tongues of men, when
he said to Zeid, * Keep thy lady, and fear God.' It is reported that
Aisha the faithful remarked, ' If Mohammed had wished to conceal
anything of the Koran, he would surely have concealed this verse.'

As soon as Zeinab's legal time of waiting was over, the Prophet
said to Zeid, * Go thou and ask Zeinab in marriage for me.' The
reason why he selected Zeid for this service was, lest the people
should think the affair had been brought about by compulsion,
without Zeid's free consent ; and also that he himself might have
a proof of Zeid's agreement and of his not retaining any more love
for Zeinab. When Zeid, in the discharge of this conunission,
reached Zeinab's house, he found her engaged in making the dough

21

498 Z EI NAB BINT JAHSH, [app.

for baking bread. He narrates : ' She appeared to me so great and
dread, that I was unable to look at her, and first turned back in-
voluntarily. Then I came a second time, and said, *' Good news
for thee, O Zeinab : the Apostle of God has sent me to thee to ask
thee in marriage for him." Zeinab replied, "I cannot give an
answer in this matter before having consulted with my brotha:." '
Then she arose, went to the place of prayer, performing two genu-
flexions of service, at the close of which she offered up this petition :
' O God, Thy Apostle seeks me in marriage : if I am worthy of him,
give me to him in wedlock !' The petition was at once answered
by the coming down of this noble verse : * When Zeid had decided
to divorce her, we married her to thee, so that it might not be
reckoned a guilt for the believers to marry the wives of their
adopted sons.' It happened whilst the Prophet had a conversation
with Aisha in her own apartment, that suddenly symptoms appeared
in him of the coming down of a revelation, which was made known
in an instant. For his Excellency began to smile, and said, 'Who
will go and take the joyous news to Zeinab that God has given her
to me for a wife?' and saying so, he recited the above verse.
His servant Selmi instantly ran to take the good news to Zeinab.
She rewarded him with the present of one of her own gold orna-
ments; and vowing that she would fast for two months, she
prostrated herself, and gave thanks to God.

Aisha the faithful said to herself^ ' Zeinab is a beautiful lady, and
was wedded to his Excellency in heaven : surely she will boast of a
superiority over us on both these accounts.' So without asking
permission of the Apostle of God, she went to Zeinab's apartment ;
and finding Zeinab's head uncovered, she said to the Prophet,
' O Apostle of God, thou hast paid a visit, without asking in mar-
riage, and without witnesses.' His Excellency replied, ' The Giver
in marriage was God, and the witness Gabriel.'

The Prophet had a wedding-feast prepared, in which he r^aled
the people with meat and bread. It is recorded that Uns Ibn
Malik narrated : ' My mother, Om Selim, cooked a dish for Zeinab's
wedding-feast, consisting of dates, butter, and bread, just enough
to suffice for the Prophet and his household. She put it into a
basin and requested me to take it to the Prophet, with her saluta-
tion ; and to apologise for the smallness of the quantity, there being
a famine in Medina in those days. When I had discharged this
errand, his Excellency said to me, " Go now and invite such and
such people," mentioning a great many by name; ''and call also
any whom thou mayest meet on the way." I did as I was bidden.

I.] ZEINAES WEDDING FEAST. 499

without raising the least objection^ though wondering how he could
invite so many people to so little food. Such a number of guests
came, that the house and the hall and the private room became
brimful. — ^There were altogether 300, or, according to another
account, 71 or 72 persons. — Then his Excellency ordered the food
to be brought forward, and having put his blessed hand upon it,
invoked a blessing, and told the people to form themselves into circles
of tens and to begin eating, saying first, " In the name of God, the
Merciful, the Compassionate 1 " I observed, that the dates in the
basin were multiplying as fast as the people ate them ; and from
the bottom of the basin butter was bubbling up, like water in a
spring. All the people ate till they were satisfied, and there remained
none who had not eaten. Then, on being told by that prince to
take up the basin, I looked, but could not tell whether it was fuller
at that moment, or when I had brought it. I handed the basin
to Zeinab, who likewise ate of it ; afterwards I took it back to my
mother and told her what had taken place. She replied, *'My
son, do not wonder : if the Most High had so willed it, the whole
population of Medina might have eaten of this food till they were
satisfied." '1

It is recorded that when the people had eaten the food, they
occupied themselves with conversation, whilst Zeinab sat in a comer
of the house, with her head turned towards the wall. His Excel-
lency wished in his heart that the people might disperse and leave
the house private ; but he was ashamed to tell them to go away.
Then he rose up and made himself ready to go out, hoping the
people might understand that he wished them to leave. But they
were so much engaged in conversation, that they did not take the
hint This was most annoying to that prince. At last he went
out ; and when the people saw this, they also left, except three men
who remained sitting and talking. That prince, through exceeding
modesty, refrained from telling them to their faces, ' Go away 1 '
Then he went to the door of the dwelling of the mothers of the
faithful and saluted them. They, after having returned his saluta-
tion, inquired of him, ' O Apostle of God, how didst thou find thy
spouse?' Whilst this was taking place, one of the three persons
left ; and when his Excellency returned to Zeinab's apartment, he
found the other two still sitting. So he turned back and occupied
himself with something else. Not till after all this, did the two others
take the hint and likewise go away. As soon as he was told that
they had left, he returned to Zeinab's room. Uns says^ * I wished
^ Plainly an intended parallel to the ' marriage of Cana in Galilee.'

500 ZEINAB BINT JAMS H. [app.

to speak to that prince once more ; but seeing the curtain already
drawn^ I turned away and went home. When I told these things
to my brother-in-law, Abu Talha, he replied, '* If things are as you
say, then a writing will come down on the subject." It really came
to pass as Abu Taiha had surmised ; for shortly after '' the verse of
the curtain" was sent down.'

It is said that when that prince had married Zeinab, the hypo-
crites of Medina made great use of their slanderous tongues, saying,
* Mohammed has taken his own son's wife.' Thereupon the follow-
ing verses came down : ' Mohammed has not been the father of any
one of you ;' and, * Name them after their own fathers ; this will be
more proper with God.'

In connection with Zeinab's virtues it is mentioned that on one
occasion, when the Prophet was sitting amongst the emigrants, dis-
tributing booty to them, one of his pure wives sent to him, asking
for one of the articles. He complied with the request, and likewise
apportioned presents to all his other wives, except Zeinab. Upon
this, Zeinab said to him, ' O Apostle of God, there is none amongst
thy ladies to whom thou gavest no present except myself To one
thou gavest in consideration of her father j to others, in considera-
tion of their brothers or relatives. It was, therefore, proper for
thee to remember me also with a present, in consideration of Him
who married and gave me to thee.' This word very much touched
the Prophet, so that Omar rebuked Zeinab, saying, ' Why dost then
give pain to that prince?' She answered, * Leave me alone, Omar:
if this thing had happened to thy daughter Hafza, wouldest thou
have been content then?' His Excellency also said, 'O Omar,
leave her alone : for verily she is compassionate.'

It is also narrated that Zeinab once said to the Prophet, 'I
possess several excellencies of which none of thy other wives can
boast: we two have one grandfather, my wedlock took place in
heaven, and in this our affair the agent and witness was Gabriel'

Abd Allah Ibn Omar narrates : ' The Apostle of God once said
to his ladies, '^That one of you who has the longest arm shall
speedily reach me." ' Upon this, the mothers of the believers took
a reed and measured their arms. It was found that Sevda's arm
was the longest. Afterwards, when Zeinab was the first to succeed
the Prophet in death, it became manifest that by length of arm was
meant liberality in almsgiving : for Zeinab gave away as alms all the
produce from the sale of her handiwork. She died 53 years old,
A.H. 20. In the current books ten traditions are derived from her,
of which two are generally received.

I.] ZEINABS AFFAIR JUSTIFIED. 501

Remark. — The preceding account of Zeinab's marriage with Mo-
hammed is in itself both sad and droll, even without making
allowance for expurgations to which it appears to have been
subjected, in favour of the Prophet. But the following explana-
tory remarks which the Mohammedan compiler of the Rawzat
ul Ahbab appends to his narrative show that he studiously
discarded from his reports what he considered prejudicial to the
character of his hero. The reasons which he assigns for his
benevolent discrimination also fully confirm the view, expressed
in the present work, of the great need there exists for using
the Mussulman sources of history, respecting Mohammed, with
great caution. The singular logic adopted by the Mohammedan
authors in screening their prophet's life and conduct, can leave
little doubt that, had our information been derived from im-
partial sources, Mohammed would appear before us in a far
more unfavourable light The instructive remarks with which
the compiler of the Rawzat feels it his duty to fsivour his
readers, and which plainly set forth the principles generally
acted upon by the biographers, are as follows : —
'Be it known that some of the Commentators, Traditionists,
Biographers, Jurists, and Historians narrate this story about Zeid and
Zeinab in a different way, which a perfect Mussulman cannot follow,
as regards his Excellency the Prophet In the preceding narrative
we have only written down what we found in the writings of the
most approved Traditionists, Biographers, and cautious authors.
Mussulmans, therefore, must not be staggered, if they find in other
books what we have omitted, though the authors of those books may
have been great men and belonged to the orthodox community.
For it is best to follow truth. Sheikh Shihab ud Din says in some
of his works that one has to take refuge with God (i.e, indignantly
to turn) from what some believe concerning the Apostle of God in
the matter of Zeinab, because the Most High always kept that prince,
so that every one of his words and actions was true and pure.
That prince never perfidiously looked at the illicit, his look being
preserved pure not only from what is treacherous in itself, but even
from what has the mere appearance of treachery. This is proved
by the fact that at the conquest of Mecca, when Othman brought
Abd Allah Ibn Saad, whose death had been decided upon, into the
presence of the Prophet, soliciting an amnesty for him, the Prophet
returned no answer, and did not give the amnesty, until Othman had
repeatedly importuned him for it; and, after Othman and Abd Allah
had left, said to those present, ' Why did ye not cut off the head of

502 ZEINAB. JOWAIRIA, [app.

that person?' Ibad Ibn Bishr answering, *0 Apostle of God, we
were looking to the comer of thine eye for a sign, and if there had
been one, we should have cut off his head at once,' the Prophet

•

rejoined, 'It does not become any prophet that his look should
convey treachery.' If, then, Mohammed regarded it treachery to
give a sign with his eye, which would only have had the appearance
of treachery, as the matter had been approved by him from religious
motives, how can it be fit for Mussulmans to suppose that he
allowed himself to look upon another man's wife ? On the contrary,
it is proper to believe that the desires of that prince remained
within the bounds of what was right, and that lust had no power
over him. His companion from amongst the Genii was subject and
obedient to him, and did not impel him to any but good things.
But as in the time of ignorance Zeid was called ' Zeid Ibn Mo-
hammed,' because Mohammed had adopted him for a son ; and as
it was considered unlawful to marry the divorced wife of an adopted,
no less than a natural, son, it behoved Divine Wisdom to forbid
those views, and to overthrow those ruletf and customs in a more
efficacious manner. It was for this purpose that, when Zeinab had
been separated from Zeid, God married her in heaven to • that
Excellency and gave her to him. For if the early Mussulmans
had not seen that prince marry the divorced wife of his adopted son,
they would have been left in doubt and perplexity respecting such
marriages.'

8. Jawairia was married by Mohammed a.h. 5, during his return
from the Moreisi expedition, her husband having fallen in a fight
against the Moslems. Her name was changed from Bere (ssa
wound), which was disliked by the Prophet One morning he left
her room whilst she was saying her prayers ; and on coming back in
the course of the forenoon, he still found her engaged in prayer.
He asked her, whether she had been praying ever since he left, and (»i
her answering in the affirmative, he said, ' Since I left, I have only
spoken three times four words, but if they were put into a balance,
they would outweigh all that thou hast been saying to^iay.' Another
time the Prophet went to her on a Friday, and finding her fastings
he asked her whether she had also fasted the day before, and in-
tended to do so the next day. On her answering in the negative, he
said to her, ' Then break fast at once.' From this the Ulemas infer,
that it is not good to fast on Fridays only. She died in Medina,
A.H. 50 or 56, being 65 years old. The honoured books contain
seven traditions from her, of which four are genuine.

I.] OM HABIBA. SAFIA. 503

9. Om Habiba (also called Ramla and Hind) was first married to
Obeid Allah, with whom she embraced Islam at an early period, and
emigrated to Abyssmia, where she bore him the daughter Habiba.
She narrates : ' Whilst in Abyssinia, I one night saw Obeid Allah, in
a dream, exceedingly ill-favoured and unsightly. In the morning
he said to me, ' O Om Habiba, I have examined all religions and
not found a better one than Christianity. I also formerly held that
religion, though afterwards chose Mohammed's ; and now I wish
to return to the religion of the Christians.' I replied, *0 Abd
Allah, do not say so, for I saw a strange dream concerning thee
to-night.' I told him the dream, but he gave no heed, and became
a renegade to Christianity, took to drinking wine, and died in that
state. Afterwards I had again a dream in which I saw some one who
addressed me, * O mother of the believers.' On waking I interpreted
it to myself as an intimation that the Prophet was going to marry
me. When my legal time of mourning was over, a female domestic
was one day sent to me from the Abyssinian king, with the message
* I have received a letter from the Apostle of God in which he asks
thee in marriage.' On hearing this, I was exceedingly delighted,
and took off ornaments from my hands and feet to reward the mes-
senger. Then I appointed Khalid Ibn Said for my Vakil, and was
married to the Prophet by the Abyssinian king, receiving as my dowry
400 gold pieces (or, according to another account, 1000 dirhems)'.

When Om Habiba reached Medina, she became ennobled with
the nobility of that Excellency's bed. She was at that time thirty
odd years of age. It is reported that when her end approached, she
asked pardon of Aisha and of Om Selma, saying, 'Amongst a man's
wives discord will naturally arise : forgive all that happened to you
through me.' They answered, ' May God reconcile us to each
other t We have forgiven all that has happened.' Om Habiba re-
joined, ' May God gladden you, as you have gladdened me ! ' She
died A.H. 42 or 44, in Medina. The books of authority contain
$ixty-six traditions from her, of which two are generally received.

10. Sofia (= Sophia) Bent Hoyyai, a Jewess of the tribe of Aaron.
She belonged to the Nadhir kabile ; and after having been separ-
ated from her first husband, Sallam Ibn Mishkam, she became the
wife of Kinana Ibn er Rabbi, who was slain at the conquest of
Khaibar. From amongst all the other captives the Prophet chose
her for himself. As soon as she was brought before him, he ordered
her to be taken to his tent. He soon went there himself to see her ;
and on saying to her, ' Thy father has always been hostile to me,

504 SAFIA. [APP.

now God has slain him/ she replied, 'God does not upbraid anyone

for the sins of others.' Then he left her free to choose between

going back to her people and turning Mussulman, to become one of

his pure wives. She being a gentle and intelligent lady, answered^

*0 Apostle of God, verily, I have a desire to become a

Mussulman. I believe in thee, and in this state am I come to thee.

I have no longer any connection with Judaism ; I have no longer

either father or brother amongst the Jews. By Allah ! God and

His Apostle are preferable to me to being set at liberty and rejoining

my people.' These words pleased the Prophet so much, that he at

once put her aside for himself and gave her her liberty for a dowry.

When they quitted Khaibar, she was brought to ride on the same

camel with the Prophet He offered her his thigh, to assist her in

mounting ; but she had such regard to good manners, that, instead

of stepping on his thigh, she mounted by only putting her knee

against him. He covered her with his own cloth, and sat in front

of her, so that all the people knew she was to be one of his pure

wives. At the first halting-place, six miles from Khaibar, he wished

to consummate the marriage with her; but as she was unwilling,

and refused, he became very angry with her. At the next station he

told Om Selim his wish, requesting her to make the necessary pre-

paratioa Accordingly she brought Safia into the tent, combed her

hair, perfumed her, and gave her instruction what to do when the

Prophet came near her. Safia acting as she was instructed, the

marriage was consummated that night.

It is recorded that Abu Eyub, one of the Ansars, watched that
whole night with a drawn sword before the tent; and when the
Prophet, on seeing him in the morning, asked him for the reason,
he replied, 'O Apostle of God, Safia is still a young lady; her
father and husband have been slain: I therefore thought within
myself, that it was best to remain near, so as to be ready for any
eventuality.' The Prophet smiled, and blessed him for his care.

On being asked by Om Selim, how she had found the Prophet,
Safia said, ' I found him pleasant. He was gay with me, and kept
talking with me all night, till this morning. When he asked me,
why I refused him in the previous station, and I answered, I was
afraid some harm might happen to him, as the place was so near
the Jews, he was pleased with the answer, and loved me all the
more for it' The same morning Mohammed abo asked all his
friends to bring forward all the eatables they could spare, and thus
he had a wedding-feast prepared in honour of Safia.

It is recorded that, on arriving at Medina, Mohammed lodged

I.] SAFIA. 505

Safia in a room of Haritha Ibn Noaman's house. The renown of
her great beauty spreading about, the wives of the Ansars went to
see her. Aisha the faithful, likewise, disguising herself by putting a
sheet around her and covering her face with a veil, went amongst
other women to get a look at her. The Prophet, seeing her,
recognised her at once ; so, taking hold of her sheet, he said to
her, *0 Anemone, how didst thou find Safia?' Aisha replied, •!
found a Jewish girl, sitting among Jewish women.'

It is recorded on the authority of Om Selim, that four of the
Prophet's pure wives went disguised amongst the wives of the
Ansars to see Safia, viz., Aisha, Zeinab, Hafza, and Jowairia. She
heard Zeinab say to Jowairia, 'What I have seen is this, that
before long this one will have superseded us all.' But Jowairia
replied, ' It will not be so j for she belongs to a people whose
women are not more fortunate than its men.'

Aisha the faithful narrated : 'Once that prince took us with him
on a journey ; and when Safia's camel was taken ill, so as to be
unable to proceed further, he said to Zeinab, " How would it be, if
thou wert to lend thy spare camel to Safia, till the next station ?"
But she replied, " I shall give nothing to that Jewess." This so
offended his Excellency that for two or three months he forsook
Zeinab, and never went near her.'

It is recorded that during that prince's last illness, when the
mothers of the believers were gathered around him, Safia said, ' O
Apostle of God, I wish I could have this illness in thy stead.' When
the other wives heard this word, they winked to each other with their
eyes ; and on the Prophet observing it, he was very much displeased,
and said, ' By Allah ! Safia has been sincere in what she said.'

On one occasion, when the Apostle of God went to the apartment
of Safia, he found her weeping. Asking her why she wept, she
said, ' Because Aisha and Hafza trouble me, saying. We are better
than Safia, being both his relatives and his married wives.' That
prince said, * O Safia, didst thou not say to them. In what way are
you better than I, who have Aaron for a father, Moses for an uncle,
and Mohammed Mustafa for a husband ?'

On another occasion Aisha the faithful said reproachingly to
Mohammed, ' Is it not enough for thee to acknowledge the defects
of Safia, seeing she is such and such, that is, very short?' His
Excellency replied, *0 Aisha, verily thou hast spoken a word
which, if it liad a colour and were thrown into the sea, would
colour the entire ocean.'

Safia died, a.h. 36 or 50 or 52, or, according to another account,

5o6 MEIMUNA, [app.

during Omar's Califate. Ten traditions are derived from her, of
which one is generally recognised.

II. Meitnuna Bint el Harith, whose previous name was Bere,
had in the time of ignorance been the wife of Masud Ibn Omar,
and after their separation was married by Abu Dehm, or by
Khuwaitab, or by Furuwet, or by Sibret, or by Abd YaliL After
her second husband's death, the Prophet desired her; and he
married her, a.h. 7, during his return from the Omra expedition,
in the station of Serf, not far from Mecca. It is a strange incident
that Meimuna afterwards died in the same place, and was buried
on the spot where her nuptial bed had been. The account con-
cerning her, deserving preference to the rest, is this, that at the
time the Prophet married her, there was no legal impediment in the
way, but according to other accounts she was not lawftil to him.
It is said that Meimuna was that lady who made a present of
herself to the Prophet. When the news reached her that the
Prophet desired her in marriage, she was mounted on a camel, and
at once said, ' I and the camel I am riding upon are God's and His
Prophet's.' Then the verse came down, * And a believing woman
has made a present of herself to the Prophet.' But, according to
another account, the lady who gave herself as a present to the
Prophet was Zeinab Bint Jahsh, or Zeinab Bint Khazima, or a lady
from amongst the Beni Amir.

Meimuna narrated as follows : ' One night, when it was my turn,
the Apostle of God rose up from my side and went out Then
I rose up and locked the door. After a while his Excellency
returned and knocked, but I did not open. When he swore at me,
to open, I said, " O Apostle of God, thou goest to thy other wives
in the night of my turn." His Excellency answered : " I did not
go to them, but went somewhere else." '

According to some accounts Meimuna died a.h. 51, and accord-
ing to others, a.h. 61 or 63 or 60. According to these latter it
was Meimuna who died last of all Mohammed's wives, and not
Om Selma. The traditions derived from her amount to seventy-
six, of which seven are generally agreed upon.

The wives above mentioned are the eleven favoured ladies with
whom the Prophet consummated marriage; and not one of the
Biographers dissents from this statement Only two of them, viz.,
Khadija and Zeinab Bint Khazima, departed this world during the
Prophet's life, and after them that prince went to eternity, whilst
the remaining nine were still living.

ij FATIMA. SENA. MEUKA. ASM A, 507

Besides these, there are thirty other ladies, with some of whom
that Excellency contracted a marriage, without consummating it,
whilst others he asked in marriage, without the engagement being
carried out One of them was Fatima Bint Dhahak, to whom the
Prophet left the choice, after having married her, and who there-
upon left him, preferring the world. She at last became so desti-
tute that she had to gather camel-dung in the street for fuel She
used to say, ' Take a warning from my misfortune, because I pre-
ferred this world to God and His Apostle.'

Another was Setia^ or Sa^a^ or Asma Bint Zalat Soon after she
had been informed of the glad news that the Prophet had accepted
her in marriage, she also received the sad tidings that the object of
her joy had died.

Another was Melika Bint Kaab, on whose thigh the Lord of
the world observed something white, when he was alone with her.
This gave him a loathing, and he said to her, ^ Dress again, and
retiun to thy people.'

Another was Astna Bint Noaman. Her father, the chief of his
tribe, on coming to the Prophet and professing belief in him, said :
' O Apostle of God, I have a daughter, the most beautiful of the
women of Arabia. She is as yet without a husband, and has a
strong desire to be ennobled with the nobility of thy bed' The
Prophet accepted her, and gave her father Noaman 12^ pounds of
money for her dower. Noaman asked for a higher dowry ; but on
the Prophet assuring him, that he had not given more to any of his
wives, nor asked more for his own daughters, he consented ; and
his daughter was sent for by one of the Prophet's confidential men.
As soon as the fame of her beauty had spread in Medina, the ladies
of the city came to see her. The mothers of the believers in-
structed one of the women to convey this message to her : * Thou
art the daughter of a chief: if therefore thou wishest to find more
luck here, thou hadst better say to him, as soon as he is alone with
thee, " I take refuge with God from thee ! " for this will multiply
his inclination and love towards thee.' According to another
account, the Prophet's pure wives were very jealous of Asma from
the moment she had arrived ; and, feigning affection for her, sought
to mislead her. Aisha said to Hafza, 'Do thou bum henna on
her hands, and I will dress her hair.' So when her head was being
dressed, one of them said to that unfortunate one, ' The Prophet
exceedingly loves any woman, who, as soon as they are alone, turns
her back upon him, and says, " I take refuge with God from thee !'"
So when that prince was alone with Asma, and wished to kiss her,

5o8 LEILL OM HANL JUMRA, [app.

that simpleton said, ' I take refuge with God from thee.' As soon
as that Excellency heard her say this word, he rose up from her
side, saying, ' Thou hast taken refuge in a safe place : arise and go
back to thy father.' Then the Prophet sent her back to her tribe
by the same man who had fetched her. When the Apostle of God
afterwards became aware of the trick his wives had played to Asma,
he said, ' They are like Joseph, and their cunning is great.'

Another was Ldli Bint Khatim. Once when the Prophet was
sunning his back, she went behind him, giving him a blow with her
fist On his turning round and asking for an explanation, she said,
* I am come to thee, in order to give myself up to thee, and that
thou mayest marry me.' His Excellency replied, *I accept thee
for a wife.' But when she returned to her people and told them
what had happened, they said to her, ' Thou hast not acted well ;
for thou art a jealous lady ; but that Excellency has many wives,
so thou wilt be sure to say to them what will make him angry and
will lead him to curse thee. It will therefore be the best thing for
thee to go to that prince and ask him to annul the marriage.' This
was accordingly done, and Leili married some one else, by whom
she had children. But one day, when she was taking a bath in one
of the gardens of Medina, a wolf came and tore her in pieces.

Of those whom the Prophet asked in marriage, but did not obtain,
was Om Hani or Fakhta Bint Abu Talib. He had asked for her
already in the time of ignorance ; but her father, his uncle, gave
her to Habira, on the plea that he himself had taken a wife from
their family. Afterwards she embraced Islam and became sepa-
rated from Habira. Then his Excellency asked again for her, but
she answered, • O Apostle of God, by Allah, I loved thee even in
the time of ignorance, and now since I am a Mussulman, why
should I not love thee still ? By Allah ! I love thee more than my
eyes and my ears ; but I am a lady with orphan children. I fear
that when I look after them, I cannot properly attend to thy
service. If thou wert to come to my bed, thou wouldst find one
child by my side and another on my bosom.'

Another yrzsjumra Bint Harith, whom the Prophet asked of her
father. The latter replied, ' O Apostle of God, she has a disease,'
although this was not the case. But when her father came home,
he found her covered with leprosy.

That prince had also Female Slaves. The first of these was
Mary Bint Simeon, a Copt, whom the King of Alexandria sent to

r

I.] MARY THE COPT. RAIHANA. 509

him for a present. She was a beautiful, fair lady, and, having em-
braced Islam, the Prophet kept her for concubinage. He fondly
loved her, and his son Ibrahim was by her. She died, a.h. 16,
during Omar's Califate.

The second is Raihana Bint Zeid, one of the captives of the
Beni Nadhir, a Jewish tribe. The Prophet selected her for himself
from amongst the other captives. He left her the choice between
her own religion and Islam, and she chose the latter. He possessed
her by the right of his right hand (i>. by conquest). According to
another account, adopted by Wakidi, he liberated and married her
in Ramadan, a.h. 6.

The third was a beautiful female slave falling to his share of
the war-booty.

The fourth was a slave whom Zeinab Bint Jahsh gave him for
a present

APPENDIX 11.

MOHAMMED S CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN

Be it known that all his Excellency's children were by Khadija,
except Ibrahim, who came from Mary.

Kasim was the eldest son of that prince, who, on this account,
was sumamed ' Abu-1-Kasim,' ue, the father of Kasim. Kasim was
bom in Mecca during the time of ignorance, and also died in the
time of ignorance, after having entered upon the second year of
his age.

Add Allah likewise was bom in Mecca, and died in his infimcy.
At that time the idolaters of Mecca boasted, saying, ' We have
sons by whom our name and fame will be perpetuated in this world ;
but Mohammed has no son left, and therefore his name and £une
will perish.'

Ibrahim (Abraham) was bom, a.h. 5, in Medina. The midwife
on the occasion was the Apostle's liberated slave Selmi. She sent
the good news of the birth by her husband, Abu Rafi, to Mohammed,
who rewarded him by the present of a slave. The Prophet, that
same night, also gave the child the name of Ibrahim. Gabriel came
down and saluted that prince by saying, ' Peace be to thee, O thou
father of Ibrahim !' which pleased him very much. On the seventh
day after the birth, when the ceremony of the cutting of the hair
with which he came into the world took place {Akika\ the Prophet
sacrificed a sheep, had Ibrahim's head shaved, and gave the equal
weight of the hair, in silver, as alms to the poor, and then ordered
the hair to be buried It is reported that the ladies of the Ansar
eyed each other from a desire of becoming Ibrahim's wet-nurse.
Their object in this was, to take all care from his mother, so that
she might give herself up wholly to the service of the Proph^ ; fw
they knew that his Excellency loved her exceedingly. The wet-
nurse is stated to have been Om Berde, and according to another
account, Om Seif.

Ibrahim lived about a year, dying a.h. 10. His death caused

II.] IBRAHIM'S DEATH AND BURIAL. ZEINAB. 511

the Prophet great sadness and many tears. When they brought the
news to him that the child was in the agonies of death, he took the
hand of Abd ur Rahman Ibn Awf, who happened to be with him,
and went to Abu Seif s house, where he found the child lying in its
mother's lap. He took it up in his arms ; and as he thus looked
upon it, tears flowed from his blessed eyes. Abd ur Rahman said,
' O Apostle of God, thou also weepest ; didst thou not forbid us to
bewail our dead?' He replied, ^O Ibn Awf, what thou now seest
in me is compassion and tenderness for the dead, arising from the
thought of what is befalling him.' Asama Ibn Zeid, on being told
not to wail, answered, ' O Apostle of God, I wept^ because I saw
thee weep ;' to which his Excellency remarked, * Weeping is
from compassion, wailing from Satan.' According to one account,
Ibrahim was washed by the wet-nurse ; according to another, by
Fazl Ibn Abbas, Abd ur Rahman pouring on the water. The
Prophet was present during the washing, and performed the funeral
service ; after which he had the grave levelled and water poured
over it Ibrahim's was the first grave in Islam on which water was
poured.

It is reported that Mohammed said on the day of Ibrahim's
death, ' If Ibrahim had remained alive, I would have made all his
mother's relatives free, and would have exempted all the Kopts
from tribute.' It is also established that he said, 'As my son
Ibrahim quitted this world before his nursing was over, he will have
a nurse, or, according to another account, two nurses, in Paradise,
till the time of nursing is completed.'

Of MoIiamtnecPs DAUGHTERS.

Zetnab was the oldest, bom in the time of ignorance, and after-
wards married by her father to his nephew Abu-1-Aas. The latter
was amongst the captives taken by the Mussulmans at the battle of
Bedr. Zeinab being then in Mecca, gave up the necklace which
she had received from her mother Khadija on her wedding-day, to
be sent to the Mussulmans for the redemption of her husband. As
soon as his Excellency saw the necklace, he became greatly moved,
because it reminded him of Khadija; and he said to his com-
panions, ' If you wish, you may give up Zeinab's captive and send
her back the necklace.' Accordingly, this was done. Before Abu-
1-Aas left, Mohammed addressed him thus, ^When thou hast
reached Mecca, send me back my daughter Zeinab : for her Islam
and thy unbelief have separated you from each other.' In com-

512 ZEINAB. RAKAIA, app.

pliance with this stipulation, Abu-1-Aas sent 2^inab to Medina.
She remained there separated from him, till later on he fell into the
hands of Mohammed's soldiers, whilst he was returning from a
mercantile journey. He begged Zeinab's and her father's pardon,
had his goods restored to him, and embraced Islam. His wife
rejoined him, by virtue of the first marriage, or, according to
another account, by a fresh marriage.

Zeinab had two children by Abu-l-Aas : a boy called Ali, who
died when he was nearly grown up ; and a girl called Imama, whom
the Prophet loved so much that once he kept her on his shoulder
whilst performing his prayers, putting her on the ground at the
prostration and taking her up again, when he raised his blessed
head from the ground. She was afterwards married to Ali Ibn Abu
Talib, after Fatima's death, who had counselled the marriage.
Zeinab died a.h. 8. The Prophet ordered that she should be
washed three or five or seven times, the last time with camphor;
and that his own bathing-towel should be tied on to her winding-
sheets.

Rakaia^ Mohammed's second daughter, was bom durii^; the
time of ignorance, in the thirty-third year of the Elephant, and was
married by her father to Atiba Ibn Abu Lahab. But before the
marriage was consummated, a verse was revealed against Abu
Lahab, wherefore he insisted on his son divorcing Rakaia. It is
also recorded that after Mohammed had received his apostolic
mission, the Koreish, from their enmity to him, said to his sons-in-
law Abu-l-Aas and Atiba, ' You have taken Mohammed's daughters
and freed him from this care : if you desire our goodwill, you must
divorce them, so that he may be occupied with his daughters and
not with other matters ; and we will give you instead any one of our
daughters whom you may choose.' Abu-l-Aas declined ; but Atiba
said, ' If you give me Saad's daughter, I will divorce Rakaia.'

Accordingly, Atiba, about to start on a mercantile journey to
Syria, with his father, first went to Mohammed, speaking against his
God, and then called out, ' I have divorced Rakaia.' The Prophet
replied, * O God, set thou one of thy dogs at him.' When they
had reached the Zarka station on their journey to Syria, a monk
came from a neighbouring monastery and told them, 'This station
is an abode of wild beasts : be on your guard ! ' Therefore Abu
Lahab went round to all the people of the caravan, saying, ' Help us
this night ; for I fear for my son on account of Mohammed's curse.'
So they brought all their merchandise together on a heap, and pre-

II.] RAKAIA, OM KOLTHUM, FATIMA. 513

pared a place on its top for Atiba to sleep in. But in the night
God sent a heavy sleep upon them. A lion came, first smelled
at each one of them, without doing them any harm, and then,
flinging itself upon the heap of merchandise, gave Atiba a blow
with its paw which tore asunder his body and killed him.

Afterwards the Prophet gave Rakaia to Othman Ibn Afan, and
they twice emigrated to Abyssinia. Rakaia being with child during
the first emigration, suflfered a miscarriage. Then she bore Othman
a son, named Abd Allah, who died two years old, from the effects
of his eye being picked out by a cock. Rakaia died a.h. 2, during
the absence of her father at the battle of Bedr. When the ladies
wept for her, Omar Ibn Khattab came and struck them with his fist,
saying, *Why do you weep?' The Apostle of God, seizing his
hand, said to him, ' Beat them not, let them weep : but they must
refrain from wailing and beating themselves.' When Fatima sat on
her grave, by the side of the Prophet, and wept, he dried her tears
with the end of his sleeve. As most narrators agree that the
Prophet was from home when Rakaia died, the last-mentioned
circumstance must either have happened at the death of another
of his daughters, or else during one of his visits to the tomb,
after his return from Bedr. But God knows best

Om Kolthum or Amina was Mohammed's third daughter. She
was at first married to Otba, Atiba's brother, who soon divorced her
at the instigation of his father Abu Lahab. A year after Rakaia's
death, the Prophet gave her to Othman Ibn Afan. According to
some historians she bore him no children ; and according to others,
the children she bore died in infancy. She herself died a.h. 9.
When her body had been brought to the grave, the Prophet asked,
* Which of you men did not approach last night ? ' and on Abu
Talha answering, he did not, he commanded him to descend into
the grave and bury her. He also ordered the grave to be smoothed
down, but said, * Know, that the dead derives no benefit from this ;
only it is more gratifying to the living.'

Fatima the brilliant, sumamed Om Mohammed, and also called
the blessed, the pure, the intelligent, the content, the contenting,
and the virgin, was Mohammed's fourth daughter. She was born
in the thirty-fifth or the forty-first year of the Elephant, and is
generally regarded as the Prophet's youngest daughter, though some
say that Rakaia or Om Kolthum was the youngest. Ali Ibn Abu
Tahb married her a.h. 2, on his return from the battle of Bedr. At

2 K

514 FA TIM A, [app.

the time of her marriage Fatima was fifteen or eighteen years old, or,
according to other historical statements, twenty or twenty-four years.
She gave birth to three sons and three daughters, namely, Hasan,
Hosein, and Mohsan ; Zeinab, Om Kolthum, and Rakaia,— of whom
the third and the sixth died in their infancy. Zeinab was given in
marriage to Abd Allah Ibn Jafar, and Om Kolthum to Omar Ibn
Khattab ; but they left no children. The only child of the Prophet
whose issue survived, was Fatima. Once, when Aisha the faithfiil
was asked who had been the best beloved of the Apostle of God,
she answered, 'Amongst women, Fatima, and amongst men, her
husband.'

Hadhifa el Yeraan narrated : * One day my mother scolded me
on account of not having seen the Prophet for so long. I tj^erefore
went that morning to perform the prayers with him. After prayers
he went to his room, and as I went after him, I observed some one
walking before that Excellency and saying a few words into his ears,
in a low voice. Mohammed asked me what I wanted ; and on my
answering, " O Apostle of God, I am come to crave pardon for my
mother and myself," he said, " God has forgiven both thee and thy
mother," Then he further questioned me, " Didst thou see that
person who was walking before me ? " and on my giving an affirma-
tive answer, he continued, '* This was an angel who had never before
descended anywhere, but who now received permission from my
Lord to come down : he, after saluting, told me that Fatima was to
be the mistress of the ladies of Paradise, and Hasan and Hosein
the Lords of the youths of Paradise." '

Uns Ibn Malik narrated that the Prophet once said, * Of all the
women of this world, the* following are equal in rank : Mary, the
daughter of Omran ; Khadija, the daughter of Khuilid ; Fatima, the
daughter of Mohammed ; and Pharaoh's wife Asia, the daughter of
Mezahin.' It is also established that the Prophet said, * Fatima is
a piece of myself: whoever pains her, pains me; and whoever is
angry with her, is angry with me.' According to another account
he said, * God is wroth with any one who bears anger to Fatima ;
and he is pleased with any one who takes pleasure in Fatima.'

One day the Lord of the world put the following question in an
assembly of his companions, * Tell me, what is the most proper
thing for ladies to do ? ' But not one of those present could answer
it. When Ali Ibn Abu Talib, on returning home, told this to his
wife Fatima, she said, * Why didst thou not answer. The best thing
for ladies to do is, that neither they should see the faces of gentle-
men, nor gentlemen their faces.' Then Ali returned to the Prophet

II.] FATIMA, 515

and gave him the answer which he had been taught by Fatima.
Therei^n his Excellency remarked, * Truly, Fatima is a piece of
myself.'

On another day the Prophet, coming to Fatima's house, found
her wearing a coarse garment of camel's hair, which brought tears
to his eyes, and led him to say, * O Fatima, patiently bear to-day
this world's trouble and distress ; for on the morrow of the resur-
rection the favours of Paradise shall be thine.'

Sheikh Nejm narrates in his commentary on the first Sura, that
once the Prophet, in visiting Fatima, found her grieving and sad.
On asking her the reason of this, she answered, * O Apostle of God,
I say it not by way of complaint, but as a mere statement of facts,
that w^have now been three days without any food in our house.
Hasan and Hosein having exhausted their patience, cry out with
hunger ; and seeing them weep, tears come to my own eyes, and
Ali likewise has wept. To-day, when I heard Hasan and Hosein
say, " Are there any other children who have to suffer hunger as we
have ? " my strength failed me, and the world turned dark before my
eyes. O dear father, what sayest thou? Is it a shame if any one
prays to the Most High with boldness ?' His Excellency answered,
*No, my daughter; the Most High loves the boldness of His
servants.' Fatima arose, took an ablution, said the legal prayers,
and then sighed, and supplicated thus, ' O God, thou knowest that
women have not the strength of a prophet. If there is a secret
between thee and my father, I have no strength for it : either give
strength for these troubles, or remove them from me ! ' After
having said this, she fainted. Then came Gabriel, saying, *0
Apostle of God, arise, and look after Fatima.' When the teacher of
the world came, he found his daughter lying in a fainting fit. He
raised her head up, and on recovering consciousness she sat up,
with her head bashfully inclined. He exhorted her to remember
that God is the dispenser of favours ; and laying his blessed hand
on her bosom, added, *0 God, keep her safe from hunger!'
Fatima said, * After that prayer I never felt the pangs of hunger
again.'

Fatima the illustrious died on the third of Ramadan, 6 or 3
months, or 40 or 29, or 35 or 24 days, after the death of the Prophet,
being 28 years of age. She was buried the same day, Ali, or,
according to another account. Abbas, conducting the funeral service.
It is reported that on the following day, Abu Bekr and Omar, and
all the other noble companions, blamed Ali, saying, ' Why didst
thou not inform us, so that we also might have been ennobled

5i6 FATIMA, HASAN. [app.

with the nobility of her funeral service ? ' Ali the favoured excused
himself by saying that he had acted in accordance with a special
request It is reported that Fatima the illustrious had called Ali
the favoured to her bedside, and laid this injunction upon him,
* ^Vhen I am dead, bury me at night, so that no eye by which I
cannot legally be seen, may see my corpse.' Eighteen traditions are
derived from her of which one is generally accredited.

Fatima's two sons, Hcuan and Hosein^ are the two most renowned
of Mohammed's grandchildren.

Hasan was in all his parts, from the chest upwards to the pate of
his head, most like the Apostle of God. The learned biographers
narrate that one day the Calif Abu Bekr observed Hasan at play
with other boys, when he took hold of him, placed him on his
shoulders, and said to him, ' O Hasan, thou exceedingly resemblest
the seal of the prophets, but art unlike Ali.' Ali, hearing this,
smiled, and said that Abu Bekr was right. Hasan died in Ramadan,
A.H. 53.

The Hamadan Hafiz Abu-1-Ala narrated that when Ali, the Com-
mander of the faithful, reached the land of the mercy of God (i,^.
died), Hasan, the Commander of the faithful, ascended the pulpit
and said, 'O ye people, to-night some one has departed from
amongst you, whose like those who have been before you have
never seen, and those who come after you will never see. A person
who, when ordered by the Apostle of God to exterminate the rebels
and enemies, was accompanied and assisted by Gabriel on his right
side, and by Michael on his left, and who never turned back until
victory was achieved \ that person died in the same night in which
likewise Moses, the son of Amran died, and in which Jesus, the son
of Mary, ascended into heaven.'

According to some books, the people took the oath of allegiance
to that Excellency immediately after this address, and according to
others, just before. The prince who had the luck and blessedness
of first laying hold on the skirt of that Excellency's allegiance, was
Kais Ibn Saad of the Ansars. He said, ' I take the oath of all^iance
to thee, O Commander of the faithful, on the Book of God, and on
the Law of the best of created beings, and on the religious war
against the enemies.' Hasan replied, * Religious war against all
sorts of opponents is enjoined in the Book of God and the Law of
Mohammed the chosen ; there is no need of proving this by special
quotations.' From this expression the people inferred that that
Light of the eye of the virgin (viz. Fatima) and that Lamp of the

II.] HASAN, 517

assembly of the accepted ones, had no inclination to enter upon a
struggle and murderous war against adversaries.

When Moawia, the son of Abu Sofyan, had received the tidings
of his Excellency Ali's death, and of the people's oath of allegiance
to his son Imam Hasan, he left a locum tenens at Damascus, and
set out with 60,000 men for Persia, marching in the direction of
Kufa. As soon as Hasan heard of this, he departed from Kufa
with 40,000 men, and on the ¥ray ordered Kais Ibn Saad to join
him with 12,000 horsemen. Having reached Madain, the Com-
mander of the faithful ordered a halt, to rest his troops. Here he
held a council, in which he said, * O ye people, you have taken an
oath of allegiance to me, to follow me in the case of war or peace.
By that God whose power is supreme, I declare that I have no
hatred or enmity against any man in this world.' From this word
the people understood that his Excellency was going to make peace
with Moawia and resign the Califate. A number of rebels said
amongst themselves, *He has turned infidel' All the people
became so enraged that they attacked Hasan, tore his clothes, and
pulled away the carpet on which he was sitting. Most of the
soldiers repented of the oath of allegiance which they had taken.
His Highness mounted a horse and called out, * Where are the
people of Rebia and Hamadan ? ' They at once came forward to
protect him, and conducted him back to Madain. Still, a rebel
succeeded on the way in dealing him a blow and wounding his
thigh, but was immediately cut down for the deed, llie Com-
mander of the faithful was taken to the white tower of Madain,
wounded, and groaning with pain. But under the care of his
surgeons he soon recovered.

Meanwhile Moawia had overtaken Kais, Hasan's commander-in-
chief, at Ambar, and surrounded him. Abd Allah Ibn Amir, with
a troop of warriors, came upon the soldiers of Imam Hasan, and
called out aloud, ' O ye people of Irak, I am the advance-guard ot
Moawia's army ; I am not come with the intention of fighting you,
for at this very moment a great fight is going on at Ambar, and
Moawia has surrounded Kais Ibn Saad. Give my salutation to
Imam Hasan, and tell him that I swear by God to suspend hosti-
lities, and not to shed the blood of himself and those who are with
him.' When Imam Hasan's soldiers heard this word of Abd Allah,
fear and terror seized their mind, so that no strength remained in
their arms for fighting. The Commander of the faithful re-entered
Madain, and Abd Allah went after him, surrounding the city.
Hasan, on witnessing the fear and weakness of his companions,

5i8 HASAN. [app.

sent word to Abd Allah that he was ready to relinquish the Califitte
upon certain conditions, and to deliver over the bridle of decision
into Moawia's hands. The conditions were, that the Persians and
Arabs who had adhered to Hasan should not be punished, but
amnestied; that Hasan should receive the tribute of the province of
Ahwaz ; that, annually, 200,000 dirhems should be paid him from
the public treasury ; and that his Excellency the Imam should be
distinguished above his family, as regards the privileges enjoyed
by the Beni Hashim. As a further condition it is added by some,
that Hasan's father, Ali, was thenceforth no more to be reviled ;
but this was only conceded in reference to assemblies in which
Hasan himself was present

Abd Allah Ibn Amir sent an account of this peaceable arrange-
ment to Moawia, who conceded all Imam Hasan's requests. Moawia
had a formal treaty of peace drawn up, in which he pledged himself
with a strong oath, to carry out those requests inviolate ; and after
having it likewise signed and sealed by the chief men in Damascus,
he sent it to Ibn Amir, to deliver it to Imam Hasan. The Imam
gladly accepted the peace, and wrote to Kais Ibn Saad, ' Peace is
concluded between myself and Moawia, therefore thou hast to give
up all thought of fighting, and to relinquish the government to
him.' As soon as this letter had reached Kais, he made its contents
known to the chief men of his army, and added, ' You must now
choose between two things : either you must fight Moawia, without
the Imam, or you must bend your heads in obedience to Moavna.
They choosing the latter alternative, Kais left them and returned
to Hamadan.

Some also narrate, that Hasan especially insisted on the condition
that Moawia should never appoint a successor, but leave it to the
Mussulmans to choose after his death any one whom they might
consider best fitted to become Calif. Likewise, that the family of
Ali should never in any way be molested, and that Kais should
expressly be included in the amnesty. When Moawia had accepted
all these conditions, he entered Kufa with his Damascene army,
and Imam Hasan took the oath of allegiance to him there.

Moawia also desired Hosein to come and take the oath of
allegiance, but he declined ; and Hasan advised Moawai not to
compel him to do so, because he knew that he would rather die
than take the oath of allegiance. Another account, according to
which Hasan forced his brother Hosein to take the oath, is not
credited by the Shiites. Kais had to be pressed by Hasan to take
the oath : and when he thus came at last, Moawia said to liim, ' 0

II.] HASAN. 519

Kais, I did not wish to become Sultan and thou be alive/ Kais
replied, ' Nor did I wish to be alive and thou bear rule.' Those
present prevented an open rupture, till the heat had cooled down
on both sides. Hasan being supposed to be wanting in eloquence,
Moawia requested him to mount the pulpit and give an address, in
the hope that thus his unfitness for the Califate might be made
obvious to the public. But he spoke so well, that his speech began
to make an impression on the people, whereupon Moawia called
out, * It is enough now ; come down from the pulpit' After these
things Hasan with his followers departed for Medina, and Moawia
returned to Damascus.

According to one account, the Califate of Hasan lasted 6
months, and that of the previous four Califs, 29^ years, which
explains the tradition, *The duration of the Califate is 30 years.'
It is reported that his Excellency the Imam was reproached for
having made peace with Moawia, and that he was exhorted to re-
assert his claims to the Califate by force of arms. But he stead-
fastly resisted, on the ground that the general opinion was opposed
to a war, and that he himself wished to spare the blood of his
partisans. Imam Hosein also agreed with this decision, saying, 'As
long as Moawia lives, every one must remain at home, and draw his
cloak over his head.' When, a.h. 41, about 600 rebels assembled
at Nakhla, regarding it as a duty to fight against Moawia, the latter,
on hearing it, requested Hasan to attack and destroy them. Ac-
cordingly he sent word to them, ' No one must rise in rebellion
and shed blood on my account All people know that I have re-
signed the Califate. If I had inclined towards war, I should have
made war with Moawia at the first, but in order not to fight
against Moslems and to preserve my followers from destruction,
I have chosen the corner of private life, and turned the carpet of
enmity.'

There is an account that one of the conditions of peace was this,
that after Moawia's death, the appointment of a Calif should be
dependent on Hasan's consent Some considerable time after the
conclusion of peace, Moawia determined to appoint his son Yezid
as his successor, and to invite the people to take the oath of alle-
giance to him. But well knowing that he could not carry out this
intention so long as Hasan was living, he spent whole nights in
devising means for getting him out of the way. So he sent a
messenger to Medina to promise to Hasan's wife, Jaada, a reward
of 50,000 dirhems, and the hand of his son Yezid, if she would
make use of her intercourse with Hasan for rubbing his limbs and

520 HASAN. [app.

body with a poisoned handkerchief, forwarded to her for this
purpose, and thus send him into eternity. The treacherous woman,
closing with the offer, received the stipulated 50,000 dirhems, after
Hasan's death ; but Yezid, on being asked to marry her, replied,
* Jaada has not done her duty to the Prophet's grandson, how can
she act. well towards me? and how could any one now desire her
for a wife ? ' There are also a class of people who say, the cause
of that Excellency's death was poisoned drink ; and others, that he
had an illness, for forty days, of which he died. It is also reported
that Hasan said during his illness, ' Twice before, they have given
me poison to drink, and this is the third time.' It is likewise said,
that poison had been given. him six times, but that five times it did
not kill him, and only the sixth time did its work.

When his brother Hosein visited Hasan in his last illness, and
asked him to tell him by whom he had been poisoned, so that
he might avenge him after his death, Hasan answered, 'O
brother, neither our father Ali, nor our mother Fatima, nor our
grandfather Mohammed the chosen, nor our grandmother Khadija
the great, made denunciation ; therefore, neither shall denunciation
come from us, nor from any member of our family. When God
pardons me, on the day of the resurrection, and does not also, for
my sake, forgive the sin of the person who gave me poison, I shall
not enter Paradise.' It is also recorded that Hasan, when visited
on his deathbed by Hosein, said to him, *0 brother, when I am
dead, bury me near the Apostle of God, if doing so does not cause
bloodshed; but if it should, then bury me in the graveyard.'
Hosein wished to bury him near the Prophet, but, finding the
people opposed to this, had him interred in the graveyard.
According to some account, a grave had already been dug near
the Prophet's, when Aisha heard of it She at once mounted a mule
and rode to the spot, to prevent the interment. Ali's partisans said to
her, 'O Aisha, before this, thou didst mount a camel and make
war against his father Ali ; to-day thou mountest a mule and pre-
ventest the grandson of the Apostle of God from being buried by
his side.' But they could not prevail, because the people were
divided into two parties ; and even arrows were shot, some of which
hit Hasan's dead body. Some also affirm that Aisha herself was
willing, but that the governor of the town and Othman's partisans
prevented the burial near the Prophet.

It is recorded that his Excellency Imam Hasan had the habit
of marrying ladies and divorcing them again. Therefore the
Commander of the faithful, Ali the favoured, said to the people,

II.] HASAN. 521

* Do not marry your daughters to my son Hasan, for he is a taster
and a divorcer/ i,e, when a lady whom he has married has gratified
his taste for a few days, he is in the habit of divorcing her ; but
notwithstanding this, virgins and matrons much desired to be
married to him, because they had heard that his Excellency the
Prophet had frequently kissed the navel of that eye of the lamp of the
family of Abd Menaf, in his infancy; and therefore they wished, with all
their heart and soul, to bring their own body in contact with the spot
which the blessed lips of the Prophet of God had touched, so that,
by this means, they might be protected against the power of Hell-fire.
The Mirat ul Kainat {vol. i. p. 697) says, *In all histories it is
mentioned that his Excellency Imam Hasan was such an excessive
marrierzxid. divorcer thait, during his father's lifetime, he successively
married 90 or no ladies, and, notwithstanding his extreme good
nature, divorced again, for a trifling reason, every one he had
taken.^ But his form and fashion being as '^beautiful" as his name,'
every lady separated herself for him with love and fondness. On
the occasion of his Excellency AH saying, "O ye people of Kufa, do
not give your ladies in marriage to Hasan, for he is a divorcer," one of
those present replied, "Yes, we will surely let him marry, for he takes
no pleasure in continence, and has no aversion to divorce." Soon
after this, he married another of their ladies, who showed her

^ It must be specially remembered that this hero in the marryiDg and
divorcing Une was Mohammed's own cherished grandson. No better illustration
than this can be required of the baneful fruits speedily borne by the Prophet's
evil example and false teaching on the subject of matrimony. He encouraged a
deviation from the Creator's primitive institution, by authorising his followers to
have four married wives at one and the same time ; and to make room, by means
of divorce, for fresh marriages, as often as they might please, whilst he himself
left at his death nine living widows, besides his concubines. Such carnal doctrine
and practice could not but find a ready acceptance amongst his more.sensually
inclined admirers, and degrade the holy estate of matrimony into an instrument
of immorality and lawlessness. If Hasan died a.h. 53, he can at most have
been 50 years old, seeing that his parents only married A.H. 2, and yet he is
reported to have successively married and divorced no less than 90 or 1 10 wives,
so that, if he began to marry even at the unusually early age of 10, he must, for
the space of 40 years, have married and divorced at the rate of two or three
wives annually, but if, as the Mirat affirms, these 90 or no marriages and
divorces took place before his father's death, their frequency was still more
appalling. Yet this debauchee was declared by his Grandfather, the Prophet,
as has been reported (p. 514), to be one of the Lords of the youths of Paradise !
Such a life as his was matrimony only in appearance, but gtoss sensuality and
abominable fornication in fact Surely, both the doctrine and practice of Islam
must alike fail to convince honest inquirers that it is an improvement on Chris-
tianity, or possesses a legitimate claim to supersede it.

^ Hasan, in Arabic, signifies * beautiful. '

522 HOSEIN. [APP.

gratitude to that outspoken person, by sending him the present of a
hundred female slaves, each provided with a thousand pieces of silver.'

Hosein was born in Medina, a.h. 4, as a six months' child, and
no other child was born with six months, except he and John, the
son of Zacharias. From his chest to his feet he resembled the blessed
body of the Apostle of God. It is said that the interval between
Hasan's birth and Hosein's conception by Fatima the brilliant, was
50 days. The Apostle of God named him Hosein, and offered for
him the Akika sacrifice. It is narrated of Asma Bint Amis that
when Hosein was born, a year after Hasan, she took him to the
Apostle of God, who embraced him in his arms, muttered a prayer
into his right ear, and then another into his left, and, pressing him
to himself, began to weep. On asking him for the reason of this,
he told her, that Gabriel had just informed him that the child would
soon be killed by the Prophet's own people, but he cautioned her,
not to let Fatima know this, lest her feelings should be wounded,
because she had only recently been confined. According to a story
narrated by Ora Salma, the Prophet one night disappeared from her
chamber, and, after a long absence, returned bewildered and sad.
Asking him for the reason, he said, ' To-night they took me to a
place in Persia called Kerbela, and showed me Hosein killed by a
party of my people. I took up a piece of earth into my hand,
looking like blood ; preserve it well, and when thou findest that it
turns into fresh blood, then know thou that they have made Hosein
a martyr.' She did as she was bidden. When, afterwards, Hosein
went to Kufa on the morning of the loth of Moharram, she found
it as before \ but looking again in the evening, she saw it had turned
into fresh blood. She lamented a little, but soon refrained, lest the
enemies of the family should exult. A little later the news arrived
that Hosein and his family had attained to the glory of martyrdom.

It is narrated that one day the Apostle of God had Hosein
sitting on his right thigh and his own son Ibrahim on his left, when
Gabriel came and told him that God wished to take away one of
the two, allowing him to choose which one to retain. His Elxcel-
lency reasoned thus : If Hosein dies, myself, AH, and Fatima will
grieve; but if Ibrahim is taken, I alone shall suffer excessive grief;
therefore I prefer Ibrahim's death. Three days later Ibrahim died,
and whenever afterwards Hosein visited the Prophet, he saluted him
thus, 'Welcome thou, for whose sake I have sacrificed my son
Ibrahim.' Be it also known that, besides being equal to his ready-
tongued brother in knowledge, meekness, perfection, virtue, and
liberality, Hosein daily repeated a thousand genuflexions of prayers,

II.] HOS KIN'S 'martyrdom: 523

and was a friend of the great and the learned, and, like his brother,
made 25 pilgrimages.

Hosein's martyrdom, by reason of which the world became dark,
and angels, men, and genii mourned and wailed, is thus narrated :
At the beginning of Rejeb, in the year 60 a.h., Moawia died at
Damascus. Thereupon Damascus, Egypt, Haleb, with the greater
part of Persia and Arabia, took the oath of allegiance to his son
Yezid. But when Yezid sent a message to Medina for the same
purpose, their Excellencies Hosein and Ibn Zobeir were not willing,
and went to Mecca at the end of Rejeb. While there, Hosein
received a writing from the leading men of Kufa, in which they
invited him to come to them, so as to be made Calif over them.
In order to test their sincerity he first sent his nephew Moslem to
Kufa, and on hearing that 30,000 men were ready to receive him,
he resolved to proceed thither and join them. Some of the great
companions indeed tried to dissuade him from going; but he
replied that he had received a command from the Prophet, who had
appeared to him in a dream. He started with eighteen men of his
own household and sixty of his other followers, including thirty-two
noble companions. As soon as Yezid had learnt that Kufa was
going to oppose him, he sent thither Obeid Ullah as governor.
When he arrived, he and the thirty horsemen with him were at first
surrounded by the Kufites ; but he succeeded by some stratagem in
dispersing the besiegers. He now had Moslem brought before him
and immediately executed, whereupon all the people submitted
themselves to his authority.

When Hosein heard this, on the way, he became troubled ; but,
being ready for his fate, he proceeded as far as the plain of Kerbela.
Yezid had despatched a large body of troops to force Hosein into
submission, by surrounding him and his party, and preventing them
from taking water out of the river Euphrates. In case of his show-
ing fight, he was to be slain. The soldiers boldly surrounded him
in the plain for seven or eight days, till, according to the general
report, on a Friday, which happened to be the Ashura fast, a severe
fight and desperate conflict ensued, in a succession of single com-
bats, from early morning until noon. Thirty-two combatants on horse-
back and forty on foot became martyrs, amongst whom there were
two of Hosein's own sons, four were his brothers, five his nephews,
and five his cousins ; or, according to another account, twenty-three
relatives, including his sons. After all these had fallen, Hosein
himself mounted a horse, rushed upon his enemies, and fought
desperately, till he succumbed to thirst and to seventy-two wounds,

524 HOSEIN'S ' martyrdom: [app.il

thirty-three of which were inflicted by the sword, and the rest by
arrows and javelins. Hosein was fifty-six years old when he died,
and his only two sons spared, were an infant in arms and a lad who
was lying in bed with an illness. The latter afterwards became such
a devotee that he is reported to have usually repeated a thousand
genuflexions of prayers during the night, and to have been sumamed
' the ornament of worshippers.' But the Califate remained in the
hands of Yezid, the son of Omaia, son of Abu Sofyan, and had its
seat, for some time, in the city of Damascus.

INDEX.

The Numbers refer to the pages.

Aaron, 122, 308, 503, 505.

Abbas, So, 107, 108, 109, 185, 201,

202, 204, 286, 293, 354, 370.
Abd Allah Ibn Abi Nejih, 292.

_- , Omeia, 299.

Amir, 517, 518.

Abu Bekr, 113, 319.

Harith, 394.

Hudsafa, 332.

Jafar, 514.

Jahsh, 143.

Kaab, 357.

Masttd, 358, 364, 370,

435-
Mohammed, 30, 34,

36, 250-253, 337, 510-
Obei, 127, 156, 157,

162-165, i7<> ^^*
Omar, 291, 296, 438,

500.

. Rawaha, 2ca

Selam or Salam, 130,

329-

Thamir, 8.
2^beir, 494.

Menaf, 29, 250-253, 521.

Shems, 29.

Abdu-1-Massiah, 277, 278.
Abdu-1-Mottaleb, 30-35, loi, 255,

261, 266, 431, 433-
Abd-ur-Rahman Ibn Awf, 255, 381,

444, 510.
Abd ur (er) Rahman Ibn el Harith,

85» 293.
Aberdeen, Earl of, 474, 475.

Ablution, 66, 220, 273, 311, 328, 396,
401, 40S-407» 4io» 4iS»42i, S'S-

Abraha, 8, 9, 31-33.
Abraham, 18, 21, 22, 133, 255, 265,
306, 308, 327, 331, 340, 341, 354,

377, 434, 493.
Faith or religion of, 24, 27, 52,

126, 129, 133, 137, 139, 331, 406.
Abrogate, Abrogation (annul), 212,

269, 326, 328, 418, 424, 425.
Abstinence, 379, 380.
Abu Abd Allah [see Khawat), 394, 395.
Afak, 169.

Amir, 25, 126, 135, 157, 432,

433-

Bekr, 83-85, 87, 98, "i, "3.

114, 190, 196, 232-240, 269. 315,
316, 319-321, 369.372, 391, 439,

442, 445, 473, 494, S«6.

Bekr el Hudsali, 332.

Dhirr, 439, 444.

Eyub, 117, 183, 322, 504.

Hala, 488.

Hanifa, 417.

Haritha, 135.

Horeira or Huraira, 342, 368,

369, 404, 422, 428, 441, 444,

445, 4^9-

Imama, 445*

Jahl Ibn Hisham, 94, 98, 112,

142, 148, 292, 317, 320, 321. 445.

Kabis, 22, 337.

Karib, 4.

Lahab, 98, 99, 100, loi, 286,

296,445,5", 513-
Abu-1-Aas or As, 187, 511, 512.

AbU'l-Kasim, 291, 51a

Mohammed, 336.

Murra Self, 10.

526

INDEX,

Abu Musa, 442.

Nasr (Khoja), 385.

Nawfal, 443.

Nehik, 446.

Obeida, 137, 143, 391.

Rafi, 352, 510.

Saad Khodri, 345.

-Salma or Selixia, 160, 495.

Sayid, 363.

Seif, 511.

Sofyan Ibn Harb, 141, 145-148,

«53i 156, 158, 161, 162, 164-168,

188, 192, 202, 205, 252, 439, 443.

Talha, 355, 500, 513.

Talib, 35, 43, 44, 74, 81, 86-88,

99-101, 267-269, 295. 427, 466,

488.

Thumama, 217,

Umama, 123.

■ Zama, 6.

Zuweib, 258.

Abyssinia, 6-9, 16, 88, 89, 98, 192,

I9S» 294, 333-
Abwa, 34, 141.

Acacia, 320.

Ad, 106, 270, 411.

Adam, 20, 21, 249, 250, 306, 307,

335, 336, 341 f 399, 428.

kadmon, 251.

Aden, 11, 16.

Adi, 214, 215, 224.

Adrianople, 481.

Adulterer, Adultery, 133, 329, 330,
420.

Aelius Callus, 4.

Afrika, 63, 374, 453, 454, 478, 479,
484.

Ahmed, 275, 360, 430, 431.

Ahwaz, 518.

Aim. See Plan.

Aisha Bint Aba Bekr, 79, 80, 81, 117,
162-164, 222, 229, 232, 233, 237,
238, 316, 319, 358, 362-367, 371,
372, 377, 378, 391, 395, 415, 417,
420, 443, 489-494. 498, 503*
505, 507, 514, 520.

Aisha Bint Mohammed, 513.

Akaba, Aila, 210.

Akika, 398, 510, 522.

Akil Ibn Abu Talib, 438.

Akrima, 434.

Aksa, 304, 306.

Ala Ibn el Hadhrami, 224, 333.

Albania, 481.

Alexander, 133.

Alexandria, 194, 195, 289, 333.

AH Ibn Abu Talib, 80, 81, 111-113,
149, 163, 166, 175, 181. 208, 213,
221, 224, 225, 235, 294, 317, 318,
353-355, 367, 368» 370, 371, 373,
382, 402, 439, 512-518, 520, 521.

Ali Ibn Abu-1-Aas, 512.

Allahu ikbar, 353.

Allegiance, 104, 147, 236. See Oaih
of allegiance.

Alms, 213, 216, 224, 266, 323, 410,
413, 414, 418, 495, 500, 510.

Amalekite, 22.

Amarr, 154.

Amazon, 445.

Ambar, 517.

Ambassador, 16, 48, 64, 67, 71, 127,
133, 178, 192-195, 216, 218, 244,
251, 332, 384-

Amen, 408.

Amina Bint Wahb Ibn Abd Menaf,

36-43, 250, 253-256, 337, 341.
Amir Ibn Foheira, 113.

Rabia, 404, 405.

Amnesty, 202.

Amr Ibn Aas or As, 6, 166, 198, 200,

333.

El Hadhrami, 144.

Omeia, 332.

Anemone, 505.

Angel, 18, 150, 232, 248, 298, 299,
305-308, 310, 312, 313, 335. 337,
360, 361, 366, 367, 370, 390.412,

424. 433, 445, 514.
Angora, 481.

Ansar {see also Helper), 106, 339,

504, 505.
Antichrist, Antichristian, 54, 68, 70,

135138, 193, 219,220, 284, 374,
452, 456, 457, 467, 468, 471.
474, 482, 484, 485.

Apostle of God {see also Prophet),
194, 217, 218, 248, 249. 252, 269,
272, 296, 301-303, 340, 423, etc

Apostles, the Twelve, 193, 194, 284,
332, 346.

Apostasy, aposUtise, 134, 144, 217.

INDEX,

527

Arab, Arab tribes, 13-16, 19, 74, 103,

104, 126-129, I40-I43* 185, 188,
189, 211, 213, 214, 235, 239, 240,

354, 373, 433, 474-479-
Arabia, 3-16, 17, 18, 182, 193, 196,

227. 238, 256, 463.
Arim dzu Yezen, 16.
Armistice, 188- 191.
Arrow, 33, 34, 142, 144, 149, 157,

166, 290, 442, 520, 523.
Arwa Ibn Zobeir, 491, 493.
Aryat, 8.

Asad Ibn Zorara, 117, 123.
Asaf, 353.

Asama Ibn Zeid, 511.
Ashur, 415.
Ashura, 130, 523.
Asia Bint Mezahin, 489, 514.
Asia (Asia Minor), 374, 478, 480, 481.
Aslamite, 208.
Asma Bint Abu Bekr, 113, 169, 319,

320, 366, 443.

Amis, 522.

Noaman, 507.

Zalat, 507.

Asrafel, 359, 370, 424.

Assanide, 278.

Assassin ( \ssassinate), 12, 160, 172,

173, 179, 188, 219, 226, 233.
Assim Ibn Amr, 276.
Assistant {see also Ansars and Helper),

105, 106, III, 322, 323, 325, 339,

351, 357, 431.
As wad. See £1 Aswad.

Ata Ibn Yesar, 356.

Atiba Ibn Abu Lahab, 512, 513.

Atika, 488.

Atonement, 34, 112, 130, 310, 333.

336, 393, 412.
Attab, 237, 238.

Augury, 397.

Augustus, Emperor, 4.

Awf, 149.

Awsite, 116-118, 170, 176, 179.

Ayhala Ibn Kab, 218.

Azad, 277.

Az Ibn Wail, 96.

Azrael, 370.

Aznih, 210.

Babylon, 215, 278.

Badzan, it, 12, 224, 356.

Bagdad, 480.

Bahira, 44, 267-269, 346.

Bahran, 154.

Bahrein, 194, 214, 333.

Balka, 357.

Ban, 97-99, 210.

Banner, 142, 198, 200, 218, 301, 358,

427.
Barley-bread, barley-loaves, 349, 379,

380, 387.

Bashfiilness of Mohammed, 382.

Bashir, 196, 198.

Bath (Bathe), 397.

Bedouin {see also Arab), 102-104,
15", 154, 156, 159, 160, 161, 164-
168, 185, 189, 199, 207, 380,

381, 438, 440.

Bedr, 141, 146-153, 160, 162, 164,

170, 326, 331 •
Beihara, 103, 104.
Beit Ullah, 19.
Bekia, 356.
Belgrade, 481.

Bell, 125, 384, 390. 477. 479-
Beni Abd Eddar, 112.

el Ashhal, 270.

Menaf, 292.

Adhl, 160.

Adi, 42, 1 16.

Amir, 199.

Amr, 103, 160.

Asad, 159, 165, 187.

Ashja, 165.

Beka, 347.

Bekr, 12, 201.

Dhamra, 141.

Fezara, 162, 165, 187.

Ghatafan, 154, 161, 165, 167,

180, 187.

Halal, 347.

Hanifa, 103, 217, 218, 240.

Harb, 444.

Harith, 216, 224.

Haritha, 157.

Hashim, 80, 295, 316, 518.

Ilurak, 146.

Johaina, 142.

Kalb, or Kalbites, 103.

Keinoka, 118, 170-172.

Kinda, 103.

528

INDEX,

Beni Khoza, 190, 192, 201.

Koreiza, 118, 167, 168, 174-178,

271.

Leith, 198.

Libyan, 160, 186.

Modlij, 141, 321.

Morra, 165, 199.

Mostalik, 162, 163.

Nadhir, 118, 153,164,172-174,

509.
Najjar, 1 16-1 18, 123.

Nar, 146.

Omeia, 444.

Saad, 38, 40, 215, 258, 260, 261,

340.

Saida, 235.

Salama, 157.

Salem, 116.

Sohaim, 22a

Soleim, 154, 160, 165, 187, 198.

Taghlib, 22a

Talab, 187.

Zeeb, 277.

Zuhra, 36,

Bequest of Mohammed, 231.

Bere, 496, 502, 506.

Beride Ibn el Khasib, 321.

Beshir Bint Ibn Saad, 349.

Beshr Ibn Moawia, 347.

Bilal, 125, 364, 442.

Bird, 37, 136, 25s, 258, 263, 291, 307,

308, 341.
Bishr, or Beshr, Ibn Bara, 184, 230,

327. 362.
Black Stone, 18, 21, 22, 197, 202, 292,

353. 355-
Blaspheme (Blasphemous), 87, 98, 245,

291, 292, 29s, 296.
Blood, 86, 108, 112, 140, 145, 159,

203, 271, 321, 325, 330, 345, 352,

391, 522.
Bokhari, 3I5» 321, 325, 421, 428.
Book, 129, 130, 138, 237, 267-270,

273, 287, 298, 300, 331, 338, 415,

419, 420, 516.
Booty {iu also Spoil), 145, 146, 155,

174, 177, 182, 186, 199, 423,

500, 509.

Borak, 305*309> 436.

Bosnia, 481.

Bosra, 37, 41, 267, 269.

Bowat, 141.

Brotherhood, 119, 120, 223, 318, 324-

326.
Broussa, 481.
Buath, 118.
Bulgaria, 481.
Burial (Bury), 237, 330, 413, 510^ 513,

515* 516, 520.

Caesar, 433, 442.

Calamus, 403.

Calif (Califate), 143, 231, 236, 238-240,

251, 439, 473, 480, 481, 517-519,

523, 524.
Call, Caller {see also Hatif), 38, 258,

259, 261, 341, 349.

Oil to Prayer, 125.

Camel, 31, 32, 34, 35, 46, 66, 113,
116, 117, 148, 149, 160, 167, 16S,
179, 186-190, 216, 235, 292, 319,

346, 355, 378, 432, 433. 435. 439-
Camphor, 413, 512.
Opitation-tax, 210, 213, 219, 224,

476.
Captive {see also Prisoner), 145, 150,
151, 162, 177, 183, 187, 205, 208,

271,509.5"-
Caravan, 43, 44, 97, 107, 140-148,

154, 155. 187, 213, 222, 268, 385.
Carnal disposition of Mohammed, 79,

80, 162, 183. •
Camelian, 251.
Carlyle, 454.

Carpet, 309, 312, 517. 5I9-
Cataleptic fits of Mohammed, 40, 41,

47. 56. 66, 67.
Cave, 59, 61, 65, 113, 237, 272, 288,

303. 319-321.
Charm {see also Incantation), 362,

404.

Chosrocs, 10-13, 194, 256, 277, 278,

332, 433. 442.
Christ. * See Jesus Christ
Christian, 124, 126, 128, 133-139,

219, 220, 251, 252, 306, 399, 431,

432, 465. 471-477.
Christianity, 24, 55, 68, 70, 116, 124,

126, 128, 133-139. 219, 220, 238,
449.458, 465, 471, 484, 485.
Church, 13s, 136, 220, 351, 450, 451,
457, 462, 465, 469, 475, 4^

INDEX,

529

Church, Mosque, 482.

Circumcision of Mohammed, 257, 341.

Clarendon, Earl of, 474, 475.

Clot, 340.

Collector, 224-226.*

Collyrium, 396, 397, 402.

Companion, 86, iii, 123, 145,. 193,

• 197, 216, 217, 237, 29s, 300, 304,

310, 316, 319, 327, 332, 340, 346,

348, 352, 354, 358, 359, 366, 373,

378, 392-395. 49», 502, 514, 523.

Compromise of Mohammed with idol-
atry, 90-92, 94.

Conception of Mohammed, 337.

Confession of faith, 408.

Concubine (slave), 487, 508, 509.

Constantine ix., 481.

Constantinople, 374, 478, 479, 481,
482.

Conversion, 80, 93, 104, 106, 107,
192, 198, 202, 205, 209, 212, 213,
215-219, 299.

Convert, 77-86, 89, 124, 160, 204, 205»

474.
Cornelius Palma, 4. *

Council of Nice, 466.

Courage and bravery of Mohammed,

382, 418.
Cucumber, 388.
Cup (Cupping), 403, 415.
Cure, 405, 412. •
Curse, 98, 100, 137, 331, 337, 338,

354, 405, 4", 422, 496, 508,

5i». 513.
Curtain, 248, 309, 313, 499, 5«>.

DAcius, 289.

Damascus, 255, 5^7-519, 523, 524-

Danube, 481, 483.

Dar el Harb, 483.

Islam, 484.

Darum, 357.

Date (Date-tree, Palm-tree), 114, 153,
167, 174, 175, 179, 235, 244,
315, 349, 379, 387, 388, 415,
435, 440-442, 499.

Dead Sea, 199, 200.

Death-struggle, 232, 233, 365, 370,

372, 374, 412.
Degree, 310-312, 363.

I>eism (see also Monotheism), 62, 67,

84, 89, 109, 189.
Demon {see also Spirit), 60, 102, 183 ,

255, 277.
Deputation, 75, 87, 135, 181, 206^

211-215, 220, 352, 431.
Dervish, 313.
Destroyer. See £1 Mahi.
Devil {see also Satan and Demon), 92,

III, 112, 184, 222, 283,336.338,

356, 390, 464.
Dhahak Ibn Sofyan, 395.
Dhimam Ibn Thalaba, 215, 216.
Dihye Ibn Khalifa, 332.
Ditch (Dyke), 157, 165-167, 177, 349-
Diviner, 270, 277, 279, 338, 339, 432,

433.
Divorce, 82, 83, 163, 490, 494-498,

512, 513, 520, 521.
Doalu Bu-kere, 63.
Dods, Dr. Marcus, 61.
Donkey, 39, 40, 260.
Dbmer, Dr. J. A., 450.
Dower, Dowry, 420, 490, 493, 496,

497, 503, 504, 507.
Dream {sre also Sleep), 15, 31, 56,

57, 63, 183, 191, 219, 256, 278,

316, 346, 372, 385, 401, 426, 428,

432, 433, 488, 490, 503, 523-

Dress of Mohammed, 383, 384.

Dropsy, 403.

Duma, 161, 2ia

Duties (peculiar to Mohammed, 417,
418.

Dzu-l-Karain, 289.

Eastern Church (Eastern Chris-
tendom), 450-452.
Eclipse, 411.

Egypt, 374, 444, 462, 478.
El Aswad (General), 31.

(rival of Mohammed), 218,

219, 225, 226, 356.

Ibn Abd Yaghut, 100.

Ibn el Mottaleb, 100.

Ai, 100.

Bara, 108.

Elephant, 9, 34, 38, 190, 512, 513.
Elephantiasis, 216.
El Fatih, 482.

2L

530

INDEX.

£1 Harith Ibn Abi Shamir, lOO,

194, 333.
Elizabeth, Queen of England, 483.

£1 Kadr, 154.

Khattab, 25.

Mahi (the Annihilator), 38, 259.

Mottaleb, 30.

Nadhr, 98, 287.

Welid, loa

Zobeir, or Zobair, 27.

Emerald, 255, 264, 305, 308.

Emigrant, Immigrant {jsee also Refu-
gee), 89, III, 119, 142, I43» 323-

Emir el Mumenin (Commander of the
Faithful), 143, 517, 520.

Enchant (Enchantment), 291.

England, 483, 484.

Enoch, 308.

Euphrates, 35, 308, 523.

Europe, 453, 479, 483.

Eusebius, 462.

Eve, 250.

Excellencies of Mohammed, 422-446.

Expedition, warlike, 323, 324.

Eye, 188 (put out) ; 263, 404 (evil) ;
419 (treacherous) ; 425 (on shoul-
der) ; 343, 346, 364, 376, 421,
425» 436, 445» 446, 502> 505*
513, 521-

Factors of Mohammed's prophet-
ship, 3-48.
Fadak, 181, 182.
Paid, 159.

Fair {see Market), 161.
Faith, 404, 405, 409.
Fakhta Bint Abu Talib, 508.
Famine, 426.
Farewell (Farewell pilgrimage), 223,

226, 354, 357, 358, 437.
Fast, 124, 130, 216, 352, 379, 410,

414, 415, 420.
Fatima Bint Abd Allah, 257.

Amr Ibn Aid, 35.

Dhahak, 507.

: — Khattab, 293.

Mohammed, 286, 345, 361,

420, 489, 492, 513-516, 520, 522.
Fazl Ibn Abbas, 511.
Feast (Festival), 23, 103, 1 19, 148, 188,

221, 324, 3251 352, 409, 410.

Fever, 120, 141, 227-231, 363, 364,

401, 402.
Fifth, 144, 150, 155, 177, 182, 205,

418.
Fihri, 141.
Fire (of Fire-worship and Hell), 256,

278, 313. 379, 434, 445-
First-fruit, 388.

Five daily prayers, 250, 314, 344.
Flight. See Hegira.
Forgiveness. See Pardon.
France, 479.

Friday, observance of, 409-416.
Funeral Service, 511, 515, 516.
Furkan, 307.

Gabib, 277, 278.

Gabriel, 21, 22, 58-60, 63-67, 92, 100,
134, 159, 175, 232, 249, 253, 264,
272-275, 282, 283, 288, 292, 300,

303, 305-309, 312-314, 317, 318,
327, 335, 344, 354, 359-36i, 367,
370, 379, 380, 384, 487, 489, 491,
494, 498, 500, 510, 515, 516, 522.

Genealogy, 83, 252, 253, 491.

Genii, 248, 502.

Genuflexion, 327, 344, 409, 498, 522,

524.
Germany, 14, 452.

Ghalib, 196.

Ghamid, 329.

Gharanik, 91, 92.

Ghassan (Ghassanide), 4, 5, 199.

Ghatafan (Ghatafanite). See Beni

Ghatafan.

Gift, 65, 422. See also Present.

Goddess, 282.

Gog and Magog, 289, 290.

Gon, 419.

Gospel, 138, 139, 193, 274, 307, 312,

431.
Grape, 388.

Grave, 105, 237, 370, 371, 373, 413,

490, 5", 513, 52a

Greek, 194, 269, 332, 445, 481.

Greeting, 398, 399.

Habakkuk, 43a

Habira, 508.

Habits of Mohammed, 383-405.

Hadhifa el Yeman, 514.

INDEX.

531

Hadramaut, 215.

Hafiz Abu-l-Ala, 516.

Hair, 222, 355, 375, 376. •

Hajaj Ibn Hat, 184, 185, 443.

Hakim, 81.

Hala, 489.

Halima, 39-41, 187, 258, 260-266.

Hallel, 312.

Hallucinations of Mohammed, 56, 57,

64, 65, 67.
Hamadan, 517, 518.
Hamra, 158.
Hamza, 46, 93, 94, 142, 149, 158, 159,

353.
Hanif (Hanifite, Hanifism), 23-27, 38,

47, 50-55. 62, 78, 91, 96, 137.
Hanifa, 384.
Haram, 19-21.

Harem, 178, 183, 195, 416, 483.
Harith Ibn Abd Kulal, 194, 333.

Dhirar, 162.

Haritha Abu Zeid, 81, 82.

Ibn Noaroan, 504.

Hasan Ibn Ali, 122, 378, 514-521.

Hashim, 29, 30.

Hassan Ibn Thabit, 256, 257.

Hatib Ibn Balta, 333.

Hatif {.see also Voice), 258.

Haudsa Ibn Alj, 333.

Hawazin, 185, 199, 204, 205.

Hazim Ibn Aws, 445.

Headquarters of the Devil, 337.

Healing art, 436.

Heart (split and cleansed), 40, 41,

305, 340-

Heathenism [see also Paganism), 1 10,
128, 221, 458, 463, 467.

Heb Ibn Munhib, 277.

H^el, Doctor and Professor of Philo-
sophy, 178, 461, 47a

Hegira, 71, 111-115,315,335.

Hejaz, 5, 17, 142, 160, 183, 184, 186,
194, 402.

Hell (Hell-fire), lOi, 151, 232, 248,

25o» 308, 313, 323» 367. 402, 411,
414, 415, 442, 521.

Helper {see also Assistant), 105, 106,

III, 124, 142, 162, 228, 232, 235,

236, 323, 357.
Heraclius, Emperor, 5, 6, 194-196,
199, 206, 207.

Herat, 383, 432, 445.

Himyar, kings of, 7, 8.

Hind (female stag), 437.

Bint Abu Omia {i.q, Om Selma),

495-
Otba (Abu Sofyan's wife),

443-
Ibn Abu Hala, 487.

Hira, the kingdom of, 4, 5, 10, 12,

13, 16, 287.
mount, 25, 26, 58, 60-62,

102, 272, 303, 439.
Hitham Ibn Adi, 445.
Hobal, 18, 33, 260, 266, 353.
Hodeibia, 180, 190, 193, 332.
Holy Spirit {see also Spirit), 115, 272,

287, 288, 290.
Honein, 204, 205, 381, 382.
Honey, 309, 387, 403, 405-
Horse, 335 (cared for) ; 348 (prayed

for)» 341, 361, 382, 492, 493-
Horseman, 177, 178, 186-188, 199,

210, 212, 216, 321, 493.
Hosein Ibn Ali, 122, 378, 496, 514,

515, 518, 520, 522, 523.
Houri, 232, 367.
House, Holy House, 19-22, 251, 281,

309, 326-328, 353, 429, 463.
Huleil, 28.

Humility of Mohammed, 380.
Hunata, 31, 32.
Hungary, 483.
Hunger (Hungry), 379, 515.
Hyacinth, 21.
Hypocrite, 122, 123, 127, 132, 207

210, 234, 238, 327, 346, 366,

368, 410, 500.
Hysteria (Hysterical), 40, 42, 52, 56,

470.

Ibad Ibn Bishr, 501.

Ibn Abbas, 21, 150, 247, 258, 266,
3^> 338> 341, 360, 364, 376,
408, 411, 423, 425, 438, 440,

443, 446, 493-
Akhtab, 327.

Azhar, 293.

el Haggaban, 270.

Hajir (Sheikh), 328.

Hisham, 6, 28, 252, etc.

Horeira, 442, 443.

532

INDEX.

Ibn Ishak, 6, 15, 56, 65, etc.

Khadl, 421.

Malik, 380.

Maslama, 185, 187.

Masud, 300, 301.

Selam, 329.

Shihab cz Zuhri, 333.

Zobeir, 523.

Ibrahim Ibn Mohammed, 195, 488,

509-511, 522.
Idol, i8, 91, 92, 128, 197, 203, 204,

214, 216, 222, 360, 266, 337,

353. 43 ^ 463.
Idolater, Idolatry, 17, 23, 28, 52, 53,

67, 75. 78, 107, 127, 141, 204,
212, 260, 266, 270, 510.

Illness, 356, 357, 359, 363.

Imam, 232, 306, 384, 397, 407-409.
417, 422, 517-519.

Imama Bint Zeinab, 512.

Imhani, 305.

Impale, 188.

Impediment of speech, 31 1 .

Incantation {see also Charm), 230,

231. 405.
Infidel (Unbeliever), 227, 252, 279,

282, 3«7. 318, 321. 325, 354,

444, 483. 517.
Inspiration, 373, 405.

Intercession (Intercessor), 282, 336,

368, 374, 427.

Irak, 298, 496, 517.

Iram, 106, 270.

Irvet Ibn Zobeir, 260.

Isa {see also Jesus), 340.

Isaac, 341.

Isaf, 18, 34.

Isaiah, 43a

Ishmael Ibn Abraham, 18, 22, 212,

341, 354, 377.
Ishmael or Ismael (an Angel), 232,

307,360.
Iss, 187.
lyads, 333.
Italy, 14.

JAADA, 519, 520.

Jabir Ibn Abd Allah, 349, 435, 440,
441.

Simre, 346, 442.

Jacob, 377.

Jafar, 200.

Janissary, 483.

Jarba, 210.

Jealous (Jealousy), 127, 131, 179, 327,

443. 489, 495. 496, 507, 508.
Jeifar, 194, 333.
Jemil, 96, 97.

Jerir Ibn Abd Allah, 347, 348.
Jerusalem, 20, 130, 195, 289.
Jests and Jokes of Mohammed, 392,

394. 395.
Jesus Christ, 55, 68, 124, 193, 233,

237, 243, 274, 306, 308, 332,
341, 377, 430, 436, 447, 448,
458, 459, 468, 469, 516.
Jew, 7, 8, 54, io6, IIS, 121, 122,
125, 128-134, 153, 157. 164, 167-
185, 251, 252, 269, 306, 323,

327, 331, 399.
Job, 341, 377.

John Ibn Zakharia (the Baptist), 273,

308, 341, 522.

Jonas (the Prophet), 388.

Jorf, 228, 357.

Jorhamide, 22, 31.

Joseph, 308, 341, 354, 508.

Journey, 389, 390, 396.

Jowairia, 162, 163, 502.

Julian the Apostate, 467.

Jumra Bint Harith, 508.

Justinian, Emperor, 4.

Justin Martyr, 463.

Kaab, 107, iia

Kaaba, 17-23, 51, 96, 97, 99, 188,
197, 202-204, 211, 251, 255, 261,
272, 292, 293, 297, 309, 327

328, 353, 354, 421.
Kabbala, 251.

Kab Ibn Ashraf, 172, 173, 179.
Kabile, 103, 104, 106.
Kadesia, 215.
Kais (of the Beni Kinda), 4.

Ibn Saad, 516-518.

Kalion, 289.

Karada, 155.

Kasim Ibn Mohammed, 510.

Katada Ibn Noaman, 445.

Kazman, 442.

Kefer, 267.

Kerbela, 522, 523.

INDEX,

533

Key, 341, 342.

Khadija Bint Khuilid, 45-47, 50, 59-
61, 64, 77-80, 99, 274, 275, 487-

489, 5". 514, 520.
Khaibar, 34, 153, 174, 179-185, 195,

230, 504.
Khalid Ibn Walid, 157, 198, 200,

202, 204, 210, 212, 216, 222,

224, 240, 330, 334, 353, 445-
Khanis, 494.
Kharrar, 142, 143.
Khazinat Ibn Zabit, 421.
Khazraj (Khazrajite), 108, 109, 118,

170, 171, 176, 179.
Khawat Ibn Jabir, 394.
Khawla, 79.

Khoza (Khozaite). See Beni Khoza.
Khuweiled Ibn Asad, 46.
Kibla, 20, 130, 133, 203, 326-328,

407, 410.
Kid, 440.

Kinana, 28, 29, 128, 503.
Kinda, 4.

Kingdom of God, 459, 460.
Kilabite, 196.

Kitabi Ahwal el Kiamat, 250.
Knife, 387.
Kopt, 436, 511.
Koran, 98, 106, 137, 164, 193, 217,

278, 293, 300, 302, 338, 377,

391, 405, 408, 409, 423, 436,

471, 491.
Koreish (Koreishite), 22, 28, 29, 35,

97, 98, 101, 105, 108-114, 150,

153, 212, 231, 235, 281.
Korta, 185.
Kostus, 403.

Krehl, Dr. L., 17, 69, 128, 492.
Kufa, 517, 518, 521-523.
Kussei Ibn Kilab, 28, 298.
Kurz Ibn Jabir, 141.

Lactantius, 462.

Ladder (to heaven), 307.

Lamb, 349.

Lamp, 251, 516, 521.

Land-tax, 477.

Lat, 18, 91, 92, 100, 216, 269, 281,

337, 431.
Laugh of Mohammed, 393, 395.

Law, 138, 139, 274, 275, 284, 406,

424, 425, 516.
Legacy, 231.
Leila, Bint Khatlm, 508.
Leper, Leprosy, 216, 307, 404, 436,

508.
Letter, 193-196, I99» 217, 218, 256,

332, 361, 462, 472.
Liar, %*j^ 218, 219, 296, 297, 443.
Liberality of Mohammed, 380, 381.
lie, 426.
Light of Mohammed, 245, 247, 253-

256, 262, 336, 337, 377.
Lion, 513.

Lizard, 386, 387, 438.
Logos, 247, 251.
Lotus-tree, 440.

Maath, Ibn Afra, 436.

Madain, 517.

Magi, 251.

Magic, 436, 437.

Magician, 252.

Mahra, 214.

Mahzama Ibn Nawfal, 439.

Majanna, 16 1.

Makna, 210.

Malik, Commander, 205, 224.

Ibn Sinan, 345.

Malta, 483.

Mamun, 33.

Manah, 18, 91, 92, 281.

Mantle, 183, 335, 381, 384.

Marab, 277.

Market (Marketplace), 92, 148, I77,

298, 329, 378, 429.
Marr ez Zahran, 201.
Martel, Charles, 479.
Martyr (Martyrdom), 76, 78, 184, 230,

248, 251, 357, 361, 362, 439, 444,

458, 463, 476, 522, 523.

Marry, marriage, 45, 46, 50, 79, 80,
82, 97, 185, 197, 250, 352, 416,
419, 420, 422, 488, 490. 491, 494-
498, 500, 502-504, 506-508, 512-
514, 520, 521.

Mary Bint Omran (the Virgin), 254,
489, 514.

the Kopt, 195, 488, 508.

Massacre, 151, 169, 172, 177, 179.

Masud Ibn Omar, 506.

534

INDEX,

Mauna, i6o.
Measles, 354.
Meat, 387.

Mecca, 5-9, 13, i7-20i 35»43»49» '05.
152, 184, 191, 196, 200-203, 238,

353i 354*
Mediator (Mediation), 18, 68, 139, 335»

336, 374, 428. 463.
Medicine, 231, 401-405.
Medina, 43, 104-116, 153, 156, 165-

168, 178, 235, 236, 316, 322,

427.
Meekness of Mohammed, 381.
Meimuna, 197, 229, 231, 347i 352,

506.
Meisara, 45, 46.
Meiaered ul Fejr, 249.
Mejdi, 142.

Melika Bint Kaab, 507.
Melon, 388.
Mental qualities of Mohammed, 377-

383.
Merit, Meritorious (reward), 230, 310,

312, 323, 328, 363, 364, 374, 417,

425.
Merwa (Mount), 272, 305.
Merwan Ibn Othman, 362.
Messiah (promised Prophet), 115, 122,

129-132, 139, 168.
Micaiah, 69.

Michael, 264, 305, 318, 359, 370, 516.
Milk, 39, 40, 261, 263, 309, 321, 388,

442.
Mina, 221, 222.
Miracle, 243, 244, 434-446.
Mirat el Kainat, 122, 521.
Mirror, 250.
Moadz, 226.
Moawia Ibn Abu Sofyan, 205, 517-

519, 523-
Moawia Ibn Thor, 347.

Mohajir Ibn Omaia, 224, 333.

Mohammed, i, 352, 254. Su list of

Contents at the beginning of the

volume.
Mohammedanism, an historical power,

447.485.
Mohsan Ibn Ali, 514.
Mokawkas, 194, 333.
Monotheism, 25, 28, 53, 75, 105,

126, 281, 460, 461, 463.

Moon, 183, 262, 316, 372, 376, 437-

Moreisi, 162, 502.

Morrite, 196.

Moseilama, 217-219, 239, 240, 348,

356.
Moses Ibn Amran, 234, 274, 277, 300,

306, 308, 311, 313, 314, 36«, 377,

430, 434» 436, 505, 516.

Moslem, 137, 148, 197, 202.

Moslem, proper name, 523.

Mosque, 117, 123, 132, 164, 176, 210,
214-217, 220, 232, 234-237, 322,
327, 328, 337, 354, 355. 371, 390,

407, 475, 481.
Motim Ibn Adi, 102.
Mountain (speaks), 438.
Muir, Sir WilUam, 5, 12, 61, 68, 72,

280-282.
Mukheirik, 130.
iMukhtar Ibn Abu Abid, 443.
Muleih, 103.
Mundsir Ibn Sawa, 333.
Munzir (of Hira), 4, 194.
Musk, 159, 222, 262, 309. 313, 355,

371, 377.
Muta, 200, 207, 239.

Mythical, 245, 375, 377-

Nabathea, 4.

Nadhir. See Beni Nadhir.

Naeman or Noaman Ibn Munzir, 277.

Naila, 18, 34, 353.

Najashi, 8, 194, 332.

Najran (Najranite), 8, 23, 135, 137,

138, 221, 224, 225.
Nakhla, 102, 143, 144, 190, 519.
Name, 249-252, 254, 335, 341, 43a
Namus, 59.
National (Nationality), 449, 457, 465-

467, 485.
Nazr Ibn Babia, 432.
Needle, 346.
Nehavend, 279.
Nejashi. See Najashi
Nejd, 112, 159, 160, 317.
Nejm (Sheikh), 515.
Nile, 308.

Nisibin or Nineveh, 300, 302.
Noah, 21, 341, 377, 424, 434-
Noaman (a ChieOi 507.

INDEX,

535

Noamiyan, 395, 396.
Nushirvan, 278.

Oath (oath of allegiance), 107, 108,
212, 235-237, 284, 335, 393, 516-

518, 523.
Obadsc, 171, 172.
Obeid Ibn Omair, 58.
Obeida Ibn el Harith, 142, 149.
Obeid Allah (or Ullah) Ibn Jahsh, 23,

24. 52, 503» 523-
Ohod, Battle of, 157-159, 35^, 357-
Ointment, 222, 355, 396, 397.
Okaidir, 210.
Okasha, 187.

Okba Ibn Abi Mueit, 287.
Okla, 187.
Om (properly 0mm) Berde, 510.

Bishr or Beshr, 230, 362, 365.

Eswad, 490.

Habiba, 195, 201, 502, 503.

Hani, 314, 508.

Haram, 444, 445.

Jamila, 445.

Koltum, 269, 494, 513.

Seif, 51a

Selim, 498, 504, 505.

Selma, or Salma, 160, 352, 405,

437» 491, 492, 495» 496, 503.
522.

Omaia Ibn Zalt, 25-27.

Oman, 194, 214, 333.

Omar Ibn Aas, 334, 335.

Akhtab, 446.

-. — Khattab, 74, 84, 95-97,

125, 150, 182, 191, 196, 232, 234-
237, 292, 293, 303, 314, 354, 366,
368, 369, 384, 391, 439, 441, 442,

475, 494, 500, 5»3. 5H.
Om Selma, 496.

Omeima, 23.

Omeir, 149.

Omra, 349, 506.

Omran Ibn liasin, 382.

Onion, 386.

Orain, 187.

Osama Ibn Zeid, 227, 228, 239, 357,

358, 370.
Osfan, 186, 189.
Osheira, 141.
Otba Ibn Abu Lahab, 513.

Otba Ibn Rabia, 90, 145, 291.
Othman Ibn Abu-l-As, 257.
Afan (son-in-law of Mo-
hammed), 85, 150, 192, 204, 208,

354, 384, 439, 443, 494, 5oi, 5^3,
520.

el Huweireth (Hanif and

Christian), 5, 6, 23, 24, 50, 52,
192.

(Ottoman), 481.

Owalite, 196.

Oyeina, 162, 167, 186.

Ozza, 18, 91, 92, 216, 269, 281, 337,

431.

Pagan, Paganism [see ^ also Heath-
enism), 128, 450, 452, 464,

Palestine, 357, 374.

Palm, Palm-plantation {see also Date),
7, 172, 174, 179.

Paraclete, 139, 275.

Paradise, 149, 248-253, 270, 307,
308, 311, 312, 336, 338, 359,
364, 367, 399, 4", 413, 420,
426, 427, 442, 446, 493, 5",
514, 515, 520.

Paran, 430.

Pardon (forgive), 310, 330, 335, 336,
357, 361, 362, 374, 383, 386,
406, 408, 414, 415, 424, 514,
520.

Peace, 408.

Peacock, 25a

Pearl, 7, 80, 163, 249, 250, 273, 308,
312, 361, 489.

Pebbles praise God aloud, 439.

Pen, 247-250.

Persecution of Mohammed, 85-88, 92,

94, 97, 98, 381, 462-464.
Persia (Persian), 10-13, 74, 195, 2II,

240, 256, 387, 393, 433, 467.
Personal (Personality), 457-459.
Pharaoh, 252.
Physical qualities of Mohammed,

375-377.
Pigeon, 320, 321.

Pilgrim (Pilgrimage), 8, 19, 21, 22,

144, 179, 180, 188, 191, 196-198,

211, 216, 220-223, 286, 328,

332, 351, 352, 354, 356, 413,
522.

536

INDEX.

Pillar, i8, 197, 291, 292, 355.
Plan of Mohammed, 14-16, 48-52, 74-
76,90, X04, 109, 1 16, 119, 145,

146, 153, 156, I73» 178, 181,
186, 193, 207, 209, 215, 220,
225, 226, 234, 238, 240, 469,
472.479.

Pleurisy, 230, 231, 365, 403.

Pliny, 463.

Plunder {see also Spoil), 14O, 145,
157, 161, 186, 240.

Poet, Poetry, 26, 31, 87, 169, 291,

296, 394. 419. 491.
Poison, 183, 184, 230, 362, 365, 436,

520.
PoUcy, Politics, 13, 14, 75» »52» I53.
162, 170, 189, 190, 236, 450,

467, 473» 47S-479. 481-485.
Political, 5, 15, 16, 35, 485 1, 74.

75, 105, 108, no, 115, 189, 190,

212, 466, 467.
Poll-tax {see also Capitation), 477.
Pond of Nectar, 368, 415, 428.
Poor-rates, 124.
Possession, Possessed (Demoniac),

41, 64, 87, 90, 265, 296-297.
Prayer, 124, 250 ; (five) 271 ; (for rain)

273. 310. 312-314, 328, 344. 356 ;

(for the dead) 406-411, 417, 426.
Precursor, 273, 364, 365.
Pre-existence, 246-252.
Present (Bribe), 205, 206, 214, 231,

238, 318, 381, 395. 396, 426,

491, 500. 506, 509. 521.
Prey {see also Plunder, Spoil), 145,

172.

Prisoner {see also Captive), 145, 150,

151, 153.
Prophecy, 15, 16, 46, 215, 277, 424,

428.433-
Prophet (Prophetship), 2, 3, ii, 12,

16, 27, 46, 72, 181, 188, 189,

201, 207, 214, 226, 227, 233,

241, 243, 245, 249-251, 269, 276,

279, 281, 287, 301, 306, 353,

359, 373, 377, 378, 423, 424,

429.
Protestants within Islam, 26, 27

note.
Providence (Providential), 16, 39, 450-

456, 468.

Pulpit, 228, 357, 409, 411, 516, 519.

Pumpkin, 388.

Purification of heart, 40, 41, 257, 263-

265, 305. 307, 340343.

Rabbi, 130-132, 270, 287, 331, 338,

Rabia Ibn Nazr, 15, 16.

Rafi Ibn Kharija, 331.

Rahman, 93, 299.

Raihana fiint Zeid, 509.

Raji, 160.

Rakaia Bint Ali, 514.

Mohammed, 512, 513.

Ramadan, Ramazan, 58, 352, 414-

416, 515, 516.
Ransom (of Captives), 151, 153.
Raven, 445.
Rawzat ul Ahbab, 20, 22, 57, 247,

375. 427, etc.
Raya, 477.
Reason (Logos), 247.
Rebia, 517.
Redcliflfe (Lord Stratford de), 474,

475.

Redeem, Redemption {see also Ran-
som), 145.

Redif, 400.

Refugee, XI9, 120, 124, 141, 146, 152,
158, 162, 174, 228, 231, 235,

236, 323, 325, 35', 357.

Rejeb, 143, '44, 327. 523-

Religion, 18, 124, 125, 165, 182, 189,
190, 206, 211, 215, 221, 223,
231, 269, 295, 303, 324, 327,

331, 337, 406, 447, 444 45^,

464, 470.
Remedy, 405.
Renegade, 475.
Resident (Collector), 224-226.
Resurrection, 24, 52, X12, 127, 159,

203, 219, 237, 248, 259, 270,

303. 374. 426, 427. 437, 443,

515.
Retreat, 416.

Revelation, 19, 65-67, 98, 100, iiS,
125, 145, 164, 175, 234, 287,
288, 326-328, 331, 405, 448, 463,
469, 491, 498, 47a

Reward {see also Merit), 414, 415.

Riding of Mohammed, 400, 401.

Rika, 161.

INDEX,

537

Rival (Rival-prophet), 68, 70, 104,

III, 165, 178, 217-219, 225, 226,

239, 240.
River of Paradise, 308.
Rock, 307.

Rolls of Abraham, 429.
Rome (Roman empire), 4-6, 195, 199,

206, 209, 211, 226, 229, 240,

449. 458, 462, 464.
Ruby, 255, 272, 273, 361.

Saad Ibn Moadz, 176, 177.

Ubada, 235, 236.

Abu Wakkas, 85, 86, 142,

MS. 279-
Sabi, 96.

Sabur, 16.

Sacrifice, 7, 18, 24, 33, 34, 130, 180,

187, 189, 222, 253, 260, 266,

318, 351, 355. 398, 410, 417.
522.

Saddle of Paradise, 305.

Safa, 88, 272, 285, 293, 305.

Safia, 182, 183, 422, 503-505.

Safra, 146.

Safwan, 141, 163.

Said Ibn Mina, 257, 349, 368.

Sajah, 356.

Sak, 432. See also Shik.

Sakran Ibn Omar, 490.

Salama Ibn Wakash, 270, 271.

Salih (the Prophet), 435.

Ibn Keisan, 344.

Sallam Ibn Mishkam, 179, 503.

Salma, 29, 30, 116.

Salman, 165, 166.

Salutation, 398, 399.

Samawa (Wady), 256, 278.

Samarkand, 432.

Sana, 8, 10, 219, 356.

Sanctuary, 7, 17-19, 28, 32, 35, 47,

48, 50, 62, 87, 190, 197, 202,

204, 211, 213, 223, 310, 353,

420,469.
Sandal, no, 378, 385, 395, 400, 443.
Sarif, 352.
Satan [see also Devil), 184, 230, 264,

281, 282, 307, 317, 337, 365,

385. 386, 426, 511.
Satih, 15, 16, 277-279, 432.
Sawa, 256, 278.

Sawik, 154.

Scharling, Prof. Dr. C. H.,458.
Scorpion, 313, 320, 405.
Seal, 143, 193, 384.
Seal of Prophetship, 44, 143, 249,
260, 264, 268, 269, 343, 366,

377, 384, 433-
Sehil Ibn Beiza, 302.

Sehl Ibn Hanif, 404, 405.

Seid Ibn Zeid, 95, 293, 439.

Seif, Ibn Yazan, 431.

Seil, 277.

Selam, 413.

Seldjuk, 480, 481.

Selit Ibn Amr, 333.

Selmi, 498, 510.

Senna, 403.

Sepulchre [see Grave, Tomb), 373.

Serf, 506.

Sermon, 284-286, 322, 323.

Serpent, 113, 302, 313, 320, 445.

Servia, 481.

Service, 406-416, service of danger,

161.
Seth or Sheth, 21, 250, 253.
Seven classes of men, 337.
Seven Sleepers, 288, 289.
Sewda or Sevda, 79, 117, 490, 500.
Shaaban, 414, 415.
Shafii (Shafiite), 384, 416, 417, 419.
Shahr, 224, 356.
Shechina, 21, 22, 343.
Shefa Bint Awf, 255, 259.
Sheep (speaking, etc), 261, 263, 321,

339, 378, 380, 387, 388, 441.
Sheiba, 30.
Shihab ud Din, 501.
Shik (soothsayer), 15, 16.
Ship, 444, 445.
Shiruweih, 11, 12.
Shokran, 370.
Shooting-star. See Star.
Shuja Ibn Wahb, 333.
Sick-visits of Mohammed, 412.
Sidra, 359.
Siege, 166, 167, 173-176, 185, 205,

482, 483.
Silk-robe (Silk), 273, 342, 384.
Sin, 70, 83, 115, 230, 310, 311, 314,

335» 336, 338, 383, 386, 424,

431. 451, 454, 455.

538

INDEX,

Sincerity of Mohammed, 69, 70.

Sindis-silk, 367.

Slave (Slavery), 82, 138, 177, 178,

205, 380, 414, 415, 420, 444,

476, 508-510, 521.
Sleep (= dream), 147, 186, 421.
Small-pox, 9, 354.
Smith, R. Bosworth, 452-454.
Sneezing, 40a
Sohar, 371.
Soheil Ibn Amr, 238.
Soleim (Soleimite). See Beni Soleim.
Solomon, 306, 377, 422, 435, 493.
Son of man, 336.
Sorcerer, Soothsayer [iu also Diviner),

15. 43» 64, 296, 320, 339, 432,

434.
Soul, 233, 422.

Spain, 478, 479.

Speech of Mohammed, 38, 393.

Spider, 320.

Spirit, the i^see also Holy Spirit), 287,

411,425.

( = soul), 248, 251, 307, 367,

423.

( = demon), 34, 41, 60, 270, 283,

284, 300-302. 312, 337-339. 405,
424, 432, 433, 446.

Spoil, 143-145, 150, 153-155. 174,

177, 180, 182, 185-187, 199, 205,

243, 418, 420.
Sprengfer, Dr. A., 25, 42, 53, 66, 84,

287.
Spy, 146, I47» 167, 227.
Stag (speaks). See Hind.
Standard, 207, 227, 253, 427 (of army);

128, 447, 448, 466 (of religion).
Star (Shooting-star), 257, 262, 270, 316,

338, 339, 424-
Stone (speaks and swims), 57, 268,

434-
Stoning, 222, 223, 337 (the devil);

329, 330 (adulterers).
Suicide contemplated by Mohammed,

65.
Sultan, 251.
Supererogatory (Supererogation), 311,

414-417, 425.
Superstitious (Superstition), 146, 150,

385-3S7, 389, 390, 397, 401, 404,
409, 410, etc.

Suraka, 321.

Suweitim, 208.

Swear, 373, 393, 423, 393, 517.

Synagogue, 331.

Syria, 37, 41, 45, 81, 145, '55, '^i,
172, 174, 182, 187, 199, 209,
214, 224, 228, 238, 269, 278,
292, 298, 340. 431, 432.

Tabari, 282, 283.

Table, 386.

Tablet (Preserved), 247-250, 336.

Tabuk, 206, 207, 209, 210, 302, 335,

441.
Tahannuth, Tahannuf, 58, 61, 62,

272.
Taif, 102, 204-206, 440.
Taima, 181, 182.
Talha Ibn Abd Allah, 425.

Khoweilid, 356.

Obeid Allah, 85.

Talisman, 222.

Talmud, 251, 309.

Tanijat el Murat, 142.

Tartar, 478, 480, 481.

Tax, tribute, 138, 213, 214, 224.

Teham, 266.

Teman, 430.

Temple of Mecca {see also Kaaba),

17, 32, 145. 189, 197, 202, 212,

291, 305. 306, 320, 353.
Temptation, 280-282.
Tent, 167, x68, 183, 249, 308, 312,

416.
Teyemmum, 407.
Tertullian, 463, 479.
Testament, 231.
Thabit Ibn Kis, 444.
Thakifite. 102, 205, 206, 214, 443.
Thaur Ibn Yezid, 113, 319, 320, 34a
Theodosius, 289.
Throne, 65, 248-250, 309, 311-314.

335, 339. 431.
Thumama Ibn Uthal, 194, 333.

Thunderstorm, 411.

Tigris, 256, 278.

Tithes, 214, 218.

Tobba, 15.

Toleiha, 159, 239.

Tomb, 237, 373, 374.

Torah, 329, 33'. 429, 430.