Chapter 8

ABOUT MUHAMMAD.

A manual of Arabian history and literature would hardly be complete unless some special mention of Muhammad was introduced. As previously stated, his Koran forms the basis of the literary edifice of Arab literature, while he himself undoubtedly holds the first place in Arab history. As the author and founder of a new religion, which both during his lifetime and after his death was accepted with a marvellous rapidity, and is still being accepted in various parts of Africa, it must be admitted that he was an extraordinary person. At the beginning of what may be called his inspired life at Mecca, he stood forth as a reformer, preacher, and apostle. But, though full of enthusiasm and belief in the great cause that he advocated, he was, without doubt, from the commencement to the end of his career, a practical man of business, which Buddha and Jesus certainly were not.

The life of Muhammad has been written in many languages, and with such voluminous details, that it is hardly necessary to enter into these details very minutely here. Sir William Muir's works on the subject are graphic, descriptive, and full of interesting matter, while a lengthy article on the subject of Muhammad and Muhammadism, in the third volume of the 'Dictionary of Christian Biography,' from the pen of the late Rev. G.P. Badger, is one of extraordinary interest. A perusal of the above-named works, with Hughes's 'Dictionary of Islam' as a reference book, will give the ordinary English reader as much information as is likely to be required in the ordinary course of things.

But by way of preface to certain remarks upon Muhammad as a reformer, preacher, and apostle at Mecca, as pope and king at Madinah, as author of the Koran, founder of a religion, legislator, military leader, and organizer of the Arabs into a nation, it is perhaps necessary to give a rapid summary of the principal events of a life which has had such an influence upon so many people, and which has filled so many pages. This summary will be as brief as possible:

His birth, August, A.D. 570, at Mecca, his father having died some months previously.

His christening by the name of Muhammad, _i.e._, the Praised One. His grandfather Abdul-Muttalib, who gave him the name, said it was given to him 'in the hope that his grandson would be praised by God in heaven, and by God's creatures on earth.'

His bringing up in the desert of the Benou-Saad by a Badawin nurse, one Halimah, the wife of Harith, for five years.

His mother Aminah took him, aged six, to Madinah to present him to his maternal relations there. She died on the return journey, A.D. 576.

Under the guardianship of his grandfather Abdul Muttalib (who loved him dearly) for two years, from six to eight, when Abdul died, A.D. 578.

Under the guardianship of his uncle Abu Thaleb, the uterine brother of his father, Abd-Allah.

When about twelve years old, Muhammad accompanied his uncle, Abu Thaleb, into Syria on a mercantile expedition. His first visit to that country, and his experiences there, A.D. 582.

His presence, during the sacrilegious war, at a battle between certain tribes at or near Okatz, where he assisted his uncle, who took part in the fight.

His attendance at sundry preachings and poetical and eloquent recitations at Okatz, where it is said he imbibed the first lessons of the art of poetry and the power of rhetoric, and also acquired certain religious sentiments.

His life as a shepherd in the neighbourhood of Mecca, and the ideas that such a lonely life, face to face with nature, would perhaps inspire.

His acquisition of the title of Al-Amin, the Trustworthy.

His second visit to Syria, when twenty-five years old (A.D. 595), on a mercantile expedition, as agent to the widow Khadijah, and his acquisition of religious impressions there.

His successful business, and his marriage on his return to Khadijah, fifteen years his senior in age, A.D. 595.

Six children born to Muhammad by Khadijah, most of whom died young.

The rebuilding of the Kaabah in A.D. 605, in which Muhammad accidentally takes a prominent part.

His solitary contemplations and studies, from the age of twenty-five to forty, at Mecca, and in the cave on Mount Hira near Mecca.

Here it is important to bear in mind the foregoing experiences in the life of Muhammad as we approach the period of his alleged revelations. There can be no doubt that by this time he had acquired, as well through his own observation and inquiry, as through intimate converse with Bara-kah, reputed the most learned Arab of the age, considerable acquaintance with the dogmas of Judaism and Christianity; that he had some knowledge of the Bible, the Talmud, and the Gospels; that he was thoroughly versed in Arab legendary lore, and that, being gifted with a ready flow of speech, an ardent imagination, together with a bold, enterprising spirit, he was well equipped for carrying out that grand social and religious revolution among his countrymen which he contemplated.

His yearnings after religious truth and his first poetic productions.

His mental depressions.

His first inspirations from the angel Gabriel, A.D. 610.

His account of his visions to his wife, who became the first convert to al-Islam, or the creed of Muhammad.

His next converts were Ali, his adopted son and cousin; Zaid-bin-Harithah, also an adopted son; Warakah; and Abdul-Kaabah-bin-Kuhafah, one of the most influential and learned men of Mecca, on conversion named Abd Allah, and afterwards called Abu Bakr, 'The Father of the Virgin,' 'The Companion of the Cave,' 'The Second of the Two,' 'The True,' 'The Sighing,' etc., and who eventually became the first Khalifah, or Successor.

Other conversions followed; viz., Saad, Zobeir, Talha; Othman bin Affan, the third Khalifah, or Successor, after Abu Bakr and Omar; Abdar-Rahman, and several more.

The injunctions of Muhammad to his converts were then as follows: 'The duty of believing in one God; in a future reward reserved for the righteous in another life, and a future punishment for the wicked; of acknowledging himself as the Apostle of God, and of obeying him as such; of practising ablution; of offering up prayer according to certain specified rules.' These, he said, did not constitute a new religion, but merely restored the ancient religion of Abraham to its pristine purity. His teachings, he maintained, were revelations conveyed to him by Gabriel, and he simply repeated what the angel communicated to him.

His assumption of the title of Apostle of God, in whose name he now spoke, A.D. 610.

His frequent revelations for three years, and the commencement of his public preaching to the Koraish, who would not listen, but regarded him as a half-witted poet.

His denouncement of idolatry, and the consequent persecutions of himself and his followers by the Koraish.

Conversions in the house of Arcam, afterwards styled the House of Islam.

The first emigration to Abyssinia of some of his followers by his advice, and their speedy return, A.D. 615.

The lapse of Muhammad and his idolatrous concession, but afterwards disowned and disavowed.

The second emigration to Abyssinia, A.D. 615-616.

The conversion of Hamzah and Omar and thirty-nine adherents of the latter--a great event, A.D. 615-616.

The Koraish try to come to terms with Muhammad, but fail.

The prohibition of all intercourse with Muhammad and his followers by order of the Koraish, and a general persecution.

The excommunication of Muhammad and of the descendants of Hisham and Muttalib, which lasted more than three years, A.D. 617-620.

The death of Muhammad's first wife, Khadijah, in December, A.D. 619, and of his uncle, Abu Thaleb, in January, 620.

His critical position. He seeks an asylum at Taif, but not being well received, returns to Mecca, remaining there in comparative retirement.

His marriage, A.D. 620, with Saudah-bint-Zamaah, the widow of one Sukran, and his betrothal to Ayesha, the daughter of Abu Bakr, then only eight years old.

The first meeting at the Pilgrimage of a party from Yathrib (Madinah), to whom Muhammad expounds his doctrines. The listeners profess their belief in him, and propose to advocate his cause in their native place. March, A.D. 620.

The conference at Akabah, a hill on the north side of Mecca, with the men of certain tribes resident at Yathrib, who took an oath to be faithful to Muhammad and his religion. This is called 'the first pledge of Akabah.' April, A.D. 621.

The despatch of Musaab, a Meccan disciple, to Yathrib, for the purpose of giving instruction in the Koran and in the rites of the new religion.

The Night of the Ladder, or the miraculous journey first from Mecca to Jerusalem upon the beast called al-Burak, and then the ascent from Jerusalem to heaven, under the guidance of Gabriel, and what he saw there. Apparently a dream or vision, A.D. 621.

Second meeting at Akabah, called 'the second pledge of Akabah,' and engagements ratified. March, A.D. 622.

Distrust of the Koraish. Proposal to kill Muhammad, who had advised his followers to flee to Yathrib. April and May, A.D. 622.

In June, A.D. 622, Muhammad himself secretly leaves Mecca with Abu Bakr. They first go to a cave in Mount Thur, about three miles to the south of Mecca, and reach Yathrib (henceforward to be called Al Madinah, 'The City' _par excellence_) a few days afterwards.

On his way there, at Kuba, a village two miles to the south of Madinah, Muhammad laid the foundation of a mosque called 'The Fear of God.' This was the first temple raised by Islam.

Enthusiastic reception at Madinah, a charter drawn up, and Muhammad assumes the reins of both spiritual and temporal sovereignty.

His family arrives from Mecca.

He completes his house and mosque at Madinah, and draws up a bond of union between the Ansars, or auxiliaries, of Madinah and the Al Muhajirun, or emigrants from Mecca, who were the first to embrace Islam.

Marriage with Ayesha consummated, January, A.D. 623.

Marriage of Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter, to Ali bin Abu Thaleb, the adopted son and cousin of Muhammad, June, A.D. 623.

The call to prayer; the Kiblah, or place to which the face was turned in prayer, changed from Jerusalem to Mecca; the fast of Ramadhan, and the tithe, or poor rate, instituted. Friday appointed as the day for public service in the mosque. Commencement of hostilities with the people of Mecca, the first blood shed, and the first booty taken by the Muslim.

Battle of Badr, or Bedr--a victory. January, A.D. 624.

A Surah, or chapter, issued about 'The Spoils,' how to be divided, which now forms Chapter VIII. of the Koran.

Commencement of disputes with the Jews, and the exile of the Benou Kainuka, a Jewish tribe settled at Madinah, to Syria.

Assassination of certain Jews.

Marriage of Muhammad to Hafsah, the daughter of Omar, on the death of her husband Khunais, December, A.D. 624. His fourth wife.

Defeat at Ohud, January, A.D. 625.

Further military expeditions.

The exile of the Benou Nadhir, another Jewish tribe residing near Madinah.

Muhammad marries a fifth wife, Zaineb-bint-Khuzaimah, the widow of Obaidah, slain at Badr. January, A.D. 626.

Further hostilities with Arab tribes.

Muhammad marries his sixth wife, Omm-Salamah, widow of Abu Salamah, February, A.D. 626.

Further warlike expeditions.

Muhammad marries his seventh wife, Zainab bint Jahsh, purposely divorced by his freedman and adopted son Zaid bin Harithah, so that she might marry the Prophet. June, A.D. 626.

Further military expeditions.

Muhammad marries his eighth wife, Juwairiyyah-bint Harith, who survived him forty-five years. December, A.D. 626.

Ayesha, the favourite wife, and the daughter of Abu Bakr, accused of adultery, but eventually acquitted by a Divine revelation.

Siege of Madinah, February and March, A.D. 627.

Massacre of the Benou Koreitza, a Jewish tribe near Madinah. Muhammad takes Rohana, the beautiful Jewess, as a concubine.

Several minor expeditious.

An intended pilgrimage to Mecca, but Muhammad, with his followers, do not go further than Al-Hodeibiah.

A truce made with the Koraish for ten years, and permission given to Muhammad to visit the Kaabah the next year, for three days only. March, A.D. 628.

Letters sent by Muhammad to foreign sovereigns and princes, inviting them to embrace Islam; but these met with a moderate success only.

Expedition against the Jews of Khaibar, and its complete success. August, A.D. 628.

Marriage of Muhammad with Safiyyah, the bride of Kinanah, his ninth wife, August, A.D. 628. He partakes of a poisoned kid, dressed and offered to him by a woman named Zeinab.

His marriage with Omm Habiba, widow of Obaid Allah, and daughter of Abu Sofyan, October, A.D. 628. His tenth wife.

He takes Mary, the Coptic maid, as a concubine, sent to him by Jarih bin Mutta, the Governor of Egypt.

There were now nine wives and two concubines living in the harem of the Prophet.

Several small expeditions.

Despatch of further letters to foreign potentates and princes.

His pilgrimage to Mecca for three days, as previously stipulated, and known as the 'Solemn visit of the Fulfilment.' February, A.D. 629.

His marriage with Maimunah bint Harith, his eleventh and last wife.

Further important conversions at Mecca, such as Othman bin Talha, the guardian of the Kaabah; Amru, or Amr bin al-Aasi, a man renowned for sagacity, and who, during the Khalifate of Omar, conquered Egypt; and Khalid bin Walid, whose exploits obtained for him the title of 'The Sword of God.' This last was the most talented general of the Muslims.

Several military excursions.

Battle at Muta with certain Syrian tribes subject to the Roman authorities, September, A.D. 629. A defeat.

Further military expeditions.

Expedition against Mecca, and its complete success. Destruction of pictures, images, and idols at Mecca and the surrounding districts. January, 630.

Expedition against the Benou Thakif at Taif, and their allies the Benou Huwazin, and the battle of Honein, February, A.D. 630.

Siege of Taif, and its abandonment, followed later by the submission of Malik, the chief of the Benou Thakif, and the greater part of the tribe.

Muhammad performs the Lesser Pilgrimage and returns to Madinah.

The birth of a son by his Coptic slave and concubine Mary, April, A.D. 630. The boy, named Ibrahim, lived only about a year.

Quarrel with his legitimate wives about Mary, the Coptic slave, whom he had freed after the birth of the child.

Arrival of a Christian deputation at Madinah, and their discussions without conversion on either side. The Christians designated Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and the Second Person in the Trinity. Muhammad denied this, quoting the following from the Koran:

'Jesus, the son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and His word, which He conveyed into Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Himself. Believe, therefore, in God and His apostle, and say not three. Forbear; it will be better for you. God is only one God. Far be it from His glory that He should have a son.'

Deputations from certain Arab tribes.

Several lesser expeditions.

Campaign of Tabuk, which ended without fighting, and the submission of many tribes, October, A.D. 630.

Definite establishment of the Muslim Empire, A.D. 631.

Expedition of Ali to Yaman, December, A.D. 631.

Muhammad's solemn and greater pilgrimage to Mecca, i.e. 'the Al-Hijj,' or the Greater Pilgrimage, as compared with 'the Umrah,' or Lesser Pilgrimage. March, A.D. 632.

His speeches at this pilgrimage, known in Muhammadan history as 'The pilgrimage of the announcement,' or 'The pilgrimage of Islam,' or 'The farewell pilgrimage.' His establishment of the lunar year, and his farewell addresses.

Indisposition of Muhammad, and the three revolts--one headed by Tulaihah bin Khuwailid, a famous warrior of Najd; one by Musailamah; and one by Al-Aswad, all of which were eventually completely crushed after Muhammad's death by Abu Bakr and his generals.

Another expedition to Syria projected.

Muhammad's health becomes worse. His retirement to Ayesha's apartment. His final discourses.

Abu Bakr appointed to lead the public prayers.

Muhammad's last appearance in the mosque at Madinah.

His death and burial, June, A.D. 632.

From the above summary of the principal events of Muhammad's life, it will be perceived that up to the age of forty he was a student and acquirer of knowledge, much alone and occupied with his thoughts. At forty-one he began his public ministry, and stood forth as a reformer, preacher, and apostle at Mecca, and this continued till he finally left that place, in June, A.D. 622. As a reformer he proposed to do away with idols, to suppress gambling and drinking, and to abolish female infanticide, at that time much practised by the Arabs. As a preacher and apostle he urged the people to accept the belief in one God, whose injunctions were communicated to him by Gabriel for the benefit of the humanities. Prayer and ablution were also then ordained; fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimages were instituted later on.

Before Muhammad's time there had been several earnest seekers after the one God, the God of Abraham. Of these persons Zaid, the Inquirer, may be mentioned, as also Warakah, a cousin of Muhammad's first wife, Khadijah; Othman bin Huwairith, and Obaid Allah bin Jahsh. The people who professed this theism were termed Hanyfs; but their state of mind was as yet a purely speculative one, and they had announced nothing definite. But the ground was so far laid open, and had been prepared to a certain extent for Muhammad and his express revelation, that 'There was no God but the God, and that Muhammad was His apostle.'

It is highly probable that when Muhammad first began his public exhortations he had a strong idea of bringing not only the Arabs, but also the Jews and Christians, into his fold, and establishing one universal faith on the basis of one God, Almighty, Eternal, Merciful, Compassionate. It was on this account that he made Jerusalem the Kiblah, or consecrated direction of worship, and introduced into the Suras, or chapters, that he issued from time to time a good deal of matter connected with our Old and New Testaments. He particularly mentioned Abraham as the Father of the Faith, and acknowledging that there had already existed many thousand prophets, and three hundred and fifteen apostles, or messengers, he quoted nine of these last as special messengers, viz., Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Job, David, Jesus, the son of Mary, and himself. To five of these he gave special titles. He called Noah the preacher of God; Abraham the friend of God; Moses the converser with God; Jesus the spirit of God; and himself the apostle, or messenger, of God. But of the nine above mentioned four only, viz., Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad, held the highest rank as prophet-apostles.

It would, therefore, appear that Muhammad really hoped to establish one religion, acknowledging one God and a future life, and admitting that the earlier prophets had emanated from God as apostles or messengers. The world was too young and too ignorant in Muhammad's time to accept such an idea. It may, however, be accepted some day, when knowledge overcomes prejudice. Nations may have different habits, manners, and customs, but the God they all worship is one and the same.

Muhammad's life, from the age of forty to fifty, was one long struggle with the Koraish. Had it not been for the support given him by some of his influential relations at Mecca, he would either have been killed, or compelled to leave the place before he did. It is true that during these twelve years he made some excellent converts and faithful followers; but still it must be regarded as an historical fact that Muhammad failed at Mecca, as Jesus had failed at Jerusalem. In the one case Jesus was sacrificed, and passed away, leaving the story of His life, His words and His works in the heads of His disciples, who, with the suddenly converted Paul, certain Alexandrian Jews, the Emperor Constantine, some literary remains of Plato, along with a destruction of adverse manuscripts and documents, finally established the Christian religion. In the other case Muhammad, failing at Mecca, succeeded at Madinah, and before his death had so far settled matters that the religion was fairly established, and was thus saved the severe and bitter struggles of the first centuries of the Christian Churches.

It has seldom been a matter of speculation as to what would have been the course of the world's history if Muhammad had been slain by the Koraish before he left Mecca, or if Jesus had not been crucified by the Jews. It is probable that in the end both religions would have been eventually established in other ways, and by other means, depending a good deal on the followers of the two men. But as the subject is purely speculative, it can hardly be entertained in this purely historical chapter.

Once at Madinah, Muhammad became a personage. Supported by his Meccan followers (al-Muhâjirûn), and the Madinese auxiliaries (Ansârs), he assumed immediately a spiritual and temporal authority, and became a sort of Pope-King. He kept that position for the rest of his life, improving it by his military successes, his diplomatic arrangements, his spiritual instructions, and his social legislation.

It was probably shortly before he went to Madinah, or very soon after his arrival there, that he gave up all ideas of bringing over Jews, Christians, and Sabæans to his views. He determined to adapt them to the manners and customs of the Arabs only. In this he showed his wisdom and his knowledge of business. He changed the Kiblah from Jerusalem to Mecca. In the place of the Jewish trumpet, or the Christian bell, he introduced the call to prayer still heard from the tapering minarets of every mosque throughout the Muhammadan world.

By the Christian world it has been sometimes considered that Muhammad was good and virtuous at Mecca, but vicious and wicked at Madinah. Such calls to mind the reply of an Indian youth when asked in an examination to give an outline of the character of our good Queen Elizabeth. He briefly described her as 'a great and virtuous princess, but in her old age she became dissolute, and had a lover called Essex.'

But the position of Muhammad at Madinah was entirely different to what it had been at Mecca. At the latter place he was unable to assert himself. Indeed, it was as much as he could do to keep himself and his followers going at all, constantly subject as they were to persecution from the Koraish. All this was changed at Madinah, and his ten years rule there was remarkable for his various military expeditions, his organization of the different tribes, his bitter persecution of the Jews, his still-continued inspired utterances, which now included spiritual, social, and legal matters, and his repeated marriages.

It has been frequently said that Muhammad, in his virtuous days, was content with one wife at Mecca, but in his vicious days at Madinah he had ten wives and two concubines. As a matter of fact, after Khadijah's death Muhammad's marriages were in most cases more or less a matter of business. By them he allied himself to Abu Bakr, Omar, Abu Sofyan, Khalid bin Walid, and other important persons. He further married the widows of some of his followers killed in battle, perhaps 'pour encourager les autres.' It is also probable that he was very anxious to have children, all of his having died except Fatima, who was married to Ali.

At the same time it must be admitted that Muhammad had a weakness for women in his later years--witness the case of Zainab bint Jahsh, the Jewish concubine Rohana, and the Coptic maid Mary. Indeed, his favourite wife Ayesha used to say of him: 'The Prophet loved three things--women, scents, and food; he had his heart's desire of the two first, but not of the last,' The reasons for this want of food, and many other traditions connected with the character of Muhammad, are to be found in the last chapter and the supplement at the end of Sir William Muir's most excellent and interesting work on the life of this extraordinary man, who, if author of the Koran only, would be entitled to rank among the immortals.

According to Muslim orthodox theology, the Koran is the inspired Word of God, uncreated, and eternal in its original essence. 'He who says the word of God is created is an infidel,' such is the decree of Muhamniadan doctrine. Leaving everybody to form their own opinion on such a matter, it is only necessary here briefly to allude to the work, and to suppose that Muhammad was the inspired author of it.

The Koran is divided into 114 suras, or chapters, and 6,666 verses. The word itself signifies reading or recitation, and Muhammad always asserted that he only recited what had been repeated to him. But the Koran represents Muhammad from many points of view, in different capacities, and under different necessities. Ayesha, his favourite wife, when asked in later years as a widow to relate something about the Prophet, replied: 'Have you not the Koran, and have you not read it? for that will tell you everything about him.'

The Koran was not collected or arranged until after Muhammad's death. It is to be regretted that there is no reliable record of the exact order in which its various verses and chapters were given to the world by the Prophet, as that would have given us a great insight into the working of his mind from the time that he began his first recitals up to the time of his death. It is true that attempts have been made to formulate the order of delivery, but these can only be more or less conjecture. At the same time, though earlier and later verses appear mixed up in the different chapters, in some cases, of course, the period to which they belong can be pretty accurately fixed and determined.

As an interesting work, it can hardly be compared with our Old and New Testaments, nor would it be fair to make such a comparison. It must be remembered that the Koran is the work of Muhammad alone, while the Biblos, or Book, commonly called the Bible, is the work of many men. In its compilation many authors were rejected, and it represents as a whole the united talents of the ages. Indeed, the Bible may be considered as the most wonderful book in existence, and certainly the most interesting after visiting the countries it describes and the localities it refers to. If read from a matter-of-fact point of view, it gives an abundance of various kinds of literature, and describes the workings of the human mind from the earliest ages, and the progress of ideas as they gradually and slowly dawned upon man and drove him onwards. If read from a spiritual or mystical point of view, it can be interpreted in many ways to meet the views of either the readers or the hearers. In a word, the Bible is full of prose and poetry, fact and imagination, history and fiction. It was lately described in an Italian newspaper, _Il Secolo_, about to issue a popular edition of it in halfpenny numbers, as follows:

'There is one book which gathers up the poetry and the science of humanity, and that book is the Bible; and with this book no other work in any literature can be compared. It is a book that Newton read continually, that Cromwell carried at his saddle, and that Voltaire kept always on his study table. It is a book that believers and unbelievers should alike study, and that ought to be found in every house.'

As a scientific work it has little value except that it represents the extent of scientific knowledge possessed by the authors at the time the different books were written.

To return to the Koran, which may, then, be regarded as the Bible of the Muslims. According to Mr. Badger: 'It embodies the utterances of the Arabian Prophet on all subjects, religious and moral, administrative and judicial, political and diplomatic, from the outset to the close of his career, together with a complete code of laws for regulating marriage, divorce, guardianship of orphans, bargains, wills, evidence, usury, and the intercourse of private and domestic life, as they were dictated by him to his secretaries, and by them committed to writing on palm-leaves, the shoulder-blades of sheep, and other tablets. These, it appears, were thrown pell-mell into chests, where they remained till the reign of Abu Bakr, the immediate successor of Muhammad, who, during the first year of his Khalifate, entrusted Zaid-bin Harithah, an Ansar, or auxiliary, and one of the amanuenses of the Prophet, with the task of collecting them together, which he did, as well from "the breasts of men" as from the afore-named materials, meaning thereby that he availed himself of the memories of those who had committed parts of the Prophet's utterances to memory. [Tradition states that one of the contemporary Muslims had learnt as many as seventy chapters by heart.] Zaid's copy continued to be the standard text during the Khalifate of Abu Bakr, who committed it to the keeping of Hafsah, one of Muhammad's widows. Certain disputes having arisen regarding this text, owing mainly to the variations of dialect and punctuation occurring therein, Omar, the successor of Abu Bakr, in the tenth year of his Khalifate, determined to establish a text which should be the sole standard, and delegated to Zaid, with whom he associated several eminent Arab scholars of the Al-Koraish, the task of its reduction. On its completion copies were forwarded to the principal stations of the empire, and all previously existing copies were submitted to the flames. This is the text now in general use among Muslims, and there is every reason to believe it to be a faithful rescript of the original fragmentary collection, amended only in its dialectical variations, and made conformable to the purer Arabic of the Al-Koraish, in which the contents of the Koran were announced by Muhammad.'

From a literary point of view the Koran is regarded as a specimen of the purest Arabic, and written in half poetry and half prose. It has been said that in some cases grammarians have adapted their rules to agree with certain phrases and expressions used in it, and that though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it, as far as elegant writing is concerned, none have as yet succeeded.

With the Koran, then, as a basis to work upon, Muhammad became the author and, it may be said, also founder of the Muhammadan faith, although as regards the foundation of any religion the followers of the author are generally the real founders of his faith. Of the three authors of great religions, viz., Moses, Buddha, and Jesus, who had gone before, Moses seems to have had much in common with Muhammad, and the two resembled each other in some ways. Buddha and Jesus were, on the other hand, entirely spiritualistic, their ideas on many subjects much the same, and their preachings and teachings run together very much on parallel lines.

The connecting links, however, between Buddhism and Christianity, if any, have yet to be discovered and determined. It may happen that some day further light may be thrown upon the subject; but at present, in spite of similarity of ideas, of sentiments, and of parables in the two religions, there is no positive proof of any connection between them, except that one preceded the other. While history has recorded every detail of Muhammad's life, both before and after his public ministry, which did not begin until he was forty years of age, history, alas! gives us no detailed record of the life of Jesus prior to the commencement of His public ministry in His thirtieth year. Had He travelled Himself to the further East? Had He studied under Buddhist missionaries? Had He taken the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, before He was baptized by John the Essene? Had He anything to do with the sects called Essenes, Therapeuts, Gnostics, Nazarites, the Brethren, which existed both before and during His lifetime? These, and many other questions which might be asked, can now probably never be answered, and the only thing that can be confidently asserted is that the character and the spiritual teachings of Christ, as handed down to us, much resemble the character and spiritual teachings of Buddha.

A few paragraphs must be devoted to Moses and Muhammad, as the first organizers of the Jews and the Arabs into separate and distinct nationalities. The two men had very different material to work upon, but they succeeded with the aid of Eloah, or Allah, supporting their own efforts.

It is probably historically true that the good old patriarch Abraham once lived, and may be considered to be the father of the Jewish, Christian, and Muhammadan religions. According to Arab tradition, Abraham, assisted by Ishmael, built the Kaabah at Mecca, so called because it was nearly a kaabah, or square. Anyhow, Abraham has ever been regarded with the greatest veneration by the Muslims, and his tomb at Hebron at the present day is so jealously guarded by them that the Jews and the Christians are not permitted to enter its sacred precincts.

Abraham and his followers worshipped Eloah, or the Almighty God, as the one and only God, offering up to Him at times various sacrifices. According to Rénan, in his 'History of the People of Israel,' 'the primitive religion of Israel was the worship of the Elohim, a collective name for the invisible forces that govern the world, and which are vaguely conceived as forming a supreme power at once single and manifold.'

'This vague primitive monotheism got modified during the migrations of the children of Israel, and especially during their struggles for the conquest of Palestine, and at last gave place to the conception of Jahveh, a national God conceived after the fashion of the gods of polytheism, essentially anthropomorphic, the God of Israel in conflict with the gods of the surrounding nations.'

'It was the task of the prophets to change this low and narrow conception of the Deity for a nobler one, to bring back the Jews to the Elohistic idea in a spiritualized form, and to transform the Jahveh or Jehovah of the times of the Judges into a God of all the earth--universal, one and absolute, that God in spirit and in truth of whom Jesus, the last of the prophets, completed the revelation.'

Certain events in the life of Joseph brought the family of Jacob to Egypt, separated it from the other tribes, and made the Israelites into a peculiar people.[5] As the twelve families of the sons of Jacob expanded into twelve tribes, they grew in number to such an extent that the Egyptian Government of the day began to be alarmed, and commenced coercive proceedings, which led to the appearance of Moses, first as a liberator, and then as the organizer of the twelve tribes into a Jewish nationality.

[Footnote 5: The actual dates of these events and of the exodus from Egypt have not yet been historically fixed. How the Israelites first migrated to the land of Goshen, and how they eventually left Egypt, is still a question of considerable controversy. Further discoveries may yet throw further light on the subject.]

When Moses first took the children of Israel out of Egypt, it was probably his intention to lead them at once to the promised land. Finding, however, that their physical strength and courage was not equal to the conquest of Canaan, he kept them in the desert for forty years, until the open-air life and the hardy fare had produced a new generation of men fit to cope with the warriors of the land they were about to attempt to conquer.

Doubtless, during this residence in the desert Moses legislated both morally and socially for the Jews, as Muhammad did for the Arabs at Madinah. But as the Koran was not put together during Muhammad's lifetime, so it is also highly probable that the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses, were not collected and collated till some time after his death, which last is described in the work itself.[6] Indeed, many things mentioned in them show a more advanced state of civilization than the children of Israel enjoyed during their wanderings in the desert.

[Footnote 6: This subject is treated at considerable length by Dr. A. Kuenen in 'The Religion of Israel,' translated by Alfred Heath May from the Dutch. Williams and Norgate: London, 1882.]

But, still, to Moses the Jews owe their nationality, as the Arabs owed theirs to Muhammad. The former found a weak people, united to a certain extent, but quite unaccustomed to fighting and hardship, and he welded them sufficiently together to enable them, under his successors, to establish themselves in the promised land. The latter found Arabia inhabited by a quantity of tribes, more or less hostile to each other, but brave to a degree; fond of fighting and plundering, and always at it; full of local jealousies and internal enmities, which kept them separate. Muhammad not only induced them to believe in one God, but also brought them together to such, an extent that his successors were able to launch them as united warriors and conquerors throughout the East, and to found an empire for the time being far greater, grander, and more important than Canaan, as divided among the twelve tribes, or the dominions of David and Solomon.

As a military leader Muhammad was not particularly celebrated. The military expeditions undertaken by him in person are variously stated to have been from nineteen to twenty-seven in number, whilst those in which he was not present are stated to have amounted to more than fifty. With the exception of one or two to the Syrian frontier, they were chiefly directed against the Arabs and the Jews in Arabia, but none of them were of the magnitude of those undertaken by his successors, Abu Bakr and Omar, who, with the aid of the generals Khalid, son of Walid, Mothanna, Amr bin Al'Aasi, and others, made great conquests, and finally established the Muslim faith on a firm and lasting basis. The details of these successes are admirably told in Muir's 'Annals of the Early Khalifate.'

There appears to be a great resemblance between many of the military and warlike expeditions undertaken by Muhammad in Arabia, and those of the Jews, as narrated in the historical works of the Old Testament, in Palestine. In both countries God was used as the authority, and individuals and tribes were attacked and slaughtered much in the same way. Indeed, if the numbers slain, as recorded by the Jewish historians, are to be depended upon, it can only be inferred that the God of the Jews was more vindictive and bloodthirsty than the God of the Arabs. At the present time the Soudanese and their Khalifahs seem to be following very much in the steps of Muhammad, constantly sending forth military expeditions, and issuing letters to foreign potentates.

In conclusion, the dogmas and precepts of Islam, as embodied in the Koran, may be summed up as follows:

(1) Belief in Allah or God, or, more correctly, 'The God;' that is, the only God. 'Al,' the; 'Ilah,' a God.

(2) Belief in the Messengers or Angels.

(3) Belief in the Books or Scriptures, and in the Prophets.

(4) Belief in Hell and Paradise.

(5) Belief in a general resurrection and final judgment.

(6) Belief in the decrees of God, or of His having absolutely predestined both good and evil.

The five cardinal ordinances of Islam are:

(1) The pious recitation of the Kalimah, or Creed: 'There is no God but the one God, and Muhammad is his Apostle.'

(2) Prayer.

(3) Fasting.

(4) Legal and obligatory almsgiving.

(5) Pilgrimage.

There are several other points connected with the institutions of Islam, such as--

(1) Circumcision.

(2) Marriage and polygamy.

(3) Slavery.

(4) The Jihad, or Holy War.

(5) Food, drink and ablutions.

But full details connected with the above will be found, if required, in Hughes 'Dictionary of Islam,' so that further reference to them here is unnecessary. It must, however, always be remembered that faith and prayer were the two points which Muhammad always insisted upon as absolutely essential.

The Muhammadan religion may be regarded as creating in theory the purest democracy in existence. All men are supposed to be equal. There are no hereditary titles. Every man can rise, either by interest or talent, from the very lowest to the very highest position. There is a universal feeling of brotherhood among the Muslims. All this is excellent in theory, but in practice the ways of the world are different. A Pasha holds his place and upholds his position, while a humble follower of the said Pasha, or other person in an inferior position, knows his place also, and treats his superiors and his inferiors accordingly. In fact, both in the East and the West there appears to be a place for all men, and that place is established by the unwritten laws of the world or by the law of nature, in spite of the many theories propounded by religion, politics, or political economy. Still, Muhammad himself instilled equality among his followers, and in his parting address at Mina, at the time of the farewell pilgrimage, spoke as follows:

'Ye people! hearken to my speech and comprehend the same. Know that every Muslim is the brother of every other Muslim. All of you are on the same equality' (and as he pronounced these words he raised his arms aloft and placed the forefinger of one hand on the forefinger of the other, intending thereby to signify that all were absolutely on the same level); 'ye are one brotherhood.

'Know ye what month this is? What territory is this? What day?' To each question the people gave the appropriate answer, viz.:

'The sacred month, the sacred territory, the great day of pilgrimage.' After every one of these replies Muhammad added:

'Even thus sacred and inviolable hath God made the life and the property of each of you unto the other, until ye meet your Lord.

'Let him that is present tell it unto him that is absent. Haply, he that shall be told may remember better than he who hath heard it.'