I.  I  B  11  A  Jl  Y 
 
 (IF    TIIK 
 
 Theological     Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON,     N.    J. 
 ('".<,  Division  "^  U  L.i.i./^r... 
 
 I      Boa/: 
 
ISHMAEL 
 
(?go  autem  biffuUlime  bomts  jubfv  Irgo  quob  stripsmm,  Btb  aul 
 limrbtor  mto  nut  tnpibior.  !l!)ibfo  dinm  rnlfrbum  bttia  mca;  seb 
 bacc  mnio  aubiw  a  meltovUnis,  iic  cum  me  tnk  fortasse  rcirrtljcnbtro, 
 nirsus  mibi  blaubiar,  cl  meticulosam  polius  mibt  btbcar  xn  me,  quam 
 justnm  tultssc  sfntmtram."     ^t.  3lur|nstiiic. 
 
ISHMAEL 
 
 OR 
 
 A  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  ISLAMISM 
 
 AND  ITS 
 
 RELATION  TO  CHRISTIANITY 
 
 BY  THK 
 
 / 
 REV.  DR.  J.  MDEHLEISEN  ARNOLD, 
 
 FORMERLY    CHURCH    MISSIONARY   IN  ASIA  AND  AFRICA ,    AND  LATE  CHAPLAIN 
 OF  ST.  MARY'S  HOSPITAL,  LONDON. 
 
 "0  GOD  HOW  LONG  shall  the  adversary  do  this  dishonodr  :  how  lonc. 
 
 shall  the  enemy  blaspheme  thy  name,  —  for  ever?    Arise  o  cod, 
 
 plead  thine  own  cause  !"'    Psalm  lxxiv.  11.  23. 
 
 The    entire   proceeds    of    this   work   will   be    giveu   tdwards   founding    a 
 "Society  for  propagating  the  Oospel  among  the  Mohammedans." 
 
 PKINTI^D  BY  J.  B.  SxETZLER,  STUTTGART. 
 
 MDCCCLIX. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Had  it  not  been  for  the  recent  outbursts  of  Mos- 
 lem fanaticism,  it  would  almost  have  been  forgotten, 
 that  Islamism  maintains  an  unequivocally  hostile 
 relation  to  Christianity.  We  should  doubtless,  have 
 continued  to  flatter  ourselves,  with  having  done 
 our  duty  towards  its  followers,  in  praying  once  a  year, 
 that  God  might  "have  mercy  upon  all. . .  Turks, . . . 
 and  take  from  them  all  ignorance,  hardness  of  heart, 
 and  contempt  of  His  Word."  But,  if  the  calculation 
 of  the  learned  French  infidel  Bayle  be  correct,  —  that 
 were  the  globe  divided  into  thirty  equal  portions, 
 nineteen  of  them  would  fall  to  the  dominion  oi  Pagan- 
 ism, six  to  Islamism,  and  ^w  only  to  Christianity, 
 —  we  must  acknowledge  that  something  more  is  to 
 be  done,  and  if  so,  the  object  of  this  work  can  scarcely 
 be  deemed  futile  or  chimerical. 
 
 It  is  not  only,  since  the  Mohammedans  have  so 
 
VI  PREFACE. 
 
 painfully  protruded  themselves  upon  the  attention  of 
 Europe,  but  many  years  ago,  that  the  author  first 
 commenced  gathering  information  upon  the  subject 
 of  this  volume, — and  that,  during  a  sojourn  in  Egypt, 
 Arabia,  Palestine,  East-Africa,  Abyssinia,  and  more 
 especially  in  India.  The  work  is  now  published  with 
 a  view  to  cherish,  if  possible,  the  missionary  spirit 
 which  has  been  called  forth  by  recent  events;  and  to 
 place  some  of  the  leading  truths  of  Christianity  anti- 
 thetically to  the  falsities  and  perversions  of  the  Koran, 
 so  as  to  render  the  comparison  available  for  actual 
 missionary  operations  among  the  numerous  posterity 
 of  Ishmael. 
 
 May  God,  in  His  infinite  mercy,  "stir  up^  by 
 this ,  or  any  other  means,  "the  spirit  of  the  remnant 
 of  His  people,"  that  they  may  no  longer  neglect  to 
 do  this  ''work  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
 
 *  J.  lu.  A. 
 
 ,  Febr.  10,  1859. 
 
 V     ^ 
 
Contents. 
 
 PART  I. 
 
 NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  ISLAMISM. 
 
 CHAPTEK  I. 
 
 THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  MOHAMKED. 
 
 CHAPTEK  11. 
 
 THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BHITH. 
 
 CHAPTER  III, 
 
 AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED. 
 
 CHAPTER  IV. 
 
 HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN. 
 
 CHAPTER  V. 
 
 WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM. 
 
 CHAPTER  VI. 
 
 W^HAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 CHAPTER  VII. 
 
 SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM. 
 
Vm  CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER  VIII. 
 
 CHARACTER  AND  INTLUENCE  OF  ISLAMSM. 
 
 PART  11. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY  AW  ISLAMISM  CONTRASTED. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CHAPTER  I. 
 
 INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 
 
 CHAPTER  II. 
 
 INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAIHENT. 
 
 CHAPTER  III. 
 
 THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN. 
 
 CHAPTER  lY. 
 
 TRINITY  AND  L'NITY. 
 
 CHAPTER  V. 
 CHRIST  AND  MOHAMI^EED. 
 
 CHAPTER  YI. 
 
 GENERAL  SUEVEY  AND  AGENDA. 
 
PART  1. 
 
 NATUKAL  HISTORY  OF  ISLAMISM. 
 
 CHAPTER  L 
 
 THE  FORE-RUNNERS  OF  MOHAMMED. 
 
 "Who  is  a  liar  but   he  that  denieth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ?     He 
 
 is  Antichrist   that   denieth  the  Father   and   the  Son.      Whosoever 
 
 denieth   the  Son ,   the   same  hath  not  the  Father." 
 
 1  John  II.  22.  23. 
 
 1.  It  was  in  the  act  of  blessing  Mary  andJosepli, 
 that  the  inspired  Simeon  uttered  the  remarkable  pre- 
 diction concerning  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  "Behold 
 this  one  is  set  for  the  fall  and  risino-  again  in  Israel; 
 and  for  a  sign  which  shall  be  spoken  against:"*  and 
 how  many  since  that  day  have  stumbled,  fallen  and 
 been  broken  at  this  rock  of  offence.  That  the  Son 
 of  Man  was   "for  a  gin  and  for  a  snare"  not  only  to 
 
 '  Idov  ovrog  y.klrat  iig  nroSaif  y.(xl  ilvaaraaiv  tioXXcSv  iv  rw 
 Vff^a^A ,  y.(d  Hg  (Ti^i^uaov  urriXfyn/if-ior.  Lu.  11.  34.  Tlie  fact  of 
 of  TTuTg  being  omitted,  which  is  generally  supplied  in  versions,  is 
 significative,  since  the  prophecy  embraces  the  character  of  the  Re- 
 deemer in  all  its  comprehensiveness. 
 
 A 
 
2.  THE  FORE-RUNNERS  OF  MOHAMAfKD.  [parti. 
 
 both  the  houses  of  Israel,  but  also  to  the  house  of 
 Ishmael  is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  very  existence  of 
 Islamism :  ^  nor  was  it  for  the  first  time  that  our  blessed 
 Lord  ''was  spoken  against"  when  IMohammed  in  "the 
 spirit  of  Antichrist,"  ^  and  as  one  of  the  false  prophets, 
 denied  that  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God  is  come 
 into  the  world.  As  there  is  a  wonderfid  harmony  in 
 the  testimony  of  all  the  true,*  so  is  there  a  striking 
 uniformity  in  that  of  the  many  false  Prophets,  who 
 openly  as  well  as  "privily  bring  in  damnable  heresies," 
 and  agree  in  disallowinjx  the  chief  cornerstone,  de- 
 nying  the  Lord  that  bought  them/' 
 
 It  was  to  be  expected  that  no  dogma  would  have 
 to  sustain  such  contradiction  and  opposition  from 
 "the  gates  of  hell,"  as  that  touching  the  Divinity  of 
 Jesus  Christ,  it  being  the  very  life  and  soul  of  the 
 Christian  religion/  yet,  thanks  be  to  God,  they  have 
 
 -  "And  he  shall  bo  for  a  sanctuary;  but  for  a  stono  of  stuiu- 
 blinar.  and  for  a  rock  of  ofl'ence  to  both  the  houses  of  Israel,  for  a 
 gin  and  for  a  snare  "Op.^'Jai^  HSb  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem."' 
 Isa.  VIII.  14.  The  W'^'l  in  verse  15.  indicates  that  the  offence  is 
 not  confined  to  Israel. 
 
 '  TO  sci.  7i)'8vi.ia  rov  dvTi^Qi'ffTov  implies  a  system  of  false 
 doctrine,  and  a  succession  of  personal  uit{i(ji(Jtoi.  The  one  .^piritus 
 of  Antichrist  pervades  the  entire  body  of  false  teachinfj,  and  in- 
 spires individuals  or  communities.  The  o  (cy.i/.oart.  on  h^j^f-nxt 
 affords  an  insight  of  the  Apostles'  teaching  concerning  this  subject. 
 
 1  John  IV.  3. 
 
 *   tov7(o  navTtg  oi  TTQOCfrjtai  fiaatvQovmv.    Act,  X.  43. 
 
 ^'  This  uniformity  in  spite  of  individual  shades  of  difference  is 
 owing  to  tlie  nifvfiix  tov  dmii^ifJTov  or  the  Trrf-vfia  t/"^*  Tihcrtjg, 
 which  commissions  and  controls  the  whole  body  of  T/;fi;^0(5nV«:'7X((Ao^ 
 
 2  Pet.  II.   1.     1  .lohn  II.  G. 
 
 *"  Tliis  "fiindamontum  fundamonti"  or  nrvkog  y.ia  i-i^oia'tofuc  tZ/C 
 dhjOeiag  1  Tim.  III.  lo.  was  therefore  assaulted  by  all  the  xptvdo- 
 
CHAP.  I.]  THE  SPIRIT  OF  ANTICHRIST.  6 
 
 not  prevailed  and  shall  not  prevail  against  it. '  When 
 men  in  vain  take  connsel  together  against  Jehovah 
 and  Ilis  Christ,  "He  shall  speak  unto  them,  in  His 
 wrath  and  vex  them  in  His  sore  displeasure."  It  is 
 therefore  natural  that  Islamism  would  not  be  isolated, 
 but  closely  connected  with,  and  forming  part  of  that 
 system  of  religious  error,  which  the  devil  has  spread 
 like  a  huge  net  over  the  face  of  the  earth ;  for  from 
 the  days  of  the  Apostles  up  to  this  time,  there  has 
 ever  been  at  work  within  the  Church  an  invisible 
 hand,  lengthening  its  cords  and  adapting  its  meshes 
 with  wondrous  skill  and  ingenuity  to  the  circum- 
 stances of  each  particular  period. 
 
 A  cursory  view  of  those  heresies  which  success- 
 ively denied  the  Divinity  of  Christ  before  the  days  of 
 Mohammed,  will  convince  us  that  Islamism  merely 
 reproduced  and  extended  the  already  existing  elements 
 of  apostacy  in  a  new  form,  instead  of  striking  out 
 a  fresh  path  of  religious  error.  We  should  however 
 be  much  mistaken,  if  we  were  understood  to  place 
 Islamism  on  a  level  with  those  heresies  which  were 
 now  and  then  ejected  from  the  body  of  the  Church,'* 
 but  we  recognise  in  its  system  a  rank  and  most  per- 
 nicious apostacy  of  a  peculiar  type.  Whilst  Islamism 
 however  introduced  a  new  element  of  delusion,    it 
 
 didaaMxkot ,  7Tievi.iara  TrXavoi ,  ipf:v6o7TQO<f)^Tai. ,  dida(JKa'k(at  rmr 
 8umovi(ov  and  ai()6aiis  (InoXetag.    IV.  1. 
 
 ^    Vide  Ps.  II.  ].  2.  4  and  compare  the  rrrr-'hy  'nn;  -"-IC": 
 "'IT'OTa  ~5""1  in  verse  2.  with  (Ti^uHor  (aTiXf-ynmror.    I.u.  H.  34. 
 
 '^    A  living  divine  compares  heresies  to  the  "excrementa",  natu- 
 ral to  a  healthy  and  living  body. 
 
 A* 
 
4  THE  FORE-RUNNERS  OF  MOHAMMED.  H'art  i 
 
 gathered  up  and  embodied  the  characteristic  prin- 
 ciples of  those  lieresies,  which  denied  the  Godhead 
 of"  the  Redeemer. 
 
 2.  The  mystery  of  Godhness  that  Christ  was 
 born  of  a  virgin,  very  God  of  very  God,  was  only 
 gradually  revealed,  being  purposely  hidden  from  the 
 carnal  gaze  of  the  world  for  a  considerable  time.  ^  If 
 we  seek  for  the  popular  opinion  of  our  Lord's  person 
 and  character  during  His  life-time,  we  find  that  Jesus 
 up  to  His  thirtieth  year  was  supposed  to  be  the  son  of 
 Joseph.  ^"^  After  His  baptism  Christ  was  spoken  of 
 by  Philip  "as  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph."  '  ^ 
 When  He  connnenced  His  public  ministry,  the  people 
 ask  astonished:  ''Is  not  this  Joseph's  son?"^^  At  a 
 later  period  they  exclaim:  ''Is  not  this  the  car])en- 
 ter's  son?  Is  not  His  mother  called  Mary?"^''  Onlv 
 one  year  before  His  passion  the  Jews  ask:  "Is  not 
 this  Jesus  the  son  of  Joseph,  whose  father  and  mo- 
 ther we  know."  ^*  The  same  opinions  prevailed  among 
 the  unbelieving  masses  long-  after  the  Ascension  of 
 the  Redeemer;  and  even  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles, 
 heresies  sprang  up  within  the  Church,  adopting  the 
 
 ^  It  may  be  said  of  this  mystery,  what  was  said  of  aiiotlier  in- 
 volved in  it,  viz.,  the  dogma  of  the  bles.sed  Trinity  tliat  it  was  vnl{): 
 rovv,  vnt(>  Xoynv  mxl  vnlfJ  ndaw  ■naxuXi[i.\:ii\  Just.  Martyr,  in 
 confut.  Grace.  Quest. 
 
 *"  "And  Jesus  himself  began  to  be  about  30  years  of  age,  being, 
 as  was  supposed  [mv ,  (os  HOiu'ti-TO ,  vioi  '/fo'J7;qfi,  not:  cor,  vto^ 
 'iw(r/^'(jp,  aj5  tmm'Ci-ro)  the  st)n  of  Joscjih.    Lu.  HI.  23. 
 
 *'    John  1.  45.  fi'iJi'jKix/iUi'  ^Iijaovv  rof  vior  tov  'lojaijCf,  tor  drro 
 *^    Lu.  IV.  22.       "  Matt.  XIII.  55.       "  John  VI   42. 
 
CUAi'.  i.J        OPINIONS  OF  THE  JEWS  CONCERNING  CHRIST.  5 
 
 views  then  cuiTeiit,  viz.,  that  He  was  no  more  than 
 "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph."  Amongst 
 these  heretical  teachers  who  in  the  apostohc  age 
 paved  the  way  for  Mohammed,  Irenaeus  mentions  Ce- 
 rinthus,  a  Jewish  convert,  who  subsequently  relapsed 
 and  w-as  the  first  who  dared  to  question  the  Divinity 
 of  Christ,  asserting  that  His  entrance  into  the  \vorld 
 was  according  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  nature  :^^  Epi- 
 phanius  also  writes  that  Christ  was  considered  an 
 ordinary  man  by  the  Cerinthian  heresy,  adding  that 
 it  admitted  His  Cross  and  Passion,  but  distinctly 
 denied  His  Resurrection;^*'  and  their  testimony  is 
 confirmed  by  St.  Augustine.*^ 
 
 Another  heresy  of  the  same  age  and  tendency  as 
 the  preceding,  was  that  of  the  Ebionites,^^  who,  like 
 the  Cerinthians ,  adopted  the  popular  notion  con- 
 cerning Christ,  which  was  current  during  His  life- 
 time.*^   There  has  been  much  uncertainty  as  to  the 
 
 ^^'  "Cerinthus  quidam  in  Asia  docuit,  Jesum  non  ex  virgine  natum 
 fuissc,  autem  tuni  Joseph  et  Mariae  filium  (similiter,  utrelicjui  onines 
 honiiius,  et  plus  potuisse  justitia  et  prudentia  et  sapieiitia  prae 
 onmibus."     Ireii.   lib.  I.   cap.  25. 
 
 "'  They  are  declared  to  have  asserted:  tx  umoiag  xal  <"■'?{  UTT^iJ- 
 fiaTog  ^luKilq)  70V  ^(jiUTov  yi-yei ff^Oat.  Epiphan.  lib.  I.  torn.  II. 
 pag.  53. 
 
 *^  Vide  August,  torn.  VI.  haeres.  VIII.  That  Cerinthus  propa- 
 gated his  heresy  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles  will  appear  from  the 
 well  known  incident,  which  Polycarp  is  said  to  have  recorded  viz., 
 that  St.  John  immediately  left  the  bath  at  Ephesus  on  seeing  that 
 Cerinthus,  "the  enemy  of  the  truth"  had  entered  the  building. 
 Iren.  lib.  III.  contra  liaeres.  cap.  3. 
 
 '**  Ebion  is  probably  the  name  of  the  founder  of  this  heresy; 
 some  however  receive  it  as  a  cognomen,  from  """"5^  plur.  C'p"'3S*: 
 l)aui)ers. 
 
 '"    "Ebionaei    ex    Joseph    Christum    gencratuni    esse     dicunt." 
 
6  THP:  fore-runners  of  MOHAMMED.  [paht  1. 
 
 minor,  and  for  our  purpose  less  important  items  of 
 this  ancient  heresy,  but  however  indefinite  and  muhi- 
 fonn^"  their  system  of  error  may  have  been,  one 
 thing  was  clear  and  decided,  that  they  denied  the 
 Godhead  of  Christ  and  lowered  Him  to  the  level  of 
 mortal  man.  It  is  but  due  to  Mohammed  to  add, 
 that  he  abstained  from  going  to  the  full  length  of 
 these  early  heretics,  when  he  admitted  the  miraculous 
 character  of  our  Lord's  entrance  into  the  world,  which 
 was  by  them  denied.  ^^ 
 
 These  are  the  two  chief  heresies ,  which  gained 
 ground  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles ,  to  refute  which, 
 is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  objects  which  St.  John 
 had  in  view  in  his  Gospel  and  Epistles.  The  Evangelist 
 indeed  himself  assigns  a  cause  for  writing  as  he  does, 
 in  these  words:  "These  are  written  that  ye  might 
 believe,  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and 
 that  believing,  ye  might  have  life  through  His  name."  ^  ^ 
 
 Irenaeus  writes:  ''John  the  disciple  of  the  Lord, 
 wishing  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  refute 
 the  error,  which  had  been  spread  by  Cerinthus  and 
 
 Iron.  lib.  111.  cap.  24.  See  also:  lib.  I.  cap.  26.  V.  pag.  539. 
 IV.   cap.  59. 
 
 ^^  The  Fathers  describe  it  as  rroXvfiOQqov,  and  Epiphanius  de- 
 scribes it:  ^afta()ttrcor  t](^!i  to  fS(%}.v(i()r,  ^lovdta'cor  df-  to  oioina, 
 ^Ooaaicov  fie  xnl  Niy.C<K(J(n(x>i>  yjxl  NixauQiuayr  7)jv  yicour^v,  Ki]{»irOia- 
 vmv  TO  f-iSo^ ,  Ka(jTrox(JiKTu<icov  tr;v  xay.0T(j07Tu(v ,  zal  X{jmriar(ov 
 ^ovXt7h.  kikiv  rriv  nQOcn]yo(Jiav.  Epiphan.  lib.  I.  contra  haeres.  torn.  II. 
 pag.  59. 
 
 ^*  This  was  expressly  done  by  Ebion:  t,y.  7Ti(fjar{Jt.;^r^i  y.al  (Tnt(j- 
 t-iatog  drdQos  Tovrfcm  tov  7a)f7/;(jr  rov  Xqkttoi'  ytyeniji^ai,  tXf-yn\ 
 Epijih.  toni.  II.   pag.  60. 
 
 ^^  Scopus  Ev;\n;>-olii :  ravTa  f^f-  ylyfjamai .  irn  TTinrfVtrrjf  on 
 6  'lt]aovg  hnr  0  XPIl'TOl  0  TlOX  TOK-JEOT.  John  XX.  31. 
 
CHAP.  I.)  CERINTHIANS  AND  EBIONITES.  7 
 
 Still  earlier  by  those  who  were  called  Nicolaitanes, 
 commenced  His  Gospel  with  a  view  to  confound  and 
 persuade  them,  that  there  is  one  God,  who  made 
 all  things  by  His  Word,  and  to  establish  a  rule  of 
 truth  in  the  Church." ^^  St.  Jerome  says:  "Even 
 when  John  was  still  in  Asia,  the  seeds  of  the  heretics, 
 Cerinthus ,  Ebion  and  others ,  who  deny  that  Christ 
 
 came  into  the  flesh,  had  already  sprung  up whom 
 
 in  his  Epistle  he  calls  "Antichrists,"  whom  Paul  also 
 frequently  attacks  —  and   he  was  compelled  by  al- 
 most all  the  Bishops  then  in  Asia,   and  by  legates 
 from  many  Churches  to  write  more  deeply  concerning 
 the  Divinity  of  Christ."^*    Since  St.  John's  Epistles 
 are   also  directed   against  the   same  errors,'^'  what 
 force  and  significance  passages  like  these  acquire: 
 "Who  is  a  liar,  but  he  that  denieth,  that  Jesus  is 
 the  Christ.     He  is  Antichrist,  that  denieth  the  Fa- 
 ther and  the  Son.      Whosoever  denieth  the  Son,  the 
 same  hath  not  the  Father."      Again:   "Beloved  be- 
 lieve not  every  Spirit,  but  try  the  spirits,  whether 
 they  are  of  God,  because  many  false  prophets  are 
 gone  out  into  the  world."     In  the  second  Epistle, 
 
 '"    Iren.  lib.  III.  cap.  XI.  pag.  184. 
 
 Vide  Hieronymus  in  proxini.  Comment,  in  Matt.  In  his  "Ca- 
 talog. Script,  ecclesiast."  Cap.  LX.  the  same  Father  adds ;  that  St. 
 John  wrote  the  last  Gospel  "at  the  request  of  the  Bishops  of  Asia, 
 against  Cerinthus  and  other  heretics,  chiefly  the  Ebionites,  who 
 maintain  that  Christ  did  not  exist  prior  to  Mary." 
 
 0  ^pevarj]g;  6  dgiov/nevog  Tor  mo,:;  6  uvrii(jiiTTo; ;  to 
 nnv^m  rig  nXarrjg-,  nolXol  xpevdo7T(jO(f,^Tai ,  are  all  terms  regar- 
 ding that  "sin  unto  death"  viz.,  tlie  denial  that  Christ  is  the  Son  of 
 God,  being  y.ur  f^^oxijv  the  foundation  of  Christian  faitli  and  doc- 
 trine.   1  John  II.  23.  IV.  1 . 
 
8  THE  FORE-RUNNERS  OF  MOHAMMED.  [i-aut  I. 
 
 he  complains  of  "many  deceivers,  Avho  confess  not, 
 that  Jesus  came  into  the  flesh.  This  is  the  deceiver 
 and  the  Antichrist.'^''  Look  to  yourselves,  that  we 
 lose  not  those  thins^s,  which  we  have  wrought,  hut 
 that  we  receive  a  full  reward.  Whosoever  trans- 
 ofresseth  and  abideth  not  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
 hath  not  God;  he  that  abideth  in  the  doctrine  of 
 Christ,  he  hath  both  the  Father  and  the  Son.  If 
 there  come  any  among  yon  and  bring  not  this  doc- 
 trine^' receive  him  not  into  your  house,  neither  bid 
 him  God  speed,  for  he  that  biddeth  him  God  speed, 
 is  partaker  of  his  evil  deeds." 
 
 3.  In  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  we 
 have  a  revival  of  the  above  heresies  under  Carj^ocra- 
 tes,  Theodotus,  and  Artemonius.  The  first  was  a 
 philosopher  of  Alexandria ,  and  though  his  teaching 
 is  not  clear  on  all  points  as  far  as  ecclesiastical  wri- 
 ters notice  him,  yet  his  disciple  Theodotus  A.  D.  146, 
 a  leather-merchant  by  trade,  broadly  affirmed  the 
 doctrines  of  the  Cerinthians  and  Ebionites.^^  Arte- 
 monius followed  in  the  siime  track  of  heretical  teach- 
 ing; ^^  whilst  Paulus  Samosatenus,  Bishop  of  An- 
 tioch  A.  D.  270  admitted  that  the  Word  and  the 
 Spirit  have  always  existed  in  God,  but  denied  their 
 
 ^•^  Who  the  noXXol  nXdrot  and  the  /n/)  OfioXoyoviTtg  It;(Jovv 
 X(Ji(Troi'  are,  has  been  already  specified. 
 
 ^'^  The  difstxiTj  tov  XoKTTOv  is  clearly  that  doctrine,  which 
 teaches,  tliat  Jesus  is  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  2  John  9.  10.  which 
 the  heresies  in  (juestion  rejected. 
 
 ^^  Eiplian.  haeres.  54.  pag.  462.  Theodoretus  lib.  II.  haeretic. 
 fabul.  cap.  5.  pag.  220 
 
 ^^    Eusebius  lib.  V.    hist.  Eccles.  cap.  28.    It  has  been  suspected 
 
CHAi'.  M  m:RESIES  OF  THE  SECOND  CENTURY.  9 
 
 personality  and  self-existence.  ^°  Had  we  no  other 
 testimony  concerning  this  heresy  we  should  have  con- 
 sidered it  purely  a  revival  of  theSabellian  error;  this 
 error  would  of  itself  imply  a  denial  of  the  personal 
 Divinity  of  Christ:  there  is  however  additional  evi- 
 dence that  the  Samosatenians  dated  the  beginning 
 of  Christ  from  His  birth  of  Mary,  esteeming  Ilim  a 
 mere  man.  ^  ^  We  must  therefore  take  it  for  granted 
 that  the  Word  as  conceived  by  Saniosatenus,  was 
 something  altogether  different  from  Jesus  Christ,  or 
 that  his  followers  carried  the  denial  of  Christ's  Divi- 
 nity to  a  still  greater  extent,  and  thus,  as  is  usually 
 the  case,  out-stripped  their  leader.  The  Bishop  was 
 deprived  of  his  office  and  his  doctrine  branded  as 
 heresy,  but  far  from  being  eradicated,  it  was  only  cut 
 doM^n  for  a  time  to  sprout  up  again  with  fresh  vigour 
 at  a  future  season. 
 
 4.  Exactly  fifty  years  afterwards,  the  Arian 
 heresy  arose,  as  another  precursor  of  Islamism;  it 
 admitted  our  Lord  to  be  a  personal  and  self-existing 
 being,  but  denied  that  He  was  "God  of  the  substance 
 
 that  he  expunged  the  passage  1  John  V.  7.  from  some  of  the  an- 
 cient Manuscripts.  Theodotus  and  Artemonius  were  both  cut  off 
 from  the  Church,  the  former  A.  D.  146.    the  latter  A.  I).  191. 
 
 ■^°  ^uaKSi  de  ovrng  •Ofoi'  rrurfQu  x«t  vioi'  y.rd  ayiov  nvi-v^a 
 tru  {^tov'  ii>  xficS  dl.  dii  ona  rof  dviov  Xoyov  xal  ro  TTievfia  nv- 
 70V,  axyneQ  iv  <xv-b(JC07iov  y.aQduc  o  mV/os  Xoyos  /"/  f'''«'  f''^-  tov  viof 
 rov  ■deov  irvnoaratov.    Epiphan.  lib.  II.  torn.  II.   haer.  G5. 
 
 ^'  "Paulini  a  Paulo  Samosateno  Christum  non  semper  fuisse 
 dicunt,  sed  ejus  initium,  ex  quo  de  Maria  natus  est,  asseverant,  nee 
 eum  aliquid  amplius,  quam  hominem  putant.  Ista  haeresis  aliquando 
 cujusdam  Artimonii  fuit,  sed  cum  dcfecisset,  instaurata  est  a  Paulo, 
 et  postca  sic  a  Photino  confirmata,  ut  Photiani  quam  Pauliani  celc- 
 brius  nuncupentur."      August,  de  hacres. 
 
10  THE  FORE-KUNNEllS  OF  .MOHAMMED.  [imuti. 
 
 of  the  Father,  not  made,  nor  created  but  begotten."^' 
 Christ  accordino-  to  Arian  teaehino-  was  a  mere  crea- 
 ture,  but  one  endowed  with  gifts  and  virtues  of  a 
 superior  character; ^^  Jesus  was  the  8on  of  God  not 
 by  nature,  but  by  adoption,  and  on  account  of  His  ex- 
 cellencies deserved  to  be  called  the  Son  of  God  in 
 Holy  Scriptures:  our  Lord  was  therefore  considered 
 not  consubstantial  with  the  Father,  but  of  a  diverse 
 nature  and  essence,^*  neither  co-eternal,  there  being 
 a  time,  when  He  did  not  exist.  It  assumes  also  that 
 the  power  He  possesses  was  received  from  God;'^^' 
 that  the  Son  knows  the  Father  or  His  secrets  only 
 so  far  as  was  revealed  to  Him;  that  He  is  not  to  be 
 worshipped  in  the  flesh;  that  He  was  inclined  to  good 
 and  evil , '  **  and  that  His  kingdom  will  perish  at  the 
 end  of  the  world. 
 
 This  pernicious  heresy  was  condemned  at  the 
 Council  of  Nice  A.  D.  325  where  318  Bishops  as- 
 sembled to  establish  the  faith  in  "one  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ,  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  begotten  of 
 His  Father  before  all  worlds,  God  of  God,  Light  of 
 Light,  very  God  of  very  God,  begotten  not  made, 
 being  of  one  substance  with  the  Father,  by  whom  all 
 things  were  made."^^    The  sudden  check,  which  this 
 
 '^    Arius  a  presbyter  of  tlie  Alexandrian  Church  A.  D.  320. 
 
 ^■^    He  was  created  in  jutj  onoav.    SomeArians  however  believed 
 that  he  was  made  from  some  pre-existing  matter.  August,  lib.  Ill 
 contra  Max.  cap.  14. 
 
 ^*   Not  bf-ioovaioi  Tw  ■&ho  but  Ftegovaiog. 
 
 ^''    Athanas.  Orat.  contra  Arianos.      ^^  Theodoretus  lib.  I.  cap.  9. 
 
 •"    Kal  elg  tva  xv(JtO)>  ^Iijaovv  xQKftov'  rov  vtov  rov  -dfov  yf;i"vri- 
 Ohth  hY.  70V  7TaT{Jog  (.loroyovfj  rovitarir  fx  r'fjq  ovmag  rov  najQog, 
 
ciiAi'.  1.1  THE  AKIAN  HERESY.  11 
 
 heresy  received  in  the  terrible  death  of  its  founder, 
 in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  pious  Bishop  Alexan- 
 der, need  only  be  referred  to,  to  stimulate  Christian 
 Bishops  and  Pastors  in  these  days  to  do  the  like  as 
 regards  kindred  errors.  ^^  Neither  the  mii-aculons 
 death  however  of  its  founder,  nor  the  condemnation 
 of  the  heresy  conld  extinguish  the  flame  which  had 
 been  kindled;  nnder  the  Emperor  Valens  it  spread 
 over  Greece,  part  of  Asia,  over  Italy  as  far  as  Milan, 
 and  among  the  newly  converted  Goths.  ^^ 
 
 Beryllus,  Bishop  ofBostra  in  Arabia,  had  already 
 prepared  the  way  for  Arianism  in  the  Peninsula, 
 denying,  as  he  did,  the  pre-existence  of  Christ  and 
 with  it  the  Godhead  of  the  Redeemer;  *°  hence  it  was 
 comparatively  easy  for  Constantins  to  propagate  the 
 Arian  creed  among  the  Arabs.     He  sent  Theophilus 
 
 ■deov  ex  'deov,  qpoJg  ix  (fcorbg,  •deov  ah]-&ivov  in  -deov  ahj&itov  yev- 
 ■VTj&tvra  6v  TToUi&trra  ,  of-ioovaiov  tm  Trar^l.  Theodoret.  I.  11. 
 Nicaenum  fidei  syniboluni. 
 
 ^®  ^Avroq  yag  6  y.vfjiog  dixdaag  raTg  dneiXatqnSv  ntQVEvGf^iov 
 xal  rrjf  ivxfiAXi^(ad(jov  y.atmQivs  rrjv  ^Ageidniv  ui(jeoii>.  Athanasii 
 Op.  torn.  I.  pag.  341.  Again:  ov  yc.Q  ilXXog  aXk'  (Ivrog  6  (Himcfrj- 
 /uovfitro'g  -nufj'  (Ivrcov  xvQiog  yxirf^y.Qire  ttjv  vxn  dvrov  avcFTdaav 
 diQtmv.    pag.  342. 
 
 ^^  So  mightily  grew  the  evil:  "ut  totus  ingemisceret  orbis,  se- 
 gue tain  cito  factum  esse  Arianum  miraretur."  Hieronym.  adversus 
 Lucifer  torn.  III.  fol.  65. 
 
 *°  Bi](jvX?^og  70V  (Tmr}j(j<x  Xeyeiv  toXuoSv  jiit]  nQOvcprnTaira  xin' 
 iSi'ay  ovmag  7TeQ(y(j((C(t)i>  ttqo  n~g  tig  a.v-&{)(y>novg  tTridtjiiiucg  pi^dh 
 iia]r  ■&fory]ra  tdiav  extm ,  «AA'  fiLi7ToXiTevoi.i6tr]i>  dvroj  fi6i>7]v  zijv 
 TTccToty.fii'.  Euscb.  Yl.  33.  cfr.  Orig.  comm.  ad  Tituni:  hominciii 
 dicunt  Dominum  Jesum  praccognitum  et  pracdestinatum ,  qui  ante 
 adventum  carnalem  substantialiter  et  propria  non  exstitcrit,  sed 
 homo  natus  patris  solam  in  se  habuerit  deitatem."  Ullmann  do  Be- 
 rvUo  Hamb.  1835. 
 
3  2  THE  rORE-RUNNERS  OF  MOHAMMED.  [i-akti. 
 
 to  the  king  of  the  Ilimyarites  with  considerable  pre- 
 sents to  ask  permission  to  build  churches;  one  was 
 accordingly  built  in  his  capital,  Tapharon,  a  second 
 at  Adena,  the  now  British  Aden  in  Sontli  Arabia, 
 and  a  third  in  the  Persian  Gulf.** 
 
 5.  It  is  the  object  of  these  introductory  re- 
 marks to  show  that  not  only  in  truth ,  but  also  in 
 error,  remarkable  epochs  are  gradually  introduced 
 and  systematically  fore-stalled.  Mohammed's  new 
 creed,  as  far  as  we  may  designate  it  new,  did  not 
 appear,  until  the  w^orld  was  in  a  measure  prepared 
 for  it  by  heresies  of  a  cognate  and  analogous  charac- 
 ter, such  as  those  we  are  reviewing.  We  now  arrive 
 at  a  period  extending  from  the  Nicene  Council  to  the 
 rise  of  Islamism.  Soon  after  its  condemnation  the 
 Arian  heresy  split  up  into  two  distinct  sections,  which 
 nevertheless  agreed  in  denying  the  divine  character  of 
 our  blessed  Redeemer. 
 
 The  first  sect  was' that  of  the  strict  Arians,*^ 
 who  not  only  denied  the  Son  of  God  to  be  of  the 
 same  substance  with  the  Father,  but  declared  Him 
 to  be  altogether  unlike  the  Father :  ^"^  the  Semi- Avians, 
 
 *^  This  happened  350.  Theophilus  was  a  native  of  India  from 
 the  Island  Divus  (Diu)  who  had  been  sent  as  hostage  to  Constan- 
 tine  the  Great.  He  became  an  Arian  Monk,  and  Eusebius  of  Nico- 
 media  ordained  him  a  deacon.  I'hiio.storgius  Hist.  Eccles.  epit. 
 lib.  II.  6.  lib.  III.  4 
 
 *^  They  were  called  «7  0,uo*0{,  because  they  considered  Christ 
 Hvopiooq  or  tteQovaiog.  The  chief  leaders  were  Aetiuti ,  a  deacon 
 of  Ali'.xaiidria ;  EunominK,  described  by  Ruffinus  as  a  man  "corpore 
 et  animo  leprosus,"  and  Acacius.      August,  torn.  \\.  haeres.  54. 
 
 *'^  Aetius  was  styled:  \fQeiaiog  tia^vtarog  and  taught  ror 
 vinr  ((lonoior  too  ndtQi  vnafJiKjhir  mxi  6v  ravtov  thai  i^  ■&totij'n 
 
tiiAr.  i.j 
 
 SEMI-AllIANS.  1  -i 
 
 whilst  rejecting  the  orthodox  dogma,  that  Christ  is 
 of  the  sul)staiice  of  the  Father ,  held  that  He  was  of 
 a  similar  nature.**  It  was  this  latter  section  which 
 was  by  far  the  most  powerful  and  mimerous  of  the 
 two;  sufficiently  so,  to  continue  to  distract  the  Church 
 in  the  following  ages,  till  Islamism  had  growai  potent 
 enough,  to  arrest  and  supplant  the  heresy  alto- 
 gether. 
 
 6.  That  the  creed  of  Mohammed  absorbed  the 
 various  heresies  wdiich  denied  the  Divinity  of  Christ 
 is  evident,  from  the  fact  that  they  vanish  from  the 
 Church  on  the  rise  of  Islamism;  and  it  is  not  less 
 remarkable,  that  they  remained  dormant  till  the  13"' 
 century,  wdien  Islamism  sustained  a  fatal  blow  by 
 the  dissolution  of  the  Kaliphate  in  the  year  A.  D. 
 1258.*''  Abdallah  had  been  ^^roclaimed Kaliph,  with 
 these  w^ords:  "The  Kaliphate  is  reserved  to  our  family 
 by  virtue  of  the  divine  decree,  and  shall  remain  in  it 
 for  ever  till  the  end  of  time,"***  and  we  argue  from 
 this  alleged  prediction,  that  the  dissolution  of  the 
 Kaliphate  must  be  considered  a  remarkable  epoch  in 
 the  history  of  Islamism ;   and  it  will  confirm  our  opi- 
 
 TT^og  TOT  TTaTf'iin.  Epiplian.  toni.  I.  lib.  III.  pag.  388.  Photinus, 
 the  Bishop  of  Siriuium  being  deposed  A.  D.  351.  is  said  by  some  to 
 have  followed  Samosatenus,  but  according  to  Augustine,  he  hear- 
 tily joined  the  strict  Arians. 
 
 **  According  to  them  Christ  was  not  Of-ioovdiog  but  oiiotoiuTio;; 
 Tu)  TiuTfji;  hence  their  name:  iji.vuiJt.toi  or  ofWiovduaiTui.  They 
 were  also  styled  Eusebians  from  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia. 
 
 ^"  Abbot  Joachim  was  the  first  after  Mohammed  who  denied 
 the  divinity  of  Christ  ;  his  heresy  was  condemned  by  the  I^ataran 
 Council  A.  D.  1215. 
 
 *^    In  d'Ohsson  tab.  de  TEmpire  Otliom.  fol.  1.    pag.  138. 
 
1  4  THE  FORE-RUNNERS  OF  MOHAAOIED.  [i'art  i. 
 
 nion  of  an  internal  connection  subsisting  between  the 
 heresies  of  the  Church  and  the  character  of  Islamism ; 
 for  it  was  at  the  breaking  up  of  the  Kahphate  as  a 
 pohtico-reHgious  power,  that  we  recognise  the  first 
 revival  of  the  Arian  heresy  in  the  Church;  Islamism 
 was  not  indeed  destroyed  at  that  period,  although  in 
 losing  its  Kaliph,  it  lost  its  head.^' 
 
 After  the  days  of  St.  John  many  Antichrists  went 
 out  into  the  world,  who  for  the  space  of  seven  centuries 
 denied  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God.  As 
 they  served  merely  as  fore-runners  to  a  still  more 
 fatal  error,  they  naturally  retired  when  Mohammed 
 and  his  successors  arose,  and  presided  over  that 
 system  of  error  which  destroys  the  very  foundation 
 of  our  holy  faith  and  brands  the  confession  of  Christ 
 being  the  Son  of  God  as  idolatry  and  blasphemy. 
 
 Islamism  is  organically  connected  with  the  worst 
 kinds  of  Chrntian  heresy,  but  to  assume  it  to  be  a 
 Christian  heresv,  as  some  writers  have  done,  is  to 
 take  for  granted  that  it  sprang  up  within  the  Church, 
 and  that  Mohammed  himself  was  an  apostate  from 
 the  Christian  faith.  The  fact  that  Islamism  served 
 as  an  outlet  or  receptacle  for  those  heterodox  and 
 antichristian  elements,  which  occasionally  arose  within 
 the  Church,   does  not  by  any  means  establish  the 
 
 *"  Joacliim  of  Calabria,  in  wliom  to  nvfviLta  rov  ainxf^iarov 
 re-appeared  was  succeeded  by  his  countrymen  Laelius  and  Faustus 
 Socinus  A.  1).  154G.  from  whom  sprung  the  Socinian  and  Tnitarian 
 heresy.  The  following'  may  serve  as  a  correct  estimate  of  their 
 character:  "Ab  Ebione  enini  initium,  ab  Ario  increnientum,  a  Plio- 
 tino  ilxfii]!'  erroris  hauserunt.  Ariani  recte  diciintur.  quia  conveniiint 
 in  sumnio  controversiae  j)uncto,  quod  est,  divinitas  Christi  neg-.atio." 
 Quonstedt  Theol.  did.-pol.     Pars  I.   cap.  IX.  pag.  367. 
 
CHAP.  I]  THEIR  RELATION  TO  ISLAMISM.  1 5 
 
 creed  of  INIoliainmed  to  be  a  Cliristian  sect;*^  heresy 
 according  to  its  etymological  signification  implying 
 a  separation  or  dcpartnre  from  orthodox  faith  and 
 practice.  *  ■' 
 
 The  Moslem  admits  the  law  and  the  Gospel  to 
 be  of  divine  origin ,  he  knows  however  nothing  of 
 either,  except  throngh  the  distorted  medium  of  the 
 Koran;  and  it  is  just  because  Islamism  acknowledges 
 so  many  truths  and  borrows  so  many  weapons  of  the 
 Cliristian  armory  that  it  becomes  so  dangerous  an 
 adversarv. '"  We  have  to  do,  not  Avith  a  heresy  within 
 the  Church,  which  might  be  condemned  at  a  general 
 council,  but  with  a  fearful  conspiracy  against  the 
 very  existence  of  the  Church  itself.  The  Christian 
 dispensation  is  declared  to  have  been  superseded  and 
 abrogated,  as  if  decayed  and  waxen  old;  the  very 
 identity  of  the  facts  and  truths  recorded  in  the  Koran 
 is  destroyed  by  its  misrepresentations  and  perversions ; 
 and  in  asserting  that  the  Bible  has  been  corrupted, 
 Mohammed  takes  from  us  the  most  effectual  means 
 of  proving  his  imposture.  With  a  view  of  giving,  as 
 far  as  lies  in  our  power,  a  Natural  History  of  the 
 creed,  which  we  have  thus  introduced  to  the  reader, 
 we  shall  next  inquire  for  the  land  of  its  birth ,  and 
 the  people  among  whom  it  first  made  its  appearance. 
 
 *'^  8h  yaiJ  y.al  (uotdfig  fv  vf^uv  1  Cor.  XI.  19.  Again:  nul  tv 
 vfiXv  eaoirac  xpav8odi8(X(7KaXoi.  2  Pet.  II.  1.  both  refer  to  heresies 
 within  the  Church. 
 
 *^  "Haercsis  disoessus  est  unius  partis  ab  unltate  ecclesiae,  vol 
 in  fide,  vel  in  cultu."     Bengelii  Gnomon  ad  1  Cor.  XI.  19. 
 
 **   The  Indian  mutineers  were  formidable,  because  they  fought 
 with  our  own  arms  and  ammunition  against  us. 
 
10  THE  LAND  OF  ITS   BIRTH.  \\'.\in  i. 
 
 ClIArTKR  TI. 
 
 THE  LAND  OF  ITS  lURTII. 
 
 "For  there  shall  arise  false  Clirists  and  false  prophets;  wherefore 
 if  tlicy  shall  sav  unto  you,  Behold  he  is  in  the  desert,  go  not  forth. 
 
 Matt.  XXIV.  24.  26. 
 
 1.  A  close  affinity  may  be  recoonised  between 
 the  natural  religions  of  the  Pagan  world  and  the  re- 
 spective countries ,  in  which  they  obtain.  Whilst 
 true  Religion  is  of  a  purely  S2)iritual  character  and 
 admits  none  of  the  natiu-al  and  accidental  elements 
 of  the  country  in  which  it  was  revealed,  or  in  which 
 it  is  planted,  '^  ^  false  creeds  ever  yield  to  the  physical 
 influences,  to  which  they  are  exposed.  We  could  not 
 conceive  for  instance  that  the  Hindoo  Mythology  in 
 all  its  exuberance  could  have  sprung  up  in  a  poverty- 
 striken  country  like  Arabia."  There  are  several 
 names  descriptive  of  the  position  and  character  of 
 the  land  in  which  Islamism  was  reared.  In  the  East 
 it  is  called  Bar-cl- Yemen,  or  the  'dand  to  the  right" 
 in  contradistinction  to  Bar-eshrSham,  the  "land  to 
 the  left",  bv  which  Syria  is  known.  In  Chaldea  it 
 was  called  the  "land  of  the  evening",  and  in  Europe 
 and  Africa  it  was  known  as  the  "land  of  the  East".'' '* 
 
 ■''  "In  growing  amoiig.st  men,  religion  received  none  of  the 
 frail  elements  of  humanity  or  nature  into  its  sy.stem.  It  enters  into 
 the  world  without  becoming  of  the  world.""  True  and  false  Reli- 
 gion pag.  7 
 
 ^^  V)^'  '"'  *^  r*-^  Arabia;  compare,  h  rjj  f\>i'jf((i>  Maft. 
 XXIV.  20. 
 
 ^^  3nj^  yn^?  =  land  of  the  evening;  Q-J^__  }*'^X  or  ihaToXij  : 
 land  of  the  East. 
 
CHAP.  II.]  NAME  AND  CHARACTKR  OF  THE  COUNTRY.     17 
 
 In  the  Bible,  where  it  occurs  four  times  it  is  invariably 
 called  Arabia/*  and  the  signification  which  it  could 
 alone  have  to  the  Hebrew  in  Palestine,  is  that  of  de- 
 sert or  ivilderness  and  this  is  by  far  the  most  ap- 
 propriate apjiellation ,  the  characteristic  feature  of 
 Arabia  being  that  of  an  interminable  desert.".  If 
 there  be  a  fountain,  a  rivulet,  a  green  spot,  a  plea- 
 sant garden  or  a  fruitful  vale  here  and  there,  it  only 
 the  more  painfully  convinces  the  traveller,  who  sets 
 his  foot  on  its  sandy  wastes,  that  Arabia  is  indeed 
 "a  desert  land",  and  that  no  other  name  could  ex- 
 press its  physical  aspect  more  correctly.  As  the 
 country,  so  the  religion;  for  although  Mohammeda- 
 nism embodies  some  elements  of  a  spiritual  character 
 yet  beyond  what  it  borrows  from  Judaism  and 
 Christianity,  it  only  faithfully  reflects  the  nature  of 
 the  country,  in  wdiich  it  originated,  being  poor,  bar- 
 ren, and  highly  expressive  of  the  rigid  severity  of 
 the  land  of  its  birth. 
 
 We  have  only  to  travel  through  the  length  and 
 breadth  of  Arabia,  and  peruse  the  Koran  on  our  jour- 
 ney, to  be  convinced  of  this  remarkable  analogy  be- 
 tween the  physical  aspect  of  the  country,  and  the 
 book  in  question.''^     In  the  Koran  we  travel  from 
 
 ^*    1  Kings  X.  15.    2Chron.IX.14.    Isa.XXI.  13.    Jer.  XXV.  4. 
 
 in  the  last  passage  we  read  of  ni^y  ^"ohlz,  Kings  of  Arabia;  and  the 
 Arab  is  called  ^'2yj,. 
 
 ^  "^"^i!  =  desert:  the  Arabs  themselves  speak  of  tlieir  native 
 land  as  Bar  el  Arab,  the  land  of  the  Arabs;  the  same  term  is  used 
 by  their  neighbours. 
 
 *®    A  learned  Prelate   once  observed  in  a  letter  to  the  author: 
 "1  often  felt  during  my  studies  of  the  Koran ,  as  one ,  who  has  to 
 
 B 
 
1  8  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [part  i. 
 
 Sura  to  Sura,  and  all  appears  like  a  dreadful  and 
 howling-  desert,  with  sandy  steppes  and  dark  rocky 
 hills  without  a  single  vestige  of"  vegetation;  we  find 
 indeed  a  few^  sparks  of  heavenly  truth  on  its  dismal 
 pages,  wdiich  have  been  borrowed  from  the  Bible, 
 and  which  are  fairly  represented  by  the  solitary  foun- 
 tain, the  occasional  oasis,  and  the  few  green  valleys, 
 in  which  the  weary  and  w^ay-worn  reader  may  repose 
 for  a  moment. 
 
 2.  The  next  point  to  be  considered  regards  the 
 inhabitants  of  Arabia,  who  were  the  first  to  embrace 
 Islamism.  They  are  either  pure  Arabs,  said  to  have 
 descended  from  Joktan^^  the  great  grandson  of  Ar- 
 pliaxad,  the  son  of  Shem;  or  Ishmaelite  Arabs  who 
 were  grafted  upon  the  primitive  stock.  Otherwise 
 they  are  classified  into  Hadesi,  or  Arabs  w^ho  live 
 in  fixed  habitations;  and  i5ec?i/ms,''^  who  now,  as  in 
 olden  times,  are  rovino-  about  wdth  their  flocks  and 
 tents  in  the  vast  desert  between  the  Euphrates  and 
 Egypt.  The  Hadesi  who  settled  chiefly  in  Yemen, 
 claimed  their  orioin  from  Noah  throuoh  Joktan.  It 
 is  amongst  them  we  find  the  ancient  kingdom  of  the 
 Sabians;''^  and  according  to  the  Koran  the  Queen 
 
 ■wade  through  the  endless  sands  of  the  desert,  and  frequently  I  tur- 
 ned aside  to  refresh  myself  at  the  fountain  of  Israel." 
 
 ^^  Respecting  these  genuine  Arabs  or  aborigines,  ibs  ulII  o«juI 
 
 the  Arabs  of  the  Arabs ,  compare  Joktan  lUSp^ ;  amongst  his  sons 
 we  find  N^O  so  well  known  in  Arabia.    Gen.  X.  26.  27. 
 
 T 
 
 '■''^    Beduin,    (C.ljo    from  Badia,    desert,    which  they  inhabit. 
 In  Syriac:  Ber  JJroie:  hence  Berber,  Barbarv. 
 
 ■''''    In  the  days  of  Lokman  "the  kingdom  shone  like  a  diamond 
 on  the  forehead  of  the  universe."     The  prophecy  then:  N5'^  "'S^^ 
 
CHAP.  II.]  THE  ARABS.  19 
 
 of  Sheba  came  from  tlience  to  liear  the  wisdom  of 
 Solomon.  The  time  however  arrived  when  the  kings 
 of  Yemen  were  akernately  dependent  on  Ethiopian 
 and  Persian  monarchs ;  and  manv  of  the  tribes  emi- 
 grated  and  spread  over  the  Peninsula.  Amongst 
 them  there  was  one  family,  that  of  Rebia,  which 
 pushed  towards  the  north  and  conquered  Mecca,  the 
 sanctuarv  of  the  Pa^an  Arabs;  but  owino-  to  their 
 corrupting  influence  it  became  the  seat  of  a  still 
 grosser  idolatry.  In  the  year  A.  D.  464  they  were 
 expelled  by  the  Koreishites ,  who  took  possession-  of 
 the  old  heathen  temple  at  Mecca. 
 
 When  Nauwash  a  Jew,  the  last  king  of  Yemen 
 persecuted  the  Christians  in  the  sixth  century,  Nagush 
 came  from  Abyssinia  to  espouse  their  cause.  The 
 Abyssinian  host  obtained  a  glorious  victory  and  Nau- 
 wash threw  himself  into  the  sea  in  despair.  Encou- 
 raged by  their  success  the  victorious  army  besieged 
 Mecca  with  a  large  force  including  thirteen  Ele- 
 phants; but  Abd  elMotalleb,  alvoreishitehero,  saved 
 the  town  and  the  sanctuarv  A.  D.  570.  The  Arabs 
 subsequently  counted  their  time  from  this  "year  of 
 the  Elephants",  as  it  was  called,  till  it  was  superseded 
 by  a  new  era  in  the  days  of  Mohammed.^®  Strange 
 to  say  it  was  his  grandfather,  who  saved  Mecca  from 
 the  Abvssinians. 
 
 ^^■''^p:  ^?^^.  *<?y^  "t^Je  kings  of  Sheba  and  Seba  shall  offer  gifts 
 acquires  force.    Psalm  LXXII.  10. 
 
 *°  J^V^'f  *L£ ,  era  of  the  elephants.  The  legend  of  the  battle 
 and  its  marvels:  Wahl  pag.  716.  note  to  Sur.  CV.  -which  is  called 
 "the  Elephant". 
 
 B»         • 
 
20  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [part  i. 
 
 3.  We  have  above  mentioned  that  the  Joktan 
 Arabs  were  chiefly  to  be  looked  for  in  Yemen,  whilst 
 the  Ishmaelite  Arabs  or  theBednins  occupied  "Arabia 
 deserta"  in  contradistinction  to  "Arabia  lelix"  or  Yemen. 
 Upon  what  authority  however,  may  we  ask,  do  we  be- 
 lieve that  the  Arabs  in  question  descended  from  Ish- 
 mael?  Josephus  in  speaking  of  circumcision  as  being 
 administered  among  his  own  nation,  on  the  eighth 
 day,  thus  continues:  "But  the  Arabians  administer 
 circumcision  after  the  thirteenth  year,  forlshmael  the 
 founder  of  their  nation,  the  son  of  Abraham  by  his 
 concubine  was  circumcised  at  that  time  of  life."^* 
 According  to  Origen ,  "the  Ishmaelites ,  who  in- 
 habit Arabia,  practise  circumcision  in  the  thirteenth 
 year;  for  this  history  tells  us  concerning  them."^^ 
 Still  more  ancient,  and  more  important  testimony  is 
 found  in  the  Old  Testament;  there  we  have  the  names 
 of  the  12  sons  of  Ishmael,  ^^  and  their  dwelling-place 
 in  after  ages;  namely,  "froniHavilah  unto  Sliur,  that 
 is  before  Egypt  as  thou  goest  toward  Assyria."  This 
 is  confirmed  by  subsequent  sacred  writers.  The  Pro- 
 phet Isaiah  mentions  Nebaioth  and  Kedar^*  in  con- 
 nection with   Sheba.      Again  Duma  and  Tema  are 
 
 ®^  ^^Qa^eg  6e  fitru  trog  TQig  xal  SanaTOf.  ^lafKKtjXog  yao  6 
 xn'(TTTj5  dvtcoi>  rov  td-povg,  'Afiouinco  yfyojuf-jos  ix  r}~g  7T(xXX(XKf;g  iv 
 TOVTip  TT^Qiriinvi-roci  tcS  ^(jovoj,  Flav.  Joseph.  Antiqu.  Jud.  lib.  I. 
 cap.  X.  pag.  26. 
 
 ^'  TovTO  yiiQ  laTOQtiTai  neQi  avrdoi.  Origen  torn.  II.  pag.  16. 
 Edit.  Bened. 
 
 ^^  Nfbaiotli;  Kedar;  Adboel;  Mlbsani;  Mishnia;  Duma;  Massa; 
 Hadar;  Tenia;  Jetur:  Naphish  ;  and  Kedcmah.     Gen. XXV.  13 — 15. 
 
 '^*  Lsa.LX.  6.  7.  "They  from  Sheba":  "flocks  of  Kedar";  "rams 
 of  Nebaioth". 
 
CHAP.  11]         ISHMAELITE  DESCENT  OF  THE  ARABS.  21 
 
 mentioned  in  connection  with  Kedar,  and  this  in  a 
 prophecy,  conveying  the  burden  uj3on  Arabia.  ^^  Je- 
 tur  and  Naphish  were  overcome  by  the  Reubenites 
 in  the  days  of  Saul ;  and  their  abode  was  the  desert 
 towards  the  East  of  Gilead.*^® 
 
 Ishmael's  posterity  on  multiplying,  soon  became 
 mixed  with  other  nations;  the  six  sons  of  iVbraham 
 byKeturah,^^  who  had  been  sent  "'eastward  unto  the 
 east  country",  had  in  the  days  of  the  Judges ,  so  far 
 blended  with  the  Ishmaelites,  as  to  render  the  terms 
 Ishmaelite  and  Midianite  interchangeable.  ^**  That 
 the  Edomites  or  Idumaeans  mingled  at  an  early  pe- 
 riod with  the  Ishmaelites  is  proved  by  Strabo,  when 
 he  says  that  the  Nabataeans  or  the  descendants  of 
 Nebaioth  w^ere  one  and  the  same  people/^ 
 
 Thus  we  see  that  the  promise  was  speedily  ful- 
 filled: "I  will  make  him  a  great  nation",-  "behold  I 
 have  blessed  him";  'T  will  multiply  thy  seed  ex- 
 ceedingly,  that  it  shall  not  be  numbered  for  multi- 
 tude".'°  In  answer  to  the  prayer  of  Abraham  God 
 promised  that  Ishmael  should  become  the  father  of 
 twelve  princes  analogous  to  the  twelve  Patriarchs  that 
 sprung  from  Isaac.  A  celebrated  geographer  whose 
 judgment  cannot  be  suspected  of  partiality,  describes 
 Arabia  as  "a  living  fountain  of  men,  the  stream  of 
 which  had  poured  out  far  and  wide  to  the  East  and 
 
 *■'   Isa.  XXI.  11— 17.  «6   1  (;;j,j.j,jj  V    iQ    i9_21. 
 
 "    Gen.  XXV.  6.  ^r    judges  VIU.  1.  24. 
 
 ^^   Nafiaraioi  d'  hah  6i  'ISovftaot.    Strabo  lib.  XYI.  pag.1081. 
 
 ^^    Gen.  XXI.  18.  XVU.  20.  and  XVI.  10.    The  last  words  were 
 spoken  to  Hagar. 
 
22  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [part  i. 
 
 to  the  West  for  thousands  of  years.  Before  INIoham- 
 med's  time,  the  Arab  tribes  had  spread  throughout 
 Asia  Minor.  In  the  middle  a^es  they  are  found  in 
 India.  In  the  whole  of  North  Africa  as  far  as  INIor- 
 rocco  spread  their  Avandering  hordes ;  and  their  ships 
 Avent  through  the  Indian  ocean  as  far  as  China;  on 
 the  Molucca  islands  and  on  the  coast  ofMosambique 
 they  had  their  settlements.  In  Europe  they  popu- 
 lated the  south  of  Spain,  where  they  ruled  for  seven 
 hundred  years,  and  remaining  unsubdued  themselves, 
 the  Arabs  ascended  more  than  one  hundred  thrones 
 beyond  their  native  soil." '  ^  V\  q  have  seen  that 
 the  descendants  of  Joktan  and  the  })osterity  of  the 
 six  sons  of  Abraham  blended  with  the  Ishmaelites, 
 and  that  all  these  elements  united  in  the  population 
 of  Arabia,  yet  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  Ishmaelites 
 gained  the  ascendency  and  impressed  their  character 
 upon  the  rest.  The  above  testimony  may  therefore 
 be  legitimately  adduced  to  jirove  that  God  made  good 
 his  words  to  Hagar:  '"1  will  multiply  thy  seed  ex- 
 ceedingly ,  that  it  shall  not  be  numbered  for  multi- 
 tude." 
 
 Again  the  character  of  Ishmael  and  his  Arab- 
 
 "  „9(ralnni  ift  dm  [chcn't'ic\(  2)}cn[d)enqucne ,  bcrcn  Strom  feit  Saljr; 
 taiifcnbcn  ftcf)  wdt  iinb  brett  iii'^  SKcrc^cii;  imb  9(f>cuHanl>  criioffen  luit.  93i.n- 
 5D?iil>nmmcb  ^cfoiibcn  foinc  (Etamiiif  ficfi  frfunt  in  i\<in\  Q^ovbcvaficn ,  in  Cfl-- 
 incicn  [duMi  im  lliJiticlalti'v,  ini  svinj^on  novHid'cn  9lfiifa  I'ic  ^.Piavoffo  ift  c^ 
 tie  S5>iciie  oUcr  Sl^ant'cvdorbeu.  STnrdi  ten  <.}^-\\\\\n  inbifrf'cn  S^cean  bi^  ^u 
 ten  Sliolnrtcn  din  Imitcn  ftc  friu>n  im  illtittcKiltcv  9(nficbcluniicn ;  ch-nfo  cm 
 tcv  .ftiiftc  aiiofiimbif,  U'ic  ihxc  edMJtf'il'vt  iitu-r  i">intcvinbicn  (lii?  O'liina  iiic'i?- 
 in  (iurcpa  l'cv>olfcrtcn  fie  (Bttbftmnien  nnt  bedenfcfiten  c^  700  Sofjre  lanc\ ; 
 unfc  ivdbrcnt  fie  felt'ft  unbe^Unnujen  Mieben,  (nibcn  Jlrabcv  an^erljalb  iiirc^ 
 <gtammKinte(?  metir  al^  100  ITirone  beftioijen."     9titter. 
 
CHAP.  II.]        CHARACTER  OF  THE  ARABS  PREDICTED.  23 
 
 posterity  was  defined  with  wonderful  precision  by  the 
 Spirit  of  Prophecy:  "He  will  be  a  Mild  man  or  a  wild 
 ass  of  a  man,"  his  hand  will  be  against  every  man, 
 and   every   man's   hand  against  him;    and  he  shall 
 dwell  in  the  presence  of  his  brethren."     The  ''wild 
 ass",  to  whom  Ishmael  is  here  compared  is  described 
 in  the  book  of  Job  '  ^  as  .  a  wild ,    independent   and 
 haughty  animal,    living   in   the   wilderness.     He  is 
 known  in  natural  history  as  the  Dsigetai;^*  a  fine, 
 strong  and  noble  creature;  of  the  size  and  bearing 
 of  a  lightly-built   horse,    light-footed   and   slender, 
 with  a  neck  resembhng  that  of  a  stag,  wdiich  he  al- 
 ways carries  upright;  the  forehead  is  high,  the  ears  long 
 and  erect.    His  colour  is  cherry  brown,  cream  or  grey, 
 with  a  dark  woolly  mane,   and  a  coffee  brown  bushy 
 stripe  of  hah  down  the  back;  his  limbs  are  nimble 
 and  his  motions  swift;  he  runs  like  lightnino-  snuffino- 
 up  the  air,^'  and  thus  easily  escapes  the  hunter. 
 His  wild  and  proud  appearance  indicates  unsubdued 
 power  and  perfect  independence;  and  indeed  no  one 
 has  hitherto  succeeded  in  taming  him.     Even  when 
 caught  young  they  prefer  to  die  in  their  fetters,  than 
 to  submit  to  the  will  of  man.      ^'For  vain  man  would 
 
 "  Q'^N  N'lE  r.fn:  Nrnn  and  he  will  be  a  wild  ass-man.  Gen. 
 XVI.  12. 
 
 "  "Who  has  sent  out  the  wild  ass  free?  Or  who  has  loosed 
 the  bands  of  the  wild  ass?  Whose  house  I  hare  made  in  the  wil- 
 derness, and  the  barren  land  his  dwellings.  He  scorneth  the  multi- 
 tude of  the  city,  neither  regardeth  he  the  cryine-  of  the  driver." 
 Job  XXXIX.  5—8. 
 
 74 
 
 Vide  Naturgeschichte  von  H.  Rebaupag.  320. 
 
 "A  wild  ass  used  to  the  wilderness,  that  snuffeth  up  the  wind 
 at  her  pleasure."     Jer.  II.  24. 
 
24  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIETH.  [part  i. 
 
 be  wise,  thoiioh  man  he  born  like  a  wild  ass's  colt."^^ 
 Anotlier  very  remarkable  feature  in  theDsigetai  spe- 
 cies is  this,  that  they  only  exist  in  treeless  and  in- 
 terminable deserts,  especially  in  Central  Asia,  where 
 they  live  sociably  together  in  herds  from  15  to  100 
 in  number.  The  strongest  and  most  courageous  of 
 the  males  acts  as  guide  and  watchman ,  who  in  time 
 of  danger  gives  the  signal  for  flight,  running  three 
 times  round  in  a  circle.  If  the  leader  is  killed  the 
 flock  is  instantly  dispersed  and  falls  a  prey  to  the 
 pursuers. 
 
 The  Arab  bears  precisely  the  stamp  of  the  wild 
 ass,  here  described.  He  lives  in  herds  and  tribes 
 and  is  as  untamed  and  untameable.  Tie  feels  as  free 
 as  the  air,  whilst  roving  through  boundless  deserts; 
 and  delights  to  wander  in  wild  and  unfettered  free- 
 dom throucrh  the  wastes  of  his  inheritance.  Like 
 the  -wild  ass  he  "scorneth  the  multitude  of  the  city;" 
 despising  a  civilised  life  with  its  comforts,  and  as 
 little  as  the  Dsigetai  could  he  be  subdued.  "^ ''  Only 
 single  portions  of  the  Peninsula  have  been  subjugated 
 for  short  periods,  although  every  man's  hand  has 
 been  against  its  M'ild  inhabitants.     The  Abyssinians, 
 
 ^^  The  only  parallel  passage  to  the  C'lN  N'^S  in  Gen.  XVI.  12. 
 is  in  this  place  of  Job  XL  12.  :-lbr  CiN  n::5  -i:yi.  23?:  2^3;  y:\V-l 
 and  a  vain  man  would  be  wise  although  he  were  born  the  colt  of  a 
 wiUl-ass-nian. 
 
 ''^  "Saraceni  ncc  ainici  nobis  unquani,  nee  hostes  optandi,  ultro 
 citroque  discursantes ,  quidquid  inveniri  poterat  momento  temporis 
 parvi  vastabant.  Onines  pari  sorte  sunt  bellatorcs ,  per  diversa 
 reptantes  in  tranquillis  vel  turbidis  rebus;  nee  quideni  aliquando, 
 sed  errant  semper  per  spatia  longe  lateque  distenta,  sine  lare  sine 
 sedibus  fixis  aut  legibus."     Animian.  Marcellin.  I.  XIV.  cap.  4. 
 
CHAP.  II.]       CHARACTER  OF  TIIE  ARABS  PREDICTED.  25 
 
 Babylonians,  Jews,  Persians,  Romans  and  otlier 
 nations  have  made  war  against  them,  but  by  no  na- 
 tion, however  powerful,  could  they  at  any  period  be 
 permanently  subdued.  To  rob  whomsoever  they  can, 
 is  no  crime,  for  they  allege  that  Ishmael  was  turned 
 out  oi  his  father's  house  and  received  the  wilderness 
 for  his  inheritance  with  permission  to  take  what  he 
 could.  Like  theDsigetai,  each  tribe  chooses  a  leader, 
 a  Sheich,  from  among  its  own  people,  under  whose 
 direction  they  fight,  rob,  and  rove  about  from  place 
 to  place.  However  united  they  may  appear  as  a 
 nation  they  nevertheless  present  the  scene  of  a  "house 
 divided  against  itself,"  the  respective  tribes  maintain- 
 ing the  most  inveterate  and  interminable  feuds  with 
 one  another.  It  is  a  proverbial  saying  among  them: 
 "in  the  desert  every  one  is  the  enemy  of  the  other." 
 That  these  animosities  commenced  in  the  days  of 
 Ishmael,  we  may  conclude  from  the  wild  and  mis- 
 anthropic  disposition ,  which  was  first  of  all  exempli- 
 fied in  his  ovm  person;  and  the  marginal  reading  of 
 the  account  of  his  death  would  lead  us  to  infer,  that 
 he  ''feir  in  the  act  of  fighting.  ^^   "He  grew,  we  read, 
 
 ''^  "And  they,  viz.  the  twelve  prince.s,  dwelt  from  Havilah  unto 
 Shur  that  is  before  Egypt ,  as  thou  goest  toward  Assyria ;  and  he 
 fell  in  the  2)'>'esence  of  all  his  brethren."  :bE3  TTlN  ~33  "'p.S  ~3?  Gen. 
 XXV.  18.  Having  examined  all  the  passages  where  the  verb  bsj 
 occurs,  we  find  that  with,  or  without  qualification ,  it  invariably 
 means,  falling  by  violent  means.  Where  this  is  not  tlie  case,  it  is 
 always  specified  ;  and  we  have  no  reason  to  depart  from  this  ordinary 
 sense.  Vide  Gen.  XIV.  10.  E.xod.  XXII.  28.  Josh.  YIIl.  25.  Judg. 
 IV.  16.  V.  27.  VIII.  10.  XII.  6.  XX.  44.  1  Sam.  IV.  10.  XIV.  13. 
 The  usual  term  for  dying  is:  3'1>';i  he  gave  up  the  ghost;  or  rW^T 
 and  he  died.  Then  the  preposition  3^  before  "'p.S  implies  opposition; 
 over,  againet  the  face  of  all  his  brethren.     See  the  meaning  of  by 
 
26  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [PART  i. 
 
 and  dwelt  in  the  wilderness  and  became  an  archer'" 
 That  there  was  many  a  '"'cunning  hunter'  amongst 
 his  brethren,  whose  hand  was  against  him,  we  have 
 i^ason  to  judge  from  several  incidents,  which  are  re- 
 corded of  those  early  days;  and  it  is  most  natural 
 that  the  fore-lather  of  the  Arabs  should  have  perished 
 or  fallen  in  one  of  those  conflicts ,  of  wdiich  he  was 
 the  author.  The  meaning  of  the  expression;  '*He 
 shall  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren,"  is 
 determined  by  the  context;  it  implies  not  only  that 
 Ishmael  and  his  posterity  should  have  a  fixed  boundary 
 within  which  they  should  ''ihveir,  but  also  that  they 
 would  assume  a  posture  of  hostility  towards  their 
 brethren.  There  is  however  another  reason  for  as- 
 suming that  the  dwelling  together  could  not  be  of  so 
 peaceable  a  nature ,  as  we  might  suppose  from  the 
 English  version.  The  words  "He  shall  dwell  in  the 
 presence  of  all  his  brethren",  would  be  more  correctly 
 rendered  as  in  most  translations;  thus,  "He  shall 
 dwell  against  all  his  brethren;"  signifying,  that  not 
 only  would  Ishmael's  hand  be  against  every  man  in 
 general,  but  even  in  dwelling  with  his  brethren,  he 
 would  maintain  his  characteristic  hostility.  Not  with- 
 out  peculiar  significance  Mas  it  predicted  that  Ishmael 
 should  "dwell  opposing  all  his  brethren";  and  that 
 his  death  should  be  recorded  in  these  words:  "He 
 fell  whilst  opposing  all  his   brethren".''"     What  a 
 
 2  Kings  XIX.  22.  He  fell  then  in  the  act  of  opposing  his  brethren  ; 
 in  resisting  them  to  the  face. 
 
 "  The  angel  saith  before  Ishmael's  birth:  rtiN  "b'S  "pD.  "br"] 
 :'j'du3':  after  bis  death  we  read :  bc:  vnN  "bD  ^?.S  "b?  In  both  cases 
 not:  ■•■D^  as  in  1  Sam.  XIV.  13.  but:^-':s  "b? 
 
CHAr.  II.]  ISHMAELITES  AND  ISRAELITES.  27 
 
 marvellous  book  that  of  the  Bible,  to  sketch  a  people's 
 character,  to  poiirtray  a  nation's  destiny  so  many  thou- 
 sand years  in  advance  with  snch  accurate  precision, 
 and  in  so  few,  simple,  yet  graphic  words! 
 
 5.  The  word  of  Jehovah  thus  set  forth  the  future 
 character  of  the  wild  man  Ishmael,  in  it  most  dis- 
 tinctly fore-shadowing  that  of  His  posterity.  The 
 fact  however  which  stands  out  most  prominently  in 
 the  history  of  the  world  is  this,  that  out  of  all  the 
 nations  of  antiquity,  only  those  descended  from  the 
 two  sons  of  Abraham  have  presented  their  nationality. 
 Phenicians,  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  and 
 Persians  have  either  altogether  disappeared,  or  they 
 exist  only  in  degenerated  remnants.  The  Chinese 
 and  Hindoos  remain  only  in  two  great  masses,  inert 
 and  torpid,  then-  ancient  vigour  of  life  having  utterly 
 decayed. ''^  The  Greeks  and  Romans  of  the  present 
 day  are  essentially  different  from  the  Greeks  and 
 Romans  of  classic  times:  but  the  sons  of  Israel  and 
 the  sons  of  Ishmael  to  this  day  stand  in  the  Avorld 
 as  two  separate  and  distinct  nations,  unchanged  from 
 what  they  were  in  the  pristine  ages  of  their  existence, 
 retaining  their  ancient  manners  and  customs  to  a 
 considerable  extent,  and  what  is  still  more  remarkable, 
 their  distinctive  peculiarities  of  character.  That  the 
 Ishmaelites  should  have  preserved  their  independence 
 and  nationality  in  their  desert  w^ilds,  is  indeed  less 
 surprising  than  that  the  Hebrews  should  have  con- 
 
 ^"  They  hare  moreover  mixed  with  other  nations,  who  have 
 successively  conquered  them.  Each  wave  of  foreign  conquest  left 
 its  deposit  upon  the  native  soil. 
 
28  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [pabti 
 
 tinned  a  separate  people  after  having  been  dispersed 
 and  persecuted  Ironi  eighteen  to  twenty  four  centuries 
 among  all  nations. 
 
 The  peculiarity  of  the  Jewish  type  in  matters  of 
 religion  is  a  blind  adhesion  to  the  vain  traditions  of 
 their  ancestors,  as  well  as  to  the  dead  letter  of  the 
 Old  Testament,  which  has  virtually  become  a  sealed 
 book  to  them.*^^  The  Ishmaelites  with  their  egotism, 
 their  indomitable  love  of  freedom  and  their  ruling 
 principle  of  embracing  everything  with  the  under- 
 standing, proved  the  very  soil  for  the  growth  of  Is- 
 lamism;  and  in  a  religious  point  of  view  we  may  take 
 the  Mohammedan  as  a  true  type  of  the  Ishmaelite. 
 Of  all  people  therefore,  the  Jews  and  the  Moham- 
 medans are  the  most  determined  opponents  to  Christ- 
 ianity; Judaism  being  the  embodiment  of  a  dead 
 v/  orthodoxy  and  Islamism  the  personification  of  a  cold 
 /  religion  of  the  understanding,  such  opposition  is 
 easily  accounted  for.  It  is  a  principle  with  the  Mo- 
 hammedans to  believe  only  what  is  intellectually  tangi- 
 ble; or  to  use  their  oAvn  expressive  words,  they  receive 
 nothing  with  their  hearts,  ''which  does  not  fall  into 
 their  heads."  They  are  acquainted  with  some  of  the 
 leading  facts  of  Divine  Revelation,  but  after  having 
 corrupted  what  they  have  borrowed ,  like  Ishmael, 
 
 "*  "They  arc  drunken,  but  not  with  wine;  tliey  stagger,  but 
 not  with  strong  drink;  for  the  Lord  liatli  poured  out  upon  you  the 
 spirit  o^  deep  sleep;  and  hatli  closed  your  eyes.  The  prophets  and 
 your  rulers,  tlie  seers,  liath  he  covered.  And  the  vision  of  all  is  be- 
 come unto  you  as  the  words  of  a  book  that  is  sealed  :  "lES"  T^'^S. 
 :C"rnri  which  men  deliver  to  one  that  is  learned  saying:  Read,  I 
 pray  thee  and  he  saith:  I  cannot  for  it  is  sealed,"  Isa.  XXIX. 
 9—11. 
 
CHAP.  II.]  ISHJf  AELITES  AND  ISRAELITES.  29 
 
 they  ''mocF  at  the  truth.    Being  mflated  with  gross 
 superstition,  wild  fanaticism,  inconceivable  pride  and 
 a  special  animosity  against  the  Christian,  the  Moham- 
 medan is  far  more  difficult  to  convert  than  even  the  Jew. 
 Having  noticed  the  position  which  these  tw^o  na- 
 tions assume  with  regard  to  the  Church  of  Christ, 
 we  now  refer  to  their  distinctive  features  of  natio- 
 nality.     The   Ishmaelites    cling   to   the   hostile  and 
 nomadic  habits  of  their  patriarch  Ishmael,  and  up 
 to  this  day  follow  exactly  the  same  rude  and  natural 
 mode  of  life  which  existed  amonor  them  3500  years 
 ago.     They  prefer  a  wild  and  independent  life  in  the 
 desert  to  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  a  civilised 
 state,   and  no  foreign  power  has  ever  been  able  to 
 impose  new  manners  and  customs  upon  them;  a  fact 
 without  parallel  in  the  annals  of  nations.    In  the  Jews 
 we  perceive  a  finer  and  more  delicate  shade  of  na- 
 tionahty ;  they  are  more  flexible  and  of  a  less  untrac- 
 table  spirit  than  the  Ishmaelite.    They  accommodate 
 themselves    more    easily   to   the   strangers    amongst 
 whom  they  dwell,  without  however  endangering  their 
 national  character.      With  nothing  to  call  forth  the 
 higher  and  more  spiritual  aspirations  of  the  immortal 
 soul   they   throw   themselves   with   double  zeal   and 
 energy  upon  the  material  w^orld.    The  Jews  aud  Ish- 
 maelite Arabs  reciprocally  indulged  in  an  international 
 hatred,  the  hand  of  the  latter  being  especially  directed 
 against  the  posterity  of  Isaac,  whom  they  supposed 
 to  have  acquired  the  blessing,  which  legitimately  be- 
 longed to  Ishmael,  as  the  first-born  of  Abraham. 
 6.    After  considering  the  land  in  which  Islamism 
 
30  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [parti. 
 
 was  first  planted,  and  the  people  who  first  received 
 it,  we  now  revert  to  the  relu^ion  of  the  ancient  Arabs. 
 If  we  discover  fragments  of  truth  in  Mythologies, 
 more  remote  from  the  fountain  of  primitive  revela- 
 tion, ^  ^  why  may  we  not  in  Arabia,  where  there  existed 
 proximity  of  locality,  analogy  of  language,  unity  of 
 ancient  tradition  and  consanguinity  of  descent?  In 
 the  Pagan  creed  of  the  ancient  Arabs  we  find  a  dis- 
 figured Patriarchal  faith.  The  celebrated  symbol  of 
 the  Mohammedan  creed,  "there  is  no  God  but  one" 
 Mas  known  to  the  Arabs  before  Islamism  existed. ^^ 
 In  times  of  peace  and  security  they  resorted  to  idols, 
 their  apology,  as  preserved  in  the  Koran,  being,  "w-e 
 worship  them  only,  that  they  may  bring  us  nearer 
 to  God;"  but  thev  instinctivelv  fled  to  the  Most  II? ah 
 God  in  time  of  peril  and  danger.  Nor  is  it  difficult 
 to  account  for  their  knowledge,  superficial  as  it  was, 
 of  the  true  God.  We  have  direct  evidence,  that  the' 
 ancient  Arabs  were  brought  into  contact  with  reveal- 
 ed Religion,  since  it  is  generally  admitted,  that  the 
 book  of  Job  was  written  in  Arabia;*^*  if  this  be  the 
 
 ''^  "When  we  compare  the  Pagan  systems  of  belief  with  the 
 most  ancient  records  of  the  Bible,  we  discover  that  the  history  of 
 the  primitive  days  of  the  human  race  and  the  primary  elements  of 
 sacred  tradition  constitute  the  foundation  of  every  ancient  system 
 of  Pagan  Mythology."  Arnold's  True  and  false  Religion.  Vol.  II. 
 pag.  211. 
 
 '^'  The  following  was  a  form  of  prayer  usual  amongst  them: 
 "I  dedicate  myself  to  thy  service;  0  God  I  Thou  hast  no  compa- 
 nion, except  thy  companion,  of  whom  thou  art  absolute  Master, 
 and  of  whatever  is  his."     Abulfarag  pag.  IfiO. 
 
 ®*  Uz  the  chief  part  of  Idumaea.  Lam.  IV.  21.  Job  is  not 
 without  cause  considered  the  same  as  king  .lobab.  the  king  of 
 Edom.    Gen.  XXXVl.  31.  32,     That  Job  was  a  king,  a  prince,  see 
 
CHAP.  11.1  PATRIARCHAL  FAITH.  31 
 
 case,  it  doubtless  embodies  views  and  ideas,  which 
 were  current  in  that  land.  Again,  we  can  scarcely 
 conceive  that  Moses  could  have  lived ,  forty  years  in 
 Arabia,  and  leave  no  good  seed  behind  him.  Nor 
 could  the  host  of  Israel  sojourn  forty  years  amidst  the 
 ancient  Arabs,  who  must  have  heard  of  the  miracles 
 which  God  had  wrouoht  on  their  behalf,  without  re- 
 viving  ancient  traditions  and  exercising  a  directly 
 beneficial  influence  upon  the  inhabitants  of  that 
 country.  Indeed  the  Rechabites,  one  of  the  tribes 
 of  Arabia  with  their  zeal  for  the  true  God  might 
 serve  as  a  testimonv,  that  there  was  a  remnant  of 
 God-fearing  people  among  them ;  the  character  of 
 Jethro ,  the  father-in-law^  of  Moses ,  who  was  a  pure 
 Arab,  and  a  Priest  of  Midian,  might  also  be  men- 
 tioned. The  queen  of  Sheba's  coming  from  the  south 
 of  Arabia,  where  it  was  customary  for  w^omen  to  in- 
 herit sovereign  power,  also  confirms  the  idea,  that 
 some  light  of  truth  had  found  its  w^ay  into  the  deserts 
 of  that  great  Peninsula.  As  the  wise  men  are  also 
 supposed   to    have    come    from  Arabia  to  see   "one 
 
 Job  I,  2.  chap.  XXIX.  XXXI.  37.  His  friends  are  called  kings, 
 in  the  book  of  Tobit  II.  14.  and  are  also  found  in  Idumaea  as  like- 
 wise belonging'  to  the  family  of  Esau.  See  Gen.  XXXVI.  Isa. 
 XXXIV.  6.  LXIII.  I.  Aristeas,  a  heathen  writer,  is  reported  to 
 have  said  in  his  "Historia  Judaica"  that  "Jobum  ex  Esavi  liberis  in 
 Idumaea  atque  Arabiae  finibus  habitasse  et  cum  justitia  tum  opibus 
 precipuum  fuisse."  Eusebius  lib.  IX.  praepar.  Evang.  fol.  251. 
 St.  Chrysostomus  speaks  of  Arabia  as  "terram  illam,  quae  Jobi 
 vlctoris  certamina  et  crucem  omni  auro  precioslorem  suscepisset." 
 Chryso.  homil.  V.  At  the  end  of  Job  the  LXX  interpreters  have 
 these  words:  oirrog  fQ/nrjifvETia  fy.  rr^g  ^vQiaKi^g  ^i'[JXov,  ri'  luv  y^ 
 y.aroiyMP  ttj  ^AyoixiSi  ,  inl  toig  oQioig  trig  Idovpiaiag  y.al  \4Qa(iiag, 
 noovTTTJoye  fie  dvrco  oroua  ^Iw^a^.  Xa^cov  be  yvvalya  'A{)a^Kjaav, 
 ykvvuvior,  w  oioi^ia^Erioov. 
 
32  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [parti. 
 
 greater  than  Solomon,"  they  doubtless  were  in  pos- 
 session of  the  remarkable  proj)hecy  of  Baalam, 
 which  was  delivered  in  Arabia,  by  an  Arab  prophet, 
 in  the  hearing  of  an  Arab  king.  This  is  not  the 
 place  to  enter  upon  the  history  and  character  of  Ba- 
 laam; all  we  wish  to  maintain  is  this,  that  there  was 
 in  those  days  still  a  priest,  or  a  prophet  of  the  true 
 God  among  the  Arabs,  who  uttered  remarkable  pro- 
 phecies in  His  name.  Nor  did  God  disdain  to  ad- 
 minister counsel  to  Moses  through  Jethro  his  father- 
 in-law.  What  this  priest  of  Midian  taught  his  Arab 
 countr>Tnen,  we  may  gather  from  his  confession  of 
 faith:  ''Now  I  know  that  the  Lord  is  greater  than  all 
 Gods."^' 
 
 To  refer  only  to  one  more  point.  When  Ishmael 
 was  sent  away  into  the  desert  with  his  mother,  he 
 doubtless  took  with  him  something  more  than  ''bread 
 and  a  bottle  of  water;"  nor  can  it  be  supposed  that 
 Abraham  in  sending  his  six  sons*'^  by  Keturah  into 
 Arabia  failed  to  add  to  the  "gifts"  which  he  is  said 
 to  have  bestowed  upon  them,  the  parting  injunction 
 that  they  should  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  wdiich 
 they  had  learned  from  their  father:  ''For  I  know 
 him,  that  he  will  co  nun  and  his  children  and  his  house- 
 hold after  him ,  and  they  shall  keep  the  w^ay  of  the 
 Lord,  to  do  justice  and  judgment."^'' 
 
 ^'   What  makes  this  the  more  important  was  liis  acknowledge- 
 ment of  the  covenant  name,  Jehovah;  he  said:   Exodus  XVIII.  11. 
 
 a-'-'b^^r;  -hziz  rrrr  b'-ny  — 'S  "r^yji  nn? 
 
 ^^    Ziniran,  Jokschan ,  Medan,  Midian,  Ishbak,  Shuah.     Gen. 
 XXV.  2.  6. 
 
 "    Gen.  XVIU.  19. 
 
CHAP.  II.]  ADMIXTURE  OF  IDOLATRY.  33 
 
 7.  Together  witli  the  many  noble  truth.s,  pre- 
 served among  the  fii'st  settlers  m  Arabia,  which  were 
 subsequently  revived  by  the  sons  of  Abraham ,  and 
 still  later  by  the  sojourn  of  Moses  and  the  Israelites, 
 an  admixture  of  superstition  and  idolatry  existed.  In 
 tracing  out  these  Pagan  elements  we  meet  with  no 
 small  difficulties.  The  native  writers  are  strangely 
 silent  on  the  subject,  and  that  because  they  were 
 taught  by  the  Koran  ^*^  to  consider  themselves  supe- 
 rior to  any  other  nation,  even  in  "the  time  of  igno- 
 rance," as  they  call  the  days  prior  to  Mohammed. 
 It  was  natural,  they  should  dwell  as  little  as  possible 
 on  a  point,  which  humbled  then'  national  pride.  If 
 the  Koran  however  eight  idols  are  mentioned;  and 
 as  the  destruction  of  these  external  marks  of  idolatry 
 formed  an  essential  part  in  the  spread  of  Islamism, 
 we  become  incidentally  acquainted  with  several  par- 
 ticulars relating  to  it. 
 
 The  chief  feature  seems  here,  as  indeed  in  all 
 ancient  Mythologies,  to  be  a  worship  of  the  heavenly 
 bodies;  perhaj^s  the  noblest  effort  of  man  without 
 revelation  to  represent  "the  Father  of  lights,"  and 
 the  least  degrading  species  of  idolatry.  ^^    It  was  the 
 
 ^®  "Ye  are  the  best  nation,  that  hath  been  raised  up  unto 
 mankind."     Sura  III,  106. 
 
 ®^  "Lest  thou  lift  up  thine  eyes  unto  heaven,  and  when  thou 
 seest  the  sun  and  the  moon,  and  the  stars,  even  all  the  host  of 
 heaven ,  shouldcst  be  driven  to  worship  them  and  to  serve  thera, 
 which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  imparted  (meted  or  measured  out 
 p?n  T«i;^.),  unto  all  nations  under  the  whole  heaven.  Deut.  IV.  19. 
 This  "meting  out"  may  be  taken  in  the  same  sense  as  the  words : 
 eg  iv  taig  7iaQ(oxri(^itvaig  yti'talg  eiaae  ndvta  ta  e&ft]  noQevea&ai 
 raig  odolg  avtojr.   Act.  XIV.  16. 
 
 C 
 
34  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [part  I. 
 
 first  step  ill  the  downward  course  of  superstition, 
 when  Babylon,  that  "mother  of  harlots"  considered 
 the  heavenly  bodies  as  the  representatives  of  the  in- 
 visible Majesty  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  Bel  or  Beliis 
 for  instance,  throughout  aj">pears  as  the  solar  deity, 
 whose  temple  still  stood  in  the  days  of  Herodotus. 
 Another  not  less  celebrated  temple  of  the  moon  stood 
 atHaran;  the  well-known  sojourn  of  Abraham.  Terah 
 had  already  taken  Abram  and  Lot  from  Ur  of  the. 
 Chasdim  or  Chaldees;  and  if  Chasdim  or  Chaldees 
 signifies  "worshippers  of  idols"  as  has  been  thought 
 by  an  eminent  scholar,  we  can  easily  account  for  the 
 exodus  of  Terah's  family  from  Ur.  When  Haran 
 however  proved  no  better  shelter  from  idolatry,  as  we 
 infer  from  the  early  existence  of  the  lunar  temple 
 there,  Abraham  was  altogether  removed  from  his 
 native  country.  ^^  .  ■  ,  . 
 
 That  the  Arabs  fell  into  the  snare  of  worshipping 
 the  heavenly  bodies  at  an  early  period,  may  be  gather- 
 ed from  various  authorities.  Job,  himself  an  in- 
 habitant of  Arabia,  bears  witness  to  the  fact  of  the 
 existence  of  this  idolatry  amongst  the  Arabs  of  his 
 day. ^^  An  Arab  author  of  the  eighth  century,  writes: 
 "The  Arabs  also  held  the  religion  of  the  Sabiaus:"^^ 
 
 ^o    Gen.  XI.  .31.  and  XJI.  1. 
 
 ^^  "If  I  bclield  the  sun  when  it  sliined,  or  the  moon  walking  in 
 brightness,  and  my  lieart  liath  been  secretly  enticed,  or  my  mouth 
 liath  kissed  my  hand;  (an  idolatrous  practice  still  in  vogue,  and 
 witnessed  by  the  author)  this  also  were  an  iniquity  — /or  J  should 
 have  denied  the  God,  that  is  above."  Job.  XXXI.  26 — 28.  Compare 
 also  Ezck.  VIII.  IG. 
 
 ^^  twjjjut  XjoLoJt  j>J Jo  (mVj  (>+^^  Samsaddin  ad-Dimaski 
 in  his  Kosmography.   Zcitschr.  der  ^lorg,  Gesellschaft  Vol.  V.  392. 
 
CHAP.  11.]  ADMIXTURE  OF  IDOLATllY. 
 
 which  explains  the  following  admonition:  "worship 
 not  the  sun  neither  the  moon,  but  worship  God,  who 
 hath  created  them;  if  ye  serve  Ilim."-'^  Twice  oc- 
 curs the  name  of  "servant  of  the  Sun"  in  the  list  of 
 the  Himy arctic  KinQs;  for  as  in  the  Bible  we  find 
 the  names  of  God  associated  with  "nomina  propria" 
 so  the  ancient  Arabs  called  themselves  the  servants, 
 slaves,  and  property  of  their  i<lols;^^  according 
 to  the  Musnad-inscription ,  Samir  Jaras  reared  a 
 temple  to  "the  Lord,  the  Sun."^^  In  a  Sabian  Al- 
 manac ,  under  the  month  Subat  or  February  it  is 
 stated:  "They  fast  in  it  seven  days,  commencing  on 
 the  ninth  day  of  the  month ,  and  this  fast  is  held'  in 
 honour  of  the  great  Lord ,  the  Sun ,  the  Lord  of  all " 
 Good." 
 
 According  to  Strabo,the  descendants  of  Nebaioth 
 offered  up  sacrifices  to  the  sun  on  the  roofs  of  their 
 houses.  Nor  was  this  luminary  alone  worshipped  by 
 the  Arabs ;  for  there  existed  among  them  seven  tem- 
 ples in  honour  of  the  presiding  deities  of  the  days  of 
 the  week,  consisting  of  sun  and  moon  and  five  pla- 
 nets*®^ Like  other  nations,  the  Arabs  had  j)i'oceeded 
 from  a  more  or  less  pure  Monotheism  to  consider  the 
 
 ^■•'   Sur.  XLI.  37. 
 
 ^*    e.  g.   ITJJT  from  ";"';  and  IW,  given  of  Jehovah;    bN'?i'?3^ ' 
 from  yiy6  (not  bN",::  as  might  appear)  and  ^N    God:    "God  hatli 
 heard."     In  the  same  way  we  have  "the  servant  of  the  sun"  and 
 "the  prince  of  Manat,"  among  the  Arabs. 
 
 ^5    The  parallel  to  this  ^^2^n^5  Jer.  XLIII.  13. 
 
 ^^  Sun  and  moon ;  Aldabaran,  Jupiter,  Canopus,  Sirius,  and 
 Mercury,  Abulfarag  histor.  dyn.  pag.  160.  See  Studien  iiber  die 
 vorislamitische  Religion  dor  Araber  von  Dr.  E.  Osiander ;  Zeitschrift 
 der  deutsch,  Morgenliind.  Gescll.  Band  YII.  1853.  pag.  463. 
 
36  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [parti. 
 
 heavenly  bodies  as  symbols  of  the  Divhie  Majesty; 
 the  next  step  was  to  worship  them  as  self-existing 
 deities;  this  being  done,  the  third  step  to  actual 
 idolatry  was  rendered  comparatively  easy.  Nor  was 
 this  new  element  an  entirely  distinct  form  of  error. 
 It  will  be  necessary,  distasteful  as  it  may  be,  to 
 glance  at  the  more  corrupt  form  of  superstition,  which 
 in  a  measure  co-existed  with  Sabeism  and  a  jjar- 
 tial  retention  of  the  patriarchal  faith.  Beginning  in 
 the  South  of  Arabia,  we  meet  with  a  mountain  of 
 witchcraft  near  lladramaut,  in  one  of  the  caves  of 
 which,  resided  the  master  of  sorcery,  who  exercised 
 considerable  influence  upon  the  benighted  Arabs 
 around  him.  In  lladramaut  itself  we  find  the  two 
 idols  Galsad  and  Mavhal.  The  capital  of  the  Him- 
 yaretic  Kings  contained  the  colossal  and  gorgeously 
 ornamented  temple  of  Gumdau.  ^  ^  The  god  Ricmi 
 was  also  worshij)ped  in  Sana,^^  to  whom  sacrifices 
 were  offered,  and  at  whose  temple  oracular  informa- 
 tion was  sought.  It  is  not  improbable  that  we  have 
 a  parallel  of  this  oracular  deity  in  Baal,  of  whom 
 king  Ahaziah  in  his  sickness  inquired.  ^^    The  temple 
 
 ^^  Sahrastani  adds  these  words:  S*JC*j|  |VA*/i  (c-^'  it  "^^'^s  de- 
 dicated to  Venus.  Her  worship  being  established  in  Sana,  it  is 
 not  only  probable,  but  almost  certain,  that  the  name  Athatar: 
 •.aLaLc  so  frequent  in  the  Hiniyaretic  inscriptions  might  be  the  same 
 as  the  Pheuician  idol:  nn"lPC5;  Judges  2,  14.  X.  6.  1  Kings 
 XI.  33. 
 
 ®^  Riani,  the  exalted  one;  in  Ethiopic,  licaven.  It  is  perhaps 
 not  too  much  to  think,  that  this  deity  was  the  same  as  -J[5,  if  the 
 goddess  was  n""in;23y.     They  are  always  put  together  in  Scripture. 
 
 ^^    2  King.  I.  IG. 
 
CHAP.  II.]  ADI^nXTURE  OF  IDOLATRY. 
 
 37 
 
 of  Riam  was  first  destroyed  on  the  estaLlislimcnt  of 
 the  Jewish  kingdom  among  the  Himyarites,  and  a 
 second  time,  when  Islamism  was  introduced. 
 
 Another  idol  in  the  Himyar  country  was  Nasar;*- 
 he  was  worshipped ,  as  his  name  implies ,  under  the 
 form  of  an  eagle.  Two  days  journey  from  Sana  to- 
 wards the  north,  we  meet  with  Yauk,  another  deity 
 mentioned  in  the  Koran ;  ^  which  like  Nasar,  Waad, 
 Sowa,  and  Yagut  is  said  by  the  Koran,  to  have 
 been  worshipped  before  the  days  of  Noah.  He  was 
 adored  under  the  image  of  a  horse.  ^  Yagut  had 
 his  temple  at  Djoras  or  Goras  not  far  from  the  road 
 leading  fi-om  Mecca  to  Sana ;  and  was  the  deity  of 
 the  tribe  of  Madhig ,  but  that  his  name  was  revered 
 among  other  tribes  is  proved  by  the  fact  of  its  ap- 
 pearing among  them  as  a  component  part  of  their 
 surnames.  This  deity  was  worshipped  under  the 
 figure  of  a  lion,  and  in  the  choice  of  this  image  there 
 may  be  an  allusion  to  the  corresponding  sign  of  the 
 zodiac ,  as  that  also  was  an  object  of  divine  worship 
 among  the  ancient  Arabs.* 
 
 Diff'erent  fi^om  Naser,  Yauk   and  Yagut,   who 
 were  worshipped  under  animal  forms,  are  the  two 
 
 *  »-vwo;  compare  with  it  the  Assyrian  '^IP?  Isa.  XXX.  38. 
 The  eagle  entered  largely  into  all  the  systems  of  ancient  Mytho- 
 logy.    Nasar  is  mentioned  Sur.  LXX.  23. 
 
 ^     ^yJtJ,  Yauk,  the  refrainer;  deus  averruncus. 
 
 ^  Horses  dedicated  to  the  sun  at  Jerusalem.  Were  destroyed 
 2  King.  XXUI.  11. 
 
 *  Ideler  Dntersuchung  iiber  die  Stern,  pag.  161.  The  lion  is 
 a  celebrated  religious  symbol,  and  has  fretjuently  become  an  object 
 of  religious  worship. 
 
38  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  [parti. 
 
 other  deities,  Soiva  and  Waad,  wlio  are  named  with 
 the  former  in  the  above-mentioned  passage  of  the 
 Koran/  Sowa  was  adored  nnder  the  image  of  a 
 woman,  Waad  under  the  figure  of  a  man.  All  five 
 are  said  to  have  been  antediluvian  idols ,  ^  which 
 being  discovered  after  the  flood  came  to  be  wor- 
 shipped by  the  Arabs.  Sowa  was  worshipped  at 
 Ruhat  north  of  Mecca,  and  Waad  on  the  north  east 
 of  Arabia  among  the  tribe  Kalb,  but  we  notice  them 
 in  this  place,  because  they  were  associated  in  the 
 Koran  with  the  idols,  to  which  we  have  just  alluded. 
 Resuming  our  northerly  route,  we  proceed  from 
 Goras  the  seat  of  Yagut,  to  Talabah,  a  to\\^i  four 
 days  journey  south  of  Mecca;  in  this  place  we  meet 
 with  the  goddess  Chalasah,'  whose  temple  was  of 
 such  reputation,  as  to  be  considered  a  rival  of  the 
 sanctuary  of  Mecca,  and  called  "the  Kaaba  of 
 Yemen." 
 
 We  now  enter  the  j^rovince  of  Hedgas ,  and  in 
 Taif,  about  sixty  geographical  miles  south  of  Mecca, 
 a  place  otherwise  important  in  the  history  of  the 
 Arabs ,  we  find  the  great  goddess  of  the  Takif  tribe, 
 Allat,®  who  was  represented  under  a  white  square 
 
 ^   Sur.  LXX.  23. 
 
 •^    They  are  always  mentioned  with  the  addition:    ^y'^  iv-v^ 
 
 & 
 
 ''  The  temple  of  Chalasah  seems  to  have  been  in  Yemen  what 
 that  of  Giinidan  was  in  Sana;  namely  a  temple  to  Venus.  The  in- 
 timation of  Fasi  that  Clialasah  was  introdiici'd  from  Syria,  is  there- 
 fore worthy  of  notice.    Sprengcr's  Life  of  Muhammed,  pag.  7.  not.  1. 
 
 ®   The  name  of  Allat:   »oJjl  was  derived  by  the  ill-disposed 
 
 Mcccans  from  »X}\  Allah.    Herodotus  calls  her  'AXi^ar  or  'AXnxa, 
 
CiiAi'.'ii.l  ADMIXTURE  OF  IDOLATRY.  39 
 
 stone,  upon  wliicli  a  temple  was  built.  This  idol  was 
 carried  with  that  ofUzza  before  the  army  in  battle ;  ^ 
 and  was  one  of  the  goddesses,  whose  names  are  re- 
 corded in  the  Koran:  —  "What  think  ye  of  AUat, 
 alUzza  and  Manah  that  other  third  goddess."  From 
 the  fact  that  Mohammed  frequently  protested  against 
 the  goddess  A  Hat,  and  from  other  more  direct  evi- 
 dence ,  the  importance  of  her  rites  and  the  extent  of 
 her  worship  is  sufficiently  established.  There  can 
 be  no  doubt  that  this  square-shaped  idol,  called  by 
 the  Arabs  "the  Goddess,"  ^°  represented  an  astro- 
 nomical deity;  and  from  reasons,  unneccessary  here 
 to  specify,  it  could  only  have  been  the  moon.  That 
 this  luminary  was  worshipped  among  the  Takif  and 
 the  adjoining  tribes  Beder  and  Hilal  we  know  from 
 other  sources.  ^  ^ 
 
 In  the  valley  Nahlali^^  we  find  Uzza,  the  second 
 great  goddess  of  the  Arabs,  mentioned  in  the  Koran; 
 she  was  worshipped  under  the  form  of  the  tree ,  Sa- 
 murah.  ^^  This  is  not  the  only  instance  in  which 
 trees  were  adored  by  the  Arabs.  The  Koreishites 
 worshipped  a  palm-tree,  offering  up  sacrifices,  and 
 
 ^   Caussin  de  Percival  III.  p.  9.     Sur.  LIII.  G. 
 
 '-"    Al-Lat,  unlike  other  deities,  always  has  the  article.     We 
 never  hear  of  a  goddess  "Lat". 
 
 ^'     »tXj  name  of  a  tribe  means  "full  moon";   JtJ^,  Ililal  ■ — ■ 
 another  tribe,  signifies  "newmoon". 
 *^    Valley  of  dates. 
 
 *^     The    8»-4-w  —  Saniurat ,   species   of  Acacia,   called   "spina 
 
 Aegyptiaca".    The  sanctuary  was  called  Boss.     Uzza  is  thought  to 
 be  the  lunar  deity  like  Allat. 
 
40  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH.  Ipart  I. 
 
 hanging  their  arms  upon  it.  At  Nagran  they  cele- 
 brated an  annual  festival  in  honour  of  a  sacred  palm- 
 tree  ,  on  ^vhich  occasion  they  adorned  it  with  the 
 garments  and  ornaments  of  women.  The  traveller 
 in  Arabia  may  at  this  day  see  Acacia  trees,  hung 
 all  over  with  rags  of  divers  colours.^*  Over  the 
 "vegetable"  idol  of  Uzza  a  temple  was  built,  and 
 when  Boss,  the  name  of  this  sanctuary,  was  destroyed 
 by  Chalid ,  one  of  Mohammed's  generals,  after  mur- 
 dering the  priestess,  who  had  rushed  forth  \vith  her 
 hair  dishevelled,  and  her  hands  on  her  head  as  a 
 suppliant,  he  uttered  these  words:  "0  Uzza,  I  deny 
 thee,  I  praise  thee  not:  I  have  seen  how  Allah  has 
 humbled  thee!"^^  When  Mohammed  heard  of  the 
 success  of  the  expedition  he  exclaimed:  "This  is 
 Uzza,  never  again  shall  she  be  served." 
 
 Mecca  became  the  centre  of  the  Ante-Moham- 
 medan religion  of  the  Arabs ,  about  the  beginning  of 
 the  first  century  B.  C.  Arab  historians  have  very  little 
 to  say  as  to  how  matters  stood  during  the  time  of 
 the  Gurhamites;^®  except  that  they  took  away  the 
 golden  gazelles,  and  the  weapons  which  were  hung 
 up  in  the  Kaaba ,  when  they  were  driven  away  from 
 Mecca.  ^'  They  left  however  some  traces  of  their 
 idolatry  behind,  which  it  is  needless  for  us  to  examine. 
 
 **    A  fine  spoclmen  of  these  rag-clad  Acacia  trees  could  be  seen 
 some  time  ago  in  the  desert  between  Cairo  and  Suez. 
 
 *^    (^y*-''  or    _yfc  Uzza,  the  most  mighty  and  powerful, 
 
 **•    Ley,  de  tcmpli  Meccani  originc,  Berlin  1851. 
 
 *^    Remarkable  is  it  that  among  its  ancient  kings ,  we  find  one 
 with  the  Christian  name,  Abd  al-Maseeh,  "set'vant  of  Christ". 
 
Ciup.  II]  ADMIXTURE  OF  roOLATRY.  41 
 
 The  Kaaba  itself,  whicli  was  tlie  sanctuary  of  tlie 
 Pagan  Arabs,  and  remained  such  after  they  had  em- 
 braced Islamism,  is  a  building  about  thirty  four  feet  high 
 and  about  twenty  seven  broad,  so  called  from  being 
 almost  a  perfect  square,  as  the  name  implies.*^  In 
 this  buildinix  we  find  no  less  than  360  idols,  the  chief 
 of  them,  Hubal,*^  was  at  once  the  presiding  god  in 
 the  temple,  and  the  principal  deity  of  the  Koreishites, 
 who  were  its  guardians.  The  pre-eminence  of  this 
 idol  was  evinced  by  the  fact,  that  before  it,  the  casting 
 of  lots  with  arrows  took  place.  Prior  however  to  its 
 obtaining  this  honour,  it  passed  through  a  term  of 
 probation,  for  we  learn  upon  good  authority,  that  for 
 a  considerable  period  it  stood  outside  the  walls  of 
 the  Kaaba,  patiently  waiting  for  its  admission. ^° 
 It  was  probably  introduced  when  the  sanctuary  of 
 the  Koreish  tribe  was  converted  into  the  Pantheon 
 of  the  whole  of  Arabia.  The  name  of  Hubal  remains 
 a  mystery.^*  The  opinion  that  it  is  synonymous 
 with  the  Babylonian  and  Syrian  Baal  or  Bel  is  sup- 
 ported by  the  testimony  of  Arab  authorities,  according 
 
 ^*    2Lot.di,  the  square  or  the  Kaaba. 
 
 **   Hubal  was   |V^L-^-of  *Jhs^  the  most  excellent  of  the  idols; 
 
 and  -was  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Mesopotamia,  by  Amru 
 ben  Luhai. 
 
 ^^  The  man  to  whom  it  was  indebted  for  its  promotion  was 
 Amru    ben    Luhai.      He    according    to    Sharastani    introduced    it 
 
 ^^  Pocock,  who  is  still  the  great  authority,  since  his  "Specimen 
 historiae  Arabum"  has  not  yet  been  surpassed ,  derives  Hubal  from 
 bnr.  or  byn-,  ba";  nor  is  this  derivation  to  be  censured.  Vide 
 pag.  97.  98. 
 
42  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BUITH.  [i'ART  i. 
 
 to  whom  Ilubal  was  originally  imported  from  Sp'ia; 
 these  do  not  indeed  maintain  that  Ilubal  was  J5aal, 
 but  they  admit  him  to  be  an  astronomical  deity; 
 there  is  therefore  nothing  which  militates  against 
 the  idols  being  identical. 
 
 Again  when  it  is  stated  by  Abulfeda  that  the 
 image  of  Abraham  occuj^ied  the  chief  place  in  the 
 Kaaba,  and  that  he  was  represented  by  Ilubal,  we 
 may  take  it  for  granted  that  Ilubal  had  a  double 
 character,  like  Baal,  who  was  both  the  founder  of 
 the  Babylonian  empire  and  the  solar  deity.  Nor  is 
 the  popular  notion  of  the  Arabs,  which  considers 
 Ishmael  to  be  the  original  founder  of  the  Kaaba,  to 
 be  enthely  rejected.  The  well-known  adherence  of 
 that  extraordinary  people  to  then-  ancient  customs 
 seems  to  warrant  the  high  antiquity  of  that  sanctu- 
 ary. That  patriarchal  associations  were  connected 
 with  the  Kaaba  will  appear  from  a  practice  which 
 is  censured  in  the  Koran.  The  Pagan  Arabs  used 
 to  compass  the  sanctuary  naked,  because  they  con- 
 sidered garments  to  be  signs  of  disobedience  to  God. 
 Then  the  celebrated  black  stone,  fixed  outside  the 
 Kaaba,  towards  one  of  the  corners,  indicates  an  ac- 
 quaintance with  a  Patriarchal  custom.  ^  ^  The  Arabs 
 attribute  its  introduction  to  Ishmael  himself,  and 
 their  superstitious  regard  for  it,  is  just  what  might 
 
 "  Woil  gives  tlic  following  from  the  Manuscripts  Insan  and 
 Chamis:  3^er  fd^UMrjc  gtcin  wax  urfvriuuitirf)  cin  &nc\d,  bcr  Slbam  im 
 s^Himbtcfc  t^cumrficn  folltc,  inib  l^ell  C'U>tt  luid)  ^Ibamei  Siuibo  in  ciiicn  ©tciii 
 vcrUMiibcU  usnb.  (Sv  \v\x)>  at'cr  am  9liifi-rftcbiiiiiioto;ic  fid)  niit  i?cm'o,  rin-cn, 
 3itiu^c  iiiib  ?(iiiicii  n-(}cbcu,  imb  bcii  fvommcu  *;^iKJcvu  nlo  ^cn^c  htiftdjau 
 Weil  i)ag.  40.  Note  45. 
 
OHAP.  II.]  ADMIXTURE  OF  IDOLATRY. 
 
 43 
 
 be  expected  from  the  abuse  of  the  early  practice  of 
 setting  up  stones  in  commemoration  of  extraordinary 
 mercies,  received  from  God.^^  The  black  stone  is 
 no  doubt  older  than  the  Kaaba  itself. 
 
 Not  only  was  Mecca  as  well  as  the  Kaaba  holy 
 o-round  to  the  ancient  Arabs ,  but  also  the  adjacent 
 country.  The  valley  of  Mina^*  was  as  much  the 
 place  of  religious  resort  before  Mohammed,  as  it  has 
 been  since  the  days  of  Islamite  pilgrimage  to  the 
 Kaaba.  Leaving  Mecca  and  its  immediate  neighbour- 
 hood, w^e  find  an  idol  inKudaid,  a  town  about  seventy 
 three  geographical  miles  north  of  it,  the  name  of  which 
 indicates  some  connection  with  the  valley  of  Mina. 
 The  goddess  Manat^^  was  worshipped  under  a  large 
 block  of  stone,  over  which  a  sanctuary  was  construc- 
 ted. Near  Jeddah  we  find  another  of  these  grim- 
 looking  monster  idols ,  cut  out  of  a  solid  rock,  which 
 was   worshipped  in  a  large  sandy  plain  under  the 
 
 2'  Gen.  XXVIII.  18.  "Jacob  took  the  stone,  that  he  had  put 
 for  his  pillows  and  set  up  for  a  pillar  and  poured  oil  upon  the  top 
 of  it,  and  he  called  the  name  of  that  place,  Bethel."  XXXI.  45. 
 And  Jacob  took  a  stone  and  set  it  up  for  a  pillar,  also  52.  XXXV. 
 14.  Exod.  24.  4.  Josh.  IV.  3.  7.  8.  ;.?5^  V'^'^A  ~^'<.'  ^'t^?:' 
 :Dbn3>  -^y  bN^->IJ:  In  Josh.  XXIV.  26.  27.'  r,bi^>.  fntj.  I  Sara.  VII. 
 12.  we  have  the  ^TSTJ  ';nN  of  the  prophet  Samuel.  Compare  also 
 the  Phenician  Baelyla  or  Baelilos ;  and  the  traces  of  holy  stones 
 in  the  West. 
 
 2*  Mina  _!«;  Amr  ben  Luhaj  raised  seven  idols  in  this  valley. 
 Reiske,  primae  liueae  p.  124. 
 
 *^  cyLLxt,  Manat.  As  we  have  no  further  information  touch- 
 ing the  character  and  worship  of  this  goddess ,  we  naturally  think 
 of  the  Chaldean  deity  ^573,  Meni;  see  Margin  Isa.  LXV.  11.  and 
 the  lunar  goddess  Mijfrj. 
 
44  THE  LAND  OF  ITS  BIRTH,  [parti. 
 
 name  of  Saad.      Several  other  Arabian  deities  were 
 worshipped    near    Medina, ^^    but    excepting    their 
 names  scarcely  any  thing   has   been  handed  down. 
 We  have  however  seen  enough  to  convince  us,  that 
 the  Arabs   had  widely  swerved   from  their  original 
 patriarchal  faith.   Many  of  their  idols  were  of  a  rough 
 and  uncouth  appearance,   square  stones,   white   or 
 black,   trees  and  solid  rocks,   figures  of  birds  and 
 beasts,  images  of  men  and  women,  all  served  to  re- 
 present their  imaginary  deities.     There  is  however 
 reason  to  think,   that  some  of  the  Arab  idols  were 
 artistically  conceived  and  skilfully  shaped.    The  utter 
 destruction  by  the  Mohammedans  of  every  vestige  of 
 Paganism  as  regards  idolatry ,  prevents  our  forming 
 any  accurate  opinion  upon  the  subject;  but  the  fact 
 of  Arabian  poets  comparing  beautiful  women  to  idols, 
 and  the  proverb   "more  beautiful  than  an   idol,"^' 
 would  seem  to  indicate,  that  the  Arab  idols  were  not 
 all  of  them  without  some  degree  of  form  and  beauty. 
 In  reviewing  the  religion  of  the  Pagan  Arabs  we 
 find  remnants   of  the  Patriarchal  faith,   the  Sabian 
 worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies ,  and  the  elements  of 
 a  more  corrupt  idolatiy,  amalgamated  together.    The 
 custom  of  visiting  the  Kaaba;  the  rite  of  circum- 
 cision; the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection,^*^  to  be  in- 
 
 *^   We  hear  of  Nuhm,  Humara,  Halal,  Bagir,  Ruda,  Aud,  Awab, 
 Manaf,  Gaum,  Kais,  Durigcl,  Fuls,  Dariban,  and  others. 
 
 "    iLyojJ!   1^   jj-«Ai>.f  and  ,j^V-''   ^^  ,^^-^^^Ji.l  more  beau- 
 tiful than  an  idol.     Arab.  prov.  I.  pag.  408.  prov.  195. 
 
 ^^    "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand 
 at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth:  and  though  after  my  skin  worms 
 
CHAP.ni.]  ELEMENTS  BORROWED.  45 
 
 ferred  from  the  Heathen  custom  of  tying  a  camel 
 near  the  grave  of  the  departed;  the  belief  that  de- 
 mons are  transformed  into  serpents ;  abstinence  from 
 wine;  preference  for  green  among  the  colours;  the 
 custom  of  sacrificing  the  first-born  of  the  camel ;  the 
 habit  of  swearing  by  religion;  the  national  traditions, 
 especially  the  stories  relating  to  Abraham,  Ishmael, 
 and  other  early  characters  of  Bible  history;  these 
 Mohammed  already  found  among  his  countrymen, 
 and  the  same  motives,  which  induced  him  to  adopt 
 the  ancient  sanctuary  and  the  Pagan  rites  of  the 
 Kaaba  as  the  groundwork  of  the  ceremonial  part  of 
 his  religion,  would  naturally  suggest  the  adojDtion  of 
 Arabian  tradition  as  the  basis  of  his  doctrinal  pre- 
 cepts in  the  Koran. 
 
 CHAPTER  III. 
 
 THE  AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED. 
 
 "Who  is  more  wicked  than  he  who  forgeth  a  lie  concerning  God? 
 
 or  saith,  This  was  revealed  unto  me,  when  nothing  hath  been 
 
 revealed  unto  him?"     Sur.  VI.  93. 
 
 1.  No  ordinary  mortal  ever  exercised  such  an 
 immeasurable  influence  upon  the  human  race  in  a 
 religious ,  moral  and  political  point  of  view ,  and  this 
 during  a  period  of  twelve  centuries ,   as  did  the  man, 
 
 destroy  this  body,  yet  in  ray  flesh  shall  I  see  God.  Whom  I  shall 
 see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another."  Job 
 XIX.  25.  26.  27.  Such  teaching  of  the  DTiia:^  ^inn,  was  known 
 among  the  ancient  Arabs. 
 
46        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAmffiD.   [PART  i. 
 
 whose  age,  history  and  character  we  are  about  to 
 consider.  Although  not  one  of  those  extraordinary 
 individuals,  endowed  by  divine  Providence  wdth  genius 
 and  power  to  break  up  long  established  institutions 
 and  to  strike  out  new  j)aths  in  the  history  of  politics 
 and  religion,  yet  Mohammed,  a  man  of  limited  powers 
 of  mind  and  apparently  too  destitute  of  materials  for 
 the  formation  of  a  new  religion,  succeeded  in  throwing 
 his  seemingly  indestructable  net  of  doctrine  and  prac- 
 tise over  millions  of  souls  and  in  impressing  a  uni- 
 form stamp  upon  the  thoughts  and  actions  of  the 
 heterogeneous  tribes  and  nations,  scattered  over  Asia 
 and  Afi'ica.  ^^ 
 
 It  cannot  therefore  be  without  interest  to  trace 
 out  some  of  the  details  connected  with  this  remark- 
 able man  and  the  age  in  which  he  apj^eared.  The 
 period  which  ushered  Islamism  into  the  world  was 
 marked  by  great  changes  and  startling  convulsions. 
 The  Western  Empire  was  already  overrun  by  the 
 Northern  Barbarians,  whilst  the  Eastern  and  Greek 
 portion  of  it,  enfeebled  by  luxury,  fell  a  prey  to  all 
 its  enervating  consequences.  ^°    Persia  torn  to  pieces 
 
 ^9  "SlitffaKcnb  ifi  e^,  ba^  aT^ot^aiiiinct'  bcr  <Bdm  5l^b  mUih'^,  bcffcn 
 Volitifdic  iinb  rdiiiiofc  Umlvdl^niui  \o  tui  eiiigriff  iiiit'  fo  iin-it  urn  fid)  iiviff, 
 6i^  jc^t  fiicrin  fo  fcBr  i^cnmrijlafniU  ivurbc.  ©clvifj  vcrbicnt  bod)  ein  aijaitn, 
 bcr  cin  llfcidi  iirunbctc,  ta^  Kilb  luid)  fciiicm  5obc  ba^  vvfifrf^c  i^crfrfilaiu^, 
 tmb  bcm  bvjiiutiuiidicn  bic  ticfficn  QBiinbcii  frfihtii,  bcv  cine  9{cliiiion  ijcftiftct, 
 bi'c  nod)  jc^t  ben  fdionftcn  JTjcil  bcr  attcn  SBcU  ju  53efcnncrn  5a()lt  wn  alien 
 Seiten,  folvcW  in  ben  iicfcfMcfitlicfien  !il)vTtfadien,  aK^  in  ben  iilu'v  ilin  fiivfiren; 
 ben  2)h)tt)en,  genan  gefannt  jii  ivevbcn."  ffieil'^  "aiinljammeb  ber  '■^.U-o^.'fjct." 
 93orrebc  I. 
 
 ^^  The  western  empire  of  the  Romans  fell  A.  D.  323.  The 
 Greek  succeeded  and  was  divided  into  an  Eastern  and  Western 
 empire  under  the  sons  of  Theodosius. 
 
CHAP.  III.]  THE  AGE  IN  WHICH  HE  APPEARED.  47 
 
 by  intestine  divisions  botli  political  and  religions  had 
 now  become  incapable  of  any  vigorous  resistance. 
 Whilst  these  emiiires  were  declining,  Arabia  on  the 
 contrary,  which  had  hitherto  displayed  no  conspicuous 
 part  in  the  history  of  the  world,  retained  the  vigour 
 and  energy,  which  characterise  nations,  untainted  by 
 luxurious  habits.  ^^  The  attempt  of  ^tlie  Pharaohs 
 of  Egypt,  of  the  Persians,  the  Abyssinians,  and 
 the  Romans  to  subdue  that  country  was  equally  un- 
 successful.'^^ The  Arabs  continued  an  independent 
 race,  and  it  was  left  to  God's  more  special  and  direct 
 Providence  to  rouse  them,  and  to  accom2^1ish  the 
 mysterious  purposes  of  Him,  of  whom  it  is  written: 
 "The  fierceness  of  man  shall  turn  to  thy  j^raise,  and 
 the  fierceness  of  them  shalt  thou  refi-ain."'^^ 
 
 Islamism  being  a  grand  apostacy  from  the  truth 
 it  was  natural  that  it  should  start  up,  when  true  and 
 vital  religion  had  reached  it  lowest  ebb.  On  examining 
 the  records  of  the  CImrch  at  that  period,  we  discover 
 the  grossest  corruptions  in  doctrine  and  practice. 
 The  }Vester7i  and  Eastern  Churches  being  abandoned 
 to  the  most  degrading  immorality,  became  agitated 
 in  those  days  by  violent  and  rancorous  controversies, 
 which  extinguished  all  true  piety  and  practical  devo- 
 tion. ^*     The    earliest   simplicity,    which    flourished 
 
 ^^  The  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  those  very  nations 
 which  destroyed  the  Western  empire,  may  serve  as  examples. 
 
 ^^  What  classic  historians  record  of  the  successful  inroads  of 
 Sesostris  and  Cambyses,  Crassus,  Aelius,  Gallus  and  Trajan  refer 
 only  to  partial  and  temporary  conquests. 
 
 "   Psalm  LXXVI.  10. 
 
 ^*    We  refer  to  the  fierce  controversies  connected  with  Arian 
 
48        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMilED.   [par!-  I. 
 
 among  the  suppressed  and  persecuted  Christians  had 
 passed  away.  When  the  Church  was  no  longer  ex- 
 posed to  trials,  but  favoured  and  honoured  by  the 
 first  Christian  Emperors ,  it  began  to  fade  and  lose 
 its  primitive  power ;  and  it  was  then,  to  use  the  words 
 of  JSt.  Chiysostom  that  the  world  entered  the  Church.  ^' 
 Bishops  struggled  for  the  highest  and  most  lucrative 
 sees;^''  and  as  once  when  the  "tree  of  knowledge" 
 was  perferred  to  "the  tree  of  life"  the  greatest  evil 
 ,  was  produced,  so  now  a  curious  philosophy  being 
 substituted  for  vital  godliness ,  it  led  to  the  most  la- 
 mentable consequences:  those  who  were  to  feed  the 
 Church  indulging  in  fearful  controversies,  mutual 
 persecutions  followed  in  rapid  succession  as  the  con- 
 tending parties  alternately  came  into  power.  The 
 interests  of  Christianity  were  made  the  pretext  for 
 carrying  out  ambitious  views  and  vindictive  feelings. 
 The  worship  of  Saints  and  images  had  reached  such 
 a  scandalous  pitch,  that  Christian  Churches  rather 
 resembled  Heathen  temples,  the  objects  of  adoration 
 only,  being  changed.  This  humiliating  exhibition 
 might   well   convey   the   idea  that   Christianity  was 
 
 and  Semi-Arlan  heresies,  which  agitated  the  Church  up  to  the  be- 
 ginning- of  the  seventh  century,  when  Islaniism  absorbed  them. 
 
 ^^  "Eratque  super  his  admire  facilis ,  quae  donabat,  Christia- 
 nam  religioncm  ab.solutam  et  sinijilicem  anili  suporstitione  confun- 
 dens:  in  quo  scrutanda  perplexius ,  quam  componenda  gravius  ex- 
 citavit  dissidia  plurima;  quae  progressa  fu.sius  aluit  concertatione 
 vcrborum ,  ut  catervis  antistitum,  jumentis  publicis  ultro  citroque 
 discurrcntibus  perSynodos,  quas  appellant,  dum  ritum  omncm  ad 
 suuni  trahcre  coiinatur  arbitriuni,  rci  vehiculariae  succideret  nervos." 
 Ammianus  Marccllinus  fine  libri  XXI.  de  Constantio. 
 
 '^  Ammianus  lib.  XXVII.  records  the  case  of  Damasus  and 
 Orsicinus. 
 
CHAP,  in.]  THE  AGE  IN  WHICH  HE  APPEARED.  49 
 
 merely  another  system  of  idolatry,  a  notion  still  cm-rent 
 among  Mohammedans,  who  judge  of  our  faith  only 
 by  the  unmeaning  and  vain  ceremonial  of  fallen 
 Churches.^'  When  religion  was  thus  turned  into 
 faction,  and  the  Church  of  the  East  indulged  in  dis- 
 putes on  'mysterious  subjects,  in  deciding  abstruse 
 metaphysical  questions  by  seditious  councils,  in  fabri- 
 cating spurious  Gospels,  and  in  anathematizing  some 
 of  her  less  corrupt  members ,  God  raised  up  instru- 
 ments of  his  displeasure  to  remove  the  candlestick 
 from  many  a  place,  and  to  introduce  a  "strong  de- 
 lusion," that  she  might  "believe  a  lie."^^ 
 
 As  long   as    the   light   of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
 remained  in  the  Church,  the  means  of  ultimate  re- 
 
 ^^  To  convey  an  idea  of  the  low  standard  of  religious  life  we 
 subjoin  the  following  descnption  given  by  St.Eligius  or  Eloi  Bishop 
 of  Royon  of  the  character  of  a  good  Christian  in  the  seventh  century: 
 "Bonus  Christianus  est,  qui  ad  ecclesiam  frequenter  venit,  et  obla- 
 tioneni,  quae  in  altari  Deo  otferatur,  exhibet;  qui  de  fructibus  suis 
 non  gustat,  nisi  prius  Deo  aliquid  offerat;  qui  quoties  sanctae  so- 
 lemnitates  adveniunt,  ante  dies  plures  castitatem  etiani  cum  propria 
 uxore  custodit,  ut  secura  conscieutia  Domini  altare  accedere  possit ; 
 qui  postremo  symboluni,  vel  orationem  dominicam  memoriter  tenet. 
 Redimite  animas  vestras  de  poena  dum  liabetis  in  potestate  reme- 
 dia;  oblationes  et  decimas  ecclesiis  afl'erte;  luminaria  Sanctis  locis, 
 juxta  quod  habetis,  exhibete;  ad  ecclesiam  quoque  frequentius  con- 
 venite;  Sanctorum  patrocinia  humiliter  expetite;  quod  si  observa- 
 veritis  ,  securi  in  die  judicii  ante  tribunal  aeterni  judicis  venientes, 
 dicetis:  Da,  Domine,  quia  dedimus."     Mosh.  Vol.  II.  p.  22. 
 
 ^^  Thus  it  happened  that  some  who  were  most  zealous  in  sup- 
 porting the  interests  of  their  own  party,  were  foremost  in  abjuring 
 Christianity  in  toto.  Individuals  who  would  not  part  with  an  ab- 
 struse notion  or  a  favourite  term  of  expression  for  the  peace  of  the 
 Church,  did  not  hesitate  to  abandon  her  comnmnity  altogether, 
 when  it  was  their  worldly  interest  to  do  so.  Vide  Predaux's  address 
 to  the  reader,  prefixed  to  his  "Life  of  Mohammed". 
 
 D 
 
50        AGE,  fflSTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 fonnatioii  "vvas  retained,  but  the  "strong  delusion" 
 ■which  Lslamism  introduced  destroyed  this  remedy. 
 The  Western  Chiu'ch  in  preserving  the  Bible  amidst 
 the  corruptions  to  which  she  fell  a  prey,  jDreserved 
 the  element  by  which  her  reformation  was  alone 
 rendered  possible.  Both  the  Eastern  and  Western 
 Churches  however  were  fallen,  and  it  is  not  a  little 
 remarkable,  that  judgment  began  in  each  at  the  same 
 period ;  for  Mohammed  announced  his  career  as  a 
 2)rophet  about  the  same  time,  that  Pope  Boniface  V. 
 by  virtue  of  a  grant  from  the  weak  and  tyrannical 
 Emperor  Phocas  1.  assumed  the  title  of  Universal 
 Bishop.   ^^ 
 
 Arabia  itself  presented  in  the  sixth  century  a 
 most  miserable  spectacle,  being  torn  by  the  intestine 
 commotions  of  civil  and  religious  warfare.  Jews  and 
 Christians  were  so  numerous  and  powerful  in  that 
 country,  as  to  struggle  for  the  government,  and  each 
 
 ^^'  It  has  been  considered  by  students  of  propbecy,  that  these 
 two  rival  ccclesiastico-political  powers  were  rejjresented  by  tlie 
 Eastern  and  Western  horns.  Dan.  VHI.  5.  9.  Be  this  as  it  may: 
 the  sins  of  both  Churclies  did  find  them  out,  bring-ino-  down  ui)on 
 them  a  corresponding  judgment.  Tlie  heresii  of  the  Eaatcrn  ,  and 
 the  .nqyerstitioa  of  tlie  Western  Church  were  both  visited  in  one 
 hour;  the  former  received  its  retribution  in  the  Arch-heresy  of  ls- 
 lamism; the  latter  was  chastised  by  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
 tyranny  of  the  Pope.  As  they  chronologically  coincided  as  to  their 
 rise ,  so  we  trace  between  them  points  of  sympathy  and  antipathy. 
 What  Mohanuned  was  to  the  East,  the  Pope  became  to  the  West. 
 The  „Key  of  heaven"  to  Mohammed  was  the  sword  ;  the  Pope  held 
 the  Keys  of  St.  Peter.  Both  united  in  tlieir  persons  the  supreme 
 civil  and  ecclesiastical  power.  Both  are  acting  the  part  of  Antichrist 
 by  "casting  the  truth  to  the  ground;"  and  not  Avithout  reason 
 is  it  supposed  by  many,  that  as  they  commenced  at  the  same 
 period ,  so  they  will  perish  together. 
 
CHAP.  III.]  THE  AGE  IN  WHICH  HE  APPEARED.  51 
 
 party  succeeded  in  raising  kings  to  the  throne,  who 
 w^ere  followers  of  their  respective  creeds.  We  have 
 already  adverted  to  the  persecutions  of  the  Christians 
 by  the  Jewish  king  of  Yemen ,  in  which  many  who 
 would  not  embrace  Judaism  were  executed;  nor  was 
 the  Christian  prince  Abraha,  who  was  placed  upon 
 the  throne  by  Nagusli,  more  successful  in  gaining 
 the  esteem  and  affection  of  the  different  sects,  ex- 
 tant at  that  period  in  Arabia. 
 
 Judaism  as  a  religion  had  greatly  degenerated 
 from  its  original  purity.  When  Mohammed  charges 
 the  Jews  in  the  Koran  with  believing  Ezra  to  be 
 the  Son  of  God,**^  we  may  at  least  take  for  granted 
 that  they  manifested  a  su2:)erstitious  reverence  for  his 
 memory:  although  they  retained  the  Monotheism  of 
 the  Old  Testament,  yet  Jehovah,  according  to  their 
 view,  was  no  longer  the  God  of  the  Universe,  but  ex- 
 clusively the  God  of  the  Jews.  In  the  Talmud,  which 
 was  ah-eady  considered  a  standard  authority  in  mat- 
 ters of  faith,  God  is  represented  "as  roaring  like  a 
 lion  in  each  of  the  three  watches  of  the  night,  and  as 
 shaking  his  head;"*^  and  according  to  it  the  "divme 
 Spirit"  was  heard  "moaning  like  a  dove  out  of  grief 
 for  Israel"  as  often  as  the  Atnen  was  responded  to 
 in    the    spiagogue.*^      Strangers    naturally    shrank 
 
 *o     )d}\     ^j|    yi^    <^y^^    y-^'    "tlie  Jews,  say:   Ezra 
 (Ozeir)  was  the  son  of  God."     Sur.  IX.  30. 
 
 *^    Talmud  I.  Sect.  I. 
 
 *^    b"p  na   invariably  signifies   the   Divine  Spirit   in  Talmudic 
 Theology. 
 
 D* 
 
52        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAilMED.    [i'art  I. 
 
 from  the  exclusive  creed  of  a  hated  nation ,  who  had 
 made  themselves  obnoxious  by  the  spirit  of  persecut- 
 ing proselytism,*'  to  which  we  have  alluded,  and 
 this  produced  a  desire  for  a  religion,  whose  blessings 
 were  not  confined  to  one  particular  race. 
 
 That  Christianity  prevailed  in  Arabia  to  a  great 
 extent  cannot  be  doubted,  when  we  read  of  so  many 
 Bishoprics  having  existed  in  divers  parts  of  the  coun- 
 try**. When  the  Jewish  Kingdom  was  destroyed  by 
 the  Christians  about  forty  years  before  the  birth  of 
 JVIohammed,  a  Church  was  built  in  Sana  eclipsing  the 
 temple  of  Mecca  in  beauty  and  magnificence.  But 
 how  corrupt  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Arab 
 Christians  were  at  that  period,  will  appear  partly 
 from  the  Koran  *^  and  partly  from  the  writings  of 
 the  Church  historian  Epiphanius,  who  speaks  of  a 
 -  Christian  sect  deifvinp"  the  Virfiin  Marv,  and  off'erincr 
 a  twisted  cake  on  her  altars,  from  whence  their  name 
 .  ColhTidians.*"     That  Mohammed  made  use  of  spu- 
 
 *^  Essai  sur  I'llistoire  des  Arabes  avant  rislainisme ,  pendant 
 I'EiJoque  de  Mahomet.  Par  A.  P.  Caussin  de  Perceval  toiu.  1. 
 p.  128.  129 
 
 **  "STic  Sefire  3ofit  fmttc  fefir  fnifie  ni  9(ralM'cii  Q^cfcinifr  i^cfitiibcn, 
 jinb  c^  fint'  fiifilbft  vcvfclHorcnc  ^^it^thumcv  iiiif  in  mclircvcn  2^tdctcn  iDJctro? 
 Volitaufivct^cn  crrici)tct  iic>iHl"cn.  ^inMii  ttilten  3al)rl)untctt  an  iialjmcn  and) 
 bie  in  aiibcnt  l'dlI^cvn  9(ficiio  rcvfoli^lcit  unb  bctrdiu^tcn  cfiriftlirficn  *J.*artcicu 
 tf)re  3itfluclit  unb  ^ivciftatt  in  SlralMcn."     Sinif)!  pag.  15. 
 
 *^  Jesus  is  asked  whetluT  it  was  true  that  lie  said  to  men : 
 xJJl  ij5<^  jO"^  LT^-^^^  (C^S  L5^5'^'^^^  "accipite  me  et  matrem 
 meam  in  duos  Deos  practer  Deum."  Sur.  V.  116.  "Again  they  are 
 certainly  infidels  who  say  God  is  the  third  of  three."  Sur.  V.  77. 
 to  which  Jclladin  adds:  \x)|.  i,^-^  Lj'rT*^^';  "*'"^  others  are 
 Jesus  and  his  mother." 
 
 *'^   Epiphanius  speaks  of  a  sect,   which  he  describes  as:  <<m 
 
CHAP,  iii.l  THE  AGE  IN  WHICH  HE  APPEARED.  53 
 
 rioTis  Gospels,  and  that  these  Pseudo-Gospels  counte- 
 nanced the  deification  of  the  Virgin  is  equally  cer- 
 tain.*' Amidst  the  bloody  feuds  of  the  Eastern 
 Church,  many  of  its  corrupt  members  fled  to  the 
 Huns  and  Vandals  in  Africa  and  some  into  Arabia; 
 in  most  instances  carrying  with  them  nothing  but  a 
 Christian  Paganism;  hence  their  proselytes  were  but 
 a  shade  superior  to  the  Pagans.  As  an  additional 
 proof  of  heretical  teaching  in  those  days,  may  be 
 added,  that  the  mysterious  and  blessed  dogma  of 
 the  holy  Trinity  was  converted  into  a  positive  Tri- 
 theism;  thus  representing,  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
 Ghost  as  three  distinct  Gods.*^  From  these  scanty 
 allusions  to  the  condition  of  the  Eastern  Church  in 
 general,  and  to  that  of  Arabia  in  particular,  it  will 
 be  sufficiently  clear,  that  Christianity  in  the  age  in 
 which  Mohammed  appeared,  had  been  reduced  to  a 
 mere  carcase,  and  "where  the  carcase  is,  there  the 
 eagles  will  be  gathered  together."*^ 
 
 •dtov  tavr7]f  (i.  e.  the  Virgin  Mary)  inxQuaaysTi'  anovda^ovTeg. 
 Haeres.  LXXYIII.  79.  And  d'Herbelot  Orient.  Lib.  HI.  398.  ob- 
 serves that  the  oriental  Christians  have  given  to  Mary  the  title : 
 sJlajwwJ':  domina ,  and  that  the  Greek  Father  Cyril  styled  her  the 
 supplement  of  the  Trinity.  Then  the  &fotoKOg  which  was  so  stoutly 
 defended,  gave  cause  to  corrujjt  teaching.  Vide  also  the  article: 
 "Das  Theologumcnon  voni  nrtvi.(a  ayiov  als  dor  INTutter  Christi." 
 Nitzsch  "Theologische  Studlen".  Vol.  1.    1816. 
 
 *^  Origcn.  in  Joan.  Vol.  IV.  pag.  63.  ed.  de  la  Rue.  'Eav  fif-: 
 TTQoaitrid  rig  to  mx\^'  'Efi(j(aovg  ivuyythov ,  ti>&a  dvTog  6  aoJtrjQ 
 ^fi'iir'  cc{Jti  tXaj^t  fii-.  I'l  f(rtij(j  ,uop,  to  ayiop  iT)'kvf.ia  iv  fuu  rcSv 
 7(jtidjv  ^ov  y.at  aitrjI-yY.b  /.u  fig  ro  (.i^ya  Qafiofj. 
 
 *®  This  was  done  e.  g.  by  the  celebrated  Joannes  Philojjonus, 
 who  died  in  610.  the  very  year  of  Mohammed's  Mission.  Leontius 
 de  sectis  act.  V.  6. 
 
 *^   Dr.  Grant's  Nestorians  pag.  267.    The  Arab  independence 
 
54         AGE,  HISTORV  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAM^fED.  [part  i. 
 
 Lastly  the  Arabs  tliemselves  at  that  period  were 
 roused  and  perplexed  by  the  discordant  elements  of  a 
 corrupt  Judaism,  and  a  depraved  Christian  Church, 
 on  the  one  hand,  and  by  native  idolatry,  blended 
 with  noble  remnants  of  a  Patriarchal  JNIonotheism  on 
 the  other.  The  Jews,  they  thought,  in  rejecting 
 their  last  prophet,  had  forfeited  their  ancient  dignity; 
 and  they  considered  that  the  Christians  had  run  into 
 an  oj)posite  extreme  by  ascribing  to  him  a  divine 
 character,  and  surrendering  the  doctrine  of  the  di- 
 vine unity,  ddiey  deemed  the  time  now  come  for 
 them,  to  have  a  prophet  of  their  own,  who  would 
 restore  the  religion  of  Abraham,  and  put  an  end  to 
 the  state  of  ferment,  into  which  the  Peninsula  had 
 been  thrown  by  the  concussion  of  Judaism,  Chris- 
 tianity,  Sabaism,  and  the  idolatry  which  they  in- 
 herited from  their  fore-fathers. 
 
 As  a  proof  that  such  was  the  state  of  things  we 
 refer  to  certain  signs  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  state 
 of  religion,  some  years  prior  to  the  alleged  Mission 
 of  Mohammed.  ^^  On  the  occasion  of  a  great  meet- 
 ing of  the  tribe  of  Koreish  four  men  sat  in  secret 
 conclave  and  imparted  to  each  other  the  following 
 sentiments:  "Our  fellow-countrymen  are  in  a  Mrong 
 path,   they  are  far  astray  from  the  religion  of  Abra- 
 
 of  thought  displayed  itself  among'  the  Christians  in  the  acceptance 
 of  nearly  every  kind  of  heresy.  Ebionites,  Beryllites ,  ISazaraeans, 
 Arians,  Semi-Arians  and  Collyridians  vied  with  each  other  to  de- 
 stroy the  Chiirfh,  which  was  planted  by  St.  Bartholomew,  St.  Pan- 
 taenus  and  St.  Simon  Stylites.  Epiph.  de  llaeres.  lib.  I.  Haer.  40. 
 and  Sozom.  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  I.  cap.  16.  17.  Sale's  Prelem.  remarks 
 Sect.  II.  pag.  24.  25. 
 
 ''"   Lectures  on  Mahomctanism  by  Cazenove  pag.  47. 
 
CHAP.  III.]  THE  AGE  IN  WHICH  HE  ArPEAEED.  5  5 
 
 ham.  What  is  this  j^retcudeJ  divinity  to  which 
 they  ininiolate  victims,  and  around  which  they  make 
 solemn  processions  ?  A  dumb  and  senseless  block  of 
 stone ,  incapable  of  good  and  evil.  It  is  all  a  mis- 
 take: seek  we  the  truth,  seek  we  the  pure  religion 
 of  our  father  Abraham.  To  find  it,  let  us  quit  our 
 country,  if  need  be,  and  traverse  foreign  lands."'* 
 Three  of  these  became  acquainted  on  their  travels 
 with  the  truths  of  Christianity;  but  one  of  them, 
 Zaid,  having  been  kept  back  by  his  relatives,  who 
 were  offended  at  his  evident  estrangement  from  pa- 
 gan superstition,  went  day  by  day  to  the  Kaaba,  and 
 prayed  the  Almighty  to  enlighten  him. '  ^ 
 
 Not  knowing  the  truth,  he  opposed  what  he 
 knew  to  be  false,  testified  against  superstition,  for- 
 bade men  to  eat  the  flesh  of  victims  offered  to  idols, 
 and  protested  against  the  practice  of  destroying  their 
 infant  daughters.  When  imprisoned  by  his  uncle 
 he  escaped  and  after  wandering  from  place  to  place, 
 he  heard  from  a  Christian  monk,  that  an  Arab  pro- 
 phet was  preaching  the  religion  of  Abraham  at 
 Mecca.  Zaid  hastened  back  to  hear  Mohammed,  but 
 was  robbed  and  murdered  on  the  road.^^     Nor  were 
 
 '^^  These  four  men  wore  Waraca,  son  of  Naufal;  Othman,  son 
 of  Houwayrith  ;  Obajdallah,  son  ofDjahch;  and  Zaid,  son  of  Amer. 
 The  three  first  became  Christians ,  and  thus  satisfied  their  craving 
 after  truth. 
 
 "  He  might  be  seen  leaning  his  back  against  the  wall  of  the 
 temple  ,  repeating  the  prayer;  "Lord  if  I  knew  in  what  way  thou 
 didst  will  to  be  adored  and  served ,  I  would  obey  thy  will ;  but  I 
 know  it  not."'     Caussin  torn.  I.  p.  321. 
 
 ^^  This  precursor  of  Mohammed,  says  M.  Caussin  de  Perceval, 
 has  been  hitherto  almost  unnoticed  by  European  Savans. 
 
5  6        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMI\IED.  [part  I. 
 
 others  wanting  during  tlie  life-time  of  Mohannned 
 who  sought  to  control  the  stream  of  national  feeling, 
 and  asserted  rival  claims.  Amongst  them  we  may 
 mention  Ommaiah,'*  who  died  an  early  death;  and 
 Toleicha  and  Moseilama;  the  latter  was  so  successful 
 in  making  disciples;  that  even  to  this  day  an  Arab 
 tribe  in  western  Africa  trace  their  religion  back  to 
 him  and  his  immediate  folloM'ers.'^' 
 
 From  this  cursory  glance  at  the  age  which  gave 
 birth  to  Islamism,  we  can  well  understand  that  a 
 creed  embodying  the  elements  of  all  the  religious 
 systems  extant  among  the  Arabs  and  yet  avoiding 
 their  flagrant  excesses  would  be  acceptable  to  the 
 nation:  what  it  desired  w^as,  a  religion  possessing  a 
 simple  formula  of  belief,  coming  apparently  from  in- 
 disputable authority,  freely  open  to  all,  and  affording 
 to  believers  the  enjoyment  of  a  sensual  Paradise; 
 and  this  was  most  skilfully  contrived  and  adapted 
 by  the  man,  whose  personal  history  we  are  now  to 
 consider. 
 
 2.  Mohammed''^  was  born  in  the  month  of  April 
 
 ^'*    He    was    grandfather    of  Moviah,    who   usurped  the  Kali- 
 phato.    Dr.  Dollinger's  Muhaninied's  Religion"  pag.  4. 
 
 ^^   Relation  des  voyages  de  Saunier,  a  la  cote  d'Afrique  p.  217. 
 
 •'^    tX»:S\w<)    or    (X».a>t,    from    j^  ,   to   laud;    4X4-^    laudavit, 
 
 signifies   "laudabilis,  multa  laude  dignus."     Compare  the  Hebrew 
 
 "nT^n   dcsideravit   "TJ^ilTO    and    r;~T);n.      Gesenlus    Hebrew  Lexicon. 
 
 FT  T      :     -  T      •      V 
 
 Called  Muhanuncd,  Meheniet,  Mahomet,  better  Mohammed.  This  is 
 the  pronounciation  also  of  the  modern  Arabs.  The  faith  which  he 
 founded  is  called  by  Europeans:  Mahonunetanism ,  Mahometism, 
 Mohammedism,  or  better  Mohnnimedanism  :  but  bv  himself  and  his 
 followers   exclusively:    i»J>kAw',  Islam  (from  L«cLw,  to  spread  peace, 
 
 in  the  fourth  sense:  to  be  saved,  to  be  put  in  a  state  of  happiness) 
 
CHAP.  HI.]  THE  AGE  IN  WHICH  HE  APPEARED.  57 
 
 A.  D.  571  or  286  of  the  Diocletian  era,  his  bio- 
 graphers however  do  not  agree  as  to  the  exact  date, 
 being  more  anxious  to  chronicle  the  marvels  which 
 are  stated  to  have  accompanied  his  birth,  than  to 
 ascertain  the  precise  period,  when  it  took  place.'' 
 We  are  furnished  with  a  genealogical  table  compris- 
 ing thirty  generations,  tracing  Mohammeds  descent 
 from  Ishmael  through  his  second  son  Kedar.  The 
 tribe  to  which  he  belonged  was  that  of  Koreish,  and 
 the  family  that  of  Hashem,  princes  of  Mecca  and 
 the  hereditary  guardians  of  the  Kaaba.  Hence  they 
 were  called  "Ahal  Allah"  or  "the  people  of  God." 
 Mohammed  therefore  was  "Arab  al  Araba"  or  a  pure 
 Arab.  Yet  in  spite  of  his  noble  descent  he  inherited 
 only  poverty  from  his  ancestors.  Abdallah,  his  father 
 dying  two  months  after  Mohammed  saw  the  light  of 
 the  world,  the  whole  property  which  remained  for 
 the  support  of  his  widow,  Amena,  and  her  infant 
 son,  consisted  of  a  house,  five  camels,  an  Abyssinian 
 female  slave,  a  few  sheep,  and  as  some  say,  a  slave 
 called  Sakran. 
 
 Notwithstanding    the    marvels    which    are    said 
 to  have  attended  the  birth  of  her  child,  Amena  had 
 
 which  signifies:  resignation,  subniis.sion.  The  Germans  retain  the 
 Arabic  Islam;  the  French  transform  it  into  Lslamisme,  and  the 
 English  generally  adhere  to  Islamism  Moslem  is  the  appellation 
 for  the  believer  in  the  Koran  ;  the  plural  Moslemin.  The  trans- 
 formation into  Musselman  and  Musselmen,  is  therefore  incorrect. 
 
 "  Pagan  images  fell  to  the  ground ,  the  sacred  fires  of  the 
 Parsees  were  extinguislied ,  demons  were  expelled  from  heaven: 
 the  drying  up  of  the  lake  Sawa,  inundation  of  the  desert  of  Samawa, 
 illumination  of  the  whole  earth,  white  clouds,  voices  from  heaven, 
 and  other  prodigies  are  recorded  to  have  solemnised  his  birth. 
 
5  8        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  iMOHAM:MED.  [I'art  i. 
 
 difficulty  in  procuring  him  a  nurse;  at  last  one  was 
 found  in  Ilalema,  a  Beduin  woman,  who  failing  in 
 her  attempt  to  procure  an  infant  at  Mecca,  whither 
 according  to  custom,  she  had  come  to  seek  one  to 
 nurse,  ^**  rather  than  return  without  a  charge  accept- 
 ted  the  orphan  prophet;  and  Amena  confided  him  to 
 her  care  for  the  space  of  two  years.  ^^  On  restoring 
 the  child  to  his  mother  at  the  end  of  that  time ,  the 
 nurse  for  some  reason  begged,  to  be  permitted  to 
 resume  her  charge  for  a  longer  period;  in  conside- 
 ration of  his  health,  Amena  willingly  consented ,  but 
 to  her  surprise,  within  two  months  the  child  was 
 returned  in  consequence  of  spasmodic  fits ,  which 
 Halema  attributed  to  evil  spirits. ''°  It  is  not  to  be 
 expected,  that  the  biographers  of  the  Pseudo-jitrophet 
 would  allow  this  period  of  his  infancy  to  pass  over, 
 without  ascribing  to  it  events  of  a  marvellous  cha- 
 racter, and  such  are  gravely  recorded  upon  the  au- 
 thority of  his  nurse!' 
 
 61 
 
 ^^  The  Meccan  mothers  still  send  their  children  to  the  country, 
 to  live  with  the  Beduins  in  tents  till  they  are  eight  or  ten  years  old. 
 
 ^^  The  time  of  weaning  a  child,  is  after  two  years.  See  Lane's 
 modern  Egyptians  I.  59.    Also  Siir.  II.  234. 
 
 *""  The  term,  which  Abulfcda  and  Sirat  Arrasul  apply  to  these 
 attacks,  to  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  at  a  future  period, 
 signifies  to  be  overcome  by  mi.sfortune ,  to  be  mortally  injured,  but 
 is  specially  ap])lied  to  people,  possessed.  "I fear,"  said  the  husband 
 of  Ilalema,  "thi«  child  /»"  ^>o^6<?s*ef? ,  take  him  to  his  people  before  it 
 becomes  known."  The  fable  of  IMohanmied's  chest  being  opened  by 
 two  angels  to  remove  the  tares  of  lust  and  to  fill  it  with  jirnphctic 
 light,  is  assigned  to  that  period.      Sur.  XCIV.  1.  '2. 
 
 •"^  The  mule  on  which  Halema  rides  home  with  her  charge, 
 tells  her  that  he  carries  the  best  of  prophets,  the  Lord  of  Apostles, 
 and  the  darling  of  God  and  the  world.    Sheep  courtesy  to  the  little 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  PRIVATE  LIFE.  59 
 
 At  the  age  of  six ,  liis  mother  having  taken  him 
 to  Medina  to  visit  his  relations ,  died  on  her  way 
 home.  The  orphan  being  now  left  to  the  care  of  the 
 female  slave  Barakat ,  was  brought  by  her  to  his 
 grandfather  Abdalmutalib  who  M'illingly  receives 
 him,  and  shortly  has  occasion  to  take  him  to  a  monk 
 near  Okaz  for  the  benefit  of  his  eyes ,  which  had 
 been  deemed  incurable  at  Mecca. 
 
 On  losing  his  grandfather  two  years  later,  the 
 young  Mohammed  was  adopted  by  his  uncle  Abu 
 Talib,  whom  he  accompanied,  in  his  ninth  or  twelfth 
 year,  on  a  mercantile  journey  to  Bussora,  their  cara- 
 van was  entertained  by  a  Christian  monk,  called  by 
 some  Bahira,  by  other  Serdjis,  who  being  so  much 
 pleased  with  the  boy  predicted  his  future  great- 
 ness.^^ 
 
 In  his  sixteenth  year  Mohammed  accompanies  Zu- 
 beir,  another  uncle  on  a  mercantile  trip  to  southern 
 Arabia,  and  in  his  twentieth  year  he  is  seen  on  the 
 battlefield  with  the  same  relation.  ^^  After  this  no- 
 boy,  the  moon  bends  down  to  his  cradle  ;  he  is  endowed  with  ^tpeech 
 immediately  after  his  birth ,  etc.  etc.  Weil's  "Mohammed  der  Pro- 
 phet" pag.  26.  27. 
 
 *^  Bahira  according  to  the  Sirat  al  Zuhra  quoted  in  theCharais 
 of  Hussein,  Ebn  Mohiimmed  was  formerly  a  Jew,  and  this  explains 
 his  second  name.  He  was  "H^na  or  ^"TlS  and  on  his  baj)tisra  was 
 called  Georgius,  which  name  the  Arabs  changed  into  luj^yMj, 
 Serdjis  or  Djerdjis.  Christian  writers  mention  a  Nestorian  monk, 
 twcS\j,   Bahira,   who  being  expelled  from  his  Monastery  in  Syria, 
 
 fled  to  Mecca.  After  Mohammed  had  extracted  all  the  information 
 he  required,  he  put  him  to  death  to  prevent  his  divulging  the  secret. 
 Whether  these  two  monks  are  identical  is  a  disputed  point. 
 
 ^'   This  war  against  the  Beni  Kinanah  is  called  "vicious",  be- 
 
60        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,   [part  i. 
 
 thing  is  lieard  of  liim  till  liis  twenty  fifth  year,  except 
 the  facts  of  his  obtaining  his  livilibood  as  a  shepherd 
 near  Mecca/*  and  of  his  joining  the  bnsiness  of  a 
 hnen-trader  named  Saib,  in  whose  company  he  visit- 
 ed the  market  at  ITajasha,  six  days  journey  south  of 
 Mecca/ ^  In  the  latter  place  Mohammed  makes 
 the  acquaintance  of  Ilakim  Ebu  Chuzeima,  who  re- 
 commended him  to  his  rich  widowed  aunt  Chadija 
 as  an  honest  and  trustM'orthy  young  man;"^  being 
 compelled  by  famine,  Mohammed  offered  his  services 
 to  her  as  a  mercantile  agent.  Chadija  having  at  that 
 time  many  goods  to  send  to  S}Tia  engaged  him  in 
 her  service  and  promised  him  double  wages,  viz.  two 
 female  camels. 
 
 His  success  in  this  transaction  was  so  great,  that 
 his  mistress  made  him  a  present  in  addition  to  the 
 promised  wages,  and  as  a  proof  of  her  confidence 
 subsequently  sends  him  to  the  south  of  Arabia  upon 
 other  business.^'     This  occupation  of  traffic,  in  af- 
 
 cause  it  commenced  in  the  four  holy  months,  in  which  wars  by 
 ancient  custom  were  interdicted. 
 
 ^*  Prof.  Weil  gathered  this  fact  previously  unknowTi  in  Europe 
 from  the  "Insan  Alujun"  by  All  ITalcbi ;  M.  S.  of  four  folio  Volumes, 
 and  the  „Chaniis"  by  Hosscin  Ebn  Muliammcd  Ebu  Alhasan  Addi- 
 arbekri  in  two  folio  Volumes,  M.  S. ;  both  being  biographies  of  M. 
 of  the  sixtenth  century,  obtained  in  Gotha.  "Mohammed  der 
 Prophet"  pag.  33. 
 
 •"^  This  also  unknown  fiict  is  derived  from  the  "Insan  Aluyun" 
 and  explains  how  Chadija  came  to  take  M.  into  her  service.  Ali 
 Halibi  has  it  from  the  Uyun  Alather  by  Hafiz  Abul  Fath. 
 
 ^®  M.  had  already  acquired  the  cognomen:  "Amin",  the  trust- 
 worthy. 
 
 '■•'  Tradition  endows  the  journey  to  Syria  with  strange  marvels. 
 In  Bussora  M.   meets  Nestor,    another  monk,    who   recognises  a 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  PRIVATE  LIFE.  C 1 
 
 fording  Mohammed  an  opportunity  of  acquiring  a 
 knowledoe  of  the  world  became  in  after  life  of  the 
 
 o 
 
 greatest  service  to  him."*  Mohammed  having  for 
 some  time  conducted  Chadijas  affairs  so  much  to  her 
 satisfaction,  in  spite  of  the  great  disjiarity  of  age® ^ 
 and  the  opposition  of  her  father  she  at  length  deter- 
 mined to  raise  him  from  the  position  of  her  servant 
 to  that  of  her  husband  :^°  having  made  a  feast 
 Chadija  helped  her  father  so  bountifully  with  wine, 
 that  becoming  drunk  he  gave  his  consent  to  their 
 marriage. 
 
 After  this  event  Mohammed  still  continued  tra- 
 ding, but  soon  lost  all  his  fortune;^*  nevertheless 
 his  acknowledged  honesty  made  him  so  respected 
 that  he  was  frequently  called  upon  to  act  the  part  of 
 umpire  in  matters  of  strife.  In  his  thirty  fifth  year,  when 
 
 prophet  in  the  merchant:  because  he  has  red  eyes  and  a  cloud 
 every-where  overshadows  him;  and  because  a  withered  tree  under 
 which  be  sits  begins  to  blossom,  and  bear  fruit.  He  also  cured  two 
 camels  on  the  road.  Chadija  saw  him  on  his  return  overshadowed 
 by  the  wings  of  two  angels. 
 
 ®^  The  Meccan  people  chiefly  depended  on  commerce  for  sup- 
 port ,  and  their  habits  strongly  remind  us  of  the  company  of  Ish- 
 maelites  coming  from  Gilead,  with  their  camels  laden  with  spicery, 
 balm  and  myrrh,  going  to  carry  it  down  to  Egypt.  Gen.  XXXVII,  25. 
 
 ®^  Chadija  was  forty,  M.  only  a  few  months  past  twenty  five. 
 Other  traditions  make  him  twenty  nine,  thirty,  or  thirty  seven,  and 
 Chad,  twenty  eight,  thirty  or  thirty  five. 
 
 ^"  Chad,  offered  her  hand  through  Nafisa,  a  female  slave,  and 
 appointed  the  hour  of  meeting. 
 
 ^^  Insan  Aluyun  says  respecting  M's  stay  in  the  cave  of  mount 
 Hara:  "He  could  not  remain  a  month  in  it,  because  his  circum- 
 stances were  not  so  favourable  as  to  provide  a  month's  provision." 
 It  is  also  stated ,  that  Abubcker  had  to  advance  his  travelling  ex- 
 pences  at  his  emigration  to  Medina. 
 
62        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAAOIED.  [parti. 
 
 the  chiefs  of  Mecca  quarrelled,  as  to  who  should  re- 
 store the  black  stoue  on  the  occasion  of  the  rebuil- 
 ding of  the  Kaaba,  he  settled  the  dispute  to  the 
 satisfaction  of  the  contending  parties  by  laying  the 
 sacred  stone  on  a  carpet,  and  requesting  the  foiu* 
 pretenders  to  lift  it  up  by  the  four  corners,  whilst 
 he  himself  took  the  stone  and  put  it  in  its  place.'' 
 For  the  next  five  years  Mohammed  lived  more  and 
 more  in  retirement;  he  frequently,  especially  during 
 the  sacred  month  of  Ramadhan  resorted  to  a  cave  in 
 mount  Ilara,  sometimes  with  Chadija,  but  generally 
 alone.  His  grandfather  Abdahnutalib  was  accustom- 
 ed before  him  to  ascend  this  mountain  for  religious 
 exercises,  and  there  to  feed  the  poor. '^^  It  was 
 doubtless  iluring  this  period  of  seclusion  that  Mo- 
 hammed projected  his  scheme  of  becoming  the  re- 
 former of  the  religion  of  his  people;  there  also  he 
 had  leisure  to  digest  his  impressions  of  the  Jewish 
 and  Christian  religions. 
 
 3.  In  his  fortieth  year  intending  to  avow  his  pro- 
 phetical Mission'*  and  "the  night  approaching 
 which,"    according  to  Abulfeda   "was  to  cover  him 
 
 '^  "(Sr  He^  ben  ©tcin  oitf  ciiicii  jivojifn  au^flebreftcten  3"c^3t"'^  tfgcn, 
 itnb  biefeii  wn  ben  ^^retcnbentcn  in  bie  ^otje  ticben ,  bi^  an  ben  E'rt  \vc  tx 
 InnfLMnnifn  fpflfc.  ^icronf  ncihm  cr  ii(obann  fclbft  ben  Stein  niit  cij^enet 
 ^iinb  vvm  Jcppicli  anf,  nnb  bradUe  ilm  an  ben  Crt,  WO  er  \ic<\(n  mufite." 
 2Ba[)[  pag.  24.  E. 
 
 ^■^  Thus  Ali  Ilalibi  in  his  Insan  Ahi;yiin,  who  quotes  Ebn  Ala- 
 thir.  The  same  in  Sirat  Arrassul  by  Ibrahim  Ilalibi,  fol.36.  whose 
 biograpliy,  compressed  in  sixty  three  lines  of  2)oetry  was  printed  at 
 liulak  1248  of  the  Ilcdgra  with  a  Turkish  commentary. 
 
 ^*  This  jicriod  was  no  doubt  fixed  upon  in  accordance  with  an 
 ancient  Arabic  tradition,  that  God  never  called  a  prophet  before 
 the  fortieth  year  of  his  age. 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  63 
 
 with  plorv"  Mohammed  withdrew  to  the  solitary 
 cave  in  the  recesses  of  mount  Kara;  and  it  worthy 
 of  notice  that  his  pretended  revelations  here  began 
 with  those  spasmodic  convulsions,  to  which  he  had 
 been  subject  as  a  child ,  and  which  had  frequently 
 attacked  him  durino-  the  interval. 
 
 That  Mohammed  was  subject  to  a  species  of 
 epileptic  fits  has  been  recorded  by  Theophanes  and 
 other  Christian  writers  who  followed  him;  and  though 
 some  learned  critics,  who  might  have  been  better 
 informed,  have  accused  these  authors  of  slander,  * ^ "* 
 yet  the  fact  is  established  and  placed  beyond  the 
 shadow  of  a  doubt  by  the  oldest  and  most  faithful 
 Moslem  biographers.  As  this  subject  is  of  the  ut- 
 most imjiortance  for  a  just  appreciation  of  the  real 
 nature  of  Islamism,  we  must  be  permitted  to  subjoin 
 the  testimony  of  those ,  whose  interest  it  might  have 
 been  to  deny  the  matter. 
 
 Ali  Halibi  writes  in  his  history  of  the  prophet: 
 "Ebn  Ishak  relates ,  what  he  has  heard  from  his 
 masters,  viz.,  that  Mohammed  was  subjected  to  the 
 treatment  of  an  exorcist ,  when  in  Mecca  before  the 
 Koran  was  revealed  to  him. '^'^     On  the  coming  down 
 
 "'"  This  was  done  by  the  learned  Frenchman  Gagnier  in  his 
 work:  "La  vie  de  Mahomet;  traduite  et  compilec  de  I'Alcoran  des 
 traditions  authentiques  de  laSonna  et  des  meillours  auteurs  Arabes," 
 A.  D.  1732;  which  has  become  the  foundation  of  almost  every  other 
 European  biography  since  his  day;  and  it  is  not  perhaps  to  be 
 wondered  that  more  modern  authors  should  have  followed  his  views 
 on  the  subject  in  question.  See  also  Ockley  Hist,  of  the  Saracens, 
 Vol.  I.  pag.  3UU. 
 
 ^^  The  word  applied  signifies:  "Treated  or  cured  by  an  ex- 
 orcist."    That  this  could  not  refer  to  the  attacks  which  M.  had  as 
 
64        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [parti. 
 
 of  the  Koran  the  same  attacks  returned  which  he 
 had  before.  Prior  to  that  period  he  was  subject  to 
 fainting  fits  after  violently  trembling;  with  closed 
 eyes  he  foamed,  and  roared  like  a  young  camel. ^' 
 Chadija  (God  be  gracious  unto  her)  then  said:  I  will 
 fetch  somebody  to  cure  thee  (an  exorcist);  but  he 
 replied.     I  want  nobody  at  present." ^'^ 
 
 After  the  first  alleged  vision  of  the  angel  Gabriel 
 Mohammed  coming  to  Chadija  trembling  and  damp 
 with  perspiration,  exclaimed:  "Cover  me;'^  I  fear 
 for  my  soul."  Chadija  said:  "rejoice:  God  will  not 
 put  you  to  shame,  thou  art  so  kind  to  thy  relations, 
 sincere  in  thy  words,  afraid  of  no  trouble  to  serve 
 
 a  child  is  clear  from  the  fact,  that  this  was  not  in  Mecca,  but  in 
 the  country;  and  then,  the  Moslem  saw  nothing  in  that  attack  but 
 the  effect  of  M"s  breast  being  opened  by  the  angel. 
 
 ''"'  Ali  Ilalibi  adds  to  this  term:  "this  is  an  attack  which  ^fo- 
 hanimcd  sometimes  had;  referring  especially  to  the /o/«.^/»(7  which 
 was  caused  by  demons,  on  which  account  M.  said  to  his  wife  I  fear 
 for  my  soul." 
 
 ^**    See  the  Arabic  text:   "Journal  Asiatique,  Juillet  184:2." 
 
 ^^  Sur.  LXXin.  with  an  allusion  to  this  fact,  M.  is  called  "the 
 wrapped  up,"   Jooy4.Jt,  the  participial  form,  which  is  used  per  syn- 
 
 copen  instead   Joo.jJiL»J(;   and  Sur.  LXXIV.  1.  he  is  addressed:   "0 
 
 then  covered  one":   jj<X*Jt.     "Gj?  hat  allc  93ermut^ung  fur  ftrf),  bag 
 
 fd)Lnt  jeiter,  3lmme  uiib  Tlntkx  in  Sdirerfcn  fc^fiitc  5lnfa((,  wMhx  tl)n  in  ber 
 friiiifftcn  ,<^iiibfioit  cvfdnittcvto,  in  ircld'cm  t'ic  5linmc  i^cvaPC;^!!  Satano  ®cvfe 
 crblidcu  ivolltc  (Abulf.  Vit.  Muh.  cap.  IV.),  nid^te  antcrce  iicivcfeu  i|1  aleS 
 hjaei  mx  3amnier  unb  fflofc^  ©cfeii  ^u  nennen  ^.^ftciicn.  2i}ar  SJl.  eiii  ^alU 
 fiidi  tiller,  fo  crfKut  cc  fid)  I)icrauo  am  Icid^tcftcn,  bag  ilin  fciiic  uiu^laubii^en 
 
 3citiifiuMTcii  ciiicn  Q3fl'flTciu-ii,  (laemoniacum,  naiintcii iDJaii  liattc  bic 
 
 ©civolnilu'it,  foldic  jii  ;i3obcu  v^cfivcrftc,  yttcvnbe  (SaUfud)tic)e,  iiHU)reiib 
 bet  tramvfhaftcn  fdnittchibcn  33crjiidinii^cii ,  urn  bcm  9(ut^c  ben  ijranfamcn 
 5(nMi(f  511  cnt^iclicn,  obcr  iim  ben  i'lh-Knn-iiditii^tcn  ^wfali  \n  vcvtuWcn ,  iiiit 
 ©elvanb  ju  bcbcrfcn  cccv  in  Jllcibcr  einjiiI;uUcn."  Wahl  pag.  U39.  G43, 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  65 
 
 tliy  neighbour,  supporting  the  poor,  given  to  hospi- 
 tality, and  defending  the  truth."  From  these  words 
 it  is  clear  that  Mohammed  was  all  but  certain  of 
 being  under  the  control  of  an  evil  spirit.  According 
 to  Janabi,  Chadija  had  the  difficult  task  of  consoling 
 her  husband,  AA'hilst  in  her  own  mind  she  was  troub- 
 led as  to  the  nature  of  the  vision.  She  went  with 
 him  to  Waraka,  a  relation  and  a  Christian  priest, 
 who  told  her  that  a  holy  angel  would  flee  at  the 
 sight  of  an  unveiled  woman,  but  that  an  evil  spirit 
 could  bear  the  sight.  ^"^  Chadija  was  determined  to 
 apply  the  test,^^  and  requested  her  husband  to  in- 
 form her  when  the  vision  should  next  appear;  Mo- 
 hammed did  so;  and  on  her  removing  the  veil  from 
 her  face  he  declared,  the  angel  was  gone;  which  cir- 
 cumstance convinced  her  that  it  was  a  holy  angel 
 and  not  the  devil! 
 
 As  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  establish 
 the  connection  between  the  visions  of  Mohammed 
 and  these  dreaded ^^  attacks,  we  refer  to  other  evi- 
 dence derived  from  Ali  Halibi,  who  records  the  ac- 
 
 ^^  Probably  an  allusion  to  the  words  of  St  Paul :  Sm  tovto 
 ocpeiXei  Tj  yvvTj  i^ovoiav  t/^eiv  inl  tfjg  xecpaXfjg ,  dux  rovg  dyysXovg. 
 1  Cor.  XL  10. 
 
 *'^  Ali  Ilalibi  records  that  Chadija  made  M.  sit  in  different 
 positions  and  that  in  each  of  them  he  declared,  he  saw  the  angel, 
 till  she  removed  the  veil,  when  he  saw  him  no  more.  "Then  said 
 she:  "by  God!  it  is  true,  it  is  true,  it  was  an  angel  and  no  devil." 
 To  this  tradition  the  author  of  the  Hamzij'ah  refers,  when  he  writes: 
 „She  threw  her  veil  away  to  know  whether  it  was  a  true  revelation 
 or  a  fainting  produced  by  demons." 
 
 ®*  As  a  proof  of  Mohammed's  misgiving  as  to  the  source,  from 
 which  his  revelations  proceeded,  may  be  added,  that  he  used  to 
 tremble  and  shake  violently,  when  the  time  of  his  visions  drew  near. 
 
 E 
 
GQ         AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 count  given  by  Ayesha.  We  read  in  his  Insan  Alu- 
 yun:  "A  tradition,  which  is  founded  upon  Ayesha's 
 testimony,  says :  the  prophet  was  exceedingly  oppress- 
 ed, as  often  as  the  angel  appeared;  the  sweat  fell 
 from  his  forehead  during  the  coldest  weather,  his 
 eyes  became  red,  and  at  times  he  roared  like  a  young 
 camel." "^  Zaid,  an  eyewitness  adds:  "As  often  as 
 the  prophet  received  a  revelation,  it  was  as  if  his 
 soul  was  to  be  taken  from  him,  he  had  a  kind  of 
 fainting,  and  looked  like  a  drunken  man."  Abu  Ha- 
 riri,^* says:  "when  the  revelation  came  down  to 
 Mohammed,  none  dared  to  look  at  him;  according  to 
 another  account,  he  was  angry  if  any  one  looked  at 
 him:  his  face  was  covered  with  foam,  his  eyes  were 
 closed,  and  sometimes  he  roared  like  a  camel." 
 
 Ilarith  Ebn  liisham  asked  the  Arab  prophet: 
 "In  what  manner  dost  thou  receive  the  revelation? 
 He  answered:  sometimes  an  angel  ajipears  in  the 
 form  of  a  man^''  and  speaks  to  me;  sometimes  I 
 hear  sounds ^^  like  those  of  a  bell;  then  I  become 
 very  bad,  and  when  he  (the  angel)  leaves  me,  I  have 
 received  the  revelations."**'^ 
 
 From  these  facts  we  gather,   that   ]\Iohammed 
 
 ^^  Weil  "Mohamniod  dor  Prophet,"  pag.  44.  note  48.  Zaid 
 Ebn  Tliabit  repeats  tlie  same ,  and  adds  that  he  was  frequently  at- 
 tacked when  riding  on  the  camel. 
 
 ^*    In  "Moslem's  Collection  of  traditions", 
 
 ^'^  Generally  in  that  of  his  friend  Dihja,  the  subsequent  am- 
 bassador to  the  I'ersian  Monarch. 
 
 ^^  Noise  in  the  ears  is  one  of  the  well-known  symptoms  of 
 epilepsy. 
 
 ^^    See  the  MSS  of  Insan  Aluyun  and  Chamis. 
 
CHAP.  Ill]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  67 
 
 was  subject  to  violent  spasmodic  attacks  at  various 
 periods  of  his  life;  that  he  himself  considered  them 
 the  work  of  an  evil  spirit;  that  he  put  himself  under 
 the  treatment  of  an  exorcist;  and  that  even  after  his 
 alleged  Mission  he  expressed  his  misgivings  as  to 
 the  nature  of  the  demon  which  inspired  him;  and 
 we  can  easily  understand  the  reason  why  his  coun- 
 trymen constantly  charged  him  with  being  possessed 
 by  a  devil,  even  after  he  and  his  followers  had  per- 
 suaded themselves  to  the  contrary/^ 
 
 Waraka,  Ebn  Naufal,  the  cousin  whom  Chadija 
 had  consulted,  was  a  learned  priest,  converted  to 
 Christianity  from  Judaism  'in  the  time  of  igno- 
 rance," well  read  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  ^^ 
 and  is  said  to  have  translated  the  Gospel  into  Ara- 
 bic; ®°  all  this  explains  the   influence  which  he  had* 
 
 ^®  "Why  will  they  not  understand,"  he  makes  God  complain 
 "that  there  is  no  evil  spirit  in  their  fellow  man."  Sur.  VII.  183. 
 Gagnier  makes  M.  a  hypochondriac  and  Noel  des  Vergers  pag.  8 
 considers  him  mad;  "atteint  de  folie."  Others  class  him  with 
 Montanists,  quakers  and  jumpers,  and  thus  account  for  his  alleged 
 inspirations.  Theophanes  was  of  opinion  that  M.  put  forth  the 
 vision  of  an  angel  to  hide  his  disease ,  but  the  disease  no  doubt 
 was  the  cause  of  the  vision ,  only  in  a  different  sense  from  what  is 
 commonly  accepted,  as  will  be  shown  towards  the  end  of  this 
 chapter. 
 
 Sirrat  Arrusul  fol.  36. 
 
 Lsxci   (j^  V^-'^  ij'  «-Ut  ^^  ^^  J^^V=?^^'  1^^  *^)-*^^ 
 
 4^  tXi'  tv^vy     Chamis  second  leaf  of  the  chapter  "Of  the  events 
 
 at  the  beginning  of  the  prophetical  mission."     See  also  Mamizade    ' 
 pag.  53. 
 
 E* 
 
68        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  I. 
 
 with  his  cousin  and  Mohammed  in  removing  the 
 suspicion  that  his  attacks  were  caused  by  satanic 
 agency.  That  Mohammed  held  this  man  in  great 
 esteem  and  acquired  from  him  much  of  his  know- 
 ledge of  Judaism  and  Christianitv  is  sufficiently 
 known  to  require  any  further  corroboration:  and  this 
 may  accoimt  for  the  importance,  which  ]\Iohammed 
 attached  to  Waraka's  testimony,  that  he  was  the 
 gTeat  prophet,  who  had  been  prophesied  in  the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 In  the  fii'st  three  years  of  his  Mission,^*  Mo- 
 hammed required  his  friends  and  relatives  only,  to 
 acknowledge  him  as  a  prophet;  among  the  fii'st  who 
 did  so,  were  Abubeker,  a  man  two  years  his  junior, 
 Zaid,  Mohammed's  slave  and  Ali,  a  youth  whom 
 Abu  Talib  adopted  during  the  famine,®^  who  after- 
 wards became  his  son-in-law.  It  will  be  remembered 
 when  Mohammed  asked,  who  would  he  his  Vizier 
 or  assistant  to  share  the  burden  of  his  office,  and 
 none  ventured  to  answer  that  Ali ,  then  a  mere 
 youth,  rose  and  spake:  "I,  0  proj^het  am  the  man, 
 whom  thou  seekest,  whoever  he  be  that  shall  rise 
 up  against  thee,  I  will  knock  out  his  teeth,  will 
 tear  out  his  eyes,  will  throttle  him  and  grind  his 
 bones.     Let   me   0  proj^het    be   thy  Vizier!"     This 
 
 ^^  Respecting  the  day  and  month  of  his  mission,  the  traditions 
 do  not  agree ,  and  it  is  a  disputed  point  whether  the  celebration  of 
 jtXii-''  RJLJ,    the   night   of  power  or  destiny,   which  falls  on  the 
 
 twenty  seventh  of  Raraadhan,  is  correct.  See  Lane's  Modern  Egypt 
 II.  pag.  238.  and  Abulfeda  ed.  Noel  des  Vergers  pag.  107. 
 
 ^^  Ali  was  only  from  eight  to  eleven  years  old ;  some  say  four- 
 teen years,  at  all  events  he  was  a  mere  lad. 
 
CHAP,  m.]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROrHET.  69 
 
 shows  tlie  spirit  of  the  youth ,  and  explains ,  why 
 INlohammed  afterwards  called  him  the  "lion  of  God." 
 
 Among  the  first  INIoslemin  may  also  be  reckoned 
 Arkam,  —  in  whose  house  their  meetings  were  held 
 after  having  been  surprised  and  maltreated  in  the 
 cave, — the  dw^arf  AbdallahEbnMasud,  and  the  brave 
 Abu  Ubeida.  Among  the  women  we  have  besides 
 Chadija,  Um  Afdal,  the  wife  of  Abbas,  Um  Eiman 
 or  Baraka  the  Abyssinian,  and  Asma,  the  daughter 
 of  Abubeker.  The  total  number  of  Mohammed's 
 followers,  during  the  first  three  years  of  his  Mission, 
 amounted  scarcely  to  forty,  mostly  young  people 
 strangers  and  slaves,  yet  a  beginning  w^as  made. 
 
 In  the  fourth,  or  as  some  state  the  fifth  year, 
 Mohammed  resolved  to  go  a  step  further  and  openly 
 proclaim  himself  a  prophet ;^^  first  combating  the 
 idea  that  he  w^as  possessed  by  a  devil.  ^*  In  this 
 bold  step,  from  which  he  evidently  shrank  for  some 
 time,  he  met  with  the  most  decided  opjDosition.  On 
 one  occasion  w^hen  threatening  his  relatives  with 
 hell-fire,  he  w^as  loaded  in  return  with  imprecations: 
 and  on  denouncing  their  idols  as  impotent,  and  their 
 fathers  as  having  lived  in  a  state  of  ignorance,  he 
 
 ^^  To  this  he  received  a  special  commission :  "Wherefore  pub- 
 lish that  which  thou  hast  been  commanded  and  withdraw  from  the 
 idolaters.  We  will  surely  take  thy  part  against  the  scoffers." 
 Sur.  XV.  94—99. 
 
 '*  "The  devils  did  not  descend  with  the  Koran  (as  the  infidels 
 give  out)  it  is  not  for  their  purjjose ,  neither  are  they  able  (to  pro- 
 duce such  a  book)  for  they  are  far  removed  from  hearing 
 
 Shall  I  declare  unto  you  upon  whom  the  devils  descend  ?  They 
 descend  upon  every  lying  and  wicked  person."  Sur.  XXVI.  210. 
 211.221.222. 
 
70         AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,   [part  i. 
 
 would  have  been  strangled  in  the  Kaaba,  had  not 
 Abiibeker  come  to  his  assistance.^" 
 
 Equally  dangerous  became  the  position  of  his 
 followers ;  Mohammed  therefore  advised  them  to 
 leave  the  country;  consequently  eleven  men  and  four 
 women  sailed  for  Abyssinia,  where  with  others  who 
 followed,  they  found  an  asylum,  till  Islamism  became 
 established  in  the  Peninsula.  ^^ 
 
 The  next  step  taken  by  the  enemies  of  Moham- 
 med was  to  plot  against  his  life ,  and  a  price  of  a 
 hundred  camels  and  1000  ounces  of  silver  was  set 
 upon  his  head:  but  Omar,  who  had  undertaken  to 
 murder  him,®^  when  about  to  perpetrate  the  deed, 
 relented  and  became  a  Moslem.  Notwithstanding 
 this  escape  Mohammed's  position  soon  became  un- 
 tenable, and  he  was  so  cast  down  and  discouraged, 
 that  either  from  fear  or  with  a  hope  of  conciliating 
 his  enemies,  he  made  a  most  dangerous  concession: 
 that  of  restoring  the  idols  of  the  Arabs  to  the  rank 
 of  mediators  between  God  and  man.  Subsequently 
 however  being  reassured  by  the  protection  of  his 
 uncle  he  declared  this  concession  to  have  been  made 
 at  the  instigation  of  Satan.''*' 
 
 ^^  Abu  Talib  being  no  longer  able  to  protect  M.  requested  his 
 connections  to  share  the  responsibility. 
 
 ^'^  These  emigrants  were  pursued  to  the  coast,  but  managed  to 
 escape  in  a  ship.  Nor  did  the  bribe  afterwards  sent  to  the  Abys- 
 sinian j)rince,  induce  him  to  give  them  up. 
 
 ^"  Omar,  afterwards  one  of  the  stauachest  defenders  of  Isla- 
 mism was  then  only  twenty  six  years  of  age.  On  his  way  to 
 murder  M.  he  is  told  by  a  secret  Moslem,  that  his  sister  Fatiraa 
 was  a  convert;  going  to  her  he  finds  her  learning  the  twentieth 
 Sura,  and  the  result  is  his  own  conversion. 
 
 ^'^    The  concession  is  alluded  to  Sur.  XXII.  51.  where  Satan  is 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  7  1 
 
 Abu  I'allb  fearing  further  attempts  on  the  hfe 
 of  his  nephew,  removed  him  to  his  fortified  castle  in 
 the  country,  whither  he  was  followed  by  many  ad- 
 herents of  the  new  creed ,  who  during  the  space  of 
 three  years  shared  Mohammed's  privations.®^  The 
 Koreishites  exasperated  at  his  escaping  through  the 
 assistance  of  his  uncle,  resolved  to  outlaw  him  and 
 his  friends  as  enemies  of  the  peace ,  which  they  did 
 by  affixing  a  document  to  that  effect  on  the  walls  of 
 the  Kaaba.  Whilst  an  exile  from  Mecca  two  instan- 
 ces of  conversion  are  recorded ,  the  first  being  that 
 of  a  Christian  caravan  from  Nadjran,  the  second  that 
 of  an  exorcist,  who  hearing  that  Mohammed  was 
 possessed,  offered  to  cure  him,  instead  of  which,  he 
 himself  caught  the  infection  of  Islamism.  ^  When 
 at  the  end  of  three  years,  the  interdict  was  removed, 
 Mohammed    returned   to  Mecca,    and    shortly  after 
 
 said  to  have  put  wrong'  things  into  all  the  prophets  before  him;  and 
 Sur.  XVII.  75.  76:  "It  wanted  little  (but  the  unbelievers)  had 
 tempted  thee  to  swerve  from  the  instructions ,  which  we  had  re- 
 vealed unto  thee,  that  thou  shouldst  devise  concerning  us  a  ditterent 
 thing,  and  then  they  would  have  taken  thee  for  their  friend,  and 
 unless  we  had  confirmed  thee  thou  hadst  certainly  been  very  near 
 inclining  to  them  a  little." 
 
 ^^  It  was  only  during  the  sacred  months  that  they  were  per- 
 mitted to  enter  Mecca;  for  during  the  festivals  (mausam)  hosti- 
 lities  were  still  suppressed,   according  to  the  Chamis  and  Jannabi. 
 
 *  These  two  conversions  were  brought  to  light  by  Weil,  who 
 refers  to  Insan  Aluyun,  where  Ali  Halibi  quotes  Ujun  Alather.  M. 
 said  to  the  exorcist;  "Thou  profcssest  to  be  able  to  deliver  men 
 from  demons?  Only  God  we  may  intreat  for  help;  whom  he  guidetli 
 no  one  can  lead  astray,  but  whom  he  leads  into  error,  no  one  can 
 deliver.  Confess  that  there  is  one  God ,  who  has  chcsen  mo  to  be 
 his  apostle  "  In  this  period  fell  the  revelation  of  Sura  XXX.  and 
 the  prediction  of  the  conquest  of  the  Persians  by  the  Greeks. 
 
72        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 sustained  the  loss  of  his  uncle,  who  died  as  a  Pagan, 
 never  having  acknowledged  the  Mission  of  his  nephew: 
 for  although  he  protected  him  from  first  to  last,  he 
 like  most  of  his  contemporaries  considered  his  visi- 
 ons to  be  nothing  but  the  effect  of  satanic  inspi- 
 ration.^ Within  three  days  of  his  uncle's  death 
 Mohammed  lost  his  wife  Chadija,  but  was,  it  ap- 
 pears, less  afflicted  at  this  event;  for  although  his 
 consideration  for  her  prevented  his  taking  other 
 wives  during  her  life  time,  only  a  month  elapsed  be- 
 fore he  married  ^anda  a  refugee  widow  in  Abyssinia, 
 and  shortly  after  he  was  betrothed  to  Ayesha ,  the 
 daughter  of  Abubeker,  who  was  then  only  seven 
 years  old. 
 
 After  the  death  of  his  uncle  Mohammed's  ene- 
 mies became  more  violent  than  ever  and  expelled 
 him  from  Mecca.  In  Taif,  two  days  journey  east  of 
 his  native  town,  whither  he  fled  for  safety,  he  received 
 no  protection,  although  connected  with  its  inhabi- 
 tants ,  but  was  hunted  out  of  the  place  by  slaves  and 
 children,  and  compelled  to  return  to  Mecca,  where 
 happily  through  the  influence  of  INIutim,  a  respectable 
 non-Koreishite  citizen  of  the  town,  he  was  re-ad- 
 mitted. 
 
 In  spite  of  all  the  misfortunes  connected  with 
 this  disastrous  occurrence,  the  persecuted  23ropliet  re- 
 
 '  2  The  homage  of  the  Genii  is  related  Sur.  LXXII.  1  —  14.  The 
 rapture  to  heaven  is  a  traditional  legend,  which  is  recorded  in  ex- 
 tenso:  Gagnier,  "La  Vie  de  Mahomet"  II.  pag.  195—251.  and  is 
 looked  upon  by  many  IMoslomin  as  a  mere  vision,  whilst  the  night- 
 journey  to  Jerusalem  is  admitted  by  them  as  real.  See  Sur.  XVII. 
 61.  where  M.  speaks  of  this  also  as  a  vision;  compare  verse  1. 
 
CHAP,  m.]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  73 
 
 entered  Mecca  greatly  strengthened  by  the  hom- 
 age of  the  demons,  and  the  celebrated  journey  to 
 heaven,  whither  he  had  been  carried  by  a  winged 
 horse,  and  where  he  was  saluted  by  God  as  the  most 
 beloved  of  messengers,  and  most  excellent  of  crea- 
 tures. The  relation  of  this  marvel  exposed  him 
 to  fresh  outbursts  of  ridicule  and  contempt,  and  many 
 of  the  faithful  left  him  in  consequence.^  Yet  du- 
 ring the  ensuing  festival,  Mohammed  found  some 
 willing  ears  among  the  pilgrims  from  Medina;  his 
 new  disciples  could  not  indeed  alter  his  precarious 
 position,  but  they  could  use  then'  influence  on  return- 
 ing to  their  country  to  circulate  his  doctrines.  In  this 
 they  prospered  to  such  an  extent,  that  we  find  in  the 
 following  year  A.  D.  621  a  double  number  of  con- 
 verts in  Medina,  able  to  afford  protection  to  refugees 
 from  Mecca.* 
 
 On  the  occasion  of  the  next  annual  festival,  when 
 Mohammed  was  fifty  three  lunar  years  old,  no  less 
 than  seventy  three  pilgrims  came  from  Medina,  all 
 Moslemin;  the  meeting  on  Akaba  was  resumed,  and 
 a  treaty  offensive  and  defensive  concluded  between 
 them,  with  the  request  -that  Mohammed  should  emi- 
 grate to  Medina.  The  prophet  however  remained  for  the 
 
 '  His  own  aunt,  Uni  Hani  thought  it  so  incredible,  that  she 
 took  hold  of  his  garment  and  conjured  him  not  to  make  himself 
 more  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the  Koreshites.   Weil  pag.  171. 
 
 *  The  men  first  taught  by  M.  on  mount  Akaba  belonged  to 
 the  tribe  of  Chazradj ,  with  whom  he  was  connected  through  his 
 mother ,  and  who  had  long  been  allies  of  the  Jews  at  Medina ; 
 through  the  latter  they  must  have  heard  of  a  great  projihet,  the 
 expected  Messiah. 
 
74         AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED.  [i'ART  i. 
 
 time  at  Mecca,  but  in  September  622,  in  consequence 
 of  a  conspiracy  to  murder  him,  lie  fled  to  Medina;^ 
 meeting  the  tribe  Beni  Sahm  on  his  way,  he  gained 
 them  as  converts,  and  their  chief  Bureida  taking  off 
 his  turban  and  tying  it  to  his  lance  for  a  flag,  accom- 
 panied him  to  Medina. 
 
 Arrived  at  Yathrib  the  ancient  name  of  Medina, 
 the  latter  simply  signifying  "town",  —  Mohammed's 
 first  acts  were  these,  to  institute  the  religious  rites, 
 to  give  a  new  home  to  the  emigi-ants,  to  build  the 
 first  Mosque,^  and  to  organise  a  fraternity  between 
 the  Meccan  and  Medina  believers,  which  extended 
 even  to  mutual  inheritance  at  the  expence  of  their 
 own  relatives. 
 
 In  the  seventh  mouth  after  his  arrival  he  mar- 
 ried Ayesha  in  her  ninth  year,  the  wedding  break- 
 fast consisted  of  a  cup  of  milk,   which  Mohammed 
 
 ^  For  three  months  Abubekcr  had  two  camels  in  readiness  to 
 carry  them  away  at  a  moment's  notice.  After  his  followers  had 
 left,  M.  was  exposed  to  imiiiiiiont  peril,  for  expecting  he  would 
 follow,  his  enemies  surroiiiuled  his  house  to  murder  him.  M.  having 
 been  sicquainted  Avith  their  design  ordered  Ali  to  be  put  into  his 
 bed,  whilst  lie  escaped  on  the  other  side  of  the  house  and  retreated 
 with  Abubeker  to  a  cave  one  mile  East  of  Mecca;  leaving  it  on 
 the  fourth  day  they  went  towards  Medina  by  a  less  frequented 
 road  along  the  Red  sea.  From  this  flight  or  rather  emigration," 
 dates  the  era  of  the  Mohammedans ;  8wjS\iC,   emigration;    »s>.t\jO, 
 
 the  emigrant.     The  flight  is  confirmed  by  Sur.  Vlil.  30. 
 
 ''  l^nte  trees  were  cut  down,  the  dead  hurried  beneath  them 
 exhumed,  and  a  simple  structure  was  reared  of  live  to  seven  yards 
 high,  and  a  100  square.  At  night  it  was  illuminated  with  burning 
 pieces  of  wood ,  till  oil  lamps  were  provided  by  some  generous 
 Moslem.  The  Kaliphs  transformed  it  into  a  gorgeous  temple,  which 
 is  to  this  day  a  ])lace  of  j)ilgrimage.  By  the  side  of  it  was  built 
 a  harem,  for  Mohammed's  favourite  wives. 
 
CHAP.  HI]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET. 
 
 75 
 
 obtained  from  Zaad,  who  with  A  sad  alternately  sup- 
 plied him  with  food.  His  daughter  was  shortly  after 
 married  to  Ali;  her  outfit  was  two  garments,  a 
 kohel-apparatus ,  two  silver  bracelets,  a  leathern 
 pillow  of  palm-leaves ,  a  cup  and  a  few  water  jars. 
 Her  bridal  bed  was  a  sheep-skin;  and  a  dish  of  dates 
 and  olives  composed  the  wedding  feast. 
 
 With  a  view  to  gain  the  Jews  Mohammed  made 
 several  concessions;  such  as  the  turning  of  the  face 
 towards  Jerusalem,  the  retaining  of  the  celebration 
 of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  adherence  to  other  Mosaic 
 ordinances;  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  command  the 
 observation  of  the  fast,  Yom  Kipur,  or  the  tenth 
 day  of  the  month  Tishri,  with  which  the  Jewish  year 
 commences;  but  failing  in  his  scheme,  these  con-  , 
 cessions  were  subsequently  rescinded.^  His  most/]  ^ 
 important  act  during  the  first  year  of  the  Hedgra 
 was  the  proclamation  of  war,  as  the  heaven-or- 
 dained means  of  spreading  the  faith.  He  could  not 
 yet  venture  on  open  warfare,  but  contenting  himself 
 with  the  irregular  exploits  of  a  robber,  he  plundered 
 the  Meccan  caravans,  which  passed  near  Medina  on 
 their  way  to  and  from  Syria.** 
 
 As  the  Koreishites  however,  were  too  cautious  to 
 be  entrapped,  he  resorted  to  the  base  and  treacherous 
 measure   of  attacking  them  during  the  four  sacred 
 
 ^  The  Jews  desired  to  retain  all  their  laws  and  rites ;  and  re- 
 jected M's  claim ,  mainly  because  he  was  not  of  the  house  of 
 David. 
 
 ^  M.  once  issuing  forth  with  seventy  men  against  a  caravan 
 the  expedition  ended  in  a  league;  a  second  was  attcmi^ted  against 
 2500  camels,  a  third  against  1000,  but  both  failed. 
 
76        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 months,  wlien  they  considered  themselves  perfectly- 
 safe.  ^ 
 
 The  first  actual  engagement  at  Beder  between 
 the  rival  parties  took  place  in  the  month  of  Ramad- 
 han,  in  the  second  year  of  the  Hedgra;  this  time 
 also  Mohammed  set  out  against  a  richly  laden  cara- 
 van, returning  from  Syria.  But  its  chief,  Abu 
 Sofian  having  received  news  of  his  movements,  sent 
 "for  troops  from  Mecca,  which  came  forth  to  meet 
 Mohammed,  whilst  the  caravan  safely  passed  another 
 way.  In  this  struggle  between  314  Moslemin  and 
 600  Meccans;^°  the  latter  lost  seventy  men  on  the 
 spot,  many  being  made  prisoners.  Mohammed  took 
 no  active  part  in  the  battle ,  but  was  engaged  in 
 prayer,  hence  the  victory  was  ascribed  to  the  help 
 of  angels.^*  This  success  with  its  rich  spoil  so  far 
 increased  his  ranks ,  that  he  now  felt  strong  enough 
 to  revenge  himself  upon  the  Jews.*^  After  a  few 
 assassinations  open  war  was  made  against  the  tribe 
 of  the  Beni  Keinukaa,  some  of  whom  lived  in  Me- 
 dina; on  their  refusing  to  embrace  Islamism  they 
 were  made  prisoners,  and  would  have  been  masacred, 
 
 *  Great  scandal  was  occasioned  by  M.  sending  Abdallah  against 
 them  with  sealed  orders  and  it  required  a  divine  sanction  to  justify 
 his  murderous  attack.    Sur,  II.  217. 
 
 1"  Journal  Asiatique  VII.  p.  97  etc.  and  Sur.  111.  124.  125. 
 VIII.  9.  10.  IG. 
 
 1*    Sur.  Vin.  41. 
 
 *^  The  first  victim  was  Asma ,  the  daughter  of  Mervan 
 who  had  A\Tittcn  some  satyrcs  against  him  ;  the  second  a 
 Jew  wlio   was   120  years  old.      Weil,   p.  117.  118. 
 
CHAP.  Ill]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  7 7 
 
 had  not  Mohammed  been  prevented  from  carrying 
 out  his  purpose.*^ 
 
 For  thirteen  months  Mohammed  continued  phui- 
 dering  the  caravans  of  Mecca  with  impunity ,  until 
 the  Koreishites  determining  to  revenge  themselves 
 sent  3000  men  against  Medina.  The  prophet  was 
 compelled  to  meet  them  and  in  the  battle  of  Ohod, 
 lost  seventy  of  his  best  men,  amongst  whom  was 
 his  uncle  Hamza;  he  himself  being  wounded  was  for 
 some  time  considered  dead/* 
 
 Many  other  misfortunes  followed  the  battle  of 
 Ohod,  which  fell  specially  upon  the  Missionaries  of 
 Islamism,  several  of  whom  were  murdered.  With  a 
 view  therefore  to  indemnify  his  followers  Mohammed 
 attacked  another  Jewish  tribe,*'  but  being  well  for- 
 tified in  their  castles  they  held  out  for  some  time 
 and  he  permitted  them  to  emigrate  with  part  of 
 their  substance.  As  the  spoil  was  gained  without  the 
 sword,  Mohammed's  followers  were  disappointed  by 
 his  claiming  it  for  himself.  These  and  other  success- 
 ful dej)redations  caused  another  army  of  10,000  men 
 to  be  raised  against  Mohammed;  it  was  commanded 
 by  Abu  Sofian  the  head  of  the  Koreishites.*^    The 
 
 *^  They  were  put  in  fetters,  that  he  might  slay  them  the  more 
 easily,  but  Abdallah,  under  whose  protection  they  were,  prevented 
 it;  Sur.  V.  59.  60.  was  revealed  to  rebuke  him  for  his  interference. 
 
 **  He  was  found  in  a  ditch,  and  had  lost  one  of  his  front-teeth; 
 had  he  not  been  recognised  by  Kaab  through  his  armour  and  hel- 
 met, he  would  probably  have  perished  on  the  field. 
 
 ^^  The  Beni  Nadhir,  see  Weil  p.  134  till  139.  and  Sur.  LIX. 
 1—16. 
 
 '^   This  was  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  Hedgra,  March  A.  D.  627. 
 
78         AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 prophet  now  dreading  an  open  engagement,  en- 
 trenched himself  within  the  walls  of  Medina,  working 
 himself  at  the  fortifications.  But  want  of  courao;e  to 
 storm  the  place,  unfavourable  weather,  and  discord 
 among  the  besiegers  induced  them  after  twenty 
 days  to  raise  the  siege.  Mohammed  however  wish- 
 ing to  revenge  the  siege  upon  the  Jewish  tribe,  Beni 
 Koreiza,  who  on  this  trying  occasion  had  joined  the 
 allied  army  against  him,  ordered  a  wholesale  mas- 
 sacre of  the  men  and  the  women  to  be  sold  as  slaves  or 
 exchanged  for  horses;*'  one  of  them,  Rihana  was 
 converted  and  added  to  the  number  of  the  prophet's 
 wives.  *^ 
 
 The  humiliating  siege  of  Medina,  and  the  domes- 
 tic affairs  of  Mohammed  stirred  up  a  party  among 
 his  followers  headed  by  Abdallah  Ebn  Ubej  who  had 
 long  looked  upon  his  growing  power  with  extreme 
 jealousy;  having  uttered  some  severe  remarks  on  the 
 
 '^  Respecting  the  siege  of  Medina  and  this  infamous  war  with 
 the  Jews:  see  Weil,  pag.  160  — 170.  A  description  by  M.  is  found 
 Sur.  XXXIir.  9—14.  20.  25.  20. 
 
 ^^  Shortly  before  this  M.  had  married  the  beautiful  widow  Uni 
 Salma,  and  Zeinab  the  wife  of  his  liberated  slave  Zaid ,  whom  he 
 had  persuaded  to  divorce.  As  it  caused  great  oflcnce  to  his  fol- 
 lowers he  received  a  sjiecial  licence  from  heaven.  Sur.  XXXIII.  4. 
 5.  37 — 39.  Another  wife  he  had  lately  taken  was  Barra,  one  of 
 the  200  captives  from  the  Beni  Mustalik.  We  cannot  be  surprised 
 that  the  faithfulness  of  Ayesha  was  called  into  question  at  this 
 time,  when  so  many  rivals  were  added.  To  silence  her  accusers, 
 Sur.  XXIV.  11  —  20.  appeared.  The  case  of  Kihana  reminds  us  of 
 the  words  of  Homer : 
 
 Tng  6'  kXa&'  th^X&cov  Ilfjia/iiog  /Afyag  uyxi  8'  u^a  aag 
 Xi'.(j()li>  ^/t^dXijog  Xitj'ii:  yhiuTa,  y.ai  yvuf  X''^^'^^ 
 zitivag,  urd(JO(povovg,  la  oi  noXeug  y.xuiov  viag. 
 
 Iliad.  ^  L.  477. 
 
CHAP.  HI]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  79 
 
 prophet, — who  had  not  then  the  power  to  resent 
 the  affront  —  Abdallah  was  requested  by  his  tribe 
 to  seek  Mohammed's  pardon,  to  which  he  repHed: 
 "you  asked  me  to  become  a  behever,  and  I  became 
 one;  you  commanded  me  to  pay  taxes  for  rehgious 
 purposes,  and  1  paid  them;  now  nothing  is  wanting 
 but  that  I  should  worship  Mohammed."*^ 
 
 The  pro[)het  having  thus  raised  a  powerful  feeling 
 against  himself,  felt  it  necessary  in  order  to  recover 
 his  position  and  revive  the  enthusiasm  in  his  cause, 
 to  take  a  fresh  public  step,  and  therefore  proclaimed 
 a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  inviting  both  his  followers 
 and  allies  among  the  Pagan  Arabs  to  join  him.  This 
 scheme  however  partialy  failed,  for  in  spite  of  having 
 mustered  only  700  men,  he  was  compelled  to  start 
 at  once  for  Mecca  in  consequence  of  a  dream,  ^* 
 trusting  that  the  Koreishites  would  forbear  active 
 hostilities  during  the  sacred  months.  Changing  his 
 armour  for  the  garment  of  a  pilgrim  and  taking 
 seventy  camels ,  whom  he  had  marked  for  a  sacri- 
 fice,"  he  set  out,  and  without  molestation  reached 
 
 **  This  produced  the  infallible  Sura,  called  "the  hypocrite," 
 which  came  down  during  one  of  his  so  called  epileptic  fits.  See 
 Sur.  LXIII    1.  2.  5.  7.  8. 
 
 ^^  Great  murraurring  was  also  caused  by  his  cruel  destruction 
 of  the  palm-trees ,  which  served  as  a  means  of  subsistence  to  the 
 Jewish  tribe,  Ben  Nadir,  whom  he  afterwards  drove  into  exile  and 
 the  appropriation  of  the  entire  spoil ,  which  the  verses  ,  Sur.  LIX. 
 1 — 8.  11  — 16.  could  not  allay. 
 
 ^^  M,  dreamed  that  he  entered  Mecca,  and  as  his  dreams  were 
 revelations  from  God,  in  order  to  be  consistent,  he  was  compelled  to  go. 
 
 ^-  The  mark  consisted  in  a  cut  on  the  back  of  the  animal,  and 
 a  piece  of  leather  or  an  old  sandal  round  the  neck.  The  first  was 
 called  "ishar"  the  latter  "taklid." 
 
80         AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED.  [rAKT  i. 
 
 the  vicinity  of  Mecca;  failing  however  to  gain  ad- 
 mittance, the  ceremonies  of  the  Hadj  or  pilgrimage 
 were  performed  at  a  distance;  and  a  truce  with  the 
 Meccans  was  made  for  ten  years  with  the  promise 
 that  at  a  future  festival  Mohammed  might  enter 
 their  city  as  a  pilgrim  and  remain  for  three  days.  ^^ 
 To  divert  the  discontent  of  his  fellow-pilgrims 
 under  these  discouraging  circumstances,  he  proposed 
 war  against  the  Jews  of  Cheibar  and  Fadak,  who 
 dwelt  about  four  days  journey  north-east  of  Medina: 
 some  of  their  fortified  places  were  stormed,  and  the 
 rest  submitted,  engaging  to  pay  half  of  their  income 
 as  tribute.^*  Not  satisfied  with  the  fifth  part  of  the 
 spoil,  which  he  always  claimed  as  divine  right,  he 
 appropriated  an  additional  wife,  in  the  captive  Jewess 
 Safia,  whose  husband  he  had  killed  on  account  of 
 his  hiding  some  of  the  treasures.^'  Zeinab  another 
 Jewess  seeking  to  revenge  the  death  of  her  relatives 
 prepared  a  poisoned  lamb ,  for  the  prophet,  who  did 
 not  however  take  sufficient  of  it  to  cause  his  imme- 
 diate death;  yet  he  believed  his  health  to  have  been 
 destroyed  from  that   hour.  *^     On  his  way  back  to 
 
 ^*    Resi:)ecting  this  visit  at  Mecca  see  Sur.  XLVni.  1 — 27. 
 ^*    Mohammed's  progress  resembled  that  ascribed  to  Caesar  by 
 the  Roman  poet: 
 
 Acer  et  indomitus,  quo  spes,  quoque  ira  vocasset, 
 Ferre  manum,  et  munquam  temerando  parccre  ferro ; 
 Successus  urgere  suos      —      — 
 —      —      Impellens,  quidquid  sibi  summa  petenti 
 Ostaret;  gaudensque  viam  fecisse  ruina. 
 
 Lucan.  lib,  1.    146. 
 
 ^'''    Gagnier  "La  vie  de  Mahomet"  II.  p.  57. 
 
 ^^    When  Zeinab  was  charged  with  the  crime,  she  said.-   "Thou 
 knowest  how  my  people  are  treated  by  thee ;  I  thought  therefore : 
 
CHAP.  HI.]       HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  81 
 
 Medina  two  other  Jewish  tribes  were  conquered  and 
 made  tributary. 
 
 Just  at  this  period,  returned  the  exiled  Moslemin 
 from  Abyssinia,  bringing  with  them  a  report  of  the 
 kind  treatment,  they  had  received  from  tlie  Prince  of 
 that  country,  ^  ^  and  this  circumstance  probably  em- 
 boldened Mohammed  to  send  ^mtten  demands  to 
 foreign  potentates,^®  requiring  them  to  acknowledge 
 him  as  a  divine  prophet  and  to  embrace  Islamism. 
 Some  are  said  to  have  complied  with  this  demand, 
 others  doubtless  from  fear  of  his  marauding  bands, 
 treated  the  ambassadors  with  courtesy  and  respect;  but 
 Chosroes,  the  Persian  king  tore  up  the  epistle  before 
 he  had  finished  reading  its  contents,  and  Amru,  the 
 Ghassanide  killed  the  ambassador.  To  revenge  the 
 murder,  Mohanmied  sent  3000  men  against  Amru, 
 but  the  latter,  being  supported  by  Greek  troops,  de- 
 feated them  near  INIutta,  and  thus  for  the  first  time 
 were  Moslem  forces  brought  into  contact  with  a 
 Christian  army. 
 
 After  Mohammed  had  performed  a  pilgrimage 
 to  Mecca,  staying  only  three  days  according  to  the 
 treaty,   the  Meccans  broke  their  faith  with  him  by 
 
 art  thou  only  a  prince  I  shall  obtain  rest;  art  thou  a  prophet, 
 thou  wilt  be  instructed  of  it."  Traditions  do  not  agree  whether 
 she  was  executed  or  pardoned. 
 
 ^^  Amongst  them  was  the  widow  of  a  Christian ,  Um  Halibi ,  to 
 whom  he  was  betrothed  before  her  return  to  Arabia,  and  by  whom 
 he  enriched  his  Harem. 
 
 *®  To  the  Persian  king  Chosroes  II;  the  Abyssinian  king;  and 
 the  Emperor  Heraclius ;  the  Governor  of  Egypt  and  the  heads  of 
 various  Arab  tribes. 
 
82        AGE.  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 rashly  attacking  a  tribe  under  his  protection.  Re- 
 jecting an  offer  to  renew  the  treaty,  the  psendo- 
 prophet  advanced  with  10,000  men  against  Mecca, 
 and  when  he  unexpectedly  encamped  before  the 
 town,  the  inhabitants  were  only  able  to  save  them- 
 selves  by  acknowledging  him  as  a  sovereign  and  a 
 prophet. 
 
 Order  being  restored,  Mohammed  circumambu- 
 lated the  Kaaba  seven  times,  each  time  kissing  the 
 sacred  black  stone.  The  360  idols  without  and 
 within  the  sanctuary  were  then  destroyed,  and  these 
 idolatrous  remains  being  removed,  the  prophet 
 commenced  his  prayer;  after  which  he  received  the 
 homaoe  of  men  and  women  on  mount  Safa.  Whilst 
 Mohammed  was  occupied  in  consolidating  his  power  in 
 the  town  his  generals  went  through  the  provinces, 
 destroying  idol  temples,  murdering  priestesses  and 
 propagating  Islamism. 
 
 Mohammed  had  not  yet  however  subjected  all 
 the  Arab  tribes ;  a  strong  army  was  now  arrayed 
 against  him  in  the  valley  of  Honein  which  being  too 
 numerous  for  his  troops,  the  Moslemin  narrowly 
 escaped  a  most  disastrous  defeat.  Equally  unsuc- 
 cessful was  Mohammed's  attack  upon  the  strongly 
 fortified  toA\ii,  Taif:  for  after  twenty  days  he  was 
 compelled  to  raise  the  siege;  then  having  settled  a 
 violent  dispute  in  his  army,  and  ordered  the  affairs 
 at  Mecca,  he  returned  to  Medina. 
 
 The  ninth  year  of  the  Hedgra  bringing  embas- 
 sies from  various  tribes  in  Arabia,  was  therefore 
 called    "the  year  of  the  deputations."    Mohammed 
 
CHAP.m.]  HIS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  83 
 
 now  felt  sufficiently  strong  to  tliink  of  revenging  his 
 defeat  at  Mutta,  and  proclaimed  a  holy  war  against 
 the  Byzantine  Empire;  he  perceived  however  but 
 little  enthusiasm  among  his  troops,  notwithstand- 
 ing his  promise  of  pardon  for  sins  past  and  future 
 to  those,  who  should  engage  in  it.  Some  dreaded 
 the  intense  heat  of  the  season,  others  were  occupied 
 with  the  date-harvest,  or  could  not  afford  the  neces- 
 sary provisions,  but  the  greater  part  doubtless  feared 
 to  measure  their  strength  with  the  Greeks  a  second 
 time  on  the  field  of  battle.  Half  the  army  return- 
 ed the  next  day  to  Medina  under  the  disaffected 
 Abdallah  Ebn  Ubej,  regardless  of  the  menacing  Suras, 
 which  were  hurled  against  them.  Mohammed  then 
 proceeded  to  Tabak,  but  his  army  being  reduced 
 and  discontented,  he  could  not  venture  further,  and 
 had  the  mortification  of  being  obliged  to  return  to 
 Medina  amidst  the  reproaches  of  his  disappointed 
 soldiers.  Added  to  this  vexation,  a  domestic  occur- 
 rence at  this  juncture  occasioned  so  much  scan- 
 dal that  he  deemed  it  unsafe  to  make  a  pilgrimage 
 this  year  to  Mecca,  he  therefore  sent  Ali  to  proclaim 
 to  the  pilgrims  there  assembled,  that  no  league 
 between  non-Mohammedans  should  be  valid  after 
 the  expiration  of  four  months;  that  the  sanctuary 
 should  hereafter  be  approached  only  by  Moslemin; 
 and  finally  Ali  was  to  recite  among  them  the  ninth 
 Sura.  On  the  following  year  the  tenth  of  the 
 Hedgra,  Mohammed  made  his  pilgrimage  to  Mecca 
 in  perfect  safety  at  the  head  of  at  least  40,000  pil- 
 
84        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  I. 
 
 grims ;  it  was  his  last  visit,  and  of  this  he  seemed  to 
 have  a  presentiment. 
 
 Some  months  after  his  return  from  Mecca  to 
 Medina,  Mohammed  prepared  for  a  third  expedition 
 to  Syria,  which  indeed  was  never  carried  out;  owing 
 to  his  sudden  iUness.  Doubtless  excited  by  fever,  he 
 rose  up  one  night  desiring  his  slave  to  accompany  him 
 to  the  burial-place  of  the  town;  on  reaching  the  spot 
 he  saluted  the  dead,  and  said  to  Abu  ^Munhaba:  "To 
 me  is  left  the  choice  to  remain  in  the  world,  whose 
 treasures  are  opened  to  me  till  the  last  day  or  to 
 meet  my  Lord  earlier ,  and  by  God ,  I  have  chosen 
 the  latter."  He  then  prayed  for  the  dead  saying,  he 
 was  commanded  to  do  so.  On  his  return  home 
 Ayesha  complaining  of  headache,  he  said;  "let  me 
 rather  complain,  I  feel  in  great  pain." 
 
 From  this  moment  his  illness  rapidly  increased, 
 he    nevertheless    continued   his  routine    among    his 
 wives;  when  at  last  with  Maimuna,  he  called  them 
 all  together  and  requested,  that  he  might  be  allowed 
 to  remain  in  Ayesha's  house,   which  adjoined    the 
 mosque.    Here  his  fever  reached  such  a  height,  that 
 seven   skins    of  water    were  poured  over  his  head; 
 when  relieved  he  said:   "Now  I  feel  that  the  poison 
 I  took  at  Cheibar  tears  the  vein  of  my  heart."    He 
 then  went  to  the  mosque  to  announce  his  end;  and 
 there    commending    Abubeker    and    Usuma,  —  the 
 latter  of  whom  he  had  appointed  general  of  his  army 
 against  the  Greeks, — he  concluded  with  this  charge: 
 "Whosoever  among  you  has  anything  on  his  con- 
 science, let  him  rise,  that  I  may  ask  God's  grace  on 
 
[CHAP,  u.]  fflS  CAREER  AS  A  PROPHET.  85 
 
 his  behalf."  A  man  who  was  considered  a  good 
 Moslem  rose  saying:  "I  was  a  hypocrite,  a  liar  and 
 an  indolent  Moslem."  Omar  vocifbrated:  "Woe  to 
 thee,  why  revealest  thou,  what  God  has  hidden!" 
 Mohammed  rejoined:  "0  son  of  Chattab,  it  is  better 
 to  blush  in  this  life  than  in  the  life  to  come;"  and 
 continued:  "Have  I  beaten  any  of  you,  here  is  my 
 back,  let  him  smite  me  in  return;  have  I  injured 
 the  honour  of  any,  let  him  attack  my  own;  have  I 
 robbed  any  one  of  money,  let  him  receive  it  back, 
 and  fear  no  anger  on  my  part,  for  that  is  not  my 
 way."  When  a  man  came  forward  to  claim  three 
 denars,  he  gave  them,  repeating:  "better  to  blush 
 in  this  world,  than  in  the  world  to  come."^^  Return- 
 ing to  Ayesha's  house  he  fainted;  Abbas  caused 
 them  to  give  him  some  medicine;  which  so  annoyed 
 him,  that  on  recovering  his  consciousness,  he  made 
 all  present  take  a  dose. 
 
 During  the  last  day  of  his  life  he  appeared  much 
 better:  but  a  fresh  attack  coming  on,  before  losing 
 his  consciousness  he  granted  liberty  to  his  slaves, 
 caused  them  to  divide  seven  denars  among  the  poor, 
 and  prayed :  "  God  stand  with  me  in  the  agony  of  death." 
 He  then  expired  A.  D.  632.  in  the  arms  of  Ayesha, 
 his  last  words  being:  "to  the  highest  companion  in 
 Paradise!"  His  body  remained,  contrary  to  all  eastern 
 custom,  two  or  three  days  uninterred,  whilst  his 
 friends  and  relations  were  occupied  with  the  task  of 
 
 ^'  M.  visited  the  mosque  several  times  after,  but  with  one  ex- 
 ception ,  never  took  an  active  part  in  the  worship.  Abubeker  ge- 
 nerally acted  for  him ,  which  doubtless  favoured  his  subsequent 
 election  as  Kaliph. 
 
 ; 
 
86        AGE,  HISTORV  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,    [parti. 
 
 choosing  a  successor;  when  the  contest  was  decided 
 in  favour  of  Abubeker,  they  at  last  agreed  on  his 
 being  buried  in  Ayesha's  house,  where  he  died, 
 which  was  accordingly  carried  into  effect  at  night. 
 
 4.  Mohammed  is  said  to  have  been  of  middle 
 stature;  to  have  had  a  large  head,  strong  beard, 
 round  face,  and  reddish-brown  cheeks.  His  biogra- 
 phers state,  that  his  forehead  was  high,  his  mouth 
 wide,  his  nose  long,  and  somewhat  of  an  aquiline 
 shape;  that  he  had  large  black  eyes;  that  a  vein 
 which  extended  from  his  forehead  to  his  eyebrows 
 enlarged,  when  excited  by  anger;  that  his  splendid- 
 ly white  teeth  stood  far  apart;  and  upon  his  lower 
 lip  was  a  small  mole.  His  hair  hanging  over  his 
 shoulders  retained  its  dark  colour  to  the  day  of  his 
 death:  he  sometimes  dyed  it  brown  but  more  fre- 
 quently apj)lied  to  it  odoriferous  oils.  It  was  only 
 at  his  last  pilgrimage  that  he  had  his  head  shaven. 
 He  trimmed  his  moustache  and  his  finger-nails  every 
 Friday  before  prayer.  His  neck,  it  is  said,  "rose 
 like  a  silver  bar  upon  his  broad  chest."  Between 
 his  shoulders  he  had  a  large  mole,  which  was  looked 
 upon  as  the  prophetic  seal.  A  physician  once  wish- 
 ing to  remove  it,  Mohammed  objected,  saying:  "He 
 who  made  it,  shall  also  heal  it."  His  hands  and  feet 
 were  very  large,  yet  his  step  was  so  light,  as  "to 
 leave  no  mark  on  the  sand." 
 
 Mohammed  spoke  but  little,  yet  occasionally  per- 
 mitted himself  a  joke.  A  woman  once  came  to  him, 
 saying:  "My  husband  is  ill  and  begs  thee  to  visit 
 him;"  upon  which  he  enquired,   "has  not  thy  hus- 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HI3  HABITS.  87 
 
 band  something  white  in  his  eye?"  She  returned  in 
 order  to  examine  it;  on  her  husband  asking,  what 
 she  was  doing,  she  repHed:  „1  must  see,  whether  you 
 have  anything  white  in  your  eye,  for  the  Apostle  of 
 God  asked  the  question."  Her  husband  at  once  re- 
 cognising the  joke  convinced  her,  that  this  was  com- 
 mon to  all  eyes.  On  one  occasion  when  an  old 
 woman  conjured  him  to  pray  for  her,  that  she  might 
 enter  paradise;  he  replied:  "no  old  woman  dares 
 enter  paradise!"  As  she  began  to  weep,  he  reminded 
 her  of  the  verse  in  the  Koran  which  declares  that 
 perpetual  youth  will  be  restored  to  women. 
 
 The  Arab  prophet  was  compassionate  towards 
 animals ,  and  would  wipe  down  his  horse ,  when  it 
 perspired  with  his  sleeve ;  but  this  was  nothing 
 extraordinary  among  his  countrymen.  His  cat  was 
 lifted  up  to  share  his  own  dish;  and  a  white  cock, 
 which  he  had,  he  called  his  fi'iend,  considering  him 
 a  protection  against  devils,  genii,  witchcraft  and  the 
 evil  eye!  What  he  could  do  for  himself,  he  never 
 allowed  to  be  done  for  him  by  others.  He  bought 
 his  own  victuals  in  the  market,  cleaned  and  mended 
 his  own  clothes,  milked  his  own  goats,  and  often  had 
 no  fire  for  cooking  purposes  for  several  days  to- 
 gether. From  the  time  he  had  tasted  the  poisoned 
 lamb  at  Cheibar,  he  never  received  food  fi-om  stran- 
 gers, before  they  had  themselves  partaken  of  it.  He 
 was  very  superstitious  and  prognosticated  good  or 
 evil  fi-om  the  most  trivial  incidents. 
 
 His  dress  was  simple,  usually  consisting  of  a 
 cotton  shirt,  and  an  upper  linen  garment  of  native 
 
88        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 manufacture,  but  on  festive  occasions  lie  wore  a 
 yellow  mantle.  His  woollen  cap  was  sometimes  tur- 
 baned  with  a  white  or  black  piece  of  cloth;  to  trow- 
 sers  he  only  accustomed  himself  in  after  life.  ^°  He 
 constantly  used  a  tooth-pick,  and  even  died  mth 
 '.  one  in  his  hand.  His  sleeping  apartments  accorded 
 ,  with  the  general  simplicity  of  his  habits.  He  slept 
 .  on  straw-mats  covered  with  a  cloth;  his  pillow  was  a 
 leathern  cushion  filled  with  the  fibres  of  the  palm. 
 The  prophet  however  displayed  considerable  vanity 
 in  his  toilet:  he  always  carried  with  him  a  mirror  in 
 which  he  loved  to  contemplate  his  person,  also  a 
 comb,  a  pair  of  scissors,  odoriferous  oil  and  paint  for 
 the  eyelashes.  On  the  battle-field  Mohammed  was 
 anything  but  brave,  generally  wearing  a  double  shirt 
 of  mail  and  a  helmet  with  a  visor,  which  covered 
 the  whole  face,  the  eyes  only  excepted. 
 
 After  these  preliminary  remarks  on  the  personal 
 appearance,  habits  and  manners  of  Mohammed,  we 
 arrive  at  the  difficult  task  of  defining  his  extraordi- 
 nary character.  No  character  has  ever  been  painted 
 in  more  varied  and  opposite  coloiu-s  than  that  of  this 
 remarkable  individual;  some  authors  applying  to  him 
 every  opprobrious  term  that  could  be  invented ;  others 
 representing  him  a  pattern  of  greatness,  power  and 
 
 '"  „Sei  aiif;crorbentIiriKr  S^cranfafTinui  bffiaiib  foiu  i^rofitcr  Staat  in  ein; 
 jedien  Stiirfcn,  un'ld^e  cr  ,^inii  C^U-friiciif  ci(}altcii  l)attc,  in  cincni  voni  Jtaifct 
 J^cratliue  i;um  ©efdicnf  crftaltcnen  tudbfiicu,  mit  Scit'e  burdjircbtcn  uiib  ge* 
 ^irftcn  ©civante,  cinem  'iiaat  innn  .%m\<\  von  5(hiffinicn  i^cfdicnftcn  fdjivnr; 
 gen,  tninti'icnialton  Stiefein,  rincni  i^vof;on  >ftovfhinb,  nnb  cincni  ®nrt  otct 
 ar>c()riichcnf  luni  .R'nvfctblcrf)  mit  fiUn-rnct  SdMiallc ,  filln-rncn  J^aftfvoniicn, 
 brei  filbcrncn  Sh'ni^en  itnb  filbcvnem  ©ebranic.  STic  (^arbcn  fctncv  .ilkiMing 
 jvarcn  fcinc  I'icHingefarbeu  ivcifj,  [d^iinuj,  ijriin,  and)  rt>tli."'    SBal;!  pag,  73. 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  CHARACTER.  89 
 
 virtue.  Nor  can  we  be  surprised  at  this  contrariety 
 of  views ,  when  we  remember  how^  one  excess  is  ge- 
 nerally followed  by  another,  and  re-action  is  the  na- 
 tural consequence  where  truth  and  justice  have  been 
 outraged.  ^  * 
 
 It  is  indeed  no  easy  matter  to  form  a  just  esti- 
 mate of  a  character  composed  of  such  consummate 
 duplicity.  If  we  regard  Mohammed  as  acting  the 
 part  of  a  conscious  impostor  or  as  a  monster  of 
 cruelty  and  injustice,  we  shall  find  it  hard  to  re- 
 concile with  our  view  the  Sf)arks  of  real  devotion 
 wdiich  here  and  there  appear  in  his  life,  and  to 
 account  for  the  moral  and  religious  revolution  which 
 he  accomplished  among  the  nations  of  Asia  and 
 Africa  in  so  wonderfully  short  a  period.  Again,  if 
 ambition  alone  is  put  forth  as  the  main-spring  of  Mo- 
 hammed's mind,  we  must  remember  that  the  love  of 
 power  manifested  in  one  party,  is  always  opposed  by 
 the  instinctive  unwillingness  of  the  other  to  be  go- 
 verned; if  then  there  had  been  no  admixture  of  truth 
 in  his  work  and  character,  or  if  a  want  had  not  been 
 felt,  to  induce  men  to  submit  to  his  claims,  his  pas- 
 sion to  rule  would  have  met  with  but  little  result. 
 
 To  judge  from  the  manner  in  which  Mohammed 
 constantly  alludes  to  his  impression  that  the  Jews 
 and  Christians   had   corrupted  their   Scriptures    he 
 
 ^*  Before  the  twelfth  century  it  was  hardly  understood  in  the 
 West,  that  M,  was  only  a  false  prophet  and  not  a  pretended  divi- 
 nity; and  still  earlier  he  was  known  as  Maphomet,  Baphoniet, 
 Bafum  (whence  the  French  words  bafumerie  and  momerie  our  Eng- 
 lish mawmetry  and  mummery,  see  M.  Renan  and  Trench  "on  the 
 study  of  words"),  and  believed  to  be  a  false  god  to  whom  human 
 sacrifices  were  oft'ered ! 
 
90        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 must  at  one  period  of  his  life  have  believed,  that  the 
 ancient  prophets  AATote  of  him  as  the  last  prophet: 
 never  deeming  it  necessary  to  give  an  account  of 
 their  dishonest  transaction  but  always  taking  it  for 
 granted  as  a  well-knowTi  fact.  He  accuses  them^^ 
 of  having  been  bribed  by  their  spiritual  guides  to 
 suppress  those  prophecies,  which  referred  to  him. 
 He  censures  the  ei\\y  of  the  Jews  ^  ^  which  would  not 
 allow  them  to  admit,  that  any  other  nation,  besides 
 their  own,  could  give  a  prophet  to  the  world.  Again 
 he  declares^*  that  having  killed  their  prophets,  no 
 one  need  be  astonished  that  they  should  corrupt 
 their  Scriptures  ^vitll  a  view  to  reject  him.  He  also 
 tells  the  Christians  that  in  perusing  their  books, 
 they  might  as  certainly  recognise  his  divine  Mission, 
 as  a  father  would  recognise  the  features  of  his  son; 
 but  in  the  wickedness  of  their  heart  they  denied 
 him."^^  That  Mohammed  was  strengthened  in  this 
 faith  by  his  friend  Waraka,  who  was  a  Christian 
 priest  and  acquainted  with  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
 ment, has  been  already  seen  in  this  chapter. 
 
 Taking  these  and  other  matters  into  conside- 
 ration, we  cannot  possibly  side  with  those  who  con- 
 sider Mohammed  to  have  been  a  thoroughly  self- 
 conscious  impostor  at  the  co^nmencenient  of  his  career. 
 If  the  question  therefore  be  raised  whether  we  are  to 
 consider  him  as  an  impostor  or  a  misguided  fanatic, 
 
 "    Sur.  III.  185.       '^    See  Sur.  II.  89.        '*   Sur.  III.  21.  103. 
 
 ^^  He  flatters  them,  especially  the  monks ,  to  induce  them  to 
 give  up  the  writings  they  had  secreted ,  and  proceeds  to  threaten 
 them  and  the  Jews  with  awful  judgments,  if  they  would  not  deliver 
 those  prophecies,  which  they  had  so  long  withheld. 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  CHARACTER.  91 
 
 we  answer,  that  lie  was  neither ,  wholly  the  one  nor 
 the  other,  and  yet 'he  was  both.  Mohammed  in  our 
 opinion  commenced  his  pseudo-prophetical  career 
 with  honest  intentions.  Though  Satan  contrived  to 
 delude  him  with  consummate  craft,  and  even  though 
 there  was  in  Mohammed's  own  heart  the  germ  of 
 all  the  evil  of  which  he  became  the  author,  it  still 
 remains  to  be  proved,  that  he  was  from  the  begin- 
 ning an  ho^Delessly  wicked  impostor.  A  man  may 
 be  in  error,  and  yet  be  sincere;  those  who  killed 
 prophets  and  apostles,  thought  that  they  were  doing- 
 God  service;  nor  can  we  ascribe  want,  of  sincerity  to 
 Saul  the  Pharisee,  when  raging  against  the  Church 
 and  destroying  her  members. 
 
 We  have  seen  in  the  previous  biographical  sketch 
 of  INIohammed,  that  in  his  infancy  as  well  as  in  after 
 life ,  he  was  afflicted  with  a  kind  of  epileptic  fit, 
 which  was  considered  both  by  himself  and  others  to 
 be  the  effect  of  demoniacal  possession.  He  was 
 treated  by  an  exorcist  with  a  view  to  the  expulsion 
 of  the  demon.  When  his  alleged  revelation  com- 
 menced, it  was  accompanied  with  the  same  spas- 
 modic convulsion  which  he  had  had  before,  and  Mo- 
 hammed himself,  as  well  as  his  li-iends,  was  at  first 
 impressed  with  the  idea,  that  it  was  an  evil  spirit, 
 which  influenced  him.  It  was  no  doubt  from  a 
 fear,  of  sanctioning  this  apparently  superstitious 
 view  of  the  native  Arabs, — whose  testimony  in  the 
 matter  has  been  deemed  too  doubtful  and  luiintel- 
 ligent  to  be  regarded  by  European  savans  —  that 
 these  facts  have  been  wholly  disregarded  in  forming 
 
02        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [part  i. 
 
 an  estimate  of  JMohammed's  character.  But  have  we 
 not  a  parallel  case^®  m  holy  Scriptures,  where  a 
 youth  is  described  as  being  possessed  of  a  devil,  who 
 was  precisely  affected  in  the  way ,  in  which  we  find 
 Mohammed  is  represented  to  have  been  in  the  wri- 
 tino^s  of  his  own  followers?  Mohammed's  attacks  are 
 
 a 
 
 considered  to  be  of  an  epileptic  character:  and  no 
 physician  will  fail  to  recognise  the  same  type  of 
 disorder  in  the  case  brought  before  us  in  the  Gospel. 
 If  in  the  latter  instance  the  author  of  the  evil  was 
 the  devil,  why  should  we  not  assume  him  to  be  the 
 author  in  the  case  of  the  false  prophet?^' 
 
 Independently  of  INIohammed's  own  impression, 
 the  belief  of  Chadija ,  Abu  Talib  and  the  generality 
 of  their  contemporaries  in  Arabia,  we  cannot  resist 
 expressing  our  conviction  that  the  assumption  of 
 Satanic  influence  can  alone  solve  the  mystery  which 
 envelops  the  origin  of  this  fearful  "delusion."  Even 
 supposing  that  no  evidence  existed  of  Mohammed's 
 
 ^®  "And  one  of  the  multitude  answered,  and  said:  Master  I 
 have  brought  unto  thee  my  son,  which  hath  a  dumb  spirit,  and 
 wheresover  he  taketh  him  (x«t«A«:/-?j]  cfr.  the  asabahu  of  M.)  he 
 teareth  hira,  and  he  foamethf  and  gnasheth  with  his  teeth,  and 
 pineth  arvay  {^r^oixt'if-rai  cfr.  ighniau  in  M's  case).  And  they  brought 
 him  unto  him;  and  when  he  saw  him,  straight  way  the  spirit  tare 
 him  {t(T7T(({j((^tv),  and  he  fell  on  the  tjround  and  wallowed  foamimj 
 (M's  face  was  covered  with  foam).  And  the  spirit  cried  (M.  roared 
 like  camel),  and  rent  him  sore,  and  came  out  of  him  ;  and  he  was  as 
 one  dead,   insomuch  tliat  many  said  he  is  dead."     Mark  IX.  17. 
 
 ^^  It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  the  ordinary  cases  of  epilepsy 
 present  some  of  the  most  unaccountable  and  perplexing  phenomena 
 to  medical  science,  since  post  mortem  exanu'nations  entirely  fail  to 
 discover  flie  slightest  trace  of  disease  in  any  part  of  the  body ,  a 
 circumstance,  we  believe,  without  parallel.  But,  alas  we  have 
 altogether  swerved  very  far  from  Biblical  views  as  regards  maladies 
 in  general,  their  true  source  and  the  secret  of  healing  I 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  CHARACTER.  9  3 
 
 having  been  afflicted  with  such  a  malady  —  one 
 which  was  invariably  ascribed  to  the  immediate 
 agency  of  the  powers  of  darkness,  —  could  we  con- 
 sider it  possible,  that  so  grand »  comprehensive  and 
 lasting  an  apostacy  as  that  of  Islamism  should  have 
 been  conceived,  and  have  obtained  such  a  fearful 
 dominion  over  nations ,  some  of  whom  M^ere  polished 
 and  civilised,  without  the  direct  co-operation  of  the 
 prince  of  darkness? 
 
 Mohammed  the  Arab  prophet  must  be  considered 
 a  type  of  Antichrist ,  if  that  last  great  enemy  of  the 
 Church  is  to  win  his  temporary  power  through  the 
 abounding  of  heresy  among  Christians,  and  is  to 
 claim  that  position  in  the  world,  which  is  due  only 
 to  the  Son  of  God.^®  If  this  be  so,  may  we  not 
 assume,  that  his  coming  would  be  also  "after  the 
 working  of  Satan  with  all  power  of  signs  and  lying 
 wonders,  and  with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteous- 
 ness  in  them  that  perish  ?"^^  How  natural  therefore 
 that  Satan  should  appear  to  Mohammed  as  an  "angel 
 of  hght;"*°  and  if  we  assume,  that  he  took  the  form 
 and  acted  the  part  of  the  angel  Gabriel,  we  account 
 
 ^^  It  can  only  be  ascribed  to  the  sceptical  views  of  too  many  of 
 our  learned  men ,  that  they  so  carefully  avoid  this  point  of  satanic 
 agency  at  the  commencement  of  Islamism.  See  1  Chron.  XXI.  1. 
 John  XIV.  30.    Lu.  XXU.  3.  31.   Math.  XEI,  25.  29. 
 
 Uv  eativ  Tj  TzaQovma  xar  evs(jyHar  rov  aarara  tv  naajj 
 dviaiifi,  y.ixl  a7]inHotg  huI  tfQaai  xphvdovg,  xal  iv  ndari  ixYanfl  Ti]g 
 uSiY.iag  Iv  rotg  dnoXXvfieroig.     1  Thess.  II.  9.  10. 
 
 *"    "For  such  are  false  Apostles  (xpevSoarroaroXoi,  cfr.  Jy'*') 
 
 xJJ})  deceitful  workers,  transforming  themselves  into  the  Apostles 
 of  Christ :  And  no  marvel ;  for  Satan  himself  is  transformed  (jU6T«- 
 axr,iiaTt^f.tm)  into  an  angel  of  light."     2  Cor.  XI.  13.  14. 
 
94        AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMIVIED.  [part  i. 
 
 not  only  for  the  mysterious  origin  of  Islamism  and 
 its  potent  spell  among  the  nations  of  the  world ,  but 
 also  for  the  otherwise  inexplicable  contradictions  in 
 the  character  of  the  false  prophet.  If  ever  it  has 
 been  fulfilled  that:  "God  shall  send  them  strong  —  or 
 energetic  —  delusion,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie,"*^ 
 it  was  in  this  instance. 
 
 Assuming  then  that  Mohammed  had  the  vision 
 of  an  angel,  or  rather  of  a  devil  "transformed  into  an 
 angel  of  light,"  we  may  take  it  for  granted  that  he 
 began  his  work  of  reformation  with  honest  inten- 
 tions, and  not  with  the  consciousness  of  acting  the 
 part  of  an  impostor.  If  we  consider  the  imposture 
 as  the  master-piece  of  Satan,  framed  and  carried  out 
 under  the  immediate  co-operation  of  the  powers  of 
 darkness;  if  we  allow  for  the  workings  of  Moham- 
 med's natural  fervent  imagination,  at  a  period  when 
 his  nation  expected  a  prophet;  and  if  we  regard  the 
 mature  age,  at  which  he  announced  his  Mission;  the 
 convictions  of  Chadija,  Abubeker,  Omar  and  others, 
 wiio  had  the  opi>ortunity  of  judging  of  his  real 
 state  of  mind;  his  endurance  for  twelve  years, 
 of  every  kind  of  insult,  abuse  and  persecution; 
 his  rejection  of  all  offers  of  riches  and  power,  when 
 made  on  the  condition  of  abandoning  his  infatua- 
 tion;*^ the  simplicity  of  his  mode  of  life  to  the  day 
 
 **  Kal  dux  Tovro  nifxxpH  ilvroTg  6  Qfog  in(jytiav  nhinjg,  its 
 TO  TTimvaai  avrovg  tw  xptvdsi.     2  Thess,  II.  11. 
 
 *-  According  to  the  Sirat  Arrassul  a  Korcishito  said  to  him  at 
 the  beginning  of  his  Mission:  "Resign  thy  faith,  wilt  thou  money, 
 beautiful  women,  or  desirest  thou  for  power?  Say  what  thou  wilt, 
 it  will  be  granted  unto  thee ;  seest  thou  a  spirit  from  which  thou 
 
CHAP,  m.]  HIS  CHARACTER.  95 
 
 of  his  death:  —  taking  these  and  other  conside- 
 rations into  account  we  cannot  beheve  that  Moham- 
 med coiiwienced  his  work  merely  as  an  ambitions 
 conqueror,  or  a  base  impostor,  who  had  no  faith  in 
 himself  or  his  Mission. 
 
 He  was  the  chosen  instrument  of  the  Evil  One 
 for  the  originating  of  an  unjiaralled  delusion,  which 
 should  maintain  the  most  active  and  lasting  anta- 
 gonism to  Christ's  religion;  and  he  was  urged  on  in 
 his  work  by  immediate,  and  direct  satanic  agency 
 which  in  the  course  of  time  he  vainly  jiersuaded 
 himself  to  be  the  inspiration  of  Heaven.  Thus  having 
 set  his  bark  afloat,  his  zeal  kindled,  his  work  pros- 
 pered and  in  his  enthusiasm  he  may  have  interpreted 
 this  success  as  a  mark  of  God's  favour  and  supjDort. 
 His  new  religion  was  not  therefore  a  premeditated 
 scheme  of  deception  on  his  part,  but  was  suggested 
 to  him  as  the  most  appropriate  means  of  uniting 
 the  professors  of  the  three  creeds,  then  prevalent 
 among  his  countrymen,  and  of  thus  satisfying  an 
 acknowledged  want  among  them.  Thus  led  on  step 
 by  step  Mohammed  soon  came  to  act  the  part  of  a 
 conscious  and  decided  impostor:  in  whatever  way, 
 therefore  the  question  as  to  his  individual  guilt  in 
 first  proclaiming  his  false  system  of  religion  may  be 
 determined  there  can  be  no  doubt  upon  the  subject 
 as  soon  as  he  enters  consciously  and  deliberately 
 upon  his  work.  The  following  alleged  revelations, 
 incontrovertibly  stamp  Mohammed  as  an    impostor 
 
 canst  not  free  thyself,  we  will  pay  the  exorcist  with  our  own 
 money."     Sirat  Arassul  fol.  47.  48. 
 
/ 
 
 96         AGE,  HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,   [part  i. 
 
 and  a  false  prophet;  first  the  Sura  which  had  for  its 
 object  to  re-estabhsh  the  innocence  of  Ayesha  his 
 favonrite  wife ;  then  the  authority  to  empower  him  to 
 marry  the  wife  of  his  adopted  sonAli:  to  enlarge  his 
 Harem  at  pleasure;  and  to  obtain  a  larger  proportion 
 of  the  spoils,  made  by  his  army.*^  The  first  drop  of 
 blood  which  was  shed  in  his  name  by  Abdallah  during 
 the  sacred  months,  marked  him  as  a  man,  who  has 
 now  consciously  entered  the  j^ath  of  deception,  and 
 wilful  imposture.**  He  might  possibly  persuade  him- 
 self that  he  was  acting  in  the  spirit  of  Moses,  and 
 following  the  steps  of  some  sincere  Christians,  when 
 he  declared  war  against  the  unbelievers,  and  agreeably 
 to  the  practice  of  his  age  and  country  he  might 
 justify  single  instances  of  murder;  but  he  could 
 not  desecrate  the  sacred  months  by  plunder  and 
 bloodshed  without  having  some  real  or  pretended 
 revelation  to  sanction  the  act:  yet  according  to  his 
 most  orthodox  biographers,   this    sanction  was   not 
 
 *^  In  Sur.  VIII,  41.  the  fifth  part  is  apportioned  to  the  projihet. 
 The  Sura  respecting  the  innocence  of  Ayesha  is  XXIV.  11  —  20. 
 also  4 — 5.  The  answer  to  the  murmurs  which  were  caused  by  his 
 marrying  Zeinab,  the  wife  of  Zaid,  is  found  Sur.  XXXIII.  4.  5.  36. 
 39 — 39.  No  one  will  be  surprised  when  Maraccius  commences  his 
 "RefutJitiones"  to  this  Sura  with  those  words:  "Inter  alia  quae 
 manifeste  demonstrant  Alcorarura  uon  esse  a  Deo ,  illud  est  prae- 
 ci2)ium,  quod  in  eo  Mahometus  omnia  fere  ad  commodum  suum 
 metitur."     This  will  also  aid  us  to  deline  Mohammed's  character. 
 
 **  The  letter  which  was  given  to  Abdallah  Ebn  Djach  contained 
 those  words:  "In  tlio  name  of  the  Most  Merciful,  the  Most  Gracious, 
 go  with  thy  companions,  God's  blessing  be  upon  thee,  into  the 
 valley  Nachala ,  and  watch  there  the  caravans  of  the  Koreishites, 
 perhaps  thou  canst  bring  mo  word  about  them."  The  last  sen- 
 tence seems  a  Moslem  addition,  to  protect  M's  character.  Sura  II. 
 217.  refers  to  this  transaction.     Weil,  pag.  98 — 102. 
 
CHAP.  III.]  HIS  CHARACTER.  97 
 
 given  till  a  considerable  time  had  elapsed  after  the 
 return  of  Abdallab  from  bis  infamous  expedition, 
 Tbe  mystery  with  wbicb  be  confides  to  bim  an  am- 
 biguously written  letter  to  be  opened  only  after 
 be  bad  travelled  a  few  days  from  Medina,  again 
 stamps  Mobammed  as  an  impostor,  who  was  con- 
 scious that  he  was  committing  an  act  of  injustice  and 
 treachery. 
 
 Again  tbe  "Sura  of  Joseph",*''  composed  by  Mo- 
 bammed in  Mecca,  before  his  flight,  is  given  as  a 
 direct  revelation  fi'om  Heaven,  and  appealed  to  as  a 
 proof  of  his  divine  Mission,  though  it  contains  incon- 
 trovertible proof  of  having  been  partially  borrowed 
 from  the  Bible  and  still  more  largely  from  Rabbini- 
 cal tradition.  Here  was  no  delusion,  no  deceivable 
 vision  or  satanic  inspiration,  which  could  have  been 
 mistaken  for  divine  revelation,  but  a  wilful  fraud, 
 and  palpable  deception.  But  even  granting  the  sup- 
 position that  Mohammed  justified  base  means  by 
 the  good  end  be  had.  in  view,  before  his  flight,  we 
 still  find  bim  acting  with  a  crafty,  inconsistent  and 
 shortsighted  policy  throughout  his  stay  at  Medina. 
 He  first  flatters  the  Jews  and  makes  surprising  con- 
 cessions in  order  to  win  them  to  bis  cause  but  being 
 disappointed  in  his  expectations ,  he  rescinds  all  his 
 former  concessions  in  their  favour  and  becomes  their 
 deadliest  enemy.  Some  be  pardons  through  fear 
 of  Abdallab,   others  he    slaughters  like  a  flock   of 
 
 *'  Sur.  XII.  was  ■written  in  a  romantic  style  and  was  meant 
 to  attract  the  Arabs ,  whose  taste  for  such  compositions  is 
 notorious. 
 
 G 
 
98        AGE,  fflSTORT  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MOHAMMED,  [paut  i. 
 
 sheep.  To  day  lie  limits  tlie  number  of  wives ,  to 
 morrow  he  transgresses  his  own  laws  in  the  name 
 of  God.**^  The  murderer  may  save  his  life  by  paying 
 a  ransom ,  but  the  thief  is  to  have  his  hand  cut  off. 
 In  critical  moments  he  seeks  the  advice  of  others, 
 which  he  carries  out  against  his  own  will.*^  His 
 strange  shortsightedness  became  apparent,  in  his 
 neolectins  to  choose  a  successor. 
 
 It  was  comparatively  easy  for  Mohammed  to 
 gain  the  assent  of  his  Pagan  contrymen  to  his  pro- 
 phetical dignity  without  any  distinguished  talent, 
 for  his  creed  was  unquestionably  of  a  higher  order 
 than  their  own;  added  to  which  his  attractive  man- 
 ners ,  his  eloquence ,  liberality  and  general  iipright- 
 ness  were  sufficient  to  secure  him  many  admirers. 
 At  Medina,  success  was  attributable  rather  to  his 
 good  connections,  the  prospect  of  spoil,  the  dis- 
 union of  the  tribes,  and  his  own  powers  of  deception 
 than  to  his  personal  bravery  or  talents  as  a  general; 
 he  deemed  no  means  too  base  to  rid  himself  of  an 
 enemy,  where  he  felt  strength  and  courage  to  do  so: 
 his  art  consisted  in  first  acquiring  every  possible 
 information  and  then  surprising  the  enemy;  hence 
 he  preserved  the  greatest  secresy  on  all  occasions, 
 
 *^  Sur.  XXXIIL  47.  48.  49.  After  mentioning  various  degrees 
 of  affinity,  within  which  the  prophet  may  marry  it  is  added,  "and 
 any  other  believing  woman,  if  she  give  herself  unto  the  prophet, 
 in  case  the  prophet  desircth  to  take  her  to  wife.  This  is  the  pe- 
 culiar privilege  unto  thee  above  the  rest  of  the  true  believers." 
 
 *^  At  Ohod  he  goes  forth  against  his  will;  during  the  siege  of 
 Medina  he  wished  to  make  a  separate  league,  and  at  Taif  he  com- 
 mands the  storming,  although  he  knew  it  would  be  fruitless. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  HIS  CHARACTER.  99 
 
 and  only  in  one  instance  did  he  inform  his  army  be- 
 fore-hand of  the  plan  and  object  of  his  expedition.  * "^ 
 In  reviewing  the  character  of  Mohammed,  we 
 find  that  it  decidedly  deteriorates  from  the  time  that 
 he  had  assumed  the  office  of  a  jyropliet,  and  this  most 
 significant  fact  ought  to  be  specially  borne  in  mind. 
 In  his  early  days  of  religious  reform  he  commenced 
 as  a  sincere  fanatic ,  mistaking  dreamy  visions  and 
 Satanic  influence  for  divine  inspiration;  but  he  com- 
 pleted his  career  as  a  licentious  impostor,  who 
 brought  forth  his  pseudo-revelations  whenever  he 
 found  it  necessary  to  sanction  the  most  unjustifiable 
 acts.  It  now  devolves  upon  us  to  examine  the  history 
 and  the  general  character  of  the  document,  con- 
 taining those  revelations  bequeathed  by  Mohammed 
 to  the  world. 
 
 CHAPTEK  lY. 
 
 HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN. 
 
 "They  have  seen  vanity  and  lying  divination  saying:  The  Lord 
 saith,  and  the  Lord  hath  not  sent  them:  and  they  have  made  others 
 to  hope  that  they  would  confirm  the  word.  Have  ye  not  seen  a 
 vain  vision  and  have  ye  not  spoken  a  lying  divination,  whereas 
 ye  say :  The  Lord  saith  it ;  albeit  I  have  not  spoken." 
 Ezek.  XUL  G.  7. 
 
 The  Koran  *^  ^^^H^oi'^i^^g  ^^  ^^  ^^^  work  of  Mo- 
 hammed could  not  long  remain  an  indifferent  book 
 
 *®    This  was  the  expedition  against  the  Greeks  to  Tabak. 
 *^   ^IwAJt  Koran  from  \ji  legere ;  hence  lectio,  liber  lectionis, 
 
 G* 
 
100  THE  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.       [part  i. 
 
 to  the  literary  and  religious  world,  hence  we  possess 
 a  considerable  number  of  printed  editions  in  the  ori- 
 ginal; ^^  various  translations  being  also  made  into 
 other  languages.  The  first  Latin  version  appeared 
 in  the  days  of  St.  Bernard  A.  D.  1143.  When  at 
 the  request  of  Peter,  abbot  of  the  Monastery  at 
 Clugni,  the  Koran  was  translated  by  Robert  of  Retina 
 an  Englishman,  and  Hermann  of  Dalmatia  a  German, 
 but  it  remained  hidden  in  the  cloisters  for  nearly  400 
 years,  when  A.  D.  1543  it  was  published  at  Basle 
 by  Theodor  Bibliander''*;  and  though  scarcely  de- 
 serving the  name  of  a  translation  it  was  again  ren- 
 dered into  Italian,  German  and  Dutch." 
 
 N'n'p73  in  the  same  sense  among  the  Jews:  Another  name      .Lsyi, 
 
 ']P^'ns,  Foorkan;  often  only  i^>Jc5T  fitfiXog,  liber  answering  to  ^EO 
 
 •''''  The  Koran  was  Urst  printed  in  the  original  Arabic  at  Venice, 
 at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  centurj^  under  the  short  title: 
 „Alcoranus  Arabice.  Venet."  but  no  copy  seems  now  to  exist. 
 Ilinkelmann  edited  it  in  Hamburg  1694.  In  the  year  1698  Ma- 
 raccius  followed  with  his  edition  :  "Alcorani  textus  universus"  etc. 
 The  next  was  by  the  Russian  Emp.  Catharina  II:  "Al  Koran  Ara- 
 bice. Petropoli  1787."  Anno  1829:  "Muzihi-el-Koran  in  Calcutta; 
 Arabic  and  Hindustani."  The  same  in  Serampore  1S3.3;  with  an 
 English  yersion,  Cawnpore  1834.  Again  at  Calcutta  in  Arabic  and 
 Persian  1831  ;  the  same  at  Cawnpore  1835.  G.  Fliigel  edited  it 
 1834  Lips.  Another  followed  in  Leipsic  1837.  and  in  Calcutta 
 appeared  the  same  year  an  edition  with  two  Pers.  Com.  and  an 
 interlin.  Hindi  translation. 
 
 ^^  "Machumetis  saracen.  princ.  ipseque  Alcoran  quae  ante  an- 
 nos  CCCC  Petrus  Abbas  Cluniacensis  ex  Arab,  lingua  in  Lat  trans- 
 ferri  curav.  Hacc  omnia  in  un.  Vol.  red.  sunt  op.  et  st.  Th.  Bibli- 
 andri  Eccles.  Tigur.  Ministri .  . .    Basil.  1543.    Fol." 
 
 ■''^  The  Italian  appeared  at  Venice  1547.  "L'  Alcorano  di 
 Macometto  nel  qual  si  contie  ne  la  dottrina,  la  vita,  i  costumi  e  i 
 legge  sue."  The  German  version  by  Sal.  Schweiger  appeared  1616 
 and  1623  at  Nurnberg,  and  the  Dutch  1641  at  Hamburg. 
 
OHAP.  iv.j  EUKOPEAN  EDITIONS  AND  VERSIONS.  101 
 
 The  learned  Maraccio  published  his  work,  con- 
 sisting of  the  Koran  in  Arabic,  a  Latin  version,  with 
 notes  and  refutations  A.D.  1644.^'  This  Latin  trans- 
 lation was  published  separately  in  Germany  and  ren- 
 dered into  the  language  of  that  country.''*  The  oldest 
 French  version  was  executed  by  M.  du  Ryer,  who 
 had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  Arabic  at  Constan- 
 tinople and  Alexandria;'^  and  this  version  became 
 the  mother  of  several  other  translations  into  English, 
 Dutch  and  German. '«  M.  Savary  gave  a  new  version 
 to  the  world  in  the  year  1783;"  and  still  more  re- 
 cently we  received  a  fresh  translation  from  M.  Kasi- 
 mirski.  ^  ^ 
 
 The  only  English  translation  of  the  Koran  from 
 the  original  is  that  of  George  Sale ,  so  well  and 
 deservedly  known  to  the  British  public;  it  was  pub- 
 hshed  in  1734  and  is  frequently  quoted  in  this  work 
 
 5  3      u 
 
 Alcorani  textus  universus  ex  correct.  Arabum  exempl  de- 
 scriptus  .  .  ex  Arab,  idiom,  in  Lat.  translat.  appositis  unicuique 
 cap.  notis  atque  refut.  his  omnibus  praemiss.  prodrom.  Auct.  Ludo- 
 Tico  Maraccio.    Patavii  1698.    Fol." 
 
 '*    The    German   version    by  David  Nerreter  Nurnbero-   1703 
 Ihe^Latin  one  was  edited  by  Chr.  Reineccius  Lips    1721 
 PariTlS'T''"'^''  '^'^  Mahomet.     Translate   d'Arabe   en  Frangais. 
 
 ^^    Alexander  Ross  turned  it  into  English,  Lond.  1649  and  1688 
 Glazemaker  into  Dutch   1698.  Rotterd.  and  G.  Lange  published  a 
 German  version  from  the  Dutch  at  Hamburg. 
 
 ^^  Le  Coran  traduit  de  I'Arabe  accomp.  de  not.  et  preced  dun 
 abrege  de  la  vie  de  Mahomet  tire  des  ecriv.  orient,  le  plus  estimes 
 par  M.  Savary.     Paris  1783. 
 
 ^\  Pantheon  litteraire ,  collect,  univers.  de  chefs  d'oeuvres  de 
 1  esprit  huraain,  les  livres  sacres  de  I'orient.  pag.463— 752-  Civili- 
 sation musulmane,  le  Koran,  traduction  nouvelle  faite  sur  le  texte 
 Arabe,  par  M.  Kasimirski.    Paris  1840.    2'^^  edition  1841. 
 
102  THE  HISTORY  AKD  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.       [part  i. 
 
 in  spite  of  the  great  inconvenience  which  arises  from 
 his  neglecting  to  divide  the  ^uras  into  verses,  which 
 are  invariably  in  the  original  and  several  of  the  fo- 
 reign versions.  "^^  Sale's  version  was  rendered  into 
 German  by  Theod.  Arnold,  who  in  translating  it  con- 
 sulted other  versions,  especially  that  of  Maraccio.*'" 
 The  first  German  version  h-om  the  original  was 
 accomplished  by  Professor  Megerlin;  it  has  the  ad- 
 vantage of  being  divided  into  verses/^  In  1773  a 
 new  translation  n^peared  in  Germany,  which  was 
 made  by  Boysen  .  nd  furnished  with  literary  notes/ ^ 
 His  version  was  revised  and  corrected  from  the  ori- 
 ginal by  Wahl  in  the  present  century,  and  is  accom- 
 panied by  a  valuable  introduction.  ^  ^  Another  version 
 from  the  Arabic  was  added  to  the  above  by  UUmann 
 a  short  time  since ,  fi'om  which  some  of  the  quota- 
 tions made  in  this  Avork  have  been  rectified." 
 
 There  are  not  wanting  other  auxihary  means'  to 
 render  the  Koran  more  intelligible  to  the  European 
 student,  such  as  concordances  and  indices  specially 
 compiled  for  this  purpose.*^'    The  commentaries  of 
 
 ^'  The  Koran  commonly  called  the  Alcoran  of  Mohammed  by 
 G.  Sale.    London  1734. 
 
 ^o    Arnold's  translation  was  published  A.  D.  1746.  at  Lcnigo. 
 
 ^^  Tie  !iiivfifciic  33itH-(,  obcr  bee  Jtoran't^  aUorcvf^c  bciitfd'c  UcKn-fe^uiu] 
 au^  bcr  5ltalMfd}cn  Uvfd}rift  w\  m.  2).  %x.  SDleiicrlin,  ^•rauffitrt  1772. 
 
 ^*  !Der  Moxan  cbcr  ia^  @efe^  fiit  bie  2}iufTcImannct  bur*  aitiilmmmcb, 
 iiiimittctf'ar  an^  bem  9(rabi[rf)eu  iiberfc^t  iiiit  ?himcvfiiiuicn.  .^>aac  1773 
 iiuf  17  75. 
 
 "  2)cr  .Koran  nad)  ©oi^fcu  von  9ieucm  uterfe^t  an§  bent  Slrabifdicn 
 mit  einer  l)ifiorifd}en  ©inlcitunc]  ic  ic.  i^on  ®.  aBaljI.     ^allc  1828. 
 
 ^*  2>er  .Ronin  aw  bcm  9(rabi[dien  Jtortgetrcn  ncu  iitcrfoljt  i^on  Dr.  S. 
 lltlmann.     Lncfclt  1840. 
 
 ^^   Noojoom  ool  Foorkan.    An  Arabic  index  to  the  Koran.    Cal- 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  EUROPEAN  EDITIONS  AND  VERSIONS.  103 
 
 Moslem  doctors  are  so  numerous,  that  their  names 
 alone  would  fill  entire  volumes.  There  are  not  less 
 than  20,000  of  them  in  the  library  at  Tripolis  in 
 Syi'ia;  but  the  best  and  most  known  are  the  works 
 of  Zamakshari,  Bedawi,  Mahalli  and  Sujuti. 
 
 1.  The  Koran,  as  we  now  have  it,  is  confessedly 
 not  the  work  of  Mohammed,  but  of  his  followers/^ 
 On  his  death,  his  alleged  revelations  were  found 
 scattered  in  fi-agments  here  and  there,  some  in  the 
 hands  of  Hafsa,  one  of  his  numerous  widows ,  others 
 remained  only  in  the  memory  of  believers.  Moham- 
 med not  only  omitted  to  compile  these  written  frag- 
 ments, but  with  the  exception  of  a  few,  he  never  en- 
 couraged then-  general  circulation;  this  w^ould  have, 
 precluded  the  possibility  of  his  adding,  altering,  mo- 
 difying and  recalling  previous  revelations,  as  occasion 
 might  require.  That  it  was  a  common  practice  of 
 the  prophet  to  revoke  and  alter  his  phrenetic  jDro- 
 ductions  is  proved  by  the  Koran  itself,  ^^  as  well  as 
 by  tradition.  ^^  On  one  occasion  a  verse  having  been 
 
 cutta  1811.  and  Concordantiae  Corani  arabicae  ad  literarum  ordi- 
 nem  et  verb,  radices  dilig.  disp.  Gust.  Fliigel.    Lips.  1842. 
 
 ^^  That  M.  employed  secretaries  to  write  down  liis  visions  is 
 not  called  into  question;  less  known  is  the  fact,  that  he  must  have 
 had  the  knowledge  of  writing  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life. 
 He  required  writing  materials  in  his  last  moments.  Again  he  said 
 to  Muawia,  one  of  his  secretaries:  "Draw  the  iw>  sti'aight,  divide 
 the  (jw  properly  etc.  etc."  Note  et  extrait.  des  Manu.  de  la  Biblio. 
 Imper.  torn.  VIII.  p.  357. 
 
 ^^  "We  recal  none  of  our  verses,  or  bring  them  to  oblivion 
 without  supplying  better  ones  or  at  least  some  equally  good." 
 Sur.  n.  100.  also  Sur.  XVI.  103.  104. 
 
 ®®  When  it  was  revealed  that  those  who  stay  at  home  were 
 not  before  God  as  those  who  go  forth  to  war,  Abdallah  and  Ebn  Urn 
 
104  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  l. 
 
 recited  by  Mohammed  to  a  fi-iend,  wlio  immediately 
 MTote  it  down,  it  was  the  next  morning  discovered 
 to  have  been  effaced;  the  prophet  on  being  told  of 
 the  disappearance  of  the  verse  replied,  that  it  had 
 been  taken  back  to  heaven ;  in  other  words ,  that  he 
 himself  had  obliterated  the  Amting.  ^^ 
 
 As  Mohammed  was  not  always  able  to  destroy  a 
 condemned  or  recalled  Sura,  or  any  part  of  such,  the 
 many  contradictions  and  abrogations  which  are  to  be 
 met  with  in  the  Koran  are  easily  accounted  for. 
 Commentators  indeed  seek  to  explain  away  many 
 of  these  discrepancies,  yet  in  spite  of  their  ingenuity 
 they  are  compelled  to  admit  no  less  than  225  pas- 
 sages, containing  laws  and  dogmas,  which  have  been 
 abrogated  by  subsequent  Suras.  Mohammed  fre- 
 quently made  experiments  with  his  heaven-sent  com- 
 mands, not  scrupling  to  alter  his  ins^^ired  directions 
 according  to  circumstances:  thus  we  have  seen  that 
 when  his  faith  was  greater  in  the  Jews  and  Chris- 
 tians than  in  his  Pagan  countrymen,  he  fixed  the 
 Kebla  at  Jerusalem,  and  made  other  similar  con- 
 cessions; but  when  the  former  disappointed  his  ex- 
 pectations, he  altered  it  for  Mecca  hoping  to  con- 
 ciliate the  latter.  The  law  which  Mohammed  had 
 made  "^^  on  behalf  of  the  Moslem  fraternity  of  emigrants 
 
 Maktum  exclaimed:  "and  what  if  we  were  blind'!  The  prophet 
 asked  for  the  shoulder-blade  upon  which  it  was  written  —  then  had 
 a  sj)a.sni()(lic  convulsion  and  wlicn  recovered  —  made  Zaid  add: 
 "not  having  a  bodily  infinuitj."  Sur.  IV.  94.  The  secretary  re- 
 lated long  after:  "I  fancy,  I  see  the  words  now  on  the  shoulder- 
 blade  near  a  crack."     Mem.  de  TAccad.  des  inscrip.  I.  308. 
 
 ^"■'   Sell,  ©inleituiig  in  ben  .Reran,  pag.  45.         '"   ffieil  pag.  355. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  REVOKED  PASSAGES.  105 
 
 at  Medina,  excluding  their  kindred  from  inheritance, 
 was  repealed  when  they  had  acquired  property  and 
 had  taken  root  among  the  original  inhabitants. 
 Originally  Mohammed  required  two  believers  as  wit- 
 nesses in  special  cases ,  but  afterwards  when  his 
 power  increased,  he  declared  one  to  be  sufficient. 
 Again,  at  an  early  period  toleration  w^as  recommended 
 towards  non-Moslem  commnnities,  but  it  was  abol- 
 ished in  Suras  of  a  later  date;''*  so  long  as  his 
 cause  remains  weak,  the  false  prophet  preaches  gen- 
 tleness and  patience  under  persecution  but  no  sooner 
 does  he  obtain  a  firm  footing,  than  he  proclaims  death 
 and  destruction  to  all  non-conformists.  Such  being 
 Mohammed's  mode  of  enacting  and  revoking  laws 
 and  precepts  throughout  his  proj)hetical  career,  we 
 can  easily  understand,  that  it  would  have  been  con- 
 trary to  his  uniform  policy,  to  collect  all  the  Manu- 
 scripts of  his  alleged  revelations  and  to  give  them  to 
 the  world. 
 
 The  following  circumstance  will  serve  as  a  proof 
 that    the    posthumous    collection    of    the    scattered 
 
 ^^  Sur.  V.  78.  II.  61.  where  Jews,  Christians  and  Sabians  are 
 assured  of  heaven,  are  in  toto  abolished  by  Sur.  XLVIII.  13.  LXIV. 
 11.  III.  84.  See  Maracci  Eefut.  ad  Sur.  II.  pag.  33.  The  most  re- 
 markable contradiction  concerning  M's  private  life  occurs  Sur. 
 XXXni.  47  —  47.  where  he  first  receives  an  unlimited  licence  to 
 marry,  and  in  the  latter  part  he  is  restricted  to  the  wives  he  al- 
 ready possessed.  As  M.  died  betrothed  to  a  fresh  wife,  commen- 
 tators assume ,  he  first  received  the  restriction ,  and  afterwards 
 the  broad  licence;  for  it  is  added:  "the  verses  do  not  follow  in 
 the  Koran  in  the  order  they  were  revealed."  It  is  however 
 enough  for  our  present  purpose  to  prove  that  M.  enacted  and 
 abolished  laws  in  the  name  of  God  as  it  suited  his  personal  con- 
 venience. 
 
106  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 Suras,  depended  much  upon  the  memory  of  Moham- 
 med's followers. — In  the  engagement  between  the 
 INIoslem  troops  and  the  army  of  the  rival  prophet 
 Moseilama,  the  most  celebrated  mnemonical  reciters 
 of  the  still  uncollected  Suras  were  slain,  and  Abube- 
 ker,  fearing  lest  they  should  all  be  cut  off,  requested 
 Zaid  Ebn  Thabat  to  compile  the  book,  whose  history 
 we  are  now  to  consider. ''  ^  Zaid  therefore  collected 
 all  the  pseudo-revelations  that  could  be  found,  writ- 
 
 .  ten  upon  parchment,  leather,  palm-leaves,  shoulder- 
 blades  of  mutton,  stones  and  other  materials,  and 
 collated  these  wdth  the  Suras,  which  the  survivors 
 knew  by  heart.  ^^    It  w^as  not  to  be  expected  that 
 
 ,  this  compilation  would  be  acceptable  to  all  parties, 
 many  of  whom  professed  to  be  in  possession  of 
 verses  which  were  either  altogether  omitted  or  differ- 
 ently worded  in  the  collection;^*  the  consequent  dis- 
 
 .  cord  increased  to  such  a  degree  under  Kalipli 
 Othman,  that  he  determined  to  remedy  it  by  a  coup 
 d'etat:  Zaid  was  now  charged  to  revise  his  former 
 collection,  to  omit  the  "variae  lectiones,"  which  had 
 been  retained  in  the  first,  and  to  make  several  copies 
 of  this   new  edition;   these  were  sent  to  the   chief 
 
 ''^  "I  fear  said  Abubeker,  the  learned  might  all  die  out,  and 
 therefore  advise  the  collection  of  the  Koran."    Weil  pag.  348. 
 
 '^  Mem.  de  I'accad.  des  inscriptions.  Tom.  I.  pag.  330.  Alcoran 
 cd.  Maracci.  pag.  38.  etc.  etc. 
 
 '*  Different  editions  of  the  same  Suras  were  in  existence  during 
 M's  life-time.  Once  two  men  (juarrelled  as  to  the  correctness  of 
 the  twenty  fifth  Sura.  Each  being  requested  to  read  his  own  version 
 before  the  projjhet,  he  declared  both  to  be  correct,  adding  (he  Ko- 
 ran was  revealed  in  seven  different  readings.  Mem.  de  I'Accad. 
 Tom.  L.  pag.  330. 
 
CHAiMV.]  ORIGINAL  COLLECTION.  107 
 
 cities    of  the  Empire   with  a   command  to  burn  all 
 others  then  existing.  ^^ 
 
 It  will  be  seen  that  the  object  of  Othman  was  to 
 establish  for  fnture  ages,  the  unity  rather  than  the 
 purity  of  the  text,  and  in  removing  those  discre- 
 pancies which  Mohammed  had  suffered  to  exist,  he 
 not  only  compiled  but  reformed  the  Koran.  As 
 however  the  vowels  and  interpunctuations  were  not 
 introduced  before  the  second  century  of  the  Hedgra, 
 when  fi-esh  differences  had  already  crept  into  the 
 Manuscripts,  the  unity  enforced  by  Othman  was  of 
 very  short  duration:  we  soon  meet  with  seven  different 
 editions,  possibly  to  accommodate  Mohammed's  asser- 
 tion that  the  Koran  was  revealed  in  seven  different 
 readings. '^^  The. perplexity  arising  from  these  various 
 
 ''^  It  is  however  not  quite  certain  whether  Abubeker  did  more 
 than  collect  the  materials,  whilst  Othman  caused  copies  to  be  made 
 from  them.  M.  Quatremere  appealing  to  Mudjmil  Attawarich  says : 
 Le  Kaliphe  Othman,  troisieme  successeur  de  Mahomed,  s'etait  oc- 
 cupe  avec  un  soin  infatigable  a  faire  reunir  en  un  seul  corps  Ics 
 parties  dispersees  et  incoherentes  de  I'Alcoran  etc.  Journal  Asia- 
 tique  de  Paris,  Juillet  1838.  pag.  41. 
 
 '^  Othnian's  own  copy  of  the  Koran,  which  he  read  when  he 
 was  assassinated ,  is  said  to  have  been  brought  to  Antartus  ,  and 
 four  leaves  marked  with  his  blood  were  preserved  in  the  Mosque  of 
 Cordova.  In  Egypt  too  they  professed  to  have  a  copy  of  his;  the 
 same  in  Marocco  and  Tiberias.  Journal  Asiatique  de  Paris  tom.  VII. 
 pag.  41. 
 
 ''^  Two  editions  originated  in  Medina,  a  third  in  Mecca,  a  fourth 
 at  Kufa,  a  fifth  at  Bussura,  a  sixth  in  Syria,  the  last  was  the 
 "editio  vulgaris."  The  first  of  the  two  in  Medina  counts  6000 
 verses;  others  as  many  as  6236.  This  will  explain  the  difference 
 which  frequently  occurs  in  the  quotation  of  verses.  All  are  said 
 to  contain  an  equal  number  of  words,  some  say  99,464,  others 
 77,039;  and  323,915  letters.  It  has  been  also  computed  how  many 
 times  each  letter  of  the  alphabet  occurs  in  the  Koran.  Reland.  p.  25. 
 
108  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 editions  is  naturally  heightened  by  the  confusion 
 prevailing  in  the  Koran  itself,  and  serves  not  only 
 as  an  apple  of  discord  among  Moslem  divines ,  but 
 also  baffles  the  most  acute  criticism  of  European 
 savans. 
 
 The  division  of  the  entire  book  into  11 4  Suras'*' 
 or  chapters,  was  made  upon  most  arbitrary  principles 
 and  their  succession  wantonly  defies  all  chronological 
 sequence.  Nor  is  this  all;  even  verses  which  were  re- 
 vealed in  one  Sura  are  transposed  and  inserted  into  an- 
 other which  appeared  at  a  different  time  and  on  a  dif- 
 ferent occasion.  A  learnedMoslem  doctor  declares : —  '  ^ 
 "Whosoever  will  give  his  opinion  respecting  the  book 
 of  God,  must  know  how  the  Suras  appeared  in  suc- 
 cession, in  Mecca  as  well  as  in  Medina,  and  be  acquaint- 
 ed with  those,  concerning  the  period  of  which  the 
 learned  disagree;  he  must  know  what  has  been  re- 
 vealed twice;  what  appeared  in  Medina  concerning 
 the  people  at  Mecca,  and  what  appeared  in  Mecca 
 belonging  to  the  Suras  of  Medina,  and  what  was  made 
 known  inDjofa,  Jerusalem,  Taif  and  in  Hudeibia.  He 
 must  be  able  to  discover  which  Mecca  verses  are  mixed 
 
 "  The  word  Sura  occurs  9  times  in  the  Koran.  Sur.  II.  23.  IX.  66. 
 88.126.  129.  X.38.  XI.  14.  XXIV.  1.  XLVII.21.  Here  it  may  signify 
 verses;  literally  it  implies  a  row,  order  or  scries;  a  rank  of  .soldiers. 
 Sowar  being  the  plural  of  Sura,  is  now  the  term  in  India  for  horse- 
 men. In  Rabbinical  Hebrew  rn^UJ  signifies  also  a  row  or  line ;  and 
 we  conclude  Sura  to  be  of  Hebrew  origin  as  3  names  of  the  Koran 
 correspond  to  Hebrew  names:' — jjljXlt,  N'p'ipW;   TI5"J2,    ^jLswftJl, 
 
 Foorkan;  lEi^.,  or  v^^JC^Kitab.  Each  Sura  is  subdivided  into  verses, 
 
 called  Ayat  ibl,  from  the  Hebrew  niN,  a  sign  or  wonder. 
 
 ^'  Imam  Abul  Kasim  Hasan  Ebn  Mohammed,  in  the  introduction 
 to  the  MS.  "Cliamis",  quoted  by  Weil  pag.  363. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  PREVAILING  CONFUSION.  109 
 
 up  witli  Medina  Suras,  and  wliicli  INIedina  verses  were 
 confounded  witli  Mecca  Suras;  he  must  be  likewise 
 acquainted  with  those  which  were  carried  from  Mecca 
 to  Medina,  and  from  Medina  to  Mecca  and  Abyssinia; 
 finally  he  must  know  which  are  the  revoking  and  re- 
 voked verses." 
 
 In  defining  the  chronological  succession  of  those 
 Suras,  produced  in  Mecca  before  the  Hedgra,  there 
 are  three  things  which  may  serve  as  guides  to  our 
 intricate  path;  first,  the  frequent  allusions  to  histor- 
 ical  events   of  that   period;   secondly,    the  peculiar 
 character  of  the  Suras,  which  became  entirely,  al-     /) 
 tered  at   Medina,    where  Mohammed   assumed   the 
 character   of  a  lawgiver  and   prince   in   addition   to 
 that  of  a  prophet;   lastly,    the   style   of   the  Suras, 
 which  originally  was  rhythmical  greatly  resembling 
 that  of  the  Arabian  soothsayers,  but  which  Moham- 
 med afterwards  exchanged  for  j^rosaic  diction,  that 
 he  might  not  be  considered  possessed,  *^°  and  also  be- 
 cause he  was  spent  and  exhausted  by  his  first  effu- 
 sions: for  it  is  remarkable  that  the  very  subjects  which 
 kindled  all  his  enthusiasm  at  the  commencement  of 
 his  so-called  Mission,  were  subsequently  treated  in  a 
 most  prosaic  style. 
 
 It  is  generally  agreed  that  Mohammed's  first  re- 
 velations were  the  sixtyninth  and  seventyfourth 
 Suras,  in  which  he  refers  to  his  alleged  Mission  and 
 writing.  ^^    The  CXI.  chapter  wdtli  its  imprecations 
 
 ®°    Sooth.sayers  were  generally  considered  to  be  possessed  by 
 an  evil  spirit. 
 
 ^*    In  assigning  the  Suras  to  their  respective  periods  it  must 
 
110  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 against  his  uncle  Abu  Lahib,  —  who  had  cursed 
 his  nephew  and  lifted  up  a  stone  against  him,  when 
 delivering  his  first  sermon,  —  belongs  to  this  pe- 
 riod.''^  Then  follow  a  series  of  chapters  in  which 
 Mohammed  is  encouraged  to  persevere  in  his  course, 
 in  sj^ite  of  the  opposition  of  his  townsmen;  the 
 divine  character  of  the  Koran  is  proclaimed; ^^  his 
 own  office  as  a  prophet  is  defined,  as  distinguished 
 from  that  of  poets,  soothsayers  and  possessed  per- 
 sons, and  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  and  Judo-- 
 ment  to  come  is  defended  against  the  reviling  attacks 
 of  his  antagonists.^*  These  chapters,  produced  dur- 
 ing the  first  five  years  of  his  Mission  bear  the  stamp 
 of  deep  conviction,  earnestness  and  sincerity,  in  which 
 Mohammed  appears  rather  as  a  misguided  fanatic 
 than  as  an  impostor.  The  man  evidently  believes 
 .  what  he  preaches  and  is  carried  away  by  his  en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 The  second  period  of  Mohammed's  prophetical 
 career  at  Mecca,  still  produces  some  very  poetical 
 Suras,  but  in  these  we  discover  more  of  the  proj^het 
 and  less  of  the  dreamy  visionary  and  enthusiast;  more 
 
 not  be  forgotten ,  that  sometimes  verses  or  portions  of  tliora  belong 
 to  a  different  period. 
 
 ^^  Tiie  same  may  be  said  of  the  last  6  verses  of  Sur.  XV.  where 
 M.  is  commanded  to  proclaim  his  Mission  beyond  the  circle  of  his 
 friends  and  connections. 
 
 ^^  Although  not  yet  coin])lctcd;  "Koran"  here  and  in  other 
 places  signifies  any  writing  which  is  to  be  read.   See  Sur.  XXXIII.  25. 
 
 «*   Sur.  LXXXI.  LXVIir.  LXXX.  LXXXIX.  XCHI.  XCIV.  CUT. 
 
 c.  cviii.  cii.  cvii.  cv.   cxiir.  cxiv.  cxii.  xcvri.  xci. 
 
 LXXXV.  XC.  XCV.  CI.  LXXV.  CIV.  LXXVII.  LXXXVI.  LXX. 
 LXXVIII.  LXXIX.  LXXXII.  LXXXIV.  LVI.  LXXXVUI.  LII. 
 LXIX.  LXXXIIL  XCIX. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  REAL  ORDER  OF  THE  SURAS.  Ill 
 
 effort  is  apparent  in  his  teaching  and  less  freshness 
 in  the  outpourings  of  his  supposed  inspirations.  His 
 censures  of  the  superstitious  Meccans  become  more 
 detailed ;  his  doctrines  assume  a  calmer  tone ;  hell 
 and  Paradise  are  more  minutely  described;  ^^  and  the 
 attributes  of  God  more  clearly  defined;  legends  touch- 
 ing the  ancient  prophets  increase  in  number  and 
 variety,  so  as  to  excite  the  suspicion  of  his  being 
 materially  assisted  in  his  strange  productions/®  This 
 suspicion  among  his  sharp-sighted  townsmen  is  al- 
 luded to  in  the  Koran,  and  in  no  way  satisfactorily 
 repelled  by  the  assertion  that  the  persons  suspec-  V 
 ted  as  his  coadjutors,  being  foreigners,  were  not  suf-  / 
 ficiently  acquainted  with  the  Arabic  tongue  to  be  of  / 
 use  to  him ;  ^  ^  for, — admitting  they  were  foreigners,  — 
 they  might  nevertheless  supply  him  with  materials, 
 which  he  could  easily  work  up  into  pseudo-revelations. 
 The  Suras  produced  during  the  last  few  years  of 
 Mohammed's  life  at  Mecca,  seldom  rise  above  the 
 the  level  of  ordinary  prose,  the  first  glow  of  prophetic 
 vision  having  entirely  subsided.  It  would  seem  that 
 at  the  outset  of  his  career  the  false  j)rophet  was 
 impelled  by  an  unseen  power,  which  gave  his  mind 
 for  a  time  an  extraordinary  zeal  and  impetus,   but 
 
 ^^  Promises  of  paradise  and  threatenings  of  hell  together  witli 
 their  detailed  descriptions  occupy  at  least  the  6*^  part  of  the  Koran. 
 
 ^®  The  chapters  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  this  period  are : 
 Sur.  I.  LI.  The  first  23  verses  may  be  older.  XXXVI.  L.  LIV. 
 XIX.  XX.  XXI.  XXIIL  XXV.  LXVn.  XXX.  XXXVIIL  XLIII. 
 LXXI.  XLIV. 
 
 ^^   Sur.  XXV.  4.  5.    XLIV.  14.    XVL  105.      ^^^J\     ^LJ 
 
 C^^^   (5^r^    Vij'~^    ^<Xj»^     -♦■^v^I    K-vAr.    ^.JlsxAj 
 
112  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  I. 
 
 that  he  was  subsequently  left  to  carry  out  that  system 
 of  delusion  which,  ere  long,  degraded  him  to  an  art- 
 ful impostor.  ^^ 
 
 A  new  and  strongly  marked  period  in  the  histoiy 
 
 of  the  gradual  production   of  the  Suras  commences 
 
 after  the  Hedgra,  when  Mohammed's  line  of  policy 
 
 became  entirely  changed.     It  is   generally  received 
 
 f      that  the  Sura  of   "the  Cow"  was  the  first   revealed 
 
 i        after  his  arrival  at  Medina;  Mohammed's  principal 
 
 !        object  now  was  to  win  the  numerous   and  influential 
 
 '        body  of  Jews,  who  lived  in  and  around  that  city;  that 
 
 he  entertained  great  hopes  regarding  them,  may  be 
 
 gathered  from  previous  Suras,  in  which  he  frequently 
 
 appeals  to  their  testimony;®^  he  shows  the  Jews  from 
 
 their  own  history,  that  they  had  always  been  wanting 
 
 in  faith,   even  in  the   days  of  Moses,  and  enlarges 
 
 generally  on  the  history  of  their  ancestors. 
 
 -  Relioious,  social  and  civil  laws  are  now  enacted 
 for  the  community  of  believers.  ^°    From  this  period 
 
 •**  The  portions  produced  before  the  approaching-  iliglit  are  the 
 following:  Sur.  VII.  LXXII.  XXXV.  XXVII.  XXVIII.  XVII.  X. 
 XI.  XII.  VI.  XXXI.  XXXIV.  XXXIX.  XL.  XXXII.  XLII.  XLV. 
 XL VI.  XVin.  XVI.  XIV.  XLI.  XXX.  XXIX.  XIII.  Sur.  XVIL 
 verse  33.  must  have  been  given  at  Medina;  also  77. 
 
 ^^  "If  thou  art  in  a  doubt  concerning  any  part  of  that  which  we 
 have  sent  down  unto  thee,  viLLj  i^^aXJI  ^j^v^  ^H*^  (>*«^ 
 a.sk  them  who  have  read  the  book  of  the  law  before  thee."  Sur.  X. 
 94.  "Was  it  not  a  sign  unto  them,  that  the  wise  men  among  the 
 children  of  L-^rael  knew  it  ?"'  Sur.  XXVI.  19^.  Sec  also  Sur.  XXVIIL 
 53.  54.    XXIX.  47.    XLVL  10.    LXXXVII.  18  —  19. 
 
 ^^    The  Kebla  is  fixed  and  again  altered ;  precepts  for  worship, 
 
 fasting,  pilgrimage,  divorce  and  legal  purifications  are  intermixed 
 
 .     with  directions  for  warfare,  keeping  Friday  as  a  day  of  worship, 
 
 making  wills,  dealing  with  thiefs,  murderers,  userers,  and  dividing 
 
 the  spoil. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  DIVINITY  OF  THE  KORAN.  113 
 
 Moliainmecrs  character  grows  decidedly  darker;  he 
 recals  revelations  previously  comniunicated,  shifts  his 
 course  and  alters  his  policy  at  every  turn;  enemies 
 are  murdered:  oaths  are  broken;  wickedness  and 
 treachery  receive  divine  sanction;  war  and  plunder 
 become  the  means  of  spreading  that  creed,  which  he 
 originated  amidst  discouragements  and  difficulties.^* 
 In  the  twenty  three  chapters  which  jNIohammed  pro- 
 duced at  Medina,  ^^  a  marked  deterioration  of  charac- 
 ter is  observable;  —  "the  path  of  the  just  is  as  a 
 shining  light,  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
 perfect  day:  the  way  of  the  wicked  is  as  darkness: 
 they  know  not  at  what  they  stumble." 
 
 2.  In  tracing  the  divinity  of  the  Koran,  ®^  we  shall 
 at  present  as  far  as  jDossible,  confine  ourselves  to 
 the  distinctive  doctrines  of  Islamism,  intending  here- 
 after more  particularly  to  notice  what  has  been  de- 
 rived from  Judaism  and  Christianity.  We  are  indeed 
 aware  that  there  is  perhaps  scarcely  a  page  in  the 
 Koran  in  which  a  most  determined  plagiarism  is  not 
 perceptible;  yet  as  the  real  character  of  Mohammed's 
 teaching  can  only  be  gathered  from  the  manner  in  which 
 he  amalgamates  those  foreign  elements  with  his  pe- 
 culiar system  of  religion,  a  concise  view  of  the  leading 
 
 «•  Sur.  n.  116.  140.  XXII.  53—55.  II.  61  III.  8.  XLVIII.  13. 
 VLVII.  70.  YIII.  4.  LVII.  84.  LXXIII.  XXIV.  XXXIII.  V.  98. 
 LXVI.  2. 
 
 "  These  are  Sur.  II.  XCVIH.  LXII.  LXV.  XXII.  IV.  VIII. 
 XLVII.  LYII.  III.  LIX.  XXIV.  LXIII.  XXXIII.  XLVUI.  CX.  LXI. 
 LX.  LXYIII.  XLIX.  IX.  LXVI.  LXXVI. 
 
 ^'  Seethe  excellent  treatises:  "Beitrage  zu  einer  Theologie  des 
 Korans"  von  Dettinger  in  der  Tiibinger  Zeitschrift  fur  Theologie. 
 
 H 
 
114  mSTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 dogmas  cannot  be  dispensed  with  at  this  point  of  our 
 argument. 
 
 The  Koran  clings  with  the  utmost  tenacity  to 
 the  primary  article  ol'  faith ,  the  Unity  of  the  God- 
 head;— the  words  "there  is  but  one  God"  repeatedly 
 recur  in  it  and  indeed  constitute  the  key-note  of  Is- 
 lamism.  The  arouments  brought  forth  for  the  Unity  of 
 the  Godhead  are  not  always  conclusiye;  sometimes  it 
 is  inferred  from  the  works  of  creation  and  providence,  ^* 
 at  other  times  it  is  maintained,  that  a  plurality  of 
 Gods  is  against  reason,^'  that  two  deities  would  of 
 necessity  counteract  and  destroy  each  other,  ^^  and 
 that  each  would  strive  to  overcome  his  rival.  ^"  The 
 chief  evidence  however  rests  upon  the  united  testi- 
 mony of  the  prophets,  who  all  preached  the  same 
 doctrine.®^ 
 
 With  this  dogma  the  Koran  protests  not  only 
 against  the  Paganism  of  the  Arabs,  ^'^  whose  idols 
 are  represented  as  nought  and  vanity ;  *  but  also 
 against  the  Jews,  who  are  accused  of  regarding  Ezra 
 as  the  Son  of  God,  and  of  considering  their  Rabbis 
 to  be  Lords  besides  God.  ^  But  especially  violent 
 is  the  opposition  of  the  Koran  to  the  Christian  dogma 
 of  the  Holy  Trinity,  which  it  represents  as  consisting 
 
 ^*  Sur.  11.  165.166.  VI.  96—100.  XVI.  3—22.  XXI.31-36. 
 XiVII.  60—65.    XL.  64—70.    XLI.  9.    XXXI.  10.  11. 
 
 ^^  Sur.  XXUI.  119.  ^6   XXI.  22.  "    Sur.  XXIII.  93. 
 
 38   Sur.  XXX.  35.    XXI.  25.    XXXIX.  65.    LI.  50—52.      . 
 
 ^^  Sur.  LIIL  19.  LXXI.  23.  24.  XVL  57.  XVIL  4.  XLIIl.  16. 
 LII.  39. 
 
 •  Sur.  X.  19.  Xyi.  20.  21.  XL.  75.  XXI.  74.  XXXIV.  22. 
 XL.  42—44. 
 
 2   Sur.  IX.  30. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  THE  DIVINE  UNITY.  115 
 
 of  God,  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary,  and  His  mother!' 
 Yet  m  spite  of  the  indignation  justly  expressed  against 
 this  misconceived  and  bhisphemous  idea,  the  Virgin 
 Marv  is  highly  exalted  and  honoured;*  and  our  Lord, 
 notwithstanding  that  His  mere  human  nature  is  as- 
 serted,*  and  His  crucifixion  denied,®  is  styled,  the 
 Word  and  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  acknowledged  as 
 an  Apostle  and  Pruphet  come  from  God. "  The  doc- 
 trine of  the  Trinity  and  the  Divinity  of  Christ  is  com- 
 batted  by  considering  the  gross  impropriety  of  the 
 supposition  "that  God  should  have  a  wife  and  beget 
 a  son ;"  ^  by  arguing  that  to  have  a  son ,  would  mili- 
 tate against  the  supreme  mdependence  and  all-suffi- 
 ciency of  God,  ^  and  by  showing  that  it  might  become 
 dangerous  to  the  sovereign  power  of  God  to  have  an 
 offspring. '°  To  believe  therefore  in  the  doctrine  of 
 the  Trinity  and  in  the  Godhead  of  Jesus  is  a  mark 
 of  infidelity  and  excludes  from  Paradise.^* 
 
 The  Majesty  of  God  is  described  in  the  Koran  in 
 words  of  considerable  powder  and  beauty;  Moham- 
 medans fi-equently  recite  these  words  and  carry  them 
 about  their  persons,  engraved  on  agate  or  other  pre- 
 cious stone  I  "God!  there  is  no  God  but  he,  the  living, 
 the  self-subsisting:  neither  slumber  nor  sleep  seizeth 
 him;  to  him  belongeth  whatsoever  is  in  heaven  and 
 
 '   Sur.  IX.  25.    V.  82.         *  Sur.  XXI.  91.   III.  42.   XXIII.  52. 
 
 ^   Sur.  XVI.  43.  XXI.  8.  XVIII.  110.        «  Sur.  IV.  156.  157. 
 
 ^   Sur.  XIX.  32.  IV.  169.  III.  39.  V.  119.  VI.  58. 
 
 ^   Sur.  XIX.  34.  LXXII.  3.  XIX.  87, 
 
 "   Sur.  IV.  169.  XXV.  2.   XXXIX.  5.        *"   Sur.  XXIII.  93. 
 
 •^   Sur.V.  58.   IX.  31.  III.  78. 
 
116  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  I. 
 
 on  earth.  Who  is  he  that  can  intercede  with  him, 
 but  through  his  good  pleasure?  He  knoweth  that  which 
 is  past,  and  that  which  is  to  come  unto  men  and  they 
 shall  not  comprehend  anything  of  his  knowledge  but 
 so  far  as  he  pleaseth.  His  throne  is  extended  over 
 heaven  and  earth  and  the  preservation  of  both  is  no 
 burden  unto  him;  he  is  the  high  the  mighty."*^  Ac- 
 cording to  the  Koran  God  is  incomparably  excellent 
 and  no  similitude  can  possibly  reach  His  perfection.*^ 
 His  indescribability  is  thus  strangely  expressed:  "God 
 is  the  self-sufficient,  the  praise-worthy.  If  whatever 
 trees  are  in  the  earth  were  pens,  and  if  he  should 
 after  that  swell  the  sea  into  seven  seas  of  ink,  the 
 words  of  God  would  not  be  exhausted."  Amongst 
 the  hundred  names  which  Moslem  divines  ascribe  to 
 God,  that  oi  Allah  is  the  nomen  maximum.**  The 
 appellation  of  "Lord"  never  occurs  in  the  Koran; 
 Mohammed  no  doubt  excluded  it  from  its  being  in- 
 variably applied  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  sa- 
 cred books  of  the  Christians.  ^^  That  these  "beautiful 
 names,"  must  be  considered  to  indicate  the  incom- 
 parable Majesty  of  God,  we  may  gather  from  the  fol- 
 lowing passage:  "Serve  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth 
 and  persevere  in  his  service,   for  knowest  thou  one 
 
 ^'   Sur.II.256.  XXIV.  36.      *^  Sur.  XLII.  10.  XVI.  74.  XXX.  27. 
 
 **  The  99  names  are  recorded:  Fuiulgruben  IV.  p.  16  the  last 
 being  not  so  much  ~'r-r,  as  jJUl,  the  standing  name  of  Hod. 
 
 *^  *j  Jtjdominus,  is  only  used  with  personal  pronouns:  my  Lord, 
 ^x;  thy  Lord,  ^ s  ,  their  Lord,  (V^^,  or  with  the  following 
 Gcnitivus:  ^.a^JLjiJI  (*^^,  Lord  of  the  worlds. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.  Il7 
 
 who  has  a  nam^  like  his?"*^  This  leads  us  to  the 
 worship  which  the  Koran  maintains  is  due  to  God. 
 "All  things  in  heaven  and  earth  adore  God  volun- 
 tarily or  involuntarily;  their  shadows  also  morning 
 and  evening"  are  said  to  ''bow  themselves  right  and 
 left."^"  Not  only  is  God  to  be  glorified  on  rising  up 
 and  lying  dow^i,  —  but  his  Majesty  is  considered  so 
 great  and  august,  that  little  is  said  to  be  wanting  to 
 cause  the  heavens  to  rend  asunder  from  a  sense  of 
 his  glory. ^*  Allah  is  eternal,  the  living  one,  who 
 never  dieth ,  the  first  and  the  last,  *  ^  and  the  omni- 
 present. ^° 
 
 The  attribute  of  Holiness  is  utterly  ignored  in  the 
 Koran;  all  that  is  said  of  God  might  be  asserted  of 
 any  honest  man.^*  This  total  negation  of  the  Holiness 
 of  God  may  be  considered  the  fundamental  lie  of 
 Islamism,  which  marks  its  teaching  as  directly  op- 
 posed to  reason  and  revelation,  and  as  false  from 
 beginning  to  end.  The  favourite  attribute  of  the  Koran 
 seems  to  be  the  Omnipotence  of  God;  who  is  there 
 described,  as  Lord  of  the  worlds ;  Lord  of  heaven  and 
 
 ^^    vLcfAw  *AjiJ'  O^i  knowcst  thou  one  named  like  him :  or  who 
 comes  up  to  him? 
 
 *^   Sur.XIir.  15.  XXII.  18.  XXIV.  42.  XYI.  48.     xJOtj^^U*;, 
 nQooxvvovvrtq  to)  dt(S. 
 
 ^8   Sur.  LH.  48.  XLII.  4.       ^^  Sur.  XXV.  58.  LVH.  3.  XV.  23. 
 '0   Sur.  n.  187.  116.  LVII.  3.  LXXIII.  8.  LXX.  40.  H.  116. 
 
 **    ^j,,AA*v.^\*JI    S-^S\J   aJ.Jt,   God  loves  them  that  do  well. 
 
 Sur.  n.   196.    or   "he  loves  the  pure",    ^^y^iojJo  Sur.  II.  223. 
 
 "them  that  deal  justly"  V.  49.  II.  191.  III.  140.  V.  73.  XV.  23. 
 VU.  29.  34. 
 
118  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 earth  and  of  all  that  is  between  them;*^  it  also  adds: 
 to  Him  belongs  their  government;^'  His  word  of  com- 
 mand must  be  obeyed;^*  His  are  the  treasures  of 
 heaven  and  earth,  as  well  as  the  j>owers  which  are 
 therein,  and  His  energy  is  indefatigable.^^  All  human 
 events  and  deeds  are  to  be  ascribed  to  His  irresis- 
 tible Omnipotence.  Hence  the  reason,  why  so  much 
 weight  is  given  to  the  formula:  "so  Godivilir  which 
 is  constantly  upon  the  lips  of  the  Moslem.  ^^  As  the 
 most  convincing  demonstrations  of  God's  omnipotent 
 power,  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  the  future  Re- 
 surrection of  the  dead,  are  instanced.  ^  ^ 
 
 The  Omniscience  of  God  is  also  mentioned  in 
 almost  every  Sura,  and  in  the  second  chapter  alone, 
 we  have  at  least  twenty  six  expressions  to  the  effect, 
 that  "God  knows  and  sees  all  ye  do;"  He  has  the 
 keys  of  knoAvledge  and  in  the  dark  furrows  of  the 
 earth,  happens  nothing  wdiich  is  not  entered  into  the 
 book  of  God;  the  secrets  of  the  heart  are  known  to 
 Him.^" 
 
 *-   Sur.  XLIV.  7.  II.  20.  106.  109.  VI.  101.  102. 
 
 '^   Sur.  II.  107.  256.  285.  IV.  130.  IX.  118. 
 
 ^*  Sur.  II.  118.  III.  47.  VI.  73.  XIX.  30.  XXXVI.  82.  XL.  TO. 
 XXIII.  82.  XL.  16. 
 
 2*   Sur   LXIII.  7.  XLVIII.  7.  XXXL  28. 
 
 '^  «-L!l  tL.cio  ^f  Deo  volente.  cfr.  ntv  6  mfJiog  ^fXrjcFri  y.al 
 tr,aotitv.  JaiiK's  IV  13.  15.  Act.  XVIll.  21.  1  Cor.  IV.  19.  Hebr. 
 VI  4.  See  also  analogies  in  Classics:  Schneckenburger  Com.  in 
 Epi.  Jac.  ad  locum.  Sur.  XVllI.  25, 
 
 2^  Creation:  Sur.  XIV.  11.  111191.192.  XLV.  3  — 5.  LL 
 20—22.  X.  6  7.  XXX.  20--25.  Xllf.  4.  5.  XXIV.  44.  45.  Re- 
 surrection: XVII  50.  51.  98.  99.  XXIIL  12-14. 15.  16.  XXXIL  7. 
 XXL  104.  XXXVL  78-81.   IL  260. 
 
 "   Sur.VL58.  XXXIV.  2.  XL  6.  7.  XXXIV.  2  — 4.  11.235.236. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.  119 
 
 Mext  to  the  Omnipotence  of  God  His  Mercy,  is 
 most  prominently  set  forth  and  to  these  two  attributes 
 all  the  rest  are  deemed  subordinate.^^  As  the  Koran 
 ignores  God's  holy  will  and  purpose  of  love  to  save 
 the  world  in  righteousness,  its  conception  of  the  di- 
 vine Mercy  could  not  fail  to  prove  a  most  revolting 
 carricature.  The  formula:  "/?i  the  name  of  the  most 
 merciful  God,"'  has  indeed  become  the  Shibboleth 
 of  Islamism ,  ^^  being  the  superscription  to  every  chap- 
 ter, with  the  exception  only  of  the  ninth  Sura;  and 
 is  to  Mohammedans  what  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  to 
 Christians.  The  application  of  the  Bismillah  is  ac- 
 companied with  the  most  magical  effects;  not  only 
 are  all  letters  and  public  documents  inscribed  with 
 it,  but  it  is  worn  as  a  talisman  against  evil  spirits; 
 nor  is  meat  considered  eatable  to  this  day  except 
 the  animal  has  been  killed  ''in  the  name  of  the  most 
 merciful  God."^* 
 
 To  the  Mercy  of  God  are  ascribed  the  comforts 
 of  life;  such  as  rest  at  night,  the  services  of  brute 
 beasts  and  the  production  of  the  earth.  ^^  Among 
 &t.^>.«.j'    2(.Aw.xJ    (c-^    i»-/-^5   scripsit  super  animam  suam 
 
 29 
 
 clementiam.    Sui\  \T;.  12 
 
 30 
 
 l*"^"^)"  U^"^F  *^"^^  (*-^  ^"  ^^^  name  of  God  the  most 
 merciful,  is  briefly  called  Bismillah. 
 
 ^'  "When  these  words  were  first  revealed ,"  quotes  Abu  Zaid 
 from  a  Moslem  author  "the  clouds  fled  to  the  east,  the  winds  were 
 hushed,  the  sea  roared,  the  animals  pricked  up  their  ears  to  listen, 
 the  demons  were  chased  with  fiery  darts  from  heaven,  God  swore 
 he  would  bless  all  upon  whom  his  name  was  called,  and  whosoever 
 should  utter  these  words  would  enter  Paradise."  See  also  Sur.  V.  5. 
 n.  175.  XVI.  115.  VI.  21. 
 
 "  Sur.  XL.  63.  XYL.  5—8.  XXXIV.  6.  XLII.  19.  XXXV. 
 1—3.    XL.  80—82.    LVn.  25. 
 
120  fflSTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  I. 
 
 spiritual  mercies  are  enumerated  the  Revelation  of 
 the  true  Religion;  specially  the  sending  down  of  the 
 Koran.  ^^     The  revelation  of  Islamism  is  called  the 
 perfection  of  divine  Love  and  Mercy,  and  the  Mission 
 of  Mohammed  is  said  to  have  been  granted  out  of 
 compassion  to  all  creatures.  ^*  The  sin-forgiving  ^lercy 
 of  God  is  characterized  as  an  act,  altogether  capri- 
 cious and  arbitrary,  being  overruled  by  His  irresistible 
 power.    "He  forgiveth  whom  he  pleascth;"  is  one  of 
 the  standing  phrases  of  the  Koran.    The  Holiness  of 
 God  being  disowned  the  divine  Mercy  is  consequently 
 made  dependent  on  the  imperfect  services  of  man. 
 God  is  represented    as  willing  to  pardon   sin  upon 
 man's  repentance:  "But  as  for  those  who  repent  and 
 amend,  and  make  known  what  they  have  concealed, 
 I  wuU  be  turned  unto  them,  for  I  am  easy  to  be  re- 
 conciled and  merciful."  ^'  But  faith,  that  is  the  acknow- 
 ledgement of  Mohammed  as  the  greatest  of  all  Apos- 
 tles,—  is  the  most  meritorious  of  all  virtues;  whoso- 
 ever beUeves  in  the  prophet  and  repents,  receives 
 pardon  and  a  free  admission  into  Paradise.'''     Thus 
 no  one  need  fear  lest  the  standard  of  repentance  and 
 good  works  might  be  beyond  his  reach;  and  with  such 
 views    of  God's  Holiness   and  Mercy  the  Koran   is 
 quite  consistent  in  repeatedly  declaring,   that  none 
 need  despair  of  obtaining  Mercy.''   As  the  Mercy  of 
 Allah  is  manifested  by  the  arbitrary  acts  of  a  capri- 
 
 "  Sur.  XII.  39.   II.  90.  105.  235. 
 
 "    Sur.  V.  4.  XXI.  100.  '•'    Sur.  II.  155.  162. 
 
 ««   Sur.  XXIX.  7.  XXIII.  1.59.  XVIII.  31.  9.  XIX.  95.  XX.  71. 
 XXI.  94.  XXII.  14.  111.  135.  136. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.  121 
 
 cious  potentate,  so  is  hh  Bighteousness  by  the  work- 
 ing of  an  uncontrollable  power.  The  Righteousness 
 of  God  recompences  and  punishes  in  this  life  and  in 
 the  Ufe  to  come;  and  is  termed  the  reward  from 
 Heaven,  the  wrath  of  God,  the  revenge  of  the  Lord, 
 who  is  powerful  and  swift  in  bringing  man  to  account. 
 lie  is  Lord  of  the  day  of  Judgment ,  and  not  indif- 
 ferent to  what  we  do.  ^^  But  God  is  said  to  lay  snares, 
 deceive  and  mock  in  administering  Righteousness.^^ 
 The  Justice  of  God  is  frequently  alluded  to  under 
 the  figure  of  a  balance.  Good  and  evil  of  the  size  of 
 the  smallest  atom  shall  meet  with  its  just  recom- 
 pence;  only  with  this  difference,  that  good  works 
 will  be  rewarded  two  or  tenfold  whilst  evil  deeds  will 
 meet  with  simple  punishment.**^ 
 
 3.  That  Mohammed  should  have  received  the 
 biblical  doctrine  of  the  world  having  been  created  by 
 God  in  the  beginning  of  time,  is  neither  astonishing 
 nor  meritorious.  In  some  places  the  Koran  assigns 
 six  days  for  the  creation,  in  others  only  four.*^  Con- 
 cerning man's  formation,  it  states,  —  God  made  man 
 from  clay  or  earth,  and  endowed  him  with  a  beautiful 
 form.  That  the  woman  was  formed  out  of  a  rib  is 
 no  where  stated  in  the  Koran,  but  the  Sonna  sup- 
 
 '^  A  woman  condemned  to  hell  was  pardoned,  because  on 
 passing  a  well,  ^he  tied  up  her  ass  and  gave  water  to  a  dog  on  the 
 point  of  perishing  from  thirst.  Fundgruben  I.  pag  278.  quoted 
 from  the  Sonna.      Sur.  XXXIX.  53.  XII.  87.  XV.  53.  54. 
 
 ^»   Sur.n.58.61.  IU.5.  11.  XL.  3.  II.  168.221.  1.4.  11.74.85. 
 
 "  Sur.  VIII.  29.  m.  53.  XXVII.  51.  LXXXVI.  15.  16.  IV. 
 14.  15.    IX.  51. 
 
 *o   Sur.  XCIX.  7.  8.    XLII.  39.    VI.  170.    XVI.  88. 
 
 *^   Sur.  X.  3.  XI.  9.   L.  37.   LVII.  4.   XLI.  8—11. 
 
122  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  I. 
 
 plies  the  omission:*^  "Treat  women  with  consideration, 
 for  the  wife  was  formed  out  of  a  crooked  rib,  and  the 
 best  of  them  bears  traces  of  the  crooked  rib;  if  thou 
 seek  to  make  it  straight  it  will  break ,  if  thou  leave 
 it  alone,  it  will  continue  to  be  crooked.  Treat  women 
 with  consideration." 
 
 The  Koran  teaches,  that  the  soul  of  man  is  en- 
 dowed with  power  for  good  and  evil,  and  is  known 
 only  to  God;  that  God  has  implanted  in  man  an 
 inclination  for  good  and  evil;  and  in  harmony  with 
 the  doctrine  of  predestination,  it  affirms  that  man's 
 moral  liberty  consists  only  in  choosing  the  one  or  the 
 other.  *^  The  external  condition  of  Adam  is  described 
 to  have  been  one  of  great  felicity;  the  place  of  his 
 original  abode  to  have  been  heaven — no  distinction 
 being  made  between  an  earthly  and  a  heavenly  Pa- 
 radise,  —  and  his  knowledge  to  have  surpassed  that 
 of  the  angels.**  Adam  and  Eve  were  neither  to 
 hunger  nor  thirst,  nor  feel  their  nakedness,  which 
 the  learned  doctors  explain  by  assuming  that  they 
 were  covered  with  hair !  *  ^  Of  their  immortality,  nothing 
 
 *^  Sur.  VII.  12.  XV.  20.  27.  XVII.  62.  XXXVIII.  72.  cfr.  VI. 
 2.  XX.  51.  XXXVII.  11.  XL.  65.  LXV  3.  LXXXII.  7  8.  and 
 Tundgruben  I.  No.  389.  pag.  276. 
 
 *5  Sur.  LV.  4.  XVII.  86.  and  XCI.  8.  it  is  said  of  God: 
 Laj«Ju«    LiCj^-SXi    L^.*-gJI    claudestino   instincta  docuit  (s.  inspi- 
 
 ravit  in)  aninuun  nialitiani  suani  ct  pietatera  suam ;  and  it  will  be 
 found  difficult  to  explain  it  otherwise. 
 
 **   Sur  II.  30—36.  35.    VII.  20.  13.  25. 
 
 *»  So  Jahja  expounds  in  Sur.  XX.  116.  117.  the  "non  eris  nu- 
 dus;"  and  he  deserves  the  ironical  note  of  Maraccius  Prod.  IV.  107. 
 col.  1.  and:  Refut.  in  loco  IV.  p.  448:  "Duos,  scilicet  msos ,  non 
 homines,  creaverat  Deus !" 
 
CHAP,  ir]  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  THE  KORAN.  123 
 
 is  mentioned  in  the  Koran;  on  the  contrary  it  is 
 the  uniform  opinion  of  this  book,  that  mortality  es- 
 sentially belongs  to  human  nature.*^  Much  is  said 
 of  the  superior  knowledge  of  man  in  his  primal  state 
 but  nothing  of  his  moral  perfection. 
 
 The  history  of  man's  fall  is  closely  interwoven 
 with  that  f>i'  Satan.  "We  created  you  and  afterwards 
 formed  you,  and  then  said  unto  the  angels,  worship 
 Adam,  and  they  all  w^orshipped  him,  except  Eblls 
 who  was  not  of  those  who  worshipped;"*^  upon  which 
 Eblis  was  ejected  from  Paradise  and  "'caused  them 
 to  fall  through  deceit."*''  The  fall  of  man  therefore 
 was  brought  about  by  the  devil  in  order  to  revenge 
 himself,  by  the  destruction  of  the  happiness  of  our 
 first  parents.  The  Koran  making  no  difference  be- 
 tween the  tree  of  knowledge  and  the  tree  of  life  teaches, 
 that  the  devil  tempted  man,  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  im- 
 mortality and  the  punishment  which  ensued  was  Adam's 
 banishment  from  Paradise,  and  the  enmity  which 
 should  spring  up  between  man  and  man,  which  to 
 Mohammed's  mind  was  the  extreme  point  of  human 
 misery.  The  nature  of  sin  appears  to  be  such,  as  to 
 cause  the  earth  only,  to  be  corrupted;*^  for  a  correct 
 notion  of  it:  as  a  moral  offence  against  the  Divine 
 Majesty,   w^e  vainly  seek  in  the  Koran;   nor  is  the 
 
 *^  Sur.  LVI.  62.  XXI.  36.  HI.  186.  IV.  77.  To  obtain  exemp- 
 tion from  death  the  tempter  entices  them  to  eat  of  the  forbidden 
 tree.    Sur.  XX.  218. 
 
 *^    Sur.  Yll.  10—26. 
 
 *^   Eblis,  y*AJLj|  from  duifioXo^;  Satan,  ^.Lti-Ui  f'om  lU^^ 
 
 *^  Sur.  Yll.  25.  cfr.  U.  36.  (jOs!^t  ^  J-wj!  corrumpere  in 
 terra.   H.  27.  XIU.  27.  XLVII.  22.  XII.  73.  LXXXIX.  11.  12. 
 
1 24  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [PART  I. 
 
 fearful  truth  of  original  sin  ever  acknowledged.  Hence 
 it  was  sufficient,  that  Adam  should  be  instructed, *° 
 and  left  with  a  promise  of  future  direction  from  God.^* 
 This  direction  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  Koran;  on 
 receiving  which,  man  is  certain  of  eternal  bliss;  but 
 its  rejection  is  the  sin  which  of  all  others  is  unpar- 
 donable. We  here  perceive  the  utter  holkfvness  and 
 falsity  of  the  creed  of  the  Koran,  in  which  the  denial 
 of  the  Holiness  of  God  and  the  moral  depravity 
 of  man  revenges  itself:  had  both  these  fundamental 
 doctrines  been  acknowledged,  the  need  of  Redemption 
 would  necessarily  have  been  felt;  as  it  now  stands,  a 
 meaningless  petition  for  mercy,  is  substituted  for  the 
 teaching  "0/  salvation  in  right eo u sness ,"'  and  the 
 Koran  presents  merely  the  unauthenticated  message 
 of  a  pseudo-prophet,  as  a  "direction." 
 
 4.  The  next  point  we  shall  notice  among  the  doc- 
 trines of  the  Koran  is  the  Fnenmatologij  of  Islamism, 
 as  forming  an  essential  branch  of  its  system.  Among 
 intelligent  beings,  angels  occupy  the  highest  rank; 
 they  were  created  before  man  and  take  a  considerable 
 part  in  the  dispensation  of  God's  providential  govern- 
 ment. ® '  They  are  represented  as  having  been  created 
 
 '"  Adam  was  taught  \i:j\..^)S:  words,  which  he  was  to  repeat; 
 Sur.  II.  37.38.  Maniccio:  "verba,  yuibus  petcret  veniam  peccati 
 sui." 
 
 ^*  _JiJO:  directio,  which  according  to  Jelladdiu  is  none  other 
 but  the  Jv^);  ^^^,  the  Koran  and  the  apostle,  liber  etlegatus. 
 
 "  iS^^  messenger  like  the  Hebrew  "^^hlZ  to  be  desired  from 
 <if  !^,  <i5Jf  i"^^-  misit  related  with  "r^brj.  That  the  angels  are  superior 
 to  man  may  be  gathered  from  Sur.  XXXVH.  8.  11. 
 
 % 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  PNEUMATOLOGY  OF  THE  KORAN.  125 
 
 from  fii-e ,  ^ '  and  as  possessing  a  subtle ,  penetrating, 
 etherial  nature.'*  As  ministering  servants  they  are 
 near  God,  but  that  they  are  holy  is  nowhere  stated 
 in  the  Koran,  the  notion  of  sinless  purity  being  fo- 
 reign to  the  author  of  that  book.  The  only  allusion 
 to  the  purity  of  angels  is  to  be  found  in  the  Sonna, 
 where  we  are  told,  that  they  never  enter  a  house,  in 
 which  a  dog  is  to  be  found!'''  Angels  generally  appear 
 in  human  form;  thus  Gabriel  showed  himself  both  to 
 Mohammed,  and  to  Mary.  Should  infidels  demand  the 
 appearance  of  an  angel  to  convince  them,  it  is  stated, 
 that  God  would  have  to  clothe  him  as  a  man  for  their 
 sake.  Animals  are  capable  of  seeing  angels  or  devils : 
 "If  you  hear  a  cock  crow,  pray  for  mercy,  for  it  has 
 seen  an  angel;  but  when  ye  hear  an  ass  bray,  take 
 refuge  with  God,  for  the  ass  has  seen  a  devil," '^  The 
 Koran  speaks  also  of  an  invisible  presence  at  the 
 battle  of  Honein,  where  the  Moslem  army  trusting 
 to  their  numerical  strength  were  at  first  repelled,  but 
 at  last  gained  the  victory  through  the  heavenly  host, 
 which  they  saw  not. 
 
 ^3    Aj   ^,   Sur.  Vn.  12.   XXX.  VIII.  77.   LV.  15.  XV.  27. 
 
 Hebrew  Theology  speaks  of  an  angel  bN"''^"N,  fire  of  God.  Ode  de 
 angelis  pag.  312.  Origen  describes  the  body  of  angels  as  ul^}^glu 
 and  uvyotidf-g  <J(og,  Tatian  ascribes  to  them  a  7ntV[.itniK7]  av/xTJi^^ig 
 (og  nv(jO^,  (og  uif:(jog.    See  also  Sur.  XV.  27. 
 
 '"'*  "Nous  sorames  tenus  de  croire,  que  ce  sont  des  corps  subtils, 
 purs,  formes  do  luniiere,  qui  ne  niangent,  qui  ne  boivent,  qui  ne 
 dornient  et  qui  n'ont  ni  sexe,  ni  appetit  charnel ,  ni  pere  ni  mere." 
 Moslem  Confession  of  faith  Reland.  pag.  11, 
 
 ''^  v«aJj  ^-^-!^  L^^  &Xj^L»JI  JJ>  Jo^)  non  entrant  angeli 
 domum  in  quo  canis  est.  Ode  de  angelis  p.  452.  Fundgrub.  I.  p.  187. 
 No.  354. 
 
 *«   Fundgrub.  I.  No.  383.  pag.  278. 
 
126  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 A  belief  in  the  existence  of  angels  is  an  essential 
 article  of  the  creed  of  the  Koran:  "he  is  an  infidel, 
 who  is  an  enemy  of  God,  of  his  prophets  and  angels, 
 especially  of  Gabriel  and  Michael." '''  The  same 
 teaching  is  maintained  in  the  creed  of  Islamism  as 
 translated  by  Reland/^^  Gabriel  is  considered  the 
 most  celebrated  angel,  to  be  prevailing  in  his  inter- 
 cessions, of  great  power  and  might ,  and  chief  medi- 
 ator of  divine  revelations;  he  is  called  the  Spirit,  or 
 the  Spirit  of  holiness  ;^^  in  order  to  magnify  him  the 
 Koran  invents  a  variety  of  fables.*^"  Gabriel  h  par 
 excellence  the  angel  of  Islamism;  and  the  mention  of 
 Michael  in  the  above  quotation,  is  donbtless  out  of 
 compliment  to  the  Jews,  as  Mohammed  considered 
 him  to  be  their  guardian. 
 
 In  several  Suras  Mohammed  swears  by  the  angels ; 
 in  these  they  are  described  as  ordering  and  settling- 
 affairs,  as  reading  the  counsels  of  God;  abstracting 
 the  soul  from  the  body  in  the  agony  of  death :  guiding 
 the  righteous  into  Paradise;  running  swiftly  and  ful- 
 filling God's  demands  with  diligence;  spreading  their 
 wings;  conveying  admonition  and  bearing  the  burdens 
 of  prophecy.^*  Among  their  heavenly  offices,  are  the 
 contemplation  and  adoration  of  the  divine  Majesty, 
 
 "    Sur.  n.  98.  286.    IV.  1^5. 
 
 ^^  "C'est  une  des  conditions  absolues  de  la  foi ,  de  les  anges, 
 aimer  tons;  c'est  une  infidelite,  de  Ics  hair,  ou  d"en  hair  un  seul ; 
 et  quiconque  no  se  soucie  point  de  croire  en  eux,  ni  de  les  aimer  — 
 qu'il  soit  tenu  pour  infidele.  ODieu,  preserve  nous  d'infidolite." 
 Reland  Leg,  IV.  No.  4.  pag.  12. 
 
 5'   Sur.  LXXXI.  20.  19.  LIH.  5.  6.  ""   Sur.  XX.  94. 
 
 «•  Sur.  XXXVII.  1.  3.  LXXIX.  1.2.  ;i.  4.  5.  LXXYII.  1.  2.  3.  5. 
 LI.  1.  2.  3.  4. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  PNEUMATOLOGY  OF  THE  KORAN.  127 
 
 and  making  processions  around  the  throne  of  God; ''^ 
 the  consideration  and  the  writing  down  of  the  mys- 
 teries of  God;  the  act  of  intercession  for  the  faith- 
 ful is  not  however  restricted  to  Gabriel."^    Among 
 then-  ecu'thly  offices   are   enumerated  that  of  trans- 
 mitting fresh   revelations  to   those  whom   God  has 
 chosen;  counting  the  days  of  men,  and  specially  pro- 
 tecting, blessing,  and  comforting  behevers;  at  death 
 they  examine  and  pass  a  preliminary  judgment  upon 
 the  departed  soul;«*  "How  will  it  be  with  the  un- 
 believers, wdien  the  angels  shall  make  them  die  and 
 beat  their  faces  and  backs."  «■'    If  the  departed  soul, 
 on   being    examined,  disavow  Mohammed,   the   two 
 angels  present  on  the  occasion,   will  inflict  such  a 
 blow    on   the    head    of  the   poor   victim,    as   would 
 be    sufficient    to    crush    aiid    dislodge    mountains.  ^^ 
 Lastly,  the  angels  are  active  in  the  day  of  Judgment, 
 and  have  their  appointed  functions  in  hell  and  Para- 
 dise; eight  of  them  will  bear  the  throne  of  the  Judge 
 of  the  world,  the  rest  will  be  filed  in  lines  on  each 
 side ;  Judgment  being  passed ,  they  will  convey  the 
 just   to  Paradise  and   drive   the  wicked  into  liell." 
 
 Xl's  ^"'■•^^"•^^-  ^^^-  ^^-  ^^1-19.20.   XVI.  49.  XXXIX.  75. 
 
 ^'   Sur  LII.  37.    XXXVn.  10.    LXXX.  12— 1.5.    XXXIII  41 
 II.  161.    XL.  8—10.  ■       ■ 
 
 "   Sur.  XLII.  50.    XCVII.    XXII.  76.    XXI.  26-30.    L    16 
 XXIII.  114.   VIII.  9.   XLI.  30.   XXXIII.  53.  LXXXVI.  4    VI  6o" 
 LXXU.  27.  28.    XIU.  13.    LXXXII   8-14.    XXXII.  12.    Vh'  38* 
 VI.  94.    XLVII.  27.    Vm.  53 
 
 "   Sur.  XLIX.  27. 
 
 ««    Fundgr.  I.  No   468.  p.  290.  No.  173.  p.  167    also  Commenta. 
 Maracc.  Schol.  Sur.  II.  161.  pag.  67 
 
 "    Sur.  LXXXIX.  23.    LXXVIH.  18.    LXX.  4.  5.     XXV.  23 
 XXXVII.  23.   LXIX.  30.   XLIV.  45. 
 
128  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 Other  angels  open  the  gates  of  Paradise  and  welcome 
 the  faithful.  The  wicked  are  received  into  hell  by 
 nineteen  tormenting  angels,  who  are  also  called 
 ^' Lords  of  fire  r  and  preside  over  the  place  of  punish- 
 ment;^^ these  are  described  as  being  very  terrible 
 and  ferocious;  the  number  nineteen  is  said  by  com- 
 mentators to  have  been  chosen,  because  that  number 
 was  specified  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Jews  and  Chris- 
 tians!'^^ 
 
 Eblis,  as  we  have  seen,  fell  from  pride,  having 
 refused  to  worship  the  newly  created  man;^°  when 
 questioned  as  to  the  cause  of  his  disobedience,  he 
 urged  his  superiority  to  man,  who  was  created  from 
 dust,  whilst  he  was  formed  horn  fire;  in  spite  of  this 
 difference  God  had  honoiu'ed  man  more  than  him; 
 hence  Satan  has  received  his  cognomen  of  "envier." 
 In  consequence  of  pride  and  disobedience  he  is 
 expelled  fi-om  Paradise:  God  said  "Get  thee  down 
 therefore,  for  it  is  not  fit,  that  thou  slialt  behave  thy- 
 self proudly;  get  thee  hence,  and  be  thou  one  of  the 
 contemptible.  He  answered:  give  me  respite  until  the 
 day  of  Resurrection.  God  said:  verily  thou  shalt  be 
 one  of  those  who  are  respited." '^^  Where  the  devil 
 abides,  until  the  execution  of  the  sentence  at  the  last 
 day,  is  not  stated  in  the  Koran,  but  that  his  power 
 
 «^   Sur.  XXXIX.  73.  71.    XL.  50.    LXVU.  8. 
 
 *^  Maraccio,  who  always  sides  with  the  commentators  wlu'n 
 they  ascribe  a  folly  to  the  Koran,  exclaims  here  as  usual :  "inipu- 
 flenter  nicntitur." 
 
 ^»   Sur.  II.  34.    XV.  31.    XXXVIII.  75. 
 
 '^  Sur.  VII  12.  13.  U.  XV.  34.  XXXIII.  78.  and  35  it  is  said: 
 super  te  erit  maledictio  usc[ue  ad  diem  judicii, 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  CONCERNING  THE  DEVn..  129 
 
 in  this  world  is  in  nowise  circumscribed,  and  that  he 
 takes  possession  of  certain  individuals,  is  distinctly 
 affirmed,  as  we  have  already  seen.  Eblis  is  declared 
 to  be  the  author  of  all  bodily  evils,"  to  be  invisible 
 but  able  to  see  men  on  all  occasions;  to  betray,  de- 
 ceive and  carry  on  his  work  with  the  fiercest  malig- 
 nity; to  be  false  in  his  promises,  whilst  God  remains 
 true. '^  On  the  day  of  battle  he  is  said  to  assure  the 
 unbelievers,  that  no  one  shall  conquer  them,  but  when 
 the  fight  commences,  he  turns  away  and  leaves  them 
 in  disgrace.^*  Satan  is  also  stated  to  be  the  author 
 of  all  anti-Moslem  feelings,  sentiments  and  move- 
 ments, but  of  sin,  only  in  so  far  as  it  is  not  con- 
 sistent with  Islamism.  Sin  itself,  as  such,  is  not  con- 
 sidered to  be  the  peculiar  work  of  the  devil,  and  may 
 be  committed  upon  divine  authority,  as  we  have  seen 
 in  the  life  of  Mohammed. 
 
 The  cardinal  sin  is  unbelief;  not  to  believe  in  the 
 Koran  is  deemed  equivalent  to  siding  with  Satan; ^^ 
 for  as  the  Koran  comes  fi'om  God,  so  all  error  pro- 
 ceeds from  the  Evil  One.^^  Idolatry  is  condemned 
 as  the  special  work  of  the  devil ;  ch'inking  wine,  plapng 
 dice,  divining  with  arrows,  sowing  discord  and  abstain- 
 
 "    Sur.  XXXVnr.  43.  where  Job  is  introduced. 
 
 "  Sur.  Vir.  28.  II.  170.  208.  VI.  142.  XVII.  53.  XVIII.  15. 
 XXXV.  6.  XXXVI.  59.  XLIU.  60.  XL VII.  53. 
 
 '*  Sur.  XV.  30.  XXXI.  33.  XXVIH.  15.  IV.  116.  XXH.  3. 
 XXXI.  33.  VII.  24.  IV.  117.  III.  156.  IV.  117.  XXXVI.  61.  IV. 
 58.  XXIX.  38.  XIV.  22.  LIX.  16.  VIII.  50. 
 
 "  Sur.  II.  257.  rV.  74.  XIX.  42.  II.  108.  IV.  82.  XXII.  3. 
 II.  258.  VII.  28.  31.  IV.  118.  XLIII.  33.  IV.  37.  XLVH.  25. 
 
 "   Sur.  XUI.  36.    XIX.  3.    XXXVI .  209. 
 
 I 
 
130  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 ing  from  certain  meats  are  also  his  works,  "^  Pro- 
 digals are  called  the  brethren  of  Satan;  but  he  is 
 said  to  be  chiefly  skilled  in  placing  the  sin  of  opposing 
 Islamism  in  an  alluring  light;  ^^  and  to  these  decep- 
 tions the  prophets  are  particularly  exposed.  Divine 
 revelations  are  alleged  to  be  abstracted  by  the  devil 
 and  his  own  falsehoods  substituted;  this  is  educed 
 from  Mohammed's  own  experience:  ^^  a  poor  comfort 
 for  his  followers!  who  have  the  sad  and  perplexing 
 task  of  separating  in  the  Koran  what  is  from  God, 
 and  what  from  the  Wicked  One.  To  relieve  the 
 minds  of  the  faithful  from  too  much  disquietude ,  it 
 is  added,  that  the  power  of  Satan  extends  only  so  I'ar 
 as  God  permits /°  The  Koran  however  contains  no- 
 thing which  bears  any  comparison  with  the  extravagant 
 teaching  of  the  Sonna  upon  this  point  of  Moslem 
 divinity.  ^  ^ 
 
 Genii,  ^^  a  class  of  beings  otherwise  called  demons, 
 
 "  Sur.  II.  160.  IV.  118.  VI.  141.142.  H.  171.  IV.  117  — 119. 
 V.  99.  100.    V.  4.    XVU.  53.    XII.  100. 
 
 ^8  Sur.  XVn.  27.  VIII.  50.  XV.  38.  XVI.  03.  XXIX.  38. 
 XXXV.  36.  8.    XLI.  25. 
 
 "  Sur.  VI.  12  XXn.  53.  54.  LUI.  18—23.  VI.  67.  Sur.  XII. 
 42.  forgetfulness  is  also  the  work  of  Satan. 
 
 8"  Sur.  LVin.  10.  XXXIV.  35.  IV.  47.  XVI.  99.  100.  XV. 
 38.   XVII.  10.   VII.  200.  201.    CXIV.  4. 
 
 81    FundgruLcn  No.  374.  pag.  277. 
 
 ®^  Three  forms:  JjLsvJI,  /V^^^  ^^^  iU-^vJf;  the  first  signi- 
 fies Genii  more  in  the  abntract ,  the  second  in  concreto;  third,  in 
 collectivo.  The  Greek  rvi^i(f(xt,  roi^iaSeg  y.((i  dmuoif-g  can  only  par- 
 tially be  compared  with  the  Moslem  Genii ;  the  Rabbinical  D""n'0.  or 
 d"'"^.^  are  also  different  from  tlioir  having  come  into  existence  after 
 the  human  race,  whilst  the  Genii  of  Islamism  were  thought  to  liave 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  CONCERNING  GENE.  131 
 
 —  the  term  being  promiscuously  applied  to  both 
 angels  and  devils  —  are  sometimes  treated  as  a  non- 
 descript link  between  good  and  fallen  angels:  they, 
 like  the  angels,  are  created  of  fire  and  partake  of 
 their  general  character;  Mohammed  took  them  under 
 his  pastoral  charge,  and  read  the  Koran  to  them.^^ 
 Some  of  the  Genii  seem  to  be  of  the  fallen,  others 
 rank  more  among  the  pure  angels;  but  much  con- 
 fusion respecting  them  prevails  in  the  Koran.  Idola- 
 ters are  said  to  worship  and  believe  in  them.®*  As 
 devils ,  they  are  described  to  be  friends  of  the  un- 
 believers, to  whom  they  communicate  what  they  occa- 
 sionally jDick  up  from  the  conversations  of  angels; 
 but  the  Koran  must  not  be  considered  to  proceed 
 from  them.^^  The  Genii  orDjins  are  said  to  rove  over 
 hill  and  dale,  displaying  their  sprite-like  nature,  espe- 
 cially at  night ;^^  none  among  men  had  so  great  a 
 power  over  them  as  Solomon,  for  he  had  in  his  army, 
 not  only  men  and  birds ,  but  also  Genii ,  wdio  made 
 
 been  created  long  before  mankind,  j^la*-  answers  to  the  Genius 
 of  the  Latins;  genere,  gignere  or  yeriur,  from  which  this  word  is 
 generally  derived,  has  been  traced  to  the  Sanscrit, — Wahl  pag.  632. 
 633. • — where  dshan  signifies  to  be  produced,  begotten,  created, 
 born.    See  Buxtorf  lex.  Talni.  Rab.  verb.  "T?0 
 
 8"   Sur.LV.14.  15.  XXXVn.158.  LV.  31.  LXXIL  1.  XVEI.  51. 
 
 «*  Sur.  XXXIV.  40.  compare  with  this  «  ^vti  ra  k^vi],  6ia^io- 
 'yioig  dvei,  xal  6v  Qf.(S  1  Cor.  X.  20. 
 
 •5  Sur.  VII.  28.  VL  112.  XIX.  82.  XXXVIL  7—10.  LXXH. 
 8.  9.    XXVI.  219.    M.  guards  himself  verse  209. 
 
 '"  "3Bcnn  He  m<i(i\t  e\nhxici)t  Xjaltd  cure  MnaUn  jit  J^aufc ,  bcnn  bie 
 ileufel  irren  Ijeritm  ju  bicfcr  Stunbe;  fd)lie§e  bein  lijox  uiib  vufe  ben  Jpcrvn 
 an ,  (ofdje  betne  iampe  au^  unb  rufe  ben  §errn  on ,  tefcrge  beine  Wil^s 
 fdjldu^e  unb  rufe  ben  &exxn  an,  becfe  betne  ©efaffe  ju  unb  tufe  ben  Jperrn  an." 
 gunb^rub.  I.  No.  375.  pag.  277. 
 
 1* 
 
132  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  I. 
 
 for  him,  "whatever  he  pleased  of  palaces  and  statues, 
 large  dishes  like  fish-jDonds  and  cauldrons,  standing 
 firm  on  their  trevets."*^  Lest  these  skilful  artificers 
 should  cease  from  work  after  Solomon's  death,  the 
 event  was  concealed  from  them,  but  they  at  length 
 discovered  it  on  perceiving  a  worm  eating  the 
 staff  upon  which  the  dead  king  was  leaning:  then 
 the  Genii  declared,  had  they  known  the  truth,  they 
 would  not  have  continued  at  so  degrading  an  occu- 
 pation. As  an  instance  of  the  swiftness  of  these  Genii 
 the  Koran  gravely  relates ,  that  one  of  them  brought 
 the  throne  of  the  queen  of  Sheba  in  the  twinkling  of 
 an  eye,  and  placed  it  before  Solomon.  The  uncer- 
 tainty which  prevails  in  the  Koran  resjiecting  the 
 Genii,  is  less  indeed  than  that  regarding  angels  and 
 devils;  probably  owing  to  the  fluctuating  sources  from 
 whence  Mohammed  derived  his  information. 
 
 5.  The  Resurrection  of  the  dead  and  the  Judg- 
 ment to  come  are  fully  taught  in  the  Koran,  concer- 
 ning which  detailed  descrijDtions  are  not  wanting.*^ 
 "Surely  those  who  believe,  Jews,  Christians  and  Sa- 
 bians,  whosoever  believeth  in  God  and  the  Last  Day 
 and  doeth  that  which  is  right  they  shall  have  their 
 reward  with  their  Lord."*^^    Each  man  therefore  will 
 
 8'  Sur.  XXXVm.  40.  Others  he  kept  in  chains.  XXVIT.  18.  38. 
 XXXIV.  12.  13. 
 
 88  Sur.  XVII.  50.  51.  L.  40— 43.  LXXV.  3— 15.  XXIH.  102— 
 115.  L.16  — 33.  XXV.12— 21.  LU.  13— 16.  LIV.46  — 49.  XLIV. 
 9—15.    XLVII.  19. 
 
 8^  ^«-xaa2.JL  i^vLo-J.  l.t>bo  i^jJI,  Jews,  Christians 
 and  Sabians.  Tlie  latter  Iiero  not  tlic  worshippers  of  D^'QUJ"  N?^^ 
 although  they  are  also  called   ^^aajLoJI  or  ^^W(oLi,oJ|  by  Arab 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  RESURRECTION  AND  JUDGMENT.  133 
 
 be  judged  by  the  light  he  possesses;  this  is  more 
 plainly  set  forth,  in  another  passage:  —  "On  a  certain 
 day  we  will  call  all  men  to  Judgment  with  their 
 guides,  every  one  with  the  book  of  his  actions  in  his 
 right  hand,  and  they  shall  read  it  and  they  shall  not 
 be  wi'onged  a  thread."  •'"  Here  is  clearly  an  allusion 
 to  the  different  religions  existing  before  IMohammed's 
 time.  Every  one,  the  Koran  declares,  will  bear  his 
 own  burden,  and  no  satisfaction  or  substitute  will  be 
 accepted;^*  nor  will  intercession  from  any  be  admis- 
 sible on  that  day;  not  even  Gabriel  will  be  allowed 
 to  intercede:  this  privilege  is  reserved  to  Mohammed 
 alone: ^^  hence  his  cognomen  among  the  prophets 
 of  "the  intercessor." 
 
 Commentators  inform  us  that  the  souls  of  pro- 
 phets are  at  once  admitted  into  Paradise,  but  those 
 of  martyrs  abide  in  the  crops  of  green  birds,  which 
 
 writers  ;  but  the  "Mendai  Juchanan,"  as  the  disciples  of  John  the 
 Baptist  are  called  in  Syriac ;  from  zaba,  baptise.    Sur.  II.  61. 
 
 ^°  Sur.  XVII.  72—73.  J^^jti  signifies  like  the  Hebrew  b^nD, 
 thread,  "Fadeti"  not,  hair  as  Wahl  and  Sale  give  it. 
 
 "^  Sur.  X.  41.  XVII.  15.  H.  135.  142.  LIU.  38.  XXXIX.  8. 
 XLV,  15.    XXXV.  18.    XXIX.  12.  13.    XVI.  25.    III.  90. 
 
 ^^  Sur.  Lm.  28.  LXXVIII.  37.  XXI.  28.  29.  In  the  last  pas- 
 sage: "except  him,  whom  God  will;"  j^-*^;^  ^J^  ^'  cfr.  XXXIV. 
 23.  If  doubts  remain ,  they  arc  removed  by  the  Sonna.  "Setetn 
 ^kotfteteu  irir^  'oon  bent  ^(xxn  @rf}orung  etuet  S3itte  bctvilligt.  3df)  hat  ben 
 ^ertn,  bag  ic^  tn  biefer  itnb  in  jener  SSelt  93ertreter  mcine^  S^olfe^  fein 
 
 moc^te."    Again:  "^d^  itin  bet  ^err  bcr  9)Zenf(i^cn  am  lac^i  beg  ®ixid}t^ 
 
 5d)  werfe  midi  ijcr  bem  Jljrone  @otte^  mebet,  unb  c^  erfdjalU  bie  ©ttmmc: 
 2Jicf).  f)cbe  bein  ^anpt  cm^jor !  £ege  j5iirfpui«^«  ci"/  unb  fic  linrb  ixljoxt,  if 
 gefjte,  eg  h*irb  bit  serliel^en  Ivcrben."  Wahl  pag.  415.  Note  c.  Here 
 then  is  Antichrist! 
 
134  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 eat  the  fruit  and  drink  the  water  of  Paradise;  that 
 other  departed  spirits  remain  near  their  sepulchres; 
 some  imagine  them  near  the  well  of  Zemzeni,  others 
 place  them  in  the  lowest  heaven  with  Adam;  some 
 hide  them  in  the  great  trumpet  which  the  archangel 
 will  sound  at  the  Resurrection;  and  others  again 
 make  them  dwell  in  white  birds  beneath  the  throne 
 of  God!  The  souls  of  the  wicked  are  confined  in  a 
 dungeon  under  a  green  rock,  or,  according  to  a  tra- 
 dition from  Mohammed,  placed  beneath  the  jaws  of 
 the  devil  to  be  tormented.  One  part  of  the  body,  the 
 rump-bone,  is  preserved  to  serve  as  a  base  for  the 
 new  body.  The  dead  will  appear  fi*om  the  grave  in 
 three  classes,  some  walking  on  foot,  some  riding, 
 others  will  come  forth  with  their  ftices  on  the  ground; 
 each  according  to  his  merit. 
 
 Descriptions  of  hell  and  Paradise  abound  in  the 
 Koran;  it  has  been  computed  that  one  sixth  of  it 
 is  filled  with  the  details.  He  that  is  punished  lightly 
 will  be  shod  with  shoes  of  fire,  the  heat  of  wdiich 
 will  make  his  skull  boil  like  a  cauldron.  The  happiness 
 of  the  blessed  is  depicted  in  colours  not  less  material 
 and  revolting:  —  gold  and  silver,  precious  stones, 
 crowns  of  pearl,  bracelets  of  gold,  gardens  of  pleasure, 
 pleasant  fruits,  sweet  rivers,  and  arbours  of  delight, 
 ravishing  girls  with  large  black  eyes,  beautiful  youths 
 and  angels,  enchanting  songs  and  sweet  sounding 
 bells;  all  kinds  of  food  and  beverages;  beasts  for 
 riding  and  litters,  couches  and  pillows,  silken  carpets 
 and  other  furniture  embroidered  with  gold  and  gems,  — 
 in  these  and  such  like  material  enjoyments  consist 
 
CHAP. IV.]  RESURRECTION  AND  JUDGMENT.  135 
 
 the  glories  of  the  Moslem  heaven !^^  According  to 
 Mohammed  it  Mill  take  1000  years  for  the  meanest 
 dweller  in  Paradise  to  see  his  gardens,  wives,  ser- 
 vants, furniture  and  other  possessions;  the  portion 
 of  the  distinguished  Moslemin  may  be  guessed  from 
 this  estimate."* 
 
 6.  Among  the  ceremonial  in  junctions  of  the  Ko- 
 ran, we  first  notice  the  precepts  respecting  ablutions, 
 which  however  were  in  use  among  the  Pagan  Arabs,  "^ 
 having,  it  is  said,  been  prescribed  to  Abraham  by 
 the  angel  Gabriel.®^  With  a  view  of  endowing  them 
 with  a  religious  character,  Mohammed  styled  these 
 lustrations  to  be  the  "key  of  prayer."  Lest  so  ne- 
 cessary a  preparation  for  devotion  should  be  omitted, 
 either  from  want  of  water  or  from  consideration  of 
 health,  sand  is  permitted  to  be  used  instead.  In  this 
 
 "  These  descriptions  strongly  remind  us  of  the  savage  ideas 
 which  the  "West  Indian  or  Scandinavian  warriors ,  entertained  of 
 the  future  existence,  and  Virgil  thus  describes  the  occupations  and 
 pleasures  of  his  heroes  in  the  world  to  come: 
 
 Pars  in  gramineis  exercent  membra  palaestris 
 Contendunt  ludo,  et  fulva  luctantur  arena. 
 Pars  pedibus  plaudunt  choreas,  et  carmina  dicunt. 
 —  —  —  —         quae  gratia  currura 
 
 Armorumque  fuit  viWs,  quae  cura  nitentes 
 Pascere  equos ;  eadem  sequitur  tellure  repostos. 
 
 Virg,  Aeneid,  VI. 
 ^*   Sur.  Xm.  35.   XLVII.  16.    LV.  54—77. 
 
 "5    Herodot  lib.  III.  C.  198. 
 
 ^^  Al  Jannabi  in  Vita  Abrah.  Pocock.  Spec.  pag.  303.  Compare 
 with  this  the  Spanish  Gospel  of  St.  Barnabas  chap.  XXIX.  "Dixo 
 Abraham ;  Que  hare  yo  para  servir  al  Dios  de  los  sanctos  y  pro- 
 phetas?  Respondio  el  angel,  Ve  a  aquella  fuente  y  lavate,  porque 
 Dios  quiere  hablar  contigo.  Dixo  Abraham,  como  teugo  de  lavarme? 
 Luego  el  angel  se  le  apparecio  como  uno  bello  mancebo,  y  se  lavo 
 en  la  fuente,  y  le  dixo,  Abraham,  haz  como  yo.  Y  Abraham  se 
 lavo  etc.  etc." 
 
136  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 accommodation  the  Koran  followed  the  Jews  and  Chris- 
 tians there  being  an  instance  on  record  in  ecclesia- 
 stical history,  of  sand  being  used  instead  of  water  in 
 the  administration  of  holy  Baptism,  prior  to  Isla- 
 mism.  ^  ^  Tertullian  notices  the  observance  of  ablutions 
 among  the  early  Christians. 
 
 Prayer  is  to  be  offered  up  five  times  a  day;  at 
 day-break,  at  noon,  in  the  afternoon,  at  sun-set  and 
 one  hour  and  a  quarter  after  it.  The  2:)rayer  itself  con- 
 sists in  the  constant  repetition  of  certain  small  Suras, 
 the  Moslem  confession  of  faith,  the  salutation  of  Mo- 
 hammed and  of  the  angels.  ^^  Personal  observation 
 will  convince  the  spectator  that  these  acts  of  devotion 
 are  not  performed  with  the  solemnity  which  certain 
 descriptions  have  represented  to  the  European  world 
 as  usual;  they  are  rather  the  cold  and  mechanical 
 performance  of  a  meritorious  duty,  than  the  outpour- 
 ing of  the  heart,  real  devotion  therefore  cannot  be 
 expected.  A  man  may  be  frequently  seen  in  the  act 
 of  prostration,  giving  orders  to  his  servant  about  his 
 horse,  coffee  or  pipe,  and  then  continuing  his  devo- 
 tions. The  Mohammedan  has  no  conception  of  prayer 
 beyond  his  prescribed  forais  of  vague  and  unmeaning 
 repetitions,  to  recite  which,  he  requires  a  string  of  beads, 
 resembling  the  rosary  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  In 
 the  10,000  verses  of  the  Koran  there  are  not  so  many 
 petitions  as  in  the  Lord's  prayer;^"  this  book  incul- 
 
 ^^   Sur.  III.  46.  V.  8—9.     Geniar.  Beraclioth  cap.  II.    Pocock. 
 not.  ad  Port.  Mosis  pag.  389.  and  as  used  in  baptism,  Cedren.  p.  250. 
 ^»   Sur.  III.  188.    II  230.  XXIII.  3.  IV.  46. 
 
 ^^   A  thoughtful  Hindoo  lad  about  19  years  of  age  was  over- 
 heard repeating  the  Lord's  Prayer  adraidst  his  heathenish  devotions ; 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  PRAYER  AND  FASTING.  137 
 
 cates  a  spirit  too  proud  to  ask  any  gifts  even  from 
 heaven,  hence  the  arrogant  bearing  of  the  Moslem; 
 he  wants  nothing  and  asks  nothing,  self-sufficiency, 
 self-righteousness  and  a  blind  confidence  in  his  own 
 merits  constitute  his  entire  character.  These  feelings 
 are  strengthened  by  the  alms,  fasting  and  pilgrimages 
 which  the  Koran  commands.  Alms  are  called  "an 
 acceptable  loan  unto  God"  they  deliver  from  hell  and 
 ensure  a  free  entrance  into  Paradise.*  Specially 
 meritorious  are  contributions  for  the  propagation  of 
 Islamism  by  holy  warfare,  and  collections  are  still 
 made  among  the  faithful  for  the  support  of  religious 
 institutions  in  Mohammedan  countries. 
 
 The  Koran  teaches  that  charities,  to  ensure  an 
 everlasting  reward,  are  not  to  be  distributed  from 
 ostentation,  or  mth  uncharitable  feelings; — "for  a 
 fair  speech  and  to  forgive  is  better  than  alms  followed 
 by  injustice."  ^  There  is  however  no  precept  enjoining, 
 deeds  of  charity  towards  any  but  the  faithful ;  this  is 
 the  more  remarkable  as  kindness  is  frequently  en- 
 forced towards  brutes :  nor  ought  it  to  be  overlooked 
 that  notwithstanding  Moslem  charity  claims  heaven 
 for  its  reward,  Christian  charity,  admitting  of  no  such 
 motive,  far  exceeds  it.  Fasting  was  considered  by 
 Mohammed  as  "the  gate  of  religion,  and  the  breath 
 of  him  that  fasteth  is  more  grateful  to  God  than  that 
 
 ■when  taunted  by  his  friends  with  being  a  Christian ,  he  replied ,  he 
 was  no  Christian,  nor  had  he  any  desire  of  becoming  such,  but  that 
 he  had  learnt  that  prayer  at  School ,  and  he  never  had  heard  or 
 conceived  language  that  expressed  his  wants  or  feelings  so  well, 
 therefore  he  should  continue  to  use  it! 
 
 *  Sur.  LVn.  10—12.  n.  255.  265—267.      '  Sur.  II.  265.  266. 
 
138  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [paRT  i- 
 
 of  musk."  The  month  of  Ramadhan  is  one  continued 
 fast,  no  one  being  allowed  to  eat,  drink  or  smoke 
 from  sunrise  to  sunset.  Exceptions  are  made  in  fa- 
 vour of  the  sick,  women  with  child,  old  persons  and 
 travellers.  After  a  day  of  rigorous  fasting  and  sleep- 
 ing, follows  a  night  of  feasting,  revelry  and  excess. 
 The  month  of  Ramadhan  is  chosen  for  fasting  be- 
 cause during  that  month  the  Koran  began  to  be  re- 
 vealed. ^ 
 
 The  Hadj,  or  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  though  a  pre- 
 Islamite  rite  is  enforced  by  the  Koran  and  made  an 
 imperative  duty  to  all  true  believers ;  *  it  is  to  be  per- 
 formed during  the  anciently  sacred  months  with  the 
 observance  of  various  precepts,  sacrifices,  alms  and 
 processions.  The  pilgrim  is  allowed  to  trade,  whilst 
 performing  this  sacred  rite.  ^  We  have  seen  that  the 
 second  Sura ,  which  first  ordains  the  Hadj ,  was  re- 
 vealed on  Mohammed's  arrival  at  Medina,  at  a  period 
 when  his  plans  were  not  sufficiently  matured  to  pro- 
 claim a  universal  religion;  for  no  other  than  a  national 
 religion  can  prescribe  pilgrimages  to  any  specific  lo- 
 cality. The  Israelite  indeed  was  to  perform  a  pil- 
 grimage to  the  temple  three  times  a  year,  and  this 
 w^as  possible  so  long  as  divine  revelation  was  confined 
 to  a  single  nation,  but  when  the  hour  came,  in  which 
 
 '  Sur.  II.  179 — 186.  Ramadhan  is  also  called  vAaoJI  v-g-w, 
 the  month  of  patience. 
 
 *  Sur.  II.  191  —  195.  V.  3.  104—106.  CIX.  1—5.  CVIII.  2. 
 III.  90—92.  XXII.  27—38. 
 
 *  When  at  Jedda,  the  author  observed  an  inconceivable  variety 
 of  goods  from  all  parts  of  the  world  being  hawked  about  by  Moslem 
 pilgrims  who  shouted  forth  the  sum  of  the  highest  bidder. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  ALMS  AND  PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 139 
 
 God  was  to  be  worshipped  in  Spirit  and  in  truth, 
 men  were  neither  to  worship  in  Jerusalem  nor  on  a 
 mountain  in  Samaria.  Mohammed  therefore  in  or- 
 daining the  Hadj  proved  to  the  world,  that  his  creed 
 w^as  neither  adapted  to  all  nations,  nor  originally  in- 
 tended for  any,  but  the  native  tribes  of  Arabia.  If 
 pilgrimage  to  Mecca  be  an  essential  article  in  the 
 teaching  of  the  Koran,  and  if  its  doctrines  are  ex- 
 pected to  be  embraced  by  all  nations,  it  follows  that 
 all  nations  must  visit  the  Kaaba;^  if  it  be  non- 
 essential it  was  folly  to  ordain  a  vain  and  useless 
 ceremony;  if  essential  to  salvation,  it  was  unjust  and 
 inconsistent  to  institute  a  rite  of  such  momentous 
 import,  when  comparatively  so  few  believers  could 
 possibly  perform  it.  Such  inconsistencies  and  mis- 
 calculations are  however  not  surprising  in  a  book  like 
 the  one  whose  dogmas  we  are  now  reviewing. 
 
 Some  European  wi'iters  represent  Islamism  as 
 destitute  of  sacrifices,  but  this  is  a  palpable  mistake. 
 "0  true  beUever  violate  not  the  holy  rites  of  God  nor 
 the  sacred  month,  nor  the  offering,  nor  the  ornaments 
 hung  thereon."^  During  the  Ramadhan  1846,  a  Mos- 
 lem sacrifice  of  three  sheep  took  place  in  Jerusalem 
 on  the  occasion  of  three  companies  being  discharged 
 from  military  service.     Mohammed  himself  set  the 
 
 ^  Mohammed  is  said  to  have  declared  that  he  who  dies  without 
 performing  the  Hadj,  may  as  well  die  a  Jew  or  a  Christian. 
 
 ^  Sur.  V.  104—106.  Peace-offerings  exist  among  the  Arabs  to 
 this  day.  Two  servants  of  the  autlior  having  once  quarelled ,  on 
 the  day  they  were  reconciled ,  they  sacrificed  a  sheep ,  declaring 
 such  was  the  usage  of  their  countrymen. 
 
140  HISTORY  AND  DOGMAS  OF  THE  KORAN.  [part  i. 
 
 example  ofsacrificing  duringliis  pilgrimages  to  Mecca.  * 
 To  this  may  be  added  that  every  animal  slaughtered 
 for  use,  may  be  considered  an  immolation,  being 
 killed  "in  the  name  of  the  most  merciful"  God.  ^  Most 
 of  the  religious  rites  connected  with  the  Iladj ,  the 
 pilgrim  garment,  the  shaving  of  the  head,  the  throwing 
 of  stones  at  Djumrah,  the  circumambulation  of  the 
 Kaaba,  the  kissing  of  the  black  stone,  the  sacrifices, 
 and  almost  every  other  item  too  tedious  to  enumerate, 
 were  borrowed  from  the  j)re-Islamite  religion  of  the 
 Arabs. 
 
 Circumcision,  though  a  part  of  the  ritual  of  Is- 
 lamism  upon  wdiich  no  small  stress  is  laid ,  is  not  so 
 much  as  once  mentioned  in  the  Koran :  if  it  be  essential 
 to  Islamism,  then  the  Koran  is  deficient,  and  if  defi- 
 cient cannot  be  a  divine  revelation;  Baptism  for  in- 
 stance is  considered  essential  to  Christianity,  as  the 
 initiatory  rite  of  admission ,  but  if  it  were  nowhere 
 mentioned  in  the  Bible,  the  Mohammedan  might 
 fairly  object,  that  Baptism  was  not  what  we  believed 
 it  to  be;  or  that  the  Bible  omitting  to  ordain  a  rite 
 of  such  great  importance  was  imperfect ,  and  there- 
 fore not  a  true  Revelation.  If  the  rite  of  Circumcision 
 was  intended  only  as  a  sign  of  distinction  from  other 
 rehgious  communities,  then  it  will  appear  singular 
 that  INIohammed  should  have  chosen  that  already  in 
 
 ®  His  successors,  the  Saracen  Kaliplis  annually  immolated  a 
 camel  in  their  capacity  as  High-priest  of  the  faithful.  The  Jewish 
 traveller  Benjamin  of  Tuleda  witnessed  the  ceremony  at  Bossura 
 in  the  12"'  century. 
 
 ^  In  Abyssinia  therefore,  Christians  abstain  from  meat  slaught- 
 ered by  the  Mohanmiedans,  and  these  refuse ,  what  has  been  killed 
 by  Christians  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  SACRIFICES  AND  CIRCUMCISION.  141 
 
 use  among  the  Jews,   and  one,  which  existed  also 
 among  the  Pagan  Arabs!  In  omitting  to  notice  its 
 existence,    we  infer  that  Mohammed    possibly  dis- 
 approved of  the  rite ,  or  did  not  consider  it  of  a  reli- 
 gious import,  or,  that  he  passed  it  over  as  the  self- 
 understood  and  natural  mode  of  initiating  into  the 
 religion  of  Abraham:    the  latter   assumption  seems 
 at  variance  with  the  fact  that  Mohammed  admitted 
 his  first  converts  by  the  rite  of  baptism,  correspon- 
 ding to  the  baptism  of  Jewish  proselytes.    Among 
 the  forty  kinds  of  ablutions,  given  by  Reland,  one  is 
 the  baptism  of  Kaffers  on  their  becoming  Moslemin: 
 we  here  discover  one  of  those  singular  vacillations 
 which  so  frequently^appear  in  Mohammed's  mind  and 
 practice,  and  find  the  national  custom  eventually  re- 
 stored to  its  primitive  character  as  a  religious  ordi- 
 nance,  one  moreover  to  which  his  countrymen  were 
 already  reconciled.    Circumcision  is  not  administered 
 by  the  Mohammedans  in  the  thirteenth  year  as  among 
 the  ancient  Arabs,  but  generally  as  soon  as  the  can- 
 didate can  say  the  confession  of  the  Moslem  creed: 
 "There  is  no  God,  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his 
 prophet,"    or   whenever   a    convenient   time    occurs 
 between   the    ages    of  six  and  sixteen.    These  few 
 remarks  on  the  history  and  leading  dogmas  of  the 
 Koran  may  suffice  for  the  present;   other  doctrines 
 will  be  brought  forward  in   later  chapters   of   this 
 work;  in  the  two  following,  it  will  be  our  object  to 
 notice  those  portions  of  the  Koran  which  were  more 
 particularly  borrowed  fi-om  Judaism  and  Christianity. 
 
142      WHAT  MOHAM^fE D  BORROWED  FRO^Sf  JUDAISM,    [part  I. 
 
 CHAPTER  V. 
 
 WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM. 
 
 "I  am  a  prophet  also  as  thou  art;  and  an  angel  spake  unto  me  by 
 the  word  of  the  Lord,  hut  he  lied  unto  him."    1  Kings  XIII.  18. 
 
 1.  The  Koran  frequently  assumes  a  polemical 
 bearing  towards  the  Jews  and  the  Jewish  religion,  and 
 Arab  writers  frankly  admit  that  IVIohammed  now  and 
 then  made  alterations  in  his  plan  to  diminish,  as  far 
 as  possible,  the  analogy  which  his  creed  bore  to  that 
 of  the  Jews.^°  The  Jews  are  styled  the  enemies  of 
 Moslemin  because  they  killed  the  Prophets,  are  bi- 
 gotted,  proud  and  self-conceited,  consider  Ezra  to  be 
 the  Son  of  God,  believe  Paradise  to  be  created  only 
 for  themselves,  trust  to  the  intercession  of  their  pious 
 ancestors  and  corrupt  their  sacred  Scriptures.  *  *  Hence 
 the  Koran  is  not  scrupulous  in  opposing  Judaism  in 
 its  laws  of  divorce,*^  in  abolishing  certain  laws  con- 
 cerning particular  kinds  of  meat,  ^^  and  in  the  laws 
 of  retaliation.^*  Yet  in  spite  of  this  opposition,  Mo- 
 
 *"    Oy^^i'Li  &AA-Cwjdt  j^Aa^I   xJiiik^J  iLJClji^  "from  necessity 
 
 to  abolish  the  analogy  with  the  Jews."  Pocock.  not,  miscell.  cap.  IX. 
 pag.  3G9. 
 
 ''  Sur.  V.  85.  n.  58.  V.  74.  21.  II.  88.  LXII.  6.  IX.  30.  II. 
 128.  135.    II.  73. 
 
 *2    Sur.  II.  229.  230.  with  Dcut.  XXIV.  1. 
 
 ^^  Sur.  IV.  158.  111.44.86.  IV.  158.  V.  89.  90.  V.  4.  VI.  14G. 
 XVI.  116.   VI.  47.   cfr.  Leo.  XI.  3.  VII.  27.  III.  9. 
 
 "  Sur.  V.  94.  with  Exod.  XXI.  23—25.  M.  admits  of  expiation 
 by  money,  only  where  the  offended  parties  agree;  but  the  Rabbis, 
 whom  he  calls  "unjust"  extend  it  (o  all  cases:   Vd7>    ''TV  TN   N73C3 
 
 p^-uja  13725  "i2>'  ^^'^  ^^N3  ^n-N  VN-.-1  ^b>-i  nN  I3u5  -T'  nM 
 
 I  —  T     :  •••  ;•  *  :  '  :  ~*  v         —     •  t         v; 
 
 r;?"  N;r.  r;?2D'l  "S''  r.\-.  nias  r75\yT  Mishnah  Baba  Kamma  VIII.  1 . 
 
 •7t  T-:vrTT         t-''t; 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOHAMMED'S  INTEREST  TO  BORROW.  143 
 
 s 
 
 hammed  borrowed  so  largely  from  Judaism,  that  hi 
 creed  could  not  exist  without  it.  This  gross  plagiarism 
 has  long  been  universally  acknowledged,  but  few  have 
 taken  the  trouble  to  point  out  in  what  it  consists.  ^^ 
 We  have  already  noticed  the  frequent  collisions 
 between  Mohammed  and  the  Jews,  who  were  at  that 
 time  numerous  and  powerful,  dreading  them  both  in 
 argument  and  on  the  battle-field,  the  shrewd  Arab 
 prophet  found  it  expedient  to  conciliate  their  deep- 
 rooted  prejudices  on  various  occasions  ^^  and  also  to 
 advise  his  followers  to  deal  gently  with  them.  *  ^  There 
 was  cause  therefore,  why  Mohammed  should  desire 
 to  adopt  as  much  of  Judaism  as  he  possibly  could 
 without  sacrificing  any  of  the  distinctive  doctrines  of 
 Islamism;  he  had  every  opportunity  of  becoming 
 acquainted  with  Jewish  divinity  and  practises:^"*  but 
 that  this  knowledge  was  neither  very  correct  nor  pro- 
 found is  abundantly  shown  in  the  Koran!  ^^  His  igno- 
 
 *^  Much  may  be  gleaned  from  Eisenmenger,  Pococke,  Sale, 
 Maraccio,  Wahl,  Hottinger  and  others,  but  pre-eminent  still  remains 
 the  Prize-essay  of  a  Jewish  Rabbi,  Abraham  Geiger,  in  answer  to 
 the  question  put  by  the  University  at  Bonn:  "Inquiratur  in  fontes 
 Alcorani  seu  legis  Mohammedicae  eos,  qui  ex  Judaeismo  derivandi 
 sunt."  We  shall  follow  in  this  chapter  the  published  translation: 
 "Was  hat  Mohammed  aus  dem  Judenthurae  aufgenommen  ?"  Bonn 
 1833 
 
 ^6  Sur.  ir.  38.  XVI.  119.  XXVII.  78.  XXXII.  25.  XLV.  15. 
 II.  136. 
 
 ''   Sur.  XXIX.  45.    ^b  ^it  ^UXJt  Jjol  lycjLsG  ^^ 
 
 ^^  His  intercourse  with  Jews  on  his  travels,  with  Abdallalt, 
 Waraka  and  Habib  Ebn  Malek  are  well  known. 
 
 *^  His  o»-c?«r  of  enumerating  the  prophets :  Job,  Jonas,  Aaron, 
 Solomon,  David,  Sur.  IV.  161.  Still  more  ridiculous:  Sur.  VI.  84. 
 85.  86:  David,  Solomon,  Job,  Joseph,  Moses,  Aaron,  Zacharias, 
 John,  Jesus,  Elijah,  Jonas,  Lot! 
 
144       WHAT  ^fOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  i. 
 
 ranee  of  Jewish  history  is  proved  for  instance  by  his 
 solemnly  declaring  that  before  John  the  Baptist,  no 
 one  bore  that  name  at  any  time.^^  To  return  to  our 
 subject,  it  was  perfectly  consistent  with  Mohammed's 
 avowed  principles  to  adopt  freely  from  Judaism,  since 
 he  professed  to  reveal  nothing  but  what  was  in  har- 
 mony with  all  that  had  come  down  before  him.  At 
 other  times  he  plainly  styles  it  a  "repetition:"  "God 
 sent  do^vn  the  most  beautiful  news,  a  repetition  si- 
 milar to  other  Scriptures:"^*  with  this  distinction 
 however,  that  he  desired  to  be  considered  the  "seal 
 of  the  prophets,"  whose  book  was  so  "clear  and  per- 
 spicuous" that  no  occasion  could  arise  to  make  any 
 other  prophet  necessary  after  him." 
 
 The  contemporaries  of  Mohammed  not  only  re- 
 cognised in  some  of  his  prophetic  communications  a 
 reproduction  of  what  had  previously  been  considered 
 divine  revelation,  but  suspected  that  he  was  assisted 
 by  a  certain  man,  or  men  of  Jewish  or  Christian  be- 
 
 '"    John,       Aj«fVjSj   1;Ti%  'l(oain]g,  in  the  name  of  which  we 
 read  Sur.  XIX.  8.      Ll«-w   Jco   ^  »J  JJt^^.j   jj.     Mohammed 
 
 however  knew  nothing  of  1  Chron.  III.  15.  24.  V.  36.  36.  2  King 
 XXV.  23.  Ezra  VIII.  12.  Jcr.  XL.  8.  1  Mace.  II.  1.  2.  It  arose 
 evidently  from  misunderstanding  Lu.  I.  61. 
 
 ^*  The  peculiar  charm  of  the  Koran  was,  that  it  was  ^^•t^-«flJC 
 |v4JLX)  L^J :  in  accordance  with  what  they  already  possessed.  Sur.  II. 
 
 89.  XLVI.Il.andSur.XXXIX.24.add:O^.Jcit  ^j..^  Sy^  &-0I 
 
 ^^  M.  is  said  to  be  the  seal  of  the  prophets :  ^j.aa^  |VJ'L&., 
 Sur.  XXXIII.  4.  and  his  book,  ^j.aax  ljLd  ;  so  clear  as  not  to  be 
 doubted  or  liable  to  be  disputed. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  HEBREW  TERMS.  145 
 
 lief. ^'  If  these  coadjutors  were  Jews,  as  doubtless 
 were  some  of  them,  we  can  thus  account  for  the 
 Hebrew  ideas  and  expressions  we  meet  with  in  the 
 Koran,  which  cannot  be  explained  from  analogy  of 
 language  or  idiom,  but  are  considered  to  be  directly 
 imported  from  Judaism.  The  word  "^Ark''  as  used 
 in  the  history  of  Moses  and  in  connection  with  the 
 ''ark  of  the  covenant'"'  is  applied  in  the  Koran  exactly 
 in  the  same  way  as  in  the  old  Testament.  ^*  Again 
 Torah^'  the  law,  is  made  to  signify  the  entire  Old 
 Testament  as  it  is  in  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
 term  clearly  dates  its  origin  from  the  Hebrew;  again, 
 the  Hehreiv  name  for  Paradise  was  also  adopted,  by 
 Mohammed,  as  well  as  the  Rabbinical  description  of 
 the  place  itself.  ^^  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  Hebrew 
 term  for  hell.  *^  Gehinnom  was  originally  nothing  but 
 
 "  Sur.VIir.  31.  XVI.  26.  XXIII.  85.  XXV.  5.  6.  XXYIL  70. 
 XLVI.  10.  16.  LXVIII.  15.  LXXXIU.  13. 
 
 2*  Sur.  XX.  39.  Exod.  II.  3.  Sur.  II.  249.  The  word,  liy^lj 
 is  not  Arabic  in  its  termination,  v;y,__,  and  answers  to  "IJ'^P  or  the 
 Rabbinical  t^n'^n^P.. 
 
 '^  ^OV^'  ~"5^^'  *^®  law,  is  always  used  in  a  sense  analogous 
 to  0  rofjiog  in  the  New  Test. 
 
 26  "(ja^  ^i)arabie§  ifi  ein  £?rt,  iro  man  cfine  aKe  forV'crliriie  S^nfircn^itng 
 i§t  unb  trinft,  unb  too  bie  (Jbelfteine  ju  ^aufe  finb,  feibene  SBetten, 
 (gtrome  i^cit  ®ein,  UiD^Iriecf)cnbe  Cete,  unb  onbercS  ber  5lrt." 
 Again:  "(Sben  ij^  cin  £rt  ber  29onne,  bag  frucf)tbar(le  Sanb,  too  fefir  viele 
 Siid^e  unb  ^rucf)tMumc  fi'nb ,  ivelrfie  ®ott  fiinftig  ben  a)ieufcf)en  jeigen  toivb, 
 urn  bcrt  erfreut  ju  toerbcn."  Maimonides  apud  Sanhed.  XI.  1.  (oLl-;^ 
 jjtXt  from  T3?  l-!i  is  the  usual  name  of  Paradise,  seldom  Ci>LLs»- 
 ^ju^i^ySU]  from  naradeifjog. 
 
 '^    Gehenna,  ■^i;,g->wj  Ci""'>;  in  the  New  Test  yitvva.    The  term 
 
 occurs  Sur.II.201.  III.IO.  198.  IV. 58. 95. 99. 115. 120.  That  |w4^ 
 was  adopted  direct  from  the  Jews  is  proved  by  the  final  letter  *. 
 
 K 
 
146       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [parti. 
 
 the  valley  of  Ilinnom  near  Jerusalem,  which  being  at 
 one  time  so  notorious  and  detested  for  its  idolatries, 
 its  name  was  applied  in  the  Talmud  and  the  New 
 Testament  to  hell.  Again,  among  the  Pharisees  or 
 Sej^aratists  who  formed  themselves  into  a  distinct 
 community,  holding  the  traditions  of  the  elders  and 
 studying  to  excel  by  exterior  sanctity,  was  a  party 
 distinguished  for  learning  and  intelligence  whose 
 members  were  called  Chaberim  or  "fellows;"  thus  the 
 term  became  identical  with  teachers;  and  this  usus 
 loquendi  in  Rabbinical  language,  was  adopted  by 
 the  Koran.  ^^  The  words  "Rabaan"  another  term 
 signifying  teacher,  "Sabbath"  the  seventh  day  of  the 
 week,  "'Shekinah"  implying  God's  peculiar  presence, 
 "Foorkan"  signifying  redemption,  and  "Mathani" 
 meaning  repetition,  are  all  terms  of  Hebrew  origin 
 introduced  into-  the  Koran.  ^^ 
 
 2.  It  w'ould  be  irrelevant  to  our  purpose  to  wade 
 through  all  the  incongruous  matter  of  the  Koran 
 in  order  to  discover  every  trace  of  Judaism,  but  we 
 shall  glance  at  some  peculiarly  Jewish  ideas,  which 
 
 ^'*    jL^I,    D""inn;    "nnn,    socius  was  the  term  of  a  member  of 
 
 a  party  among  the  D'''d^lS3,  claiming  peculiar  knowledge.  Thus 
 fi"i3n  acquired  the  sense  of  teachers.    Sur.  V.  48.  68.  IX.  31.  34. 
 
 29  Compare  Sur.  III.  73,  V.  48.  68.  80.  IX.  31.  34.  ^Gp 
 and  la-n.  Re.specting  v:>.x*v ,  nso  Sur.  II.  61.  VII.  163.  XVI. 
 125;  and  about  sJuS^L*,,  r,r2;4  .see  Exod.XXV.  8.  Deut.  XXXIII, 
 12.  16.  Sur.  II.  249.  IX.  26.  40.  XLVIII.  4.  18.  26.  ^^y^, 
 ■Jj:-)?^,  help,  salvation:  Sur.  VIII.  29.  42.  181.  ^Ux)  or  r.ri^?;, 
 repetition.  Moh.  put  his  book  in  the  place  of  the  entire  Jewish 
 teaching  called  it:  ^^'Ji,  i^'^T-'^  as  well  as   ^lix,  ~.5''4'?' 
 
CHAP,  v.] 
 
 HEBREW  TERMS.  147 
 
 ought  to  be  noticed.  Passing  over  the  creation,  we 
 remark  that  the  seven  heavens  and  the  seven  earths 
 which  are  held  in  the  Fahiiud,  have  found  their  way 
 into  the  Koran.  •^'^  During  the  creation,  God's  glorious 
 throne  was  placed  in  the  air  upon  the  water.  ^^  "The 
 world  is  the  sixtieth  part  of  the  garden,  the  garden 
 is  the  sixtieth  part  of  Eden"  according  to  the  Talmud; 
 and  INIohammed  states  that  the  breadth  of  the  garden 
 is  that  of  heaven  and  earth.  ^^  Both  in  the  Koran 
 and  Talmud  we  find  seven  hells  as  the  appointed 
 abode  for  the  damned,  and  each  hell  has  seven  gates, 
 in  both  documents.  ^^  The  entrance  of  the  Gehinnom 
 is  marked  by  two  date-trees,  between  which,  smoke 
 issues,  and  the  Koran  speaks  of  a  tree  in  hell,  of 
 which  the  damned  are  to  eat  and  of  which  many 
 terrible  things  are  related.^* 
 
 In  the  Talmud  the  prince  of  hell  demands  supply 
 for  his  domain,  and  a  similar  request  is  made  in  the 
 Koran.  ^''  Between  the  seven  heavens  and  the  seven 
 hells  is  an  intermediate  place,  for  those  who  are  too 
 good   to  be  cast  into   hell ,  and  top  imperfect  to  be 
 
 ^°  Chagiga  IX.  2.  'CT'p.^.  ~>^:^.  "there  are  seven  heavens." 
 Eniek  Rammelech  Eisenmenger  I.  pag.  459.  and  Sur.  II.  27.  XVII. 
 46.  88.  XLI.  11.  LXV.  12.  LXVH.  3.  LXXI.  14.  VAyL^-sJl  ca*«. 
 
 3^  Sur.  XL  9.  XXVII.  26.  XXIII.  117.  LXXXV.  15.  and 
 Rashi  to  Gen.  I.  2.  D'^im  "'^E  hv  tin'Tn:!  'T':iN3  nry 
 
 .__    ...     _    |.. _.       .  —  ^      _^ 
 "    TaanithX.  Pesashim  XCIV.  ini*  ■)>  "Jja   D""4*^''5  'inN  Qb^S 
 :n.?2:  ^^4'^^.  and  Sur.  III.  127. 
 
 "  Talmud  Erubin  XIX.  1.  Midrash  at  the  end  of  Psalm  XI. 
 Sohar  II.  pag.  150.    Sur.  XV.  44. 
 
 "   Sakkhah  XXXVII.  and  Sur.  XXXVII.  60    XLIV.  43. 
 
 "^    Othioth  by  Rabbi  Akiba  VUI.  1.  and  Sur.  L.  29. 
 
 K* 
 
148       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  i. 
 
 admitted  into  heaven.^®  This  intermediate  abode  is 
 however  so  narrow  that  the  conversations  of  the  bless- 
 ed and  the  damned  on  either  side  may  be  overheard. 
 The  happiness  of  Paradise  is  similarly  depicted  in  both 
 Talmud  and  Koran  ;^'  and  the  difficulty  of  attaining 
 it  is  equally  set  forth;  the  Talmud  declaring  that  it 
 is  as  easy  for  an  elephant  to  enter  through  the  eye 
 of  a  needle,  the  Koran  merely  substituting  a  camel 
 for  an  elephant.  ^^  That  the  dead  live  in  the  sight  of 
 God  is  stated  in  both  documents  in  the  same  terms, 
 and  that  the  admission  to  the  actual  presence  of  the 
 Almighty  is  not  to  be  expected  before  the  day  of  Judg- 
 ment and  the  Resurrection  of  the  dead.  ^°  The  signs 
 of  the  last  day,  as  given  in  the  Koran,  are  borrowed 
 equally  from  the  Scriptures  and  the  Talmud.*'' 
 
 The  lengthened  descriptions  in  the  Koran  of  the 
 future  Resurrection  and  Judgment  are  also  decidedly 
 tinged  with  a  Talmudieal  colouring.  That  the  several 
 members  of  the  human  body  shall  bear  witness  against 
 the  damned,  and  that  idols  shall  share  in  the  punish- 
 ment of  the  worshippers  is  stated  both  in  the  Talmud 
 
 ^^   Midrash  to  Eccles.  VII.  14.    Sur.  VII.  44.  45.  46.  47. 
 
 "    Mislmah  Aboth  IV.  17.    Sur.  IX.  38.  XUI.  26. 
 
 '®    Compare    the  Talmudic :    N^n?:-!   NC -53   Nj-'E   h'^."'^~i   N7p. 
 
 with  icL^Jt  jU-   ^c'   cU^''   /^^^   (^-^"^   '»  Sur.  VII.  38. 
 
 ^^  The  pious  "enjoy  the  glory  of  the  Shechinah."  1''T'?3  I"!"?. 
 rs/^-^Ij-  Sur.  LXXV.  23.  s\Job  L^s  J^\  "their  Lord  contempla- 
 ting".   Also  Sur.  LXXXIX.  27. 
 
 *°  Sur.  XXI.  104.  XXXIX.  67.  XLIV.  9.  XVII.  GO.  XXII.  2. 
 XXVII.  89.  Isa.  XXXIV.  4.  Ezek.  XXXVIII.  XXXIX.  Sur. 
 X-S.I.  96. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  DOCTRINES  BORROWED.  149 
 
 and  Koran.  *^  The  time  of  the  last  Judgment  Mo- 
 hammed dedined  to  fix,  resting  upon  the  Jewish  or 
 Scriptural  sentence  that  "one  day  with  God  is  like 
 a  thousand."*^  The  Jews  in  speaking  of  the  Resur- 
 rection of  the  dead  allude  to  the  sending  down  of 
 rain;  the  Koran  also  affirms  that  this  means  of  quick- 
 ening the  dead  will  be  employed;*^  and  the  Tal- 
 mudical  idea  that  the  dead  will  rise  in  the  garments 
 in  which  they  were  buried  has  likewise  been  adopted 
 into  Moslem  tradition.**  The  Jewish  opinion  that 
 "all  the  Pro23hets  saw  in  a  dark,  but  Moses  in  a  clear 
 mirror"*^  is  modified  in  the  Koran  by  the  addition 
 that  God  sends  down  his  angelic  messenger  Gabriel, 
 as  "the  Holy  Ghost"  with  revelations ;  this  extra- 
 ordinary notion  of  Gabriel  being  considered  the  Spirit 
 of  God  is  also  imported  from  the  teaching  of  the  Jews.  *^ 
 Again,  the  Deinonology  of  the  Koran  is  chiefly 
 borrowed  from  the  Talmud.  "Three  of  the  properties 
 of  demons  are  in  common  with  angels,   and  three 
 
 **  ChagigaXVI.  ThaanithXI.  and  Sur.XXIV.  24.  XXXVI.  65. 
 XLI.  19.    Sukkah  XXIX.  and  Sur.  XXL  98. 
 
 *2  Psa.  XCIV.  Sanhedr.  96,  2.  and  Sur.  XXII.  46.  XXXII.  4. 
 Ezek.  XXXVII.  13.  and  Sur.  C.  9. 
 
 *^  D^>~  ^T'l.'^W  "who  sends  down  the  rain"  is  introduced: 
 Thaanith'  at  the  beginning.  Sur.  VI.  95.  XXX.  49.  XXXVI.  33. 
 XLI.  39.    XLIII.  10. 
 
 **  Sanhed.  XC.  2.  Khethubhoth  CXI.  2.  See  also  VI.  95.  and 
 Pocock.  not.  misc.  cap.  VII.  p.  271.  ^^Lo  ^  <^*^  ci»-A+JI  t^\ 
 ^JO    o^    ^1 
 
 *■'   Jebamoth  XLIX.  with  Sur.  XLII.  50. 
 
 **^  1  King  XXn.  21.  rp'-\r^  N3>:i;  and  n'';p,pC  n^^  "the  clearly 
 speaking  spirit"  is  also  taken  as  Gabriel ;  Sanhedrin  XLIV.  and 
 Sur.  LXXVIII.  38.  XCVH.  4.  XVII.  87. 
 
150       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [parti. 
 
 with  men;  they  have  Avings  like  angels,  can  fly  from 
 one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other,  and  know  things 
 to  come.  Bnt  do  they  know  future  events?  No, 
 but  they  listen  behind  the  veil.  The  three  properties 
 in  common  with  men  are;  they  eat  and  drink,  indulge 
 in  physical  love  and  die."*^  This  was  adopted  in  the 
 Koran  and  spun  out  ad  libitum;  for  instance,  whilst 
 listening  once  to  the  angelic  conversations  they  were 
 hunted  away  with  stones!  Their  presence  in  places 
 of  worship  is  admitted  both  in  the  Talmud  and  the 
 Koran:  "when  the  servant  of  God  stood  up  to  in- 
 voke him,  the  Djins  all  but  pressed  on  him  in  the 
 
 d"  48 
 
 Amongst  the  moral  precepts  which  are  borrowed 
 from  the  Talmud,  we  may  mention,  that  children  are 
 not  to  obey  their  parents,  when  the  latter  demand 
 that  which  is  evil;*^  prayer  is  to  be  performed  stand- 
 ing, walking,  or   even  riding;^"   devotions  may  be 
 
 *^  ri^y^T!?'?  n'n^r:  ^psb'^rs  n'ibui  D^i"v:;53  C-^n^NS  a'"'^ni  niao 
 n"S?5  voyi"  n-crs  cnb  "ui"' ni-ir;  ^3^3733  r;db":3  uiN  "ina 
 siN  cipyn  spbo  ry-ir  n'-^r.b  rr^vzi  r>73  ry-in-'i  no^o  -lyi  cb^yr, 
 V"^.?  rr^l  r"<P^N  D7N  '':33  r.^^b^ij^  ":^>"!E~  '"?."'^??'^  Wt^^ 
 :rr?:?  yyr]  ciiagiga' xvi/l.  and  Sur.  Xv!  17.  34.  XXXVIII. 
 78.  LXXXL  24.  LXVII.  5.  XXXVII.  7.  LXXII.  Hence  the  ap- 
 pellative   (vx:^\,    the  stoned  one. 
 
 *^  Compare  the  Talmud:  6<-r.  rrT^STO  nbs  "ni.  N^^n"^.  ^~  and 
 Sur.  LXXII.  19. 
 
 *'  "Saith  the  father  to  his  son  being  a  Priest,  defile  thyself,  or 
 return  not  that  which  is  found,  should  he  in  this  obey  him?"  Jeb- 
 hamoth  Vr.    cfr.  Sur.  XXIX.  7. 
 
 *"  Sur.  II.  230.  III.  188.  X.  13.  The  Jews,  Berachoth  X. 
 ^''IJ't?  nrCP,  pray  standing;  may  be  done  riding  on  an  ass. 
 Mishnah  Berachoth  IV.  5. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  DOCTRINES  BORROWED.  151 
 
 shortened  in  urgent  cases,  without  committing  sin;'^ 
 drunken  persons  are  not  to  engage  in  acts  of  wor- 
 ship.-''^ abkitions  before  prayer  are  in  special  cases 
 enforced,  but  generally  required  both  in  the  Talmud 
 and  the  Koran  ;^^  each  permit  the  use  of  sand  instead 
 of  water,  when  the  latter  is  not  to  be  procured.  ^*  The 
 Talmud  prohibits  loud  and  noisy  prayers ,  and  Mo- 
 hammed gives  this  short  injunction:  —  ''cry  not  in 
 your  prayers;"^'  in  addition  to  this  secret  prayer, 
 public  worship  is  equally  commended. '  ^  The  Shema- 
 prayer  of  the  Jews  is  to  be  performed,  "when  one  is 
 able  to  distinguish  a  blue  from  a  ivhite  tkreacir  and 
 this,  is  precisely  the  criterion  of  the  commencement 
 of  the  fast  in  the  Koran.  ^  ^  The  following  social  pre- 
 cepts are  likewise  copied  from  Judaism,  —  a  divorced 
 woman  must  wait  three  months  before  marrying 
 again;  ^^  mothers  are  to  nurse  their  children  two  full 
 years;  and  the  degrees  of  affinity  within  which 
 mariages  are  lawful.  ^^ 
 
 ^^    Sur.  IV.  102.  and  Mishnah  Berachoth  IV.  4. 
 ^^    Sur.  R".  46.  and  Berachoth  XiXI.  2.  Erubin  LXIV. 
 *3    Sur.  IV.  46.  V.  9.    Mishnah  Berachoth  III.  4. 
 ^*    Sur.  V.  8.  and  Berachoth  XLVI.  ''r'^^  n~^i:2  n2)573  he  puri- 
 fies himself  vith  sand  and  has  done  enough. 
 
 ^^   dbyLaj  y^^  Sur.  XVII.  110.  with  Berachoth  XXXI.  2. 
 
 ibip  V2iyq2  ^^'^,  ^!"2n72b  1573  that  he  do  not  lift  up  his  voice. 
 
 ^^  Sonna  LXXXVI.  LXXXVII.  LXXXVUI.  and  the  r.^Dp 
 ntQirn.  of  the  Jews. 
 
 "    Mishnah  Berach.  I.  2.    Sur.  II.  183. 
 
 ^^   Sur.  n.  228.    Mish.  Jabhamoth  IV.  10. 
 
 ••^  Sur.  II.  233.  XXXI.  13.  The  Talmud:  Kethuboth  LX.  1. 
 •where  it  is  added,  that  beyond  that  period  it  was  like  suckling  a 
 worm;  and  Sur.  XXIV.  31. 
 
152       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  I. 
 
 3.  The  historical  incidents,  which  Mohammed 
 borrowed  from  Judaism,  are  recorded  with  the  most 
 grotesque  and  fabulous  admixtures;  regardless  of  the 
 sources  from  which  he  gleaned  them  he  is  indifferent 
 to  all  order  or  system.  Ignorant  of  the  general  fea- 
 tures of  Jewish  history,  Mohammed  appropriates  none 
 of  the  historical  waymarks  which  determine  the  great 
 epochs  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  confines 
 himself  to  certain  occurrences  in  the  lives  of  single 
 individuals;  we  shall  review  these  in  chronological 
 order,  noticing  the  flagrant  anachronisms  as  they 
 arise  in  the  Koran. 
 
 At  the  head  of  the  line  oi  Patriarchs  prior  to  the 
 flood,  stands  the  primogenitor  of  the  human  race. 
 Even  before  the  formation  of  man,  the  jealousy  of  the 
 anoels  existed  to  such  a  degree,  as  to  cause  them  to 
 oppose  his  creation;  but  God  revenged  it  by  endowing 
 Adam  with  superior  knowledge:  —  "When  thy  Lord 
 said  to  the  angels,  I  am  going  to  place  a  substitute 
 on  earth,  they  said:  wilt  thou  place  there  one  who 
 will  do  evil  therein  and  shed  blood  ?  but  v»e  celebrate 
 thy  praise  and  sanctify  thee;  God  answered:  Verily 
 I  know  that  which  ye  know  not;  and  he  taught  Adam 
 the  names  of  all  things ,  and  then  proposed  them  to 
 the  anoels,  and  said:  Declare  unto  me  the  names  of 
 these  things,  if  ye  say  truth;  they  answered:  Praise 
 be  unto  thee,  we  have  no  knowledge  but  what  thou 
 teachest  us,  for  thou  art  knowing  and  wise.  God 
 said:  0  Adam  tell  them  their  names.  And  when  he 
 had  told  them  their  names,  God  said:  Did  I  not  tell 
 you  that  I  know  the  secrets  of  heaven  and  earth,  and 
 
CHAP,  v.]        THE  PATRIARCHS  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD.  153 
 
 know  that  which  ye  discover,  and  that  which  ye 
 conceal." ®°  Let  us  examine  whence  the  Koran  ob- 
 tained this  occult  information:  "When  God  intended 
 to  create  man,  He  advised  with  the  angels  and  said 
 unto  them  we  will  make  man  in  our  own  image, 
 Gen.  1,  26.  then  said  they,  What  is  man  that  Thou 
 rememberest  him,  Psalm  vill.  5.  what  shall  be  his 
 peculiarity?  He  answered  his  wisdom  is  superior  to 
 yours.  Then  brought  He  before  them,  cattle,  animals 
 and  birds,  and  asked  for  their  names  but  they  knew 
 it  not.  After  man  was  created  He  caused  them  to 
 pass  before  him  and  asked  for  their  names,  and  He 
 answered:  this  is  an  ox,  that  an  ass,  this  a  horse  and 
 that  a  camel.  —  What  is  thy  name'!  To  me  it  becomes 
 to  be  called  "earthv,"  for  from  "earth"  I  am  crea- 
 ted.  —  And  I?  ''Lord,"  for  Thou  rulest  over  all  thy 
 creatures."^* 
 
 To  this  may  be  added  the  fable  that  God  com- 
 manded the  angels  to  worship  Adam;^^  which  is 
 likewise  appropriated  with  certain  modifications  fi'om 
 
 60   Sur.  II   28—33. 
 
 N^a-'  t^\'4^o  hn'n7b/^rw:?n  'i-b  nwij  nai:  r.79  -j  nnx  ^::75Jn  ^6, 
 
 r.N:  ■':n  ib  'iwn  rjTco  -hnt  b^rj'-n   6-^.0   -t   'li^oq  -t  -i'"iii3 
 
 5 'n'""^"''!''^  bbb  11"IN  .-:riNTl5  ■'blX  ni^'^'i?"^.  Midrash  Kabbah  to 
 Leriticus  Parashah  XIX.  and  Genesis  Parashah  VIII.  and  Sanhedrin 
 XXX^TH. 
 
 "   Sur.  VII.  10— 26.    XV.  28— 44.    X^TI.  63  — 68.  XVUI.  48. 
 XX.  115.  XXX Vm.  71—86. 
 
154       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  I. 
 
 Talmudical  wTitings.  Some  Jewish  fables  record,  that 
 the  angels  contemplated  worshipping  man,  but  were 
 prevented  by  God;^^  others  precisely  agree  with  the 
 Koran/*  that  God  commanded  the  angels  to  worship 
 man,  and  that  they  obeyed  with  the  exception  of 
 Satan.  The  Sonna  informs  us  that  Adam  was  sixty 
 yards  high,  and  Rabbinical  fables  make  him  extend 
 from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other,  but  upon  the 
 angels  esteeming  him  a  second  Deity,  God  put  his 
 hand  upon  him  and  reduced  him  to  a  thousand  yards !  ^* 
 Jewish  writings  thus  record  the  intention  of  the  crea- 
 tures to  worship  Adam:  —  ''When  the  creatures  saw 
 Adam,  they  were  afraid  thinking  him  to  be  the  Crea- 
 tor and  came  to  worship  him,  but  he  said  to  them: 
 Ye  come  to  worship  me,  but  come  with  me,  and  we 
 
 ^^  There  are  signs  of  great  veneration  for  Adam,  but  when 
 about  to   worship  him,  God  prevented  it:   1>3    nDi?    TCN"!"    C~J< 
 
 V  ^3  r:?i:i:"  ^-ciz  ib  'rh-:c  ni">:3r;  ■'SNbT:  r-rn  ---  'ny 
 Sanhedrin  XXIX.  Again:  PN  N"r.  "J-'-.n  ;D-;-i"?ri  N-^rO  r.rd^ 
 r>^'j  r.?2  u:n-ip  rrsb  ^wTb  ':i^';?n:i  n'ndr;  ^Dsbi3  ^2  ^ya  D-ixn 
 :c-iN  N^n'd  53-  •ny-T'T  r;73Tin  i^by  b-'cn  'n'n'pr:    Midrash  Rab- 
 
 T     T  V  -  ;t  :  T    "     :     —  T  T  •       •  T      T     1        T 
 
 bah  ad  Genesis  Parash.  YIII 
 
 ''■*  The  Midrash  of  Rabbi  Moses  Haddarshan  examined  by  Zunz 
 "Die  gottesdienstlichen  Vortrage  dcr  Juden"  pag.  296.  "Locutus 
 est  Deus  angelis  niinisterii,  ut  supplicarent  Adae.  Venerunt  angeli 
 ministerii  ad  beneplacitum  Dei.  Satan  vero  erat  major  omnibus 
 angelis  in  coelo.  Locutus  est  igitur  Deo  sancto  et  benedicto ,  et 
 ait:  Doraine  mundi,  uos  creasti  ex  splendore  Schechinae  et  tu  dicis 
 nobis,  ut  supplicemus  ei ,  vel  ut  adorcnnis  eum  quem  de  limo  terrae 
 formasti.  Dixit  ei  Deus  sanctus  et  bcnedictus,  in  isto,  qui  est  de 
 limo  terrae,  est  plus  sapientiae  et  intelligentiae,  quara  in  te.  Factum 
 est  itaque,  cum  nollet  supplicare  ei ,  nee  obedire  voci  Dei  sancti  et 
 benedicti,  cxpellit  ilium  de  coelis  et  factus  est  Satan,  et  de  eo  dicit 
 Jasaj.  XIV.  12.  quomodo  cecidisti  de  coelo,  splendor,  fili  aurorael" 
 cfr.  Raj-mund  Martini  Pugio  fidei  edit.  Carpzov.  pag.  563.  564.  from 
 Bercshit  Rabba  to  Gen.  V.  5. 
 
 ^^    Fundgrub.  I.  p.  278.  and  Eisenmcngcr's  Judcnthum  I.  p.  365. 
 
CHAP,  v.]         THE  PATRIARCHS  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD.  155 
 
 will  take  Him  as  our  king  who  has  created  us."*^ 
 The  account  given  in  the  Koran  of  Cain's  murder  of 
 his  brother,  is  borrowed  from  the  Bible;  his  conver- 
 sation with  Abel  before  he  slew  him,  ^'  is  the  same 
 as  that  in  the  Targum  of  Jerusalem.  After  the  mur- 
 der, Cain  sees  a  raven  burying  another,  and  from  this 
 sight  gains  the  idea  of  interring  Abel.  Jewish  fable 
 differs  only  in  ascribing  the  interment  to  the  pa- 
 rents:—  Adam  and  his  wife  sat  weejDing  and  lament- 
 ing him,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  the  body,  as 
 they  were  unacquainted  with  burying.  Then  came  a 
 raven  whose  fellow  was  dead,  he  took  and  buried  it 
 in  the  earth  hiding  it  before  their  eyes;  then  said 
 Adam,  I  shall  do  like  this  raven,  and  taking  Abel's 
 corpse,  he  dug  in  the  earth  and  hid  it."^^  The  sen- 
 tence following  in  the  Koran:  —  "wherefore  we  com- 
 manded the  children  of  Israel  that  he  who  slayeth  a 
 soul  not  by  way  of  retahation,  or  because  he  doeth 
 corruptly  in  the  earth ,  shall  be  as  if  he  had  slain  all 
 mankind;  but  he  who  saveth  a  soul  alive,  shall  be  as 
 
 ''^  Eisenmenger's  Judenthum  I.  jiag.  367.  quoted  from  the  Pirke 
 Rabbi  Elieser.  To  prove  Adam's  extraordinary  knowledge ,  the 
 Talmud  and  Koran  relate  that  the  angels  brought  down  from  the 
 higher  worlds  a  book  fullof  mighty  things  beyond  their  com- 
 prehension, in  order  to  learn  from  Adam  the  mysteries  it  contained. 
 
 "  Sura  V.  30—33.  "I  will  certainly  kill  thee;  Abel  answered, 
 God  only  accepteth  the  offerings  of  the  pious ;  if  thou  stretchest 
 forth  thy  hand  against  me  to  slay  me,  I  will  not  stretch  forth  my 
 hand  against  thee  to  slay,  for  I  fear  God,  the  Lord  of  all  creatures." 
 
 68  D^y-i-;  r-Tj  .sbT  vhy  D^briNnT:^  D"':Di3^  D^nuJ:  iityi  DnN  ri^n 
 ib  r'^.^.  nnx  n'n^y  "xn  n-n^inpa  h^>'r,^.  ^^rj  iihiii,  '-nnb  n-^rb  n^a 
 
 T    *  —    T  V     ••     "    :  f    T      :  '     V    T   T  -  T    :  l~  r  ■(...-...  TV 
 
 n;r:?7  V~'?^  ^?rj"!  "^^•"  ^'4  '^'^^'.  '^vk  ^^^'^  ""*t'^'  ^?^  ^T^'^ 
 
 Pirke  Babbi  Elieser' cap.  XXI,    Compare  with  this:  Sur.  V,'  34,  35, 
 
156       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  I. 
 
 if  he  saved  all  souls  alive,""  —  would  have  no  connection 
 with  what  precedes  or  follows,  were  it  not  for  the 
 Targum  of  Onkelos  in  the  paraphrase  of  Gen.  IV.  10. 
 where  it  is  said  that  the  "bloods"  of  Cain's  brother 
 cried  to  God  from  the  earth,  thus  implying  that  Abel's 
 posterity  were  also  cut  off:  and  in  the  Mishnah  San- 
 hedrin,  we  find  the  very  words  which  the  Koran 
 attaches  to  the  narration  of  the  murder  without  sense 
 or  connection.  ^^ 
 
 4.  Noah  stands  forth  as  the  preacher  of  righte- 
 ousness, builds  the  ark  and  is  saved  with  his  family 
 whilst  the  whole  of  mankind  perish: '°  his  character 
 is  however  drawn  more  from  Rabbinical  than  Biblical 
 sources.  The  conversations  of  Noah  with  the  people 
 and  the  words  with  which  they  mocked  him  whilst 
 building  the  ark,  ^^  are  the  same  in  Talmudical  wri- 
 tings as  in  the  Koran:  the  former  declare  that  the 
 waters  of  the  flood  were  heated ,  and  the  latter  that 
 the  generation  of  the  flood  was  punished  with  boiling 
 water.  ^  ^ 
 
 N^25   1D''E5  ■|\n-:''J"nT  d'ti  ^?:T  ^"HN  '^73^  N2N  l^'nN  CT  ^■'SK  -c-N 
 
 T    :*     -f—     •  :  T       '    ;—        —  :  t      i      •  r       ••    :        t  v     i      •   t        ~        *• 
 
 i'5j'  r;by73  bN^b-'Ts  nni<  cca  i2N7rr.  b2;:3  X^i£tb  ■"rn:  D-in 
 
 T   r  V   :  -         ••  T     :  •    •  r   t  *•"••  "  -    :  -  t    •••       I  t    :  -  :  ■      •  ;  t    t 
 
 rhviz  bi^T^i'Ti  nriN  -^r;:  a'pirr;  bDi  Nb)2  ^t'-v  'i^N  -Vns  s^n^n 
 sbiS  tiV^V  D^n  tibto  n^nsr;  rby     Misnah  Sanhedrin  IV.  5. 
 
 ••  T        T  ••    •  •    :  T   -        r   T 
 
 ^«  Sur.VII.57  — 63.  X.  72  — 75.  XI.27— 50.  XXII.43.  XXm. 
 23—32.  XXV.  39.  XXVI.  105—121.  XXIX.  13.  14,  XXXVII. 
 73-81.  LIV.  9—18.  LXXI.  1—29. 
 
 ''^    triTsb   it   naTl  Ipt^b  "'nWN      Old  one,   wherefore  this  ark? 
 
 T   T  T         "        '  ''T  ;     T 
 
 Sanhedrin  CVIII.  cfr.  Midrash  Kabbah  ad  Gen.  Parash.  XXX.  and 
 XXXIII.  ad  Eccles.  IX.  14.    Midrash  Tanchuma  adds:  Vpn-^:):.  ^^r; 
 
 Cnnna  'J"'>"'?b70'1  '^I'l^'O  they  mocked  and  annoyed  him  with  words. 
 
 '^    syi^\  ^ti.   the  oven  poured  forth  boiling  water.    Sur.  XI. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  FROM  NOAH  TILL  ABRAHAM.  157 
 
 The  next  Patriarch  after  the  flood  is  Hud,  who 
 is  none  other  than  Eher;  another  sample  of  the  ignor- 
 ance of  Mohammed.  ^^  In  the  days  of  Hud'*  the 
 tower  is  constructed;  the  "ohstinate  hero T^''  —  pro- 
 bably Nimrod,  takes  the  lead;  the  sin  of  idolatry 
 abounding,  an  idol  is  contemplated  as  the  crowning  of 
 the  tower;  but  the  building  is  overthrown,  the  tribes 
 are  dispersed  and  punished  in  this  w^orld  and  in  the 
 world  to  come:'^  these  particulars  are  evidently  bor- 
 rowed from  Scripture  and  Rabbinical  wTitings;  in  the 
 Koran  however  the  dispersion  is  caused  by  a  poi- 
 sonous wund  and  not  by  the  confusion  of  tongues. 
 The  significance  which  the  Koran  gives  to  Hud  is 
 again  in  perfect  accordance  with  Rabbinical  Judaism. 
 "Eber  was  a  great  prophet,  for  he  prophetically  cal- 
 led his  son  Peleg  (dispersion) ,  by  the  help  of  the 
 Holy  Ghost,  because  the  earth  was  to  be  dispersed."  '  ^ 
 
 42.  XXIII.  27.  '?3'rt5  ^^nnS^a  b^n^in  ^1^  the  race  of  the  flood 
 was  punished  with  hot  water.  Rosh  Hashanah  XVI.  2.  Sanhediin 
 CVIII. 
 
 "  t>*iCi,  Hud.  "iny  hence  "'l.nJJ,  Hebrews.  This  original  name 
 was  forgotten  and  "'""r.";,  Jews  or  C\  (;,;  sometimes  jjyD  became 
 common  among  the  Arabs. 
 
 '^  Sur.  VIL  63-71.  XL  52—64.  XXIL  43.  XXIII.  33-44. 
 XXV.  4.  XXVI.  123  — 141.  XXIX.  37.  XXXVIIL  11.  XL.  32. 
 XLL  12  —  16.  XLVL  20—25.  L.  13.  LL  41.  42.  LEL  50.  LIV. 
 18—20.  LXIX.  4—9.  LXXXLS.  5—9.  XVL  28. 
 
 ^^    JoOLc    >i  ^  '^    see  Nimrod's  cognomen  of  '1^2>  Gen.  X.  7.  8. 
 
 ''^  Sur.  XL  63.  and  Mishnah  Sanhedr.  X.  3.  where  we  read: 
 "The  generation  of  the  dispersion  has  no  part  in  the  world  to  come." 
 
 "  Mj^p-  n^^2  >bs  '^^-2,  ti-q.  nN  N'lp/iJ.  ^n?  rrr.  b--i>  N^55 
 V")Nr.  r;>bE:  rwn  -e'^'O  Seder  01am  quoted  Midrash  Jalkut 
 cap.  LXII. 
 
158       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM.    [PART  i. 
 
 5.  Among  all  the  Patriarchs,  Abraham  ^^  was  the 
 most  esteemed  by  Mohammed,  as  being  neither  Jew 
 nor  Christian  but  a  INloslem!^^  That  he  wrote  books 
 according  to  the  Koran,  is  also  the  belief  of  the  Jewish 
 doctors/"  His  attaining  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
 faith;  his  zeal  to  convert  his  generation,  his  destruc- 
 tion of  the  idols;  his  placing  the  staff  in  the  hand  of 
 the  largest  idol  and  ascribing  to  it  the  deed;  his 
 effort  to  persuade  the  people  of  the  impotence  of 
 their  gods;  the  fury  of  the  people;  their  insisting  on 
 his  being  burned,  and  his  marvellous  deliverance ;  all 
 these  particulars  in  the  life  of  Abraham,  as  given  by 
 the  Koran,  ^  ^  are  minutely  copied  from  Jewish  fictions. 
 We  confine  ourselves  to  one  passage;  ''Terah  was 
 an  idolater ,  ^  ^  and  idol-maker.  —  Once  he  went  a 
 journey  and  left  Abraham  to  sell  the  idols;  who,  when 
 a  j)Lirchaser  came,  asked  his  age :  if  the  person  replied 
 
 ''^    *-\ic|wjt,  Ibrahim;  £";::«,  called  aJL'l  J^JU:*.,  friend  of  God. 
 
 '^  Sur.  XVI  124.  II.  129.  III.  60.  VI.  79.  XVI.  121.  124. 
 II.  134.    IV.  124. 
 
 **"  The  Jews  ascribe  to  him  tlie  cabbalistical  Sepher  Jozirah, 
 which  is  certainly  very  old. 
 
 81  Sur.  VI.  74— 82.  XIX.  42— 51.  XXI.  52— G9.  XXII.  43. 
 XXVI.  69—105.  XXIX.  15—23.  XXXVII.  81  —  95  XLIII.  25  — 
 28.  LX.4— 6.  IX.  115.  XXVI.  86— 104.  Sonna  395.  Sur.  11.260. 
 XXI   69—74.    XXIX.  23  —  27.    XXXVU.  95  —  99. 
 
 ^^    1^^*?.   called    .-.t,   Asar  by  I\I.   Sur.  VI.  74.    Eusebius   in  his 
 
 Church  History  calls  him  'ylOiuj  wliich  may  have*risen  from  Qa(ja 
 
 and  the  Greek  Vldaf)  was  turned  into  .v|,  Asar.     The  later  Arabs 
 
 however  know  the  proper  name    •    Aji^  See  Elpherar  to  Sur  VII.  78. 
 
 According'  to  Tarikh  Monteklieb  Asar  was  the  father  of  Terah. 
 The  words  r.^~  C'T^jj:::  "ab  n"r  according  to  the  context  must 
 imply  also  a  seller  of  images. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  FROM  NOAH  TILL  ABRAHAM.  159 
 
 fifty  or  sixty  years,  Abraliam  said  to  him:  Woe  to 
 a  man  of  sixty  who  will  worship  the  work  of  one  day; 
 so  that  pm'chaser  w^ent  away  ashamed. '^^  Once  a  wo- 
 man came  with  a  dish  of  flour  and  said:  here,  put 
 this  before  them!  but  he  took  a  stick,  broke  all  the 
 idols  and  placed  the  stick  in  the  hand  of  the  largest 
 of  them.  When  his  father  returned,  he  asked,  who 
 has  done  this?  whereupon  Abraham  said, —  "why 
 shall  I  deny  it?  a  woman  came  with  a  dish  of  flour, 
 telling  me  to  place  it  before  them;  scarcely  had  I 
 done  this  when  each  was  determined  to  eat  first,  and 
 the  largest  of  them  beat  the  others  to  pieces  with 
 the  stick  he  has  in  his  hand.  But  Terah  said,  why 
 dost  thou  impose  upon  me,  have  they  any  knowledge? 
 Abraham  replied,  do  not  thy  ears  hear  what  thy  mouth 
 speaketh?  Then  Terah  seized  his  son  and  handed  him 
 over  to  Nimrod,  who  said  to  Abraham:  we  will  worship 
 the  fire!  Abraham: — Rather  the  water,  which  ex- 
 tinguishes the  fire!  Nimrod:  —  then  the  water!  Abra- 
 ham:— Rather  the  cloud  which  carries  the  water. 
 Nimrod: — then  the  cloud!  Abraham: — Rather  the 
 wind,  which  disperses  the  cloud.  Nimrod: — then  the 
 wind!  Abraham:  —  rather  man  who  resists  the  wind. 
 Nimrod: — Thou  art  talking  vain  things;  I  worship 
 the  fire  and  cast  thee  into  the  midst  of  it,  may  the 
 God  whom  thou  worshippest  come  and  save  thee  out 
 of  it.    Abraham  was  then  cast  into  a  burning  lime- 
 
 i^ycxio    ^^    JiJy    l*-^;^^   (j^-^   ^-^^H^   I^^'t^'   ^' 
 ■  HXSlXj    ^t,    Sw^dJ    Lo    Abulfeda  histor.  ante  Islam,   pag.  20. 
 
160       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FRO>r  JUDAISM.    [PART  1. 
 
 pit  and  was  saved." '^*  The  Koran  states  that  the 
 angels  whom  Abraham  received,  appeared  as  ordi- 
 nary Arabs,  and  he  was  astonished  when  they  de- 
 chned  to  eat.  ^*  According  to  the  Talmud,  they  also 
 "appeared  to  him  no  more  than^raJ.s;"^^  but  another 
 passage  adds:  "The  angels  descended  and  did  eat. 
 are  they  then  said  to  have  really  eaten  ?  No !  but  they 
 appeared  as  if  they  did  eat  and  drink." ^^  As  a  proof 
 of  Mohammed's  uncertainty  respecting  the  history 
 of  Abraham  we  add,  that  the  doubt  regarding  their 
 having  a  son  in  their  old  age,  is  expressed  in  the 
 Koran  by  Abraham  instead  of  Sarah,  and  she  is 
 made  to  laugh  at  the  promise  of  a  son,  before  it  was 
 given;**'  again,  the  command  to  offer  his  son,  is  given 
 to  Abraham  before  Isaac  is  born  or  promised,  so  that 
 the  son  who  was  to  be  offered  up  could  be  none  other 
 than  Ishmael,^^  who  was  spoken  of  immediately  be- 
 fore as  the  ''meek  youth T  Mohanmiedan  divines  are 
 however  not  agreed  whether  Ishmael  wa.s  to  be  ofifered 
 up  although  it  is  reported  by  some,  that  the  horns 
 
 ®*   Midrash  Rabbah  ad  Genesis  Parash.  XVII. 
 
 8'^   Sur.  XI.  72— 79.  XV.  51— 61.  XXIX.  30— 32.  LI.  24— 38. 
 
 ®^    D""??""^:'"  NiN  ib  '^:12^i^  N5  Kiddus^hin  LII. 
 
 8^  in:'-;  Nprs  ^ins  Cnb  ?b:2N'i  rr^tob  ^th^  r^"v::n  ^^nh'/i 
 ^n;i"1  ^bSN'O  •'TTD  "wS-:  N7:-wS  ^{l^^<     Baba  Mezia  LXXXVI.  2. 
 
 ^®  Sur.  XV.  54.  XI.  74.  This  caused  the  most  absurd  ex- 
 planations. 
 
 *^  Sur.  XXXVII.  99—114.  explains  wliat  II.  118.  is  only 
 hinted  at,  viz.  the  son  Ishmacl  was  to  be  sacrilicod  but  was  "ran- 
 somed with  a  noble  victim";  and  after  that  112.   ^^_^-S\*w  o  sLij-Cio. 
 
 ^^wA^Lo-'l    j^x    LxxJ    and  we  rejoiced  him  with  the  promise  of 
 Isaac. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  FROM  ABRAHAM  TILL  MOSES.  IGl 
 
 of  the  ram  which  was  sacrificed  in  his  stead,  were 
 preserved  at  Mecca  his  dwelling-place! '•^°  We  may 
 perhaps  account  for  Mohammed's  speaking  oflshmael 
 as  a  pious  man  and  reckoning  him  among  the  prophets 
 and  patriarchs,  ^^  from  the  fact,  that  he  was  consi- 
 dered the  patriarch  of  the  Arabs  and  the  founder  of 
 the  Kaaba,  ^'''  yet  nothing  but  ignorance  could  betray 
 him  into  the  mistake  of  counting  Ishmael  among  the 
 forefathers  of  Jacob; ^^  not  less  surprising  is  the  as- 
 sertion that  the  latter  was  the  son  of  Abraham!^* 
 The  dying  charge  of  Jacob,  as  related  in  the  Koran, 
 is  in  perfect  accordance  with  what  is  found  in  Jewish 
 writings:  "When  Jacob  was  dying  he  called  his  sons 
 together  and  said  unto  them:  hear  ye  sons  of  Israel, 
 is  there  perhaps  a  doubt  in  your  hearts  concerning 
 God?  they  replied:  hear  Israel  our  father,  as  there 
 is  no  doubt  in  thy  heart  concerning  God,  so  is  there 
 none  in  ours;  but  the  Lord  is  our  God,  the  one  Lord 
 only/'^' 
 
 Among  the  sons  of  Jacob,  Joseph  occupies  the 
 pre-eminence.    His  history  is  mainly  the  same  as  in 
 
 ^0    Geiger  pag.  133.  134.  135. 
 
 ^^  Sur.  XIX.  55  —  56.  XXL  85  86.  IL  130.  134.  VL  86. 
 XXXVIII.  48.  XIV.  4  1.  The  Talmud  records  that  Ishmael  re- 
 pented: Vl^i*  ^:ri2  r,^'tP  r.'vl'r  ^•zav'C-dl  Lshmael  repented  during 
 the  life-time  of  his  father.     Baba  Bathra  XVI. 
 
 "    Sur.  IL  119.  «3    suj..  IL  127. 
 
 ^*  Sur.  XI  74.  VI.  84.  XIX.  50.  XXI  72.  XXIX.  26.  Sonna 
 398  and  400,  Joseph  is  called  the  grandson  of  Abraham,  and  Jacob 
 his  son. 
 
 ^*  Sur.  II.  126.  127.  and  Midrash  Rabhah  to  Gen.  Parash.  98. 
 and  to  Deut.  Parash.  II.  Also  Targum  Hierosolyni.  to  Deut.  VI.  4. 
 Tractat.  Pesachira  pag.  56. 
 
162      WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAIS^f.    [pakt  i. 
 
 the  Bible,  embellished  with  fabulous  traditions  of  the 
 Jews.  Among  these  is  the  assumption  that  Joseph 
 "would  have  resolved  to  sin,  had  he  not  seen  the 
 evident  demonstration  of  his  Lord;"^^  that  this  is 
 borrowed  from  the  following  fable  none  can  fail  to 
 admit.  "Rabbi  Jochanan  saith :  both  intended  to 
 commJt  sin;  seizing  him  by  the  garment  she  said: 
 lie  with  me  .  .  .  Then  appeared  to  him  the  form  of 
 his  father  at  the  window%  who  called  to  him:  Joseph! 
 Joseph!  the  names  of  thy  brothers  shall  be  engraven 
 upon  the  stones  of  the  Ephod,  also  thine  own,  wilt 
 thou  that  it  shall  be  erased?"  ^^  This  is  almost  literally 
 repeated  by  a  Moslem  commentary  to  the  Koran.  ^* 
 The  fable  of  Potiphar's  w^ife  inviting  the  Egyptian 
 ladies  to  a  feast,  to  see  Joseph,  because  they  laughed 
 at  her  being  so  charmed  with  him  and  of  their  being 
 so  overcome  with  admiration  of  Joseph  ^^  that  they 
 accidentally  cut  their  hands  in  eating  fruit,  is  ex- 
 actly so  related  in  a  very  ancient  Hebrew  book  from 
 which  Mohammed  doubtless  derived  it.  The  story 
 about  the  garment  being  rent,  and  the  setting  up  of 
 an  evidence  of  guilt  or  innocence  respecting  it,  is  also 
 
 90 
 
 Sur.  XII.  24.   aoj    ^Is^^   ^\^   ^\   Siy   L^    ^^ 
 
 T>Tii  r:r-S2  ^■^i^'W  zr-:'vi^  '-r^^rb  ^bra  "cii^.'d  '■ity  rni^'d  ^?:Nb 
 no-'  TD^-'  lb  ";7:n  vbnn  ^,b  n'N~:i  rns  be  Nrp'-i  r-;rN3 
 .-n^^:\;j.  ~r:i:-i  s-'r^^  ~n5>ti  ~:"2i<  ?:nN  by  "^ns;"*^.  T^'ns  "'■^n^r:? 
 Urr;-ZT3  r^^'4    Sotah  XXXVl.  2.         " 
 
 ^«    Elpherar  to  Sur.  XII.  24.    Geiger  pag.  142. 
 
 "^    Sur.  XII.   26.  31.  50.   and  the  commentary  of  Elpherar  to 
 the  passage. 
 
CHAP.  T.l  FROM  ABRAHAM  TILL  MOSES.  1G3 
 
 borrowed  to  the  very  letter  from  the  same  source.* 
 In  this  Sura  it  is  also  stated  that  "the  devil  made 
 him  (Joseph)  forget  the  remembrance  of  his  Lord,"^ 
 in  perfect  harmony  with  the  Jewish  tradition:  "Vain 
 speech  tendeth  to  destruction;  though  Josejoh  twice 
 urged  the  chief  butler  to  remember  him  yet  he  had 
 to  remain  tw^o  years  longer  in  prison."  ^  The  seeking 
 protection  fi'om  man  is  here  represented  as  the  in- 
 stigation of  Satan.  The  Koran  causes  Jacob  to  tell 
 his  sons  to  enter  at  different  gates;  and  the  same 
 injunction  is  given  by  the  Patriarch  in  the  Jewish 
 writings :  "Jacob  said  to  them  enter  not  through  one 
 and  the  same  gate."*  The  exclamation  of  the  sons 
 of  Israel,  when  they  found  the  cup  in  Benjamin's  sack: 
 "has  he  stolen,  so  has  his  brother  also;"  are  clearly 
 a  perversion  of  the  words  which  the  Jewish  traditions 
 put  into  their  mouths:  "Behold  a  thief,  son  of  a  fe- 
 male thief,"  referring  to  the  stealing  of  the  Teraphim 
 by  Rachel. '  Mohammed  again  acquaints  us  that 
 Jacob  knew  by  divine  revelation  that  his  son  Joseph 
 
 ^  The  "^^"^4  ICD  Sepher  Hajjashar,  quoted  in  the  Midrash  Jal- 
 kiit  by  the  name  "llitr;  C'7jT.  ■'Hal  and  existing  in  a  Jewish  — 
 German  version  with  the  title  ^">:3"'1  £n.  cfr  also  the  intimation  in 
 the  Midrash  Abhkir  quoted  in  Mid.  Jalhut  cap.  CSLVL 
 
 ^    Kis     Jij    ^^\.Ja.jiMtJ]    sLvw-jLi      This  is  falsely  applied  to 
 
 the  chief  butler;    the  translators   were   betrayed   by   the  previous 
 verse.    Sur   XIL  42. 
 
 *  Midrash  Rabbah  to  Gen.  XL.  14.  Geiger  pag.  146.  Sur.  XIL 
 42.  "wherefore  he  remained  in  the  prison  some  years." 
 
 *  Sur.  XII.  67.  and  nnM  nrcr  nr^3  rorsn  bs  h^y  Cr.b  ^.WN 
 Mid.  Rabbah  to  Genesis  Parash    XCI. 
 
 *  Sur.  XII.  77.  and  Nrs^.^  ^3  Nn;?.  N"  Midrash  Rabbah  Parash. 
 
 XCU.    Gen.  XXXI.  19. 
 
 L* 
 
164      WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  I. 
 
 was  Still  alive/  and  Jewish  tradition  enables  us  to 
 point  out  whence  he  obtained  the  information.  "An 
 unbeliever  asked  our  master:  do  the  dead  continue 
 to  live?  your  parents  did  not  believe  it,  and  will  ye 
 receive  it?  Of  Jacob  it  is  said,  he  refused  to  be  com- 
 forted; had  he  believed  that  the  dead  still  lived,  would 
 be  not  have  been  comforted?  But  he  answered, 
 fool,  he  knew  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  he  still  really 
 lived ,  and  about  a  living  person ,  peoj^le  need  no 
 comfort."  ^ 
 
 6.  Mohammed  made  but  scanty  allusions  to  the 
 early  patriarchs,  Joseph  only  excepted;  but  concer- 
 ning Moses  it  was  his  interest  to  be  more  liberal  and 
 definite  in  his  communications, — possibly  from  the  de- 
 sire to  be  considered  like  him,  as  he  is  generally 
 thought  to  have  taken  that  prophet  as  his  model  — 
 whose  character  as  lawgiver  and  whose  personally 
 eventful  life,  furnished  him  with  abundant  materials 
 which  he  wove  together  as  follows.  Among  the 
 oppressions  which  Pharaoh  exercised  towards  the 
 Jews  are  named,  his  ordering  their  children  to  be  cast 
 into  the  water.  Moses  the  son  of  Amran^  was  put 
 into  an  ark  by  his  mother;  Pharaoh's  ivife  observing 
 the  child,  rescues  him  from  death,  and  gives  him 
 
 ''  Sur.  XII.  86,  97.  and  Miclrash  Tanchuma  quoted  in  Midrash 
 Yalkut  cap.  CXLIII.  The  Koran  also  makes  Joseph  tell  B(>njaniin 
 first,  that  he  ^vas  his  brother  XII.  69.  in  harmony  with  the  Sepher 
 Hajjashar. 
 
 ^  Of  the  contradictions  and  inconsistencies  with  which  the  "Sura 
 Joseph"  abounds,  we  only  mention  that  Joseph  interprets  the 
 dream  in  Sur.  XII.  47.  and  in  50.  he  is  fetched  from  prison. 
 
 ®  Moses  is  introduced  as:  D^7;y  ^3  nuitt,  or  .%l*-»-fc  ..wj  j-****^ 
 Gen.  VI.  20.  "  '  ^ /^  <^  iS^r 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOSES  AND  HIS  AGE.  165 
 
 back  to  his  mother  to  nurse.  When  Moses  was  o:rown 
 up  he  sought  to  assist  his  oppressed  brethren,  and 
 kills  an  Egyptian;  being  the  next  day  reminded  of 
 this  deed  by  an  Hebrew,  he  flees  to  Midian,  and  mar- 
 ries the  daughter  of  an  inhabitant  of  that  country.^ 
 When  about  to  leave  Midian  he  sees  a  burning  bush, 
 andr  approaching  it,  receives  a  call  to  go  to  Egypt,  to 
 exhort  Pharaoh ^°  and  perform  miracles;  he  accepts 
 the  mission  but  requests  the  aid  of  his  brother  Aaron.  ^  ^ 
 Pharaoh  however  remains  an  infidel  and  gathers  his 
 sorcerers  together,  who  perform  only  inferior  miracles, 
 and  in  spite  of  Pharaoh's  threats  they  become  be- 
 lievers. ^  ^  Judgment  falls  upon  the  Egyptians,  they  are 
 drowned  whilst  the  Israelites  are  saved.  *  ^  A  rock  yields 
 water;  Moses  receives  the  law**  and  desires  to  see  the 
 glory  of  God.  ^^  During  Moses'  absence,  the  Israelites 
 make  a  golden  calf,  which  he  destroys,  and  reducing  it 
 
 ^   Sur.  XX.  37-44.    XXVIII.  2  —  29. 
 
 '"    cjv^y^   ~*"^.^  Pharaoh,  title  of  Egyptian  kings. 
 
 **  ^J^y^>  Aaron.  Sur.  XX.  8  —  37.  44—52.  XXVI.  9  —  17. 
 XXXVIII.  29—36.    LXXIX.  15—20. 
 
 *^  Sur.VII.  101  — 125.  X.  76  — 90.  XI.  99— 102.  XX.  50  — 79. 
 XXIII.  47—51.  XXVI.  15  —  52.  XXVII.  13—15.  XXXVIII.  36— 
 40.  XL.  24—49.  XLIIl.  45—54.  LXXIX.  20—27. 
 
 ^3  Sur.  II.  46.  47.  VII.  127  —  135.  X.  90  —  93.  XX.  79—82. 
 XXVL  52—69.    XXVIII.  40—43.  XLIIL  55. 
 
 **   ^U^'-    rinrbr:    Sur.  YIl.  143.  150.     Elpherar  says  to 
 
 the  first  passage:  "Ren  Abbas  says,  he  means  the  Torah  by  Al- 
 wach;"  and  more  correctly  to  the  last:  sk-Jul  Lg-o  ,-aJI  where- 
 in the  Torah  is. 
 
 "  Sur.  VII.  135—147.  17U.  IL  52—55.  60.  87.  IV.  152. 
 
166       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FRO^f  JUDAISM,    [part  I. 
 
 to  powder,  makes  them  drink  it;^*^  after  this,  Moses 
 chooses  seventy  men  as  assistants.*^  The  spies  sent 
 to  Canaan  are  all  wicked  with  the  exception  of  two; 
 the  people  being  deceived  by  them  must  wander  forty 
 years  in  the  desert.***  Korah,  on  quarrelling  with 
 Moses,  is  swallowed  up  by  the  earth.  *°  The  marvellous 
 journey  of  Moses  with  his  servant  is  an  addition  which 
 should  not  be  omitted  in  this  summary  of  events.^'' 
 
 Among  the  details,  deserve  to  be  mentioned  that 
 Haman  and  Korah  were  counsellors  of  Pharaoh.  * ' 
 It  is  not  surprising  that  Mohammed  should  associate 
 Haman  with  Pharaoh ,  as  an  enemy  of  the  Jews ; 
 since  he  cared  little,  when  individuals  lived  provided 
 they  could  be  introduced  with  advantage.  Korah, 
 according  to  Jewish  tradition,  was  chief  agent  or 
 treasurer  to  Pharaoh.  ^^  The  Ante-Exodus-perse- 
 cution  of  the  Jews  is  ascribed  to  a  dream  of  Pha- 
 raoh ;^^  this  is  in  exact  accordance  with  Jewish  fable: 
 "The  sorcerers  said  to  Pharaoh,  a  boy  shall  be  born 
 who  will  lead  the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt;  then  thought 
 he,  —  cast  all  male  children  into  the  river  and  he  will 
 be  cast  in  among  them."^*    The  words,  Exod.  11.  7. 
 
 *6   Sur.  II.  48—52.  87.  VII.  147—155    XX.  82—99. 
 
 "    Sur.  YII.  155.  '«   Sur.  V.  23  —  30. 
 
 *'   Sur.  XXVIir.  76  —  83.  *"   Sur.  XVIII.  59  —  82. 
 
 ''    ^Ujo  and  ^;^U  Sur.  XXVIII.  57.  38.  XXIX.  38.  XL.  25. 
 
 "  -iy-iD  bia  ^n'a^  D'-ip-'b^n]:  rrr^  n^j?  Midrash  to  Numbers 
 Parash.  XIV. 
 
 ^»   Sur.  XXVIII.  5. 
 
 "  nij  s-::'''"'  N"--]  *^):-r\^,  ^tl  ^T*^  "i?"??^  fi^'r^inr;  '^^tttj 
 bti  a-'-iDT.-  cn'b'.-  b::  '■Zi^'-:-^-  "zba  "''':n"i  nam  £"^1:^:73  btt-i'i3"» 
 t~-i'J  ^:>-dil  N:m  -lis^-    Pirke  llab.  Elieser  cap.  XL VIII. 
 
 V  T  •      It    ;    ■..  :  :  -  r 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOSES  AND  HIS  AGE.  167 
 
 "I  will  call  one  of  the  Hebrew  women"  produced  the 
 Rabbinical  fiction:  "why  just  a  Hebrew-woman? 
 This  shows  that  he  was  handed  to  all  the  Egyptian 
 women,  but  he  would  not  drink;  for  God  said:  the 
 mouth  which  shall  once  speak  with  Me,  should  it 
 drink  what  is  unclean  ?"^^  This  was  too  valuable  for 
 Mohammed  to  omit  in  his  Koran. ^''  Although  it  is 
 nowhere  said  in  the  Bible,  that  the  sign  of  the  leprous 
 hand  was  wrought  in  the  presence  of  Pharaoh,  ^^  yet 
 the  Koran  relates  it  as  having  there  taken  place,  ^* 
 and  in  this  also  it  was  preceded  by  Jewish  tradition : 
 "He  put  his  hand  into  his  bosom  and  withdrew  it 
 leprous  white  as  snow;  they  also  put  their  hands  into 
 their  bosom  and  withdrew  them  leprous  white  as 
 snow."^^  Again  among  Moses'  own  people  none  but 
 his  own  tribe  believed  him;^°  this  Mohammed  doubt- 
 less inferred  from  the  statement  of  the  Rabbis:  "the 
 tribe  of  Levi  was  exempted  from  hard  labour."  ^ ' 
 Among  the  sorcerers  of  Egypt  who  first  asked  for 
 their  wages  and  then  became  believers  when  their 
 
 \nr:'^  'nn-i  p;"  rr:'  "is-ib  -i'r?u:  "?  n"-  "i^is 'uj-nrr,  -i73ji'p:'' 
 
 •  ■    T  T  T      I  -    •  •  •  •■  -   :  'TV         V  ■'         I-  It  -        -    T    '  -r 
 
 Sotah  XII.  2. 
 
 "   Sur.  XXVIII.  II. 
 
 ^^  It  was  wrought  in  the  wilderness  on  the  occasion  of  Moses 
 being  called;  but  as  to  its  being  repeated  before  Pharaoh,  Scripture 
 is  silent. 
 
 2«   Sur.  VII.  105.    XXVI.  32. 
 
 "  '0^33r.  D-  D>i  >b",^3  n?^-it)3  nij^ii^'l  ^PT^  i^;  ta^JP" 
 3ib;^3    n-y^i:?:    ir-N    :&<^i:-r:n   Dp^n'b  nn^    Pirke  Rabbi  Elieser 
 
 V    •••   —  T  :  '    T  •  :  >T      "    \  T  T 
 
 cap.  XLVIII. 
 
 ^°    Sur.  X.  83. 
 
 ''  T)"?.  rr;-a:'.7?.  r;;rj  ^^\  bir  '^ua^a  Midrash  Rab.  to  Exod. 
 Parash.  V." 
 
168       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BOKROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  I. 
 
 serpents  were  swallowed  by  that  of  INIoses,  '^  Pharaoh 
 hhnself  was  chief;  ^^  here  again  Mohammed  is  indebt- 
 ed to  Judaism.  "Pharaoh  who  lived  in  the  days  of 
 Moses  was  a  great  sorcerer."^*  In  other  places  of 
 the  Koran  he  ascribes  divinity  to  Pharaoh; ^^  and 
 Jewish  tradition  makes  him  declare:  "Already  from 
 the  beginning  ye  speak  falsehood,  for  I  am  the  Lord 
 of  the  world,  I  have  made  myself  as  w^ell  as  the 
 Nile;  as  it  is  said  of  him  Ezek.  xxix.  3.  "mine  is 
 the  river  and  I  have  made  it.''^^  The  prophet  seems 
 to  have  been  much  confused  with  regard  to  the  plagues ; 
 in  some  places  he  enumerates  nine,  ^^  in  others  only 
 five,  the  first  of  which,  is  said  to  be  the  Flood!'*'  As 
 the  drowning  in  the  Red  Sea,  happened  after  the 
 plagues,  he  can  only  allude  to  the  Deluge. 
 
 The  following  somewhat  dark  and  uncertain  pas- 
 sage ^^  concerning  Pharaoh,  has  caused  commentators 
 great  perplexity;  it  is  stated  that  Pharaoh  pursued 
 the  Israelites  until  actually  drowning,  when  confessing 
 himself  a  Moslem  he  was  saved  alive  from  the  bottom 
 of  the  sea,  to  be  a  "witness  for  ages  to  come,"*"  but 
 
 "   Sur.  VII.  110.  XXVI.  140.  ^^   Sur.  XX.  74.  XXVI.  48. 
 
 ■''*  -;-  b"-i>  ■'^:i>?2N  ri^^l2  ^"D^^z  ";~  V.  ny"7E  Midrash  Yalkut 
 cap.  CLXXXIl. ' 
 
 '^   Sur.  XXVI.  128.    XXVIII.  38.   XLIII.  50. 
 
 •"•^   Db^y~  r"iN  N^T.  ^!i«  ■'3  a^"i7?5<  uPN  "i|^o  "brin'^g  crib  T^jj 
 
 "r^""'^?.  't^.1  ""rJ*".  '^  ""r??..^'^.  0"'"  r^?1  ""^^M  TN7^  '?**1  Midrash 
 Rab.  to  Exod.  Par.  V.        '    " 
 
 "    Sur.  XVll.  103.    XXVII.  112.  '»   Sur.  VII.  130. 
 
 '^   Sur.  X.  90. 
 
 *"  Bedawi,  see  Henzii  frag.  Arab.  pag.  201.  alone  keeps  to  the 
 literal  sense  of  the  text:   Kf-i  Jts»   \.^^   C/JJLo  ^La^aJ  p»«jJLi 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOSES  AND  HIS  AGE.  169 
 
 we  find  that  it  is  merely  a  Mohammedan  version  of 
 a  Jewish  fable :  —  ''Perceive  the  great  power  of  repen- 
 tance! Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt  uttered  very  wicked 
 words:  who  is  the  God  whose  voice  I  shall  obey? 
 Exod.  V.  2.  yet  as  he  repented  saying,  who  is  like 
 unto  thee  among  the  gods,  XV.  II.  God  saved  him 
 from  death;  for  it  saith,  —  almost  had  I  stretched  out 
 my  hands  and  destroyed,  —  but  God  let  him  live  that 
 he  might  declare  his  power  and  strength."**  As 
 Jewish  commentators  add  to  Exod.  XV.  27.  —  where 
 we  read  of  twelve  fountains  being  found  nearElim, — ■ 
 that  each  of  the  tribes  had  a  well,*^  so  Mohammed 
 transposes  the  statement  and  declares,  that  twelve 
 fountains  sjDrang  from  the  rock  which  had  been  smitten 
 by  Moses  at  Rephidim.  The  Rabbinical  fable  that 
 God  covered  the  Israelites  with  mount  Sinai  on  the 
 occasion  of  the  lawgiving*^  is  thus  amplified  in  the 
 Koran :  "We  shook  the  mountain  over  them  as  though 
 it  had  been  a  covering,  and  they  imagined  that  it  was 
 falling  upon  them;  and  we  said:  receive  the  law  which 
 we  have  brought  unto  you,  with  reverence."**  The 
 Koran  adds,  that  the  Israelites  now  demanding 
 to  see  God,  die,  and  are  raised  again. *^  It  will  not 
 be   difficult  to  trace  the  origin  of  this  figment:  — 
 
 nfi<T  ^^nra  cb"NT  '2-4  ^"'''^r-"^  in''?'  ^n'n?3>i.  -nb  ncob.  DT'?" 
 Tn-'?.:'.n  Pirke  Rabbi  Elieser  cap.  XLIII.  cfr.Mid.  to  Psalm  CVI. 
 Mid.  Jalkut  cap.  CCXXXVIII. 
 
 *'  c-^  -rTS^T:  D^UEp  -\'^^  d\:u3  ^^^3  Rashi  to  Exod.  XV.  27. 
 cfir.  also  Targum  Hierolym. 
 
 *'   iT'r.^s  nr;-  rx  ts^by  "DN  roS    Aboda  Tarah  II.  2. 
 
 ♦*   Sur.  VII.  170.  171.  *''    Sur.  II.  52.  53.   IV.  152. 
 
170       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [parti. 
 
 "Two  things  demanded  the  Israelites  from  God;  that 
 they  might  see  his  glory,  and  hear  his  voice,  and  both 
 were  granted  to  them,  as  it  is  said:  Behold  the  Lord 
 our  God  has  shown  to  us  His  glory  and  greatness  and 
 liis  voice  we  heard  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire.  Deut. 
 V  21.  These  things  however  they  had  no  power  to 
 resist;  as  they  came  to  mount  Sinai  and  He  appeared 
 unto  them  their  souls  escaped  by  His  speaking,  as  it 
 is  said:  'my  soul  escaped  as  He  spake'.  The  Torah 
 however  interceded  for  them,  saying:  'does  a  king  give 
 his  daughter  to  marriage  and  kill  his  household? 
 The  whole  world  rejoices  (at  my  appearance)  and  thy 
 children  (the  Israelites)  shall  they  die?'  —  At  once 
 their  soul  returned,  therefore  it  is  said:  'the  doctrine 
 of  God  is  perfect  and  brings  back  the  soul."*^ 
 
 The  history  of  the  golden  c«//'afforded  a  favourable 
 subject  for  the  Koran  which  follows  as  usual,  the 
 fabulous  account  of  the  Rabbinical  traditions  relating 
 to  it.  Both  represent  Aaron  as  having  been  nearly 
 killed  wdien  at  first  resisting  the  entreaty  of  the  people 
 to  make  it.  The  Sanhcdrin  relates:  "Aaron  saw  Chur 
 slaughtered  before  his  eyes,  (wdio  opposed  them)  and 
 he  thought,  if  I  do  not  yield  to  them  they  will  deal 
 with  me  as  they  dealt  with  Chur."*'^  According  to 
 another  passage  in  the  Koran,  an  Israelite  by  the 
 *'^   nn-D  D-5  r.^>;i  tdI:  ^N^'d  rs  i-'i2vh  nb  D-n  rrr,  'nhri 
 
 \-i-'a  'drx  >7r,i  -rn  H'-clio  "b?;  'd'^  '"?"!?"  ^'r.^J.")-!  Ci"'?:rT-;  c-'b? 
 
 T13d2  nl't;?3  r;?:')?!!    Abodah  Sarah  11.  2. 
 
 *^  Sur.  VII.  150.  and  Nb  -N  -n^s  v:cb.  n^nt^.  -i^n  -ij-i  i^l-N 
 'ntina  tn^ms  'b  "in:'  n*"^'4j-  r-b  n:5:?:"4  Sauhedrin  v. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOSES  AND  HIS  AGE.  171 
 
 name  of  Samari  enticed  them  and  made  the  calf.*^ 
 Like  the  wandering  Jew  in  the  Christian  fable,  Sa- 
 mari is  punished  by  Moses  with  endless  wandering, 
 and  he  is  compelled  to  repeat  the  words  "touch  me 
 not."*"  Jewish  traditions  makeMicah  assist  in  manu- 
 facturing the  idol  calf;''°  but  ^lohammed  either 
 derived  Samari  from  Samael;  or  as  the  Samaritans 
 are  stated  by  the  Arab  writers  to  have  said:  "touch 
 me  not,"  he  may  have  considercl  Samari  as  the 
 author  of  the  sect  of  the  Samaritans.  "^ 
 
 That  the  calf  thus  produced  by  Samari  from  the 
 ornaments  of  the  people,  lowed  on  being  finished," 
 is  evidently  a  Koran  repetition  of  the  following  Jewish 
 tradition:  "The  calf  came  forth  Exod.  xxir.  24. 
 roaring,  and  the  Israelites  saw  it.  Rabbi  Jehuda 
 says:  Samael  entered  the  calf  and  roared  to  deceive 
 the  Israelites."  The  addition  that  the  tribe  of  Levi 
 remained  faithful  to  God,  is  both  Scriptural  and  Rab- 
 
 *8  Sur.  XX.  87.  90.  96.  The  name  ^^yeL^Jt ,  Samari,  may 
 have  arisen  from  hv^pt'O  who  is  said  to  have  assisted  in  making 
 tlie  calf. 
 
 *^  Sur.  XX.  97.  the  words  he  has  to  repeat,  are:  (j^La^^xi  J*, 
 no  touch! 
 
 *o  Rashi  to  Sanhedrin  CI.  2.  The  Micah  the  same  as  Judg. 
 XVII.  hence  Arab  writers  consider  Micah  and  Samari  identical 
 Achmed  ben  Idris  in  Hotting,  hist,  orient,  pag.  84. 
 
 '^  It  may  also  have  arisen  from  a  Pharisaical  sect  called  by  the 
 Talmud:  ':u3^7:P  b^  xL'^'^Zl  "the  separated  one:  touch  me  not!" 
 The  fable  is  clearly  a  composition  from  various  elements. 
 
 "  Sur.  VII.  147.  XX.  90.  and  ^^r'N  '^i^-JT  r.VS  'ir^,  bj?"  i^^'l 
 PN  P'yrnb  -r:.  rrr^  "S-rb.  o:p:  bx;|D  172N  r.-j^ir;-;  ■'•jn  b^nqi 
 bx-i'd^    Pirke  Rabbi  Elieser  cap.  CLIX. 
 
172       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  I. 
 
 binical.'^^    In  the  following  events  we  have  abbrevia- 
 tions, but  no  alterations  or  additions,  except  in  the 
 "matter  of  Korah"  which  is  honoured  with  singular 
 embellishments;  for  instance,  Korah  had  such  riches, 
 that  from  ten  to  forty  strong  men  were  required  to 
 carry  the  keys  of  his  treasures.^*  Moslem  traditions 
 go  much    further;  Abulfeda  says  forty  mules  were 
 required  to  convey   the  keys.     Nevertheless  Jewish 
 tradition,  whence  it  is  taken,  is  still  more  extravagant. — 
 "Joseph  buried  three  treasures  in  Egypt,  one  of  which 
 became  known  to  Korah.    Riches  are  turned  to  de- 
 struction to  him  that  possesses  them,  Eccles.V.  12. 
 and  this  may  well  be  applied  to  Korah.    The  keys 
 to  the  treasures  of  Korah  made  a  burden  for  300 
 white   mules,"  ^^    The   accusation   from   which  God 
 cleared  his  servant  Moses,  of  which  the  Koran  makes 
 mention,   was  according  to  the  best  commentators, 
 occasioned  by  Korah.    "Abu  Aliah  says:  it  refers  to 
 Korah  hiring  a  harlot  to  reproach  Moses  before  all  the 
 people,  upon  which  God  struck  her  dumb,  and  destroyed 
 Korah,  which  cleared  Closes  from  the  charge."  ^^  This 
 is  unquestionably  an  amplification   of  the  following 
 
 "    Sur.  Vir.    159.     Exod.  XXXII.   26.     Pirke    Rabbi    Elieser 
 
 cap.  XLV. 
 
 **    Sur.  XXYIII.  76.    The  words  by  Sale:    "many  strong  men" 
 signify  a  general  number  from  10 — 40. 
 
 55  «.-  n^rnb   r^-Tnc  n-N73  "Sri   "'^tow  ri^'P  ^^.  '^^'4y  "T 
 n'^p  b^.  T'Ta"-'  n"'2  n"nP2W  Pirke  Rabbi  Elieser  cap.  XLV. 
 
 ^6    Sur.  XXXIII.  69.  LXI.  5.    ^^^^^^  y^  sJLxJJ  yJ  JU^ 
 
 1   (7|  ^mi^   iLJ    ^j^-k    jJLc-  1.  (^".QO   ^5*-^    O  iXftJ    &AXJ  ^Uu*-! 
 
 ,M5)U   i*5JboL    <£5J3    ^   iS^y^   'y^'^   ^^    Elpharer  to  Sur. 
 XXXIII.  69. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOSES  AND  HIS  AGE.  173 
 
 passage.  "Moses  heard  and  fell  on  his  face.  What 
 was  it  he  heard?  That  they  accused  him  of  having 
 to  do  with  another  man's  wife."  Other  commen- 
 tators of  the  Koran  conceive  the  unjust  charge  from 
 which  Moses  was  cleared,  to  have  heen  that  of  mur- 
 dering Aaron  on  mount  Ilor,  because  he  and  Eleazar 
 only  were  present  when  Aaron  died!""*  That  they 
 have  again  had  recourse  to  Jewish  tradition  will  appear 
 from  the  subjoined  extract:  —  "The  whole  congre- 
 gation saw  that  Aaron  was  dead;  and  when  Moses 
 and  Eleazer  came  down  fi-om  the  mountain,  the  whole 
 congregation  gathered  together  asking:  where  is  Aaron  ? 
 But  they  said,  he  is  dead.  —  How  can  the  Angel  of 
 death  touch  a  man,  by  whom  he  was  resisted  and 
 restrained,  as  it  is  said:  he  stood  between  the  dead 
 and  the  living  and  the  plague  was  stayed;  if  ye  bring 
 him,  it  is  well,  if  not  we  will  stone  you.  Moses  prayed: 
 Lord  of  the  world,  remove  from  me  this  suspicion! 
 Then  God  opened  and  showed  them  Aaron's  body, 
 and  to  this  the  passage  applies :  the  whole  congre- 
 gation saw  etc.  etc.  Numb.  XX.  29.'"^® 
 
 7.   The  time  of  the  Judges  is  passed  over  un- 
 noticed, and  from  the  manner  in  which  the  election 
 
 ■d'N  r'CJN;:;  Piik  R.  Elieser  cap.  XLV.  M.  speaks  of  the  unjuist 
 charge  against  Moses  in  the  very  Sura  in  which  he  strives  to  clear 
 himself  from  just  imputations  ! 
 
 ^®  According  to  Elpharer  and  Abulfeda,  the  angels  showed  the 
 dead  body  of  Aaron. 
 
 ^'  Midrash  Tanchuma  to  Numb.  XX.  29.  The  fabulous  ex- 
 pedition of  Moses,  Sur.  XVIII.  59  —  82.  is  likewise  of  .Jewish  origin. 
 Zunz:  S^ie  gottcetienftlidien  a^ortrdj^e  ber  3uben,  fiiftorifdj  entltncfelt. 
 The  hero  of  the  tale  is  however  a  certain  Rabbi  Jushua. 
 
174       WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  r. 
 
 of  a  king  is  introduced  Sur,  II.  247.  253.  it  would 
 appear  that  Mohammed  was  ignorant  of  the  long  in- 
 terval between  Moses  and  Saul.  ^°  Of  David's  history 
 only  his  victory  over  Goliath  and  his  fall  through 
 Bathsheba  are  recorded.  The  Sonna  makes  men- 
 tion of  the  brevity  of  his  slumbers,  and  commentators 
 of  the  Koran  affirm  the  same:  "The  apostle  of  God 
 said:  David  slept  half  the  night,  he  then  rose  for  a 
 third  part  and  slept  again  a  sixth  part."^*  This  the 
 Koran  derived  from  the  Rabbis,  who  assert  that  the 
 king  slept  only  for  the  term  of  "sixty  breathings." ^^ 
 Of  the  wisdom  of  Solomon  the  Koran  makes  parti- 
 cular mention;  and  to  support  the  statement,  adds, 
 that  he  understood  the  language  of  birds;  this  was 
 also  the  opinion  of  the  Jewish  doctors.  The  winds, 
 or  more  probable  sjyirits  obeyed  him;^^  and  demons 
 birds  and  beasts  formed  part  of  his  standing  army/* 
 Jewish  commentators  record  that  ''demons  of  various 
 kinds  and  evil  spirits  Avere  subject  to  him."^'  The 
 story  of  the  queen  of  Sheba  and  the  adventures  of 
 
 ''^  M  ascribes  to  Saul  what  Scripture  relates  of  Gideon.  Jurig'. 
 VII.  5—6. 
 
 «^    Sonna  CXLVIII.   Elpharor  to  Sur.  XXXVIII.  16:    J^x  Jo 
 
 l»Lo.  ajLA.j  ivvaj^  J>^'  ^^2.3   *lxj   O^fv^  |jL^*.A-Lo  xJJf 
 
 ''^  "'ll'Ci';  ""r^w.  Berachoth.  In  his  days  the  Sabbath-breaking 
 Jews  are  nietaniorphised  into  apes.  Sur.  II.  61.  IV.  50.  V.  65. 
 VII.  166. 
 
 «'    ^j.  like  n-m^  the  Spirits.    Sur.  XXVII.  15.  16. 
 
 '^»    Sur.  XXI.  81.  82.    XXXIV.  11.  12.    XXXVIII.  35—40. 
 The  secoud  Targum  to  E:3ther  1.  2. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  KINGS  AND  PROPHETS.  175 
 
 the  lapwing/'^  are  only  abridgements  from  Jewish 
 traditions.  As  the  original  is  less  accessible  and  more 
 important  to  the  student  of  the  Koran  we  shall  in- 
 sert aversion  of  this  ridiculous  fable. —  "The  wild 
 cock  was  once  sought  for  among  the  birds,  and  not 
 being  found  the  king  angrily  commanded  that  he 
 should  be  brought  in,  intending  to  kill  him.  Then 
 said  the  wild  cock  to  the  king:  My  Lord  king,  give 
 heed  and  hear  my  words!  Already  for  three  months 
 I  weighed,  in  my  mind,  and  flew  about  in  the  whole 
 world  in  search  for  a  town,  which  does  not  obey  thee. 
 I  saw  then  a  city  in  the  East,  of  the  name  of  Kitor, 
 in  which  are  many  people,  and  a  woman  governs  them 
 all,  she  is  called  queen  of  Sheba.  If  it  please  thee, 
 my  Lord  king,  I  shall  go  to  that  city,  bind  their  kings 
 in  chains  and  their  rulers  with  iron  fetters,  and  bring 
 them  hither.  As  it  pleased  the  king,  wa'iters  were 
 called,  who  wrote  letters  and  bound  them  to  the 
 wings  of  the  wild  cock.  He  came  to  the  queen  who 
 observing  the  letter  tied  to  the  wing,  loosened  it  and 
 read  the  following  contents:  —  From  me  king  Solo- 
 mon, greeting  to  thee  and  to  thy  princes !  Thou  knowest 
 well  that  God  has  made  me  king  over  the  beasts  of 
 the  field,  over  the  birds  of  heaven,  over  demons,  spi- 
 rits and  goblins,  the  kings  from  all  regions  of  the  earth 
 approach  me  with  homage;  wilt  thou  do  this,  thou 
 shalt  have  great  honour,  if  not,  I  will  send  upon  thee 
 kings,  legions  and  horsemen.  The  kings  are  the 
 beasts  of  the  field,  the  horsemen  the  birds  of  heaven 
 
 The   sagacious  bird  tXjO  JjO  forms  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
 fable  of  the  queen  of  Sheba:  Sur.  XXVII.  20  —  46. 
 
176       WHAT  MOHAMJfED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  i. 
 
 the  hosts,  demons  and  spirits;  the  gobhns  are  the 
 legions  who  shall  strangle  you  in  your  beds."  When 
 the  queen  had  read  this,  she  rent  her  garments  and 
 called  for  the  elders  and  lords,  sayino-:  know  ye  what 
 king  Solomon  has  sent  to  me?  They  answered,  we 
 neither  know  nor  esteem  him.  The  queen  however 
 trusting  them  not,  called  for  sailors  and  sent  presents 
 to  the  king,  and  after  three  years  she  came  herself.  The 
 king  on  hearing  of  her  arrival  sat  in  a  crystal  hail 
 to  receive  her,  which  made  her  fancy  that  he  was 
 sitting  in  water,  she  therefore  uncovered  her  feet  to 
 pass  through.  On  seeing  his  glory  she  said:  may 
 the  Lord  thy  God  be  praised  who  has  found  pleasure 
 in  thee  and  made  thee  sit  on  the  throne  to  exercise 
 mercy  and  justice.  ^^ 
 
 With  regard  to  the  fable  before  alluded  to,  that 
 demons  assisted  Solomon  in  the  building  of  the  temple, 
 and  being  deceived,  continued  it  after  his  death,  we 
 may  here  add  that  Mohammed  borrowed  it  directly 
 from  the  Jews.  ^*^  When  Solomon  became  haughty, 
 .  one  of  his  many  demons  ruled  in  his  stead  till  he 
 repented.  ^^  The  Sanhedrin  also  refers  to  this  de- 
 gradation: "In  the  beginning  Solomon  reigned  also 
 over  the  upper  worlds;"  as  it  is  said:  "Solomon  sat 
 on  the  throne  of  God,"  after  that  only  over  his  staff, 
 as  it  is  said:    "what  profit  hath    a   man   of  all   his 
 
 *'    Targum  II.  to  the  book  of  Esther. 
 ««   Sur.  XXXIV.  13.  and  Gittin  LXVIII. 
 
 "^  Compare  Talmud  2-:"'  yy  Psa.  II.  Tract.  ■-:;>  et  ::Tp5''  in 
 lib.  Reg.  png.  1S2  with  Sur.  XXXVIII.  33—35.  Sale,  374.  Wahl 
 peg.  451    not.  b. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  ELIJAH,  JONAH  AND  JOB.  177 
 
 labour,"  and  still  later:  this  is  my  portion  of  all  my 
 labom-.'"'"  On  repenting  lie  maimed  his  horses  con- 
 sidering them  a  useless  luxury.  In  the  Talmud  and 
 the  Scriptures  we  find  allusion  to  his  obtaining  them 
 as  well  as  to  their  being  prohibited.  ^  * 
 
 Among  the  few  characters  which  Mohammed  no- 
 tices after  Solomon,  Elijah  the  prophet  takes  the 
 precedence;  nothing  is  mentioned  of  his  rapture  to 
 heaven,  yet  he  is  considered  a  most  remarkable  pro- 
 phet. '^  Among  the  Jews,  Elijah  is  deemed  an  inter- 
 mediate person  between  heaven  and  earth;  he  a2)pears 
 in  human  form  to  the  pious  on  earth,  visits  them  in 
 their  places  of  worship)  and  communicates  revelations 
 from  God  to  eminent  Rabbis.  In  this  character  Elijah 
 also  appears  in  Moslem  divinity.  Jonah  "the  man  of 
 the  fish"^^  is  not  forgotten;  Mohammed  relates  his 
 story  in  his  usual  style,  not  omitting  his  journey  to 
 Nineveh  or  the  gourd  which  afforded  him  shade.'* 
 Job  too,  with  his  suffering  and  cure  is  noticed;'*  also 
 
 i^tt?5  baa.  D";Nb  ynry:  r,?5  '-;*d  rVp'^'iy  t^^jj  ^^^2  nd  ci-onbi 
 ■'bwS  b2^  •'•J^'zn  rrr,  rr  n-nD/  Sanhedrin  XX.' also  Mid.  Rabh.'to 
 Numb.  Parash.  XI. 
 
 ^^  Sur.  XXXYIII.  29— 33.  Sanhedrin  XXI.  and  Deut.  XYI.  16. 
 1  King  X.  29.  Wahl  pag.  451.  The  fable  of  the  ants  Sur.  XXVII. 
 18—20.  arose  probably  from  Prov.  VI.  6.  Compare  Talmud,  Chul- 
 lin  LYII.  7. 
 
 "  Sur. VI.  85  XXXVII.  123.  130,  y^LJt;  among  the  Jews: 
 N"'?^*  ""^bN,  Elijah  the  prophet. 
 
 ^^    (jmJ«_>,  Jonah,  also   (c.j«^   wokL^o,    the  man  of  the  fish, 
 
 Sur.  YI.  85.  X.  98.  XXXYII.  139.  XXI.  87.  LXYIII.  48. 
 
 '*  The  whole  very  briefly  Sur.  X.  72.  XXI.  87.  88.  XXXYII. 
 139—149.   LXYIII.  48—51. 
 
 "   Sur.  XXI.  83.   XXXYIII.  40—45. 
 
 H 
 
178      WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  JUDAISM,    [part  i, 
 
 the  three  men  who  were  cast  mto  a  burniiiQr  fiery 
 furnace,'^  the  turmng  back  of  the  shadow  of  degrees 
 on  the  occasion  of  Hezekiah's  recover}', ' '  and  the 
 excessive  veneration  of  the  Jews  for  the  memory  of 
 Ezra,^®  may  be  added  as  instances  of  the  most  fla- 
 grant plagiarism. 
 
 On  reviewing  the  contents  of  this  chapter,  we 
 find  the  assertion  that  Mohammed  borrowed  largely 
 from  the  Judaism  of  his  age — encumbered  as  it  was 
 by  fabulous  traditions  —  has  been  fully  established.  It 
 would  seem  that  Mohammed  drew  his  knowledge  of 
 Jewish  history  and  religion  only  from  these  impure 
 fountains  which  long  before  his  day  had  been  placed 
 on  a  par  with  the  Word  of  God.  .Many  more  tables 
 and  teachings  of  the  Koran  might  doubtless  be  traced 
 back  to  same  source,  but  let  those  already  adduced, 
 suffice  to  prove  to  Moslemin,  whence  the  alleged  re- 
 velations of  their  prophet  date  their  real  origin.  We 
 shall  now  see  what  the  false  prophet  adopted  fi-om 
 Christianity  and  examine  the  relation  of  the  Koran 
 to  the  New  Testament. 
 
 ^6    Sur.  LXXXy.  4.  etc.    Dan.  III.  8. 
 
 ^^    Sur.  XXy.  47.  47.    2  King  XX.  9—12. 
 
 Ezra  would  have  been  worthy  to  have  given  the  law,  if  it  had  not 
 already  come  by  Moses.    Sanhcdrin  XXI.  2.  and  Sur.  IX.  30. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST,  l79 
 
 CHAPTER  U 
 
 WHAT  MOHAMMED  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 "It  was  needful  for  me  to  write  unto  you ,  and  exhort  you  that  ye 
 should  earnestly  contend  for  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered  unto 
 the  saints.  For  there  are  certain  men  crept  in  unawares ,  who 
 were  befoi-e  of  old  ordained  to  this  condemnation;  ungodly  men,  turn- 
 ing the  grace  of  our  God  into  lasciviousness ,  and  denying  the  only 
 Lord  God  and  our  Lord  Je.ms  Christ."     Judc  3.  4.^^ 
 
 It  will  appear  in  the  course  of  this  chapter  that 
 Mohammed  was  better  acquainted  with  the  traditions, 
 than  with  the  canonical  Scri^^tures  of  the  Christians, 
 just  as  he  was  more  versed  in  the  Rabbinical  ^^Titings 
 than  in  the  Old  Testament;  hence  we  may  expect  to 
 find  most  of  those  parts  of  our  Lord's  life,  on  which 
 the  apocryphal  writings  chiefly  treat.  The  Koran 
 however  going  beyond  the  favourite  subject  of  the 
 childhood  of  Jesus,  begins  with  the  fore-rimner  of 
 Christ;  Zacharias  his  father  dwells  in  the  temple,  and 
 asking  for  a  son  and  heir,  is  promised  one  by  the 
 angels ,  or  according  to  another  account,  by  God  Himself. 
 Although  the  New  Testament  relates  nothing  of  the 
 parents  of  the  Virgin  3Iary ,  the  apocryphal  Gos- 
 pels invariably  call  them  Joachim  and  Anna;  the 
 Koran  however  designates  her  family,  the  family  of 
 Amran  or  Imran.^°  From  her  being  called  the  sister 
 
 '^  This  will  only  be  fully  understood,  when  we  remember,  that 
 St.  Jude  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Arabian  Church ,  and  pro- 
 bably addressed  these  prophetic  words  to  it  in  particular. 
 
 Evang.  de  nativitate  Mariae  and  Protevang.  Jacobi  cap.  I. 
 and  II.  Also  Euseb.  Hist.  eccl.  lib.  I.  cap.  VI.  and  Sur.  III.  33.  35. 
 LXVI.  12. 
 
180        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [parti. 
 
 of  Aaron,  and  the  daugliter  of  Amran^'^  it  has  been 
 fairly  conchided  that  Mohammed  considered  the  Vir- 
 gin Mary,  and  Miriam  the  sister  of  Moses  and  Aaron, 
 as  identical;  and  no  sophistry  on  the  part  of  Mo- 
 hammedan divines  or  European  writers  can  remove 
 this  imj)ression.®^  The  birth  and  childhood  of  Mary 
 are  related  in  these  words,  "The  wife  of  Imran  prayed. 
 Lord  verily  I  have  vowed  unto  thee  that  which  is  in 
 my  womb  to  be  dedicated  to  thy  service.  Accept  it 
 therefore  of  me,  for  thou  art  he,  who  heareth  and 
 knoweth.  And  when  she  was  delivered  of  it,  she  said 
 Lord  verily  I  have  brought  forth  a  female; — Allah 
 knew  what  she  had  brought  forth;  —  and  a  male  is 
 not  as  a  female.  I  have  called  her  Mary,  and  I  com- 
 mend her  and  her  issue  to  thy  protection  against 
 Satan  driven  away  with  stones.  Therefore  the  Lord 
 accepted  her  with  a  gracious  acceptance  and  caused 
 her  to  bear  an  excellent  offspring.  And  Zacharias 
 took  care  of  the  child,  whenever  he  went  into  the 
 chamber  to  her,  he  found  she  had  provisions  with 
 her,  and  he  said,  0  Mary  whence  hast  thou  these? 
 She  answered,  this  is  from  God,  for  God  provideth 
 for  whom  he  pleaseth  without  measure."  ^^    Again, 
 
 ^^  'Oy^V,  the  father  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  also  of  dp'?2,  Mk^juxjui: 
 i^.jJC  o«.^i  ^m'v*£-  o*-ot  (VJvOj  Mary,  daughter  of  Amran  and 
 sister  of  Aaron. 
 
 ®^  It  is  assumed  that  Miriam  was  kept  alive  to  become  the 
 mother  of  Jesus:  in  this  they  liave  partly  the  Rabbis  on  their  side: 
 
 r,3  t:b":i  jibi  nr?:  r-/"w::-5  nVn  rvt-  TiN572  na  ^bd  ^b  Dp7q 
 r;5'.5"r"|  ~"|"l  "Over  Miriam  the  angel  of  death  had  no  power,  but 
 she  died  by  tlie  divine  breath,  and  no  worms  molested  her."  Babha 
 Bathra  XVI[.    Geiger  pag.  173. 
 
 8'   Sur.  UI.  35—37. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  BIRTH  AND  CHILDHOOD  OF  MART.  181 
 
 "The  angels  said,  0  Maiy,  verily  God  hath  chosen 
 thee  and  hath  purified  thee  and  hath  chosen  thee 
 above  all  women  of  the  world,  0  Mary  he  devout  to- 
 wards  thy  Lord  and  bow  thy  knees  with  them  that 
 bow  their  knees.  This  is  one  of  the  secret  histories; 
 we  reveal  it  unto  thee  (jNIohammed)  because  thou  wert 
 not  with  them,  when  thev  threw  in  their  rods  to  cast 
 lots  which  of  them  should  have  the  education  of  Mary, 
 neither  wast  thou  with  them  when  they  strove  among 
 themselves."^*  This  is  faithfully  borrowed  from  Chris- 
 tian apocryphas.^^  We  here  perceive  the  same  pre- 
 tensions of  Mohammed  to  having  received  by  reve- 
 lation "a  secret  history," — though  in  reality,  one 
 which  was  in  the  mouth  of  most  oriental  Christians 
 at  that  period, — as  in  the  history  of  Joseph,  which 
 he  pretended  to  divulge  as  one  utterly  unknown  till 
 
 «*   Sur.  III.  42—44. 
 
 ^*  ^EiTts  8s  "Arva'  tf]  >iVQi05  6  ■deog  nov ,  iav  yavv^ao)  el'te 
 ccQQSV  lite  ^rXv ,  ngoau^fo  avro  ditjQOv  xvqim  rw  &tco  f.iov ,  xai 
 taxai  XeiTov()yovr  avroj  ndaag  tag  t]iif^ag  tfjg  ^co/~,'  dvTOv.  Prot- 
 evang.  Jacobi  cap.  IV.  In  the  Gospel  of  the  Nativity  of  Mary  we 
 read  "voverunt  tamen  (Mariae  parentes)  si  forte  Deus  donaret  eis 
 sobolem,  earn  re  domini  servitio  niancipaturos."  Evang.  de  nat/'v. 
 Mariae  cap.  I.  Again  cap.  VII:  "Quotidie  ab  angelis  frequentabatur, 
 quotidie  divina  visione  fruebatur,  quae  earn  a  malis  omnibus  custodiebat 
 et  bonis  omnibus  redundare  faciebat."  Again  Protevang.  Jacobi 
 cap.  VIII:  ''rjv  de  MaQid/ii  matl  negiareQcc  ve^o^uvt]  ev  t(3  vacS  kv- 
 Qiov ,  Kcd  iXufi^ai't  t{joq:,rjV  iy.  Xf^'Qog  ilyyeXov."  Again  in  "Historia 
 de  nativitate  Mariae  et  de  infantia  Salvatoris,"  cap.  IV:  "Abierunt 
 simul  Joachim  et  Anna,  uxor  ejus,  ad  teraphim  domini,  et  offerentes 
 hostias  domino  tradiderunt  infantulam  suam  Mariam  in  contubernio 
 virginum,  quae  die  noctuque  in  Dei  laudibus  manebant."  Cap.  VI: 
 "Quotidie  esca,  quara  de  raanu  angeli  accipiebat,  ipsa  tantum  re- 
 ficiebatur ;  escam  vero ,  quam  a  pontificibus  templi  consequebatur, 
 pauperibus  dividebat.  Frequenter  videbantur  cum  ea  angeli  loqui 
 et  quasi  carissime  obtemperabant  ei." 
 
182        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  VROil  CHRISTIANITY,     [part  i. 
 
 then.  The  casting  of  lots  as  to  who  shonld  have  the 
 care  of  the  infant  INIary,  who  was  probably  left  an 
 orphan  at  a  very  early  age,  is  liillv  described  in  the 
 apocryphal  books,  and  Mohammed,  although  "none 
 of  the  party  who  cast  the  lots,"  could  have  read  it 
 there  in  all  its  minutest  and  most  circumstantial  de- 
 tails.^® It  may  be  added  that  the  Koran  omits  all 
 mention  of  Joseph,  Mary's  relation  to  him  being 
 never  once  alluded  to ;  but  the  apocryphas  assert  that 
 she  vowed  perpetual  virginity  when  the  subject  of 
 marriage  was  on  one  occasion  brought  before  her.^^ 
 3.  The  birth  of  Jesus  is  thus  recorded  by  Mo- 
 hammed in  Sur.  XIX.  16 — 21 :  "Remember  to  notice 
 in  the  book  concerning  Mary,  when  she  retired  from 
 her  family  to  a  place  towards  the  East,  and  took  a 
 veil  to  conceal  herself  fi'om  them;  and  we  sent  our 
 Spirit^®  unto  her,  and  he  appeared  unto  her  in  the 
 shape  of  a  perfect  man;  she  said  I  fly  for  refuge  unto 
 the  merciful  God  to  defend  me  against  thee ,  if  thou 
 fearest  God:  he  answered,  I  am  sent  to  give  thee  a 
 holy  son;  she  replied,  how  shall  I  have  a  son,  seeing 
 a  man  has  not  touched  me,  and  I  am  no  harlot;  he 
 answered,  so  shall  it  be;  thy  Lord  said,  this  is  easy 
 with  me ,  and  we  shall  ordain  him  for  a  sign  luito 
 men  and  a  mercy  from  us,  for  it  is  a  thing  decreed." 
 In  another  passage,  the  annunciation  is  made  not  by 
 
 ^^   Evang.  de  nativit.  Mariae  cap.  VI — VIII.    Protevang.  Jacobi 
 cap.  VIII.  IX. 
 
 ^^   Evang.  de  nativitate  Mariae  cap.  VU. 
 
 ^®   n"1,  — ,•%,  nvtv^ia  is  here  not  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  Chris- 
 tian acceptation  of  the  word,  but  the  angel  Gabriel. 
 
CHAP,  vi]  THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST.  183 
 
 one,  but  by  several  angels;  which  is  the  more  authentic 
 of  the  two  versions  of  the  story  we  must  leave  to 
 jMohammedans  to  decide.  ''The  angels  said,  0  Mary, 
 verily  God  sendeth  thee  good  tidings  of  the  word 
 from  him,  his  name  shall  be  Christ  Jesus  the  son  of 
 Mary,  honourable  in  this  world  and  in  the  world  to 
 come,  and  one  of  those  who  approach  God,  and  he 
 shall  speak  to  men  in  the  cradle  and  be  righteous  in 
 his  old  age;  she  answered,  Lord  how  shall  I  have  a 
 son,  since  a  man  hath  not  touched  me?  he  answered, 
 so  shall  it  be,  God  createth  what  he  pleaseth,  and 
 when  he  decreeth  a  thing,  he  only  says  unto  it,  he, 
 and  it  is.""^^ 
 
 When  Mary  was  overtaken  by  the  pains  of  child- 
 birth "near  the  trunk  of  a  pahn-tree,  she  said,  would 
 to  God  I  had  died  before  this  and  were  forgotten 
 and  lost  in  oblivion;  ^°  and  he  who  was  beneath  her"^ 
 said,  be  not  grieved,  now  hath  God  provided  a  ri- 
 vulet under  thee,  and  do  thou  shake  the  palm-tree 
 and  it  shall  let  fall  ri23e  dates  unto  thee,  ready  gather- 
 ed; eat  and  drink  and  calm  thy  mind.  Shouldest 
 thou  meet  any  one  who  should  question  thee  (on 
 account  of  the  child)  say,  I  have  vowed  a  fast  unto 
 the  most  merciful  God,  wherefore  I  will  by  no  means 
 
 89   Sur.  III.  45—48. 
 
 ^^  "Historia  de  Nativitate  Mariao  et  de  infantia  Salvatoris' 
 probably  gave  rise  to  this  statement,  when  it  relates  caj).  XX.  that 
 on  their  flight  to  Egypt,  Jesus  commanded  the  branches  of  a  palm- 
 tree,  under  which  they  rested,  to  bend  down  to  refresh  the  travellers 
 by  their  fruit,  after  this  the  infant  Saviour  causes  a  fountain  to 
 bubble  up  from  between  the  roots  of  the  tree, 
 
 ®^   L^.X^VJ)  ij^,  refers  to  the  new  born  babe. 
 
184        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [parti. 
 
 speak  to  auy  man  this  day."^^  We  find  in  con- 
 sequence, that  Mary  answers  the  inqmries  of  her 
 relatives  only  by  signs,  as  if  to  say:  the  birth  of  this 
 child  is  a  subject  concerning  which,  I  have  only  to 
 answer  to  God  and  need  not  justify  myself  before 
 men.^^  The  fear  which  Mary  expresses  in  the  Koran 
 leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  con- 
 ception was  thought  to  have  been  accomplished;  hence 
 we  may  account  for  the  accusation  which  the  Jews 
 are  said  by  Mohammed,  to  have  brought  against  her, 
 and  which  seems  to  be  intimated  by  the  apocryphal 
 writings,  when  they  declare  that  Mary  "hid  herself 
 from  the  sons  of  Israel."^* 
 
 Throughout  the  Koran,  Jesus  is  called  the  son  of 
 Mary;  in  accordance  with  the  New  Testament  he  is 
 also  styled  the  "word  from  God"  and  "the  word  of 
 truth." ^'  It  also  adds,  "To  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary 
 gave  we  proofs  of  his  divine  Mission,  and  strengthened 
 him  by  the  spirit  of  holiness."^"    In  another  place 
 
 ^'  Sur.  XIX.  22 — 25.  As  regards  the  dates  and  the  fountain: 
 Hist,  de  nat.  Mariae  ct  de  inf.  Salvat.  cap.  XX. 
 
 ^'  Gerock's  Versuch  einer  Darstellung  der  Christologie  des 
 Koran,  pag.  36.  We  make  free  use  of  this  work;  but  would  caution 
 otlicrs  who  may  consult  it  after  us,  of  its  singular  partiality  to 
 Mohammed. 
 
 ^*  Sur.  IV.  155.  In  the  Protevang.  Jacobi  cap. Xtl.  we  read:  y.al 
 tK(JV(iev  iavri]^  uno  rcSv  vicop  'la(jai]X. 
 
 '■•'''  Jesus  Sur.  XIX.  32.  is  called  J^j",  5";p,  whilst  otherwise 
 ^JUt  s^^JS'l  or  i^i>i  J5J' '  word  of  truth.  The  Arab  translation  of 
 the  Bible  gives  John  I.  1.  by  &^jS. 
 
 »6    j^jjJI  J  sLjJo!    Sur.  II.  87.  254.  V.  119. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  BIRTH  AND  CHILDHOOD  OF  JESUS.  185 
 
 He  is  called  tlie  Spirit  from  God,'''  Again,  we  are 
 to  "remember  lier  who  preserved  her  virginity,  and 
 into  whom  we  breathed  of  our  Spirit,  ordaining  her 
 and  her  son  for  a  sign  unto  all  creatures." ^^  As  the 
 same  is  said  of  Adam,  INIohammed  finds  a  strong 
 analogv  between  him  and  Jesus,  as  regards  their 
 respective  entrance  into  the  world. ^°  After  the  hirth 
 of  Jesus  under  the  palm-tree,  the  Koran  thus  continues : 
 "She  brought  the  child  back  to  her  people,  carrying 
 him  in  her  arms,  and  they  said  unto  her,  0  Mary, 
 now  hast  thou  done  a  strange  thing,  0  sister  of 
 Aaron,  thy  father  was  not  a  bad  man,  neither  Avas 
 thy  mother  a  harlot.  But  she  made  signs  unto  the 
 child  to  answer  them;  and  they  said,  how  shall  we 
 speak  to  him  who  is  an  infant  in  the  cradle?  Where- 
 ujion  the  child  said,  verily  I  am  the  servant  of  God, 
 he  hath  given  me  the  book  of  the  gospel,  and  hath 
 appointed  me  a  prophet ;  and  he  hath  made  me  bless- 
 ed, wherever  I  shall  be,  and  hath  commanded  me  to 
 observe  prayer,  and  to  give  alms,  so  long  as  I  shall 
 live,  and  he  hath  made  me  dutiful  towards  my  mother 
 and  hath  not  made  me  proud  or  unhappy;  and  peace 
 be  on  me  the  day  whereon  I  was  born,  and  the  day 
 whereon  I  shall  die,  and  the  day  whereon  I  shall  be 
 raised  to  life."* 
 
 ^^    X-Lx)  ^v ,  the  Spirit  from  him.    Sur.  IV.  169. 
 
 '«   Sur.  XXr.  91.    LXVI.  13.    cfr.  XXX\^II.  72. 
 
 ®^  Sur.  III.  58.  Bedawi  adds  to  Sur.  V.  84.  "God  created  Jesus 
 without  father ,  Adam  without  co-operation  of  father  and  mother, 
 which  is  a  greater  miracle." 
 
 *  Sur.  XIX.  26—32.  Of  this  reproach  of  Mary  by  her  friends, 
 nothing  is  said  in  the  Apocryphas ;  but  the  friends  of  Mary  say  to 
 
186        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [iaut  i. 
 
 That  the  chikl  spoke  m  the  cradk%  Mohammed 
 borrowed  from  the  Arabic  Gospel  of  the  mfancy.  ^ 
 During  his  childhood,  Christ  performed  various  mira- 
 cles which  are  recorded  in  the  apocryphal  books  of 
 the  early  Christians.  From  them  therefore  the  fol- 
 lowing details  of  the  Koran  are  copied:  "Verily  I 
 come  unto  you  with  a  sign  from  your  Lord;  for  I 
 will  make  before  you,  of  clay,  as  it  were  the  figure 
 of  a  bird,  then  I  will  breathe  thereon,  and  it  shall 
 become  a  bird  by  the  permission  of  God,-  and  I 
 will  heal  him  that  hath  been  blind  from  his  birth, 
 and  I  will  heal  the  leper  and  raise  the  dead  by 
 the  permission  of  God."^  Again:  "I  taught  thee 
 the  Scripture  and  wisdom  and  the  law  and  the  Gos- 
 pel; and  when  thou  didst  create  of  clay,  as  it  were  the 
 figure  of  a  bird,  by  my  jjermission,  and  didst  breathe 
 thereon  and  it  became  a  bird  by  my  permission,  and 
 thou  didst  heal  one  blind  fi"om  his  birth,  and  the 
 
 her  mourning  husband:  "Quotidie  cum  ea  angelus  domini  loquitur, 
 quotidie  escam  de  manu  angeli  accipit.  Quomodo  fieri  potest ,  ut  si 
 aliquod  peccatum  in  ca?  Nam  si  suspicionem  nostram  tibi  vis  ut 
 pandamus ,  istam  gravidam  non  fecit  nisi  angelus  Dei."  Joseph 
 replies:  "Dtquid  seducitis  me,  ut  credara  vobis,  quia  angelus  domini 
 inipraegnassct  earn?  Potest  enim  lieri,  ut  quisquam  finxerit  se  esse 
 angelum  domini,  ut  deciperet  earn."  Ilij^'ioria  de  nativitate  Mariae 
 et  de  infantia  Salvat.  cap.  X. 
 
 2  Compare  Sur.  III.  46.  XIX.  27.  V^  119.  with  the  following: 
 "Invenimus  in  libro  Josephi  pontificis ,  qui  vixit  tcmi)ore  Christi, 
 Jcsum  locutum  esse,  et  quidem  cum  in  cunis  jaccret  dixisscque  matri 
 suae  Mariae:  Ego,  qucni  peperisti,  sum  Jesus,  filius  Dei,  verbum, 
 quemadmodum  annunciavit  tibi  angelus  Gabriel ,  misitque  me  pater 
 mens  ad  salutem  mundi."    Evangel,  infantiae,  cap.  I. 
 
 ^  Sur.  III.  48.  The  last  part  of  the  passage  may  likewise  refer 
 to  the  infancy  of  Jesus,  for  the  apocryphal  books  relate  many  such 
 miracles  performed  by  the  infant  Saviour. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  BIRTH  AND  CHILDHOOD  OF  JESUS.  187 
 
 leper  by  my  permission,  and  didst  bring  forth  the 
 dead  by  my  permission,  and  when  1  withheld  the 
 children  of  Israel  from  killing  thee,  when  thou  didst 
 come  to  them  with  evident  signs,  and  such  of  them 
 as  believed  not  said.  This  is  nothing  but  manifest  sor- 
 cery."* Again, — Jesus  being  seven  years  old  and 
 at  play  with  several  children  of  his  age ,  they  made 
 several  figures  of  birds  and  beasts  of  clay,  for  their 
 diversion ;  and  each  preferring  his  own  workmanship, 
 Jesus  told  them  that  he  would  make  his,  walk  and 
 leap;  which  accordingly  at  his  command  they  did. 
 He  also  made  several  figures  of  sparrows  and  other 
 birds,  which  flew  about  or  stood  on  his  hands  as  he 
 ordered  them,  and  also  ate  and  drank  when  he  of- 
 fered them  meat  and  drink.  The  children  telling  this 
 to  their  parents,  w^ere  forbidden  to  play  any  more 
 with  Jesus,  whom  they  held  to  be  a  sorcerer!^ 
 
 4.  What  the  Koran  relates  of  the  miracles  of 
 Christ,  has  already  been  noticed.  All  he  did,  is  said 
 to  have  been  done  hy  the  permission  of  God  to  prove 
 his  being  an  apostle  of  God."  "I  come  unto  you  with 
 a  sign  from  your  Lord,  therefore  serve  him,  this  is 
 the  right  way."  ^  But  Jesus  perceiving  their  unbelief, 
 
 *  Sur.  V.  119.  120  Respecting  these  marvels  see:  Thomae 
 Evang.  Infanttae  cap.  11. ;  and:  Evang.  Infantlae  Arab.  cap.  XXXVI. 
 XLVI. 
 
 ^  Evang.  Infantine  pag.  III.  etc  etc.  The  apocryphal  books  as 
 well  as  the  New  Test,  have  nothing  to  say  of  the  life  of  Jesus  be- 
 tween his  12'''  and  3 O*'' year.  Yea  the  "Arab.  Evang.  Infantiae" 
 says  expressly,  cap.  LIV.  that  Jesus  performed  no  miracles  after  his 
 12*^  year  till  the  commencement  of  his  public  ministry.  Nor  is  the 
 Koran  more  communicative  respecting  the  18  years  of  retirement. 
 
 «   Sur.  la.  49. 
 
188        WHAT  ^lOH.  BORROWED  FRO^f  CHRISTIANITY,     [part  I. 
 
 asked  who  would  be  his  helpers,  when  the  Apostles 
 offered  then-  services ,  confessed  their  belief  in  God, 
 and  desired  to  be  acknowledged  true  believers  by 
 Christ. '  He ,  like  David ,  cursed  his  unbelieving  ge- 
 neration, which  ascribed  all  he  did  and  said  to  sor- 
 cery.^ The  believers  in  Jesus  are  generally  called 
 Nazarenes;  the  Apostles  are  nowhere  mentioned  by 
 name,  nor  is  their  number  specified,  but  three  are 
 said  to  have  been  shamefidly  treated  by  the  inhabi- 
 tants of  a  certain  town.  ^  No  intimation  is  given  in 
 the  Koran  as  to  how  the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  made, 
 or  when  they  were  called,  but  it  gives  a  strange  mis- 
 representation of  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
 in  the  following  conversation  between  Jesus  and  his 
 Apostles.  —  ''When  I  commanded  the  apostles  of  Je- 
 sus saying,  Believe  in  me  and  in  my  messenger;  they 
 answered,  we  do  believe  and  do  thou  bear  witness 
 that  we  are  Moslemin.  When  the  apostles  said,  0 
 Jesus  son  of  Mary  is  thy  Lord  able  to  cause  a  table 
 to  descend  unto  us  from  heaven?  He  answered,  fear 
 God,  if  ye  be  true  believers.  They  said,  we  desire  to 
 eat  thereof,  that  our  hearts  may  rest  at  ease,  that  we 
 may  know  that  thou  hast  told  us  the  truth  and  that 
 we  may  witness  thereof.  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary  said, 
 0  Lord  our  God,  cause  a  table  to  descend  unto  us 
 
 'Sur.III.50.51.  »   Sur.V,87.  LXI.6. 14.  119. 
 
 ^    Sur.    XXX^^.    13 — 26.     Apostles    or   as    they    are    called 
 l^fcjjfcil,  which  signifies  the  white,  pure,  candidi ;  then  friends, 
 
 assistants ,  Ansarier.  In  the  transitive  sense  the  word  signifies 
 also:  lotor ,  dealbator  vestlum,  whence  some  commentators  thought 
 the  Apostles  were  engaged  in  the  trade  of  bleaching ;  others  as- 
 sume they  wore  white  garments;  candidati! 
 
CHAP,  vi.l  THE  PUBLIC  MINISTRY  OF  CHRIST.  189 
 
 from  heaven,  that  It  hecome  a  festival  day  unto  us, 
 unto  the  first  of  us  and  unto  the  last  of  us  and  a 
 sign  from  thee,  and  do  thou  provide  food  for  us,  for 
 thou  art  the  hest  provider.  God  said,  verily  I  will 
 cause  it  to  descend  unto  you.  But  whosoever  shall 
 disbelieve  hereafter,  I  will  surely  punish  him  with  a 
 punishment  wherewith  I  will  not  punish  any  other 
 creature."^"  The  concluding  denunciation  reminds  us 
 of  the  w^ords  which  St.  Paul  subjoins  to  his  account 
 of  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  supper. ''  ^ 
 
 5.  The  last  events  of  our  Lord's  life  are  singularly 
 j^erverted  in  the  Koran.  It  has  been  already  noticed, 
 in  the  summary  of  its  dogmas,  that  Mohammed 
 emphatically  denied  the  death  of  Jesus  to  have  been 
 caused  bv  violent  means;  hence  he  M^as  consistent  in 
 disguising  the  nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  son 
 of  Mary,  he  alleges,  was  miraculously  saved  from  death 
 on  the  cross.  ''The  Jews  devised  a  stratagem  against 
 him,  but  God  devised  a  stratagem  against  them,  and 
 God  is  the  best  deviser  of  stratagems.  Allah  spake 
 thus,  0  Jesus  verily  I  will  cause  thee  to  die,  and  I 
 will  take  thee  unto  me,  and  I  will  deliver  thee  from 
 the  unbelievers,  and  I  will  place  those  who  will  follow 
 
 '"  Sur.  V.  121 — 124.  Maraccio  Refut.  pag.  241.  YII.  assumes, 
 that  the  feeding  of  the  5000,  and  the  parable  of  the  wedding  feast 
 had  been  here  thrown  together  by  M. ,  but  we  can  easily  recognise 
 the  TQantCcc  y.v(Jiov ,  or  the  dtinror  xv^iaxov  of  the  Christian 
 Church.  The  Sura  is  itself  called  :  StX^UJl :  the  table.  Nor  was 
 it  likely  M.  should  have  overlooked  so  essential  an  institution, 
 which  was  retained  by  the  Christians,  even  in  the  most  corrupt  ages 
 of  the  Church. 
 
 ^'  1  Cor.  XI.  27.  Commentators  liberally  supply  the  table  with 
 fish  and  fruit.  See  L.  Warner,  Compend.  histor.  pag.  25.  etc.  and 
 Maracc.  Prodroni.  pars  IV.  p.  89.  also  Refut.  to  Sur.  V.  p.  238.  239, 
 
190        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [parti. 
 
 thee,  above  the  iinbehevers,  until  the  daj  of  the  Re- 
 surrection, then  unto  me  shall  ye  return,  and  I  will 
 judge  between  you  of  that,  concerning  which  ye  dis- 
 agree." "The  Jews  have  said,  we  have  slain  Christ 
 Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary,  the  apostle  of  God;  yet  they 
 slew  him  not  neither  crucified  him ,  but  he  was  re- 
 presented by  one  in  his  likeness;  and  verily  they 
 who  disagreed  with  him,  were  in  doubt  as  to  this 
 matter,  nor  know  they  anything  but  opinions  about 
 him,  but  they  have  not  really  killed  him,  but  God 
 hath  taken  him  up."  Again,  "I  A^athheld  the  children 
 of  Israel  from  killing  thee  when  thou  hadst  come  unto 
 them  with  evident  signs."  *^ 
 
 The  Moslem  divines  severallv  agree  in  the  denial 
 of  Christ's  death  upon  the  cross;  ^^  but  they  differ  as 
 to  the  person  crucified  in  his  stead.  Some  record 
 that  a  jDcrson  similar  to  Jesus  was  crucified,  whose 
 body  was  taken  down,  after  six  hoin*s,  by  the  carpenter 
 Joseph,  to  bury  it  in  his  own  grave,  having  obtained 
 the  permission  from  king  Herod,  whose  name  was 
 also  Pilate.  In  the  mean-time,  the  son  of  INIary  was 
 sent  down  to  his  mother  to  assure  her  of  his  happiness 
 and  safety.   Others  inform  us:  that  Jesus,  when  pre- 
 
 ^"  JiyjJ^jia  ^l«  5«Jjo^  they  slew  him  not,  nor  crucified  him. 
 Sur.  IV.  156.  157.   lU.  53.  53.    V.  119. 
 
 *'  The  death  of  Christ  is  not  in  itself  denied.  Christ  to  M.  was 
 a  mere  man;  and  every  man  tastes  death:  OB-fj'  &JL)li3  {j*j^  uS 
 
 8ur  XXI.  36  LVI  62.  III.  186.  IV.  77.  The  necessity  of  all  men 
 dying  is  spoken  of  in  the  apocryphal  books  in  the  same  terms.  See 
 '^Historia  Josephi"  cap.  XXII.  pag.  42.  cap.  XVIII.  XXVIII.  XXXI. 
 Maracc.  Refut.  pag.  113.  114.  Prodrom.  pars  III.  pag.  63 — 67. 
 supplies  copious  extracts  from  Moslem  writers ,  as  to  the  person 
 crucified  in  his  stead. 
 
CHAP.  VI.] 
 
 DENIAL  OF  THE  CRUCIFIXION. 
 
 191 
 
 dieting  his  being  taken  to  heaven,  asked,  who  among 
 his  disciples  would  assume  his  form  and  be  crucified 
 in  his  stead,  with  a  view  to  a  reward  at  the  day  of  the 
 Resurrection.  One  offered  to  comply  with  the  pro- 
 position, whilst  Jesus  was  taken  to  heaven.  Ebn 
 Abbas  adds:  Jesus  was  brought  into  a  certain  house 
 through  the  window,  and  thence  taken  to  heaven 
 through  a  sky-light.  Titianus,  persuaded  by  Judas, 
 got  into  a  side  window  to  murder  Jesus ;  on  entering 
 the  room,  Titianus  being  suddenly  changed  into  the 
 form  of  the  son  of  Mary,  was  himself  crucified  by 
 the  Jews. 
 
 That  this  is  not  an  original  invention  of  Moham- 
 med may  be  gathered,  from  the  history  of  the  early 
 heresies  of  the  Christian  Church.  The  Basilidians 
 denied  that  Christ  suflPered,  and  held  that  Simon  horn. 
 Cyrene  was  crucified  in  his  stead.  ^*  The  Cerinthians 
 and  Carpocratians  believed  that  one  of  his  discij^les 
 suffered  death  upon  the  cross  in  his  stead.*'  The 
 Gospel  of  St.  Barnabas  represents  Christ  to  have  been 
 snatched  to  heaven,  when  the  Jews  were  on  the  point 
 of  apprehending  him  in  the  garden,  and  that  Judas 
 being  transformed  into  the  form  of  his  master  was 
 taken,  delivered  to  Pilate  and  crucified.*^     Others 
 
 ^*   Iraen.  lib.  I.  1.  cap.  XXIII.  Eiph.iHaeres.  XXIV.  3. 
 
 *^  In  the  "Ue^iodoi  dnoatoXmv"  Photius  discovered  the 
 same  error:  noXXug  ds  xai  rov  atixvQov  xtvoXoyuxq  xal  aroniaq 
 avanXaTTfi  xal  tot  Xgiarov  Ilii]  aTav(j(od-t}i.'(xi  dXX'  txtQov  dir' 
 dvTOv.  See  Photius  Biblioth.  Cod.  CXIV.  pag.  192.  Jesus  then  is 
 made  to  laugh  at  those  who  thought  they  had  crucified  him.  To- 
 land's  Nazarenus  pag.  17. 
 
 "   Menagiana  torn.  IV.  p.  326. 
 
192        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTlANITr.     [part  i. 
 
 again  taiiglit,  that  tlie  prince  of  darkness  was  cru- 
 cified in  the  place  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world! *^  It 
 would  seem  that  Mohammed  revenged  himself  upon 
 the  vicarious  atonement  of  Christ,  by  adopting  these 
 heretical  opinions,  which  represent  other  persons  as 
 having  suffered  in  His  stead. 
 
 From  the  various  passages  referring  to  the  death 
 and  exaltation  of  Christ,  ^^  we  gather,  that  Jesus  nuist 
 have  been  dead  and  removed  to  Paradise  at  the  time 
 Mohammed  compiled  his  Koran;  if  this  be  the  case, 
 it  must  be  considered  a  special  mark  of  divine  favour, 
 for  even  Abraham  is  spoken  of,  as  one  who  would 
 hereafter  have  his  place  among  the  blessed  ones  in 
 the  world  to  come,  thus  making  it  a  future  event.  ^^ 
 The  Christian  Apocryphas  speak  of  the  Virgin's  as- 
 sumption without  death,  and  Mohammed  in  ascribing 
 this  honour  to  her,  as  well  as  her  Son,  doubtless  bor- 
 rowed fi'om  them.^° 
 
 6.  Of  the  Ascension  of  Christ,  in  the  Christian 
 acceptation  of  the  word,  the  Koran  knows  nothing, 
 nor  was  it  possible  that  Mohammed  should  admit  the 
 royal  dignity  of  the  Redeemer  at  the  right  hand  of 
 
 ^^  Mani,  Epist.  fundanienti,  ap.  Evodium :  Princeps  itaque  tene- 
 brarum  cruci  ost  affixus,  idem(]U('  spineam  coronam  porta vit.  Joh. 
 Damascemif^  de  Ilaeres.  pag.  4G0.  ed.  Bas.  states  it  to  be  Moslem 
 belief:  "Judaeos  contra  legem  euiii  in  crucem  agere  A'oluisse;  et 
 cum  eum  tenuisscnt  ejus  quidem  unibrani  cgisse  in  crucem,  Christum 
 autcm  ncc  in  crucem  actum  fuisse,  nee  mortuum.  Deum  enim  eum 
 ad  se  in  coelum  transtulisse,  quod  ei  esset  carissimus." 
 
 *«   Sur.  XIX.  32.  III.  54.  V.  126.  IV.  156.  157.  XXIIl.  52. 
 
 »»    Sur.  II.  131.  XVI.  122.  XXIX   27.    Wahl  pag.  303.  Note. 
 
 *°  "Et  posuimus  filiiim  Mariae  et  matrem  ejus  in  miraculum,  et 
 recepimus  utrunique  in  locum  sublimum."    Sur.  XXIII.  52. 
 
CHAP,  vi.l  SECOND  ADVENT  OF  CHRIST.  193 
 
 God;  since  this  would  militate  against  the  leading 
 doctrine  of  the  divine  Unity,  as  taught  in  the  Koran. 
 The  second  Advent  of  Chrht  was  received  as  a  formal 
 article  into  the  creed  of  INlohammed ,  but  there  are 
 only  scanty  allusions  to  it  in  the  Koran.  ''He  shall 
 be  a  sign  of  the  approach  of  the  last  hour,  wherefore 
 doubt  not  thereof."  ^^  The  second  advent  of  Christ 
 is  differently  described  by  Moslem  divines ;  some  say 
 that  he  will  appear  near  the  white  tower,  east  of 
 Damascus;  others  that  he  will  descend  on  a  rock  on 
 mount  Moriah,  confess  Islamism,  destroy  Christianity 
 and  every  other  creed,  kill  all  swine,  break  every  cross, 
 pierce  Antichrist  with  his  lance  at  Ludd  or  Lydda, 
 near  Jaffa;  after  this  he  will  marry,  beget  children, 
 die  after  forty  or  forty-five  years  and  be  lamented  by 
 Moslemin,  who  will  bury  him  by  the  side  of  Moham- 
 med. After  this  he  will  appear  again  at  the  Resur- 
 rection as  Judge.  ^^  The  Koran,  however  ascribes  no 
 such  honours  to  the  son  of  Mary;  instead  of  acting 
 as  Judge,  it  teaches  that  Christ  himself  will  be  re- 
 quired to  give  an  account  of  his  doings  upon  earth, 
 like  all  the  other  prophets.  ^^ 
 
 2^    Sur.  XLIIL  59.    X£.LwJU    JLj«J    \j|^    literally,   et  iUe  est 
 
 cognitio  horae.  The  expounders  make  it:  His  advent  is  the  sign  of 
 the  approaching  Judgment.  In  the:  "Carmen  Arahicum  ,  Atnali 
 dictum"  edited  by  Bohlen  1825  we  read  verse  31 :  "Jesus  aliquando 
 reveniet  contra  Antichristura  miserum  astutumque,  quem  tunc  per- 
 det."  When  the  Kaliphate  was  restored  to  the  Abbassides,  Ab- 
 dallah  I.  was  told  by  his  uncle  David  that  the  Kaliphate  would 
 remain  in  his  family ,  till  it  would  be  transferred  into  the  hands  of 
 Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of  Mary.    M.  d'Ohsson  I.  1.39. 
 
 "    M.  d"Ohsson  I.  pag.  138. 
 
 "^^    We  have  thus  an  account  of  the  birth  of  Mary,  her  parents, 
 
 N 
 
194        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [part  i. 
 
 7.  We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  those 
 Christian  dogmas,  which  the  Koran  represents  as 
 blasphemous.  The  doctrine  of  the  blessed  Trinity 
 was  either  not  known  to  jMohammed,  or  maliciouslv 
 perverted  into  a  Tritheism ,  with  which  he  reproaches 
 the  Christians  from  beginning  to  end: — "Say  not, 
 there  are  three  gods,  forbear  this,  it  will  be  better 
 for  you.  God  is  but  one  God.  Far  be  it  from  him 
 that  He  should  have  a  son."  Again;  "They  are  cer- 
 tainly infidels  who  say,  God  is  the  third  of  three, 
 for  there  is  no  God  beside  one  God."  ^*  The  Tritheis'HL 
 against  which  the  Koran  so  strongly  protests,  con- 
 sists of  God,  Jesus  Christ  and  Mary  His  mother. 
 The  first  and  highest  of  these,  is  Allah.  '^^  That  Allah 
 however  should  be  considered  Father  and  have  a  son 
 is  a  doctrine  which  rouses  the  highest  indignation  of 
 Mohammed.  ^^  It  is  unworthy  of  Allah  to  have  a  son; 
 
 her  guardian  and  intercourse  with  angels:  Sur.  III.  33 — 37.  42  — 
 44;  promise  of  the  birth  of  John  the  Baptist,  XIX.  1  — 15.  XXI. 
 89.  90.  III.  38  —  41.  Jesus  announced  to  Mary:  III.  45—48.  XIX. 
 16—21.  His  birth:  XIX  22' — 28.  Speeches  of  the  newborn  babe:' 
 XIX.  29  —  32.  His  miracle.s:  III.  48.  V.  119.  Description  of  his 
 prophetical  work:  V.  87.  XXXIII.  7.  XLIII.  56  —  63.  LXI.  6. 
 Choice  of  the  Apostles:  III.  51.  52.  LXI.  14.  The  Lord's  table: 
 V.  121  — 124.  Mistake  of  the  Jews  in  crucifying  another  in  His 
 stead:  III.  53.  54.  IV.  156—158.  V.  119.  Miraculous  removal  of 
 Christ:  XIX.  32.  III.  54.  Assumption  with  Mary  into  Paradise: 
 XXIII.  52.  Christ's  second  advent  the  signal  to  Judgment :  XLIII. 
 59.  Lastly  His  giving  an  account  of  Himself:  XXXIII.  7.  8.  V. 
 118.  119.  125  —  127.    IV.  158. 
 
 2*   Sur.  IV.  169.    V.  82. 
 
 '^  Allah  ^JU|,  fromtil^bN,  Chb^it;  the  expression:  God  the 
 Father  is  therefore  never  used  in  the  Koran. 
 
 ^•^  "They  say,  Allah  hath  begotten  a  son,  God  forbid."  Sur.  X. 
 67.  cfr.  Ps.  II.  7.  Act  XIII.  33.  Hebr.  I.  5.  and  the  Nicene  for- 
 mula :  ytvvTj&tna  ix  rov  narQog, 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  ALLAH  HAS  NO  SON.  195 
 
 he  has  neither  a  son  nor  a  partner.  ^^  He  hatli  be- 
 gotten no  issue,  neither  is  there  any  besides  Allah. 
 The  idea  appeared  to  Mohammed  so  impious  that 
 he  says,  "it  wanted  but  little,  that  the  heavens  should 
 rend  and  the  earth  cleave  asunder  and  the  mountains 
 be  overthrown  and  fall."^**  How  should  Allah  have  a 
 son,  having  no  partner?  They  are  certainly  liars,  who 
 maintain  that  he  has  offspring.  He  provides  for  all 
 things,  and  is  Lord  over  all;  he  speaks  and  it  is 
 done."^^  The  Koran  therefore,  classes  Christians 
 among  Polytheists  as  they  associate  two  other  Gods 
 with  Allah.  ^'^  The  second  person  of  the  alleged  Tri- 
 theism  of  the  Christians,  is  Mary,  who  was  both 
 mother  and  goddess.  She  is,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
 highly  exalted  by  the  Koran  and  considered  the  most 
 distinguished  among  her  sex,  beloved  of  God,  ho- 
 noured by  angels  and  praised  as  a  miracle.  ^  ^  God 
 breathed  into  her  of  His  Spirit  and  she  was  favoured 
 to  be  the  mother  of  Christ.  Yet  she  was  no  more 
 than  a  human  being,  which  is  proved  by  the  fact 
 that  both  she  and  her  son  ate  food!^^  Jesus  being- 
 asked  at  the  day  of  Judgment,  whether  he  told  men 
 
 "    Sur.  XES.  34.  91.    VL  101.    LXXII.  3. 
 
 2«   Sur.  XXIII.  93.   XIX.  87. 
 
 "    Sur.  XXI   26.    XVn.  110.    X.  67     XXV.  2.    XIX.  34. 
 
 "*    The  standing-  name  for  Pagans  and  Christians  is  ^^wA5wXu.4Jt, 
 iantos.    Sur.  VL  14.  IX.  34.  ^  ••  / 
 
 Mariam,    ^^o,  Dpi'Q,    Mafjian.    Sur.  XXI.  91.    IIL  42.  41 
 
 assoc 
 
 SI 
 
 XXII.  52.    XLX.  20. 
 
 (.LxiaJt    ^;^^b    \ji\S'  they  both  ate  food.    Sur.  V.  84. 
 
 "His  mother  was  a  woman  of  a  truth;"    JUbJufl   x^L  ,   or  a  real 
 woman.    V.  125. 
 
196        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [part  i. 
 
 to  receive  him  and  his  mother  as  Gods  besides  Al- 
 lah, is  made  to  answer:  "Praise  be  unto  thee,  it  is 
 not  for  me  to  say  that  which  I  ought  not ,  if  I  had 
 said  so,  thou  wouldest  surely  have  known,  thou  knowest 
 what  is  in  me,  but  I  know  not  what  is  in  thee  for 
 thou  art  the  knower  of  secrets.  I  have  not  spoken 
 to  them  any  other,  than  what  thou  didst  command 
 me,  viz.  worship  God,  my  Lord  and  your  Lord."'"* 
 The  question  arises,  whence  has  Mohammed  de- 
 rived the  blasphemous  notion,  that  Christians  wor- 
 shipped the  Virgin  INIary  as  a  goddess,  and  considered 
 her  a  member  of  that  Tritheism  which  the  Koran 
 asserts  to  be  an  article  of  their  creed?  We  have  al- 
 ready noticed  that  Epii)hanius  speaks  of  a  sect,  call- 
 ed the  CoUyridians  which  arose  in  Thracia  towards 
 the  end  of  the  fourth  century  and  afterwards  spread  in 
 Arabia  and  other  parts  of  the  East.  ^*  But  there  is 
 no  need  to  fix  upon  any  particular  heresy  as  the  source, 
 whence  Mohammed  obtained  the  idea  that  the  wor- 
 ship of  the  Virgin  was  the  practice  of  Christians  in 
 general;  for  on  referring  to  the  History  of  the  Church 
 in  those  corrupt  ages,  we  cannot  fail  to  notice  the 
 persecutions  which  fell  upon  those  of  her  members, 
 
 •^'  "Hoc  enim  commoniorat,  Christum  cum  in  coclum  pervcnisset, 
 a  Deo  interrogatum  fuisse:  an  Dei  filiuni  se  esse  dixisset,  eunique 
 facit  hoc  modo  respondcnteni :  in  nic  Doniine  sis  placato  aiiinio. 
 Scis,  liiinc  nieani  orationcm  non  fuisse,  meque  tuam  non  fastidire 
 servitutem ;  homines  sunt  isti,  qui  contra  leges  hoc  me  dixisse  ar- 
 guerunt,  falsoque  me  circumvcnerunt  crimine,  et  veheracnter  crra- 
 runt.  Tuni  Deum  haec  ei  vult  respondisse :  Scio,  hanc  tuam  non 
 fuisse  orationem."    Joan.  Damascenus  de  haeres.  pag.  4G6. 
 
 ^*  Epiphan.  Tom.  1.  Haeres.  LXXVm.  lib.  HI.  cap.  1.  Haeres. 
 LXXIX.  cap.  23.  0pp.  edit.  Petav.  Colon,  pag.  10.54-  1057.  Ana- 
 kephalaeos  Tom.  II.  pag.  128—130. 150.    Also  this  work  p.  52.  53. 
 
CHAP,  vi.]  THE  VIRGIN  MART  NO  GODDESS.  197 
 
 who  resisted  the  appellation  of  "Mother  of  God"  as 
 applied  to  the  Virgin.  It  was  therefore  at  that  period 
 by  no  means  a  difficult  step,  to  transfer  the  divinity 
 of  the  person  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  much  honoured 
 and  highly  favoured  Mother  of  Jesus.  Hence  we  find 
 attempts  among  Christian  wTiters  to  represent  the 
 Holy  Ghost  as  oHhe  feminine  gender;  and  this  being 
 done,  it  required  no  very  great  stride  of  erroneous 
 teaching  to  transfer  the  honour  direct  to  the  Virgin 
 Mary.^*  The  Gnostic  sects  looked  upon  the  words 
 spoken  on  the  occasion  of  our  Lord's  baptism,  "This 
 is  my  beloved  son,"  as  spoken  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 who  descended  upon  Christ.  ^^  Simon  Magus  is  de- 
 clared to  have  considered  his  wife  Helena  the  third 
 person  of  the  Trinity.  ^ '''  Epiphanius  speaks  of  a  Jewish 
 sect  of  the  Ossenes,  who  held  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be 
 of  the  feminine  gender.  ^  ® 
 
 In  other  apocryphal  writings  of  which  fragments 
 are  preserved,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  invoked  as  the  mother 
 
 ''■'*  Long  before  M.  we  discover  traces  of  tlie  Holy  Ghost  as 
 fitvrf(jog  ■&f,og  being  of  feminine  gender;  n?"!  being  sometimes  con- 
 sidered so ,  but  "^pn  always.  I^oqca  appears  personified  already 
 in  the  canonical  books  of  the  Old  Test.  Prov.  VIII.  22—32.  but  is 
 frequently  synonymous  with  nitvfiu  ayto»  in  the  Apocryphas. 
 Wisd.  Sol.  IX.  9.  Sirach  I.  1.  4.  9.  XXIV.  14.  Wisd.  Sol.  I.  4.  5. 
 VII.  7.  22. 
 
 '^  "Descendit  fons  omnis  spiritus  sancti  et  requievit  super  eum 
 (Jesum)  et  dixit  illi:  Fili  me  etc.";  quoted  by  St.  Jerome  from  the 
 Gospel  to  the  Hebrews.  The  same  with  Epiphanius :  "Me  fili  in 
 omnibus  prophetis  exspectavi  te,  ut  venires." 
 
 '^    Gerock's  Christologie  des  Korans,  pag.  77. 
 
 The   chief  passage   is   however:    Origen,  in  Joan.   V^ol.  IV. 
 pag.  63.  already  quoted  note  47.  pag.  53. 
 
198        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [parti. 
 
 of  the  believer;?.'^"  The  author  of  the  apostoHcal  con- 
 stitutions compares  the  Bishop  with  God  the  Father, 
 the  Deacon  with  the  Son,  and  the  Deaconess  with 
 the  Holy  Ghost;  which  shows  at  least  a  tendency  in 
 the  same  direction.  The  Arabic  Gospel  of  Christ's 
 infancy, — wliich  if  not  existing  in  the  days  of  Mo- 
 hammed has  at  least  drawn  from  the  same  fountains 
 as  he  did,  —  invariably  speaks  of  the  mother  of  Jesus 
 as  ''the  exalted  divine  Mary.''  She  is  always  there 
 set  forth,  as  the  object  of  the  highest  veneration,  nay 
 of  formal  adoration ,  in  consequence  of  the  miracles 
 which  she  wrought  upon  her  own  authority.  Under 
 the  circumstances  now  stated,  what  was  more  natural, 
 than  that  the  \  irgin  Mary  should  assume  the  posi- 
 tion of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  alleged  Tritheism,  just 
 as  the  angel  Gabriel  is  invariably  styled,  Spirit  or 
 Holy  Spirit  in  the  Koran.  ^"^ 
 
 8.  The  third  member  of  the  Christian  Tritheism, 
 according  to  the  Koran,  is  Jesus  Christ  the  son  of 
 Mary.'^^  "The  Christians  say,  Christ  is  the  son  of 
 God ....  may  God  suppress  them.  How  are  they  in- 
 fatuated! They  take  their  priests  and  monks  for 
 their  Lords  besides  God,  and  Christ  the  son  of  Mar}% 
 although  they  are  commanded  to  worship  one  God 
 only,  there  is  no  God  but  he.    The  curse  be  on  those 
 
 ^^  A^'alentiuus  stylos  him  fUjf^Q  nor  ^ari'Trov.  The  nrtv(.iix, 
 aocfia  was  also  sometimes  looked  upon  by  heretics  as  the  sister  or 
 spouse  of  XfjKTTog. 
 
 *«  Sur.  LXX.  5.  LXXVIII.  37.  XCVII.  4.  XV.  29.  XLII.  52. 
 _^v  or  (j^JJL'l-^..    XVI.  102.  XXVI.  192. 
 
 *'    (vJj-^  1^    g^wvwAj    ^^_A.tiM.tJl,  Mesich  Isa  ben  Mariam. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  DENIAL  OF  CHRIST'S  DIVINITY.  199 
 
 whom  they  associate  with  him  in  his  worship."*^ 
 Christ's  omnipotence  and  omniscience  is  denied  as  a 
 matter  of  coin*se;  and  to  worship  him  is  idolatry. 
 Christ  himself  is  made  to  declare  that  he  is  not  more 
 than  any  other  man  or  prophet;*^  he  is  only  a  ser- 
 vant and  need  not  be  ashamed  of  it.**  Jesus  and 
 Maiy  had  bodies  which,  requiring  to  be  sustained  by 
 food,  were  thus  proved  mortal,  consequently  they  are 
 not  Gods;  nor  could  any  one  prevent  God  from  de- 
 stroying Christ,  his  mother  and  all  the  inhabitants 
 of  the  earth.  Again  to  suppose  that  Allah  should 
 beget  children  is  highly  irreverent  nor  does  his  all- 
 sufficiency  admit  of  any  increase  to  his  happiness; 
 for  his  are  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth.*'  Nor  has 
 he  need  of  an  assistant  in  his  government  of  the 
 world;  and  to  associate  any  one  with  Allah  is  an  un- 
 pardonable crime.*® 
 
 Whilst  however  Mohammed  insisted  upon  the 
 mere  human  personality  of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  he 
 suffered  him  to  be  endowed  with  all  the  power  and 
 authority  of  a  divinely  accredited  messenger.*^  It 
 was  however  not   without   imminent  danger  to  his 
 
 *-   Sur.  IX.  31.  32,  to  believe  Christ  to  be  God,  is  the  mark  of 
 an  infidel.    V.  19. 
 
 *^   Sur.  V.  125.  85.    XLIU.  80.   III.  78.   V.  81.  125.  126. 
 
 **   Slt.  XLin.  58.   IV.  170.   XVI.  43.   XXI.  7. 
 
 *^   Sur.  XXI   8.  V.  19.  84.  X.  67.  XIX,  91.  II.  117.  LXXII.3. 
 XXV.  2.    XXXIX.  5.    IV.  169. 
 
 "   Sur.  IV.  169.  V.  85.   XVII.  110.  XXV.  1—3.  IV.  46.  169. 
 V.  81. 
 
 *'    He  was  a  Nabi    _aj,  N'^^J,  and  Jy^s,    who  commenced  his 
 
 office  in  the  cradle.   Sur.  XIX.  29.   IV.  169. 
 
200        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [part  i. 
 
 system,  that  INIoliammed  admitted  certain  names  and 
 titles  to  Christ,  which  he  borrowed  from  the  New 
 Testament.  He  is  called  the  Messiah,*^  but  the  Jews 
 and  Christians  associated  very  different  ideas  with 
 the  name  from  what  the  Koran  could  possibly  admit. 
 Again,  Jesus  is  called  "the  word  of  truth ;"*^  the 
 word  of  God;  "the  word,  who  is  called  the  Messiah."  ^° 
 This  is  evidently  an  allusion  to  St.  John's  Gospel; 
 and  we  might  expect  that  it  would  bear  the  same 
 meaning  in  the  Koran  which  it  does  in  the  New 
 Testament,  whence  it  was  borrowed.  As  this  appel- 
 lation of  Christ  points  distinctly  to  an  extraordinary 
 and  Divine  nature,  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  find 
 that  its  application  has  caused  no  small  perplexity 
 to  Moslem  divines.  Again  the  Koran  speaks  of  our 
 Lord  as  the  Spirit  of  God;  and  of  His  having  been 
 strengthened  with  the  Spirit  of  holiness.^*  All  these 
 terms ,  if  they  have  any  meaning  at  all ,  imply  that 
 there  was  something  in  the  person  of  Christ,  which 
 no  other  prophet  could  claim;  we  must  however  re- 
 member that  the  false  prophet  adopted  titles  from 
 
 *^  c*-^.  ?^^%  Jesus,  Saviour :  ^s.A-wv^t,  D^^''?,  from  ni^^, 
 ^.  w„^j  to  annoint,  is  "the  Annointed  One,"  6  XQiarog;  and  both 
 the  Old  and  New  Test,  plainly  assert  His  Divine  character. 
 
 *^  "This  is  Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary,"  the  word  of  truth ,  J^J 
 fX-^lj   concerning  which  they  doubt."    Sur.  XIX.  33. 
 
 *"  "And  his  word,  iuC^JX,  which  he  planted  into  Mary.  Sur. 
 IV.  169.  Again:  ^.JUv-JI  X-m*/!  »juc  JL*J.Xj  ii5'v'C^J  Sur.  III.  45. 
 
 •''•    gjue    _,.x,  the  Spirit  from  Him,  viz.,   iJJI.     Sur.  IV.  169. 
 
 ^OJii\  ^;vJ  sbjol  Sur.  II.  87.  254.   V.  119. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  TITLES  GIVEN  TO  JESUS.  201 
 
 the  Christians  and  their  Scriptures  without  retaining 
 the  original  sense.  The  Koran  admits  one  of  the 
 mysteries  of  Christianity ,  in  stating ,  that  God  sent 
 His  word  into  the  Virgin  INhiry,  and  yet  paradoxically 
 denies  that  the  word  was  made  flesh;  whilst  therefore 
 the  son  of  Mary  is  said  to  be  conspicuous  in  this 
 world  and  in  the  world  to  come,  and  to  be  one  of 
 those,  who  approach  God  to  intercede,  there  is  not 
 one  passage  in  the  Koran,  which  alludes  to  the  sin- 
 lessness  of  His  nature  without  which  He  could  not 
 effectually  perform  the  office  of  intercessor.  It  will 
 therefore  be  seen  that  the  clear  and  unequivocal  ab- 
 negations of  the  Divinity  and  assertions  of  the  mere 
 humanity  of  the  son  of  Mary,  prevent  our  ascribing 
 to  the  above  titles  of  distinction,  any  other  than  a 
 common  and  general  meaning,  very  different  fi"om 
 that  Avhich  they  bear  in  the  New  Testament.  Mo- 
 hammed's own  dignity  being  then  by  no  means  af- 
 fected by  these  admissions  of  the  Koran  concerning 
 Christ,  he  could  well  admit  Jesus  to  be  the  greatest 
 prophet  before  him,  and  to  be  endowed  with  extra- 
 ordinary power,  without  prejudice  to  himself;  nay  he 
 mioht  even  flatter  himself  with  the  idea  of  crownina: 
 and  of  perfecting  the  work  which  Jesus  had  com- 
 menced.^^ Mohammed,  in  spite  of  his  usual  incon- 
 sistency, was  cautious  to  give  no  honour  to  Christ 
 which  might  endanger  his  own  position,  though  pe- 
 rilous indeed  was  the  admission  that  Christ  was  ''the 
 ivord  of  Gocir  hence  the  anxiety  of  the  Moslem  di- 
 
 *^    Compare  the  blasphemous  assumption  of  M.  that  Christ  pro- 
 phesied him  as  the  Comforter. 
 
202        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [parti. 
 
 vines  to  confer  the  like  honour  on  their  prophet'^ 
 and  on  his  Koran.  ^*  The  supernatural  events,  attend- 
 ing the  birth  of  Christ,  M'hich  distinguished  Him 
 from  the  rest  of  mankind ,  are  carefully  supplied  by 
 a  host  of  miracles  which  are  said  to  have  accompanied 
 the  birth  of  the  Arab  prophet. 
 
 9.  Christ  is  throughout  represented  as  the  Author 
 of  the  Gospel,  including  the  entke  body  of  the  books 
 of  the  New  Testament,  which  God  revealed  to  Him 
 from  heaven.'^  This  Gospel  or  Ingeel  was  a  con- 
 firmation of  the  Torah.  "We  also  caused  Jesus  the 
 son  of  Mary  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  the  prophets, 
 confirming  the  law  which  was  sent  down  before  him, 
 and  we  gave  him  the  Gospel,  containing  du-ection 
 and  light;  confirming  also  the  law  which  was  given 
 before  it,  and  a  direction  and  admonition  unto  those 
 who  fear  God:  that  they  who  have  received  the  Gos- 
 
 '^^  God  decreed  50,000  years  before  hand  that  M.  was  to  be 
 the  greatest  prophet.  Adam  had  the  surname  of  Jk-^^iSS^I  vol. 
 father  of  Mohammed ;  the  latter  was  in  existence  before  Adam  and 
 his  name  was  read  by  him  in  the  empyrcum  before  the  throne  of 
 God;  surrounded  by  prophetic  light.  M.  d'Ohsson  pag.  64.  In  the 
 Pend-Nameh  a  poem  in  praise  of  M.  we  have  this  passage:  "le 
 prince  du  monde  present  et  du  monde  futur ;  les  prophetes ,  et  les 
 Saints  out  eu  recours  a  son  intercession;  la  creation  de  ce  prophete 
 a  etc  le  salut  de  I'univers,  I'extremitc  dc  son  doight  a  scpare  en 
 deux  parties  I'astre  de  la  nuit ;  que  chaque  instant  de  notre  vie  soit 
 consacre  a  honorer  et  a  bcnir  mille  fois  sa  menioire  et  celle  de  ses 
 enfans  et  de  sa  race."    Fundgrub.  des  Orients  II.  pag.  15. 
 
 '''*  Que  le  Courann  est  la  parole  de  Dieu  increee ;  qu'il  est  ecrit 
 dans  nos  libres ,  grave  dans  nos  coeurs,  articule  par  nos  langues  et 
 entendu  par  nos  orcilles,  dans  lesquelles  est  re^u  le  son  de  la  parole, 
 et  non  la  parole  ellc-meme  qui  est  eterncUe  et  existante  par  soi." 
 M.  d'Ohsson  i)ag.  29. 
 
 *^  Sur.  V.  119.  III.  48.  XIX.  29.  JoyS3u!i(|  being  a  corrup- 
 tion from  Evangeliuni,  ivayyeXiov, 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  THE  GOSPEL  COME  FROM  GOD.  203 
 
 pel  might  judge  according  to  what  God  hath  revealed 
 therein;  and  whoso  judgcth  not  according  to  what 
 God  hath  revealed,  they  are  transgressors.  We  have 
 also  sent  down  to  thee  the  book  of  the  Koran  with 
 truth,  confirming  that  scripture  which  was  revealed 
 before  it,  and  preserving  the  same  safe  from  cor- 
 ruption. 
 
 There  are  but  few  allusions  in  the  Koran  to  the 
 doctrinal  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  these  being 
 unsuited  to  Mohammed's  purpose  in  the  compilation 
 of  his  spurious  creed. ^''  In  the  passage,  "How 
 many  beasts  are  there,  which  provide  not  their  food? 
 It  is  God  who  provideth  for  them  and  for  you,  and 
 he  both  heareth  and  knoweth,"  we  recognise  a  mere 
 imitiation  of  the  sentiments  expressed.  Matt.  VI.  26. 
 Lu.  xn.  24.  Again,  "Say  not  of  a  thing,  I  will  do 
 it  to  morroAv,  except  thou  addest,  if  God  will,"  re- 
 produces the  admonition  of  St.  James  in  his  general 
 Epistle.^*  An  allusion  to  St.  Paul's  words  as  to  a 
 man  reaping  what  he  sowed,  is  found  in  the  following 
 passage,  "Whoso  chooseth  the  tillage  of  the  life  to 
 come,  unto  him  will  we  give  increase  in  his  tillage, 
 and  whoso  chooseth  the  tillage  of  this  world,  we  will 
 give  him  the  fi-uit  thereof,  but  he  shall  have  no  part 
 in  the  life  to  come."^^ 
 
 ^^   Sur.  V.  54—56.    m.  3. 
 
 *^  Sur.  II.  104.  "Pray  without  ceasing,"  seems  to  refer  to  1  Thess. 
 V.  17.  ii6ia}.ei7iT(og  TiQoijtvita&f..  Also  Sur.  III.  58.  which  contains 
 a  comparison  of  Adam  and  Christ,  might  allude  to  1  Cor.  XV.  45.  57. 
 
 Sur.  X\Tn.  25.  and  James  IV.  13.  15.  «»        O        w  ^         > 
 
 *^   Gal.  XI.  6—8.  with  Sur.  XLU.  41. 
 
204        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY.     [i'aRT  i. 
 
 It  is  doubtful,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  previous 
 chapter  whether  the  words ,  "Neither  shall  they  enter 
 Paradise  until  a  camel  pass  through  the  eye  of  a 
 needle/'  are  borrowed  from  the  Rabbinical  writings 
 or  from  the  New  Testament;  the  latter  however  is 
 more  23robable,  partly  on  account  of  the  more  striking 
 resemblance,—  the  Gospels  having  also  the  image  ot 
 the  camel, —  partly  because  it  is  more  frequent,  occur- 
 ring three  times  in  the  New  Testament  and  but  once 
 in  the  Talmudical  writings  where  it  is  considerably 
 altered.*'''  When  Mohammed  enjoins  his  followers 
 not  to  give  alms  "to  ajDpear  unto  men"  we  at  once 
 detect  a  borrowing  of  our  Lord's  words  on  the  same 
 subject.^*  Again  among  the  descriptions  of  hell,  we 
 find  the  following  passage,  "and  the  inhabitants  of 
 hell-fire  shall  call  unto  the  inhabitants  of  Paradise, 
 saying,  pour  upon  us  some  water,"  which  strongly 
 reminds  us  of  the  rich  man's  request,  when  in  tor- 
 ment. ^  ^ 
 
 10.  According  to  the  Koran,  Christ  was  exclu- 
 sively sent  to  the  children  of  Israel:    "I  come,"  the 
 
 ^0   Sur.  VII.  41.  with  Matt.  XIX.  24.  Mark.  X.  25.  Lu.  XVIII. 
 
 24.    Jtf^. ,    J.  t-^  J   '^^?j   camelus,  xdixrjXog;   if  the  reading  were 
 
 xa/jiikog,  J.|'»^,    funis  rudcns,  b'2n,  cable,  the  sense  is  altered,  but 
 the  fact  of  M.  borrowing  from  the  Gospel  still  remains. 
 
 *'   Sur.  11.  272.  with  Matt.  VI.  3.  4.  on<ag  ^  aov  rj  ikevixoavvt] 
 
 f.v  r(3  xovnno. 
 I.     >        t 
 
 "    Sur.  VU.  272.  with  Lu.  XVI.  24.    Compare  also  Sur.  LVII. 
 
 13:   "On  that  day  the  hypocritical  men  and  women  shall  say  unto 
 
 those  who  believe ,  stay  for  us  that  we  may  borrow  some  of  your 
 
 light.     It  shall  be  answered.  Return  back  into  the  world  and  seek 
 
 light;" — an  evident  allusion  to  Matt.  XXV.  8.  9. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  EXPRESSIONS  BORROWED.  205 
 
 Messiah  is  made  to  say, —  after  He  was  declared 'tlie 
 apostle  to  the  children  of  Israel,'  to  confirm  the  law 
 which  was  revealed  before  me  and  to  allow  you  as 
 lawful,  part  of  that  which  hath  been  forbidden  you, 
 and  I  come  unto  you  with  a  sign  from  your  Lord, 
 therefore  fear  God  and  obey  me."  This  then  clearly 
 shows  the  object  of  Christ's  Mission  to  the  Jews, 
 who  are  said  to  have  broken  the  covenant  and  put 
 the  Scriptures  away  from  them.  ^  ^  The  Jews  through- 
 out the  Koran  are  represented  as  frivolous  trans- 
 gi'essors  of  the  law  of  their  fathers,  who  had  killed 
 their  prophets,  and  were  cursed  by  David  and  Jesus 
 the  son  of  Mary  ;^*  as  might  be  ex^Dected,  it  declares, 
 that  Christ  taught  all  the  leading  dogmas  of  Islam- 
 ism,  specially  the  Unity  of  the  Godhead;  also  that 
 the  children  of  Israel  were  to  serve  his  God  and  their 
 God,  and  those  who  associate  any  other  with  him 
 are  excluded  from  Paradise  and  threatened  with  hell- 
 fire.®'  Mohammed  speaks  of  Christ  as  a  favom^ed 
 servant  and  prophet  of  God;°®  yea  he  cedes  to  the 
 son  of  Mary  the  honour  of  being  the  chief  of  all  the 
 prophets  who  appeared  prior  to  Mohanmied,  but  to 
 the  latter  alone  belongs  the  prerogative  of  being  the 
 greatest  of  all  divine  messengers,  since  Abraham  is 
 said  to  have  prayed  for  him,  and  he  was  prophesied 
 in  the  Torah  and  the  Gospel.  ® ' 
 
 ^'   Sur.  in.  48.  49.    Also  V.  54.  LXI.  6.  XLIII.  61.  V.  14.  17. 
 
 "  Sur.  VI.  92.   U.  91.  IV.  154.  155.  V.  97.  87.   cfr.  1  Thess. 
 II.  15. 
 
 «■*   Sur.  XLin.  62.    III.  50.    V.  121.  126.    V.  81. 
 
 ^^   Sur.  XLIII.  30.    XIX.  4.  30.    III.  46.    XVII.  55.    II.  254. 
 
 "    Sur.  n.  129.  130.    LXI.  6. 
 
206        WHAT  MOn.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [parti. 
 
 Convenient  it  is  for  the  Moslem  doctors  to  find 
 a  distinct  prophecy  of  INlohammed  in  the  Arabic 
 Gospel  of  8t.  Barnabas,  where  Jesus  predicts  the 
 coming  of  the  Arab  prophet ,  who  would  free  the 
 world  from  all  error. ''^^  The  interpolation  of  this  spu- 
 .  rious  Gospel  by  a  Moslem  hand,  is  too  palpable  to 
 deserve  a  word  of  comment  or  argument.  Still  more 
 so,  is  it  to  conjecture  how  the  false  prophet  came  to 
 claim  the  honour  of  being  j^redicted  in  the  Gospel 
 of  St.  John  as  the  (omforter;^^  it  is  not  improbable 
 
 •  that  he  derived  it  from  his  early  proselytes,  who, 
 knowing  of  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost  may  pos- 
 sibly have  flattered  their  newly-acquired  prophet 
 by  declaring  it  to  be  fulfilled  in  his  person;  hence 
 the  idea  that  Mohammed  was  taught  by  the  Holy 
 
 •  Ghost,  sent  down  ujion  him.  As  however  this  pro- 
 phecy does  not  stand  in  the  New  Testament  as  INIo- 
 
 .    hammed  has  quoted  and  applied  it,   commentators 
 on  the  Koran  maintain,  that  the  Christians  had  ma- 
 liciously expunged  it  from  their  Gospel;  the   same 
 •  charge  is  boldly  made  against  the  Christians  respec- 
 
 ^^  "^'go  vero,  quantuiiKjue  innocentein  vitam  in  luundo  trans- 
 I'gi,  tamcn,  cum  liomines  me  Dcum  ct  lilium  Dei  vocaverint ,  Deus, 
 ne  in  die  judicii  olim  daemonum  essem  ludibrium ,  voluit  in  miindo 
 ignominia  me  afBci  ab  hominibus  per  mortem  .Tudae ,  persuasis 
 omnibus,  me  in  cruce  mortem  obiissc.  I'nde  ista  ignominia  durabit 
 usque  ad  adventum  Mohamedis,  qui,  cum  in  nmndum  venerit,  omnes 
 legi  Dei  credentes  ab  hoc  errore  liberavit."  Fabricii  Codex  apocryph. 
 N.  T<»st.  tom.  II.  pag.  378.  384. 
 
 "^    Sur.  LXI.  6.  it  is  stated  that  Jesus  prophesied  of  Achmed, 
 
 tX_4.£Skl,  Mohammed,  Jl4.^Vx,  landabilis,  multa  dignus;  7r((g((y.Xr;T0i 
 John  Xl\'.  I().  XV.  26.  being  turned  into  nt{Jiy.?.vT6g,  inclytus,  the 
 object  was  gained. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]         CLAIMS  TO  HAVE  BEEN  PROPHESIED.  207 
 
 ting  other  prophecies,  said  to  have  been  extant  in 
 their  sacred  Scriptures.  The  parable  of  the  labourers, 
 it  seems,  has  been  overlooked  by  Christians,  though 
 considered  particularly  applicable  to  Mohammed's 
 followers  !^°  Again  the  true  worshippers,  who  neither 
 worship  in  Jerusalem  nor  on  Samaria's  mountain  are 
 none  others  than  the  Mohammedans!  The  boldest 
 and  shrewdest  of  all  the  mis-applications  of  Scripture 
 by  jMoslem  divines ,  is  that  of  their  finding  a  most 
 flattering  allusion  to  Mohammed  in  a  passage  which 
 more  than  any  other  marks  him  as  one  of  the  truest 
 types  of  Antichrist: — Mohammed  is  s^aid  to  be  the 
 Spirit  from  God  who  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ 
 appeared  in  the  flesh,  that  is,  as  a  mere  man,  and 
 not  as  God !  ^  * 
 
 11.  Having  seen  what  Mohammed  taught  con- 
 cerning Christ  and  what  he  borrowed  from  the  cano- 
 nical and  apocryphal  writings  of  the  New  Testament, 
 it  remains  yet  to  show,  what  sentiments  he  entertained 
 towards  Christians.  It  has  been  satisfactorily  proved, '  ^ 
 that  there  are  two  distinct  systems  of  teaching  in  the 
 Koran;  the  one  assuming  a  thoroughly  peaceful,  the 
 other  a  perfectly  inimical  relation  to  Judaism  and 
 Christianity,  as  well  as  to  all  pre-existing  creeds;  the 
 former  being  an  act  of  compromise  on  the  part  of  Mo- 
 hammed, the  latter,  a  violation  of  the  pacific  principle 
 
 '"  Mishcat-ul-Masabih ,  or  a  collection  of  the  most  authentic 
 traditions  regarding  Mohammed ;  from  the  Arabic  by  Capt.  A.  N. 
 Matthews,  Calcutta  1809.   Vol.  II.  pag-.  814. 
 
 ^ '    1  John  IV.  1—3. 
 
 '*  In  the  article  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Mohler:  "Ueber  das  Verhaltniss 
 des  Islam's  zum  Evangelium."    1839. 
 
208        WHAT  MOn.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY.     [I'aut  i. 
 
 just  laid  down,  inculcating  instead,  the  rankest  bigotry 
 and  cxclusiveness,  and  enforcing  a  sanguinary  system 
 of  propagandism.  Mohammed,  on  several  occasions 
 put  forth  the  following  statements:  that  it  evidences 
 a  spirit  of  pride  to  assume  that  only  one  religion  is 
 of  a  saving  character  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others, 
 such  an  assertion  implying  that  all  nations  were  not 
 equally  the  object  of  Divine  favour;  that  the  cause  of 
 the  existence  of  various  beliefs  must  be  sought  for 
 in  the  decrees  of  Allah,  and  that  it  will  only  be  dis- 
 covered in  the  world  to  come,  where  truth  alone  is 
 to  be  found;  and  he  adds,  that  it  was  sufficient  for 
 Jews,  Christians  and  Moslemin  to  live  in  accordance 
 with  the  laws  of  God,  respectively  revealed  to  them, 
 and  to  be  prepared  to  give  an  account  on  the  day  of 
 Judgment. 
 
 Mohammed  accuses  the  Christians  and  Jews'^  of 
 considering  themselves  exclusively  the  people  of  God, 
 whilst  they  might  easily  gather  from  the  judgments 
 which  had  fallen  upon  them,  that  they  were  no  better 
 than  other  peojjle.  It  would  have  been  easy  for  God 
 to  unite  all  men  in  one  religion,  but  as  he  did  other- 
 wise, it  naturally  followed  that  each  nation  would  be 
 judged  according  to  its  particular  religious  law;  and 
 that  it  would  be  better  for  all  nations  to  strive  to 
 excel  each  other  in  doinjx  ffood  than  for  unconditional 
 superiority.  All  would  return  to  God ,  who  would 
 explain  the  real   cause  of  their  differences.  ^*    From 
 
 ^•'  "Tlio  Jews  and  Christians  say,  we  are  the  children  of  God 
 and  his  beloved.  Answer,  why  tlierefore  doth  he  punish  you  for 
 your  sins."    Sur.  V.  21. 
 
 ^*    "Into  every  one  of  you  have  "we  given  a  law  and  an  open 
 
CHAP.Vl.]  OPINION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  209 
 
 these  premises  it  naturally  follows,  that  Jews  and 
 Christians  will  be  judged  according  to  the  law,  they 
 severally  possess;  the  Sabians  also  are  included  in 
 the  same  class  of  rehgionists,  who  need  fear  no  evil, 
 provided  only  they  believe  in  God,  the  last  day,  and 
 act  justly.  ^^  According  to  the  Koran  then,  the  plu- 
 rality of  creeds  has  its  origin  in  a  divine  decree,  and 
 each  party  has  a  right  to  prefer  his  own:  a  certain 
 delusion  on  the  subject  being  now  suffered  to  prevail, 
 which  will  be  removed  in  the  world  to  come. 
 
 These  views  however  being  not  only  modified, 
 but  actually  abrogated  by  other  passages,  we  cannot 
 possibly  determine  the  relation  between  Christianity 
 and  Islamism  through  any  conclusions  which  might 
 be  drawn  from  them.  There  are  numerous  passages 
 in  which  Christianity  is  totally  set  aside ,  and  which 
 assert  that  all  unbelievers  of  whatever  persuasion  are 
 to  be  destroyed:  ^^  no  league  is  to  be  made  with  the 
 
 path;  and  if  God  had  pleased,  he  had  surely  made  you  one  people, 
 but  he  hath  given  you  different  laws ,  that  he  might  try  you  in 
 that  which  he  hath  severally  given  you.  Therefore  strive  to  excel 
 each  other  in  good  works.  Unto  God  ye  sliall  return  and  then  will 
 he  declare  unto  you  concerning  which  ye  have  disagreed."  Sur. 
 V.  56. 
 
 15  "Yerily  they  who  believe,  and  the  Jews,  Sabians  and  Chris- 
 tians, whosoever  of  them  believeth  in  God  and  the  last  day,  and 
 doth  that  which  is  right,  there  shall  come  no  fear  on  them,  neither 
 shall  they  be  grieved."  Sur.  V.  73.  And  Sur.  XXIX.  46:  "Dispute 
 not  with  those  who  have  received  the  Scriptures  (\,j\.XXj*  tl^') 
 unless  in  the  mildest  manner,  except  against  such  as  behave  in- 
 juriously, say:  we  believe  in  the  revelation,  sent  down  unto  us  and 
 unto  you;  our  God  and  your  God  is  one,  and  unto  him  we  are 
 resigned." 
 
 ^^  "Kill  the  associating  ones  (Pagans  and  Christians)  where- 
 ever  you  find  them."    Sur.  IX.  5. 
 
 0 
 
210       WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY.       [part  I. 
 
 Scripturalists  and  unbelievers.  The  question  there- 
 fore is,  which  of  these  two  antagonistic  views  expresses 
 Mohammed's  real  meaning;  incompatible  as  they  are, 
 they  yet  claim  some  attention  fi-om  us,  for  even  in 
 contradictions  an  internal  connection  may  often  be 
 discovered,  by  which  they  may  be  rendered  intelligible. 
 Certain  Arabian  Theologians  maintain,  that  the  majo- 
 rity of  passages  is  to  determine  the  real  views  of 
 Mohammed;  and  as  those  occur  more  frequently,  which 
 equalize  all  religions,  they  declare  that  Judaism, 
 Christianity  and  Islamism  differ  only  in  external  laws 
 and  ceremonies!  As  this  oj^inion  however  assumes 
 that  Mohammed's  real  views  may  be  obtained  by  a 
 mere  casting  up  of  numbers ,  others  j^refer  to  ascer- 
 tain which  were  the  prophet's  views  in  the  latter  part 
 of  his  life,  judging  those  to  be  the  most  orthodox; 
 and  this  is  certainly  the  more  rational  method  of 
 solving  the  difficulty.'^  As  the  dates  of  the 
 respective  Suras  cannot  be  positively  determined, 
 some  of  the  Christian  apologists  aver,  that  so  long 
 as  INIohammed  was  in  straitened  circumstances,  he 
 feigned  the  greatest  reverence  for  the  Jewish  and 
 Christian  religion,  but  as  soon  as  his  power  became 
 established,  and  his  cause  free  from  danger,  he  enun- 
 ciated those  mandates  which  condemn  all  other  creeds 
 and  supplant  his  own. 
 
 Had  Mohammed /i'o^/i  the  heginnirtg  been  a  con- 
 summate and  ambitious  impostor,  this  reasoning  would 
 
 "  "9Unil  .flafam  S;>ahAi  SKla  bcmcrft  in  tiofcm  Siiuic  C[m\  h\x\,  buvdB 
 (Sura  IX.  5.  fcieii  124  anbcrc  ^Bctfc  t'ci^  (ioran  cntfvdftet  U'tnicn."  SlioHcr'i^ 
 fflefanimeUe  Scf^tifteu  pag.  3t)5. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  OPINION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  211 
 
 be  completely  convincing,  but  as  we  have  shown 
 that  he  set  out  with  honest  intentions,  we  must 
 attribute  the  contradictions  in  the  Koran  to  his  va- 
 cillating state  of  mind  at  different  periods  of  his  life. 
 The  Arab  prophet,  at  first,  directed  his  attention 
 solely  to  national  objects,  seeking  to  establish  for  his 
 countrymen  a  iiationaJ Deism;  he  therefore  only  tole- 
 rated  Christianity,  as  a  religion  not  unsuitable  to  other 
 nations;  but,  carried  away  by  enthusiasm  on  meetinor 
 with  unexpected  success,  his  views  enlarged  beyond 
 his  own  city,  tribe  and  nation,  and  he  began  at  length 
 to  entertain  the  idea  that  Monotheism  must  of  ne- 
 cessity, be  therehgion  of  the  whole  world.  ^'^  Embrac- 
 ing the  doctrine  of  the  divine  Unity  as  distinctly  as 
 jMohammed  ultimately  did,  he  was  led  to  change  his 
 position  from  a  national,  to  that  of  a  universal  prophet, 
 and  having  comprehended  this  new  and  enlarged 
 scheme,  he  felt  that  Christianity  could  no  longer  be 
 co-ordinate  with  his  own  creed,  but  must  necessarily 
 take  a  subordinate  relation  to  Islamism.  ^^ 
 
 In  accordance  with  all  national  creeds,  Moham- 
 med mixed  political  elements  to  such  an  extent  with 
 his  system  of  belief,  that  national  and  religious  in- 
 stitutions became  scarcely  distinguishable;  and  as  in 
 most  national  creeds  there  is  but  one  head  for  both 
 
 '^  In  describing  tlie  process  by  which  Mohammed's  future 
 system  was  developed,  we  merely  illustrate  a  well  known  psycho- 
 logical law,  that  the  speculations  regarding  a  future  project  begin 
 with  broad  generalities  and  gradually  take  a  more  concise  view. 
 
 ^^  M.  was  an  idolater  up  to  the  40*'^  year  of  his  age.  The 
 religion  of  his  nation  was  a  mixture  of  Monotheism  and  idolatry 
 and  it  was  not  without  many  a  hard  struggle,  that  he  confessed 
 the  unity  of  the  Godhead  as  clearly  as  he  does  in  the  Koran. 
 
 0* 
 
212        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,      [part  I. 
 
 religion  and  state,  so  he  made  himself  at  once,  the 
 executive  of  spiritual  smd  civil  ^ower.^^  Again,  the 
 fact  that  Islamism  was  spread  by  the  sword,  can  only 
 be  explained  by  its  being  of  a  national  character, 
 mixing  religion  with  politics;  as  these  were  not  kept 
 distinct,  internal  conviction  by  argument  was  super- 
 seded by  external  force.  Hence  to  submit  to  Moham- 
 med's  jDolitical  power,  was  equivalent  to  acknowled- 
 ging him  as  a  prophet;  and  when  his  religion  be- 
 came universal,  his  monarchy  assumed  the  like  pre- 
 tensions, war  being  proclaimed  against  all  states  as 
 well  as  against  every  other  system  of  belief.  Thus 
 the  Mohammedans  in  passing  over  the  fi-ontier  of 
 the  Peninsula  to  propagate  their  religion,  with  it,  in- 
 variably imposed  their  national  manners  and  customs 
 upon  the  conquered  and  converted  nations,  destroying 
 their  national  jDCCuliaritics.^^  Christianity  on  the 
 contrary,  when  it  passed  the  boundaries  of  Palestine, 
 appeared  at  once  as  a  universal  religion,  throM'ing 
 off  its  national  character  and  leaving  its  Jewish  rites 
 behind.  ^^ 
 
 ^°    In  this  double  capacity  he  ajipealed  for  a  precedent  to  Moses. 
 
 ®^  The  rite  of  circumcision,  fasting  in  the  manner  required, 
 being  in  many  places,  e.g.  the  polar  regions,  impracticable,  and  the 
 Hadj  to  Mecca  are  all  proofs  that  Islamism  was  calculated  to  be 
 only  a  national  religion. 
 
 ®^  It  started  as  the  religion  of  Spirit  and  truth,  and  claimed  to 
 be  universal.  Depending  on  its  own  spiritual  power,  it  permitted 
 the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  to  stand ,  leaving  the  national  peculiar 
 characteristics  undestroycd,  only  refining  ami  ])iirifving  them.  Christ 
 being  Himself  the  Truth,  had  not  to  work  out  His  way  by  experi- 
 ments like  fallible  men,  but  saw  the  whole  scope  and  object  of  His 
 divine  mission  from  the  beginning;  M.  on  the  contrary,  began  not 
 knowing  where  he  was  to  end;  Mohler  pag.  375.  he  fell  into  mis- 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  OPINION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  213 
 
 Another  proof  of  the  exchisively  national  charac- 
 ter of  Islamism,  is  founded  in  its  pecuHar  system  of 
 ethics  and  moraUty;  universal  philanthropy  is  not  in- 
 culcated in  the  Koran ;  love  or  charity  in  its  widest 
 sense,  is  among  Moslcmin,  strictly  circumscribed  to 
 their  own  community,  their  prophet  having  utterly 
 ignored  the  law  of  universal  kindness.®^  Again,  the 
 national  custom  of  the  "lextalionis,"  and  the  institution 
 of  polygamy  with  power  to  divorce  at  pleasure ,  in- 
 volve principles,  totally  adverse  to  the  spirit  of  a  uni- 
 versal religion.  In  Mohammed's  personal  life,  those 
 moral  requisitions  only  were  fulfilled,  which  would 
 answer  to  a  prophet  of  Arabia;  for  although  he  must 
 be  condemned  as  a  false  prophet,  if  brought  before 
 the  tribunal  of  pure  ethics,  yet  according  to  the  ethics 
 of  Arabia,  his  very  faults  would  be  deemed  virtues,*^* 
 thus  it  becomes  intelligible  why  his  claims  to  the 
 dignity  of  a  prophet  were  not  rejected,  notwithstand- 
 ing those  flagrant  immoralities,  which  the  Koran 
 records  to  his  shame. 
 
 Lastly,  it  does  not  appear  from  Mohammed's  per- 
 sonal history,  that  he  originally  desired  to  establish 
 a  catholic  religion;   for  it  will  be  remembered  that 
 
 takes  and  was  driven  from  one  extreme  to  the  other  j  without  after 
 all  finding  the  truth. 
 
 ^^  The  fact  that  Moslemin  are  the  chief  promoters  of  slavery 
 and  that  from  among  them,  no  voice  was  ever  raised  against  it, 
 proves  that  thej  do  not  recognise  the  common  brotherhood  of  the 
 human  race. 
 
 ^^  Mankind  first  became  acquainted  with  pure  ethics  through 
 the  only  perfect  character  of  Christ ,  in  whom,  the  ideal  of  a  spot- 
 less morality  is  represented  to  the  world  at  large ;  since  as  the  Son 
 of  man  He  belonged  to  the  whole  of  mankind,  and  not  to  any  one 
 nation  in  particular. 
 
214        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY.      [PART  I. 
 
 a  few  years  after  he  had  asserted  his  pretensions  as 
 a  prophet,  a  number  of  his  followers  were  obhged  to 
 flee  to  Abyssinia,  when  it  would  naturally  be  expec- 
 ted that,  —  like  the  primitive  Christians,  who  under 
 similar  circumstances  were  driven  from  Jerusalem  — 
 the  persecuted  Moslemin  would  be  zealous  in  pro- 
 pagating their  faith;  but  as  no  effort  of  the  kind  was 
 then  made,  we  may  infer  that  Mohanmied  had  7iot 
 yet  given  injunctions  to  his  followers  to  proselytize 
 among  foreigners.®^  It  was  not  till  the  twentieth  year 
 of  his  Mission  that  we  discover  any  trace  of  Moham- 
 med's enlarged  plans,  when  he  sent  those  embassies 
 to  foreign  potentates,  to  which  we  have  previously 
 adverted. 
 
 Thus  we  see  that  Mohammed  did  not  originally 
 intend  framing  a  religion  for  all  nations,  and  there- 
 fore looked  so  favourably  upon  Christianity  that  he 
 even  received  his  Jirst  converts  by  the  rite  baptism, 
 which  mode  of  admission,  he  subsequently  discon- 
 tinued. Most  of  the  distinctive  features  of  the  Mos- 
 lem ceremonial,  date  as  we  have  seen,  from  the  lat- 
 ter years  of  the  Arab  prophet;  the  same  may  be  said 
 of  the  most  prominent  doctrines  of  his  new  creed.®* 
 
 *^  Very  different  was  the  conduct  ofKatris,  an  officer  of  rank, 
 when  obliged  to  leave  Arabia  after  the  death  of  M.  Scarcely  had 
 the  ruler  of  Mazenderani  assured  the  refugee  of  his  protection, 
 than  the  latter  boldly  desired  his  jjrotector,  either  to  confess  Islamism, 
 or  to  pay  tribute.    Mohler  pag.  380. 
 
 **''  When  Assad  of  Yathrab  asked  M.  before  his  flight ,  in  what 
 his  religion  consisted ,  M.  replied ,  that  he  taught  men  to  worship 
 one  God,  to  requite  kindness  to  parents,  not  to  kill  children  nor 
 any  other  person ,  to  shun  every  crime .  not  to  touch  the  goods  of 
 orphans  and  to  keep  promises.  M.  added  no  more  and  Assad  at 
 once  acknowledged  him  as  a  prophet.    Mohler  pag.  382. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  HOSTILITY  AGAINST  CHRISTIANS.  215 
 
 During  its  early  stages,  Mohammed  savs'  no  reason 
 to  exalt  Islamisni  above  Christianity,  but  when  he 
 ultimately  adopted  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
 ment and  asserted,  that  only  those,  for  whom  he 
 should  intercede  with  God,  could  obtain  remission 
 of  sins,  and  that  none  who  believe  in  Mohammed 
 could  be  absolutelv  condemned,  then  it  became  ne- 
 cessary  to  subordinate  Christianity  to  Islamisni.  ^  ^  As 
 soon  as  he  claimed  to  be  the  only  mediator  between 
 God  and  man,  he  was  compelled  to  make  his  creed 
 universal  and  to  deny  all  further  authority  to  Chris- 
 tianity: those  passages  therefore  which  declare  it 
 to  be  of  equal  authority  with  Islamism,  refer  to  that 
 period  of  Mohammed's  life ,  when  he  was  as  yet  un- 
 decided as  to  his  own  influence  and  the  full  extent 
 of  his  alleged  Mission;  those  which  annul  Christianity 
 and  every  other  creed,  belong  to  the  more  matured 
 form  of  his  system.®^ 
 
 12.  Christians  then  being  considered  infidels  or 
 KafiFers,  as  such,  are  to  be  shunned,  or  fought 
 against  to  the  death.  "Fight  against  them"  is  the 
 divine  command  "until  there  be  no  more  opposition, 
 and  the  religion  be  wholly  God's. "^^    When  philo- 
 
 '^^  It  became  then  a  principle:  "La  foi  et  I'lslaniism  sont  une 
 seule  et  menie  chose."    M.  d'Ohsson  I.  54, 
 
 ^^  When  M.  felt  persuaded  that  his  external  position  was  more 
 exalted  than  that  of  the  Founder  of  the  Church  of  God,  he  foolishly, 
 though  quite  logically  asserted ,  that  the  internal  worth  of  his 
 tidings  was  likewise  of  far  greater  value,  and  therefore  that  Chris- 
 tianity ought  to  make  way  for  Islamism. 
 
 »^  Sur.  Vm.  3.  9.  47.  IL  216.  IIL  82.  XLVIIL  29.  Still  more 
 hostile:  XLVU.  4:  "When  ye  encounter  the  unbelievers,  strike  off 
 their  heads  until  ye  have  made  a  great  slaughter  amongst  them, 
 and  bind  them  in  bonds."   See  also  IX.  4.  6. 
 
216        WHAT  MOH.  BORROWED  FROM  CHRISTIANITY,     [pakt  I. 
 
 Mohammedan  writers  endeavour  to  modify  these  fierce 
 denunciations  of  the  Koran ,  alleging  that  they  were 
 intended  to  be  humane  and  temporary,  we  can  only 
 reply  that  such  an  explanation  is  opposed  to  the  en- 
 tire spirit  of  Islamism,  and  has  at  least  never  yet 
 been  carried  out.  ^"^    The  same  spirit  of  hatred  to 
 Christians    and   their  religion,    which   inspired   the 
 author  of  Islamism  and  those  })ropagators  who  im- 
 mediately succeeded  him,  has  been  transmitted  with 
 all  its  pristine  zeal  and  fanaticism  to  the  present 
 generation  of  Moslemin.     Scarcely  a  month  passes 
 in    which    some    outrages,    against   the   followers  of 
 Christ,   are  not  recorded  in  the  public  journals   of 
 Christian  Europe;  and  the  greater  part  of  the  cruel- 
 ties and  barbarities  which  are  committed  against  our 
 brethren,  never  reach  the  ear  of  their  fellow-christians 
 who  live  under  European  protection.    Those  conces- 
 sions and  mitigations  which  Christians  of  the  Turkish 
 Empire  have  in  later  times  acquired,  have  only  been 
 wrung  from  the  Porte  by  the  influence  of  Christian 
 powers. 
 
 If  any  doubt  had  remained  as  to  the  sentiments 
 of  Mohammedans  towards  Christians,  the  recent  oc- 
 currences in  India,  Arabia,  Syria  and  ^lorocco  must 
 have  removed  it  for  ever.  Lest  it  should  however 
 be  thought  that  the  Indian  Sepoys  simply  strove  to 
 recover  their  national  freedom,  and  as  patriots  were 
 carried  beyond  the  point  of  a  just  resistance  against 
 foreign  oppression,  let  us  notice  a  few  passages  from 
 
 ^^   Tychsen:  Com.  soc.  rcg.  Gott.  torn.  XV.  pag.  156.  may  here 
 be  consulted. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]       MUTILATION  OF  CHRISTIANS  ENJOINED.  217 
 
 the  Koran,  from  which  it  will  appear,  that  they  simply 
 carried  out  its  precepts  when  perpetrating  the  most 
 barbarous  atrocities  ever  recorded  in  the  annals  of 
 rebellion  or  Avarfare.  "But  the  recompence  of  those, 
 who  fight  against  God  and  his  apostle  and  study  to 
 act  corruptly  in  the  earth,  shall  be,  that  they  shall 
 be  slain,  or  criicijied,  or  have  their  hands  and  their 
 feet  cut  off  on  the  opposite  sides ,  or  be  banished  the 
 land.  This  shall  be  their  disgrace  in  this  world,  and 
 in  the  next  world  they  shall  suffer  a  grievous  punish- 
 ment."^* Again:  "I  will  cut  o^' your  hands  and  your 
 feet  on  the  opposite  sides,  and  I  will  crucify  you 
 alh"^^  Again:  "I  w^ill  cast  a  dread  into  the  hearts 
 of  the  unbelievers.  Therefore  strike  off  their  heads 
 and  strike  off  all  the  ends  of  their  fingers.  This  shall 
 they  suflPer,  because  they  resisted  God  and  his  aj^ostle, 
 verily  God  will  be  severe  in  punishing.  This  is  your 
 part,  taste  it  therefore;  and  the  infidels  shall  also 
 suffer  the  torment  of  hell  fire."®^  In  various  parts 
 of  the  Koran,  war  is  enjoined  against  all  non-Mosle- 
 mites  or  Kaffers;^*  but  what  w^e  now  wish  to  estab- 
 lish is  this,  that  the  book  in  question  taught  and 
 commanded  those  very  atrocities  which  were  com- 
 mitted against  Christians  in  the  recent  rebellion  in 
 
 ^1  Sur.  V.  38.  Again  Sur.  VH.  121.  "Then  I  will  cause  your 
 hands  and  feet  to  be  cut  off,  and  after  that  make  you  all  to  be 
 crucified." 
 
 *'  Sur.  XXVI.  49.  This  passage  does  not  refer  to  the  Chris- 
 tians directly,  but  it  indicates,  whence  the  Sepoys  gained  instruction 
 in  the  diabolical  art  of  torturing. 
 
 ^^  Sur.  YIII.  12.  Unbelievers  are  not  to  be  made  friends  of,  nor 
 to  be  taken  as  allies.    Sur.  IV.  143.  V.  62. 
 
 ^*   See  the  entire  Sura,  VIII.  especially  40.  57.  60—62.  66. 
 
218  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAmSM.  [part  i. 
 
 India. ^^  Nor  is  it  probable,  that  the  history  of  the 
 original  spread  of  Islamism  and  its  marvellous  suc- 
 cesses, after  the  death  of  its  founder,  Mill  aflford  us 
 more  favourable  impressions  touching  the  spirit  of 
 this  terrible  and  wide-spread  scourge. 
 
 CHAPTER  VII 
 
 SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM. 
 
 "Loose  the  four  angels  which  are  bound  in  the  great  river  Euphra- 
 tes; and  the  four  angels  were  loosed,  which  were  prepared  for 
 an  hour,  and  a  day,  and  a  month  and  a  year  for  to  slay  the  third 
 part  of  men.  And  the  number  of  the  army  of  the  horsemen  were 
 two  mi/riads  of  myriads:  and  I  heard  tlie  number  of  them." 
 Rev.  IX.  14— 21. 
 
 The  rapidity  of  the  spread  of  Mahommed's  creed 
 is,  in  the  annals  of  propagandism,  without  parallel. 
 In  the  twenty-first  year  of  the  Hedgra,  the  crescent 
 floated  over  an  extent  of  territorv  as  wide  as  that  of 
 the  Roman  eagle;  and  the  Saracen  empire  may  be 
 said  to  have  extended  its  dominion  over  more  king- 
 doms and  countries  in  eighty  years  than  the  Roman, 
 
 ^*  Were  the  celebrated  " Testanientum  et  pactiones  inter  Moham- 
 medem  et  Christianae  fidei  mltores"  (Paris  1630  and  JTanib.  1690) 
 a  mni'ine  document,  which  it  is  not,' — it  would  only  be  a  "snare 
 and  delusion"  after  the  above  teaching  of  the  Koran.  Compare 
 Reland:  Diss,  de  jure  militari  Mohammedanorum  contra  Christianos 
 bollum  geventium;^  Institutioncs  juris  Mohamniedani  circa  bellum 
 contra  cos,  qui  ab  Islamo  sunt  alioni.  ed.  Kosenmiiller,  Lips.  1825. 
 The  Turks  now  com])lain  that  Jeddah  was  bombarded  for  having 
 simply  fulfilled  the  jirecepts  of  the  Koran. 
 
CHAP.  VII.] 
 
 IN  ARABIA.  219 
 
 in  800.^^  In  Syria,  Palestine,  Egypt,  Asia  Minor, 
 North-Africa  and  other  countries,  the  Koran  was  in- 
 troduced at  the  point  of  the  sword.  Thence  its  con- 
 tents were  promulgated  eastward  to  the  frontiers  of 
 India  and  China;  westward  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlan- 
 tic ocean ;  and  northward  to  the  banks  of  the  Oxus 
 and  Jaxartes,  reaching  to  the  fi'ozen  borders  of  the 
 Caspian  Sea,  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time. 
 
 1.  In  twelve  years  the  whole  of  Arabia  had  em- 
 braced Islamism;  there  was  indeed  some  opposition 
 yet  to  overcome,  but  the  chief  work  was  accomplished. 
 The  Koreishites,  who  at  one  time  contemplated  re- 
 turning to  the  religion  of  their  ancestors,  were  dis- 
 suaded by  Sohael;  ^'  and  the  rest  of  the  discontented 
 Arabs,  who  had  been  tempted  to  rebellion  by  the 
 rival  prophet  Moseilama,  and  roused  by  the  recollec- 
 tion of  that  much-loved  independance  which  now 
 seemed  lost  for  ever,  were  speedily  subjected  by  the 
 sword  of  the  ferocious  Khaled.  With  a  view  to  di- 
 vert the  minds  of  the  people,  Abubeker,  the  first 
 Kahph,  declared  war  against  all  nations,  especially 
 against  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople  and  the  "great 
 
 '•'^  "SBic  eine  ver5e()reiibe  ('<(amiiu  brad)  X^i^^M)  bie  neuc  (iUauBcu^form 
 iiiit  un>viberfie{)lirf)er,  9(((c£i  i^ernid^teiicor  @eiva(t  Ijervn^r  au^  ben  SCiiftcu 
 Slraticng,  itnb  in  jedenfad)  cierinc^erer  3«'tt,  aU  bie  OJinnet  ^^orbem  ^nt  5hif; 
 ririitnnci  tdreg  9BeUreid^eg  hcinxft  liattcn,  ivarcn  bie  i^olfcr  von  bcr  cfiinffis 
 fc^cn  2)iauer  bie  jn  ben  Sdulen  bet^  ^crfu(et^,  v^om  C^afpifriien  Sieerc  bio  jnm 
 9ligeic  bcr  J^errfrfrnft  be^  Setam  ober  borfi  ber  ®cnmlt  feiner  a3efenner  unter; 
 irorfen,"  5)>rpf.  !I:o(linc|er\^  '-gKufiammeb'g  9ieligion",  pag.  5.  Ockley,  Hist. 
 of  the  Sarac.  Vol.  I.  pag.  315. 
 
 ^^  Sohael  addressed  them  in  these  words:  "Ye  men  of  Mecca, 
 will  ye  be  the  last  to  embrace  Islamism,  and  the  iirst  to  aban- 
 don it?" 
 
220  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMSM.  [part  I. 
 
 king  of  Persia ,"  at  that  time  the  two  most  powerful 
 monarchs  of  the  East. 
 
 Abubeker  pubhshed  a  proclamation  to  the  Arab 
 tribes,  encouraging  them  to  join  the  army  which  he 
 proposed  sending  to  S}Tia,  to  fi'ee  that  country  from 
 infidel  dominion.^®  Accompanying  the  assembled 
 host  on  foot  for  a  considerable  distance  from  Medina, 
 the  Kaliph  gave  them  a  few  parting  injunctions®^ 
 and  dismissed  them  with  his  blessing.  The  assault 
 was  impetuous,  but  Sergius  the  Byzantine  commander 
 resolutely  maintained  his  ground  in  Syria,  till  the 
 country  was  opened  to  the  Arabs  by  the  conquest  of 
 Bostra.  Another  division  of  Greek  troops  was  con- 
 quered near  Gaza,  and  amidst  the  treachery  and  in- 
 ability of  the  Greek  generals ,  the  cowardice  of  the 
 soldiers  and  the  discontent  of  the  inhabitants,  the 
 Moslem  army  made  rapid  progress  in  the  conquest 
 of  the  country.  During  this  expedition  Abubeker 
 died,  and  Omar  who  was  with  the  army,  was  no- 
 minated his  successor.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  the 
 conquest  of  Damascus,  in  after  ages,  one  of  the  three 
 
 ^^  "In  the  name  of  the  most  merciful  God,  to  the  rest  of  the 
 true  believers :  peace  and  happiness ,  grace  and  blessing  from  God 
 upon  you.  I  laud  the  Most  High  God,  and  prav  for  his  prophet 
 Mohammed.  It  is  known  to  you  tliat  I  intend  sending  the  true  be- 
 lievers to  Syria  to  take  that  land  from  the  hands  of  the  unbelievers, 
 and  I  make  known  to  you  that  it  is  an  act  of  obedience  to  God  to 
 fight  for  religion." 
 
 ^^  "Keep  yourselves  from  injustice  and  oppression,  said  he  to  his 
 generals,  in  conducting  the  battles  of  the  Lord;  fight  like  men 
 without  wavering,  but  defile  not  the  victory  by  the  blood  of  women 
 and  children.  Destroy  no  palm-tree,  burn  no  corn-fields ;  what  ye 
 have  promised  keep  faitlifully;  spare  all  except  the  shorn  crowns, 
 (the  monks)  for  they  belong  to  the  kingdom  of  Satan." 
 
CHAP.  VII.]  IN  STRIA  AND  PALESTINE.  221 
 
 holy  cities  of  the  Mohammedans.  But  the  battle  which 
 decided  the  fate  of  Spia,  was  fought  near  the  lake  of 
 Genezareth,  whilst  Khaled  shouted  to  his  soldiers, 
 "Paradise  is  before,  and  death  and  hell  are  behind 
 you!"  Three  times  the  Arabs  gave  way  before  the 
 enemy,  and  three  times  they  were  driven  back  into 
 the  fight  amidst  the  reproaches  and  castigations  of 
 their  wives,  who,  being  armed  with  bows  and  arrows, 
 fought  in  the  rear  with  desperate  courage;  and  the 
 result  was  the  utter  defeat  of  the  Byzantine  army.  ^ 
 
 Jerusalem  capitulated  upon  easy  terms ,  yielding 
 her  neck  to  the  yoke  of  Mohammedan  tyranny  which 
 she  has  born  to  the  present  hour;  and  Omar,  whose 
 name  has  been  handed  down  by  a  Mosque,  called 
 after  him,  and  built  upon  the  very  site  of  the  ancient 
 temple  of  Jehovah,  entered  the  holy  city,  riding  on 
 a  camel  in  mean  attire,  a  wooden  drinking-vessel 
 being  fastened  to  his  side,  a  bag  of  dates  before  and 
 one  of  barley  behind  him:  such  was  the  stern  simph- 
 city  of  the  first  Kaliphs;  such  also  the  just  retribu- 
 tion upon  the  sacred  city  of  the  Jews,  whose  corrupt 
 teaching  had  furnished  the  false  prophet  with  so  large 
 an  amount  of  error  in  the  compilation  of  the  Koran ! 
 
 2.  From  Jerusalem,  Omar  wrote  to  J.mn(,  one  ol 
 his  generals,  who  was  on  his  way  to  Egypt,  that  if 
 still  in  Syria,  he  should  return  at  once  on  the  receipt 
 of  the  letter,  but  if  he  had  crossed  the  boundary  he 
 
 *  The  proclamation  of  the  Moslem  army  was  to  this  effect: 
 "150,000  enemies  are  killed,  40,000  are  made  prisoners,  and  of 
 the  faithful  4030  have  perished ,  to  whom  God  had  decreed  the 
 honour  of  martyrdom.  Allah  has  made  us  the  lords  of  their  country, 
 their  riches  and  their  children." 
 
222  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 slioiild  proceed  depending  on  the  help  of  Allah  and 
 his  brethren.  Amrii  received  this  epistle  whilst  en- 
 camping near  Gaza,  but  in  spite  of  its  contents,  pro- 
 ceeded towards  Egypt  until  the  tents  were  fairly 
 pitched  beyond  the  boundary  of  Palestine,  when,  col- 
 lecting his  officers,  he  inquired  the  name  of  the  sta- 
 tion and  reading  his  instructions  aloud  to  them,  added 
 that  he  was  ready  to  comply  with  the  commands  of 
 Omar.  After  a  siege  of  thirty  days,  the  army  carried 
 Pelusium,  the  key  of  Egypt.  Amru  then  marched 
 against  the  m\Q\G\\t  Memjyhis,  and  after  a  seven  months 
 siege,  the  Moslem  army  stormed  BalniJon  which  was 
 situated  in  the  suburbs  of  Memphis.  Bnhop  Ben- 
 jamin submitted  to  the  invaders  with  the  whole  com- 
 munity of  the  Coptic  Church,  and  paying  poll-tax, 
 secured  to  themselves  their  property  and  liberty  of 
 conscience.  Alexandria  was  most  bravely  defended 
 during  fourteen  months  by  the  Melchites,  but  the 
 noble  city  surrendered  A.  D.  640  after  23,000  Arabs 
 had  fallen  before  her  walls.  Amru  was  made  prisoner, 
 but  owing  to  an  artifice  of  his  slave  was  not  recognised 
 and  so  escaped. 
 
 Upon  the  fall  of  Alexandria,  Amru  wrote  to  Omar 
 his  master:  "I  have  conquered  the  great  city  of  the 
 West;  it  is  impossible  to  specify  its  manifold  riches, 
 and  I  must  be  satisfied  to  mention,  that  it  contains 
 4000  palaces,  4000  baths,  400  places  of  pleasure 
 and  amusement  12,000  shops,  selling  victuals,  and 
 40,000  Jews  paying  tribute."  When  the  general 
 asked  Omar,  at  the  request  of  the  philosopher,  John 
 PhilojDonus,  whether  he  would  consent  to  his  sjjaring 
 
CHAP.  VII.]  IN  EGYPT  AND  NORTH-AFRICA.  223 
 
 the  Library,  the  Kaliph  is  said  to  have  replied,  "If 
 the  books  of  the  Greeks  agree  with  the  Koran,  then 
 they  are  superfluous  and  need  not  be  preserved,  if 
 not,  they  are  dangerous  and  must  be  destroyed."^ 
 The  conquest  of  northern  Africa  wsls  fairly  com- 
 menced by  Amru.  In  Cyrenaica  or  Cyrene,  and  in- 
 deed on  the  whole  of  the  southern  shores  of  the 
 Mediterranean  sea,  the  Arabs  met  with  but  little  re- 
 sistance, for  recognising  in  the  inhabitants,  people 
 of  the  same  stock,  the  introduction  of  the  religion 
 and  power  of  the  Saracens,  was  greatly  facilitated. 
 Amru  sent  an  embassy  of  the  natives  to  Omar  who 
 received  them  kindly  and  acknowledged  them  as 
 brethren. 
 
 Nor  was  the  scheme  of  subjugating  Persia  aban- 
 doned by  the  successors  of  Mohammed;  whilst  Amrii. 
 was  engaged  in  the  West  of  Arabia,  Khaled  turned 
 to  the  East  and  made  fearful  progress ;  Omar  however 
 did  not  live  to  see  the  result  of  the  enterprise  as  re- 
 gards Persia  itself,  being  assassinated  by  a  Persian 
 in  a  mosque  at  Medina,  A.  D.  644.^    At  this  period 
 
 ^  This  cruel  less  of  some  of  the  best  treasures  of  the  world  by 
 Moslem  fanaticism  cannot  be  suiBciently  deplored ;  especially  as 
 regards  Manuscripts  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  writings  of  the 
 early  Church.  It  is  not  however  likely  that  much  was  left  of  the 
 celebrated  Library  of  the  Ptolemys.  The  400,000  volumes  in  the 
 Museum  in  that  part  of  the  city,  called  Bruchion  ,  were  burned 
 when  Julius  Caesar  besieged  Alexandria,  but  this  loss  was  partially 
 restored  by  Antoninus,  who  presented  Cleopatra  with  a  library  of 
 parchment.  The  300,000  vols  in  the  temple  of  Serapion,  were  de- 
 stroyed in  the  4"^  century  under  the  Emperor  Thcodosius,  when  a 
 fanatical  mob  of  Christians  stormed  the  temple. 
 
 ^  During  his  Kaliphate  the  foundation  of  the  Saracen  empire 
 was  laid  upon  a  broad  basis:  36,000  cities,  were  taken  and  4000 
 churches  and  temples  destroyed! 
 
224  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMSM.  [parti. 
 
 innumerable  Christians  apostatised,  many  from  fear, 
 others  from  ignorance  and  some  embraced  Ishimism 
 voluntarily;*  those  who  remained  faithful  were  ex- 
 posed to  shame  and  persecution.  When  Khaled  en- 
 tered Persia  he  said  to  his  warriors,  "If  we  wished 
 not  to  fioht  for  the  cause  of  God,  and  were  only  bent 
 upon  seeking  our  own  interest,  we  should  still  be 
 anxious  to  conquer  these  provinces,  leaving  distress 
 and  hunger  henceforth  to  others."'  Irak  or  Aif.vjria 
 was  subdued  and  plundered,  Bussora  occupied,  the 
 Euphrates  together  with  the  Gulph  of  Persia  fell  into 
 the  hands  of  the  Arabs;  Ktesijjhon  or  INIadani  with 
 Faristan ,  whither  the  king  of  Persia  had  fled ,  were 
 placed  under  Saracen  domination.^ 
 
 3.  The  successor  of  Omar  was  the  weak  and 
 aged  Othomai} ,  but  his  career  was  cut  short  being 
 assassinated  soon  after  his  accession  to  the  Kaliphate. 
 The  Ommmjades,  who  were  the  chief  promoters  of 
 the  rebellion  and  the  murder  of  theKaliph,  being 
 headed  hy  Moavyia  or  Movia,  now  accused  ^1/i  of  the 
 crime.  In  spite  of  this  accusation  Ali  was  appointed 
 to  the  Kaliphate,''  but  is  said  to  have  accejDted  it 
 with  reluctance,  doubtless  fearing  so  powerful  a  rival 
 
 *  Tlie  Christian  writer  Elmacin  states:  that  there  was  also  a 
 Toluntary  influx  of  Pagans,  Magians,  Jews  and  Christians. 
 
 ■'  Taberistanensis  Annales  reguni  atque  legatorum  Dei.  (Ed. 
 Kosegartcn,  Gryphisvald    1833.)    II.  p.  25. 
 
 ^  In  Ktesiphon  a  booty  was  raised  which  has  been  estimated 
 by  Arab  historians  to  have  amounted  to  some  3000  millions  of  pure 
 metal.      This  naturally  kindled  the  zeal  of  Moslem  jjropagandisni. 
 
 ^  Three  times  he  had  been  passed  over,  and  even  now  Ayesha 
 sought  to  prevent  his  election. 
 
CHAP.  VII.]  IN  PERSIA.  SICILY  AND  AFRICA.  225 
 
 asMovia,  The  latter,  who  happened  to  have  Ayesha's 
 influence  on  his  side,  took  possession  of  most  of  the 
 Persian  provinces,  but  notwithstanding  he  was  com- 
 pletely defeated  in  a  fearfulbattle  with  Ali,  —  in  which 
 Ayesha  was  made  prisoner,  and  magnanimously  given 
 up, — INfovia  gained  the  ascendency,  and  was  made 
 Kaliph  though  destitute  of  all  claim  to  the  dignity. 
 Ali  was  assassinated  at  Kufa,  and  his  eldest  son, 
 Hassan  died  of  poison  atlNIedina,  given  to  him  by  his 
 own  \\ife  at  the  instigation  ofMovia;*  not  long  after, 
 his  brother  Hossein  also  fell  before  his  enemy,  being- 
 pierced  with  three  and  thirty  wounds.  But  neither 
 the  fame ,  nor  yet  the  house  of  Ali  was  extinguished 
 by  the  death  of  his  two  sons;  for  although  the  Ome- 
 yades  were  victorious  for  the  time  and  numbered  four- 
 teen rulers,  many  of  the  faithful  were  attached  to  the 
 original  line  of  succession.  Amongst  those  who  ac- 
 knowledge Ali ,  as  the  legitimate  successor  of  the 
 prophet,  the  Persians  stand  foremost,  and  we  notice 
 it  as  one  of  the  chief  points  of  difference  between 
 the  Shiites  and  Sonnites. 
 
 To  avoid  needlessly  wearying  the  reader  with  de- 
 tails of  horror  and  bloodshed,  connected  with  the 
 further  propagation  of  Islamism,  we  hasten  to  its  in- 
 troduction into  Europe.  It  was  during  the  twenty 
 years  reign  of  Movia,  the  usurper,  that  Sicily  was 
 completely  subdued,  and  Constantinople  endured  one 
 of  its  long  and  heavy  sieges;  but  the  hostile  fleet  of 
 
 ®  Hossein  his  brother  swore  to  revenge  his  death,  but  the  dying 
 man  replied,  "0  brother,  life  in  this  world  consists  only  of  transitory 
 nights,  let  him  go  till  he  and  I  meet  before  Allah." 
 
 P 
 
226  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 the  Saracens  being  destroyed  by  the  celebrated  Greek 
 fire,  the  siege  was  raised  for  some  time.  More  for- 
 tunate was  Movia's  army  in  Afi'ica  than  before  the 
 walls  of  the  Byzantine  capital ;  one  of  his  generals  ^ 
 marching  through  the  desert  of  Barke  and  passing 
 victoriously  throufih  the  country  of  the  Moors,  hoisted 
 
 •  O  ft  ' 
 
 the  standard  of  Islamisni  and  there  established  Mos- 
 lem supremacy.  From  the  year  A.  D.  697.  under 
 Movia's  successors,  we  may  consider  North-Africa  the- 
 home  of  Islamism;  —  Christianity,  which  once  flou- 
 rished in  that  country,  having,  alas  been  completely 
 uprooted. 
 
 4.  The  Saracen  empire  obtained  its  greatest  ex- 
 tension under  the  Kaliph  TF'a/^W,  who  succeeded  his  fa- 
 ther Abdelmalek  A.D.  705.  In  his  efforts  to  propagate 
 the  Koran  in  the  West,  Walid  derived  the  greatest 
 assistance  from  Mum,  the  Governor  of  North-Afi*ica. 
 Tarik,  one  ofMusa's  subordinate  officers,  being  invited 
 ^0.  by  count  Julian  to  assist  him  against  Roderich,  king 
 of  the  western  Goths,  readily  complied,  and  landed  on 
 the  rock  of  Gibraltar,  or  Gebel  elTarik.  Roderich  met 
 Tarik  near  Cadiz  with  a  host  of  about  1 00,000  strong, 
 but  after  a  battle  of  a  week's  duration,  this  immense 
 army  was  dispersed  and  Roderich  lumself  drowned  in 
 the  Guadalquivir.  ^°  One23rovince  of  Spain  after  another 
 
 ^  Akbo  Ben  Nafi  beholding-  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  the  harbour 
 of  Asfi  and  elated  by  a  succession  of  victories ,  urged  his  liorsc  into 
 the  surging  waves,  exclaiming,  "Great  God  if  my  power  was  not 
 limited  by  this  sea,  I  should  proceed  to  unknown  empires  of  the 
 West  to  preach  the  unity  of  thy  holy  name  and  to  exterminate 
 with  the  sword  those  rebel  nations ,  that  worship  other  Gods  be- 
 side thee !" 
 
 *°    The  Saracen  host  consisted  of  12,000  men.  "How  should  one 
 
CHAP.  VII.]  IN  SPAIN  AND  GAUL.  227 
 
 now  became  speedily  subdued,  and  for  800  years  the 
 country  remained  under  the  dominion  of  the  Saracens. 
 Meanwhile,  Musa,  who  had  previously  obtained  per- 
 mission from  the  Kaliph  to  conquer  Andalusia,  fol- 
 lowed Tarik,  and  instead  of  rewarding  him  for  his 
 glorious  achievements,  actuated  by  jealousy,  called 
 him  to  account,  caused  him  to  be  scourged  and  cast 
 into  prison.  Musa  now  conceived  the  idea  of  de- 
 stroying the  new  kingdoms  oHhe  Franks  and  Louqo- 
 bardians,  of  passing  through  Germany,  taking  Con- 
 stantinople by  land  and  then  retiring  to  Mecca  for 
 the  rest  of  his  days :  but  whilst  one  day  mustering 
 his  army,  a  message  arrived  from  Damascus  to  request 
 his  return  to  Syria.  On  his  arrival,  he  was  publicly 
 scourged  like  a  criminal  by  command  of  Kaliph  So- 
 loman,  Walid's  newly  appointed  successor,  and  sent 
 to  Mecca,  where  he  died  of  a  broken  heart.  Brave 
 Tarik  ended  his  days  among  the  slaves,  which  crowded 
 the  effeminate  court  of  the  Kaliphs  at  Damascus. 
 How  diff'erent  their  luxury  from  the  austere  simplicity 
 of  the  first  Kaliph  Omar,  whose  daily  fare  was  barley 
 bread,  a  few  dates  and  water,  whose  royal  robe  con- 
 sisted of  an  old  cloak,  and  wdio  was  not  seldom  dis- 
 covered by  his  generals  sleeping  upon  the  steps  of  a 
 Mosque  among  beggars!  Solomon  least  of  all  seems 
 to  have  followed  the  abstemious  habits  of  Omar; 
 whilst  preparing  for  a  fi-esh  attack  on  Constantinople 
 he  died  suddenly  of  a  fit  of  indigestion.  ^  * 
 
 chase  a  thousand  to  flight ,  except  their  Rock  had  sold  them ,  and 
 the  Lord  had  shut  them  up !"    Deut.  XXXII.  30. 
 
 According-  to  Abulfeda  he  ate  two  baskets  of  eggs  and  figs, 
 
228  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 Althoiigli  deprived  of  Miisa's  counsel  and  energy, 
 the  Saracen  army  did  not  abandon  the  plan  of  subduing 
 the  whole  of  Europe;  crossing  the  Pip-enees,  it  entered 
 Gaul  under  Abderrachman  with  a  force  of  400,000 
 men,  spreading  consternation  throughout  the  woods  of 
 Allemania.  Here  everything  gave  way  before  it ;  having 
 crossed  the  Rhone  it  wasted  the  country,  burned  houses 
 and  Churches,  and  carried  the  women  into  slavery.  In 
 this  emergency,  Charles Martel,  son  of  Pepin,  gathered 
 together  the  scattered  forces  of  the  empire,  and  be- 
 tween Tours  and  Poitiers  the  great  question  was  to 
 be  decided,  whether  the  Koirm  or  the  Bible  was  to 
 be  the  future  rule  and  portion  of  Europe.  After  the 
 two  armies  had  faced  each  other  for  seven  days,  one 
 Saturday  evening  the  Saracen  host  rushed  upon  the 
 army  of  Christian  warriors,  as  if  sure  of  victory;  but 
 steady  like  a  wall  stood  the  iron-harnessed  forces  of 
 the  Franks.  After  much  fearful  bloodshed,  which 
 led  to  no  decision,  the  giant-like  Austrasian  warriors 
 rushed  forward;  their  large  battle-swords  doinor  terri- 
 ble  execution,  and  Abderrachman  himself,  falling 
 before  them,  the  fate  of  the  invading  army  was  de- 
 cided. Some  375,000  Arabs  remained  slain  on  the 
 field,  and  from  that  time,  A.  D.  732  the  wave  of 
 Saracen  conquest  appeared  to  be  broken  and  steadily 
 to  retire  from  Europe. 
 
 5.  Whilst  these  mifjhty  efforts  were  beinff  made 
 by  the  Saracens  to  establish  and  maintain  their  re- 
 concluding  his  repast  with  marrow  and  sugar.  On  one  of  his  pilgrim- 
 ages to  Mecca  he  consumed  at  one  meal,  70  pomegranates,  a  kid, 
 6  fowls  and  a  large  quantity  of  grapes  from  Tayefl 
 
CHAP,  vii]  REVERSES  IN  GAUL.  229 
 
 ligion  and  political  supremacy  in  the  West,  another 
 army  penetrated  eastward  into  Asia,  pushing  forward 
 as  far  as  China;  but  here  their  progress  was  stayed 
 by  means  of  bribes  from  the  Emperor.  Returning  to 
 India  they  founded  vast  empires  on  the  shores  of  the 
 Indus  and  Ganges,  which  for  a  long  period  were 
 strongholds  of  Islamism.  As  a  fresh  success,  deserves 
 to  be  mentioned  the  restoration  of  the  Kaliphate  to 
 the  house  of  Ali;^^  and  with  the  accession  of  the 
 legitimate  line,  a  period  commenced  in  which  litera- 
 ture was  cultivated  among  the  Saracens  to  a  con- 
 siderable degree.  Th^  empire  was  however  unable 
 long  to  support  its  colossal  weight,  and  gradually 
 became  Hke  a  ''house  divided  against  itself:"  the 
 governors  of  the  provinces  in  Africa,  Spain  and  the 
 East  assuming  the  rank  of  independent  princes,  their 
 respective  feuds  and  jealousies  so  weakened  the  Mos- 
 lem dominion,  that  had  not  the  Christian  powers 
 been  utterly  destitute  of  vigour,  they  might  then  have 
 given  it  a  fatal  blow.  ^^ 
 
 Fresh  energy  how^ever  was  infused  into  the  Mos- 
 lem community  by  the  accession  of  the  Turks.'* 
 After   this   very   ancient  tribe  had  descended  from 
 
 **  The  Abbassides  re-assumed  the  Kaliphate  A.  D.  750,  and  the 
 Omayades  lost,  on  one  occasion,  during  the  struggle  600,000  men. 
 
 *•'  The  Kaliphate  being  now  split  in  two,  one  of  the  contending 
 Kaliphs  resided  at  Bagdad,  the  other  at  Cairo. 
 
 '*  The  Turcomans  or  Turks  derive  their  name  from  a  certain 
 founder  called  Turk,  which  reminds  us  of  the  Targitus  or  Targitaos 
 of  Herodotus  IV.  5.  and  'izyyr,  Togarmah  Gen.  X.  3.  In  Ezek. 
 XX\  II.  14.  XXXVIII.  6.  the  name  of  this  northerly  tribe  is  written 
 n^-'.JT,   The  Armenians  also  call  themselves:  "the  house  Torgum". 
 
230  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMSM.  Lpaiit  i. 
 
 Altai,  they  inhabited  the  fruitful  steppes  of  the  high- 
 lands of  Asia,  between  Thi])et,  Siberia  and  the  Aral 
 Sea,  which  are  still  known  by  the  name  of  Turkistan.  ^^ 
 0(jhus-Khaii,  the  founder  of  the  nation,  originated 
 three  great  dynasties,  the  Ot/huses,  the  Seltschuks 
 and  the  Osmans.  The  Turks  are  however  historically 
 celebrious  only  since  the  sixth  century,  when  they 
 appear  as  the  enemies  of  the  Parthians,  Saracens 
 and  Romans,  by  whom  they  were  alternately  opposed  ■ 
 and  flattered.  jMohammed  Ebn  Inbriel  having  sought 
 their  aid  against  the  Indians  and  Babylonians ,  they 
 accordingly  seized  upon  Pt'l'sia,  made  themselves 
 masters  of  the  Grecian  empire,  and  established  the 
 seat  of  their  government  at  Iconium  or  Nice.  *^'  The 
 Turks,  in  their  turn,  were  overrun  by  Mongol  and 
 '  Tartar  tribes ,  also  of  Scythian  origin ,  who  coming 
 from  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  passed  over 
 Persia,  Armenia  and  Asia  Minor,  laying  the  founda- 
 tion of  the  empire  of  the  Ottomans  or  Turks ,  pro- 
 perly so  called.  * '     It  is  remarkable  that  both  the 
 
 '*  "Uratt  ifl  bag  SSclf  bcr  !?urfeii ,  beren  norfi  ticrrfrf)cnbcr  3lvcii^  bcr 
 C^mnncn.  S^om  9[(tai,  i()rem  llrfi^ ,  (leraK^'flici^en,  belvofinten  fie  bag 
 frucfjtbarc  2ti'VVci'I*i»b  -!pod;afieii  5iviftl)cn  liibct,  2ibiricu  itiib  bcm  5JraI- 
 fee,  bag  nadi  ifincn  ben  ?Jamcu  liirfiftan  fu()rt."  i\  .^ammcrg  ®efcf)idjtc 
 beg  Ogmanifdjeu  Dtetdjeg. 
 
 *^®  Mosheim  Vol.  II.  pag.  51.  52.  also:  Veneniae  Institut,  Hist. 
 Eccl.  torn,  V.  pag.  150.  157. 
 
 *^  Othman ,  Osman  or  Ottoman  is  the  founder  of  it.  The  first 
 of  those  barbarous  deeds  ,  which  for  500  years  wore  perpetrated 
 against  the  Christians y  was  that  of  Osman,  when  he  commanded 
 the  brother  of  Kelanus  to  be  eviscerated,  v.  Ilammor  adds:  "?]pd) 
 jf^t  ()ci§t  bte  StfUc  bag  j^intenbe  j^clb  beg  augi'^clvcit'ctcn  ><?unbeg."  He 
 also  killed  his  uncle ,  who  contradicted  him.  The  Ottoman  empire 
 was  founded  1307. 
 
CHAP.  VII.]  m  ASIA  MINOR  AND  INDIA.  23 1 
 
 Turks,  and  their  successors,  tlie  Mongols  and  Tar- 
 tars, voluntarily  embraced  Islamism,  from  the  very 
 people  whom  they  conquered.*^  The  Mongols  and 
 Tartars  had  slaughtered  in  Irak  alone,  24,000  Mos- 
 lem doctors,  ^'^  and  destroyed  the  Kaliphate ;  but  after 
 their  conversion,  they  founded  the  Ottoman  empire, 
 which  for  so  long  a  period  constituted  the  right  arm 
 of  Islamism. 
 
 The  end  of  the  Byzantine  empire  was  now  fast 
 approaching;  Ainurath,  who  came  across  to  Europe 
 extended  his  conquests  and  made  Adrianople  his  ca- 
 pital. Bajesid,  who  commenced  his  reign  with  fratri- 
 cide, obtained  a  signal  victory  over  the  emperor 
 Sigismnnd,  who,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Pope,  had 
 undertaken  a  crusade  against  the  Turks.  Whilst  the 
 enterprizing  Sultan  was  rejoicing  over  his  success, 
 and  threatening  shortly  to  feed  his  horses  on  the 
 high  altar  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  he 
 was  suddenly  recalled  into  Asia,  to  oppose  Timur  or 
 Tamerlin,  who  had  appeared  against  the  Turks  with 
 800,000  men,  with  the  intent  of  re-establishino"  the 
 Mongolian  empu'e.  Bajesid  was  overthrown  and  had 
 to  follow  Timur's  army  in  a  portable  iron  cage.  Yet 
 the  Turks  recovered  under  Mohammed,  and  Amu- 
 rath  II.  left  nothing  to  the  Greek  Emperor  but  Con- 
 stantinople, the  cajDital,  which  was  not  long  destined 
 to  remain  in  his  hands:  for  Mohammed  II,  a  wild 
 
 ^^  Here  also  it  was  true:  "Graecia  cajHa  ferum  yictorem  cepi't." 
 Seneca  declared  respecting  the  influence  of  the  Jews  upon  the 
 Romans:  "Victoribus  victi  leges  dederunt."  See,  True  and  false 
 Relig.  Vol.  I.  pag.  140. 
 
 '^   Ebn  Batuta's  travels  by  Lee  pag,  89. 
 
232  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 and  passionate  young  man  of  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
 resolving  to  conquer  it,  besieged  the  city  by  land  and 
 sea,  and  took  it  after  a  few  months.  ^°  The  Moham- 
 medan empire  now  became  the  terror  of  Italy,  Hun- 
 gary and  Germany  for  many  centuries.  Meanwhile, 
 Timnr  extended  his  conquests  to  India;  and  the 
 Mohammedans  in  that  country  have  recently  proved 
 themselves  worthy  sons  of  this  monster  tyrant,  to 
 whom  they  are  indebted  for  the  Koran.  In  order  to 
 quell  a  revolution  Timur  piled  \i\)  2000  living  human 
 beings  with  mortar,  in  layers  like  bricks,  in  order  to 
 construct  a  tower  of  human  bodies.  He  caused  the 
 inhabitants  of  a  Christian  town  to  have  their  heads 
 tied  between  their  feet  and  to  be  buried  alive  in 
 graves,  which,  to  prolong  the  torture,  were  first  only 
 covered  with  boards.  When  Bagdad  was  taken,  he 
 struck  off  90,000  heads  and  heaped  them  up  in  a 
 tower-like  shape.  He  died  A.  D.  1405,  seventy-one 
 years  old,  leaving  as  monuments  of  shame,  devastated 
 countries,  smoking  cities  and  skull-pyramids. 
 
 6.  We  have  now  seen  that  Islamism,  as  a  rule, 
 never  extended  its  boundaries  by  means  of  instruction 
 and  conviction.  The  heretical  sects  indeed,  which 
 rose  in  the  second  century,  had  recourse  to  this  peace- 
 able and  rational  method  of  conversion,  and  their 
 Missionaries  or  Dais  sought  to  win  the  orthodox 
 members  with  indefatigable   zeal  and  perseverance. 
 
 ^^  The  inhabitants  mot  tlie  assault  with  desperate  resistance; 
 a  chain,  drawn  across  the  harbour,  was  of  good  service  to  the 
 Greeks;  but  the  storming  of  the  city,  in  which  the  Emperor  was 
 killed,  decided  its  fate:  the  public  buildings  were  spared  and  the 
 beautiful  Church  of  St.  Sophia  was  turned  into  a  Mosque. 
 
CHAP.  VII.]  BY  WHAT  MEANS  ACCOMPLISHED.  233 
 
 In  the  conversion  of  Kajf'ers  however,  this  was  an 
 exception,  which  only  proves  the  rule;  for  instance 
 it  is  related  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Maldive  is- 
 lands were  converted  by  an  Arab  of  Magharib,  ^  ^  but 
 this  man  not  being  a  Missionary,  merely  took  ad- 
 vantage of  the  readiness  of  the  king  and  the  favour- 
 able circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  to  intro- 
 duce his  creed.  It  was  always  considered  sufficient 
 in  the  eyes  of  Moslemin  to  send  a  demand  requiring 
 a  town  or  an  army  to  embrace  Islamism,  if  this  was 
 not  complied  with,  the  disobedient  were  forthwith 
 treated  as  infidels,  wdiose  hearts  were  hardened  by 
 divine  decree.  ^^  Those  peaceful  conversions  which 
 occurred  among  the  Turks  and  Mongol  tribes,  it  must 
 be  remembered,  took  place  only  after  the  warlike 
 zeal  of  the  Saracens  had  spent  itself. 
 
 The  same  exception  to  the  general  practice  may 
 be  traced  in  the  peaceful  conversions  which  w^ere  ef- 
 fected in  the  interior  of  Africa.  £JbnBatuta  tr3i\ersed 
 the  great  desert  and  found  Islamism  widely  propa- 
 gated in  Sudan  and  31ellt.^^  In  Bornu  the  creed  of 
 Mohammed  reigns  in  its  most  bigotted  form :  whoso- 
 ever breaks  the  fast  of  Ramadhan  by  taking  a  drop 
 of  w^ater  is   scourged  to  death  and  women  of  lewd 
 
 -'    Travels  of  Ebn  Batula  (1352)  transl.  by  Lee  pag.  180. 
 
 ^^  Evidences  are  never  thought  of  except  those  arising  from 
 the  beauty  of  the  Koran ,  which  is  inappreciable  to  foreigners. 
 "3n  ten  Satibern,  in  Uielcfteu  bei  SD^oelcniifrfie  ganiitif^mue  nccfe  am  uiciiigfteit 
 c^efdnvdc^t  ift,  iinrb  eg  fogar  fitr  eiu  aScrbrfd^en  cv'()altni,  ctnen  (S^riften 
 Slralnfdf)  ^w  IcBren ,  unb  ircUtc  cin  (^remi'er  cine  *JWofrfiee  betretcn ,  urn  fidi 
 burd)  bic  bcrt  ftattfinbcnben  ®ct'otc  unb  relic^iofon  5?ortrds5e  jii  belelnen,  fo 
 h?urbe  ct  ba§  I'eben  s>ern.nrfen."     !I;otttno;er  pag.  17. 
 
 "    Ebn  Batuta  by  Lee  pag.  233—241. 
 
234  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 character  were  liung.^*  In  Sudan  and  Hussa  the 
 great  kingdom  of  the  Felatahs,  and  in  the  kingdoms 
 of  Ghana,  Tokrur  Bussa,  Bevum,  Wawa  and  Itiatna 
 we  have  hkewise  Mohammedan  rehgion  and  customs 
 prevaihng.  ^^  It  is  also  the  estabhshed  religion  in 
 Timbnctn.^^  A  remarkable  instance  is  found  in  the 
 history  of  the  il/rt^it/mgo-land ,  north  east  of  Sierra- 
 Leone.  A  century  ago,  a  few  jNIohammedans  settled 
 in  that  country,  they  established  schools  in  which 
 Arabic  and  the  Koran  were  taught,  a  comnnmity  was 
 formed  which  increased,  and  after  some  time  the 
 whole  country  fell  into  their  power.  ^^  Nor  is  this  a 
 singular  instance:  none  but  those  wdio  have  witnessed 
 the  missionary  zeal  of  the  modern  Arab  merchant, 
 would  believe  what  efforts  are  still  being  made  to 
 proselytize  the  Pagans  in  the  interior  of  Africa; 
 every  year  fresh  tribes  are  added  to  the  Moslem  com- 
 munity. ^^  The  Galla  tribes  are  converted  one  by 
 one ;  and  in  Malabar,  the  Mohammedans  purchase  or 
 procure  children  of  the  lower  classes  to  bring  them 
 up  in  the  "true  faith".  War  and  bloodshed  then  are 
 the  means  by  which  the  Koran  is  generally  propa- 
 gated, but  when  power  is  wanting  or  policy  dictates 
 
 ^*  Narrative  of  travels  and  discoveries  in  North  and  Central 
 Africa,  by  Denhani,  Clapperton  and  Oudncy,  pag.  103. 
 
 ^•''  Journal  of  an  expedition  to  explore  the  course  of  the  Niger, 
 by  Richard  and  John  Lander. 
 
 "^^    Park's  Travels  into  the  Interior  of  Africa.    1817.   Chap.  TI. 
 
 ^^  Sec  Report  of  the  directors  of  the  Sierra  Leone  Comp.  in 
 Wiiiterbottom's  account  of  the  native  Africans  near  Sierra-Leone. 
 1810.  Vol.  1. 
 
 ^*^  This  the  author  may  confidently  assert  from  his  own  ob- 
 servation on  the  African  coast. 
 
CHAP.  VIM  FEARFUL  EXTENT  AT  THIS  TIME.  235 
 
 another  method,  it  is  peaceabl)'  effected  in  opposition 
 to  its  avowed  principles  and  character. 
 
 7.  The  success  then  of  Ishimism,  was  great  and 
 beyond  all  measure  surprising.    With  the  exception 
 of  Spain,  it  has  never  yet  been  suppressed  in  any 
 country  where  it  had  taken  root;  on  the  contrary,  as 
 it  is  almost  the  only  creed  besides  Christianity,  which 
 proselytizes,  it  makes  perhaps  more  converts  than 
 all  the  others  put  together.     There  are  at  this  day, 
 at  least  three  Mohammedan  empires,  Turkey,  Persia 
 and  Morocco.    In  India,  the  Pagans  are  in  proportion 
 to  the  Mohammedans,  as  eight  to  one.     If  not  in 
 numbers,  yet  certainly  in  territory  it  preponderates  over 
 Christianity.  To  give  anything  like  a  correct  estimate 
 of  the  numbers  of  its  professors  seems  to  be  impos- 
 sible.    One  thing  only  appears   certain  from  more 
 recent   calculations,   viz.  that  the  statistical  tables 
 which  have  been  carefidly  constructed  from  the  ma- 
 terials, which  were  formerly  accessible,  are  far  below 
 the  truth.    Considering  the  great  progress  which  Is- 
 himism has  made  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  and  the 
 mystery  which  still  hangs  upon  that  unhappy  con- 
 tinent we  cannot  assume  a  smaller  number  than  from 
 140  to  180  millions  of  Moslemin.    In  India  alone  we 
 have  15,000,000  of  Mohammedans,  so  that  it  may 
 well  be  said,  that  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  has 
 more  Moslem  subjects  than  the  Sultan  of  Constan- 
 tinople.  Here  then  is  an  immense  body  of  fellow-men 
 and  fellow-subjects ,  little  thought  of,  and  only  re- 
 membered, when  they  become  a  thorn  in  our  side ! 
 8.    We  shall  now  brieflv  examine  the  causes  of 
 
236  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 this  rapid  success,  as  well  as  of  the  permanence  of 
 the  Mohammedan  creed.  It  may  first  be  noticed  that 
 the  disciples  of  INIohammed  appeal  to  the  startling 
 success  of  this  impostm-e,  as  the  grand  evidence  of 
 its  truth,  and  the  enemies  of  Christianity  have  taken 
 advantage  of  this  circumstance  to  depreciate  the  evi- 
 dence arisino-  in  its  favour  from  the  marvellous  sue- 
 cess  of  the  Gospel.  With  this  view  no  pains  have 
 been  spared  to  render  the  analogy,  which  partially 
 exists  between  them  complete ,  by  a  laboured  com- 
 parison of  all  the  points  touching  their  origin  and 
 promulgation.^®  The  folly  of  the  attempt  and  the 
 weakness  of  such  a  comparison  could  only  be  over- 
 looked by  dishonest  and  disingenuous  minds.  Some 
 have  represented  the  success  of  Islamism  as  the  ful- 
 filment of  the  blessing,  promised  to  Abraham  for 
 Ishmaels  seed.^^  This  line  of  argument  is  pursued 
 by  the  Mohammedans  themselves,  wdio  thus  seek  to 
 establish  their  creed  upon  the  foundation  of  a  divine 
 promise,  and  this  alone  ought  to  have  prevented 
 Christian  men  from  adopting  it.  Where  no  spiritual 
 promise  was  given,  there  can  be  no  fulfilment  of  a 
 spiritual  character.  The  promise  to  Ishmael  implied 
 a  numerous  posterity,  including  twelve  princes,  which 
 was  a  mere  temporal  blessing;  ^^  whilst  the  prophecy 
 
 "^^    The   obscure  rise,    the   irresistible   jjiogress,   the   rapid   and 
 wide   ditlusioii   of  both   creeds  liave  been  adduced  and  dwelt  upon, 
 in  order  to  level  the  claims  of  the  Gospel  and  the  gratuitous  as- 
 ,  sumptions  of  the  Koran  to  the  same  standard. 
 
 ^"    This   is   the  perverted   scope  of  Mr.   Forster's   large  work: 
 "Mohaninicdanisni  unveiled."    Vol.  II. 
 
 b--i>  "'yh  vr.h;.  T'V"^  £ij'">^-.  "'"^K  ^"^  ""^'n  "ii<^^""*f^^    Gen. 
 XVU.  20.' 
 
CHAP.  VII.]         CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AND  PERMANENCE.         237 
 
 concerning  him  defined  his  character  and  that  of  his 
 descendants.^^  To  acknowledge  the  f'ulfihnent  of  a 
 promised  blessing  in  Islaniism,  is  to  admit  it  to  be 
 a  true  religion;  it  may  be  the  fulfilment  o{ prophecy, 
 but  that  is  essentially  different  from  the  fulfilment 
 of  a  promise.  Is  the  creed  of  Mohammed  the  actual 
 fulfilment  of  a  promise  to  Abraham,  then  it  is  of  ne- 
 cessity a  divinely  revealed  religion.  But  to  recognise 
 more  than  the  temporal  fulfilment  of  a  temporal  pro- 
 mise is  to  confound  the  flesh  with  the  Spirit,  and 
 prosperity  in  this  world  with  the  blessings  of  the  life 
 to  come. 
 
 Whilst  we  repudiate  the  notion  of  the  success 
 of  Islamism  being  the  fulfilment  of  a  divine  pro- 
 mise, we  do  not  deny  that  it  w\as  permitted  to 
 grow  and  flourish,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  myste- 
 rious designs  oi  Divine  Providence;  since  God  often 
 permits  the  success  of  those  actions  and  the  spread 
 of  those  opinions,  which  it  is  contrary  to  His  holy 
 nature  to  approve.  Svccess  therefore  in  the  propaga- 
 tion of  a  creed  is  not  necessarily  demonstrative  of 
 its  being  of  divine  origin.  In  God's  providential  ad- 
 ministration one  evil  is  frequently  the  antidote  of 
 another.  Islamism  belongs  to  the  class  of  means, 
 which  Divine  Providence  employs  to  counteract  the 
 greater  of  two  evils ,  until  the  final  triumph  of  good 
 is  achieved,  and  the  ultimate  separation  of  good  and 
 
 "  It  was  implied  in  Abraham's  prayer,  that  Ishmael  should 
 partake  of  God's  mercy  and  blessing,  but  this  could  only  be  granted 
 through  Isaac  and  his  seed,  in  whom  all  the  families  of  the  earth 
 were  to  be  blessed;  for  if  all  nations  were  to  be  blessed  in  the 
 seed  of  Isaac,  why  should  Ishmael  be  excluded .'' 
 
238  SPREAD  AKD  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [paRT  i. 
 
 evil  can  be  safely  effected;  it  being  a  fixed  principle 
 of  God's  dealings  to  let  the  tares  and  the  wheat  grow 
 together  till  the  harvest.^'  In  this  case,  a  smaller  evil 
 is  tolerated  for  a  time,  to  prevent  a  greater.  In  a 
 period  and  in  j)laces  where  pure  and  undefiled  religion 
 could  not  through  unbelief  and  darkness  vet  be  re- 
 ceived, a  mixture  of  good  and  evil  was  suffered  to 
 prevail. 
 
 There  is  clearly  much  inconsistency  in  the  anxiety 
 of  Christian  writers  to  escape  fi'om  the  recognition 
 of  a  providential  interference  in  the  rise  and  progress 
 of  Islamism.  All  commentators  seem  to  agree,  that 
 its  rise  had  been  predicted  in  Holy  Scripture;  to  deny 
 therefore  the  overruling  providence  of  God  in  bring- 
 ing about  an  event  which  has  been  the  subject  of 
 prophecy,  and  to  ascribe  it  solely  to  the  independent 
 operation  of  human  causes,  is  to  take  the  government 
 of  the  world  out  of  the  hands  of  God.  ^*  Wlien  Da- 
 niel e.  g.  foretells  the  fate  of  the  four  great  empires 
 of  the  world,  or  when  Isaiah  speaks  of  Cyrus,  as  the 
 servant  of  God,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  admit  the 
 actual  guidance  of  Divine  Providence  in  shaping  the 
 career  of  those  empires,  or  the  special  act  of  raising 
 up  instruments  to  execute  His  judgments.  To  account 
 for  the  efforts  made  to  explain  Islamism  from  mere 
 
 ft'/'  ToJ  y.uifjM  rov  ■dirfjumov  ^'(jcJ  rotg  '^HJiarccis  k.  t.  A.  Matt.  XIII. 
 30.  Turn  crit  perfecta  scparatio. 
 
 '*  This  view  coulH  not  have  been  entertained,  had  it  been  con- 
 sidered that  if  carried  to  the  extreme  it  would  impugn  prophecy 
 itself,  making  tlic  word  of  God  a  predictor  of  events ,  over  which 
 the  Author  of  that  word  had  no  special  control. 
 
CHAP.  VII.]         CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AND  PERMANENCE.         239 
 
 natural  causes,  we  must  take  it  for  granted  that  those 
 who  make  them,  deem  it  essential  to  the  interests  of 
 Christianity  to  ignore  the  notion  of  Divine  interposi- 
 tion in  the  production  of  any  results  independent  of 
 revealed  religion.  ^^   . 
 
 9.  We  have  already  adverted  to  the  condition 
 of  the  Church  at  the  time  when  Islamism  appeared; 
 and  it  is  indeed  a  subject  which  cannot  be  sufficiently 
 urged  with  a  view  to  vindicate  the  dealins^s  of  God 
 and  to  prove  that  just  and  true  are  the  ways  of  the 
 King  of  saints.  After  the  Nicene  council,  the  Eastern 
 Church  was  engaged  in  perpetual  controversies,  which 
 gave  rise  to  the  most  bitter  feelings  between  those 
 who  were  commanded  to  love  each  other  as  brethren. 
 The  Arian  Emperor  Constantius^^  made  himself  no- 
 torious by  confounding  pure  and  undefiled  religion 
 with  anile  superstition,  and  in  exciting  disputes  upon 
 intricate  and  abstruse  subjects.  This  grew  still  worse 
 imder  Justinian,  who,  not  to  be  excelled  in  zeal  by 
 the  Bishops  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  thought 
 it  no  crime  to  condemn  to  death  a  man  of  a  different 
 
 •'^  This  view  of  the  subject  does  in  no  way  militate  against  the 
 idea,  that  the  author  of  Islamism  commenced  his  work  under  the 
 immediate  control  of  satanic  agency;  for  every  believer  in  the 
 Bible  readily  admits  "that  even  devils  are  subject  unto  Him,"  who 
 worketh  all  things  after  His  good  pleasure. 
 
 ^^  "Eratque  super  his  adimere  facilis,  quae  donabat,  C'hristia- 
 nam  rcligionera  absolutam  et  simplicem  anili  superstitione  confun- 
 dens:  in  quo  scutanda  perplexius ,  quam  componenda  gravius,  ex- 
 citavit  dissidia  plurima:  quae  progressa  fusius  aluit  concertatione 
 verborum ,  ut  catervis  antistitum,  jumentis  ])ublicis  ultro  citroque 
 discurrentibus  per  Synodos ,  quas  appellant,  dum  ritum  omnem  ad 
 Buum  trahere  conatur  arbitrium,  rei  vehiculariae  succideret  nervos." 
 Amniian.  Marcellin.  lib.  XXI.  de  Constantio. 
 
240  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 persuasion  from  his  own.^^  Arabia  and  Africa  were 
 polluted  by  schism  and  heresy  of  the  worst  descrip- 
 tion,^^ and  ripe  for  one  of  the  sorest  and  most  lasting 
 judgments  of  God.  The  European  Church  was  cor- 
 rupt in  practise,  but  it  still  retained  an  amount  of 
 sound  catholic  doctrine,  especially  on  the  Divinity  of 
 our  Lord,  which  served  as  an  antidote  to  the  false 
 teaching  of  the  Koran,  and  which  prevented  this 
 judgment  from  falling  so  severely  upon  the  Western, 
 as  upon  the  Eastern  Church.  ^^  Europe  did  not  in- 
 deed altogether  escape  the  plague  of  Islamism,  be- 
 cause it  had  partly  adopted  the  false  teaching  of  the 
 Eastern  Church.**^  Arian  Spain  was  overwhelmed  in 
 a  manner,  which  clearly  showed  the  finger  of  God. 
 The  Spanish  army  melted  away  before  a  handful  of 
 
 "    Procop.  in  Anecd.  pag.  60. 
 
 ^®  The  Archbisliop  of  Toledo  describes  the  state  of  religion 
 thus  in  the  7*''  sec.  "Cum  Arabia  et  Africa  inter  lidem  Catholicani 
 et  heresin  Arianam,  et  perlidiam  Judaicam  et  idolatriam,  diversis 
 studiis  traheretur."     Hist.  Arab.  pag.  2.  ad  calc.  Elmac.  Hist.  Sa. 
 
 ^^  "Non  dissimulavit  Deus  haec  populi  sui  vitia:  (juin  ex  ultimo 
 Scythiae  ac  Germaniae  recessu  immensa  agmina,  quasi  diluvio,  ef- 
 fudit  in  orbem  Christianum;  et  cum  datae  ab  his  strages  maximae 
 non  satis  profecissent  ad  corrigendos  superstites,  justo  Dei  per- 
 niissu,  in  Arabia  Mahumetis  novara  sevit  religionem,  pugnanteni 
 earn  directa  fronte  cum  Christiana  religione,  sed  quae  verbis  quo- 
 daniodo  exprimeret  vitam  niagnae  partis  Christianorum."  Urotius 
 de  verit.  Relig.  Christ,  pag.  277. 
 
 qamr,  uyouag  y.ul  nnjinarovg  y.ui  ^tinua  n<>i't  ffinf-jihixum  tj;^ 
 ■df-oXoyiag ,K(u  ovdt  rovtov  loi  ijXior  dtax^'fonat  /jdiJTVfja  to*' 
 ilnxidn'ag  noiov^una.     Gregory  lib.  VII. 
 
CHAP,  vii]       CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AND  PERMANENCE.  241 
 
 Saracen  soldiers;  the  Godhead  of  the  Redeemer  being 
 ah'eady  denied,    there  was  nothino-  to  resist  or  to 
 prevent  an  occupation  of  the  country  for  the  space 
 of  800  years!     But  the  Mohammedan  invasion  was 
 effectually  repelled  by  the  glorious  victory  of  Charles 
 Martel.*^    In  the  seventeenth  century,  when  Europe 
 was  once  more  assailed  on  her  eastern  frontier,  God 
 raised  up   Sobieski,   to  set  bounds   for  ever  to  the 
 Turkish    empire,    and    the    creed    of  Mohammed. 
 ''Hitherto  shalt  thou  come  and  no  further;  and  here 
 shall  thy  23roud  waves  be  stayed!"  In  all  these  things 
 we   trace   a  remarkable  Providence   controlling  the 
 spread  of  Islamism.     Nor  can  we  fail  to  adore  the 
 wise  and  gracious  choice  of  the  instruments,  by  which 
 God  chastised  the  fallen  Churches!     The  Western 
 Church  was  first  punished  by  the  influx  of  Pagan 
 hordes  from  the  North,  and  had  God  chosen  idolaters 
 for  the  correction  of  the  Eastern  Church,  there  might 
 have  been  cause  to  apprehend  danger  for  the  very 
 existence  of  Christianity,  more  especially  as  Western 
 Europe  was  already  overrun  by  Pagan  nations;  but 
 the  enemy  whom  God  chose  to  administer  judgment 
 in   His   name    was    one ,    who   was    as    greatly    op- 
 posed to  idolatry  as  the  fallen  Church  could  be  in 
 her  better  days.    Islamism  made  common  cause  with 
 the  Church    in   protesting   against   Paganism,    and 
 precluded  the  possibility  of  Pagan  powders   uniting 
 against    Christianity.     We   may   therefore    consider 
 Mohammed,  the  servant  of  God  in  the  same  sense 
 
 **    Calcutta  Review  No.  VIII.    December,  1845.  to  which  the 
 author  is  indebted  for  some  of  these  remarks. 
 
 Q 
 
242  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 in   which   Pagan  Cyrus   was   called   the   servant  of 
 Jehovah. 
 
 Islamism  was  thus  made  subservient  to  great  and 
 important  ends  in  the  dispensation  of  the  justice  and 
 hohness  of  God.  It  does  not  however  follow,  that 
 this  admission  must  necessarily  place  the  Koran  and 
 the  Bible  upon  the  same  footing:  Mohammedanism, 
 in  its  provideuticd  aspect,  was  the  result  of  the  natural 
 course  of  events;  (  hristianity,  on  the  contrary,  was 
 introduced  by  a  miraculous  deviation  from  that 
 course.*^  If  we  refer  to  Holy  Scripture  for  guidance 
 in  this  matter,  we  notice  God's  interposition  in  cases 
 as  unlikely  in  our  estimation  as  that  of  Islamism. 
 The  lying  spirit  for  instance,  which  was  j^ut  into  the 
 mouth  of  false  prophets ,  purporting  to  j)rophesy  the 
 truth,  may  serve  as  an  illustration.*^  The  special 
 interference  here,  is  unquestionable,  and  one  peculiarly 
 to  the  point;  God,  for  purposes  only  known  to  Him- 
 self, might  as  easily  have  put  a  lying  spirit  into  the 
 mouth  of  Mohammed.**  The  action  of  the  instrumen- 
 tality being  employed  upon  a  greater  or  lesser  scale, 
 makes  no  difference  as  to  the  establishino-  of  the 
 principle  of  providential  interference,  riic  just  dis- 
 tinction between  Islamism  and  Christianity  seems  to 
 
 *^  The  principle  of  an  overruling  Providence,  working  without 
 a  miracle,  has  been  ably  set  forth  by  Mr.  Davidson :  Discourses  on 
 Prophecy,  pag.  76.  77.  247.  248. 
 
 *••  1  King.  XXir.  19—23.  "Now  therefore  behold,  the  Lord 
 hath  put  a  lying  Spirit  in  the  mouth  of  all  these  thy  prophets :" 
 
 'n''N''n:~b3  ■'ca  "rpiu  rrri  rr\rr  ira  nsn  T^^\v^ 
 
 I     V      •  ;  T        •    ;        1...   v     -  T       :     '  -  T        "     •  T  -  : 
 
 **  Kal  bia  Tovto  TTfjiiypH.  dirotg  Qtbg  irtQyeiaf  nXuyT]g,  iig 
 TO  martvatxi  dvTovg  rcJ  iptvdai'    2  Thess.  II.  9 — 11. 
 
CHAP.  VIM       CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AND  PERMANENCE.  243 
 
 be  this:  the  plieiiomena  of  the  spread  of  Christianity 
 prove  that  it  came  from  God,  but  those  of  Islamism 
 show  only  that  it  sprang  from  an  overruled  agency 
 of  natural  events,  and  that  as  to  its  permanence,  it  is 
 still  upheld  by  their  providential  concurrence. 
 
 At  the  very  period  when  the  Lombards  were  de- 
 stroying the  last  vestiges  of  the  Roman  empire,  God 
 raised  up  an  obscure  people  to  a  sudden  greatness 
 in  order  to  correct  His  erring  Churches ,  and  to  re- 
 move the  candlestick  from  such  as  were  past  correction. 
 The  salt  having  lost  its  savour  was  cast  out  and  trod- 
 den under  foot  of  men.**  This  explains  without  com- 
 ment, the  cause  of  the  success  of  Islamism.  Our 
 Lord  indicated  the  characteristics  of  those  devouring 
 eagles ,  which  were  sent  forth  into  the  world  by  the 
 false  prophet  who  arose  "in  the  desert",  to  prey  upon 
 the  dead  members  of  His  Church.  As  the  eagle 
 does  good  service  by  consuming  carcases,  which 
 otherwise  would  be  left  to  poison  the  atmosphere,  so 
 Islamism  benefited  the  Church,  by  consuming  those 
 dead  members,  which  had  become  offensive  in  the 
 sight  of  God ,  and  if  allowed  to  remain ,  would  have 
 endangered  the  very  life  of  the  body.  It  is  remarkable 
 that  our  Lord's  words  literally  occur,  in  Alwakidi's 
 description  of  the  primitive  Moslemin,  "The  Saracens 
 he  says,  fell  upon  them  like  eagles  upon  a  carcase."*^ 
 
 45     in 
 
 "UeBcr  bfefc^  d^riftlirfie  2>?crijen{aub ,  in  ivefrdem  bag  (Sr)rif}eiitf)um 
 feit  tanger  Sett  in  ber  gtirfluft  bee  SDe^ottemu^,  unb  untet  bcm  tobten 
 Sptntetlrcfcn ,  bur*  bae  feine  Sbeen  lurfitmmcrten  unb  »erfamcn, 
 tobtfranf  n^ar,  fam  bcr  §err  \>lo^M)  unb  fcin  ©eridit."  SimmermannS 
 ?ftcnggcf(^irt)te  bcr  ^ircf)c  3efu  C^firtfti,  Vol.  II.  518. 
 
 **■    Ocklcy's  History  of  the  Saracens,  Vol.  I.  pag   220. 
 
244  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 The  black  eagle  was  moreover  the  ensign  of  the  first 
 Saracen  conquerors,  and  that  affords  an  additional 
 reason  for  applying  the  prediction  to  them,  as  well 
 as  to  the  Romans,  by  whom  the  Jewish  Church  was 
 devoured.*'  Nor  is  it  against  the  i^rinciple  of  ger- 
 minant  interpretation  of  prophecy,  to  make  it  include 
 both  visitations  upon  the  Old  and  the  New  Church, 
 which  had  alike  sunk  into  decay. 
 
 * 
 
 10.  An  auxiliary  cause  of  the  success  of  Islam- 
 ism,  was  the  time  in  which  it  appeared;  for  we  may 
 safely  say,  that  in  no  former  or  subsequent  2)eriod  of 
 the  world  could  Mohammed  have  met  with  equal  suc- 
 cess. All  the  circumstances  of  that  period,  plainly 
 and  undeniably  concurred  to  favour  the  rise  and  pro- 
 gress of  the  new  religion.  The  heresies  which  divided 
 and  the  corruptions  which  then  degraded  the  Church, 
 presented  an  open  field  for  Mohammed.  The  poli- 
 tical state  of  the  world  was  likewise  propitious.  Is- 
 lamism  being  a  religion  of  conquest,  the  union  of 
 nations  under  comjDact  and  vigorous  governments, 
 would  have  oj)]iosed  insuperable  obstacles.  Its  suc- 
 cess obviously  depended,  not  on  the  strength  and 
 stability,  but  on  the  decay  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
 earth;  and  its  establishment  could  only  be  promoted 
 by  the  divisions  and  distractions  of  mankind.'**  At 
 a  later  or  an  earlier  date,  that  of  Trajan,  of  Constan- 
 tine  or  Charlemagne,  the  assault  of  the  half-naked 
 
 "    Ockley  Hist,  of  the  Sarac.  Vol.  I.  172.    Walil  pag.  73.  E. 
 
 *^    "It  lias  been  observed  by  a  great  politician  Macliiavelli,  that' 
 it  is  imiiossible  a  i)erson  should  make  himself  a  prince  and  found  a 
 state,  without  opportunities."     Sale,  Prelcm.  Disc.  pag.  25. 
 
CHAP.  VIM       CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AND  PERMANENCE.  245 
 
 Saracens  would  soon  have  been  repelled,  and  their 
 rehgious  fanaticism  extinguished.  This  most  favour- 
 able concurrence  of  a  diversity  of  circumstances,  both 
 ecclesiastical  and  political,  at  once  so  contrary  and 
 so  harmonious,  cannot  fail  to  strike  every  candid  ob- 
 server of  the  age  in  which  Islamism  made  its  ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 11.  Another  cause  of  the  rapid  spread  and  per- 
 manent estabhshment  of  Islamism,  is  to  be  looked 
 for  in  the  means  which  were  used  in  its  propagation. 
 The  appeal  to  the  sword  is  natural  to  a  politico- 
 religious  system,  and  in  prescribing  both  moral  and 
 civil  laws  to  the  state,  it  decides  every  question  of 
 life  or  property.*''  In  almost  every  Mohammedan 
 country,  so  intimate  is  the  connection  and  so  absolute 
 the  dependence  of  the  religious,  upon  the  civil  govern- 
 ment, that  in  propagating  the  tenets  of  religion,  an 
 appeal  to  the  civil  force  would  be  unavoidable.  With 
 few  exceptions,  this  maxim  of  the  Koran:  —  "Fight 
 against  them ,  until  there  be  no  opposition  in  favour 
 of  idolatry  and  the  religion  be  wholly  God's,"  has  ever 
 been  strictly  carried  out.  No  alternative  was  allowed 
 to  the  Pagan,  he  had  to  choose  between  an  immediate 
 recantation  of  his  opinions  and  a  cruel  death.  The 
 Christian  was  permitted  the  privilege  of  compounding 
 for  the  preservation  of  his  life  and  property,  by  the 
 payment  of  a  heavy  tribute.     To  men  who  had  lost 
 
 *^  The  recent  appointment  of  a  Minister  of  justice  by  the  Sul- 
 tan of  Constantinople,  is  an  innovation ;  inasmuch  as  this  duty  was 
 till  that  time,  incumbent  upon  their  spiritual  head  of  religion,  the 
 Mufti,  who  was  the  locum  tenons  of  the  Sultan  himself,  in  his  cha- 
 racter of  Kaliph. 
 
246  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [iart  i. 
 
 almost  every  thing  but  the  name  of  their  religion,  this 
 mode  of  conversion  was  irresistible.  Nor  can  we  won- 
 der that  in  many  such  cases,  the  voice  of  conscience 
 was  unheard  amidst  the  cries  of  interest.  Temporal 
 ease  and  security  under  the  banners  of  the  pseudo- 
 prophet,  were  to  them,  jDreferable  to  the  distress  of 
 the  despised  and  persecuted  Christians. 
 
 We  should  however  be  much  mistaken,  were  we 
 to  look  upon  the  enthusiasm  of  the  first  propagators 
 of  Islamism,  as  springing  merely  from  religious  zeal.^^ 
 The  hope  of  gain  and  the  prospect  of  plunder  gathered 
 hosts  to  Mohammed's  standard,  even  in  his  life-time; 
 and  the  national  pride  of  the  Arabs  felt  flattered  by 
 following  a  prophet  who  had  risen  fi'om  amongst 
 themselves :  ^  *  then  Mohammed's  rank ,  his  personal 
 influence,  his  consummate  art  and  prudence,  his 
 fervent  enthusiasm,  which  in  the  first  instance,  re- 
 sulted from  a  sincere  conviction  that  he  w^as  a 
 chosen  messenger  of  God, — all  gave  strength  and 
 solidity  to  each  step  in  the  early  propagation  of  Is- 
 lamism. 
 
 12.  Mohammed's  appeal  to  the  Patriarchal  faith 
 and  the  Ishmaelitish  descent  of  the  Arabs,  w^as  like- 
 
 ^^  Khaled  who  was  termed  "the  sword  of  the  swords  of  Allah," 
 well  described  the  mixture  of  power  and  persuasion  by  which  he 
 and  the  Koreishites  were  converted,  when  he  said,  that  Allah 
 seized  them  by  their  hearts  and  by  the  locks  of  their  hair  to  lead 
 thera  to  the  prophet.  Taberistanensis  Annales  regum  atque  lega- 
 toruni  Dei.    Edit.  Kosegarten.  II.  pag.  103. 
 
 *'  The  Arab  general  said  to  the  Christian  Arabs  of  Hira,  who 
 declined  to  receive  Islamism:  "Ye  fools,  will  you  wander  to  and  fro 
 in  the  wilderness  of  error;  when  two  guides  oiler  themselves  to 
 you ,  a  foreigner  and  an  Arab ,  will  ye  follow  the  first  and  forsake 
 the  latter?"     Taberistanensis  Annal.  U.  pag.  39. 
 
ciiAr.  vii.j       CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AND  PERMANENCE.  247 
 
 wise  highly  favourable  to  a  sudden  spread  of  his 
 creed.  There  was  an  artful  accommodation  to  the- 
 divers  classes  of  his  countrymen,  by  which  he 
 th'ew  the  Jew,  the  Christian  and  the  idolater  into 
 his  net.  A  certain  writer  brings  forward  fifty  pages 
 of  coincidences  between  Judaism  and  Islamism:  — 
 Each  professes  to  derive  a  politico-religious  economy 
 fi'om  a  prophet  who  united  in  his  person  the  political 
 and  spiritual  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  na- 
 tion. Each  came  to  be  possessed  of  a  sacred  book, 
 composed  by  their  respective  lawgivers.  In  both  cases 
 we  have  a  people  in  arms,  professing  to  go  forth  by 
 divine  command  to  conquer,  and  so  far  as  their  re- 
 spective conquests  should  extend,  to  extirpate  the 
 religion  of  the  subdued  countries  and  to  substitute 
 their  own.  The  Jews,  as  far  as  their  commission 
 went,  were  to  cut  off  the  idolatrous  inhabitants  ii'om 
 the  land  of  promise ;  the  Mohammedans,  according  to 
 the  terms  of  their  extended  commission,  demanded 
 either  conversion  or  death.  Each  nation  left  the  same 
 desert.  Again  Moses  and  Mohammed  descended  fi'om 
 Abraham,  both  commenced  their  office  at  the  age  of 
 forty;  the  former  received  the  law  in  Arabia,  the  lat- 
 ter the  Koran.  Both  prophets  are  exiled,  commune 
 with  God,  and  die  in  the  desert  before  their  followers 
 leave  the  country;  and  no  one  will  fail  to  perceive 
 that  in  several  points,  Mohammed  artfully  accommo- 
 dated himself  to  the  history  of  Moses  to  give  weight 
 and  effect  to  his  pretensions. 
 
 We  have  noticed  on  a  former  occasion,  with  what 
 skill  Mohammed  accommodated  himself  to  the  Chris- 
 
248  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 tian  relioion,  at  tlie  commencement  of  his  career. 
 The  immaculate  and  wonderful  conception  of  Christ 
 was  acknowledged,  His  miracles  were  admitted,  His 
 prophetical  character  was  asserted,  and  certain  titles 
 were  ascribed  to  Christ,  which  the  Christians  affirmed 
 belonged  to  Him.  It  did  its  work  and  favoured  Moham- 
 med's cause  among  the  Christians  for  a  time.  Then 
 how  well  the  national  superstitions  of  the  Arabs  were 
 blended  with  Islamism,  to  conciliate  their  love  for 
 ancient  institutions!  ]\fecca,  the  centre  of  the  national 
 worship,  was  chosen  to  become  the  sanctuary  of  the 
 new  creed;  pilgrimage  \\ith  all  its  Pagan  rites  was 
 continued;  circumcision  and  other  national  usages 
 were  adopted  and  incorporated  into  the  system  of 
 Mohammed's  religion.  There  was  a  com})ilation  of 
 heterogeneous  religious  elements,  which  proved  ac- 
 ceptable to  all  parties,  each  finding  in  it,  dogmas 
 which  were  held  by  their  respective  ancestors. 
 
 13.  The  yoke  which  Islamism  imposed  upon 
 the  first  believers,  was  by  no  means  oppressive.  It 
 was  presented  as  the  religion  of  Abraham,  a  name 
 revered  by  all  parties;  the  Unity  of  God  was  a  dogma 
 which  was  held  in  common  by  Jews,  Christians  and 
 Arabs.  The  rest  of  the  teaching  of  the  Koran  was 
 simple,  —  consisting  mainly  of  precepts  and  male- 
 dictions. There  was  an  absence  of  those  holy  and 
 blessed  mysteries  of  our  faith,  which  are  at  all  times 
 humiliatinof  to  human  reason.  Fhat  which  is  most 
 needful,  but  at  the  same  time  most  opposed  to  the 
 depraved  taste  of  the  natural  man,  is  carefully  ex- 
 cluded. Islamism,  as  a  false  creed,  offers  no  Redemp- 
 
CHAP,  vii]       CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AND  PERJIANENCE.  249 
 
 tion,  no  means  of  grace;  insists  on  no  repentance, 
 no  sell-denial  and  no  mortification  of  the  flesh ,  and 
 where  there  exists  no  love  of  the  truth,  it  can  reckon 
 upon  a  more  ready  reception  than  Christianity  can 
 expect.  The  mixtm-e  of  truth  and  falsehood,  the 
 simplicity  of  its  formula,  the  mechanism  of  its  devo- 
 tions ,  washings  and  fastings ,  combined  with  an  un- 
 bridled licentiousness,  renders  it  more  acceptable  than 
 the  Gospel  of  Christ,  with  its  free  mercy  to  lost  sin- 
 ners, with  its  rigid  morality  and  elevating  hope  of 
 glory;  for  the  w^orld  will  love  its  own  in  religion,  not 
 less  than  in  other  things.  ^^ 
 
 The  2)enna7iency  of  Islamism,  which  is  another  of 
 its  striking  features,  may  in  some  measure  be  attributed 
 to  its  close  connection  with  the  existing  Governments. 
 Any  attempt  to  alter  or  reform  the  religion,  neces- 
 sarily involved  the  ruin  and  overthrow  of  the  Govern- 
 ment of  the  land.  Every  case  of  religious  apostacy 
 is  therefore  punished  by  the  state  as  a  capital  crime. 
 It  was  solely  owing  to  the  external  pressure  of  the 
 European  powers  of  late  years  that  an  alteration  has 
 been  made  in  the  Turkish  empire.  Again,  the  per- 
 manence of  Islamism  is  in  no  way  surprising,  when 
 
 52 
 
 "(Sntfai^ung,  ?htf3ebutic?  iex  licbficii  5)?eioiiinc5en  \mxU  nirfit  geforbert; 
 bic  I'fibcnfd'nften  fo((tcn  nt'rfit  fptvotU  gchiiibigt  uiib  in  ftveiige  3ii*t  genoni; 
 nun  irerben,  a(^  niiv  auf  eineu  ©cgcnflaitb,  ten  Si<im\'^  fiir  bie  9luebrcitiiiuj 
 bee  neucn  ^Uauben?  concentrivt  wcrbcn  .  .  .  3:!ae  SPcvdot  beg  Setnee  lonnte 
 nicfit  lafiig  fein  in  einem  ?anbe,  ivo  bie  ^nirfU  bev  ?Jebc  nicf^t  gebeif)t,  bag 
 tieriobifdie  ??aftcn  nicfjt  ba,  tvc  Unfru*t(\ufeit  bee  33obcne  oft  audi  bcii  ®o()I- 
 ^abenben  (Siitbcl)nmgen  auferlcgt,  inib  fdion  bae  ^lima  pr  grofjfeu  2)ld^i-- 
 guitg  im  ©enuffc  bet  91af)rung  einlabct.  5)ae  !Driicfenbe  wax  am  Slnfang 
 bie  JRcIigionefteuer,  bie  aber  balb  biird)  bie  reidie  93eiite  fiiinbertfattig  v^er-- 
 gittet  tturbc;  fiir  fo  getinge  £vfcr  evfaiifteii  ^if  ©Idubigcn  bie  Sluefidit  auf 
 cnblofeg  g(^tve(gen  im  ^paiabife  finiilid;er  Sitj!e."     3)o(linger  pag.  4.  5. 
 
250  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLAMISM.  [parti. 
 
 we  remeniber  that  each  child  swells  the  ranks  of  the 
 coninmiiity ;  for  according  to  Moslem  teaching,  every 
 child  is  born  a  Moslem,  and  it  is  only  the  i)arents 
 Avho  make  him  a  Jew  or  a  Christian!  Not  so  with 
 Christianity;  for  according  to  its  teaching,  every  child 
 is  born  in  sin;  and  as  by  natnre,  all  are  children  of 
 wrath,  the  Gospel  has  to  struggle  against  the  whole 
 course  of  nature,  and  when  it  has  prevailed  with  one 
 generation  of  professed  Christians ,  it  has  to  renew 
 the  struggle  in  the  next.^^ 
 
 These  then  are  some  of  the  principal  causes,  the 
 joint  agency  of  which,  sufHciently  accounts  for  the 
 success  and  permanent  character  of  Islamism.  We 
 protest  against  the  dangerous  and  fallacious  assump- 
 tion, that  there  is  in  it  any  fultilment  of  a  divine 
 promise,  but  willingly  admit  a  providential  control  ol 
 this  heaven-sent  scourge/*  IIow  often  did  God  raise 
 up  instruments  of  His  wrath  to  chastise  the  Jewish 
 Church ,  and  these  after  having  served  as  the  rod  of 
 correction,  were  invariably  cast  into  the  fire!  Let 
 only  the  cause  of  the  scourge  be  remedied,  let  the 
 Eastern  Churches  be  cleansed  from  their  dross;  let 
 the  Church  of  Christ  in  the  West  fulfil  her  duty 
 towards  both  the  Christian  and  the  Mohammedan 
 comnumity ,  and  the  scourge  itself  will  be  removed ; 
 
 '^^  The  Church  in  extending  her  Missionary  operations  has  to 
 contend  with  these  natural  obstacles  which  impede  her  ])rogress, 
 whilst  Islaniisni  in  propagating  its  tenets  and  in  maintaining  its 
 ground ,   only  flatters  the  natural  pride  and  indulge^s  the  pasnions 
 
 of  man. 
 
 ■'*  Success  alone,  can  afford  no  absolute  proof  of  divine  favour; 
 for  we  observe ,  how  God  permits  error  to  prevail  upon  earth  and 
 that,  not  seldom,  to  a  far  greater  extent  then  truth  itself. 
 
CHAP.vil]       CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AND  PERMANENCE.  251 
 
 let  Paganism  also  be  abolished,  and  Islamisni,  which 
 in  God's  purpose  has  served  as  a  barrier  to  the 
 abomination  of  idolatry,  will  be  destroyed. 
 
 14.   Thus  we  have  seen  how  the  sword  has  been 
 the  chief  instrumentality  in  propagating  Islamism; 
 but  God,  who  brings  good  out  of  evil,  life  out  of  death, 
 peace  and  order  out  of  strife  and  confusion,  evidently 
 assigned  certain  functions  to  this  apostacy,  which'  m 
 the  end  should  work  together  for  good.     At  a  period 
 when  the  nations  of  the  East  had  reduced  Christianity 
 to   a  miserable  caricature,  Islamism,  being  armed 
 against  all  teaching  except  its  own,  seemed  to  be 
 the  less  fatal  of  two  evils.''     Whilst  it  spread  the 
 Koran,  and  assumed  an  attitude  of  inveterate  hos- 
 tility, it  acted  at  the  same  time,  as  an  antidote  to  the 
 poison  of  heretical  teaching  in  the  Church.  As  regards 
 the  Western  Church ,  Islamism  roused  her  from  her 
 slumber,   served  as  a  correction  of  her  abuses  and 
 corruptions,    and  called  forth  new  Hfe   and  energy 
 among  the  stagnant  masses  of  her  professors.  When 
 this  object  was  attained,  God  withdrew  the  rod,  and 
 showed  mercv  to  His  Church,  which  could  not  be 
 
 **  "S^Iain  t-iente  ate  rie  i?cijlige  Cuarantaine ,  in  wclrf)eic  bi'c  a?oU'et 
 (^cgen  ba^  dontaoiium  eincr  fold)"en  CS'omH.^tioit  abgeft^errt,  beffcrcv  3eiteu  unb 
 be^  aSc^cne  veinerer  I'itfte  fiaueii.  ^af-,  iciie  ©efafir  wxxiM)  tfovfiaubeu  uiib 
 t>riii.^^nt)  i^elvefen,  bae  be^eiic^t  uirfit  inir  bet  >§aitg  ^um  baretifrinni  %dU\v 
 iuffen,  bcr  imtet  ben  orientalifdjen  Sfirifien  icnet  3eit.l'd}on  iiberlviegcnb  \»ar; 
 eg  bejengt  eg  and)  bet  gto^e  (Si-folg ,  luelrfje  bie  giftige,  alle  ©ittlicfitcit  jer^ 
 fteffcnbe  Sefirc  ber  ^'auficianct  intb  Sogomilen  untet  ^cn  (?f)riften,  fo  \\>k  bet 
 mit  biefeu  nabc  i^ernmnbten  U3ateni'g  \m^  S^lameU's  untct  ben  a)loelemen 
 ^atte.  aSat  bodj  fetbft  bic  abenbldnbifdje  birdie  bet  »on  Diefer  brotienben 
 ©efafii  in  fo  fjofjem  ©tafc  fclo^geftcnt ,  fajj  im  ©eginne  beg  13.  Scculum^ 
 beteitg  gan^e  ^royinjen  i^on  ber  ^eftartig  imi  fid)  gteifenben  Sefjre  angefieitt 
 ivaren."     ^JoiUnget  pag.  140. 
 
252  SPREAD  AND  SUCCESS  OF  ISLMflSM.  [parti. 
 
 destroyed  in  this  terrible  earthquake.  "^^  Moslem  his- 
 torians maintain,  that  the  locust  armies  carried  on 
 their  wings  the  Arabic  inscription:  "We  are  the  host 
 of  Allah ,  every  one  of  us  carries  ninety-nine  eggs, 
 and  if  we  had  a  hundred,  we  would  destroy  the  world 
 with  all  that  is  therein."     The  Moslemin  themselves 
 are  these  locust  armies,  and  more  than  once,  the  want 
 of  the  hundreth  egg  alone  has  prevented  their  utterly 
 destroying  the  noblest  powers  of  Christendom.   Such 
 an  epoch  was  the  Kallphate  of  Othman;  when  in  the 
 course  of  the  seventh  century,  the  whole  of  the  weak 
 Byzantine  empire  would  probably  have  fallen,  and  by 
 its  fall  would  have  opened  the  door  to  central  Europe, 
 had  not  the  best  powers  of  the  ^loslem  empire  been 
 consumed  by  those  intestine  feuds  which  succeeded 
 the  assassination  of  the  Kaliph.     Another  crisis  oc- 
 curred, after  the  occupation  of  the  south  of  France 
 by  Moslem  troops,    when   the   fate  of  Europe  was 
 suspended  on  that  memorable  battle  won  by  Charles 
 Martel.    The  third  critical  period,  at  which  the  hun- 
 dreth egg  was  wanting,  occurred  in  the  third  century 
 of  the  Hedgra,  when  the  Aglabites,  having  already 
 subjugated  Sicily,  threatened  to  establish  themselves 
 in  lower  Italy:  for  had  not  the  Moslem  power  at  that 
 period,  succumbed  to  the  Fatamites  in  Africa,  Italy, 
 as  well  as  Spain,   would  have  been  overrun  by  the 
 Moors,  especially  as  it  was  in  a  defenceless  condition, 
 and  France  in  a  state  of  disturbance.    Again,  in  the 
 fourth  century  of  the  Mohannnedan   era,   after  the 
 restoration  of  the  K.-diphate  to  its  legitimate  line,  the 
 ^^   Ouslcv's  Travels  II.  149. 
 
CHAP.  VII.]       CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  AKD  PERMANENCE.  253 
 
 Saracen  power,  having  recovered  its  pristine  vigour 
 and  threatening  to  penetrate  to  the  very  heart  of 
 Christian  Europe,  was  signally  checked: — theSelchuk 
 Turks  under  Soleiman  A.  D.  1084  had  united  the 
 whole  tract  of  country  between  the  Euphrates  and 
 the  Hellespont  into  one  kingdom,  and  stood  before 
 Constantinople,  prepared  to  march  into  Europe;  when, 
 the  Emperor  of  Constantinople  sending  letters  to  the 
 Christian  princes  imj^loring  their  assistance,  Peter 
 the  Hermit  with  the  assembly  at  Clermont,  brought 
 the  whole  of  Europe  to  arms;  and  for  the  first  time 
 the  religious  enthusiasm  of  the  Christians  proved 
 itself  stronger  than  the  fanatical  zeal  of  the  Moslem 
 conquerors. 
 
 CHAPTER  nil. 
 
 CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM. 
 
 "Ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits.     Do  men  gather  grajjes  from 
 
 thorns   or  figs   from  thistles?     Even   so   every  good   tree  bringeth 
 
 forth  good  fruit,  but  a  corrupt  tree  bri ay eth  forth  evil  fruit.'' 
 
 Matt.  VII.  16. 
 
 1.  Mohammed,  assuming  to  be  a  prophet  rather 
 of  the  type  and  character  ofMoses  than  that  of  Jesus, 
 took  upon  himself  to  legislate  on  moral,  civil  and 
 religious  matters.  The  divine  authority  ascribed  to 
 his  precepts  on  religion,  was  necessarily  extended  to 
 those  regarding  the  civil  and  social  relations  of  life, 
 and  being  thus  endowed  with  a  character  of  stability, 
 an    insurmountable   barrier   was   placed  to  the  free 
 
254         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [pakt  i. 
 
 development  ofTslamism  in  future  ages. '^'  Hence  the 
 rude,  simple  and  in  some  instances,  barbarous,  cus- 
 toms of  the  Arabs  of  that  age, — which  Mohammed 
 had  tolerated  by  way  of  accommodation  to  their  na- 
 tional prejudices, — became  the  fixed  law  for  all  future 
 Generations.  Among  these  we  may  mention  the  "le,v 
 taIioim\  which  in  subsequent  ages,  was  introduced 
 and  adopted  by  all  Mohammedan  states."*^  The  entire 
 administration  of  the  Moslem  code  of  law  may  be 
 fau-ly  reduced  to  the  precepts  of  the  Koran ,  which 
 also  in  this  particular,  adopted  the  traditional  prac- 
 tice of  the  Arabs.  That  the  adoption  of  this  system 
 could  not  fail  to  cause  many  crying  abuses  when  ap- 
 plied to  a  semi-civilised  people,  may  be  easily  imag- 
 ined. That  brief  and  simple  mode  of  conducting  trials 
 previously  used  by  the  armed  and  roving  Beduins  of 
 the  Peninsula,  is  still  maintained  among  all  Moslem 
 nations;  this  total  absence  of  the  legal  forms  and 
 courtesies  of  European  courts  of  justice,  together  with 
 the  non-acceptance  of  written  documents  to  serve  as 
 evidence,  produce  a  host  oi' fahe  ii'itvessea,  who  in 
 large  tomis,  make  a  systematic  trade  of  their  infamous 
 perjuries  at  the  courts  of  law.  On  the  other  hand, 
 the   prophet  blessing  those   "who  cast  the  mantle 
 
 ■''  "3^ic  ©cUHiiiber,  iveld'c  pcm  Jiiiabcn  i^'V^if't  (mttfi' -  fcUte  audi  t>er 
 Wann,  tcr  idiicn  Kiju-^ft  eutumrtifen  umv,  nidit  aHcc^en  tuivfcn."  From  the 
 valuable  treatise  by  Prof.  D.illiiiger :  aihthamincb'«  Oieltnion  luid^ 
 ttuer  innercn  ©ntlviff  liinji  »In^  i  hrcm  (Siufdifff  auf  Dvi^  ?fbcn 
 bcr  a^olfer.   1B3f=(.   pag.  7. 
 
 ^^  "9ic>*  iflU  wcrtcn  hilicv  aifortcr  ten  iieU^lid)cn  (Svln-n  obcr  3?cr- 
 nmubtcn  rct^  (hmorbctcn  ubcvliefcrt,  urn  luit  i(nicn  nil*  ^illfiir  ju  vex- 
 foljrcn,  ja  fclbfi  unmiinbinc  MixMx  ivcvbcn  mil  SOicffcrn  iH-umftnet,  nm  if)ro 
 ^antc  in  ta^  33hit  bee  SOioxber^  ifirco  aSdterS  jn  taudien."  S^iUlinijcrpag.  8. 
 
CHAP,  viii.]  EXTENT  OF  ITS  LEGISLATURE.  255 
 
 over  the  crimes  of  their  brethren,"  created  an  abuse 
 in  the  opposite  direction;  evidence  to  convict  the 
 guilty  party  in  criminal  cases  being  scarcely  procur- 
 able among  Moslemin.''^ 
 
 The  nefarious  practice  of  wantonly  making  and 
 breaking  an  oath,  was  enforced  by  the  example  of 
 the  prophet  himself.  Mohammed  swore  on  the  most 
 frivolous  occasions.  At  the  beginning  of  Sura  XXXVIII. 
 he  swears  "by  the  Koran  full  of  admonition",  but  no 
 commentator  has  yet  discovered  for  what  reason.  He 
 swears  in  Sura  XLiv.  "by  the  perspicuous  book"  that 
 it  came  down  on  the  blessed  night.  In  Sura  LI.  he 
 makes  oath  by  the  winds,  clouds,  ships  and  angels, 
 that  the  day  of -Judgment  will  surely  come;  also  by 
 the  ways  of  heaven ,  that  the  Meccans  quarrel  about 
 him;  in  SuraLXVllL  by  "the  pen  and  writer"  that  he 
 is  not  possessed  by  a  demon ;  in  Sura  LXIX.  34  by 
 things  "visible  and  invisible"  that  the  Koran  is  not 
 a  poetical  figment  or  a  magical  production.  In  Sura 
 LXXY.  he  swears  "by  the  day  of  the  Resurrection  and 
 the  soul  that  accuseth  itself",  but  for  what  purpose, 
 it  is  difficult  to  guess.  God  is  made  to  swear  by  the 
 planets,  by  night  and  day-break,  that  the  Koran  was 
 revealed  by  Gabriel,  and  that  Mohammed  was  not 
 possessed.***^  In  Sura  XC.  Allah  is  said  to  swear  that 
 he  created  man  in  toil,  sorrow,  and  affliction;  but  in 
 
 As  the  courts  of  justice  take  cognizance  only  of  crimes  com- 
 mitted against  religion  and  the  head  of  the  state,  offences  which 
 would  be  severely  punished  in  Christian  lands  ,  are  generally  al- 
 lowed to  pass  unnoticed.  Correspondence  d"Orient  par  Michaud  et 
 Poujoulat.    Paris  1833.  Ill  pag.  288. 
 
 ^^    Sur.  LXXXI.  15.   cfr.  with  this  Hebr.  VI.  14—16. 
 
256         CHARACTER  AKD  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 Sura  XCV.  he  makes  oatli  1)V  the  fia-tree,  the  ohve, 
 mount  Sinai  ami  Mecca,  that  he  "created  man  of  a 
 most  excelk-nt  fabric,  and  afterwards  we  rendered 
 him  the  vik^st  of  the  vile."  In  Sura  XCII.  we  are 
 assured  by  a  double  oath  that  men  have  different 
 opinions ! 
 
 From  these  examples  of  swearing  on  the  part  of 
 x\llah,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Koran  solemnly 
 teaches,  that  oaths  made  precipitately,  may  be  bro- 
 ken.''^  Mohammed  himself  broke  his  oath  on  several 
 occasions;  and  taught  his  followers  (Sura  II.  225.) 
 that  after,  or  within  four  months,  they  may  fairly 
 break  their  vows,  "for  God  is  gracious  and  merciful." 
 The  expiation  of  an  inconsiderate  oath  (Sur.  v.  90 — 
 95),  is  "to  feed  ten  men  ^^'ith  moderate  food,  or 
 clothe  them ;  or  else  to  deliver  a  captive,  or  if  unable 
 to  fulfil  these  things,  to  fast  for  three  days." 
 
 How  greatly  this  contempt  for  the  sanctity  of  an 
 oath  must  tend  to  demoralise  a  people,  can  scarcely 
 be  conceived;  we  would  challenge  any  traveller  to 
 find  such,  even  amongst  Pagans.  Triple  oaths,  on  the 
 most  trivial  occurrences,  are  constantly  on  the  lips  of 
 the  Arabs.  No  Paean  nation  deals  so  wantonlv  with 
 the  names  of  their  gods,  as  the  Moslem  does  with 
 the  sacred  name  of  Allah.  Oaths  are  affixed  to  the 
 most  outrageous  falsehoods,  and  this  being  done  from 
 mere  habit,  such  thoughtless  and  vain  oaths  are  ac- 
 cording to  the  Koran,  unpunishable,  "for  God  is 
 gracious  and  merciful."     'Jdie  perjury  committed  at 
 
 ^*    "God  will  not  punish  you  for  an  inconsiderate  word  in  your 
 oaths."    Sur.  II.  224. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]  VAIN  OATHS  AND  PERJURY.  257 
 
 courts  of  justice,  is  therefore  only  one  link  in  tliat 
 chain  of  lying  and  falsehood,  which  Islamism  has 
 thrown  around  the  entire  community  of  its  pro- 
 fessors. 
 
 2.  In  spite  however  of  the  conscientious  ad- 
 herence ofMoslemin  to  a  system  of  legislation,  which 
 was  considered  unchangeable,  the  strictly  literal  sense 
 of  this  heaven-sent  theory  was  in  some  cases  modi- 
 fied, where  its  application  to  the  stern  realities  of 
 practical  life  was  found  to  be  absolutely  impossible. 
 It  was  with  this  view  partially,  that  the  Son7ia  was 
 added  to  the  Koran. ^^  The  Sonna,  or  traditi07is, 
 embody  the  expressions,  occasional  remarks  and  acts 
 of  Mohammed,  which  are  traced  back  to  his  com- 
 panions, his  wives  and  the  first  Kahphs;^'  and  the 
 doctrines  as  well  as  religious  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
 the  Mohammedans,  are  fixed  and  regulated  according 
 to  these  received  traditions.  On  them,  the  true  sense 
 of  the  Koran  depends,  for  the  Koran  can  only  be 
 explained  and  its  meaning  understood,  as  it  is  given 
 or  hinted  at  by  the  Sonna.  Regarding  them,  there 
 is  great  uncertainty  among  Moslemin;  as  these  tra- 
 ditions are  neither  all  collected  into  one  book  nor  are 
 all  approved  by  the  whole  body  of  their  renowned 
 divines.  Collections  indeed,  have  been  made  with 
 great  labour  by  learned  men,  but  as  they  do  not  agree 
 in  all  cases,  latitude  enough  has  been  left  to   any 
 
 &A*w,  Sonna  mos  rcceptus,  traditio,  regula;  from  ij.**<  for- 
 mavit;   .secutu.s  fuit  regulara. 
 
 ^^    Wiistenfeld's  Dahabi:    liber  classium  viroruni ,   qui  Coraui 
 et  traditionoruni  cognitione  excelluerunt.    Getting.  1834. 
 
 B 
 
258         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [part  i. 
 
 writer  of  reputation  to  add  or  to  reject  at  his  own 
 choice/*  To  tell  a  lie  for  a  good  purpose,  especially 
 to  add  by  it  something  to  the  glory  of  their  prophet, 
 is  considered  by  Moslemin  and  particularly  by  the 
 Shiites,  quite  right  and  proper.  But  whatever  be  the 
 merits  or  demerits  of  these  traditions ,  they  widened 
 the  narrow  limits  of  the  legislature  of  the  Koran  and 
 afforded  some  elasticity  to  the  cramped  and  narrow- 
 minded  precepts  of  Mohammed. 
 
 The  real  character  of  Islamism  may  be  better 
 ascertained  from  these  traditions,  in  which  we  see 
 how  the  contemporaries  of  Mohammed  and  his  im- 
 mediate followers  understood  his  teaching,  than  from 
 the  monotonous  repetitions  of  the  Koran.  ^''    What 
 
 ^*  "Bukhari,  one  of  the  first  of  the  collectors  of  the  traditions, 
 and  esteemed  the  highest  in  point  of  authority,  had,  as  is  said,  col- 
 lected 200,000,  or  according  to  another  statement,  630,000  tradi- 
 tions, of  which  he  regarded  but  100,000  as  somewhat  to  be  relied 
 upon,  and  only  7275  as  actually  authentic  and  true.  He  died  A.  H. 
 250.  Another  collector  has  received  only  5266,  and  the  author  of 
 the  Musabih  only  4484  as  authentic.  The  writers  of  the  Shias 
 differ  still  more  than  those  of  the  Sunnis  about  the  number  of  the 
 traditions  to  bo  regarded  as  actually  to  be  relied  upon ;  for  since 
 the  Shi'cis  regard  as  canonical  also  the  sayings  of  their  Imams, 
 they  have  a  much  greater  number  of  traditions  than  the  Sunnis, 
 and  consequently  it  is  still  more  difficult  for  them  to  fix  their  num- 
 ber, or  to  distinguish  between  an  authentic  and  an  unauthentic 
 tradition."  Dr.  C.  G.  Pfander's  Remarks  on  the  nature  of  Moham- 
 medan tradition,  pag.  30. 
 
 ''■'  "One  of  the  most  acknowledged  collections  of  the  Hadiths 
 or  traditions  approved  of  "by  the  Sonnis  is,  MiKlicit  id  Masaiih," 
 which  has  been  translated  into  English  and  published  by  H.  N. 
 Mathews,  Calcutta  1810;  and  most  of  the  traditions  received  by 
 the  Shias  are  contained  in  the  books  of  "  Jlrnmt  ul  Ki'litb ,  llaq  zd 
 Ydfuin,"  and  "Ain  ul  ILiyat,"  written  by  Mullah  Muhammed  Hakir 
 Majlisi,  a  famous  Persian  divine,  who  lived  about  200  years  ago, 
 and  which  were  printed  in  Teheran  in  4  folio  Volumes."    Pfander's 
 
CHAP,  viii.l  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  TRADITIONS.  259 
 
 the  prophet  taught  concerning  divine  truths,  apart 
 from  a  few  practical  injunctions,  seems  to  be  con- 
 sidered of  Httle  importance  compared  with  the  more 
 attractive  legends  of  the  Koran  which  are  over-laden 
 with  mythical  embellishments.  Let  any  one  read 
 what  has  been  rendered  accessible  to  Europeans,  and 
 they  will  find  wearisome  commentaries  upon  legal 
 washings,  ceremonial  attitudes  and  histrionic  posi- 
 tions at  prayer,  the  physical  relations  of  women, 
 matrimony  and  divorce,  buying  and  selling,  saluta- 
 tions and  the  most  ordinary  transactions  of  life,  inter- 
 mixed with  the  most  outrageous  and  wildly  extra- 
 vagant fables  concerning  the  visible  and  invisible 
 world.  Ignorant  of  the  real  discij^line  of  the  soul, 
 Islamism,  in  its  traditions,  beats  out  a  path  of  vain 
 and  useless  ceremonial,  the  fulfilment  of  which,  pro- 
 duces a  delusive  sense  of  security;  and  the  very  irk- 
 someness  of  the  ceremonial  enhances  the  feeling  of 
 its  meritorious  character.  As  regards  the  absurd 
 and  marvellous  stories  contained  in  them,  it  has  been 
 justly  remarked  that  they  exercise  even  a  greater  in- 
 fluence on  the  minds  of  the  Mohammedans  than 
 the  doctrines  contained  in  the  Koran,  and  this  ex- 
 plains why  they  are  so  indiff'erent  to  the  plain  and 
 unvarnished  truths  of  the  Gospel.  These  extravagant 
 fables  have  so  destroyed  and  vitiated  their  taste,  that 
 they  have  little  relish  for  sober  truth  and  look  down 
 
 Remarks  on  the  nature  of  Muh.  pag.  8.  See  also  Harrington's 
 "Remarks  upon  tlie  authorities  of  Moselman  law"  Asiatic  Re- 
 searches Vol.  X.  pag.  478.  where  he  mentions  4  collections  of  tra- 
 ditions, which  the  Shiites  consider  authentic. 
 
 R* 
 
260         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 with  contempt  on  the  simple  but  snbhme  doctrhies 
 of  Christianity/*^ 
 
 3.  In  considering  the  ivarlike  fanaticism  wliich 
 the  Mohammedans  manifested  in  propagating  their 
 faith,  we  recognise  the  fruits  of  the  much  enforced 
 doctrine,  that  the  blood  of  infidels  is  the  best  sacrifice 
 which  can  be  made  to  God.  The  means  of  conversion 
 by  sword  and  conquest  soon  assumed  a  cruel  and 
 sanguinary  character.  Thousands  of  prisoners  were 
 usually  massacred  after  a  victory;  not  in  the  heat  of 
 contest,  but  in  cold  blood  and  as  a  matter  of  prin- 
 ciple,^' and  the  law  which  assigned  the  wives  and 
 children  of  the  slain  to  the  conquerors  greatly  tended 
 to  inflame  their  zeal  and  increase  the  number  of  vic- 
 tims. Lest  it  might  be  thought,  to  be  only  the  fresh- 
 kindled  enthusiasm  of  the  first  Moslem  warriors  which 
 led  to  such  excesses,  we  must  add,  that  the  same 
 thirst  for  blood  distinguished  all  subsequent  conquests 
 on  the  part  of  Mohammedans.  This  was  evinced  for 
 a  number  of  centuries,  during  which  religious  wars 
 devastated  the  countries  oi  India;  and  we  may  con- 
 sider it  but  one  instance  out  of  many,  when  Mohammed 
 
 '  ^^  The  demoralising-  influence  of  these  traditions  may  be  seen 
 from  the  fact,  that  some  of  the  tortures  which  they  ascribe  to  the 
 Moslem  liell,  were  applied  to  Christians  during  the  recent  mutiny 
 in  India.  "With  liooks  they  tear  their  bodies  and  witli  iron  maces 
 they  are  beaten;  angels  stout  and  fierce  torture  them,  showing  no 
 mercy."  Again:  "There  are  such  in  hell  of  whose  sides  the  angels 
 cut  off  the  flesh  with  scissors,  and  throw  it  into  their  mouths." 
 Hayat  ul  Kulub  Vol.  II.  leaf  174. 
 
 '^''  Khaled,  who  was  once  M.'s  right  hand,  vowed  in  a  heavy 
 engagement  against  Christian  Arabs  and  Pagan  Persians,  that  if 
 God  would  grant  him  the  victory,  he  would  dye  the  waters  of  the 
 stream  with  the  blood  of  the  slain.    Taberist.  Annal.  reg.  II.  p.  29. 
 
8 
 
 CHAP.  VIII.]         WARLIKE  AND  CRUEL  FANATICISM.  261 
 
 Shah  Bahniim,  king  of  the  Deccan,  fulfilled  his  vow 
 1368,  that  he  would  not  sheathe  his  sword,  till  he 
 had  slain  100,000  infidel  Hindoos,  in  order  to  revenge 
 the  defeat  of  a  detachment  of  Moslem  troops.'' 
 When  Reinald  from  Chatillon  attempted  an  expedition 
 aoainst  Medina  and  Mecca,  Saladin  the  celebrated 
 hero  of  Islamism ,  declared  it  to  be  his  sacred  duty 
 to  cleanse  the  earth  from  these  men,  and  to  kill  every 
 Christian  who  should  fall  into  his  hands.  Thereupon 
 part  of  the  captive  Christians  were  dragged  to  the 
 valley  of  Mina,  where  the  pilgrims  slaughtered  them, 
 instead  of  the  accustomed  sheep  or  lambs ;  the  rest 
 were  brought  to  Egypt,  where  the  Moslem  ascetics 
 considered  it  a  meritorious  work,  to  kill  these  "Chris- 
 tian dogs"  with  their  own  hand.^^  That  demoniacal 
 blood-thirsty  hatred  entertained  byMoslemin  towards 
 all  who  disbelieve  the  Koran,  imbibed  from  their  very 
 infancy,  has  ever  operated  so  powerfully  among  them, 
 that  even  their  noblest  characters  have  been  tarnished 
 by  it:^"  thus  the  abomination  of  human  sacrifices 
 came  to  be  revived  by  those,  who  prided  themselves 
 in  having  destroyed  Paganism,  as  far  as  their  arm  of 
 power  could  reach! 
 
 4.    This  flame  of  hatred  towards  all  other  reli- 
 
 ^**  Ferishta,  history  of  the  Mohammedan  power  in  India,  trans, 
 by  Briggs.  1829.  Vol.  II.  pag.  311. 
 
 ^^  After  the  battle  near  Hittin,  Saladin  caused  the  captured 
 knights  and  hospitallers  to  be  killed  by  the  pious  fanatics ,  who 
 followed  his  army.    Reinaud  Journal  Asiatique  V.  pag.  237.  290. 
 
 '"  It  is  well  known  that  Saladin  has  frequently  been  compared 
 and  preferred  to  his  Christian  contemporary,  the  Emperor  of  Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
262  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [PARTI. 
 
 gionists  wliich  is  indeed  the  very  element  of  Islam- 
 ism, '^  is  continually  nourished  by  the  reading  of  the 
 Koran,  replete  as  it  is  with  threatenlngs  and  curses 
 aoainst  unbelievers;  it  is  also  the  necessary  conse- 
 quence  of  a  doctrine,  which  teaches  that  the  sword 
 is  the  sanctified  means  of  conversion, — and  which 
 inculcates  warfare  against  all  unsubdued  KafFcrs  of 
 every  shade  of  opinion ;  warfare ,  interrupted  only  by 
 a  longer  or  shorter  armistice,  as  necessity  may  demand. 
 In  this  sense  Mohammed's  assertion,  —  that  "the  in- 
 fidels are  all  one  people," — must  doubtless  be  under- 
 stood; and  hence  believers  are  destined  to  convert 
 them  by  force  of  arms;  if  this  be  impossible,  to  ex- 
 terminate, or  make  them  tributary.    Mohammed  and 
 the  first  Kaliphs,  as  we  have  seen,  occasionally  pre- 
 tended to  recommend  milder  measures  towards  the 
 Scripturalists ,   but  in  proportion  as  their  followers 
 became  conscious  of  the  gulph,  which  separates  the 
 Moslem  from  all  others,  and  the  more  the  two  parties 
 became  entangled  in  mutual  hostilities,  the  more  de- 
 cided became  their  animosity  towards  Christians,  and 
 consequently   the    more  oppressive  the  yoke  which 
 they  laid  upon  them.   Christians  were  not  unfrequently 
 dealt  with  on  the  same  principle  as  Pagans;  their 
 holding  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity  was  alone 
 sufficient  to  place  them  on  a  level  with  Polytheists, 
 
 '1  "^a^  c^tc^tn  bic  ^Bcfcinicr  aubercr  9ielifiii?it  ift  511  aUcn  Scitcn  bag 
 Ceteneetcment  bcf  l^L^Kimieimio  iKivcfcn,  nub  borf  man  von  bcin  'in'maniicneu 
 auf  bae  Siifunflijic  fdilicf;cn ,  fo  uioriitc  man  Inljauvtcn,  bafi,  ivcnn  cinmal 
 bicfer  6af5  aKiiftiimpft  fein  ivivb ,  audi  ber  S^crfad  bc(?  flan^cn  e«ftcmt^  un= 
 auf()aafam  t'crcinbrcrficn,  obcv  baji  bnlrfamc  Wcfinnnn^^  c\i\}cn  ?(nrcrec\lan(M'cie 
 unb  reli^iofc  rsnbiffovcn^  bci  ben  2V^o(1ammc^ancrn  ^tanb  in  ^-^anb  ge(;cn 
 hjcrbcn."     5:oUinijer  pag.  14. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]      ANIMOSITY  AND  LUST  OF  PERSECUTION.  263 
 
 for,  SO  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  Moslem  era, 
 were  they  branded  by  Abu  Sofian  with  that  oppro- 
 prious  terms. ''  Kaliph  Motawakkel  A.  D.  850.  added 
 bitter  mockery  and  indescribable  tortures  to  their  al- 
 ready  heavy  afflictions,  and  in  the  bloody  persecutions 
 of  the  Fatamite  Hakem,  many  lost  their  lives.  Even 
 common  intercourse  was  interdicted  between  Mos- 
 lemin  and  Christians,'^  and  a  Moslem  to  this  day, 
 is  not  permitted  either  to  eat  with  a  Christian  or  to 
 partake  of  the  same  meal.''* 
 
 If  we  come  to  more  recent  times,  we  find  the 
 notorious  Sultan  of  Mysore,  Tippo  Sahib,  perpetra- 
 ting acts  of  persecution  for  the  sake  of  religion  which 
 appear  the  more  hateful ,  for  being  accompanied  by 
 the  most  brutal  lust.  The  majority  of  his  subjects 
 being  Hindoos,  his  object  was  to  convert  the  whole 
 population  of  the  Malabar  provinces  to  the  faith  of 
 the  Koran ;  in  this  he  was  assisted  by  the  Moplays, 
 descendants  of  an  Arab  colony,  who,  falling  like  wild 
 beasts  upon  the  defenceless  Hindoos  forcibly  circum- 
 cised many ;  others ,  robbed  of  their  wives ,  children 
 
 "  Julal-Addin  Al  Siuti,  history  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem; 
 translated  by  Reynolds.  1836.  pag.  197.  240.  Encouraging  the 
 Arabs  before  a  battle  against  the  Greeks,  Abu  Sofian  says:  '^Vos 
 quidem  propugnatores  Arabum  estis ,  atque  Islamismi  adjuvatores ; 
 illi  vero  propugnatores  Graecorum  atque  adjutores  polytheismi 
 sunt."    Taberist.  11.  pag.  101. 
 
 "  Mohammed  Ebn  Lshmael,  the  king  of  Granada,  was  assassi- 
 nated A.  D.  1333  by  the  Moors  because  he  had  eaten  with  Chris- 
 tians and  wore  a  garment  which  he  received  from  the  king  of 
 Castilia.  Conde,  Geschichte  der  Herrschaft  der  Mauren  in  Spanien. 
 m.  pag.  134. 
 
 ^*  The  author  speaks  from  his  own  experience.  See  also: 
 Eraser,  Narrative  of  a  journey  into  KJiorasan.    1825.  pag.  182. 
 
264  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAJOSM.       [PART  I. 
 
 and  property,  were  driven  back  to  the  jungles.  Tippoo 
 Sahib  took  away  the  daughters  of  the  Brahmins  and 
 having  dishonoured  them  sent  them  back  to  their 
 parents,  who  refused  to  receive  them  since  they  had 
 lost  their  cast.  Tippoo  then  compelled  the  Brahmins 
 themselves  to  marry  these  outcasts,  by  which  they 
 also  losing  their  cast,  were  expelled  from  their  com- 
 munity.'* Can  we  be  surprised  that  such  fearful 
 outrages,  which  acknowledged  no  other  than  the  un- 
 conditional right  of  the  stronger  party,  should,  as  op- 
 portunity occurred,  produce  the  most  bloody  reactions? 
 Hence  it  is,  that  the  KafFers  north  of  Badshur,  the 
 neighbours  of  the  Moslem  Afghans,  deem  no  action 
 more  meritorious  than  that  of  killing  a  Moslem.  But 
 few  comparatively  of  the  deeds  of  darkness,  com- 
 mitted in  India  by  the  Moslem  conquerors,  have  ever 
 come  to  light,  since  the  only  account  we  have  of  their 
 rule  in  that  country,  was  written  by  themselves."^ 
 The  only  exception  to  this  bloodthirsty  and  oppressive 
 rule,  was  made  by  the  Mongol  emperor  ^A-k/r,  who 
 
 ^^  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  loss  of  cast  is  ten  times 
 worse  to  a  Brahmin  than  the  crudest  death.  The  cruelties  of 
 Tippoo  Sahib  are  recorded  by  Buchanan,  "Journey  from  Madras 
 through  Mysore  and  Malabar."   1807.  I.   pag.  5G.   il.  550. 
 
 ""^  Ferishta,  History  of  the  Mohammedan  power  in  India,  trans, 
 by  Briggs,  1829.  As  late  as  Sept.  1849  we  had  an  instance  of  this 
 fanaticism;  64  Moslemin  entered  a  temple  in  a  town  near  Calicut, 
 murdered  every  devotee  then  present,  and  then  .shut  the  doors, 
 expecting  to  be  slain  and  sent  to  Paradise.  A  small  detachment 
 of  Sepoys,  sent  against  them,  was  repulsed  and  the  conmiaiiding 
 European  officer  killed;  a  European  detachment  next  forced  an 
 entrance,  and  as  the  fanatics  declined  to  submit,  they  were  cut 
 down,  and  in  the  belief  of  themselves  and  their  brethren,  they  went 
 straight  to  Paradise! 
 
CHAP.viii.]      ANIMOSITY  AND  LUST  OF  PERSECUTION.  265 
 
 adopted  a  more  peaceable  policy.  As  "tlie  shadow 
 of  God  upon  earth,"  he  said,  it  became  him  to  suffer 
 other  rchgions,  after  the  example  of  Allah,  else  it 
 would  be  his  duty  to  destroy  five  sixths  of  his  sub- 
 jects. Lest  we  should  however  ascribe  such  clemency 
 to  Idamism,  we  are  informed  by  his  son,  that  his 
 father  had  become  an  apostate,  having  been  persuaded 
 by  his  Mzier  Abulfadhel,  that  ^lohammed  was  no 
 more  than  an  Arab  gifted  with  extraordinary  elo- 
 quence, and  that  the  Koran  was  an  invention!^' 
 
 5.  In  examining  the  influence  of  Islamism  upon 
 the  social  and  domestic  relations  of  life  we  touch  upon 
 one  of  the  darkest  sides  of  that  pernicious  creed. 
 It  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say,  that  everywhere 
 beyond  the  precincts  of  Christianity  a  special  curse 
 rests  upon  one  half  of  mankind,  —  the  female  por- 
 tion,—  but  that  this  is  nowhere  so  conspicuous  as 
 under  the  domination  of  the  Koran. ''^  Its  detailed 
 legislation  respecting  women  in  general,  is  founded 
 upon  the  erroneous  idea,  that  they  are  an  inferior 
 grade  of  rational  beings,  whose  sole  destiny  is  to 
 bring  forth  children  and  to  serve  their  husbands. 
 Hence  the  Koran  places  the  entire  body  of  the  fair 
 sex  in  a  condition  of  perpetual  imprisonment,  and 
 encourages  the  jealousy  and  suspicion  of  the  men,  at 
 the  expence  of  the  freedom  anddignity  of  the  women. 
 
 ^^  Memoirs  of  the  emperor  Jahangueir  written  by  himself, 
 translated  by  Price.    1829.  pag.  54. 
 
 '*  "J^ter  tecjcc^net  iin^  eine  ber  bunfclfien  Seiten  btefer  9?cIi(iion,  itnb 
 ein  fprecfienber  SSeitci^,  luetd)  eincn  terberblirficn  @influ§  bie  Vfrfonlid^cn 
 Seibenfdiaften  unb  bie  tiationale  SScfaniienfieit  eincg  felbftcrfornen  JHelii^ion^^ 
 fiiftere  fott  unb  fort  iiben  muf."     2)oUinc)er  pag.  20. 
 
206         CHARACTER   AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [parti. 
 
 To  the  husband  is  extended  by  the  heaven-sent  Ko- 
 ran, the  riuht  of  inflicting  corporeal  punishment  upon 
 his  wife,   and  unfaithfuhiess  on  her  part  is  punished 
 with  death  or  the  most  degrading  and  painful  chas- 
 tisements. Islamism,  in  short,  lowers  matrimony  be- 
 neath the  standard  of  Roman  Paganism.    The  wife, 
 not  being  the  companion  of  the  life  and  partaker  of 
 the  joys  and  sorrows  of  the  husband,  entertains  for 
 him  feelings  of  fear,  rather  than  of  affection,  and  re- 
 cognises in  him  only  the  lord  who  decides  her  fate 
 just  as  his  capricious  mood  may  dictate.  ^^    However 
 low  the  standard  may  be  which  Moslemin  take  of  the 
 matrimonial  alliance,   they  nevertheless   consider  it 
 the  duty  of  every  woman  to  live  in  the  marriage  estate ; 
 to  lead  a  single  or  widowed  life,  before  she  has  reached 
 old  age,  is  regarded  as  wilfully  transgressing  a  divine 
 law.     But  this  also  arises  fi'oni  the  idea  that  women 
 are  incapable    of  self-control,    and    incompetent  to 
 maintain   a  moral   position  without  due  supervision 
 and  guardianship;  it  also  implies  the  deplorable  im- 
 potence of  Islamism,   which  despairs  of  effectually 
 disciplining  the  heart  of  a  woman,  and  resigns  the 
 task   of  controlling  her  passions   as   one  hopelessly 
 beyond  its  power.'''' 
 
 ^'  Perfectly  consistent  with  this  view  the  prophet  never  ele- 
 vated the  solemnization  of  matrimony  to  a  religious  rite,  the  Imam, 
 Molla  or  Sheich  being  only  present  in  his  civil  capacity,  at  the  ex- 
 ecution of  the  marriage  contract.  Chardin  voyages  en  Perse,  ed.  de 
 Langle's  II.  pag.  230.    D'Ohsson  I'Empire  Othoman  II.  362. 
 
 *"  Though  women  are  not  directly  excluded  from  future  hap- 
 piness, yet  it  is  a  disputed  point  in  the  schools  of  Moslem  divinity, 
 whether  they  are  to  have  a  separate  Paradise,  with  pleasures  cor- 
 responding to  that  of  the  men.    Dollinger  pag.  21. 
 
CHAP,  viii]      PERNICIOUS  INFLUENCE  UPON  SOCIAL  LIFE.       267 
 
 The  religious  education  of  the  Moslem  women  is 
 limited  to  their  being  drilled  into  a  mechanical  repe- 
 tition of  certain  forms  of  prayer,  in  which  the  spirit 
 of  true  devotion  never  breathes.  The  innate  suspicion 
 and  utter  want  of  confidence  with  which  Moslemin 
 regard  their  religious  teachers,  forbids  their  women 
 obtaining  the  shadow  of  religious  instruction  from 
 the  Sheichs, —  the  legitimate  fountains  of  authoritative 
 teaching;*^*  Moslemin  indeed  discourage  their  wives 
 from  strict  adherence  to  their  religious  duties,  lest 
 they  should  fancy  themselves  on  an  equality  with 
 their  husbands  and  kick  against  their  authority. ^^ 
 Under  such  circumstances  it  is  not  to  be  wondered, 
 that  a  total  destitution  of  religious  feeling  should 
 exist  among  the  females  of  the  Moslem  community. 
 An  Arab  writer  alludes  to  an  exception  in  the  case 
 of  Rabia,^^  but  this  isolated  case,  such  as  it,  only 
 renders  the  general  darkness  of  female  ignorance  and 
 degradation  the  more  perceptible. 
 
 6.  Polygamy  has  been  defended  with  consider- 
 able ingenuity  by  Moslem  writers  but  as  might  natur- 
 ally be  expected,  with  little  success.  The  Koran  itself 
 admits  the  difficulty,  in  expressing  Mohammed's  own 
 experience  in  the  matter :  "Ye  cannot  carry  yourselves 
 
 ^^  Admission  to  the  Mosques  is  only  granted  to  the  more  aged 
 females,  and  that  only  at  times. 
 
 ^-    Burkhardt's  Travels  in  Arabia.    1829.  IL  pag.  196. 
 
 ^•^  She  lived  in  the  2^  century  of  the  Hedgra,  but  the  account 
 given  by  Ebn  Chalikan  implies  that  the  Koran  rather  damped  than 
 nourished  her  flame  of  devotion ;  she  considered  herself  divinely 
 punished  by  sickness  for  having  contemplated  the  pleasures  of 
 Paradise,  as  she  had  learned  them  from  the  Koran!  Tholuck's 
 Bluthensamnilung  aus  der  Morgenlandischen  Mystik,  pag.  31. 
 
2G8         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 equally  between  women  in  all  respects."  6nr.  iv.  3. 
 It  has  proved  a  curse  in  the  education  of  the  children  ; 
 the  sons  are  separated  from  each  other  from  their 
 childhood,  and  initiated  into  the  revengeful  plots  of 
 their  intriguing  mothers.  **  Hence  it  happens,  especially 
 in  royal  harems,  that  brothers  only  recognise  in  each 
 other  dangerous  rivals  and  threatening  usurpers.  In 
 one  Moslem  dynasty  only,  viz.  that  of  the  Ottoman 
 empire,  have  we  an  undisputed  line  of  succession; 
 but  how  dearly  was  it  purchased!  The  crime  of  fratri- 
 cide was  duly  legalised  and  raised  to  an  imperial 
 statute  bv  Mohammed  11*^'  after  he  and  his  oreat 
 grandfather  Bajesid  had  given  the  precedent  for  the 
 perpetration  of  this  atrocious  crime  ;^^  not  only  were 
 brothers  of  the  Sultan  thus  cleared  out  of  the  way 
 but  also  uncles  and  nephews.  The  Fetw a  or  sanction 
 of  the  Moslem  divines,  is  given  upon  the  authority  of 
 the  Koran:  ''Disquietude  is  worse  than  murder." 
 Thus  the  successor  of  that  prophet,  who  condemned 
 the  exposure  of  new-born  children  as  a  Pagan  abom- 
 ination legally  becomes  the  murderer  of  his  brother, 
 nephews   and  uncles!     The  Persian  custom  of  the 
 
 ®*  See  the  excellent  remarks  on  Polygamy  Mohler :  Ucbcr  bag 
 aScrliciltntg  bee  3elame  ^um  (S^anc^eliiini.  ©efammclte  Sdiriften  p.  399 — 402. 
 The  article  was  tran.slated  into  English  by  Mr.  Menge. 
 
 ®^  The  Historian  Raima  records  the  murder  of  19  brothers  of 
 Mohammed  III.  with  a  calmness,  which  is  truely  characteristic  :  "In 
 a  tumult  which  arose  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of  the  Sultan, 
 19  brothers  of  the  emperor,  all  mnocent  and  guiltless,  were  strangled 
 and  added  to  the  comi)any  of  Martyrs."  Annals  of  the  Turkish 
 Empire,  translated  by  I'raser  1829.  I.   pag.  41. 
 
 ®^  Mouradgea  D'Ohsson  III.  pag.  315.  Hammer's  Geschichte 
 des  Osmanischen  Reiches. 
 
CHAP,  vill.]       PREJUDICAL  EFFFXTS  OF  POLYGAMY.  269 
 
 Sofi-dynasty,  of  blinding  those  princes  not  destined 
 to  succession,  appears  merciful,  in  comparison  with 
 this  barbarity."''  In  addition  to  these  pernicious  and 
 terrible  consequences  of  Polygamy  which,  besides  four 
 lawful  wives,  permits  an  unlimited  number  of  con- 
 cubines, we  need  scarcely  mention  the  glowing  revenc^e 
 and  the  hot-burning  jealousies  of  the  incarcerated 
 inmates  of  the  harems,  which  are  transformed  into 
 nurseries  of  unnatural  vices,  assassinations  and  secret 
 poisonings.     These  crimes   are   committed  with  the 
 greater  impunity,  as  these  hiding-places  are  closed 
 to  the  surveillance  of  the  organs  of  justice.     Not  in 
 vain  have  Moslem  historians  remarked,  that  certain 
 princes  have  understood  the  difficult  task  of  keeping 
 order  and  peace  in  the  several  departments  of  their 
 respective  harems.   Thus  it  is  stated  in  praise  of  the 
 Spanish  king  Aben  Alahmar,  that  his  consummate 
 skill  succeeded  in  restoring  and  maintaining  peaceful 
 relations  among  his  wives.*® 
 
 It  is  one  of  the  laws  of  divine  providence  that 
 every  offence  against  the  natural  order  of  things  is 
 sure  to  be  revenged ;  that  polygamy  is  recompensed 
 in  its  prejudicial  effects,  no  one  will  deny;  but  it  re- 
 mains yet  to  be  shown,  that  the  institution  has  no 
 foundation  in  the  natural  or  psychological  organisation 
 
 ®'  Chardin  V.  pag.  242.  Malcolm's  History  of  Persia.  II.  pag. 
 431.  Fraser  in  his  Journey  into  Khorasan  pag.  204.  records,  that 
 he  found  a  young  prince  in  his  room  with  his  eyes  closed ,  groping 
 about  with  his  hands.  Upon  inquiring  what  he  was  doing,  the 
 prince  reph'ed,  "I  practise  myself  in  being  blind,  for  thou  knowest, 
 when  my  father  dies,  they  will  either  kill  us,  or  put  out  our  eyes." 
 
 ®^  Conde  III.  pag.  29.  The  late  Mohammed  Ali,  Pasha  of  Egypt 
 is  said  to  have  met  with  equal  success.    Michaud  Nil.  pag.  92. 
 
270         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 of  either  sex.  It  is  in  the  first  place,  morally  imposs- 
 ible for  a  man  to  treat  each  of  his  Mives  with  the 
 like  affection  and  confidence;  and  before  it  can  be 
 assumed  to  be  desirable  for  men  to  have  more  than 
 one  wife,  it  must  be  proved,  that  the  female  heart  is 
 of  such  an  organisation,  as  will  enable  it  cheerfully 
 to  divide  the  affection  of  one  husband.  This  we  know 
 is  impossible;  nor  dare  we  suppose  that  here  alone 
 was  an  oversight  in  the  wise  providence  of  God,  which 
 caused  Him  to  create  w^ants  in  the  nature  of  man, 
 which  He  did  not  alike  create  in  the  constitution  of 
 woman.  ^^  Matrimonial  love  surrenders  itself  entirely 
 and  requires  a  similar  return;  but  this  cannot  exist 
 under  the  baneful  influence  of  Islamism;  that  the 
 wife  is  here  but  a  slave  and  a  commodity  is  proved 
 by  the  fact,  that  the  poor  man  has  only  one  wife,  just 
 as  he  may  happen  to  possess  but  one  camel  or  one 
 tent,  whilst  the  rich  man  may  have  many;  if  it  can 
 be  proved  that  man's  constitution  demands  a  plurality 
 of  wives,  it  is  then  unjust  to  withhold  it  from  the  less 
 wealthy  of  the  community.  ^° 
 
 7,  Being  considered  as  a  piece  of  property,  which 
 the  thief  hides  in  a  dark  corner  of  the  house  and  re- 
 moves from  society,  the  woman  can  be  disposed  of 
 at  any  moment  by  her  lord  and  husband.    Divorce^ ^ 
 
 ®^  Polygamy  obviously  ilostroys  all  spiritual  alicction  in  matri- 
 mony; the  spiritual  clement  wliich  .should  predominate,  —  since  a 
 mere  physical  union  is  not  one  of  a  matrimonial  character  in  the 
 Scripture  term  and  signilication,—  is  utterly  unknown  to  the  Moslem 
 believer. 
 
 ^"    Journal  Asiatique  1836.   II.  pag.  4120.    Mohler  pag.  401. 
 
 *"  The  prescribed  words  need  only  be  pronounced  to  make  it 
 effectual.     Hedaya  I.  pag.  201. 
 
CHAP,  via.]      U^'NATURAL  CIIAR.\CTER  OF  POLYGAMY.  27 1 
 
 makes   it  easy  for  Mohammedans    to   change   their 
 wives  at  any  time;  they  have  moreover  the  powerful 
 example   of    the    prophet:    who,    to    enable  him   to 
 marry  Zaids  wife,  with  whom  he  had  fallen  in  love, 
 persuaded  him  to  divorce  her!^^   That  divorce  is  not 
 so  common  among  the  better  classes  of  society,  is  not 
 to  be  ascribed  to  a  deeper  sense  of  the  responsibility 
 of  such  a  step,   but  to  the  law  which  requires  the 
 husband  to  restore  to  the  divorced  woman  her  t/ouTy; 
 also  to  the  husband's  jealousy  which  makes  the  thought 
 intolerable  that  his  wife  should  be  ever  seen  by  an- 
 other man. '3    Among  the  poorer  classes,  separation 
 is  of  daily  occurrence.     As  Seneca  could  say  of  the 
 Roman  ladies  of  his  day  that  they  counted  the  years 
 no  more  after  the  Consuls,  but  after  their  husbands,, 
 so  Mohammedans  mark  the  events  of  their  age  by 
 the  number  of  their  wives.   A  French  traveller  having 
 asked  an  aged  Egyptian,  whether  he  remembered  the 
 campaign  of  Napoleon,  he  answered,  that  he  had  his 
 seventeenth  ivife  at  that  time!^*     Even  among  the 
 simple  Beduins ,  the  cooling  down  of  the  husband's 
 affection  is  sufficient  reason  for  a  divorce.  ^^ 
 '-   Sur.  XSXril.  4-6.  37.  38.  39. 
 
 J^    The  difficultj  of  restoring  the  dowry  is  avoided,   by  com- 
 peJhng-  the  poor  woman  through  harsh  treatment  to  .sue  for  divorce 
 as  in  this  case,  she  can  claim  nothing.     Qanoon-e-Islam:   or  the 
 customs  of  the  .Aloosulmans  of  India  by  Jaffure  Shureef ,  translated 
 byHerklots.   1832.  pag.  146.    xAIalcolm's  Hist,  of  Persia  II.  p.  592. 
 
 "*    Michaud  VII.  pag.  84.    He  also  relates  that  a  man  once  re-  ' 
 jected  his  wife,  casting  her  out   into  the  street,   because  the  day 
 before  she  gave   birth  to  a  daughter,   instead  of  a  son,   as  h.  had    •' 
 wished. 
 
 ■•  An  Arab  45  years  of  age  was  found  to  have  had  50  wives 
 in  succession.  Burkhardt's  Notes  on  the  Bedouins  and  Wahabys. 
 looy.  pag.  64,  "^ 
 
272  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [part  i. 
 
 In  the  face  of  so  deep  and  prevalent  a  corruption, 
 which  gnaws  at  the  very  roots  of  social  life,  dissolves 
 all  family  tics,  and  poisons  the  most  sacred  relations, 
 it  cannot  be  deemed  exaggerated  to  aver,  that  Islam- 
 ism  hypocritically  presents  only  the  external  ap- 
 pearance, instead  of  the  reality  of  truth.  Thus,  it 
 glories  in  maintaining  the  fundamental  doctrine  of 
 the  Divine  Unity,  but  in  its  denial  of  the  Divine  Tri- 
 nity, possesses  only  the  abstract  form  without  the 
 substance  of  the  truth;  it  surrounds  itself  with  the 
 external  show  of  conscientious  devotion,  but  as  its 
 ritual  is  destitute  of  the  living  breath  of  true  and 
 fervent  prayer,  it  can  only  represent  the  semblance 
 of  communion  with  God.  It  enjoins  fasting  and  re- 
 quires abstinence  from  certain  meats  and  drinks,  but 
 in  letting  loose  those  appetites,  which  most  require 
 s])iritual  restraint,  it  affords  only  another  instance  of 
 the  pharisaical  straining  at  a  gnat  and  swallowing  a 
 camel.  What,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  careful  veiling  and 
 the  complete  separation  from  men,  which  the  Koran 
 imposes  upon  women,  but  a  revolting  caricature  of 
 purity;  since  the  practical  contempt  for  women  and 
 the  sanctity  of  matrimony,  together  with  tlio  extra- 
 ordinary facility  of  divorce,  stand  directly  opposed  to 
 the  preservation  of  female  morality.  Not  satisfied 
 with  this  looseness  of  the  matrimonial  tie,  Moham- 
 med, after  the  conquest  of  Mecca,  introduced  a  kind 
 of  temporary  marriage, ^^  which  consisted  in  hiring 
 
 "'  The  J/ota  orMatu  was  repeatedly  sanctiened  by  ^lolianinied; 
 on  some  occasions,  e.  g.  during  the  campaign  to  C'heibar  it  was 
 interdicted.    Weil's  "Mohammed  der  Prophet",  pag.  228. 
 
CHAP,  vill.]        DIVORCE  AND  GENERAL  HYPOCRISY.  273 
 
 a  wife  for  any  definite  term,  at  the  expiration  of  which, 
 she  might  be  dismissed  without  any  formahty.  Omar 
 is  said  to  have  abolished  it,  but  Kahph  Mamun  was 
 only  prevented  from  legalising  it  again,  by  the  per- 
 suasion of  Moslem  divines.^"  It  is  condemned  by 
 the  Sonnites,  but  is  practised  among  the  Persian 
 Shiites  to  the  present  day.  ^'^  The  condition  of  morals 
 among  the  men ,  who  so  degrade  the  position  of  wo- 
 man, may  easily  be  imagined.  It  would  be  an  offence 
 to  European,  not  to  say,  Chridian  refinement,  to 
 drag  to  light  those  heathenish  and  unnatural  vices 
 which  are  perpetrated  under  the  patronage  of  the 
 religion  of  the  Koran.  ^^  This  doubtless  has  hitherto 
 been  one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  general  failure  of 
 Missionary  enterprize  among  Mohammedans :  for  the 
 Moslem  is  naturally  averse  to  abandon  a  creed  which 
 makes  such  extraordinary  concessions  to  his  most 
 depraved  and  vicious  appetites.  *  It  is  very  true  that 
 Christianity  met  with  equal  opposition  among  Pagans 
 
 ^^    Abulfeda  Annales  Muslemici  II.  p.  197. 
 
 "*  Malcolm's  History  of  Persia.  II.  pag.  591.  A  parallel  case 
 in  Arabia.    Burkhardt's  Travels  in  Arabia  II.  pag   378. 
 
 *^    Whoever  may  desire  information  upon  these  dark  subjects, 
 will  find  it  in  the  "Memoirs  of  Barber"  pag.  59.    Mouradgea  d'Ohs- 
 son  III.  pag.  270.    Michaud  VU.  86.    Fraser's  Journey  into  Khorasan^ 
 pag.  547. 
 
 *  "La  sects  est  trop  libertine  et  trop  attrayante  pour  la  quitter, 
 c'est  une  peste  de  loi ,  qui  s'est  introduite  par  les  armes  et  par  la 
 force,  et  qui  va  toujours  avan^ant  de  meme  (1680)  je  ne  vois  guere 
 d'autres  moyens  que  ceux-la  niemes  qui  soient  capables  de  cora- 
 niencer  a  lebranler  et  a  la  dcraciner,  si  ce  n'est  done  qu'il  sur- 
 vienne  de  ces  grands  et  extraordinaircs  coups  du  ciel,  et  que  Dieu, 
 par  cette  toute-puissante  et  toute  particuliere  providence  n'y  mette 
 la  main."    Dernier,  Voyages  Arasterd.  1699.  II.  pag.  86. 
 
 S 
 
274         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMSM.      fPARTi. 
 
 at  the  commencement  of  our  era;  but  Paganism  was 
 not  supported  in  its  vices  by  a  religious  system  like 
 that  of  Islamism,  the  shaking  and  uprooting  of  which, 
 will  finally  constitute  one  of  the  noblest  triumphs  of 
 the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
 
 8.    To  a  somewhat  more  favourable  result  leads 
 the  examination  of  the  domestic  and  national  institu- 
 tion of  slavery ,  as  it  exists  among  the  Moslem  com- 
 munity.  The  legislation  of  the  Koran  is  on  the  whole, 
 ;,  less  cruel  and  degrading  respecting  slaves  than  it  is 
 concerning  women.     Although  the  female  slaves  who 
 enrich  the  harem,  share,  as  a  matter  of  necessity, 
 the  degradation  of  the  entire  sex,  yet  iMohammed  in- 
 culcates the  mild  treatment  of  slaves  in  general,  ^  and 
 to  give  them  their  liberty  is  deemed  by  him  a  meri- 
 torious work;  Sura  XXIV.  33.     A  female  slave  is  not 
 to  be  separated  from  her  child,  and  if  it  be  the  child 
 of  the  master,  she  is  to  be  free  at  his  death. ^    As 
 the  power  of  the  Saracens  became  extended,  and  the 
 number  of  slaves  were  multiplied,  their  lot  consequently 
 became  more  imbittered,  and  the  Moslem  divines  de- 
 clared the  murder  of  a  slave  to  be  a  legal  act.*    As 
 acts  of  oppression  are  generally  revenged  by  rebellion 
 and  bloodshed,  so  it  was  in  this  case;  the  Zengi  slaves 
 at  Pussora  rose  A.D.  868  against  their  masters,  and 
 acknowledging  Ali,  the  Fatamite,  as  their  ruler,  a  revo- 
 lution followed  which  is  stated  to  have  cost  100,000 
 human  lives,  and  could  only  be  suppressed  after  nine 
 
 '    Matliews'  Translation  of  the  Mishcat-ul-Masabih  II.  p.  139 — 
 141.  601. 
 
 "   Hedaya  I.  479.  *  Hedaya  II.  414. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]  SLAVERY  AND  DULOCRACY.  275 
 
 years  of  bloodshed.'  A  notorious  enemy  of  the  Syrian 
 Christians,  Imad-ed-Deen,  was  likewise  murdered  in 
 1145  by  a  rebellious  host  of  slaves,  and  not  seldom 
 it  happened  that  fugitive  slaves  fought  bloody  battles 
 at  the  head  of  an  army  of  insurgents.  But  when 
 rulers  surrounded  their  persons  with  hosts  of  slaves, 
 upon  whose  protection  they  mainly  depended  for  per- 
 sonal safety,  and  began  to  entrust  them  with  some 
 of  the  most  important  offices  of  state,  these  slaves 
 ultimately  became  lords  of  their  masters,  and  the  re- 
 sult was,  that  in  Egypt,  the  unheard-of  institution  of 
 a  Dulocratical  Government  came  to  be  established. 
 The  Circassian  slaves  were  first  introduced  into  Egypt 
 by  Sultan  Almansor  Kelaun ,  and  they  were  soon 
 powerful  enough  to  possess  themselves  for  128  years 
 of  the  government  of  the  land,  and  to  place  thirty- 
 two  princes  of  the  Circassian  dynasty  of  Mamelukes 
 on  the  throne/ 
 
 9.   It  is  part  of  the  character  of  Islamism,  as  a 
 politico-religious  system  of  faith ,   to  put  forth  the 
 
 ^   Price's  Mohammedan  History  11.  pag.  162. 
 
 *  Edebali ,  the  Vizier  of  Urchan,  proposed  the  horrible  plan  of 
 forming  the  Jew,  Tjerry ,  Janissaries  or  the  ''New  Armt/",  o?  Chris- 
 tian children;  and  for  nearly  500  years,  boys,  all  born  Christians, 
 were  enlisted  into  a  body  of  at  first  12,000,  at  last  40,000  strong, 
 torn  away,  year  by  year  from  their  parents ,  circumcised ,  trained, 
 corrupted  to  the  faith  and  morals  of  their  masters;  thus  producing 
 a  threefold  apostacy  from  parents,  religion  and  native  country  in  at 
 least  half  a  mill/on  of  instances.  On  the  place  where  both  the 
 Nicomedian  and  Caesarian  Eusebius  were  once  forced  to  abjure 
 their  errors  and  to  subscribe  to  the  Nicene  creed,  there,  these 
 Christian  youths  were  compelled  to  abjure  their  faith ,  and  the 
 walls  of  the  Church  of  the  holy  Synod  wore  written  over  with  the 
 Moslem  creed!    Hanmier's  Geschichte  des  Osmanischen  Reiches. 
 
 S* 
 
276  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [parti. 
 
 most  extravagant  and  illimitable  claims.  As  successors 
 of  the  Imams,  the  government  of  the  miiverse  belonged 
 to  the  kings  of  Persia,  and  the  like  pretensions  lie 
 dormant  in  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  as  the  alleged  suc- 
 cessor of  the  ancient  Kaliphate.  Ever  since  Selim  I. 
 was  acknowledged  by  the  Meccan  sherifs.  titular  Ka- 
 liph  of  Cairo ,  as  the  successor  of  the  last  Abasside, 
 the  Sultan  of  Constantinople  has  been  acknowledged 
 as  the  spiritual  head  of  the  Sonnite  section  of  the 
 Mohammedans;  and  all  Moslem  princes  with  then- 
 dependencies  consider  themselves  only  members  of 
 the  Osmanic  Autocrat;  even  the  Emperor  of  Morocco 
 acknowledges  the  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Sultan. ' 
 According  to  the  claims  of  the  Kaliphate  as  a 
 political  and  spiritual  supremacy,, no  other  than  a  - 
 Moslem  ruler  can  demand  obedience  from  Moham- 
 medans; a  point  which  statesmen  at  the  present  day 
 would  do  well  to  bear  in  mind,  in  dealing  with  the 
 refractory  Mohammedans  of  India.  The  precept  that 
 the  subject  is  bound  to  pay  homage  to  '"the  powers 
 that  be,"  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Koran;  INIohammed, 
 never  imagining  that  the  true  believers  could  ever 
 fall  under  the  dominion  of  any  foreign  power,  made 
 no  provision  for  such  an  event;  and  so  long  as  breath 
 remains  in  the  body  of  the  Moslem  community,  they 
 
 '  "STarouo  ciitfvraiivjen  tie  2d)Uneri(^feifcu ,  »vclf(;e  bic  i5or^orunl1  9hi^- 
 lantc  bci  ten  5victci!ei''erluii'i'liiiiiicn  bc^3a(irc^  1772,  i>a^  tie  UiuU'l'aiuji^; 
 feit  tcr  !?artarcu  von  Seitcii  bev  5)5for^e  oiierfannt  iverten  folic,  errci^e;  tie 
 Jiirfifrfien  33cvp(liiuic(Uiiiff"  crtlartcn,  taf;  tor  Sultan  alo  .<!aliv'lie  tcr  c\t\^i 
 Ifd^e  Cberf^err  oiler  Sonni^,  alfo  and)  ter  lortarcn  fei,  ta^  tcr  Jartaren; 
 (5fian  tadcr  tie  onvcflitur  turdi  ten  SnUiin  tcfnvfc,  nnl'  tiij?  ticfcr  feine 
 ijodifte  ©ciualt  iibcr  3ntien,  33crtwra  nno  i'liuoifo  nur  wt^ax  tcr  ju  ^vopcn 
 (Sntfcrniing  nict^t  auoitbc."   STollin^er  pag.  36. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]  A  mNT  TO  STATESMEN.  277 
 
 will  never,  except  from  dire  necessity,  submit  to  any 
 other  than  Moslem  rule  and  government.  They  can 
 only  feel  allegiance  to  be  due,  where  they  conceive 
 Allah  demands  it  from  them;  that  is  to  say,  only 
 towards  the  government  which  derives  its  power,  in 
 some  way  or  other,  from  the  prophet  himself,  and 
 this  power,  of  course,  could  be  delegated  to  no  other 
 than  a  Moslem  sovereign.  The  rulers  of  Persia,  if 
 Shiites,  or  the  Sultans  of  Constantinople,  if  Sonnites, 
 can  alone  claim  their  obedience,  for  in  them,  they  re- 
 cognise the  legitimate  heads  of  the  Shiite  or  Sonnite 
 Mohammedans,  both  in  a  spiritual  and  political  point 
 of  view.  * 
 
 As  the  right  of  government  belongs  only  to  a 
 Moslem  representative  and  successor  of  Mohammed, 
 —  who  is  "the  shadow  of  God  upon  earth''  —  the  Mo- 
 hammedans of  India,  being  accidentally  placed  under 
 a  Christian  power,  feel  themselves  bound  to  consider 
 it  only  as  usurped  for  a  time,  and  that  they  are  in 
 duty  authorised  to  take  the  first  favourable  opportunity 
 of  shaking  it  off,  and  of  transferring  their  allegiance, 
 to  a  Moslem  ruler.  The  Moslem  divines  of  India,  at 
 one  time ,  w^ere  prepared  to  consider  that  resistance 
 to  the  Government  of  the  East-India  Company  should 
 be  dealt  with  as  a  crime  ;^  but  their  readiness  to  sup- 
 
 *  As  long  therefore  as  Mohammedans  remain,  such  it  is  not 
 wise  or  prudent  to  trust  to  any  loyal  expressions,  which  they  may 
 utter  when  they  feel  compelled  to  submit  to  another,  than  that 
 which  they  consider  their  divinely  appointed  government.  Rebellion 
 is  not  only  a  dominant  natural  instinct  in  Moslemin,  but  with  them, 
 it  is  religion  and  a  matter  of  conscience  to  throw  off  a  foreign  yoke, 
 at  the  very  first  opportunity. 
 
 *  See  Edinburgh  Review  L.  pag.  473. 
 
278         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 port  the  pretensions  of  the  king  of  Delhi,  in  recent 
 times,  has  proved  their  hypocrisy.  *°  As  the  confession 
 of  Ishimism  is  the  indispensible  prerequisite  to  legi- 
 timatize a  government,  a  Christian  power  ruling  over 
 a  Mohammedan  community,  can  only  be  looked  upon 
 as  an  insufferable  anomaly. 
 
 When  Ferdinand  of  Spain  expelled  the  Moors 
 from  his  dominion,  the  measure  was  not  merely 
 prompted  by  a  blind  religious  fanaticism,  as  has  been 
 thought  by  some,  but  was  dictated  by  a  deep-sighted 
 policy.  ^  ^  The  Spanish  Mohammedans  from  the  be- 
 ginning were  always  well-armed  and  ready  for  action  ,• 
 and  after  their  subjugation  cast  longing  eyes  towards 
 their  African  brethren,  with  whom  they  sustained  a 
 secret  intercourse ;  so  long  therefore  as  they  remained, 
 a  threatening  thunder-cloud  hung  over  the  Peninsula; 
 since,  the  first  landing  of  a  INIoslem  army  on  its  shores 
 would    have   brought   every  Moslem   under   arms.  *^ 
 
 *"  With  wonderful  precision  Diillinger  predicted  this  event  as 
 far  back  as  1838.  "3ivnr  finfc  bic  (SicfcHcec^cIcIirten  in  J^iutoflan  fefit 
 bercitJiM'Uig,  ben  SWo^Icmifcficn  Sciuiit  firafbarer  (S'linjoruncj  auf  jebcn  2Dtber; 
 fiaiib  i^ci^cn  bic  ^crrfdmft  ber  Cfl.  (Somvai?nic  an^mvciibcn;  aber  bicfcltcn 
 unirben,  ivcnn  man  von  bem  $^crfa(iren  ifucr  GoUec^cn  imiur; 
 fifdun  DJcidif  ev^entiicU  auf  ba^  ibrii^e  [dilicpcn  barf,  bei  bcr  crflcn  c^iwv- 
 ftii^en  9Uh^fid)t  bie  5lnfpriid)e  eineo  3)Jo<?(cmifdien  ^^jratenbcnten  mit  Srcuben 
 bnrdi  ibrc  ^ft'^'^T^  untcrftii^cn."     T'oUini'jcv  pag.  36.  note  64. 
 
 '*  The  Moors  were  expelled  from  Spain  and  driven  back  to 
 Africa  in  the  15"'  century. 
 
 *^  Hence  the  Moslem  rulers  treated  Christian  princes  simply 
 as  usurpers,  who,  as  infidels,  could  not  receive  their  power  from 
 God ,  or  act  as  his  vice-regents  upon  earth.  Hence  also  the  Arab 
 word,  Targhi,  rebel-chief,  usurpator ,  which  the  Moslemin  already 
 applied  to  the  Byzantine  Emperors ;  and  after  them  to  other  Chris- 
 tian sovereigns.  Louis  XVL  caused  a  complaint  to  be  lodged  at 
 the  court  of  Morocco,  requiring  the  Emperor  to  apply  the  title  of 
 Sultan  to  the  kings  of  France ;   the  reply  was:   "None  knew  who 
 
CHAP,  viii.]  A  HINT  TO  STATESMEN.  279 
 
 Moslemin  and  Christians  can  never  be  fused  into  one 
 political  body;  the  former  must  ever  remain  a  clog 
 in  the  machinery  of  a  commonwealth,  owing  to  their 
 singular  pretensions  and  their  peculiarly  obstinate 
 views  and  customs ,  which ,  from  their  heterogeneous 
 character,  resist  every  process  of  assimilation:  on  the 
 other  hand.  Christians  must  ever  remain  strangers 
 or  passive  members  in  a  religions  polity,  which  is 
 administered  npon  the  principles  of  the  Koran.  This 
 has  long  since  been  exemplified  in  the  Turkish 
 Empire. 
 
 10.  The  absolutely  despotic  form  of  Moslem 
 government  has  been  sometimes  considered  as  the 
 general  type  of  Asiatic  rule,  but  erroneously  so,  as 
 is  evident  fi'om  the  fact  of  the  sovereign  powder  being 
 limited  in  the  non-lNIoslemite  states  of  Asia.  No 
 Hindoo  monarch  e.  g.  could  interfere  with  the  im- 
 munities of  the  Brahmins  or  with  the  institution  of 
 caste.  The  Emperor  of  China,  although  the  son  of 
 heaven,  and  approached  by  his  subjects  with  profound 
 reverence,  yet  can  only  fill  up  the  oflfices  of  the  state 
 from  a  list  of  candidates  which  is  prepared  for  him 
 by  a  learned  body  of  his  subjects.  Difi'erent  is  it  with 
 ''the  princes  of  the  faithful;"  here,  the  union  of  the 
 civil  and  spiritual  power,  and  a  military  rule,  founded 
 
 should  deserve  this  title  in  the  life  to  come ;  those  whom  God  would 
 crown  in  paradise,  were  the  true  Sultans,  and  not  those  who  were 
 to  be  cast  into  hell-fire;  the  court  could  therefore  never  give  that 
 title  to  the  monarchs  of  France;  yea  it  would  rather  give  it  up, 
 and  though  Turkey  had  given  that  title,  it  was  done  only  by  the 
 Vizier,  for  the  Sultan  could  never  have  sanctioned  it."  Sacy  Chres- 
 toniathie  Arabe  III.  pag.  318.  Agrell's  Reise  nach  Marokko.  1790. 
 pag.  282. 
 
280         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [parti. 
 
 upon  the  prestige  of  conquest,  produce  the  most  un- 
 quaUficd  form  of  a  despotic  government.  In  Persia, 
 the  military,  and  in  Turkey,  the  theocratical  element 
 of  the  Kaliphate  predominate:  hence  we  have  less 
 brutal  tyranny,  less  convulsions  of  dynastic  changes 
 in  the  latter,  than  in  the  former.*^  To  show  that  the 
 despotic  rule  of  the  Sultan  originates  in  the  religion 
 of  which  he  is  the  head,  we  may  add,  that  his  acts 
 of  tyranny  are  all  looked  upon  as  proceeding  from  a 
 kind  of  divine  inspiration,  which  none  ventures  to 
 question.  The  INIoslem  divines  assert  that  the  Sultan 
 may  kill  fourteen  people  every  day  Avithout  owing  an 
 explanation  to  any  one.  The  official  holiness  of  his 
 person  is  in  nowise  destroyed  by  any  vicious  deeds, 
 he  may  commit  as  a  private  individual.^* 
 
 The  Sultan  who  is  generallv  stvled  bv  his  mother, 
 "my  Lion,"  or  "my  Tiger,"  is  chiefly  dreaded  by  those 
 who  are  in  his  immediate  presence.  The  higher  the 
 dignity  and  the  greater  the  confidence,  the  greater 
 has  always  been  the  danger;  this  is  proved  by  the 
 history  of  the  ministers  of  the  Porte.  From  1370 
 to  1789,  168  of  these  dignitaries  have  occupied  the 
 highest  post  in  the  realm;  few  of  them  have  retained 
 it  so  long  as  two  yea,rs,  and  many  have  died  by  the 
 hand  of  the  executioner.     Soleiman  caused  most  of 
 
 *^  The  Persian  proverb,  "tlie  j)resence  of  the  Shah  is  a  con- 
 suming fire";  and  the  Turkish  titles  of  the  Sultan,  "the  shedder  of 
 blood",  "the  murderer"  Chunkar  or  Kan-Jdisid,  mark  the  character 
 of  both  Governments.  Chardin  V.  220.  Thornton's  present  state  of 
 Turkey  1809.  I.  112. 
 
 **  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  Sultan  of  Morocco:  "9{((f^  ficingt 
 tjon  feiner  UBidfur  a\>,  cr  martU  tic  ®cff(}e,  diitcrt,  ncrftort  fie,  ftcKt  fie  uneber 
 1)ix,  unb  ircdM'elt  bamit  gcmdg  feiner  ?aiine,  (SLMUienienj  ober  feincm  3ntercffe. 
 
CHAP,  vni.]  DESPOTIC  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.  281 
 
 his  prime  ministers  to  be  executed  one  after  the  other  ; 
 but  an  instinctive  obedience  and  inchnation  to  submit 
 to  ^vhat  is  deemed  the  heaven-ordained  power,  so 
 strongly  influence  the  Moslem,  that  he  considers  any 
 barbarity  tolerable,  and  the  most  perverted  deeds  wise 
 and  natural;  even  to  die  by  the  hand  of  the  >Sultan 
 or  at  his  command ,  has  been  looked  upon  as  a  sure 
 pledge  of  eternal  salvation,  and  a  mart^Tdom  worthy 
 to  be  desired.*^ 
 
 1 1 .  The  question  arises ,  whether  amidst  such 
 tyrannical  oppression,  these  despotic  princes  ever  at- 
 tempted to  alter  the  religion  of  the  country.  The 
 history  of  Islamism  replies  in  the  negative.  There 
 are  but  few  instances  in  which  Mohammedan  princes 
 have  ventured  to  make  any  alterations  in  their  creed ; 
 for  they  well  knew,  that  were  they  to  attempt  such  a 
 thing,  they  would  cease  to  be  the  organ  of  the  God- 
 head in  the  eyes  of  the  people ,  and  the  foundation 
 of  their  ov^^  power  and  security  w^ould  be  fatally  under- 
 mined. ^^  The  creed  in  question,  had  rooted  too  deeply 
 in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  people  for  any  prince 
 ever  to  succeed  in  accomplishing  the  task.   The  Mos- 
 
 ©0  flibt  weber  ein  (5crv^  i'er  UJema'g ,  nod)  eitten  init  vom  ^errfdjer  unab-- 
 r)ancitiier  ©eivalt  te!Icibcten  Siufti ,  webcr  5)ivan  nod)  (5o((ec(tcn  iinb  mint-' 
 ftftiflie  J^cvattemente ;  Mt^  flefd)iof)l  narf)  bem  aaetnigen  ®ibot  be^  §etr; 
 fdjcr^."     ©raberg  son  Jgiemfo'^  ^aifcrU'um,  a)iorpffo  1833,  pag.  138. 
 
 *'    Bollinger  pag.  39. 
 
 ***    The  king  of  Delhi ,   Allah-T'ddin-Chilshi  1  830  conceived  the 
 idea,  but  was  dissuaded  from  carrying  it  out.    Ferishta  1.  pag.  339. 
 
 The  Emperor  Akbar  under  the  title  of  «Jjl  ii^A-lia. ,  Vice-regent 
 of  God,  attempted  to  originate  a  new  form  of  Deism,  but  with  his 
 death  it  fell  to  the  ground.  Vans  Kennedy's  account  in  the  Trans- 
 actions of  the  Liter.  Society  of  Bombay  Vol.  11.  1820. 
 
282         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      Ipart  i. 
 
 lem  seldom  cares  to  fight  for  his  native  country,  his 
 home  or  liberty,  but  should  his  religion  be  endangered, 
 he  zealously  takes  his  stand  beneath  the  banner  of 
 the  crescent.  For  the  last  300  years,  the  defence 
 and  spread  of  the  Shiite  principles  was  the  pretext 
 for  every  battle  which  was  fought  by  the  Persians/' 
 
 More  fortunate  were  Moslem  monarchs  as  re- 
 formers of  abuses,  suppressors  of  heresies,  defenders 
 of  orthodox  doctrines  and  revivers  of  religious  zeal; 
 and  so  long  as  the  head  of  the  nation  was  satisfied, 
 the  subjects  considered  all  to  be  right.  ''The  power 
 of  religion  is  too  weak  without  the  authority,"  said 
 Akhun  Dervezeh,  and  he  explained  his  failure  in 
 bringing  back  the  sect  of  the  Rosheniah  to  the  ortho- 
 dox faith,  by  the  fact  of  there  having  been  no  monarch 
 at  hand  to  strike  off  the  heads  of  the  heretics.*** 
 This,  indeed,  was  the  usual  method  of  settling  disputes 
 and  suppressing  abuses.  Mir  Zaid  Sherif  gave  it  as 
 his  opinion,  and  he  was  considered  the  prince  of 
 doctors,  that  Timur  had  been  called  by  Allah  to  de- 
 stroy infidels  and  heretics ;  Avhich  he  did  by  saturating 
 the  earth  with  the  blood  of  nations,  and  by  causing 
 the  inhabitants  of  Damascus  to  be  cut  to  pieces ,  in 
 order  to  revenge  the  death  of  Ali,  800  years  after 
 the  murder  was  committed.*® 
 
 12.   That  the  cause  of  Islamism  should  have  been 
 
 *^    Malcolm's  History  of  Persia  II.  pag.  339. 
 
 **  Leyden's  Memoir  on  the  Rosheniah  sect,  Asiat.  Researches 
 Vol.  XI.  pag.  386. 
 
 *'  Instituts  politiques  et  militaires  de  Tanierlan ,  proprement 
 appelle  Timour,  ecrits  par  lui-mcme  et  traduits  par  Langles  1887. 
 pag.  17.  120. 
 
CHAP,  viii.]  REFORMED  BY  DESPOTIC  RULERS.  283 
 
 supported  by  such  fearful  destruction  and  bloodshed, 
 is  to  be  traced,  not  so  much  to  the  personal  character 
 of  its  protectors  and  reformers,  as  to  the  nature  of 
 Islamism  itself,  which  teaches  that  religion  is  a  system 
 of  compulsion,  and  maintains  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
 God's  vice-gerents  upon  earth,  to  punish  transgression 
 as  a  civil  offence  by  physical  power.  ^°  Offences  against 
 the  precepts  of  the  Koran,  such  as  the  ordinance  of 
 fasting  or  the  prohibition  of  wine,  are  therefore,  in- 
 variably punished  with  pecuniary  fines  or  corporeal 
 chastisements.  Ebn  Butata  relates,  with  peculiar 
 satisfaction,  that  in  each  Mosque  in  China,  a  whip 
 was  hanging,  for  the  spiritual  benefit  of  those  who 
 were  not  at  their  places  during  prayers,  the  castiga- 
 tion  being  performed  by  the  presiding  Imam.  ^  ^  Burnes 
 found  the  same  practice  prevailing  in  Bokhara,  where 
 he  saw  persons  publicly  scourged  because  they  had 
 slept  during  prayer,  or  smoked  on  a  Friday.  ^  ^  In  times 
 of  extreme  severity ,  an  order  of  spies  was  regulaily 
 formed,  who  penetrated  private  families  in  order  to 
 betray  the  secrets  of  domestic  life.  ^  ^  As  the  legis- 
 lation of  the  Koran  and  the  So  una  extend  over  private 
 and  public  life,  it  is  considered  the  duty  of  the  organs 
 
 '"  DoUingf^r  pag.  47  says:  "Ticfe  JWefic^t'cn  ifl  ndmticft  tOret  9(n; 
 (acie  nad)  fine  t^eli^cilidie  Sn^anfieanftalt,  ciii  flrenge^,  niit  cinem  3aiin  von 
 «P6naIfanctiotien  itnigebenca  @eff^,  unb  bie  ^fiidjt  bet  ©tfttvertreter  ©ctted 
 nuf  ©rben  ijl  t6,  bie  Uebertretungen  ju  ftrafen." 
 
 ^'    Travels  of  Ebn  Butata  (1325)  translated  by  Lee  1829. 
 
 ^^    Burne's  Travels  in  Bokhara  1834.  I.  pag.  313. 
 
 *'  Kaliph  Omar  sanctioned  this  odious  practice  by  his  example, 
 but  Dhaher  Billah ,  after  it  had  risen  to  a  scandelous  pitch  under 
 his  father,  suppressed  it.    Price's  Mohammedan  History  II.  211. 
 
284         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 of  its  administration  to  inspect  both  departments  and 
 to  punish  offences  in  each. 
 
 It  cannot  therefore  sin-[)rise  us  to  learn,  that  the 
 Fatamite,  MoesHdin-Allah,  who  was  by  no  means  one 
 of  the  most  blood-thirsty  and  cruel,  caused  every  person 
 who  was  seen  in  the  streets  of  his  capital  after  the 
 last  evening  prayer,  to  be  beheaded.  ^*  This  compulsory 
 system  of  religious  police  attained  its  greatest  height 
 under  Hahem  Bmmar-Allah  from  996  to  1021;  he 
 prohibited  the  cultivation  of  certain  plants ,  because 
 they  were  favourites  with  the  opponents  of  Ali,  and 
 the  brewing  and  selling  of  beer,  because  Ali  disliked 
 it;  dogs  and  swine  were  destroyed  as  impure  animals, 
 and  the  fishing  and  selling  of  eels  was  visited  with 
 capital  punishment;  people  with  wdiom  were  found 
 resins,  honey,  or  dates  were  executed,  because  these 
 products  were  used  for  the  preparation  of  spirituous 
 liquors;  chess  was  interdicted;  women  were  no  more 
 allowed  to  look  out  of  their  windows  nor  to  go  into 
 the  streets,  and  shoemakers  w^ere  forbidden  to  supply 
 them  with  shoes.  ^^  This  man,  who  committed  in- 
 numerable cruelties  against  the  Sonnites,  Jews  and 
 Christians,  and  treated  his  subjects  with  such  con- 
 summate tyranny,  is  still  w^orshipped  by  a  numerous 
 sect,  as  an  incarnation  of  the  Deity!  Religious  zeal 
 has  rarely  been  carried  to  such  an  extreme,  but  the 
 pseudo-theocratical  principle,  which  points  out  the 
 
 ^*    Quatremoro,  Vie  dii  Khalife  Moezz  .Tournal  Asiatique  1837. 
 pag.  44.    He  resided  at  Kairowan  A.  D.  959. 
 
 25 
 
 The  consequence  of  these  prohibitions  was ,  that  many  died 
 from  starvation  in  tluir  houses.  Sylv.  de  Sacy,  vie  du  Khalife  Ha- 
 kem  Biamar- Allah.  Expose  de  la  religion  des  Druzes  1838.  Tom.  I. 
 
CHAP,  viii.]  COMPULSION  AND  BLOODSHED.  285 
 
 despotic  ruler  as  the  person  "to  whom  vengeance 
 belongeth,"  could  not  fail  to  lead  to  tyrannical  op- 
 pression. 
 
 ]  3.  This  leads  to  the  low  estimation  of  human 
 life,  and  that  lust  of  abusing  and  mutilating  the  human 
 body,  of  which  the  history  of  Islamism  furnishes  such 
 numerous  and  unparalleled  instances.  ^*^  The  Koran 
 is  not  responsible  for  all  the  atrocious  crimes  com- 
 mitted in  its  name,  but  it  is  powerless  to  check  or 
 control  the  terrible  satisfaction  which  its  followers 
 feel,  not  only  in  executions  en  masse,  but  especially 
 in  inflicting  the  most  ingenious  and  unheard-of  tor- 
 tures. It  cannot  be  said  that  the  Koran  directly  ad- 
 vocates a  cruel  legislation;  yet  we  must  look  for  the 
 cause  of  the  inhuman  atrocities  committed  by  its 
 followers,  partly  in  the  licentious  excesses  which  it 
 sanctions  and  which  are  generally  accompanied  with 
 cruelty,  and  partly  in  its  teaching  that  war  and  de- 
 struction are  the  legitimate  means  of  propagating  the 
 faith.  The  Koran  thus  directly  excites  and  sanctifies 
 the  worst  passions  of  human  nature.  Weapons  at 
 first  used  against  infidels,  were  soon  turned  against 
 each  other,  and  never  perhaps  were  cruelities  more 
 fully  revenged  on  the  perpetrators,  than  when  the 
 Moslem  parties  executed  vengeance  upon  each  other.  ^ ' 
 
 •^  Christianity  in  holding  that  the  body  is  the  temple  of  the 
 Holy  Spirit,  protests,  not  indeed  against  capital  punishment  when 
 lawlul,  but  against  any  profanation  of  it  by  wanton  and  cruel  mu- 
 tilations: whenever  these  have  been  perpetrated,  it  was  against 
 the  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 
 
 ^^  The  reader  will  remember  that  more  of  the  friends  and  com- 
 panions of  the  prophet  fell  by  the  hand  of  co-religionists  than  by 
 that  of  the  enemy.     In  the  battle  between  All  and  Moviah  70,000 
 
286         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [PART  i. 
 
 In  addition  to  tlie  terrible  struggle  which  ensued 
 when  the  Omayades  usurped  the  Kaliphate,  we  may 
 refer  to  the  equally  cruel  strife  when  they  were  de- 
 feated, and  the  Abassides,  as  the  legitimate  line  of 
 succession,  resumed  the  power.  ^* 
 
 Not  less  ferocions  was  the  subsequent  struggle 
 between  the  Shiites  and  the  ruling  Kaliphs:  in  order 
 to  revenge  the  death  of  Hossein,  Mochtar  executes 
 48,000  Moslemin,  and  the  great  Sonnite  Hadshadsha 
 sacrifices  in  return  120,000  Shiites,  leaving  30,000 
 men  and  20,000  women  in  prison  when  he  died. 
 Another  tyrant,  who  seeks  for  the  Kaliphate,  massa- 
 cres 17,000  innocent  inhabitants  in  Chorasan,  only 
 as  a  measure  of  precaution  lest  they  might  go  over 
 to  Abu  Moslem.  What  a  revenge  upon  the  doctrine 
 of  the  Koran,  that  all  true  believers  are  brothers !  If 
 it  be  objected  that  this  seed  of  Cain  has  been  also 
 at  work  among  Christians,  we  may  add,  that  wherever 
 this  w^as  the  case,  they  had  rejected  the  precepts 
 and  denied  the  character  of  their  INIaster.  ^loslem 
 monarchs  have  not  hesitated,  in  their  dying  moments, 
 to  give  orders  lor  unjust  executions  and  even  for  put- 
 ting their  nearest  relatives  to  death.  ^^  The  Christian 
 custom  of  granting  condemned  persons  time  and  op- 
 portunity for  repentance  and  preparation  for  death, 
 
 Mosloniiu  tell.     (juatvciiRre ,  Mcnioires  sur  la  dynastie  des  Khalifes 
 Abassides,  Journal  Asiatique  XVI.  pag.  301. 
 
 *®    Price's  Mohammedan  Hist.  I.  pag.  571.  11.  12. 
 
 ^"^  As  soon  as  Mohammed  VII,  king  of  Granada,  was  sure  of  his 
 death  he  wrote,  "Alcayde  of  Xainbonia,  thou  my  servant,  on  re- 
 ceiving this  letter,  kill  my  brother  Zeid  Jusef  and  send  his  head  by 
 the  bearer."    Conde  lU.  187. 
 
CHAP,  vui.]  EFFECTS  OF  PREDESTINATION.  287 
 
 is  of  course  unknown  among  Mohammedans.  Had 
 such  a  humane  law  existed,  many  a  life  might  have 
 been  spared,  as  time  woidd  have  thus  been  given  for 
 the  cooling  down  of  the  wrath  of  the  despot,  who 
 had  ordered  the  execution.  ^° 
 
 14.  The  dogma  o{  predestination,  or  rather  fatal- 
 ism, as  taught  in  the  Koran,  produces  a  feeling  of 
 apathy  and  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  people 
 which  tends  greatly  to  strengthen  Moslem  despotism. 
 Mohammedan  divines  have  indeed  sought  to  modify 
 the  dogma  by  limiting  it  to  religious  matters,  but 
 the  peoj^Ie  indifferent  to  these  metaphysical  distinc- 
 tions, have  ever  believed,  that  the  minutest  incidents 
 of  human  life  are  pre-ordained  and  unalterably  fixed 
 by  a  Divine  decree,  and  that  no  effort  on  the  part  of 
 man  can  possibly  alter  or  avert  that  which  is  written 
 in  the  book  of  decrees  ;^^  nor  can  it  be  overlooked, 
 that  this  belief,  allied  as  it  was  with  religious  enthusi- 
 asm and  warlike  fanaticism,  rendered  most  essential 
 service  to  Islamism  in  its  rise.  As  a  moral  opiate  it 
 served  a  variety  of  purposes,  by  calming  the  mind  in 
 disappointment,  stimulating  it  to  exertion  in  difficul- 
 ties or  presenting  an  excuse  for  incompetence  and 
 apathy.   When  Kalipli  Hasham  contemplated  taking 
 
 •"'  "The  English  Governors,  said  the  ex-king  of  Ceylon  ,  have 
 an  advantage  over  the  kings  of  Candy;  they  are  surrounded  by 
 counsellers  who  do  not  permit  them  to  do  anything  in  the  heat  of 
 passion  ;  and  this  is  the  cause  wJjy  ye  have  so  few  capital  punish- 
 ments;  unfortunately  however  for  us  the  offending  person  is  already 
 dead  before  our  anger  is  cooled  down."  Events ,  in  the  I-Jand  of 
 Ceylon,  written  by  a  gentleman  on  the  spot.    1815.  pag.  31. 
 
 ^'  So  it  is  written  i^jjJLft^  I  jl,  the  Moslem  says  on  every  oc- 
 casion.   Chardin  III.  p.  4U6. 
 
288  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [PAni  i. 
 
 measures  against  tlie  Abassides,  who  sought  for 
 the  KaHphate,  he  was  dissuaded  by  being  told,  that 
 if  it  was  decreed  that  the  Abassides  should  recover 
 the  Kaliphate,  all  his  efforts  would  avail  nothing,  and 
 if  it  was  not  decreed,  he  need  not  resist  their  efforts 
 to  obtain  it. ^^  When  a  general  sustains  a  defeat, 
 he  consoles  himself  by  the  reflection  that  such  was 
 his  unavoidable  fate  written  in  Allah's  book  of  de- 
 crees.^' As  evil,  as  well  as  good  is  pre-ordained,  the 
 dogma  produces  a  most  listless  apathy  in  resisting 
 temptation;  nor  need  we  enlarge  on  its  prejudicial 
 effects  in  times  of  calamity;  when  active  measures 
 might  arrest  an  evil,  all  efforts  are  paralysed,  and 
 every  vicissitude  of  life  is  borne  with  a  morbid  re- 
 signation. This  doctrine  has  undoubtedly  proved  one 
 of  the  most  effective  causes  of  the  deep  moral  and 
 political  decay  of  the  Moslem  community. 
 
 Closely  connected  with  the  INIoslem  view  of  pre- 
 destination is  the  eagerness  with  which  Mohammedans 
 pursue  the  baneful  art  of  reading  the  fate  of  man  in 
 the  stars.  Astrology  has  become  to  them  one  of  the 
 most  necessary  and  practical  sciences  of  life.  As  the 
 heavenly  bodies  are  said  to  indicate  the  otherwise 
 hidden  decrees  of  Allah,  the  influence  of  this  spurious 
 science  upon  the  acts  of  individuals  has  been  immea- 
 surably great.  The  mightiest  monarchs  made  their 
 greatest  enterprizes  dependent  upon  the  predictions 
 of  astrologers :  generals ,  governors  and  even  re- 
 latives were  suddenly  murdered  because  it  was  read 
 
 ^'    Quatreniere,  Journal  Asiatique  XVI.  331. 
 '^    Quatremere,  Journal  Asiatique  1837,  p.  72. 
 
CHAP,  vni.]  EFFECTS  OF  PREDESTINATION.  289 
 
 in  the  heavens,  that  they  meditated  rebelHon;  and 
 rebels  again  succeeded  in  dethroning  a  despot  and 
 in  raising  a  creature  of  their  own  to  the  throne ,  be- 
 cause it  was  ascertained  that  the  stars  were  favour- 
 able.^* Each  day  and  hour  being  placed  under  the 
 favourable  or  unfavourable  influences  of  the  constella- 
 tions, every  nndertaking,  from  the  waging  of  a  battle 
 to  the  putting  on  of  a  new  suit  of  clothes ,  requires 
 the  happy  moment  to  be  astrologically  determined. ''^ 
 15.  Although  heterodox  teaching  \vas  in  most 
 cases  summarily  suppressed,  by  sending  heretics  to 
 the  rack  and  thence  to  the  place  of  execution,^"  yet 
 there  was  perhajDS  no  religion  more  distracted  by 
 sects  and  heresies  than  Islamism,-  and  as  they  afford 
 a  deeper  insight  into  the  character  and  influence  of 
 this  creed,  they  may  fitly  be  noticed  in  this  chapter. 
 The  prediction  of  Mohammed  that  the  world  would 
 
 ^  Kaliph  Motiss  shut  himself  up  in  a  subterraneous  vault, 
 which  was  constructed  for  that  purpose ,  for  a  whole  year ,  because 
 the  astrologers  predicted,  that  only  by  so  doing,  he  could  escape 
 a  fearful  calamity.    Quatreraere,  Journal  Asiatique  1837.  p.  207. 
 
 '''  Bernier  I.  pag.  113.  says  respecting  their  decisions:  "ce  qui 
 est  une  gene  incroyable ,  et  une  coutume  qui  traine  avec  soi  des 
 consequences  si  importantes ,  que  je  ne  sais  comment  elle  pent  sub- 
 sister  si  long  terns.  Car  eniin  il  faut  que  I'Astrologue  ait  connai- 
 sance  de  tout  ce  qui  s'entreprend  depuis  les  plus  grandes  affaires 
 jusqu'aux  plus  petites."    See  also  Malcolm  11.  576. 
 
 ^^  Such  measures  were  already  sanctioned  by  the  example  of 
 Kaliph  Omar;  when  a  man  was  brought  before  him,  who  doubted 
 the  divinity  of  the  Koran,  he  cut  him  completely  in  two,  and  thus 
 earnf  d  the  honourable  cognomen  of  "decider'.  See  other  instances 
 Abulfeda  Annales  K.  51.  641,  Hammer,  Geschichte  des  Osman. 
 Reiches  I.  499.  663.  Herbelot  p.  397.  d'Ohsson.  I.  156—159. 
 Price's  Moham.  Hist.  II.  464.  Chronique  d'Abou  Djafar  Tabari, 
 traduite  par  L.  Dubeux  1836.  I.  255. 
 
 T 
 
290         CHARACTER  AKD  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAmSM.       [parti. 
 
 not  come  to  an  end,  until  one  of  his  family  and  name 
 should  appear  upon  earth  to  assert  his  divine  mission, 
 and  perfect  the  conversion  of  mankind  to  Islamism, 
 was  so  direct  an  invitation  to  imposture,  that  even  in 
 his  life-time,  no  less  than  three  pretenders  arose  in 
 Arabia.  In  a  few  years  after  his  death,  eight  others 
 sprang  up,  giving  rise  to  endless  schisms,  sects  and 
 heresies.  We  will  not  recur  to  Mohammed's  pre- 
 diction, that  his  followers  should  be  divided  into 
 seventy-three  sects, ^'  for  its  falsity  is  proved  by  the 
 Moslem  doctors  themselves  who  so  long  ago  filled 
 up  that  number  that  they  ceased  to  count  them. 
 Remarkable  however  as  it  might  seem,  that  a  creed 
 without  mvsteries  which  may  fairly  be  inscribed  on 
 the  nail  of  a  finger ,  should  produce  any  dissent,  yet 
 in  the  fourth  century  of  the  Hedgra,  there  were  no 
 large  towns  or  provinces,  where  hosts  of  sectaries  were 
 not  found.  ^'^ 
 
 At  this  rapid  inci'ease  of  heresy  we  may  perhaps 
 be  the  less  surprised,  if  we  consider  that  Islamism 
 itself  is  but  an  arch-heresy;  and  it  may  be  added  that 
 some  of  the  sectarian  offshoots  of  the  creed  in  ques- 
 tion, approximated  nearer  to  Christianity.  Christian 
 heresies  Generally  differ  fi'om  the  orthodox  creed  touch- 
 ing  the  mysteries  of  Redemption,  the  Incarnation 
 of  the  Son  of  God,  the  dogma  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
 and  the  means  of  grace ;  but  Islamism,  being  ignorant 
 
 ''  Sliarcstani  speaks  of  71  Jewish,  72  Christian,  and  73  Mos- 
 lem sects.  One  alone  of  the  latter  is  said  to  attain  salvation.  Po- 
 cocke  Spec.  hist.  Arabuni,  pag.  213. 
 
 ^®   Sacj',  Expose  de  la  religion  des  Druses,  Introd.  pag.  25. 
 
CHAP.vm.]  SECTS  AND  HERESIES.  291 
 
 of  anything  higher  than  their  prophet  and  his  suc- 
 cessors, could  yield  no  other  pretext  for  dissent  than 
 the  question,  who  was  the  legitimate  head  of  religion 
 and  the  state.  The  rejection  of  the  God-man  Jesus 
 Christ,  has  been  justly  pointed  out,  as  the  reason,  ' 
 why  most  of  the  Moslem  sects  thrust  themselves,  we 
 might  almost  say  instinctively ,  on  some  precarious 
 substitute,  veneration  for  whom,  absorbs  their  religious 
 feeling,  and  from  whom  they  expect  their  salvation.^* 
 We  can  only  explain  this  fact  from  the  instinctive 
 longing  of  the  human  heart  after  an  approachable 
 mediator  between  God  and  man,  which,  Islamism,  in 
 denying  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  leaves  un- 
 satisfied. The  principal  cause  for  faction  in  the  Mos- 
 lem camp  was  connected  with  the  Kaliphate,  which 
 was  intended  to  unite  the  body  of  the  believers.  From 
 the  very  earliest  period  questions  arose  as  to  whether 
 Abubeker,  Omar  and  Othman  were  legally  chosen, 
 or  whether  they  were  to  be  considered  intruders  and 
 usurpers;  whether  Ali,  as  the  relation  and  son-in-law 
 of  Mohammed,  was  the  legitimate  heir  and  successor; 
 whether  the  Ommayades,  or  the  Abassides — who 
 successively  assumed  the  power  of  the  Kaliphate  after 
 the  murder  of  Ali — were  to  be  acknowledged;  and 
 
 ^^  "2)ag  ttefe,  buret)  ben  S^Iam  unbcfricbigt  gelaffenc  <8cburfni^  be^ 
 tnenfdbHdjen  ©etfte^,  ficfi  ber®ottf)ett  burrf)  cinen  gottIicf)--iitetifd)Iid)en  SKittlcv 
 IV.  naf}eii,  mitfjtc  jciie  l'el;rcn  iinb  Seften  f}cn>prriifcn ,  imrf)  bcTicn  einc  3n; 
 hjofinung  ber  ©ottl'cit  in  cinjelncn  8el}rcrn  nnb  >^anvtcrn  ber  Religion  fiatt- 
 finbet .  .  .  Ucberr)aui?t  abfr  erfennt  man  in  bem  SDJanget  be^  ©laubfn^  an 
 ben  ®ottmenfcf)cn  ben  ®runb,  Irarum  bie  aTcoeleniifrfien  (geften  groientfjeil^ 
 faft  inftinllrndpig  fid)  an  ei'njehie  2)Jenfc()en  onnammerten,  beren  93erel)rung 
 all  i()t  rcligii3fcg  ©efutjl  abforbivte,  unb  »on  bcncn  fie  i{;r  §eil  enoarteten." 
 JTollingcr  pag.  85. 
 
 T* 
 
292         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMSM.      [parti. 
 
 whether  the  twelve  Imams  who  succeeded  Ali  were 
 the  lawful  and  only  successors.  To  these,  other  points 
 of  dispute  were  added,  such  as,  whether  the  Kaliphate 
 was  at  all  hereditary  and  confined  to  one  family,  or 
 whether  the  choice  of  a  successor  was  not  left  to  the 
 faithful  at  large;  whether  only  one  Imam  could  reign 
 at  a  time,  or  whether  two  might  not  reign  at  the 
 same  period;**^  whether  in  times  of  division  there 
 was  a  true  Kaliph  at  all,  or  whether  only  he  could 
 be  considered  such ,  who  was  universally  acknow- 
 ledged.** Several  sects  insisted  upon  the  sinless 
 nature  of  the  Kalij^hs,  and  consequently  upon  their 
 infallibility.  Allah  was  thought  to  have  united  him- 
 self with  Ali  and  his  successors,  or  as  the  Hatibis 
 understood  it,  the  spirit  of  Allah  became  incarnate 
 in  the  successors  of  the  prophet.  The  different  sects 
 of  the  Rafedhis  believed,  that  the  Kaliphate  was  only 
 reserved  to  a  few  chosen  individuals ;  whilst  their 
 fierce  opponents,  the  Karedshis,  held  it  lawful  to  take 
 up  arms  against  any  Kaliph  wdio  committed  sin;*^ 
 and  these  again  were  opposed  by  the  Kamelis,  who 
 taught  that  Ali  himself  became  an  unbeliever,  when 
 he  declined  to  fight  out  his  rights  with  the  sword. 
 The  MohahMms,  a  branch  of  the  latter  sect,  rejected 
 Ali,  because  at  Safein,  he  placed  the  decision  as  to 
 the  right  of  succession  in  the  hands  of  the  Harawris, 
 
 *"  The  first  opinion  held,  iiLyoLci.^'1,  the  Hashemis;  JLoU-a-XawJI, 
 the  Soleimanis,  io».^,S\Jt,  or  the  Djaboris,  the  latter  that  of  the 
 followers  of  Hamssa,  iL>v4_S\J|.  Ishmacl  Shachinshah  apud  Abrah. 
 Echellensis  Eutychius  vindicatus.    Rom.  1661.  II.  pag.  384  etc. 
 
 *^    Sacy  Expose  introd.  pag.  41.      **  Makrissi  apud  Sacy  p.  13. 
 
CHAP,  vm.]  SECTS  AND  HERESIES.  293 
 
 who  neither  acknowledged  Ali  norMoviah;*^  and  the 
 Shebibis,  who  admitted  that  even  a  woman  was  not 
 exchided  from  exercising  the  functions  of  aKaHph.** 
 The  Ali-IlIaMs ,  a  sect  which  exists  to  this  day 
 in  Persia,  Arabia  and  Hindostan,  receive  the  widely 
 spread  notion,  that  Allah  united  himself  with  the 
 several  Imams;  only  with  this  difference,  that  Adam 
 was  the  first  and  Ali  the  last  of  these  incarnations 
 of  the  godhead.  Ali  is  worshipped  as  such,  his  seat 
 is  supposed  to  be  that  of  the  sun,  and  the  Koran,  as 
 it  now  stands ,  is  considered  to  be  the  forgery  of  the 
 first  three  Kaliphs.*^  That  Ali-Allah  or  Ali-Murteza 
 ranks  above  Mohammed  can  be  easily  inferred  fi-om 
 this;  and  indeed,  it  is  taught  by  this  sect,  that  Allah 
 assumed  the  form  of  Ali,  on  perceiving  the  incom- 
 petency and  the  defects  of  Mohammed  as  a  prophet.*^ 
 The  Garabis,  in  the  same  spirit  maintained,  that  the 
 angel  Gabriel  was  sent  to  Ali,  but  being  misled  by 
 a  great  family-likeness,  turned  to  Mohammed  by  mis- 
 take;*^ whilst  the  Halbanis  andDhemmis  openly  de- 
 clare, that  Mohammed  usurped  the  prophetical  office, 
 which  by  right  belonged  to  Ali.  Others  were  more 
 liberal  and  ascribed  a  divine  character  to  Mohammed, 
 Ali  andFatima,  and  their  two  sons  Hasan  andHossein.  *^ 
 
 *^    Qiiatremere,  Nouv.  Journ.  Asiatique,  IX.  p.  400. 
 
 **    Hazala,  the  mother  of  the  author  of  this  sect  acted  asKaliph, 
 in  the  Mosque  at  Kufa.    Bollinger  pag.  86. 
 
 *^    So  the  Dabistan  apud  Colebrooke  on  the  origin  and  peculiar 
 tenets  of  certain  Mohammedan  sects.   Asiat.  Researches  VII.  p.  338. 
 *"   Fraser's  Journey  into  Khorassan  pag.  286. 
 *'    Abulfeda  11.  758. 
 *"   Ishmaei  Shachinshah  apud  Abrah.  Eschellens.  pag.  432. 
 
294         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 16.  One  of  the  most  fertile  causes  of  various 
 sects  among  the  Shiite  section,  was  doubtless  the 
 uncertainty  as  to  the  real  successor  of  Ali;  for  at  one 
 time  it  was  this,  at  another,  that  member  of  his  fa- 
 mily; and  sometimes  a  stranger  was  fixed  upon  as 
 J  mam.  The  Kissanis  at  a  very  early  period  fastened 
 their  veneration  upon  Mohammed  Ebn  Hanefieh,  one 
 of  the  sons  of  Ali,  but  not  by  Fatima.*^  The  Bas- 
 lemis  looked  upon  Abu-Selma  asKaliph;  andllakem 
 Ebn  Ilashem  or  Mokana,  the  veiled  j^^'ophet  with 
 the  golden  mask,  who  lived  at  Moravalnahar  and 
 Khorassan  A.  D.  779 — many  of  whose  followers  are 
 still  found  in  the  provinces  of  the  Oxus  — maintained, 
 that  the  divine  spirit  of  the  assassinated  Abu-Selma 
 had  descended  upon  him.  ^^  The  Bajanis  offered  divine 
 honours  to  their  master,  Bajan,  who  was  supposed  to 
 have  inherited  the  Kaliphate  from  Ali.  The  pro- 
 phecy of  Mohammed,  according  to  which,  the  true 
 guide  or  Mahdi,  should  come  after  a  period  of  trouble 
 and  oppression  to  rear  up  a  kingdom  of  peace  and 
 happiness,  was  naturally  one  of  the  most  productive 
 sources  of  heresy.  ^  ^  The  Shiites  transfer  the  idea  of 
 the  Mahdi  to  the  last  of  the  twelve  Imams,  the  young 
 Abul-Kasem  Mohammed,  who  disappeared  A.  D.  879. 
 in  the  twelfth  year  of  his  age;  they  believe  that  he 
 is  now  concealed  in  some  secret  place,  and  will  reappear 
 on  some  great  emergency,   to  resume  the  spiritual 
 
 *^    Quatreniere,  Nouv.  Journ.  Asiat.  X.  41. 
 
 ^^    Abulfeda  U.  47.    Price  II.  25.    Sacy  Expose  pag.  61. 
 
 *'    He  is  only  to  live  8  or  9  years  among  the  faithful.     Siuti, 
 History  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  pag.  296. 
 
CHAP,  villi  SECTS  AND  HERESIES.  295 
 
 52 
 
 and  temporal  power  of  the  Moslem  community 
 The  kings  of  the  Sofi-dynasty  with  reference  to  him, 
 bore  the  title:  "servant  of  the  king  of  the  land."  Ebn 
 Batata  found  a  mosque  at  Hilla  in  Mesopotamia,  the 
 entrance  of  which  was  veiled  with  a  silk  curtain,  and 
 the  building  called  the  mosque  of  "the  Lord  of  ages." 
 The  inhabitants  appeared  day  by  day  before  the  gate 
 in  full  armour  with  a  saddled  horse,  calling  for  the 
 Mahdi,  and  imploring  his  appearance  to  "suppress 
 tyranny  and  to  separate  truth  from  error.  ^  ^  We  can 
 easily  conceive  that  where  such  fervent  expectation 
 existed,  it  could  be  no  difficult  task  for  any  descendant 
 of  Ali  to  claim  the  dignity  of  the  promised  Mahdi. 
 
 17.  The  doctrine  of  the  divine  attrihites  being  a 
 point  which  comes  next  in  importance  to  that  of  the 
 succession,  w^e  should  naturally  expect  that  a  diversity 
 of  views  and  opinions  would  spring  up ,  wherever  an 
 interest  in  metaphysical  questions  haj^pened  to  be 
 excited.  The  schools  of  Moslem  Theology  have  ever 
 been  distracted  by  religious  controversies  but  par- 
 ticularlv  since  the  second  centurv^  In  its  earliest 
 period,  Islamism  needed  no  other  M'eapon  than  the 
 sword;  but  when  KaliphlNIamun  caused  the  writings 
 of  the  Grecian  philosophers  to  be  translated  into 
 Arabic,  a  leaven  was  introduced  which,  according  to 
 Makriss,  produced  incalculable  mischief.  The  contra- 
 dictions in  the  teaching  of  the  Koran  became  now 
 
 **  At  Ispahan  two  saddled  horses  were  always  kept  in  readiness, 
 one  for  the  Imam  Mahdi,  the  other  for  his  vice-regent,  Jesus. 
 Chardin  \TI.  456.  IX.  144.    Pfander's  Remarks,  pag.  6. 
 
 "   Ibn-Batuta's  Travels  pag.  109. 
 
296  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [parti. 
 
 more  and  more  apparent,  sects  arose  in  multitudes, 
 and  each  fled  to  the  newly  acquired  armoury  of"  Grecian 
 philosophy,  appropriating  such  definitions  and  rea- 
 sonings as  best  suited  their  particular  views  and  tastes.^  * 
 The  orthodox  Moslem  divines  being  alarmed  at  such 
 an  influx  of  heretical  teaching,  resolved  to  use  the 
 poison  itself  as  an  antidote.  Hence  the  memorable 
 resolution  of  a  theological  assembly  at  Bossura:  "Re- 
 ligion is  so  defiled  and  mixed  with  error,  that  only 
 by  the  aid  of  the  Grecian  philosophy  can  it  be  puri- 
 fied." ^^ 
 
 It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  notice  the  diff'erence 
 between  Islamism  and  Christianity  under  the  pressure 
 of  Heathen  Philosophy.  Islamism,  more  than  any 
 other  creed,  w^as  destitute  of  those  elements  which 
 could  be  amalgamated  with  the  speculations  of  classic 
 antiquity;  it  was  therefore  rather  for  the  benefit  of 
 the  heretical  sects  that  they  were  introduced.  The 
 most  celebrated  men  among  the  orthodox  party,  who 
 attempted  to  introduce  these  elements  of  Grecian 
 philosophy  into  the  body  of  Moslem  divinity,  openly 
 avow-ed  that  their  religious  views  had  nothing  in 
 common  with  that  of  the  masses  ;^^  hence,  they  were 
 
 **  "Alors  se  produisirent  au  grand  jour  diftercntes  sectes,  telles 
 que  los  Kadris,  Ics  Djahiuis  ,  les  Motazalcs,  Ics  Kcramis,  les  Kha- 
 redjis,  les  Rafcdliis ,  les  Karmates,  les  Batenis,  ct  la  terre  fut 
 rerui^lie.  II  n'y  cut  aucune  de  ces  sectes,  dont  les  partisans  n'etu- 
 diassent  la  philosopliic ,  et  n'onibrassassent  parmi  les  doctrines  des 
 diflTerentes  sectes  de  philosophes  celle,  qui  leur  agreait  davautage." 
 Makrissi  apud  Sacy  cap.  I.  p.  25. 
 
 ^^    Greg.  Abul-Pharaji  historia  Dynastiaruni  Oxon.  1663.  p.  218. 
 
 ''®  This  was  done  byAlGazal,  the  author  of  a  philosophical 
 Romance.  Tholuck  comment,  de  vi,  quam  Graeca  philosophia  in 
 theologiam  Muhammcd.  exercuerit.   1835.  p.  15. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]  SECTS  AND  HERESIES.  297 
 
 suspected  of  heterodoxy.  ^  ^  Christianity  on  the  con- 
 trary, has  always  possessed  sufficient  power  to  admit 
 a  free  and  honest  inquiry  into  its  teaching  on  the 
 one  hand,  and  on  the  other  it  has  never  lacked  strength 
 to  repel  the  infusion  of  heterogeneous  elements  into 
 its  system.  It  preserved  its  distinctive  doctrines  for 
 instance,  in  the  third  and  fourth  century  against  the 
 Platonic  errors  of  Origen,  and  when  the  philosophy 
 of  Aristoteles  assayed  to  strike  up  an  alliance  with 
 Christianity  in  the  thirteenth  century,  it  was  confined 
 to  a  few  subtle  schoolmen.  Indeed  the  difference 
 between  an  exoteric  and  esoteric  religion,  as  held  by 
 the  philosophical  Moslemin,  remained  happily  un- 
 known to  Christianity,  being  a  creed  essentially  suited 
 to  the  mass  of  the  people.  ^'^ 
 
 Several  expressions  in  the  Koran,  and  others 
 ascribed  by  tradition  to  Mohammed,  such  as,  "God 
 making  man  in  his  own  form,"  and  the  prophet  feeling 
 "the  cold  finger  of  Allah  on  his  shoulder,"  produced 
 certain  anthroj)omorphistic  conceptions  of  the  divine 
 nature ,  and  gave  rise  to  the  sects  of  the  Moshabites 
 or  "the  assimilating  ones."  The  Keramites  ascribed 
 a  body  and  members  to  Allah;  the  Beyanites,  upon 
 the  authority  of  a  j^assage  in  the  Koran ,  maintained 
 that  Allah  had  a  human  face,  which  alone  should 
 remain  for  ever;  and  the  ALogarites  ascribed  to  him 
 
 ^^  This  happened  to  Gazal,  Ebn  Sina  and  Alkendi,  the  three 
 greatest  men  of  Moslem  science.  Takieddin  asserted  :  that  God  must 
 revenge  the  damage  done  to  piety  by  Mamun  when  he  introduced 
 Greek  learning  among  the  Arabs. 
 
 *^  <IitXo(TO(fjtiv  .  .  .  to  nXri&og  ddwatoi  nvai,  was  already  said 
 by  Plato  de  Republic,  lib.  VI.  pag.  89. 
 
298         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [part  i. 
 
 a  luminary  body  with  human  outhnes.  On  the  other 
 hand,  the  orthodox  behevers  being  at  a  loss  how  to 
 reconcile  the  spirituality  of  Allah  with  the  infallible 
 authority  of  the  Koran ,  warned  men  against  a  too 
 literal  acceptation  of  its  expressions/** 
 •V  18.  To  avoid  the  distinction  of  persons  in  the 
 Holy  Trinity,  the  JJjarnis  and  the  powerful  sect  of 
 the  Motazalites,  which  again  split  into  twenty  con- 
 flicting parties,  denied  the  divine  attributes,  asserting 
 that  to  ascribe  eternal  attributes  to  Allah,  is  to  as- 
 sume so  many  personalities  and  to  fall  into  the  error 
 of  the  Christians /°  Thus  the  Koran  dogma  of  the 
 abstract  Lnitif  led  to  a  complete  denial  of  the  glorious 
 character  of  God,  and  an  utter  negation  of  His  divine 
 perfections !  The  Sefatians  or  attributists  rushed  to 
 the  opposite  extreme  of  a  gross  Anthropomorphism.  ^* 
 It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  dogma  of  the  un- 
 conditional predestination  of  all  events  and  deeds 
 without  respect  to  their  moral  or  immoral  nature, 
 would  be  opposed  by  many  a  thoughtful  Moslem;  for 
 according  to  the  prevalent  belief  of  the  orthodox  party, 
 the  bad  as  well  as  the  good  works  of  men  were  pre- 
 determined by  the  irrevocabledecreeof  the  Almighty. 
 This  doctrine  was  opposed  by  the  Motazalites,  and 
 especially  by  the  Kadris,^'^  who  taught  that  Allah  did 
 
 ^^  Pococke  spec,  liist.  Arab.  pag.  172.  Sharistani  apud  Pococke 
 pag.  226.228.  2;il.  iL^A.cL*Jt,  Maf^habites,  Assiiuilantcs;  aUxwC't, 
 Caramitac;   x.<oLyJt,  Bajanitae;  and  ibj-i^-t)  Moglieiritac. 
 
 ''''    iL!j.AJL«.J|,  tht'Motazalitae.  SeeMaracc.  Prodiom.  Pars  111.  74. 
 
 ^'    XAJLft.oJf,  Sapliatitae.    Ishniael  Shacliinslia  pag.  396. 
 ''^    XjviXJi-M,   Kadritae  so  called  from    »tXJ'  power,   or  moral 
 liberty  to  act. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]  SECTS  AND  HERESIES.  299 
 
 not  decree  beforehand  the  deeds  and  inclinations  of 
 his  creatures.  Maabad,  the  leader  of  this  party,  was 
 put  to  the  rack  and  then  executed  at  Bussora  A.  D. 
 699.  by  the  command  of  the  Kaliph  Abdelmalek. 
 The  antipodes  of  the  Kadris,  were  the  Tjabaris,^^ 
 who  denied  in  toto  that  man  has  any  power  or 
 liberty  of  his  own,  but  that  Allah  compels  him  to 
 perform  all  his  deeds;  also  the  Rayatis,  who  main- 
 tained that  evil  actions  must  be  acceptable  to  Allah; 
 and  the  Djamis^  who  taught  that  man  is  merely  a 
 dead  instrument  in  all  he  performs ;  the  Kalfis  con- 
 sistently added,  that  to  punish  man  for  his  deeds 
 would  be  unjust  on  the  part  of  Allah.  The  Heshamis 
 on  the  contrary,  rejected  several  passages  of  the  Koran, 
 especially  those,  in  which  it  is  said  that  "Allah  leads 
 into  error  whomsoever  he  will,"  lest  the  moral  liberty 
 of  man  should  be  endangered:  whilst  the  Maimunites 
 and  Basharites  denied  that  God  had  any  connection 
 with  human  actions,  hence  excluding  also  the  co- 
 operation of  his  grace.  ^* 
 
 19.  Some  of  the  Moslem  sects  ventured  to  ap- 
 proximate considerably  closer  to  the  truths  of  Chris- 
 tianity than  Islamism;  but  even  the  Hayetis  and 
 Hadathites,  who  ascribed  a  divine  character  to  the 
 
 ^^  Vox  Arabica  vA^^^.-^!  est  negatio  actionis  verae  in  homine, 
 tribuendo  illam  Deo.  Maracc.  Prod.  III.  75.  hence  their  name 
 J!b«_A-S\JI,  Gebaritae, 
 
 ^*  Respecting  the  Chalphitae,  RaA-I^JI,  or  Kalfis  see,  True 
 and  false  Relig.  I.  pag.  367—377.  upon  Brahmanism.  The  Mai- 
 munitae,  JLu«-»jLfJI,  belong  likewise  to  the  many  antinoniistical 
 sects,  whose  respective  names  we  pass  over  on  account  of  the  licen- 
 tious character  of  their  views. 
 
300         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [PARTI. 
 
 "son  of  IMary"  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  raised 
 themselves  above  the  level  of  Arianism,  masmiich  as 
 they  recognised  in  Christ  only  a  secondary,  created 
 divinity,  who  was  to  judge  the  world  at  the  end  of 
 days.  ^^  The  true  character  and  influence  of  Is- 
 lamism  will  be  better  understood  from  the  compa- 
 ratively new-born  sect  of  the  Wahabees,  than  from 
 any  other;  since  they  not  only  profess  to  restore  Is- 
 lamism  to  its  primitive  form,  but  remind  us  in  many 
 respects  of  the  days  of  Mohammed.  ^^ 
 
 Wahab,  the  author  of  this  sect,  destroyed  the  re- 
 ligious veneration  with  which  ^Mohammed  was  regard- 
 ed as  the  intercessor  of  the  faithful,  as  well  as  that 
 which  was  extended  to  a  host  of  Moslem  saints.  The 
 precepts  of  the  Koran  were  again  enforced  at  the 
 point  of  the  sword.  His  first  disciples ,  Ebn  Sehud 
 and  Abd  el  Assis,  the  son  of  the  latter,  revived  Mo- 
 hammed's original  i)lan  of  restoring  the  religious  and 
 political  unity  of  the  Peninsula  under  one  head.  All 
 Moslemin  who  had  departed  from  the  primitive  creed, 
 and  other  unbehevers  were  to  be  converted  and  re- 
 formed by  compulsion;  pilgrims  and  caravans,  towns 
 and  mosques  were  plundered;  thousands  were  slain, 
 and  the  most  desperate  havoc  w^as  made  of  the  se- 
 pulchral monuments  and  chapels  of  the  Moslem  saints. 
 The  successor  of  Sehud  musteredanarmy  of  120,000 
 
 ^*  iujjk.:!.!.  aLdljLlf,  Hajetitae  et  Hadathitac ;  they  also 
 asserted  ^f-rfMXpvxoiaiq. 
 
 ^^  Its  author  was  Mohammed  Abd  cl  Wahab;  A.  D.  1729.  They 
 are  only  known  since  1750  in  Europe.  See  also:  Burkhardt's  notes 
 on  the  Bedouins  and  Wahaby's.   1830.  pag.  282. 
 
CHAP,  vm.]  SECTS  AND  HERESIP:S.  301 
 
 and  about  thirty  tribes  of  the  Arabs  were  subdued  by 
 these  sectarians.  It  was  reserved  to  the  hte  I'l oh atJi- 
 medAli  of  Egypt,  to  break  up  their  power,  Abdallah 
 their  last  head  was  taken  to  Constantinople  and  exe- 
 cuted, notwithstanding  which,  the  sect  survived. 
 
 20.  A  very  important  link  in  the  chain  of  Moslem 
 sectarianism  is  found  in  the  mystical  Sufiism  °'  which 
 chiefly  prevails  among  the  Shiites.      The  feeling  of 
 animosity  against   the  sect  was  always  very  bitter, 
 and  Gazal  declared  it  to  be  a  more  meritorious  work 
 to  kill  a  Sufi  than  to  save  ten  human  lives.  ^^     The 
 whole  structure  of  Sufiism  is  based  upon  these  two 
 ideas:  first,  besides  God  all  is  deception  and  vanity 
 and  nothing  really  exists;  secondly,  union  ivith  God 
 is  the  highest  scope  and  object  of  human  effort.    The 
 means  to  obtain  this  highest  degree  of  perfection  is 
 self-denial,  total  abstraction  of  the  mind  from  earthly 
 pursuits,  and  entire  devotion  to  mental  contemplation 
 of  the  Deity  and  the  human  soul,  by  which  all  prac- 
 tical modes  of  religious  worship,  such  as  fasts  and 
 feasts,  stated  periods  of  prayer,  ablutions  and  pilaH- 
 mages  are  rendered  superfluous.    It  need  scarcely  be 
 observed,  that  this  religious  mystical  philosophy  has 
 been  grafted  upon  Islamism  from  the  religious  systems 
 of  Paganism  in  the  East.     The  Indian  Yogee,   the 
 contemplative  Buddha,  and  the  philosophic  Sufi  are 
 of  the   same  type  of  religious  error,  and  the  way  to 
 perfection  is  alike  with  each. 
 
 ^^^,  Sufi,    derived   from   oLw, -Arabic,  Hindustani  and    ■ 
 Persian,  pure,  clear,  sincere. 
 
 Pococke,  spec.  hist.  Arab,  pag   263. 
 
302         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 To  obtain  the  final  beatitude  of  these  philosophic 
 dreamers,  we  have  to  pass  through  four  different  stages 
 of  probation;  in  the  first,  the  candidate  for  the  state 
 of  perfection  is  bound  to  a  strict  adherence  to  the 
 religion  of  the  Koran  and  the  observance  of  all  its  rites 
 and  precepts/^  when  duly  disciplined  by  these,  he 
 enters  upon  the  second  stage  of  mental  worship,  in 
 which  he  is  at  liberty  to  throw  off  all  external  rites  and 
 ceremonies.  In  the  third  stage,  the  mind  is  rendered 
 capable  of  diving  into  the  essence  of  truth  itself  in 
 its  logical  acceptation,  and  of  receiving  immediate 
 inspirations  fi'om  the  Deity;  and  in  the  fourth  and 
 last  stage  the  union  of  the  soul  with  Allah  is  fully 
 realised ;  the  symptoms  however  of  this  state  are  ge- 
 nerally those  of  delirium  and  madness.  The  "con- 
 fession of  the  Unity  ^  appears  in  the  conviction,  that 
 nothing  exists  beside  Allah,  ''the  garment  of  self- 
 existence  is  thrown  off,"  and  with  a  view  "to  be  freed 
 from  the  burden  of  existence  the  soul  dives  into  the 
 ocean  of  nothingness.'^ '°  It  will  appear  that  this  sect 
 destroys  the  very  foundation  of  all  religious  faith  and 
 practice;  since  '"the  i^>?^g//e/ of  the  perfected  Sufi  is 
 in  comparison  with  the  faith  of  other  people,  Mdiat  a 
 costly  garment  is  to  filthy  rags;"  ^^  and  as  the  yoke 
 of  precept  is  broken,  we  may  expect  but  a  very  low 
 
 ^^  Graham's  Treatise  upon  Sufiism  in  the  Transactions  of  the 
 Lit.  Soc.  of  Bombay  I.  94. 
 
 '"    Djami  in  Notices  ct  extraits.  XII.   pag.  339, 
 
 ^*  The  mystical  book  Gushenrass  says,  "When  there  is  no 
 more  T'  and  no  more  "thou"  (when  man  is  no  longer  a  difl'erent 
 individmnn  from  God),  what  is  there  any  more  in  the  Kaaba  of  the 
 Moslem,  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews  or  the  cloister  of  the  Christian?" 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]  SECTS  AND  HERESIES.  303 
 
 standard  of  morality ;  we  have  in  addition,  the  extra- 
 ordinary custom  of  the  Sufis  of  describing  their  reli- 
 gious exstacies  under  the  most  sensual  and  lascivious 
 images  ;  such  as  oriental  depravity  alone  could  supply. 
 Some  of  the  sects  of  the  Sufis  in  Persia  and  India, 
 abandon  themselves  to  intoxicating  drinks,  music  and 
 dancing  in  order  to  kindle  the  flame  of  devotion.  ^^ 
 There  is  little  indeed  to  move  the  popular  mind  in 
 this  transcendental  Theism  or  Piintheism,  and  its 
 success  can  only  be  attributed  to  its  ofi'ering  a  diver- 
 sion to  the  serious  portion  of  the  Moslem  community, 
 who  fail  to  find  rest  in  the  dry  and  heartless  system 
 of  the  Koran.  Sufiism  however  contributes  its  share 
 to  weaken  the  fanatical  dependence  upon  the  Koran, 
 and  this  is  especially  the  case  among  the  higher  classes 
 of  the  Persian  Moslemin;  yet  the  leaven  is  not  con- 
 fined to  them,  and  recent  computations  have  estimat- 
 ed their  number  to  be  not  less  than  300,000  souls. '^ 
 21.  There  was  indeed  no  small  amount  of  reli- 
 gious dissension,  and  at  times,  cruel  persecution  be- 
 tween the  various  conflicting  parties  in  the  Christian 
 Church;  but  whilst  Christianity  expelled  or  recalled 
 many  of  its  most  dangerous  sects  by  its  inherent  yita,- 
 lity  and  power,  Islamism,  destitute  of  power  to  subdue 
 heresies  in  any  other  way  than  by  fire  and  sword, 
 sought  only  to  maintain  its  warlike  character  in  its 
 
 ''  Mrs.  Meer  Hassan  Alis  Observations  on  the  Mussulmans  of 
 India.   II.  p.  249. 
 
 ^^  Dr.  Pfander  found  a  considerable  number  oS  Sujis  among  the 
 lower  classes.  Sufi  Mir  Massum  AliShah  gathered  30,000  disciples 
 in  Shiraz ,  Malcolm  II.  pag.  417.  and  his  follower,  Nur  All  Shah 
 after  the  execution  of  his  master,  could  muster  in  1800,  double  that 
 number. 
 
304         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAmSM.       [parti. 
 
 efforts  to  suppress  them.  The  sects  too  generally 
 caught  up  the  spirit  of  the  parent  creed  from  w4iicli 
 they  sprang,  and  thus  it  was  natural  that  religious 
 wars,  mutual  persecutions  and  attempts  at  extermi- 
 nation were  the  necessary  result  of  Moslem  sectaria- 
 nism. As  long  as  the  Kaliphate  existed  in  full  force, 
 heresy  was  of  course  treated  as  high  treason.  The  most 
 fatal  wound  was  however  inflicted  by  the  schism  be- 
 tween the  Somiite  and  Sh lite  \:>^Yt\es,  which  to  this  day 
 are  opposed  to  each  other  with  the  deadliest  animosity. 
 The  anniversary  of  the  murder  of  Hossein  is  sufficient 
 to  make  the  smouldering  fire  of  mutual  hatred  burst 
 forth  with  virulence.  The  Kaliphs  of  Bagdad  exe- 
 cuted thousands  of  Shiites,  and  declared  their  pro- 
 perty, their  wives  and  children  to  be  the  legal  prey 
 of  the  orthodox  faithful;  and  even  the  fall  of  the  Ka- 
 liphate was  accelerated  by  these  dissensions.  '*  When 
 religious  wars  penetrated  the  Turkish  Empire  in  the 
 sixteenth  century,  Selim  I.  caused  a  list  of  the  Shiites 
 to  be  executed  by  secret  agency,  and  some  40,000 
 of  them  were  slain  or  imprisoned.  ^  ^ 
 
 All  this  was  perfectly  consistent  with  the  legis- 
 lature of  the  Sonnites  against  the  Shiites;  the  se- 
 verities which  were  severally  prescribed  against  ido- 
 laters apostates,  blasphemers  and  infidels,  were  con- 
 jointly enforced  against  them:  it  is  deemed  more 
 meritorious  to  kill  one  Shiite  in  war,  than  seventy 
 Christians  or  other  infidels,  and  their  corpses 
 are  denied  the  honour  of  burial.  ■'"     Even  in  recent 
 
 ">*    Price's  Moh.  History  II.  222.    M.  d'Ohsson  I.  117. 
 .  '*    J&anmer'^  Ct^man.  Slcid).  n.  402.       '«  M.  d'Ohsson  III.  236. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]       EFFECTS  OF  MOSLEM  SECTARIANISM.  305 
 
 times  the  Sonnite  tribe  GocJdan,  was  excommunicated 
 by  their  brethren  for  acknowledging  a  Shiite  power!  ^'' 
 Extermination  was  always  the  rule  concerninsf  dissent, 
 whenever  it  was  practicable,  and  in  this,  the  sects 
 themselves  were  in  nowise  behind  the  orthodox  com- 
 munity. The  sect  of  the  Bargawata,  which  arose  in 
 the  ninth  century  among  the  Berbers,  lasted  only  about 
 a  century,  but  one  of  its  leaders  alone  destroyed  387 
 towns,  the  inhabitants  of  which,  were  cut  to  pieces.  ^^ 
 The  African,  AbdallahBenTamurt,  founded  a  sect,  in 
 1116,  which  was  less  distinguished  by  new  doctrines 
 than  by  a  zeal  for  reforming  abuses ;^^  and  it  is  re- 
 lated of  this  strict  moralist,  who  severely  punished 
 the  most  trivial  transgression  of  the  precepts  of  the 
 Koran,  that  he  destroyed  some  70,000  peof)le,  by 
 causing  them  to  be  precipitated  over  a  rock.  "^  Even 
 as  late  as  the  year  1625,  it  happened  that  a  Shiite, 
 who  declined  to  abjure  his  religious  views,  was  impal- 
 ed alive  in  Mecca.  ^  ^  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  add 
 other  facts,  but  these  may  suffice  to  show  the  general 
 tendency  of  Moslem  sectarianism. 
 
 22.  We  have  already  seen  how  far  the  reli- 
 gion of  the  Koran  has  contributed  to  impress  the 
 character  of  despotism  upon  the  Mohammedan 
 Governments ;  and  it  may  not  be  without  interest  to 
 add  a  few  remarks  respecting  the  influence  of  that 
 
 ^^    Fraser's  Journey  into  Khorassan  I.  143. 
 
 ''^   Description  de  I'Afrique,  Notices  et  extraits  XII.   578 — 591. 
 
 This  founder  of  the  sect  of  Mowaheddins,  completed  the  con- 
 quest of  Mauritia  and  Spain. 
 
 ^"    Abulfeda  III.  405.      »'  Burkhardt's  Travels  in  Arabia  II.  12. 
 
 U 
 
306         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUEN'CE  OF  ISLAJVIISM.       [parti. 
 
 creed  upon  the  liistoiy  of  Moslem  states,  and  the  fre- 
 quent change  of  dynasties,  to  which  they  were  expos- 
 ed. According  to  a  tradition  mentioned  by  Siuti,^^ 
 there  have  been  only  Jive  righteous  Kaliphs  among 
 the  entire  number:  Abubeker,  Omar,  Othman ,  Ali 
 and  Abdelassis.  Movia  is  accused  of  having  introduced 
 Pagan  usages,  *^  his  son,  Jezid,  was  an  infidel  who 
 neglected  the  religious  duties  belonging  to  his  office 
 and  spent  his  time  in  riotous  living/*  Abdelmalek 
 increased  the  hatred  which  already  rested  upon  his 
 house,  by  avarice  and  cruelty;  Omar  Abdelassis  was 
 poisoned  by  his  own  family,  on  suspicion  of  having 
 favoured  theShiites;*^  and  the  extravagant  Walid  II. 
 was  deprived  of  his  throne  and  life  by  his  relation 
 Jezid  III.  The  rule  of  the  Abasside  Kaliphs,  com- 
 menced at  a  period  when  the  Kaliphate  was  already 
 sunk  in  the  estimation  of  the  people,  by  the  godless 
 and  tyrannical  rule  of  their  predecessors;  and  their 
 own  immorality,  tyranny  and  occasional  heterodoxy 
 mainly  contributed  to  destroy  whatever  remained  of 
 that  nimbus  of  sanctity,  which  once  surrounded  the 
 Kaliph,  as  vice-regent  and  "  shadow  of  God  upon  earth." 
 It  was  therefore  only  natural,  that  the  provinces,  one 
 by  one,  should  become  severed  from  the  overgrown 
 body  of  the  colossal  empire.  There  is,  however,  nothing 
 which  will   better  show  the  effects  of  Islamism  upon 
 
 ^^    History  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  pag.  309. 
 
 ®'    Ebn  Hamsa,  Notices  et  extraits  IV.  pag.  703 
 
 ®*   The   Medinites    declared    him    unworthy   of   the  Kaliphate. 
 Price's  Moham.  History  I.  pag.  414. 
 
 ^*    Price's  Mohammedan  History  I.  pag.  526. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]      EFFECTS  UPON  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.         307 
 
 the  history  of  the  states  and  rulers,  placed  under 
 its  immediate  protection  and  supervision,  than  the 
 fact,  that  out  of  fifty-nine  Kaliphs  Mho  ruled  in 
 the  name  of  God  and  religion,  thirty-eight  died  by 
 violent  means,  and  those  who  escaped  the  edge  of 
 the  sword  died  of  hunger  or  poison/^  In  the  year 
 934  the  dignity  of  theKaliphate  had  sunk  to  such  a 
 depth,  that  Kaliph  Kahir,  who  had  been  degraded 
 and  blinded,  was  seen  every  Friday  for  the  space  of 
 fifteen  years  begging  his  bread  at  the  entrance  of  the 
 chief  mosque  of  his  capital  !*^^ 
 
 Can  it  be  wondered  that  dynasties  founded  by 
 blood  and  rapine  should  succeed  each  other  with 
 unnatural  rapidity?  Copper-smiths  and  highway  rob- 
 bers, camel-drivers  and  adventurers  were  seen  to  raise 
 themselves  to  be  founders  of  royal  houses. ^^  That 
 these  violent  changes  of  dynasties  are  attributable  to 
 the  insufficient  provision  of  the  author  of  the  religion, 
 relative  to  the  succession  of  power,  no  one  will  deny: 
 Mohanmied  established  a  politico-religious  system,  but 
 neglected  to  make  the  most  necessary  arrangements 
 as  to  its  future  government.  The  instability  of  IMos- 
 lem  rule  has  been  pre-eminently  shown  in  the  history 
 of  the  Persian  Empire.  In  the  space  of  900  years 
 we  have  no  less  than  fourteen  different  dynasties, 
 which  rapidly  succeeded  each  other*,  and  each  was  ac- 
 companied with  the  most  startling  convulsions  of  the 
 
 ®^    In  many   cases,  they  were   immured   alive   or  thrown    into 
 ice-pits. 
 
 ^    Elmakin  hist.   Saracen,  pag.  199.     Price's  Moliamnied.  Hist. 
 II.  pag.  177. 
 
 ^^    Price's  Mohammedan  History  II.  pag.  231. 
 
 U* 
 
308         CHARA.CTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 state.  The  fact  that  in  the  Turkish  Empire  we  have 
 the  same  dynasty  for  the  space  of  500  years,  has  been 
 ah'eady  accounted  for,  by  the  religious  awe  with  which 
 the  Sultan  was  regarded  as  the  last  heir  of  the  hea- 
 ven-ordained Kaliphate/^ 
 
 23.  Ask  we  for  the  durable  effects  of  Islamism 
 as  regards  the  civilisation  ofthe  manners  and  customs 
 of  nations,  and  the  cultivation  of  literature,  science  and 
 art,  it  is  only  what  we  might  naturally  ex^^ect  from 
 such  a  religious  system.  It  may  be  fairly  asserted 
 that  the  chief  work  of  this  creed  was  ])ulling  down, 
 rooting  up  and  destroying,  rather  than  j^lanting  and 
 building  up;  and  no  one  can  say  that  we  overstep  the 
 limits  of  moderation  when  we  add,  that  it  has  de- 
 stroyed more  in  eighty  short  years,  than  its  united 
 efforts  could  rear  up  in  the  space  of  twelve  centuries. 
 It  is  painful  to  read  some  elaborate  rehearsals  of  the 
 great  things  which  moslem  genius  is  said  to  have 
 achieved ;  but  it  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that  virgin 
 soil  is  always  productive  for  a  season,  till  the  in- 
 herent vitality  be  exhausted.  ^°  When  in  the  day  of 
 visitation,  God  ploughed  up  the  nations  by  the  Mos- 
 lem conquests,  some  fruit  might  naturally  be  ex- 
 pected to  follow ;  but  natural  results  must  not  be 
 confounded  with  grace  or  blessing  from  heaven.  As 
 Islamism  had  no  inherent  vitality  of  its  own  to  sus- 
 
 ®*  The  Kaliphate  properly  speaking  was  dissolved  1285  wlien 
 Mostassem  sunoiulcred  himself  to  Ilulagus;  the  Sultan  of  Turkey 
 therefore  could  only  be  nominallv  a  successor  to  the  ancient 
 Kaliphs. 
 
 ^^  It  has  been  declared  by  agriculturists  that  even  cliafl' will 
 grow  for  a  time  being  sown  in  the  field,  but  that  it  soon  withers. 
 
CHAP,  vin.]  COMMERCE,  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES.  309 
 
 tain  the  orowth,  the  incidental  beneficial  effects  soon 
 died  away.  We  would  ask  those  authors  who  write, 
 as  if  they  were  almost  Mohammedans,  whether  it 
 was  probable  that  the  Arabs,  being  an  energetic  and 
 vigorous  people,  could  be  expected  to  conquer  na- 
 tions more  civilised  than  their  own,  without  acqui- 
 ring accomplishments  unknown  in  their  native  de- 
 serts ?  That  it  was  only  a  concussion  of  various 
 nationalities  and  a  temporary  impulse  from  without, 
 which  promjDted  the  cultivation  of  sciences  for  a 
 period,  may  be  seen  from  the  fact,  that  the  Arabs 
 live  at  this  day  in  the  most  perfect  simplicity, 
 scorning  everything  which  is  not  in  accordance  with 
 patriarchal  custom. 
 
 In  pro23ortion  as  barriers  are  broken  down,  com- 
 merce is  likely  to  be  extended  among  nations;  but 
 we  do  not  observe  the  effects  of  any  specially  civilising 
 influence,  when  we  see  their  wretched  boats  creeping 
 along  the  coasts  inhabited  by  Moslemin;^*  and  every 
 one  acquainted  with  Mohammedan  trade  will  readily 
 admit,  that  with  the  exception  of  a  few  articles  of 
 traffic ,  the  slave  trade  is  the  most  flourishing.  Yet, 
 the  conquests  of  foreign  lands,  the  slave  trade,  and 
 the  rite  of  j^ilgriniage  could  not  fail  to  extend  the 
 science  of  geography; ^^  nor  is  it  just  to  dispfirage 
 the  services  which  they  have  rendered  in  this  re- 
 
 ^^  The  writer  has  but  too  lively  a  recollection  of  the  days  when 
 he  was  driven  up  and  down  in  the  Red  Sea,  in  miserable  boats, 
 manned  by  people  who  never  venture  to  lose  sight  of  the  shore. 
 
 '^  The  author  frequently  gleaned  most  interesting  facts  from 
 slaves  and  pilgrims  from  the  interior  of  Africa. 
 
310  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [parti. 
 
 spect.  ^  ^  The  fine  arts  however,  are  utterly  neglected  by 
 the  Arabs,  and  their  musiv  is  just  that  which  is  met 
 M-itli  among  every  savage  tribe;  to  assume,  as  some 
 have  done,  that  it  exerted  a  favourable  influence  upon 
 Italian  music,  is  too  preposterous  to  deserve  a  refuta- 
 tion. As  regards  the  mathematical  sciences  which 
 Avere  not  neglected  in  better  days,  we  must  remember 
 that  they  Avere  not  the  productions  of  the  native  mind, 
 but  the  translations  of  Archimedes  and  Ptolemaeus 
 on  the  one  hand,  andMarinus  of  Tyre  on  the  other:  ^* 
 We  must  not  forget  that  we  are  indebted  to  the 
 Arabs  for  the  transmission  of  our  cyphers,  which 
 superseded  the  less  convenient  mode  of  arithmetical 
 notation  by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  in  use  among 
 the  Greeks  and  Hebrews;  but  as  some  ancient  in- 
 scriptions found  on  stone  and  copper  in  Guzerat, 
 contain  those  cyphers  or  hieroglyphics,  now  used  as 
 our  figures  with  but  little  variation,  we  cannot  well 
 ascribe  their  invention  to  the  Arabs.  Among  the 
 algebraic  discoveries,  the  solution  of  equations  of  the 
 second  degree,  is  ascribed  to  Mohammed  Ebn  Musa. 
 The  astronomy  of  the  Arabs  was  derived  fi-om  foreign 
 sources  ;^^  they  have  however  the  merit,  characteristic 
 of  their  ingenious  superstition,  of  perverting  the  science 
 into  astrology.    The  only  science  of  which  the  Arabs 
 
 ^^  Abulfeda,  who  visited- England  in  the  1 4*'' century,  in  his 
 work  on  Geography,  quotes  several  authors  in  order  to  illustrate 
 his  explorations  of  the  region  beyond  the  Oxus. 
 
 ^*  Al  Hazan  wrote  a  work  on  optical  science  and  ably  suc- 
 ceeded Ptoleray  who  lived  1000  years  before  him. 
 
 ®^  The  worship  and  study  of  the  heavenly  bodies  were  common 
 in  the  south  of  Arabia;  both  were  imported  from  the  Babylonians. 
 
CHAP,  vin.]  COMMERCE,  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES.  311 
 
 can  claim  the  discovery  is  that  of  Chemistry,  which 
 originated  in  their  alchemical  pursuits  to  discover  the 
 philosopher's  stone.  ®^ 
 
 The  translations  into  Arabic,  of  works  on  history, 
 medicine,  botany,  geometry,  algebra,  astronomy,  phi- 
 losophy, jurisprudence,  grammar,  logic  and  rhetoric 
 were  so  imperfect,  that  they  only  obscured  the  sense 
 of  then-  originals ;  ^  ^  slavish  dependence  upon  foreign 
 sources,  especially  on  the  only  half-understood  Greek 
 classics ,  precluded  the  possibility  of  a  national 
 literature.  The  partial  benefit  derived  from  the 
 classics,  was  confined  to  the  court  and  the  higher 
 classes  of  society;  the  people  generally,  contenting 
 themselves  with  the  beauties  of  poetry  and  the  extra- 
 vagant productions  of  romance,  to  enliven  the  dulness 
 of  a  sterile  and  heartless  creed.  ^^  The  pursuit  of 
 knowledge  among  the  iSaracens  was  stimulated  rather 
 by  pedantic  eagerness  to  acquire  information  from 
 foreign  literature ,  than  by  a  spirit  of  free ,  practical 
 and  independent  inquiry;  hence  the  utter  decay  of 
 those  institutions,  anciently  established  for  scientific 
 and  theological  education.  The  schools  and  colleges 
 in  the  metropolis  oflslamism  are  mostly  extinct,  and 
 
 *^  More  important  still  was  their  thirst  for  the  elixir  of  imnror- 
 tality,  in  searching  for  \yhich,  they  did  service  to  Chemistry,  and 
 good  was  brought  out  of  evil  and  superstition.  Medical  science 
 was  only  a  species  of  magic. 
 
 ^^  Harun  el  Reschid  appointed  a  body  of  learned  men  to  pro- 
 cure them. 
 
 * 
 
 ®^  The  public  schools  at  Bussora,  Kufa,  Damascus  and  other 
 large  cities,  together  with  libraries,  observatories  and  laboratories, 
 established  by  some  of  the  Kalijihs ,  form  but  a  striking  contrast 
 to  the  usual  neglect  of  national  instruction. 
 
312         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.       [PART  I. 
 
 ignorant  fanaticism  alone  survives. ^^  In  Cairo,  the 
 classical  seat  of  moslem  learning,  each  mosque  had 
 its  hospitium  and  library,  but  of  all  this  scarcely 
 any  trace  is  left.  The  great  school  attached  to  the 
 "Flower-mosque",  which  formerly  provided  Africa  and 
 Syria  with  Ulemas,  numbered  formerly  1 200  students; 
 but  now  for  many  years,  it  has  only  counted  500. 
 Of  500  mosques  only  150  are  still  opened,  the  re- 
 mainder are  decayed;^  and  of  the  hundred  mosques 
 of  Alexandria,  scarcely  fifty  continue  to  be  frequented: 
 and  then  it  is  customary  almost  throughout  the  East 
 for  boys  only  to  study. 
 
 24.  The  depopulation  and  devastation  of  the 
 country  are  also  the  direful  effects  of  the  sway  of 
 Islamism.  The  neighbourhood  of  Aleppo,  as  late  as 
 the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  centuiy,  could  number 
 300  villages,  but  towards  the  end  of  it,  only  twelve 
 remained !  ^  In  the  district  of  Mardin  in  jNIesopotamia, 
 were  once  1600  villages,  and  now  scarcely  500  are 
 remaining.^  Before  the  conquest  by  the  Moslem 
 armies,  Cyprus  had  1400  towns  and  villages,  but  in 
 1670  it  could  boast  of  only  700.*  No  better  was  the 
 fate  of  the  island  of  Candia,  where  at  this  moment  a 
 fierce  excitement  of  the  Mohammedans  against  the 
 
 ^9    Travels  of  Ali  Bey  1816.  II.    136. 
 
 *  Michaud  VI.  4.  7.  What  a  contrast  this  with  the  estimation, 
 in  which  arts  and  sciences  were  held  by  the  Romans!  "Adolescen- 
 tiam  alunt,  senectutem  oblectant,  secundas  res  ornant,  adversis 
 perfugium  ac  solatium  pracbent,  delectant  domi ,  non  impediunt 
 foris ,  pcruoctant  nobiscum,  peregrinantur,  rusticantur."  Cic,  Orat. 
 pro  Arch. 
 
 *  Russel's  History  of  Aleppo  I.  339.  ^   Niebuhr  II.  320. 
 
 *  Rycaut's  State  of  the  Greek  Church  pag.  91, 
 
CHAP,  vin.]         UTTER  DECAY  AND  DEPOPULATION.  313 
 
 Christians  is  raging.  Few  only  of  the  towns  and 
 cities,  which  were  populous  and  flourishing  at  the 
 time  of  the  Kaliphate,  are  now  existing ;  and  how  fear- 
 fully Egypt  has  suffered  under  the  leaden  sceptre  of 
 Islamism  since  its  first  conquest  by  the  Saracens,  is 
 too  well  known  to  require  any  comment.'  Persia  is 
 covered  with  ruins,  and  the  remaining  towns  are  in 
 the  saddest  condition ;  even  Shiraz  and  Ispahan  pre- 
 sent only  the  skeleton  of  their  former  grandeur  and 
 magnificence ;  and  the  once  beautiful  and  fruitful 
 province  of  Khorassan  is  reduced  to  utter  poverty, 
 wearing  the  aspect  of  a  desert.  ^  The  once  flourishing 
 province  of  the  Roman  Empire  of  North- Africa,  which 
 even  in  the  days  of  the  Vandals  gloried  in  more  than 
 400  Episcopal  sees,  is  reduced  to  misery  and  decay. 
 Lastly,  the  Turkish  Empire  is  brought  to  the  very 
 verge  of  political  insolvency;  its  subjects  are  reduced 
 to  the  most  despicable  condition,  and  the  provinces, 
 some  of  the  finest  in  the  world,  are  depopulated  and 
 left  in  an  uncultivated  state.  ^ 
 
 ^  Before  the  Moslem  invasion,  the  Coptic  population  amounted 
 to  6  millions,  but  according  to  modern  statistics,  the  Coptic  Chris- 
 tians of  Egypt,  including  probably  those  of  Abyssinia  are  put  down 
 at  the  low  number  of  3,200,000!  Dr.  Newman  says:  "I  might  call 
 your  attention  to  particular  instances  of  such  atrocities,  such  as 
 that  outrage  perpetrated  within  the  memory  of  many  of  us ,  how 
 on  the  insurrection  of  the  Greeks  at  Scio ,  their  barbarian  masters 
 carried  fire  and  sword  throughout  the  flourishing  island,  till  it  was 
 left  a  desert,  hurrying  away  women  and  boys  to  an  infamous  cap- 
 tivity, and  murdering  youths  and  grown  men,  till,  out  of  120,000 
 souls  in  the  spring  time,  not  900  were  left  them  when  the  crops  were 
 ripe  for  the  sickle."    Lect.  on  the  Hist,  of  the  Turks  pag.  135.  136. 
 
 ®   Kinneir's  Memoir  of  the  Persian  Empire  1813.  pag.  117. 
 
 ^    The  Turkish  Empire  would  however  be  in  a  still  more  deplor- 
 
314         CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAMISM.      [parti. 
 
 Dissolution  and  decay  then  are  the  foot-prints  of 
 the  rehoion  of  the  crescent;  but  lest  the  philo-Mo- 
 hammedan  latitudinarians  of  Europe  should  be  tempt- 
 ed to  accuse  us  of  narrow-mindedness,  bigotry,  or 
 ignorance  of  the  real  state  of  things ,  we  insert  the 
 testimony  of  a  Moslem,  the  excellent  Historian  Ebn 
 Chaldun,  who  enlarges  upon  the  piteous  spectacle  of 
 countries,  conquered  by  the  Saracens:  ''The  cause  of 
 it ,   he  adds ,  is  in  the  fierce  character  of  the  people, 
 whose  wild  habits  are  as  much  a  part  of  their  nature 
 and  inborn,  as  those  of  a  wild  beast;  and  such  innate 
 propensities  are  adverse  to ,  and  destructive  of  civili- 
 sation.    The  principal  feature  of  their  character  is  a 
 love  of  change  and  revolution,  one,  utterly  opposed  to 
 that  quiet  which  civilisation  requires.    Their  instinct 
 leads  to  plunder;   trade   only  prospers  beneath  the 
 shadow  of  lances,  their  thirst  for  robbery  knows  no 
 limits,  they  plunder  whatever  comes  within  their  reach. 
 Meditating  only  how  they  may  possess    themselves 
 of  the  substance  of  others ,  they  desist  not  from  se- 
 verities till  they  have  obtained  it;  fiscal  punishments 
 are  invented  for  gain  and  as  a  means  of  procuring 
 money;  vice  and  obscenities  therefore  are  not  sup- 
 pressed but  rather  encouraged.   The  fact  of  the  sub- 
 jects being  thus  left  to  themselves,  must  be  injurious 
 to  mankind  and  destructive  to  civilisation.      Again, 
 they  have  an  aversion  to  all  control,  few  submitting 
 themselves  to  the  command  of  a  father  or  to  the 
 
 able  condition  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Avholesome  influence  of 
 European  diplomacy,  and  more  especially  for  the  large  admixture 
 of  a  Christian  population  among  its  subjects. 
 
CHAP.  VIII.]        DEVASTATION  AND  DEMORALISATION.  315 
 
 brother  or  elder  of  their  tribe.  .  .  .  Look  only  at  the 
 countries,  which  they  conquer  in  the  name  of  the 
 Kaliphs,  how  they  are  stripped  of  cultivation,  how 
 the  inhabitants  are  plundered ,  and  the  very  soil  has 
 been  entirely  changed.  Yemen  the  seat  of  their  power 
 is  lying  waste  with  the  exception  of  certain  tracts, 
 cultivated  by  the  Ansars;  the  same  may  be  said  of 
 the  Arabian  Irak.  The  cultivation  of  Persia  has  ceas- 
 ed and  likewise  that  of  Syria.  The  African  desert 
 and  Mauritia  have  been  laid  waste,  since  the  Beni 
 Hilal  and  the  Beni  Selim  settled  there;  and  how 
 the  country  between  Nigritia  and  the  Mediterranean 
 was  formerly  inhabited,  may  be  seen  from  the  ruins 
 of  buildings ,  and  the  deserted  sites  of  villages  and 
 towns."  ^ 
 
 Were  we  to  collect  what  evewitnesses  and  his- 
 torians  have  recorded  of  the  immorality,  injustice, 
 deceit,  oppression  and  cruelty  of  the  Moslem  com- 
 munity, combining  it  with  a  religion  either  too  weak 
 to  heal  the  evil  which  consumes  the  marrow  of  the 
 nations,  or  too  accommodating  to  the  vilest  passions 
 of  man,  we  should  form  a  picture,  the  contemplation 
 of  which,  would  be  truly  appalling.  The  consideration 
 of  the  character  and  inftuence  of  Islamism  reminds 
 us  of  the  vision  of  the  dry  bones,  and  when  here,  as 
 there,  the  question  is  asked:  ''Son  of  man  can  these 
 hones  live'?  we  also  can  only  reply,  in  the  words  of 
 the  Prophet  Ezekiel;  "O  Lord  thou  hiowest!" 
 
 Quoted  in,  and  translated  from  von  Hammer's  Landerverwal- 
 tung  unter  dem  Chalifate.    1835.    Berlin  pag.  62. 
 
PART  IT. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY  AND  ISLAMISM 
 CONTRASTED. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 All  false  creeds ,  of  comparatively  modern  date, 
 endeavour  to  show  that  they  are  connected  with  the 
 beginning  of  time,  and  that  they  have  been  prepara- 
 tively  introduced  in  by-gone  ages.  Nor  could  Islamism 
 hope  to  prosper  in  the  world  without  resorting  to  a 
 similar  expedient;  it  was  therefore  convenient  and 
 indeed  necessary  for  Mohammed  to  rest  his  new  creed 
 upon  the  Jewish  and  Christian  dispensations,  and  to 
 do  this  consistently,  he  was  compelled  to  admit  their 
 divine  origin.*  As  the  Jewish  dispensation  was  of 
 a  temporary  character  being  superseded  by  Chris- 
 tianity, so  the  Christian  religion,  according  to  Mo- 
 hammed, was  only  to  be  in  force  till  Islamism  should 
 appear  to  supplant  it!  There  is  however  a  strange 
 inconsistency   in  INIohammed's    claim   to   succession, 
 
 ^   Mohlcr's  gcsammelte  Scluiften  Yol.  I.  pag.  350. 
 
PART  II.]  INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS.  317 
 
 since  it  involves  an  entire  change  and  abrogation  of 
 the  previous  dispensations.  The  immutabihty  of  Ju- 
 daism and  Christianity  are  asserted  in  the  Koran,  ^ 
 yet  we  have  seen,  in  the  first  part  of  this  work,  that 
 thev  are  both  virtuallv  ignored  and  aboHshed.  The 
 change  which  we  recognise  in  the  succession  of  the 
 Christian  to  the  Jewish  dispensation,  is  analogous  to 
 that  which  takes  place  between  the  laying  of  the 
 foundation  of  a  building  and  its  completion.  The  Jew- 
 ish Church  was  the  ground-work  of  that  temple,  of 
 which  Christ  is  the  ''head-stone  \  ^  If  change  there 
 be,  it  is  this;  in  the  Old  Testament  we  have  pro- 
 phecy, in  the  New,  fulfilment.*  The  bud  gives  place 
 to  the  blossom,  and  the  blossom  to  the  fruit.  We 
 have  a  change,  but  only  such  as  God  had  promised 
 and  foreshadowed.  Nothing  was  abrogated  by  the 
 Gospel,  but  the  ritual  ordinances  and  the  ceremonial 
 precepts,  which  being  of  a  typical  character,  were 
 necessarily  transient.^   Looking  upon  the  whole  Mo- 
 
 ^  ""Wherefore  be  thou  orthodox,  and  set  thy  face  towards  the 
 true  religion ,  the  institution  of  God ,  to  which  he  hath  made  man- 
 kind disposed;  »JJ\  ^^-L^J  JjJcxJ  ^  there  is  no  change  in  what 
 Allah  created."    Sur.  XXX.  3U. 
 
 '  ri'dNir,  pN,-;-nN  N-^S^m  Zech.  TV.  7.  That  this  refers  to 
 Christ  who  shall  build  and  complete  the  temple ,  see  chap.  III.  8. 
 
 and  \T  12.   :r,V.-  b^^-:-nvS  r;:3^:  '^lo-o  nw^  u:\N;--?r; 
 
 *  'Oi'x  eX&ov  y.aTuXvaai  TOP  r6j.ioi:  1]  tovg  TTOoqi^Tag'  akXa  nXij' 
 Qooaai.  Matt.  V.  17.  Siiiar  ift  ia§  alte  Jeilament  in  tev  (Sintjeit  te^ 
 ^eilebcfcfilufTce  uub  irn  SJI^atfacfie  ber  Effeubanmcj  mit  bcm  neiten  eineg, 
 (ibex  nidjt  einerlei,  fonbern  h'cfeg  vicvfuiU  fid)  ^u  jciicm  une  bie  93ot(ciibung 
 juv  SBorteveititnt^,  ivic  bie  Sntfrf^rcinfmig  jiir  Seftf^rdnfimg ,  Wit  baS  Uit-' 
 mittclbnvc  juiu  2)JittcI()arcn.    9hl!,fcfi. 
 
 ^  "Abrogatae  sunt  leges  ceremoniales ,  exhibitio  Messia,  et  fo7'- 
 enses,  sublata  politia  judaica ;  moralis  non  item.  Lex  moralis  Mosaica 
 
318  INTRODUCTION.  [part  il. 
 
 saic   constitution  with  its    personal   and  impersonal 
 types,  and  with  its  figurative  ceremonial,  we  find  every- 
 where "a  shadoiv  of  things  to  come"  the  body  of 
 which  was  Christ.     Every  single  hieroglyphic  figure 
 had  its  meaning;  every  historic  character,  event,  and 
 circumstance,  down  to  the  very  items  of  the  drapery 
 and  the  ornaments  of  the  temple,  so  minutely  recorded, 
 were  divinely  chosen  symbols  for  conveying  truths  of 
 lastino-  interest  to  the  whole  human  race.^     Whilst 
 we  recognise  unity  of  purpose  and  harmony  of  design 
 in  both  dispensations  of  the  Bible, '  in  Islamism,  we 
 find  a  creed,  which  is  radically  different  from  the  Old 
 and  directly  opposed  to  the  New  Testament.      If  the 
 Koran  had  merely  abrogated  a  few  ceremonial  obser- 
 vances of  the  Christian  religion,  and  if  this  abrogation 
 had  been  predicted  in  the  Gospel,  as  an  event  which 
 would  take  place  in  a  succeeding  dispensation,  then, 
 there  might  have  been  less  cause  to  dispute  the  claims 
 of  Islamism.  But  unhappily  for  the  creed  of  JNloham- 
 med,  we  have  nothing  typical  in  the  Gospel.      There 
 is  no  shadow  in  Christianity  for  the  substance  and 
 body  of  which,  we  might  have  to  look  in  a  subsequent 
 dispensation.      On  the  contrary,  our  expectation  is 
 
 seu  Decalogi  eadem  est  cum  lege  Christi ;  illam  cnim  a  Pharisaicis 
 corruptelis  purgavit  et  rectius  declaravit,  non  precepta  nioralia  plane 
 nova  dfclit  lidelibus.'"  Baior.  Compare  also  Article  VII,  "Of  the 
 Old  Testament." 
 
 ^    "Theologia  typica,  quae  futurorura  praedictionem ,  ex  inten- 
 tione  Dei  sub  rebus,  personis   factisque  latontum  in  V.  T.  scrutatur 
 -  et  explicat.    Typus,  (jy.ia,  vnof^tiyi-dx,  est  adumbratio,  praeliguratio, 
 praesignatio."    Carpovius.  '     ■ 
 
 '    Novum  Testamentum  in  vetere  latet  (velatum  est)  vetus  in 
 novo  patet  (revclatum  est).    Augustine. 
 
PART  ii.l        HARMONY  OF  THE  LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL.  319 
 
 from  hecaven,  "from  ivhence  also  we  look  for  the  Sa- 
 viourr  being  tanglit  ''to  ivait''  for  Him  from  heaven. 
 Instead  therefore  of  having  the  fulfilment  of  type 
 or  promise  in  Islamism,  the  most  essential  truths  of 
 the  Old  and  New  Testament  are  denied  and  rejected. 
 To  assume  that  God  is  the  author  of  Islamism,  is  to 
 assume  that  He  decreed  yesterday,  what  to-day  He 
 abolishes;  that  He  established  the  old  and  new  dis- 
 pensation, but,  that  after  more  mature  consideration. 
 He  determined  to  give  the  world  a  better  religion; 
 that  His  legislation  for  mankind  was  imperfect,  since 
 He  found  it  necessary  to  revoke  what  He  before  had 
 solemnly  ordained.  That  after  the  Gospel  was  preached 
 and  attested  by  signs  and  wonders,  in  various  parts 
 of  the  world,  according  to  God's  will  and  command,^ 
 this  very  Gospel  was  recalled  and  God  promulgates 
 through  a  certain  Mohammed  of  Mecca,  doctrines 
 and  laws  directly  opposed  to  it;  and  this  changeable- 
 ness  of  mind  and  purjoose  is  to  be  proclaimed ,  if  we 
 may  believe  the  Koran,  not  only  to  mankind  but  even 
 to  demons!^  If  this  principle  of  succession  or  rather 
 abrogation  be  defended,  as  it  is,  on  the  ground  of 
 Christianity  becoming  unsound;  we  reply,  that  a 
 distemper  in  the  body  or  a  disorder  in  any  of  its 
 members  does  not  of  necessity  prove  fatal  to  existence. 
 
 ®  Uooevdenes  iig  tor  xoapov  anavta ,  no  exception  being 
 made:  X7:(jv§ar£  to  tvayyiXiov  naafi  rfj  ktiuh.  Mark.  XVL  15.  That 
 the  xr.fjvyuu  penetrated  Arabia,  is  proved  by  the  existence  of  an 
 Arabian  Church  prior  to  Moliammed. 
 
 U:S\^    Ij^Ji   Uju-«.     Sur.  XXXIL  1.    See  also  XLVL  30.  31. 
 
320  INTRODUCTION.  [part  ii. 
 
 Neither  tlie  moral  corruption  of  the  Christians  at  the 
 period  of  the  rise  of  Islamism,  nor  the  heresies  which 
 then  infected  the  Church,  could  make  the  abrogation 
 of  the  Christian  religion  requisite.  It  was  foretold 
 bj  Christ  Himself,  that  there  would  be  a  mixture  of 
 good  and  evil  within  the  Church,  to  the  end  of  time ; 
 and  that  heresies  would  spring  up,  was  predicted  by 
 the  Apostles. ''° 
 
 The  chief  charge,  brought  by  Mohammed  against 
 Jews  and  Christians,  as  the  representatives  of  their 
 respective  disj)ensations ,  and  for  the  sake  of  which, 
 both  were  to  be  superseded ,  was  that  of  corrupting 
 the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  *  ^  That  Christians 
 had  altered  the  New  Testament,  Mohammedans  pro- 
 fess to  prove  fi'om  their  holding  the  doctrine  of  the 
 Holy  Trinity,  and  the  Divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
 but  most  of  all  from  their  rejection  of  Mohammed, 
 though  required  by  the  supposed  original  Gospels, 
 to  receive  him.  In  order  to  justify  their  alleged  errors 
 and  their  rejection  of  INlohammed,  the  Christians  are 
 accused  of  having  expunged  from  their  Scriptures 
 all  that  related  to  the  prophet ,  and  of  having  made 
 such  additions,  as  they  deemed  necessary.  This  ob- 
 jection, is  constantly  urged  in  religious  disputations, 
 and  naturally  falls  first  in  our  way  when  about  to 
 
 »"  Matt.  XIII.  24—30.  47—50.  XXrV'.  5.  11.24.  Act.  XX. 
 29.  30.    2  Pot.  I.  1. 
 
 '^  Tlie  suppression  of  Scripture  jiassages,  which  were  favour- 
 able to  the  cause  of  Mohammed,  and  the  crime  of  corrujyting  them, 
 are  frequently  censured  in  the  Koran.  Sur.  II.  73.  also  17G- — 178. 
 III.  188.  V.  i7.  wJiere  it  i,s  fully  stated  tliat  they  "knowingly  hide 
 or  conceal  certain  passages;"  "i)ervert  or  dislocate  the  words  out  of 
 their  places,"  and  corrupt  the  "signs  of  God  for  vile  gain." 
 
CHAP.  I.]        CHARGE  AGAINST  JEWS  AND  CHRISTIANS.  321 
 
 compare  Islamism  with  Christianity.  It  must  there- 
 fore be  our  first  care  to  examine,  whether  there  be 
 any  ground  for  so  grave  a  charge  as  that  made  by 
 Mohammed,  and  whether  we  can  satisfactorily  prove 
 the  integrity  of  the  Holy  Scriptures;  for  so  long  as 
 the  Bible  lies  under  any  such  suspicion,  we  are  de- 
 prived of  our  best  and  most  valuable  weapon.  The 
 Jews  being  first  accused  of  having  corrupted  the  Old 
 Testament  Scriptures,  we  shall  in  the  next  chapter 
 endeavour  to  substantiate  the  integrity  of  that  portion 
 of  the  Bible,  which  for  so  long  a  period  was  entrusted 
 to  their  guardianship. 
 
 CHAPTEE  I. 
 
 INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAI^IENT. 
 
 "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one 
 
 tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law  till   all  be  fulfilled.     And  it 
 
 is  easier  for  heaven  and  earth  to  pass,  than  one  tittle  of  the  law  to 
 
 fail."   Matt.  V.  18.   Lu.  XVI.  17. 
 
 1.  That  we  may  prove  to  better  advantage  the 
 integrity  of  the  Old  Testament,  it  will  be  necessaiy 
 to  introduce  some  items  respecting  the  history  of 
 that  part  of  the  Bible.  ^^  It  is  generally  known  as 
 "the  Scripture,"  "the  Old  Testament,"  "the  book  of 
 the  covenant,"  or  simply  "the  Law,"*^ — the  latter 
 
 12 
 
 The  entire  Bible,  so  termed  since  Chrysostom:  t«  ^i^^lia  sc. 
 ■^tra  ;hbri  y.arj^iiv.  Chrysost.  in  Suic.  thes,  eccles.  pag.  696. 
 Also  Uija  y(j(xq7]i  uyia  joaqii;  &da  yQaCfij,  and  Bibliotheca  sancta. 
 Isidor.  Orig.  cap.  IV.  pag.  3. 
 
 nn3.,  Chald.  n-nz-,  ^"^^^  V  y(Jcc<f>V  2  Pet.  I.  20;  di  ygaqai 
 
 V 
 
 13 
 
322  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii, 
 
 being  the  standing-  name  in  the  Koran.  After  the 
 Church  had  been  without  Scriptures  for  more  than 
 two  thousand  years,  and  when  the  word  of  God  could 
 no  longer  be  orally  transmitted  with  safety,  Moses 
 wrote  the  Pentateuch,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation 
 of  that  series  of  holy  books  which  Malachi  concluded 
 in   the   year  B.   C.   397.  —  This    collection    of  holy 
 
 ■  Scriptures  is  divided  into  the  Law,  the  Prophets  and 
 the  Psalms.^* 
 
 The  Law  comprised  the  five  books  of  Moses,  and 
 admitted  of  no  other  division.  The  Prophets  were 
 divided  into  ''tlie  former"  and  "the  latter  Prophets ;" 
 among  the  "former  ProjDhets"  were  reckoned  the 
 book  of  Joshua  and  of  Judges,  the  books  of  Samuel, 
 and  of  the  Kings.  "The  latter  Prophets"  are  the 
 Prophets  properly  so  called,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Eze- 
 
 ,  kiel  and  the  twelve  minor  Prophets. ^^  Amongst  the 
 Pmhns  or  "other  holy  writings"  are  understood  all 
 the  rest  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  including  also  Daniel, 
 wdiom  the  Christians,  according  to  the  Septuagint, 
 count  with  the  Prophets,  there  being  a  considerable 
 difference  as"  to  the  order  m  which  these  books  are 
 made  to  follow  each  other,  with  the  Jews,  the  Sep- 
 
 Matt.  XXn.  29;  1l3~jv~  ^5r3,  yQa(f>iu  ayi'ai  Rom.  I.  2:  Uqo.  yQnfi- 
 fiara  2  Tim.  III.  15.  ""P'r,  Saiihed.  fol.  91.  col.  2.  o  ro/nog,  John 
 XII.  34;  r'-:;-  ^j:D,  ^I'.^hop  diadt'y.t;^  Exod.  XXIV.  7;  "vetus  Tes- 
 tamcutum"  siucc  the  third  century;  //  naXaiu  6ia^i[y.ri  2  Cor.  III.  14. 
 
 ^*  Our  Lord's  division:  o  lofios  MoJoV a)^ ,  ot  7T(jo(f  fjnxi  nai  oi 
 xpidiiioi  Luke  XXIY.  44.  Or  1.  ~n^n,  2.  C'tt'r?,  3.  CZ^ni),  yQa- 
 qtia,  uyioyijuqa,  xpu^iiio),  also:  xixl  ta  dkXa  {iifikia. 
 
 ^'^  Q';h-inN  a'Nrn;  so  called  in  contradistinction  to  t;"'J<''3.3 
 D"'5"'C&l'i  pnores  and  posteriores. 
 
CHAP.  I.]       NAlklES,  DIVISION  AND  NUMBER  OF  BOOKS.  323 
 
 tuagint,  and  the  Fathers  of  the  Church.^**  Again, 
 from  the  fact  of  our  Lord  speaking  of  the  "Psahns," 
 as  the  "third  division  of  the  Old  Testament,  it  would 
 appear  that  the  book  of  Psalms  stood  first  on  the  list 
 of  that  division,  and  thus  gave  its  name  to  all  the  re- 
 maining books"  or  Hagiographa,  as  this  section  of 
 the  "sacred  writings"  has  been  called;  just  as  we 
 speak  of  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament,  as  "the 
 Gospel,"  because  the  portion  so  called  stands  first.  *  ^ 
 Others  think  that  our  Lord  made  use  of  the  title  of 
 "the  Psalms"  to  signify  the  entire  division  of  the 
 Hagiographa,  not  so  much  on  account  of  its  standing 
 first  on  the  list,  as  because  of  the  poetical  character, 
 which  distinguishes  the  greater  part  of  this  class  of 
 writings.  ^'^  Both  Josephus  and  Pliilo  speak  of  the 
 Hagiographa  as  containing  chiefly  hymns  and  praises 
 to  God/ ^ 
 
 ^®  The  Talmud  thus:  "Ordo  Prophctarum :  Josua  et  Judlces, 
 Samuel  et  Reges ,  Jeremia  et  Ezcchiel ,  Jcsaia  et  duodecim  Pro- 
 phetae."  Eaba  Bathra  f.  14.  cap.  2.  The  cause  is  thus  stated:  "Cum 
 libri  Regum  finiantur  in  desolatione ,  et  Jeiemias  totus  versetur  in 
 desolatione,  Ezechicl  vero  incipiat  in  desolatione  et  finiat  in  consola- 
 tione,  et  Jesaias  totus  versetur  in  consolatione,  copulaverunt  desola- 
 tionem  cum  desolatione ,  et  consolationem  cum  consolatione."  J.  G. 
 Carpzov.  Introductio  ad  libros  can.  III.  88. 
 
 *^  The  Talnuid  .  with  the  exception  of  Ruth  ,  places  them  thus: 
 "Ordo  Hagiographoruni:  Ruth,  Psalmi  et  Hiob  et  Proverbia,  et  Co- 
 heleth,  Canticum  et  Threni ,  Daniel  et  Esther  et  Chronica."  Baba 
 Bathra  f.  14.  cap.  2. 
 
 ^^  Josephus  speaks  of  them  as  containing  vnrovq  iig  rhv  &e6v. 
 Joseph,  cont.  Ap.  §.  23. 
 
 *^  Mr^dln  H(Jxotuii^niTf-g ,  ju/(  norm',  /^itj  mrlor ,  fir^Stti  rwv  aX- 
 Xmv  oaa  n^'ig  rag  rov  nwfxarog  XQ^'^^-  (ivuyyaia,  aXXa  voixovg  y.nl 
 Xoyia  8tfT7riadti>Ta  8 tic  n ^oqijrwf  Xfa.  %  /^irovg  ye.}  tu  a/h<  ntg 
 tniorijur^  y.ai  tvat^tux  oviav^onui  y.ul  TtXtiovmu.  Philo  de  vita 
 contemplat.  §.  13.  p.  893  ed.  Ircf. 
 
 V* 
 
324  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii. 
 
 As  the  Psalms  stood  first  on  the  iist  of  the  thh*d 
 division  of  the  Old  Testament,  so  the  book  of  Chro- 
 nicles appeal'^  to  have  stood  last  among  the  Hagio- 
 orapha ;  that  this  book  closed  this  division,  and  hence 
 the  entire  Old  Testament,  is  evident  from  our  Saviour's 
 words,  in  which  He  sums  up  the  bloodshedding  of 
 martvr-prophets  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  to 
 the  last  martyrdom  recorded  in  the  canonical  books 
 of  the  Jews,  viz.  "from  the  blood  of  Abel  unto  the 
 blood  of  Zacharias,  which  perished  between  the  altar 
 and  the  temple."  "^^ 
 
 2.  The  enumeration  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament has  been  variously  made  out;  we  mention 
 this,  lest  thelNIohammedans  should  rush  to  the  con- 
 clusion, that  there  is  either  confusion  or  uncertainty 
 respecting  the  real  number  of  the  canonical  books. 
 Josephns,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  first  cata- 
 logue of  these  writings,  with  a  view  evidently,  of  ma- 
 kino-  their  number  correspond  with  that  of  the  letters 
 in  the  Hebrew  alphabet^*  reduces  them  to  twenty- two 
 combining  the  books  of  Ruth  and  the  Judges  into 
 one,  as  also  Jeremiah  and  the  Lamentations,  after  the 
 manner  of  the  Septuagint.^^  If  however  the  five  books 
 of  Moses  be  counted  separately,  as  they  are  by  Jo- 
 
 ^"   Luke  XL  50.  5 L    Matt.  XSIIL  35.    2  Chron.  XXIV.  20. 
 
 21  'Ovx  dyror,teov  d' itrai  TihJi'6ia{>/jy.ovg  ^{(iXovg,  cog'Eii^aioi 
 naQa8i86uaii' ,  6vo  xat  ti'xooi ,  oaog  6  di>i&i.t6s  rcor  TTa{j'  avTOig 
 OTOix^iojv  tar  if.  Origcn.  Euseb.  H.  E.  VI.  25. 
 
 2^  YJv  yitQ  fiv()iddf.g  /?/|Wj'&)^  f:im  TTutj  t]nlv ,  uaviiCf(oi(or  xal 
 fxaxofitiOjV  dvo  di:  (.lora  nyog  roig  iixoat  fii(iXi(x,  rov  Tranog 
 %ypvrtt  HJOfov  rrr  (hiqQKqtjP ,  t«  diY.aiiag  ^eta  nmiartvfiera. 
 Joseph,  contra  Apion.  lib.  I.  cap.  8. 
 
CHAP.  I.]  ENTMERATION  AND  COLLECTION  325 
 
 sepbiis,  the  rest  may  justly  be  counted  singly;  this 
 being  done  in  the  Bibles  of  the  present  day ,  the 
 number  amounts  to  thirty-nine  books. 
 
 The  question  now  arises,  when  do  we  hear  of 
 their  being  collected  together  in  the  form  in  which 
 we  now  possess  them?  We  find  the  entire  Old  Tes- 
 tament deposited  in  the  temple  immediately  after 
 the  Jewish  captivity.^'  Again,  at  the  time  when  the 
 prologue  was  wTitten  to  the  apocryphal  book  of  Sirach 
 or  Ecclesiasticus,  which  was  about  130  years  B.  C. 
 the  collection  of  the  canonical  books  had  been  ac- 
 complished. ^* 
 
 Josephus,  born  37.  B.  C.  quotes  not  only  nearly 
 all  the  books,  but  gives  a  detailed  account  of  their 
 names  and  number.  He  informs  us  that  the  above- 
 mentioned  twenty-two  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
 were  completed  in  the  days  of  Artaxerxes  Longimanus, 
 king  of  Persia ,  who  in  his  twentieth  year  had  com- 
 missioned Nehemiah  to  rebuild  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
 Five  of  the  books  were  written  by  Moses ;  thirteen 
 viz.  Joshua,  Judges  and  Ruth,  Samuel,  Kings,  Chro- 
 nicles, Ezra  and  iSehcmiah,  Esther,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah 
 and  Lamentations,  Ezekiel,  Daniel,  the  twelve  minor 
 Prophets  and  Job,  were  added  to  the  Pentateuch 
 during  the  interval  between  Moses  and  Artaxerxes. 
 
 ^^  Joseph.  Antiquit.  V.  I.  17.  de  bello  Jud.  YYi.  5.  5;  traces  of 
 the  holy  Scriptures  being  preserved  in  tlie  sanctuary  before  the 
 Captivity  1  Sam.  X.  23.    Deut.  SX5I.  26. 
 
 **  The  books  were  collected  by  Ezra  and  the  other  members  of 
 the  synagoga  magna,  n;"";;"  PppS,  avraywyri  yfjafxi-Lareoiv  in 
 1  Mace.  Vn.  12;  but  the  conclusion  of  the  canon  is  said  to  hare 
 been  eifccted  under  Simon  the  Just.  B.  C.  292. 
 
326  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  II, 
 
 Josephus  particularly  mentions  that  the  other  four 
 books  were  Hymns,  being  the  Psalms  proper,  Pro- 
 verbs, Ecclesiastes  and  Canticles.  From  Artaxerxes 
 to  his  own  day,  he  adds,  that  some  others  had  been 
 written ,  but  that  they  were  not  worthy  of  the  same 
 faith  as  the  preceding,  not  containing  the  same  teach- 
 ing as  the  prophetical  books. ^'^ 
 
 3.  The  above  twenty-two  canonical  books  of  the 
 Jewish  Church,  of  which  Josephus  wrote,  were  the 
 same  in  the  days  of  Christ,  as  they  were  at  the  time 
 of  Josephus.  Our  Lord  and  his  Apostles  fully  ac- 
 knowledged the  integrity  and  completeness  of  the  ca- 
 nonical books  in  the  beginning  of  our  era;  and  from 
 that  period,  the  Christians  had  an  equal  interest  in 
 watching  over  the  Old  Testament,  having  received 
 it  as  the  foundation  of  their  faith.  They  read  these 
 books  in  their  Churches  from  the  very  earliest  times 
 and  their  guardianship  thus  became  divided  between 
 two  rival  parties. ^^     The  Law,    the  Prophets  and 
 
 ^"  After  saying  the  Jows  had  only  22  divine  books,  lie  proceeds 
 "Kul  rov'cov  Ttf.i'Te  |<fcV  itiTt  ru  Mim'at<og  «  tovs  tr  roj^iovg  ntfji- 
 ix^-i,  Mxl  rijv  rfii  (xi>&(Jio7Toyoviag  naiJaf^oair,  n^XQ''  ''V'^  dvrov  tfXai- 
 Tfjs'  ovTog  i)  ;tco/'Og  unoXHrrfi  rQia^iXicov  oXiyor  irojT.  Ano  (Vf  rriq 
 Mcovotojg  Tf-ltirf^g  fi^XL"  '^V?  ^AfjTu^to^ov  roi  fieiix.  '^H)^r,v  lltooiov 
 [i(K(TiXt(x)g  ilyxflg  (reign  not  beginning)  oi  fura  Mavof,!'  ttoo  ifJTui 
 T«  y.ar' ilvtovg  TTQuxOtira  nvviy{ja^Hcv  iv  rQial  xal  dena  [i^-iXiOig 
 ui  fil  Xnincl  rh(J(jaiJfg  vfivovg  iig  tov  i>^o/',  y.al  mTg  ail}(jco7TOig 
 vnoiU'y.ag  rov  jiiov  nnjuxovair.  llrro  dt  \f(JT(c:Hj^nr  fif-Xi."  '^^^ 
 xa&'  ij/xag  xyo'ov  yfy(janrm  fiev  kxaara'  nicmcog  Se  ovx  o,uotag 
 r/^i(OTiu  Tolg  7T0Q  avrdjr ,  diu  to  ,t<^  yf-ifad-ni  Ti;y  riyiv  tt(jo  )  r^T(ot> 
 tly.Qfiri  dindox'i]!'.  JriXor  6'  Arrh  tfjyoo,  TTwg  tjiftg  ToTg  tdt'oig  y^ufi- 
 /.((((Ti  TJ^niartvy.ui.uv"    Joseph,  contra  Apion.  Lib.  I.  cap.  8. 
 
 ^^  Too*'  q)t(joijei03v  y(j<xq,c3r  y.al  tV  naamg  ty.y.Xr^aiaig  ■dtov 
 TrfTTiaTfvjueicrr  nnu  ■d^ticov  ovy.  ar  vcfu'inoi  Tig  Af'/oor  THJbyrnyip- 
 iTifjui  ^dv  tor  MojvatMg  ro/mov,  a7H({iX^]v  f>t  to  'Evayyekior. 
 MtTu  yu^  tovg  navTag  x<3v  7i(J0\!\)i]T(or  xafjnovg,  r(5p  ^txQi  rov 
 
CHAP.  I.]  PRESERVATION  BY  CHRISTIANS.  327 
 
 the  Psalms  orHagiographa,  were  considered  one  and 
 the  same  Holy  Scripture,  having  the  same  authority 
 and  demanding  the  same  faith.  *^  As  however  the 
 Septuagint  was  used  in  the  Churches,  and  as  that 
 translation  of  the  Old  Testament  contained  the  apo- 
 cryphal books,  these  were  read  together  with  the  ca- 
 nonical Scriptures,  ''for  example  of  life  and  instruction 
 of  manners ,  without  applying  them  to  establish  any 
 doctrine."^"  We  here  have  the  key  to  the  reading 
 of  the  apocryphal  books  in  Churches;  but  to  prevent 
 them  gaining  authority,  as  this  seemed  to  be  the  case 
 in  the  Latin  Church,  and  amongst  the  ignorant  in 
 the  East,  fresh  catalogues  of  the  canonical  books  were 
 from  time  to  time  issued.  The  first  of  these  Christian 
 catalogues  of  Jewish  books  was  compiled  by  Melito 
 of  Sardes,  who  died  A.  D.  171.  In  his  epistle  to 
 a  certain  Onesimus,  who  had  made  inquiries  of  him 
 respecting  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  Melito 
 offers  to  give  the  names,  the  exact  number,  and  the 
 order  in  w^hich  the  books  follow  each  other.  We  have 
 in  his  enumeration  ^  ^  all  the  books  of  the  Jewish  Ca- 
 
 KVQiov  'hpov,  6  Jthiog  f)SXuaTr,ae  loyos.  Origen.  Comm.  in  Joh. 
 torn.  I.  §.  4.^  0pp.  IV.  4.  ^Cont.  Cels.  HI.  45.  0pp.  476.  on  fiovXe- 
 tai  Tjnag  tmu  mqovg  6  Xoyog ,  deiy.rtof  nal  ilno  rail'  mtXmwv 
 Yjxl  'JovSa't'y.mf  yOiXj.inar(ov,  tj  dig  xul  rjp.tTq  ;^ooj,u6<^«,  6vi 
 fjttor  dh  y.ui  uno  tmv  ihstu  rbv  ''Irjaovf  ygaq  evt(oi>  kuI  iv  taig 
 iw.hiauag  -dticoy  iiiai  TTtniarev^iirmv. 
 
 "  Clemens  Strom.  III.  p.  455:  Nonog  re  o/nov  xal  TTQoffijtai 
 aw  y.td  Tco  iiayyt-Xup  iv  ovonari  Xoiarov  itg  fiiav  crviayomu  yioS- 
 aiv.  Irenaeus  adds:  "Cum  itaque  universae  Scripturae,  et  Prophetiae 
 et  Evangelia,  in  aperto  sint,  etc."    Iren.  11.  27.  2. 
 
 "Libros  legit  quidam  Ecclesia ,  sed  inter  canonicas  Scripturas 
 non  recepit."    Hierony.  praef.  in  libros  Salomonis. 
 
 AptX'dcov  ovv  iig  tT]i>  (xi>aToXi]t',  xal  toog  rov  ronov  yeroixevog 
 
328  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [PART  il. 
 
 non  witli  the  exception  of  Neliemiali  and  Esther, 
 which  were  sometimes  considered  to  form  an  integral 
 part  of  the  book  of  Chronicles.  ^*^  As  Melito  nnder-. 
 took  a  journey  to  Palestine  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
 correct  number  of  books,  his  catalogue  is  endowed 
 with  special  authority.  A  similar  catalogue  from 
 Origen,  who  died  A.  D.  254,  is  still  extant,  it  gives 
 a  double  list  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  names  of  the 
 two  and  twenty  canonical  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment. ^^  At  the  Council  of  Laodicea  held  between 
 360—364  an  other  list  was  set  forth,  which  entirely 
 agrees  with  those  which  preceded  or  followed  with 
 this  exception  only,  that  it  admits,  Baruch,  like  the  ca- 
 taloofue  of  Orioen,  amono:  the  canonical  books.  '^  Some 
 time  later,  Cyril,  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  issued 
 another  index  of  the  canonical  writings  of  the  Old 
 Testament,  which,  omitting  Baruch,  numbered  twenty- 
 two  books. '^      The  catalogue  of  Athanasius  agrees 
 
 kvda  iyj]Qvx&ri  y.ai  ^TiQaxdri ,  y.al  axQifiros  /na&wf  rix  rvj?  naXaiaq 
 dia&Tjy.ij^  iii,iu'a,  vnoTu^ag  tnc.i.ixpu  ooi'  coi' tan.  a  orojiuxra'  ilfoou- 
 aawg  rrttrt'  rtvt(n:,"E.:o6og,  Atvniy.ov,  ^^(ji&fiot,  yftvrt(JOtoiuii.oi' 
 Vr,(T0V5  N'lvfj,  K(jiral,  Tovd,  BaaiXfAWV  tfjmafja,  I laoa\tinoi.ihQ)v 
 fivo'  y^r^A/zoTr  ^<ir/9((V,  'EoXoi.i(5iog  r[a{)ni.uuu  ,  7]  y.al  S^oqi'a ,  En- 
 y.Xc.'UaaTi.g ,  uaf-ia  (aJftdTOJi' ,  7o),-J'  Ifoocrj^rdjr,  ^Hmu'ov,  h(j(jutov, 
 r(Si>  dcSd^y.a  tv  fxotofli^Xb) ,  /iantjX,  'le^fy.iijX,  "Ead^ag'  i^  cov  yal 
 tug  iaXoyag  inotriaafAev,  tig  t^  ^i^Xia  6uX(ap.   Euseb.  H.  E.  IV.  26. 
 
 '       »»   Eichhorn  Einleit.  in  das  Alt.  Test.  I.  §.  52.    Ewald  I.  242. 
 
 ^*  Euscb.  II.  E.  VI.  25.  See  Lchrbudi  dor  historisch-kritischen 
 Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Test,  von  de  "SVctte  pag.  37.  38. 
 
 ^-  The  catalogue  is  introduced  with  these  words:  Ori  ov  del 
 idimriHOvg  rpaXi-iovg  Xfytad(Xi  ii'  rfi  ty.y.Xijdtu,  ordt  ay.awnarn  ^i- 
 ^Xia,  dXXa  fjtova  t«  yavonya  trig  y.aiviig  y.iu  naXmdq  8u<.&i]yi]g. 
 Concil.  Laodic.  Cant.  59. 
 
 "    C;\Til.  Hierosol.  Cateches.  W.  33—36.  pag.  67—69. 
 
CHAP.  I.]  CHRISTIAN  CATALOGUES,  329 
 
 with  that  of  Cyril,  with  this  difference  only,  that  it 
 counts  the  book  of  Ruth  separately  and  places  the 
 book  of  Esther  amongst  the  apocryphal  books.  ^* 
 
 To  Fjpiphanim  Ave  are  likewise  indebted  for  an 
 enumeration  of  the  canonical  books ;  who,  after  men- 
 tioning the  twenty-two  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
 and  the  principle  of  their  computation,  adds  a  very 
 brief  and  simple  catalogue,  in  which  we  recognise  the 
 identical  names,  mmiber,  and  order  of  arrangement, 
 which  we  find  in  all  the  preceding  lists.  ^'^  Thus  the 
 catalogues  of  the  fourth  century  show  not  only  that 
 the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  were  read,  and 
 believed  as  the  "fountains  of  salvation,"  but  that  they 
 were  ecclesiastically  established  under  the  term  of 
 canonical  books.  ^^ 
 
 4.  We  enter  upon  these  details  with  a  view  to 
 prove,  that  no  books  were  lost,  and  none  were  added 
 since  the  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament  was  closed. 
 We  have  the  same  number  of  Scriptures,  with  the 
 same  names,  arranged  in  the   same  order.      When 
 
 ^*   Athan.  epist.  festalis  Op.  I.  pag.  961.  Edit.  Bened. 
 
 TIu^oii.uti}V ■ —  0  iy.y.Xtmaatt^s  —  to  "Aaf.ux.  t(3v  (ari^iuTmi-  —  to  Jo8ey.a- 
 7iQO'(f,tov  —  'Hmxtov — ''Tf-Qf^iiov — ^h^exitX  —  7)  rov  "EnSga  nQOjrt] 
 —  Sfvrtoa  ,  7)  tfjq  ^Eo&j]Q.  Epiphanius  de  mens,  et  pond.  c.  22.  23. 
 Op.  II.  180. 
 
 ^^  This  is  shown  by  the  terms,  ftifih'a  navontoneva ,  y.mapon- 
 toixira,  cofjiautra  and  xavonxa.  These  Scriptures  are  not  only 
 nriyai  rov  ncoTt;(jiOV,  according  to  Athanasius;  but  the  Christian  and 
 Jew  recognised  in  them  toi'  y.uivru  Tf;£  dXrj'&tiag.  Isidor.  Pelus. 
 epist.  114. 
 
330  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [PART  II. 
 
 Mohammed  charged  the  Jews  with  withholding  cer- 
 tain books,  wdiy  did  he  not  name  the  correct  Hst,  and 
 pointing  out  the  absent  ones,  request  that  such  and 
 such  a  missing  Scripture  might  be  brought  forth? 
 As  we  have  the  same  books  now,  which  the  Jews  and 
 Christians  had  in  the  fourth  century,  they  must  have 
 possessed  the  same  Scriptures  at  and  after  the  rise  of 
 Islamism.  Possessing  therefore,  as  we  do,  in  the  above 
 catalogues  the  perfect  skeleton,  the  complete  frame- 
 work of  the  Old  Testament,  can  we  prove  that  the  con- 
 tents of  each  book  have  escaped  the  corruption,  which 
 the  Koran  assumes  to  have  taken  place?  In  reply 
 to  this  question  we  proceed  to  show,  that  with  the  ex- 
 ception of  a  few  verbal  and  accidental  differences,  by 
 which  no  single  article  of  faith,  nor  any  one  historical 
 fact  is  called  in  question,  we  possess  the  books  of  the 
 Old  Testament  in  their  original  integrity.  These  books, 
 it  will  be  remembered,  were  copied  a  thousand  times; 
 but  the  infallibility  of  the  authors  was  not  transferred 
 to  the  men  who  copied  them  in  after  ages.  Dif- 
 ferent readings  would  naturallv  arise  from  want  of 
 attention  or  judgment;  but  such  mistakes  may  be 
 remedied  by  an  ordinary  application  of  skill  and  the 
 necessary  amount  of  learning  and  intelligence.  Errors 
 committed  through  ignorance  and  carelessness,  can 
 always  be  repaired  by  learning  and  research.  ^^  —  The 
 
 ^^  "Observaiiduni,  in  hac  thesi  de  intcgritate  Scripturac ,  qucs- 
 tionem  esse  de  tali  corruptionc,  qua  finis  Scripturae,  hoc  est,  salu- 
 tnris  illius  usus,  impedirctur.  Adeoque  vnria)kte.s  lectiones  integritati 
 illi,  quam  nos  tuemur,  non  satis  pcrite  objiciuntur:  1.  quia  quanta- 
 cunque  sit  earum  niultitudo,  nulla  tanien  historia  scitu  nobis  neces- 
 saria,  niulto  minus  aliqua  salutis  doctrina  intcrcidit ;   2.  quia  ipsa 
 
CHAP.  I.]  ORIGIN  OF  VARIOUS  READINGS.  331 
 
 transcribers  of  the  Hebrew  original  have  occasionally 
 ''seen  amiss,^'  as  a  German  writer  quaintly  but  justly 
 expresses  it,^*^  and  exchanged  letters  of  a  similar 
 form,  ^^  or  transposed  them,  putting  one  letter  in  the 
 place  of  another. *°  Another  kind  of  oversight  is 
 observed,  where  letters  were  omitted,  and  whole  words 
 overlooked;  especially  in  cases  where  tw^o  sentences 
 end  alike.** 
 
 Other  examples  of  unintentional  mistakes,  in  mul- 
 tiplying the  Manuscripts  of  the  Hebrew  text,  might 
 be    added,    where  the    transcribers    ''heard    amissj' 
 
 lectionis  varietas  argumento  est,  inutationem  non  factam  esse  in 
 omnibus  qui  supersunt  codicibus ;  3.  quia  eruditorum  inter  Christia- 
 nos  diligentia  dubiis  de  genuina  lectione  sufficientem  medelam ,  ad- 
 hibita  Crisi  sobria,  attulit.  Supersunt  quidcni  affectl ,  quos  Critici 
 vocant,  loci,  hoc  est  tales,  quibus  per  media  critica,  collationeni  co- 
 dicum,  versionura,  patrum,  subveniri  nondum  ita  potuit,  quin  etiam- 
 num  suspendi  judicium  debeat.  Sed  illi  quidem  perpauci  sunt." 
 Sartorius  Conip.  Theolog.  Dogmat.  II.  ^.  57. 
 
 ^*  "Sie  fa(}cn  falfrft,  unb  ijcrirccfifcltcn  iU)iiIi*e  ffiudjftafien,  licrfc^ten 
 fic,  vicrff|tcn  flaiijc  Sorter  ober  Sd^e,  lichen  ©ucfMlaticn,  Sorter  luib  Sa^e 
 a\x^,  beunl^crs  wtmx  fid^  j»et  <BA%t  gleidi  eurigtcti."  Dr.  be  28ette,  §tfi.  frit, 
 ©int.  pag.  124. 
 
 ^^  Frequently  -  for  "i,  Ps.  CX.  3.  XIX.  4.  cfr.  LXX.  *!  for  S, 
 Josh.  XY.  47.  n  fur  D,  Ps.  78,  69.  1  for  \  Gen.  36,  23.  See  also 
 the  numerical  letter  2  Sam.  24,  13.  >  for  T;  hence  seven  years  fa- 
 mine in  Sam.;  whilst  LXX.  in  loco  has  r(ji(<.  tri]  hfing,  the  same  as 
 I  Chron.  XXI.  12.  Again  D  for  D  I  King  XU.  21.  has  180,000 
 men  whilst  the  LXX  has  120,000  ey.aTOp  y.al  iiHoai  xiXia8ag. 
 
 *o  ■'^7:d  for  '''jVi?  Ezra  II.  4.  and  Neh.VII.  48.  Algum  tree  in- 
 stead of  Almug  l' Kings  X.  II.  2  Chron.  IX.  10.  Ps.  XVIU.  46. 
 ?S-n:  and  2  Sam.  XXII.  46.  '^ni'n:. 
 
 *'    Asaiah  in  I  Chron.  TX.  5.  Maaseiah  Nch.  XL  5.   See  also  Ps. 
 "XVm.  42.    2  Sam.  XXU.  42.  'yr,ty,  2  Sam.  23,  25.  with  1  Chron. 
 XL  27;  Gen.  36,  II.  12.  with  1  Chron.  1,  36;  Josh.  XXL  23.  with 
 1  Chron.  V.  53.  54;  1  Chron.  XL  13.  with  2  Sam.  XXUI.  9—11. 
 
332  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  il. 
 
 and  exchanged  alike-sounding  letters  of  the  alphabet.** 
 Again,  mistakes  were  made  where  the  copyist  trusted 
 too  much  to  his  memory,  and  exchanged  synonymous 
 expressions;*^  or  altered  the  word  after  more  frequent 
 forms  in  parallel  passages.**  Again  we  recognise 
 errors  raising  from  w^ant  of  sufficient  knowledge  of 
 what  they  copied;  these  more  likely  occurred  at  a 
 period,  when  the  words  were  not  yet  divided,  and  the 
 practice  of  writing  the  original  text  without  the  vowels 
 was  in  vogue.  Abbreviations  for  instance,  were  mis- 
 understood and  treated  as  ordinary  letters.*^  It  is 
 obvious  to  all,  that  in  copying  a  manuscript,  mistakes 
 maybe  easily  and  most  unintentionally  made;  those 
 above  specified  will  sufficiently  explain  the  existence 
 of  various  readings;  which  being  purely  accidental, 
 they  are  such,  as  Mohammed  could  neither  have  de^ 
 tected  nor  referred  to,  when  he  accused  the  Jews  of 
 wilfully  suppressing  prophecies,  relating  to  himself, 
 and  of  designedly  corrupting  the  Old  Testament. 
 
 5.  The  idea  that  the  Jews  falsified  any  portion 
 of  their  sacred  books,  is  in  the  first  place,  altogether 
 at  variance  w-ith,  and  opposed  to  their  notorious  and 
 almost  superstitious  regard  for  the  dead  letter  of  the 
 
 *^  1  Sam.  XXII.  18.  3.:.-^  Kcri  JNT ;  Ps.  LIX.  9.  -7^'4s  and 
 rrn^STN:  LXX.   1  Sam.  XYU.  34.  nj  in  several  Cod.  instead  of  r."^.. 
 
 *3  Lev.  XXV.  36,  ^N  instead  of  b?.  2  King.  I.  10.  nanil  for 
 -|^.N*1;  and  often  mr."'  for  ■^2^^N. 
 
 **  Isa.  LXllI.  IG.  some  have  l^'JOb  instead  of  D;-y73. ;  just  be- 
 cause the  former  is  the  more  common. 
 
 *^  Jcr.  VI.  II.  <";;"":,  '"'"nWn  was  read  T.'?3n,  my  ^^Tath,  like 
 LXX.  xai  TO  ^vfiov  Jiov.  cap.  XXX.  37.  '^~^i<,  '^m,  ^i'nov  ^lov; 
 instead  of  r;'^r;";~t]N. 
 
CHAP.  I.]        NO  WILFUL  CORRUPTIONS  ON  RFX'ORD.  333 
 
 law.  The  Talmud,  which  was  concluded  in  the  fifth 
 century  of  our  era,  abounds  with  injunctions  which 
 tend  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  their  holy  Scriptures.  *  ^ 
 It  speaks  of  most  careful  comparisons  of  divers  Ma- 
 nuscripts,*^ and  the  most  tedious  and  painful  enu- 
 meration of  verses,  words  and  letters;*^  as  the  Mo- 
 hammedans borrowed  this  practice  from   the  Jews, 
 
 *^  "Ita  autem  scribendum  vobis  est;  ut  sit  scriptura  perfecta 
 (mpn  r.nT.a),  ne  scribatur  Aleph  pro  A  in,  et  vice  versa,  Beth  pro 
 Caph,  et  V.  v.;  Gimel  pro  Zadeh,  et  v.  v.;  Daleth  pro  Resh,  et  v.  v.; 
 He  pro  Cheth,  et  v.  v.;  Vav  pro  Jod,  et  v.  v.;  Zain  pro  Nun,  et  v.  v.; 
 Teth  pro  Peh,  et  v.  v.;  incurvae  litterae  pro  directis,  et  v.  v.;  Mem 
 pro  Samecli,  et  v.  v.;  clausae  litterae  (a  linale)  jiro  apertis  (73),  et 
 V.  v.;  sectio  aperta  ne  fiat  sectio  clausa,  et  v.  v."  Tr.  Shab.  f.  103. 
 c.  2.  A  Manuscript  having  only  3  mistakes  on  one  leaf  might  be 
 corrected,  but  if  they  amounted  to  4,  it  was  hid  or  put  aside  as  in- 
 admissible. Gemar.  Babylon.  Tract.  Monachot.  cap.  lU.  sect.  VII. 
 Again  :  "Viginti  de  hoc  praecepta  enumerat  R.  Moyses  in  tractatu 
 de  lib.  Leg.  cap.  10.  Inter  quae  X™"™  est,  ut  ab  homine  Haeretico, 
 vel  profano  exscribi  non  possint ,  XI"'"™,  ut  scriptor  ita  attentus  sit, 
 dum  aliquod  ex  Dei  nominibus  exarat,  ut  si  eo  te'mpore  a  Rege  Israe- 
 lis salutetm;  salutem  illi  reddere  non  debeat.  XII'""'"  et  XIH'""'",  et 
 Xiymum  ac  XVI"^"",  ut  si  scribendo  literula  ulla  per  incuriam  vel 
 addatur  vel  detrahatur :  si  unus  character  ab  alio  nimis  distet ,  vel 
 eidem  plus  justo  adhaereat,  totus  liber  profanus  habeatur."  Maraccio, 
 Prodrom.  Part.  L  pag.  9. 
 
 ■^^  "Tres  libros  invenerunt  in  atrio  . . . .  in  uno  invenerunt  scri- 
 ptura (Deut.  XXXIII.  27.)  l^yw,  in  duobus  r.l^VlZ,  et  approbantes 
 duos,  rejecerunt  unum.  In  uno  invenerunt  (Exod.  XXIV.  5)  scriptum 
 ■'li'cJyT,  in  duobus  ■'*1>5,  <?t  approbantes  duos,  rejecerunt  unum.  In 
 uno  invenerunt  scriptum,  (Gen.  XXXII.  23)  i^T.  rCP,  (ed.  Fr. 
 N-n  "^V  -r\^),  in  duobus  NT;  TH'^y  inN  (ed.  Fr.  N^n  ^"d?  "IHN)  et 
 approbantes  duos,  rejecerunt  unum."    Hieros.  Tr.  Taanith  f.  68.  c.  I. 
 
 *^  "Idcirco  vocati  sunt  prisci,  D'^'^D'O,  Numeratores,  quia  nume- 
 rarunt  oranes  litteras  legis,  dicentes :  littera  Vav  vocis  yTiy  Lev.  XI. 
 42.   e.st  media  littera  libri  legis:  MJI"!  '^"n  Lev.  X.  16.  media  vox 
 
 legis:  Lev.  XIII.  33 medius  versus  in  lege:  Ps.  LXXX.  14.  J' 
 
 vocis  ^y  est  media  littera  in  Psalmis:  Ps.  LXXVIII.  38.  est  medius 
 versus  in  Psalmis."    Kiddushin  f.  30.  c.  1, 
 
334  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part II. 
 
 and  applieil  It  to  tlie  Koran,  they  ought  fully  to  ap- 
 preciate this  scrupulous  anxiety  of  the  Jews  to  pre- 
 serve the  integrity  of  the  very  letter  of  their  law.  In 
 the  Talmud,  it  is  declared  to  be  a  sin  altogether  un- 
 pardonable to  alter  any  thing  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
 it  is  added,  that  to  alter. a  singlellebrew  word  would 
 endanger  the  existence-  of  the  world ,  as  God  had 
 created  this  world  on  account  of  the  Scriptures !  If 
 the  sacred  books  accidentally  fell  to  the  ground,  so 
 great  was  their  horror  at  this  apparent  desecration, 
 that  they  appointed  a  fast  to  avert  the  judgment  of 
 heaven.  The  Talmudists  added  a  notice  at  the  end 
 of  Leviticus  and  some  other  books,  that  it  was  not 
 permitted,  even  to  the  prophets,  to  make  the  very 
 least  alteration  or  innovation  in  the  Law. 
 
 The  assumption  that  the  Jews  intentionally  cor- 
 rupted Scripture,  is  further  opposed  to  the  solemnity 
 with  which  some  few  mistakes  which  had  crept  into 
 the  text,  were  removed  and  corrected.*^  Nor  can  we 
 omit  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact,  that  there  are 
 fifteen  words  in  the  Old  Testament  which  are  encum- 
 bered with  a  number  of  extraordinary  dots,  ""^  concer- 
 ning the  rneaning  of  which,  both  Jewish  and  Christian 
 philologists  and  divines  are  to  this  hour  at  a  loss. 
 
 *"    We  refer  to  the  "ablatio  scribarimi'  C'TC/O  'n'^i?  which  re- 
 moved the  1  in  Gen.  XVIII.  5.  XXIV.  55.  Numb.  Xn.  14.  P.s.  LXVIII. 
 "26.   XXXVI.  7.     And   the   "correctio  da'iboiifm"    or  ^"C'D  "^"T, 
 which  amendod  18  passages;  e.  g.  Gen.  XVIIl.  22.    1  Sam.  III.  13. 
 Munib.  I.  I. 
 
 ■''"  These  pvncta  extraordinaria  are  more  ancient  than  tlie  vow  els. 
 We  find  them  Ps.  XXVU.  13.  isb'^b.  Numb.  XXI.  30.  Gen.  XIX. 
 33.  r:7:-p3  etc.  etc  ■      ' 
 
CHAP.  I.]  WILFUL  CORRUPTION  IMPOSSIBLE.  335 
 
 Conjectures  as  to  their  origin  and  signification  have 
 not  been  wanting-,  vet  no  one  has  been  able  to  unravel 
 the  mystery,  and  we  are  now,  no  wiser  upon  the  sub- 
 ject than  they  were  in  the  days  of  St.  Jerome/^  Yet 
 as  these  points  or  dots  stood  for  more  than  2000 
 years,  so  they  stand  unmeaning  but  unaltered  to  this 
 day.*^  Wherever  the  Hebrew  text  has  been  copied 
 or  printed,  those  extraordinary  and  practically  useless 
 points  have  been  conscientiously  transferred;  but  if 
 they  serve  no  other  purpose,  they  at  least  act  the  part 
 of  most  faithful  and  impartial  witnesses  to  the  integ- 
 rity of  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  the  reverence  of 
 the  Jews  for  every  "jot  or  tittle"  of  their  law. 
 
 The  Jews  w^ere  indeed  accused  of  having  corrupted 
 their  Scriptures  before  Mohammed's  time. ''  ^  St.  Je- 
 rome noticed  that  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch  and  the 
 Septuagint  read  the  passage  Deut.  xxvii.  26.  "'Cursed 
 be  every  mem  that  confirmeth  not  all  the  words  of 
 this  law  to  .do  them;"  whilst  the  Hebrew  text  merely 
 says,  "Cursed.be  he  who  confirmeth  not  the  words 
 
 ^^  "Appungunt  d-esuper,  quasi  inoredjbile  et  quod  rerum  natura 
 non  capiat ,  coire  quempiam  nescientem."  Hieron.  quaest.  in  Gen. 
 XYIII. 
 
 ■^^  Although  the  Jews  crucified  the  Lord  of  Glory,  yet  they 
 spare  these  useless  dots :  this  is  indeed  straining  a  gnat  and  swal- 
 lowing a  camel !    Matt.  XXIU.  24. 
 
 ^^  "Quando  itaque,  Patres  nonnulli,  ut  Justimts  Martyr  in  Dia- 
 logo  cum  Tr_)iJhone,  Eusebius  lib.  lY.  Hist,  cedes,  cap.  18.  Origencs 
 Homil.  XII.  in  Jereni.   Chrysottiomus  Homil.  V.  in  Matth.  et  Hierony- 
 
 rnus  in  Epist.  89  ad  Augustinum  in  cap.  V.  Micheae asserunt; 
 
 a  Judaeis  te.itiim  biblicum  esse  corntptum,  non  de  tcxtu  Hebraeo, 
 sed  de  versionibus  praedictis  loquantur.  Vel  de  aliquibus  salteni, 
 non  de  omnibus  Codicibus  Hebraicis  id  intelligi  debet."  Quenstedt 
 Theologia  didactico-polemica  Vol.  I.  pars  I.  x^ag.  195. 
 
336  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii. 
 
 of  this  law  to  do  them."^*  Upon  this  discrepancy 
 he  founds  a  grave  charge  against  the  Jews,  maintain- 
 ing that  they  probably  expunged  those  two  words 
 which  constitute  the  difference;  a  charge  which  it  will 
 be  very  difficult  to  establish.  Some  have  suspected 
 foul  play  on  the  part  of  the  Jews,  in  the  passage  Ps. 
 XXII.  16.  where  certain  Manuscripts  read,  "The  as- 
 sembly of  the  wicked  have  inclosed  me,  like  a  lion, 
 my  hands  and  my  feet;"  insteadof ''they  have  pierced 
 my  hands  and  my  feet;"'''  but  whether  this  proceeds 
 from  a  mistake  of  the  transcriber,  or  fi'om  a  wilful 
 alteration  must  be  left  undecided.  We  cannot  how- 
 ever reconcile  ivilfid  corruption  with  the  fact,  that 
 owing  to  the  scarcely  perceptible  difference  of  the 
 respective  w' ords  in  the  Hebrew  characters,  one  read- 
 ing may  have  passed  into  the  other  without  in  reality 
 altering  a  single  letter.^'' 
 
 The  Jews,  during  their  contests  with  the  Samari- 
 
 ■''*  "Incertum  habcmus,  utrura  LXX  interpretes  addidcrint  5  Mos. 
 XXVII.  2G.  omuls  homo  et  in  omnibus,  an  in  vetcri  Hebraeo  ita 
 fuerit  et  postea  a  Judaeis  delctum  sit ....  Quani  ob  causam  Sama- 
 ritanorum  Ilebraca  volunilna  rolegcns  inveni  53  scriptum  esse,  et 
 cum  LXX  intc'ipretibus  concordare.  Frustra  igitur  illud  tulenmt  Ju- 
 daei,  ne  vidcrentur  esse  sub  maledicto ,  si  non  possint  omnia  com- 
 plere,  quae  scripta  sunt:  cum  antiquiores  alteiius  quoque  gentis 
 litterae  id  positum  fuisse  testcntur."  Hieron.  Comm.  in  Gal.  III.  10. 
 The  LXX  lias,  Cursed  be  nilg  ui'&tJConog  og  ovx  f/</<6r£(  tr  nam 
 rolg  Xoyoig  rov  rofiov. 
 
 ^^  ■'•nSO  sicut  leo,  as  in  Isa.  XXXVIII.  13.  Our  version  reads 
 "~iJS  perfoderunt.  So  also  the  LXX.  (Ofjv^nr  ;|j6riJ«s  IJOV ,  xal  no- 
 dug.  The  Clialdee  version  unites  both  and  translates  "perfoderunt 
 sic  velut  leo  maims  meas  et  pedes  meas." 
 
 •'''  Before  the  vowels  were  placed,  the  difference  was  simply  in 
 the  T;  1~iND  and  ""iN3.  Besides!  and"  are  litterae  eV/ttrajSoAot 
 give  invicem  permutabilis, 
 
CHAP.  1]  WILFUL  CORRUPTION  IMPOSSIBLE.  337 
 
 tans ,  might  liave  been  tempted  to  corru^^t  certain 
 passages ,  touching  the  points  of  difference  between 
 them,  but  they  nobly  resisted  the  temptation ;  Mdiilst 
 the  Samaritans  on  the  contrary,  failed  to  preserve 
 their  Pentateuch  in  its  original  integrity.  The  Sa- 
 maritans desiring  to  "worship  on  mount  Gerizim"  in 
 opposition  to  the  Jews  who  said  that  "Jerusalem  was 
 the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship"  —  in  order 
 to  have  some  divine  sanction  for  their  choice,  sub- 
 stituted "Gerizim"  for  "Ebal."'^  Here,  indeed  we 
 discover  ivilful  corruption  of  the  sacred  text;  but  the 
 most  profound  examinations  of  the  various  editions 
 of  the  Old  Testament  have  proved,  that  those  handed 
 down  by  the  Jews  are  the  purest  to  be  found ;  fewer 
 inaccuracies  having  crept  into  their  Manuscripts  than 
 in  any  others.  Origen  in  his  Hexapla  and  St.  Jerome 
 in  his  versions  made  use  of  Jewish  editions,  and  they 
 are  still  preferred  by  the  most  intelligent  Divines. 
 
 Again,  if  the  Jews  had  been  desirous  to  corrupt 
 the  Scriptures ,  they  would  have  found  it  impossible, 
 from  this  circumstance;  that  after  the  first,  and  more 
 especially  after  the  second  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
 they  were  dispersed  all  over  the  East.  How,  it  may 
 be  asked,  could  they  have  met  in  conclave  to  agree 
 upon  what  parts  were  to  be  altered,  and  in  what  the 
 alterations  should  consist?  After  the  advent  of  Christ, 
 the  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  in     the    hands  of  the 
 
 ^^  "Ye  shall  set  up  these  stones  %vhicli  I  command  you  this  day 
 in  mount  Ebal  (Samaritan  reading:  in  mount  D^r'lj)  ....  and  there 
 shall  thou  build  an  altar  unto  the  Lord  thy  God;...  and  thou 
 shalt  offer  burnt-oflerings  thereon  unto  the  Lord  thy  God."  Deut. 
 ZXVU.  4. 
 
 w 
 
338  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii. 
 
 Christians  as  well  as  the  Jews,  and  independently 
 of  the  Jewish  converts  to  Christianity,  there  have 
 always  been  some  in  the  Church,  well  versed  in 
 the  Hebrew  tongue,  who  would  easily  have  detected 
 any  corruptions  that  might  have  been  perpetrated. 
 Again,  Manuscripts  became  very  early  multiplied,  a 
 statute  existing  among  the  Jews  to  the  effect,  that 
 no  father  of  a  family  should  be  without  a  copy  of  the 
 Law;  '''^  if  therefore,  corruptions  could  have  been  effected 
 in  some,  or  even  in  most  of  the  Manuscripts ,  a  con- 
 siderable number  must  still  have  remained  inaccess- 
 ible to  those  who  conspired  to  corrupt  them.^^ 
 
 6.  We  have  moreover  internal  proof,  that  the 
 Jews  abstained  from  making  any  alteration  in  their 
 Scriptures,  and  that  Mohammed's  accusation  falls  to 
 the  ground.  The  books  in  question  record  their  his- 
 toiy  with  the  utmost  impartiality,  neither  favouring 
 their  prejudices,  nor  concealing  their  faults.  Their 
 holy  Scriptures  expose  their  pride,  their  rebellion, 
 and  their  obstinate  unbelief,  and  announce  at  the  same 
 time  all  the  evils  which  should  come  upon  them. 
 Had  the  Jews  been  disposed  to  alter  the  sacred  Scrip- 
 tures, they  would  naturally  have  expunged  those  parts 
 
 ^^    "Apud  Judaeos  legibus  statutum,  ne  quis  paterfamilias  codice  - 
 biblico  dcstituatur."    Gerhard.  Loci  Theolog.  Vol.  II.  p.  260. 
 
 ^^    "Si  quaeram,  quid  sit  credibilius  Judaeoruni  geiitem  tarn  longe 
 lateque  diflusam^   in  hoc  nicndacium  conscribendum  uno  consilio  con- 
 
 spirare  potuisse? Sed  absit,  ut  prudoiis  aliquis  Judaeos  cujus- 
 
 libet  perversitatis  ac  malitiae  tantum  potuisse  credat  in  codicibus 
 
 tarn   niultis   et   tarn   longo  lateque   dispersis hoc  de  invidenda 
 
 g'ontibus  veritate  unuiu  coniniunicasse  consilium."  August,  lib.  XV. 
 de  civit.  Dei  cap.  13.     That  there  was  a  copy  in  Ethiopia,  vide  Act. 
 
 vm.  30. 
 
CHAP.  I.]  INTERNAL  EVIDENCE.  339 
 
 which  reflected  dishonour  on  their  character  as  a 
 nation;  and  after  the  coming  of  Christ,  they  would 
 most  likely  have  made  alterations  concerning  those 
 prophecies  which  prove ,  that  JesKS  of  JSazareth  was 
 the  Messiah  wliose  advent  they  had  been  led  to  expect. 
 But  all  the  prophecies  concerning  Christ,  which  were 
 found  in  "Moses,  the  Prophets  and  the  Psalms"  be- 
 fore His  coming,  still  exist  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures  in 
 all  their  integrity.  ^°  If  the  Jews  corrupted  the  Scrip- 
 tures, says  Origen,  it  must  have  been  done,  either  be- 
 fore or  after  Christ.  If  it  was  done  before  Christ, 
 how  is  it,  that  our  Lord  and  his  Apostles  fail  to  ac- 
 cuse them  of  this  crime,  whilst  they  charge  them 
 with  all  their  other  sins ;  if  they  altered  them  after 
 Christ,  how  is  it  that  we  have  the  wonderful  agree- 
 ment between  the  original  and  the  quotations  in  the 
 New  Testament?  ^^  The  quotations  in  this  case,  must 
 have  been  made  prophetically,  exactly  as  the  Jews  in- 
 tended to  falsify  them,  and  notas  they  actually  stood, 
 when  Christ  and  His  Apostles  made  them! 
 
 ^°  "Si  Yoluisset  Judaei  diviiias  scrii)turas  in  odium  christianorum 
 corrumpere,  praecipua  vaticinia  de  Christo  vel  sustulissent ,  vel  im- 
 mutassent,  quod  taiitum  abest  ipsos  fecisse,  ut  ex  textu  hebraeo  for- 
 tiora  contra  ipsos  argumenta  proferri  possint."  Gerliard.  Loci  Theol. 
 Vol.  n.  pag.  259. 
 
 ^^  "Quod  si  aliquis  dixerit  hebraeos  libros  postea  a  Judaeis  esse 
 falsatos ,  audiat  Origenem  quid  in  octavo  Aoluraiue ,  explanationem 
 Esaiae  huic  respondeat  quaestiunculao :  quod  nunquam  Dominus  et 
 Apostoli ,  qui  caetera  crimina  arguuut ,  in  Scribis  et  Pharisaeis ,  de 
 hoc  criniine ,  quod  erat  maximum ,  reticuissent.  Sin  autem  dixerint 
 post  adventum  Domini  Salvatoris ,  et  praedicatiouem  Apostolorum 
 libros  Hebraeos  fuisse  falsatos,  cacliinnum  tenere  non  potero,  ut 
 Salvator  et  Evangelistae ,  et  Apostoli  ita  testimouia  protulerint  ut 
 Judaei  postea  falsaturi  erant."   Hieron.  Comm.  in  Esaiara  cap.  VI. 
 
340  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii. 
 
 We  shall  now  attempt  to  prove  historically ,  that 
 the  accusation  in  the  Koran  of  the  corruption  of  the 
 Law,  is  utterly  without  foundation.  It  cannot  be  said 
 that  the  Jews  failed  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  their 
 Scriptures  before  Christ,  for  whilst  our  Lord  rebukes 
 their  false  interpretation;  their  '"laying  aside  the 
 commandment  of  God  that  they  might  keep  their 
 own  traditions;"  their  "making  the  word  of  God  of 
 none  effect"  through  their  tradition;  their  "erring 
 not  knowing  the  Scriptures  ;"''^  neither  He  nor  His 
 Apostles  ever  accused  them  of  either  interpolating 
 or  subtracting  any  passage  of  their  holy  books.  Christ 
 urges  His  audience  to  "search  the  Scriptures,"  and 
 argues  that  what  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  teach 
 sitting  in  Moses'  seat  is  to  be  heard ,  observed  and 
 obeyed ;  ^  ^  the  five  brethren  also  of  the  rich  man 
 are  required  to  "hear  Moses  and  the  Prophets."  And 
 is  it  to  be  su2:>posed  possible,  that  Christ,  whom  the 
 Mohammedans  themselves  consider  a  great  prophet 
 should  direct  men  to  fountains  that  had  been  cor- 
 rupted?—  As  if  anticipating  the  rise  of  a  false  prophet, 
 M'ho  would  endeavour  to  destroy  the  antecedent  dis- 
 pensations, under  the  pretext  of  the  Scriptures  having 
 been  corrupted,  our  blessed  Lord  makes  the  emphatic 
 declaration,  "Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the 
 law  and  the  prophets,  I  am  not  come  to  destroy  but  to 
 fidjil.'"  For  verily  I  say  unto  you  till  heaven  and  earth 
 
 ^-  KaX(os  (l&fTHTe  Ti^v  H'Tolfjf  Tov  ■&f-ov  ....  ur.vQOvrTfg  rov 
 Xnyor  70v  ^i-ov  etc.  etc.  Mark  VII.  9.  13.  See  also  Matt.  XXII.  29. 
 nXuy(((Tx}t,  ixij  fidori-g  rikg  y{>((q'ug. 
 
 ®'  The  Mosaical  teaching  to  be  observed  and  done  nance  ovi' 
 oaa  «r  iinooan'.    Matt.  XXIII.  2.3. 
 
CHAP.  IT  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE.  341 
 
 shall  pass ,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  nowise  pass 
 from  the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled ;  whosoever  therefore 
 shall  break  one  of  these  least  commandments,  and 
 shall  teach  men  so,  he  shall  be  called  the  least  in 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven."^*  These  remarkable  words 
 of  Jesus  put  the  seal  to  the  integrity  of  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament in  His  day ;  and  imply  that  it  would  be  pre- 
 served in  the  same  purity  to  the  end  of  days ;  for  how 
 could  the  smallest  jo^  which  is  here  placed  in  juxta- 
 position with  the  universe,  be  fulfilled,  were  it  not  to 
 retain  its  integrity? 
 
 The  Apostles  likewise  acknowledged  the  Scrip- 
 tures of  the  Old  Testament  to  have  come  down  to 
 them  unadulterated.  Had  the  passage  for  instance, 
 which  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch  was  r.eading,  been  cor- 
 rupted, Philip  the  Evangelist  would  have  corrected, 
 rather  than  expounded  it.  Again,  how  could  the  Be- 
 reans  be  praised  Act.  XVIII.  1.  for  testing  the  sound- 
 ness of  the  doctrine  which  Paul  preached,  by  search- 
 ing the  Scriptures  daily,  if  those  wTitings  were 
 themselves  unsound?  St.  Paul  supported  his  own 
 testimony  by  declaring,  that  he  preached  "none  other 
 things,  than  those,  which  the  prophets  and  Moses 
 
 ^*  Matt.  V.  IS.  IdSra  in  Alphabeto  hebraeico  littera  minima, 
 niaxirae  elementaris ,  et  in  qua  Keri  et  Cethib  persaepe  diflferunt, 
 ut  promiscae  videatur  abesse  rel  redundare.  In  Codice  Hebraeo 
 66420  jota  numerantur.  Graeci  jota  subscribunt  aut  praeterraittunt. 
 y.afJiaa,  apex,  literae  appendix,  aut  portio,  linca,  qua  litera  a  li- 
 tera,  ut  3  a  D  vel  ^  a  1  distinguitur,  vel  sonus  a  sono,  ut  punctum 
 vocale  aut  accentus:  denique  quicquid  ullo  modo  in  lege  pertinet  ad 
 divinani  voluntatem  significandam  ycI  ejus  significationem  adjuvan- 
 dani."  Bengeli  Gnomon  ad  locum.  Eom.  X.  4.  teXog  ya^  vonov 
 XPIZTOZ. 
 
342  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii. 
 
 did  say  should  come"  Act.  XXII.  22.  The  same  Apostle 
 testifies  Rora.  ill.  2  that  to  the  safe  keeping  of  the 
 Jews  "were  committed  the  oracles  of  God,"  and  the 
 fact  of  his  numbering  this,  among  the  high  privileges 
 and  honours  of  that  nation ,  implies ,  that  we  are  in- 
 debted to  them  for  their  having  been  preserved  in- 
 violate. Josephus,  who  although  belonging  to  the 
 Jewish  communion,  was  in  no  way  inclined  to  favom' 
 it, ^'^  makes  the  following  remark,  "During  so  many 
 ages  as  have  already  passed,  no  one  has  been  so  bold 
 as  either  to  add  anything  to  them,  (viz.  the  22  books) 
 to  take  anything  from  them ,  or  to  make  any  change 
 in  them;  but  it  is  become  natural  to  all  Jews,  im- 
 mediately from  their  very  birth ,  to  esteem  these 
 books  to  contain  divine  doctrines,  and  to  persist  in 
 them,  and  if  occasion  be,  willingly  to  die  for  them."  ^^ 
 Testimony  from  such  an  impartial  authority,  carries 
 no  small  weight. 
 
 The  early  Fathers  of  the  Church  not  only  watched 
 over  the  Old  Testament  in  their  day,  but  also  gave 
 credit  to  the  unbelieving  Jews  for  preserving  their 
 holy  Scriptures  in  their   original   purity.     Eusehius 
 
 '^^  Josephus  did  not  hesitate  to  confess  of  the  mass  of  the  people : 
 "I  cannot  refuse  to  declare  what  the  nature  of  the  case  demands ; 
 I  believe  if  the  Romans  had  hesitated  to  fall  upon  this  frivolous 
 nation,  an  earthquake  would  have  swallowed,  or  a  flood  would  have 
 drowned  them,  or  the  lightening-  of  Sodom  would  have  burned  them 
 up.  For  this  generation  was  more  wicked,  than  all  those  could  have 
 been  who  suffered  these  things." 
 
 *'*'  "TocTovfov  yvcQ  dicSvog  7]dj]  naQcoxi]MTog ,  ovre  TTQoa&Hvat 
 tig  ovf^h,  ovrf  uq^tXtTr  iwrair,  ovrc  ufTaO^fTim  rtTGlur/.tr  Tlaai 
 Sh  oi'iiKpvToi'  tarir  fvOvg  ir.  rf^g  TZQcoTrg  yi-.mTeojg  'JovSatoTgto  rojuii- 
 ^eiv  dvra  Qtov  doyjuixTu,  y.al  rovtotg  fftjufietv,  kixI  v7Z£(j  dvxdji',  ii 
 dioi,  d^vrioKHV  ijdeoig.   Joseph,  contra  Apion.  lib.  I.  cap.  8. 
 
CHAP.  M  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE.  343 
 
 agrees  with  Jose2:>hus  Sind  Fhilo,  that  up  to  their  time 
 "for  the  space  of  more  than  two  thousand  years,  not 
 one  sinole  word  m  the  law  of  the  Hebrews  had  been 
 altered,  and  that  any  Jew  would  rather  die  a  hundred 
 times,  as  was  shown,  than  alter  the  law  in  the  least 
 degree."  ^^ 
 
 7.  We  have  seen  from  a  comparison  of  ancient 
 catalogues  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  that  the 
 same  books,  bearing  the  same  names  which  existed 
 m  the  days  of  Josephus,  were  received  by  the  Chris- 
 tians, and  by  them  handed  down  to  the  present  day; 
 no  books  beino:  lost,  and  none  added  to  them.  We 
 have  also  shown,  that  although  verbal  differences  arose 
 from  the  neglect  or  ignorance  of  copyists,  which  gave 
 rise  to  different  readings  in  many  passages ,  yet  that 
 none  of  these  could  be  referred  to  by  Mohammed 
 who  spoke  of  wilful  corruptions;  nor  was  any  one 
 dogma  of  the  Jewish  faith  thereby  affected.  ^^  Lastly, 
 the  foregoing  testimonies  of  competent  and  impartial 
 authorities  are  sufficient  to  convince  us,  that  with 
 no  degree  of  justice  can  w^e  accuse  the  Jews,  at  any 
 period,  of  having  altered  their  sacred  books. 
 
 There  is  however  another  way  of  satisfying  the 
 
 ^''  Usque  ad  mea  tempora  per  spatium  amplius  quam  duorum 
 raillium  annoi-um ,  ne  verbum  quideni  fuisse  unquara  in  lege  hebraeo- 
 rum  mutatum  et  quemlibet  Judaeum  ceuties  potius  moriturura,  quara 
 ut  pateretur ,  legem  in  aliquo  mutari."  Euseb.  lib.  HI.  Eccles.  hist, 
 c.  10.  and  lib.  VUI.  de  praep.  Ev.  c  2. 
 
 ^*  God  permitted  these  "variae  lectiones"  to  adhere  to  His 
 blessed  book,  to  constitute  a  kind  of  likeness  to  the  eternal  Word, 
 Xoyos,  when  He  had  taken  the  form  of  a  servant,  inog(pr]V  dov?.oy 
 Xafiiviv,  tv  OfxoidijxuTi  dv'&Qomoav  yt.v6i.ief 05.  It  made  the  Bible  "in 
 fashion",  ayrifxati,  ivQt&elg ,  as  an  ordinary  production.  Phil.  H. 
 6—10. 
 
344  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [partii. 
 
 most  sceptical  mind,  that  at  no  period  could  there 
 have  been  the  opportunity,  even  if  there  had  been 
 the  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Jews ,  to  corrupt  their 
 Scriptures.  We  possess  versions  of  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment which  agree  ^ith  the  original  and  with  one 
 another;  versions  too,  which  exist  in  Manuscripts,  of 
 dates  23rior  to  the  rise  of  Islamism.  We  commence 
 with  those  oriental  translations,  made  bv  the  Jews 
 during  their  exile  in  Babylon,  to  supply  a  national 
 want.  Moses  and  the  Prophets  wrote  in  the  Hebrew 
 tongue,  that  the  mass  of  the  people  might  hear  and 
 understand  the  words  of  the  law.^^  During  the  Cap- 
 tivity, the  pure  Hebrew  dialect  being  lost  for  ever, — 
 for  it  was  never  restored  after  their  return  to  Palestine, 
 —  the  Scri23tures  read  in  the  synagogue  had  to  be 
 orally  translated  and  exj^lained  in  the  Chahlee  lan- 
 guage ,  and  ere  long ,  we  find  written  versions  of  the 
 original  in  that  tongue.  These  translations,  owing  to 
 the  analogy  of  the  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  languages, 
 generally  required  no  change  of  words,  but  merely  an 
 alteration  in  the  grammatical  construction. '*^  AU  ob- 
 jections to  the  high  antiquity  of  these  Chaldee  ver- 
 sions have  been  ably  refuted. '  ^ 
 
 The  first  Targiun  or  version  of  Jonathan,  '^ ''  was 
 
 «^   Deut.  XXXI.  11.    2  Chron.  XXXIV.  30. 
 
 ''"''  Targumim  D'???-.-:;! ;  a  trace  of  Targuraic  version  is  recognis- 
 ed in  'HX\  JJXl ,  hc^iu  mjax^^ari;  Matt.  XXVH.  46.  ."Wb  -bi<  -bs 
 ♦  ^jr::;!^    cfr.  Psalm  xxn.  1. 
 
 ^*    Aug.  Pfeifferi  Critfca  sacra  cap.  VIII.  sect.  11.  pag.  756.  896. 
 
 "^  Jonathan,  the  son  of  Uziel,  was  a  disciple  of  Hillel,  and  lived 
 about  42  years  B.  C.  "Dicunt  de  Jonathane  fil.  Uzelis  cum  sederet 
 et    operaretur   legi ,    quamlibct    avcm   super  ijisura  voliantem  sta- 
 
CHAP.  1.1  CHALDEE  VERSIONS  OR  TARGUMIM.  345 
 
 made  before  Christ  and  comprised  the  entire  Old  Tes- 
 tament ;  but  only  the  historical  books,  or  the  "former 
 prophets,"  and  the  prophets  properly  so  called,  are 
 now  extant.  The  Jews  considered  this  translation 
 of  great  weight  and  authority,  as  appears  from  the 
 many  fables  which  they  concocted  about  it ;  the  work 
 however,  seems  more  a  paraphrase  than  a  literal 
 version.  The  second  Targum  was  made  hj  Onkelos.''^ 
 This  version  is  four  times  mentioned  in  the  Talmud, 
 and  is  considered  very  faithful  and  literal.  Among 
 the  other  Chaldee  versions,  we  only  mention  that,  ge-, 
 nerally  known  as  the  Targum  of  Jerusalem;  though 
 not  written  in  so  pure  Chaldee  as  the  rest,  yet  it  was 
 no  doubt  made  before  the  rise  of  Mohammedanism. 
 
 The   Greek  translation    of   the  Old  Testament, 
 commonly  called  the  Septuagint,  ^*  was  executed  under 
 
 tim  combustam.  Baba  Bathra  f.  134.  c.  J.  And  in  Megilla  f.  3.  c.  1. 
 we  read  that  ho  wrote  his  version  fi'om  the  mouths  of  Haggai,  Ze- 
 chariah  and  Malachi;  adding:  "turn  coniniota  est  terra  Israeli.s  ad 
 CCCC  parasangas,  egressa  est  filia  yocis  et  dixit:  Quis  ille,  qui  re- 
 velavit  secreta  niea  filiis  hominum?  Constitit  Jonathan  f.  U.  super 
 pedes  suos,  et  dixit:  ego  sura  illc,  qui  reA-elavi  secreta  tua  filiis  ho- 
 minum ,  verum  non  ad  gloriam  meam ,  neque  ad  gloriam  i^atris  mei, 
 sed  ad  gloriam  tuam." 
 
 ^^  0"~~:~N  surnamed  "1:*"  the  proseljte ;  said  to  be  ai'yiQOvoq 
 with  Gamaliel  stnen'.  That  he  was  a  Babylonian  is  inferred  from 
 his  pure  Chaldee.  The  Masora  rinioW,  -'n"073,  ni-DW,  from  '^073 
 tradtdlt,  or  the  traditions  respecting  certain  letters,  words  and  verses 
 —  first  handed  down  by  oral  communication  and  then  collected  by 
 the  Jewish  Rabbis,  chiefly  of  Tiberias,  between  the  S""  and  the  e*"*. 
 century  —  was  also  of  service  in  preserving  the  sacred  text.  The 
 rr^'STS  ■'.?5'3  or  Masorethae  embodied  their  theological ,  critical, 
 orthographical  or  grammatical  notices  in  the  so  called  ^TDi  ""Ip, 
 always  signifying  that  which  they  consider  the  more  correct  reading 
 with  p,  h.  e.  ■'"np  legito. 
 
 ^*    So  called,  not  so  much  from  "septuaginta  interpretes ,"  who 
 
346  ES'TEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [PART  ir. 
 
 Ptolemaeus  Philadelphiis,  the  generous  protector  of 
 the  Jews,  284  years  B.  C,  and  has  done  more  to 
 confirm  the  mtegrity  of  the  Law  than  any  other  event. 
 As  the  Chaldee  versions  were  made  for  the  benefit 
 of  the  Jews  in  Babylon  and  Palestine,  when  Hebrew 
 ceased  to  be  a  living  tongue ;  so  the  Septuagint  w^as 
 made  in  Alexandria,  on  behalf  of  the  Jews  living  in 
 countries  where  Greek  was  spoken.  If  Kaliph  Omar 
 had  been  anxious  to  ascertain  whether  the  Jews  had 
 corrupted  their  Scriptures ,  he  might  have  convinced 
 himself  of  the  contrary,  by  the  examination  of  the 
 
 ft'  ft' 
 
 original  Manuscripts  of  this  version,  which  were  pro- 
 bably deposited  in  that  celebrated  Library  w^hich  his 
 fanaticism  caused  to  be  burned.  Happily  for  our  ar- 
 gument and  the  interests  of  truth,  the  Septuagint 
 version,  at  that  period,  was  spread  far  and  wide. '^ 
 Josephus  referred  to  this  translation  more  than  to 
 the  Hebrew,  and  Philo  used  it  exclusively.  It  has 
 been  quoted  on  many  occasions  in  the  New  Testament, 
 
 are  said  to  have  made  this  version ,  as  from  the  fact  of  its  having 
 been  approved  of,  and  sanctioned  by  the  Jewish  Synedrium  existing 
 at  Alexandria.    There  were  at  Alexandria  LXXI  seats  for  the  great 
 
 Synedrium.  Q-^^'no  -!>:3  nr;T  5^  nNTinp  PHi^T  c^yn'^i:  -2  TT.n 
 .-;b-n>  V"i^i^-&  -"»2J  'IHNT  Gem.  Succa  fol.  LI.  c  2.  Quae  Raschi  in 
 suis  scholiis  codcm  modo  exponit:  "CTh  TC""iD  D'lr'pT  'NT  "S  "1>"13 
 :Vnr,:0  namely  the  Synedrium  Alexandrinum.  That  this  version 
 was  approved  by  the  Jewish  heads  at  Alexandria,  appears  from  the 
 following,  "nuo^yAtXhaav  (Judaei)  Tfi  dovnu  yuxi  roTg  ijyor/nnotg  av- 
 TCOJ'  clrayrdjica  tor  lOfxov:  ij^icoaur  ra  nunf-g,  ori-  aQtvg  y.a\  tdSv 
 iQi-irfveon'  6i  n^jta^vtefjoi  hiu  tov  noXirtv^arog  6i  7TQoe(TT},y.orfg 
 intl  Y.aXMg  ra  7r,g  iyfii^rd'ag  ((7n]Q«Trai ,  kuI  diauthuxi  7av&' (og 
 ^lii  YMi  (xij  juenxKiii-rr  dvTix.    Joseph.  Lib.  XU.  c.  U.  ]).  397. 
 
 ^^    At  the   time   of  Christ  it  was  quoted:   "quia  co  tempore  ilia 
 erat  in  gentibus  divulgata."   Hierou.  in  cap.  XLVIl. 
 
CHAP.  I]  SEPTUAGINT  AND  PESHITO.  347 
 
 but  without  the  defects  having  been  adopted  which 
 crept  into  the  translation.^^ 
 
 The  Syriac  version  of  the  Old  Testament  com- 
 prises all  the  canonical  Scriptures,  and  was  in  all 
 probability  a  work  of  the  Jews,  from  whom  it  received 
 its  name.''^  It  was  executed  in  the  first,  or  certainly 
 not  later  than  the  second  century.  Unlike  the  Chal- 
 dee  versions ,  the  Peshito  had  not  only  to  adjust  the 
 grammatical  construction,  but  to  convey  the  sense  of 
 the  original  in  a  new  form;  hence  perhaps  the  name 
 of  ''literar  translation.  If  Mohammed  had  a  suspi- 
 cion of  the  Jews  having  corrupted  their  Scriptures, 
 and  if  he  could  not  satisfy  his  mind  from  an  inspection 
 of  the  Hebrew  Manuscripts,  he  had  opportunity  dur- 
 ing his  commercial  pursuits  in  Syria  to  institute  a 
 comparison  between  the  Peshito  and  the  original. 
 The  false  prophet  however,  appears  not  at  any  time, 
 to  have  "inquired  diligently"  for  the  truth. 
 
 The  translation  of  Aquila ,  which  was  made  for 
 the  use  of  the  Jews,  in  the  second  century  of  the 
 Christian  era,  is  an  exact  and  faithful  rendering  of 
 
 ^^  They  quoted  according  to  this  rule:  "Uhicunque  de  veteri  in- 
 strumento  jn-ophetae  et  apostoli  testimonia  protulerinit,  diligentius 
 observandum  est,  non  eos  verba  secutos  esse,  sed  sensiim ,  et  uhicun- 
 que septuaginta  ab  hebraeo  discrepant ,  hebraeum  sensum  suis  ex- 
 pressisse  sermonibus."    Hieron.  Epist.  151. 
 
 "  Peshito  means  '•  the  literal ."  D:'>'^n,  Targum,  with  the  Jews, 
 signifies  every  version  into  another  language.  Holy  Scriptures  are 
 said  by  them  to  have  a  double  meaning,  viz.  'O'Xt  the  literal  sense, 
 and  '»y'ni'?2  the  learned  or  allegorical  sense.  The  Hebrew  llO'uJD  is 
 turned  '^^'CB  in  Chaldee;  and  in  the  Syrian  ND^'dE.  Hottinger, 
 Thesaurus  philologic.  seu  clavis  sac.  scripturae  Lib.  I.  cap.  H.  sect.  7. 
 pag.  233—237. 
 
348  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii. 
 
 the  original.  ^^  The  translator  was  a  native  of Synope 
 in  Pontus,  and  his  version  was  preferred  by  the  Asiatic 
 Jews  to  the  Septuagint.  "^  That  Aqiiila  himself  was 
 a  Jew,  is  clear  from  the  inimicial  bearing  which  he 
 fi'equently  evinces  towards  Christianity.  Moham- 
 medans willingly  admit  that  we  have  the  genuine 
 production  of  a  Jew  in  this  version;  but  though 
 he  strains  a  word  here  and  there  to  favour  the  Jew- 
 ish view  of  the  text,  Aquila  cannot  be  charged  by 
 Christians  with  having  corrupted  the  word  of  God.  ^° 
 Theodotion  a  proselyte  of  Ephesus ,  revised  the 
 Septuagint,  and  he  was  followed  by  Symmachus,  who 
 strove  to  give  his  version  of  the  Old  Testament  a 
 clearer  and  more  classical  finish ,  than  it  had  pre- 
 viously received.*'* 
 
 At  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  we  find  a 
 mighty  work  in  the  celebrated  Heccapla  of  Origen. 
 
 '*  Dlb"'py  in  the  Hieros.  and  Dlbp:5<  in  the  Babylon.  Talmud 
 ^AnvXas  6  IJoiTixog;  he  also  is  called  niJOOi]XvTog.    Iren.  III.  24. 
 
 ^^    ft>iXorii.wttQOf  TTsmarfviiiivos  7ra(ja  JovSaiovq..  i}i.ir{i'tVHtvai 
 
 XtnTov  yioT^O'dai.    Origen.  Epist.  ad  African,  pag.  13. 
 
 *"  "Jam  pridem  cum  voluminibus  Ilehraeorum  editioncm  Aquilae 
 confero,  ne  quid  forsitan  jiropter  odium  Christi  synagoga  mutaverit : 
 et  ut  amicae  menti  fatear,  quae  ad  nostram  fidem  pertineant  robo- 
 randam  plura  reperio."    Hieron.  Epist.  74.  ad  Marcel.  Op.  IV.  2.  61. 
 
 "^    "SjTnmachus  more  suo  manifestius."  Hieron.  Comm.  ui  Jes.  I. 
 
 "^  "Undc  nobis  curae  fuit  omnes  veteris  Legis  libros,  quos  nos 
 Adamantius  in  llexapla  digessorat ,  de  Caesariensi  Bibliotheca  de- 
 scriptos ,  ex  ipsis  authcnticis  emeiulare ,  in  quibus  ipsa  Ilebraea  pro- 
 priis  sunt  characteribus  verba  descripta,  et  Graccis  littcris  tramite 
 expre.ssa  vicino.  Aquila  etiam  et  Svnnnachus,  Si-ptuaginta  et  Theo- 
 dotio  suum  ordiiu-m  tcnent.  Noiniulli  vero  libri ,  et  inaxime  hi,  qui 
 apud  Hebraeos  versu  compositi  sunt,  tres  alias  editiones  additas 
 habent,  quam  Quintam  et  Sextam  et  Septiniam  translationem  vocant, 
 
CHAP.  I.]  DIVERS  VERSIONS.  349 
 
 In  drawing  attention  to  this  undertaking,  we  furnish 
 fresh  evidence  for  estabHshing  the  integrity  of  the 
 Old  Testament  Scriptures,  upon  a  still  broader  foun- 
 dation. All  the  translations  we  have  hitherto  men- 
 tioned, originated  with  the  Jews;  but  the  Hexapla 
 was  the  w^ork  of  a  Christian,  converted  from  Heathen- 
 ism, and  the  weight  of  this  testimony  can  scarcely 
 be  overrated.  In  placing  the  Hebrew,  both  in  its  own, 
 and  in  Greek  characters,  parallel  with  the  versions  of 
 Aquila,  Symmachus,  his  own,  that  of  Theodotion  and 
 the  Septuagint,  (and  in  some  books  of  the  Scriptures, 
 with  three  other  anonymous  translations),  Origen  con- 
 structed an  iun:)aralleled  bulwark  against  any  attempts 
 to  undermine  the  integrity  of  the  sacred  text.  There 
 are  only  fragments  of  this  valuable  work  remaining; 
 the  Hexapla  itself  no  doubt  perished  with  the  Library 
 at  Alexandria. 
 
 At  the  time  of  Augustine,  several  Latin  versions 
 were  in  existence,  among  which,  he  gave  the  preference 
 to  the  Itala,  a  work  of  the  second  centurv.  ^^  St. 
 Jerome  first  revised  this  translation  in  the  year  A.  D. 
 382,  and  whilst  engaged  in  this  work,  he  was  re- 
 quested by  his  fi'iends  to  make  a  new  Latin  trans- 
 lation from  the  original,  which  was  finished  A.  D. 
 405,  and  is  known  as  the  Vulgata.^^  Another  trans- 
 
 auctoritatera,  sine  nominibus  interpretum  consequentas."  Hieron. 
 Conim.  in  Tit.  III. 
 
 ®^  "In  ipsis  autem  interpretationibus  Itala  caeteris  praeferatur: 
 nam  est  verboruni  tonacior  cum  perspicuitate  sententiae."  August, 
 de  Christ,  doctr.  II.  c.  15. 
 
 ***  "Desiderii  mei  desideratas  accepi  epistolas  .  .  .  obsecrantis,  ut 
 translatum  in  Latinani  linguani  de  Hebraeo  sermone  .  .  .  nostrorura 
 auribus  traderem."   Hieron.  praef.  ad  Pentateuch. 
 
350  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii. 
 
 lation  into  Ethwpic — the  language  of  the  people  who 
 subdued  the  Jewish  kingdom  in  the  south  of"  Arabia 
 —  was  made  in  the  fourth  century.  It  is  said  to  have 
 been  the  work  of  Abba  Salama.  An  entire  copy  of 
 this  version  is  now  being  printed  in  Germany.^'' 
 Egyptian  translations  of  the  Old  Testament  are  found 
 as  early  as  the  third  and  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
 century;  both  the  Coptic  version  and  the  translation 
 into  the  language  of  Upper  Egypt  could  therefore 
 have  been  consulted  by  every  one  suspecting  a  cor- 
 ruption of  the  text  of  the  Old  Testament.  "^^  The 
 Armenian  Church  received  a  version  from  Miesroh 
 in  the  fifth  century;  the  Septuagint  from  M'hich  this 
 translation  was  made,  was  brought  from  the  Council  at 
 Ephesus.  Miesrob  was  assisted  by  two  of  his  dis- 
 ciples whom  he  had  sent  to  Alexandria  to  acquire  a 
 knowledge  of  the  Greek/ ^  There  is  only  one  more 
 version  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  made  before  the 
 days  of  Mohammed,  of  which  we  have  a  detailed  ac- 
 count,  and  that  is  the  Georgian;  it  was  finished  in 
 the  sixth  century.®* 
 
 8.  All  these  translations  agree  with  each  other, 
 though  made  in  different  ages,  by  people  of  different 
 views,  and  with  different  objects;  they  exist  inManu- 
 
 ^•'  The  learned  Orientalist,  Dr.  Dillmann,  Prof,  at  Kiel,  is  engaged 
 in  carrying  this  version  through  the  press,  after  a  careful  collation 
 of  the  MSS.  extant  in  Europe. 
 
 ®®  Vide,  Quinque  II.  Mosis  Prophet,  in  lingua  Aegypt.  dcscripti 
 et  Lat.  versi  a  David  AYilkins,  London  1731,  as  containing  printed 
 samples  of  tlie  Coptic  version. 
 
 ,     ^^   Mosis  Chorenensis  hist.  Armeniae  cap.  54.  pag.  299. 
 
 ®®   Allg.  Biblioth.  der  biblischen  Litterat.  I.  153.  von  Eichhorn. 
 
CHAP.  I.]  ABSENCE  OF  ARABIC  VERSIONS.  351 
 
 scripts  considerably  older  than  the  Koran,  and  are 
 accessible  to  any  sceptic  who  may  doubt  the  integrity 
 of  the  Old  Testament.  As  no  dissentient  voice  then 
 is  heard,  among  all  the  witnesses  that  can  be  sum- 
 moned by  either  party,  the  charge  which  Mohammed 
 brought  against  the  Jews,  of  corrupting  their  Scrip- 
 tures, inevitably  falls  to  the  ground.  But  where,  we 
 may  ask,  is  the  Arabic  versio7i  of  the  Old  Testament  ?  — 
 Chaldee  Targumim,  Syriac,  Ethiopic,  Egyptian,  Greek, 
 Latin,  Armenian  and  Georgian  translations  were  made 
 at  an  early  period,  and  circulated  before  even  the  name 
 of  Mohammed  was  heard  of;  and  yet  we  seek  in  vain 
 for  an  Arabic  copy  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  in  the 
 East ,  before  the  tenth  century  of  our  era ,  when  the 
 Hebrew  prophets  were  translated  into  Arabic  by  a 
 Christian  priest  at  Alexandria.^"  The  books  of  Solo- 
 mon, the  book  of  Ezra,  and  the  Psalms  —  which  as  w^ell 
 as  the  Prophets  just  now  mentioned,  are  found  in  the 
 Paris  and  London  Polyglotts  —  were  rendered  into 
 Arabic  by  Abdallah  ben  Alfadi,  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
 tury.""   Rabbi  Saadias-Gaon^ ^  who  died  A.  D.  942 
 
 ^^  Gabr.  Sion.  praef.  ad  Psalter.  Sjt.  Par.  1625.  In  Spain  in- 
 deed, we  meet  with  an  Arabic  rersion  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
 century,  which  had  been  made  by  John  Bishop  of  Sevilia.  "Joannes 
 Hispalensis  praesul  divinos  libros  lingua  arabica  donabat  utriusque 
 nationis  saluti  consulens :  quoniam  Arabicae  linguae  multus  usus 
 erat  Christianis  acque  atque  Mauris;  latina  passim  ignorabatur. 
 Ejus  interpretationis  exempla  ad  nostram  aetatem  conservata  sunt ; 
 extantque  non  uno  in  loco  in  Hispanis."  Mariana  de  rebus  Hispan. 
 lib.  Vn.  cap.  3. 
 
 ®°    The  psalms  were  printed  at  Haleb  1706. 
 
 ^'    Paulus  Spec.  vers.  Pent.  Arab.  pag.  33. 
 
 "  *  He  was  a  native  of  Fajiim  in  Egypt ,  and  president  of  a 
 school  at  Sora  in  Babylon.  Some  ascribe  to  him  a  translation  of 
 Job  and  Eosea. 
 
352  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  ll. 
 
 left  an  Arabic  Pentateuch,  and  the  book  of  Isaiah 
 with  Targumic  and  Rabbinical  ex[)lanations.  An- 
 other Pentateuch  was  translated  by  an  African  Jew, 
 in  the  thirteenth  centmy. ^^  In  the  year  A.  D.  1468 
 Hareth  hen  Senan  translated  the  Psalms,  Job,  Pro- 
 verbs, Canticles,  Sirach,  the  minor  Prophets,  with 
 Jeremiah,  Daniel,  Ezekiel  and  Isaiah.^*  Lastly,  Ara- 
 bic versions  were  made  in  behalf  of  the  Roman  Ca- 
 tholic Christians  in  the  East,  from  the  Vulgata;  but 
 the  first  of  these  bears  no  earlier  date  than  A.  D. 
 1G71.^^  This  version  was  reprinted  by  the  British 
 and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  1822.  The  fact  of 
 there  being  no  Arabic  version  of  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment  prior  to  the  tenth  century,  seems  incredible. 
 We  know  that  the  Jews  were  sufficiently  powerful 
 to  found  a  JeAvish  kingdom  in  the  south  of  Arabia ; 
 how  is  it  that  they  here,  neglected  to  do,  what  they 
 invariably  did  during  their  sojourn  in  other  lands? 
 For  in  Babylon,  they  made  a  Chaldee,  in  Egypt,  a 
 Greek,  in  Syria,  a  Syriac  version  of  their  holy  books. 
 We  also  know  that  there  existed  several  Bishoprics 
 in  Arabia,  prior  to  the  rise  of  Islamism;®^  and  it  is 
 certain  that  some  Churches  were  there  planted  by 
 the  Apostles  themselves.  The  question  therefore  arises 
 
 *^    Edited  as  "Pentatcuclius  Mosis  Arabice  "by  Erpenius  1622. 
 
 ^*  Copies  are  preserved  in  Manuscripts;  2  in  Oxford,  and  2  in 
 Paris. 
 
 ^''  Biblia  Sacra  Arab.  s.  Congregationis  de  propaganda  fide  jussu 
 edita  ad  usum  Eccles.  orientaiium,  additis  e  reg.  Bibliis  Lat.  Rom. 
 typis  sanct.  Congreg.  1G71.  \'ol.  111. 
 
 ^^  There  was  a  Bishop  ofDhaf'ar,  another  of  Ilajran;  the  Jaco- 
 bites had  two  Bishops ,  one  at  Akula ,  the  other  in  Hira ;  and  the 
 Nestorians  had  one  in  the  Peninsula.    Sale's  Prelim.  Disc.  pag.  17. 
 
CHAP.  I.]  EARLY  ARABIC  VERSIONS  DESTROYED.  353 
 
 whether  the  Christians  would  not  have  translated  the 
 Old  Testament  into  Arabic,  within  the  space  of  600 
 years,  as  they  rendered  them  into  the  Syriac,  Ethio- 
 pic,  Egyptian,  Armenian,  Greek  and  Latin  tongues. 
 We  can  scarcely  deem  it  possible,  that  a  Church  built 
 upon  the  joint  foundation  of  the  Prophets  and  Apos- 
 tles, could  possibly  exist  for  600  years  without  a  ver- 
 sion of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  vernacular  tongue! 
 
 We  have  moreover  the  testimony  of  the  learned 
 TJieodoretus,  who  lived  A.D.  450.  that  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament in  his  day,  was  translated  into  every  language 
 then  spoken.  We  may  then  take  it  for  granted,  that 
 the  Jews  and  Christians,  both  of  whom  so  strongly 
 mustered  in  Arabia,  would  have  made  versions  of  the 
 Old  Testament,  and  that  the  Arabic  though  not  spe- 
 cified by  Theodoretus,  A.D.  450  was  included.  That 
 he  did  not  mention  all  the  translations  by  name  is 
 clear,  from  his  omitting  the  Chaldee,  Ethiopic  and 
 Syriac.  ^ ' 
 
 Inference  may  in  some  cases  amount  to  a  moral 
 certainty,  and  in  this  particular,  it  seems  to  justify 
 our  assumption  of  the  existence  of  an  Arabic  version 
 of  Scripture.  We  have  however  direct  and  historical 
 evidence,  that  the  Old  Testament  had  been  translated 
 into  Arabic  at  the  time  when  the  Ethiopic  version 
 was  being  made.     A  poem  and  also  a  martyrology 
 
 ■^  "Hebraici  libri  noii  niodo  in  Graecum  idioma  conversi  sunt, 
 sed  in  Ronianam  quoquc  linguara,  Aegjpticani ,  Persicam,  Indicam, 
 Armcnicam,  et  Scythicani,  atquc  adeoSauromaticani,  semelque  ut  di- 
 cara  in  linguas  oninos,  quibus  ad  banc  diem  nationes  utuntur,"'  fig 
 naaag  rag  yXcarTag  ccTg  anana  t«  e&rrj  y.EiQriniva  diurtXtt  Theo- 
 doretus lib.  Y.  de  Curan.  Graecor.  torn.  n.  pag.  521. 
 
 X 
 
354  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  [part  il. 
 
 in  Etliiopic ,  both  bear  testimony  that  Aba  Sa- 
 lama^*^  translated  the  Scriptures  into  Geez,  and  that 
 he  made  his  version  fi'om  an  Arabic  text.  ^^  The  con- 
 ckision  then  to  which  we  are  driven  by  our  argument 
 is  this,  that  there  was  an  Arabic  version  of  the  Scrip- 
 tures in  existence  before  the  rise  of  Islamism;  and 
 but  little  doubt  can  exist  that  Mohammed  or  his  fol- 
 lowers destroyed  it,  to  remove  the  possibility  of  his 
 charge  against  the  "Scripturalists"  being  refuted. 
 
 9.  If  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  be  corrupted, 
 as  the  Mohammedans  will  have  it,  then  it  must  follow: 
 that  God  either  would  not  or  could  not  preserve  His 
 own  word  in  its  original  purity,  which  is  opposed  to 
 either  His  goodness  or  power;  again,  the  only  source 
 of  our  faith  is  for  ever  contaminated,  since  neither 
 the  original  nor  versions  can  be  depended  on ;  Christ 
 and  His  Apostles  stand  convicted  of  blaming  the  Jews 
 for  minor  offences,  whilst  they  allowed  so  great  a 
 crime  to  pass  unnoticed;  the  toil  and  study  of  Hebrew 
 scholars  in  investigating  and  scrutinising  the  editions 
 of  the  original  have  proved  utterly  unavailing;  all  that 
 Philo,  Josephus,  Eusebius,  Origen,  Augustine,  and 
 others  have  stated  of  the  scrupulous  care  of  the  Jews 
 touching  their  Scriptures,  is  false,  or  the  testimonies 
 of  these  men  have  likewise  been  corrupted;  the  ho- 
 
 '*    Jobi  Ludolplii  historia  Aethiop.  Lib.  111.  cap.  2. 
 
 '*  "!ric  >!pa('cftTnicr  iicnncu  iintcr  ibrcn  cvftcn  ©laubeneVrcDi^evn  nut 
 »crjiui(i*cin  JHufniic  ciiicn  iiciviiTcn  5lba  Salanm,  unt  bicfcm  fdircibt  e^  and) 
 ein  inlduMfcfier  S^irfitet  unb  fin  atliiovifflK^  ^Piaviin-olcsiium  ju,  l-af;  cr  He 
 JBiiri'cv  t>c^  ©cfcljco  unt-  ©iMiu^cIiiimi?  an?  tcv  ?(valMfc(un  iit  idrc  evvad)e 
 iiterff^t  Imbc."  Dr.  4"*iKj'e  (Siiilcitiiiu^  in  ric£dnitten  rcc  ncnen  Tcftamcntc^. 
 Vol.  I.  pag.  375.  See  also  Ludoli)lii  comiufntar.  in  liistor.  Aethiop. 
 lib.  III.  cap.  4.  pag.  295.  '  - 
 
CHAP.n.]  EARLY  EXISTENCE  PROVED.  355 
 
 nour  of  keeping  the  oracles  of  God,  as  ascribed  by 
 St.  Paul  to  the  Jews,  is  nothing  less  than  a  cruel 
 and  unseemly  satire;  and  Mohammed  himself,  in  seek- 
 ing to  build  upon  Moses  and  the  prophets  has  cho- 
 sen but  a  rotten  foundation.  As  these  necessary  se- 
 quences are  utterly  opposed  to  all  sense  and  reason, 
 still  more  absurd  must  be  the  assumjDtion  from  which 
 they  are  deduced.  * 
 
 CHAPTER  II. 
 
 THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAJ^IENT. 
 
 "Hearen  and  earth  shall  pass  away  but  MY  words  shall  not  pass 
 
 away."    Mark  XEI.  31. 
 
 1.  Having  repelled  the  charge  of  Mohammed 
 against  the  Jews,  we  shall  now  proceed  to  remove 
 the  aspersions  which  he  endeavoured  to  cast  upon 
 the  Christians ,  who  are  likewise  accused  of  having 
 suppressed  some  of  their  Scriptures  and  corrupted 
 others.  In  the  time  of  Nero,  the  Christian  Religion 
 had  spread  not  only  over  Palestine ,  but  throughout 
 the  vast  Empire  of  the  Romans,  aspiring  to  become, 
 in  the  full  acceptation  of  the  word,  the  dominant 
 creed  of  the  world.  ^ 
 
 That  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  were  written 
 in  the  respective  countries  and  ages  ascribed  to  them 
 by  the  Church,  has  been  satisfactorily  tested  and  in- 
 
 ^    Gerhardi  Loci  Theologici  torn.  H.  pug.  261. 
 
 -    Vide  Taciturn  lib.  XV.    Annal.  cap.  44.    Also :  Suetonium  in 
 Nerone  cap.  16.    Plinii  lib.  X.  Ep.  97. 
 
 X* 
 
356  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  u. 
 
 controvertiblv  j^roved  by  internal  and  incidental  evi- 
 dence, ^  and  also  by  external  historical  testimony.* 
 It  is  not  our  intention  to  go  over  this  ground  again, 
 but  in  order  to  obtain  a  solid  foundation  for  our 
 present  argument,  it  will  be  requisite  to  premise  some 
 particulars  relating  to  the  early  history  of  the  sacred 
 books,  included  in  the  New  Testament. 
 
 2.  We  have  many  relics  of  ancient  literature, 
 concerning  the  genuineness  and  integrity  of  which, 
 we  are  convinced  without  having  any  other,  than  in- 
 ternal evidence.  Not  so  with  the  New  Testament; 
 there  is  no  one  book,  among  all  the  ancient  works 
 of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  which  has  an  equal 
 amount  of  historical  evidence  as  regards  its  date  and 
 origin.  Supposing  the  Scriptures  of  the  Christians 
 to  have  been  written ,  the  first  under  Nero ,  the  last 
 under  Domitian,  the  witnesses,  stretching  as  far  down 
 as  Diocletian,  would  only  be  two  centuries  removed 
 from  the  conclusion  of  the  period  in  which  they  were  , 
 composed.  These  early  writers  of  the  Church  have 
 been  consulted,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  how  soon  the  . 
 books  in  question  had  been  circulated ,  and  that 
 with  eminent  success. '    It  may  be  added,  that  theii' 
 
 ^  This  was  happily  done  in  manj'  instances  hy  Poley ,  in  his 
 "Horae  Paulinae,"  and  hy  Hu a,  "Einleitung  in  das  neuo  Testament." 
 Band  I.  pag.  U—  32. 
 
 *  Lardner's  "Credibility  of  the  Gospel  History,  or  the  facts 
 occasionally  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  confirmed  by  passages 
 of  ancient  authors."    1727. 
 
 ^  Lardncr  was  followed  by  Ch.  Fr.  Schniid  in  the  "Historia  et 
 vindicatio  canonis."  1775.  G.  Less  in  his  work:  "Ueber  Keligion, 
 ihre  Geschichte  und  Bcstiitigung;"  1786.  and  Paley,  "A  view  of  the 
 evidences  of  Christianity."    1797. 
 
CHAP.  II.]         KNOWN  TO  THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS.  357 
 
 quotations  are  more  exact  in  citing  from  the  didactic, 
 than  from  the  /ji'sfoncrt/ portions  of  the  New  Testament; 
 again ,  the  Old  Testament  is  more  carefully  quoted, 
 than  the  New,  simply  becanse  their  readers  were 
 better  acquainted  with  the  latter  than  with  the  former. 
 
 Clemens  Homamis,  whose'  "name  was  in  the  book 
 of  life,"  Phil.  lY.  3.  speaks  of  the  Epistle  of  "the 
 blessed  Apostle  Paul;"  ^  and  faithfully  quotes  passages 
 from  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  to  the  Hebrews/ 
 Ignatins,  Bishop  of  Antioch  A.  D.  69.  who  suffered 
 martyrdom  under  Trajan  at  Rome,  alludes  to  the  di- 
 dactic parts  of  the  New  Testament/  and  also  quotes 
 St.  Pauls  words,  "that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing 
 and  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind 
 and  in  the  same  judgment."^  In  his  Epistle  to  the 
 Church  of  Philadelphia,  he  mentions  the  Gospel  and 
 the  Apostolic  writings  conjointly,  which  implies,  that 
 he  was  acquainted  with  both.  ^^ 
 
 Polycarp ,  the  disciple  of  St.  John  and  Bishop  of 
 
 ^  ^Afokd^tTd  TTjv  iniaToXip  tov  i^ianaQiov  TlavXov  rov  Ano- 
 aroXov'  tl  7i{j(5iof  viilv  iv  uQxft  '^^^  'Eva/yfliov  ey(jaxptp;  in'  uXr]- 
 ■dtiag  TinviJiaTiy.Mq  intrTri-iXtv  vf.uv  nffji  iIvtov  re  nal  Kt;(fa  r.al 
 AnoKkd),  dia  TO  y.al  ro't  nooxXimig  i'l-iixg  ntnoiiiai^ui.  Clcra.  Rom. 
 I  Epist.  ad  Corinth,  cap.  47. 
 
 '  Compare  Clem.  Rom.  Epist.  ad  Cor.  c.  35.  with  Rom.  I.  29— 
 32.  and  cap.  36.  with  Hebr.  I,  3—7. 
 
 ^   IlavXov  (TVni.iv(Ttat  tov  nyiaanEiov o  iv  ndari  imcFToX^ 
 
 jurjjjwoov'it  VfiOJi'  if  X()ioT(S  ^hitjov.    Ignat.  Epist.  ad  Ephes.  c.  12. 
 
 ^    Ignat.  Ep.  ad  Ephes.  cap.  2.  with  1  Cor.  I,  10. 
 
 *"  nQOG(f)vy<iyv TM^EvayyeXioi  (og  aa^xl  'Ir](Tov,  xal  toTg  anoaroXoig 
 we  niJkiJ^vTt{JL(o  iy.y.XijGiug'  Ignat.  Epist.  ad  Philadelph.  cap.  5.  cfr. 
 also  Ignat.  ad  Trail,  cap.  XI.  and  ad  Philadelph.  cap.  HI.  also 
 ad  Smyrn.  cap.  I.  with  Matt.  XV.  13.  III.  15.  where  two  other 
 quotations  occur. 
 
358  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  11. 
 
 Smyrna,  \vho  became  a  martyr  A.  D.  169,  likewise 
 refers  to  the  Epistles  generally/^  and  to  that  of  the 
 Corinthians  in  particular.*^  In  his  Epistle  to  the 
 Philippians,  he  writes,  "Remember  what  our  Lord 
 said,  when  He  taught, — Judge  not  that  ye  be  not 
 judged,  forgive  .and  it  shall  be  forgiven  you;  be  mer- 
 ciful and  ye  shall  obtain  mercy;  with  what  measure 
 ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again."  *^  Bar- 
 nabas ,  the  companion  of  St.  Paul ,  and  according  to 
 some,  Bishop  of  INIilan ,  refers  to  the  following  words 
 of  our  Lord,  "many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen;"** 
 and  •"whosoever  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
 self and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me."*^  Clemens 
 Romanus  bids  the  Corinthians  remember  the  words 
 of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  then  rehearses  several  detached 
 sentences  from  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  especially 
 as  recorded  by  St.  Luke.*^  Li  his  second  Epistle 
 he  adds,  "And  another  Scripture  saith.  —  I  came  not 
 to  call  the  righteous  to  repentance  but  the  sinners."*' 
 
 **  fJavXov,  og  ytvojufrog  iv  vptXv  narix  nQormnov  ro5v  Tots  ai>- 
 SQ(6rT<i)v,  idida^tv  dnQi^ifo:  xal  ^f-^aiojs  rov  nf.iA  dkr]&H'<xg  loyoV 
 og  Y.ai  dniov  Vfur  ty^juxptf  fjnaroXdg.    Polycarp.  ep.  ad  Philip,  c.  3. 
 
 ^^    Compare  Polycarp.  ad  Philip,  c.  5.  with  1  Cor.  VI.  9. 
 
 *'  Mi't]!i(orf,v(j(xneg.Se  (av  knev  6  Y.v{)iog  SifidaxMr'  Mi]  y.Qirare, 
 ha  HT]  xgtSrJTfr  ktA.  Polycarp.  Epist.  ad  Philip,  c.  2.  Also  Clem. 
 Rom.  ad  Corinth,  c.  13. 
 
 "  "Attfiidamns  ergo,  ne  forte,  sicut  scriptum  est,  multi  vocati, 
 pauci  electi  invtiiiamur."    Epist.  Baruab.  cap.  4. 
 
 *^  OvTOj,  q)i]alv  Cbfaovg)  m  diXovrig  /t«  18hv  v.ai  dxpaadai  ^lov 
 trig  ^amlnag,  ocpHkovm  ^hfieiTf.g  y.m  nixdoirfg  X(x[iHr  fu.  Epist. 
 Barn.  cap.  7.    Vide  Matt.  XVI.  24.    Mark.  VIII.  34.    Lu.  IX.  23. 
 
 '^    Clem.  Rom.  Epist.  ad  Corinth,  cap.  13.  with  Lu.  VI.  36—38. 
 
 *^  Kal  aTeya  yita^fj  Xeyn ,  ori  6vh  r,Xdov  naXhai  6iK<xiovg, 
 dXXu  d^iaQT(X)Xovg.    Clem.  Rom.  Epist.  II.  ad  Corinth. 
 
CHAP.  II.]  KNOWN  TO  THE  EARLY  FATHERS.  359 
 
 He  also  refers  to  the  words  of  our  Lord ,  touching 
 faithfulness  in  little  things,  with  the  special  addition 
 that  they  were  found  in  the  Gospel.*® 
 
 More  detailed  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the 
 New  Testament ,  than  the  above ,  may  be  deduced 
 from  the  works  of  the  early  Fathers  of  the  Church. 
 Justin  Martyr,  born  in  Palestine  A.  D.  89.  was  well . 
 acquainted  with  the  Gospels;*^  and  whilst  mei'ely 
 alluding  to  the  existence  of  the  Epistles,  he  ascribes 
 the  Apocalypse  to  St.  John.  ^°  Athenagoras,  who  died 
 A.  D.  180.  quotes  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  ^  * 
 and  shows  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  Epistles 
 of  St.  Paul.  Theophilus,  who  flourished  A.  D.  180. 
 speaks  of  the  Gospels,  mentions  that  of  St.  John  by 
 name ,  refers  to  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Ro- 
 mans and  to  Timothy,"  and  is  said  to  have  made  use 
 of  the  Apocalypse.  In  the  year  A.  D.  170.  Dionysius, 
 Bishop  of  Corinth,  speaks  of  the  New  Testament 
 Scriptures  as  the  books  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  ^  ^ 
 
 3.  The  above  quotations  prove  two  things,  first, 
 
 *8    Clem.  Rom.  Epist.  H.  cap.  10.  cfr,  Lu.  XVI.  11.  12. 
 
 *^^  'Oi  yccQ  dnoaroXoi  iv  toTg  ysvofjihoiq  vn"  dvtmv  dnoiiivijino- 
 vtvpLam,  a  KuXfttut 'Evayyelia ,  6vt<as  naQeSmy.av.  Just.  Martyr. 
 Apolog.  I.  cap.  66.  pag.  83. 
 
 -"   Just.  Mar.  Dialog,  cum  Tryph.  cap.  81.  pag.  179. 
 
 **  Evdr^Xov  nanl  to  Xttnofxkvov,  on  8tt  xaru  tor  dnoatoXov 
 TO  (f&a{iTor  rovro  y.ul  dtaaxef^narov  hSvaaadai  d(f&a(jmav. 
 Athenag.  de  resurrect,  cap.  18.  p.  531.  and  1  Cor.  XV.  54. 
 
 '^'  ...  ra  T<op  nQoqirjroiv  nal  tcSp  ivayysXi(ov  tXHV.  Theoph.^  ad 
 Autolyc.  in.  pag.  338.  and  pag.  389.  he  quotes  as  6  dtloi  loyog 
 what  "is  written  1  Tim.  H.  2.    Rom.  XIU.  7.  8. 
 
 ^^  y(ja(f)al  y.v(jiaiiul  Euseb.  H.  E.  IV.  23.  where  Dionysius  is 
 quoted. 
 
360  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  IJ. 
 
 that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  existed  m  the 
 first  two  centuries  and  were  known  among  the  Chris- 
 tians, and  secondly,  that  they  had  the  same  books 
 then ,  as  we  have  now.  That  these  writings  should 
 have  been  corrupted  during  the  above  period,  is  clearly 
 impossible.  They  could  not  have  been  corrupted  dur- 
 ing the  lifetime  of  the  Apostles,  because  these  Scrip- 
 tures were  speedily  multiplied  and  circulated  among 
 the  Churches,  and  the  greater  the  number  of  manu- 
 script copies,  the  greater  the  difficulty  to  altei'  any 
 portion  of  them.  Nor  did  the  Apostles,  or  their  im- 
 mediate disciples,  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  complain  of 
 any  such  corruptions,  although  they  had  occasion  to 
 censure  many  a  disorder  which  had  crept  into  the 
 Churches.  After  the  decease  of  the  Apostles,  the 
 original  Manuscripts  of  the  various  detached  books 
 of  the  New  Testament,  were  reverentially  preserved 
 in  the  archives  of  the  principal  Churches,  and  served 
 as  a  check  against  any  alteration,  wdiich  might  be 
 attempted. 
 
 Still  more  weighty,  and  in  the  eyes  of  the 
 Mohammedans,  more  impartial,  must  be  the  evidence 
 which  is  to  be  obtained  fi'om  the  enemieswho  assaulted, 
 and  the  heretics  who  separated  from  the  Church,  dur- 
 ing the  jBrst  two  centuries.  Celsus,  an  Epicurean  phi- 
 losopher, wTote  a  work^*  against  Christianity,  which 
 has  been  partially  preserved  in  a  refutation  by  Origen. 
 He  refers  to  the  various  miracles,  wrought  by  our 
 Lord,  and  gives  many  details  of  His  passion ;  and  all 
 these  things,  he  states,  had  been  wi'itten  by  His  dis- 
 
 ^*   He  gave  it  the  arrogant  title  of  "^AXT]&7)g  Xoyog" 
 
CHAP.  II.]  QUOTED  BY  ENEMIES  AND  HERETICS.  361 
 
 ciples.^^  Althougli  lie  speaks  of  these  writings  as 
 the  Gosjjel,'^^  yet  he  plainly  indicates  two  of  the  Evan- 
 gelists, (St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke),  when  he  states, 
 that  those  writers  assume  too  much,  who  trace  the 
 lineal  descent  of  Jesus,  the  one  genealogically  to  the 
 first  man,  the  other,  to  the  Jewish  kings.  ^^ 
 
 As  Celsus  refers,  in  one  part  of  his  work,  to 
 Christ  being  asked  in  the  temple,^*'  by  the  Jews  for 
 a  sign  to  prove  His  divine  Sonship;  and  in  another 
 part,  to  the  fact  of  His  showing  His  wounds  in  His 
 side  and  hands  after  His  Resurrection;^^  and  also 
 alludes  to  the  word,  being  declared  in  the  Gospel  to 
 be  the  Son  of  God;^^  we  have  a  threefold  proof  that 
 he  was  acquainted  with  the  Gospel  of  St.  John. 
 
 That  Celsus  was  also  in  possession  of  the  remain- 
 ing Gospel  of  St.  Mark,  is  placed  beyond  all  doubt, 
 by  his  urging  it  as  a  point  of  disagreement  between 
 the  writers  of  the  Gospel,  that,  "some  say  there  were 
 
 -*  Tovs  St  pia&rjTas,  rovg  naru  top  ^Jrjrrovv  dfayayQacpsfai  ntgl 
 tlvtov  ToiavTix.  Celsus  lib.  11.  13.  and  lib.  U.  cajo.  16.  Shortly  after 
 he  adds,  "All  these  have  we  taken  out  of  your  own  Scriptures;  we 
 need  no  other  witnesses,  as  your  own  weapons  are  sufficient  for 
 your  destruction."   Lib.  11.  cap.  74. 
 
 ^''  ^Evayyehov ;  just  as  the  most  ancient  Manuscripts  are  inscribed. 
 
 ^^  ^Anrjv&aSrjG'&ai  rovg  yanixXoyrioarteg  dnh  tnv  TTQonov  q>vv- 
 rog  y.izl  ralv  h'  ^Invd<ti'-')tg  fiumXfcov  tov  ^Ir^aovv.  ymI  ....  on  ovx 
 av  rj  rov  removog  yvvrj  rj]lixovrov  ytvovg  zvy)^inovGix  rjvoti.  Cel- 
 sus lib.  n.  c.  32. 
 
 "  'Er  Tcp  kQM.    cfi-.  John  H.  18. 
 
 ^^  Kai  rd  rrr^jiif-ia  Tfjg  xoXaatojg  tSfi^ev  n  ^fi]GOvc,  xal  tag  i^t- 
 {jag  cog  rjaav  neneQOvr^^tfivai.  Celsus  lib.  II.  cap.  59.  with  John  XX.  27. 
 
 ^^  After  stating  that  Xoyor  nrta  vior  rov  x^i-ov,  Celsus  makes 
 the  Jew  whom  he  introduces,  blasphemously  object,  that  "it  was  an 
 impure  and  unholy  koyog,  who  was  abused  and  executed." 
 
362  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  il. 
 
 two  angels,  and  some,  there  was  only  one  angel  at 
 the  sepulchre  of  Christ."  ^^  To  justify  this  expression, 
 there  must  have  been  at  least  two  writers  on  each 
 side,  and  this  accords  with  the  four  Evangelists.^^ 
 
 Without  further  examining  the  allusions  of  Celsus 
 to  Apostolic  writings,  ^  ^  Ave  hasten  to  notice,  what  this 
 bitter  and  subtle  enemy  of  Christianity  neglected  to 
 do.  Celsus  assaulted  Christ  and  Christianity,  Chris- 
 tians and  their  Holy  Scriptures  with  an  extraordinary 
 skill  and  virulence,  but  in  all  his  attacks  we  seek  in 
 vain  for  any  charge  against  the  integrity  of  the  Holy 
 Scriptures.  He  ridicules  the  Christians,  and  nothing 
 apparently  would  have  given  him  greater  satisfaction 
 than  to  prove  to  the  world,  that  from  some  motive 
 or  other  they  had  corrupted  their  sacred  books.  His 
 silence  therefore  must  be  considered  the  most  con- 
 vincing j^roof  that  up  to  that  period,  no  alteration 
 had  been  affected  .in  the  sacred  text. 
 
 Scarcely  less  important  is  the  testimony  of  the 
 Christian  heretics^*  of  the  first  two  centuries,  both 
 as  to  the  early  existence  of  the  sacred  books  of  the 
 New  Testament,  and  to  their  being  preserved  in  their 
 integrity  during  that  period.     In  the  fragments  pre- 
 
 ^^  Kal  [iiep  mi  nfjos  rov  dvrov  rovde  racpov  iXOeTv  ayysXov,  6i 
 dl  8vo  rovg  dnoxQtrOfievovg  talg  yvvai^lv,  on  dnart;.  Celsus  lib.  V. 
 cap.  52. 
 
 ^^  Matthew  and  Mark  speak  of  one  angel ;  Luke  and  John 
 of  two. 
 
 ^^  Quotations  of  the  Epistles  of  Paul  are  seen  Celsus  lib.  V. 
 cap.  64.  lib.  YI.  cap.  12.  lib.  VUl.  cap.  24. 
 
 ^*  Tatian ,  Julius  Cassian,  Theodotus;  anonymous  heretics  men- 
 tioned by  Tertullian  and  Origen  ;  Marcion ,  Ptolemaeus ,  Ileraclion, 
 Valentinus  and  his  school,  Basilides  and  Isidorus.    Hug  Vol.  I.  p.  38. 
 
CHAP.  II]  CATALOGUES  OF  CANONICAL  BOOKS.  363 
 
 served  of  these  heterodox  teachers,  we  have  numerous 
 quotations  from  every  book  of  the  New  Testament 
 with  the  exception  of  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  Titus. 
 Although  some  of  these  heretics  altered  or  omitted 
 both  books  and  passages  in  their  own  Manuscripts, 
 yet  we  recognise  portions  from  the  New  Testament 
 Scriptures,  in  most  of  the  quotations  which  they  made 
 to  support  their  own  particular  views. 
 
 4.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  show,  how  soon  the 
 early  Churches  interchanged  and  collected  the  various 
 books  of  the  New  Testament,  but  it  would  appear, 
 that  it  was  fairly  commenced  in  the  lifetime  of  the 
 Apostles.  ^^  Some  of  the  Apostolic  writings,  specially 
 those  addressed  to  jyrivate  individuals,  were  naturally 
 slower  than  others  in  becoming  known  and  circu- 
 lated ;  ^  ^  yet  they  too  ere  long  were  read  in  the  Churches, 
 and  thus  escaped  being  placed  among  the  unknown 
 or  apocryphal  books.  ^^     As  however  Epistles  of  the 
 
 *5  It  was  requested  by  St.  Paul  Col.  III.  16.  thatEpisOes  should 
 be  exchanged.  That  the  Epistle  to  the  Laodiceans  here  mentioned 
 was  that  to  the  Ephesians  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  tv  E(fiea(o  was 
 not  originally  in  the  text  Ephes.  I.  1.  Marcion  altered  it  to  "ad 
 Laoclicenos".  The  idea  of  Archbishop  Usher  seems  to  be  the  most 
 natural ,  and  agrees  best  with  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Epistle ,  viz. 
 that  it  was  an  encych'cal  A\Titing  addressed  to  various  Churches. 
 That  St.  Paul's  Epistles  were  at  least  partly  collected  when  St.  Peter 
 wrote  his  second  Epistle  would  appear  fi'om  the  expression  h  na- 
 amg  raig  imaro'kais.    2  Pet.  in.  16. 
 
 ^^  Addressed  to  Timothy >  Philemon,  Titus,  and  the  2^  and  3<i 
 Epistle  of  St.  John. 
 
 "  The  word  an6y.Qvq>ov,  liber  ubaconditus ,  as  Augustine  has  it, 
 was  taken  from  the  Jews,  who  called  those  writings  a"'213>;  not 
 being  put  with  the  sacred  books  in  the  holy  chests ,  but  separately 
 in  secret  places;  a  manuscript  having  4  mistakes  in  one  leaf,  was 
 hid.    Justin,  Dialog,  c.  TrjT)h.  translates  with  «qp«>fS  notthi  in  op- 
 
364  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  If. 
 
 Apostolic  Fathers  were  sometimes  read  in  tlie  Churches, 
 it  became  necessary  to  set  forth  catalogues  of  those 
 Scriptures  which  were  to  be  considered  canonical. 
 The  first  of  these  is  found  in  the  Homilies  of  Origen 
 upon  the  book  of  Joshua,  where  he  gives  an  allego- 
 rical exposition  of  the  seven  trumpets  of  rams'  horns." 
 The  first,  he  saith,  who  blew  the  trimipet,  was  Mat- 
 thew, then  Mark,  Luke  and  John  among  the  Evan- 
 gelists; Peter  in  two  Epistles,  then  James  and  Jude. 
 John  resumed  the  trumpet-call  in  his  Epistles  and 
 the  Apocalypse,  and  Luke  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
 tles. But  Paul,  the  last,  threw  every  thing  down 
 before  him  with  the  twice  seven-fold  sound  of  his 
 Epistles." 
 
 Eusebius  in  his  Church  History,  classifies  the 
 entire  body  of  the  sacred  literature  of  the  Christians 
 into  three  divisions ;^^  i\\e  first  of  which,  consisted  of 
 books  which  were  universally  acknowledged  as  divine, 
 comprising  the  four  Gospels,  the  Acts,  the  Epistles 
 of  St.  Paul,  the  first  Epistle  of  St.  John,  the  first 
 Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  book  of  Revelation.  The 
 second  division,^''  embracing  the  Epistle  of  St.  James, 
 that  of  St.  Jude,  the  second  of  St.  Peter,  and  the 
 
 position  to  this ,  Origen  uses  the  expression  ^lavEQa  (iii'iXi'a ;  Epist. 
 ad  Afric.  cap.  9.  The  first  who  uses  «.70K(>yqp05  is  Clemens  Alex, 
 lib.  UI.  cap.  4. 
 
 *®  Euseb.  Eccles.  Hist.  lib.  III.  cap.  25.  also  explanatory  lib.  III. 
 cap.  3.  and  cap.  24.  The  3  divisions  were  OfioXoyovfisvot ,  dni- 
 Xf.yov^nvot  and  vo&a. 
 
 ^®  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  nuntXco^  loi^a;  and  held 
 TTiXQa  nXtvTToiq  TcJr  fcVuXfa/mjT/Ku)/';  yi'(x)ijtj.ia  noXXol^,  Lib.  111. 
 cap.  25.  ^tra  r(5r  XoindSv  fv  nXtiaTiag  iKv.Xtauus  nufju  noXXotg 
 6t8ri!.ioattvixev(x.    III.  31. 
 
CHAP.  II.]  ORIGIN  OF  VARIOUS  READINGS.  365 
 
 second  and  third  of  St.  John,  was  received  bv  manv, 
 but  had  been  doubted  by  some.  This  uncertainty- 
 was  removed  by  the  Council  of  Nice,  when  they  were 
 received  into  the  Canon.  The  third  and  last  division 
 of  the  Christian  books  by  Eusebius,  comprised  wri- 
 tings of  an  apocryphal  character,  such  as  "the  Acts 
 of  Paul,"  the  ''Shepherd  of  Hermes,"  the  "Epistle  of 
 Barnabas,"  the  "Apocalypse  of  Peter"  and  the  "teach- 
 ings of  the  Apostles." *°  With  this  third  class  of 
 books  we  must  not  confound  the  many  spurious 
 Gospels,  of  Peter,  Thomas  and  Matthias,  or  the 
 Acts  of  Andrew,  John  and  other  Apostles;  together 
 with  many  other  fabulous  and  heretical  productions, 
 which  Eusebius  pronounced  to  be  godless  and  pre- 
 sumptuous, and  unworthy  to  be  classed  among  his 
 third  and  last  division.** 
 
 5.  Thus  we  see,  that  no  small  care  was  bestowed 
 upon  the  collection  and  preservation  of  the  books  of 
 the  New  Testament.  They  were  religiously  set  apart, 
 and  no  other  book  could  gain  admission  among  their 
 number,  under  whatever  name  it  might  claim  to  be 
 admitted.*'^  In  proportion  to  the  fear  of  the  Catholic 
 
 *"  'Ef  xoTq  vo&oig  y.ararerdi&oi  y.al  tcSv  JJavXov  nQa^icov  tj 
 yQuqiTj ,  6,  re  Xtyofxafos  noifxrjv,  K«t  ii  unoy.dXvxpig  Tltrfjov.  Kal 
 TTfJOi  TovTOt^  i)  Cff-oo/iitri;  Ba^mfia  tniGroli] ,  ya]  kSp  ^AuoatoXmv, 
 ui  Xf-yojiifiai  6i6(Cj(ixi.    Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  III.  cap.  25. 
 
 *'  O&tv  oi>  d'  tv  rodoi;  dtrd  aaraTaxjeov ,  dkX'  ojc  drona 
 ndpTt]  xal  dvaat^i;  nuQaitrjTtor.   Euseb.  Hist.  Ecc.  lib.  III.  25. 
 
 **  "Sicut  olim  in  populo  Judaeorum  multi  prophetiam  pollicc- 
 bantur,  ot  quidein  ciant  pseudoprophetae  . . .:  ita  et  in  N.  Testanicnto 
 multi  conati  sunt  scribcre  Evaiigelia,  sed  non  omnes  recepti.  Et  ut 
 sciatis  non  solum  quatuor  Evangclia,  sed  plurima  esse  conscripta.  ex 
 cjuibus  haec,  quae  habemus,  electa  sunt  et  tradita  ecclemis ,  ex  ipso 
 
366  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [PART  ir. 
 
 Church,  lest  a  book  should  be  received  upon  insuffi- 
 cient authority,  was  the  zeal  to  preserve  those  which 
 were  admitted  in  their  original  integrity.  Yet  in  spite 
 of  the  greatest  Matchfulness,  some  discrepancies  crept 
 into  the  sacred  text;  partly  through  the  inattention 
 of  the  copyists,  partly  from  other  causes,  which  cannot 
 be  left  unnoticed. 
 
 Unintentional  "Variae  lectiones"  not  unfrequently 
 arose  here,  as  in  the  Old  Testament,  from  the  copy- 
 ists sometimes  "seeing  amiss,"  and  so  exchanging 
 letters,  transposing  words  and  sentences,  and  making 
 repetitions;*'^  from  hearing  air?  m  they  were  also  liable 
 to  commit  numerous  mistakes.**  To  these  may  be 
 added,  faults  arising  from  want  of  memory,  such  as, 
 misplacing  words,  and  exchanging  synonymous  ex- 
 pressions;*" faults  arising  from  want  of  knowledge, 
 
 prooemio  Lucae  . . .  cognoscamus  .  . .  Hoc ,  quod  ait,  conati  sunt,  la- 
 tentem  habet  accusationem  eorum,  qui  absque  gratia  Spiritus  S.  ad- 
 scribenda  Evangelia  prosllierunt.  ^latthacus  quippe  et  ilarcus  et 
 Johannes  et  Lucas  non  sunt  conati  scribere,  sed  Spiritu  S.  pleni  scrip- 
 serunt  Evangelia  .  .  .  Ecclesia  (h«t«  to''  ty.yXtGinoTiy.or  y.arova 
 Euseb.  VI.  25)  quatuov  habet  Evangelia,  haereses  plurima;  e  quibus 
 quoddam  scribitur  secundum  Aegyptios,  aliud  juxta  duodecini  Apo- 
 stolos  .  .  .  Sed  in  his  omnibus  nikll  olivd  proboiiofs,  ^cW  quod  Eccle- 
 sia, i.e.  quatuor  tantura  Evangelia  recipicnda."  Origen.  Horail.  I. 
 in  Luc.  ni.  933. 
 
 *■''  Exchanging  Utters:  Mark.  V.  14.  icrt'yyeiXar  for  dTTryyeiXni. 
 Act.  XXVII.  6.  drt^((iaatr  for  fif-^i,iu(rt-v.  Rom.  XII.  13.  luitiag  for 
 ^yttag.  Iranspos/ng :  Rom.  I.  13.  Hix^jTror  Tiva  for  ri>d  mxQnov. 
 Repetition:  1  Thess.  IJ.  7.  i^ytf/jOrjuv  rijTHOi  for  tyti'i].  r'jnioi. 
 
 **  Thus  Rom.  11.  17:  idt  for  a  Si.  1  John  IV.  2:  yito'jay.ttat  for 
 yii>oi(jy.f.Tt.   Matt.  XXVII.  60:  Kinv  for  xaiixS. 
 
 *•'  John  XVI.  22.  vvv  (xh  Xvnryv  for  kvnrjv  ^h  vvr.  Rev.  XVU. 
 17.  tu  (>//,i<«T«  for  01  koyoi. 
 
CHAP.  II.]  ORIGIN  OF  VARIOUS  READINGS.  367 
 
 where  abbreviations  were  mistaken  for  single  letters, 
 or  words  were  wrongly  divided.*^ 
 
 More  or  less  intentional ,  tliongh  certainly  not 
 malicious,  were  other  mistakes  committed  in  the  act 
 of  transcribing  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
 It  was  the  natural  w^sh  of  the  early  Christian  tran- 
 scriber and  reader  to  render  the  text  of  the  sacred 
 books  as  plain  as  possible,  and  with  a  view  to  accom- 
 plish this  object,  they  sometimes  wrote  a  more  in- 
 telligible word  over,  or  on  the  margin  of  an  unusual 
 expression.  A  Ch^eek  reader  for  instance,  considering 
 that  the  term  used  for  tribute-money  was  not  ge- 
 nerally intelligible,  placed  a  more  purely  Greek  word 
 by  its  side,  and  a  subsequent  copyist  introduced  the 
 word  from  the  margin  into  the  text,  and  thus  caused 
 a  different  reading.*'  Another  took  the  events  re- 
 corded Luke  xn.  38.  as  happening  during  the  day- 
 time;*'* to  prevent  misunderstanding,  he  followed  the 
 computation  of  the  Romans,  who  divided  the  day  as 
 well  as  the  night  into  four  watches,  and  instead  of 
 "the  third  watch"  added  by  way  of  explanation,  "the 
 evening  watch;"  a  mistake,  afterwards  copied  into 
 the  text  of  several  Manuscripts.  Again,  another  reader 
 conceiving  that  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  Matt.  XXVI. 
 
 "    We  refer  only  to   1  Tim.  IH.  16.  where  QS  was  taken  OS 
 
 or  the  reverse.  Mistakes  such  as  (TvnTriaxoTTOtg  for  avv  iniay.O'oig 
 Phil.  I.  1.  will  easily  be  accounted  for,  when  we  remember  that  the 
 original  MSS.  were  not  divided  into  words  or  sentences, 
 
 *^  Krjraog  was  superseded  by  iniMqaXairyp.  Mark.  XII.  14. 
 In  Pet.  II.  20.  instead  of  y.oXa(fit^6/.itiot,  some  Codd.  read  nohx^oueroi. 
 
 *®  The  third  Hebrew  watch  T^tV/;  qvXaxt)  answers  to  the  Greek 
 fitaofvy.rior ;  the  day  being-  divided  in  quatv.or  e.ccnbias;  the  third 
 of  these  day-watches  was  therefore  the  iont(jhri  (fvXuKi'j. 
 
368  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  [part  ii. 
 
 15.  seemed  to  require  explanation  —  being  intelligible 
 only  to  the  Jews  —  ventured  to  subjoin  the  equivalent 
 Greek  sum  of  "thirty  staters,"  in  the  margin,  which 
 was  eventually  substituted  in  the  text  of  some  JNIanu- 
 scripts  for  "thirty  pieces  of  silver."  Another  critical 
 reader  of  Mark  X.  12.  not  finding  it  consonant  to  the 
 taste  and  manners  of  the  Greeks,  that  a  woman  should 
 "put  cnvay  her  hnshand,''  their  laws  endowing  the 
 man  only  with  power,  to  put  a  way  his  wife,  the  Cam- 
 bridge IManuscript  turns  the  sentence  thus,  "if  a 
 woman  go  forth  from  her  husband,  and  be  married 
 to  another  etc."*^  The  following  expression,  "to  catch 
 something  out  of  His  mouth,"  was  considered  too 
 Hebraically  idiomatic  for  the  Greeks,  and  was  there- 
 fore rendered  in  this  form,  "seeking  occasion  to  find 
 something  to  accuse  hini."^°  The  many  other  Hebra- 
 isms, which  constitute  so  striking  a  peculiarity  of  the 
 New  Testament,  did  not  meet  with  greater  indulgence 
 from  the  fastidious  Greek  orammarians.  The  harsh 
 inflexions  and  foreign  combinations  of  the  various 
 parts  of  speech  could  not  fail  to  create  a  desire  for 
 correction,  in  a  people  who  thought  so  much  of  purity 
 of  style  and  diction;  hence,  the  purely  Hebraic  ex- 
 pression, "and  he  added  to  send  another  servant"** 
 
 *■'  rvvi]  iur  «|«A^r]  dno  rov  dvdgog  xal  yajM]ari,  thus  accom- 
 niodatiiig-  it  to  Oiccian  ]a\v,  which  only  gives  man  the  power  of 
 unoXvuv  and  (Inontfintii'. 
 
 A,ipovi;eg  irrjQi-vaat  ri  tK  rov  orofiaTog  iwrov  ira,  «tA.  be- 
 comes: ^ritovrng  ilcfio^Ji^lv  tuu  hi^tiy  dvzov  tV«  iv(jc6ai  xarayo- 
 {Ji\(jiu.   Lu.  XI.  54. 
 
 '"*  Ka\  7T{)oat\}fTO  TrHnf'm-  nrJb  flSl"  is  rendered  Lu.  XX.  11. 
 at  once  knf-fnprr.  INIavk.  II.  J  5.  /■'/•  no  y.aiay.f-AaOai  (Jito/' is  made, 
 r.aruy.nj.nr<X}r  uvroor,     See  also  John  XI.  33.  where  we  read  in 
 
CHAP.  II.]  ORIGIN  OF  VARIOUS  READINGS.  369 
 
 was  more  concisely  rendered  by,  "and  he  sent  another 
 servant." 
 
 The  rough  Hebreiv  construction  Lu.  vn.  1.  "now 
 when  He  had  ended  all  his  sayings  in  the  audience 
 of  the  people,"  was  rendered  by  the  more  smooth  and 
 classical  Greek,  "when  He  had  finished  speaking  all 
 these  words.  He  came  to  Capernaum." ^^  Other  dis- 
 crepancies arose,  from  the  desire  of  making  the  text 
 more  clear  and  perspicuous ;  by  adjoining  parallel 
 passages  from  the  other  Evangelists,  merely  for  the 
 purpose  of  illustration,  and  these  notes  gradually  in- 
 truded into  the  text  itself.  To  give  only  one  striking 
 instance,  —  Mark.  Xin.  2.  Our  Lord  speaking  of  the 
 destruction  of  Jerusalem  says,  "there  shall  not  be 
 left  one  stone  upon  another,"  to  which  the  Cambridge 
 addition  adds,  "I  will  build  it  again  in  three  days 
 without  hands;"  absurdly  interpolating  these  words 
 fi'om  St.  John  n.  19.  The  Z^m^essarons  of  the  Gospels 
 also  contributed  their  share  tothe  variety  of  readings; 
 one  of  these  was  made  by  the  disciple  of  Justin  Mar- 
 tyr, the  heretical  Tatian.  The  Cambridge  Manuscript 
 e.  g.  must  have  borrowed  from  one  of  them,  the 
 words  in  Matt.  XXVn.  28;  "And  they  put  on  Him  a 
 purple  garment  and  clothed  Him  with  a  scarlet  robe;" 
 clearly  a  combination  from  the  other  Evangelists.'^ 
 
 Cod.  D ,  iragd^&Ti  t(3  nvevfiati  (ag  tn^Qifxa^i-iivoq ,    instead   of  the 
 textv^  viceptus. 
 
 ^^  ^Etth  81  in):riQ(aae  navta  xa  orji^iara  (xvtov  eig  rag  dy.oag 
 xov  Xaov  iiofjXd-tp  iigKanefj.  is  turned  into  the  easy  Greek  sentence: 
 0T6  irtkKJtf  narra  ia  ^rjjuaTu  XaXcoT ,  rjX&tv  ng  Kaqi-y,  k.  r.  A. 
 Mark.  XIV.  25.  they  put:  ovxkti  6v  firj  ttioj  instead  of  6v  ixt]  tiqo- 
 
 OOCO  TllHV. 
 
 ^'  'Exduffai'Tes  dvrov,  Ihutiov  noQ<f,vQovv  nal  x^ccfitSa  KOKXiyrjv 
 
 Y 
 
370  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  ll. 
 
 Lastly,  we  find  omissio^)S  where  sAiionymoiis  expres- 
 sions occur;  these  being  defects  of  composition  which 
 no  polished  Greek  could  permit,  he  would  naturally 
 eject,  what  in  his  opinion  would  be  tautological: 
 thus  the  svnonymes  in  Mark.  vill.  15  —  "  Take  heed, 
 beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  etc.  etc."  being 
 looked  upon  in  this  light,  the  former  one  was  omitted. 
 In  the  passage  Mark.  XI.  28.  "by  what  authority 
 doest  thou  these  things,  and  who  gave  thee  this  au- 
 thority to  do  these  things?"  the  second  clause  of  the 
 interrogation  was  considered  redundant,  and  therefore 
 struck  out.  For  the  same  reason  in  Lu.  XXI.  15. — 
 "your  adversaries  shall  not  be  able  to  gainsay  or  re- 
 sist," the  last  verb  was  omitted.'* 
 
 6.  Among  these  "variae  lectiones"  justly  com- 
 plained of  by  Clemens  Alexandrinus ,  Origen  and 
 others,^'  there  is  not  o??^  instance  of  wilful  corruption, 
 properly  so  called.  Nor  is  it  possible  for  Mohammed 
 or  any  other  enemy  of  Christianity  to  point  out  the 
 malicious  suppression ,  addition  or  perversion  of  any 
 
 7if.(Jitdiiy.av  Ca'tM.  Now  Mark  XV.  17.  had  a  noQi)vija'v;  Luke 
 XXni.  11.  has  the  iad-tja;  John  XIX.  2.  has  the  nukiov  no^- 
 (fivfjovr;  the  itdvovaiv  Mark  had  to  give;  and  Mathew  furnished 
 the  x^ax/^ivdit  KOKy.ur,v. 
 
 ^*   Mark  XIT.  23.  instead  of  Iv  tt]  avaarami,  otav  draatmmv 
 several  Codd.  simply:  f'r  TJJ  avixarami. 
 
 on  dvTol  tijonat  ttXtioi-  Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  I.  IV.  cap.  6.  p.  490. 
 
 Again:  Nvrl  di-  f<t]Xoi'6n  noXXi;  ye'yonv  tj  rarf  dmyimcficof  ("^taqofja, 
 iitf.  dno  (ta^vfit't<g  riiojr  y{)a(fh(ov ,  HTt  dno  j6Xia]Q  nroJr  fioydi;- 
 Qds  7^s  dto(i\}(j)(7tb}g  Tidv  /(/((Cfo/iif.rncar,  n'rt  y.al  duo  Tcor  nc  i-cxv- 
 ToTg  hny.ovita  fv  Tjj  dio{)&amf-i  TTfJOdTi-denojr  i]  dtfai^ovnoor. 
 Origen.  Coram,  in  Matt,  XV,  Vol.  III.  pag.  671.  ed.  Ruaei. 
 
CHAP.  II.]        AN  INSTANCE  OF  WILFUL  CORRUPTION.  37 1 
 
 book  or  passage  in  the  New  Testament,  It  may  not 
 however  be  altogether  inappropriate,  to  bring  forward 
 an  example  of  such  corruption,  as  might  well  justify 
 the  accusation  of  Mohammed,  had  it  been  perpetrated 
 by  the  Chm'ch,  instead  of  by  a  heretic,  cast  off  from 
 her  communion. — Marcion,  a  heretic  of  the  second 
 century,  made  it  his  object  to  destroy  what  he  con- 
 sidered the  Judaism  of  Christianity;  portions  of  his 
 work,  which  he  called  the  Antitheses,  fi'om  its  giving 
 his  view  of  the  antithetical  character  of  the  New  Tes- 
 tament, are  handed  down  to  us  bv  Theodoretus.^^ 
 He  even  went  so  far  as  to  severally  reject  the  Apos- 
 tles, whom  he  considered  imbued  with  Jewish  preju- 
 dices ,  St.  Paul ,  only  excepted ,  whose  Epistles  he 
 partially  admitted.  Of  the  Gospels,  he  considered 
 St.  Luke's  the  least  to  be  suspected  of  Jewish  ten- 
 dencies ,  he  being  the  friend  and  companion  of  St. 
 Paul;  nevertheless  he  altered  passages  and  even  ex- 
 punged entire  portions  from  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  and 
 still  more  from  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  which  to  his 
 mind  were  objectionable.  ^ '  The  Epistles  to  the  He- 
 brews, Titus  and   Timothy  he  utterly  rejected;  and 
 
 5^    Theodoret.  liaeret.  fab.  lib.  I.  cap.  24. 
 
 ''''  Marcion's  followers  ruaintained  that  the  words  of  Christ 
 Matt.  V.  17.  must  be  reversed:  ovx  ovtwq  dt  htti-v  6  Xgiarog,  Xtyec 
 yccQ,  ovx  i^kdov  nXi  (jojaai  tor  tdinov,  dXXic  r.ataXvcrai.  Dialog. 
 (Pseudo-Origenis)  contra  Marcionitas  Sec.  II.  pag.  63.  How  Marcion 
 dealt  with  St.  Luke's  Gospel  may  be  gathered  from  Epiphan.  adv. 
 haeres.  XLII.  §.  11.  12.  A  collation  of  the  above,  vide,  Se^rbud^  bet 
 Ijiftorifd^-fritifdicn  Ginlcitiiiig  in  tie  fanonifc(ien  ffiiidicr  bes  D'ieiieit  Tcfta; 
 tneiitce  innx  Dr.  3)i.  ?.  u  SBette.  4.  Sluft.  pag.  106—112.  His  alterations 
 of  the  Epistles  were  exposed  e.  g.  Iren.  adv.  haer.  I.  27.  I.  Tertull. 
 adv.  Marc.  I.  V.  Epiph.  adv.  haer.  XLU.  §.  9.  Hieron.  comm.-  in 
 Epist.  ad  Galat. 
 
 T* 
 
372  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [PART  ll. 
 
 this  wholesale  alteration  or  rejection  was  justified  by 
 theMarcionites,  who  considered  this  sacrilegious  abuse 
 in  the  light  of  extending  to  the  New  Testament  "'the 
 benefit  of  medical  treatment."  ^^ 
 
 The  grounds  upon  which  Marcion  endeavoured 
 to  introduce  his  7iew  Gospel,  were  in  some  respects 
 similiar  to  those,  upon  which  Mohammed  ushered 
 his  Koran  into  the  world:  both  pretended  that  the 
 originals  had  been  corrupted,  but  with  this  difference; 
 ,  that  Marcion  fixes  his  accusation  upon  the  Apostles 
 in  particular,  instead  of  the  Christians  in  general.^® 
 In  thus  throwing  the  act  of  corruption  upon  the  au- 
 thors of  the  books, ^^  he  cuts  off  all  possibility  of 
 showing  to  the  world,  by  vrhat  means  he  himself  ob- 
 tained the  original  in  its  integrity.  Hence  Tertullian 
 in  his  argument  with  him,  asks,  whether  he  does  not 
 see,  that  by  his  charge  he  reproached  Christ  Himself, 
 for  choosing  such  untrustworthy  and  faithless  Apos- 
 tles, ^  *  and  requests  to  be  informed,  fi-oni  what  source 
 he  obtained  the  true  Gospel;  adding,  that  from  the 
 time  of  Tiberius  to  that  of  Antoninus ,  Marcion  was 
 the  first  who  dared  to   take  upon  himself  the  office 
 
 *®    Tertull.  lib.  I.  adv.  Marcion  cap.  XX. 
 
 '^^  In  lii.s  "Antitheses"  ho  starts  from  the  charge  of  St.  Paul 
 against  .St.  I'etor  Galat.  II.  9 — 13.  and  .suspects  the  A])ostles  in 
 general  of  Judaising  |)rincipU'S,  which  impelled  them  to  corrupt  the 
 Gospels,  "rraovaricationis  et  simulatiunis  su.spectos  qitcritur  usque 
 ad  depravationem  Evangelii."    Tertull.  lib.  IV.  cap.  3. 
 
 ''*'  "Senietipsum  esse  veraciorem ,  quam  .sunt  hi  qui  Evangelium 
 tradiderunt  Apostoli.  suasit  (Marcion)  discipulis  suis,  non  Evangelium, 
 sed  particulani  Evangelium  tradens  eis."  Iren.  adv.  haeres.  lib.  I. 
 cap.  27. 
 
 «'    Tertull.  lib.  IV.  cap.  3. 
 
CHAP.  II.]     HOW  DEALT  WITH  BY  THE  CHURCH.       373 
 
 of  emending  the  Gospels,  nor  indeed  did  they  require 
 emendation.  ^  ^ 
 
 Here  then,  we  have  an  instance  of  the  New  Tes- 
 tament Scriptures  having  suffered  corruption;  not 
 however  fi-om  the  parties,  accused  by  Mohammed, 
 but  fi'om  an  adversarv  of  the  Church ,  who  at  that 
 perilous  hour,  when  the  truth  was  so  fiercely  attacked, 
 wanted  not  champions,  earnestly  to  "'contend  for  the 
 faith."  In  writings  which  are  preserved  to  this  hour, 
 they  pointed  out  what  Scriptures  had  been  altered, 
 which  portions  omitted,  and  what  passages  were  cor- 
 rupted. This  is  what  we  might  justly  have  looked  for, 
 from  Mohammed :  with  his  charge,  we  had  a  right  to 
 expect  that  kind  of  proof,  which  the  Fathers  brought 
 forth  conjointly  M'ith  their  charge  against  Marcion. 
 But  Mohammed  failed  to  prove  even  the  existence 
 of  those  passages  concerning  himself,  which  he  ac- 
 cuses the  Christians  of  having  suppi*essed;  neither  has 
 he  pointed  out  in  what  the  alterations  consist,  nor 
 where  they  are  to  be  found. 
 
 7.  We  have  now  noticed  the  early  existence  of 
 the  books  in  question ;  and  have  repelled  the  charge 
 of  Mohammed  from  evidence,  gathered  out  of  the 
 writings  oi  enemies  d^^s  well  as  o{  friends,  during  the 
 
 '^  "Emendator  sane  Evangelii  a  Tiberianis  usque  Antonina  tem- 
 pera eversi  Marcion  solus  et  jjrimus  obvenit ,  expectatus  tamdiu  a 
 Christo  poenitente  jam,  quod  Apostolos  praemisisse  properasset  sine 
 praesidio  Marcionis ;  nisi  quod  humanae  temeritatis ,  non  dirinae 
 auctoritatis  negotium   est  haeresis ,   quae  sic  semper  emendat  Evan- 
 
 gelia  dum  A-itiat itaque  dura  emendat ,   utrumque  confirmat ,   et 
 
 nostrum  alterius,  id  emendans  quod  invenit :  et  id  posterius ,  quod  de 
 nostri  emendatione  constituens  suum  fecit."  Tertull.  lib.  PS  .  adv. 
 Marcion  cap,  3 — 4. 
 
374  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  ii. 
 
 first  two  centuries.  We  have  examined  the  most  an- 
 cient cataloc/ues  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures, 
 and  have  found  in  them  the  veiy  same  books,  which 
 existed  in  the  days  of  Mohammed ,  and  which  are  in 
 our  possession  at  this  day.  Again,  we  have  seen  that 
 the  different  readings,  which  had  here  and  there  crept 
 into  Manuscripts,  could  not  possibly  be,  what  Moham- 
 med referred  to  in  his  charge  against  the  Christians : 
 for  the  icilfid  corruptions  which  were  perpetrated 
 by  certain  heretics,  were  detected  and  exposed  by  the 
 Fathers  of  the  Church ,  in  a  manner  worthy  of  Mo- 
 hammed's imitation,  and  lono-  before  he  uttered  his 
 charge.  **  ^ 
 
 For  the  further  establishment  of  the  integrity  of 
 the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  we  now  appeal  to  those 
 venerable  Manuscripts,  written  prior  to  the  rise  of 
 Islamism.  Their  respective  ages  are  indicated,  by  the 
 changes  which  were  effected  fi'om  time  to  time  in 
 the  shape  of  the  letters,  the  style  of  the  handwriting, 
 the  materials  on  which  they  were  executed,  as  well 
 as  other  particulars  connected  with  their  internal  ar- 
 rangement. ^*  Auxihary  helps  for  the  discovery  of  the 
 
 ''^  "Etsi  multa  depravere  conati  sint  haeretici,"  scribit  Bollar- 
 minus  lib.  11.  de  Verbo  Dei  cap.  7,  "tamen  nunquam  defucrunt  ca- 
 tholici,  qui  eorum  corruptelas  detexerint,  et  non  pcrmiserint  libros 
 sacros  corrumpi."  Plurima  ex  toto  nov.  Test,  abstulit,  mutavitque 
 Marcion,  sod  ilia  omnia  fere  notarit  Epiphaiiius  haercs.  42.  et  in 
 postris  codicibus  recte  habeutur."  Gerhard.  Loci  Thcolog.  Vol.  II. 
 pag.  278. 
 
 "  "'^K  aitcftcu  >(Saiibf*riftcii  ftnb  init  Uiu-iall"*rift  iicfrfirifkn  ,  U'cld^c 
 jcbpci)  nid)t  imnicr  ein  {xdmt^  3ei*cn  t'ce  JUtcvf?  ift,  ^ic  iuno;cren  (innn  10. 
 3al)r().  nil)  mit  (MirftiM'clnift.  l'eicf;t  faun  mauteii  dltcvcn  aufrec^teu,  vicr-- 
 cctigen,  nmben  gd^riftcf^arnftet  torn  patent  gebniftten  unterfcf)eiben :  bcr 
 geuBtc  bivlomattfdfie  93licf  irei^  nc*  feinctc  Untevfd^iebe  ju  finbcn.     2:er 
 
 f 
 
CHAP,  n.]  PROVED  BY  ANCIENT  MANUSCRIPTS.  375 
 
 ages  of  Manuscripts  are  aflPorded  by  Church  Alma- 
 nacks, ecclesiastical  registers,  notices  of  the  festivals, 
 marginal  explanatory  notes,  psotscripts,  and  other  ad- 
 ditions, which  were  frequently  appended  to  these  an- 
 cient documents  by  the  calligraphers.  Some  historical 
 hints  may  also  be  gathered,  by  which  to  judge  of  the 
 age  of  the  Alexandrian  Manuscripts.  Strabo  for  in- 
 stance ,  mentions  two  cities ,  Alexandria  and  Rome, 
 in  which  the  making  and  selhng  of  Manuscripts  was 
 a  regular  branch  of  trade.  ^^  Some  celebrated  names 
 are  met  with  among  the  Alexandrian  calligraphers ; 
 one  Philodemus,  who  became  blind  in  the  pursuit  of 
 his  art,  **^  and  another,  Ilierolcas,  who  prosecuted  the 
 tedious  w^ork  of  copying  till  his  ninetieth  year  with 
 unfailing  sight.  ^^  But  as  we  approach  that  period  of 
 decay  which  commenced  wdth  the  conquest  of  Egypt 
 by  the  Saracens,  we  find  the  Greeks  withdrawing 
 themselves  from  this  laborious  means  of  earning  their 
 bread;  and  leaving  calligraphy  to  the  native  Copts,^^ 
 they  became  soldiers  and  taxgatherers,  by  which  they 
 
 SJJaiiflel  ter  <H)ortaln(KtIung  iji  ctn  ftd^erere^  3eict>cii  be^  Sitter^  <A^  bet  bet 
 ?lccentf  unr  fcr  3ntervunfttiMi ,  I'nbem  jfue  audiin  juiu^eren  i^^anbfdniften 
 fcl'tcn,  biefe  in  dltercn  in^rfommt.  Uiifidier  ift  bae  iWcrfinal  bet  Stidjo^ 
 metrie  imb  ber  ^aviteleintficiluitg  cber  bag  %t^^\\  berfeli^en.  3)ie  9Jec^t; 
 fcfirctberei  ld§t  auf  bae  aSatcrlanb  fc[)Iicpen.    be  SBette'g  i'eBrbuc^  pag.  63. 
 
 •^^  Strabo  lib.  XUJ.  p.  419.  Whilst  CWeek  MSS.  were  chiefly 
 made  and  sold  in  Alexandria ,  Latin  ones  were  made  hq  n{)aaiv  in 
 Rome. 
 
 ****  Athol.  Graec.  H.  Grotii  lib.  VI.  epigr.  Juliani  Aegyptii  6.  et  7. 
 Bninck,  analecta  Tom.  II.  pag.  495.  496. 
 
 «'    Epiphanius  Haeres.  LXVH.  §.  3.  pag.  712.  edit.  Colon. 
 
 ^**  Renaudot.  Histor.  Patriarchar.  Alexandrinor.  Benjamin  Patr. 
 XXXVm.  pag.  164.  The  author  procured  an  Arabic  MS.  of  this 
 ■work  from  Egypt. 
 
376  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTA^fENT.  [part  II. 
 
 made  themselves  so  hated  that  A.D.  641.  they  were 
 all  ultimately  driven  out  of  the  country.  The  sale  of 
 Manuscripts  was  at  length  impeded  through  the  Sa- 
 racens having  interrupted  the  connection  with  the 
 Empire  of  Constantinople;  in  addition  to  which  the 
 Copyists  were  deprived  of  the  beautiful  originals, 
 which  were  destroyed  with  the  Alexandrian  Library. 
 But  few  Manuscripts  embrace  the  entire  New 
 Testament;  most  of  them  contain  only  parts,  more 
 frequently  the  Gospels  and  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  many 
 only  the  lessons  and  Gospels  required  to  be  read  in 
 Churches.  Some  give  the  text  with  a  parallel  ver- 
 sion and  explanatory  notes.  The  Codices  themselves, 
 as  regards  their  form,  consist  not  of  rolls  as  the  He- 
 brew Manuscripts ,  but  of,  from  four  to  eight  sheets 
 oi  parchment,  silk,  cotton  or  linen  paper  stitched  to- 
 gether. The  oldest  Manuscript  in  our  posession  is 
 that  preserved  in  the  Vatican  Library  at  Rome,  ^^ 
 consisting  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament;  though 
 of  the  latter,  the  Epistles  to  Timothy,  Titus,  Philemon, 
 the  end  of  the  Epistles  to  the  Hebrews  and  the  Apo- 
 calypse have  perished.  This  Manuscript  is  written 
 on  the  finest  parchment,  in  the  most  simple,  uniform 
 and  beautiful  characters.  All  the  letters  are  placed 
 at  equal  distances,  there  being  no  division  of  words. 
 To  denote  the  beginning  of  a  new  section,  the  space 
 of  the  breadth  of  a  letter,  or  half  a  one,  is  left  vacant. 
 It  has  three  columns  on  each  leaf,  and  is  broader 
 
 «^  Known  as  Codex  B.  or  Vatic.  1209.  The  naming  of  MSS. 
 with  letters ,  probably  commenced  in  some  incidental  way  without 
 any  scientific  definition. 
 
CHAP.  iM         PRO^TD  FROM  ANCIENT  MANUSCRIPTS.  377 
 
 than  long.  The  ink,  having  grown  pale  by  age,  has 
 been  revived  by  a  later  hand,  and  in  some  places 
 words  and  sentences  have  been  re-written  at  the  side 
 of  the  original.  ^°  Whenever  punctuation  occurs,  which 
 is  seldom  the  case,  it  has  been  added  at  a  subsequent 
 period.  These  are  all  marks  of  great  antiquity ;  but 
 there  are  two  pointa,  which  will  enable  us  to  fix 
 its  age  more  definitely.  St.  Basil  born  at  Cesarea 
 A.D.  329.  states,  that  according  to  the  learned  doc- 
 tors of  the  Church  who  lived  before  him ,  the  words 
 "m  Ephesus'  Ephes.  I.  1.  had  been  wanting  in  the 
 ancient  3Imiu scripts ,  and  he  himself  had  seen  them 
 omitted  m  Old  Ma^iu scripts.  The  Vatican  Codex 
 therefore  must  have  been  old  in  his  day,  for  it  is  with- 
 out the  words  in  question,  which  are  only  placed  in 
 the  margin. '  * 
 
 The  second  point  by  which  the  date  of  the  Va- 
 
 ^°  The  Manuscript  has  internal  marks  of  its  having  been  written 
 by  an  Egyptian  Calligrapher.  Instead  of  (JvlXriiprj,  Xr'^pea&e,  Xrjcp'd^- 
 aerai,  dvekrjij'd'T]  we  have  avXki;iitxprj,  Xr/jLixpaaOf' ,  h;jx(fi&r}attai  and 
 uitXr^t.iq&i].  This  peculiar  orthograpliii  is  only  found  in  Graeco- 
 Coptic  monuments.  In  Coptic  manuscripts  we  have  dnoxaXviiypii; 
 instead  of  a.noy.aXv\\}iq.  In  Graeco-Thebaic  fragments  of  St.  John's 
 Gospel  VII.  52.  we  have  drcby.fjidriGav  Htd  iinav.  So  Codex  B.  al- 
 ways writes  iidav ,  tntaav ,  fjX'&ui'  Lu.  IX.  36.  ic6(jayMi>  and  Rom. 
 XVI.  7.  ytyovav. 
 
 ''^   '£r  'Ecftaoo.    He  says:  the  Apostle  called  his  readers  orrag, 
 and  that  be  did  so:  idia^oircog ,  exclusively  or  peculiarly,  adding 
 ovroj  yag  y.al  ol  nyo  7]iud5p  nagadtSojy.aoi ,  y.ai  ijHtlq  iv  rotq  na 
 Xaioi?  t(ai>  ihrtyguqcov  tvQrjy.afJiBV.    Basilius  Editio  princeps  Vened 
 1535.  pag.  127.     St.  Jerome   also  assumes  that  the  words  were  not 
 in  the  text  in  the  original  MSS.   He  says,  some  think  St.  Paul  would 
 denominate  the  readers  ^essentiae  vocabulo ,  ut  ab  eo ,  qui  6.st ,  qui 
 sunt  appellentur •"  but  others  hold,   that  the  Epistle   was  not  ad- 
 dressed "ad  eos  qui  sunt,"  but  " ad  eos  qui  sunt  Epkesi"     Hieron. 
 ad  locum.    Hug  de  antiquitate  cod.  Vatic,  pag.  26. 
 
378  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  n. 
 
 tican  Manuscrijyt  can  be  determined,  is  the  order  in 
 which  the  Epistles  are  placed.'^  The  Epistles  of  St. 
 Paul  being  taken  as  a  whole,  are  divided  into  so  many 
 sections  or  chapters.  Those  to  the  Momans,  Corin- 
 thians, Galatians,  stand  in  the  order  in  which  we  now 
 have  them.  The  last  Epistle  concludes  at  the  fifty- 
 ninth  division;  the  next,  that  to  the ^^>/ies2a«s,  begins 
 with  the  seventieth  instead  of  the  sixtieth  section, 
 the  figures  afterwards  continuing  regularly  through 
 the  Epistles  to  i\\e  Philip pians,  Colo ssian s  Siud  Thes- 
 salonians,  the  last  ending  with  the  ninety-third  divi- 
 sion. We  naturally  in<]uire,  where  are  the  missing 
 sections,  between  the  numbers  fifty-nine  and  seventy, 
 i.  e.  between  Galatians  and  Ephesians  ?  We  find  them 
 in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hehreius ,  which  stands  in  this 
 Manuscript,  after  those  to  the  Thessalonians,  but 
 commences  with  the  sixtieth  instead  of  the  ninety- 
 fourth  section,  as  we  should  expect.  From  this  ir- 
 regular enumeration  we  infer,  that  the  Epistle  to  the 
 Hebrews,  in  the  original  collection,  stood  immediately 
 after  that  to  the  Galatians,  but  was  subsequently  pla- 
 ced, where  we  now  find  it  in  this  Manuscript. '^  Now 
 at  the  time  when  the  Manuscript  in  question  was 
 written,  it  is  evident,  that  this  ^r«?i.s/(?r  must  have 
 been  of  so  recent  a  date,  that  the  former  mode  of 
 reckoning  the   sections  was  retained,   although  the 
 
 "    Dr.  Hug,  Einleitung  in  das  Neue  Test.  Vol.  I.  237. 
 
 ''^  Epiphanius  at  a  later  period  records,  that  there  were  two 
 kinds  of  manuscripts,  some  of  them  placing-  Ih'bnnvs  after  the  Epis- 
 tles to  Timoth}',  Titus  and  riiilenion  ;  others  placing  it  after  the 
 second  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians.  Epiphan.  Haeres.  XLII.  p.  373. 
 juxta  Petav.  coloniens. 
 
CHAP.  11.]         PROVED  FRO]\r  ANCIENT  MANDSCRrPTS.  379 
 
 position  of  the  Epistle  itself  had  been  altered.  In 
 the  catalogue  of  AthanasiKS,  we  find  the  Epistle  to 
 the  Hebreivs  placed  after  those  addressed  to  the  Thes- 
 salomans.  Had  this  alteration  taken  place  before  the 
 time  of  Athanasiiis  born  A.D.  296,  the  Vatican  Co- 
 dex must  necessarily  be  of  an  earlier  date  than  this  ; 
 on  the  other  hand ,  if  Athanasius  was  the  Jirst  who 
 placed  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebreivs  after  Thessalonians, 
 then  the  Manuscript  may  have  been  WTitten  during 
 his  lifetime ,  when  the  new  arrangement  had  not  yet 
 become  universal.'*  At  all  events,  the  arrangement 
 of  Athanasius  was  universally  adopted  in  the  fourth 
 century;'''  and  as  it  is  clear  that  this  Manuscript 
 must  have  been  written  at  a  period  prior  to  the  uni- 
 versal adoption  of  the  new  arrangement ,  or  at  a  time 
 when  it  was  first  introduced ,  we  must  assign  to  it  a 
 date  not  later  ^than  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
 century.  ^  ^ 
 
 The  so-called  Alexandrian  Codex,  in  the  British 
 Museum,'^  likewise  comprises  the  Old  and  NewTes- 
 
 ^*   Vide,  Hug,  de  antiquitate  Codicis  Vaticani  commentatio. 
 
 ^*  Ta  de  rf/Q  xaif^g  8ia&r]KTjg  ravta  ^Evayyeha  teaaaQa,  y.ara 
 Mar&.,  H.  Ma^jff..,  K.  AovK.,  Kara  ^Icouv.  Flua^tiq  ^AcfioGToXmv'  ^Eni- 
 (TToXal  xa&o?.(xai  f-nra,  nvrcog'  ^laxw^ov  fua,  HtT(jov  Svo,  'Io)dn>ov 
 TQtig,  lovda  j.iui'  EntiJToXal  dexaTtoauoug,  ovrcog'  7T(Jos'l\of/.  fxia, 
 TTQog  KoQ.  6vo,  ngog  FaX.  itia,  7T()6g"E(ferf.  fua ,  -rrgog  ft)iX.  fxia, 
 n(jog  KoX.  (.ua,  n(j6g  Otoa.  8vo,  noog  ^Ej^fj.  iiia,  ngog  Siuo&.  8vo, 
 TTQog  Tit.  f.na,  n(Jog  '7>di;fi.  in'a.  Concil.  Laodic.  between  360 — 364 
 apud  3Ionsi.  Concil.  nor.  et  ampliss.  collect,  n.  pag.  574. 
 
 ''^  Montfancon  jilaces  Cod.  B  in  the  5'^  or  6"'  century;  Blanchini 
 in  the  5*'';  Hug  in  the  4*''  century. 
 
 ''''  Codex  Alexandrin.  Miis.  Britanmc.  is  known  under  the  figure 
 A.  The  N.  T.  begins  Matt.  XXV.  6.  up  to  which  it  has  been  de- 
 stroyed ;   otherwise  it  is  complete  with  the  exception  of  John  VI. 
 
380  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  ti. 
 
 lament.  The  order  of  the  books  is  the  same  as  in 
 the  Vatican  Manuscript;  Hebrews  taking  its  place 
 after  Thessalonians.  The  letters  are  similar,  only  a 
 little  larger;  the  whole  is  written  in  two  columns.  We 
 find  no  accents,  aspirates  or  division  of  words;  and 
 the  inscriptions  are  most  simple.  It  was  printed  A.  D. 
 1786.'*^  The  absence  of  the  divisions  of  Euthalws, 
 and  of  other  marks  of  a  later  date,  are  sufficient  evi- 
 dences that  it  was  written  before  the  second  half  of 
 the  ffth  century.  The  orthography  indicates  its  Alex- 
 andrian origin.'^  The  Parisian  Codex^^  embraces 
 parts  of  the  Old,  and  the  whole  of  the  New  Testa- 
 ment; and  resembles,  in  all  important  points,  the  Va- 
 tican and  Alexandrian  Manuscripts.  Considering  that 
 it  has  less  of  punctuation  and  fewer  additions  of  a 
 later  time  than  the  Alexandrian  Codex,  it  is  rightly 
 considered  the  older  of  the  two.  That  it  was  also  of 
 Egyptian  origin  is  proved  by  its  orthography.^* 
 
 The  Dublin  Manuscript  of  the  Gospel  according 
 
 50  —  Vm.  52.  and  2  Cor.  IV.  13  — XII.  2.  It  was  given  to  Charles  I. 
 by  CjTillus  Lucaris ,  first  Patriarch  of  Alexandria ,  afterwards  of 
 Constantinople. 
 
 ^*  Nov.  Test.  Graec.  e  cod.  Alexandrine,  qui  London!  in  Biblio- 
 theca  Musei  Britannici  asservatur,  descriptura  a  Godofr.  Carolo  Woide. 
 
 ^^  Here  also  we  have  in  Mark.  XII.  40.  Xiji^ixpoiTai;  XVI.  24. 
 Xrjf.tr^EU&t.    Lu.  XIII.  II.  m'ay.vi.i\\)ai.    Act.  X.  39.  avtiXar. 
 
 ^"  Codex  C.  n.  9.  Regio-Parisinus,  also  called  rcscriptus  or  palira- 
 psestus,  Cod.  or  Ephraeni  Syri ,  because  the  original  having  been 
 partially  effaced  with  a  spunge ,  ascetical  essays  of  Ephrem  were 
 •written  upon  the  parchment ;  but  the  original  still  shows  through. 
 It  was  written  according  to  Wetstein  before  542.  Hug  makes  it 
 older  than  Cod.  A. 
 
 **  Lu.  I.  31.  ^raXr^n\pE(oq.  Act.  I.  2.  nnav.  Matt.  X.  13.  ik- 
 S'atco. 
 
CHAP,  ii.l         PROVED  FROM  ANCIENT  MANUSCRIPTS.  381 
 
 to  St.  Mattheiv  is  of  importance,  inasmuch  as  it  sup- 
 plies the  lost  portion  of  the  Codex  Alexandrinus.^^ 
 Judging  from  the  absence  of  accents ,  the  paucity  of 
 punctuation,  and  from  other  marks  of  antiquity  which 
 have  been  noticed  in  connection  with  the  above-men- 
 tioned Manuscripts,  we  cannot  ascribe  a  more  recent 
 date  to  this  noble  fragment  of  the  New  Testament 
 than  we  assigned  to  the  Parisian  Codex.  ^^  The  C«m- 
 hridge  Codcw^^  contains  the  four  Gospels  and  the 
 Acts  of  the  Apostles ,  and  was  written  after  Sticho- 
 tnetry  had  come  into  practice.  It  presents  the  Greek 
 text  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other,  one  of  those  Latin 
 versions  which  were  in  existence  before  St.  Jerome 
 executed  the  Vulgata.  The  calligrapher  here,  did  his 
 work  mechanically;  the  internal  and  external  arrange- 
 ment clearly  shows  that  the  Manuscript  was  made  after 
 Euthalius,  and  before  the  rise  of  Islamism,  about  the 
 end  of  the  jifth,  or  at  the  latest  during  the  sixth  cen- 
 tury, when  the  Greeks  had  given  up  the  writing  of 
 Manuscripts  to  the  Copts  who  understood  but  little 
 of  Greek  and  Latin.  Of  the  same  age  is  the  Manu- 
 script of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  preserved  in  the 
 Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford;^''  both  the  Greek  text 
 
 ®^  It  is  called  Codex  S.  Matthaei  Dublinensis  rescriptus.  It  was 
 discovered  and  edited  by  Mr.  Barret  1801.  Like  Codex  C.  it  was 
 partly  obliterated  and  other  essays  wTitten  upon  it;  yet  the  original 
 writing  could  easily  be  read;  it  is  described:  "nee  habet  spiritus  aut 
 accentus  omnino." 
 
 ®'  Alexandrian  forms  are  chap.  X.  41.  Xrjjuixpktai;  VII.  25.  ttqo- 
 atneaav;  XI.  7.  8.  9.  t^i]}.&ixre. 
 
 ®*  Codex  Cantabrigiensis  or  Cod.  D. ,  also  called  the  Bezan  MS., 
 or  Codex  Theodori  Bezae  Cantabrigiensis,  was  edited  1793.  in  two 
 beautiful  folio-Volumes. 
 
 ^^    Cod.  E.  or  Codex  Laudianus ,  because  given  by  Archbishop 
 
382  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [PART  11. 
 
 and  the  old  Latin  version  were  sticliometrically  written 
 and  executed  in  Alexandria.^''  As  Me  can  scarcely 
 date  it  later  than  the  surth,  or  the  beginning  of  the 
 seventh  century,  it  was  in  existence  when  l\rohammed 
 brought  forward  his  charge  against  the  Christians  of 
 corrupting  their  sacred  books.  As  the  Dublin  Manu- 
 script supplied  the  deficiency  of  the  Alexandrian,  so 
 the  Coclecc  Claromontmms ,  preserved  m  the  Library 
 of  Paris,  supplies  those  Eputles  of  St.  Paul,  which 
 are  wanting  in  the  Cambridge  jNlanuscript.  ^ ''  Although 
 not  written  in  the  same  hand,  they  were  executed 
 in  the  same  jieriod,  and  upon  the  same  principle, 
 giving  sticliometrically  both  the  Greek  text  and  a 
 Latin  version.  Fragments  of  another  copy  of  the 
 Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  in  the  Greek  text  only,  written 
 with  accents  on  the  stichometrical  principle,  were  at 
 one  time  preserved  in  the  celebrated  library  of  Bishop 
 CoisUn  at  Metz.^^  As  it  was  written  in  Alexandria ^^ 
 
 Laud;  also  Cod.  Bedlei.  It  was  printed  at  Oxford  1765.  by  Thomas 
 Hearne.  Written  according  to  Hug  andWuido  in  Alexandria;  Marsh 
 and  Eichhorn  suppose  it  to  be  the  work  ofWestern  Europe,  perhaps 
 Sardinia  or  Gallia. 
 
 ®^  See,  specimens  of  MSS.  Montfaucon  palaeogr.  gi'.,  Manchini 
 Evang.  quadrup.  Matthaei  ed.  N.  T. 
 
 ^'  The  Codex  Claromontanus  n.  107.  is  complete  with  the  ex- 
 ception of  the  first  and  last  leaf,  which  have  been  lost.  It  is  marked 
 with  the  figure  D.    Montfaucon  places  it  within  the  7"'  cent. 
 
 ^^  This  IklS.  is  known  as  Codex  H.  Griesbach  Symbol,  crit.  part  II. 
 pag.  85.  It  came  originally  from  Mount  Athos,  A.  D.  1218.  where 
 it  was  used  as  old  parcliment,  with  which  to  bind  other  books,  as  is 
 proved  by  a  note  on  a  book,  which  it  served  as  a  cover.  It  was 
 printed  and  published  by  Montfaucon,  Biblioth.  Coislin.  Part  U.  pag. 
 253-256. 
 
 ^'  The  formation  £VK«r«A;;/u 7-01' ,  in  the  subscription,  is  purely 
 Alexandrian. 
 
CHAP.  11]         PROVED  FROM  ANCIENT  ^[ANUSCRIPTS.  383 
 
 in  a  genuinely  antique  style,  it  must  have  been  copied 
 during  the  sixth  century,  before  the  invasion  of  the 
 Saracen  army. 
 
 We  have  now  noticed  those  Manuscripts  of  the 
 New  Testament,  written  prior  to  the  rise  of  Islamism; 
 and  reckoning  the  last  mentioned  Codex  from  Mount 
 Athos  as  supjDlementary  to  that  of  the  Vatican,  we 
 obtain  —  the  Apocalypse  only  excepted,  —  an  entire 
 copy  of  the  New  Testament.  The  Alexandrian  and 
 the  Dublin  Manuscripts  form  a  second  complete  edi- 
 tion, whilst  the  Parisian  Codex  is  entire  in  itself. 
 Lastly,  the  Cambridge  and  Clarmontane  documents 
 of  the  sacred  Scriptures  constitute  a  fourth  edition, 
 \vhlch  Is  however  deficient  in  the  general  Epistles 
 and  the  Ajiocalypse.  ^^  We  can  therefore  produce 
 four  distinct  coj^Ies  of  those  Nom-  Testament  Scrlp- 
 tiu-es,  the  integrity  of  which,  Mohammed  so  wan- 
 tonly impeaches:  amongst  them  are  several  bi-lingual 
 Manuscripts,  containing  Latin  versions,  which  were 
 made  at  least  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century. 
 These  Manuscripts  are  found  in  regions  the  most  re- 
 mote from  one  another,  cherished  by  Churches,  which 
 hold  different  shades  of  opinions  upon  some  of  the 
 doctrines  they  contain;  yet  wonderful  to  say,  there 
 exists  between  them  the  most  perfect  harmony.  On 
 comparing  these  documents  together,  we  find, — not- 
 withstanding the  different  styles  of  calligraphy,  the 
 different  methods  of  placing  the  books,  and  the  dif- 
 ferent readings,  which  have  accidentally  found  their 
 
 ""  The  Codex  Cantabrigiensis  and  the  Codex  Claromontanus, 
 are  both  marked  D ,  and  have  been  considered  by  some ,  to  belong 
 together. 
 
384  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [PART  II. 
 
 way  into  the  text,  —  no  trace  of  alteration  or  inter- 
 polation. Any  attempt  to  corrupt  these  venerable 
 Manuscripts,  could  easily  be  detected.  Although  the 
 Parisian  and  Dublin  Codices  have  been  literally  wash- 
 ed through,  and  other  matter  Mi'itten  upon  the  parch- 
 ment, yet,  the  original  writing  is  still  almost  as  legible, 
 as  if  no  attempt  had  been  made  to  efface  it. 
 
 If  these  efforts  to  obliterate  the  sacred  writings  — 
 springing  as  they  did ,  from  mere  ignorance  of  their 
 value  —  have  failed,  surely  malevolent  attempts  to 
 corrupt  the  text,  would  be  attended  with  no  better 
 success.  Should  doubts  of  the  integrity  of  these 
 documents,  still  linger  in  the  mind  of  any  intelligent 
 Moslem,  we  invite  him  to  examine  them  for  himself, 
 as  they  are  still  accessible  to  every  sincere  inquirer 
 for  the  truth. ^*  Older  witnesses  however,  than  the 
 most  ancient  Manuscripts  which  testify  to  the  integ- 
 rity of  the  New  Testament,  are  to  be  found,  among 
 the  versions  of  its  sacred  books;  and  to  these,  we 
 shall  next  turn  our  attention. 
 
 ^*  The  following  learned  works  relative  to  the  collation  of  MSS. 
 •will  show  that  this  branch  of  Divinity  has  not  been  neglected : 
 Hist,  du  Card.  Ximenes  par  Flechier.  1502.  Roh.  Stephan.  Novum 
 Test,  ad  vetustissima  exeniplaria  M.  S.  C.  excusuni.  1551.  Novum 
 Test.  Parisiis ,  impensis  viduae  Arnoldi  Blrkmanni.  1549.  Bt^.  Fell 
 published  his  work  "7'//?  K((ii'r]S  dia&r]K7]g  aTKina."  1675.  Mill, 
 encouraged  by  him ,  worked  in  the  same  line.  Bengcl  took  the  lead 
 among  the  Germans.  1734.  ^V€tstein  and  Gr/esbac/i  followed  it  up 
 in  a  masterly  manner.  F.  Matthaei  of  Moskau  pursued  the  same 
 path.  1782 — 1788.  in  the  same  age  appears  Altet-  of  Vienna.  Nor 
 are  Tre^chow  ,  Adler ,  Eiujelbrcth ,  Sclwlz  and  Zoc/^wfl/o)  to  be  for- 
 gotten. Birch  compared  the  Vatican  Cod.  for  the  Royal  Danish 
 edition  of  the  N.  T.  with  the  exception  of  Luke  and  John;  of  these 
 he  received  a  comparison  which  had  been  made  for  Mr.  Bentley,  and 
 Woide  published  the  whole  of  Bentley's  comparison  in  appendice 
 Cod.  Alexaud. 
 
CHAP,  u]  PROVED  FROM  ANCIENT  VERSIONS.  385 
 
 8.  We  are  now  to  demonstrate  the  integrity  of 
 the  New  Testament  from  those  versions  made  prior 
 to  the  rise  of  Islamism.  If  the  Christians  corrupted 
 their  sacred  Scriptures,  as  Mohammed  alleges,  those 
 translations  must  support  the  accusation;  for  any  al- 
 terations made  in  the  original  must  appear  in  the 
 versions  made  from  it.  The  Peshito,  comprising  the 
 New  as  well  as  the  Old  Testament,  has  been  noticed 
 in  the  previous  Chapter.  ^^  This  version  was  first 
 cited  in  the  works  of  Ephrem ;  a  proof  that  it  was 
 used  in  the  first  half  oi  the  fourth  century.  Yet  there 
 is  reason  to  assume  its  existence  in  the  second  cen- 
 tury of  our  era,  as  Eusebius  declares,  that  Hegesippus 
 had  quoted  from  a  Gospel  in  Syriac.^^  From  these 
 and  other  data,  too  tedious  to  enter  upon,  we  may 
 reasonably  infer,  that  this  version  was  executed  to- 
 wards the  end  of  the  second  century;  a  Syriac  tradi- 
 tion mentions  Achaeus,  a  disciple  of  St.  Thaddaeus, 
 as  the  author.  ^* 
 
 ^*  The  Peshito  omits  the  2^  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  the  2<^  and  3<1 
 Epistles  of  St.  John,  and  the  Epistle  of  St.  Jude.  There  are  strong- 
 reasons  for  supposing-  that  the  Apocal^qjse  formed  part  in  the  ori- 
 ginal version;  Hug  Vol.  I.  306.  „3d)  fann  mid^  iiirfit  bereben,  ba§  bit 
 *l>c[d)itp  nrfpriiiuilidi  bie  SliJcfali^^^fe  nirf)t  init  Iicjiriffcn  l)a(ie,  ba  tm  Criente 
 fo  grofe  St'iis^f"  fiir  fte  fpra^cn  trie  3uftiii,  ber  SJdrt^irer  in  *t^alefitna,  :inb 
 3;f)ecirf)ilu6  in  3(ntiorf)ifn,  ba^  Ctcrfjaupt  bcr  aiu3cfcf)cnften.Sirrf)e  in(2^)rifn; 
 ti  mii§te  nur  fein ,  ba§  bie  ^^Jcfrfnto  crft  nod)  ben  antiaUegcrifdjen  ©treiltg; 
 feiten  bee  Ste^jc^  cntf^anben,  »ro6  id)  mi^  nod^  »tel  njeniger  bereben  fann." 
 
 '•^  'jEk  T£  tov  y.a&'  i^gatovg  ivayysXiov  y.ai  rov  avgiaxov' 
 y.ai  Idiijog  ix  Tr;s  i[i()aiSog  diaXexrov  rnu  ri'di^aii .  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl. 
 lib.  IV.  cap.  22. 
 
 ®*  "2llt  ift  fie  tfieilS  barum,  tvtil  bie  genannfen  2(ntifegpmenen  feine 
 Sufnafinie  in  fic  gefnnben,  t^eile  tt'cil  fte  i^o^  aUen  ftirifc^cn  .Kirdjenfarteien 
 ancrfannl,  ti)til6  weil  bet  il^r  ju  ®runb  liegenbe  2:ert  fef)t  alt  ifi;  a«c^  Idft 
 
 Z 
 
386  INTEGRITY  OF  TBE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [PART  11. 
 
 Another  Syriac  version  was  made  on  behalf  of 
 the  Monophysite  section  of  the  Syrian  Church,  by 
 Polycavp,  at  the  request  of  the  Patriarch  Philoxenus 
 A.  D.  508.°^  This  translation  which  was  made  from 
 the  Manuscripts  of  Origen,  was  improved  by  Bishop 
 Thomas  A.  D.  616;"^  who  compared  it  with  two  or 
 three  old  Manuscripts  in  the  Antonine  cloister  at 
 Alexandria.  It  is  not  without  interest  for  our  argu- 
 ment to  observe,  that  this  rival  translation  of  the 
 Peshito,  which  was  made  by  a  sectarian  branch  of 
 the  Syrian  Church,  not  only  alters  nothing  in  the 
 sacred  text  to  support  its  particular  views,  but  in  its 
 scrupulous  adherence  to  the  original,  does  violence  to 
 the  rules  of  the  Syriac  grammar.  ^ '  The  more  stu- 
 diously a  version  retains  the  grammatical  and  philo- 
 logical peculiarities  of  the  original  text,  the  more 
 faithful  must  consequently  be  the  translation. 
 
 A  third,  or  the  Palestino-Syriac  version,  was  made 
 either  before  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  or  whilst 
 
 tie  friitie,  nac^  bev  SWittc  bc^  2.  ^aBdiunbert^  fcc^^inncnbe  ?iteratur  crlvartcn, 
 ba^  biefe  friih  aiirf}  bvi^  Sebiirfnip  einer  fi)ri(d)eu  Uebevfe^uug  ivcrben  gefulilt 
 ^aben."    Scftrbucf)  »LMt  be  aSette  pag.  13. 
 
 ^^    Vide,  Versio  Syriaca  Philoxeniana  ed.  Jos.  White,  pag.  641. 
 
 ^•^  He  was  then  only  "the  poor  Thomas,"  also  Thomas  of  Char- 
 kel.  His  version  contains  the  umXeyofxtioi ,  which  were  omitted  in 
 the  Peshito,  excepting  only  the  Apocalypse.  The  most  perfect  edi- 
 tion of  this  version  is  that  of  Glocester  Ridley's,  now  preserved  in 
 the  Is'ew  College  at  Oxford. 
 
 ^^  0,  //,  to  also  tan  and  iim  are  scrupulously  translated .  al- 
 though contrary  to  the  pure  S;\Tiac  idiom.  The  affixes  avrog  and 
 avTr^  are  likewise  given,  contrary  to  Syriac  usage.  Compositions 
 with  ngo,  ovr,  em,  Hara,  foreign  to  all  Semitic  tongues  are  rendered 
 in  a  manner,  too  artificial  to  be  consonant  with  good  taste.  Vide 
 Markn.  26.  XII.  16. 
 
CHAP.  II.]  PROVED  FROM  ANCIENT  VERSIONS.  387 
 
 that  part  of  Syria ,  in  which  it  was  made ,  was  still  a 
 Roman  province.  This  is  shown  by  several  terms 
 which  are  retained  in  the  translation.  ***  What  the 
 Peshito  was  to  the  region  of  Edessa,  and  what  the 
 Philoxenian  version  was  to  Antioch,  the  Palestino- 
 Syrian  translation  was  to  Damascus,  to  the  north  of 
 Palestine,  and  to  the  mountains  of  Assyria.  The  Ar- 
 menian \ers'ion  was  made  by  Mesrob,  and  the  state- 
 ment of  some,  that  C/wi/sostom  gave  a  translation  to 
 the  same  people,  is  probably  explained  by  his  having 
 lent  his  assistance  and  encouragement  to  this  version, 
 during  his  exile  in  Armenia,  which  coincides  w^iththe 
 period,  in  which  the  version  was  made.  ^^ 
 
 In  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  we  meet  with  versions 
 of  the  New  Testament,  at  a  very  early  period  of  the 
 Christian  era.  We  have  seen,  that  the  Old  Testament 
 was  translated  into  the  Coptic  dialects  in  the  third 
 or  the  heyinning  of  the  fourth  century;  and  the  ver- 
 sion of  the  New  Testament  was  certainly  not  of  a 
 later  date.  That  of  Lower  Egypt,  following  the  text  of 
 Hesychius ,  could  not  have  been  made  prior  to  the 
 middle  of  the  third  century,  but  as  we  find  a  version 
 in  the  fourth  century,*  it  must  have  been  made  during 
 
 ^®  Specimens  fi'om  Matt.  XXVI.  3 — 32.  which  were  printed  by 
 Dr.  Adlor.  The  soldiers  v.  27.  are  simply  called  Rommis;  aTTngu 
 rendered  castnim:  as  the  garrison  is  called  caMrum ,  "we  may  easily 
 guess  under  what  rule  the  country  was  at  the  time. 
 
 **  That  Chrysostom  took  a  part  in  this  work,  whilst  an  exile  in 
 Kttkns ,  appears  from  the  passage  —  8uiy.t.Xtvtadat  tori  x^jaXri-^Jioy 
 
 Anonjin.  Vita  Chrysostom.  cap.  113. 
 
 ^  Palladius  visits  John  of  Lycopolis ,  who  is  unacquainted  with 
 Greek,  and  yet  he  was  well  versed  in  the  New  Testament.  Palladii 
 historia  Lausiaca  cap.  XLIU.  de  Abbate  Joanne  urbis  Lyco  pag.  963. 
 
 Z* 
 
388  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [parth. 
 
 that  interval.  Again,  Antonms,  the  founder  of  a 
 monastic  order  in  Egypt,  who  died  A.D.  356.  though 
 ignorant  of  the  Greek  language,  yet  hearing  the  Gos- 
 pel read  in  a  Church,  the  words  Matt.  XIX.  21.  pro- 
 duced in  him  the  resolution  to  part  vAt\\  his  fortune 
 and  retire  from  the  world;  which  resolution  was  fur- 
 ther confirmed,  by  his  entering  the  Church  a  second 
 time,  and  hearing  the  Gospel,  especially  Matt.  V.  34. 
 A  clear  proof  that  it  must  have  been  read  in  the  ver- 
 nacular tongue.  ^  In  the  desert  of  Central  Egypt,  to 
 which  he  retired,  he  addressed  his  disciples  in  a  long 
 speech  in  the  Egyjotian  tongue,  quoting  largely  from 
 the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  Antonius  was  so 
 well  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  that  he  is  said  to  have 
 known  the  entire  Volume  by  heart.  ^  We  have  there- 
 fore a  version  of  the  New  Testament,  in  Lower,  and 
 Central  Egypt.  That  there  was  a  translation  in  the 
 Thebaic  dialect  of  Upper  Egypt,  is  clear  from  the 
 rules,  which,  according  to  Palladius,  Father  Pa- 
 chonnus  framed  for  his  7000  monastic  brethren;  one 
 of  which  required,  that  all  should  learn  to  read  the 
 Psalter  and  the  New  Testament:*    this  requisition 
 
 '  'Eiatjkdti'  iig  trjn  iy.KXrimav ,  nal  avvi^r]  tore  to  ivayyiXiov 
 apnytVMOY.hadai ,  x«i  r/KOvae  tov  hv(jiov  Xeyonog  too  TrXovaioj  x.  t.  X. 
 Athanas.  Vita  S.  Anton,  cap.  3.  cfr.  Matt.  XIX.  21.  atg  d'e  nuXir 
 H(jtXd(oi  ig  TO  y.v^^lUHO^'  i/.ovae  iv  too  ivayytXico  x.  t.  X.  ditto 
 cap.  3.   Matt.  V.  34. 
 
 '  August,  de  doctr.  Christ.  lib.  I.  §.  4.  That  other  Anachorites 
 accomplished  the  same  task,  is  known  from  their  biographies,  rra- 
 Xalai  df  y.((l  yam,  v  yoc^ffl  >'  aTrfCTT/'t^iOE'  Palladius  cap.  1 2.  in  Ammonio. 
 And,  Vita  abb.  Aphthonii  cap.  33:  (xTTOarriOi^ovm  naaag  rug  yoa- 
 qag.  Lastly:  Epiplian.  lib.  III.  haercs.  LVIII.  pag.  1U71.  if  aro^u^Tt 
 de  (Tjiidov  Ttaoar  Ot^iai'  y(jaqr^r  anayytXovai. 
 
 '  See  the  139»>'and  the  140""  sections  of  these  rules.  Hieronym. 
 Praef.  in  rog.  S.  Pachomii. 
 
CHAP.U.]  PROVED  FROM  ANCIENT  VERSIONS.  389 
 
 would  have  been  a  mockery,  if  the  latter  had  not 
 been  translated  into  the  vernacular  dialect  of  the  Up- 
 per provinces.®  In  the  collection  of  Cardinal  J5o7'^ea, 
 were  found  fi-agments  of  a  third  Egyptian  translation, 
 in  the  Bashmurian  dialect,  which  was  spoken  in  the 
 eastern  portion  of  the  Delta.*  To  judge  from  the 
 condition  of  the  text  which  it  followed,  and  the  style 
 of  the  language  in  which  it  is  given,  we  cannot  as- 
 sign to  it  a  later  date  than  the  first  half  of  the  third 
 century. 
 
 On  ascending  the  Nile,  we  discover  the  jE'^Aioj^mn 
 version,  which  like  that  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
 executed  by  Abba  Salama.  The  text  follows  some- 
 times one  reading  and  sometimes  another,  and  the 
 opinion,  previously  alluded  to,  that  it  was  translated 
 from  an  Arabic  version,  gains  some  ground.  These 
 Arabic  translations ,  either  of  the  Old  or  of  the  New 
 Testament,  are  however  nowhere  to  be  found.  Having 
 been  pronounced  corrupted,  they  were  doomed  to 
 destruction,  on  the  same  principle,  that  prompted  the 
 infatuated  Omar  to  destroy  the  Alexandrian  library. 
 
 Latin  versions  were  found  in  Africa,  Italy,  and 
 Gallia,  before  the  days  of  St.  Jerome;  but  when  they 
 were  made,  it  is  difficult  to  guess.  Augustine  declares, 
 that  they  were  "innumerable"  in  his  days,  but  gives 
 
 *  Vide:  Novum  Test.  Aegyptium,  vulgo  copticura  exMSS. Bodle- 
 ianis  descripsit  cum  Vaticano  et  Parisiensibus  contulit,  et  in  latinura 
 sennonem  convertit  David  Wilkins.  1716. 
 
 '  Containing  portions  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  Isaiah,  Corinthians, 
 Ephesians,  Philippians,  Thessalonians,  and  Hebrews.  Vide  W.  F. 
 Engelbreth :  fragmenta  Basmurico  vet.  et  nov.  Test,  quae  in  Museo 
 Borgiano  Velitris  adservantur.  1811. 
 
390  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [PART  II. 
 
 the  preference  to  the  Itcda.  That  some  of  them  were 
 in  use  in  the  time  of  Tertullian,  or  at  the  end  of  the 
 second  century,  is  proved,  by  his  speaking  of  a  ver- 
 sion ,  which  to  his  mind  misrepresented  a  certain 
 passage  of  the  New  Testament. '  The  most  enduring 
 work  of  this  kind  was  the  well-known  Vidgata  of 
 St.  Jerome,  which  was  sanctioned  by  Pope  Gregory 
 in  the  sixth  century,  and  has  ever  since  remained 
 the  authorised  version  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The 
 Gothic  version  was  given  to  the  world,  in  the  last  half 
 of  the  fourth  century,  by  Uljila ,  Bishop  of  Moesia.  ^ 
 We  have  some  very  old  jNlanuscripts  of  this  trans- 
 lation; the  Silver  Codex  of  Upsala,  —  so  called  from 
 its  being  written  in  silver  characters,  upon  fine  purple 
 parchment, — was  executed  at  the  latest,  in  the  be- 
 ginning of  the  sixth  century,  before  the  Goths  were 
 expelled  from  Italy,  and  therefore  prior  to  the  rise 
 of  Islamism.  ^  As  the  Dublin  and  Parisian  Manu- 
 scripts were  discovered  beneath  writings  of  a  later 
 age;  so,  fragments  of  the  Epistle  to  t\\Q  Romans  were 
 happily  detected  beneath  some  of  the  writings  of 
 Isidorus.  *"  In  the  year  1817,  the  several  Epistles  of 
 St.  Paul,  belonging  to  Uljila  s  version,  were  found  in 
 
 ^    Tertullian.  de  monogam.  cap.  11. 
 
 ®  Ancient  writers  extend  his  version  to  the  entire  Bible,  as  em- 
 bracing severally  T«?  yoaCfag  ^Ha^,  tfQ(xg  ^i[iXovc;,  divinas  scriptu- 
 ras.  Socrates  hist,  cedes,  lib.  IV.  cap.  27.  Sozomen  lib.  VI.  cap.  37. 
 The  Cod.  Argent,  contains  the  4  Gospels. 
 
 ^  The  Codex  Argent,  was  published  by  Mr.  Ed.  Lye  in  1750: 
 "Sacrorum  Ev.  versio  Gothica  ex  codice  Argento."    Oxford. 
 
 '"  They  were  published  in  the  year  1762  by  Knittel,  who  had 
 discovered  thera.  - 
 
CRAP.  11]  PROVED  FROM  ANCIENT  VERSIONS.  391 
 
 the  Ambrosian  library,  beneath  the  ^'HomiHes  of 
 Gregory  upon  Ezekiel,"  which  had  been  written  over 
 the  ivashen  Manuscript.  ^  ^  A  second  copy  of  these 
 Epistles,  w^ith  the  exception  of  those  to  the  Romam 
 and  to  the  Hebreius,  was  found  hidden  under  "St. 
 Jerome's  Commentary  on  Isaiah;"  which  was  written 
 over  the  original  Manuscript.*^ 
 
 At  the  risk  of  being  tedious,  we  have  now  gone 
 through  some  of  the  particulars  connected  wuth  the 
 ancient  versions  of  the  New  Testament.  Had  we  to 
 deal  with  an  enemy  unprejudiced  and  open  to  con- 
 viction, we  might  have  been  satisfied  with  a  bare 
 enumeration  of  their  titles ;  but  we  must  remember, 
 that  in  dealing  with  Mohammedans,  we  may  take 
 nothing  for  granted.  In  countries,  where  Islamism  sup- 
 planted Christianity,  doubtless  other  versions  existed: 
 Chrysostom  e.  g.  speaks  of  Indian  and  Persian  ver- 
 sions which  are  no  longer  to  be  found;  having  pro- 
 bably shared  the  same  fate  as  the  Arabic  versions.*' 
 According  to  Theodoretus,  the  words  of  the  Gospel 
 were  alreadv  in  his  day  "in  the  whole  w^orld  under 
 the  sun;"**  and  the  Venerable  Bede,  born  673,  ac- 
 
 '^  This  MS.  was  published  at  Milan  1819.  "Ulphilae  partiura 
 meditarum  iu  Anibrosiauis  palimpsestis  ab  Angelo  Maio  editum." 
 
 ^-  The  entire  remains  of  UlUla's  version  was  collected  and  pub- 
 lished by  Gabelenz  and  Loebe :  Ullila's  veteris  et  novi  test.  vers. 
 Gothicae  fragmenta,  quae  supersunt.    1843. 
 
 '^  "Syi-os,  Aegyptios,  Indos,  Persas,  Aethiopcs  et  alias  innume- 
 ras  gentes ,  divina  dogmata  in  suam  linguam  transtulisse  atque  ita 
 homines  barbaros  philosophari  didicisse."  Chrysostom.  homil.  I.  in 
 Johan.  torn.  III.  col.  15, 
 
 **  "Universam  faciem  ten-ae,  quantacunque  soli  subjicitur,  ejus- 
 modi  Terborum  plenam  jam  esse."  Theod.  de  Curan.  Graeco.  aflfect. 
 lib.  V. 
 
392  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [part  lu 
 
 qiiaints  us,  that  the  Scriptures  were  read  in  his  time 
 in  Jive  British  dialects.  ^^  St.  Jerome  is  said  to  have 
 rendered  the  New  Testament  into  the  Dalmatian 
 tongue;  nor  should  we  forget  the  Georgian  version, 
 which  was  made  in  the  sixth  century  of  our  era. 
 
 9.  These  versions  existed  in  the  most  remote 
 countries  of  Christendom,  during  the  lifetime  of  Mo- 
 hammed. Most  of  them  are  preserved  to  this  day, 
 and  they  severally  agree  with  each  other,  and  with 
 the  venerable  Manuscripts  just  examined;  although 
 they  were  made  for  the  benefit  of  different  Churches, 
 among  whom  rivalries  were  not  unfrequent.  What 
 a  task  then,  to  corrupt  the  New  Testament  in  the 
 seventh  century!  The  zealous  and  enterprizing  in- 
 dividual who  accomplished  this  tremendous  under- 
 taking, must  have  collected  every  Manuscript,  every 
 copy  of  the  many  translations  from  every  part  of 
 Christendom;  he  must  have  penetrated  into  every 
 church,  monastery,  college,  library  and  dwelling- 
 place,  for  the  purpose  of  altering  or  destroying  them, 
 as  the  case  might  be!  It  would  be  preposterous,  to 
 assume  that  nations  of  various  tongues,  characters, 
 laws ,  and  religious  views  should  have  agreed  in  so 
 sacrilegious  a  cause ;  and  this ,  on  account  of  Mo- 
 hammed, of  whose  existence  they  had  not  so  much 
 as  heard,  when  the  alleged  corruption  is  stated  to 
 have  taken  place.  Except  in  the  case  of  Marciou, 
 history  affords  no  analogy  to  such  a  proceeding. 
 Though  the  Arian  heresy  highly  prospered  for  a  time, 
 being  countenanced  by  mighty  potentates,  yet  no- 
 
 '*   Beda  lib.  I.  histor.  cap.  1. 
 
CHAP.  11]  CORRUPTION  MORALLY  IMPOSSIBLE.  393 
 
 where  do  we  hear  of  any  attempt  to  alter  those  pas- 
 sages of  the  New  Testament  which  assert  the  divinity 
 of  our  Lord.  ^®  If  therefore  no  permanent  alteration 
 of  the  Scriptures  could  be  effected,  at  a  period  when 
 the  gates  of  hell  sought,  under  the  most  favourable 
 circumstances,  to  prevail  against  the  truth;  is  it  pos- 
 sible that  under  less  temptation,  prophecies  of  any 
 kind  should  have  been  abstracted?  Or,  can  we  be- 
 lieve that  the  Jews  and  Christians  in  Arabia  could 
 have  so  done,  in  the  expectation  that  all  their  brethren 
 would  acquiesce  in  the  deed?  Assuming  it  to  have 
 been  the  work  of  the  Christians  and  Jews  in  Arabia, 
 Syria,  and  Egypt,  and  supposing  all  the  Manuscripts 
 of  the  Bible  to  have  been  corrupted  among  the 
 Eastern,  would  not  the  Western  Churches  have  ulti- 
 mately discovered  these  alterations,  and  charged  their 
 Eastern  brethren  with  the  crime?  Had  even  corrup- 
 tion been  attempted,  and  partially  effected,  by  the 
 Christians  in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  it  must  have 
 met  with  instant  resistance;  for  those  Jews  and  Chris- 
 tians, who  embraced  Islamism,  would  undoubtedly 
 have  confronted  them  with  the  true  copies  of  the 
 sacred  books;  and  thus  at  once  have  frustrated  their 
 
 ^^  The  words  1  John  V.  7.  were  said,  to  hare  been  erased  from 
 old  MSS.  by  the  Avians,  but  says  Gerhard:  "piorum  ecclesiae  docto- 
 ruin  vigilans  industria  illud  rcstituit."  VoL  XL  278.  Yet  the  passage 
 was  also  omitted  by  Cyril  lib.  XIV.  thesauri ,  by  St.  Augustine  and 
 Bede.  St.  Jerome  says:  In  prologo  sup.  epist.  can.  ''ab  haeretida 
 eitm  erasit  esse."  As  another  proof  that  no  alteration  could  be  made 
 in  the  hope  of  escaping  detection,  see  also  Ambros.  de  fide  V.  8. 
 "Scriptum  est,  inquiunt  (Ariani):  De  die  autem  illo  et  hora  nemo  scit, 
 neque  angeli  coelorum ,  nee  fdins ,  nisi  solus  Pater.  Primum  veteres 
 non  habent  codices  Graeci,  quod  nee  fiUus  scit.  Sed  non  mirum,  si  et 
 hoc  falsarunt,  qui  Scripturas  interpolavere." 
 
394  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  [parth. 
 
 intention.  Again,  though  the  early  Christians  were 
 hunted  and  burned  by  some  of  the  Roman  Emperors, 
 yet  they  would  rather  give  up  the  ghost,  than  sur- 
 render their  holy  books ;  and  is  it  probable  that  they 
 should  alter  those  Scriptures,  at  a  period  when  as 
 yet  they  were  not  exposed  to  the  like  persecutions? 
 Nor  have  our  adversaries  shown  us  any  rival  copies 
 of  the  New  Testament,  which  would  naturally  have 
 been  the  case,  if  some,  or  most  of  the  copies  had  been 
 corrupted;  for  it  is  unnatural  to  suppose  that  all  the 
 true,  were  suppressed,  and  all  the  spurious  ones,  were 
 propagated.  If  the  books  which  we  possess  are  not 
 the  true  and  genuine  copies,  let  Mohammed  and  his 
 followers  produce  them  in  their  original  integrity,  and 
 point  out  in  what,  the  alleged  corruptions  consist. 
 
 10.  Lastly,  the  New  Testament  being  suspected 
 of  corruption,  is  therefore  deemed  of  no  further  ser- 
 vice; yet  Mohammed  considers  its  Founder  a  great 
 Prophet,  calls  Him  the  "Word''  and  "Spirit  of  God'' 
 and  admits  that  He  has  wrought  manv  miracles.  Is 
 it  reasonable  in  the  eyes  of  a  Moslemin,  that  the 
 Gospel,  which  he  ascribes  to  ''Jesus  the  son  of  Mary," 
 should  be  permitted  to  be  corrupted  so  as  to  become 
 useless !  If  what  Mohammed  maintains  of  Jesus  Christ 
 be  true,  then  the  Gospel  must  have  been  preserved 
 in  its  original  integrity ;  if  not,  then  is  Mohammed  a 
 false  witness,  and  if  he  be  a  false  witness,  he  cannot 
 be  a  true  prophet.  Again  it  is  asserted,  that  Christ 
 was  sent  into  the  world  to  beari(;?Y«fss  of  Mohammed, 
 and  that  this  was  his  peculiar  mission ;  Sur.  LXI.  6. 
 but  how  could  He  fulfil  this  mission,   if  His  testi- 
 
CHAP.  11]  ADMITTED  BY  OUR  OPPONENTS.  395 
 
 mony  in  favour  of  Mohammed  was  lost.^  We  recog- 
 nise therefore  a  flagrant  contradiction,  in  the  Mo- 
 hammedans alleging  that  Christ  came  to  bear  record 
 of  their  prophet ,  and  at  the  same  time  in  their  de- 
 claring the  documents  containing  that  record,  to  have 
 been  corrupted.  The  impossibility,  moreover,  of  God's 
 word  being  corrupted,  is  stoutly  asserted  in  the  Ko- 
 ran.*^ We  might  justly  inquire,  whether  the  follow- 
 ers of  Mohammed  are  acting  the  part  of  rational 
 beings ,  M'hilst  persisting  in  the  accusation  that  our 
 Scriptures  are  corrupted;  unless  they  have  proof,  that 
 their  prophet  had  examined,  and  by  his  examination, 
 had  placed  himself  in  a  position  to  point  out  what 
 portions  had  been  altered,  and  what  prophecies  re- 
 specting him  had  been  expunged.  If  we  may  believe 
 Mohammed  and  his  followers ,  he  could  neither  read 
 nor  write-,  hence  he  was  directed  in  the  Koran  to 
 ask  those  who  had  the  Scriptures,**^  and  not  to  read 
 
 ^^   "Et  jam  quidera  mendaces  habiti  sunt  legati  ante:  sed  patien- 
 ter  sustinuerunt ,  quod  mendaces  haberentur  et  vexarentur ,  donee 
 
 veniret  ad  eos  auxilium  nostrum.    isJj\  iiyL*AxJ  JcXax  jf.   Et  non 
 
 est,  qui  immutet  verba  Del."    Sur.  VI.  33.    Again:    c^jL^-O    cy-»J'« 
 
 ^jJI  ;»A4-wJI  yo^  auUIXJ  J Ju.^  !^i  ^ J^^  UtX^  dj^    Et 
 
 couipleta  sunt  verba  Domini  tui  quoad  veritatcra  et  aequitatem:  non 
 est  qui  permutat  verba  ejus,  et  ipse  est  audiens,  sciens.  Vers.  115. 
 Sur.  XXIX.  46.  and  XLII.  14.  M.  avows  his  belief  in  the  Christian 
 and  Jewish  Scriptures. 
 
 **    "Ask  those  (GoJ.says  to  Mohammed)  who  are  acquainted 
 with  the  Scriptures,  if  thou  doest  not  know  it."  Sur.  XXI.  7.  Again: 
 
 ^•JL)    (jjjJt    JwwsO    viLJI   LJyjf   U,/)    dl^   ^    '^j^jS  ^li 
 
 >iLLo  ^J^  (^LaX^I  Sur.  X.  93.  The  charge  of  coiTupting  the 
 Scriptures  was  fabricated  when  flattery  failed  to  gain  the  "Scrip- 
 turalists"  and  after  M.  had  acknowledged  the  divine  authority  of 
 the  law  and  the  Gospel. 
 
396  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  [part  ii. 
 
 them  himself:  how  could  a  man  charge  a  book  with 
 being  corrupted,  which  he  never  saw,  or  if  seen,  he 
 could  not  read ;  and  even  if  he  could  read  an  Arabic 
 version ,  could  not  examine ,  either  the  ancient  Ma- 
 nuscripts of  the  original,  or  the  numerous  versions 
 which  existed  in  the  world? ^^ 
 
 Having  thus  established  the  integrity  of  the  Bible, 
 we  finish  the  argument  by  impeaching  that  of  the 
 Koran.  No  one  is  able  to  prove  that  Mohammed  is 
 the  real  author  of  the  Koran,  as  we  now  find  it.  After 
 his  death,  detached  fragments  of  it  were  discovered, 
 and  it  must  be  left  undecided  what  was  from  Moham- 
 med, and  what  has  been  added  by  other  hands.  There 
 being  no  system  in  the  book,  we  may  have  double 
 the  amount  of  the  original  matter ,  or  have  lost  half, 
 and  remain  for  ever  ignorant  of  the  fact ;  how  could 
 it  be  otherwise  expected  than  that  his  followers  should  ' 
 be  thrown  into  confusion  by  this  uncertainty?  Nor 
 can  any  one  acquainted  with  the  early  history  of  the 
 Saracens,  have  failed  to  notice  the  bloody /di^c/s  which 
 succeeded  each  other,  concerning  the  many  editions 
 and  alterations  of  the  Koran.  The  first  Kaliphs  suc- 
 cessively took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  supplying  from 
 memory  what  seemed  to  be  wanting,  seven  most  con- 
 
 *'  What  would  the  Mohammedans  think  of  a  Christian,  who 
 should  charge  them  with  having  corrupted  the  Koran,  but  dislaiming 
 at  the  same  time,  all  knowledge  of  Arabic,  and  boasting  that  he 
 could  neither  read  nor  VTite?    The  author  of  Islamism  is  called  the 
 
 "illiterate"  by  Allah  himself:    ^^JUl    J^Jf    ^jy»^.    ^J JJf 
 
 ^^1  who  shall  follow  the  apostle,  the  illiterate  prophet."  Sur.  Yll. 
 
 158.  and  159.    "Credite  ergo  ?'n  Deum  et  Legatum  ejus  prophetam 
 
 idiotam."    /l^^t  (C^'" 
 
CHAP,  n.]  ADMITTED  BY  OUR  OPPONENTS.  397 
 
 flicting  editions  of  the  Koran  came  into  circulation, 
 during  the  first  century  after  Mohammed's  death.  ^° 
 The  edition  of  the  Shiites  differed  so  greatly  from 
 that  of  the  Sonnites,  as  to  affect  the  essential  doctrines 
 of  Mohammedanism.  It  was  not  therefore  without 
 good  reason,  that  the  Mohammedans  gave  up  the 
 point,  as  to  which  was  the  original  copy  of  the  Ko- 
 ran, affirming  that  it  was  placed  beneath  the  throne 
 of  Allah! 
 
 CHAPTER  III. 
 
 THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN. 
 
 "Tekel;  thou  art  weighed  in  the  Balance  and*  found  wanting." 
 
 Dan.  V.  27. 
 
 1 .  The  concluding  remarks  of  the  previous  chapter 
 lead  us  to  a  closer  comparison  of  the  religious  docu- 
 ments of  Christians  and  Mohammedans.  It  is  not 
 within  our  present  scope  to  enter  upon  a  detailed 
 examination  of  their  respective  doctrines ,  but  even  a 
 cursory  inspection  will .  convince  us ,   that  w^e  have 
 
 ^°  Nay,  according  to  the  following  tradition,  there  were  seven 
 editions  before  he  died.  "3ebcg  3a^t  im  SWi^nat  Diamab^an  irteber^clte 
 2J?cf)ammcb  tcr  bcm  Gngcl  ®a6ricl,  xca^  big  baf}in  »on  bcm  .^cran  gccffcn-- 
 bart  U'orben;  man  fagt  fogar,  im  (c^teu  I'ebenejaljre  fjabe  er  ifin  jireimal 
 teieberl^Dlt.  So  oft  cr  eine  ncue  Sefeart  {)injufc|te,  cbet  ttwai  liieglief, 
 troraug  bie  erfien  7  Slu^gaBen  entfianben,  ^^ragten  feine  ©efdfjrten 
 fciefe  93arianten  fog(eid)  ine  ©ebdt^tnig  ein  unb  fjanbeltcn  biefen  ^xi- 
 fa^en  ober  93erdnberungen  gcmdf."  ^ifiorifrf)4ritifd)e  Ginlcitung  in 
 ben  jloran  t>on  Dr.  SBeil  pag.  49.  These  various  readings ,  sanctioned 
 by  M.  himself,  were  however  destroyed  by  Othman ,  and  one  of  his 
 own;  substituted  instead.  See  pag.  106.  107.  of  this  work.  Where 
 then,  we  ask,  is  Mohammed's  original  Koran  ? 
 
^ 
 
 398  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  ii. 
 
 to  do  with  writings  of  a  directly  opposite  character. 
 —  The  first  thing  which  strikes  us,  is  the  constant 
 anxiety  of  the  author  of  the  Koran,  to  guard  against 
 objections,  to  justify  his  cLaims,  to  defend  his  conduct 
 and  to  account  for  the  absence  of  those  seals ,  which 
 always  accompany  the  dignity  of  a  true  prophet.^ 
 How  often  he  reiterates,  that  his  declamations  are 
 true;  how  repeatedly  he  swears,  that  his  words  are 
 those  of  a  faithful  messenger.  ^^     The  author  of  the 
 Koran  betrays  precisely  that  disquietude  and  suspi- 
 cion, which  invariably  indicate  fraud,  and  never  exist 
 in  guileless,  honest  and  truthful  minds.    Mohammed 
 always  anticipates  contradictions  and  expects  oppo- 
 sition.^^  Truth  on  the  contrary,  has  no  need  of  such 
 apprehensions, or  precautions,   therefore  never  uses 
 them.   The  writers  of  our  sacred  Scriptures  are  "not 
 careful"  to  obviate  cavils,  to  anticipate  objections,  to 
 remove  doubts,  or  to  explain  what  may  seem  strange 
 
 ^^  "They  have  sworn  bj-  God.  by  the  most  solemn  oath ,  that  if 
 a  sign  came  unto  them,  they  would  certainly  believe  therein.  Say 
 verily  signs  are  in  the  power  of  God  alone."  Sur.  YI.  109.  also 
 Xin!  8.  U.  112. 
 
 "  Allah  is  made  to  say,  "If  hg  (Mohammed'),  had  forged  any 
 part  in  his  discourses  concerning  us,  we  should  surely  have  taken 
 him  by  the  right  hand ,  and  cut  in  two  the  vein  of  his  heart."  Sur. 
 LXTX'.  42  — 50. 
 
 -^  "There  is  no  doubt,  in  this  book,  it  is  a  direction  to  the 
 pious."  Sur.  II.  1.  This  is  the  real  beginning  of  the  Koran;  the 
 first  Sura  being  a  doxology.  "This  is  the  mission  of  the  book  (Ko- 
 ran), from  the  Lord  of  all  creatures,  there  is  no  doi'hf  thereof. 
 Will  they  say  he  (Muhaniiiied)  has  forged  it?"  Sur.  XXXII.  1.  2. 
 "A  book  hath  been  sent  down  unto  thee,  and  therefore. let  there  be 
 no  fear  w  doubt  in  the  breast  concerning  it."  Sur.  YII.  1.  "Praise 
 be  unto  God  who  hath  sent  down  the  Koran  .  . .  which  deceives  not." 
 Sur.  XVin.  1.  also  Sur.  XIII.  I. 
 
CHAP.  III.]  SYMPTOMS  OF  IMPOSTURE.  399 
 
 and  incredible;  and  this,  simply  because  they  enter- 
 tain no  doubts  themselves,  knowing  they  record  facts, 
 which  they  allow  to  speak  for  themselves  by  their 
 own  intrinsic  force  and  power. 
 
 There  is  in  the  Bible  an  artless  relation  of  events; 
 all  bears  the  stamp  of  genuine  simplicity;  all  is  real 
 and  unaffected,  fi'ee  from  every  meretricious  ornament; 
 it  is  destitute  in  short,  of  all  that  highflown  grandi- 
 loquence and  declamation,  so  much  studied  in  the 
 Koran. ^*  The  sacred  writers  make  no  reflections  on 
 what  they  record;  if  we  may  be  permitted  the  ex- 
 pression, they  manifest  a  sublime  indifference,  which 
 takes  the  heart  by  storm  and  inspires  a  feeling  of 
 confidence.  We  feel  at  once  that  we  are  reading  facts 
 not  fictions,  revelations  fi'om  heaven,  not  the  outpour- 
 ings of  a  wild  imagination,  or  a  heated  brain.  How 
 different  for  instance,  must  an  impartial  Mohammedan 
 feel  in  reading  Livy,  and  in  perusing  the  Gospel  ac- 
 cording to  St.  John;  it  is  as  if  the  former  was  giving 
 his  ideas  of  the  events  he  describes,  and  the  latter 
 was  recording  the  events  themselves,  as  they  actually 
 happened.  Livy  must  ever  retain  his  fame  as  an 
 historian ,  but  apart  from  all  other  considerations, 
 one  must  instinctively  give  his  preference  to  St.  John's 
 style,  of  narration.  If  only  compared  with  this  or  any 
 other  Pagan  author,  how  tedious  and  unmeaning, 
 how  ambiguous  and  confused,  is  the  style  of  this  so 
 
 '*  St.  Matthew  thus  records  his  own  call  to  the  Apostleship 
 "As  Jesus  passed  forth  fi-om  thence,  He  saw  a  man  named  Matthew, 
 sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom  and  He  said  unto  him :  follow  me, 
 and  he  arose  and. followed  Him."   Matt.  IX.  9. 
 
400  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  li. 
 
 called  ''persjncuous  hook  come  down  from  heaven,"^* 
 betraying  throughout  that  guarded  and  mistrustful 
 tone  which  unmistakeably  betokens  it  to  be  a  fraud- 
 ulent production. 
 
 2.  Proceeding  to  investigate  the  contents  of  both 
 documents,  we  shall  first  endeavour  to  trace  out  the 
 vein  of  history,  which  from  beginning  to  end  runs 
 through  the  Bible,  and  embraces  the  divine  plan  of 
 salvation.  ^^  Soon  after  the  fall,  mankind  came  to  be 
 divided  into  tw^o  distinct  branches,  "the  sons  of  God" 
 and  ''the  children  of  men.''  When  at  a  future  period 
 they  became  united ,  it  w^as  only  for  evil ,  the  rapid 
 growth  of  which ,  ended  with  the  destruction  of  the 
 human  race,  by  the  flood;  Noah  and  his  family 
 alone  finding  "grace  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord.''  His 
 descendants  vainly  sought  to  frustrate  God's  purpose 
 that  they  should  be  scattered  and  replenish  the  earth; 
 but  after  this  dispersion,  it  being  impossible  that 
 God  should  reveal  Himself  to  each  particular  nation 
 in  the  peculiar  manner  which  His  plan  demanded, 
 He  chose  one  people  to  be  the  steward  of  His  past, 
 and  the  depository  of  His  future  revelations.  As  this 
 chosen  people  were  in  all  points  to  be  educated  for 
 a  peculiar  purpose,  the  education  commenced  with  a 
 
 "    ,j-iCA>o  ^♦vi';  ^bjCJf  ^\.J  siXJb'  Sur.XV.  1.   a  standing 
 
 term.    Sur.  XXVI.  1.    XLIV.  1.    XU.  I. 
 
 '°  To  select  a  few  passages  here  and  there,  would  lead  to  no 
 definite  and  just  appreciation  of  the  books  to  be  contrasted.  This 
 mode  of  dealing  has  been  justly  condemned  with  regard  to  Natural 
 Science.  "Naturae  rerum  vis  atque  majestas  in  omnibus  momenti» 
 fide  caret,  si  quis  modo  partes  ejus,  ac  non  totum  complectatur 
 animo."   Pliny. 
 
CHAP.  III.]         HISTORICAL  FEATURE  OF  THE  BIBLE.  401 
 
 single  individual;  and  Abraham  that  he  might  be- 
 come "the  father  of  them  that  believe,"  was  trained 
 by  God  to  "walk  by  faith"  in  the  land  of  promise; 
 thus  consecrating  Canaan  as  the  future  home  of  his 
 posterity.  ^^  To  prevent  a  premature  settling  down 
 in  the  promised  land,  and  a  possible  intermixture 
 with  the  idolatrous  nations  of  Canaan,  the  people 
 were  sheltered  for  a  period  in  the  land  of  Goshen. 
 Although  the  promise  of  a  numerous  posterity  was 
 speedily  fulfilled ,  yet  it  might  seem  as  if  God  had 
 forsaken  His  people  during  their  oppression  in  Egypt 
 3Toses  therefore,  on  receiving  the  commission  to  lead 
 them  forth  from  the  house  of  bondage,  announced 
 the  God.  of  their  fathers  to  be  the  unchangeable 
 Jehovah. ^^ 
 
 The  Jews,  by  the  E.rodus,  had  become  an  indepen- 
 dent nation,  and  having  thus  far  grown  up  under  God's 
 fostering  care,  were  now  placed  under  the  schoolmaster 
 of  the  law  to  bring  them  unto  Christ;  but  as  no  finite 
 being  could  comprehend  the  tenor  of  their  future  con- 
 stitution,—  wdiich  should  embrace  all  ages  and  meet 
 all  exigencies,  —  nor  conceive  the  ultimate  destiny  of 
 this  people,  God  alone  could  be  the  lawgiver;  thus 
 their  private,  civil  and  religious  character  was  formed 
 upon  a  model,  which  He  gave  to  Moses  in  the  wil- 
 
 '^  Notice  the  contrast  of  the  promise  of  God  to  Abraham 
 l^'C'd,  r.b^^Nl  "I  will  make  thy  name  great,"  and  the  resolve  of 
 those  proud  patriarchs,  "let  us  make  us  a  Shem,  i.  e.  a  name; 
 Cd  ^:r-r",v::'5n.  How  great  a  difference  in  the  end!  Gen.  XII.  1—2. 
 XL  4. ' 
 
 ^^  "!!"'*.  ■'^.^.  "!!"'?.  pro  qui  ero;  o  wf  K(«  6  f^p  xai  6  tp;i;o7(c*'Og; 
 cfr.  Exod.'lV.  14.' with  Rev.  I.  4. 
 
 AA 
 
402  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  ll. 
 
 derness.  As  these  laws  neither  emanated  from  the 
 nation  itself,  nor  yet  from  any  human  legislator,  it 
 was  natural  that  the  eocecutive  power  should  remain 
 in  the  hands  of  the  Divine  Sovereign,  who  framed 
 them ;  hence  it  was  an  offence  against  God,  when  Israel 
 demanded  a  king.  The  Divine  plan  of  educating 
 them  required  a  symbolical  instruction  adapted  to 
 their  childish  perception;  types  and  symbols  ?ire  there- 
 fore employed,  as  the  most  natural  mode  of  conveying 
 divine  truths.  Israel  being  like  unto  other  nations, 
 the  fact  of  their  having  been  chosen,  implied  no  mirac- 
 ulous translation  from  their  days,  to  an  epoch  some 
 thousand  years  in  advance.  To  prescribe  to  them  a 
 religion  in  which  the  spiritual  elements  preponderated 
 over  external  forms,  types,  rites  and  ceremonies  would 
 have  been  to  apply  moral  force  to  produce  a  jDre- 
 mature  result,  a  plan  which  would  have  defeated  its 
 own  object.  Amongst  all  the  emblems  and  types  of 
 good  things  to  come,  the  appointed  jcrVesMooo?,  with 
 the  prescribed  sacrifices,  was  the  most  important. 
 That  the  cause  of  their  efficiency  was  not  in  man, 
 but  in  the  blood,  of  which  God  declared,  " I  have  given 
 the  blood  to  atone  your  soiils,''^^  is  a  point  not  to  be 
 overlooked.  The  means  of  atonement  was  something 
 independent  of  man,  he  not  having  the  principle  of 
 sanctification  in  himself;  hence  the  person  for  whom 
 the  sacrifice  was  intended,  was  not  permitted  to  as- 
 sist in  the  services.  Another  soul  was  required  for 
 his  soul,  but  this  substitute  being  that  of  an  animal, 
 
 2°  Lev.  XYll.  11.  -h:  crb  Tpr:_  'is;!  Nin  n-js  ^b^n  ce;  ^3. 
 
CHAP,  ui]         HISTORICAL  FEATURE  OF  THE  BIBLE.  403 
 
 Standing  in  no  connection  with  man,  it  was  inadequate 
 to  take  away  sin ,  Hebr.  X.  4.  and  did  no  more  than 
 point  to  the  blood  of  Christ,  Who,  pouring  out  His 
 blood  and  giving  His  soul  as  a  ransom  for  many, 
 took  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  Hebr.  JX.  12. — 
 Again,  as  it  was  God's  purpose  to  keep  the  Jewish 
 nation  separate  from  all  others,  it  is  not  surprising 
 that  its  future  abode  was  physically  guarded  from 
 foreign  influence.  On  the  other  hand,  it  possessed 
 singular  advantages  for  spreading  that  light  amongst 
 the  surrounding  nations  of  antiquity,  of  which  the 
 Jews  were  the  chosen  guardians.  "Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God,  This  is  Jerusalem:  I  have  set  it  in  the 
 midst  of  the  nations  and  countries  that  are  round 
 about  her."  Ezek.  V.  5. 
 
 The  first  period  of  Israel's  possession  of  the  coun- 
 try being  the  time  of  the  Judges,  was  one  of  per- 
 petual change  and  confusion;  yet  no  epoch  afforded 
 so  many  striking  evidences,  that  no  vicissitudes  could 
 alter  the  purposes  of  the  unchangeable  Jehovah.  To 
 infuse  new  life  into  the  Jewish  church,  neither  the 
 transitory  enthusiasm  of  Jewish  conquerors ,  nor  yet 
 the  oracle  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim  was  henceforth 
 sufficient:  it  demanded  something  more  spiritual  and 
 quickening;  and  this  necessary,  and  extraordinary  aid 
 was  imparted  in  the  days  of  Samuel,  when  the  Spirit 
 of  Prophecy  supplied  a  living  commentary  to  the  law 
 of  Moses,  and  the  symbolical  forms  of  the  constitution. 
 Not  less  opportune  was  the  introduction  of  this  new 
 element,  in  checking  the  influence  of  the  political 
 power  which  was  added  to  the  government  of  the 
 
 AA* 
 
404  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [PART II. 
 
 Jews,  when — no  longer  satisfied  with  the  priestly 
 representative  of  Jehovah — they  demanded  a  king, 
 "to  judge  them  like  all  the  nations"  1  Sam.vm.  5 — 7.^° 
 Scarcely  had  the  nation  reached  its  highest  degree 
 of  worldly  prosperity,  under  the  peaceful  reign  of  So- 
 lomon, than  a  fearful  declension  of  spiritual  life  took 
 place,  and  the  Jewish  kingdom  speedily  became  ripe 
 for  judgment.  Yet,  as  it  would  militate  against  the 
 promise  given  to  David,  to  allow  an  idolatrous  power 
 to  destroy  Solomon's  temple,  and  to  overthrow  David's 
 throne,"'^  the  kingdom  was  only  weakened,  being 
 divided  into  a  "house  of  Israel"  and  "a  house  of 
 Judah,"  the  latter  retaining  the  temple  and  capital 
 of  the  nation,  whilst  the  former  fell  into  idolatry. 
 
 But  the  wisdom  of  Jehovah,  could  not  be  baffled 
 by  the  depravity  of  man;  it  was  manifest  that  full 
 scope  was  given  to  the  passions  of  men,  and  yet  that 
 no  human  error  could  make  void  the  purposes  of  God. 
 The  ten  tribes  of  Israel,  having  lost  their  savour,  are 
 cast  out,  and  driven  back  to  that  very  land,  from 
 which  Abraham  was  called  forth.  JohnXV.  2.  6.  The 
 house  of  Judah  soon  followed  into  captivity,  but  after 
 being  "purged,"  JohnXV.  2.  it  was  to  return  for  pur- 
 poses set  forth  by  Isaiah ,  w  ho  spoke  of  a  "branch 
 Old  of  a  dry  ground T  of  a  Mng ,  wdiose  throne  no 
 
 ^°  According'  to  the  original  plan,  the  office  of  high  priest  com- 
 prised the  threefold  dignity  of  king,  priest  and  prophet.  Numb. 
 XXYU.  21.  P.sahn  LXXXII.  6.  Exod.  XVIII.  5.  The  regal  dignity, 
 as  a  separate  office,  not  being  originally  included  in  the  theocratical 
 constitution,  \vas  after  a  short  period,  dissolved. 
 
 tT^^iW    2  Sam!  VU.  14.  15. 
 
CHAP.  III.]         HISTORICAL  FE.\TCRE  OF  THE  BIBLE.  405 
 
 idolatry  could  undermine;  of  a  prophet  who  would 
 possess  the  Spirit  without  measure;  and  of  a  priest 
 who  would  pass  from  death  to  life,  and  from  humilia- 
 tion to  glory.  When  the  civil  power  was  dissolved 
 as  a  cumbersome  appendage,  J^remza/i  mourned  upon 
 the  ruins  of  Jerusalem;  Daniel  watched  on  behalf  of 
 God's  people  near  the  Babylonian  throne;  and  Ezekiel 
 guarded  the  scattered  and  captive  flock  of  the  Al- 
 mighty on  the  shores  of  the  Chaboras.  Nor  could 
 thil  apparent  breaking  up  of  God's  long  cherished 
 plan  of  education  endanger  the  safety  of  the  remnant, 
 upon  whose  preservation  the  issue  depended;  for  there 
 exists  no  record  of  their  falling  into  idolatry  durmg 
 
 their  captivity. 
 
 When  the  house  of  Judah  returned,  their  condi- 
 tion was  by  no  means  encouraging;  a  shadow  only 
 being  left  of  the  house  of  David,  and  the  second  temple 
 could  not  be  compared  to  the  glory  of  the  first;  yet  a 
 living  hope  and  prospects  of  a  brighter  nature  were 
 still  preserved.  ^^  When  the  house  of  David  had  fallen 
 into  oblivion ,  the  guardianship  of  the  prophets  over 
 the  political  power  was  no  longer  required;  besides,  all 
 that  was  needful  had  been  uttered  respecting  the 
 advent  and  work  of  the  Messiah.  The  Spirit  of  Pro- 
 phecy fled,  and  in  its  flight,  nothing  more  is  said  of 
 a  ''house  of  David T  but  it  prophesied  of  "the  ruler 
 desiredr  Mai.  m.  1— 4.  iv.  5.  6.  Who  would  come  to 
 His  temple  as  a  purifier  of  the  nation ,  Who  would 
 
 "  Jehovah  who  chooses  "things  which  are  not,"— the  words 
 Isa.  XLY.  1.  being  uttered  176  years  before  the  birth  o^  ^>'J""^  T". 
 put  it  into  Cyrus'  heart  to  grant  permission  for  the  return  of  Judah. 
 Ezra  L  1.2. 
 
406  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  il. 
 
 separate  the  gold  fi'om  the  dross,  and  be  introduced 
 by  a  man  of  the  spirit  of  Elias. 
 
 3.  The  time  between  3Icdachi  and  the  forerunner 
 of  Christ  was  a  time  of  deep  silence,  in  which,  "the 
 kingdom  of  heaven  was  hke  unto  a  man  travelling 
 into  a  far  country,  who  called  his  servants  and  de- 
 livered unto  them  his  goods."  ^^  They  were  to  keep 
 fast  what  they  had  already  received:  the  last  pro- 
 phet departing  with  the  injunction,  ''Remember  ye  the 
 law  of  Moses,  my  servant,  which  I  commanded  you 
 in  Horeb,  with  the  statutes  and  judgments."  The 
 period  immediately  preceding  the  advent  of  Christ, 
 was  the  time  when  the  blossoms  of  the  theocratical 
 constitution  had  fallen  oif,  and  the  fruit  had  not  yet 
 appeared.  That  it  must  have  added  to  the  trial  of 
 the  nation  to  see  their  ancient  privileges,  07ie  by  cue, 
 die  away,  can  easily  be  conceived.  Nor  was  this  all; 
 the  feeling  of  disappointment  and  misery  which  pre- 
 vailed on  the  eve  of  the  long  expected  advent  of  the 
 Messiah,  was  such,  that  nothing  short  of  the  appear- 
 ance of  "the  Lord  from  heaven"  could  satisfy  the 
 wants,    and  allay  the  intense  desire  of  the  Jewish 
 
 ^'^  This  period  of  silence  which  lasted  400  years  has  its  parallels. 
 The  Jews  were  in  Eg^^-pt  about  400  years  without  a  voice  of  comfort 
 or  advice  from  the  God  of  Abraham.  Such  a  period  also,  was  the  time 
 of  the  Judges,  which  lasted  above  300  years.  How  inexplicable 
 these  periods  of  captivity,  silence  and  apparent  neglect  seem  to  the 
 natural  man ,  may  be  seen  e.  g.  from  the  celebrated  conversation  of 
 Caecilius  with  Octavius:  "Unde  autem,  vel  ijuis  ille ,  ant  ubi  Deus 
 unicus,  solitarius,  destitutus,  quern  non  gens  libera,  non  regna,  non 
 saltem  Romana  superstitio  noverunt?  Judaeorum  sola  et  misera 
 gentilitas  unum  et  ipsi  Dcum,  sed  palam,  sed  templis ,  aris,  victimis, 
 caerimoniisque  colueruut;  cvjus  adeo  nulla  via  nee  potestas  est,  ut 
 sit  Romanis  hominibus  cum  sua  sibi  natio)ie  captivus."  ]\iinuc,  Fel. 
 cap.  X.  - 
 
CHAP.  III.]         HISTORICAL  FEATURE  OF  THE  BIBLE.  407 
 
 nation.^*  But  here  again  we  begin  with  small  things, 
 a  babe  in  swaddling-clothes  lying  in  a  manger. ^^ 
 We  have  to  do,  not  with  rhvthmical  effusions,  nor 
 with  metaphysical  disquisitions  upon  divine  things, 
 nor  yet  with  an  unheard-of  aggregate  of  moral  pre- 
 cepts, from  which  the  salvation  of  the  world  was  ex- 
 pected. On  the  contrary,  we  have  a  sober,  calm 
 and  simple  narration  of  historical  facts,  "which  were 
 not  done  in  a  corner;"  not  a  solitary,  but  a  fourfold 
 record  of  the  leading  events ,  words ,  deeds ,  and 
 sufferings    of   the   Son    of    God.      Christianity  was 
 
 '*  That  Christ  had  become  "the  desire  of  all  nations  "  was 
 proved  by  the  general  expectation  of  the  world.  The  Chinese  at 
 that  period  looked  for  "the  Holy  one  who  was  to  appear  from  the 
 West."  The  Persian  Sosiosh  was  then  expected  as  the  Oshander- 
 bega,  or  "man  of  the  world."  The  Buddhist  waited  for  a  new 
 Buddha ,  and  the  Hindoos  for  a  fresh  Avatar  or  incarnation  of  the 
 Deity.  The  ivise  men  in  the  East  watched  for  the  star  of  the  king 
 of  the  Jews.  The  Romans  were  not  behind:  "Percrebuerat  Oriente 
 toto  vetus  et  constans  opinio,  esse  in  fatis,  ut  eo  tempore,  Judaea 
 profecti  rerum  potirentur."  Suetonius  in  Vita  Vesp.  Vide  also  Com. 
 Tacit.  Hist.  L  5.  Virgil  nat.  70.  A.  D.  w:-ote  at  the  time  of  Herod 
 the  Great: 
 
 "Ultima  Cumaei  venit  jam  carminis  aetas: 
 Magnus  ab  integro  saeclorum  nascitur  ordo. 
 Jam  nova  progenies  coelo  demittitur  alto. 
 Tu  modo  nascenti  puero,  quo  ferrea  primura 
 Desinet,  ac  toto  surget  gens  aurea  mundo  — 
 
 —  Nee  magnos  metuent  armenta  leones. 
 Occidet  et  serpens,  et  fallax  herba  veneni  occidet. 
 Aggredere  0  magnos  (aderit  jam  tempus)  honores, 
 Chara  Deum  soboles,  magnum  Jovis  incrementum! 
 Aspice  convexo  nutantem  pondere  mundum, 
 Terrasque,  tractusque  maris,  coelumque  profuudum : 
 Aspice  venturo  laetentur  ut  omnia  saeclo. 
 
 Pauca  tamen  suberunt  priscae  vestigia  fraudis, 
 
 —  Erunt  etiara  altera  bella.  Virgil.  Eclog.  TV. 
 
 '*  "Ut  homines  nascerentur  ex  Deo,  primo  ex  ipsis  natus  est 
 Deus.    Descendit  Deus,  ut  assurgamus." 
 
408  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  il. 
 
 based  upon  the  foundation  of  the  historical  facts  re- 
 corded in  the  four  Gospels;  and  these  books,  with 
 their  contents,  indicate  "the  fulness  of  time,"  and 
 constitute  the  very  centre  of  all  ancient  and  modern 
 history.  The  Koran  itself,  in  speaking  of  the  Law 
 and  the  Gospel,  as  two  distinct  dispensations  which 
 chronologically  succeeded  each  other,  virtually  ac- 
 knowledges the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch  with  the 
 coming  of  Christ.  Nor  is  it  possible  that  any  general 
 history  of  the  world,  though  written  in  a  spirit  di- 
 rectly opposed  to  Christianity,  could  fail  to  recognise 
 the  natural  division  of  time,  at  the  commencement 
 of  our  era. 
 
 The  supernatural  conception  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
 and  His  manifestation  of  miraculous  power  are  ad- 
 mitted by  the  Koran,  though  His  death  and  resur- 
 rection are  denied.  In  the  Gospel,  all  these  dogmas 
 rest  upon  one  and  the  same  foundation;  but  the  Ko- 
 ran rejects  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  as 
 being  the  groundwork  of  Redemption ;  since  He  gave 
 His  life  "by  the  eternal  Sjnrit,''^*^  His  blood  is  the 
 blood  of  the  Son  of  God  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 
 1  John  I.  7.  All  types  and  prophecies  being  in  Htm 
 fulfilled,  the  distinctive  rites  of  the  Old  Testament 
 were  no  longer  required :  for  the  Gentiles  being  ad- 
 mitted to  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel,  the  partition 
 wall  between  them  and  the  Jews  was  broken  down, 
 and  Christ  thus  made  in  Himself,  of  twain  one  new. 
 body  to  be  henceforth  called  by  a  new  name.  ^'    The 
 
 "    "Mors  Christi  vita  niundi."    Also  John  XII.  24. 
 
 "    Compare  Isa.  LXY.  15.  where  the  name  of  the  Jews  was  to 
 
CHAP.  Ill]         HISTORICAL  FEATURE  OF  THE  BIBLE.  409 
 
 order  in  which  the  Apostles  were  to  bear  witness, 
 after  having  received  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 w^as, — first  at  Jerusalem,  then  mJiidea,  then  in  Sa- 
 maria, and  after  that,  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
 earth; ^''  thus  making  fully  known  the  mystery,  "that 
 the  Gentiles  should  be  fellow-heirs  and  of  the  same 
 body,  and  partakers  of  His  promise  in  Christ  by  the 
 Gospel."'^'' 
 
 It  must  be  considered  one  of  the  greatest  marvels 
 in  history,  that  a  nation  should  exercise  the  greatest 
 influence  upon  the  rest  of  mankind,  only  after  it  was 
 destroyed;  having  during  its  existence  remained  com- 
 paratively unknown.  Possessing  for  ages  the  secret 
 of  the  world's  salvation ,  the  Jewish  nation  lost  its 
 importance  on  that  secret  being  divulged.  It  then 
 became  manifest,  that  it  was  not  partiality  which 
 prompted  the  choosing  of  this  remarkable  people. 
 As  the  Jewish  Scriptures  have  the  peculiarity  of  being 
 read  backwards,  from  right  to  left,  so,  God's  dealings 
 with  that  people  can  only  be  understood,  when  they 
 are  retrospectively  considered;  thus  St.  Paul  regarded 
 the  Ephesians,  when  saying  they  were  "built  upon 
 
 be  left  for  a  curse ,  rjr^nuib,  and  His  servants  called  by  another 
 name,  ^HN  D">p.,  with  the  fact  of  the  disciples  being  called  xQiatia- 
 TOvg  first  in  Antioch.    Act.  XI.  26. 
 
 *®  The  Serai-pagan  Saniarit-ans  and  the  Semi-Jewish  Ethiopians 
 served  as  the  medium  for  the  transmission  of  the  Gospel  from  the  Jews 
 to  the  Gentiles.  After  the  baptism  of  the  proselyte  Eunuch,  follows 
 the  conversion  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  Act.  EX.  and  cap.  X. 
 St.  Peter  preaches  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles  "without  respect  of 
 persons." 
 
 "'  ovH  tyv6)Qia^7]:  non  notificatum  est.  Non  dicit:  ovx  dnty.a- 
 kvcpdr^:  non  revelatum  est.    Bong.  Gnora.  ad  Ephes.  ni. 
 
410  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  U. 
 
 the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets."' ^^  It  was 
 only  through  the  Gospel  that  they  became  possessed 
 of  the  kev  to  the  Old  Testament. 
 
 The  Koran  contams  no  evidence,  that  prior  to  Is- 
 lamism,  a  similar  training  of  the  Arabs  took  place,  to 
 fit  them  to  convey  a  new  dispensation  to  the  world; 
 and  until  this  point  be  established,  the  Moslem  has 
 no  right  to  place  Islamism  in  the  same  category  with 
 the  Law  and  the  Gospel.  The  Arabs  doubtless  have 
 a  mission  to  fulfil  in  God's  providential  government 
 of  the  world,  like  any  other  nation;**  but  as  regards 
 their  instrumentalitv  in  the  salvation  of  mankind, 
 had  they  not  hitherto  existed,  no  nation  under  heaven 
 would  have  sustained  any  loss  whatever.  Not  so  with 
 the  Jews ;  if  we  suppose  that  they  had  never  existed, 
 all  would  necessarily  have  taken  a  different  course. 
 Idolatry  must  have  prevailed ,  and  no  element  would 
 have  remained  to  serve  as  a  foundation  for  the  recov- 
 ery of  mankind.  The  history  of  the  Jews,  considered 
 in  this  light,  eclipses  in  importance  the  combined 
 history  of  all  other  nations  of  antiquity.  But  the  Jews 
 in  rejecting  the  Messiah,  forfeited  their  right  to  na- 
 tional independance  and  the  possession  of  the  land 
 of  their  inheritance ,  and  thus  lowered  themselves 
 beneath  those  nations  from  whom  they  had  been  so 
 honorably  distinguished. 
 
 **•  To  use  another  simile :  the  Old  Testament  was  written  with- 
 out vowels;  these  being  added  in  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
 era.  The  Gospel  supplied  the  vowels  to  the  Old  Testament,  "so  that 
 he  may  run,  that  readeth." 
 
 *'  (V-gJU-ft  iwl  JjCI  Laj\  viJU Jo  "We  have  given  a  work  to 
 every  nation."   Sur.  VI.  108. 
 
CHAP.IU.]         HISTORICAL  FEATUHE  OF  THE  BIBLE.  411 
 
 Lastly,  we  find  not  only  an  organic  connection  of 
 the  several  parts  of  the  Bible,  which  we  vainly  seek 
 in  the  Koran  or  in  any  other  religious  document,  but 
 that  each  historical  feature  has  a  prophetical  or  ty- 
 pical character  which  embodies  a  miniature  of  the 
 whole ,  and  so  anticipates  the  final  consummation  of 
 the  entire  counsel  of  God.    Thus,  in  reading  the  last 
 three  Chapters  of  the  book  of  Revelation,  we  observe 
 every  single  incident  brought  into  close  connection 
 with  something  which  has  been  recorded  in  the  first 
 three  Chapters   of  Genesis;    so   that   the  beginning 
 and  the  end  of  the  Bible  are  linked  together  by  an 
 indissoluble  bond  of  divine  perfection  and  harmony." 
 4.   This  organic  connection  and  harmony  between 
 the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  are  fully  acknowledged 
 in  the  Koran,  "we  also  caused  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary 
 to  follow  the  footsteps  of  the  prophets ,  confirming 
 the  law  which  was  already  in  their  hands ,  and  we 
 gave  him  the  Gospel,  containing  direction  and  light, 
 confirming  also  the  law  which  was  given  before  it."  *^ 
 It  would  undoubtedly  serve  as  a  confirmation  of  the 
 
 "  Gen  I.  1.  and  Rev.  XXI.  1.  Rev.  XXI.  2.  and  Gen.  I.  3. 
 Gen  I  14.  and  Rev.  XXL  23.  Gen.  I.  9.  10.  and  Rev.  XXI.  1. 
 Gen.  n.  9.  and  Rev.  XXII.  2.  Gen.  II.  10.  and  Rev.  XXIL  1.  Gen. 
 II  7  and  Rev.  XX.  13.  Gen.  H.  22.  and  Rev.  XXL  1.  Gen.  IE.  8. 
 and  Rev  XXL  3.  Gen.  II.  2.  3.  and  Rev.  XXU.  14.  Gen.  L  28. 
 and  Rev.  XX.  4.  Gen.  lU.  3.  and  Rev.  XXI.  Gen.  lU.  15.  and  Rev. 
 XX  ">  10  Gen.  m.  16—19.  and  Rev.  XX.  12.  Gen.  UI.  17.  16. 
 and  Rev.  XXI.  4.  Gen.  III.  17.  and  Rev.  XXH.  3.  Gen.  UI.  19. 
 and  Rev.  XXI.  4.  Gen.  lU.  21.  and  Rev.  XIX.  7.  XXL  2.  Gen.  IH. 
 24.  and  Rev.  XXU.  14. 
 
 'ilyXi\  ^  iwJo  c^^    Sur.  V.  54.    See  also  XU.  111. 
 
412  THE  BIBLE  AKD  THE  KORAN.  [PART  n. 
 
 claims  of  Mohammed  and  his  alleged  revelations, 
 could  it  be  proved,  that  the  Koran  stands  in  the  same 
 relation  to  the  Gospel,  as  the  Gospel  stands  to  the 
 Old  Testament:  although  this  is  the  pretension  of 
 the  Koran  from  beginning  to  end,**  yet  the  complete- 
 ness of  the  historical  and  doctrinal  character  of  the 
 Bible  at  once  precludes  the  assumption.  The  Old 
 and  New  Testament  appear  as  a  perfect  whole,  which 
 requires  no  fresh  revelation,  nor  the  introduction  of 
 any  new  dispensation,  excepting  that  only,  which  will 
 unfold  with  the  end  of  the  world.  Not  only  have  we 
 no  single  truth  revealed  in  the  Koran  which  we  have 
 not  already  in  the  Bible,  but  there  is  an  absolute  ab- 
 rogation of  some  of  the  essentials  of  the  preceding 
 dispensations;  there  is  no  historical  vein  in  the  Ko- 
 ran, which  would  either  lead  back  to  the  Gospel  era 
 or  to  the  beginning  of  the  world ;  but  a  direct  denial 
 of  some  of  the  most  important  historical  facts  recorded 
 in  the  Gospel,  and  confirmed,  as  we  shall  see,  by  the 
 testimony  of  profane  writers. 
 
 It  is  not  our  design  to  comjjensate  for  weak- 
 ness of  argument  by  applying  aspersive  epithets  to 
 Islamism;   it   would  be  not   only  unseemly   in   any 
 
 **   The  same  terms,  which  are  used  to  signify  the  relation  of  the 
 Gospel  to  the  law,  are  applied  to  the  Koran  conjirmina  the  law  and 
 
 the  Gospel,    ^j-^  UJ  Ls'tX.^ax'  (^_^.S\JL)    ^oLiXJ!   *iijJt   \jJJi\^ 
 
 v^LaJCJI  ^^jo  KjJo  Sur.  V.  56.  Again,  "This  book,  which  is 
 blessed,  we  have  sent  down,  con/iroihui  that  which  was  before  it.' 
 Sur.  YI.  92.  Again,  "The  Koran  could  not  have  been  invented  by 
 any  other ,  but  it  is  from  God ;  a  confirmation  of  that  which  was 
 revealed  before  it.  and  an  explanation  of  the  Scripture.  There  is  no 
 doubt,  that  it  come  from  the  Lord  of  all  creatures."    Sur.  X.  38. 
 
CHAP.  III.]     INCOHERENT  RHAPSODIES  OF  THE  KORAN.        413 
 
 work  of  a  religious  or  theological  character,  but 
 would  only  defeat  our  object,  by  closing  the  mind 
 to  the  power  of  truth  and  strengthening  the  preju- 
 dices of  those,  whose  conversion  we  have  in  view.  Yet 
 the  interests  of  truth  must  not  be  sacrificed  to  the 
 desire  of  maintaining  peace.  After  studiously  per- 
 using the  Koran,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  whether 
 the  book  had  any  pretext  to  consider  itself  as  sup- 
 plementary to  the  law  and  the  Gospel,  we  are  com- 
 pelled to  confess,  that  the  judgment  of  the  sober- 
 minded  enemies  of  Mohammed,  as  preserved  in  the 
 Koran,  is  the  most  correct  estimate  which  can  be 
 formed  of  its  contents.*^  The  Koran  ostensibly  pro- 
 fesses to  be  of  an  historical  character ,  but  when  the 
 author  borrowed  a  few  fragments  from  sacred  history, 
 it  was  with  the  pompous  claim  to  revelation,  —  "This 
 is  out  of  the  secret  histories,  and  we  reveal  the  same," 
 — forgetting  that  it  had  been  already  preached 
 throughout  the  world  as  a  matter  of  history,  not  re- 
 velation for  the  period  of  600  and  2000  years!*'  If 
 any  person  ventured  to  question  the  pretensions  of  the 
 "perspicuous  book  sent  down  from  heaven,"  Moham- 
 med, instead  of  meeting  rational  objections  with  ra- 
 tional arguments ,  enveloped  himself  in  his  alleged 
 prophetical  dignity,  and  in  the  name  of  Allah  he 
 
 *^  "But  they  say,  the  Koran  is  a  confused  heap  of  dreams,  nay 
 he  hath  forged'it;  nay  he  is  a  poet."  Sur.  XXI.  5.  Again:  "They 
 also  say.  These  are  fables  of  the  ancients,  which  he  hath  caused  to 
 be  written  down;  they  are  dictated  to  him  morning  and  evening." 
 Sur.  XXV.  5. 
 
 *®  (.^A^xJl  sLaj!  ^jjo  JU  j  hoc  est  ex  historiis  arcani.  Sur. 
 ni.  44.  •    "  ' 
 
414  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  ii. 
 
 poured  forth  a  volley  of  maledictions  upon  his  oppo- 
 nents and  condemned  them  to  be  roasted  in  hell.*^ 
 
 To  trace  any  fixed  plan  or  system  of  doctrines^n 
 the  Koran  or  to  discern  an  historical  thread  of  any 
 kind  is  simply  impossible.  Some  of  the  events  con- 
 nected with  Noah,  Abraham,  Ishmael,  Moses,  and 
 other  distinguished  characters  of  the  Bible  are  re- 
 peatedly related  in  diflferent  parts  of  the  Koran ,  and 
 always  with  a  painful  admixture  of  fabulous  additions. 
 Sur.  xn.  introduces  the  history  of  Joseph  as  a  fresh 
 revelation,  although  it  had  happened  2870  years  be- 
 fore Mohammed's  time,  and  was  written  200  years  after 
 it  occurred.  The  conclusion  therefore,  to  which  we 
 must  of  necessity  arrive,  is  this,  that  there  is  no  his- 
 torical feature  whatever  in  the  Koran;  on  the  con- 
 trary the  matter  is  thrown  together  in  the  utmost 
 confusion:  historical  events  of  the  day  are  amalga- 
 mated with  traditions  of  the  most  remote  antiquity; 
 biblical  characters  are  brought  forward  in  utter  de- 
 fiance of  the  order  oftheir  chronological  succession.** 
 In  the  midst  of  declamations  against  his  enemies, 
 Mohammed  suddenly  alludes  to  a  period,  when  some 
 
 *^    I  will    afflict   him  with  grievous  calamities . . .  may  he  be 
 
 cursed  1    And  again  may  he  be  cursed He  looked  and  frowned 
 
 and  put  on  an  austere  countenance;  then  he  turned  back  and  was 
 elated  with  pride ,  and  he  said ,  This  is  no  other  than  a  piece  of 
 magic ,  borrowed  from  others ,  these  are  only  the  words  of  a  man. 
 But  such  a  one  will  I  roast  in  hell.  And  who  will  say,  in  what  thij 
 hell  consists?  It  leaves  nothing  unconsumed,  and  nothing  escapes. 
 It  scorcheth  all  the  flesh  of  the  human  body;  19  angels  have  we 
 appointed  over  them."   Sur.  LXXIV.  16 — 30. 
 
 *^  Contrast  the  apology  of  St.  Stephen.  Act.  VII.  and  the  lucid 
 record  of  Peter  in  Acts  II.  and  III.  Or  the  historical  sketch  of  the 
 Psalmist  Psalm  CV.  and  CVL 
 
CHAP.  III.]     INCOHERENT  RHAPSODIES  OF  THE  KORAN.        415 
 
 of  the  disobedient  Jews  were  turned  into  monkeys 
 and  2^ig^ ,  leaving  liis  readers  at  a  loss  where  to  find 
 an  authenticated  record  of  so  extraordinary  a  meta- 
 morphosis! Sur.  V.  65.  vn.  166.  H.  61.  Though  divided 
 into  chapters  and  verses,  no  arrangement  of  subject 
 is  perceptible  in  the  Koran.  Invectives  and  curses 
 against  enemies  are  interwoven  with  instructions  for 
 fighting  with  infantry  or  cavalry.  The  history  of  the 
 Red  Coiv  of  the  Israelites  is  thrown  together  with 
 charges  against  Jews  and  Christians  and  the  usual 
 denunciations  of  hell-fire;  conversations  of  the  damn- 
 ed are  mingled  with  challenges  to  produce  a  Koran 
 like  his  own;  incidents  from  the  Gospels  and  the 
 apocryphal  books  of  the  New  Testaments  are  linked 
 together  with  precepts  for  fasting,  and  promises  of 
 the  material  pleasures  of  Paradise.  Asseverations  of 
 the  truth  of  the  pseudo-prophet's  revelations  and  la- 
 mentations at  being  considered  an  impostor,  are 
 coupled  with  the  enaction  of  civil  laws  and  the  terrors 
 of  the  day  of  Judgement.*^ 
 
 5.  The  next  point  of  contrast,  to  be  observed  is, 
 —  the  Bible,  a  standing  miracle  of  God's  power  and 
 wisdom, ^^  and  the  so  called  miracle  of  the  Koran. 
 Beginning  with  the  former,  we  notice  the  miraculous 
 character  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  —  Unlike 
 the  alleged  nightly  visions  of  Mohammed,  the  mani- 
 festations of  Jehovah  in  the  Bible  were  for  the  most 
 
 *^  The  learned  HInkelmann  declared  A.  D.  1694,  when  the 
 Koran  was  less  known:  "negotiiim  nobis  est  cum  libro,  quern  legere 
 et  detegere  est  refiitare." 
 
 ^°  Vide,  Koppen,  JDie  SdiM  ein  ©erf  bet  getllic^cn  SlKmac^t  mi 
 ^tisijiit.   2  JBanoe. 
 
416  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  ll. 
 
 part  of  a  tangible  and  public  nature.  The  cloudy- 
 pillar,  the  smoke,  the  thunder  and  lightening  on 
 mount  Sinai,  accompanied  with  the  voice  of  the  living 
 Jehovah,  and  the  song  of  the  angels  at  the  birth,  with 
 the  visible  and  audible  manifestations  at  the  baptism 
 of  the  Lord  Jesus,  well  befitted  the  respective  intro- 
 ductions of  the  two  dispensations.  Whenever  visions 
 to  single  individuals  are  recorded  in  the  Bible,  such 
 as  vouchsafed  to  Moses  in  the  bush,  to  Isaiah  in 
 the  temple,  to  Ezekiel  in  Chaldea,  to  Zacharias-  dur- 
 insf  his  ministrations  and  to  Marv  in  her  house,  al- 
 though  not  attested  by  others,  yet  they  are  invariably 
 proved  by  their  mighty  results;  a  proof,  for  which  we 
 fruitlessly  search  to  corroborate  any  one  of  Moham- 
 med's visions. 
 
 Another  class  of  miraculous  demonstrations  re- 
 corded in  the  Bible  were  those  witnessed  in  the  sun, 
 moon  and  stars;  it  being  the  j^rerogative  of  the  Lord 
 of  hosts  "to  bring  out  their  host  by  the  greatness 
 of  His  might,"  and  to  cause  them  to  hide  themselves 
 at  His  bidding,  as  was  the  case  during  the  darkness 
 which  covered  Egypt  before  the  Exodus  and  which 
 enveloped  Palestine  during  the  Crucifixion.  As  in- 
 stances of  Jehovah's  sovereign  power  over  the  ele- 
 ments, we  may  remember  that  Sodom  and  Gomorrah 
 were  miraculously  overthrown  by  Jire;  and  Aadab 
 and  Abihu  were  killed  by  the  same  element.  Elijah's 
 prayer  was  answered  hy  Jire;  the  two  companies  of 
 fifties,  sent  to  the  same  prophet  by  the  superstitious 
 king  Ahaziah,  were  consumed  by  Jire;  and  Daniel's 
 three  friends  were  preserved  "in  the  midst  of  fire." 
 
CHAP.m.]     THE  BIBLE  A  MIRACLE  OF  GOD'S  POWER.  417 
 
 Marvels  were  also  wrought  in  the  air.  Moses  pro- 
 phesied a  destructive  hail ,  which  fell  in  some  locali- 
 ties ,  whilst  others  were  spared.  A  similar  miracle 
 was  performed  in  the  days  of  Samuel  to  ensure  the 
 victory  to  Israel.  Rain  from  heaven  ceases  and  falls 
 upon  the  "fervent  and  effectual  prayer"  of  the  prophet 
 Elijah.  At  another  time,  dew  fell  upon  a  fleece  of 
 wool,  when  the  whole  earth  round  about  was  dry,  and 
 again,  upon  all  the  earth,  leaving  the  fleece  dry.  Lastly, 
 our  Lord  rebuked  the  wind  and  it  was  calm.  Water 
 at  one  time  is  changed  into  blood,  at  another,  into 
 wine.  A  dry  path  is  opened  by  Jehovah  in  the  sea, 
 and  on  three  occasions  through  the  river  Jordan; 
 again,  Christ  and  Peter  are  seen  walking  on  the  lake 
 of  Galilee.  Li  the  days  of  the  Flood,  a  miraculous 
 interposition  of  Jehovah  embraced  both  the  dry  earth 
 and  the  water.  The  earth  swallowed  up  Korah, 
 Dathan,  and  Abiram  with  their  rebellious  followers, 
 and  all  their  substance.  The  rochs  at  one  time 
 were  rent  assunder,  at  other  times,  fire  and  water 
 issued  from  them.  Iron  is  made  to  swim;  chains  fall 
 from  the  hands  of  holy  prisoners,  and  an  iron  gate 
 opens  of  its  own  accord.  Thei^oc?  of  Moses  becomes 
 a  serpent,  and  that  of  Aaron  "budded,  and  brought 
 forth  buds,  and  bloomed  blossoms  and  yielded  al- 
 monds" in  a  single  night;  and  at  another  time  a 
 green  fig-tree  withered  within  the  same  period,  at  the 
 Saviour's  command.  The  Manna  which  for  forty  years 
 was  the  miraculous  food  of  the  Israelites,  falls  on 
 some  days  and  not  on  others,  remains  good  over  the 
 Sabbath,  yet  becomes  foul,  if  kept  on  other  days. 
 
 BB 
 
418  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  li. 
 
 Poisonous  herbs  become  wholesome:  the  barrel  of 
 meal  and  the  cruise  of  oil  never  foil.  A  hundred  men 
 are  fed  upon  scanty  provisions,  and  Jesus  feeds  at 
 one  time  5000,  at  another,  4000  men,  with  a  few 
 loaves  and  a  few  fishes.  Moses,  Elijah,  and  Christ,  live 
 without  food,  during  forty  days  in  the  wilderness. 
 Again,  a  disobedient  prophet  is  killed  by  ^lion,  whilst 
 his  ass  stands  by  unharmed;  but  the  prophet  Daniel 
 is  safe  in  a  den  of  lions.  Bears  are  commanded  to 
 kill  forty- two  wicked  children;  two  milch  l-iue,  upon 
 which  there  had  come  no  yoke,  conduct  the  ark  of 
 the  covenant  in  safety;  quails  are  sent,  at  the  prayer 
 of  Moses;  Elijah  is  fed  by  ravens;  an  ass  speaks  with 
 man's  voice;  Jonah  is  cast  alive  on  the  sea-shore  by 
 2ijisli;  another  fish  supplies  the  tribute  money;  and 
 others  are  found  in  a  disciple's  net  in  miraculous 
 abundance.  Locusts,  frogs,  fiery  serpents  and  other 
 creatures  suddenly  appear  as  judgments  upon  guilty 
 nations.  The  greater  number  of  the  miracles  of  the 
 Bible  were  wrought  upon  man.  Languages  are  sud- 
 denly confused;  people  Avith  open  eyes,  fail  to  find 
 their  way;  a  proud  monarch  is  degraded  to  the  con- 
 dition and  instincts  of  a  beast  of  the  field,  and  after 
 seven  years ,  is  restored  to  his  reason  and  kingdom ; 
 Bezaleel  and  Solomon  are  endued  with  supernatural 
 wisdom.  Sennacherib's  host  is  miraculously  destroyed 
 in  one  night ;  Ananias  and  his  wife  fall  down  dead  at 
 an  Apostle's  feet;  Miriam  and  Geliazi  are  punished 
 with  leprosy.  Zacharias  is  suddenly  struck  dumb, 
 and  Elymas  is  struck  blind.  As  bodily  powers  are 
 miraculously  taken  away,  so  are  they  given;  as  in 
 
CHAP.  III.]      THE  BIBLE  A  MIRACLE  OF  GOD'S  POWER.  419 
 
 the  case  of  David,  and  Samson.  Still  more  numerous 
 are  the  miracles  of  Mercy.  Devils  are  cast  out ,  le- 
 pers are  cleansed,  fever  and  palsy  are  removed,  the 
 bloodv  flux  and  the  issue  of  blood  are  staunched,  the 
 deaf  hear,  the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the  ear  cut 
 off  is  replaced,  withered  limbs  are  cured,  the  dying 
 are  restored  to  health  at  a  word,  and  the  dead,  even 
 in  a  state  of  corruption,  are  instantly  recalled  to  life.^* 
 These  miracles  are  distributed  over  the  visible 
 and  invisible  world,  among  animate,  inanimate,  ra- 
 tional and  irrational  creatures;  thus  setting  forth  the 
 inimitable  supremacy  of  Jehovah  over  the  luhole  uni- 
 verse. The  Koran,  having  no  miracles  of  its  own,  re- 
 lates some  of  the  above-mentioned,  with  the  most 
 grotesque  and  fabulous  exaggerations;  while  others 
 recorded  for  the  first  time,  have  never  been  authen- 
 ticated, and  are  invariably  of  an  undignified,  puerile 
 and  incongruous  character,  such  as  would  worthily 
 form  a  part  of  "the  Arabian  Nights"  or  any  like 
 fiction.  ^^  The  Biblical  miracles,  on  the  other  hand, 
 although  wrought  in  different  parts  of  the  world, 
 amidst  an  endless  diversity  of  circumstances ,  in  dif- 
 ferent ages,  by  diff'erent  persons,  and  for  diff'erent 
 purposes,  yet  are  each,  severally  impressed  with  a 
 
 ^'  Josh.Vn.  14— 21.  Exod.  XVn.  2.  Judg.  VIL  1— 6.  16— 20. 
 2  Chron.  XX.  1 — 30.    XII.  1  — 16.  ivond&fftd  battles  are  recorded. 
 
 ^■'  See  Abraham's  deliverance  from  fire  Sur.  XXI.  69;  the  meta- 
 morphosis of  the  Jews  into  apes  and  swine  Sur.  V.  65;  Solomon's 
 power  over  demons,  spirits  and  birds  Sur.  XXYII.  7 — 20;  the  story 
 of  Ezra,  his  ass,  his  basket  of  figs  and  cruise  of  wine  Sur.  II.  261; 
 Job's  cure  on  washing  in  the  fountain  which  sprang  up  after  stamp- 
 ing on  the  ground,  Sur.  XXXVIII.  43 — 46;  the  miraculous  virtue  of 
 the  shirt  of  Joseph.   Sur.  XQ.  93—96—99. 
 
 BB* 
 
420  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [partii. 
 
 peculiar  stamp  and  significance. — Here  then,  the 
 question  arises,  how  comes  it  that  these  miracles  form 
 such  a  well  ordered,  highly  diversified,  duly  propor- 
 tioned and  completely  organised  system  of  wonderful 
 deeds?  As  it  was  impossible  that  they  could  have 
 been  fortuitously  thrown  together  in  the  Bible,  they 
 doubtless  were  recorded  under  the  immediate  direc- 
 tion of  God  Himself,  in  the  manner  in  which  we  find 
 them,  and  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  wrought. 
 Since  no  human  prescience  could  foresee  what  kind, 
 and  what  number  of  miracles  would  be  ^vl•ought,  and 
 no  human  wisdom  could  suggest  how  many  of  them 
 should  be  selected,  and  in  what  manner  they  should 
 be  recorded  so  as  to  produce  a  collection  not  wanting 
 in  any  of  the  essential  links  of  the  entire  system,  and 
 yet,  not  needlessly  replete  with  wonders  of  the  same 
 type  and  character;  and  since  God  alone  could  both 
 work  such  miracles,  and  cause  them  to  be  so  recorded, 
 it  unquestionably  follows,  that  the  Bible,  in  which  we 
 find  them,  must  in  itself  he  a  stupendous  miracle  of 
 God's  absolute  power  and  wisdom. 
 
 6.  The  Bible  more  especially  appears  a  miracle 
 of  God's  wisdom,  when  we  examine  its  fulfilled  pro- 
 phecies. The  prediction  of  the  Flood;  the  numerous 
 posterity  of  Abraham;  the  prophetic  definition  of  the 
 period ,  during  which  the  Israelites  were  to  be  in 
 bondage  in  a  strange  land ;  the  announcement  of  the 
 seven  years'  famine  in  Egypt;  the  threatening  of  the 
 dispersion  of  Israel  among  all  nations,  in  case  of  dis- 
 obedience; and  the  still  greater  marvel, —  one  indeed 
 without  parallel  in  the  annals  of  nations,  —  their  re- 
 
CHAP.  III.]     THE  BIBLE  A  MIRACLE  OF  GOD'S  WISDOM.        421 
 
 maining  amidst  the  widest  possible  dispersion,  a  dis- 
 tinct people ;  all  these  predictions  were  clearly  beyond 
 the  scope  of  human  penetration  to  anticipate.  The 
 same  may  be  said  of  Deborah's  prediction  that  Je- 
 hovah would  sell  Sisera  into  the  hand  of  a  woman ; 
 of  Samuel's  telling  Saul  what  should  befall  him  on 
 the  way;  of  the  message  of  Ahijah  to  the  wife  of  Je- 
 roboam; of  the  prophecy  which  Elijah  conveyed  to 
 Ahab  and  Jezebel ;  of  that  of  Ehsha  concerning  the 
 king  of  Samaria;  of  the  promise  of  sons  to  Sarah, 
 to  the  Shunamite,  and  to  Elizabeth,  Again,  300 
 years  beforehand,  it  was  predicted  that  Josiah 
 would  sacrifice  the  priests  of  Baal  upon  a  certain 
 altar;  and  the  victory  of  Judah  over  the  Moabites 
 was  prophesied  by  Jehaziel,  under  most  improbable 
 circumstances.  The  prophet  Isaiah  described  the 
 glory  of  Babylon,  250  years  beforehand,  and  that, 
 when  it  was  yet  an  insignificant  place;  and  he 
 also  predicted  its  ultimate  downfall  and  conquest  by 
 the  Medes.  The  same  prophet  mentioned  Cyrus  by 
 name,  as  the  person  who  should  destroy  Babylon, 
 grant  permission  to  the  Jews  to  return  fi'om  their 
 captivity,  and  rebuild  Jerusalem  and  the  temple  of 
 Jehovah.  Jeremiah  foretells  the  captivity  of  Judah 
 for  the  space  of  seventy  years,  and  the  lasting  de- 
 struction of  Babylon  by  the  3Iedes  and  Persians; 
 he  also  prophesies  the  early  death  of  the  false  pro- 
 phet, who  had  announced  the  destruction  of  Babylon 
 within  two  years.  The  destinies  of  the  four  empires 
 which  succeeded  the  Babylonian,  were  unmistakeably 
 pourtrayed  by  the  prophet  Daniel;  he  also  foretold 
 
422  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  H. 
 
 the  destruction  of  the  holy  City  by  one  of  these  four 
 powers,  and  fixed  the  time  of  the  advent  of  the  Messiah. 
 
 Our  Lord  prophesied  the  details  of  His  passion, 
 His  death,  His  resurrection,  and  ascension  Avith  a 
 fearful  precision;  the  locality  where  these  events  would 
 take  place,  the  persons  who  would  take  part  in  them ;  the 
 denial  of  Peter ,  the  betrayal  of  Judas  and  the  flight 
 of  all  His  disciples.  The  pouring  out  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost ,  the  endowment  of  the  Apostles  with  miracu- 
 lous power;  the  manner  of  the  death  of  Peter;  his 
 prominent  part  in  the  founding  of  the  Church;  the 
 growth  of  God's  kingdom ;  the  prolonged  existence 
 of  good  and  evil ;  the  offence  which  the  Gospel  would 
 cause,  and  the  universahty  of  its  proclamation,  as  a 
 witness  among  all  nations;  the  duration  of  the  Church 
 in  spite  of  opposition ;  the  rising  of  false  Christs  and 
 false  prophets ;  the  fate  of  the  Jewish  polity ;  the 
 dispersion  of  the  Jewish  peoj^le ;  the  call  of  the  Gen- 
 tiles, and  the  establishment  of  a  new  dispensation, 
 in  which  men  would  no  longer  worship  God  in  Jeru- 
 salem only;  all  these,  and  other  events  were  foretold 
 and  fulfilled  with  wonderful  exactitude. 
 
 As  it  could  not  be  the  work  of  man ,  in  the  first 
 instance,  to  distribute  the  foregoing  predictions  over 
 a  space  of  thousands  of  years,  giving  to  each  its  proper 
 position  in  the  economy  of  grace ;  and  then  to  insert 
 their  respective  fulfilments  in  after  ages,  so  as  to  con- 
 stitute that  comprehensive  organism  which  we  find 
 in  the  Bible ;  it  must  of  necessity  be  the  immediate 
 work  of  God.  Containing  sufh  marvellous  revelations 
 of  future  events  as  no  finite  intelligence  could  con- 
 
CHAP.  III.]      THE  BIBLE  A  MIRACLE  OF  GOD'S  WISDOM.        423 
 
 ceive,  or  liuman  tbresiglit  prognosticate,  revelations 
 moreover,  constituting  a  well-ordered  system  amidst 
 an  endless  diversity  of  circumstances,  the  Bible 
 bears  in  itself  incontestible  proof  of  being  of  divine 
 origin;  and  we  are  thus  led  to  the  same  conclusion, 
 we  arrived  at  with  regard  to  the  miracles,  viz.  that 
 the  Bible  can  be  nothing  less,  than  a  miracle  of  God's 
 infinite  wisdom  and  power. 
 
 7.  To  start  a  comparison  on  these  points  with 
 the  Koran,  is  impossible,  from  the  simple  fact  of  Mo- 
 hammed denying  that  he  ever  possessed  the  gift  of 
 prophecy,  or  the  power  to  work  miracles. ^^  In  the 
 absence  of  these  two  kinds  of  evidence  in  favour  of 
 the  Koran,  Mohammed  and  his  followers  insist  upon 
 the  book  itself  being  a  miracle,  such  as  no  previous 
 prophet  had  wrought.  Mohammed  thus  harangues 
 the  men  of  Mecca;  "If  ye  be  in  doubt,  concerning 
 that  which  we  sent  down  unto  our  servant  (Moham- 
 med) produce  a  chapter  like  unto  it,  and  call  upon 
 your  witnesses  ....  but  if  ye  do  not,  nor  shall  be 
 able  to  do  it,  justly  fear  the  fire,  whose  fuel  is  men 
 and  stones,  jDrepared  for  the  unbelievers."  Sur.  n. 
 21.  22.     In  another  place,  he  is  made  to  say,  "Ve- 
 
 "  Ul  io^  ^  Sot  XA-U  Jyt  5l  \^ystf  ^.c3Jt  Jyb^ 
 
 sdJ^  Ci^jt  Sur.  Xni.  9.  Ill  XLVI.  23.  A  prophet  is  made  to  de- 
 clare "Surely  the  knowledge  of  the  future  standeth  only  with  God. 
 But  I  only  show  you  for  what  I  am  sent."  IMohammed  is  told  to 
 say  verse  9:  "Say  I  am  not  singular  among  the  Apostles,  neither 
 do  I  know,  what  will  be  done  Avith  me  or  with  you  hereafter." 
 The  alleged  predictions  Sur.  SXX.  1—3;  XLVni.  27.  28.  and  III. 
 108.  alluded  to  by  Ebn  AbdoDialim  in  his  Apologia,  pag.  355.  thus, 
 falling  to  the  ground ,  need  no  refutation. 
 
424  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [parth. 
 
 rily  if  men  and  genii  were  purposely  assembled,  that 
 they  might  produce  a  book  like  this  Koran,  they 
 could  not  produce  one  like  it,  although  the  one  of 
 them  assisted  the  other." '^*  It  seems  that  Moham- 
 med was  confirmed  in  the  belief  of  his  being  inspired, 
 when,  on  the  appearance  of  Sur.  n.  Labid  Ebn  Rabia 
 tore  down  his  own  prize-poem,  which  had  been  af- 
 fixed to  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Mecca,  declaring 
 that  only  a  divine  pen  could  produce  such  a  compo- 
 sition as  that  of  Mohammed."  Every  chapter  and 
 verse  of  the  Koran  is  hence  considered  a  no  less  strik- 
 ing miracle,  than  the  leprous  hand  of  Moses  was  to 
 the  beholders;  and  this,  chiefly  on  account  of  the 
 beauty  and  sublimity  of  its  style  and  language.  Mo- 
 hammed, it  is  argued,  was  an  illiterate  person,  and 
 as  the  Koran  could  not  be  the  production  of  an  illi- 
 terate man,  it  must  necessarily  be  from  God;  the 
 miracles  recorded  in  the  Bible,  they  assert,  will  become 
 less  and  less  striking  in  the  lapse  of  ages ;  but  that 
 of  the  Koran  will  become  more  and  more  convin- 
 cing, in  proportion  as  learned  men  multiply  to  ap- 
 preciate its  merits,  and  to  admit  their  inability  to 
 produce  one  equal  to  it! 
 
 5*   Sur.  X\m.  90.    See  also  Sur.  X.  38.    If^.y^S   (J^r^    c' 
 
 jJLi/o   'i\y^   \y'i\J   Jo    An  dicent:  confinxit  euro  (Mahumetus) ? 
 
 Responde,  atqui  afferte  Suram  unam,  sicut  (Suras)  illius. 
 
 "  "@o  fflbft  gemu^fam  fidi  aiJoTtammcb ,  'twxA)  Salute  (£c{)mcirf)clct 
 vcrfiitirt,  fiiv  ciiien  UnrflirfuMt,  ia  fL\vn-  fiiv  ten  iivofUcn  Tiditcv  fticlt,  imb  tie 
 gcf)reiKirt  in  feincii  iSiircu  fo  cntjiirfcur  fduMi  faiit,  fo  foimcn  ivir  ibm  bod) 
 beibce  biirc^aue  nirfit  cin^iofteljen,  iinb  tiirfm  c^  nidn  v>crfd)U^cigfn ,  bag  feine 
 <BA)xnhaxi  mm  tm^iw  ©tcUcn  felbft  fiir  ^rofa  ju  nict-rig  ift."  Sa^l'^  ©ins 
 leitiing  pag.  87. 
 
CHAP,  in.]      THE  SO-CALLED  MIRACLE  OF  THE  KORAN.        425 
 
 Althoudi  the  beauties  of  the  Koran  were  ac- 
 knowledged  by  some  of  Mohammed's  contemporaries, 
 yet  we  have  proof  from  the  Koran  itself,  that  this 
 was  rather  the  exception  than  the  rule.  Sur,  VIIL  31. 
 Several  Arab  writers  have  maintained,  that  the  Koran 
 could  be  surpassed  in  beauty  and  elegance;  e.g.Ish- 
 mael  Ehn  Ali  held,  that  being  human,  it  might  be 
 equalled.  The  author  of  the  work  "Sharah  alMukaf," 
 asserted  that  it  was  possible  to  surpass  it.  Ahiodham, 
 and  others  expressed  similar  sentiments.  European 
 authors  of  the  highest  reputation,  who  must  be  con- 
 sidered competent  judges  of  the  language  and  style 
 of  the  Koran,  have  not  failed  to  destroy  the  evidence, 
 upon  which,  the  divinity  of  the  Koran  has  been  mainly 
 established.  To  quote  one  amongst  many,  the  cele- 
 brated Dr.  Lee  says,  "no  one  who  can  read  the 
 '■'Mukamal  of  Hamadavi"  and  ''Hariri,''  will  doubt, 
 that  the  Koran  has  been  surpassed."  ^^  The  admis- 
 sion that  the  Koran  contains  many  elegant  and  sub- 
 lime portions,  does  not  prove  its  superiority  to  any 
 other  work;  nor  does  the  allegation  that  Mohammed 
 was  an  illiterate  man ,  prove  it  to  be  miraculous. 
 Many  unlearned  men  have  distinguished  themselves, 
 so  as  to  command  the  admiration  of  posterity.  Again, 
 the  alleged  ignorance  of  Mohammed  is  incompatible 
 with  the  fact  of  his  being  considered  by  his  followers 
 
 '^  Maracdo:  "Ego  sane  a  capite  ad  calcem  totimi  legi  ac  mul- 
 toties  relegi ;  atque  ut  melius  iiitelligereni  adhibui  praecipuoruni 
 doctorum  Moslemorura  glossas  et  commentaria  et  iieque  in  unica 
 Sura,  neque  in  decem,  neque  in  omnibus,  miraculum  idlum,  vel  umbram 
 miraculi  potui  reperiri,  imo  plures  ineptias ,  nugas,  fabulas,  errores, 
 mendacia  inreni." 
 
426  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [partii. 
 
 the  wisest  and  most  enlightened  of  men;  if  then,  the 
 Koran  be  the  production  of  so  wise  and  enlightened 
 a  man ,  it  ceases  to  be  a  miracle ;  but  it  is  admitted, 
 that  Mohammed  was  assisted  by  various  individuals.  ^ ' 
 The  fact  that  Mohammed  was  a  member  of  the 
 tribe  of  Koreish,  amongst  whom,  poetry  and  rhetoric 
 were  favourite  studies,  and  the  circumstance  of  his 
 having  retired  to  the  celebrated  cave  near  Mecca, 
 greatly  diminish  the  so-called  miracle  of  the  Koran. 
 Supposing  that  the  Koran  has  hitherto  been  unsur- 
 passed ,  this  does  not  im2)ly  the  impossibility  of  its 
 being  eclipsed  at  ^future  period:  but  assuming  that 
 this  will  never  be  the  case,  the  assumption  affords 
 no  proof  that  the  Koran  was  ms/>zV(?(^;  if  so,  we  should 
 be  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  divinity  of  the  Hin- 
 doo Vedas  and  the  classical  writings  of  the  Greeks 
 and  Romans,  since  they  are  never  likely  to  be  sur- 
 passed or  equalled;  there  being  in  every  production 
 of  genius  an  individuality  which  cannot  be  reproduc- 
 ed. Again,  elegance  of  style  being  the  result  of  good 
 taste  and  mental  cultivation,  cannot  reasonably  con- 
 stitute SL  proof  oi  f^iViV^^j  inspiration;  and  to  determine 
 the  divinity  of  the  Koran  by  the  rules  of  rhetoric, 
 is  to  argue  strongly  against  the  supposition  of  its 
 being  a  miracle.  As  all  the  rules  of  Arabian  rhetoric 
 
 *'  Sur.  XVI.  105.  ri  Zaniakshari,  Bcdawi  and  Yahia  say  it 
 was  a  Grct'k,  Zaliav,  who  could  read  and  write  well.  Another  tra- 
 dition .say.s,  that  .labar  and  Yesar  often  read  tlie  Old  and  New  Test, 
 to  M.  Yaish,  a  man  of  some  learning,  is  also  mentioned.  Jellalodin 
 says  that  M.  frequented  Kais's  house,  who  was  a  Christian.  Yahia 
 also  mentions  Addas  and  Salman  a  Persian.  Christian  writers  men- 
 tion as  coadjutors,  Abdallah,  the  Jew,  and  the  Nestoriau  monk  Ser- 
 gius,  called  Boheira.   Sale's  Koran  pag.  223.  note. 
 
CHAP.  III.]      THE  SO-CALLED  MIRACLE  OF  THE  KORAN.        427 
 
 are  taken  from  the  Koran,  and  established  by  quota- 
 tions from  that  book ,  and  as  it  is  understood  among 
 IMohammedans,  to  contain  the  best  laws  of  grammar, 
 it  must  follow,  that  every  composition  which  is  not 
 in  perfect  accordance  with  it,  is  inelegant  and  objec- 
 tionable. The  absurdity  of  proving  a  book  to  be  di- 
 vine from  its  language  is  still  more  apparent,  when 
 we  remember  that  all  language  is  composed  of  change- 
 able elements,  and  subject  to  changeable  laws,  so 
 that  a  book  may  be  considered  elegant  in  one  age, 
 and  rejected  as  inelegant  and  unpolished  in  another. 
 In  addition  to  this,  it  will  be  admitted,  that  the  most 
 pernicious  sentiments  and  doctrines  may  be  clothed 
 in  language  surpassingly  beautiful. —  Again,  the  Ko- 
 ran having  been  written  in  Arabic,  how  could  the 
 world  at  large  be  satisfied  of  its  divine  origin  ?  The 
 style  of  the  book ,  as  one  of  the  chief  evidences  of  its 
 inspiration,  has  been  most  inappropriately  chosen, 
 since  its  peculiar  beauty  could  only  be  appreciated 
 by  the  Arabs,  or  the  few  learned,  acquainted  with 
 their  tongue.  If  the  evidence  be  intended  for  none 
 but  the  Arabs ,  then  the  Koran  is  destined  for  their 
 nation  only;  and  if  so,  the  book  cannot  be  true,  because 
 it  professes  to  be  a  revelation  for  all  nations.  Lastly, 
 if  the  excellence  and  merit  of  the  Koran  consist  in  so 
 high  a  degree  in  the  beauty  of  its  language,  this  cer- 
 tainly would  be  perceptible  in  its  translations ;  but  it 
 is  in  the  versions  that  the  real  poverty  of  the  book 
 is  especially  apparent.  Hence  probably,  the  prohibi- 
 tion among  jNIohammedans  to  render  the  Koran  into 
 any  vernacular  tongue. 
 
428  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  ii. 
 
 The  reasons  assigned  by  Moslemin  for  deeming 
 the  Koran  a  miracle,  are  thus  diametrically  opposed 
 to  the  grounds  upon  which  the  Bible  may  be  so  con- 
 sidered. Mohammed's  chief  object  was  to  charm  the 
 ear  and  to  beguile  the  mind.  The  Bible,  on  the  con- 
 trary, uses  a  speech,  which  all  may  understand,  and 
 disdains  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom.®*  Yet  it 
 will  be  admitted  by  every  competent  and  impartial 
 judge,  that  it  has  a  loftier  style,  and  more  beautiful 
 passages  in  the  fortieth  chapter  of  Isaiah,  than  can 
 be  found  in  the  celebrated  second  Sura  of  the  Koran.  ®® 
 The  Bible,  indeed,  can  well  afford  to  yield  the  palm 
 in  point  of  elegant  composition,  to  books  which,  in 
 the  absence  of  real  worth,  require  such  means  to  re- 
 commend them ;  yet ,  in  point  of  vigorous  expression 
 and  innate  power,  as  well  as  in  simplicity  of  style,  it 
 stands  unparalleled. 
 
 8.  The  historical  feature  of  the  Old  and  New 
 Testament  has  now  been  examined,  and  the  absence 
 of  this  element  in  the  Koran,  has  been  demonstrated. 
 The  Bible,  regarded  as  a  miracle  of  God's  power 
 and  wisdom,  has  been  contrasted  with  the  alleged 
 miracle  of  the  Koran.  We  will  now  consider  the  in- 
 
 ^®  "  Verbis  appertissinus  et  humilimo  genere  loquendi  se  cunctis 
 praebens  et  exerceiis  intentiotieni  eortnn ,  qui  non  stmt  leves  corde  ut 
 exciperet  omnes  popidari  sinif."  Aug.  Conf.  lib.  VI.  cap.  5.  The 
 preaching  is  not  x((\^'  vnegoxiii'  Xoyov  t;  aocfiag ,  ovu  ip  natx^oTg  ar- 
 ■&Qa)7TiVT]g  aoqi'ag  Xoyoig,  dXX'  fv  anodH^ti  Hnvfiaros  xal  dviaixtcog. 
 1  Cor.  11.  1  —  5. 
 
 ^^  In  spite  however  of  all  the  inspired  rhetoric  of  the  Koran  it 
 declares    that    none    besides    God    can    understand    it.    f*-^^^.   '-*9 
 
 Jut  Si  edj^b*     Sur.  m.  7. 
 
CHAP.m.]     INTERNAL  CONNECTION  OF  THE  NEW  TEST.      429 
 
 terncil  connection  subsisting  between  the  several  books 
 of  the  Neiv  Testament,  as  opposed  to  the  contra- 
 dictory character  of  the  contents  of  the  Korayi. — 
 The  Gospel  according  to  St.  Matthew  sets  forth  the 
 Lord  Jesus  as  the  pro w^/s^fZ  Redeemer,  and  recognises 
 throughout  His  life,  death,  and  resurrection  the  ful- 
 filment of  the  law  and  the  prophets.^''    The  genea- 
 logical descent  of  the  Saviour  from  David  and  Abra- 
 ham; the  history  of  the  wise  men  from  the  East;  the 
 sermon  on  the  mount  as  the  re-edition  of  the  law  on 
 mount  Sinai;  the  numerous  quotations  from  the  Old 
 Testament;    Christ's  prophecy  regarding  Jerusalem, 
 as  the  centre  of  the  Jewish  economy;  — all  represent 
 Christ  as  the  promised  seed  of  Abraham.  The  meek- 
 ness and  humility  of  His  human  nature;  His  charac- 
 ter as  the  Messiah  of  Israel;  His  spotless  purity  and 
 holiness  as  the  Lamb  of  God;  these,  and  similar  fea- 
 tures in  our  blessed  Lord's  life,  shine  forth  vnth.  pe- 
 culiar lustre  in  this   Gospel.  —  Though  the  Gospel 
 according  to  St.  Mark  has  some  features  in  common 
 with  that  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke,  yet  being 
 wTitten  with  a  special  reference  to  the  apostolical 
 work  among  the  Gentiles,  it  condenses  select  portions 
 of  the  life  of  Christ.    Omitting  fi-equent  allusions  to 
 the  Old  Testament  and  the  longer  addresses  of  our 
 Lord ,  it  vividly  sketches  the  most  important  scenes 
 and  graphically  records  many  of  the  smaller  incidents, 
 in  such  a  manner,  as  to  form  distinct  and  perfect 
 
 «"  Hence  the  constant  repetition  of  the  formula:  I.  22.  tva  nXi]- 
 Q(o&^  TO  grj^hi  H.  17.  tore  inlriUf^&r,  to  ^rf&h;  H.  23.  oncoq 
 nh,Q<a&^  to  ^rj-&h. 
 
430  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  il. 
 
 pictures.  —  St,  Liihe ,  commencing  with  the  fore- 
 runner of  Christ,  goes  through  the  life  of  Jesus  with 
 chronological  precision,  and  terminates  with  the  As- 
 cension ;  his  object  is  to  ",sy^  forth  in  order"  the 
 gradual  development  of  the  life  of  the  God-man  Jesus, 
 to  the  Gentile  converts.  It  supplies  St.  Matthew  and 
 St.  Mark ,  yet,  so  that  each  of  the  three  maintains  a 
 position  of  its  own.  —  The  Gospel  according  to  St. 
 John  was  not  written  to  any  particular  class  of  people, 
 but  to  the  Church  at  large,  united  as  it  was  into  one 
 body,  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  This  Gos- 
 pel was  supplementary  to  the  preceding  ones;  omit- 
 ting what  has  in  them  been  fully  stated,  it  presents 
 Christ  in  a  new  aspect,  and  starts  with  what  has  been 
 made  the  scope  and  end  of  the  other  Evangelists. 
 Hence  St.  John  gives  all  those  discourses  of  our  Lord, 
 relative  to  His  person,  and  connection  with  the  Father. 
 Hence  the  detailed  evidence  of  the  reality  of  Christ's 
 Death  and  Resurrection ;  the  omission  of  the  parables ; 
 the  relation  of  a  few  only  of  the  miracles,  ^  *  and  lastly, 
 the  record  of  the  Saviour's  intercessory  prayer  and 
 valedictory  addresses  to  His  disciples. 
 
 These  four  records  were  called  the  Gospel ^^  of 
 
 ^*  Naziamenus  thus:  TlavQix  ^  ''lojdnov  drjaig  isQfl  in  ^I'^Xtco, 
 &(xvf.iara  Stj  ttoXXovq  de  Xoyovs  X^iatov  uraKtog. 
 
 ®^  ^EvayyiXiov'Ir^aov  X(ji(TTov  y.aru  MiXTx^aior,  MaQxov ,  /lov- 
 y.av,  v.a\  ^Io)(ait;r.  As  the  fourfold  figure  of  tlie  cherubim  constitute 
 tlie  throne  of  the  Divine  Majesty  of  Jehovali,  so,  the  4  Gospels  sup- 
 port the  throne  of  the  revealed  Majesty  of  the  incarnate  Son  of 
 God,  agreeably  to  the  ancient  view  of  the  Church,  which  led  to  the 
 •symbolic  representation  of  St.  Matthew  under  the  tigure  of  a  man, 
 St.  Mark  under  that  of  a  lion,  St.  Luke  under  that  of  an  ox,  and  St. 
 John  under  that  of  an  eagle.  'Entidi,  itmaQix  y.h'i.iata  tov  y.6a,uov, 
 iv  c5  iafxer,  iim ,  y.al  rtaaaycx  y.a&oXiyxx  nrtvf.iata,  yxxTtOTicx^jTixi  6i' 
 
CHAP,  m.]     INTERNAL  CONNECTION  OF  THE  NEW  TEST.       431 
 
 Jesus  Christ  to  intimate  their  close  connection  and 
 unity.  Four  men  were  moved  by  tlie  Holy  Ghost  to 
 write  the  life  of  Jesus,  doubtless  because,  one  indivi- 
 dual would  have  been  incapable  of  representing  all 
 its  fulness ;  since  it  is  not  within  the  grasp  of  a  single 
 mind  to  receive  and  reflect  all  the  rays  of  the  ''Sun 
 of  righteousness'".  Each  Evangelist,  as  a  distinct 
 mirror,  reflected  the  image  of  the  glory  of  Christ  in 
 a  different  light;  each  writing  for  a  diff'erent  class  of 
 readers,  and  with  a  special  object  in  view.  Not  as  if 
 there  were  any  essential  difference  in  the  Redeemer's 
 character,  as  severally  pourtrayed  by  the  four  Evan- 
 gelists, for  they  were  equally  inspired;  yet  each  brings 
 out  one  or  other  of  the  leading  features  of  the  history 
 of  Christ,  in  a  more  prominent  degree.  The  Acts  of 
 the  Ajyostles  together  with  the  Gospels,  form  the 
 historical  foundation  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
 Apostolic  writings  represent  Christ  in  His  Church 
 and  people,  as  the  Son  is  in  the  Father.  The  Acts 
 show  to  the  world,  in  what  manner  Christ  became  the 
 Shepherd  of  the  flock,  which  was  gathered  into  one 
 fold  from  Jews  and  Gentiles;  thus,  connecting  the 
 Acts  of  the  Apostles  with  the  Gospels  and  the  Epis- 
 tles. Some  of  these  exhibit  the  true  nature  of  a  living 
 faith  in  Christ  Jesus;  ^^  others  exemplify  the  working 
 
 Tj  eKKXriaui  iirl  nticnjg  tf^s  yi^c ,  arvXos  6e  xal  arriQiyna  exHXr](nag  to 
 tvayyihov  y.ai  7trf:V(.ia  td^S'  H>i6ro)s  ttdOaQns  tx^tv  avri,v  OTvXovg, 
 navTa-j(6&tv  mioirug  rr^v  u%&a.(j(jittv  vau  dtaCojTzvQoviras  rovg 
 aT-&Q(67Tovg.    '£§  <av  qtavefjor,  on  6  twv  aTTccvtcoi'  texntJ;?  ^oyog, 
 
 o  Kai^rintiog  tm  tmv  XeQov^ilfi s&ojKtv  ■fi^Xv  tktQdixoQfov  to 
 
 ivayyaXtov.    Iren.  adv.  haer.  III.  11.  8. 
 
 ^*    This  is  the  case  in  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans ,  Corinthians, 
 Galatians,  Ephesians  and  Philippians. 
 
^ 
 
 432  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [part  ll. 
 
 of  faith  by  love;^^  others  agam,  hold  forth  to  the  be- 
 Uever  the  hope  of  glory,  amidst  the  distress,  vanity, 
 and  opposition  of  the  world.  ^^ 
 
 We  admit  that  a  smgle  book  might  not  probably 
 be  missed,  if  absent  from  the  Canon,  esj)ecially  as 
 the  others  belonging  to  the  same  class ,  would  in  a 
 measm-e  supply  the  deficiency;  if  however  entire  sets, 
 as  for  instance  the  Gospels,  or  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
 tles, or  the  Epistles,  exhibiting  the  faith,  the  love  or 
 the  hope  of  the  Church  were  wanting,  the  rest  of  the 
 Scriptures  could  owt  supply  the  deficiency.  Though 
 we  willingly  admit,  that  none  might  be  able  to  dis- 
 cover, which  link  or  member  of  the  organism  of  Gos- 
 pel truth  were  wanting,  yet  this  does  not  affect  our 
 argument;  since  the  question  is  not  what  books  we 
 may  deem  necessary  a  p)riori,  but  whether  the  ex- 
 isting Scrijiture  form  an  organic  whole.  It  might,  for 
 instance,  be  difficult  for  the  naturalist  to  point  out  a 
 gap,  and  to  specify  a  missing  member  in  the  systems  of 
 natural  science,  yet,  he  would  nevertheless  be  justi- 
 fied in  insisting  upon  the  systematic  union  of  the  re- 
 spective families  and  species  of  botany  and  zoology.  ^° 
 
 ^*  This  particularly  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  John.  In  those  to  Titus, 
 Timothy,  Philemon  and  the  Thcssalonians  the  work  of  Christ  in 
 single  individuals  and  whole  communities  is  made  manifest :  whilst 
 the  writings  of  fcjt.  Jude  and  St.  James  describe  the  new  life  in  Christ 
 as  opposed  to  the  carnal  life,  the  snares  and  seductions  of  the  world. 
 
 ^^  This  the  scope  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  Peter,  the  Epistle  to  the 
 Hebrews  and  the  book  of  Revelation.  The  latter  sketches  the  future 
 history  of  the  Church  up  to  the  final  consummation  of  Christian 
 hope. 
 
 '''  The  same  argument  holds  good  as  regards  the  Old  Test.  A 
 book  was  considered  a  revelation  from  God,  as  far  as  it  partook  of 
 
CHAP.  III.]  CONTRADICTIONS  AND  MISTAKES.  433 
 
 9.  Moslem  divines  have  never  yet  attempted  to 
 trace  any  connection  between  the  114  Suras  of  the 
 Koran ;  such  a  task  would  be  impracticable,  since  they 
 form  a  confused  mass  of  heteroofeneous  matter.  That 
 a  book  with  no  connection  and  with  direct  contra- 
 dictions cannot  be  from  God,  is  acknowledged  by  the 
 Koran  itself;*^'  and  that  the  followers  of  Mohammed 
 made  no  attempt  to  disguise  its  contradictory  cha- 
 racter, may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  of  their  having  / 
 recognised  225  instances,  in  which  the  author  ab- 
 rogated passages  previously  revealed,  in  consequence 
 of  a  change  in  his  policy/^  In  the  Koran,  all  the 
 patriarchs  and  ^^rojohets  are  considered  Moslemin, 
 Sur.  ni.  60.  and  yet  Mohammed  was  ordained  to  be 
 the  first  to  confess  Islamism.  Sur.  VI.  14.  At  one 
 time,  "Christians,  Jews,  and  Sabeans"  are  promised, 
 deliverance  at  the  day  of  Judgment ,  as  well  as  Mo- 
 hammedans, Sur.  V.  73.  III.  109.  at  another,  the  Koran 
 urges  a  fierce  and  exterminating  war  against  them 
 as  "unbelievers,  whose  dwelling  shall  be  hell."    Sur. 
 
 the  theocratical  character  and  expressed  the  hope  of  Israel.  Christ 
 is  the  head ,  under  which  both  Testaments  are  united ;  each  single 
 book  forming  an  essential  part  of  the  organic  whole.  "2)aS  tft  bcr 
 red)te  l^riifftcin  aUe  ®ii^ei  j^u  tabelii,  irenu  maitfieljet,  ob  fte  S^riftum 
 treiben  cber  nidit,  finteniaf  a((  Sd^vift  (Sf)riftiim  jcii^t.  9{i5m.  III.  21.  2Ca^ 
 Sliriftum  nici^l  lefirt,  ba^  tfi  nic^t  ai^oftotifc^ ,  ivenn  e^  iiUid)  <£t.  ^titx  unb 
 5pau(u^  lelirte."    Outlier. 
 
 "  Jj(  y^  JOA  ^  c;*-^  y^  u'y^'   ij;;:?tUj  ^it 
 
 fvAJo    Li^LiLs.!   auj   l.cX^aJ  "Will  they  attentively  consider  the 
 
 Koran?  Were  it  from  any  other  but  God,  they  would  certainly  have 
 found  therein  many  contradictions."    Sur.  IV.  81. 
 
 ®*    Wli\){tx,  Ueber  bag  aSerljattnip  be^  3^taJiiS  jum  (Scangelium.  pag. 
 361—385. 
 
 CO 
 
434  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN.  [PART  ii. 
 
 IX.  74.  Force,  in  religious  matters,  is  prohibited  in 
 one  Sura;  Sur. n.  257.  in  another,  behevers  are  com- 
 manded to  fight  against  the  unbelievers  "with  what- 
 ever/orc^  they  may  be  able."  Sur.  yttt.  40.  62.  God 
 is  said  to  have  implanted  into  man  power  to  choose, 
 and  liberty  to  act  for  good  or  evil;  Sur.  XCI.  7.8.  but 
 in  Sur.  "VI.  39.  and  elsewhere,  we  read,  that  Allah  will 
 lead  into  error  or  into  the  right  way,  whom  he  will. 
 Sur.  n.  6.  7.  VII.  176.  Lastly,  the  duration  of  the  last 
 Judgment  is  estimated  Sur.  XXXII.  4.  to  last  1000, 
 but  Sur.  LXX.  3.  it  is  prolonged  to  50,000  years! 
 
 To  these  examples  oi  contradictions,  we  add  some 
 specimens  of  gross  mistakes.  These,  according  to  the 
 to  the  Koran,  are  common  to  all  prophets,  and  there- 
 fore claim  our  indulgence.  "We  have  sent  no  apostle 
 or  prophet  before  thee,  but  when  he  read,  Satan  sug- 
 gested some  error  in  his  reading."  Sur.  XXII.  51.  The 
 case  of  John  the  Baptist,  amongst  others,  has  already 
 been  referred  to,  Alexander  the  Gi^eat  is  represented 
 as  a  worshipper  of  the  true  God,  who  enjoyed  pro- 
 phetical communion;  whereas  he  was  an  idolater: 
 pretending  to  be  the  son  of  Jupiter,  he  caused  coins 
 to  be  struck  of  himself  with  two  horns,  hence  his 
 name  oi Dhidharnain  in  the  Koran,  or  the  master  of 
 two  horns.  ^^  In  his  marches,  which  are  likewise  mis- 
 represented in  the  Koran,  Alexander  came  to  a  place 
 "where  the  sun  setteth,  and  he  found  it  to  set  in  a 
 spring  of  blacJc  mud.'"    Another  error  seems  to  have 
 
 ^^    ^AJJL'!^3,  6ixi(jaiog,  bicornis.    Sur.  XVm.  85—98.  has 
 been  invariably  applied  to  ncXaXam^I,  Alexander, 
 
CHAP.ni.]  CONTRADICTIONS  AND  MISTAKES.  435 
 
 been  "suggested  by  Satan,"  when  the  prophet  fabled 
 of  the  conqueror's  raising  a  wall  of  iron  and  brass  to 
 check  the  inroads  of  Gog  and  Magog.  Not  to  refer 
 to  ancient  mythologies,  which  severally  embody  tradi- 
 tions respecting  the  Deluge,  the  Pentateuch  was  read 
 in  the  days  of  Mohammed  by  Jews  and  Christians 
 throughout  the  world ;  yet  the  Koran  in  describing  the 
 flood,  professes  to  reveal  an  unheard-of  secret!  Sur.  XI. 
 51.  Again,  the  Israelites  are  stated  to  have  retmmed 
 to  Egypt  after  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  to  take 
 possession  of  gardens,  houses,  and  fountains.  Sur. 
 XXVI.  57 — 59.  As  samples  of  anachronism,  which 
 abound,  we  only  mention  that  Pharaoh  and  Haman 
 are  made  contemporaries,  Sur.  XXYin.  5.  and  the  Vir- 
 gin Mary  is  called  the  sister  of  Aaron!  Sur.  XlX.  17. 
 If  the  Koran  being  the  w^ork  of  one  individual, 
 contain  so  many  contradictions,  anachronisms,  blun- 
 ders and  incongruities,**"  wdiat  would  have  been  the 
 result,  had  it  been  written  by  many  authors,  in 
 different  countries ,  languages  and  ages ,  like  the 
 Bible ! 
 
 "^^  We  avoid  entering  into  further  details,  referring  the  reader 
 to  the  Koran  itself,  or  to  Maracc.  Prod.  Pars  IV.  cap.  XVII.  Fabida, 
 falsa,  impia  ac  siiperstitiosa ,  quae  in  Alcorano  continentur,  ex  parte 
 7-eferentur. 
 
 CC^ 
 
436  TRINITY  AND  UNITY.  [part  ii. 
 
 CHAPTER  W. 
 
 TRINITY  OF  THE  BIBLE  AND  UNITY  OF  THE  KORAN. 
 
 "The  natural  tnan  receivcth   not  the  things   of  the  Spirit  of  God: 
 for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him:  neither  can  he  know  them,  be- 
 cause they  are  spiritually  discerned."     1  Cor.  U.  14. 
 
 1.  It  behoves  us  to  approach  this  subject  with 
 befittine:  reverence,  lest  we  reduce  the  transcendent 
 Majesty  of  the  triune  God  to  an  idol,  the  work  of  our 
 own  imagination.  The  nature  of  God  is  so  farbevond, 
 and  above  all  similitude  and  comparison,  that  in  at- 
 tempting to  consider  it,  we  stand  in  imminent  danger 
 of  putting  forth  a  set  of  arbitrary  notions  concerning 
 the  Deity,  of  making  His  divine  character  the  subject 
 of  ordinary  reflection  and  reasoning ,  and  of  creating 
 an  image  of  God  which  would  fall  infinitely  short  of 
 Him,  who  "dwelleth  in  the  light  which  no  man  can 
 approach  unto."'*  Specially  important  is  a  just  ap- 
 preciation of  those  symbolical  anthropomorphisms,  in 
 which  the  Bible  transfers  upon  God  human  passions, 
 such  as  anger  and  jealousy;  or  human  relations,  such 
 as  His  being  the  Father  of  the  human  familv,  and 
 in  a  special  sense,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
 The  attributes  of  God,"  have  been  divided  into  mo- 
 
 71 
 
 " Anthropomorphismus  dogmaticKs  i.  e.  ea  cogitandl  ratio  per- 
 versa, quae  huniani  et  iniperfecti  aliquid  ad  Deum  transftrtur."  Hut- 
 terus  Redivivus  pag.  148. 
 
 ^^  Attributa  divina,  roijtara  u^toof-iara ,  i.  e.  conceptus  essen- 
 tiales ,  quibus  notio  Dei  absolvitur ;  as  they  are  styled  by  the  old 
 divines. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]      MORAL  AND  METAPHYSICAL  ATTRIBUTES.  437 
 
 ral  and  metaphysical;^^  the  moral  attributes  comprise 
 His  holiness,  justice,  mercy,  and  truth;  whilst  His 
 metaphysical  perfections  refer  to  the  physical  world 
 and  are  known  as  His  omnipotence,  omnipresence, 
 omniscience,  and  eternity.  All  these  perfections  are 
 revealed  in  the  Bible  in  due  proportion,  and  what  is 
 more  important,  in  perfect  harmony  with  each  other.'* 
 But  the  Koran  passes  over  the  moral  attributes,  and 
 treats  almost  exclusively  of  the  metaphysical  perfec- 
 tions of  the  Godhead;  thus  producing  a  fearfully  dis- 
 torted image  of  the  Divine  nature.  When  the  Bible 
 declares,  "God  is  light,"  it  gives  a  sjTnbolical  defini- 
 tion of  His  glorious  majesty,  ^'  a  beautiful  illustration, 
 not  only  of  the  harmony  between  the  divine  attributes, 
 but  also  of  the  manner,  in  which,  if  we  may  be  allowed 
 the  expression,  we  may  analyse  the  glory  of  God,  and 
 separately  consider  its  component  rays.  As  by  the 
 aid  of  the  prism,  a  ray  of  light  may  be  reduced  to  its 
 primitive  colours ,  and  as  we  can  make  one  of  these 
 colours  the  object  of  distinct  contemplation,  so  may 
 we  bring  each  of  the  divine  attributes  under  our  se- 
 
 ''^  Attributa  metaphysica  (physica,  naturalia);  and  attrlbuta 
 moralia;  to  them  are  added:  attribvta  mixta,  spirituality,  wisdom 
 and  happiness. 
 
 ^*  " Ilarmonia  attributorum  in  eo  consistit,  cjuod  omnia  rite  inter 
 se  coraparanda  sint,  ne  uni  tantimi  tribuatur,  ut  alterum  toUatur, 
 vel  evertatur.  Sic  de  misericordia  div.  ita  censendum ,  ne  quidquam 
 detrahatur  justitiae,  et  vice  versa,  dejustitia,  ne  quidquam  detrahatur 
 miscricordiae."    Buddeus  Dogniat.  pag.  214. 
 
 ^*  The  question,  so  much  agitated  by  the  schoolmen,  whether 
 the  difl'erence  of  the  attributes  was  real,  or  nominal,  was  decided  by 
 the  old  divines,  to  be  neither  realiter  nor  yet  merely  nominaliter  but 
 formaliter,  i.  e.  no  real  ditference  in  God  Himself,  but  only  necessary 
 to  our  apprehension.  This  their  unity  in  God  implies  the  necessity 
 of  the  mutual  harmony  of  the  divine  attributes. 
 
438  TRINITY  AND  UNITY.  [part  ii. 
 
 j)arate  and  special  consideration:  yet  it  is  the  union 
 and  harmony  of  these  colours,  which  produce  the 
 clear,  pure  and  colourless  ray  of  light.  Were  one  of 
 the  primary  colours  disproportionably  strong  and  pro- 
 minent, the  appearance  of  light  would  be  necessarily 
 changed.  In  like  manner,  if  one  of  the  attributes  of 
 God  be  unduly  set  forth  to  the  prejudice  of  the  rest, 
 we  shall  consequently  have  a  distorted  and  imperfect 
 representation  of  the  Divine  character. 
 
 The  undue  predominance  which  the  Koran  gives 
 to  God's  omnipotent  power,  presents  a  painfully  one- 
 sided view  of  the  Divine  character.  In  its  efforts  to 
 represent  God  as  an  incomprehensibly  powerful  Deity, 
 the  Koran  withholds  the  gracious  and  loving  attri- 
 butes of  God ;  hence  the  fi'igid  nature  of  Lslamism. 
 In  thus  destroying  the  glorious  harmony  of  the  divine 
 perfections,  the  Koran  deprives  the  sinner  of  all  true 
 comfort,  as  well  as  of  ever)-  incentive  to  a  holy  life. 
 Jnstead  of  announcing  the  divine  attributes  as  abstract 
 ideas,  after  the  manner  of  the  Koran,  the  Bible  pre- 
 sents them  as  historically  exemplified  in  creation, 
 providence  and  redemption;  and  although  infinite  and 
 incomprehensible  in  themselves ,  they  thus ,  at  once 
 assume  an  intelligible  and  practical  form.  In  the 
 Koran,  an  unknown  God  speaks  of  what  "he  is  to 
 himself,"  entirely  omitting  what  he  is  pleased  to  be 
 unto  man.''^    How  fearfully  true  are  here  proved  the 
 
 ^^  "Qualiter  cognovi  te?  Cognovi  te  in  te!  Cognovi  te  nou 
 sicut  tibi  cs,  scd  certo  sirut  niihi  cs;  ot  non  sine  to,  sod  in  te,  quia 
 tu  lux,  quae  illuniiiiasti  nie.  Sicut  enim  tibi  es,  soli  tibi  cognotus  es; 
 sicut  mihi  es  secundum  gratiam  tuam  et  milii  cognotus  es;  —  cognovi, 
 quoniara  Deus  meus  tu!"   Augustine. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]        METAPHYSICAL  DEITY  OF  THE  KORAN.  439 
 
 words,  "Wlicsoever  denieth  the  Son,  the  same  hath 
 not  the  Father."  The  Moslem  indeed  has  not  the 
 Father,  that  consoHng  name  never  crosses  his  Hps; 
 and  there  is  so  far  consistencv,  since  in  Christ  Jesus 
 only,  God  is  a  Father.  We  ask,  what  comfort  can 
 the  brokenhearted  sinner  derive  from  approaching  a 
 Deity,  such  as  described  in  a  Persian  treatise  on 
 Divinity:  "God  is  not  a  body  that  can  be  measured; 
 He  possesses  neither  length  nor  breadth,  dejDth  nor 
 height;  it  is  impossible,  that  there  should  exist  in 
 His  nature  any  necessity  to  possess  the  properties 
 of  any  thing;  and  He  is  no  line,  that  is,  a  thing 
 which  can  be  divided  in  but  one  direction;  nor  is  He 
 a  flat  surface;  that  is,  a  thing  which  can  be  divided 
 in  both  directions.  He,  the  great  God,  is  neither 
 heavy  nor  light;  He  is  neither  in  motion  nor  at  rest; 
 He  is  neither  in  space  nor  in  time.  Before  Him  the 
 past  and  future  are  but  the  eternal  present,  and  He 
 is  free  from  all  properties  of  the  creatures.'!" 
 
 Widely  different  from  Allah ,  Jehovah  in  the  ad- 
 ministration  of  His  providence  "declares  His  Almighty 
 power  most  chiefly  in  showing  mercy  and  pity."  The 
 omnipotence  of  God  is  manifested  by  redeeming  His 
 people,  by  upholding  them  that  are  ready  to  fall,  by 
 raising  up  them,  that  are  bowed  down,  by  giving  meat 
 to  all  in  due  season,  by  satisfying  the  desire  of  every 
 living  soul,  by  showing  Himself  nigh  to  all  that  call 
 upon  Him,  by  preserving  the  righteous,  and  by  finally 
 destroying  the  evil  doers. '^    The  providential  care  of 
 
 ''"'    Pfanders  Remarks  pag.  11. 
 
 "   Psalm  LXXVn.   12—15,    CXLV.  8.  13—20.    Matt.  V.  17. 
 Act.  XIV.  17. 
 
440  TRINITY  AXD  UNITY.  [part  ii. 
 
 Allah  is  partial,  being  confined  to  the  Mohammedans ; 
 whilst  Jehovah  makes  "His  sun  to  shine  upon  the 
 evil  and  the  good,  doing  good,  giving  rain  from  heaven 
 and  fruitful  seasons  and  filling  all  hearts  with  food 
 and  gladness. 
 
 2.  If  then,  the  Theology  of  the  Koran  be  unsound 
 in  its  best  points,  viz.,  the  metaphysical  perfections  of 
 God,  still  more  unsound  is  it  as  regards  those  attri- 
 butes which  bear  upon  i\iQ  moral  nature  and  the  spi- 
 ritual wants  of  man.  Islamism  confines  itself  to  those 
 points  of  faith,  which  may  be  found  with  more  or 
 less  clearness,  in  natural  religion;  but  these  cannot 
 lead  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  God:''*'  since  it  is  not 
 "God  reconciling  the  world  to  Himself"  who  is  re- 
 vealed in  natural  religion,  but  only  the  omnipotent 
 and  eternal  Creator,  manifesting  Himself  by  "'the 
 things  that  are  macUy  Rom.  I.  19.  20.  The  world's 
 Redemption  being  connected  with  the  revelation  of 
 God,  as  Father,  as  Son,  and  as  Holy  Ghost,  belief  in 
 the  triune  God  is  alone  of  saving  efficacy.  John  v.  23. 
 xvn.  3.  1  John  n.  23.  This  blessed  doctrine  in  which 
 all  the  divine  attributes  are  practically  displayed  in 
 perfect  harmony,  could  not  be  gathered  from  nature 
 or  reason;  because  neither  of  them  could  anticipate 
 
 '«  "2)ic  natiirlidjc  ©ottc^fenutni^  ifi  cin  angcbornc^,  tiird)  33etractitiinfl 
 ttt  5ncitur  unb  ®cfd)id)te  aueif^eCntbetcg  QJeiriiptfein  t?on  @ott,  ba^  \\vax  ten 
 53eciriff  tee  vodfoiumenftcii  aiJcfciu^  ciithdd,  al'cv  im  fuiibiiicn  iDJcufdn-n  nicfit 
 hinrcidn  ^um  Jpcile,  fpiifcvn  luir  ecu  Slbfall  von  ©ott  ^arIhllt,  lln^  ^aMlrri) 
 fcte  Selinfiiriit  Jvecft  narfi  bcr  iitcrnatiirlidicn  rffcnlmruityV  ^'icfc  allein  cd^ 
 £ffcnhinvcrrcn  bcr  Xrinitat  ift  bcfclivic"^-"  nutt(>ru.s  Kedivivus  \rAg.  121. 
 "Notitia  Dei  naturnlls  ad  .salutcm  procurandaiu ,  aut  .saltern  damna- 
 tioiiem  arccndani ,  sufficiens  non  est ,  ncc  ullu.s  mortaliura  per  earn 
 solam  vol  ad  saluteni  pcrductus  fiiit,  vel  perduci  potuit."  Quenstedtl. 
 pag.  261. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  THE  BELIEF  IN  THE  TRINITY.  441 
 
 the  mystery  of  Redemption;  anclit  could  not  be  plac- 
 ed before  the  tribunal  of  man's  finite  intellect  ;^° 
 since  it  is  revealed  in  the  Gospel,  not  in  the  form  of 
 a  doctrinal  system,  but  as  the  merciful  achievement 
 of  Divine  love ,  Avisdom ,  holiness ,  justice  and  power. 
 The  triune  God  is  revealed  in  the  Bible,  as  the  Father 
 who  resolves  upon  our  redemption;  as  the  Son  who 
 accomplishes  the  blessed  work,  and  as  the  Ilohj  Ghost 
 who  communicates  its  gracious  and  sanctifying  in- 
 fluences to  the  Church  in  all  ages;  hence  the  formula 
 of  baptism,  expressive  of  our  Christian  faith.  To 
 defend  the  doctrine  of  the  holy  Trinity  by  arguments 
 drawn  from  reason,  cannot  then  be  our  object,  being 
 avowedly  above  its  power  and  beyond  its  sphere/* 
 It  w^ould  have  been  better  for  the  interests  of 
 truth,  if  Christian  apologists  and  Missionaries  had 
 never  attempted  to  make  this  mystery  acceptable  to 
 Mohammedans  by  illustrations  and  comparisons,  which, 
 moreover,  have  not  always  been  the  happiest  or  most 
 elevated.    The  Scriptures  simply  reveal  the  fact,  and 
 
 •^^  "Mysterium  Trinitatis  quod  est  vrrtQ  fovv,  vnsfj  Xoyov  xal 
 vntQ  ndaav  y.aTah^xpiv  ex  ratione  naturali  oppugnari  non  potest." 
 Quenst. 
 
 *^  "@0  >viberi>ri(t)t  1)  ttm  iTenfc^efe^e,  t>a^  etit  I'deil  gleirf)  tern  ©an-- 
 jeu,  ba^  ©anje  (jleirf)  bent  Ificile  fei;  2)  bem  ©efe^c  ber  (Saufalitdt,  bap 
 generatio,  liMc  aud)  flcbacfit,  tine  urfddilicfie  ^anbluncj  auger  ber  3eit  crfolge; 
 3)  ber  3bce  be#  2(bfofnten,  iiibcm  ber  character  hiipostaticus  entU'cber  etoa^ 
 Sufdlligei?,  fonarii  Unvellfommcnee  iff,  bae  in  ®i)ti  nid;t  fleracf)t  iverben  tann, 
 ober  etU'oS  2Cefcntli^c^  iinb  Q?o([fonnncnee,  bann  tt'iirbe  biefe  33oUfomment)eit 
 ben  anbern  *l.<erfonen  uKv't}?"-  3^ai?  JToj^na  ift  baficr  SDhiftcriitm,  al^  iiber 
 alien  93erftanb  erf}a&eneC'  '^Hiftulat  be^  (»()viftcntl)unie,  irenn  bie  ©ottlieit  De^ 
 <2ol)nc^  unb  *l>erfi3nli*fcit  bee  Jpeiligen  (^Seiftce  im  veligiofen  i^eten  unb  ber 
 J^eilii^en  Scf^rift  na(f)cteiincfen  ift,  fo  ruliic;  in  feiner  unfereinbaren  ^Trcilieit 
 unb  Qin^eit  auf^uftellcn,  alg  bie  gteicf)falle  in  ber  3^emonftration  unvereiu= 
 baren  grei^eit  unb  33orfef)un9."  J&afe. 
 
442  TRINITY  AND  UNITY.  [PART  n. 
 
 demand  simple  and  childlike  faith ;  any  attempt  there- 
 fore to  expound  a  mystery  therein  revealed,  must 
 only  "darken  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge."  ^^ 
 We  believe  it  to  be  so;  hoiu  it  is,  we  are  not  ashamed 
 to  say  we  cannot  tell;  nor  can  we  understand  why 
 we  should  be  expected  to  explain  it.  A  revelation  ivith- 
 out  miracles,  and  a.  faith  without  mysteries,  such  as 
 is  found  in  Islamism,  present  a  most  unreasonable 
 anomaly.  How  little  this  was  felt  by  the  eclectic  pro- 
 phet of  the  Arabs ,  is  clear ,  fi'om  his  anxiety  to  ex- 
 punge from  his  creed,  every  article  which  he  could 
 not  square  with  his  sharp  but  unsanctified  intellect. 
 As  the  doctrine  of  man's  Redemption  is  so  intimately 
 connected  wath  that  of  the  holy  Trinity,  both  were 
 struck  out  from  his  system  of  faith.  The  belief  of 
 the  Trinity  will  ahcays  be  rejected,  where  neither  the 
 burden  of  sin  is  felt,  nor  the  authority  of  Scripture 
 acknowledged. 
 
 As  if  to  revenge  himself  upon  the  holy  mysteries 
 of  our  faith ,  both  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity,  and  the 
 doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  were 
 grossly  and  blasphemously  misrepresented  by  Mo- 
 hammed. It  w^ould  be  unjust  to  lay  the  teaching  of 
 a  Moslem  heresy  to  the  charge  of  orthodox  Islamism: 
 equally  unfair  is  it,  to  borrow  Irom  the  Colyridian 
 heresy, —  which  flourished  in  Arabia  and  was  convicted 
 of  Mariolatry,—  and  to  set  forth  its  teaching  as  a  Chris- 
 
 ^^  The  philosophical  theory  concerning  the  A6yog\  the  ancient 
 comparison  of  lire ,  brightness  and  heat  in  light ,  and  the  mysterious 
 harmony  of  three  sounds  and  forms,  which  run  through  creation, 
 have  been  vainly  resorted  to,  with  a  view  to  ellucidate  this  myste- 
 rious dogma. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  THE  TRI^'ITY  ABOVE  REASON.  443 
 
 tian  dogma.  Mohammed,  therefore,  from  whom  we 
 might  have  expected  a  better  knowledge,  is  alone, 
 responsible  for  this  misrepresentation.  Our  Lord  and 
 His  Apostles  might  as  well  have  rejected  the  old  dis- 
 pensation as  unsound  and  heretical,  because  at  cer- 
 tain periods  the  Israelites  worshipped  Baal  and  serv- 
 ed the  host  of  heaven.  INIohammed  however  was  de- 
 termined to  reject  certain  doctrines ;  and  the  heretical 
 views,  which  were  current  in  his  corrupt  age  within 
 the  Church ,  afforded  him  a  plausible  reason  for  so 
 doing.  —  All  the  Christian  Missionary  can  do  in  this 
 momentous  dispute,  is  to  remove  those  erroneous  no- 
 tions and  prejudices,  which  the  Koran  has  taken 
 such  pains  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  its  followers; 
 and  to  show  that  there  is  nothing  umvorthy  of  God 
 in  the  teaching:  that  fi-om  God,  the  Father  are  all 
 things,  that  by  the  Son  are  all  things  and  that  to 
 the  Holy  Ghost  are  all  things ;  and  also  that  it  is  not 
 blasphemy  to  preach  "the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ,  the  love  of  God  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost ;"  avoiding  '"'lyrofime  questions'  upon  so  sacred 
 a  subject;  and  shunning  illustrations  and  comparisons 
 with  a  view  to  render  the  mystery  comprehensible  to 
 the  limited  powers  of  human  intellect. '^^ 
 
 83  "Mysterium  hoc  ex  natural!  ratione  nee  a  priori,  nee  a  poste- 
 riori demonstrari  potest;  non  a  priori ,  quia  Deu.s  in  se  et  prout  ipse 
 est.  in  liac  imbecilitate  cognosci  nequit,  quicquid  de  Deo  scitur,  id 
 oranc  a  posteriori  tantinu  scitur.  Non  a  posteriori  h.  e.  ex  operibus 
 et  creaturis  Dei,  nulla  eniin  vera  et  j^lena  similittido  vel  imago  Trini- 
 tatis  in  creaturis  est  e.cpressa  . . .  lllaeque  congruentiae  naturales  et 
 anuloitia  reruni  creatarum' cum  hoc  fidei  mysterio  non  divinam  fidem, 
 
 sed  opinionem  tantum  hv.manam  generant lino  ne  quidem  pos- 
 
 sibilitas  hujus  mysterii  e  naturae  lumine  haberi  potest,  cum  rationi, 
 
444  TRINITY  AND  UNITY.  [part  ll. 
 
 3.  In  perfect  accordance  with  this  view,  the  Church 
 in  her  symbols  endeavours  to  express  the  mystery,  as 
 set  forth  in  Scripture ;  not  to  embrace  it  with  the  in- 
 tellect, but  to  protect  it  both  against  Unitarianis'ni 
 and  Tritheism;  so  that  a  Christian  may  possess  sav- 
 ing faith  in  the  triune  God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
 Spirit  without  the  knowledge  of  these  dogmatic  forms; 
 yet  no  one  can  reject  these,  without  rejecting  the  Tri- 
 nity. When  modern  theologians  endeavour  to  shake 
 these  venerable  safe-guards  of  our  holy  faith,  we  can 
 only  ascribe  it  to  a  secret  leaning  to  Unitarianism; 
 hence  we  have  sufficient  reason  to  hold  fast  the  dog- 
 matic representation  of  this  doctrine  in  our  creeds.®* 
 That  neither  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  nor  that 
 of  the  Trinity  are  in  themselves  irrational,  may  be 
 inferred  from  the  religious  speculations  of  Pagan  an- 
 tiquity. As  true  religion  commenced  with  manifes- 
 tations of  the  Deity  and  ended  with  the  Incarnation 
 of  the  blessed  Godhead,  so  Paganism  commenced 
 with  oracles  and  pseudo-prophetical  revelations,  and 
 
 propria  principia  consulenti:  a8vtarov  nal  dvnqtarmov,  absurdum  et 
 impossibile  vidcatur."  Quenst.  Tlieolog.  Didactico-polemica  Vol.  I. 
 pag.  318. 
 
 **  "Fides  Catholica  non  in  hac  loquendi  formula  praecise  sita 
 est,  quod  trcs  sint  per.sonae  in  una  div.  e^-^entia ,  scd  in  oo  ut  sincere 
 credamus,  Patrem,  Filium  et  Sjiiritum  S.  unum  esse  Deum,  —  ut  per 
 omnia  et  unitatcm  in  Trinitate  et  Trinitatom  in  unitate  veneremur. 
 Geniina  illic  loquutionis  illius  necessitas  statuitur  a  S.  Augustine  : 
 altera  ab  huninni  eloquii  inopia,  altera  ab  haercticorum  versutia 
 Prinio  dictum  ita  f'uit,  quum  non  liceret  aliter,  ut  aliquo  saltem  mode' 
 explicaretur  ineffabilis  ilia  Unitatis  et  Trinitatis  ratio ,  non  ut  illud 
 diceretur,  sed  ne  iaceretur .  .  .  .  Patet  igitur.  quo  pacto  ncccssaria 
 sint  illae  formulae,  non  quitlein  ab^iohitc,  sed  ex  /ii/pot/ws/' turn  dc- 
 clarandae  o(jd^ofio^ta;,  tum  diguoscendac  ttfQodo^ux^,  tametsi  hujus 
 videatur  potior  esse,  quam  illius  ratio."    Calovii  Dog.  III.  pag.  4. 
 
CHAP.  IV.]  WHICH  THE  MORE  RATIONAL.  445 
 
 ended  with  incarnations  of  the  Deity.  Again,  may 
 we  not  go  further,  and  admit  that  some  image,  ideal 
 or  material,  exists  in  almost  every  false  creed,  by 
 which  the  blessed  Trinity  is  adumbrated.  We  find 
 in  almost  every  Mythology  a  divine  Triad,  and  in 
 some  cases  even  a  Monad  in  connection  with  a  Triad; 
 we  refer  to  the  Trimurti  of  the  Hindoos,  the  Triads 
 of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  Scandinavians,  also  to 
 the  Neo-platonic  philosophy.  To  this  may  be  added 
 the  remarkable  fact,  that  the  Jewish  philosophers 
 B.  C.  assumed  three  lights,  three  names  and  one 
 substance  in  God. ^^  Errors,  when  universal,  may  be 
 invariably  traced  to  some  perversion  of  truth ;  if  so, 
 we  may  recognise  a  corruption  of  the  Trinity  in  all 
 these  Triads,  if  not  in  Polytheism  itself. 
 
 As  far  then  as  the  philosophico-religious  specu- 
 lations of  the  Pagan  and  Jewish  world  have  any  weight, 
 we  have  their  testimony,  that  it  is  precisely  the  ab- 
 stract r^ietaphysical  Monotheism  of  the  Koran  which 
 satisfies  neither  faith  nor  reason.  ^^  Waving  however 
 the  question,  whether  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity  or 
 this  rigid  Unitarianism  be  the  more  opposed  to  rea- 
 
 ^'^  See  Maraccio  Prodrom.  Pars  En.  cap.  IX.  Ex  veterum  He- 
 braeoi'um  doctrina ,  Sanctissimae  Trimtatis  Mt/stei'ium  comprobatur. 
 pag.  26—28. 
 
 *®  "S'^  ift  iveniger  5Kenfc[)enfad)e ,  ben  fpefulattven  3Bcrtfj  eine^  Se^^r: 
 c^ebdube^  \v.  ijerfcilc^cu  unb  ^u  cr^nmben;  bie  ^emerfung  tiirfte  Cemnaci)  fiit 
 aBiele  vo(lic(  unmi^  fein,  bap  bet  5rionctf)ei^mu^  bes  3^fam  bie  )if)ifo[c>?I}ircnbe 
 3Sernunft  nirfn  befriebic^e  unb  gerabe  bonn  \>erivpvfen  u^erben  muffe,  ivenn  ijon 
 ber  I^enfbarfeit  orcr  Unbcnfbarfeit  eincr  beftimmtcn  5?orftc((unci  vcn 
 ®ctt  bie  Diebe  ifi.  ^C[%  bie  ©ottlieit  Sine  *4>erfon  fei,  ift  ebcu  cae  ganj  unt 
 gat  UnPenfbarc,  burcliau^  llnverniinflige,  unb  alter  tuabren  Sl>efulation 
 ©ntgegengefe^te.  5)ap  ©ott  nid)t  2)Zenfd)  getrorbcn,  ift  eben  ba^  aUibev; 
 fiuuiae."     aWo^let'e  ©efammette  SBerte  pag.  397. 
 
446  TRTNTTT  AND  UNITY.  [PART  u. 
 
 son,  let  it  suffice  us  to  know  and  to  feel  that  the 
 Holy  Trinity  is  what  the  human  heart  practically  needs. 
 Indistinct  and  undefined  as  were  the  longings  ex- 
 pressed in  Pagan  errors,  and  far  beyond  the  power 
 of  human  reason  to  anticipate ,  yet  they  gave  loud 
 utterance  of  the  real  wants  of  man, 
 
 Lastly,  our  opponents  have  in  themselves  a  spe- 
 cies of  unity  in  trinity,  which  though  unable  to  un- 
 derstand, they  will  have  some  difficulty  to  deny.  We 
 do  not  allude  to  the  human  constitution  in  its  three- 
 fold aspect ,  as  an  illustration  of  the  Divine  Trinity, 
 but  we  would  ask  those ,  who  consider  that  doctrine 
 unreasonable,  to  explain  how  the  human  spirit  acts 
 upon  the  soul,  and  how  the  soul  acts  upon  the  hodii: 
 let  them  define  how  their  reasonahle  thoughts  upon 
 the  Trinity  ^^I'oduce  the  words ,  with  which  they  op- 
 pose the  truth ,  and  how  these  words  call  forth  cor- 
 responding thoughts  in  the  minds  of  others,  and  when 
 they  have  satisfactorily  explained  this  mystery,  we 
 will  undertake  to  explain  the  mystery  of  the  holy 
 Trinity.^'  'Tfl  have  told  you  of  earthly  things,  said 
 our  Lord,  and  ye  believe  not,  how  shall  ye  believe,  if 
 1  tell  you  of  heavenly  thinos ?" 
 
 *'  "1.  STieff^  (Sfflifinnuf;  I'cUMfn-t  tie  ^^ce  i<e^  yiottlidien  t'cbcni?  cfmc 
 bic  unftattftaftc  9tiuuihmc  cincv  cumjIcu  2dM>i.''fiiiuj;  2.  ericictitcrt  ben  (5k- 
 banfeii  ber  OffenKuunci  ®ettt§ ,  c()ue  auf^u^cben  ben  ©chinfcn  fciuer  Uiu 
 crfcrfcfilidifcit;  3.  ilcKt  ^Hnt  in  feincr  CffcnlHivuiui ,  iiu^tcfiMibeve  ini  Solme, 
 al^  uii^  i^fvU'anbt  nalje,  o()nc  aufjul)cbeu  tie  3ffe  bci  Uncrmeiiliriifcit  [ciiie^ 
 2Befciu\"    J>al;ii. 
 
CHAP,  v.]     DIVINE  SONSHIP  PROVED  FROM  THE  KORAN.        447 
 
 CHAPTER  Y. 
 
 CHRIST  THE  SON  OF  GOD  AND  MOHA^LMED  THE  SON  OF 
 
 ABDALLAH. 
 
 "What  fellowship  hath  righteousness  with  unrighteousness?  And 
 what  communion  hath  light  with  darkness?  What  concord  hath 
 Christ  with  Belial?    What  hath  he  that  believeth  with  an  infidel? 
 
 2  Cor.  YI.  14.  15. 
 
 1.  The  comparison  which  devolves  upon  us  in 
 this  chapter,  is  of  a  character  from  which  we  naturally 
 recoil;  but  the  interests  of  truth,  and  the  arguments  of 
 our  adversaries  compel  us  to  point  out  the  infinite 
 difference,  existing  between  the  prophet  of  the  Arabs 
 and  the  Messiah  of  the  world:  since  it  is  against  the 
 Divine  Sonship  of  the  Redeemer,  that  the  Koran 
 chiefly  levels  its  concentrated  wrath.  The  Koran 
 asserts  that  Christ  is  nothing  but  a  messenger;  Sur. 
 V.  79.  those  are  infidels,  that  confess  Christ  the  son 
 of  Mary  to  be  truly  God.  Sur.  V.  19.  Allah  has  no 
 son,  Sur.  xxm.  93.  and  the  impossibility  of  this  is 
 proved  from  the  fact  of  his  having  no  partner.  Sur. 
 LXXn.  2.*^    It  is  foreign  to  our  intention  to  exhaust 
 
 88  "oflfendi  se  ajunt  >lahumetistae,  quod  Deo  filium  demum  cum 
 uxore  non  utatur;  quasi  filii  vox  in  Deo  non  possit  diviniorem  habere 
 significationem.  At  ipse  Mahumetus  multa  Deo  ascribit  non  minus 
 indigna,  quam  si  uxorem  habere  diceretur:  puta  manum  ipsi  frigidam 
 esse,  idque  se  tactu  expertum:  gestari  in  sella  et  his  similia.  Nos 
 yero  cum  Jesum  Dei  filium  dicinius ,  hoc  significamus ,  quod  ipse  cum 
 eum  Verbum  Dei  dicit :  verbum  enim  ex  mente ,  suo  quodam  modo 
 gignitur :  adde  jam ,  quod  ex  virgine ,  sola  Dei  opera  vim  paternara 
 supplente,  natus  est,  quod  in  coelum  evertus  Dei  potestate ,  quae  et 
 ipsa  Mahumeti  confessa  ostendunt  Jesum  singulari  quodam  jure  Dei 
 filium  appellari  posse  et  debere."  Grot,  de  veritat.  relig.  Christ, 
 pag.  288. 
 
448  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [partii. 
 
 the  subject  in  all  its  bearings;  all  that  we  contem- 
 plate, is  to  furnish  hints  and  supply  materials  for 
 the  inexperienced  Missionary,  or  any  other  Christian 
 man  who  may  have  occasion  to  sustain  an  argument 
 with  Mohammedans  on  these  momentous  subjects. 
 The  Divine  Sonship  of  Christ  maybe  sometimes  prov- 
 ed from  the  admissions,  which  the  Koran  has  haz- 
 arded, respecting  the  dignity  of  "the  son  of  Mary." 
 That  mode  of  reasoning,  which  carries  the  argument 
 within  the  camp  of  our  oj^ponents  and  fights  with 
 their  weapons,  if  ably  conducted ,  is  one  of  the  most 
 powerful,  which  can  be  adopted;  and  is  moreover 
 accompanied  with  this  singular  advantage,  that  the 
 Koran  is  proved  to  be  inconsistent  and  false ,  if  its 
 admissions  do  not  imply  that  Jesus  is  the  Son 
 of  God. 
 
 When  Christ  is  styled  "the  Word,"  not  only  His 
 prophetical  character,  but  also  His  pre-existence  with 
 the  Father  is  admitted.  If  Jesus  be  the  Word,  in 
 the  sense  of  St.  John,  from  whom  alone,  Mohammed 
 could  have  borrowed  the  expression,  He  must  have 
 been  with  God  from  the  beginning,  and  by  Him  all 
 things  were  made.  Christ  could  not  be  the  Word, 
 if  he  was  not  God  or  the  Son  of  God ;  INlohammed 
 therefore,  either  declared  a  falsehood  when  he  ad- 
 mitted Christ  to  be  the  Word,  or  he  is  wrong  in  de- 
 nying Him  to  be  the  Son  of  God.®* 
 
 ^'  "Si  inteiTogatus  cs  a  Saraceno,  quis  sit  Christus?  respond!  ci: 
 Verbura  Dei ,  ncc  existiines  2)eccare  quia  et  vcrbuni  dicitur  in  Scrip- 
 tura  et  brachium  et  potentia  Dei  et  niulta  alia.  Vicissem  autem  in- 
 terroga  ipsura  et  tu:  a  Scriptura  quid  dicitur  Christus?  Turn  forte 
 volet  interrogare  te  et  ipse  aliud ,  cupiens  sic  effugare  te :  non  vero 
 
CHAP,  v.]       DinNE  SONSHIP  PROVED  FROM  THE  KORAN.       449 
 
 Again,  Mohammed  having  asserted  Sur.  LXI. 
 6.  that  his  coming  had  been  predicted  bj  Christ, 
 clearly  admits  the  dignity  of  Christ  as  a  prophet, 
 and  the  divine  character  of  the  New  Testament. 
 Jesus,  whose  prophetical  character  is  thus  granted, 
 asserted  more  than  once,  that  He  is  the  Son  of  God, 
 and  that  He  and  the  Father  are  one;  His  testimony 
 of  Himself,  must  equally  be  true ;  if  it  be  not,  Christ 
 could  not  have  been  a  true  prophet,  and  Mohammed 
 
 tu  respondens  ei ,  donee  utique  respondeat  tibi ,  dicens :  a  Scriptura 
 luea  Spiritus  et  Verbum  Dei  dicitur.  Dum  rursus  interroga  ipsum  : 
 Verbum  a  Scriptura  tua  creatumne  an  increatuni?  Et  sic  dicat:  in- 
 creatum,  die  ipsi :  Ecce  conseutis  mihi ;  omne  enira  non  creatum  sed 
 increatuni  Deus  est.  Si  autem  dixerit:  creata  esse  Verbum  et  Spiri- 
 tum,  turn  quaere:  et  quis  ereavit  Verbum  et  Spiritum?  quod  necessi- 
 tate eoactus  responderit :  Deus  ipse  creavit ;  turn  tu  rursus :  ergo 
 antequam  creavit  Deus  Spiritum  et  Verbum,  non  babuit  Spiritum 
 neque  Verbum?  Quod  quum  audierit ,  fugiet  a  te,  non  habens,  quod 
 respondeat.  Disecptantes  enim  sunt  tales  secundum  Saracenos  et 
 omnino  abominabiles  et  abjeeti.  Quod  si  vero  tu  interrogatus  fueris 
 a  Saraceno :  Verba  Dei  creatne  sunt  an  increata?  Haec  enim  pro- 
 ponunt  advcrsus  nos  Saraeeni  probleniata ,  potentius  volentes  osten- 
 dere  creatum  Verbum,  quod  non  est.  Et  si  dieas :  creata,  dieet  tibi : 
 ecce  dicis  creatum  Dei  verbum.  Si  autem  dieas :  increata,  dicet  tibi : 
 'quoniam  ecce  omnia  verba  Dei  increata  quidem  sunt,  Dii  autem  non 
 sunt.  Ecce  tu  confessus  es ,  quoniam  Christus  Verbum  est  Dei,  non 
 Deus  est.'  Propter  quod  neque  creata  dieas,  neque  increata,  sed  sic 
 responde  ei :  ego  unum  solum  Verbum  Dei  confiteor  increatum  ens, 
 omnem  autem  scripturam  meam  non  dico  Xoyovg  i.  e.  verba,  sed 
 (j7]/.iutu  i.  e.  sermoues  Dei.  Et  Saracenus:  qualiter  dieit  DaA'id : 
 verba  Domini  casta?  Die  ei,  quod  propheta  tropolice  loeutus  sit,  et 
 non  cjTologiee ,  i.  e.  non  propria  et  firma  verborum  significatione." 
 Disceptatio  Christiani  et  Saraeeni,  Joan.  Damascenus  pag.  477.  ed. 
 Bas.    With  this  may  be  compared:  "Respondet  Gelaleddinus :    ,^+*w 
 
 j^j  'LtXXj  ^3"-^  &j^  «Jj1  iUJj^  nominatus  est  Verbum  Dei, 
 quia  creatus  est  •per  verbum,  Esto.  Sed  hoc  mode  omnia  dici  poterunt 
 Verbum  Dei . .  .  Eadem  ratione,  qui  per  aquam  mundatur,  aqua  di- 
 cendus  erit ;  et  qui  ignem  calefit,  ignis  :  et  qui  per  pharmacum  sana- 
 tur,  pharmacum  appellandus  erit."   Maraccio  Prod,  Pars  III.  pag.  61. 
 
 DD 
 
450  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  ii. 
 
 in  declaring  Ilim  to  be  such,  has  proved  himself"  a 
 false  witness.  —  Christ  is  also  styled,  in  the  Koran, 
 the  Spirit  of  God,*  Sur.  IV.  169.  whilst  the  first  man 
 Adam  is  said  only  to  have  received  of  the  divine 
 breath.  If  the  Spirit  proceed  from  God,  and  if 
 Christ  be  that  Spirit,  the  Koran  establishes  the  Di- 
 vinity of  ''the  son  of  Mary."  Supposing  however,  that 
 the  Holy  Spirit  only  dwelt  in  Christ,  it  would  at  least 
 imply  what  is  otherwise  stated  in  the  Koran,  viz.  that 
 Christ  was  a  true  prophet:  for  the  Holy  Spirit  can 
 neither  dwell  in  a  false  prophet,  nor  speak  false  things 
 through  a  true  prophet.  If  therefore,  Christ  had  the 
 Spirit  of  God,  and  spoke  through  the  same  Holy  Spi- 
 rit, all  that  He  said  of  His  coming  from  God,  and  of 
 His  equality  with  the  Father,  must  be  true,  Christ 
 then,  was  either  not  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  in  that 
 case  the  testimony  of  the  Koran  is  false;  or.  He 
 was  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  in  this  case,  His  record 
 of  Himself  is  true;  and  Mohammed  thus  in  vain 
 denies  His  Divine  character  and  Sonship. 
 
 The  son  of  Mary  performed  many  miracles,  as 
 the  Koran  expresses  it,  "by  the  permission  of  God." 
 If  miracles,  therefore,  can  only  be  performed  by 
 persons  who  receive  the  gift  from  God,  they  are  wit- 
 nesses to  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  which  is  preach- 
 ed. The  miracles  of  Christ  then,  were  seals  to  the 
 truth  of  His  teaching.  In  His  teaching  He  openly 
 declared  Himself  to  be  the  Son  of  the  Most  High  God; 
 if  this  His  teaching  be  true,  that  of  Mohammed  must 
 be  false.  If  on  the  contrarv  theteachiup-  of  Moham- 
 med  be  true ,  that  of  Jesus  must  be  false.     As  the 
 
CHAP,  v.]       DRINE  SONSHIP  PROVED  FROM  THE  KORAN.      451 
 
 testimony  of  Christ  is  proved  by  miracles,  the  testi- 
 mony of  Mohammed,  which  has  no  such  seal,  must 
 be  false ;  for  if  Christ  be  not  the  Son  of  God ,  God 
 has  put  His  seal  to  a  false  testimony.  As  God  cannot 
 attest  what  is  false,  Christ  could  have  wrought  no 
 miracles ;  and  if  He  wrought  no  miracles ,  the  Koran 
 is  a  false  witness,  and  Mohammed,  who  wrote  it,  a 
 false  prophet. 
 
 Again,  our  Lord  is  generally  called  ''the  son  of 
 Mary.""  From  this  extraordinary  appellation,  it  ap- 
 pears that  Mohammed  did  not  consider  Jesus  the  Son 
 of  Joseph,  nor  indeed,  have  we  any  suspicion  thrown 
 out  on  this  subject,  in  any  part  of  the  Koran;  on  the 
 contrary,  Mary  is  always  spoken  of  as  the  woman  who 
 preserved  her  virginity.  Sur.  XXI.  9 1 .  Her  imma- 
 culate and  marvellous  conception  is  fully  admitted, 
 and  she  is  held  uj^  as  the  most  distinguished  person 
 of  her  sex,  beloved  of  God,  praised  as  a  miracle  and 
 honoured  in  all  ages.  Sur.  III.  42.  God  appointed  the 
 Son  of  Mary  and  His  motlier  for  a  sign.  Sur.  XXIII. 
 52.  That  Mohammed  did  not  look  upon  Joseph,  as 
 the  father  of  Jesus,  will  appear  from  the  fact,  that  he 
 is  not  even  so  much  as  once  mentioned  in  the  Koran. 
 Yet  if  we  had  no  further  evidence  of  Mohammed's 
 admission  of  the  supernatural  origin  of  Christ,  the 
 standing  appellation  of  ''the  son  of  Mary"  would  in 
 itself,  be  sufficient  to  mark  Him  as  the  Son  of  God. 
 The  ancient  oriental  custom,  which  prevails  to  this 
 day,  of  always  associating  a  man's  name  with  that  of 
 his  father,  proves  that  Mohammed  held,  that  Jesus 
 had  no  earthly  father ;  since,  against  all  usage,  ancient 
 
 DD* 
 
452  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  n. 
 
 and  modern,  he  calls  Christ  "the  son  of  Mary," 
 thereby  indicatmg,  that  he  had  no  earthly  father; 
 we  may  therefore  regard  this  singular  departure  from 
 a  customary  practice,  as  tantamount  to  calling  Him 
 the  Son  of  God. 
 
 2.  Mohammed,  elevating  himself  to  the  same 
 position  as  Christ,  challenges  the  world  to  examine 
 his  claims,  and  to  ascertain,  by  what  evidence,  his 
 pretensions  to  be  considered  the  prophet  of  the  last 
 age,  are  siij)ported.  His  followers  urge  two  things  on 
 his  behalf,  viz.  the  miracles  he  is  said  to  have  perform- 
 ed, and  the  prophecies  which  are  alleged  to  have  been 
 fulfilled  in  his  person.  As  Mohammed  was  considered 
 the  greatest  of  the  prophets,  he  was  also  represented 
 as  having  performed  more  miracles  than  all  of  them.  ^" 
 The  commencement  of  the  old  and  new  dispensation 
 were  acknowledged  in  the  Koran  to  be  miraculous ; 
 and  although  Mohammed  constantly  excused  himself 
 for  not  working  miracles,  yet  his  followers  could  not 
 resist  furnishing  Islamism  with  this  indispensable 
 prerequisite  to  every  creed;  and  thus  it  came  about, 
 
 LiJi    ;t-Lo :  "Si  rccenseremus  omnia  miracula  et  signa  ejus,  de  quibus 
 
 montiunom  fcccruiit  historic!  in  libris  .suis.  corto  cxcri-scorct  toiuus. 
 Isam  pvophtta  nostcr  faustac  lucnioiiae  reliquos  prophotas  in  niulti- 
 tudine  niiraculoruni  superavit.  Et  quidara  auctores  asserunt,  mira- 
 cula ejus  ad  nunurum  millenariura  pervenisse."  Author  of  the  book 
 ^cX^I  |V^^^  'Ic  signis  directionis.  Marac.  Prod.  P.  11.  pag.  30. 
 Some  authors  count  4440,  others  GO  milHons  of  miracles. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MIRACLES  OF  MOHAMMED.  453 
 
 that  as  early  as  the  second  century,  when  the  first 
 biographers  of  Mohammed  appeared,  the  prophet's 
 life  was  so  overcharged  with  miraculous  tales,  that 
 even  the  keenest  European  eye  is  often  unable  to  dis- 
 tinguish between  historical  facts  and  legendary  fictions. 
 As  an  act  of  justice  to  our  opponents,  we  give  some 
 of  the  currently  received  miracles  of  Mohammed. 
 
 A  camel  weeps  and  is  calmed  at  the  touch  of 
 Mohammed ;  the  hair  grows  upon  a  boy's  head  when 
 the  prophet  lays  his  hand  upon  it;  a  horse  is  cured 
 from  stumbling;  the  eye  of  a  soldier  is  healed  and 
 made  better  than  the  other.  He  marked  his  sheep 
 in  the  ear,  and  the  species  retains  the  mark  to  this 
 day;  he  milked  an  emaciated  goat  with  marvellous 
 success.  A  stick  turns  into  a  sword;  one  palm-tree 
 sings,  another  walks  up  with  a  great  noise  and  bears 
 testimony  to  Mohammed's  Mission.  On  his  entrance 
 into  Mecca,  his  majesty  the  prophet,  was  saluted  by 
 all  mountains  and  trees,  saying,  "Peace  be  with  thee, 
 0  prophet  of  God!"^*  He  put  his  toes  and  fingers 
 over  empty  vessels,  and  so  copious  were  the  fountains 
 flowing  fi-om  his  extremities,  that  camels  were  in  dan- 
 ger of  being  drowned;  or  he  spits  into  a  pool  of  water 
 and  it  becomes  sweet.  He  fed  130  men  upon  the 
 liver  of  a  sheep,  and  two  dishes  remained  over  and 
 above  what  they  had  eaten.  Once,  a  million  of  people 
 were  fed  on  a  few  loaves  and  a  lamb,  and  many  fi*ag- 
 ments  were  left.  On  a  different  occasion,  eighty  men 
 fed  upon  a  crust  of  bread  which  Mohammed  had 
 
 "'    Mishcat  Vol.  U.  pag.  717.    Aclimed  Ebn  Abdollialimi's  Apo- 
 logia i)ag.  382.  classifies  th.e  miracles  of  Mohammed. 
 
454  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part II. 
 
 blessed.  A  woman  having  offered  him  melted  butter 
 from  a  leathern  bottle ,  the  butter  continued  to  flow 
 till  the  woman  pressed  it,  and  it  is  added,  the  bottle 
 would  still  flow,  had  the  woman  abstained  from  squeez- 
 ing it.  «^ 
 
 Another  miracle,  the  returning  of  the  sun,  is  re- 
 lated in  the  following  manner;  "One  day  his  majesty 
 the  prophet  had  laid  his  blessed  head  on  the  skirts 
 of  Ali's  cloak  and  slept,  and  receiving  a  revelation  he 
 wrapt  up  his  head  in  the  cloak,  and  was  engaged  in 
 hearing  the  revelation  till  the  sun  had  nearly  gone 
 down.  When  he  had  received  his  revelation,  he  got 
 up,  and  said,  'Ali,  have  you  performed  the  evening 
 
 *  prayers?'  He  said,  'No,  0  prophet  of  God,  for  I  could 
 not  remove  thy  blessed  head  from  the  skirts  of  my 
 cloak.'  His  majesty  then  said,  '0  Lord,  bring  back 
 the  sun.'  Asman  said,  by  God,  I  saw,  that  the  sun 
 returned  and  got  high.  And  after  his  majesty  had 
 performed  the  prayer,  the  sun  went  down  again.' 
 Once,  Mohammed  went,  accompanied  by  his  followers, 
 who  were  a  large  number,  to  the  house  of  Abdallah. 
 After  he  and  Ali  had  eaten  of  the  dish  prepared  for 
 him,  consisting  of  a  roasted  lamb ,  he  gave  it  to  his 
 followers,  and  they  all  ate  and  were  satisfied,  leaving 
 nothing  but  the  bones.    They  said  then;  '0  prophet 
 
 ■  of  God,  we  want  some  milk  to  drink.'  His  majesty 
 having  spread  his  handkerchief  over  the  bones  said, 
 •0  Lord,  in  like  manner  as  Thou  didst  send  Thy 
 blessing  on  this  animal  and  satisfy  us  with  its  meat, 
 so  bless  it  again,  and  do  such  an  act,  that  we  may 
 ^^  Maracc.  Prodrom.  Pars  U.  cap.  VI. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MIRACLES  OF  MOHAMMED.  455 
 
 drink  of  its  milk.'  Accordingly  through  the  divine 
 power ,  flesh  grew  on  those  bones ,  and  the  animal 
 began  to  move,  and  got  up,  and  its  udder  became 
 full  of  milk.  They  then  all  drank,  and  filled  besides 
 all  the  basins  in  the  house  with  its  milk."^^ 
 
 It  is  superfluous  to  multiply  specimens,  or  to  en- 
 large upon  the  frivolous  and  puerile  character  of  the 
 miracles  ascribed  to  Mohammed.  There  is  not  a 
 shadoAV  of  proof  for  any  one  of  them ;  but  could  it 
 even  be  jDroved,  that  Mohammed  had  wrought  mira- 
 cles, he  w^ould  still  be  what  he  was  before,  viz.  a  false 
 prophet,  wdio  "speaks  his  own  words  and  prophesies  • 
 out  of  his  own  heart;"  for  miracles  alone,  furnish  no 
 proof  of  divine  Mission,  since  they  may  be  performed 
 by  false  prophets,  to  establish  false  doctrine,  through  ■  . 
 the  agency  of  Satan.®*  But  the  prophet  himself  re- 
 peatedly asserts,  in  the  clearest  possible  language, 
 that  he  never  possessed  the  powder  of  working  mira- 
 cles, declaring  that  he  was  not  a  worker  of  miracles, 
 but  was  commissioned  only  to  preach;®^ — we  must 
 therefore  either  believe  Mohammed  and  reject  the 
 above  miracles,  as  mere  fabrications,  or,  believe  the 
 miracles,  and  reject  him  as  a  lying  prophet. 
 
 3.  It  is  admitted  by  the  Koran  that  the  divine 
 
 ^^   Pfander's  Remarks  pag.  23—30,  Hayat  ul  Kulub  Vol.  II. 
 leaf  126.  127. 
 
 '*   Deut.  Xm.  1  —  5.    2  Thess.  II.  9.    3^  John  W.  1.    Rev.  XIH.  '' 
 
 13.  14.    Exod.  Vn.  22.    2  Tim.  m.  8.    Act.  VHI.  9. 
 
 ''  v:^b^lt  \J\  Jo  4^  ^K  ^Lt  xaJU  Jyt  ^ly  lyii'^  ^  '    ^^4 
 
 jj^Avo  *JtXJ  bl  UjI^  xJJt  tX;x  Sur.  XXIX.  50.  See  also 
 xm.  8.   XVn.  92—95.   VI.  57.  58.  109.   XXI.  5—6. 
 
A- 
 
 456  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  il. 
 
 Mission  of  our  Lord  was  accredited  by  miracles ;  but 
 the  question  arises,  whether  they  are  sufficient  to  prove 
 His  Divine  character  or  not.  Before  this  can  be  an- 
 swered in  the  affirmative,  it  must  be  decided,  whether 
 the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ  can  in  any  way  be  com- 
 pared with  those,  wrought  by  prophets  and  apostles 
 who  claimed  no  such  distinction;  and  here  it  will  be 
 granted,  that  our  Saviour's  miracles  differ  not  so 
 widely  in  character,  from  those  \M'ought  by  the  prophets 
 of  the  01(1,  and  the  Apostles  of  the  New  Testament, 
 as  to  bear  no  comparison  with  them;  on  the  contrary 
 there  is  a  great  similarity  to  them.  The  highest 
 order  of  miracles,  that  of  raising  the  dead,  was  wrought 
 by  messengers  of  God,  who  laid  no  claim  to  Divinity. 
 A  second  point  to  be  decided,  before  we  admit  our 
 Lord's  miracles  to  be  a  conclusive  proof  of  His  Divine 
 character,  is  this ;  whether  there  be  any  external  mark, 
 through  which,  miracles  wrought  by  God,  can  be  dis- 
 tinguished from  miracles  wrought  by  satanic  agency. 
 As  regards  this  question,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  in 
 many  cases,  they  are  perfectly  ahke;  Exod.  Mil.  11; 
 in  some ,  a  criterion  is  added ,  which  is  too  vague  to 
 be  generally  applicable;  Deut.  XIU.  1 — 3.  in  others, 
 the  power  by  which  miracles  are  wrought,  will  not  be 
 revealed  before  the  day  of  Judgment.  Matt.  vil.  23. 
 24.  Again,  miracles  are  wrought  by  the  powers  of 
 darkness,  without  any  distinguishing  mark  being  given, 
 as  to  the  source  from  whence  they  spring.  Lu.  XI. 
 19.  Matt.xxiY.  2. 
 
 Again,  if  miracles  were  meant  to  prove  the  Divi- 
 nity of  Christ,  He  and  His  Apostles  >vould  undoubt- 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MIRACLES  OF  OUR  LORD.  457 
 
 edly  have  appealed  to  them ,  as  unerring  credentials 
 of  His  Divine  character.  Our  Lord  indeed  appealed 
 to  His  tvorks,  but  not  exclusively  to  those  of  a  mira- 
 culous character.  ^^  When  asked  whether  He  was  the 
 promised  Messiah,  Jesus  refers  to  His  mighty  deeds; 
 but  rehearsing  these  in  gradation,  He  signifies  the  last 
 mentioned  to  be  the  highest  and  most  convincing — "to 
 the  poor  the  Gospel  is  preached."®^  The  Apostles 
 also  refrained  from  appealing  to  the  miracles  of  Christ, 
 as  an  irrefragable  evidence  of  His  Divine  nature.^* 
 
 Again,  if  miracles  were  alone  sufficient  to  esta- 
 blish His  Divinity,  Christ  would  have  desired  their 
 becoming  as  extensively  known  as  possible :  in  many 
 instances  however,  we  know  this  was  just  what  He 
 sought  to  j)revent.  Matt.  ix.  30.  xn.  15. 16.  Miracles, 
 moreover,  failed  to  accomplish  their  object,  for  Christ 
 had  to  upbraid  the  cities,  "wherein  mos^  of  His  mighty 
 works  were  done,  because  they  repented  not."  Hence, 
 our  Lord  uniformly  repels  a  craving  after  signs  and 
 wonders;  complying  in  no  one  instance  with  the  re- 
 peated request  to  show  "a  sign  from  heaven."  When 
 
 ^^  When  Christ  speaks :  ra  HQya  a  iyoi  noidS  i^tafjrvQsT  ttsqI 
 ijLiov  on  6  naTTjQ  juf,  ilntaraly.f,:  or  when  He  exhorts:  dut  ra  eQya 
 uvTu  niatevtre  ixoi.  He  refers  to  His  miracles,  but  not  to  them 
 alone.    John  V.  36.    XIY.  11. 
 
 ®^  Matt.  XI.  3 — 5.  with  this  climax  He  refers  likewise  to  the 
 prophecy ,   in  which  His  divine  glory  and  excellency  is  set  forth : 
 
 inrrrbN  -inq  rr^rr — nhp  tN-n^  jsaiah  XXXV.  2.  LXI.  1.  2. 
 
 ^®  Where  this  seems  to  be  the  case:  the  Xoyoq  GOJtTjQiag,  spoken 
 by  the  Lord ,  and  confirmed  unto  us  by  them  that  heard  Him ,  is  the 
 chief  thing;  avvi-.nifxaQtvQovvrog  tov  ■&sov  arjfieioig  te  xal  TSQam, 
 YAxl  noiy.iXaiq  fivviXfi^Gi  is  superadded:  Christi  est,  testari:  Dei  est, 
 (Tvvtnif^uxQTVQHv ,  testimonium  superaddere."  Hebr.  H.  3.  4.  Beng. 
 Gnomon  ad  loc. 
 
458  CHEIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  ii. 
 
 at  one  time  He  had  wTought  a  double  miracle ,  and  at 
 another,  cured  a  man,  who  was  possessed,  blind,  and 
 dumb,  the  Jews  ask,  "what  sign  showest  thou  then  that 
 we  may  see  and  believe  thee  ?"  When  they  reiterate  their 
 demands,  our  Lord  invariably  directs  their  attention  to 
 the  "sic/ns  of  the  time'  in  which  they  lived,  to  the 
 singular  dignity  of  His  person,  to  His  death  and  re- 
 surrection;^^  and  when  Herod,  on  the  eve  of  these 
 crowning  signs  of  His  wonderful  life ,  hoped  to  have 
 seen  a  miracle  done  by  Him,  He  answered  him  no- 
 thing. *■  These  numerous  solicitations  for  fresh  signs 
 clearly  demonstrate,  that  the  many  mu'acles  which 
 had  been  wrought,  did  not  in  themselves  sujfice  to  prove 
 Christ  to  be  the  Messiah ;  but  to  give  them  their  pe- 
 culiar value,  as  infallible  demonstrations  of  Divinity, 
 they  must  needs  be  connected  with  a  distinctive  dig- 
 nity in  His  person. 
 
 Christ  never  appears  in  the  Bible,  as  the  worker 
 of  single  miracles ;  He  is  on  the  contrary  represented 
 as  the  Sipi  of  signs,  and  is  called  ^'Wonderful. 
 
 "2 
 
 »5   John  VI.  1  —  14.  18—21.  30.   Matt.  XII.  13.  22.  38.  39.  40. 
 John  n.  18.    The  same  Matt.  XVI.  1—4.    John  IV.  48. 
 
 '    It  seems  Herod  was  most  importunate   in   asking  Him  for  a 
 sign:   in r; QOiT tx  d I  diTor  ir  Xoyoig  IxaioTg.    Lu.  XXIU.  8.9.    "He 
 questioned  with  Him  in  many  words,"  does  not  convey  the  exact    "" 
 meaning. 
 
 ^    NS^,  nWMJ,  His  name  is  called  Wonderful,  as  much  as  Messiah 
 
 or  ^li]aovg ,  Isa.  IX.  6.    From  Him  emanate  all  that  may  be  called 
 
 p- 
 N^^.,  'Qavi.i.aaiov ,  miraculum;  n^N,  whence  jol,  ot]ueTor ,  signum, 
 
 ostentum,  portentum;   riC"?3,  Tt^jitg,  monstrum,  prodigium;  "H^nj, 
 
 6v/'«|i/tg;  He  is  the  mediator  of  all  the  rrT',']  nisy.s''?,  e^yw  lov 
 
 Qtov ,  or  simply  egyu  xai'  t'lox^'S   also   called  by  the  Fathers, 
 
 sacrammta,  mystcria  visibilia. 
 
CHAP. v.]  JflRACLES  OF  OUR  LORD.  459 
 
 Being  Himself  the  fountain-head  of  all  that  is  wo7ider- 
 fiil,  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  term,  signs  and  miracles, 
 in  Christ's  life,  were  but  the  natural  manifestation  of 
 His  Divine  character,  and  the  necessary  mode  of  ope- 
 ration: the  absence  of  miracles  and  signs  in  His  life 
 and  history,  would  have  been  most  wonderful,  and 
 inexplicable.  In  working  miracles,  the  Prophets  and 
 Apostles  exhibited  their  seal  of  office  to  the  Church; 
 but  Christ,  in  contradistinction  to  all  duly  accredited 
 messengers  of  God,  revealed  His  glory. 
 
 We  can  but  admire  the  divine  sobriety  of  Holy 
 Scripture,  in  never  appealing  to  a  miracle  as  a  suffi- 
 cient proof  of  our  Lord's  Divine  character.  The  single 
 wonders  performed  by  our  Lord  are  so  many  distinct 
 rays  of  His  Divine  Majesty ,  and  though  essentially 
 belonging  to  His  work  of  Redemption ,  they  are  un- 
 able to  reflect  the  whole  fulness  and  glory  of  the  per- 
 son of  Christ.  ^  They  were  indeed,  proofs  to  the  dis- 
 ciples, serving  to  confirm  their  already  existing  belief  ; 
 but  only  those  who  already  believed  in  Christ,  recog- 
 nised in  His  person,  "a  man  approved  of  God  among 
 them  by  miracles  and  wonders  and  signs  which  God 
 
 ^  There  is  no  order  or  system  in  our  Lord's  miracles ,  if  we  ex- 
 amine them  simply  as  "facta  ineMpUcabilia  ,  quae  admirationem  ex- 
 citavenint  spectutorihus ;"  or  in  which"  naturae  leges  suspenduntur." 
 But  we  observe  both  harmony  and  order ,  when  we  regard  them  as 
 expressive  of  our  Lord's  work  of  Redemption.  It  begins  with  chang- 
 ing water  into  wine  in  the  hour  of  need ;  then  follow  healings  of 
 the  sick;  cleansing  of  lepers;  casting  out  of  devils;  and  it  finishes 
 with  raising  the  dead.  When  Lazarus  was  raised,  "many  believed  in 
 Him."  The  last  miracle ,  on  the  fig-tree ,  expressed  the  judicial 
 power  of  Jesus  over  those  that  believe  not.  Here  we  have  a  system 
 of  miracles ,  expressive  of  a  wondroud  Redemption.  When  prepara- 
 tory signs  were  repeated ,  it  was  in  places ,  where  the  first  were  as 
 yet  unknown. 
 
460  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  li. 
 
 did  by  Him  in  the  midst  of  them."*  Instead,  there- 
 fore, of  enlarging  upon  the  miracles,  in  their  dis- 
 courses, the  Apostles  simply  preached  "Christ  and 
 the  Resurrection." 
 
 Thus  we  consider  the  miracles  of  Christ,  not  only 
 as  a  proof,  that  He  was  a  teacher  come  from  God, 
 but  as  the  manifestation  of  the  glory  of  the  incarnate 
 Redeemer,  which  can  only  be  appreciated  in  connec- 
 tion with  liis  entire  life.  Amongst  the  things  testi- 
 fied by  St.  John,  that  we  might  believe,  are  not  only 
 signs  and  wonders ,  but  many  other  things ,  which 
 Jesus  did,  and  taught. 
 
 4.  Having  glanced  at  the  miracles  of  Christ  and 
 the  alleged  prodigies  of  Mohammed,  we  next  examine 
 the  prophecies,  said  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  respective 
 founders  of  Christianity  and  of  Islamism.  OurLord  pro- 
 j^hesied,  and  as  prophecy  is  only  a  miracle  of  another 
 kind ,  ^  we  might  fairly  introduce  a  summary  of  His 
 predictions  in  this  place;  as  however,  Mohammed  dis- 
 claims the  gift  of  prophecy,  we  shall  pass  it  over  and 
 confine  ourselves  to  those  predictions  or  prophecies 
 
 *  Act.  n.  22.  Hence  it  is  also  stated,  that  Christ  in  certain 
 places  did  not  many  miracles  "because  of  their  unbelief."  Matt.  XIII. 
 58.  That  it  was  expected  in  every  pro])het  to  have  this  seal,  ac- 
 counts for  John  the  Baptist  denying  that  he  was  a  prophet.  .John 
 I.  21. 
 
 *  ~N"n;  ,  jTiJoqrjHa ,  are  ''miraculn  vaticana  mit  praescientlae 
 sunt  persplcuae  rerum  fnturarum  earnmque  continffentium  praedica- 
 tiones ,  qitibus  eventus  respondit,  pet  div.  omniscientiam"  Hume 
 asserts  in  his  Essays  on  miracles:  "All  prophecies  are  reed  miracles, 
 and  as  .such  only,  can  be  admitted  as  proofs  of  any  revelation.  If 
 it  did  not  exceed  the  capacity  of  human  nature  to  foretcl  future 
 events,  it  would  be  absurd  to  employ  any  projihecy  as  an  argument 
 for  a  Divine  mission  or  authority  from  heaven." 
 
CHAP,  v.]  PROPHECIES  MISAPPLIED.  461 
 
 which  are  respectively  said  to  have  been  fulfilled  in 
 Christ  and  Mohammed.  We  have  already  noticed 
 that  the  Arab  prophet  claimed  to  have  been  predicted 
 by  our  Lord,  John  XV.  26.  and  that  by  name.  ^ 
 
 This  blasphemous  misappropriation  of  the  pro- 
 phetic promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  too  revolting  to 
 dwell  on;  but  were  it  possible  to  apply  it  to  any 
 mortal,  Mohammed,  of  all  men  in  the  world,  has  the 
 least  claim  to  be  considered  the  Comforter,  which 
 Christ  promised  to  send  to  His  Church.  Our  Lord 
 required  His  disciples  to  wait  in  Jerusalem ;  if  Mo- 
 hammed, therefore,  had  been  the  promised  Pareclete, 
 he  would  have  appeared  in  Jerusalem,  not  in  Mecca, 
 and  that,  600  years  earlier  than  he  did.  Again,  if 
 the  prophet  of  the  Arabs  were  the  Paraclete ,  it  was 
 his  part,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  promise  of 
 Christ,  that  he  should  abide  with  the  Church  for  ever. 
 The  promise,  moreover,  was  made  to  the  Church  of 
 Christ;  Mohammed  therefore  ought  to  have  come  to 
 the  Christians,  not  to  the  Pagan  Arabs.  Then,  the 
 office  of  the  promised  Paraclete  was  to  glorify  Christ; 
 to  take  of  the  things  of  Jesus  and  show  them  unto 
 
 "    cX4>s>'t   KtMj^   ^^i\3U    (>^   i<^'-    ^r**'r?   ')-«*'^5    Annun- 
 
 ciaturus  JLegafum,  qui  veniet  post  me:  nomen  ejus  Ahmad.  Sur.  LXI. 
 6.    Now  to  Trievjua  rfjg  uXri&tiag  is  in  Hebrew  r'53N  n''n  and  in 
 
 Arabic  iooLfc    —%Jj\',   from  this ,  Moslem  subtil ty  made  Achmed  or 
 
 Mohammed.  The  na(jayXi]rog  was  likewise  shrewdly  turned  into 
 ntfJmXvzoq,  id  est  tnch'tus,  valde  mclitiim,  which  agreed  again  witli 
 
 tX»a»t  or  cX.«.i^Vx  with  the  sense  laudabilis ,  laudatum,  multa  dig- 
 nus;  cfi-.  also  "i^n,  desire  after;  ^-Un,  the  dearest,  most  beautiful. 
 IWnttj  desire,  darling. 
 
462  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  ii. 
 
 His  people;  now  where  does  Moliammed  glorify  Christ? 
 The  Gospel  of  Jesus  is  altered  into  "another  Gospel," 
 His  divine  character  is  denied,  His  truth  perverted, 
 His  Church  destroyed,  His  work  of  Redemption  dis- 
 owned, and  the  glorious  dispensation  of  the  New  Tes- 
 tament is  considered  to  be  superseded!  Had  Mo- 
 hammed represented  the  promised  Comforter,  he 
 would  not  have  been  guilty  of  elevating  himself  above 
 the  Lord  Jesus.  The  Holy  Ghost  glorified  Christ, 
 bore  witness  of  Him,  taught  many  things  concerning 
 Him;  remained  with  the  Church  for  ever,  and  called 
 the  things  of  Christ  to  the  remembrance  of  the  dis- 
 ciples; but  Mohammed,  under  the  impulse  of  another, 
 than  the  "Sj^irit  of  truth,''  maintained  throughout  a 
 contrary  part,' 
 
 Another  fulfilment  of  prophecy  is  found  by  Mo- 
 hammedans, in  the  blessing  of  Moses,  where  the  three 
 mountains,  Sinai,  Seir,  and  Paran  are  considered  to 
 be  typical  of  three  successive  dispensations:  Judaism, 
 Christianity,  and  Islamism.^  Independently  however 
 of  the  fanciful  and  arbitrary  character  of  this  exposi- 
 tion, it  is  unfortunate  for  those  who  urge  it,  that 
 Seir  is  in  Idumaea,  instead  of  Galilee  or  Judea:  and 
 Paran  between  mount  Seir  and  Sinai,  about  500 
 miles  from  Mecca!  Such  is  the  perversion  of  the 
 words  of  Moses,  who  refers  to  the  mountains  which 
 
 '  Very  significant  is  the  expression :  rb  TTrf.Vfia  rf,?  (O^r^&tn^?- 
 " AUaa  est  quoeclam  falsa  cognitio,  falsa  fides,  falsus  amor,  falsa 
 spes;  sed  non  falsa  Veritas."    Bengelius. 
 
 ^  "The  Lord  came  from  Sinai,  (Judaism);  and  rose  up  from 
 Seir,  {Christianity);  He  shmed  forth  from  mount  Paran,  (Islamism)." 
 Deut.  XXXIIl.  2. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  PROPHECIES  MISAPPLIED.  463 
 
 witnessed  God's  works  during  the  march  of  the  Is- 
 raelites.  The  next  prophecy  referred  to  Mohammed, 
 is  the  celebrated  prediction  of  Moses,  that  God  would 
 raise  up  a  prophet  from  among  Israel  like  unto  him. 
 Deut.  xvm.  15.  But  Mohammed  was  not  like  Moses; 
 nor  was  he  raised  up  among  Israel ;  norcan  the  Arabs 
 be  said  to  be  brethren  of  the  Jews ;  nor  does  Moham- 
 med come  before  the  world  with  the  like  credentials 
 as  Moses;  nor  can  any  one  reason  be  demonstrated 
 in  his  person,  his  creed  or  his  Koran,  why  we  should 
 "hearken  unto  him." 
 
 Another  misapplication  of  prophecy,  or  rather  of 
 a  plain  description,  was  perpetrated  by  the  Moslem 
 doctors,  when  with  the  aid  of  the  Syriac,  they  endea- 
 vour to  wrest  the  words,  ''perfection  of  beauty ,"'  Ps. 
 L.  2,  being  a  descriptive  epithet  of  Zion,^  and  make 
 them  to  signify,  ''the  croivn  of  Mohammed^  This 
 shows ,  their  extreme  anxiety  to  establish  the  point, 
 that  Mohammed  had  been  prophesied  in  the  Old  and 
 New  Testament.  We  shall  notice  but  one  other  at- 
 tempt to  support  Mohammed's  dignity,  by  evidence 
 derived  from  prophecy,  one,  which  has  at  least  this  in  its 
 favour,  that  it  is  the  most  ingenious.  In  the  following- 
 passage  from  Isaiah,  "he  saw  a  chariot  with  a  couple 
 of  horsemen,  a  chariot  of  asses,  and  a  chariot  of 
 camels,"^"   the   learned  Mohammedans   see  a  clear 
 
 ^    The    Moslem  doctors  read  thus ,    with    the    SjTiac    version : 
 
 ^yj^*0    ^je  xJJt   «..g  pf  lt>«-»iSX^  iLyLM     Coronam  laudatam 
 
 Dens  manifestavit  ex  Sion.    Were  the  version   correct ,  which  it  is 
 not,  the  coronam  laudatam  comes  not  from  Mecca  but  from  Sion. 
 
 *°  It  is  said  of  the  watchman:  -l-72n  23"i  S'^nE  '^-i:  23^  r>iiyi 
 
464  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED  [part  il. 
 
 prediction  of"  Christ,  who  rides  into  Jerusalem  upon 
 the  ass;  and  Mohammed,  M'ho  frequently  rode  upon 
 a  camel !  But  the  chapter  contains  burdens  of  pro- 
 phecy against  Babylon,  Duma  and  Kedar ,  the  two 
 latter  beinfr  the  descendants  of  Ishmael:  and  Babvlon 
 was  taken  by  the  IMedes  and  Persians  ^:>rgC2s^/?/  as 
 here  prophesied.  *  * 
 
 Mohammed,  might  however,  have  been  prophesied 
 by  name, —  as  was  the  case  with  C>tus,  the  "servant" 
 of  God, —  centuries  before  he  w^as  born,  and  yet  be  in 
 the  same  predicament,  in  which  he  now  stands:  for 
 it  does  not  necessarily  follow,  that  the  person  pre- 
 dicted must  be  a  true  projihet  of  God.  Antichrist 
 is  prophesied  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  but 
 this  in  nowise  puts  a  divine  seal  upon  his  work,  or 
 makes  him  the  less  "that  man  of  sin,  and  the  son  of 
 perdition."  Nor  shall  we  contradict  the  Koran,  when 
 it  repeatedly  asserts,  that  we  find  Mohammed  "\\Tit- 
 ten  down  in  the  law  and  the  Gospel."  Our  Lord  bids 
 us  to  "beware  of  false  prophets;"  He  prophesies,  that 
 "many  false  prophets  shall  rise  and  deceive  many;" 
 "false  Christs  and  false  prophets  shall  rise,  and  shall 
 
 b?:-.  ns'l.  Isaiah  XXI.  7.  Vulgate:  ""Et  vidit  curt-um  duorum  equi- 
 turn,  nscensorem  asini ,  et  ascender  em  cameli."  The  LXX  read:  xni 
 iiSoi>  dnx^dnxg  InnHgSvo,  y.al  iha(idrr>v  oiov ,  y.al  dnx^tirt;y  xa- 
 ,it/^Xov.  GiTiuan  version:  "(§x  \~icM  abcr  dtcitcx  rcitcit  imt'  fafncn  auf 
 9iojTen,  (Sfcin  nut  ^ftamclcn."  Vitriiiga:  " vecturam  a^/nomm,  vecturam 
 camelorum." 
 
 '  *  Babylon  being  taken  when  feasting  in  security,  cfr.  Isa. 
 XXI.  5  — 10.  "Prepare  the  table;  Avatch  in  the  watch-tower;  eat, 
 drink:  arise  ye  princes  and  anoint  the  shield.  For  thus  hath  the 
 Lord  said  unto  me.  Go  set  a  watchman,  let  him  declare  what  he 
 seeth."  This  watchman  then  sees,  what  is  here  alleged  to  be  a 
 prophecy  of  Christ  and  Mohanuned, 
 
CHAP,  v.]         PROPHECIES  FULFILLED  IN  MOHAMMED.  465 
 
 show  signs  and  wonders,  to  seduce,  if  it  were  possible, 
 even  the  elect."  His  Apostles  agree  with  their  Master 
 in  warning  the  Church  of /a/se  teachers  and  prophets, 
 who  shall  bring  in  damnable  heresies;  adding  that 
 "many  shall  follow  their  pernicious  ways."  We  are 
 therefore  not  unwilling  to  give  IMohammed  the  pre- 
 eminence among  the  prophets,  who  are  plainly  pre- 
 dicted in  the  New  Testament.  ^^ 
 
 5.  Let  us  now  examine  whether  our  Lord's 
 Divine  Sonship  and  prophetical  dignity  can  be  proved 
 from  Prophecy.  That  He  Himself  prophesied,  has 
 already  been  shown;  but  can  we  establish  from  pro- 
 phecies of  the  Old  Testament  "that  Jesus  is  the 
 Christ?'"'  To  gather  together  a  few  detached  pre- 
 dictions is  no  difficult  task,  but  instead  of  obtaining 
 a  correct  view  of  our  Lord's  character,  bv  this  means, 
 we  may  possibly  arrive  at  most  erroneous  conclusions. 
 Such  was  the  case  with  the  Jews,  before  the  advent 
 of  Christ.  They  formed  their  estimate  of  the  Messiah 
 from  single  predictions,  and  the  result  was,  a  spirit 
 of  dissatisfaction  and  rebellion.  Listead  of  kindling 
 their  hope  and  quickening  their  expectation  of  the 
 coming  of  the  Redeemer,  it  only  engendered  a  desire 
 to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  Romans,  and  strengthened 
 their  worldly  ambition  to  become  the  dominant  race 
 of  the  earth.  The  "wise  men  from  the  East  had  caught 
 up  one  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament;  but 
 by  their  inquiring  for  the  new-born  ^/«^  oftheJeivs 
 at  Jerusaleyn,  they  clearly  showed  that  as  yet  they 
 
 **    Matt.  Vn.  15.   XXR'.  11.     Mark  XIU.  22.     2  Pet.  H.  1.  2. 
 1  John  IV.  1.    Keith,  Signs  of  the  times.  Vol.  L  35—47.  192—197. 
 
 EE 
 
46 G  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  u. 
 
 were  labouring  under  very  mistaken  impressions, 
 and  it  required  yet  another  prophecy  to  lead  them 
 to  Bethlehem.  Except  therefore,  Christ  be  acknow- 
 ledged as  the  "Alpha  and  Omega"  of  all  prophecy,  in 
 Whom  all  the  single  predictions  are  ''Yea  and  Amen,'' 
 the  evidence  arising  from  them  can  never  be  rightly 
 understood,  nor  fully  appreciated.  Mark  xvi.  14.  Lu. 
 XXIY.  25.  We  have  prophecies,  because  we  have 
 Christ;  but  not  the  reverse.  Scriptural  prophecies 
 can  only  be  understood,  when  we  consider  them  as 
 living  members  of  the  entire  body  of  revealed  truth. 
 As  sinole  miracles  were  sufficient  to  confirm  the  faith 
 of  those  who  already  believed,  so  the  fulfilment  of 
 single  prophecies  was  sufficient  to  the  believing  Is- 
 raelite; hence  the  frequent  allusions  to  them  in  the 
 New  Testament,  especially  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel. 
 Not  less  frequently  however,  the  fulfilment  of  detached 
 predictions  gives  place  to  that  of  the  entire  system 
 of  fulfilled  prophecy.  ^^ 
 
 In  proving  from  the  Scripture  that  "Jesus  is  the 
 Christ,"  especially  to  unbelievers,  we  have  to  place 
 prophecy  and  fulfilment,  before  our  opponents,  in  its 
 totality,  without  giving  undue  prominence  to  isolated 
 
 *'  Matt.  XI.  13.  Lu.  XXIV.  27.  John  V.  39.  Act.  X.  43. 
 rovToo  rruiT^g  6i  noocfrrca  uagrvgovmr.  Act.  VIJ.  and  Hebre-\vs  XI. 
 "3)er  ©vuntdjaraftci:  De^  3urciitlnini£i,  tmd)  ten  e^  fi*  alt^  Cffcnbanmg 
 redjtffrtigt^  tft  a3orbereituiuj  imb  ®ciffaguiig  gu  fcin.  {Dafjcr  bic  mef; 
 fianinifrfu  50  ciffai^iiug  bcr  ^ofKiMinft  bci^  9((tfn,  iiiib  fcinc  Rintieit  mit 
 bem  DJcucn  Jcfianicut  ift .  . . .  STabcr  iiur  cine  untcvi^ccvbucte  *-Bt'; 
 beutitng  bcffcU'cn  iit,  ba  §  an  ifirer  (Svfulluni^  im  Sinjelnen  bet 
 ajjeffta^  erfannt  ivuvbe.  iTcd)  im  Jini^enicincn  ift  bicfc  ©rfuniinci  in 
 bcr  birdie  nUc^cit  ancrfauut  Ifcrbcu  uiib  fcit  (Socccjii^  in  eincr  "prophetica 
 Theologia"  na(;ev  aia^gefiitiit  ivotbcn."     Uutt.  Red.  pag.  91.  92. 
 
CHAP,  v.l  PROPHECIES  FULFILLED  IN  CHRIST.  407 
 
 predictions  fulfilled  in  the  person  of  the  Messiah. 
 We  proceed  therefore  to  take  a  succint  view  of  the 
 leading  prophecies,  concerning  Christ,  which  are 
 fulfilled  in  Ilim.  —  Beginning  with  those,  which  de- 
 scribe His  human  nature,  as  the  promised  "seed 
 of  the  woman,'*  no  Moslem  will  fail  to  recognise 
 "the  son  of  Mary,"  who  "preserved  her  virginity."** 
 That  He  was  to  be  born  of  a  virfjin  was  however 
 specially  added.  *  *  The  genealogy  of  Christ  is  minute- 
 ly predicted;  He  was  to  spring  from  the  family 
 o{  Shem,  the  seed  o{  Abraham,  the  line  oi Isaac,  the 
 tribe  of  Judah  and  the  house  of  David.  ^^  It  was 
 predicted  that  the  Messiah  should  appear,  at  the 
 period  when  the  tribe  of  Judah  should  have  lost  its 
 political  independence.  *  ^  The  place  of  His  birth,  and 
 the  circumstances  connected  with  it,  were  likewise 
 given.*®  Again,  we  have  a  prophetic  description  of 
 the  person  and  character  of  the  forerunner  of  Christ; 
 also  of  the  commencement  of  our  Lord's  public  mi- 
 nistry;*^ the  places  He  was  to  visit;  the  condition  of 
 His  life;  the  miracles  He  would  perform;  the  nature 
 and  mode  of  His  teaching;  the  details  of  His  passion; 
 
 **  The  ynt  of  the  woman  Gen.  III.  opposed  to  •dtXrjfia  dr6()di 
 John  1.  13.  and  parallel  with  the  l^antcJTtiXtv  o  Qfog  tov  viof 
 avTov  ytro/bityor  ix  yvttay.og.    Galat.  IV.  4. 
 
 "  Ps.  XXn.  10.  LXLX.  8.  LXXXVI.  16.  CXYI.  16.  Isa.  VU.  14. 
 XLIX.  1.    Micah  V.  3.    Jer.  31,  22.    Lu.  L  26—35. 
 
 "  Gen.  IX.  26.  XIL  3.  XVII.  19.  XLIX.  10.  Mic.V.  2.  2  Sam. 
 VU.  12—16.    1  Chron.  XVn.  11  —  14.    Isa.  XL  1.  10. 
 
 *'  Gen.  XLIX.  10.  T"3:^'n  ■j-'273  'p?^'^^'  '^rrJ^  tina -i-o;-n3 
 
 '»   Mic.  V.  2.    Hos.  XL  1.    Ps.  LXXIL  10.    Isa.  LX.  6. 
 '«   Mai.  IV.  5.  6.    m.  1.    Isa.  XL.  3. 
 
 EE* 
 
468  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [partii. 
 
 and  of  His  death  on  the  cross;  together  with  the 
 specific  mention  of  the  time  when  He  should  give  up 
 the  ghost.  ^°  We  would  call  particular  attention  to 
 those  prophecies  concerning  the  violent  death  of 
 Christ,  which  the  Koran  thought  fit  to  deny.  Again, 
 the  entombment  of  Christ  was  distinctly  foretold  by 
 the  Spirit  of  prophecy, —  "His  grave  was  appointed 
 Him  with  the  wicked,  but  with  the  rich  man  was  His 
 tomb  in  His  death."  ^^  His  flesh  however  should 
 only  rest  in  hope,  and  not  see  corruption;  He  was  to 
 rise  from  the  dead,  prolong  His  days,^^  and  ascend 
 into  heaven.  ^^  In  addition  to  these  prophecies,  which 
 comprise  a  biographical  sketch  of  our  Lord  from  His 
 birth  to  His  glorious  ascension,  we  have  numerous 
 predictions  descr'ihinglhs  characterand  ojices,  human 
 and  divine.  He  is  represented  as  the  Son  of  God  and 
 as  the  Son  of  man;  as  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  and 
 
 -0  Hos.  XI.  1.  Isa.  IX.  1.  LIII.  2.  XLII.  6.  7.  LXI.  1—3. 
 XLII.  2.  3.  LV.  1  —  4.  Ps.  XLY.  2.  Gen.  III.  15.  Isa.  LUI.  Ps. 
 XXU.  LXIX.  21.    Zech.  XUI.  6.  7.   Dan.  IX.  24—26. 
 
 ^^    This  version  of  Lowth  is  the  correct  rendering  of  the  original: 
 
 ;vr7:n  -,^dy"TNT  i"iDp  a^ypn-nN  "ir-i   Isa.  LIII.  y.  ir":i  fre- 
 
 quently  has  this  meaning:  our  Lord  was  counted  among  the  male- 
 factors, and  His  grave  was  to  be  among  theirs:  i.  e.  He  was  not  to 
 be  buried  at  all:  1,  but,  contrary  to  all  expectation.  He  was  with 
 the  rich  man;  "l""«:3y  being  singular:  whilst  wicked:  D"'y;^'i  is  plural. 
 Hence  it  could  be  said  :  truqii  . .  .  xatic  ru,'  y^ac^d^.  I  Cor.  XV.  4. 
 See  Matt.  XXVI.  57. 
 
 "  Ps.  XVI.  10.  Isa.  LUI.  10.  Ps.  XVII.  15.  and  the  Theologia 
 typica  adds:  Abraliam  receiving  his  son  on  the  third  day  tr  naga- 
 ^oXfi.  Heb.  XI.  n>.  and  to  rn^ufJov  7ojm  rov  nQoqrjov.  IMatt.  XII. 
 39_L40.  ''(^0.  ivcuiitlidi  jiim  Suffiitlium  gcliovtc,  tap  tcr  ^eiligc  @cift 
 fic^  jur  tiefdhvanftcn  :j![afTungetraft  tKrabncicite :  fo  ift  bic  nufjTanii"*e  2l>ei^; 
 fagung  in  vtclctlci  *.8iltcrn  au^gefyredKn."     Hutt.  Red.  pag.  91. 
 
 2»  Ps.  Lxvm.  18.  vm.  5. 6.  xLvn.  5.  ex.  I. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  PROPHECIES  FULFILLED  IN  CHRIST.  469 
 
 the  Saint  of  saints ;  as  the  Word  of  Jehovah  and  the 
 Saviour  of  the  world;  as  the  Lamb  of  God  and  the 
 intercessor  of  His  people;  as  ''the  Shiloh"'  or  the 
 Apostle  without  equal;  as  the  Hit^h  priest  for  ever 
 after  the  order  of  Melchizedek ;  as  the  Prophet  like 
 Moses;  as  the  Christ  of  God,  and  the  Messiah  of 
 Israel ;  as  the  Lord  coming  to  His  temple ,  and  the 
 Ruler,  higher  than  the  kings  of  the  earth. ^*  Mos- 
 lemin  doctors  in  adducing  a  few  indistinct  prophecies 
 from  the  Bible ,  which  they  consider  fulfilled  in  the 
 person  of  their  prophet ,  admit  the  force  of  the  evi- 
 dence, which  establishes  the  prophetical  dignity  of 
 "Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary;" ^'  and  which  proves  Him 
 to  be  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world ; 
 this  leads  us  to  the  next  point  of  comparison. 
 
 6.  It  was  not  within  our  scope  in  the  preceding 
 remarks  to  define  the  prophetical  office  of  Christ, 
 and  to  describe  its  character.  All  we  desired,  was  to 
 advance  such  evidence  in  its  favour,  as  is  vainly  put 
 forth  on  behalf  of  Mohammed.  But  proceeding  a 
 step  further  in  our  argument,  and  presenting  Christ 
 as  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  we  come  to  a  point, 
 in  which  both  creeds  diverge  to  opposite  poles,  where 
 
 "  Ps.  n.  7.  Dan.  VH.  13.  Ps.  VIU.  4—6.  X\^.  10.  Dan.  IX. 
 24.  Ps.  XXXUI.  6.  Job  XIX.  25—27.  Gen.  XL  VIE.  16.  "[^T^' 
 \^},ri  and  Isa.  XLI.  14.  Isa.  Lm.  7.  Gen.  XXE.  8.  Job  XXXIU. 
 23.  Gen.  XLIX.  10.  Exod.  IV.  13.  Ps.  CX.  4.  Deut.  XVIII.  15. 
 Isa.  LXI.  1.    Ps.  n.  2.   Dan.  IX.  26.    Ps.  LXXIX.  27. 
 
 **  "  Oiristus  est  propheta  maximus,  cathoUcus,  illuminatissimus , 
 obsignatissimvs ,  efficatissimus  et  exemplaris ,  i.  e.  qid  quod  verbis 
 docuit,  expressit  factis."  Holazius.  Augustin  speaks  of  this  pi-ophet 
 as,  "Doctor  doctorum  Christus,  cujus  schola  in  terra  et  cathedra  in 
 coelo  est." 
 
470  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  n. 
 
 no  comparison  is  possible.  Yet  as  this  work  pro- 
 fesses not  only  to  give  a  comparison,  but  to  contrast 
 the  leading  features  of  both  systems  of  belief,  the 
 following  argument  must  be  considered  admissible. 
 Christ's  prophetical  office,  is  in  a  qualified  sense, 
 admitted  by  the  Mohammedans;  and  in  advancing 
 certain  evidences  to  establish  what  is  undoubted,  it 
 w^as  rather  with  a  view  of  showing  the  kind  of  proof 
 we  require,  before  we  can  admit  the  claims  of  the 
 self-styled  Apostle  of  God.  No  unprejudiced  mind 
 can  fail  to  perceive  that  the  evidence  which  has  been 
 adduced,  proves  more  than  Mohammedans  are  willing 
 to  admit,  and  implies,  that  Christ  ''the  son  of  Mary" 
 was  a  prophet,  in  a  sense,  in  which  it  could  not  be 
 said  of  any  other  individual. 
 
 It  is  not  without  instruction  to  observe  how  the 
 Person  and  the  Wo7^k  of  the  Redeemer  is  the  point  in 
 religious  controversy,  around  which,  all  antagonistic 
 powers  seem  to  rally;  evidently  from  an  instinctive 
 feeling,  that  the  battle  must  be  once  more  decided 
 beneath  His  cross.  The  doctrine  of  the  Hohj  Trinity 
 is  distasteful  to  the  Unitarian  of  whatever  shade; 
 because  the  Divinity  of  Christ  and  the  work  of  atone- 
 ment, are  dogmas  which  they  cannot  suffer.  The 
 doctrine  of  the  cross  will  ever  be  rejected  as  irrational, 
 where  man's  sinfulness  and  helpless  condition  is  un- 
 felt,  and  denied,  as  is  the  case  in  the  Koran.  ^^    The 
 
 *•'  Sin  is  characterised  as:  rNi:q,  ~>>0.,  r>'qr\,  aua()Tta,  (f/i«(j- 
 rrjut,  departure  from  the  right  way.  Or:  Tui"^,,  yy,  uvopiia,  aHiKux, 
 ;r«(u<j^«ai3' ,  transgression  ,  unrighteousness.  Or:  TT^C,  "l'!!'??  "^^' 
 ataaia,  dtih^Ha,  falling  away,  ungodliness.  Or:  byw,  nagaTCKOfia, 
 fall.    Or:  d<^tiki]i.ui,  guilt. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  WHY  THE  ATONEMENT  IS  DENIED.  471 
 
 Moslem  looks  upon  sin,  as  an  external  act,  to  be  estim- 
 ated merely  by  its  results.  Lying  and  false  swear- 
 ing e.  g.  are  not  considered  in  themselves,  intrinsically 
 evil,  but  only  possibly  so,  in  the  issue,  and  for  good 
 purposes  are  sanctioned,  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
 following  extracts.  "God  passeth  over  the  forgetful- 
 ness  and  mistakes  of  my  sect  and  forgives  them 
 what  they  do  by  compulsion."^'  Again,  "It  is  not 
 right  to  lie,  except  in  three  cases;  the  first,  when  a 
 man  tells  lies  to  please  his  wife;  the  second  in  war; 
 the  third,  in  order  to  make  peace  between  men."^* 
 Again,  it  is  unlawful  to  say  a  truth  which  might  be 
 injurious  to  a  believer,  or  endanger  his  life ;  and  it  is 
 lawful  and  obligatory  to  tell  a  lie,  when  a  believer  can 
 be  saved  by  it  from  death,  imprisonment,  or  from  any 
 loss.  And  in  the  case  of  a  believer  having  intrusted 
 us  with  some  of  his  property,  and  an  op^pressor  re- 
 quiring it  of  us,  we  are  obliged  to  deny  having  it,  yea 
 we  are  even  allowed  to  swear  an  oath  that  none  of 
 the  property  of  that  man  is  with  us.  It  is  Hke- 
 wise  lawful  to  tell  a  lie  before  an  officer  of  customs, 
 an  oppressor,  or  a  judge,  if  by  telling  the  truth  the 
 property  would  be  taken  away  from  him."^^  In  the 
 next  page  of  the  same  book  we  read,  "It  is  said  in  a 
 tradition  from  his  majesty  (Mohammed)  that  there 
 are  three  cases  in  which  it  is  right  and  good  to  tell 
 a  lie;  in  the  treachery  which  they  make  use  of  in 
 war;  in  the  promises  made  to  a  wife;  and  in  making 
 peace  among  men."  Again,  ''Takia,  or  religious  dis- 
 
 "   Mishcat  Vol.  11.  pag.  817.  '^  Mishcat  Vol.  H.  464. 
 
 ^^   Ain  ul  Hayat  leaf  242. 
 
472  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  11. 
 
 simulation,  in  the  land  of  Takia,  ^^  is  obligatory.  An 
 oath,  sworn  for  Tahia,  and  to  escape  oppression  is 
 no  sin,  nor  is  any  atonement  required  for  it."  And 
 again,  "False  witness,  on  account  of  Takia,  is  allowed, 
 when  it  would  not  occasion  the  death  of  a  person; 
 and  a  false  oath  to  remove  oppression  from  one's  self 
 or  from  any  other  of  the  believers  is  lawful.  In  both 
 these  cases  it  is  necessary  to  use  as  much  dissimula- 
 tion as  possible.  And  Takia  is  allowed  even  in  speak- 
 ing blasj^hemous  words,  as  Aamar  did,  and  the  Al- 
 miirhtv  made  known  his  excuse  in  the  Koran."  ^^ 
 
 That  ^177  thoughts  are  not  considered  sin  may  be 
 gathered  fi*om  the  following  tradition,  "It  is  related 
 that  his  majesty  Mohammed  said, — when  a  believer, 
 a  Banda ,  forms  the  intention  of  doing  a  good  work, 
 although  he  may  not  do  it,  God  still  writes  down  for 
 it  one  good  work  in  the  book  of  his  good  works.  And 
 if  he  forms  the  intention  of  doing  a  sin,  b.ut  does  not 
 actually  do  it,  he  does  not  write  down  anything  against 
 him.  And  wdien  he  executes  his  evil  intention,  they 
 give  him  time,  seven  hours,  and  the  angel  of  his  right 
 side ,  who  is  the  recorder  of  his  good  works ,  says  to 
 the  angel  of  the  left  side,  who  is  the  recorder  of  his 
 evil  actions,  Do  not  be  hasty  in  writing  it  down,  per- 
 adventure  he  may  do  a  good  work,  which  will  blot 
 
 ^^  A  name  given  to  a  country  where  a  Moslem  is  exposed  to 
 religious  persecution.    Pfander's  Remarks  pag.  40. 
 
 ''  Haq  ul  Yaquin  leaf  240.  Aamar  and  others  being  tortured 
 by  the  Koreishites  renounced  their  faith  from  fear,  but  believed  with 
 their  heart.     The   following  words  refer  to  liim :    iuULj    UiS  ^^yo 
 
 ^j-t-Jojo   X-JLi'.    8*5^1   fj^   ^t   «jUjt   iXxj  ^  etc.    Sur.  XVI. 
 106. 
 
CHAP.v.]'  WHY  THE  ATONEMENT  IS  DENIED.  473 
 
 out  his  sin."  '^  Since  sin  is  not  regarded  as  sin,  by 
 Mohammed,  he  could  not  admit  the  crowning  act  of 
 Christ's  sacerdotal  office,  namely,  His  death  upon  the 
 cross,  by  which  an  atonement  was  made  for  the  sins 
 of  the  world.  Had  Mohammed  assumed  our  Lord's 
 body  to  have  been  a  mere  phantom,  as  was  the  case 
 with  some  of  the  early  heretics,  we  could  explain  his 
 denial  of  the  death  of  Jesus;  but  the  Koran  insists 
 upon  the  purely  human  nature  of  Christ,  and  in  ap- 
 parent contradiction  with  the  view  that  our  Lord  had 
 a  mortal  body,  yet  with  a  fearful  and  well-calculated 
 consistency,  the  Koran  denies  the  Crucijixion.  The 
 death  upon  the  cross  was  an  historical  fact,  attested, 
 not  only  by  the  Gospels,  which  he  considered  inter- 
 polated, but  by  profane  testimony,  of  Jews,  and  Pa- 
 gans.^^    Yet  Mohammed  preferred  opposing  a  well 
 
 "  Ain  ul  Hayat  leaf  80.  See  also  Hayat  ul  Kulub  Vol.  U. 
 leaf  177. 
 
 '^  Moses  ben  Maimones  in  lib.  Jud.  cap.  XI.  says:  "Jesus  Naza- 
 renus  yisus  est  Messias ,  et  occisus  est  per  domum  Judaicii ,  at  ilia 
 causa  fuit  ut  Israel  destruetur  in  gladio  et  disperguntur ,  reliquac 
 ipsorum  et  desprimerentur."  Again,  "Jesus  Nazarenus  propinquus 
 fuit  regno  (idest  fuit  familia  Regia)  et  in  vespere  Paschae  crucifix- 
 erunt  eiun."  Sanhed.  distinct.  Nigmar  Hadin.  Again  Josephus  adds: 
 riveTcu  6t  xara  rovtov  jov  xyo"'^''  'I^'iovg,  aocpog  drijQ,  fiye  avSga 
 avrof  Xtyuv  XHV  >  V^'  Y^^Q  ntxaafio^mv  eoyorv  nntrjri^g ,  difiaaxaXog 
 dv&QCOTKor  ToTr  Tjdorfj  t«  «A?-^^  Sfjoi.ihxor.  Kal  noXXovg  jnh  lor- 
 fiaiovg,  TToXXovg  df  y.al  tov  'EXXr^vixov  inrf/dyero'  6  Xgiarog  ovrog 
 r^v ,  xal  dvrov ,  ivSn'^ti  t<ov  nQmrcov  (hSfJcSv  naii"  r^ulv ,  atavQw 
 f7iiTtTifii]}i6rog  rov  TliXdxov ,  6vx  Inavaapxo  o'l  ye  uqcotov  dvrov 
 nyamqaavrtg.  'Eapdrt]  ydg  dvtoTg  rgi'rrjv  ex(»v  rjiiigav  ndXiv  ^(Sr, 
 T(ov  &f:i(ov  TTQO(pr]T(or  Tavrd  re  xal  uXXa  nvgiu  x}(xvf(d(na  ntQi  dv- 
 rov HQr,x6r(iaT'  'Eig  hi  pvv  rcSv  XQiariavwv  dno  rovSi.  (ovo^arsi^uvayv 
 Svx  iiiXmc.  ro  q}vXor.  Joseph.  Archaeolog.  lib.  XVrH.  cap.  III.  3. 
 Again  Tacitus  writes:  "Auctor  nominis  ejus  Christus  Tiberio  iniperi- 
 tante  per  procuratorem  Pontium  Pilatuni  supplicio  affectus  erat; 
 repressaque  in  praesens  exitiabilis  superstitio  rursus  erumpebat,  non 
 
474  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  il. 
 
 authenticated  historical  fact,  rather  than  admit  the 
 death  upon  the  cross;  because  he  clearly  saw,  that 
 with  it,  he  would  be  compelled  to  acknowledge  its 
 meritorious  character,  which  rested  entirely  upon  the 
 innocent  and  violent  death  of  "the  Lamb  of  God 
 which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 
 
 If  Christ  were  no  more  than  an  ordinary  prophet, 
 and  if  His  death  be  not  the  crowning  part  of  His  vi- 
 carious work,  why  should  JNIohammed  deny  it,  any 
 more  than  the  violent  death  of  other  prophets?  The 
 false  prophet  having  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
 ment, was  led  to  adopt  the  view  of  an  ancient  he- 
 resy, in  preference  to  the  truth.  Had  he  admitted 
 the  Crucifixion,  he  could  not  have  denied,  that  our 
 Lord's  person  and  work  were  far  superior  to  the  per- 
 son and  work  of  any  other  apostle  of  God;  and  he 
 would  thus  have  involved  himself  in  a  contradiction  and 
 inconsistency  which  would  undoubtedly  have  proved 
 ruinous  to  his  creed.  Mohammed  nowhere  ven- 
 tured to  introduce  himself  as  the  Redeemer  of  the 
 world;  it  was  therefore  his  interest  to  protest  against 
 Christ  having  made  an  atonement  for  mankind;  and 
 to  deny  the  principle  of  transferring  either  merit  or 
 demerit ;  in  order  to  place  his  own  life  and  death  in 
 juxta-position  with  that  of  the  Son  of  God.  Sur.  vi. 
 161  — 165.  It  will  not  here  be  without  interest,  fur- 
 ther to  examine  the  Biblical  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
 ment, in  order  to  show  more  fully,  that  Mohammed 
 
 modo  per  Judacani ,  originem  ejus  mali ,  sed  per  urbem  etiam  ,  quo 
 cuncta  undiquc  atrocia  aut  pudenda  contluunt  celebranturque.  Corn. 
 Tac.  lib.  XV.  cap.  44. 
 
CHAP.  T.]  THE  ATONEMENT  OF  CHRIST.  475 
 
 could  not  admit  the  death  upon  the  cross,  without 
 at  the  same  time  acknowledging  this  doctrine. 
 
 7.  In  the  Bible,  sin  is  neither  a  mere  negation, 
 nor  yet  an  innocent  imperfection  of  human  nature ; 
 but  sin  is  tmrighteousness ,  a  positive  evil,  a  living 
 active  principle  of  enmity  against  God:  otherwise  it 
 could  not  be  said  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  or 
 that  we  have  Redemption  and  forgiveness  of  sin  through 
 His  blood.  When  Christ's  death  is  chiefly  spoken 
 of  as  the  ransom  of  our  souls,  it  is  not  meant  to  deny 
 that  the  whole  life  of  our  Redeemer  is  also  of  saving 
 efficacy,  through  its  unfailing  obedience  to  the  will  of 
 God.^*  Hence  Jesus  is  spoken  of  as  the  Mediator 
 between  God  and  man;  the  Priest  who  offered  Him- 
 self in  such  a  manner,  that  it  could  be  said  of  this 
 great  act  of  atonement,  that  "  God  was  in  Christ,  re- 
 conciling the  world  unto  Himself."*'  It  would  be  in 
 direct  contradiction  to  this  view,  to  assume,  that  the 
 death  of  Jesus  was  necessary  to  excite  the  Heavenly 
 Father's  love,  and  to  move  Him  to  pardon  us,  for  God 
 
 '*  Matt.  XX.  28.  XXVI.  18.  1  Pet.  I.  18.  19.  2  Cor.  V.  21. 
 1  Tim.  n.  6.  Gal.  UI.  13.  2  Pet.  II.  1.  1  Tim.  H.  5.  Col.  I.  20. 
 1  John  n.  2.    IV.  10. 
 
 ^*  "What  was  held  and  believed  in  all  ages,  was  shown  to  be 
 necessary  in  the  11*"^  sec.  by  Anselm  in  his  admirable  little  work, 
 "Cur  Dens  homo?"  which  demonstrated  the  so-caWeA  satisf actio ,  a 
 term  introduced  by  Tertullian ,  as  to  its  theoretical  and  theologico- 
 philosophical  bearing  upon  the  plan  of  salvation.  Through  sin, 
 God's  Majesty  was  infinitely  offended.  In  His  love  He  was  willing 
 to  pardon ;  in  His  righteousness  He  could  not  pardon.  Only  an  in- 
 finite and  Divine  Being  could  make  infinite  satisfaction  for  this 
 infinite  offence;  but  he  must  be  man  so  that  the  requisite  satisfaction 
 might  be  made  by  mankind.  Hence  God  became  man,  and  this  God- 
 man  taking  upon  Himself  the  guilt  of  man,  and  expiating  the  same 
 by  His  death,  thus  rendered  this  infinite  satisfaction. 
 
476  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  ii. 
 
 Himself  "so  loved  us  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
 Son."      The  primary  cause  of  man's  Redemption  is 
 the  love  of  God;  and  the  blood  of  Christ  is  the  means 
 by  which  it  was  accomplished.  Human  justice,  to  be 
 legally  administered,  demands  the  punishment  of  the 
 guilty,  and  in  punishing  the  innocent,  instead  of  the 
 guilty,  supreme  justice  would  only  accomplish  its  ob- 
 ject by  an  act  of  supreme  injustice;  and  thus  destroy 
 its  own  character.     If  transgression  demand  punish- 
 ment, it  cannot  be  an  indifferent  matter  who  receives 
 it :  it  can  only  be  just  and  lawful  when  the  punish- 
 ment falls  upon  the  offender.      The  human  judge  is 
 not  at  liberty  to  pass  the  sentence  ofthe  law  on  whom 
 he  will.    He  cannot  indeed  prevent  innocent  children 
 from  suffering  when  their  parents  are  punished  ac- 
 cording to  law ;  since  the  lot  of  those  children  is  not 
 a  punishment,  but  a  misfortune.  But  all  seeming  con- 
 tradictions and  inconsistencies  disappear,  as  soon  as 
 we  cease  to  treat  of  this  blessed  mystery  according 
 to  the  laws  and  rules  by  which  human  justice  is  ad- 
 ministered. 
 
 God  would  not  be  the  Holy  One,^^  Who  is  above 
 and  beyond  the  world,  if  He  were  not  above  the  mo- 
 ral law,  prescribed  to  man ;  according  to  which ,  the 
 guilty  are  to  be  punished.  God  must  punish  guilt, 
 but  He  is  free  as  to  the  manner  of  administering 
 justice.  As  He  stands  above  all  law;  as  neces- 
 sity to  Him  implies,  at  the  same  time,  perfect  and 
 
 '*   The  Tlii'np ,  )««t'  t^oxrj ,  ^vho  is  made  to  stand  out  as  the 
 incomparably  great  and  glorious  Jehovah. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  THE  ATONEMENT  OF  CHRIST.  477 
 
 supreme  liberty  of  action,  ^ ''  He  can  pardon  the  trans- 
 gressor ,  but  not  in  the  arbitrary  and  partial  way  re- 
 presented in  the  Koran ;  it  will,  on  the  contrary,  be  in 
 a  manner  in  which  all  His  blessed  attributes,  not  ex- 
 cluding His  righteousness,  shall  be  exhibited  in  perfect 
 harmony.  —  The  object  of  Divine  punishment  is  not 
 only  the  amendment  of  the  person  punished,  but  also 
 to  set  up  a  warning  for  others,  and  to  produce  the 
 feeling  that  "God  is  holy  and  sanctified  in  righteous- 
 ness;^^ this  object  is  attained  in  two  ways.  When 
 the  transgressor  of  the  law  is  punished  and  the  in- 
 separable connection  between  sin  and  its  penalty  is 
 thus  demonstrated;  or  when  the  Divine  Judge  takes 
 the  punishment  upon  Himself,  with  the  declaration, 
 that  the  sinner  may  consider  himself  pardoned  on 
 the  condition  of  repentance  and  faith;  whilst  those 
 who  refuse  to  submit  to  this  divine  plan  of  salvation 
 must  inevitably  bear  their  own  burdens. 
 
 "  This  view,  which  prevailed  before  Anseira ,  is  taken  by  Au- 
 gustin:  "Sunt  stulti ,  qui  dicunt:  non  poterat  aliter  sapientia  Dei 
 homines  liberare,  nisi  susciperet  hominem  et  ex  femina  nascet'etur ; 
 qidbus  dicimus:  poterat  omnino,  sed  si  aliter  face^-et ,  similiter 
 vestrae  stultitiae  displicei-et."  Lib.  de  agone  Christi  cap.  XI.  "In- 
 stitutum ,  quo  Deus  voluit  servatorem  generis  humani  naturae  subli- 
 mioris  esse  socium,  naturalem  habere  necessitatem,  nee  esse  in  numero 
 voluntariorum,  non  ausim  adserere :  neque  enim  consentaneura  duxe- 
 rim ,  munificentiam  divinam ,  quae  tantum  donum  liberaliter  concessit 
 generi  humano ,  necessitati  subjicere ,  ac ,  quod  sponte  tribuit ,  it  ra- 
 tionibus  subductis  extorquerere  velle.  Satius  sit.  benignitatis  et 
 sapientiae  vestigia  persequi  ac  tanto  magis  gratiiicari  salubre  con- 
 silium ,  quanto  liberalius  arbitrio  divino  fuit  constitutum.  John  III. 
 16.  Rom.  VIII.  32.  Ephes.  I.  7."  Doederlein  Inst.  Theolog.  Christ. 
 U.  pag.  305. 
 
 ^^   Isa  V.  14—16.  XXVI.  9.  10.  LIX.  17  —  19.    Jer.  HI.  8.  10. 
 XXXI.  18.  19.    Deut.  Xm.  11.     1  Cor.  X.  11.  V.  5.   Rom.  XI.  20. 
 
478  CHRIST  AND  MOHAM^IED.  [part  U. 
 
 The  taking  upon  Himself  of  our  guilt,  by  Christ, 
 would  certainly  be  against  the  law  by  which  the  sin- 
 ner must  be  dealt  with,  as  such,  if  there  were  not  a 
 higher  law,  by  which  sin  and  its  punishment  could 
 be  transferred;  and  this  higher  law  is  revealed  by  the 
 Gospel.  The  eternal  Son  of  God  is  made  flesh, '^  and 
 because  He  is  man,  God  has  given  to  Him  all  judg- 
 ment, *°  In  this,  His  human  nature,  the  Judge  of  man- 
 kind suff'ered ,  and  because  He  bore  the  sins  of  the 
 world,  John  I.  29.  1.  Pet.  n.  24.  we  are  reconciled 
 unto  God.  Rom.  V.  9.  10.  In  order  to  redeem  \is 
 from  the  curse  of  the  law.  He  submitted  to  its  curse;** 
 as  this  was  done  by  a  law  of  which  finite  reason  could 
 have  no  conception,  it  is  to  be  counted  a  mystery; 
 and,  regarded  as  the  law  of  faith,  it  stands  higher  than 
 the  law  of  works. '^^ 
 
 In  order  to  show  how  the  righteousness  of  God 
 is  particularly  conspicuous  in  the  Atonement  of  Christ, 
 St.  Paul  argues,  Rom.Ui.23  — 31.  — The  Redemption 
 
 »^  Vide  Anselm.  "Cur  Deus  homo,"  lib.  II.  cap.  7.  "quod  necesse 
 sit  eundem  ipsum  esse  pcrfcctum  Deum  et  perfectuni  hominem."  And 
 cap.  8.  "Quod  ex  generc  Adae  et  de  virgine  femina  Deum  oporteat 
 assumere  hominem." 
 
 *°  'Ov(S«  yuQ  6  nari;Q  y.qvvh  6v8eva,  aXka  ri,v  xQiaiv  itdaav  6e- 
 Stoy.e  Toj  vtoj  .  .  y.al  t^ovoiav  eSfOMV  dvTcS  xut  xft'au'  noith' ,  on 
 viog  av&i>0}7Tov  iuri.  John  V.  22.  27.  The  article  here  omitted; 
 not  because  he  is  X(jiar6g,  but  because  He  is  a  son  of  man,  judgment 
 is  given  to  Him.  "Hie  homo  homines  salvat,  hie  homo  homines  ju- 
 dicat."    Bengelius. 
 
 *'  Gal.  HI.  13.  yerofif-rog  vntQ  /'jwcor  k«t«^«;  cfr.  rr:!i1Z  n^S^, 
 i^odfJtv&i^aerai.  Dan.  IX.  26. 
 
 *^  Rom.  XVI.  25—27.  dnoKaXvxpig  ^v(7tt;qiov.  111.  27.  ro'juoff 
 m'areo)?.  Hence  St.  Paul's  expression:  "I  through  the  law  (of  faith) 
 am  dead  to  the  law  of  works;"  .so  that  it  has  no  further  claim  upon 
 roe.    Gal.  U.  19. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  THE  ATONEMENT  OF  CHRIST.  479 
 
 by  Christ  is  an  act  of  free  grace,  but  we  must  not 
 fancy  that  God  is  indifferent  to  sin,  because  He  mer- 
 cifully pardons.  That  He  is  just  and  holy  is  proved 
 by  His  not  wishing  to  forgive  otherwise,  than  through 
 tha  blood  of  Christ ,  in  Whom,  all  the  claims  of  the 
 law  are  fulfilled.  The  Atonement  was  accomplished 
 under  circumstances,  which  satisfactorily  demonstrate 
 the  righteousness,  as  well  as  the  grace  of  God;  and 
 the  ''declaration  of  His  righteousness''^^  by  the  death 
 ■  of  Christ,  was  especially  necessary,  since  God  had  for- 
 given sins  for  Christ's  sake,  before  He  accomplished 
 the  act  of  Atonement;**  it  was  therefore  to  be  put 
 in  a  proper  light,  why  God  had  forgiven  so  many  sins 
 in  past  ages,  when  only  "the  forbearance  of  God" 
 seemed  to  have  been  the  motive  of  His  pardoning 
 mercy.*'  The  demonstration  of  "the  righteousness 
 of  God"  became  likewise  necessary  to  destroy  boasting, 
 so  that  neither  Jews  nor  Gentiles  could  expect  sal- 
 vation as  a  reward.  Now  "boasting  is  excluded"  when 
 "the  law  of  works"  condemns  the  sinner;  but  "the 
 law  of  faith"  excludes  it  more  efi^ectually,  by  freely 
 justifying  him  from  all  things.  Yet  we  must  not  think 
 that  because  God  demands  faith,  the  law  is  made  void; 
 on  the  contrary,  it  is  established,  when  Christ  "the 
 end  of  the  law"  is  preached  to  the  world.  *^    Most  of 
 
 *^    ti'dfi^tg  rf^q  Sixaioavvrjg  avrov.   Rom.  in.  26.  27. 
 
 **  It  seemed  to  be  done  tr  Tj]  ((Toxfj  d^tov;  hence  the  hdsi^ig  of 
 His  righteousness  by  the  death  of  Christ. 
 
 *'  Hence  God  forgave  sins  in  the  Old  Testament  not  upon  the 
 indefinite  principle  of  mercy,  as  represented  in  the  Koran,  but  in 
 prospective  regard  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ ,  which  was  tj'pically 
 set  forth. 
 
 *''    TiXog  yaQ  v6(iov  X(JtGtog  tig  diMuoavyfjy  nartl  tcJ  niartV' 
 
480  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  il. 
 
 the  objections  to  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  Atone- 
 ment have  arisen  from  a  superficial  notion  of  sin.*' 
 The  man  that  never  weighed  the  fearful  character  of 
 transgression,  may  well  argue  against  Redemption. 
 If  man  is  not  what  he  is  represented  in  the  Bible, 
 then,  the  objections  of  Mohammedans,  Unitarians,  and 
 Rationalists  against  the  dogma  of  the  Atonement, 
 acquire  force,  and  cannot  be  impeached;  but  where 
 sin  is  felt,  and  the  holy  character  of  God's  law  is  ac- 
 knowledged, the  preaching  of  the  cross  of  Christ  will 
 be  thankfully  accepted.*^ 
 
 8.  Since  Mohammed  rejects  the  Atonement  of 
 Christ,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place,  at  the  end  of  this 
 chapter,  to  review  the  terms,  upon  which  his  followers 
 /  are  promised  pardon  of  sin  and  the  rewards  of  paradise. 
 Here  we  notice  the  same  superficiality  and  the  same 
 materialism,  which  distinguishes  the  Moslem  notion 
 of  sm.  —  God  chooses  one  individual  to  convey  to  the 
 rest  the  terms  of  mercy.  Sinners  are  to  rememher 
 God  and  to  ask  pardon.*^  Repentance  of  past  wrong, 
 
 OfTi.  Rom.  X.  4.  TiXog  and  nXr^JCoina  are  synonyms  in  this  appli- 
 cation,   cfr.  1  Tim.  1,  5.  with  Rom.  XIU.  10.  and  Matt.  V.  17. 
 
 *'  Anselm.  "Ct(r  Deus  homo"  lib.  I.  cap.  21.  Quanti  ponderh 
 sit  peccatwn. 
 
 *®  The  viYect  of  reception  is:  dtxixiovv,  justum  declare.  Matt. 
 XU.  37.  Act.  XIll.  39.  Rom.  II.  39.  II.  13.  III.  20.  etc.  V.  1.  9. 
 Vm.  30.  33.  Tit.  III.  7.  The  sense  of  it  is  fixed  by  the  parallel 
 XoyiC^Tixi  TTian^  ng  6txaioavn;r  Rom.  IV.  5.  The  effect  of  rejecting 
 Christ  and  wilfully  persisting  in  sin:  OVH  tri  7it(ji  (xixa(jri(iji'  uno- 
 kfintrai  ■&v(na,  qo^f^^u  de  tig  ty.fioxt]  y-iJtatajg  xal  nvfiog  Cfi^og, 
 fAJ&itiv  liiiXXontg  rovg  vneraniovg.    Hebr.  X.  26.  27.  28.  29. 
 
 ^•-JLiu  (v^«  \yXjLi  Lo    J^  ^yy^.  ®^^-  ^^-  ^-  ^^^- 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOHAmiED'S  PLAN  OF  SALVATION.  481 
 
 the  performance  of  certain  external  rites,  the  repeti- 
 tion of  certain  words,  are  recommended  as  infallible 
 means  of  salvation.  ""^  As  the  ceremonial  precepts 
 have  been  elsewhere  set  forth ,  we  shall  here  confine 
 ourselves  to  the  subject  of  Moslem  prayer,  or  rather 
 the  efficacy  of  reading  the  Koran.  —  The  Sonnites 
 hold,  that  he  who  properly  performs  the  ablutions 
 and  then  comes  to  the  Friday  prayers,  hearing  the 
 Khatbah ,  viz ,  the  repeating  of  the  praise  of  God 
 and  Mohammed,  will  be  pardoned  for  the  ten  following 
 days/*  The  repeating  a  hundred  times  in  a  day,  of 
 a  certain  doxology  "will  silence  faults,  though  they 
 be  as  loud  as  the  waves  of  the  sea."  Again:  ''His 
 highness  said.  Repeat,  Praise  be  to  God  a  hundred 
 times  and  then  a  thousand  virtues  shall  be  written 
 for  you,  ten  virtuous  deeds  for  each  repetition,  or  a 
 thousand  faults  shall  be  put  away."^^  And  "Who- 
 soever shall  say,  when  wishing  to  go  to  sleep,  T  ask 
 forgiveness  of  that  God,  except  whom  there  is  no 
 other,'  thrice,  God  pardons  his  faults  although  they 
 may  be  as  numerous  as  the  waves  of  the  sea,  or  equal 
 to  the  sands  of  the  deserts,  or  in  number  equal  to  the 
 leaves  of  the  trees ,  or  as  many  as  the  days  of  the 
 world."  ^' 
 
 The  same  efficacy  in  procuring  pardon,  is  ascrib- 
 ed to  these  vaiii  repetitions  of  the  Koran  in  the 
 Shiite  traditions.    "Whosoever  reads  often  Sura, /S«/a 
 
 *°   Sur.  XXIX.  7.  rV.  21.  XXIH.  1.  XVm.  31.  this  work  p.  120. 
 
 **    Mishcat  Vol.  I.  301.  and  pag.  542.  it  is  added  that  the  re- 
 peating of  God's  99  names  will  open  paradise. 
 
 *^   Mishcat  Vol.  I.  547.  548.  "   Mishcat  Vol.  I.  574. 
 
 FF 
 
482  CHRIST  AND  MOHA\nd[ED.  [part  ii. 
 
 sael,  the  Almighty  will  take  no  account  of  any  of  his 
 sins,  and  will  let  him  dwell  in  paradise  with  God's 
 prophet."  And  again,  'To  one  who  reads  the  Sura 
 Sejda,  every  Friday  night,  the  Almighty  will  give,  at 
 the  day  of  the  Resurrection,  his  book  in  his  right 
 hand,  and  shall  not  call  him  to  account,  though  he  be 
 a  sinner."**  A  flight's  reading  and  prayer  will  make 
 a  man  "as  free  fi'om  all  sin  as  at  the  day  when  he 
 was  born;"  as  many  good  works  will  be  put  to  his 
 account  as  all  the  people  of  God  have  ever  performed; 
 and  God  will  reward  him  in  the  highest  paradise  with 
 100,000  towns,  and  acknowledge  his  deed  before  the 
 holy  angels. ''*  Reading  a  certain  Sura  once,  brings 
 a  blessing  upon  the  reader;  if  twice,  a  blessing  comes 
 upon  him  and  his  family;  if  he  reads  it  a  hundred 
 times,  Allah  will  forgive  him  the  sins  of  twenty-five 
 years;  400 times  will  bestow  upon  him  the  merits  of 
 400  martvrs;  and  if  he  reads  it  1000  times  in  one 
 day  and  night,  he  shall  not  die  till  he  has  seen  his 
 place  in  paradise/®  Again,  at  another  place  it  is 
 said:  "It  is,  according  to  an  authentic  tradition,  related 
 by  Imam  Jafer,  that  whosoever  after  the  afternoon 
 prayer,  says  100  times,  '"May  God  forgive  me,''  the 
 Almighty  will  forgive  700  sins;  and  if  he  should  not 
 have  100  sins,  the  amount  needed  to  make  up  the 
 number  will  be  taken  from  the  sins  of  his  father;  and 
 
 "    Ain  ul  Hayat  leaves  208.  211. 
 
 ^*    Ain  ul  Hayat  leaf  189.     Compare    J>,5V,gx.i  J-JJI   ,^^ 
 
 xvn.  80. 
 
 *»   AinulHayat  leaf  215. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOHAMMED'S  PLAN  OF  SALVATION.  483 
 
 if  his  father  aho  should  not  have  so  many,  then  they 
 will  be  taken  from  the  sms  of  his  mother;  and  in  case 
 she  should  not  have  so  many,  then  the  sins  will  be 
 taken  from  his  son,  and  then  from  the  nearest  rela- 
 tives, till  the  number  be  made  up."*' 
 
 Another  and  most  effectual  means  is  the  inter- 
 cession of  Mohammed.  In  addition  to  what  we 
 found  in  the  Koran  on  the  subject,  we  find  in  the 
 Hadiths,  —  "Moslemin  will  be  prevented  from  moving 
 on  the  day  of  resurrection,  so  that  they  will  be  sad 
 and  say,  'Would  to  God  we  had  asked  grace  from 
 our  Cherisher,  and  produced  one  to  intercede  for  us.' 
 Then  these  men  will  come  to  Adam  and  say,  You 
 are  Adam,  the  father  of  all  men,  ask  grace  for  us 
 from  your  Cherisher ;  but  Adam  will  say,  I  am  not  in 
 that  degree  of  eminence,  which  you  suppose  me.  They 
 then  make  the  same  application  to  Noah,  Abraham, 
 and  Moses,  and  also  to  Jesus;  but  all  decline  it,  saying, 
 that  they  do  not  enjoy  such  an  exalted  degree,  as  to  be 
 able  to  intercede  for  them.  Jesus  will  then  direct 
 them  to  Mohammed.  Then  the  Moslemin  will  come 
 to  me,  (said  Mohammed)  and  I  will  ask  permission 
 to  go  into  God's  court,  which  will  be  given,  and  I  will 
 see  Almighty  God ,  and  will  j)rostrate  myself  before 
 him ,  and  he  will  keep  me ,  so  long  as  he  will ,  and 
 then  he  will  say.  Raise  up  thy  head,  0  Mohammed, 
 and  say  what  thou  wishest  to  say,  it  will  be  heard 
 
 "   Ain  ul  Hayat  leaf  165.  In  leaf  261.  it  is  added  that  40  great 
 sins  done  in  one  day  and  one  night,  will  be  pardoned  on  saying,  with 
 
 penitent  feelings :  [•  v^-^i    I^t  yC  ^1  «Jt  ^  i^  JJi  itJJI   »-ttiju*/| 
 etc.  etc.    Sur.  11.  256. 
 
 FF* 
 
484  CHRIST  AND  MOHAM^fED.  [part  ll. 
 
 and  approved.  The  prophet  then  mtercedes  for  se- 
 veral classes  of  Moslemin  who  are  successively  deli- 
 vered  out  of  hell,  so  that  none  but  the  infidels  will 
 remain  there."  *^  The  Shiites  have  added  Ali,  his  two 
 sons,  —  whose  sufferings  are  considered  meritorious 
 —  and  Fatima,  of  whose  excellency  and  mediato- 
 rial merits,  as  w^ell  as  of  her  large  veil,  the  following 
 tradition  testifies:  "Fatima  is  the  best  of  all  women, 
 and  w^hen  the  Almighty  shall  awake  all  the  creatures, 
 the  first  and  the  last,  then  the  outcrier  of  heaven  shall 
 call  out  fi*om  the  platform  of  God's  throne,  '0  all  ye 
 creatures,  shut  your  eyes  till  P'atima  the  daughter  of 
 Mohammed  and  the  lady  of  the  women  of  the  world 
 has  passed  theSerat.'^^  Then  all  creatures  will  shut 
 their  eyes,  exceptMohammedand  Ali  and  her  children 
 the  Imams ;  she  then  passes  the  bridge,  having  spread 
 the  skirts  of  her  veil  over  it,  in  such  a  way,  that  one 
 end  of  it  is  in  Paradise  in  the  hands  of  Fatima,  and 
 the  other,  on  the  plain  of  Resurrection.  Then  our 
 God's  outcrier  calls  out,  "0  friends  of  Fatima,  adhere 
 to  the  threads  of  Fatima's  veil,  who  is  the  best  of  all 
 women !  Whosoever  therefore  is  a  friend  of  this  glo- 
 rious lady ,  takes  of  one  of  the  threads ;  and  there 
 adhere  to  it  more  than  ten  Faams,  —  every  Faam 
 amounting  to  one  million, — and  all  these  shall  be  saved 
 
 *^  Mislicat  Vol.  II.  pag.  604.  99.  The  Shiite  traditions  agree 
 with  this,  Ilayat  ul  Kulub  Vol.  II.  60.  184.  45.  Whosoever  sends 
 70  congratulations  to  M.  and  liis  family,  "his  sins  shall  fall  off,  like 
 as  when  a  strong  wind  shakes  the  leaves  from  the  trees." 
 
 ^^  A  su.spension-bridge ,  as  thin  as  a  hair  and  as  sharp  as  a 
 razor,  leading'  over  hell  into  Paradise. 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOHAilMED'S  PLAN  OF  SALVATION.  485 
 
 from  the  fire  of  hell  by  the  blessing  of  the  veil  of  this 
 glorious  lady."°° 
 
 Now  according  to  the  Koran ,  Adam  is  expelled 
 from  the  heavenly  paradise  on  account  of  07ie  sin; 
 but  his  posterity,  after  having  committed  innumerable  y/ 
 sins,  are  received  into  favour  and  admitted  to  para- 
 dise upon  the  easy  terms,  just  specified!  God  is  there- 
 fore represented,  as  regarding  sin  in  one  instance,  as 
 an  evil  of  so  serious  a  nature  as  to  exclude  man  from 
 His  presence ;  but  subsequently  in  countless  instances, 
 He  is  represented  as  considering  it  of  so  light  a  na- 
 ture, as  to  pardon  it  freely  though  a  man's  sins  "be 
 as  numerous  as  the  waves  of  the  sea."  The  ways 
 of  Allah  are  clearly  not  equal,  if  we  may  believe 
 the  Koran  and  Moslem  tradition.  He  is  there  de- 
 scribed, as  changeable  in  principles  and  unjust  in  his 
 dealings.^* 
 
 Again,  it  is  admitted  that  a  Moslem  commits  sin 
 to  the  day  of  his  death;  yet  the  Moslem  plan  of  sal- 
 vation specifies  no  means  adequate  to  remove  it,  or 
 
 ®°  This  tradition  savours  of  the  corrupt  notions  of  oriental  Chris- 
 tians respecting  the  Virgin  Mary.     See  Pfander's  Remarks  pag.  49. 
 
 ®*  How  utterly  the  sense  of  Divine  equity,  justice  and  righteous- 
 ness is  blunted  in  the  Moslem  mind,  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
 tradition:  "There  was  a  saint  who  performed  none  but  holy  actions 
 and  near  him  lived  a  wicked  man,  who  did  nothing  but  evil ;  both  of 
 them  being  friends,  the  good  man  exhorted  his  wicked  neighbour  to 
 amend,  lest  God  should  close  paradise  against  him.  The  sinner  how- 
 ever turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his  warning  and  only  said ,  leave  that  to 
 God  and  myself.  At  last  both  died  at  the  same  time ,  and  on  ap- 
 pearing before  the  Judgment-seat,  God  a.sked  the  saint,  Can  I  save 
 this  man  ?  He  replied  ,  Thou  art  Almighty  and  canst  do  what  thou 
 wilt.  Then  answered  God,  Well  spoken;  and  turning  to  the  sinner 
 he  said,  Enter  thou  into  heaven,  but  to  the  righteous,  Go  thou  to 
 hell." 
 
486  CHRIST  AND  MOHAMMED.  [part  U. 
 
 to  make  man  pure  and  holy.   But  for  argument's  sake, 
 taking  it  for  granted  that  the  terms  proposed  should 
 approve  themselves  to  an  enlightened  mind,  let  us 
 inquire,  whether  they  are  ever  perfectly  carried  out. 
 No  Moslem  will  hesitate  to  acknowledge,  that  as  no 
 one   strictly   performs   what  is   required,   none  can 
 be  saved  by  the  performance.    But ,  if  God  does  not 
 exact  all  the  fasts,  alms,  prayers  and  pilgrimages 
 commanded  in  the  Koran  and  in  the  approved  tradi- 
 tions, who  shall  determine  how  much  may  be  safely 
 dispensed  with?     In  other  words,   how  often  shall 
 Allah  alter  his  purposes,  accommodate  his  conditions 
 of  salvation  to  man's  frailty ,  and  so  demonstrate  his 
 changeableness  and  weakness  to  the  universe  ?  If  he 
 make  no  change  in  the  said  terms;  this  plan  of  saving 
 mankind  must  be  defeated,  in  that  no  one  is  saved: 
 if  he  make  a  change,  it  follows,  that  Allah  is  neither 
 just,  nor  holy,  but  capricious,  weak,  and  inconsistent. 
 The  deity  of  the  Koran  accepts  an  imperfect  obe- 
 dience; making  known  that  he  will  be  satisfied  with 
 sorrow  for  past  sins,  and  a  promise  to  commit  less 
 for  the  future ;  that  some  things  he  most  enjoin ,  but 
 that  he  will  not  be  very  strict  in  exacting  an  obser- 
 vance of  them ;  that  he  is  ready  to  abridge  his  de- 
 mands from  time  to  time,  as  occasion  may  require; 
 that  he  is  willino:  to  receive  whatever  amount  of  obe- 
 dience  man  may  please  to  render  and  decide  on  for 
 himself;  that  he  indeed,  punished  Adam  severely  for 
 his  one  sin,  but  that  he  has  changed  his  plan  of  sal- 
 vation in  favour  of  his  posterity;  that  Adam  is  now 
 recompensed  in  heaven  for  having  suffered  an  imne- 
 
CHAP,  v.]  MOHAMMED'S  PLAN  OF  SALVATION.  487 
 
 cessarily  severe  sentence ;  and  that  if  any  of  us  were 
 to  sin,  it  need  not  be  a  cause  of  anxiety,  for  God  is 
 merciful  and  easy  to  be  reconciled.  ^  ^ 
 
 The  plan  of  salvation ,  as  taught  by  Mohammed, 
 is  however,  obnoxious  and  unsound,  upon  the  ground 
 of  its  being  man's  own  work  of  obedience  which  is 
 put  forth  as  the  rock  of  salvation;   this   being  the 
 case,  he  cannot  divest  himself  of  the  idea,  that  his 
 attaining  it,  is  justly  due  to  this  obedience,  rather 
 than  to  God's  free  mercy  and  grace  alone.   Salvation 
 given  upon  the  fulfilment  of  these  conditions,  becomes, 
 plainly  speaking,  a  matter  of  work  performed,  and 
 wages  received.     When  the  work  is  done,  the  wages 
 will  be  claimed;  and  when  the  wages  are  received, 
 pride  and  self-complacency  inflate  the  mind  of  the 
 recipient.      Or  if  short-comings  be  felt,  God  will  be 
 regarded  as  a  cruel  taskmaster;  and  the  service  re- 
 quired, instead  of  being  perfect  freedom,  will  be  a  yoke 
 too  hard  to  be  borne.  That  the  Moslem  thus,  regards 
 what  the  Christian  deems  his  highest  privilege ,  viz., 
 approaching  God  in  prayer,  —  will  appear  from  this 
 tradition :  Allah  first  required  fifty  prayers  a  day  from 
 Mohammed  and  his  followers,  but  being  advised  by 
 Moses,  the  Arab  prophet  obtained  a  gradual  reduction 
 of  the  number  till  it  was  brought  down  to  five  prayers 
 a  day.  ^^    Islamism  represents  God  not  as  bestowing 
 a  gift,  but  as  prescribing  a  task,  on  the  jDcrformance 
 of  which,  He  pays  its  due ;  the  principle  of  this  plan 
 
 "  Mshcat  Vol.  n.  pag.  694.   Hayat  ul  Kulub  Tol.n.  leaf  176. 
 
488  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [PART  II. 
 
 of  salvation  nourishes  pride,  awakens  distrust,  yields 
 neither  motive  nor  power  for  sanctification,  engenders 
 despair,  and  excluding  for  ever  the  exercise  of  both 
 love  and  gratitude,  fully  accounts  for  the  frigid  cha- 
 racter of  this  miserable  creed. 
 
 CHAPTER  VI. 
 
 GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA. 
 
 "Why  will  ye  not  willingly  contribute  of  your  substance  for  the 
 true  way  of  God,  or  the  carrying  on  of  war  against  the  unbelievers, 
 since  God  alone  is  the  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth?  Whosoever 
 will  lend  unto  God  an  acceptable  loan,  to  him  he  will  double  it 
 again  and  he  shall  receive  moreover  an  honourable  reward." 
 Sur.  LVII.  10.  11. 
 
 1.  The  zeal  ofMosleminin  proselytizing  was  not 
 extinguished,  when  they  ceased  to  conquer.  The  duty 
 of  spreading  the  faith  is  still  made  paramount  in  the 
 education  of  every  Mohammedan;  and  it  is  equally 
 incumbent  on  the  governor,  the  soldier,  the  merchant, 
 the  captain  of  the  ship,  and  the  Sheich  or  Mollah,  to 
 watch  every  opportunity  of  disseminating  the  doctrines 
 of  the  Koran.  It  cannot  be  without  humiliation,  that 
 ■we  contrast  this  zeal,  with  the  culpable  apathy  of  Chris- 
 tians concerning  the  souls  of  Mohammedans.  Although 
 the  first  tide  of  Moslem  invasion  had  been  success- 
 fully repelled ,  some  of  the  Saracen  settlements  con- 
 tinued to  exist  for  centuries  in  Europe;  and  the  clos- 
 ing conquest  ofEuropeanTurkey  with  Constantinople 
 
CHAP,  vh]  WHAT  DONE  BY  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  489 
 
 in  the  fifteenth  century,  perpetuated  the  approxima- 
 tion of  Christianity  and  Ishimism.  During  those  twelve 
 centuries  that  the  Church  of  Christ  stood  face  to  face 
 with  her  gigantic  foe,  should  we  not  have  expected 
 that  many  a  David  would  have  gone  out  to  meet  this 
 blaspheming  adversary,  "in  the  name  of  the  God  of 
 the  armies  of  Israel  ?"  But  how  little  was  attempted  in 
 comparison  with  the  magnitude  of  Christian  respon- 
 sibility!^* Yet  to  our  shame  we  must  confess,  that 
 our  forefathers  did  more  in  darker  ages,  than  has 
 been  accomplished,  or  even  attempted,  in  this  our  self- 
 conceited  generation.  We  have,  for  instance,  noble 
 relics  of  the  eighth  century,^'  and  subsequent  ages 
 were  not  altogether  inactive  in  the  work  of  converting 
 the  Moslem/^ 
 
 With  a  view  to  christianize  the  Saracens ,  Pope 
 Honorius  IV.  strove  in  1285  to  establish  schools  at 
 Paris ,  in  which  Arabic  and  other  oriental  languages 
 might  be  acquired;  and  the  Council  of  Vienna  A.  D. 
 1 3  J  2  recommended  professorships  to  be  established 
 for  the  same  purpose  in  Oxford,  Salamanca,  Bologna 
 and  Paris;  but  the  resolution  remained  without  effect 
 
 •*  Maraccio,  in  his  preface,  justly  remarks,  "  Contra  Mahurnetum, 
 Mahumeticamque  superstitioneni ,  quae  per  annos  supra  mille  per- 
 severat,  qui  scripserint,  sive  ex  antiquioribus,  sire  ex  recentioribus, 
 pauci,  ne  dicam  paucissimi,  numerantur." 
 
 65 
 
 Disceptatio  Christ,  et  Saraceni  exstat.  Tom.  I.  oper.  Joann. 
 Damasceni. 
 
 66 
 
 A  list  of  works  is  found  in  J.  Alb.  Fabric,  syllab.  Saipt.  de 
 ver.  relig.  Christ,  cap.  L.  pag.  735.  Eusebii  Renaudoti  Mstoria  pat/i-i- 
 archanim  Alexandrin.  pag.  377.  may  also  be  consulted,  as  mentioning 
 various  works  against  Islamisra.  But  still,  how  true  it  is,  "Apparent 
 rari  nantes  in  gurgite  vasto." 
 
4 
 
 490  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  ll. 
 
 until  Francis  I.  called  it  into  life ;  the  result  however 
 of  these  feeble  efforts  was  scarcely  perceptible.  There 
 was  no  practical  tendency  which  could  lead  to  any 
 tangible  issue ;  and  a  few  learned  works  on  the  Arabic 
 language,  some  translations  of  Arabic  authors,  and  a 
 couple  of  commentaries  of  small  value ,  alone  remain 
 to  testify  to  the  deplorably  inert  condition  of  the 
 Church,  which  during  the  whole  period,  from  the  rise 
 of  Islamism  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  failed  to 
 make  one  vigorous  attempt  for  the  conversion  of  the 
 Mohammedans.  Nor  was  it,  as  we  might  justly  have 
 expected,  one  of  the  immediate  consequences  of  that 
 blessed  event,  to  remember  either  the  Heathen  or  the 
 Moslem  world.  It  was  left  to  the  Church  of  Rome 
 to  renew  the  Missionary  work  among  the  Moham- 
 medans, when  Ilieronymo  Xaviei\  at  the  commence- 
 ment of  the  seventeenth  century,  presented  a  some- 
 what elaborate  treatise  on  the  truth  of  Christianity  to 
 the  Emperor  Jahangueir;  but  the  chef-cV oeuvre  is  the 
 well  known  work  oiMaraccio.  Lest  however  we  should 
 ascribe  to  the  Romish  Church,  what  was  achieved  by 
 a  few  enterprizing  members  of  her  community ,  it  is 
 but  just  to  add,  that  in  1530  a  Venetian  edition  of 
 the  Koran  was  publicly  burned,  and  INIaraccio  himself 
 had  to  struggle  with  unheard-of  difficulties  to  procure 
 permission  to  print  his  work  from  Pope  Innocent  XL 
 whose  father- confessor  he  was.  Amongst  other  wii- 
 tings  against  Islamism,^'  that  of  PhiUppo  Guada- 
 
 ^^  We  might  mention  "Triumphis  cathoUcae  fidei  contra  sectam 
 Mahumetanam;"  also  " Manudnctio  ad  convosionem  Mahumetaiw- 
 rum'  by  the  Spanish  Jesuit  P.  Turs.  Gonzales. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]        WHAT  DONE  BT  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME.  491 
 
 gnoli  deserves  to  be  mentioned;  it  was  printed  in 
 Arabic  and  Latin,  being  intended  as  a  reply  to  a 
 Persian  work  by  Achmed  Ebn  Zini,  which  was  written 
 in  golden  characters  and  sent  to  Pope  Urban  VIII. 
 with  a  challenge  to  refute  its  contents. 
 
 In  perusing  these  works ,  we  cannot  fail  to  per- 
 ceive under  what  great  disadvantages  Roman  Catho- 
 lics labour,  in  attempting  to  argue  with  Mohammed- 
 ans: since  Islamism,  to  a  certain  degree,  maybe  said 
 to  have  originated  from  opposition  to  those  identical 
 errors  and  degeneracies  of  the  oriental  Churches, 
 which  the  Papist  strives  to  defend.  There  can  be 
 no  doubt  that  one  of  the  reasons  which  stimulated 
 Mohammed  in  forming  his  creed,  was  the  offence 
 which  he  took  at  the  worship  of  the  Virgin,  and  the 
 adoration  of  saints  and  relics,  and  which  is  even  now,  one 
 of  the  chief  causes  of  the  bitter  opposition  of  his  fol- 
 lowers to  Christianity.  The  Roman  Catholic  is  com- 
 pelled to  waste  his  skill  in  arguments  upon  the  un- 
 meaning draperies  of  the  Romish  Church,  which  is 
 not  simply  loss  of  time  and  vain  expenditure  of  power, 
 but  actually  throws  discredit  upon  all  the  sound  rea- 
 soning on  the  vital  truths  with  which  they  are  con- 
 nected. It  may  therefore  be  safely  inferred,  that  the 
 Romish  Church  is  not  destined  to  have  any  great 
 share  in  the  conversion  of  Mohammedans.^^ 
 
 *®  The  Church  of  Rome  cannot  be  said  to  fulfil  Christ's  com- 
 mand, xvQv^uts  to  ivayytXiov  nuari  rfj  utioti  Mark.  XVI.  15;  but 
 her  missionaries  preach  instead,  salvation  by  the  Church,  "in  qua  opor- 
 teat  Rom.  Pontificem  habere  potestatem  avvntV'dvvov,  de  qua  nemini 
 liceat  disputare  aut  judicare,  condendi  articulis  fidei,  abolendi  Scrip- 
 turas,  quas  yelit,  instituendi  cultus  et  sacrilicia  etc.  etc."  Again,  after 
 
492  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  n. 
 
 2.  But  before  we  presume  to  cast  a  stone  at  the 
 Church  of  Rome ,  for  attempting  to  do  God's  work 
 among  the  Mohammedans ,  in  a  manner  which  we 
 must  condemn  as  unscriptural ,  it  behoves  us  to 
 mourn  over  the  sinful  indifference,  which  the  Reform- 
 ed Churches  manifest,  in  neglecting  to  make  any 
 efforts  to  reclaim  and  convert  these  lost  sheep  of  the 
 house  of  Ishmael.  If  the  command  of  the  Redeemer 
 be  of  a  binding  character,  till  the  Gospel  has  been 
 preached  to  every  creature,  what  a  fearful  amount 
 of  guilt  must  rest  upon  the  Church!  The  duty  of 
 evangelizing  the  world  was  indeed  never  quite  for- 
 gotten, because  the  Church,  from  the  days  of  the 
 Apostles  has  never  ceased  to  live.  Thus,  the  Nesto- 
 rian  Church  distinguished  itself  by  its  Missionary  la- 
 bours during  a  period,  in  which  the  European  Churches 
 neglected  their  sacred  Mission;  and  the  Church  of 
 Rome  founded  her  Society  for  propagating  the  faith, 
 before  the  Protestant  Churches  considered  it  time  to 
 establish  Missionary  Societies.  It  was  only  when  the 
 Churches  of  Europe  awoke  to  a  more  just  apprecia- 
 tion of  their  religious  privileges,  that  Societies  were 
 established  by  which  Christian  knowledge  and  Gospel 
 truth  should  be  extended  among  those  who  are  still 
 sitting  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death. 
 
 In  noticing  some  of  the  feeble  attempts  of  Mis- 
 sionary labour  in  recent  times,  w^e  cannot  fiiil  to  men- 
 tion Henry  Martijn,  as  one  of  the  principal  cham- 
 
 assiiming  this  power,  which  heaven  never  granted  to  her,  she  goes 
 presumptuously  beyond  the  divine  command  of  the  Redeemer :  6i- 
 Sdaxoneg  uvrovg  rr](jeiv  nana  oaa  tvtTtiXainevrji.m'.  Matt.  XXVIII. 
 20,  in  teaching  many  things,  which  Christ  never  commanded. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  AWAKENING  OF  MISSIONARY  ZEAL.  493 
 
 pions  for  Christianity  against  Islamism.  Situated  as 
 that  devout  man  w^as  in  Persia,  alone,  with  no  other 
 assistance  in  the  unequal  contest,  than  what  he  could 
 derive  from  a  small  tract  on  Mohammedanism ,  and 
 oppressed  by  the  burden  of  a  weak  constitution,  the 
 course  which  he  took,  was  perhaps,  under  such  cir- 
 cumstances, the  only  one  practicable.  In  perusing 
 his  arguments,  we  are  struck  with  the  skill  and  wis- 
 dom, which  they  display;  and  his  reasoning  appears 
 generally  conclusive;^"  yet  probably,  few  will  doubt 
 that  many  a  Missionary,  not  excluding  Henry  Martyn 
 himself,  might  have  rendered  more  effectual  service 
 to  the  cause  of  Christianity  among  Moslemin,  had 
 they  possessed  a  more  thorough  acquaintance  with 
 the  tenets  of  Islamism.  ^° 
 
 3.  Lest  it  should  be  imagined  that  success  in  the 
 work  of  propagating  Christianity,  depends  mainly  upon 
 superior  power  in  controversy,  it  may  be  observed 
 that  controversy  alone,  was  never  blessed  with  the 
 conversion  of  a  single  soul.  The  Apostles  were  not 
 charged  to  dispute,  nor  to  argue,  but  to  preach  the 
 
 ®^  Henry  Martyn  will  always  be  looked  upon  as  a  model  of  a 
 devoted  missionary,  but  he  has  not  always  taken  up  the  most  ad- 
 vantageous grounds  in  arguing.  The  editor  of  his  Controversies, 
 Dr.  Lee,  adopts  a  different  line  of  argument;  having  exposed  the 
 insufficiency  of  the  evidence  upon  which  the  Mohammedan  builds 
 his  faith,  he  substitutes  in  the  place  of  erroneous  principles,  the  true 
 laws  of  evidence,  as  enforced  by  Locke's  six  considerations.  He  then 
 devotes  some  parts  to  the  integrity  of  the  Scriptures ;  after  this ,  he 
 foregoes  the  proof  by  miracles ,  and  lays  down  from  Scripture ,  that 
 a  true  prophet  must  prophesy,  and  that  even  then,  if  he  opposes  a 
 previous  revelation,  he  is  not  to  be  credited. 
 
 "  There  are  not  wanting  able  and  devout  missionaries ,  who 
 have  composed  tracts  in  the  native  languages,  but  excepting  those 
 of  Dr.  Pfander,  few  seem  to  be  of  any  very  great  value. 
 
494  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [PART  n. 
 
 Gospel,  testifying  "repentance  towards  God  and  faith 
 towards  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  If  Christianity  were 
 to  offer  itself  as  a  system  of  speculative  doctrines,  it 
 would  have  been  the  part  of  the  Missionary  to  com- 
 mence, continue,  and  end  with  arguments;  but  the 
 message  of  the  missionary,  constitutes  him  a  '"'wit- 
 ness' of  Christ,  and  this  is  his  distinctive  character. 
 The  heart,  even  in  a  physiological  point  of  view,  is 
 older  than  the  head,  and  we  must  therefore  be  the 
 less  surprised  when  in  religious  matters  it  likewise 
 takes  the  precedence:  for  when  the  light  of  God 
 shines  into  the  heart  in  "the  demonstration  of  the 
 Spirit  and  of  power"  it  will  produce  "the  knowledge 
 of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."^* 
 The  witnesses  of  the  Gospel  disdain  to  discharge  the 
 functions  of  their  sacred  mission  with  "enticing  words 
 of  man's  wisdom;"  because  the  philosophy  of  reason 
 has  amply  proved  itself  a  broken  cistern  which  yields 
 no  water.  '^  The  reasoning  faculties,  which  are  chiefly 
 called  into  action  in  matters  of  controversy,  are  not 
 admitted  to  their  legitimate  functions  till  the  heart 
 is  ready  to  receive  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  Natural 
 reason,  with  regard  to  revelation,  is  precisely  what  the 
 eye  is  with  regard  to  the  natural  light,  it  cannot  see 
 without  light  from  heaven;  just  as  there  can  be  no 
 harvest  without  seed,  no  house  without  foundation, 
 no  digestion  without  food,  and  no  reflection  without 
 
 ^*  "Fides  praecidit  intellectum ,  neque  vero  intelligo  ut  credam, 
 sed  credo  ut  intell/'aaui,"  Augustin.  The  divine  order  is:  n(X(j8ia 
 niartvtiv  Rom.  X.  10.  .'ind  niarti  yoov/iitr.    Hebr.  XI.  3. 
 
 "    " Philosophia  quaei-'U,  religio  poaaidet  veritatem,''    Bacon, 
 
CIUP.  VI.]  HINTS  FOR  MISSIONARY  LABOUR.  495 
 
 matter  for  thought.  In  the  ministration  of  God's 
 word,  there  is  therefore  no  notion,  which  it  behoves 
 the  missionary  more  specially  to  guard  against  than 
 this,  —  that  argumentative  preaching  and  controversial 
 disputation  are  the  means,  by  which  success  is  to  be 
 obtained.  Let  the  missionary  have  faith  in  his  mission, 
 and  rely  upon  the  irresistible  weight  of  the  message 
 of  which  he  is  the  honoured  ambassador:  for  much 
 unfruitfidness  may  be  traced  to  a  want  of  confidence 
 in  the  all-sufficient  power  of  the  Gospel. 
 
 4.  Although  arguments  are  frequently  provoked 
 by  the  cavils  and  objections  of  the  Mohammedans, 
 yet  Islamism  is  not  the  creed  to  court  inquiry  or  en- 
 courage a  free  discussion  upon  religious  subjects. 
 The  Arab  prophet  repeatedly  enjoins  his  followers  to 
 abstain  from  discussions,  and  he  makes  Allah  require 
 him  to  recede  from  those  who  dispute  about  the 
 Koran.  Sur.  VI.  65.  Arguments  with  the  Scriptural- 
 ists  are  especially  discountenanced,  Sur.  XIX.  46;  dis- 
 putes are  to  be  settled  by  imprecations  on  those  in- 
 vited to  meet  for  argumental  inquiiT,  Sur.  m.  59; 
 discussion  is  postponed,  upon  the  grounds  that  God 
 would  decide  differences  on  the  day  of  Judgment, 
 Sur.  XXll.  65;  a  term,  certainly  too  late  for  those  in 
 the  wrong.  Again  we  read,  "As  to  those  who  dispute 
 concerning  God,  after  obedience  hath  been  paid  him, 
 their  disputing  shall  be  vain  in  the  sight  of  their 
 Lord,  and  wrath  shall  fall  upon  them,  and  they  shall 
 suffer  a  grievous  punishment."    Sur.  XLn.  14. 
 
 The  Christian  missionary  is  not  to  seek  for  argu- 
 ments; but  where  they  cannot  be  avoided,  he  is  not 
 
496  GENEREL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  IL 
 
 to  shun  the  contest,  remembering  the  example  of  St. 
 Paul  who  frequently  "reasoned  out  of  the  Scriptures, 
 disputing  and  persuading  the  things  concerning  the 
 kingdom  of  God."  Where  discussion  is  entered  upon 
 in  the  like  spirit  of  love,  and  zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
 souls,  we  shall  be  guarded  against  a  display  of  vanity, 
 in  gaining  a  victory  which  may  simply  prove  a  supe- 
 riority in  education,  or  philosophical  acumen.  The 
 main  point  at  issue  will  never  be  forgotten  in  the 
 heat  of  the  contest;  and  controversial  disputations 
 will  always  on  that  account,  be  as  short,  as  kind  and 
 as  seldom  as  possible.  1  Pet.  III.  15.  We  shall  never 
 be  drawn  aside  to  non-essential  or  fiuvolous  discus- 
 sion, neither  shall  we  be  tempted  to  excite  or  wound 
 our  opponents  by  using  harsh,  satirical  and  unbe- 
 coming expressions.  Missionaries  are  fi-equently  ex- 
 posed to  the  most  wanton  insult,  purely  with  a  view 
 of  provoking  resent;  but  to  fall  into  the  snare  thus 
 laid,  is  to  inflict  an  irretrievable  injury  to  our  cause. 
 As  a  rule,  it  is  well  to  commence  our  discourse 
 upon  subjects  in  which  both  parties  agree,  and  to 
 proceed  from  similarities  to  differences;  or  we  may 
 approach  the  heart  of  the  Moslem  in  an  indirect  way 
 by  bringing  forward  a  parable,  or  a  point  parallel  to 
 that  we  are  about  to  discuss,  which  we  lead  him 
 to  admit.  Thus,  in  arguing  for  the  impossibility  of 
 the  Bible  being  corrupted,  the  missionary  may  ask 
 the  Moslem,  whether  he  has  ever  read  Abulfeda,  ad- 
 ding, that  some  individual  had  questioned  its  integrity, 
 but  that  he  had  defended  it  by  putting  forth  Abul- 
 feda's  general  credibility  as  an  author,  that  he  showed 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  HINTS  FOR  MISSIONARY  LABOUR.  497 
 
 him  several  manuscripts,  which  all  agreed  to  a  word; 
 that  these  manuscripts  were  wTitten  in  several  cen- 
 turies ,    and    among    various    nations ;   that   he   ad- 
 duced several  other  testimonies  from  writers  of  ac- 
 knowledged worth;  that  he  obtained  a  collection  of 
 quotations,  made  in  various  writings,  which  all  agree 
 with  the  text ;  that  he  exhibited  versions  of  the  work 
 in  divers  languages ,  all  of  a  different  date ,  but  har- 
 monizing   with    the    original;    yet    in    spite    of   all 
 that  was  advanced,  the  sceptical  man  persisted  in 
 declaring  that  Abulfeda's  work  was  corrupted.  When 
 the  wrath  of  the  Moslem  has  run  as  high  as  that  of 
 David,  the  missionary  like  Nathan,  may  turn  round 
 upon  him  and  say,  "Thou  art  the  man,"  and  this  is 
 precisely  your  obstinacy  in  refusing  to  admit  the  in- 
 tegrity of  the  Bible." 
 
 Again ,  supposing  a  Moslem  assert  the  divine 
 character  of  his  creed,  and  the  infallibility  of  the 
 Koran,  he  may  be  asked,  whether  Islamism  was  de- 
 signed for  the  whole  race  of  man,  and  whether  all  its 
 precepts,  not  excluding  the  fast  of  the  Ramadhan, 
 are  equally  binding  upon  every  true  Moslem.  When 
 the  universality  of  the  creed  is  affirmed  and  the 
 binding  nature  of  the  precept  of  fasting  from  sunrise 
 to  sunset,  admitted,  the  missionary  may  remind  his 
 opponent  of  the  geographical  fact ,  that  in  the  arctic 
 and  antarctic  regions,  the  period  from  sunrise  to  sun- 
 set extending  to  several  month's  duration,  the  ob- 
 servation of  this  fast  would  there  be  a  physical  im- 
 possibility. The  inference  may  then  be  urged,  that 
 the  Koran    cannot   be   intended  for  all   climes  and 
 
 GG 
 
498  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  n. 
 
 nations,  and  consequently  cannot  be  divine.  That  fur- 
 ther, the  author  of  the  Koran  could  not  possibly  have 
 been  inspired;  but  must  have  been  a  man  ignorant 
 of  the  first  principles  of  geography,  with  which  every 
 Christian  schoolboy  is  acquainted.  —  This  circuitous 
 mode  of  reasoning  is  the  most  peaceable,  perhaps 
 also  the  most  difficult,  yet  at  the  same  time,  forcible, 
 and  perfectly  legitimate. 
 
 Above  all,  never  let  us  withhold  any  one  of  the 
 leading  truths  of  Christianity  with  a  view  to  conciliate 
 Moslem  animosity.  In  order  to  win  souls,  we  cannot 
 with  a  good  conscience,  yield  one  iota  of  the  truth; 
 for  such  an  act  of  perfidy  on  our  part,  would  involve 
 our  own  souls  in  a  snare  of  the  devil,  and  after  all 
 defeat  our  object.  There  has  been  a  considerable 
 amount  of  this  kind  of  Jesuitical  accommodation  in 
 the  missionary  labours  of  the  Church  of  Rome;  yet 
 even  Xavier  admitted,  that  Christianity  resembled  a 
 good  physician,  who  administers  nothing  but  whole- 
 some medicine  to  his  patient,  however  distasteful  it 
 may  be  to  his  palate;  Avhilst  Islamism  played  the 
 part  of  a  cook,  who  studied  the  likings  of  his 
 master. 
 
 5.  It  is  natural  that  the  hopes  and  fears  of  the 
 Church ,  with  regard  to  ultimate  success ,  should 
 be  differently  expressed.  Some  TVTiters  entertain  re- 
 markably sanguine  views  upon  the  subject,  assuming 
 that  Islamism  has  been  doing  the  work  in  God's 
 providence,  which  the  Jewish  dispensation  did  in  the 
 Old  Testament,  viz.,  preparing  the  way  of  the  Gos- 
 pel, where  the  minds  of  the  people  were  incapable  of 
 
CHAP.  II.]  A  WARNING.  499 
 
 receiving  the  full  light  of  the  truth. ' '  Whilst  first 
 rejecting  the  plausible  and  purely  gratuitous  assump- 
 tion, that  any  preparation  in  the  Pagan  world  is  re- 
 quired for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  we  are  bound 
 to  add,  that  the  practical  experience  of  every  mis- 
 sionary who  has  confronted  this  apostacy,  has  proved 
 the  fallacy  of  this  view.  ^*  If  ever  there  were  ""enemies 
 of  the  cross,""  the  Moslem  deniers  of  the  Criicijixion 
 must  be  considered  such;  and  admitting  that  they 
 have  frequently  fought  against  idolatry,  we  cannot 
 forget,  that  they  have  constantly  and  upon  principle 
 fought  against  the  Cross.  Since  Christianity  has 
 suffered  a  most  fatal  check  by  the  spread  and  con- 
 tinuance of  Islamism,  whilst  the  latter  has  suffered 
 no  check,  and  sustained  no  real  loss  by  conversions 
 from  their  ranks  to  Christianity,  we  are  not  justified 
 in  adopting  this  assumption.  It  is  confirmed  by  every 
 Missionary  who  has  had  to  deal  simultaneously  with 
 Pagans  and  Moslemin,  that  a  perfectly  barbarous 
 and  superstitious  people  will  be  more  easily  gathered 
 into  the  fold  of  Christ's  Church,  than  the  proud  and 
 self-sufficient  Mohammedans,  who  are  indeed,  in  pos- 
 
 ^'  Professor  '\\Tiite,  in  a  sermon  appended  to  his  "Bampton  Lec- 
 tures," spoke  hopefully  of  the  chances  of  converting  Moslemin.  Mr. 
 Forster  maintains  that  Islamism  must  eventually  prepare  the  way  for 
 the  missions  of  the  cross  and  claims  the  supjiort  of  Mede  and  War- 
 burton  for  his  opinion.  Dr.  Mohler  who  regarded  the  subject  from 
 a  point  of  view  precisely  opposite  to  that  of  Mr.  Forster,  yet  agrees 
 with  him,  that  Islamism  in  Africa  is  doing  the  work  of  Judaism. 
 
 ^*  According  to  Archdeacon  Grant,  the  system  of  the  false  pro- 
 phet "offers  the  most  formidable  obstruction  to  the  faith  of  Christ, 
 from  the  fact  of  its  being,  as  it  is,  a  counterfeit  of  the  truth  itself." 
 Bampton  Lectures  Lect.  VII.  pag.  227. 
 
 GQ* 
 
500  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  ii. 
 
 session  of  some  fragments  of  truth,  but  hold  that 
 
 75 
 
 truth  in  unrighteousness. 
 
 Our  fears  of  success  ought  not  however  to  over- 
 balance our  hoj^e  of  winning  converts  from  Islamism: 
 more  especially  as  our  confidence  rests  on  no  slender 
 grounds.  One  encouraging  fact  is,  that  the  Koran 
 has  laid  the  foundation  of  its  own  destruction,  in 
 ascribing  considerable  authority  to  the  Law  and  the 
 Gospel ,  without  in  any  degree  establishing  its  own 
 assumed  superiority.  The  intelligent  Moslem,  on 
 reading  the  Bible,  cannot  fail  to  discover  the  sophis- 
 try of  the  Koran,  in  professing  to  confirm  the  fore- 
 going revelations ,  whilst  it  virtually  abrogates  them  ; 
 and  thus  the  charm  which  rivets  him  to  that  book 
 will  be  inevitably  destroyed.''^  Again,  the  intimate 
 connection  of  religion  and  state  must  not  only  prove 
 irksome  to  both,  but  eminently  dangerous  to  the 
 existence  of  Islamism.  It  is  impossible  that  no  re- 
 forms should  be  required  in  the  political  affairs  of  a 
 nation,  especially  when  brought  under  foreign  in- 
 fluences, as  is  the  case  with  the  Ottoman  Empire; 
 but  to  reform  a  Moslem  state  is  to  undermine  the 
 religion,  since  they  are  so  inseparably  bound  together 
 that  the  one  cannot  be  altered  in  the  remotest  degree 
 
 "^  A  great  and  good  man  to  -whom  the  autlior  is  much  indebted, 
 and  one  eminently  qualified  to  give  an  opinion,  deilarrs :  "(?'^ 
 ift  uncnUid)  fdjwcvcv,  cincii  iDiubammcraiicr  fiir  ten  (SUiiutcu  an  (ilniftum 
 ju  gennnnen,  ale  ce  bei  l>en  rofjcftcn  *I^iilfcrii  tre  Jpci^clltf)l^m0  ber  j^alt  ift; 
 «nb  fo  ift  bur*  ^cn  3oInm  bcr  dn-iftliriicu  9.lJiffioiie;icfriM*te  cin  iiui(luii3cr 
 Sd^tacibaiiin  in  ben  ©cii  flfftellt,  bcv  niiv  ron  rcr  i>anr  bee  5lllniaduigen 
 IjimrcfliJciuMnnii-n  ivcrbcn  fann."  W.  *lMuniliarbt'iS  i1Jifficn0-'®cfdi.  '!8^.III.  33. 
 
 "^  Compare  the  com'ersions  of  Kabiz  Eflendi ,  d'Ohsson  Tom.  I. 
 51.  and  that  of  Abdallah  and  Sabat. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]    HOPES  AND  FEARS  OF  THE  CHURCH.       501 
 
 without  detriment  to  the  other.  The  very  fact  of  the 
 decay  of  the  civil  poHty  proves  the  iintenableness  of 
 the  creed,  since  both  date  their  origin  from  the  same 
 source. ' '  It  would  have  been  utterly  impossible  for 
 the  Sultan  to  have  carried  out  the  many  innovating 
 measures,  which  he  has  done,  without  endangering 
 his  throne,  had  it  not  been  for  the  foreign  influence 
 which  supported  his  exertions:  since  the  strength  of 
 a  Moslem  state  consists  only  in  being  stationary,  and 
 Mohammedans  consider  that  the  sovereign  who  en- 
 acts reforms ,  betrays  his  trust  and  has  himself  be- 
 come a  Kafl'er.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  pre- 
 sent artificial  existence  of  the  Ottoman  government 
 can  be  only  of  very  short  duration ;  and  the  prevalent 
 feeling  among  the  Turks  is,  that  the  termination  of 
 their  political  power  is  at  hand ;  an  event  which  they 
 anticipate  with  the  calmest  resignation,  as  one  of  the 
 things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  decrees.  If 
 a  feeling  of  instinctive  fear  take  possession  of  brute 
 beasts  before  an  earthquake,  or  in  birds  and  bees 
 before  the  coming  of  a  storm,  may  we  not  consider 
 the  presentiments  and  traditions  so  rife  among  Mos- 
 lemin,  as  significant  of  the  approaching  decay  of  Is- 
 lamism  ? 
 
 6.  The  oldest  prediction  was  recorded  as  early 
 as  the  year  1548.^^  Another  Turkish  prophecy  more 
 clearly  states  that  the  "fair  sons  of  the  North"  would 
 be  the  destroyers  of  the  Osmanic  Empire.    In  A.  D. 
 
 ^'    Mahler's  gesammelte  Schrifteu  Vol.  I.  pag.  390. 
 
 ^^   Ludovico  Domenichi  in  his ,  Profetie  dei  Maometam,  Firenze. 
 1548. 
 
502  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [PART  n. 
 
 1678,  Hycaut  speaks  of  a  special  liking  for  theMos- 
 covites  on  the  part  of  the  Greeks,  because  they  were 
 destined,  according  to  ancient  prophecies,  to  become 
 their  deliverers  and  avengers.  ^^  Another  prediction 
 says,  "The  fair-haired  race  with  all  their  associates 
 will  overthrow  the  Empire  of  Ishmael ,  and  conquer 
 the  seven-hilled  city  with  its  imperial  privileges."  ^° 
 In  Jerusalem,  the  gate  on  Mount  Moriah  towards 
 the  Mount  of  Olives,  is  walled  up,  because  of  the  tra- 
 dition, that  whenever  a  Christian  shall  pass  through 
 that  gate,  the  Moslem  religion  and  empire  will  go 
 down.  Within  the  mosque  of  Omar,  there  is  said  to 
 be  a  board  containing  so  many  nails  which  myste- 
 riously disappear  one  by  one;  and  when  all  shall  have 
 vanished  the  Moslem  rule  will  come  to  an  end.  As 
 another  presentiment  of  their  ultimate  expulsion  from 
 Europe,  may  be  mentioned  the  fact,  that  the  Turks 
 always  bury  their  dead  on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the 
 Hellespont.^*  An  Austrian  savant  who  has  just  tra- 
 velled over  Asia  Minor  a  second  time,  in  his  work 
 upon  JSaturcd  History,  states,  that  the  entire  Moslem 
 community  expect  a  speedy  dissolution  of  the  Turkish 
 Empire,  and  this  upon  the  ground  of  ancient  tradi- 
 tions.—  On  a  Sunday  it  will  happen  that  the  Chris- 
 
 '^    Rycaut  "State  of  the  Greek  Church"  pag.  83. 
 
 •"  Walsh's  Journey  from  Constantinople  to  England  pag.  436. 
 Michaud  II,  254.  observes,  "D'apres  d'anciennes  predictions  les  Turcs 
 sent  persuades ,  que  la  ville  de  Constantinople  tombera  au  pouvoir 
 des  Francs." 
 
 ®'  The  Mosleniin  in  India  hold  that,  "When  all  4  parts  of  the 
 world  contain  Christian  inhabitants,  and  the  Christians  approach  the 
 sacred  territory  of  the  Kaaba,  then  people  might  look  out  for  the 
 long  expected  Imam."    Mrs.  Hassan  Ali's  Observations  I.  136. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  HOPES  AND  FEARS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  503 
 
 tians  will  receive  back  all  that  was  taken  from  them 
 by  the  Moslemin.  Not  only  European  Tm-key,  but 
 the  whole  of  Asia  Minor,  and  SjTia,  with  the  excep- 
 tion of  Damascus,  will  be  restored  to  the  Christians, 
 and  Arabia  alone  will  constitute  their  inheritance/^ 
 How  great  will  be  the  change  in  the  position  of  Is- 
 lamism,  when  the  ruins  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  shall 
 fill  considerable  portions  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa, 
 and  how  encouraging  to  the  Christian  to  look  forward 
 to  the  breaking  up  of  the  old,  and  the  commencement 
 of  a  new  order  of  things !  ^ ' 
 
 7.  The  chief  incentive  however  to  our  Christian 
 hope,  as  regards  the  conversion  of  Moslemin,  must 
 always  be,  the  command  of  Christ  that  to  all  nations 
 the  Gospel  should  be  preached.  Irrespective  there- 
 fore, of  facilities  and  difficulties,  hopes  and  fears,  en- 
 couragements and  discouragements ,  we  have  a  plain 
 
 *2  9kife  in  ben  citictfdicn  Sauru6  ubcr  3:arfu^  tion  Dr.  ^ctW^.  During 
 the  appearance  of  the  last  Comet,  addresses  were  delivered  in  the 
 mosques  at  Constantinople  till  late  at  midnight,  of  which,  the  ap- 
 proaching destruction  of  Islaraisra  and  the  Turkish  empire  formed 
 the  chief  subject.  "This  calamity,  they  say,  was  occasioned  by  the 
 Sultan  when  he  commanded  infidel  powers  to  assist  him  against 
 Russia ,  instead  of  trusting  to  Allah  and  his  prophet ;  and  when  he 
 punished  the  inhabitants  of  Djedda  for  obeying  the  precepts  of  the 
 Koran !" 
 
 85  "3:^ic  SKfiifrfifieit  fiilitt  fein  brituienbee  Q3cKivfni^  nadi  ^ofictem, 
 ali  \vtnn  bagi  9iicbrtge  burd)  iint  fciircf)  iiertrauriit  ift."  2)i6(i(cr  pag.  397. 
 "SBeit  entfcrnt,  cficliaftifci)en  einbilruiti^en  Bon  etnet  vK>§(id>  5"  l^ennrfcntcn, 
 line  t»Dm  Jpimmel  f)craKaaenbcn  ^Bcfclirinui  tinb  Siebergctnirt  bcr  iWo^Icmt-- 
 fdten  S36(fer  bao  ®ert  rebcu  ju  tvcKcn,  biirfcn  wix  borfi  t'cfiai4>ten,  bag 
 ©ctteei  ginger  in  ben  (Sreigniffen  unfercr  3ett  mit  Ieferltcf)er 
 (Sd^tift  bie  gcnbung,  bte  bcm  d^rifiUd^en  (furo^a  in  Scjug  auf 
 bte  2»J«tiaTinnebanif*c  gBelt  ativettrant  ift,  luuge^eidinct  Iiabe." 
 Bollinger  pag.  147.  K  this  could  be  said  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
 1838,  how  much  more  iu  1859! 
 
504  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  ii. 
 
 duty,  from  which,  it  is  faithlessness  to  shrink.  The 
 Moslem  may  reject  the  message,  and  like  Ishmael 
 mock  at  the  truth;  the  Jew  may  blaspheme  Christ 
 and  cleave  to  his  dead  system  of  pharisaical  ortho- 
 doxy; the  Pagan  may  persist  in  his  devotion  to  a 
 degrading  idolatry ;  but  after  having  heard  the  Gospel 
 message,  they  all  stand  in  a  new  moral  position, 
 having  passed  the  demarcation  line  between  willing, 
 and  unavoidable  ignorance. 
 
 There  are  how^ever  additional  reasons,  why  we 
 should  no  longer  neglect  the  posterity  of  Ishmael. 
 It  cannot  be  without  deep  meaning  to  us ,  that  for 
 the  first  time  in  the  history-  of  divine  revelation  Christ 
 should  appear  to  llagar  as  "the  Angel  of  Jehovah."^* 
 It  is  also  in  a  high  degree  significant,  that  the  very  first 
 occasion  in  which  Jesus-Jehovah  is  revealed,  should 
 be  to  seek  and  bring  back  the  haughty  mother  of 
 the  Ishmaelites,  when  she  had  gone  astray!  CalHng 
 her  by  name  and  styling  her  "Sarai's  maid,"  Christ 
 gently  reminded  her  of  her  sin,  and  commanded  her 
 to  return ,  and  to  submit  herself  to  her  mistress :  a 
 touchingly  beautiful  example  for  us,  as  to  how  we 
 are  to  deal  with  her  erring,  but  equally  haughty 
 posterity! 
 
 The  Angel  of  Jehovah  had  never  prior  to  this, 
 personally  manifested  Himself;  it  being  merely  said, 
 "Jehovah  ajDpeared  unto  Abraham,"  or  "the  word  of 
 the  Lord  came  unto  him;"  but  now,  after  God  had 
 
 ®*  The  Angel  of  Jehovah  "^H*  '!^n"*''3,  who  here  as  the  good 
 Shepherd  goes  after  that  which  is  lost  until  He  find  it.  is  invariably 
 the  Lord  Jesus ,  and  here ,  Gen.  XM.  7.  the  appellation  occurs  for 
 the  first  time. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]        MANIFESTATION  OF  CHRIST  TO  H AGAR.  505 
 
 made  a  covenant  with  Abraham,  Gen.  XV.  He  show- 
 ed Himself  to  Hagar,  Gen.  XVI.  as  the  Angel  of 
 the  covenant  or  as  the  Angel  of  Jehovah.  That  the 
 manifestations  of  the  second  Person  of  the  Trinity, 
 which  now  opens  a  long  series  of  revelations ,  were 
 ordinarily  in  human  form,  is  clear  from  several  ac- 
 counts.'*^ Jacob  speaks  of  Him  as  the  "Angel  who 
 redeemed"  him  from  all  evil.^^  He  called  Moses;  He 
 led  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness;  He  fought  for 
 them  as  "the  Prince  of  the  Lord  of  hosts"  on  their 
 taking  possession  of  Canaan ;  He  guided  the  people 
 in  the  days  of  the  Judges,  and  took  up  His  abode  in 
 the  Most  Holy  of  the  Temj^le.^^ 
 
 The  Angel  of  Jehovah  is  one  with  Jehovah,  and 
 yet  different  from  Him;  He  is  called  by  Isaiah  "the 
 Angel  of  His  presence;"  ^^  at  a  later  period  He  pro- 
 mises to  "search  His  sheep  and  seek  them  out"  as 
 the  good  Shepherd;*^  and  in  Malachi  He  declares, 
 "Behold  I  wdll  send  my  messenger,  and  he  shall  pre- 
 pare the  way  before  me,  and  the  Lord  whom  ye  seek, 
 shall  suddenly  come  to  His  temple,  even  the  3Iessen(/er 
 
 "*  Whilst  Gen.  XII.  7.  fi^J^.N-bx  nV.";  N'nn  and  Gen.  XV.  1. 
 C'n3N~3N  rrr;';'""!!"!  S^^"  we  find  tliat  the  angel  of  Jehovah  appear- 
 ed as  one  of  three  men,  D'''^;n  r;;i^b">23  ^IT:'].  The  assumption  of  the 
 hnman  fwn\  prior  to  Christ's  taking  upon  Him  human  nature  is  not 
 a  solitary  instance,  of  new  epochs  existing  in  revelation,  long  before 
 their  actual  appearance. 
 
 ®^  :n-b273  "Tij*  ''^>~  '^Nb'?|r;  the  Angel,  the  Redeemer  from  all 
 evil.  Gen.  XLVIII.  16.  is  distinguished  fi-om  the  God  who  fed  him 
 all  his  life,  and  who  is  called  QT^'b^r;  verse  15. 
 
 "  Exod.  m.  2.  XW.  19.  XXni.  20.  XXXm.  U.  Josh.  V.  13- 
 Judges  II.  1.  VI,  11.  XIII.  .3.  Ps.  LXXVII.  21.  LXXVIH.  52- 
 1  Kings  VUI.  10  —  12. 
 
 88   C:?"i2}-;n  v;e  TIn'^to  Isa.  LXKI.  9.         «"  Ezek.  XXXIV.  11. 
 
506  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  n. 
 
 or  Angel  of  the  covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in:  behold 
 He  shall  come,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." ^"  Whilst 
 the  angels  nowhere  speak  in  the  name  of  Jehovah 
 without  drawing  a  broad  line  of  demarcation  between 
 themselves  and  Him,  by  whom  they  are  sent,  "the 
 Angel  of  Jehovah"  who  appears  to  Hagav,  speaks, 
 as  Jehovah;  and  God  says  of  this  Angel,  "Beware  of 
 Him  and  obey  His  voice,  provoke  Him  not,  for  He 
 will  not  pardon  your  transgressions,  for  My  Name 
 IS  in  Mini."  ^  * 
 
 The  reason  why  Christ  the  Angel  of  Jehovah, 
 first  appeared  toHagar,  was  doubtless,  because  He  is 
 "the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for  ever."  It  befitted 
 the  Friend  of  sinners  to  condescend  to  appear  in 
 hitman  form  to  the  erring  mother  of  the  Saracens, 
 as  He  afterwards  appeared  in  human  nature  to  men 
 and  women  who  were  sinners.  She  was,  moreover,  in 
 afiliction,  and  probably  already  conscious  of  her  guilt, 
 Gen.  XVI.  2.  and  was  therefore  permitted  to  see  God's 
 face,  as  it  only  can  be  seen,  in  Christ. ^^  By  this 
 '"  Mai.  m.  1.   isn-r.sr;  D-'Stcri  cnN  ^.^.^  ri-"na.r;  "i^n^W;  by 
 
 Daniel  he  had   been  already  seen  \2;;5<  '^5?.   like  the  Son  of  man 
 chap.  VII.  13.  14.    See  also  Zech.  XIl".  9.  10.  XIH.  7. 
 
 ®'  Exod.  XXUI.  21.  The  term  "r^Nlb??  Anael  is  applied  here  in 
 the  same  way  as,  dnoatokog  in  Hebr.  111.  1 ;  and  has  been  used  by 
 our  Lord  Himself,  when  He  .speaks  of  His  "being  sent"'  by  the  Father, 
 this  being  the  ctymolog-ical  sense  of  nyyfXog.  Matt.  X.  40.  Lu.  X. 
 16.  John  V.  23.' VI.  29.  XVI.  28.  XVll.  3.  Upon  going  through 
 the  passages  of  the  N.  Test,  where  the  English  version  renders, — 
 "the  angel  of  the  Lord"  we  find  that  the  original  in  harmony,  with 
 the  Old  Test,  has  only  ayy^Xo?  Kv(jiov  ,  an  angel  of  the  Lord ;  the 
 only  exception  being  Matt.  I.  24.  where  o  was  in  all  probability  in- 
 serted by  a  subsequent  copyist.  This  is  the  more  surprising  as  the 
 distinction  seemed  less  necessary  in  the  New  Test. 
 
 "  Exod.  XXXTir.  20.   Isa.  VI.  5.    1  John  I.  18.    1  Tim.  VL  16. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]        SPECIAL  PROMISE  TO  HER  POSTERITY.  B07 
 
 manifestation  to  the  proud  and  rebellious  bondmaid 
 of  Sarah,  it  was  shown  to  the  world,  that  whilst  Je- 
 hovah was  pre-eminently  the  God  of  the  Hebrews, 
 Jesus- Jehovah  was  the  Saviour  of  the  ivhole  world. 
 They  who  cannot  understand  why  Christ  should  first 
 appear  to  the  Egyptian  Hagar,  instead  of  to  Abra- 
 ham or  Sarah,  forget  or  disown  the  love  of  Jesus 
 to  the  most  reprobate  of  sinful  humanity.  Hagar 
 was  the  mother  of  a  posterity  which  more  than 
 any  other  have  distinguished  themselves  by  their 
 animosity  to  Christ,  their  hatred  to  Christians, 
 and  their  enmity  to  the  Gospel:  the  appearance  of 
 Christ  to  her,  as  "the  Angel  of  Jehovah,"  at  once 
 implied,  that  His  future  incarnation  as  the  seed  of 
 the  woman,  M-as  not  only  for  the  then  chosen  people, 
 but  also  for  those  who  seem  hopelessly  lost,  in  wild 
 fanaticism,  inconceivable  pride,  and  enmity  against 
 God.  It  taught  the  same  truth  in  the  Old  Testament, 
 which  is  taught  in  the  Gospel  by  the  parables  of  the 
 lost  sheep  and  the  prodigal  son. 
 
 The  strong  motives  which  are  here  supplied  by 
 our  Lord's  example,  for  Missionary  enterprize  among 
 the  sons  of  Hagar,  are  further  supported  by  special 
 
 2  Cor.  V.  19.  Col.  I.  19.  20.  John  XIV.  23.  XYH.  21.  24.  As  this 
 reconciliation  was  retrospective  as  well  prospective,  Hagar  saw  God 
 in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  also  the  sense  of  her  words, 
 Gen.  XTI.  13.  14.  ■'':n.5i  T'!^'^  ff-u  tS^L!  T^^N  ''2  \n;i  bx  r.PN 
 •K1  "'n5  '^N2  "iNab  N"iT5  p~by  :  -N")  After  altering-  the  vowels  in  the 
 two  last  •"M"  to  make  it  passive  like  the  first,  which  seems  the  more 
 correct,  the  sense  would  be:  "Thou  art  the  visible  God.  For  she 
 said ,  behold ,  also  here  I  see  still  (am  alive)  after  the  visible  God 
 (after  he  appeared  to  me).  Therefore  she  called  the  well :  Well 
 of  the  living  and  visible."    Gen.  XVI.  13.  14. 
 
508  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  ii. 
 
 promises,  that  they  shall  be  re-admitted  into  the 
 family  of  Abraham ,  fi'om  which ,  for  a  season  they 
 were  expelled.  Neither  the  Jews  nor  the  Ishmaelites 
 are  everlastingly  excluded  from  the  blessings  of  the 
 Gospel;  and  as  in  the  end  "all  Israel  shall  be  saved," 
 Rom.  XI.  11 — 32,  so  will  also  be  fulfilled  what  is 
 written  of  the  future  conversion  of  the  posterity  of 
 Ishmael.^''  As  Israel  "shall  look  upon  Him,  whom 
 they  have  pierced  and  shall  mourn  for  Him ;"  so  shall 
 the  house  of  Ishmael  mourn,  when  their  eyes  shall 
 be  opened,  and  they  think  upon  the  gracious  ap- 
 pearance of  Christ  to  their  mother  Hagar,  and  His 
 giving  her  a  blessing,  by  w^hich  they  multiplied,  and 
 upon  which  they  shall  continue  to  subsist  to  that  very 
 hour.  For  as  Hagar  returned  and  submitted  herself, 
 "not  being  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,"  so  may 
 we  hope  that  her  sons  will  return ;  and  when  they  re- 
 turn and  submit  to  Christ's  yoke,  then  will  be  solved 
 the  great  mystery,  why  God  has  blessed  Ishmael 
 with  so  numerous  a  posterity,  —  a  posterity  which 
 has  invariably  proved  inimical  to  the  kingdom  of  His 
 dear  Son. 
 
 8.  A  survey  of  the  statistical  distribution  of  the 
 various  creeds  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  world, 
 is  truly  appalling;  and  it  requires  a  higher  ground  of 
 confidence  than  ordinary  principles  of  calculation,  to 
 
 ^^  "The  multitude  of  camels  shall  cover  thee,  the  dromedaries 
 of  Midian  and  Ej^hoh ,  all  they  from  Shebn  shall  come .  they  shall 
 bring  gold  and  incense;  and  they  sliall  show  forth  the  praises  of  the 
 Lord.  All  the  flocks  o^Kedar  shall  bo  gatliered  unto  thee,  the  rams  of 
 Nehaoth  minister  unto  thee :  they  shall  come  up  with  acceptance  on 
 mine  altar,  and  1  will  glorify  the  house  of  my  glory."  Isa.  LX.  6.  7. 
 cfr.  Gen.  XXV.  2.  4. 
 
CHAP.  VI.] 
 
 A  LESSON  FROM  STATISTICS. 
 
 509 
 
 feel  assured  of"  the  final  triumph  of  Christianity.^* 
 But  apart  fi'om  what  has  been  previously  adduced  of 
 the  hopeful  views  of  the  Christian,  respecting  the 
 Mohammedans,  there  are  certain  facts  connected  with 
 the  statistics  of  the  Church  which  are  encouraging. 
 It  is  acknowledged  that  there  has  been  a  steady  nu- 
 merical increase  of  Christians  ever  since  the  founda- 
 tion of  the  Church,  and  that  with  the  exception  of 
 the  apostolic  age,  never  perhaps  greater  than  in  the 
 present  century.  Yet  on  equally  dividing  the  addi- 
 tional numbers  of  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
 teenth centuries,  we  obtain  an  increase  of  33,000,000 
 for  each;  whilst  in  the  preceeding  five  centuries  there 
 was  only  an  addition  of  10,000,000,  and  in  the  five 
 before  them,  of  7,000,000  per  century. ^^  If  there- 
 fore, the  leaven  of  Christianity  be  actively  distributed 
 by  Missionary  operations  among  "the  three  measures 
 of  meal,'"' — which  may  fairly  be  taken  to  represent  the 
 
 ^*  The  Moliammedans  are  far  below  the  real  number  in  the 
 following  statistical  table ,  but  we  cannot  refrain  from  inserting  it, 
 as  it  affords  in  other  resi^ects,  a  correct  estimate. 
 
 Religionists:       1  Malle-Bnin.    ^      Graberg.          Pinkerton. 
 
 Hassel.              Balbi. 
 
 Christians   .     .     . 
 
 228,000,000 
 
 236,000,000 
 
 235,000,000 
 
 252,000,000 
 
 200,000,000 
 
 Jews      .... 
 
 5,000,000 
 
 5,000,000 
 
 5,000,000 
 
 3,930,000 
 
 4,000,000 
 
 Mohammedans 
 
 110,000,000 
 
 120,000,000 
 
 120,000,000 
 
 120,105,000 
 
 96,000,000 
 
 Brahmin.  Hindus  . 
 
 60,000,000 
 
 60,000,000 
 
 60,000,000 
 
 111,3.03,000 
 
 60,000,000 
 
 Buddhists    .     .     . 
 
 150,000,000 
 
 150,000,000 
 
 180,000,000 
 
 315,977,000 
 
 170,000,000 
 
 Other  religions     . 
 
 100,000,000 
 
 115,000,000 
 
 100,000,000 
 
 134,4yo,000 
 
 147,000,000 
 
 Total  numbers      . 
 
 ti53, 000,000 
 
 68t),000,000 
 
 700,000,000 
 
 938,421,000 
 
 737,000,000. 
 
 ^^    hi  the  1"'  century  Christians  numbered 
 
 .     .             500, OOU 
 
 r;th 
 
 n         n       ^                  n                          >i                            n 
 
 .     .        15,000,000 
 
 n         n    AU                  „                          „                            „ 
 
 .     .        50,000.000 
 
 15*^' 
 
 .      .      100,000,000 
 
 „        „    li 
 
 ^'^           n 
 
 n 
 
 » 
 
 .     .     20 
 
 0,000,000 
 
510  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  li. 
 
 Jewish,  ihe  Pagan,  Zindi  i\\e  Mohammedan,  communi- 
 ties;—  we  may  confidently  look  forward  to  the  period, 
 when  "the  whole"  shall  be  leavened.  The  present 
 distribution  oi  j^olitical  supremacy,  also,  in  some  mea- 
 sure, relieves  the  darkness  of  the  prospect.  The  Pro- 
 testant States  of  Europe  and  America  could  not  a 
 hundred  years  ago,  muster  350,000,000  of  subjects 
 including  their  Colonies ;  and  now  they  extend  their 
 power  in  both  hemispheres,  over  six  times  that  num- 
 ber. Within  less  than  a  hundred  years,  the  popula- 
 tion of  Great  Britain  has  risen  from  13  to  upwards 
 of  150  millions,  or  about  a  sixth  portion  of  the  human 
 race.  A  hundred  years  ago,  the  Moslem  powers  of 
 Turkey,  Persia,  and  India  still  ranked  amongst  the 
 most  powerful  governments  of  the  world.  The  two 
 former  are  weakened,  and  the  Mogul  Empire  has 
 yielded  to  English  supremacy  in  the  East.  But  how 
 has  this  political  facility  been  employed? 
 
 The  policy,  so  long  in  force,  in  the  Government 
 of  the  Indian  Empire,  has  produced  few  of  the  bless- 
 ings which  one  might  justly  have  looked  for.  What- 
 ever of  real  good  has  been  efiPected ,  was  the  work  of 
 private  individuals,  carried  on  in  spite  of,  rather  than 
 in  co-operation  with  the  ruling  powers.  It  must  not 
 be  forgotten,  that  the  East  India  Company  expelled 
 Christian  Missionaries  from  their  dominions,  and 
 they,  to  avoid  persecution  fi-om  a  Christian  Govern- 
 ment in  a  Heathen  land,  were  driven  to  seek  shelter 
 in  a  foreign  settlement.  Hindoo-temples  and  Moslem- 
 mosques  were  not  ou\y  protected  hut  endoived.  Native 
 converts  were  dismissed  from  the  ranks  of  the  army 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  THE  UNJUST  STEWARD.  511 
 
 as  though  they  were  "pestilent  fellows;"  and  even 
 during  the  recent  struggle  to  quench  the  rebellion, 
 the  offer  of  the  Christians  of  Krishnaghur  to  act  as 
 Coolies  or  bearers,  when  greatly  needed  for  the  army, 
 was  rejected,  because  they  applied  not  as  subjects, 
 but  as  Christians.  By  law,  the  publication  of  a  Bible 
 is  a  penal  offence,  punishable  by  seizure  of  the  presses, 
 and  though  not  enforced,  we  believe  it  still  exists, 
 not  less  to  our  shame  than  to  the  contempt  of  the  na- 
 tives. The  most  rigid  measures  were  enforced  to  ex- 
 clude the  possibility  of  a  ray  of  Christian  light  pene- 
 trating the  Government  institutions  for  education. 
 When  the  Elphinstone  College  was  founded  in  Bom- 
 bay, the  Native  Committee  had  sanctioned  there  being 
 a  class  in  the  Institution  in  which  Christian  Divinity 
 might  be  taught,  and  that  it  should  be  left  to  the 
 option  of  the  students  to  attend ;  but  the  professedly 
 Christian  Government,  in  revising  the  statutes  of  the 
 plan  of  education,  deliberately  struck  out  the  provision 
 thus  made  and  sanctioned  by  the  natives. 
 
 It  was  indeed  just,  that  in  India,  as  well  as  in 
 every  other  dependency  of  the  British  crown,  there 
 should  be  perfect  toleration  of  all  religious  behefs; 
 but  this  principle  of  toleration  does  not  imply  a  ne- 
 cessity on  the  part  of  the  Government,  to  disavow 
 its  Christian  character,  to  pay  a  premium  on  false 
 religion,  and  to  act  on  all  occasions  as  if  England 
 had  cause  to  feel  ashamed  of  avowing  her  Chris- 
 tianity! Such  a  course  of  policy  was  however  pursued 
 by  the  Indian  Government,  till  it  produced,  in  God's 
 righteous  judgment,  an  army  of  traitors  and  assassins. 
 
512  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  ii. 
 
 Had  the  East  India  Company  been  the  most  intolerant 
 oppressors,  and  had  they  no  more  respected  the  re- 
 ligious feelings  of  the  people,  than  the  ^Moslem  con- 
 querors themselves  had  done  for  the  space  of  700  years, 
 they  could  not  have  reaped  a  more  bitter  harvest !  An 
 intelligent  native  stated  years  ago, — "Your  Govern^ 
 meoit  alone,  preve^ited  India  from  becoming  a  Chris- 
 tian country. '"^^  "Shall  I  not  visit  for  these  things, 
 saith  the  Lord:  shall  not  my  soul  be  avenged  on 
 such  a  nation  as  this?"  The  hour  of  vengeance  did 
 come; — and  upon  it,  it  was  said  to  the  East  India. 
 Company,  "Thou  mayest  be  no  longer  steward." 
 
 May  the  new  Government  of  India  avoid  pro- 
 voking the  like  Nemesis,  by  adopting  a  manly,  open 
 and  straightforward  course;  not  being  ashamed  of 
 their  God,  their  Christianity  and  their  Bible.  Let 
 not  the  light,  which  casts  no  shadow,  be  wilfully 
 hidden  under  a  bushel;  for  it  is  sinning  against  his- 
 tory and  experience,  to  expect  happiness  and  salvation 
 fi'om  a  godless  civilisation,  and  an  education  which 
 separates  the  head  from  the  heart,  and  the  intellect 
 from  the  conscience. 
 
 9.  But  to  expect  or  demand  everything  from 
 Government,  as  regards  the  conversion  of  the  Mo- 
 hammedans,   is   to   fall    into    one   of  the   snares   of 
 
 ^*  Prof.  "White  said  nearly  a  century  ago ,  "Narrowminded  in- 
 deed, and  false  is  that  philanthropy  wliich  feigns  anxiety  for  the 
 rights  and  liberties  of  those,  fur  Avhose  eternal  salvation  they  evince 
 no  concern.  "NViiat  can  a  virtuous  people  do  more  laudably  tiian 
 propagate  their  religion,  where  their  laws  are  obeyed?"  Banipton 
 Lect.  1784.  It  has  been  for  a  long  period  the  custom  of  the  French 
 Government  to  convey  missionary  priests,  nuns  and  monks,  gratuitously 
 on  board  their  steampackets. 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  SOLEMN  INQUIRIES.  513 
 
 Islamism.^'  It  is  the  special  work  of  the  Church  to 
 evangelize  the  world;  the  part  of  the  Government 
 being  to  countenance,  protect,  and  assist  such  efforts 
 as  are  being  made  through  her  agency  and  instrumen- 
 tality. What  then  has  been  done  by  the  Church  of 
 England,  on  behalf  of  the  conversion  of  Mohammed- 
 ans? On  the  awakening  of  a  Missionary  spirit  with- 
 in the  present  century,  there  were  founded  Societies 
 for  conveying  the  leaven  of  the  Gospel  into  two  of 
 the  "three  measures  of  meal,"  viz.  the  Jews  and 
 Pagans.  But  where  is  the  Missionary  ''Society  for 
 propagating  the  Gospel  among  the  Mohammedans,'' 
 by  which  the  Church,  as  the  woman  in  the  parable, 
 might  convey  the  leaven  into  the  third  measure  of 
 meal  ?  How  many  are  the  stations  in  Turkey,  Egypt, 
 Syria,  Africa  and  India?  How  many  schools  are  under 
 its  direction?  How  many  agents  are  employed  in  its 
 service?  What  is  the  annual  income  of  the  Society? 
 How  many  catechumens,  converts  and  communicants 
 were  put  down  in  its  last  annual  report?  Which  are 
 the  countries  where  most  help  is  required  and  what 
 fresh  stations  are  now  in  contemplation  by  the  Com- 
 mittee? How  many  newly  ordained  men,  who  have 
 difficulty  in  finding  work  at  home,  have  offered  them- 
 selves, Hke  Henry  Martyn,  for  this  work?  What  says 
 the  last  annual  report  of  the  College  of  the  Society, 
 in  which  men  are  specially  trained,  for  the  work  of 
 
 ^^  "Not  by  might,  (better,  army,  ^"^n^)  nor  hy  poiver,  nbs  but 
 by  MY  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Zech.  IV.  6.  Both  h-.Ti  and 
 pb  are  singularly  applicable  to  the  means  employed  in  the  propaga- 
 tion of  Islamism. 
 
 HH 
 
514  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  n. 
 
 preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  sons  of  Ishmael  ?  How 
 many  sermons  are  annually  preached  on  behalf  of  the 
 Society,  and  to  what  extent,  has  the  Institution  seized 
 hold  of  the  sympathies  of  the  faithful  of  the  land? 
 Which  of  the  nobility  and  Bishops  have  felt  the 
 privilege  of  being  permitted  to  give  their  name  and 
 influence  to  the  Society?  Alas,  for  the  humiliating 
 answer  to  these  inquiries!  "Thus  speaketh  the  Lord 
 of  hosts,  saying,  This  peojyle  say,  The  time  is  not 
 come,  the  time  that  the  Lord's  house  should  he  built." 
 Hagg.  T.  2. 
 
 10.  One  of  the  causes  why  the  Mohammedans 
 have  not  hitherto  received  a  due  proportion  of  Mis- 
 sionary SMTipathy,  is  unquestionably  owing  to  the  pre- 
 valent fallacy,  that  the  Moslem  worshipped  the  true 
 God;  that  he  occupied  an  infinitely  higher  position 
 than  the  idolater;  and  therefore,  stood  not  so  much 
 in  need  of  the  Gospel.  May  be,  there  has  been  an 
 excess  of  Anti-Mohammedan  feeling  in  some  of  the 
 older  works  on  Islamism,  and  that  more  recent  in- 
 vestigations have  produced  a  re-action,  by  placing 
 some  of  its  features  in  a  less  hideous  light.  But  a 
 considerable  modification  in  our  views  has  doubtless 
 arisen  from  teacherous  and  malignant  causes,  at  work 
 amongst  ourselves :  the  more  men  lose  faith  in  the 
 Son  of  God,  the  more  lenient  will  become  the  terms 
 in  which  they  speak  of  Moliamnicdanism.  The  ele- 
 ments of  misbelief  and  infidelity,  which  have  been 
 ever  more  or  less  afloat  within  the  Church,  assumed 
 a  definite  and  consistent  form,  in  Unitarianism;  a 
 heresy  which,  like  Arianism,  is  but  a  subtle  modi- 
 
CHAP.  VI.]     ONE  OF  THE  CAUSES  OF  NEGLECT.       515 
 
 ficatiou  of  the  teaching  of  the  Koran,  —  the  essence  of 
 this  triple  apostacy  being  alike,  the  denial  of  the 
 Divinity  of  Christ. 
 
 There  are  indeed,  many  striking  points  of  analogy 
 and  contrast,  which  it  is  not  our  province  to  particu- 
 larize. Enough  for  our  purpose  to  observe,  that  Uni- 
 tarians or  Socinians  virtually  adopt  the  teaching  of 
 the  Koran,  in  denying  the  Godhead  of  the  Redeemer; 
 though  in  so  doing,  they  are  less  consistent  than  the 
 author  of  Islamism,  whom  they  reject.  Mohammed 
 feehng  that  he  could  not  admit  the  Bible  in  its  pre- 
 sent form  to  be  true,  and  at  the  same  time  reject  the 
 Divinity  of  Christ ,  chose  to  deny  the  Son  of  God, 
 and,  with  a  terrible  consistency,  rejected  the  Bible, 
 alleging  it  had  been  corrupted.  The  Unitarian,  on 
 the  contrary,  rejects  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord  and 
 yet  retains  the  Bible, 
 
 But  how  is  this  Semi-Mohammedan  heresy  re- 
 garded in  our  day  by  a  Christian  pubhc?  It  is  merely 
 considered  as  one  of  the  numerous  Christian  sects 
 which  abound  in  the  land.  The  highly  intellectual 
 and  philanthropic  bearing  of  many  of  its  members, 
 secures  them  esteem  in  this  age  of  reason  and  bene- 
 volent enterprize ;  and  meanwhile,  it  is  forgotten,  that 
 the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "God  blessed  for  ever,"  is  de- 
 graded by  them  to  a  mere  creature.  Since  thisAnti- 
 christian  apostacy  is  treated  with  such  culpable  in- 
 difference at  home,  how  can  we  expect  that  any  con- 
 cern should  be  manifested  for  the  conversion  of  the 
 Mohammedan  abroad? 
 
 It  may  be  startlmg  to  broach  the  idea  of  the 
 
516  GENERAL  STIRVET  AND  AGENDA.  [PART  II. 
 
 possibility,  yet  judging  from  appearances,  it  would 
 seem  more  probable  that  Islamism  might  gain  converts 
 from  our  countrymen,  and  that  mosques  should  be 
 erected  in  England ,  before  Churches  are  built  in 
 Mecca  or  Medina !  Nay,  incredible  as  the  tidings  may 
 seem  and  humiliating  as  it  is  to  confess  it,  we  are 
 compelled  to  add  that  a  number  of  Englishmen, — 
 doubtless  before  Unitarians  in  heart,  if  not  in  pro- 
 fession,— have  already  embraced  Islamism,  and  avowed 
 their  determination  to  rear  a  mosque  in  the  heart  of 
 London,  as  soon  as  they  could  muster  forty  in  num- 
 ber! That  our  ignorant  and  depraved  masses  are  in- 
 deed ripe  for  any  snare  or  delusion,  however  absurd 
 or  degrading,  has  been  sufficiently  proved  by  the 
 fearful  ravages  which  the  follies  and  impieties  of 
 Mormonisni  have  made;  a  phenomenon  perfectly 
 analogous  to  Mohammedanism,  and  which  indeed 
 sprang  up  in  that  country,  where  the  Unitarian  heresy 
 is  most  flourishing. 
 
 This  may  be  justly  deemed  one  of  the  insidious 
 causes  of  our  neglecting  Missionary  work  among  the 
 posterity  of  Ishmael;  and  it  must  be  considered  a 
 sad  symptom  of  our  national  Christianity,  that  Eng- 
 land should  so  willingly  have  sacrified  her  sons  and 
 her  wealth  to  defend  the  civil  freedom  and  guard  the 
 territorial  integrity  of  'J'urkey  from  foreign  aggression, 
 and  yet  should  have  made  no  effort  for  the  spiritual 
 emancipation  of  its  inhabitants !  But  as  we  have  shown 
 no  zeal  for  the  honour  of  Christ  among  the  Moham- 
 medans, and  manifested  no  concern  at  His  Name  being 
 blasphemed,  we  have  been  taught  that  they  at  least, 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  THE  GUILT  ACKNOWLEDGED.  517 
 
 would  be  in  earnest  to  serve  God  after  the  fashion 
 prescribed  in  the  Koran.  God  saw  it  required  nothing 
 less  than  the  Indian  rebellion  to  correct  our  past 
 neglect  of  the  followers  of  the  Koran,  to  rebuke 
 our  sinful  latitudinarianism,  to  chastise  our  extra- 
 ordinary infatuation  for  Turkey,  and  to  compel  us 
 to  remember  our  j^eal  Mission  to  the  descendants 
 of  Ishmael.^* 
 
 It  was  acknowledged  on  the  Day  of  humiliation 
 Oct.  7.  1857,  in  almost  every  pulpit  of  the  land,  "that 
 our  fast  ought  to  assume  a  practical  turn;"  that 
 "foremost  among  our  sins,  was  neglect  in  spreading 
 Christianity  among  the  idolaters  and  Moslem  popu- 
 lation of  India;"  that  "the  number  of  jNIissionaries 
 was  painfully  disproportionate  to  the  task;"  that  "the 
 only  remedy  given  from  heaven  against  the  natural 
 depravity,"  manifested  during  the  mutiny,  "was  the 
 religion  of  Jesus  Christ ;"  that  we  were  to  preach  the 
 Gospel  to  every  creature  rather  than  "pander  to 
 Heathen  follies  or  sympathise  with  the  followers  of 
 a  false  prophet;"  that  "it  was  the  godless  education, 
 and  liberty  without  religion,  as  afforded  by  the  Govern- 
 ment schools,  which  became  the  cause  of  the  mutiny; 
 just  as  education  and  liberty  without  religion  first 
 brought  about  the  French  revolution;"  that  as  soon 
 as  the  war  was  over,  we  "must  commence  repairing 
 our  religious  neglect  of  India;"  that  "we  have  not 
 
 T/ie  Turkish  aid  Society"  indeed,  was  a  feeble  demonstration 
 on  the  part  of  British  Christians ,  that  they  were  not  altogether  in- 
 sensible of  their  obligation  to  do  something  for  the  Turks  at  least, 
 if  not,  for  the  Mohammedans  in  general.  But  its  chief  object  seems 
 to  be  to  make  grants  of  money  to  other  Societies. 
 
518  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [PART  ll. 
 
 done  a  tithe  of  what  we  might  have  done  for  India;" 
 that  "we  still  owe  her  a  mighty  debt,"  and  cannot 
 deny  that  "we  have  fallen  short  of  our  obligations  to 
 that  great  empire,  which  Almighty  God  has  entrusted 
 to  our  care  during  a  hundred  years;"  that  "little  had 
 been  done  to  promote  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  ac- 
 quisition of  that  vast  and  populous  region,  we  had 
 held  for  ourselves,  not  for  God;"  that  "'of  the  enormous 
 revenue  derived  from  our  Eastern  possessions,  next 
 to  nothing;  had  been  sanctified  for  the  service  of  God, 
 
 a 
 
 and  the  maintenance  of  adequate  Christian  Missions 
 to  evangelize  these  benighted  multitudes;"  that  "from 
 motives  of  worldly  policy  we  had  truckled  to  many 
 of  the  worst  superstitions;"  that  "we  had  been  timor- 
 ous and  timeserving,  and  had  failed  to  exhibit  our 
 religion  in  such  an  aspect  as  to  gain  the  respect  and 
 affection  of  the  people;"  that  "our  visitation  must  be 
 regarded  as  a  severe,  but  merciful  act  of  the  Almighty, 
 to  recal  us  to  a  sense  of  our  duties  towards  India;" 
 that  "we  would  not  proselytise  hj  force,  but  cease  to 
 encourage  idolatry,  or  sanction  it  by  timid  disrespect 
 to  our  own  holy  religion;"  that  "we  had  not  been 
 faithful  to  India ,  nor  manifested  to  them  our  belief 
 in  Christianity;"   that   "the  horrors  of  the  mutiny 
 should  rouse  Christians  to  greater  Missionary  efforts ;" 
 that  we  had  "proved  unfaithful  to  our  trust,  and  had 
 rather  helped  idolatry,  than  Christianity;"   that  "in 
 India  we  have  fearfully  neglected  our  duty  by  not 
 proclaiming  God's  Gospel ,  lest  we  should  offend  the 
 nations  and  lose  our  wealth  through  their  jealousy 
 and  estrangement,  and  we  have  even  encouraged  their 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  THE  GUILT  ACKNOWLEDGED.  519 
 
 idolatries ;  and  now,  that  very  fanaticism,  which  might 
 have  been  removed  by  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  is 
 made  onr  scourge;"  that  "the  Sepoys  had  been  strictly 
 guarded  from  all  intercourse  with  Christian  Mission- 
 aries, and  that  in  the  year  1819  a  Sepoy  who  turned 
 Christian  was  compelled  by  the  sentence  of  a  court- 
 martial  to  leave  the  army;"  and  that  "this  occurred 
 at  Meerut,  the  very  city,  where  the  mutiny  broke 
 out;"  that  "if  we  believed  that  the  Lord  was  God, 
 we  should  have  faithfully  followed  Him  and  spread 
 His  Church  and  honoured  His  Name  among  the 
 heathen." 
 
 11.  These  convictions,  confessions,  and  resolu- 
 tions have  been  solemnly  uttered  in  God's  house  by 
 Christ's  servants,  amidst  devout  and  contrite  assem- 
 blies; and  since  the  English  mind  is  of  a  strictly  jwac- 
 tical  turn,  should  mc  not  expect  that  the  deep-felt 
 sense  of  its  duty,  would  lead  at  once  to  amendment, 
 and  not  prove  a  merely  evanescent  outburst  of  feel- 
 ing.^ Unless  repentance  of  sins  of  so  deep  a  dye,  as 
 confessed,  on  so  solemn  an  occasion,  be  followed  by  a 
 correspondent  change  of  conduct,  the  expression  and 
 acquiescence  in  such  sentiments  is  but  a  national 
 mockery,  which  God  cannot  leave  unpunished. 
 
 Yet  the  Indian  rebellion,  which  thus  opened 
 our  eyes,  has  in  itself,  rather  an  encouraging  than 
 discouraging  feature.  The  furious  outbreaks  of 
 rancorous  animosity  against  Christians,  which  now 
 more  than  ever  animates  the  Moslem  community, 
 is  far  less  to  be  dreaded  than  a  state  of  religious 
 stagnation.     When  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  most  viru- 
 
520  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [PART  u. 
 
 lent  against  Christ,  ''breathing  out  threatenings 
 and  slaughter  against  the  disciples  of  the  Lord" 
 and  "making  havoc  of  the  Church,"  in  a  truly 
 Moslem  spirit,  he  was  on  the  very  eve  of  his  sud- 
 den and  marvellous  conversion.  The  Mohammed- 
 ans, like  him,  do  it  "ignorantly,"  being  "zealous  to- 
 wards God,"  and  "thinking  to  do  Him  service."  And 
 we  ask,  was  there  ever  a  more  favourable  opportunity 
 for  Christian  people  to  show  "the  same  mind  which 
 was  in  Christ  Jesus,"  when  lie  appeared  to  perse- 
 cuting Saul  on  his  way  to  Damascus ,  w^hen  He  met 
 Hagar,  in  the  path  of  rebellious  w^a)"v\'ardness ,  and 
 when  He  prayed  for  His  enemies,  amidst  the  tortures 
 of  the  crucifixion  ? 
 
 That  we  may  be  enabled  to  evince  a  like  mind 
 towards  the  Mohammedans,  and  effectually  to  carry 
 out  Christ's  work  among  them,  fresh  channels  will 
 in  all  probability  be  needed,  through  which,  the  bless- 
 ings of  the  Gospel  may  be  fully  transmitted  to  them. 
 None  of  the  established  Societies  are  specially  pledged 
 to  this  work;  their  Missionaries  being  instructed,  with 
 a  few  solitary  exceptions ,  to  regard  them  only  in  so 
 far,  as  they  come  in  their  way.  The  smallest  amount 
 of  reflection  will  convince  every  one  that  a  separate 
 Society  is  required  for  the  Mohammedans,  upon  the 
 same  grounds  and  for  the  same  reasons,  that  a  dis- 
 tinct Society  was  founded  for  evangelizing  the  Jews, 
 If  the  existing  Societies  had  nearly  fulfilled  their  re- 
 spective Missions  amongst  Jews  and  Pagans,  so  that 
 their  attention  could  be  legitimately  turned  to  the 
 Moslem  community,  the  desired  instrument  would  be 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  AGENDA  OR  THINGS  TO  BE  DONT:.  521 
 
 already  supplied.  But  what  is  the  actual  state  of 
 things?  No  person  able  to  judge  of  the  merits  of  the 
 question,  will  doubt,  that  had  there  been  lack  of  work 
 in  Africa  and  India,  the  newly-opened  Empire  oi China 
 would  alone  be  sufficient  to  absorb  the  combined  re- 
 sources of  both  European,  and  American  Missionary 
 Societies.  One  of  the  first  steps  then,  seems  to  be  to 
 prepare  the  net,  and  to  found  a  Society  to  which  we  may 
 confide  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  Mohammedans. 
 Many  individuals  are  no  doubt  willing  to  do  some- 
 thing, but  as  long  as  no  legitimate  instrumentality 
 is  appointed  by  which  single  efforts  can  be  properly 
 directed,  they  are  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  and  doing 
 nothing,  is  meanwhile  considered  excusable,  if  not 
 unavoidable. 
 
 12.  But  be  it  by  one  means  or  another,  the  work 
 must  be  done ;  and  every  soul  is  required  to  share  the 
 labour,  according  to  the  ability  which  God  has  given 
 him.  How  often  it  is  the  case,  that  individual  re- 
 sponsibility is  unfelt  when  the  duty  of  collective  bodies 
 is  enforced;  yet  is  it  not  just  through  the  members 
 that  the  body  performs  its  various  offices  and  func- 
 tions? In  like  manner,  the  individual  members  of  the 
 Church  are  destined  to  perform  the  work  of  the  Body 
 of  Christ ;  and  those  members  that  will  not  work  in- 
 dividually, but  wait  for  the  whole  body  to  move,  are 
 said  to  have  a  name  that  they  live,  but  are  dead. 
 Yet  how  frequently  it  happens ,  that  because  we 
 cannot  do  much,  or  everything,  as  individuals,  we  do 
 nothing  at  all,  and  thus  fall  into  the  condemnation 
 of  the  city  oi  Meroz,  Judg.  V.  23.  whose  inhabitants 
 
 HH» 
 
522  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [partH. 
 
 were  cursed  by  the  Angel  of  the  Lord;  not  because 
 they  were  wicked  as  Sodom,  or  hardened  Hke  Caper- 
 naum, but  because  they  did  7iothing,  and  "came  not 
 to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  against  the  mighty."  Now 
 Meroz  is  nowhere  besides  mentioned  in  the  Bible; 
 in  vain  do  we  look  for  it  in  any  profane  work  of  an- 
 tiquity, or  on  any  ancient  map  of  the  Holy  Land.  It 
 was  a  town  or  village  undoubtedly  small,  and  even 
 perhaps  ''least  among  the  thousands  of  Judah;"  yet, 
 little  as  was  its  strength ,  unknown  as  was  its  name 
 and  locality,  insignificant  as  was  its  position  and  in- 
 fluence in  the  world,  it  was  expected  to  do  something 
 for  Jehovah ;  and  because  the  inhabitants  delayed  in 
 coming,  wdien  there  was  a  general  call  for  all  true  Is- 
 raelites to  help,  they  w^ere  bitterly  cursed. 
 
 There  is  a  like  call  to  every  true  member  of  "the 
 Israel  that  now  is,"  to  come  and  work  in  behalf  of  the 
 180  millions  of  Mohammedans.  And  to  all  whose  spirit 
 the  Lord  has  at  any  time  stirred  up,  it  is  said,  "Yet 
 710W  he  strong,  O  Zeruhbahel,  saith  the  Lord,  and  he 
 strong,  O  Joi-Azm  son  of  Josedech,  the  high  priest;  and 
 he  strong,  all  ye  people  of  the  land,  saith  the  Lord,  and 
 work:  for  I  am  with  you,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts: 
 according  to  the  word ,  that  I  covenanted  with  you, 
 w^hen  ye  came  out  of  Eg^^it,  so  my  Spirit  remaineth 
 among  you;  fear  ye  not.  The  silver  is  mine,  and  the 
 gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Hagg.  n. 
 4—8. 
 
 The  chief  thing,  however,  is  yet  to  be  mentioned; 
 we  refer  to  the  work  of  prayer  and  faith.  Epaphras, 
 the  servant  of  Christ,  is  commended  for  "always  la- 
 
CHAP.  VI.]  AGENDA  OR  THINGS  TO  BE  DONE.  523 
 
 hour  in  g  fervently  in  prayers."'  Since  the  apocalyptic 
 woe  of  Islamism  was  ushered  into  the  world  by  "a 
 voice  from  the  golden  altar," — thereby  intimating,  that 
 there  no  longer  existed  a  sufficient  power  of  prayer 
 in  the  Church,  to  resist  the  breaking  in  of  that  dire- 
 ful judgment, — we  may  rest  assured,  that  nothing  can 
 be  done  towards  the  diminishing  of  this  antichristian 
 power,  except  every  effort  be  sustained  by  the  most 
 humble  and  confident  approaches  to  "the  throne  of 
 grace."  The  very  name  of  the  progenitor  of  the  people, 
 for  whom  we  are  to  labour  in  prayer,  contains  in 
 itself,  a  command  and  an  encouragement  to  pray;  as 
 well  as  a  distinct  promise  and  pledge,  that  ''God 
 ivill  heary'"^^  and  will  say  concerning  every  prayer 
 offered  up  in  his  behalf,  "as  for  Ishmael  I  have  heard 
 thee." 
 
 All  Missionary  work  is  of  necessity  a  work  of 
 faith,  and  can  only  prosper  in  an  atmosphere  of 
 prayer.  But  how  especially  is  this  the  case,  when 
 we  aim  at  the  conversion  of  the  Ishmaelites  and  the 
 destruction  of  Islamism!  As  therefore,  the  walls  of 
 this  spiritual  Jericho  can  only  fall  by  faith,  let  no 
 one  put  his  hand  to  this  work,  who  is  ignorant  of 
 the  true  secret  of  prayer;  and  who  has  not  "this 
 
 ^^  bt«?|W"^:,  Juut4-wwf,  'Irfnca]Xog,  Ishmael,  from  ywuj  fut.  yttU?: 
 and  5N,  God  shall  hear.  Hence  the  patronymic,  ■'^Ny'53^';  plur. 
 d-bMSTS^:,  "Ishmaelites"  Gen.  XXXVII.  25.  When  Abraham,  his 
 father,  had  cast  him  out,  and  when  Hagar,  his  mother,  had  "cast  him 
 tinder  one  of  the  shrubs"  in  the  scorching  desert,  to  let  him  die, 
 "God  heard  the  voice  of  the  lad,"  who,  having  ceased  to  mock,  like 
 Saul  of  Tarsus,  had  now  commenced  to  pray.  See  Act.  IX.  11.  Idov 
 yaQ  7i(jO(Jtvxerai. 
 
524  GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  AGENDA.  [part  Ih 
 
 confidence ,  that  if  we  ask  anything  according  to  His 
 will,  He  heareth  us:"  and  this  is  His  will,  —  that 
 "All  men  should  be  saved,  and  come  to  the  know- 
 ledge of  the  Truth." 
 
 THE  END. 
 
 -vi^^- 
 
 Errata. 
 
 Pag.  11 2,  note  89.  for  dLLo  read,  AJuJs  ^juo. 
 
 „  144,      „   20.  for  in  the  name,  read,  in  the  name. 
 „  145,     „   26.  for  narudtTaog  read,  naoadetdog. 
 
 ...  ^1"' 
 
 „  146,      „   29.  for  ^b  read,  ,j'j»- 
 
 „  149,      „   46.  for  N:'.n  read,  N^C-l. 
 
 „  157,      „   73.  for  --s;:  read,  2^-3^:. 
 
 „  161,     „  91.  for  "i'DS  read.  r^N.' 
 
 „  357,     „     6.  for  noaxXiaeig  read,  ngoay.h'ofts. 
 
 „  415,  line  14.  for  New  Testaments  read,  iSew  Testament, 
 
ite^'  iiiniffr 
 
 ^)  :i<>t^<Ql'UltawWJ