MOHAMMEDANISM.
Mohammed means "Praised One." One of the Mohammedan divines once spoke
in the presence of the writer of the similarity in the Arabic language
of "Ahamad" and the "Holy Spirit" and he claimed to believe that Ahamad
or Mohammed was the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised to send into the
world. When told in reply that Jesus promised to send the Comforter
into the world immediately after His departure, and that Mohammed did
not live until 570 years after Christ, the priest had no more to say.
This great prophet of the desert who converted the wild Arabs was born
about A.D. 570 at Mecca. He was the only child of Abdulla and his
mother Halima, both from the noble family of Koreish who claimed that
they were the descendants of Ismael and that their family was
hereditary guardians of the sacred Kaaba mosque in which was kept the
holy black stone worshipped by all Arabs.
The Moslems have many legends and traditions regarding the birth of
Mohammed. The sun moved from its place and gave a more brilliant light,
with the seven colors of the rainbow; the angels bowed themselves to
him and sung a new song in heaven; all the trees were shaken as by a
strong wind. He was born circumcised and with his navel cut. A seal of
prophecy was written on his back in letters of light. Immediately
prostrating himself on the ground he raised his hands and prayed. Three
persons as brilliant as the sun, one holding a silver goblet, another
an emerald tray and the third a silken towel appeared in company with
the angel Gabriel, the latter holding in his hand a knife. Gabriel cut
open the child's belly, the first angel poured cleansing water over the
child to wash away all sin, the second held the emerald tray beneath
him and the third dried him with the silken towel, and then all saluted
him and called him the "prince and savior of mankind." His father died
at the age of twenty-five years, before his son was born. He left his
widow five camels, a few goats and a slave girl, her name being Amina.
At the age of six years Mohammed had a fit of epilepsy. He frequently
fell down and foamed at the mouth, and snored like a camel. About this
time his mother died and he was reared by his grandfather
Abdul-mota-Kalib and his uncle Abu-ta-lif and nursed by his faithful
slave Amina. For a time he herded goats, a disreputable occupation
among Arabs. But he afterwards glorified in it, pointing to the example
of Moses and David and saying that God never called a prophet who had
not before been a shepherd. In appearance he was of medium size,
slender but broad-shouldered and of strong muscles, black eyes and
hair, white teeth, oval shaped face (which is now much praised among
Mohammedans), a long nose, patriarchal beard and a commanding look. His
step was quick and firm. He wore common garments of white cotton stuff,
and mended his own clothing and did everything possible for himself and
aided his wives in household affairs. He had fourteen wives besides
concubines. He possessed a vivid imagination and a genius for poetry
and religious doctrines, but was not learned and perhaps could not read
nor write.
He became servant for a very wealthy widow named Khadijah, and made
several caravan journeys for her to Syria and Palestine with great
success. Afterwards he won the heart of the widow and married her
against the will of her father. He was twenty-five years of age and the
widow was forty-five years old. Marriage proved happy and was fruitful
with four daughters and two sons, but all died except one little
daughter Fa-ti-ma. Mohammed adopted Ali, his nephew, and married his
daughter Fa-ti-ma to him. She became the mother of all the prophet's
descendants. Mohammed loved his first wife Kha-di-jah, was faithful to
her, and after her death always cherished her memory, as she was the
first person to believe in his doctrines.
On his journeys to Palestine and Syria he became acquainted with Jews
and Christians and got an imperfect knowledge of their religion and
traditions. At that time the Jews and Christians had scattered the
ideas of monotheism among the Arabs. Some of the Arabs were tired of
worshiping false idols and embraced the faith in one God. One of these
men was Mohammed. He became zealous to establish a religion throughout
Arabia, to teach and compel men to worship only one God and to
recognize himself as His only prophet. He spent many days and nights in
the caves of Mount Hira near Mecca in meditation and prayer. His
zealous efforts to establish his faith brought a return of the violent
convulsion and epileptic fits of earlier days, and his enemies said he
was possessed with demons. He started preaching to the ignorant classes
of Arabs teaching them that there was only one living God who created
heaven and earth and all mankind. In A.D. 610, his fortieth year he
claimed to have received a call from the angel Gabriel while in a
trance in Mount Hira, directing him to say: "In the name of God." Many
times after this first meeting he communicated with Gabriel in these
caves and saw many visions. Once when almost discouraged he waited for
further enlightenment in visions to qualify him for the duties of his
office as prophet--if not to commit suicide--when suddenly Gabriel, at
the end of the horizon appeared, saying: "I am Gabriel and thou art
Mohammed the prophet of God, fear not." After this assurance he
commenced his career as a prophet and founder of a new religion. His
doctrines were gathered from three religions, the Jewish, Christian and
Arabic. He taught that there is only one Allah--Almighty God,
ever-present and working will. Henceforth the revelations came from
time to time, sometimes like the sound of a bell conversing with him;
at other times Gabriel came down and spoke to him. For the first three
years he worked among his family. Kadijah was his first believer. His
father-in-law, Abi-Baker, Omar, a young energetic man, his daughter
Fatima, his son-in-law Ali and other faithful followers to the number
of forty, were the first disciples of this new religion, and were very
influential in spreading the same. Then he publicly announced that he
had a command from God, and had been given the divine office as prophet
and lawgiver. As his notoriety spread, pilgrims flocked to Mecca and he
preached to them attacking the idolatry of Mecca. When his enemies
demanded a miracle from him, he responded by producing the Koran leaf
by leaf as occasion demanded. He provoked persecution; and civil war
followed. In A.D. 622 he was forced to flee for his life from Mecca to
Medina, a distance of 250 miles. This flight is called Higira, meaning
the flight, (July 15, 622) from which the era of Islam begins.
In Medina he was generally accepted as a prophet of God. His method was
at first toleration. He said: "Let there be no compulsion in religion,"
but afterwards said: "All infidels must accept one God and Mohammed his
prophet. If men refuse, kill them, plunder their property and their
wives and daughters are for you." The wild Arabs were kindled by this
command. His followers were all robbers except some of the leaders. In
624 with an army of 305, all citizens of Medina, he gained a victory
over his strong enemy, Koreish, whose army was double the size of
Mohammed's. By other engagements he rapidly conquered Jews and
Christians. After one battle 600 Jews were massacred at his order and
their wives and daughters were made slaves. In 627 he triumphantly
entered Mecca and in 630 he demolished 360 idols; then Koreish, a
leading tribe, shouted "There is but one God and Mohammed is His
prophet." Ten years after Higira, with 40,000 Moslems he made his last
journey to Mecca, and subdued all Arabia. Upon returning to Medina, he
died in his home and in the arms of Ayesha his favorite wife, June 8th,
632, at the age of sixty-three years.
When on his death-bed and suffering extreme pain and anguish his
friends expressed surprise that a great prophet should suffer so. He
called their attention to the fact that one prophet of olden times was
eaten by worms, while another was so poor as to have only a rag to
cover his shame, and stated that a prophet is not rewarded here but
hereafter. His last words were a prayer for the destruction of all Jews
and Christians because they were so hard to convert. He prayed, "O Lord
let not my tomb be an object of worship. Let there remain only one
faith, that of Islam, in all Arabia. Gabriel come near me, Lord pardon
me, grant me joy, accept me into thy companionship on high, etc."
Mohammed did not claim the power of performing miracles but since his
death some of his followers have attributed miracles to him such as,
when walking the streets, trees and stones would salute him; he caused
a flood of water to spring up from dry ground; he rode on his horse
Borak through air from Medina to Mecca, Jerusalem to paradise and to
the heavenly mansions and again came back to Mecca. The only miracle
Mohammed himself claimed was the revelation of Koran.
HIS CHARACTER.
Some people have the impression that Mohammed was a man of good
character and great simplicity. Possibly this was true of him in the
earlier part of his life, but he degenerated as Solomon, but unlike the
wise preacher of "vanity" he never repented. Mohammed was a slave of
sensual passion. The doctrine of polygamy which he taught was the
result of his own sensuality. Ayesha his favorite wife said: "The
prophet loves three things, women, perfumes and food." He, at the age
of fifty-three years, married this woman when she was at the age of
nine years. Again he claimed to have a special revelation from heaven
to marry Zey-nab the wife of his adopted son. To gratify this wish, it
was necessary for Zeyd, his faithful son, to get a divorce from
Zey-nab.
THE CONQUEST OF ISLAM.
"The secret of success for Islam is in the sword," said Mohammed. His
faith teaches that one drop of blood shed for Allah, or God, avails
more than all prayer, fastings and sacrifices. One night spent in the
holy armies of Islam will be rewarded by Allah more than human reason
can think. Everyone that falls in battle is received in heaven as a
martyr and rewarded for his devotion to the faith. After Mohammed's
death, his successor became aggressive as his forces grew stronger. His
command to his armies was: "Before you is paradise, behind you is
hell." Inspired by this belief, the wild and superstitious Arabs rushed
forward and subdued Syria, Palestine and Egypt. The churches in the
large cities of these lands were converted into mosques for the worship
of Mohammed. In 668 and 717 they besieged Constantinople and in 707
subdued the northern provinces of Africa. In 711 they established a
Califat in Spain at Cordova. The Arabs crossed the Pyrenees and made
the threat that they would soon stable their horses in St. Paul's
cathedral at Rome. But they were defeated by Charles Martel in 732.
Ferdinand drove them out of Spain into Africa. In the East the Moslems
had, in the ninth century subdued Persia, Afghan, Bloogiston, a large
part of India, also a large part of Brahmanism and Buddhism. The Turks
were conquered in the eleventh century; the Mongols in the thirteenth
century. Constantinople fell into the hands of the unspeakable Turks in
1453. The magnificent church of St. Sophia in which Chrysostom preached
the gospel with a fiery tongue and many church fathers chanted in it
the true Word of God was converted into a mosque. To-day the Koran is
read there in instead of the gospel. The Sultan occupies the throne of
Constantine and calls himself the "shadow of Almighty," boasts in his
fanatical religion, and scorns Christian powers. On the other hand the
Christian powers look at him with the cold spirit of Christianity but I
believe the time will come and is near when the Gospel will be preached
again in the church of St. Sophia instead of the Koran.