I
A great number of people in Asia and Africa and much of those in
Turkey in Europe profess the Mo-ham'me-dan religion. They are called
Mohammedans, Mus'sul-mans or Moslems; and the proper name for their
religion is "Islam," which means obedience, or submission.
The founder of this religion was a man named Mo-ham'med, or Ma-hom'et.
He was born in the year 570, in Mecca, a city of Arabia. His parents
were poor people, though, it is said, they were descended from
Arabian princes. They died when Mohammed was a child, and his uncle,
a kind-hearted man named A'bu-Ta-lïb', took him home and brought
him up.
When the boy grew old enough he took care of his uncle's sheep and
camels. Sometimes he went on journeys with his uncle to different
parts of Arabia, to help him in his business as a trader. On these
journeys Mohammed used to ride on a camel, and he soon became a
skillful camel-driver.
Mohammed was very faithful and honest in all his work. He always
spoke the truth and never broke a promise. "I have given my promise,"
he would say, "and I must keep it." He became so well known in
Mecca for being truthful and trustworthy that people gave him the
name of El Amin, which means "the truthful."
At this time he was only sixteen years of age; but the rich traders
had so much confidence in him that they gave him important business
to attend to, and trusted him with large sums of money. He often
went with caravans to a port on the shore of the Red Sea, sixty-five
miles from Mecca, and sold there the goods carried by the camels.
Then he guided the long line of camels back to Mecca, and faithfully
paid over to the owners of the goods the money he had received.
Mohammed had no school education. He could neither read nor write.
But he was not ignorant. He knew well how to do the work intrusted
to him, and was a first-rate man of business.