=Mohammed.=—Mohammed—the Praised—as his name implies, was born in Mecca
in the year 570 of the Christian era.[26] The foundation of this city
lies in the dim past. It was held by many tribes before it came into the
possession of the Koreish, the noblest of them all. Its famous temple,
now the holy shrine of the Kaaba, gave it pre-eminence over all the
cities of Arabia, and made it the commercial and religious capital of the
peninsula. At the time of the Prophet’s birth, the government of Mecca
was vested in a Decemvirate, of which his grandfather was the chief.
Mohammed’s father died before his birth; his mother when he was only six
years old.
The doubly orphaned child, bereft of all that parental tenderness which
forms the blessing of early childhood remained in his grandfather’s
charge for three years, when the death of the venerable patriarch threw
him on the care of his uncle—Abû Tâlib. Mohammed spent his youth as a
member of Abû Tâlib’s family.
=His Love of Solitude and Communion with God.=—Fond of solitude, he spent
many an hour in the desert in communion with the mighty living Soul of
the Universe. Deeply versed in the language of nature, ‘the signs of God’
around him, and the folklore and traditions of the people amongst whom he
lived, education in the conventional sense of the term he had none. And
the proud title of the ‘Unlearned Prophet’ was ever his.
Thus the orphan son of Âmina, the sweet lady with the sweet name, which
to this day evokes a pathetic remembrance in the heart of every Moslem,
grew from infancy to youth, and from youth to manhood with many thoughts
in his mind, brooding over the moral desolation that surrounded him,—for
his people were sunk in the grossest idolatry, wedded to outrageous
practices, given over to female infanticide. The religion and ways of
their Jewish and Christian neighbours were equally debased, barbarous,
and inhuman. In early manhood he made two journeys to Syria, where was
opened before him a page which naturally revolted a sensitive mind. He
found Christian sects rending each other to pieces; he saw the effect
of incessant wars and strifes on the people, their utter misery and
degradation. And he returned filled with pity and disgust.
=Marriage with Khadîja.=—In his twenty-fifth year he married Khadîja, a
widow of noble birth and much wealth, fifteen years his senior in age.
His marriage lifted him above the ordinary cares of this world. But
it did more. It gave him not only a loved wife, but a devoted friend
who brought him solace when he needed it most on his return torn and
distressed from his solitary meditations; who gave him comfort when
hunted by his enemies, who ever stood by his side in the darkest hours of
his ministry.
=Wins the Title of al-Amîn or the Trusty.=—For fifteen years he
thus lived leading a life which won him the love and respect of his
towns-folk, who, in their admiration for his character, bestowed on him
the title of _al-Amîn_—the Trusty. He spent most of his time in solitude,
in meditation, and musing. When ‘the Call’ came he was frightened.
Returning to his wife he told her the story of his vision, of his agony
at the thought that he was losing his mind. Her belief that he was to be
the destined Messenger of God to his people was balm to his heart; and
brought back the faith, the hope, the trust in God’s merciful Providence
and love for mankind. One night, when lying wrapt in thought, the Voice
of God spoke to his soul in unmistakable notes.
Henceforth his life is a record of unceasing struggle to reclaim the
Koreish and the surrounding people from idolatry and the practices of
heathenism, to teach them their duty to God and man. The first to accept
his mission were his beloved wife, his cousin Ali, the son of Abû Tâlib,
his uncle, the brave and chivalrous Hamza, the faithful Abû Bakr, and
several other men and women who knew him intimately and loved and revered
him. Most of them were people of position, wealth, and intelligence;
others were simple, honest folk in the lower walks of life.[27] They
were followed by Omar, at one time a staunch opponent, but after his
conversion a pillar of strength to the new Faith.
=Beginning of Persecution.=—Mohammed’s preachings evoked a furious
outburst of persecution against him and his followers, but he did not
falter in his purpose or flinch from the task God had imposed on him.
When the sufferings of his disciples became unbearable, he advised them
to seek refuge in the kingdom of the Negus, of whose tolerance and
hospitality he had heard reports. Some immediately availed themselves of
the advice and betook themselves to Abyssinia. But Koreishite hostility
pursued them even here. When the Meccan envoys arrived to demand the
delivery of the refugees, that they might be put to death for abjuration
of their old religion, the Negus sent for the exiles and asked them
whether the charge was true. The reply of the brother of Ali, who was
spokesman, is memorable in the history of Islâm. ‘O king, we were
plunged in the depth of ignorance and barbarism; we adored idols, we
lived in unchastity; we ate dead bodies and we spoke abominations; we
disregarded every feeling of humanity and the duties of hospitality and
neighbourhood; we knew no law but that of the strong, when God raised
among us a man of whose birth, truthfulness, honesty, and purity we
were aware; and he called us to the Unity of God, and taught us not to
associate anything with Him; he forbade us the worship of idols; and
enjoined us to speak the truth, to be faithful to our trusts, to be
merciful and to regard the rights of neighbours; he forbade us to speak
evil of women, or to eat the substance of orphans; he ordered us to fly
from vices and to abstain from evil; to offer prayers, to render alms, to
observe the fast. We have believed in him; we accept his teachings and
his injunctions to worship God and not to associate anything with Him.
For this reason our people have risen against us, have persecuted us in
order to make us forego the worship of God and to return to the worship
of idols of wood and stone and other abominations. They have tortured us
and injured us, until finding no safety among them we have come to thy
country.’
Whilst his disciples were seeking shelter in distant lands, Mohammed
remained steadfast at his post. Undeterred by the cruelties to which
he was subjected, he preached unceasingly amongst the Meccans and the
outsiders who came to the city on business or pilgrimage. He adjured them
‘by the noon-day brightness, by the night when she spreadeth her veil, by
the day when it appeareth in glory,’ by all the manifestations of nature
as the evidences of God, to abandon their evil ways and abominations. He
told them of ‘the day of reckoning when the deeds done by man in this
world shall be weighed before the Eternal Judge, when the children who
had been buried alive shall be asked for what crime they had been put
to death, and when Heaven and Earth shall be folded up and none be near
but God.’[28] The Koreish came several times to tempt him from his duty.
They offered him wealth, even to make him their king, to induce him to
desist from attacking their ancient deities and their old institutions.
His refusal to listen to their messages made them still more furious.
=Is Driven out of Tâyef.=—Finding the Koreish obdurate, he proceeded to
the neighbouring city of Tâyef, hoping to find the people there more
willing to give heed to his preachings. He found them even more bigoted
than the Meccans; they pelted him with stones and drove him from their
midst. Wounded and bleeding, Mohammed returned to pursue his mission in
his native city. His persistence led the Koreish to plan his murder. In
the meantime came an invitation to him from the rival city of Yathreb
to the north, some of whose inhabitants had already accepted Islâm. And
there he and his followers betook themselves for safety.
=The Hegira.=—On the 16th of July 622 A.C. the Prophet, accompanied by
Abû Bakr, left Mecca; and after three days wandering attended with many
dangers from the pursuing Koreish, enraged at his escape, they reached
Yathreb. This is the _Hijrat_, the exile of the Prophet.
Before this happened, the devoted and loving Khadîja had died. She had
borne him several children: the sons all died in infancy. Three daughters
survived. The youngest, Fâtima (_az-zahra_—the Beautiful), ‘Our Lady,’
married Ali, and from her are descended the nobility of Islâm, the
‘Syeds’ and ‘Sherifs.’[29]
=Mohammed at Medîna.=—At Yathreb the Teacher was received with wonderful
enthusiasm; the city changed its name and was henceforth the City of the
Prophet—_Medînat-un-Nabi_, or shortly Medîna. Special homes were allotted
to the exiles—the _Muhâjirîn_; whilst the Medinites received the noble
designation of Helpers—the _Ansâr_. A new brotherhood was created which
united the Exiles and the Helpers by a tie stronger than the tie of
blood—as many a later page in the history of Islâm proves.
=Mohammed’s Charter.=—Mohammed was now not merely a prophet, a preacher
of glad tidings, but the unanimously elected chief magistrate of a
prosperous city. His first act was to issue a charter defining the
duties of the citizens, and the obligations of the allied Jews who lived
in the neighbourhood, forbidding intestine warfare and bloodshed which
had hitherto torn Yathreb to pieces, and requiring all disputes to be
referred to the decision of the Prophet.[30]
=Beginning of the Commonwealth of Islâm.=—This was the beginning of the
Commonwealth of Islâm. A humble, unpretentious place of worship was
erected where Mohammed preached to enthusiastic throngs on charity,
brotherhood, and the duty man owed to God and his fellow creatures.
In conjunction with other tribes the Meccans made several attempts to
capture Medîna. They even seduced the neighbouring Jews to assist in
the design. The attacks were repulsed, and the safety of Medîna and the
progress of the new Gospel were permanently assured. The refractory and
treacherous Jewish clans were ordered to quit the Medinite territories;
one which had nearly brought destruction on the Moslems was more severely
dealt with. Expeditions were now sent out to repress the raids of hostile
tribes, and to punish crimes against unoffending people. They were
enjoined ‘in no case to use deceit or perfidy, or to kill a woman or
a child.’ They were told, ‘in avenging the injuries inflicted upon us,
molest not the harmless inmates of domestic seclusion, spare the weakness
of the female sex, injure not the infant at the breast or those who are
ill in bed. Abstain from demolishing the dwellings of the unresisting
inhabitants; destroy not the means of their subsistence, nor their fruit
trees, and touch not the palm.’
=Charter to the Christians.=—In the ninth year of the Hegira, the Prophet
granted to the Christians a charter which forms one of the noblest
monuments of enlightened tolerance: ‘To the Christians of Najrân and
the neighbouring territories the security of God and the pledge of
His Prophet are extended for their lives, their religion, and their
property—to the present as well as the absent and others besides; there
shall be no interference with [the practice of] their faith or their
observances; nor any change in their rights or privileges; no bishop
shall be removed from his bishopric; nor any monk from his monastery,
nor any priest from his priesthood, and they shall continue to enjoy
everything great and small as heretofore; no image or cross shall be
destroyed; they shall not oppress or be oppressed; they shall not
practise the rights of blood vengeance as in the Days of Ignorance;[31]
no tithes shall be levied from them, nor shall they be required to
furnish provision for the troops.’
=Truce with the Meccans.=—After great difficulty, a truce of ten years
was concluded with the Meccans. The Exiles seized the occasion to perform
the time-honoured pilgrimage to the Kaaba. To avoid coming in contact
with the hated Faithful, the heathen Koreish retired to the hills, whence
they watched the large concourse that came with the Prophet to visit
the Holy Shrine. The simple dignity and benevolence of Mohammed, the
quietness and purity of behaviour of his followers perceptibly affected
the Koreish; and before he left Mecca many came and accepted the Faith.
The same old pledge which had been exacted from the early converts was
taken from them. ‘They would not associate anything with God; they would
not commit larceny, adultery, or infanticide; they would not utter
falsehood, nor speak evil.’
=Embassies to Heraclius and the Chosroes.=—On his return from the
pilgrimage, Mohammed sent envoys to Heraclius the Emperor of the Greeks,
and to the Chosroes of Persia to invite them to Islâm. Heraclius
returned a polite reply; whilst the proud Persian tore the missive to
pieces and drove the messenger from his presence with contumely. ‘Thus
will the empire of the Khusrû [the Chosroes] be torn asunder,’ remarked
the Prophet on hearing of the incident. The fate of Persia is engraved on
the pages of history.[32]
Hardly a year was over before the Meccans broke the truce by murdering a
number of tribesmen allied to the Medinites. The reign of iniquity had
lasted long enough, and the time had arrived when the paganism of Mecca
should come to an end.
=Conquest of Mecca.=—In 630 A.C. the Prophet marched with ten thousand
men on the city from which he and his followers had been so cruelly
driven only nine years before. The proud Koreish were thoroughly
demoralised at the rapid approach of the Moslems and offered slight
resistance. The people who had pursued Mohammed with unrelenting hatred,
had subjected him and his followers to a fierce persecution, and had
all this time endeavoured by every means to compass their destruction,
were now at his mercy. But in the moment of the Faith’s triumph every
injury was forgotten, and the Koreish were treated with a kindness and
generosity which have but few parallels in history. Not a house was
robbed, not a citizen molested. The idols of the nation were, however,
relentlessly struck down. Weeping the heathens stood round, fully hoping
that the sacrilegious Moslems would be overwhelmed with some dire
calamity. But as one idol after another fell to pieces and no help came
from outside to stop the hands of the iconoclasts, they felt the force of
the words at which they were used to scoff: ‘Truth has come and falsehood
vanisheth, for verily it is evanescent.’ And they adopted Islâm in a body.
=Year of Deputations.=—The ninth year of the Hegira is famous in
the annals of Islâm for the number of deputations that arrived at
Medîna from all quarters to accept the Faith. They were received with
consideration and treated with hospitality. A written treaty guaranteeing
the privileges of the tribes was always granted to the deputies, who
went back to their homes accompanied by a disciple to teach the newly
converted people the duties of Islâm. To the missionaries whom he sent
to the provinces, Mohammed always gave the following admonition. ‘Deal
gently with the people, and be not harsh, cheer them, and contemn them
not. And ye will meet with many people of the Book[33] who will question
thee, ‘What is the key to Heaven?’ Reply to them, ‘The key to Heaven is
to testify to the truth of God, and to do good work.’
=The Final Pilgrimage.=—In the year 632 A.C., Mohammed, accompanied by
over one hundred thousand of his followers, made a final pilgrimage to
the Kaaba.
=The Sermon on the Mount.=—On this occasion standing on the Mount of
Arafât he delivered to the vast multitude his famous sermon, only part of
which has been preserved:—
‘Ye people! listen to my words, for I know not whether another year will
be vouchsafed to me after this year to find myself amongst you. Your
lives and property are sacred and inviolable amongst one another until
ye appear before the Lord, as this day and this month is sacred for all;
and remember ye shall have to appear before your Lord, who shall demand
from you an account of all your actions. Ye people, ye have rights over
your wives, and your wives have rights over you ... treat your wives with
kindness ... verily ye have taken them on the security of God, and made
them lawful unto you by the words of God.
‘And your bondsmen and bondswomen. See that ye feed them with such food
as ye eat yourselves, and clothe them with the stuff ye wear; and if they
commit a fault which ye are not inclined to forgive, then part from them,
for they are the servants of the Lord, and are not to be harshly treated.
‘Ye people! listen to my words, and understand the same. Know that all
Moslems are brothers unto one another. Ye are one brotherhood. Nothing
which belongs to another is lawful unto his brother, unless freely given
out of good will. Guard yourselves from committing injustice.
‘Let him that is present tell it unto him that is absent. Haply he that
shall be told may remember better than he who hath heard it.’
=The Last Days of the Prophet.=—On his return to Medîna he settled
the organisation of the provinces and the tribal communities. Whilst
delegates were despatched to every quarter to teach the people the
principles and duties of the Faith, to put an end to blood-feud,
infanticide, and the practices of heathenism.
The stress and strain of twenty-five years’ incessant labour was now
telling on a constitution which was by no means robust. Ever since he
had come to Medîna he had been engaged in an unceasing struggle with
paganism, a struggle in which was involved the very existence of the
little community over whom he was called to preside—a struggle from
which, says the Moslem, divine help alone enabled him to emerge with
safety. At the end, when success had crowned his ministry, and he saw
the hosts of Arabia flocking to the fold of God, it left him exhausted;
he felt that his work was finished and the end was near. Had it not been
told him, ‘When thou seest men enter in hosts the religion of God, then
utter thou the praise of thy Lord and implore His pardon, for He loveth
to turn in mercy to those who seek Him.’[34] The poison given to him
some years before by a Jewess was also undermining the system. But up
to the last he maintained his usual calmness and serenity of mind; and
officiated at the public prayers until within three days of his death.
The last time he appeared at the public service amidst the tears and
sobs of the people, he recommended to all the observance of religious
duties, and the practice of peace and good-will. He implored Heaven’s
mercy for all those present, and all who had fallen in the persecution
of their enemies, and concluded with the following words of the Koran,
‘The dwelling of the other life we will give unto them who do not seek
to exalt themselves on earth or to do wrong; for the happy issue shall
attend the pious.’
The exertion, however, was too much for the feeble frame, and on his
return to his apartments he lay down fainting on his bed, never to rise
again.
=Death of the Prophet, 632 A.C.=—On Monday the 8th of June 632 A.C.,
whilst praying in whispers, the spirit of the Prophet took flight to ‘the
blessed companionship on high,’ the last words which fell from his lips.
Thus disappeared from the scene one of the greatest, if not in very truth
the greatest, of God’s servants, who have lived and worked for the good
of mankind. He found the bulk of his own people sunk in the grossest
fetishism, decimated by tribal feuds, addicted to infanticide and the
worst forms of pagan practices. Here and there individuals had broken
away from the old cults, but were still groping in darkness in search
of the road to truth and salvation, unsatisfied spirits to whom neither
Judaism nor Christianity brought any solution to the enigmas of life.
In less than a decade he not only stamped out the pagan ways and habits
which held the heart of Arabia, but infused into his folk a new life,
imparted to them a new conception of duty, of moral responsibilities of
which they had been wholly devoid before. The beneficence of his work
was not confined to his own countrymen. His words revived the religious
spirit of surrounding nations, whose moral abasement was equally
deplorable.
=Mohammed’s Character.=—Mohammed’s character has been described by many
hands in the West, mostly hostile. The picture is naturally not always
friendly. People do not easily put aside prejudices born of centuries
of political and religious antagonism. It may, therefore, be of some
interest to know the estimate of the Arabian Teacher formed by his
immediate followers and disciples, many of whom were unquestionably men
of great intelligence and moral vigour, who readily sacrificed for his
Teachings, at a time when he was only a humble and persecuted preacher,
wealth, position, and influence, and who, by their character and
environment, were not likely to be influenced by light or common worldly
motives.
His singular elevation of mind, his extreme delicacy and refinement of
feeling, his purity and truth, form the constant theme of the traditions.
Courteous to the great, affable to the humble, indulgent to his
inferiors, he won the love and admiration of all with whom he came in
contact.
The humble preacher had risen to be the arbiter of the destinies of a
nation, but the same humility of spirit, the same nobility of soul,
austerity of conduct and stern devotion to duty, which had won him
from his compatriots the designation of _al-Amîn_, ever formed the
distinguishing traits of his character. Whilst the virtual ruler of
Arabia, the equal of Chosroes and the Cæsars, ‘he visited the sick,
followed any bier he met, accepted the invitation of the lowliest, mended
his own clothes, milked his goats, and waited upon himself.’
‘He never first withdrew his hand out of another’s clasp and turned not
before the other had turned. His hand was the most generous, his breast
the most courageous, his tongue the most truthful; those who saw him were
filled with reverence, those who came near him loved him. Modesty and
kindness, patience, self-denial, and generosity pervaded his conduct and
riveted the affections of all round him. With the bereaved and afflicted
he sympathised tenderly ... he would stop in the streets listening to the
sorrows of the humblest. He would go to the houses of the lowliest to
console the stricken and comfort the heartbroken.’[35]
‘There is something so tender and womanly and withal so heroic about
the man,’ says Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, ‘that one is in peril of finding
the judgment unconsciously blinded by the feeling of reverence and
well nigh love that such a nature inspires. He who, standing alone,
braved for years the hatred of his people, is the same who was never
the first to withdraw his hand from another’s clasp; the beloved of
children, who never passed a group of little ones without a smile from
his wonderful eyes and a kind word for them, sounding all the kinder in
that sweet-toned voice. The frank friendship, the noble generosity, the
dauntless courage and hope of the man, all tend to melt criticism in
admiration.’
‘He was an enthusiast, in that noblest sense when enthusiasm becomes the
salt of the earth, the one thing that keeps men from rotting whilst they
live.... He was an enthusiast when enthusiasm was the one thing needed to
set the world aflame, and his enthusiasm was noble for a noble cause. He
was one of those happy few who have attained the supreme joy of making
one great truth their very life-spring. He was the messenger of the One
God; and never to his life’s end did he forget who he was, or the message
which was the marrow of his being. He brought his tidings to his people
with a grand dignity sprung from the consciousness of his high office,
together with the most sweet humility, whose roots lay in the knowledge
of his own weakness.’