PART I

Chapters I to XVI

INTRODUCTION.

BEFORE entering upon an intelligent study of the Qur'ân it is necessary to make oneself acquainted with the circumstances of the people in whose midst it was revealed, with the political and religious aspects of the period, and with the personal history of the prophet himself.

Arabia or Gazîrat el 'Arab, 'the Arabian Peninsula,' as it is called by native writers, is bounded on the west by the Red Sea; on the east by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; on the south by the Indian Ocean; and on the north it extends to the confines of Babylonia and Syria.

The Arabs were divided into those of the desert and those of the towns.

The first were settled in the sterile country of the Higâz, and the no less barren highlands of Negd.

The principalities bordering on Syria and Persia were vassals of the Roman and Persian empires; the kingdom of Himyar in Yemen, to the south of the Peninsula, was in free communication with the rest of the world; but the Higâz, 'the barrier,' had effectually resisted alike the curiosity and the attacks of the nations who fought around it for the empire of the world. Persia, Egypt, Rome, Byzantium had each unsuccessfully essayed to penetrate the country and conquer its hardy inhabitants.

The Higâz consists of the barren ranges of hills which lead up from the lowlands on the Eastern coast of the Red Sea to the highlands of Negd. In its valleys lie the holy cities of Mecca and Medînah, and here was the birthplace of el Islâm.

The Arabs of the desert preserved almost intact the manners, customs, and primeval simplicity of the early patriarchs.

They lived in tents made of hair or woollen cloth, and

their principal wealth consisted in their camels, horses, and male and female slaves.

They were a nomad race, changing their residence to the various places within their own territory, which afforded the best pasturage as the seasons came round.

Brave and chivalrous, the Arab was always ready to defend the stranger who claimed his protection, while he would stand by a member of his own clan and defend him with his life, whether he were right or wrong. This devotion to the tribe was one of the strongest characteristics of the Arabs, and must be borne in mind if we would understand aright the early history of Islam.

They were generous and hospitable to a fault, and many a tale is told of a chief who gave away his last camel, or slew his favourite horse to feed a guest, while he and his family were well-nigh left to starve.

Pride of birth was their passion, and poetry their greatest delight; their bards recited the noble pedigrees and doughty deeds of their tribes,-as their own proverb has it, 'the registers of the Arabs are the verses of their bards,'-and in the numerous ancient poems still extant we have invaluable materials for the history of the race.

But their vices were as conspicuous as their virtues, and drunkenness, gambling, and the grossest immorality were very prevalent amongst them. Robbery and murder were their ordinary occupations, for an Arab looked on work or agriculture as beneath his dignity, and thought that he had a prescriptive right to the property of those who condescended to such mean offices. The death of an Arab, however, was revenged with such rigour and vindictiveness by the fierce laws of the blood feud, that a certain check was placed upon their bloodthirsty propensities even in their wars; and these were still further tempered by the institution of certain sacred months, during which it was unlawful to fight or pillage. Cruel, and superstitious too, they were, and amongst the inhuman customs which Mohammed swept away, none is more revolting than that, commonly practised by them, of burying their female children alive.

The position of women amongst them was not an elevated one, and although there are instances on record of heroines and poetesses who exalted or celebrated the honour of their clan, they were for the most part looked on with contempt. The marriage knot was tied in the simplest fashion and untied as easily, divorce depending only on the option, and caprice of the husband.

As for government they had, virtually, none; the best born and bravest man was recognised as head of the tribe, and led them to battle; but he had no personal authority over them, and no superiority but that of the admiration which his bravery and generosity gained for him.

The religion of the Arabs was Sabæanism, or the worship of the hosts of heaven, Seth and Enoch being considered as the prophets of the faith.

This cult no doubt came from Chaldea, and the belief in the existence of angels, which they also professed, is trace-able to the same source. Their practice of making the circuit of the holy shrines, still continued as part of the 'Hagg ceremonies, probably also arose from this planetary worship.

The comparatively simple star-worship of the Sabæans was, however, greatly corrupted; and a number of fresh deities, superstitious practices, and meaningless rites had been introduced.

The strange sounds that often break the terrible stillness of the desert; the sudden storms of sand or rain that in a moment cover the surface of a plain, or change a dry valley into a roaring torrent; these and a thousand other such causes naturally produce a strong effect upon an imagination quickened by the keen air and the freedom of the desert.

The Arab, therefore, peopled the vast solitudes amidst which he dwelt with supernatural beings, and fancied that every rock, and tree, and cavern had its ginn or presiding genius. These beings were conceived to be both beneficent and malevolent, and were worshipped to propitiate their help or avert their harm. From the worship of these personifications

of the powers of nature to that of the presiding genius of a tribe or of a place, is an easy transition, and we accordingly find that each tribe had its patron deity with the cult of which their interests were intimately bound up. The chief god of this vague national cult was Allâh, and most tribes set up a shrine for him as well as for their own particular deity. The offerings dedicated to the former were set apart for the advantage of the poor and of strangers, while those brought to the local idol were reserved for the use of the priests. If Allâh had by any chance anything better than the inferior deity, or a portion of his offerings fell into the lot of the local idol, the priests at once appropriated it; this practice is reprehended by Mohammed in the Qur'ân (VI, ver. 137).

The principal deities of the Arab pantheon were-Allâh ta'âlah, the God most high.

Hubal, the chief of the minor deities; this was in the form of a man. It was brought from Syria, and was supposed to procure rain.

Wadd, said to have represented the heaven, and to have been worshipped under the form of a man.

Suwâ'h, an idol in the form of a woman, and believed to be a relic of antediluvian times.

YaghûTH, an idol in the shape of a lion.

Ya'ûq, worshipped under the figure of a horse.

Nasr, which was, as the name implies, worshipped under the semblance of an eagle.

El 'Huzzâ, identified with Venus, but it appears to have been worshipped under the form of an acacia tree, cf. note 2, p. 132.

Allât; the chief idol of the tribe of THaqîf at Tâ'if, who endeavoured to make it a condition of surrender to Mohammed that he should not destroy it for three years, and that their territory should be considered sacred like that of Mecca, a condition which the prophet peremptorily refused. The name appears to be the feminine of Allâh.

Manât, worshipped in the form of a large sacrificial stone by several tribes, including that of HuDHeil.

Duwâr, a favourite idol with the young women, who used to go in procession round it, whence its name.

Isâf, an idol that stood on Mount Zafâ.

Naïla, an image on Mount Marwâ.

The last two were such favourite objects of worship that, although Mohammed ordered them to be destroyed, he was not able entirely to divert the popular regard from them, and the visitation of Zafâ and Marwâ are still an important part of the 'Hagg rites.

'Hab'hab was a large stone upon which camels were slaughtered.

El 'Huzzâ, Allât, and Manât are mentioned by name in the Qur'ân, see Chapter LIII, vers. 19-20.

The Kaabah, or chief shrine of the faith, contained, besides these, images representing Abraham and Ishmael, each with divining arrows in his hand, and a statue or picture representing the virgin and child.

There were altogether 365 idols there in Mohammed's time.

Another object of worship then, and of the greatest veneration now, is the celebrated black stone which is inserted in the wall of the Kaabah, and is supposed to have been one of the stones of Paradise, originally white, though since blackened by the kisses of sinful but believing lips.

The worship of stones is a very old form of Semitic cult, and it is curious to note that Jacob 'took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it; and he called the name of the place Bethel ¹:' and that at Mecca the principal object of sacred interest is a stone, and that the Kaabah has been known, from time immemorial, as Bâit allâh, the house of God.'

The ginn, like the angels, were held by the ancient Arabs to be the daughters of Allâh; they were supposed to be created out of fire instead of clay, but in all other respects to resemble mankind, and to be subject to the same laws of procreation and decease.

Mohammed believed that he was sent as an apostle to both men and ginns, and Sarah LXXII contains an allusion to a vision in which he beheld a multitude of the ginns bowing in adoration and listening to the message which man had disdainfully refused.

Witches and wizards were also believed to exist, that is, persons who had contrived to subject one or more of these supernatural powers by spells, of which the holy name was the most powerful.

Two fallen angels, Hârût and Mârût, confined in a pit at Babylon, where they are hung by their heels in chains until the judgment day, are always ready to instruct men in the magical art.

The belief in Allah himself was little more than a reminiscence, and as he had no priesthood, and was not the patron of any particular tribe, his supremacy was merely nominal.

The belief in a future life had not as yet taken a definite hold on the people, and the few who, following the old savage plan, buried a camel with its master or tied it up to die of hunger at his grave, so that he might not be obliged, to enter the next world on foot, probably did it rather from custom than from a belief in its real significance.

In short, the Arab of Mohammed's time was what the Bedawi of to-day is, indifferent to religion itself, but using a few phrases and practising, in a merely perfunctory manner, a few observances which his forefathers had handed down to him.

Christianity had already established itself in Arabia. In Yemen, the city of Nagrân had become the seat of a Christian bishopric, and some of the more important tribes, like Kindeh and Ghassân, had embraced Christianity, which was also the religion of most of the Arabs of Syria.

But it had not penetrated deeply into their hearts, and its miracles, its doctrine of the Trinity, and the subtle disputes of monophysites and monothelites were absolutely incomprehensible to them.

Judaism was more in accordance with their habits and traditions: a number of Jews had found their way into the

country after the repression of the revolt against the emperor Adrian, and had made numerous converts. Their creed, however, being based on the idea that they alone are the chosen people, was too exclusive for the majority of the Arabs, while the numerous and vexatious restrictions of its ritual and regulations for every-day life were but ill suited to the free and restless spirit of the soils of the desert.

At the time of Mohammed's appearance the national religion of the Arabs, had so far degenerated as to have scarcely any believers. The primeval Sabæanism was all but lost, and even the worship of the powers of nature had become little more than a gross fetishism; as one of Mohammed's contemporaries said, when they found a fine stone they adored it, or, failing that, milked a camel over a heap of sand and worshipped that.

But by far the greater number had ceased to believe in anything at all; the pilgrimages, sacrifices, and worship of the tribal idols were still kept up, but rather for political and commercial reasons than as a matter of faith or conviction. Some, indeed, did consult the oracles, or vow an offering to their god in case of some desired event coming to pass; but, if their hopes were disappointed, the deity was assailed with childish abuse, while, if they succeeded, the vow was evaded by some less expensive sacrifice.

Yet the mere existence amongst them of Christians and of Jews caused the monotheistic idea to attract the attention of some of the more earnest and enquiring minds.

Amongst those who had endeavoured to search for the truth among the mass of conflicting dogmas and superstitions of the religions that surrounded them were Waraqah, the prophet's cousin, and Zeid ibn 'Amr, surnamed 'the Enquirer.'

These enquirers were known as 'Hanîfs, a word which originally meant 'inclining one's steps towards anything,' and therefore signified either convert or pervert.

They did not constitute a united party, but each for himself investigated the truth. There was, however, another

sect who professed to have found the truth, and who preached the faith of their father Abraham, nothing more nor less, in fact, than the doctrine of the unity of God. These also called themselves 'Hanîfs, and Mohammed himself at first adopted the title as expressing the faith of Abraham ¹, but subsequently changed it to Muslim.

The chief seat of the cult of the deities of Arabia was Mecca, also called Bekka, both names signifying a place of concourse; another name of the city is Umm el Qurâ, 'the mother of cities,' or metropolis. It was built about the middle of the fifth century of our era by the Qurâis on their obtaining possession of the Kaabah, the most ancient shrine in the country. It is situated in a narrow sandy valley shut in by bare mountains. The soil around the city is stony and unproductive, and the inhabitants are obliged to import their own provisions. To furnish this supply with more regularity Hâshim, Mohammed's grandfather, appointed two caravans, one in winter and the other in summer, to set out yearly; they are mentioned in the Qur'ân, Chapter CVI.

The territory of Mecca was held sacred; it was a sanctuary for man and beast, since it was unlawful to take any life there save those of the animals brought thither for sacrifice, at the time of the great gatherings of pilgrims who flocked yearly to the shrine.

The Kaabah is mentioned by Diodorus as a famous temple whose sanctity was even then revered by all the Arabians; its origin must therefore be ascribed to a very remote period.

The name, which simply means 'a cube,' was given it on account of its shape, it being built square of unhewn stones. It was supposed to have been built by Adam from a model brought from heaven, and to have been subsequently restored by Seth, and later on by Abraham and Ishmael.

The stone on which Abraham stood when rebuilding the

[paragraph continues] Kaabah is still shown there; it is called the maqâm Ibrahîm or Abraham's station, and is mentioned several times in the Qur'ân.

The well Zemzem, amongst the most venerated objects in the sacred precincts of Mecca, is believed to be the spring which Hagar discovered when she fled out into the wilderness with her son Ishmael. It was a small stream flowing from one of the surrounding hills, and this having in course of time dried up, Abd al Muttalib, Mohammed's grandfather, caused the well to be dug on the spot whence the spring originally issued.

The Kaabah, so far as the dim legends of antiquity throw any light on the subject, remained for a long period in the hands of the descendants of Ishmael, and on their migrating to other parts of the peninsula its guardianship became vested in their kinsmen, the Jorhamites. These were driven out by the Amalekites, who were in turn defeated by the combined forces of the Ishmaelites and Jorhamites, the latter of whom again became masters of the temple. The Jorhamites were defeated and deposed by a coalition of the Benu Bakr and Benu 'Huzâ'hah, and the charge of the Kaabah remained with the last-mentioned tribe.

'Amr ibn La'hy, a chief of the Benu 'Huzâ'hah, now assumed the political and religious chieftainship of Mecca, and it was in his reign that the idols were placed in the Kaabah. The result of this was vastly to increase the importance of the city and its temple, as the various objects to which individual tribes paid worship were then all concentrated within its precincts.

Quzâi, an ancestor of the prophet, making common cause with the Benu Kenânah, defeated the Benu Bakr and Benu 'Huzâ'hah and restored the custody of the Kaabah to his own tribe, the Qurâis.

From Quzâi it descended to his eldest son 'Abd ed Dar, from whom the principal offices were however transferred to his brother 'Abd Menâf. These were the privilege of supplying the pilgrims with water and food at the time of the 'Hagg; the command of the army and civic headship

of the town; and the custody of the Kaabah before alluded to.

'Abd Menâf left four sons, 'Abd Shems, Hâshim, al Muttalib, and Nâufel. To Hâshim was entrusted the guardianship of the Kaabah and the right of supplying food to the pilgrims, together with the princedom of Mecca, while to the descendants of 'Abd ed Dar was left only the office of supplying them with water.

Hâshim and his son 'Abd al Muttalib filled the office with so much liberality that the wealth of the family, though considerable, was nearly all dissipated, and the rival family of Ommaiyeh, son of 'Abd Shems, took over the more expensive offices with the prestige which they naturally carried. It was during the reign of 'Abd al Muttalib that the invasion of Mecca by the Abyssinian army under Ashram the Abraha took place; they were however repulsed with great loss. This year was afterwards known as the 'Year of the Elephant,' from the fact of these animals having been employed against the holy city. 'Abd al Muttalib's youngest son, Abd allah, married a kinswoman settled at YaTHrib (Medînah), by whom he had one posthumous child Mohammed, the future prophet.

The exact date generally given of Mohammed's birth is April 20, 571 A.D., but all that is absolutely certain is that he was born in the Year of the Elephant. All that the child inherited from his father was five camels and a slave girl.

According to the fashion of the country he was provided with a Bedawi wet nurse, one 'Halîmah, who took him with her to the tents of her people and reared him amidst the invigorating surroundings of desert life.

At the age of six Mohammed lost his mother, Amînah.

The orphan was taken care of by his grandfather 'Abd al Muttalib, who showed for him very great affection, and at his death, which happened two years later, left him to the guardianship of his son Abu Tâlib, afterwards one of the most prominent persons in Muslim history.

To support himself the young Mohammed was obliged

to tend the sheep and goats of the Meccans, an occupation which, even at the present day, is considered by the Bedawîn as derogatory to the position of a male. Of this part of his life we know but little, for although Muslim historians relate innumerable legends about him, they are for the most part obviously false, and quite unimportant to the real understanding of his life and character.

At the age of twenty-four he was employed by a rich widow, named 'Hadîgah, to drive the caravans of camels with which she carried on an extensive trade.

So well did Mohammed ingratiate himself with his employer, who was also his kinswoman, that she offered him her hand, and although she was forty years of age and he barely twenty-five, their union was eminently a happy one.

Long after her death his love for 'Hadîgah remained fresh in Mohammed's heart; he would never lose an opportunity of extolling her virtues, and would often kill a sheep and distribute its flesh to the poor in honour of her memory.

'Âyeshah, daughter of Abu Bekr, whom he married three years after 'Hadîgah's decease, was in the habit of saying that she was never jealous of any of his wives except the toothless old woman.'

Six children were the issue of this marriage, four girls and two boys; both of the latter died at an early age.

But of this portion of his career, too, we have no authentic information; all that is certain is that he was an honest, upright man, irreproachable in his domestic relations and universally esteemed by his fellow-citizens, who bestowed upon him the sobriquet of El Amîn, 'the trusty.'

Mohammed was a man of middle height, but of commanding presence; rather thin, but with broad shoulders and a wide chest; a massive head, a frank oval face with a clear complexion, restless black eyes, long heavy eyelashes, a prominent aquiline nose, white teeth, and a full thick beard are the principal features of the verbal portraits historians have drawn of him.

He was a man of highly nervous organization, thoughtful,

restless, inclined to melancholy, and possessing an extreme sensibility, being unable to endure the slightest unpleasant odour or the least physical pain.

Simple in his habits, kind and courteous in his demeanour, and agreeable in conversation, he gained many over to his side, as much by the charm of his manners as by the doctrine which he preached.

Mohammed had already reached his fortieth year when the first revelations came to him. They were the almost natural outcome of his mode of life and habit of thought, and especially of his physical constitution. From youth upwards he had suffered from a nervous disorder which tradition calls epilepsy, but the symptoms of which more closely resemble certain hysterical phenomena well known and diagnosed in the present time, and which are almost always accompanied with hallucinations, abnormal exercise of the mental functions, and not unfrequently with a certain amount of deception, both voluntary and otherwise.

He was also in the habit of passing long periods in solitude and deep thought; and he was profoundly impressed with the falsehood and immorality of the religion of his compatriots and with horror at their vicious and inhuman practices, and had for his best friends men, such as his cousin Waraqah and Zâid ibn Amr, who had, professedly, been long seeking after the truth and who had publicly renounced the popular religion.

At length, during one of his solitary sojournings on Mount Hirâ, a wild and lonely mountain near Mecca, an angel appeared to him and bade him 'READ ¹!' 'I am no reader!' Mohammed replied in great trepidation, whereon the angel shook him violently and again bade him read.

[paragraph continues] This was repeated three times, when the angel uttered the five verses which commence the 96th chapter:

'READ! in the name of thy Lord, who did create -
Who did create man from congealed blood.
READ! for thy Lord is the most generous,
Who has taught the use of the pen,
Has taught man what he did not know.'

[paragraph continues] Terribly frightened, he hastened home to his faithful wife 'Hadîgah, who comforted him. The vision of the angel was not repeated, but his hallucinations and mental excitement continued to such an extent that a new fear took hold of him, and he began to wonder whether he were not, after all, possessed by a ginn, one of those dread supernatural beings of which I have before spoken.

Persons afflicted with epileptic or hysterical symptoms were supposed by the Arabs, as by so many other nations, to be possessed, and we find the constant complaint in the Qur'ân that he was regarded as such by his fellow-citizens. Poetic frenzy was evidently recognised by them as nearly akin to demoniacal possession, and of this charge, too, the prophet frequently endeavours to clear himself. His habit of fasting and watching throughout the night would and no doubt did increase his tendency to mental excitement and visionary hallucinations.

The celebrated 'night journey' or 'ascent into heaven,' which many of the Muslims allow to have been merely a dream, was doubtless the result of one of these fits of mental exaltation. It must be remembered, however, that to an Eastern mind the reducing it to a dream by no means detracts either from its reality or its authority, dreams being supposed to be direct revelations from God; see the Story of Joseph, Chapter XII, and the same as recorded in the Old Testament.

That he himself thoroughly believed in the reality of his revelations there can be no doubt, especially during the early part of his prophetic career. The chapters which belong to this period bound in passages which were

evidently uttered in a state of complete ecstasy; but the later portions of the Qur'ân, in which more consecutive stories are told, and in which ordinances are propounded for the general guidance of the believers, or for individual cases, are of course couched in more sober language, and show traces of being composed in a calmer frame of mind.

The thought that he might be, after all, mad or possessed (magnûn) was terrible to Mohammed.

He struggled for a long time against the idea, and endeavoured to support himself by belief in the reality of the divine mission which he had received upon Mount 'Hirâ; but no more revelations came, nothing occurred to give him further confidence and hope, and Mohammed began to feel that such a life could be endured no longer. The Fatrah or 'intermission,' as this period without revelation was called, lasted for two and a half or three years.

Dark thoughts of suicide presented themselves to his mind, and on more than one occasion he climbed the steep sides of Mount 'Hirâ, or Mount Thabîr, with the desperate intention of putting an end to his unquiet life by hurling himself from one of the precipitous cliffs. But a mysterious power appeared to hold him back, and at length the long looked-for vision came, which was to confirm him in his prophetic mission.

At last the angel again appeared in all his glory, and Mohammed in terror ran to his wife 'Hadîgah and cried daTHTHirûnî, 'wrap me up!' and lay down entirely enwrapped in his cloak as was his custom when attacked by the hysterical fits (which were always accompanied, as we learn from the traditions, with violent hectic fever), partly for medical reasons and partly to screen himself from the gaze of evil spirits.

As he lay there the angel again spake to him: 'O thou covered! Rise up and warn! and thy Lord magnify! and thy garments purify; and abomination shun! and grant not favours to gain increase; and for thy Lord await ¹!'

And now the revelations came in rapid succession. He no longer doubted the reality of the inspiration, and his conviction of the unity of God and of his divine commission to preach it were indelibly impressed upon his mind.

His only convert was at first his faithful wife 'Hadîgah; she was always at his side to comfort him when others mocked at him, to cheer him when dispirited, and to encourage him when he wavered.

Well, indeed, did she deserve the title by which after-ages knew her of Umm el Mû'minîn, 'the mother of the believers.'

His daughters next believed; his cousin Ali, Abu Tâlib's youngest son, whom Mohammed had adopted to relieve his uncle of some portion of his family cares, soon followed; then came Zâid, his freedman, favourite companion and fellow-seeker after truth; and ere long the little band of believers was joined by Abu Bekr, a rich merchant, and man of the most upright character, who had also been his confidant during that period of doubt and mental strife. Mohammed was wont to say that, 'all the world had hesitated more or less to recognized him as the Apostle of God, except Abu Bekr alone.' Abu Bekr enjoyed immense influence with his fellow-citizens, and had by his probity earned the appellation of el Ziddîq, 'the true.'

The next converts to the new faith were two young men, Zobeir and Sa'ad ibn Waqqâz, both relations of the prophet. Abd er Rahman ibn Auf and Tal'hah, men of mark and military prowess, then joined the Muslim ranks. Othmân ibn Affân, afterwards the third Caliph, a young Arab beau, also embraced Islam for the sake of obtaining the hand of Mohammed's daughter, Rukaiyah. The accession of these personages opened the eyes of the Qurâis to the importance of the movement, but the number of the faithful was still but small.

His other converts were only women and slaves, the former being won over by the influence of 'Hadîgah. Amongst the latter was an Abyssinian slave named Bilal, who subsequently underwent cruel persecutions for the

faith, and on the establishment of the religion became the first mu'ezzin or 'crier,' who called to prayer in Islâm.

In the fifth year of his ministry Mohammed made another important convert, Omar ibn el 'Hattâb, a fierce soldier, who had been one of the bitterest opponents of the new religion, but who afterwards proved its chief support.

His conversion carried with it so great weight that the Mohammedan traditions relate it with miraculous attendant details. Omar and Abu Bekr supplied, the one by his vigour and promptitude in action, and the other by his persuasive eloquence and address, the want of the practical element in Mohammed's character. So thoroughly did he rely upon them and seek support from their companionship, that it was always his custom to say, 'I and Abu Bekr and Omar have been to such and such a place, or have done such and such a thing.'

To the great mass of the citizens of Mecca, the new doctrine was simply the 'Hanîfism to which they had become accustomed, and they did not at first trouble themselves at all about the matter. Mohammed's claim, however, to be the Apostle of God called forth more opposition, causing some to hate him for his presumption and others to ridicule him for his pretensions; some, as we have seen above, regarded him in the light of one possessed, while another class looked upon him as a mere vulgar soothsayer.

But in preaching the unity of Allâh, Mohammed was attacking the very existence of the idols, in the guardianship of which consisted not only the supremacy of Mecca, but the welfare and importance of the state. The chiefs of the Qurâis therefore began to look with no favourable eye upon the prophet, whom they regarded as a dangerous political innovator.

But Mohammed himself came of the most noble family in Mecca, and could not be attacked or suppressed without calling down upon the aggressors the certain vengeance of his protector Abu Tâlib and his clan. A deputation of the chiefs therefore waited upon Abu Tâlib and begged him to enforce silence upon his nephew, or to withdraw his

protection, which latter alternative was equivalent to handing him over to the summary vengeance of his foes. This Abu Tâlib firmly but politely refused to do, and it was not until they added threats to their entreaties that he consented even to remonstrate with his nephew.

Mohammed, though deeply grieved at losing, as he feared, his uncle's protection and goodwill, exclaimed in reply, 'By Allâh! if they placed the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left, to persuade me, yet while God bids me, I will not renounce my purpose!' and bursting into tears turned to leave the place. But the kind old Abu Tâlib, moved at his nephew's tears, recalled him and assured him of his continued protection.

From his fellow-citizens Mohammed met with nothing but raillery, insults, and actual injuries, when he ventured to announce his mission in public.

In return he could only threaten them with punishment in this world and the next, setting before them the fate of those who had rejected the prophets of old, of the people of Noah and Lot, of the destruction of Pharaoh and other contumacious folk; and painting in vivid colours the dreadful torments of the future life. But the one threat seemed little likely to be realised, and in an existence after death they had no belief. So the prophet's warnings went for naught, and he himself was forced to bear with patience the contumely heaped upon him and the still deeper pain of disappointment and the sense of failure.

In proportion as the new faith incurred the open hostility of the Meccans, the position of its converts became more embarrassing. Those who had powerful protectors could still weather the storm, but the weaker ones, especially the slaves and women, had to endure the severest persecutions, and in some cases suffered martyrdom for their belief.

Some of the slaves were bought off by Abu Bekr, Mohammed's own financial position not allowing him to do this himself; others having no resource apostatized to save their lives.

Under these circumstances the prophet advised his little

band of followers to seek safety in flight, and a few of the most helpless of them accordingly emigrated to the Christian country of Abyssinia. The next year others joined them, until the little colony of Muslim emigrants numbered a hundred souls.

The Qurâis were much annoyed at the escape of the Muslims, as they had hoped and determined to suppress the movement completely: they therefore sent a deputation to the Naggâsî or king of Abyssinia, demanding the surrender of the fugitives. The Naggâsî called his bishops around him, and summoning the refugees to the conference bade them answer for themselves. They told him how they had been plunged in idolatry and crime, and how their prophet had called them to belief in God and to the practice of a better life; then they quoted the words of the Qur'ân concerning Jesus, and finally begged the monarch not to give them up to these men, who would not only persecute them, but force them back into unbelief and sin. The Naggâsî granted their request and sent the messengers back. The failure of this attempt increased the hostility of the Qurâis towards the small remnant of the Muslims who were left in Mecca.

Almost alone, exposed to hourly danger and annoyance, it is not to be wondered at that Mohammed should for a moment have conceived the idea of a compromise.

The chiefs of Mecca cared little for their own idols, but they cared greatly for their traffic and their prestige. If the gods in the Kaabah were false and their service vain and wicked, who would visit the holy shrine? and where would then be the commercial advantages that flowed into Mecca from the pilgrims who crowded yearly to the town? Again, if they allowed the favourite deities of the neighbouring powerful tribes to be insulted or destroyed, how could they expect that these latter would accord safe conduct to their caravans or even allow them to pass through the territories unmolested?

Al 'Huzzâ, Allât, and Manât were the idols of the most important of these neighbouring tribes, and the Qurâis proposed

to Mohammed that he should recognise the divinity of these three deities, and promised in their turn that they would then