Religion of the Crescent

176	THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT.

works on the subject, though not in every respect satisfactory, are free from many of the legendary embellishments which find a place in later histories¹ of the "Prophet." There can be little doubt that Muhammad was at one time earnest in his search for the truth, though there are indications which lead us to conclude that he was not devoid of the desire to serve Mammon as well as GOD by making the establishment of the worship of the One True GOD in Arabia a means to the attainment of political power for himself and temporal success and prosperity for his² nation. He was also liable, even from his boyhood, to hysteria and³ cataleptic fits; and this fact may help to account for his sincerely believing, at least during the earlier years of his work as a Reformer, that he had celestial visitors. During most of the thirteen years that he

¹ Among other Lives of Muhammad may be consulted Abu'l Fida's, which I have already quoted above, and that by Al Waqidi. The tendency among recent Muhammadan writers has been to deny that the latter book possesses any authority. Perhaps this is their best way of answering the works of Sir William Muir and Sprenger, who make great use of Al Waqidi. I have, however, thought it best not to rely at all upon the latter, knowing that Sunni Muhammadans refuse to attach any credence to anything stated upon his authority. Ibnu'l Athir's Life of Muhammad is greatly relied upon by Sayyid Amir 'Ali.
² See above, p. 14; Ibn Ishaq, Siratu'l Rasul, pt. i., pp. 145, 146.
³ Sprenger deals with this subject, and shows that while epilepsy does not meet the conditions of the case, catalepsy does so most exactly.

THE ORIGIN OF ISLAM.

177

spent at Mecca between his first vision or "call" and the Hijrah, he seems to

Call.

have been a conscientious though misguided religious reformer. But his anxiety to obtain worldly power led him even then on one occasion¹ to attempt to conciliate the Quraish by speaking favourably of their deities. And when Khadijah died and he met with prosperity and success through the aid of his Medinite allies, the temptation to fabricate revelations for his own advantage proved too much for his honesty of purpose. Even at Mecca he had done this in order to win over the Jews to his side. But at Medina he seems to have cast off all shame; and the incidents connected with his marital²

Fabricates
Revelations.

relations, more especially the story of his marriage with Zainab the wife of his adopted son Zaid, and his connexion with Mary the Coptic slave-girl, are sufficient proof of his unbridled licentiousness and of his daring impiety in venturing to ascribe to GOD Most High³ the verses which he composed to sanction such conduct. The same may be said of the murders⁴ which he authorized and the ruthless massacre of a Jewish tribe, the Bani⁵ Quraidhah, at which he

¹ V. Lect..i., p. 11-13; Ibn Hisham, vol. i., pp. 127, sqq.
² Vide Ibn Hisham, last part, pp. 94, sqq.
³ Surah xxxiii. 37-40 (and v. Muhammadan commentator on the passage).
⁴ E.g., that of Ka'b (Ibn Hisham, vol. ii., pp. 73, sqq.), and of 'Uqbah and An Nadhr (ibid., vol. ii., p. 25).
⁵ Ibid ii., pp. 148, sqq.

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