CHAPTER IV. LIFE OF MOHAMMED.

He Assumes the Title and Office of the Apostle of God. Miracle of 'the splitting the Moon'

It has been matter of controversy, whether in these transactions Mohammed ought to be regarded as a cunning knave or the dupe of enthusiasm. The point is scarcely worth the disputing; for no imposture, civil or religious, was ever successful without a mixture of both. Had the Arabian adventurer been the mere dupe of a heated imagination, he might have continued to preach his doctrines with all the fervor of an apostle, among the tribes of the desert or the tents of the pilgrims; but his piety would hardly have dreamed of cutting its way with a sword to a temporal throne. Fanaticism was with him an earner passion than ambition, and most likely supplied the first materials for the great political structure which he afterward reared on this basis. Instead of religious innovations, had his aim been merely secular aggrandizement, there was much in the condition both of his own and the surrounding nations favorable to his revolutionary projects. No usurper, perhaps, ever enjoyed these advantages to a greater extent. Nor can we suppose that a vigorous and reflecting mind like his, enlarged by travel and observation on mankind, could lack either courage or discernment to turn them to his interest. The political state of the Eastern World was wretched in the extreme. Exhausted with continual wars, and enervated by luxury, it could offer little resistance to any aggressor. Had the Roman empire retained its pristine vigor, the Arabian heresy must have been instantly crushed, or driven to the inaccessible retreats of the mountains. Its hapless founder might have been condemned to the stake by a council of bishops, or carried in chains as a rebel to languish out his days in some dungeon of the Grecian capital. But this mighty power had fallen, under the successors of Constantine, into a state of weakness and decay. The Goths in the west, and the Huns in the east, had overrun its finest provinces, and made the once potent Caesars tributaries to a barbarous conqueror. But whatever information Mohammed had, or whatever use he designed to make of the advantageous posture of oriental affairs, his grand and earliest object of attention was the idolatry of his countrymen. He did not pretend to introduce a new religion; for that would have alarmed the jealousies of all parties, and combined their discordant opinions injo a general opposition. His professed object was merely to restore the only true and primitive faith, such as it had been in the days of the patriarchs and prophets, from Adam to the Messiah. The fundamental doctrine of this ancient worship, which he undertook to purify from the alloy it had unhappily contracted among a frail and degenerate race of men, was the Unity of God.

A principle thus simple and obvious, which no sect had ever denied, and which presented to reason nothing that it could not easily conceive, was a broad foundation for a popular and universal religion, an advantage which Mohammed fully appreciated. With the Jews, who clung to their abrogated ceremonial, he maintained the authority of the Pentateuch, and the inspiration of the prophets from Moses to Malachi. With the Christians he admitted the Divine mission of Christ, and the truth of his Gospel; for he made the revelations both of the Old and the New Testament a basis for his own pretensions. But as the Arabs were the more immediate objects of his imposture, he took more than ordinary pains to conciliate their affections. While lamenting the madness and folly of the idolatries in which they were plunged, he showed an extreme indulgence to their prejudices. Their popular traditions and ceremonies—such of them at least as favored his own views—he retained, and even rendered more attractive, by adding the sanction of Heaven to customs already hallowed by immemorial usage.

But the most pleasing of all his doctrines, and the most captivating to the human heart, was the felicity promised in another world. The Mohammedan paradise is one of the richest and most seductive fictions of oriental imagination. The elements of its happiness consist not in pure and spiritual pleasures. These were too refined, and quite unsuited to the sensual habits of the Arab. The unlettered barbarian cannot comprehend the nature of abstract enjoyment, or how it can be felt without the agency of the bodily organs. To these carnal ideas Mohammed addressed his allurements, painted in the gayest colours that a luxurious fancy could invent. Gardens fairer than that of Eden, watered by a thousand streams, cooling fountains, and groves of unfading verdure, adorned these happy mansions. The desires of the blessed inhabitants were to be gratified with pearls and diamonds, robes of silk, palaces of marble, rich wines, golden dishes, blooming girls, made of musk, with black eyes, of resplendent beauty and virgin purity. While these costly and exquisite indulgences were provided for the meanest believer, the most excruciating torments that imagination could suggest were denounced against all who refused to embrace the faith of Mohammed. Seven hells, differing in the degree of their pain, were to receive the damned; and the wretched sufferer might judge of his terrible doom when he was informed that the tenderest of these punishments was to eat burning victuals and to be shod with shoes of fire, the heat of which would cause his scull to boil like a caldron.

One other artifice was wanted to give effect to this plausible system,—the sanction of a Divine authority. A succession of prophets had already appeared in the world to instruct and reprove mankind, ever prone to wander from the truth; all of whom had their credentials attested by Heaven. In this catalogue of inspired teachers, Mohammed determined to enrol himself. It was a bold but a necessary policy; and accordingly, next to the Unity of the Deity, stands the second fundamental article of the Mussulman faith,—that Mohammed is the Apostle of God. On these two pillars, the one an eternal truth, the other an impious fiction, the Eastern imposture has rested with unshaken stability for upwards of 1200 years.

His first Converts

Having at length matured his plans, and acquired a reputation for sanctity corresponding in some measure with the high and venerable office he was about to assume, he now resolved to make his pretensions to revelation no longer a secret. His fortieth year was the period chosen for announcing his mission to the world. He had retired, according to custom, to the grotto of Mount Hara, accompanied with some of his domestics. It was on the 25th of the month Ramadan, the night styled in the Koran Al Kadr, or the Divine Decree, that he received his instalment into the apostolic office in "a true and nocturnal vision". The archangel Gabriel, his confidant and oracle in all his celestial communications, descended in a brilliant form. He held in his hand a book brought from the seventh heaven. "Read!" exclaimed the angel. "I cannot", replied his awe-struck pupil. "Read", added the other, "in the name of God, the Creator, who hath formed man, and taught him the use of the pen, and lighted up his soul with a ray of knowledge!" The Prophet obeyed; and a voice immediately pronounced these words:—"O Mohammed! thou art the apostle of God, and I am Gabriel". This joyful inauguration into his ministry was received in silent wonder; the angel, having performed his part, ascended slowly and majestically until he disappeared in the clouds.

The conductor of the Israelites had produced the Pentateuch, and the Redeemer of mankind had taught the gospel. This "last of the prophets", too, must have his book; and now, for the first time, the Koran descends to earth. It was one of the most skillful, of his artifices, and to which he mainly owed his success,—that instead of communicating this celestial volume entire, as the archangel brought it, it was doled out in morsels as suited his convenience. This sage manoeuvre gave him a complete mastery over the oracles of Heaven; for he could make them speak according to circumstances. The Roman pontiff, who at this very time (AD 606) bad begun to assert his claim to universal supremacy, might boast of the keys of Peter; but Mohammed held the keys of Providence, with which he could shut or unlock the gates of revelation at pleasure.

This pretended interview with the archangel rested solely on the suspicious authority of his own assertion. The first person to whom he related the tidings was Kadijah. The dutiful wife believed, or affected to believe, the sacred fable, with all its glorious accompaniments; and with a solemn oath she declared her conviction that he was the true apostle of his nation. "Among men", said the Prophet on this occasion, "many have been found perfect; but of women only four—Asia, the daughter of Pharaoh; Mary, the daughter of Amran; Kadijah, the wife, and Fatima, the daughter, of Mohammed"; where it will be observed that, with singular modesty, he includes the half of these female paragons in his own family. The second proselyte was his cousin, Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, then only eleven years of age, whom he had brought up in his own family with a fatherly tenderness. His slave, Zaid, was the third convert. Whatever might have been his scruples, they were overcome by the promise of liberty; and the grateful domestic recognised with joy the divinity of a master from whom he expected and obtained his freedom.

The next and most important of his conversions was that of Abdallah, surnamed Abu Beker, an opulent citizen of Mecca. He was a most zealous Mussulman; and, being a person of great authority among the Koreish, he prevailed on five of the principal men in the city—Othman, Abdairahman, Saad, Zobeir and Telha—to join the standard of the Prophet. These six individuals were his chief associates—his main instruments in disseminating his religion—the partners of his victories—and some of them his successors on the throne. Three years were thus spent in devotional intrigue and the secret process of discipleship, during which the shades of mystery were allowed to conceal from the world his doctrines and his crafty designs.

But the time had now arrived when he could rely with confidence on the attachment of his new proselytes. Immediately the angel commanded him to make known his sacred vocation, and to exhort his friends and neighbors in particular to forsake their errors, if they hoped to escape the vengeance of an offended Deity. The obedient apostle accordingly directed Ali to prepare an entertainment—a lamb and a bowl of milk—to which forty guests of the race of Hashem were invited. After some interruption, Mohammed addressed the astonished assembly—"Friends, I this day offer you what no other person in all Arabia can offer,—the most valuable of gifts,—the treasures of this world and of that which is to come. God has enjoined me to call you to his service. Who among you will be my vizier, to share with me the burden and the toils of this important mission—to become my brother, my vicar, and ambassador?"

This address was heard with silent surprise; and none seemed disposed to accept the proffered dignity. At length the impatient Ali made answer—"I, O Prophet, will be your vizier, and obey your commands! Whoever dares to oppose you, I will tear out his eyes, dash out his teeth, break his legs, and rip open his body!"

On this burst of enthusiasm, Mohammed caught the youth in his arms with the liveliest demonstrations of affection. "Behold," said he, "my brother and vicegerent! Listen, and obey him." Shouts of contemptuous laughter followed this romantic installation. The whole company turned their sarcastic eyes on Abu Taleb, as if to inquire whether the rights and honors of a father were to be violated by rendering obedience to the authority of his own son.

Far from being silenced by this ridicule, or discouraged by the unfavorable reception of his first public attempt, the intrepid apostle labored with indefatigable zeal, and marched onward with unshaken resolution to the final accomplishment of his designs. No reproaches or affronts could damp his ardor, for he bore them apparently without resentment; while every artifice was employed to subdue opposition. But it was to the force of his natural eloquence as a preacher, and the fertility of his genius, that he mainly trusted. On solemn festivals, and in the times of pilgrimage, he frequented the temple, and accosted the strangers of every province. Their imaginations and their passions were alternately excited by threats and promises. To the believer the carnal enjoyments of paradise were liberally offered; while, for the infidel, collars, chains, and torments unutterable were laid up in store.

The people trembled for their gods, which already seemed toppling from their pedestals. The Koreish, especially, dreaded the effects of his zeal. They beheld the worship which was their chief means of support threatened with extinction; and they resolved to crush in the birth this attempt to sap the foundation of their wealth and consequence. A deputation of the principal men of the tribe laid their fears and complaints before Abu Taleb: "Unless you impose silence on your nephew, and check his audacity, we shall take arms in defence of our gods. The ties of blood shall not restrain us from drawing the sword, and we shall see on which side victory will declare itself." Alarmed at these menaces, he seriously exhorted the Prophet to abandon his rash and impracticable schemes. "Spare your remonstrances," said the daring fanatic; "though the idolaters should arm against me the sun and the moon, planting the one on my right hand and the other on my left, it would not divert me from my resolution." Meanwhile the Koreish, finding that neither threats nor entreaties could prevail, in a public assembly of their whole tribe, pronounced sentence of exile against all who had embraced the religion of Islam.

Five years of the Prophet's mission had elapsed; and his success may be estimated from the tradition that, of his disciples, who were now compelled to seek refuge in voluntary banishment, only eighty-three men and eighteen women, besides children, retired to Abyssinia. While he remained exposed to this tempest of indignation at Mecca, a fortunate accident brought an important accession to his party in the conversion of two distinguished individuals— the brave Hamza, one of his uncles, and Omar, the second of the caliphs. The Koreish had secretly plotted his death; and there was only wanted an arm bold enough to strike the blow. The ferocious Omar agreed to be the assassin; but whether through the remonstrances of a friend, or, according to Abulfeda, by hearing a few sublime verses of the Koran read, instead of plunging his dagger in the breast of the apostle, the murderer was transformed into one of his most devoted proselytes.

For years the Koreish had beheld with jealousy the rising pre-eminence of the family of Hashem. Zeal for their national religion imbittered those political animosities, and served as a cloak to cover their malice. A solemn decree was passed in the name of the whole tribe, engaging themselves to renounce all communication with the Hashemites neither to buy nor sell with them, to marry nor give in marriage; but to pursue them with implacable enmity until they should deliver up this dangerous innovator to the resentment of the nation, and the justice of the gods whose worship he had deserted. The deed was written on parchment, and suspended on the wall of the Kaaba, that all eyes might read it.

Having no security in the city, the persecuted faction withdrew to a stronghold in the neighborhood. Here they remained three years in a state of siege; the only intervals of their captivity being the sacred months, when hostilities were prohibited. During the ceremonies of the pilgrimage, the two factions regularly met, and frequently came to blows. The orations of Mohammed in the temple were often drowned amid the clashing of swords and the exhortations of the idolaters in behalf of their ancient divinities.

Hitherto the credit of Abu Taleb had been the main asylum of the apostle and his followers, and was perhaps the true cause of rescinding the prohibitory edict, after it had subsisted five years. Death deprived him of that support; and within a month this domestic calamity was followed by another,—the loss of Kadijah in her 65th year. The Prophet was inconsolable; for he had always regarded her with ardent and undivided affection. During the five-and-twenty years of their marriage his fidelity was irreproachable; and the rights or feelings of the wife were never insulted by the society of a rival. His tears and praises spoke his sorrow long after she was in the grave; and his excessive encomiums wounded the pride of her successor, the youthful Ayesha. "Was she not old," said the petulant and blooming daughter of Abu Beker, "and has not God given you a younger and a better in her place?"—"No, truly," replied the grateful apostle, "there never can be a batter; she believed in me when men despised me. She was generous, and gave me all she possessed, when the world hated and persecuted me". Misfortunes so distressing and prejudicial to his interests made the Mohammedans commemorate this as the Year of Mourning.

A valuable accession was about the same time received to his flock in a small party of the tribes of Khazraj and Aus, who dwelt at Medina, and had come to Mecca on the usual pilgrimage. The secret motive of their conversion was a hope that their new master was the long-expected Messiah, and would deliver their allies, the Jews, as he had promised, from the vassalage to which they had been so long subjected. On their return these deluded proselytes became enthusiastic in disseminating so welcome a creed among their fellow-citizens.

Miracle of splitting the Moon

Historians, or rather the lovers of the marvelous, have signalized this period of Mohammed's life with two remarkable events, the absurdity of which might have consigned them to oblivion, had not the gravest of the Moslem doctors maintained their reality. Religion, whether true or false, has usually appealed to the confirmation of miracles. These credentials the impostor himself admitted to be authentic. According to his own doctrine, therefore, the unbelieving Arabs might demand, and they did repeatedly urge him to produce, similar evidence of his mission. Sensible of his weakness, he evaded the force of their objections—appealing to the inimitable composition of the Koran as the greatest of all miracles, and protecting himself by the obscure boast of vision and prophecy.

His votaries, however, were neither so modest nor so ingenious. Of his miraculous gifts they were more confident than he was himself; and much learning has been expended, and innumerable volumes written, to convince the world that his miracles were more numerous than those of all the inspired teachers who had gone before him.

The first of these signal performances was the miracle of the Splitting; alluding to his cleaving the orb of the moon in twain. The Koreish, wishing to confound him before the eyes of his fellow-citizens, had challenged him to verify his claims by bringing that luminary from heaven in presence of the whole assembly. Mohammed accepted the proposal with confidence. At his command the sky was darkened at noon; when the obedient planet, though but five days old, appeared full-orbed, leaped from the firmament, and, bounding through the air, alighted on the summit of the Kaaba, which it encircled by seven distinct revolutions. Turning to the Prophet, it did him reverence, addressed him in very elegant Arabic, and pronounced a discourse in his praise, concluding with the formula of the Moslem creed. These salutations finished, it entered the right sleeve of his mantle, and made its exit by the left. Then descending from the collar of his robe to the fringe, it mounted into the air, separating into two halves. In this manner it resumed its station in the sky, the parts gradually uniting in one round and luminous orb, as before. Such is the substance of a ridiculous fiction invented by the biographers of Mohammed, who have colored it with more extravagance and minuteness of detail than we have ventured to narrate.

History of the Ascension, or The famous Night Journey to Heaven