I.

Mohammedanism.*

ABOUT forty miles from the shores of the Red Sea,

on the west of Arabia, there lies a valley, about two miles long and one broad. The surrounding country is sterile, and utterly incapable of agriculture. The few wells that exist are brackish, and in the whole neighborhood there is but one well of good water. It is an exceedingly-copious fountain, and though the waters of it partake somewhat of the brackishness generally prevalent in the neighborhood, yet it is not altogether unfit for use. Notwithstanding the barrenness of the locality, this little valley is occupied by a city having a settled population of, perhaps, ten thousand souls. Very probably the existence of the city was owing to that of the well, and the Arabs generally, and now the Mohammedan population of the whole world believe that well to be of miraculous origin. On that very spot Ishmael, the great

The quotations from the Koran in the following Lecture, are from Sale's translation. The other authors relied upon have been Price, History of Mohammedanism; Ockley, History of the Saracens; Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet; Savary, Abrege de la Vie de Mahomet; Burckhardt, Travels. Prideaux has been consulted, and also a Life of Mohammed by Bush. W. A.

progenitor of the Arabian nation, was, they believe, laid down by his despairing mother, and that there the angel Gabriel made this well spring forth, where none had been before, to save the life of the young patriarch. The sacred well is called Zem-zem. Its waters are considered extremely holy; so holy that large draughts of them are very efficacious for washing away sin, and a bottle of the sacred water is considered one of the most. valuable presents that a Mohammedan can receive.

Around this well stands the temple-the great temple of Kaaba. It has existed from time immemorial, and the Arabians say that when Adam was expelled from Paradise, he implored that upon earth he might be permitted to have a temple, like unto the temple that he had in Paradise. His prayer was heard; and in curtains of light a model of the old temple in which he worshiped in Paradise was let down precisely under the site of the paradisiacal temple. There Adam worshiped during his lifetime. After his death, Seth built a temple on the model of that of Paradise. The Deluge swept this temple away; but the patriarch Abraham, with his son Isaac, rebuilt it, the scaffold being formed by a stone which rose and fell of its own accord, in conformity with the wants of the patriarch. The stone remains there to this day, and the prints of Abraham's feet are on it. Beside the Kaaba lies the tomb of Ishmael; and, altogether, this edifice has the utmost sacredness for the Arabs. In one corner of it is a black stone. This stone was brought directly from Paradise by the angel Gabriel, and placed in the original Kaaba. When it came from Paradise, it was of the purest white; but, on account, say they, of the sins of mankind, the pure white of Paradise was changed into its present blackness; a result that we are inclined to attribute to another reason, because, from time immemorial, this

temple has been the scene of the annual pilgrimages of the Arabs, and every pilgrim has seven times gone round the temple, and at each circuit has kissed this sacred

stone.

From the very earliest records of the city of Mecca, the priesthood of this temple, and the command of the city, have been vested in the same person. The worship of the temple was, at the beginning of the sixth century, and so far before as the records proceed, idolatrous. The chief idols of the temple were Abraham and Ishmael. To their images, each holding a bunch of arrows, such as the Arabs use for divining, regular worship was offered. It is one of the most singular and melancholy facts in the religious history of man, that Abraham, who was the chosen of God to be a witness in all the earth against idolatry, himself, even among his own descendants after the flesh, became, in process of time, the object of that worship that he had so strenuously claimed for the only God, but which was actually paid to his own image. Besides Abraham and his son, there were about three hundred and sixty other gods.

About the time we have alluded to, in the sixth century, a noble tribe of Arabs, called Koreish, had obtained the principality and pontificate of the city. One of that tribe, called Hashem, was an individual so distinguished that he gave his name to all his descendants from that time to the present. His grandson, Abdul Motalleb, had thirteen sons. Of these thirteen, the eldest, Abdallah, was a man renowned in Arabia for his personal beauty; so much so, that, according to some authorities, when he at last made choice of the beautiful Amina for his wife, two hundred Arabian ladies met their death for grief. However, Amina was not permitted long to enjoy the happiness of being Abdallah's wife, for he shortly died, leaving to her charge an only son, a boy

then two years of age. This boy, according to some authorities, was a very wonderful boy. When ushered into the world, he was surrounded by such a flood of light, that not only was the chamber illuminated, but the whole of the neighboring country. At the moment of his birth, the sacred fire of the Persians, which had burned for a thousand years, became extinguished. Such a trembling seized the palace of the king of Persia, that fourteen of its towers fell, and the waters of a certain lake entirely disappeared. The child born under such remarkable presages, was, after his father's death, put by his mother to nurse. One day, when he and the children of his nurse were out walking, the other children came running back in great trepidation, and proclaimed that two men in white had come up to Mohammed, and had taken him, thrown him down, and ripped him open. Presently Mohammed himself came and confirmed what had been said, but the explanation was this: the two men in white were angels; they had ripped him open, had taken out his heart, and had squeezed from his heart a black drop, which black drop is the original sin that is found in every human heart since the fall, except, say they, in the heart of Mary the Virgin, and of Jesus, her son. This drop in the heart of Mohammed was thus miraculously removed in his childhood.

When Mohammed had gained his eighth year, his mother died. Now an orphan completely, he was committed to the care of his grandfather, Abdul Motalleb, who was then upward of a hundred years of age, but still retained his office of priest and prince. The boy, however, had only been two years under the care of his grandfather, when he lost him also. Again an orphan, he was transferred to the care of his uncle, Abu Taleb Had it not been for the death of his father, he would now have been in the direct line of succession to the

highest office in his country. He was, however, cut off; but his uncle, to whose care he was confided, was a kind and tender guardian; he reared him up with care, and as, in addition to his official functions, he added the avocations of a merchant, he trained Mohammed to his own business. When his nephew had only reached the age of thirteen, he was carried with him into Syria, thus obtaining an opportunity of seeing foreign countries and various religions.

At

About the time of his return from his journey into Syria, the tribes of the Arabs were engaged in a deadly war. So fierce was the rancor of this war, that, though for four months of the year they considered it unlawful to fight, they broke through the prohibition. Into the heat of this war young Mohammed was cast, and there, it is said, he very much distinguished himself by his courage and abilities. Up to the age of twenty-five, he continued in the service of his uncle as a merchant. that time, a rich merchant in the city of Mecca died, leaving his property and business to his wife Kadijah. She applied to Abu Taleb for a factor. He recommended his nephew. This nephew, for his new mistress, made another journey into Syria. On his return, she was so much pleased with the method in which he conducted business, and with himself, that she offered him her hand. He accepted the kind offer, and became, by that means, equal, in point of wealth, to the first men in Месса.

We have thus the principal elements that seem to have formed the character of Mohammed. First, his birth entitled him to the government, secular and religious, of his native state. Then, his frequent bereavements in childhood, first of father, then of mother, then of grandfather, must have tended to excite his susceptibilities, and give him a thoughtful habit. His immediate con