,,islam      ,,her ,,moral ,,and        
,,spiritual ,,value         ,,islam     
,,her ,,moral ,,and ,,spiritual ,,value 
,a ,rational and ,psychological ,study  
,by     ,,major ,,arthur ,,glyn         
,,leonard      ,,late #b,,nd ,,batt4    
,,east ,,lancashire ,,regiment          
,author of 8,the ,camel1 ,its ,uses and 
,management10 8,how we made             
,rhodesia10 8,the ,lower ,niger and its 
,tribes0       ,with a ,foreword by     
,,syed ,,ameer ,,ali1 ,m4,a41 ,c4,i4,e4 
,author of 8,the ,spirit of ,islam10    
8,life and ,teachings of ,mohammed10    
8,mohammedan ,law10 8,personal ,law of  
the     ,mohammedans10 etc4             
,,london     ,,luzac  ,,co     #df1     
,,great ,,russell ,,street     #aiji    
,,foreword   ,i am glad to introduce    
this book with an expression of the     
pleasure and interest with which ,i have
 read ,major ,leonard's admirable       
psychological study of a subject1 the   
importance of which it is hardly        
possible to overrate4  ,unfortunately it

 has been too common hitherto to regard 
,islam as an antagonistic force to      
,christendom2 to depreciate its ,founder
 and to discount its ,ideals4 ,as the   
author justly observes1 it is hardly    
possible for a student really anxious to
 acquaint himself with the inner spirit 
of another ,faith1 to gain an insight   
into its true character until he has    
divested himself of ancient prejudices  
that narrow his perspective and prevent 
his taking a broad view of the aims and 
aspirations of the great men who from   
time to time have tried to uplift       
humanity4  ,major ,leonard has dealt    
with his subject in this broad spirit2  
he has approached it with sympathy born 
of intimate acquaintance with races and 
peoples who profess the ,faith of       
,islam4 ,his is eminently a             
philosophical study of its ,founder1 of 
its true moral and spiritual utility1   
and of the great impetus it gave to the 
progress of the world4  ,in the eight   
chapters that constitute this book he   

has discussed the entire range of       
questions affecting the personality of  
,mohammed and the tendency of his       
religion4 ,in his treatment he shows    
himself a philosophical rationalist     
animated with a reverence for the       
,arabian ,teacher--the evident outcome  
of a true appreciation of the mainspring
 of his actions4  ,in the first chapter 
the author has applied himself to expose
 the absurdity and hollowness of the    
,pan-,islamic 8bogey40 ,that the growing
 rapprochement between ,moslem          
communities1 hitherto divided by        
sectarian feuds1 should be viewed with  
disfavour by ,europe as indicating a    
danger to its predominance and selfish  
ambitions is intelligible4 ,but that it 
should be regarded as a deliberate      
challenge to1 or intended as a hostile  
demonstration against ,christendom1 is a
 mere chimera4 ,major ,leonard proves   
conclusively that the ,pan-,islamic     
movement is no modern political         
movement2 but that morally and          

spiritually ,islam1 in its very essence1
 is ,pan-,islamic2 in other words1 a    
creed that recognizes in practice the   
brotherhood of man to a degree unknown  
in any other religion1 and admits in its
 commonwealth no difference of race1    
colour or rank4  ,moslems1 laymen and   
scholars1 will probably not agree with  
some of ,major ,leonard's remarks in his
 outline of the ,prophet's character and
 temperament2 but they must all         
acknowledge his sincerity4 ,he describes
 ,mohammed as a great and true          
man--great not only as a teacher1 but as
 a patriot and statesman2 a material as 
well as a spiritual builder1 who        
constructed a nation and an enduring    
,faith1 which holds1 to a greater degree
 than most others1 the hearts of        
millions of human beings2 a man true to 
himself and his people1 but above all to
 his ,god4  ,the author has gone to the 
,koran itself for the animating purpose 
of ,mohammed's strenuous and noble life4
 ,he believes that the national good to 

be obtained only by the recognition of  
the conception of a ,god who is both    
8national and universal0 was the        
dominant idea that impelled and inspired
 the ,prophet of ,arabia4 ,in his       
appreciation of ,mohammed's teachings1  
,major ,leonard has grasped the real    
spirit of ,islam2 and both as regards   
his moral and spiritual precepts1 as    
also the enunciations respecting the    
duties of every-day life1 the author has
 given the ,arabian ,prophet his due4   
,he dwells on ,mohammed's affection and 
sympathy for the weak1 the afflicted and
 suffering1 with the orphan and the     
stricken2 on his humanity to the dumb   
creatures of ,god2 on the duties of     
parents to children1 and of children to 
parents2 on his burning denunciations of
 the terrible crime of female           
infanticide4  ,in the eighth and last   
chapter ,major ,leonard speaks of the   
debt ,europe owes to ,islam1 and        
endeavours to show that the religion of 
,mohammed1 far from being antagonistic  

to human development1 has materially    
helped in the progress of the world4 ,it
 is part of ,major ,leonard's thesis    
that ,christianity and ,islam belong to 
8different spheres of influence02 in    
other words1 whilst ,christianity is    
suited to certain races1 ,islam is      
peculiarly suited to others4 ,races and 
peoples adapt their religions to their  
own respective advancement1 and the same
 religion varies among different        
communities according to the stage of   
their development4 ,the ,christianity of
 the barbarous ,south ,american ,gaucho 
is not the same as that of the cultured 
,englishman1 nor is the ,islam of the   
cultivated ,moslem identical with that  
professed by ignorant followers of the  
,faith4 ,but it would be hard to say    
that philosophical ,christianity exactly
 answers the needs of the lower strata  
of ,christendom to whom the positive    
directions of a simple practical faith  
might appeal with greater force4 ,might 
not ,islam1 with its emphatic           

prohibition of drink1 the primary cause 
of all the vice and crime in ,europe1   
prove a far greater civilizing agency in
 the slums of ,european cities1 and do  
far more good in reclaiming the debased1
 than a religion which does not possess 
that positive character and is only     
adapted for idealistic minds8  ,whatever
 view a rationalist may hold on this    
point1 ,i feel that ,major ,leonard has 
laid the world of literature under a    
debt for his admirable monograph on a   
peculiarly interesting subject4         
,,ameer ,,ali4     ,,contents           
,,page      ,,chapter ,i      ,,the     
,,so-,,called ,,moslem ,,menace6        
#ac       ,,chapter ,,ii      ,,an      
,,outline ,,of ,,mohammed',s            
,,temperament     ,,and                 
,,characteristics                       
#bc       ,,chapter ,,iii      ,,the    
,,environment ,,that ,,moulded          
,,mohammed             #ea              
,,chapter ,,iv      ,,mohammed',s       
,,principles ,,and ,,beliefs            

#ga       ,,chapter ,v      ,,the       
,,material ,,and ,,other ,,sides ,,of   
,,the ,,prophet',s     ,,character      
#hd       ,,chapter ,,vi      ,a ,,brief
 ,,summary ,,of ,,mohammed',s ,,work    
,,and ,,worth                           
#aja       ,,chapter ,,vii      ,,moslem
 ,,morality ,,and ,,christendom',s      
,,attitude     ,,towards ,,islam        
#aba       ,,chapter ,,viii             
,,europe',s ,,debt ,,to ,,islam3        
,,ethnic ,,spheres ,,of     ,,influence 
#adb     ,,chapter ,i  ,,the            
,,so-,,called ,,moslem ,,menace6   ,for 
some time past1 but more especially     
during the last year or two1 it has     
become quite the fashion in ,europe to  
rail at and to suspect the good faith   
and motives of the ,moslem world4 ,if we
 are to believe the ,european ,press1   
,europe is in deadly danger4 ,the       
8,yellow ,peril0 of a few years ago has1
 by means of the juggling of modern     
journalism1 cleverly transformed itself 
into the 8,moslem ,menace40 ,according  

to this trenchant successor of the      
ancient oracle1 there is unrest and     
seething turmoil everywhere4 ,in ,egypt1
 a national confederation2 in ,morocco1 
a crisis2 in the heart of ,africa1 the  
,senussi movement2 in ,turkey and       
,arabia1 secret associations and        
agitation2 in ,persia even1 disaffection
 but co-operation4 ,in one word1        
,europe--,christian1 civilized and      
unoffending ,europe--is confronted with 
a ,pan-,islamic confederation1 that is  
co-operating to achieve the unity and   
the nationalization of all ,islam1 with 
the express object of ultimately turning
 upon ,christendom1 and rending her into
 a thousand tattered fragments4  ,that  
there has been no revival of 8the       
chronic conspiracy0 within our ,indian  
,empire1 is1 however1 easily explained4 
,this1 which purposed to be a religious 
agitation among ,indian ,moslems1 was an
 expression more familiar twenty-five   
years ago and was attributed to the     
influence of ,wahabite oratory4 ,it is1 

of course1 possible that the present    
agitation and unrest among the ,hindus  
generally1 but the ,bengalis in         
particular1 has for the time being at   
all events diverted the attention of the
 outside world in other directions4 ,but
 it is also more or less generally taken
 for granted that the ,moslem population
 of ,india has sunk into a state of     
political lethargy1 which if it does not
 betoken loyalty1 obviously demonstrates
 a dumb and passive revolutionary torpor
 that is tantamount to it4  ,that       
agitation and unrest exist throughout   
the ,moslem world would be nothing      
either new or unusual4 ,in a human      
sense1 ,islam is identical with         
,christendom4 ,she too has her social   
functions1 her political parties1       
associations1 confederations and        
societies4 ,she has her religious sects 
and denominations4 ,as with us1 so with 
,islam1 there are affinities1 and       
antipathies1 emulations and jealousies1 
competitions and rivalries1 likes and   

dislikes1 envy1 malice1 hatred and all  
uncharitableness4 ,the interest of self 
predominates before all else4 ,in kind  
there is certainly no difference1 in    
degree it is possible that ,europe may  
be a step or two higher4 ,but this is   
not the point that ,i would here        
emphasize4 ,to fall back on the         
time-honoured maxim1 immortalized by    
,shakespeare1 comparisons of this kind  
are incompatible if not odious4         
,besides1 recrimination is as futile as 
it is injudicious and undignified4  ,it 
is not of moral discrepancies on either 
side that ,i would speak4 ,nor have ,i  
any wish to rake up the low-lying       
sediment1 or to disturb the still waters
 which are running deep in the great    
ocean of ,moslem life4 ,under the       
conditions that prevail1 it is assuredly
 best to let sleeping dogs lie4 ,left   
alone they are much less troublesome4   
,there is always the possibility that   
they may oversleep themselves and fall  
into a dormant and inactive state4 ,in  

this way the still waters of sedition   
and agitation soon find their own       
level--the embers of revolt may at times
 flare up1 but they soon flicker out4   
,it is of the moral and spiritual       
utility1 with the soul of ,islam1 that  
,i am now about to deal4 ,for ,islam1   
believe me1 has a soul--a sincere and   
earnest soul1 a great and profound      
soul--that is worth knowing4 ,it is in  
this soul that the whole kernel and     
essence of ,islam lies4 ,a thorough     
knowledge and a clear comprehension of  
this great spirit will alone enable the 
statesmen and thinkers of ,europe to    
understand the complex problems of      
so-called ,pan-,islamism4 ,to obtain    
this grasp1 however1 certain            
qualifications are absolutely essential4
 ,it is necessary--e4g41 to approach the
 subject from a rational and reasonable 
standpoint--to detach the mind from all 
preconceived dogmas and opinions2 to lay
 aside all prejudices1 racial1          
religious1 social and otherwise1 and all

 bigotries and intolerance2 to be       
confined to no one creed1 sect or       
denomination of any kind1 sort or       
description1 but the one great world of 
,humanity that1 in the eyes of ,nature1 
is of one soul and body4 ,this may be a 
large1 or as cousin ,jonathan would call
 it1 a tall1 order4 ,it bulks big and   
sounds ponderous4 ,in face of what human
 nature is1 it appears impracticable4   
,but even in human nature there are     
exceptions and possibilities4 ,an aspect
 such as this1 then1 though improbable1 
is certainly possible1 if exceptional4  
,let us presume at least that in this   
instance it is so4 ,it is1 at all       
events1 on these broad lines that the   
following pages have been written4 ,it  
is the true spirit of human sympathy and
 fellowship that has moved me--the      
sympathy and fellowship that would draw 
together1 or at least nearer to each    
other1 the worlds of ,christendom and   
,islam4  ,the better to achieve my      
object1 ,i have consulted no works on   

either ,mohammed or ,islam1 but have    
gone straight to the source or fountain 
head--to ,mohammed himself1 the ,koran1 
and to ,moslems of various nationalities
 with whom ,i have been brought into    
close and personal touch during a wide  
and a varied experience4 ,it is here in 
the man and his work that the true soul 
of ,islam is to be found4 ,just as in   
its founders and foundations lies the   
heart and essence of ,christianity1 it  
is in and out of the merits as well as  
demerits of ,mohammed's work1 that we   
shall form the true estimate of ,islamic
 utility4 ,by their fruits ye shall know
 them4 ,men do not gather figs of       
thorns1 or grapes of thistles4 ,mohammed
 most certainly did not4 ,as he sowed1  
so he has reaped6 ,so he is still       
reaping4 ,the ,koran was the immediate  
consequence of his concentration and    
communion with ,nature and ,nature's    
,god3 ,islam the natural result4 ,in    
other words1 ,islam is the devotion of  
,moslems to ,mohammed and the           

,koran--his work1 plus their patient    
resignation and entire submission to    
,god1 ,his will and ,his service6 ,the  
man of fixed and unchanging purpose has 
a supreme contempt for obstacles4 ,but  
when1 as in ,mohammed's case1 that      
purpose is the glorification of ,god1 he
 has at hand a lever that can move the  
world4 ,in this peculiar sense the great
 ,prophet of ,arabia was self-contained4
 ,he had everything within himself3 that
 everything centred in ,god and ,arabian
 unity4 ,he sought only what he needed4 
,this was to unify ,god and his country4
 ,how he succeeded is a matter of       
history4  ,d',aubign in his history of  
the ,reformation1 speaking of ,luther1  
says3 8,men1 when designed by ,god to   
influence their contemporaries1 are     
first seized and drawn along by the     
peculiar tendencies of their age40      
,undoubtedly this1 in a great measure1  
is so4 ,it is quite evident that        
,mohammed was influenced in this way4   
,yet it is also obvious that he was not 

so much seized by the peculiar          
tendencies of his age 7for in many ways 
he was far in advance of it71 as that he
 was obsessed and dominated by the      
energy or spirit of ,god1 and utilized  
these special features with the design  
of disseminating this overmastering ,god
 possession to others4  8,there are but 
three sorts of persons10 ,pascal used to
 say3 8those who serve ,god1 having     
found ,him2 those who employ themselves 
in seeking ,him1 not having found ,him2 
and those who live without seeking ,him 
or having found ,him4 ,the first are    
reasonable and happy2 the last are mad  
and miserable2 the intermediate are     
miserable and reasonable40  ,if ever man
 on this earth found ,god1 if ever man  
devoted his life to ,god's service with 
a good and a great motive1 it is certain
 that the ,prophet of ,arabia was that  
man4 ,that on the whole and in the      
truest sense of the word he was         
reasonable1 is best seen in the result  
which his labour achieved4 ,that he was 

happy1 is quite another matter4 ,real as
 is our existence1 happiness at best is 
but an ephemeral phase of it4 ,yet there
 is much truth in the assertion1 that   
gaiety seeks the crowd1 while happiness 
loves silence and solitude as ,mohammed 
himself did4 ,in any case1 if the       
satisfaction which ensues as the        
consequence of duty done1 and well done1
 is happiness2 if the consciousness that
 he has done his best in all sincerity  
and conscientiousness1 gives happiness  
to the ego1 then it is possible to      
assume that in bequeathing the grand    
heritage of ,islam to posterity1        
,mohammed must have gone to his final   
rest in a state of supreme happiness4   
,self-belief--8that thing given to man  
by his ,creator10 as ,carlyle calls     
it--was1 as ,i shall show1 a salient    
feature in ,mohammed's character4 ,more 
than half a ,bedawin 7or what was       
practically the same thing1 passing a   
great part of his life in deserts71 this
 was only natural4 ,but he did not allow

 this self-consciousness to degenerate1 
either into vanity or egotism4 ,it      
neither spoilt nor conquered him4 ,he   
knew his own weakness--none             
better--therefore relied all the more on
 the power of ,god4 ,it was this outside
 influence which reacted on him so      
powerfully from within4 ,it was this    
judicious blend or amalgam of two       
seemingly different thought-currents1   
which were in reality only a bifurcation
 of the same current1 that gave him all 
his strength4 ,it was this unique       
combination of an apparent dualism      
7through intense mental concentration7  
in one divine ,monism that gave         
,mohammed victory over every obstacle4  
,it was this compressed one-ness--the   
most sublime triumph of individual      
concentration in the world's            
history--that carried ,islam into the   
uttermost parts of the earth4 ,it was   
this centralization of moral or         
religious gravity that swelled the      
belief of one man--a modest             

camel-driving trader only--into the     
perfervid belief of hundreds of         
millions4 8,for given a sincere man1 you
 have given a thing worth attending to4 
,since sincerity1 what is it but a      
divorce from earth and earthly          
feelings80  ,one thing more4 ,to        
thoroughly comprehend the spirit of     
,mohammed or the soul of ,islam1 the    
student himself must be thoroughly in   
earnest and sincere4 ,he must in        
addition possess that moral1 mental and 
intellectual sympathy which gives the   
ego an insight into human subtleties as 
well as simplicities4 ,he must take     
,mohammed and ,islam as he finds        
them--in the same intensely sincere     
spirit that constituted the one and     
inculcated the other4 ,he must at the   
outset recognize that ,mohammed was no  
mere spiritual pedlar1 no vulgar        
time-serving vagrant1 but one of the    
most profoundly sincere and earnest     
spirits of any age or epoch4 ,a man not 
only great1 but one of the              

greatest--i4e4 truest--men that         
,humanity has ever produced4 ,great1    
i4e4 not simply as a prophet1 but as a  
patriot and a statesman3 a material as  
well as a spiritual builder who         
constructed a great nation1 a greater   
empire1 and more even than all these1 a 
still greater ,faith4 ,true1 moreover1  
because he was true to himself1 to his  
people1 and above all to his ,god4      
,recognizing this1 he will thus         
acknowledge that ,islam is a profound   
and true cult1 which strives to uplift  
its votaries from the depths of human   
darkness upwards into the higher realm  
of ,light and ,truth4 ,it is in this    
deep sense of earnestness1 and in this  
tense but even-minded spirit of equity1 
that ,i have endeavoured to make my     
study both rational and psychological3  
in other words1 reasonable and true to  
the spirit4 ,naturally1 therefore1 ,i   
have avoided those narrow and devilish  
pitfalls of racial1 creedal and colour  
prejudices--that awful curse of         

,humanity1 that insuperable barrier to  
the cult of ,humanitarianism--which     
leads to the deadly cancer of           
,misconception4 ,finally--making due    
allowance for space limitations--,i have
 endeavoured to the best of my ability  
to get to the root of all that is good  
and great in the immortal work of this  
leader of men who was so good and so    
great in every sense4 ,in this way only 
is it possible to get at the truth4     
,shallow1 superficial and paradoxical   
inquiries are mere empty vanities as    
utterly useless1 from a human           
standpoint1 as those which are biassed  
and one-sided4 ,to reach the depths1 to 
touch the bottom1 to get to the root of 
any true man's motives1 sincerity and   
thoroughness are as essential as        
intellectual acumen and profundity4  ,in
 this short study my one idea all       
through has been to delineate ,mohammed 
as he was and ,islam as she is4 ,for    
this reason ,i have neither painted them
 with my own colouring1 nor introduced  

into their natural complexion any       
outside flesh tints4 ,in plain ,english1
 ,i have not placed upon their beliefs  
and principles a construction that1     
being ethnically foreign to the entire  
sociological system upon which they are 
based1 would have been a fundamental    
error1 at complete variance with them4  
,,chapter ,,ii  ,,an ,,outline ,,of     
,,mohammed',s ,,temperament ,,and       
,,characteristics   ,one of the first   
thoughts that a very careful perusal of 
the ,koran brings home to me1 is the    
intense humanity of ,mohammed and his   
work4 ,the more one studies the various 
motives that led to his so-called       
revelations1 the more one is struck by  
the strong associations that connect    
these divine messages and ordinances    
with the actions and movements that were
 going on all round him1 as well as in  
his own mind--owing in a great measure  
to his own preaching4  ,in estimating   
the moral value of either ,christianity 
or ,islam1 it is necessary to take into 

consideration1 also to make allowance   
for1 the times in which their founders  
lived4 ,to attempt to judge one or other
 of them from the scientific standpoint 
of modern culture and civilization would
 be not only uneven but impossible4 ,to 
gauge the standard of their mental and  
moral attainments1 the student must     
investigate their work1 and compare1    
then contrast1 it with the general      
intellectual level of their own age4    
,when this has been done1 he should try 
and1 if possible1 realize what effect   
the advent and the doctrines advocated  
by them 7in the one case some #a1ijj    
years1 and in the other #a1cjj years    
ago7 would now produce4 ,in this way    
only is it feasible to arrive at a true 
and legitimate conclusion4 ,but in doing
 so1 the inquirer must divest1 certainly
 dissociate himself1 from all existing  
ideas on the subject1 and deal with it  
as it is1 and not what he thinks it     
ought to be4  ,the more one studies the 
,koran1 the more obvious does it become 

that ,mohammed had a powerfully         
receptive mind1 and a specially         
retentive memory4 ,notwithstanding that 
he was illiterate1 unable even to read  
and write1 it is clear that he was well 
versed in all the tenets and traditions 
of his own people and of the ,jews2 and 
that in addition he had made himself    
acquainted with some of the doctrines   
and dogmas of the ,christian ,gospels4  
,it is above all certain that for a     
great number of years ,mohammed         
concentrated his mind thereon with the  
force and intensity of a sincere and    
ardent nature4 ,but first and foremost  
the one great idea of the being1 unity  
and providence of ,god predominated all 
his thoughts4 ,acting on a temperament  
that was highly emotional1 and          
perceptibly neurotic or melancholic1 the
 revelations embodied in the ,koran were
 the natural result of so long and      
continuous a concentration4 ,still it is
 equally obvious that combining with    
this emotionalism and neurasthenia was a

 strong vein of commercialism and common
 sense1 also marked political and       
administrative ability4 ,it is further  
evident that in ,mohammed's character   
there commingled a very curious and     
conflicting number of elements and      
tendencies4 ,dominating all of these1   
however1 was an intense zeal1 an        
insatiable ambition1 an overpowering    
individuality and egotism1 and an       
inflexible doggedness and determination 
to attain his own ends4 ,to convert1    
that is1 the weakness and disintegration
 of the various tribes that composed the
 ,arab nation into the union of one     
consolidated whole1 with himself and    
family at its head1 as a human          
representation of the unity and         
supremacy of the one and only ,god4     
,this latter1 as we know1 was in no way 
original4 ,it is clear all throughout   
that he had profited from his knowledge 
of ,jewish tradition and experience1 and
 that he based his theory on the dogmas 
of ,moses and ,abraham4 ,he had long    

since realized that it was the worship  
of their own tribal and communal gods by
 the members of the various ,arab tribes
 and communities that accentuated the   
differences and divisions between them4 
,he determined1 therefore1 as the       
,jewish leaders long before him had     
attempted1 to consolidate and weld them 
into a single nation1 through the       
worship of the one supreme and          
indivisible ,god4 ,it was on and through
 this divine indivisibility that he     
decided to base and construct the unity 
and nationalization of the people4      
,unquestionably ,mohammed's movement was
 as much political as it was religious1 
as much material as it was spiritual4   
,but being of a profoundly reflective1  
at the same time of a practical1 turn of
 mind1 he chose religion as the only    
possible and thoroughly reliable means  
of achieving his great and noble ends2  
not only possible and thorough1 however1
 but the most potential4 ,mohammed1 in  
fact1 judged the capacity and           

characteristics of his countrymen to a  
nicety4 ,unconsciously--for legislation 
to him was a natural heritage--he       
followed the example of the most famous 
legislators1 and instituted such laws as
 at the time were the best that the     
people were capable of receiving4       
,tactful and diplomatic to a degree1 it 
was policy on his part to retain a      
certain number of the old beliefs and   
customs in order to satisfy the people4 
,he knew1 none better1 the fierce and   
turbulent temper of his countrymen1 and 
how it was most politic to deal with    
them4 ,in making this concession he     
showed his political wisdom1 if not a   
certain breadth and greatness of        
statecraft4 ,after all it was1 from an  
independent standpoint1 but a small     
concession as compared to the prize that
 he got in return for it4 ,it was a     
compromise in other words4 ,yet this and
 his own evidence in the ,koran is      
important as showing that ,mohammed was 
not so much in a strict sense the       

originator of a new creed as he was a   
reformer and the renovator of an old    
one4 ,it was the impress of his great   
personality1 distinguished as this was  
by the intense sincerity and earnestness
 of his nature1 that has left its mark  
on human history4  ,mohammed was a      
thinker and a worker not only for his   
own1 but for all time4 ,he recognized   
that man was equally a political and    
religious product of ,god's creation4   
,he understood that as a counterpoise to
 man's materialism and to the           
destructive in his nature1 is that      
indefinable essence which we call the   
spiritual and the constructive4 ,the    
more one looks into and understands the 
,koran1 the more obvious is it that     
,mohammed concentrated all the active   
and vigorous energies of his vivid and  
powerful imagination1 also his virile   
mentality1 on the accomplishment of his 
great design4 ,for design it certainly  
was4 ,the wish undoubtedly was father to
 the thought4 ,not1 however1 in an      

invidious sense1 but in the firm        
conviction that design and not accident 
or chance is one of the controlling     
principles of ,god and ,his creation1   
and that1 consistent with this          
principle1 he1 ,mohammed1 had been      
chosen as the divine agent4 ,personal   
ambition and aggrandizement never for a 
moment entered his head1 or formed part 
of it4 ,the national good1 to be        
attained only by a national or universal
 ,god--the one and only ,god of the     
universe--was the one great ambition    
that inspired and impelled him4 ,because
 although every one for himself and ,god
 for us all is presumably a natural law1
 ,mohammed managed to evade it4 ,but in 
evading it1 he was not revolutionary4   
,on the contrary1 in this way he rose   
one step upward above the lower human   
level towards that higher humanity which
 approaches the divine4  ,this design1  
as ,i have just said1 originated from   
the doctrine of divine unity attributed 
to ,moses and ,abraham4 ,indeed1 as one 

reads the ,koran carefully and steadily 
through from beginning to end1 it is    
manifested in every surah--almost1 in   
fact1 on every page4 ,the whole work1 in
 fact1 is saturated with the one idea1  
inspired by the one thought4 ,everywhere
 there is evidence of the final object  
in view1 the unconquerable will1 the    
inflexible resolve1 the fixed purpose1  
the indomitable perseverance1 the       
unyielding persistency1 the infinite and
 interminable patience1 the calm        
endurance1 the irresistible courage1 and
 the grim tenacity of the ego4 ,so much 
so is this evident1 that when ,i compare
 this determinism with the neurotic     
element in ,mohammed's character1 ,i am 
obliged to admit that the balance       
remains with the former4 ,yet--and this 
,i think is the strangest feature about 
this strange but commanding             
personality--there is no getting away   
from the fact that he was much under the
 influence of the latter4  ,it is1 of   
course1 possible that ,mohammed was what

 in ,arabia is called a 8,saudawi10 or  
person of melancholy temperament--what  
nowadays would be called a              
hypochondriacal dyspeptic4 ,melancholia 
is a complaint that the ,arabs are      
subject to1 students1 philosophers and  
literary men more especially4 ,a        
distaste for society1 a longing for     
solitude1 an unsettled habit of mind1   
and a neglect of worldly affairs are    
always attributed to it4 ,it is very    
probably--to some extent at least--as   
,burton suggests1 the effect of         
overworking the brain in a hot1 dry     
atmosphere2 also due in some measure to 
the highly nervous and bilious          
temperament constitutional to the       
,arabs3 a temperament that in           
,mohammed's case was aggravated by      
excessive emotionalism4  ,it is clear   
that once ,mohammed got hold of1 or was 
obsessed by1 the idea that he was ,god's
 chosen messenger1 and that his sayings 
were inspired by ,god 7a very old and   
primitive belief remember73 or rather as

 soon as ever ,khadija and others of his
 household were imbued with the idea1   
then he never relaxed his hold of it for
 a moment4 ,the confidence of those     
about him1 his faithful spouse more     
especially1 gave him confidence in      
himself4 ,confidence engendered         
conviction1 and conviction led to the   
,koran and the ultimate triumph of his  
cause4 ,that he was sincere in all this1
 there is not the slightest doubt1 but  
in taking the measure of his sincerity  
we must be guided entirely by the fact  
that he was essentially a man who had   
long before made up his mind to bring   
about the unity of his country4 ,indeed 
the whole history of ,khadija's         
association with the matter shows this4 
,to be a prophet in his own country or  
household1 a man must inspire respect1  
or the still greater feeling of         
veneration4 ,no man1 unless he is       
earnest and devout1 could possibly      
impress the members of his family4 ,they
 are bound to find him out4 ,this       

applies all the more forcibly to an     
eastern household in which polygamy     
prevails1 and that is made up of so many
 opposing elements and conflicting      
interests1 the atmosphere of which is   
only too often one necessarily of       
envies1 jealousies1 rivalries1          
suspicions1 intrigues1 and even         
conspiracies4 ,if ,mohammed had been    
insincere1 if instead of convictions1   
his belief had been a mere profession or
 a sham2 if it had not been one of      
austere1 rigid practice and self-denial1
 then those about him would neither have
 been impressed1 nor would they have    
espoused his cause as warmly and        
valiantly as they did4 ,not only were   
they impressed1 however1 but convinced1 
and it was their convictions that       
strengthened and confirmed his own      
faith4 ,but once he had gained their    
confidence1 his mission was assured4    
,there was no doubt whatever then in his
 own mind that he was ,god's chosen     
apostle1 to whom ,god had revealed ,his 

word--the words of truth and life4 ,from
 this out1 his own vigour1 his own      
extraordinary individuality and         
inflexibility carried him through from  
beginning to end4 ,once others believed 
in and relied on him1 his own latent    
self-reliance grew into a living and    
active factor that carried all before   
it4 ,but as he looked at it1 all his    
strength was from ,god4 ,god was at his 
elbow and in his heart1 therefore he    
could not fail4 ,nothing1 in fact1 shows
 better than this aspect of the matter  
how very wise and all-knowing 7his      
constant refrain about ,god in the      
,koran7 ,mohammed himself was4 ,how     
tactful and diplomatic1 but above all1  
how deep his knowledge of human nature4 
,had ,khadija and his household not     
believed in him1 it is safe to assume   
that then there would have been no      
,prophet and no ,islam4 ,as ,novalis    
says3 8,my conviction gains infinitely  
the moment another soul will believe in 
it40 ,so it was with ,mohammed4 ,so it  

is with us all4 ,so ,carlyle pithily    
observes3 8,a false man found a         
religion8 ,why a false man cannot build 
a brick house60 ,i have already shown   
that ,mohammed was not false4 ,but      
neither did he found a religion4 ,apart 
from the fact that he was a reality1 and
 as true as any of the world's great    
prophets1 ,mohammed was unable to       
perform the impossible4 ,religion as a  
natural product was beyond his          
comprehension and potentialities4 ,islam
 like ,christianity was a creed--a human
 or artificial development--the healthy 
and vigorous offspring of a noble and   
sublime1 yet in no sense original       
conception4 ,but there was no demerit in
 this want of originality4 ,because as  
,carlyle says3 8,the merit of           
originality is not novelty2 it is       
sincerity03 and with regard to          
,mohammed1 this has been more than once 
acknowledged4  ,launched upon the world 
of ,arabia in no false and unreal       
spirit1 but with the spirit of grim     

sincerity and earnestness1 ,islam has   
proved its stability spiritually and    
materially1 the present result of which 
speaks for itself4 ,it is enough to say 
that a creed whose followers now number 
over #bej1jjj1jjj1 or some #ae per cent4
 of the human race 7an under- rather    
than an over-estimate71 could have      
sprung from a healthy and vigorous seed 
only--a seed that has been nourished and
 kept alive by the vital spark of human 
sympathies1 hopes and aspirations4      
,what appears to me as so remarkable and
 so significant1 so truly characteristic
 of the man1 is the way in which he     
never lets go his grip of the central   
idea and purpose1 but follows it up step
 by step4 ,and as he follows1 he makes  
every point that he can1 seizes every   
opportunity1 takes every advantage of   
every ordinary event and occurrence that
 is going on around him1 makes the best 
of every reverse1 turns even his        
set-backs and reverses into moral       
victories2 and accepts it all as        

inevitable with the calmness of a       
philosophy that emanated from his own   
wondrous egoism and that inexhaustible  
fund of patience and reserve of courage 
which so distinguishes his character4   
,in this respect alone ,mohammed truly  
was a remarkable man--a man infinitely  
above1 not only his surroundings1 but   
his age4 ,with ,mohammed1 not only was  
the great fact of his own existence     
great to him1 but in almost every page  
of the ,koran it is obvious that ,god's 
omnipresence and omnipotence had made a 
profound and lasting impression on him4 
,everywhere and in everything--in       
natural objects more especially--he saw 
and felt the hand and the power of ,god4
 ,and to him it was a power so          
overwhelmingly terrific and transcendent
 in all its aspects1 that it defied     
description and demonstrated the        
insignificance and impotence of man4 ,in
 more senses than one he was a          
pantheist4 ,to him1 either ,god was     
,nature and ,nature ,god1 or ,god was in

 ,nature and ,nature was in ,god4 ,at   
bottom of him the old primitive belief  
was there1 but in unity and             
concentration he saw strength4 ,in his  
mind there was no room1 no place1 for   
lesser deities4 ,the power and the      
splendour of the one creative ,god--who 
lived and moved and had ,his being      
throughout the universe1 overshadowed1  
or1 rather1 had absorbed1 them all4 ,in 
the grim silence of the desert1 in the  
vastness of the heavens1 in the great   
infinity of space1 in the scintillation 
of the stars1 in every fibre of his own 
consciousness1 ,god was with him4 ,to   
,mohammed ,god was not a personal being 
but the ,god and ,maker of the universe 
and all mankind4 ,with him the entire   
theme and volume of his stream of       
thought was ,god and his religion4      
,coming from the core and centre of him 
as it did1 even through the long vista  
of thirteen centuries1 one can picture  
this overmastering element in every line
 of his stern-set and yet gentle face3 a

 face reflective and speaking1 that not 
only had a history stamped upon every   
feature1 but a great1 a strenuous1 and a
 commanding history4 ,in vino veritas is
 as true to-day as when first it was    
uttered4 ,so too the saw1 that          
8mastership like wine unmasks the man40 
,but ,mohammed needed no unmasking4 ,god
 and the truth--the truth about ,god as 
it dominated him--was the rich1 strong  
wine which coursed through every vein   
and fibre of his mental organism1       
stimulating and spurring him onwards to 
a sustained and continuous effort that  
ended only in death4 ,a sincere and     
earnest man1 a natural1 therefore a     
deeply religious man1 to him ,god was   
also a ,dayyan 7one of the ninety-nine  
epithets of ,god71 i4e4 8,a weigher of  
good and evil02 ,one who computed and   
settled accounts2 the holder of the even
 balance and scales of justice1 the     
,judge and ,arbiter of all mankind4     
,but apart from these functions1 the    
power and sublimity of the ,supreme     

,being1 as he saw it expressed in the   
silent grandeur of the desert1 the      
death-like stillness of the sandy sea1  
the frowning ruggedness and majesty of  
the mountains1 the immense universality 
of ,nature1 was always before his eyes  
and in all his thoughts4 ,full of this  
feeling1 of the awe and veneration      
innate in man and co-existent with the  
eternal ages1 he bursts out in the      
second surah3 8,god6 there is no ,god   
but ,he2 the living1 the                
self-subsisting3 neither slumber nor    
sleep seizeth ,him2 to ,him belongeth   
whatsoever is in heaven1 and on earth4  
,who is he that can intercede with ,him1
 but through ,his good pleasure8 ,he    
knoweth that which is past1 and that    
which is to come unto them1 and they    
shall not comprehend anything of ,his   
knowledge1 but so far as ,he pleaseth4  
,his throne is extended over heaven and 
earth1 and the preservation of both is  
no burden unto ,him4 ,he is the high and
 mighty40  ,as a natural outburst of    

emotions and convictions that had been  
pent up within his own inner            
consciousness1 that were the offspring  
of some twenty years of journeyings to  
and fro across the deserts where 8,amin0
 the faithful one was in direct and     
constant contact with ,nature1 and often
 in silent communion with the ,infinite1
 these few words are truly magnificent  
and sublime2 magnificent not only for   
the boldness and sublimity of their     
imagery and conception1 but magnificent 
also with the intensity and profundity  
of true sincerity4 ,few1 but all the    
more pithy for that1 these words are    
from the heart and soul of the man--a   
man who speaks not unadvisedly with his 
lips1 but who feels with every nerve and
 fibre of his intensely emotional being4
 ,they are 7as he himself feels7 the    
outpouring of an insignificant and      
impotent atom1 yet of a sincere and     
earnest man approaching in all humility 
and veneration1 and with the loyalty and
 allegiance of a true believer and      

servant1 the great1 invisible ,he1 who  
holds him and all creatures in the      
hollow of ,his mighty hand4  ,in a      
conversation that ,luther had one day   
with some friends at table1 he spoke of 
the world as a vast and magnificent pack
 of cards composed of emperors1 kings1  
princes and so forth4 ,for several ages 
these had been vanquished by the ,pope4 
,then ,god had come upon the scene1 and 
chosen the 8ace10 the very smallest card
 in the pack--himself1 in a word--and   
overthrown this conqueror of worldly    
powers and principalities4 ,mohammed1 as
 much as ,luther1 was one of 8,god's    
,aces40 ,seldom1 indeed1 in the history 
of the world1 has so great a human river
 flowed from a source so puny4 ,never   
did the divine manifest itself in a     
single pip1 so seemingly small and      
insignificant as a cause1 yet so        
pre-eminently and consistently great as 
an effect6  8,men10 says ,dumas in one  
of his historico-romantic masterpieces1 
8are visible1 palpable1 moral4 ,you can 

meet1 attack1 subdue them2 and when they
 are subdued you can subject them to    
trial and hang them4 ,but ideas you     
cannot oppose in that way4 ,they glide  
unseen2 they penetrate2 they hide       
themselves especially from the sight of 
those who would destroy them4 ,hidden in
 the depths of the soul1 they there     
throw out deep roots4 ,the more you cut 
off the branches which imprudently      
appear1 the more powerful and           
inextirpable become the roots below4    
8,an idea is a young giant which must be
 watched night and day2 for the idea    
which yesterday crawled at your feet1   
to-morrow will dispose of your head4 ,an
 idea is a spark falling upon straw40   
444 8,for the mind of man is no inert   
receptacle of knowledge1 but absorbs and
 incorporates into its own constitution 
the ideas which it receives40 ,thus it  
was with ,mohammed4 ,god was the spark1 
the vital spark of spiritual flame1 and 
this humble but honest ,arab trader was 
the straw1 that after twenty years of   

silent but tenacious smouldering ,god   
had set a light to4  ,the better1       
however1 to understand his character and
 purpose1 we must divide his life into  
two sections4 ,the first when1 as trader
 from the age of thirteen up to forty1  
first for his uncle and then for        
,khadija1 he was the man of business4   
,yet synchronous with this the man of   
ideas and ideals that he kept to himself
 however2 that he divulged to no one4   
,for not until the time was ripe and the
 hour had come1 not until he felt the   
call--felt1 that is1 that he was ready  
and able to begin--did he confide even  
in ,khadija4 ,the second section when1  
as the apostle of ,god1 he worked with  
all the fiery fervour yet steady zeal of
 a true prophet1 to put his ideas into  
practice4 ,but there was this difference
 with regard to ,mohammed as a theorist4
 ,he was not a man of many ideas4 ,in   
reality one central idea alone inspired 
him4 ,but great and magnificent as that 
was1 it was equal to a multitude4 ,it   

was a growing and a spreading giant     
which1 like the prolific banyan tree1   
threw out branch and root with such     
extravagant luxuriance1 that it         
completely overshadowed and predominated
 the entire expanse of his mental area4 
,we know what this idea was4 ,we know   
that round and out of the central stem  
of ,god's overmastering unity ,mohammed 
had determined to construct an ,arabian 
nation--possibly something even greater4
 ,we know1 too1 that the one was but the
 offspring of the other4 ,or it may be  
that they were the twin offspring of all
 this profound and concentrated         
contemplation4 ,but we do not know how  
this great idea first took root4 ,let   
us1 however1 try and trace it to its    
source as nearly as we can4  ,with still
 greater emphasis than ,chrysostom1 who 
asserted that 8the true ,shekinah is    
man10 ,carlyle says3 8the essence of our
 being1 the mystery in us that calls    
itself #8,i1' is a breath of heaven2 the
 highest ,being reveals ,himself in     

man40 ,an idea such as this would never 
have occurred to ,mohammed4 ,the        
fatherhood of ,god in its accepted human
 sense was repugnant to him4 ,the mere  
thought was sacrilege6  ,his conception 
of ,god was much too exalted1 much too  
divine for this4 ,god and humanity could
 have no possible connexion4 ,god was   
the ,creator--the ,potter1 who out of   
the clay or matter in chaos had made the
 world and all therein4 ,humanity was   
but a small part only of ,his creation4 
,men were but as clay in ,his           
hands--mere creatures of ,his4 ,beyond  
this hard and fast line there could be  
no relationship between ,god and man4   
,association was as impossible as       
comparison was objectionable4 ,god1 as  
supreme ,creator and ,director of the   
universe1 was a ,being altogether       
distinct and apart from ,his own        
creation4 ,yet as such ,he was the soul 
or spirit of it1 the breath of life to  
all that lived1 and of death to all that
 died4 ,man was as evil1 as puny1 and as

 weak as ,god was great and good and    
strong4 ,god was too exalted and        
glorious for words4 ,incomprehensible   
and inscrutable1 ,he was beyond the     
power of language1 outside the narrow   
limitations of thought to imagine4 ,just
 as the heavens were divided from the   
earth by boundless space1 so far apart  
was ,god from man4 ,the endless         
immensity of everything was insufficient
 to express ,his omnipotence--fell far  
short of the unthinkable reality4 ,even 
the heavens and earth as ,his handiwork 
did not convey as completely as it might
 appear to do the capacity of the power 
that belonged to ,him4 ,to ,mohammed1 in
 every vibrating star an all-seeing eye 
and glory of the great ,creator1 ,god1  
was visible2 in every tiny blade of     
grass1 in every spring of water1 ,he was
 manifest and tangible4 ,so some eleven 
centuries after ,mohammed was laid to   
rest1 a poor1 struggling1 but undaunted 
artist-poet1 looking from his mean      
,london garret with the eyes of a       

dreamer-mystic into the great invisible 
above and beyond him 7just as ,amin the 
faithful one had done71 yearned3        
8,to see the world in a grain of sand1  
,and a heaven in a wild flower2         
,hold ,infinity in the palm of 8his0    
hand1     ,and eternity in an hour40    
,and in the middle of the late departed 
century--which rushed across the great  
void of ,time like a hissing            
meteor--thus ,tennyson3      8,flower in
 the crannied wall1     ,i pluck you out
 of the crannies1     ,i hold you here1 
root and all1 in my hand1     ,little   
flower2 but if ,i could understand      
,what you are1 root and all1 and all in 
all1     ,i should know what ,god and   
man is40  ,while to ,wordsworth1 with a 
faith in ,nature and ,nature's ,god as  
deep as ,mohammed1 the meanest flower   
that blows1 gave thoughts that often lay
 too deep for words4  ,society is only  
too apt to judge or condemn facts and   
men2 also to ridicule the age and its   
spirit4 ,this drastic method saves the  

trouble of comprehending them4 ,the     
society of keen ,arab traders and wily  
,bedouins which environed ,mohammed did 
not comprehend him4 ,to them he was not 
so much like a fish out of water1 as a  
land quadruped at sea1 altogether out of
 his element as well as out of his      
depth--a flotsam struggling to get to   
dry land as a jetsam4  ,immeasurably    
above and beyond his social             
contemporaries either morally or        
spiritually1 to them ,mohammed was an   
enigma and a mystery4 8,scenting a      
mystery is like the first bite at a     
piece of scandal1 and holy souls do not 
detest it4 ,in the secret compartments  
of bigotry there is some curiosity for  
scandal40 ,but among ,mohammed's        
opponents--the ,koreish more            
particularly--it was not merely scandal 
that moved them3 it was jealousy1 envy1 
malice1 and in the end sheer diabolical 
hatred4 ,in describing the state of a   
mind that is advancing1 we must remember
 that all progress is not made in one   

march or even series of marches4        
,mohammed's march was entirely uphill1  
dead against the collar1 the whole way  
and all the time1 except1 perhaps1 just 
towards the end4 ,yet each day's march  
brought him nearer to the goal of his   
desires4 ,slowly but surely he made     
progress1 and with it reputation4 ,the  
slowness of his movement1 his advance1  
made progress and reputation all the    
more not a dead1 but a living certainty4
 ,but there is always anarchy in        
reputation4 ,it was this                
reputation--this individuality that     
dared to insolently assert itself in the
 overthrow of their ancestral           
gods--which explained ,koreish          
hostility4  ,mohammed was a calm1 yet by
 no means an unprogressive agent of     
,providence4 ,brains that are absorbed  
either in mania or wisdom1 or1 as often 
happens1 in both at once1 are permeated 
very very slowly by the things of this  
world4 ,but even admitting that there   
was melancholia1 there was no mania     

about ,mohammed4 ,if ever a man was sane
 and healthy1 he was4 8,you grant a     
devout man1 you grant a wise man3 no man
 has a seeing eye without first having  
had a seeing heart40 ,this fits his case
 to a nicety4 ,a more devout man than   
,mohammed never lived4 ,he was as       
pre-eminently wise as he was devout4 ,he
 utilized his wisdom to the fullest     
extent of his capacity1 and he proved   
his devoutness by putting his beliefs to
 the infallible test of stern and rigid 
practice4 ,a trader to his finger tips1 
a clear-sighted man of business1 and a  
statesman with prophetic instincts1 who 
profited by the past1 utilized the      
present1 and prepared for the future1 in
 this sense he was a contradiction4 ,the
 being absorbed in wisdom did not       
prevent him from carrying on his worldly
 duties in the most conscientious and   
thorough manner4 ,per contra1 his       
worldly duties did not prevent him from 
philosophical absorption4 ,the one was  
his duty1 the other the breath of life  

to him4 ,his veneration of ,god         
gradually crystallized the religion in  
him into a creed4 ,this is generally the
 result of concentration4 ,his          
absorption of ,god ended in ,god's      
absorption of him4 ,it was a long and   
gradual process which occupied twenty   
years4 ,during this period of embryonic 
development he withdrew1 as it were1    
into himself4 ,then when the crisis     
arrived1 it came out of him1 as a river 
flows out of a spring1 and was called   
,islam4 8,our chimeras10 says ,victor   
,hugo1 8are the things which most       
resemble ourselves1 and each man dreams 
of the unknown1 and the impossible      
according to his nature40 ,mohammed's   
chimera1 as we know1 was ,god and       
,arabian unity4 ,but there was nothing  
chimerical about the former1 and with   
this invincible lever1 the latter too   
was a distinct probability4 ,for        
although he was doubtless               
superstitious--that is natural--and     
wrestled with shadows and visions1      

,mohammed dealt in realities4 ,to him   
,god was the most real thing1 the       
sternest reality of all in the universe4
 ,god1 in fact1 was the ,universe4      
,these1 which to another would have been
 the unknown and the impossible1 were to
 him the possible and the inevitable4   
,the nature that was in him was the     
nature of ,god and the universe4 ,there 
is a point where profundity is oblivion1
 when light becomes extinguished4       
,though from a literary aspect ,mohammed
 was not profound1 in a religious sense 
his profundity1 centring as it did in   
,god1 burst forth into the ,cimmerian   
darkness which enveloped his country    
with the brilliancy of a meteor that    
illumines the blackest night4  ,there is
 too a way of encountering error by     
going all the way to meet the truth1    
also by a sort of violent good faith    
which accepts everything                
unconditionally4 ,there was nothing     
violent 7certainly not for a long       
period71 but there was everything that  

stands for goodness and stability in    
,mohammed's faith4 ,it was thus--in the 
spirit of a hero and the valour of a    
,paladin--he encountered the error and  
opposition of his enemies by first of   
all going out of his way to meet the    
truth2 then1 in spite of themselves and 
their hostility1 by enforcing it upon   
those who would not be persuaded4       
,according to ,fontenelle1 8there is    
only truth that persuades1 and even     
without requiring to appear with all its
 proofs4 ,it makes its way so naturally 
into the mind1 that when it is heard for
 the first time1 it seems as if one were
 only remembering40 ,this was very much 
the case with ,mohammed4 ,this was why  
he tried at first to lead and not to    
drive his countrymen to the truth4 ,to  
him who saw the truth of ,god's         
existence1 ,his mercy written as plainly
 in the falling raindrop as ,his power  
of retribution is in the lightning that 
flashes across the sky as if it would   
rend it1 their stubbornness in rejecting

 ,god was utterly incomprehensible4 ,his
 mind had two attitudes4 ,the one was   
turned to ,god1 the other to man4 ,in   
contemplating ,god1 he but studied man's
 interests and his own4 ,but            
contemplation with ,mohammed did not end
 by becoming a form of indolence4       
,imaginative--visionary1 in fact--as he 
was1 he did not allow his imagination to
 play tricks with him4 ,he did not fancy
 that he wanted for nothing4 ,even when 
married to ,khadija1 and in tolerable   
affluence1 there was obviously a great  
void in his life4 ,this want of course  
was spiritual4 ,exact and punctilious as
 he was in his temporal duties1 his     
whole bent and inclination was towards  
the former4 ,as a younger and poorer    
man1 he had looked so much at the       
humanity around him that he saw right   
down into its very soul4 ,with the same 
fervent intensity he had looked into    
nature until he saw or rather felt the  
creator and controller thereof4 8,there 
are times when the unknown reveals      

itself in a mysterious way to the spirit
 of man4 ,a sudden rent in the veil of  
darkness will make manifest things      
hitherto unseen1 and then close again   
upon the mysteries within4 ,such visions
 have occasionally the power to effect a
 transfiguration in those whom they     
visit4 ,they convert a poor camel-driver
 into a ,mahomet2 a peasant girl tending
 her goats into a ,joan of ,arc40 ,a    
conscientious and faithful worker1      
,mohammed was at the same time a        
dreamer4 ,but his dreams were but the   
reflex of his work and of his ideas4    
,these came to him like mountainous     
waves1 or the swell of an angry surf as 
it thunders on the beach with a         
threatening roar1 a mass of water that  
would submerge the very earth4 ,his     
ideas did not1 however1 submerge him4   
,nor did they destroy or bury him4 ,out 
of their unknown and bosky depths       
,mohammed invariably rose to the surface
 with the buoyancy of a life-belt1 calm 
and unmoved1 for his spiritual centre of

 gravity always held him up4 ,he dreamt 
of man1 but chiefly of ,god--of ,god's  
goodness and greatness1 of man's        
impotence and frailty4 ,he looked at the
 solid earth on which he stood1 with its
 stones and its sand1 its wheat and its 
tares1 its joys and sorrows1 but        
particularly its suffering children and 
helpless women4 ,then he looked at the  
vast void above1 with its star-spangled 
sky1 its sun and moon1 and the ,god that
 made all and was in all4 ,this led him 
to think of the void that was in        
himself1 and to compare the one with the
 other4 ,then he pondered and compared4 
,the greatness of it all passed into him
 and he dreamt again4 ,there was no void
 above1 for ,god filled it4 ,so too his 
own emptiness gave place to the         
,supreme4 ,all at once a great feeling  
of tenderness was aroused within him4   
,from the egotism of the genus vir1 he  
passed to the contemplation of the genus
 homo1 the man who contemplates and     
feels4 ,god had touched his heart4 ,in  

forgetfulness of self was born a great  
compassion for all4 ,for years and years
 ,mohammed lived with his neck in a     
noose of obstacles composed of human    
thorns and millstones4 ,he was1 so to   
speak1 an outcast1 thrown on the dung   
heap1 and into the brambles2 at times   
even in the mud4 ,yet no mud clung to   
him1 not even to his feet4 ,his head at 
all events was always in the light1 his 
hand always resting on the omnipotence  
of the ,almighty4 ,invariably gentle1   
attentive1 serious1 benevolent1 easily  
satisfied1 he remained serene and       
peaceful4 ,it was only in the last      
extremity1 when all his persuasive      
earnestness failed him1 that his enemies
 stirred him to wrath4 ,but it was a    
just and dispassionate wrath2 it was the
 wrath of ,god4 ,for whether they liked 
or no1 ,mohammed in his dual capacity as
 ,god's agent and ,arabian patriot had  
made up his mind that they should have  
,god4 ,on this point he was inexorable4 
,feeling that there is an eternity in   

justice1 he felt that in justice to     
,god1 and to themselves1 and in spite of
 themselves1 it was his duty to proclaim
 the truth4 ,many a less tenaciously    
sincere man1 many a real hero1 would    
have shrunk from and have succumbed     
before an ordeal so terrific1 a contest 
so supremely ,titanic4 ,but ,mohammed   
was made of sterner stuff1 of the spirit
 that gods are made of4 ,failure was a  
word that he did not recognize4 ,with   
,god at his back1 success was an        
absolute certainty--a foregone          
conclusion4  ,whatever might be his     
desire to remain where he was and cling 
to it1 he was impelled to advance1 to   
continue1 to go on further and still    
further4 ,yet to think and to ask       
himself where it was all going to lead  
him to8 ,but although he thought1 he    
never hesitated1 never turned back4 ,his
 hand was to the plough--the plough     
,god4 ,god was the goal1 the end1 the   
summit of human existence and ambition4 
,humanity was the soil1 and to get there

 he must furrow his way through its     
enmities and affections4 ,firm and      
exceptional natures are thus moulded out
 of miseries1 misfortunes and           
afflictions4 ,as a result of his work   
history shows us more and more that     
,mohammed was firm and exceptional to   
the very highest degree4 ,yet there was 
nothing of that hypocrisy which ,victor 
,hugo calls supreme cynicism about him4 
,he was too human1 too much in earnest1 
to be anything but ,amin the ,faithful4 
,there is1 after all1 more in a name    
than meets the eye4 ,in some names there
 is history and the tragedy of history4 
,in others there is the might and       
majesty of a commanding magnetism1 which
 recognizes the sublimity of truth4 ,in 
,mohammed's case1 even to this day over 
two hundred and fifty million human     
beings bow the knee through him to ,god4
 ,yes1 there is much--a world of        
meaning--that is inexpressible in a     
name--a magic and a je ne sais quoi     
which under the label of ,napoleon led  

men to the ,kingdom ,come of glory--in  
other words1 to destruction and the     
devil--but that with ,mohammed was the  
open sesame to the glory and power of   
,god4 ,a rose by any other name may     
smell as sweet4 ,but ,islam without the 
halo of time-honoured sanctity that     
attaches to the name of ,mohammed1 would
 sound as but a hollow brass or a       
tinkling cymbal4 ,just1 in fact1 as the 
man himself was sincere and faithful1   
there is1 and there will continue to be1
 a magic in his name--more so even than 
that of ,christ has for the             
,christian--drawing men to ,god1 as he  
in person drew them not alone by sheer  
force of will and character1 but by a   
force which was even stronger1 the force
 of sincerity and truth4     ,,chapter  
,,iii  ,,the ,,environment ,,that       
,,moulded ,,mohammed   ,a true son of   
the desert1 it is impossible to         
understand the powerful and complex     
personality of ,mohammed1 unless we can 
appreciate the peculiar character and   

genius of the desert4 ,more so in some  
ways even than the seaman1 the dweller  
or sojourner in the desert is distinct  
and unique in himself4 ,possessing the  
courage of the ,fatalist1 and as free as
 the roving winds of heaven1 he is all  
the same of a shrinking and timorous    
nature1 confronted as he often is by    
certain aspects and phenomena that      
imperil his life and strike down to the 
very roots of his moral consciousness4  
,in the desert there is1 comparatively  
speaking1 little life4 ,unlike the      
forest region1 it is naked and almost   
destitute4 ,there1 as at sea1 man is    
face to face not only with the great    
elements1 but with the greater ,infinite
 and ,invisible4 ,he is nearer to ,god  
and the immensity of ,nature4 ,there is 
nothing--or little at least--to distract
 his attention--nothing between him and 
the ever watchful ,inscrutable4 ,there  
is no shade from the sun by day1 no     
protection from the moon and stars at   
night4 ,they look down on him as from   

the pinnacle of the sublimest elevation4
 ,the fiercer glory of the sun by day   
burns into his very soul1 consumes his  
very marrow4 ,the milder effulgence of  
the moon by night throws its silvery    
glamour over all his senses4 ,the lesser
 and more distant splendour of the      
stars--those watch-fires of angelic     
spirits--in their countless myriads awe 
and bewilder him4 ,in the choking breath
 of the simoom he feels the             
potentialities of ,god1 and his own     
helpless impotence4 ,struck all of a    
heap by its stifling blast1 he is filled
 with fear and trembling in the presence
 of a ,power invisible yet tangible and 
deadly4 ,whether he wills or not1 the   
fear of ,god--of the ,inexorable and    
,inevitable--enters into his heart and  
takes possession of his inmost soul4    
,call it the fear of ,god or not1 it is 
practically one and the same            
feature--the mere human label makes no  
difference to this awful and unseen     
reality--the same fear of the ,unknown1 

the ,unexpected and the ,inevitable3 the
 ,inevitable that is always with us1 the
 agnostic and the sophist no less than  
with the theologian1 yet unseen1        
incomprehensible and omnipotent4 ,but   
more than anything1 it is the awful and 
impenetrable silence that impresses and 
appals the silent and dignified nomad of
 the desert4  ,to those who have never  
been outside the confines of            
civilization1 it is not logically       
possible even to guess at the           
extraordinary influence--a fascination  
amounting to witchery--that the silence 
and solitude of the desert exercises    
over one4 ,yet if ,i were asked to      
define the essence and subtlety of this 
influence1 ,i could but answer that it  
is indefinable2 all the same a glamour  
that1 like the force of gravity1 is     
irresistible4 ,free and open like the   
sea 7but fresh only at night71 it is not
 the witchery of the soft blue sky1 for 
the sky of the desert is hard and       
steely2 it is not the fierce white heat 

of the fervid sun that melts into the   
very marrow of one's bones2 but rather  
is it the soothing magic of the moon at 
night1 under the brilliant canopy of the
 heavens1 when the earth1 cooling       
rapidly1 is lulled into eternal silence1
 that one falls under the magic spell of
 its wondrous influence4 ,but even the  
glamour of the moon is out-glamoured by 
the darkness of the night under whose   
funereal pall even the great suns and   
planets hide their diminished heads4    
,there is in the darkness and the       
silence of the night a mystery and a    
profundity that arouses the sluggish1   
even the stagnant consciousness of the  
dullard--that much more so attracts the 
quickening soul of the mystic and       
visionary1 which springs to it with the 
same eager avidity that a lean and      
hungry trout leaps at the first fly     
which he sees after a long and enforced 
abstinence4 ,it is in this darkness and 
silence of the night1 rather than in the
 fierce glare of the midday sun1 that   

the fear of the great ,infinite comes to
 man4 ,for if we but think of it1 what a
 spectre-teeming spectacle is night4 ,we
 hear strange1 weird sounds4 ,we know   
not whence they come or whither they go4
 ,or it may be that all around us is as 
the silence of the grave--of eternal    
death4 ,we see the evening star looming 
large like a great world on fire4 ,the  
blue of the sky looms black4 ,the stars 
seem to speak to us2 the whole scene is 
impressive--a sight for the gods4 ,in   
the desert1 however1 and to the earnest 
thinker whose centre of gravity is ,god1
 night is something more than a mere    
spectacle--a something greater1 grander 
and more terrifying than a simple       
impression--a feeling deeper and        
sublimer even than a conviction3 a      
revelation of the ,unseen ,unknown which
 is all the time behind that which he   
sees and knows4  ,full as night is of   
phantoms1 shades1 sounds and silence1 it
 is no illusive mirage1 no mere empty   
simulacrum4 ,but in every way it is a   

reality and a substance which is        
tangible1 that touches one not only on  
the spot1 on the raw1 but everywhere2   
that fills one with vague fears1 and    
brings even the proudest and the        
sternest to their knees before the power
 of the great ,omnipotence4 ,the very   
stars which hang out in the great       
firmament appear as ,god's              
sign-posts--great all-seeing eyes that  
are ever upon us--or like eternal       
watch-fires which contrast the eternity 
of ,god with the momentary mortality of 
man2 they enhance the blackness of the  
blue4 ,peering as they do into the      
awesome watcher's inmost soul1 they     
either drive him headlong into the      
blackness and terrors of evil1 or lead  
him by their kindly light into the glory
 of the ,almighty ,presence4            
,unquestionably the night is either     
diabolical or sacred4 ,not only this1   
she is the brooder and breeder of all   
primitive doctrines1 the conceiver and  
the mother of all human creeds4 ,in her 

immense womb there is a latent light1 a 
smouldering volcano full of ashes1      
cinders1 and dead men's bones2 yet full 
also of fire-sparks that are capable of 
flashing into luminosity1 even of       
bursting into hissing1 leaping and      
devouring flames4 ,it was thus that     
,christianity and ,islam came into      
being4 ,it was thus out of the primeval 
sacrifices1 the shadows and silence of  
death and darkness1 that all creeds have
 crept into and out of the minds of men4
 ,tortuous human ant-heaps bored and    
tunnelled through and through by human  
ideas1 human hopes1 and human           
aspirations2 worlds in the low-lying    
limbo of the ftus stage1 fecundating in 
all directions into beliefs1 faiths1    
creeds1 sects1 denominations1           
quackeries1 dissimulations and          
charlatanism4 ,labyrinthine1            
subterranean1 and full of subtleties as 
all these creeds appear to be1 they are 
easy enough to comprehend4 ,they have   
all sprung from the same simple seed if 

we would but recognize it4 ,if we but   
looked at this vista of the past as     
through a mental telescope1 if we but   
grasped the substance and not the       
shadow1 went straight to the simple root
 instead of to the theological and      
metaphysical subtleties of it all1 we   
would find it absolutely simple4 ,if we 
would but for a moment drop from our    
eyes the dense scales of dogma1 bigotry 
and prejudice1 there would be no        
difficulty in tracing back all these    
enigmatic ramifications and gloomy      
obscurities of pristine darkness and    
chaos to the one central germ idea1 the 
one vitalizing spark that inspires and  
illumines them all4  ,it is obvious that
 ,wordsworth1 when he speaks of only    
8two voices10 the one 8of the sea10 the 
other 8of the mountains0--8each a mighty
 voice10 quite overlooked the bleakness 
and silence of the desert4 ,this        
overpowering blackness that pervades the
 very soul1 creeps through every vent   
into the bones and chills one to the    

very marrow4 ,this sublime silence1 that
 speaks to one as the still small voice 
of ,god spoke to ,moses1 and that fills 
the thinker with even greater awe and   
veneration than the crashing and rolling
 thunder4 ,this silence which is of     
eternity1 therefore golden1 while speech
 is of to-day and only silvern1 for as  
,carlyle reminds us3 8,after speech has 
done its best1 silence has to include   
all that speech has forgotten or cannot 
express40  ,speaking for myself1 who    
have passed many days of my existence at
 sea1 and many more still in the desert1
 there is that in the latter which      
always reminds me of the former4 ,to be 
sure1 the ever restless sea with its    
almost myriad moods--its calm1 its      
motion1 its rippling smiles1 its wavy   
undulations1 its heights and depths1 its
 fickleness and treachery1 its dazzling 
beauties1 its fierce turbulence--is as  
unlike the desert1 with its grim stiff  
grandeur and appalling sameness as it   
well could be3 still--      8,tho'      

inland far we be1     ,our souls have   
sight of that immortal sea     ,which   
brought us thither40  ,there is no music
 in it by day or by night1 only the dead
 still hush of silence4 ,yet the desert 
has its aspects1 if it has not its moods
 and contrasts--as singular as they are 
striking4 ,see1 or rather feel it under 
the fierce and scorching glare of the   
fiery sun1 that almost shrivels you into
 a mummy2 see it also under the softer  
spell of the silvery orb1 when the air  
is balmy1 if not fresh1 and you will at 
once imagine yourself to be in an       
altogether different and enchanted      
world4 ,then again1 lose yourself in the
 desert on a dark night when for once in
 a way the stars are dim or obscured by 
clouds1 and you will realize as you     
never before have done1 the awesome     
reality of the sense of loneliness--a   
feeling which can only be compared to   
that felt by the hunted criminal hiding 
in a city1 and against whom every man's 
hand is raised4  ,but there is besides  

in the desert the fateful mirage that1  
like the ocean sirens1 has lured so many
 to their doom4 ,finally there is the   
oasis which stands out of the sea of    
shimmering sand1 like an island paradise
 that towers over the waste of seething 
waters which encircle it4 ,the desert   
too1 like the sea1 has its ships and its
 men4 ,ships that pass by day as well as
 by night4 ,ships that stride across the
 great sandy wastes1 grunting and gawky1
 with unwearying patience1 unyielding   
tenacity1 and unerring instinct4 ,as are
 the ships1 so are the men4 ,but in     
place of gawkiness and grunts1 the      
golden virtue of silence1 and the       
conscious pride of natural dignity4 ,men
 who in their very port and carriage are
 the very spirit and personification of 
the desert4 ,men who represent not the  
genii1 but the genius of the great dry  
sea of sand and silence4 ,indeed1 if    
ever men on this planet of ours were    
patriarchal1 if ever men bore themselves
 with the gait and the simple dignity of

 free men1 the ,bedawins of ,arabia and 
the ,north ,african deserts do4 ,with   
the lynx-like1 yet enigmatic expression 
that calls to mind a combination of     
eagle keenness and owl-like solemnity1  
there is about them a freedom of manner 
and bearing1 a dignity of carriage1 an  
independence of character1 that are the 
peculiarly glorious and distinctive     
heirlooms of the air1 expanse and       
grandeur of these inland seas4 ,in every
 sense1 moral and physical1 they are the
 products of an unrestricted environment
 that has made them what they           
are--wanderers on the face of the earth4
 ,but wanderers from choice4            
,untrammelled even to licence2 giving an
 unbridled rein to their spirit of      
independence4 ,regarding with supreme   
contempt the luxuries and even          
necessaries of civilization4 ,yet with  
it all slaves to the spiritual fears    
that haunt them4 ,relics of a primitive 
and old-world civilization1 there is    
about these ,bedawins a flavour of      

antiquity1 of a past that is hoary with 
the hoariness of eternal age1 so distant
 that we cannot conjecture about it1    
even in the vaguest of terms4 ,in       
addition to this everlasting antiquity  
and conservatism1 there is about these  
patriarchs a naturally dignified        
reticence1 and an air of calm1 quiet    
assurance and authority1 that are       
peculiarly their own personal property4 
,but there is even more than this4      
,there is that same universal           
concept--common to all primitive people 
who have not outlived it--of belief in  
the fear of a supreme power4 ,that same 
awe and reverence for the patriarchal   
authority connected with that of the    
ancestors which has preceded it2 that   
calm and philosophical acceptation of   
,karma or ,fatalism2 that same dread of 
consequences2 that identical terror of  
malignant demons2 that same shrinking   
from the inevitable1 which is the       
heritage of all natural people4         
,inherent instincts that even twelve    

centuries of ,islam have scarcely       
modified4 ,when we get underneath the   
surface of human nature as represented  
by the ,arab1 whether he came from the  
east1 the west1 the south1 or the       
centre1 it is obvious that the          
underlying motive for most1 if not all1 
of his social customs is inspired by    
that personal or religious instinct     
which is so closely allied to the       
primary instincts of all4 ,out of such  
fundamental material did ,mohammed      
emerge6  ,nevertheless1 with all its    
drawbacks1 there is about the desert1   
only in a different degree1 the pleasure
 of the pathless woods1 the rapture of  
the lonely shore4 ,just as by the deep  
and rolling sea whose very roar is      
music1 there is a society where none    
intrudes1 so with the desert4 ,right in 
the very core and centre of its silence 
and solitude1 the man whose ears and    
eyes are open to receive impressions1   
finds himself in the presence of that   
invisible but omniscient power of       

,nature4 ,the power that1 while it      
causes the earnest thinker to pause and 
reflect1 makes the average human being  
yearn for the companionship of his own  
kind4 ,but it was not so with ,mohammed4
 ,mohammed was not as other men are4 ,he
 was a thought leader4 ,not a deep      
thinker by any means2 but profoundly in 
earnest4 ,few men in the world's        
history--judging at least by            
results--have been more in earnest than 
he was4 ,in ,hannibal there is the same 
earnest fixity of purpose1 only         
different in kind1 the same unquenchable
 ardour1 and the same iron will that    
kept him faithful to the sacred vow of  
undying vengeance against the ,romans1  
that his father exacted from him on the 
altar of their ancestral gods4 ,in      
,william the ,silent too1 but also in   
another direction1 we find the same     
relentless purpose and the same         
inflexible sincerity to attain the      
independence and autonomy of the ,united
 ,provinces4 ,cromwell likewise gave his

 life and his services--all that was    
best in him in fact--in the firm and    
sincere conviction that he was ,god's   
chosen instrument4 ,but in none of these
 men1 not even in the great and heroic  
,ironside1 was there the same fervent   
godliness1 i4e4 the fear and veneration 
of ,god4 ,it was ,luther most of all who
 approached ,mohammed in the sincerity  
of his purpose1 i4e4 of his religion4   
,for although ,luther was essentially a 
priest1 and did not found a new creed1  
his sincerity showed itself as a        
,protestant and ,reformer4 ,in his whole
 life the fear and veneration of ,god as
 the motive factor of his existence was 
manifest4  ,it is1 of course1 just      
possible1 as ,tennyson surmises1 that3  
8444 ,through the ages one increasing   
purpose runs1     ,and the thoughts of  
men are widen'd with the process of the 
suns40  ,this1 however1 is vague and    
brings us no nearer to an exact         
comprehension of the matter4 ,the better
 to understand this feeling of fear that

 so dominated men of the ,numa1 ,buddha1
 ,luther1 ,john ,knox1 ,cromwell and    
,mohammed type1 it is essential that the
 student grasps and measures the actual 
measure of difference that divides      
religion from creed4 ,it is but meet    
that we should accept the rational      
axiom1 that religion is natural1 and    
creed the egotistical and personal      
interpretation placed upon religion by  
human beings4 ,as ,draper says3 8,when  
natural causes suffice1 it is needless  
to look for supernatural40 ,so ,bacon1  
looking with the insight of true genius 
into the ,book of ,nature1 up to        
,nature's ,god1 said in that immortal   
aphorism which opens the ,novum         
,organum1 8,homo ,natur minister et     
interpres0--man is the servant and      
interpreter of ,nature4 ,this will make 
it easier to get at the root of this    
dual feeling of fear and veneration4    
,but to do so it is necessary for the   
student to look as far back into the    
past as he can4 ,in every ancient cult  

that has ever existed1 in the ,chaldan1 
the ,egyptian1 the ,aryan1 the various  
7so-called ,pagan7 ,african1 for        
example1 the same overmastering element 
predominates4 ,in ,grecian annals and   
literature--in the ,iliad1 the ,odyssey1
 ,hesiod's ,theogony1 in the great      
tragedies of schylus1 in ,plutarch and  
other writers--,fear is not merely      
reverenced as 8,holy10 but in ,greece1  
as elsewhere1 altars were erected and   
worship offered to her as a goddess4    
,it is in its definition and conception 
of religion that humanity has gone      
astray4 ,by general acceptation religion
 and creed have always been confounded4 
,natural religion is spoken of as a     
something different and widely apart    
from ,christianity1 as a religion       
revealed4 ,this is not so4 ,there is no 
difference between them4 ,christianity  
is but the development of natural       
religion on the lines and ideas of      
certain individuals4 ,there is no such  
thing as revelation4 ,religion is an    

evolution4 ,it is natural4 ,it comes to 
us from ,nature1 i4e4 from the ,god out 
of which ,nature has evolved4 ,hence its
 constructive and destructive dualism4  
,it is a living and vital force that is 
innate in man as being one with ,nature4
 ,obviously this veneration1 this fear  
of the ,unseen1 the ,unexpected and the 
,inevitable 7which ,i have spoken of71  
is one of the root instincts out of     
which it unfolds itself4 ,most          
unquestionably it is the outward and    
visible expression of the inner         
consciousness or spirit that moves man  
to the adoration of veneration in the   
constructive direction1 and of fear in  
the destructive4 ,this varies in the    
individual4 ,thus on the one hand we    
have a ,mohammed2 on the other a        
,napoleon4 ,from the very beginning of  
human existence right down until now    
this fear of ,god has predominated4 ,it 
still exists4 ,it will go on existing4  
,religion is as much a part of the human
 constitution as the primal instincts4  

,creed is acquired4 ,it is environment  
and education that makes or forms creed4
 ,the child becomes what his teacher    
makes him1 as he can neither            
distinguish1 discriminate nor judge for 
himself4 ,but to make him ,jew1 ,gentile
 or ,christian1 the religion must be in 
him4 ,creed1 in a word1 is but the view 
that is taken of natural religion by the
 ego4 ,but a matter so important as     
this1 however1 cannot here be entered   
into4  ,as it has been with all the     
great religious leaders of history1 so  
too it was with ,mohammed4 ,fearing1 yet
 venerating1 the might1 the majesty and 
the goodness of ,god1 the companionship 
that he most wanted was not human but   
divine4 ,communion with ,him1 through   
his own thought and through the great   
,infinity around him1 was what his heart
 most desired4 ,a town ,arab by birth   
and breeding1 a ,bedawin by feeling and 
instinct1 he was something more than a  
mere native of ,arabia4 ,rather a son of
 men1 an apostle chosen out specially   

from among men1 that he might bear to   
them the message and truth of ,god4     
8,men10 says ,victor ,hugo1 8talk to    
themselves1 speak to themselves1 but the
 external silence is not interrupted4   
,there is a grand tumult2 everything    
speaks within us1 excepting the mouth4  
,the realities of the soul1 for all they
 are not visible and palpable1 are not  
the less realities40 ,the great reality1
 as ,i have shown1 that obsessed        
,mohammed was ,god4 ,though invisible in
 person or even in spirit1 ,god was none
 the less visible and palpable to him as
 much in the finest speck of sand as in 
the consuming glory of the sun4 ,in the 
mocking spectres of the night1 as well  
as in the shifting shadows of the       
morning1 the might and majesty of ,allah
 was supreme4 ,in the dead silence of   
human solitude1 the grand tumult within 
him was only grand and tumultuous       
because ,god talked to him and he to    
,god in the suppressed sibilance of     
hushed and awesome whisperings4         

8,diamonds are only found in the        
darkness of the earth2 truths are only  
found in the depths of the thought40 ,as
 it seemed to ,father ,madeline1 the    
ex-convict ,jean ,valjean1 so it        
appeared to ,mohammed1 8that after      
descending into these depths1 after     
groping for some time in the densest of 
this darkness1 he had found one of these
 diamonds1 one of these truths1 which he
 held in his hand1 and which dazzled his
 eyes when he looked at it40 ,the       
brilliant which ,mohammed searched for  
was the truth--the greatest brilliant of
 all6 ,the truth that he found as it    
appeared to him was ,god4 ,thus he      
immolated his whole being to the will of
 ,god1 as to the truth which resides in 
,him alone4 ,like ,pascal1 ,mohammed    
believed that 8one can be quite sure    
that there is a ,god without knowing    
what ,he is40 ,or in the words of       
,hobbes3 8,forasmuch as ,god ,almighty  
is incomprehensible1 it follows that we 
can have no conception or image of the  

,deity1 except only this1 that there is 
a ,god40 ,this in sense if not in word  
was ,mohammed's idea of ,god as he tried
 to conceive ,him4 ,for him it was      
sufficient that ,god was the only       
,god--the ,creator and the ,controller  
of the universe6 8,there are touching   
illusions which are perhaps sublime     
realities40 ,but to ,mohammed1 ,god was 
not even 8the ,great ,illusion10 but a  
stern as well as a sublime reality6 ,to 
him the desert and lone places were     
,god's dwelling-place--as far away from 
the busy hum and haunts of men as ,he   
could get4 ,but only because of the     
delightful charm of golden silence and  
solitude--only because in the midst     
thereof1 as in the heavenly paradise1   
,god dwelt there4 ,the one fair spirit  
that he dwelt and communed with--not in 
close proximity however1 but with a     
great gulf fixed between--was the one   
and only ,god1 who had at last          
constituted him ,his minister and       
apostle1 because of his great love and  

devotion to ,him4 ,it was for this that 
,mohammed sought the desert4 ,it was    
there under the stars--the flashing     
forget-me-nots of ,god's great          
power--that alone with ,nature and his  
own thoughts1 he sought ,god4 ,who is   
there of us can say that he did or did  
not find ,him8 ,can we1 or can we not1  
by searching find ,god8 ,whether we can 
or no1 however1 is not the question--is 
not for us to decide6 ,but one fact is  
certain--one fact is obvious4 ,it was in
 the core and centre of the eternal     
silence and solitude of mountain        
fastnesses and desert expanses that the 
spirit of ,islam had its origin4 ,it was
 there1 as it were under the myriad eyes
 of the great and infinite ,god1 under  
the fiery blaze of the burning sun1     
under the cooler and more clinging      
glamour of the mellow moon1 under the   
dimmer gloom and mystery of darkness1   
there with his face to the red-hot      
furnace blasts and suffocation of the   
simoom1 that the message came to him4   

,alone with his thoughts3      8,alone1 
alone1 all all alone1     ,alone on a   
wide wide sea60  ,no mere saint1 but    
,god ,himself1 8took pity on0 his 8soul 
in agony40 ,he was not alone1 for ,god  
was with him4 ,this self-communion of   
,mohammed with his thoughts1 was to him 
none other than communion with ,god1    
because his thoughts were concentrated  
on ,him with all the soul and strength  
he was humanly capable of4  ,the power  
of persuasion does not always lie in the
 flow and eloquence of speech4 ,the     
strongest are often the most silent4    
,god never speaks but in the still small
 voice of consciousness1 that comes to  
every man in the dark watches of the    
night1 when the hum and movement of life
 is hushed into the silence of sleep6   
,solitude1 too1 that twin-sister of     
,silence1 8though10 as ,de ,quincey     
says1 8it may be silent as light1 is1   
like light1 the mightiest of agencies2  
for solitude is essential to man40 ,but 
if essential to the ordinary man1 it is 

as the breath of life to men of ,god and
 prophets4 ,solitude1 in fact1 sinks    
deep into a pure and simple nature1 and 
changes him in a great measure4         
,unconsciously it intensifies him to a  
superlative degree1 and inspires him    
with an awe of itself that becomes      
sacred to him4 ,within himself the      
recluse feels weak1 unstable and        
inconsistent4 ,without he is strong in  
the consciousness of the omnipotence and
 supremacy of the ,infinite4 8,solitude 
generates a certain amount of sublime   
exaltation4 ,it is like the smoke       
arising from the burning bush4 ,a       
mysterious lucidity of mind results1    
which converts the student into the     
seer1 and the poet into a prophet40 ,in 
a word1 there is an enthusiasm1 an      
influence1 and a power in solitude that 
the civilized man1 or the man who has   
never been subjected to it1 cannot form 
the slightest or faintest conception of4
 ,for the silence of solitude and the   
solitude of silence is a state 7common  

to all primitive people7 in which the   
being believes himself to be not only 8 
10 i4e4 full of ,god1 but that the ,god 
predominates4 ,hence the enthusiasm1 the
 rapture1 and the power to divine and   
speak in divers tongues4  ,surely1 if   
ever man was in deadly earnest1 this    
faithful son of ,arabia was4 ,if ever   
man opened his heart and soul to the    
,father and ,mother of all things1 this 
,mohammed1 the merchant1 did4 ,truly if 
ever the great ,author of our being     
responded to a soul in silent agony1    
i4e4 in conflict1 in a struggle for     
victory1 it was to this great descendant
 of the bond-woman ,hagar6 ,for in      
,islam1 and the soul of ,islam1 such as 
he inculcated1 the victory was greater  
than any ,marathon or ,thermopyl4       
,,chapter ,,iv  ,,mohammed',s           
,,principles ,,and ,,beliefs            
,mohammed1 as ,i have more than once    
said1 was all for unity and cohesion1   
therefore against division and          
disintegration of any kind4             

,concentration was as the breath of life
 to him4 ,dissension a deadly evil4 ,in 
his scheme of religion and politics     
there was no place for schism4 ,schism  
meant discord1 and discord the devil4   
,to him discord was as ,ate1 the mother 
of dissension4 ,he recognized1 as       
,spenser evidently did1 that 8discord   
harder is to end than to begin03        
8,for all her studie was1 and all her   
thought1     ,how she might overthrow   
the things that concord wrought40  ,and 
above all things1 this ,statesman       
,prophet was the essence and            
personification of centralization and   
concord4 ,for unity alone rendered      
,islam feasible4 ,thus in the second    
,surah he insists that mankind was of   
one faith from the beginning4 ,thus too 
as a just1 faithful and consistent man1 
he is opposed to violence and taking the
 offensive1 even in the name and under  
the cloak of religion2 he constantly    
advocates and authorizes 7that is1 has  
,god's authority for7 the defensive4 ,he

 even recommends1 at the same time that 
he excuses1 war and retaliation on the  
unbeliever and infidel4 ,on the whole1  
however1 ,i am bound to admit that      
,mohammed disapproves of and            
discountenances violence in religion4   
,he1 in fact1 distinctly forbids his    
followers from enforcing it4 ,their own 
persecution was to be met by patience4  
,apostates and unbelievers were to be   
given time meet for repentance4 ,yet to 
him1 fanatic as he was with regard to   
religion1 ,islam was the only true      
,faith1 the covenant1 the sure ark of   
,god that alone could secure salvation4 
,of this and of ,god he was no more than
 an ,apostle--i4e4 a messenger2 also an 
expounder--but as such he obviously     
tried to live up to his name of         
,faithful4 ,this speaks volumes for his 
toleration and humanity in an age when  
neither one nor the other of these      
attributes were much in repute2 when    
both1 in fact1 were at a low ebb4 ,yet  
it shows us how intensely human the     

,prophet was4 ,a man of great patience1 
prudence and trustworthiness1 of        
retentive memory1 strong character1 and 
with the disposition of a judge--a very 
commander of men4 ,thus he acknowledges 
the divinity of ,god in forgiving1 and  
the humanity of man in demanding        
reparation and restitution4 ,here the   
moral excellence of ,mohammed shines out
 as a brilliant4 ,in ,surah xiv41 8a    
grievous punishment is prepared for the 
unjust4 ,but they who shall have        
believed and wrought righteousness1     
shall be introduced into gardens1       
wherein rivers flow2 they shall remain  
therein for ever by the permission of   
their ,lord1 and their salutation       
therein shall be ,peace40 ,from this and
 many other similar passages1 it would  
seem that ,mohammed1 by his constant    
reiteration of ,promises and ,threats1  
by his determined insistence thereon1   
hoped ultimately to convince even his   
enemies of his sincerity also of the    
fact that ,islam1 as the creed of the   

one and only ,god1 was the true ,faith4 
,again in this passage 7,surah vi471    
8,god causeth the grain and the         
date-stone to put forth1 ,he bringeth   
forth the living from the dead1 and ,he 
bringeth forth the dead from the living4
 ,this is ,god10 etc41 etc42 we get a   
clear insight into the intensity and    
comprehensiveness of the divine         
conception as it appeared to him4 ,a    
little further on in the same passage he
 speaks of ,god as 8,he who hath        
produced you from one soul2 and hath    
provided for you a sure receptacle and a
 repository10 namely in the loins of    
your fathers1 and the womb of your      
mothers--one of those gleams of         
pantheism that ,i have already alluded  
to4  ,but of all the passages in the    
,koran1 the following is1 in many ways1 
one of the most significant3 8,whatever 
good befalleth thee1 ,o man1 it is from 
,god2 and whatever evil befalleth thee1 
it is from thyself40 ,it is obvious from
 this that the prophet believed evil to 

be a human weakness with man as an      
active and self-willed agent4 ,sale in a
 note thereon says3 8,these words are   
not to be understood as contradicting   
the preceding verse1 that all is from   
,god1 since the evil that befalls       
mankind1 though ordered by ,god1 is yet 
the consequence of their own wicked     
actions40 ,but as ,mohammed regarded the
 sublime divinity of ,god1 it would be  
more accurate to interpret the evil not 
as being ordained or even sanctioned by 
,god1 but as being permitted1 or rather 
not prevented by ,him as a thing        
inevitable4 ,to him the purity1 sanctity
 and inviolability of ,god was of such  
vast moment1 that it was unjust--a      
mortal sin--to devise even a lie against
 ,him4 8,and who is more unjust than he 
who deviseth a lie against ,god1 that he
 may seduce men without understanding80 
,the frequent repetition of this and    
other like passages is significant of   
,mohammed's sincerity1 also of his moral
 persistence and tenacity4 ,it was from 

his point of view bad enough to have    
doubt thrown on the authenticity of his 
mission4 ,this he could to some extent  
put up with4 ,but it was as naught      
compared to the reflection1 the crime of
 perjury committed against the          
,almighty4 ,to cast a slur on ,his      
holiness in this audacious way1 was     
nothing short of blasphemy1 a crime     
worthy of eternal hell fire and         
damnation4 ,few men in the world's      
history were as loyal to their ,god as  
this grim but faithful product of       
,arabia the ,stony4 ,in this respect1   
and particularly with regard to the     
depth and intensity of their religious  
zeal and fervour1 there was a strong    
resemblance between ,cromwell and       
,mohammed4 ,to both of these moral      
ironsides1 those who did not believe as 
they believed were unbelievers1 and as  
such outside the pale of ,god's mercy4  
,for believers1 however1 nothing was too
 good4 ,to such an extent did these     
principles influence the latter1 that he

 even went so far as to promise that all
 grudges should be removed from the     
minds of the faithful4 ,here again we   
have evidence of ,mohammed's            
unquestionable humanity2 also of        
civilization to a marked degree4 ,for a 
grudge1 although fundamentally and      
characteristically human1 was at the    
same time1 and still is among the       
,bedawins1 a peculiarly ,arabian        
idiosyncrasy2 associated as it was1 and 
often culminating as it did1 in acts of 
vengeance identical to the ,corsican    
vendetta1 8the terrible blood feud which
 even the most reckless fear for their  
posterity40  ,in spite1 however1 of his 
eagerness and zeal for conversion1      
consistent as this was with his idea of 
national autonomy1 in nothing did       
,mohammed show his sincerity so much as 
in his thoroughness and honesty4 ,he was
 nothing if not thorough4 ,the long and 
arduous probation he passed through in  
preparing and fitting himself for his   
mission--the mental concentration1 the  

wrestlings with all that is evil and    
inexorable in man's nature1 the night   
watches1 the agonies1 the communings    
with ,god--all go to prove this4 ,and if
 to be outspoken and candid is honesty1 
then indeed no one has surpassed him in 
that respect4 ,in his eyes a true       
disciple of ,islam meant a man who lived
 and acted up to the tenets and         
principles of its faith4 ,for instance1 
with him there was no such fiasco as a  
death-bed repentance4 8,but no          
repentance shall be accepted from those 
who do evil until the time when death   
presenteth itself unto one of them1 and 
he saith verily ,i repent now2 nor unto 
those who die unbelievers3 for them have
 we prepared a grievous punishment40    
,such an act was wholly repugnant to the
 fine sense of equity and justice that  
he possessed1 advocating as he so       
strenuously did the use of 8a full      
measure and just balance40 ,as one who  
had given practically his whole life to 
the service and adoration of ,god1 his  

soul rose in revolt and abhorred so vile
 a subterfuge4 ,it was adding insult to 
injury4 ,a mere sneaking stratagem of   
priestly artifice1 held out as an       
alluring but offensive bait4 ,a         
despicable and devilish cunning on the  
part of the unbeliever1 who would       
endeavour to throw dust into the        
sun-piercing vision of the ,most ,high1 
all unconscious of the thinness and     
transparency of his device and of ,god's
 searching penetration1 that could      
pierce through all eternity even unto   
the uttermost ends of ,his mighty       
universe6 ,to serve mammon a lifetime1  
and then at the last moment1 when on the
 brink of death's unending precipice1 to
 turn to ,god and expect to reap the    
same reward of eternal bliss as the     
whole-hearted believer who has given all
 or a great part of his life to ,god's  
service1 was impossible4 ,the very      
thought of it was monstrous4 ,the choice
 lay with the ego himself6 ,evil was his
 own doing6 ,good also lay within his   

reach4 ,it was in a great measure a     
matter of choice4 ,every man was more or
 less responsible for his own undoing4  
,to a life of evil1 a death-bed         
repentance was not capable of producing 
more than its own equivalent of         
happiness1 i4e4 the merest possible     
fragment4 ,this was in accordance with  
,god's principle of the scales of       
justice and an even balance4 ,yet       
,mohammed was not against repentance and
 contrition when sincere and made in due
 and proper time4 ,over and over again  
he holds out the olive branch1 and      
reiterates the forgiveness and mercy of 
,god1 as attributes that belonged to    
,him alone4 ,mercy1 indeed1 was not so  
much an attribute as a monopoly4 8,he   
hath prescribed unto ,himself mercy10 as
 compatible with the fact that ,he was  
the final ,court of ,appeal4 ,however   
adversely the theologian may criticize  
this from the modern ,christian         
standpoint1 it is clear and direct proof
 of ,mohammed's whole-hearted sincerity4

 ,further it is equally direct and      
tangible evidence of the ardour and zeal
 that was in him as a prophet and       
reformer4  ,god1 with all ,his sternness
 and inflexibility1 as ,he appeared to  
,mohammed1 was just and merciful4 ,a    
strict comparison between ,yahveh and   
,allah certainly inclines the balance in
 favour of the latter4 ,jehovah at ,his 
best was a ,god of blood and vengeance1 
at ,his worst a voracious monster4 ,in  
,allah1 stern and avenging ,god as ,he  
was1 there was at least compassion and  
mercy and forgiveness4 ,he was not      
inexorable4 ,he would listen to reason4 
,mohammed himself was a distinct advance
 on the founder of the ancient ,jewish  
faith4 ,he was more humane1 a man of    
broader and deeper sympathies4 ,stern   
and hard to a degree where ,god and the 
,faith was concerned2 where men1 but    
especially women and children1 were     
concerned1 he was all tenderness and    
pity4  ,dutiful and obedient to his     
uncle who had been a father to him1 he  

was a faithful servant1 an exemplary    
husband1 a kind father1 a good master4  
,the very name of ,faithful1 by which he
 was always distinguished1 proves beyond
 a doubt what manner of man he was4 ,an 
orphan himself in childhood1 early      
inured to poverty1 his heart went out to
 all those who had the misfortune to be 
similarly situated4 ,for the poor1 the  
weak1 the helpless1 he had a            
fellow-feeling4 ,the degraded or at     
least dependent and unprotected position
 of women1 their moral and legal        
helplessness most of all1 appealed to   
him4 ,but in no sense because he was    
sensual4 ,sensuality was not one of his 
many failings4 ,a man from top to       
bottom1 by birth1 breeding and          
environment ,mohammed was an ,arab and a
 ,patriarch4 ,as such he only naturally 
liked women and children4 ,to men and   
for the ,faith a strong hard man1 to the
 weak and helpless he was tender and    
affectionate4 ,as he was strong1 so he  
was merciful and full of human          

sympathies4 ,his long and happy union   
with ,khadija shows not only that he was
 faithful to a degree1 but a man of high
 moral fibre4 ,a man too full of the    
gravity of life to squander his         
substance in mere sensuality4 ,but in   
all eastern and ,african countries where
 polygamy prevails1 marriage is a pure  
matter of political convenience4        
,mohammed knew this4 ,he recognized that
 marriage was a very important factor in
 securing influence and power4 ,it threw
 out octopean feelers at various        
tangents and established certain        
associations and connexions to which it 
clung1 as a limpet to a rock or a       
devil-fish to its victim4 ,the same     
principle down almost to our own day has
 been a powerful factor in ,european    
statecraft4 ,even the earlier practice  
of keeping mistresses1 so much indulged 
in by the sovereign holders of so-called
 8divine rights10 had much in common    
with this custom4 ,it was undoubtedly   
this motive more than any other which   

influenced ,mohammed4 ,it was an        
essential feature in his great design4  
,for in spite of his overwhelming       
devotion to ,god1 notwithstanding ,god's
 obsession of him1 ,mohammed was        
essentially human4 ,there was room and  
sorrow in his heart for human frailties4
 ,his desire was strong to remedy them4 
,he too like ,luther was a ,protestant1 
and a ,reformer4  ,as to the soulless   
theory regarding the fair sex1 which has
 been literally thrust upon the ,moslem 
world by an antipathetic if not inimical
 ,christendom1 ,i quite agree with      
,burton4 8,the ,moslems never went so   
far40 ,at all events if some of them    
have done so1 8,certain #8,fathers of   
the ,church1' it must be remembered1 did
 not believe that women have souls40    
,lady ,mary ,wortley ,montagu1 in one of
 that inimitable series of letters which
 she wrote1 admits as much4 ,in this    
particular letter written from          
,constantinople on ,may #bi1 #agag      
7,o4,s471 to the ,abb ,conti1 she says3 

8,our vulgar notion that they 7the      
,turks7 do not own women to have any    
souls is a mistake40 ,and then she      
continues1 but in not so accurate a     
vein3 8',tis true1 they say they are not
 of so elevated a kind1 and therefore   
must not hope to be admitted into the   
paradise appointed for the men1 who are 
to be entertained by celestial beauties4
 ,but there is a place of happiness     
destined for souls of the inferior      
order1 where all good women are to be in
 eternal bliss40 ,it is in no sense     
surprising1 therefore1 that to ,mohammed
 ,allah was the merciful4 ,so in the    
sixth surah1 he writes3 8,we 7as if     
identifying himself with ,god7 will not 
impose a task on any soul beyond its    
ability4 ,for this self-same reason1    
,god is minded to make his religion     
light unto you3 for man was created     
weak40 ,strong and enduring as sincerity
 and conviction made him1 ,mohammed knew
 his own weakness4 ,hence with a        
clemency that was divine he made        

concessions such as these4 ,in these he 
acknowledged that1 8to err is human1 to 
forgive divine40 ,all the more1 however1
 we cannot but admire his candour4 ,even
 as regards himself1 his shortcomings   
and inadequacies1 he speaks with an     
openness and straightforwardness that   
disarms suspicion--that forces the      
inquirer to respect him with all the    
greater reverence as a great leader of  
men4 8,so say ,i not unto you1 the      
treasures of ,god are in my power2      
neither do ,i say1 ,i know the secrets  
of ,god1 neither do ,i say unto you1    
,verily ,i am an angel3 ,i follow only  
that which is revealed unto me40 ,indeed
 the more closely and carefully ,i look 
into his words in comparison with his   
life and acts1 the more obvious do his  
candour and sincerity become4 ,the more 
obvious is it to me that although       
essentially the product of a grim and   
petrified environment1 he himself was   
unique4 ,a man in advance of his time   
and people4 ,for deep down in the soul  

of him1 the rich milk of human kindness 
welled up out of the same eternal source
 from which he derived his fear and     
veneration for the ,supreme6 ,truly the 
,prophet and spiritual ruler of the     
,east and polygamy1 as ,christ stands   
for the ,west and monogamy6  ,it was    
with these weapons1 combined with the   
tenacity of an elastic and imperishable 
patience1 that ,mohammed fought the     
,koreish and other tribes1 and it was   
with them he finally conquered4 ,had he 
been insincere1 there would have been no
 ,islam4 ,had there been no spirit of a 
divine moral conception such as he      
infused into the creed 7which came      
through him from the great fountain head
 of ,god and ,nature71 ,islam would have
 withered and perished from sheer       
exhaustion and debility4 ,from the      
standpoint of physical and moral purity1
 ,mohammed was in every sense an        
,essene4 ,not only therefore was        
cleanliness of the body an absolute     
essential1 but cleanliness of mind4     

,filthy immoral actions and depravities 
that he knew existed1 unjust violence   
and iniquities1 whether openly done or  
in concealment1 were condemned and      
forbidden in scathing terms as a        
violation of ,god's express command4    
,the sophistry that would make an evil  
to be no crime unless found out1 he     
denounced with all the fiery ardour of  
his fervent nature4 ,from ,god there was
 no concealment4 ,in his eyes it was a  
crime all the same--greater1 in fact1   
because of attempted concealment4       
,,chapter ,v  ,,the ,,material ,,and    
,,other ,,sides ,,of ,,the ,,prophet',s 
,,character   ,in refuting those        
sceptics who have doubted the truth and 
sincerity of ,islam1 ,carlyle condemns  
scepticism 7rather too hastily it seems 
to me7 as an indication of spiritual    
paralysis4 ,most unquestionably he was  
right in denouncing the former as an    
idiotic and godless theory4 ,but        
scepticism itself in a general sense is 
not necessarily an evil4 ,on the        

contrary1 it is a natural tendency that 
arises out of the instinct of curiosity4
 ,knowledge is not an inert and passive 
principle1 but an active and dynamic    
force4 ,buckle in his history speaks of 
scepticism as stimulating curiosity4    
,but he has put the cart before the     
horse4 ,it is curiosity that excites    
scepticism4 ,curiosity is an animal     
instinct--the basis of all science4 ,it 
exists in the lower animal              
creation--scepticism only in the upper  
human section4 ,it is a higher or       
further development1 a tendency that is 
certainly strengthened1 if not acquired 
through education4  ,according to       
,lecky1 8,the first stage to toleration 
in ,england was due to the spirit of    
scepticism encroaching upon the doctrine
 of exclusive salvation02 and 8the      
extinction of the spirit of intolerance 
both in ,catholic and ,protestant       
countries--due to the spirit of         
rationalism--was the noblest of all the 
conquests of civilization40 ,but as     

rationalism itself is chiefly the       
consequence of scepticism and the result
 of inquiry1 it is obvious that in a    
deeply fundamental sense1 the world is  
very considerably indebted to science or
 the spirit of scepticism4 ,indeed all  
knowledge has arisen from experience1   
and the desire to search into the root  
of things--to know what is what4        
,without curiosity and scepticism1 human
 thought would have long since stagnated
 and the world remained sunk in         
ignorance4 ,as ,ghazali says1 8,no      
knowledge without assurance deserves the
 name of knowledge40 ,seeing is not     
always devouring4 ,curiosity is not     
necessarily gluttony1 or 8scepticism1   
that curse of the intellect10 as ,victor
 ,hugo calls it4 ,gluttony is unnatural1
 unwholesome1 and bestial4 ,it is not so
 much overdoing1 as a flagrant abuse and
 outrage of a natural appetite4 ,it is a
 kicking against the pricks--a flying in
 the face of ,providence4 ,but curiosity
 as an instinct direct from ,nature is  

healthy1 therefore the use of it as also
 wholesome stands in need of stimulus   
and encouragement4  ,so ,tennyson said  
of ,shelley3--      8,there lives more  
faith in honest doubt1     ,believe me1 
than in half the creeds40  ,in this     
righteous sense ,mohammed was curious4  
,as one of her own selection1 ,nature   
had specially endowed him with          
curiosity4 ,he was one of her human1    
sensitive plants4 ,as an observer1 all  
his senses were developed and on the    
alert4 ,he not only saw1 but felt every 
vibration that thrilled1 as it were1 the
 very soul of the first great mother4   
,in every flitting cloud1 as in every   
fugitive thought1 he was conscious of an
 unseen ,power4 ,a look-out man rather  
than a prophet1 it was thus he groped or
 rather felt his way until he felt ,god4
 8,i feel that there is a ,god10 said   
,la ,bruyre1 8and ,i do not feel that   
there is none3 that is enough for me2   
the reasoning of the world is useless to
 me3 ,i conclude that ,god exists40 ,it 

was in much the same vein of            
self-argument that ,mohammed communed to
 himself4 ,having felt ,god1 ,god became
 for him a necessity3 more so even1 an  
essential--an absolutism which banished 
all else from his mind4 ,the thought    
that there was no ,god did not occur to 
him4 ,but the thought that other gods   
could exist in the same universe with   
the one omnipotence was to him as       
monstrous as it was unthinkable4        
,besides ,him there was no room for any 
other4 ,the very thought in his         
estimation perished from inanition and  
sheer inability of conception6 ,the     
trinity of ,christianity was to him as  
impossible and unacceptable as the      
antediluvian or later polytheism of his 
own countrymen4  ,all active minds are  
sceptical4 ,carlyle himself--although he
 appears to have been unconscious of the
 fact--was himself a sceptic4 ,but it   
was peculiarly characteristic of the    
antagonistic dualism of his nature on   
the one hand to hurl innuendoes1        

anathemas 7and every kind of mental     
brickbat that he could lay hold of7 at  
what he called scepticism or unbelief4  
,on the other hand1 to hold up belief as
 absolutely essential to human          
existence4 ,but like all theoretical    
crotchets1 he carried his philosophical 
speculations too far4 ,in other words1  
he sometimes overreached himself4       
,according to his particular dogma1 in  
his opinion1 the life of man cannot     
subsist on doubt or denial1 it subsists 
only on belief4 ,but this is altogether 
beside the mark4 ,scepticism does not   
necessarily imply doubt or denial4      
,belief itself cannot exist without it4 
,it is out of the ashes of scepticism   
that the immortal ,phnix of belief      
arises4 ,it is out of the doubt and     
denial of accepted doctrines that all   
creeds 7including ,christianity and     
,islam7 have grown into being4 ,the     
doubt engendered by scepticism is after 
all only an investigation or leading    
into1 an analysis of the nature of      

dogmas1 doctrines or creeds4 ,it is an  
investigation that may or may not have a
 result4 ,it is but a search for or     
groping after the truth1 as the         
consequence of moral1 intellectual or   
spiritual dissatisfaction4 ,it is also  
the desire to know1 to find out the pros
 and cons of all the sides to a         
question4 ,the spirit or element of     
doubt is the necessary1 the essential   
precursor of improvement and progress4  
,hence the immense importance and       
significance of ,scepticism4 ,it is the 
very sum and substance of all human     
knowledge4 ,as the acorn is to the oak1 
scepticism is to knowledge--the seed    
from which has sprung up all we know1   
and ever shall know4 ,the ever fluent   
channel through which all the great     
intellectual giants and reformers of the
 world have poured out the glowing      
flash-lights of their intellect into the
 normal darkness of human minds4 ,it is 
the moral effluvium out of which our    
modern civilization has constructed     

itself4 ,without it1 the dense gloom and
 black obscurity of ignorance would have
 reigned supreme4 ,confused1 chaotic1   
and enigmatic as the world now is--even 
in the full glare of its                
sunlight--without it 7if it were        
possible to imagine such a state7 the   
world would have been an enigma1 a chaos
 and confusion worse confounded4 ,for   
scepticism is1 as it were1 the sun in   
all its glory1 as compared to the black 
oblivion of eternal night4 ,if neither  
,luther nor ,mohammed had been sceptics1
 there would have been no ,reformation  
and no ,islam4 ,they did not take       
everything for granted4 ,they were not  
satisfied with things as they were4     
,they looked into the heart of them and 
found much room for improvement4 ,they  
examined what they could1 rejected that 
which was spiritually objectionable to  
them1 but made use of what was most     
appropriate to their respective         
situations4 ,it was only those features 
that best suited the exigencies of the  

case that they were prompt to lay hold  
of4  ,yet ,mohammed was not of vigorous 
intellectuality1 nor in any sense an    
original thinker4 ,the constant         
repetition of formulas and reiteration  
of the same ideas that occur throughout 
the ,koran show this4 ,it is extremely  
probable that his mentality was at times
 overshadowed either by neurasthenic    
tendencies1 or a predisposition to      
melancholia1 and this was more than     
likely heightened by a life of excessive
 mental concentration combined with     
asceticism4  ,but sincere as he was1    
,mohammed would not have been a true    
,arabian1 had he not been diplomatic4   
,thus the commencement of the fourteenth
 surah is a clever but obvious device on
 his part2 a meeting of his enemies with
 their own weapons1 a flinging back to  
them of their own words and objections  
to the truth in their own teeth4 ,it is 
clear too that here1 for the time being1
 he has resolved on a change of tactics 
and of front4 ,to prove to them that he 

is as of old the man to be trusted1 he  
endeavours to disarm their incredulity  
by his own outspokenness and candour4   
,as the sequel showed1 he clearly       
demonstrates his own perspicacity and   
knowledge of human nature4 ,he saw that 
by arguing with his countrymen1 by      
always opposing their doubts with       
sophistry and argument1 would be of     
little avail--useless1 in fact4 ,such a 
course would but have encouraged and    
stimulated their opposition1 on the     
ground that their beliefs1 as worth     
refuting1 were also based on truth or at
 least on strong evidence4 ,besides1    
,mohammed was painfully conscious of his
 own disability and helplessness to     
convince them by the performance of     
anything purporting to be miraculous4   
,that on occasions he displayed         
artfulness and guile--duplicity1 in     
fact--is not to be denied4 ,the         
invention1 e4g41 of his night journey   
from ,mecca to heaven vi ,jerusalem1 was
 one of them4 ,when he gave out that    

,gabriel had revealed to him the        
conspiracy that had been formed against 
him1 which through ordinary means he had
 discovered1 was another of these pious 
frauds4 ,but after all1 what are these  
trifles compared with those that in     
their myriads have been perpetrated by  
the great ,church of ,christendom8 ,what
 are they as compared to a long life of 
strenuous sincerity1 great nobility and 
earnest effort in the cause of humanity8
 ,it is impossible to lose sight of the 
fact that in working for ,god1 he was   
all the time raising his countrymen from
 a lower to a higher level4 ,besides1   
the necessity of dissimulation1 which is
 one of the heaviest taxes on a king1   
and the prerogative of a priest1 is one 
of those idiosyncrasies that human flesh
 being heir to1 even a prophet cannot at
 times escape from4 ,we are reminded of 
the phrase3 8,qui scit dissimulare1 scit
 regnare0--,he is a ruler who can       
conceal his thoughts--attributed to the 
,emperor ,sigismund by that cultured and

 ambitious but false and subtle ,pontiff
 ,pius ,,ii1 known as neas ,sylvius     
7,pius neas73 also the identical answer 
that ,louis ,,xi is said to have made to
 those who urged him to give his son    
,charles a better education1 in order   
that the boy might in his day become a  
good king4  ,it was not only that       
,mohammed's enemies were sceptical of   
his powers and his mission1 but they    
mistrusted his intentions4 ,this1       
indeed1 to a sincere and earnest man    
like himself1 was a bitter pill2 a pill 
he found it hard to swallow4 ,for he was
 conscious of his own sincerity1 and as 
time went on1 an increasing following   
gave him greater confidence in the      
reality of his mission4 ,indeed in      
proportion as his self-confidence       
developed1 his conviction in the power  
and unity of ,god became an ever        
increasing quantity4 ,this increasing   
consciousness of ,god's power and his   
own sincerity had the gradual effect of 
making him bolder and more aggressive1  

so that this outspokenness was a direct 
outcome of it1 until at last ,mohammed  
felt that it was his duty not merely to 
announce 8,islam0--8the true ,faith10   
but to enforce its acceptance on the    
people4 ,this1 of course1 as we know1   
was after his flight to ,medina4 ,true  
his own people1 the ,koreish1 had driven
 him out with scorn and violence1 had   
cast contumely and dishonour on him1 by 
rejecting the word1 while strangers had 
hearkened unto him and accepted it4 ,it 
is equally true that the sustained      
vindictiveness shown by the ,koreish was
 sufficient in itself to excite the     
spirit of retaliation1 even in a man of 
,mohammed's patient and tenacious       
character4 ,but suggestive as this may  
be1 it is quite certain that he acted on
 conviction in assuming the offensive4  
,it is obvious1 too1 that in doing so1  
he felt that he was acting under divine 
compulsion4 ,in any case1 we must allow 
that 8a man is really of weight in the  
balance of ,fate1 only when he has the  

right on his own account to cause men to
 be slain40 ,in ,mohammed's case1       
however1 if conviction counts for       
anything1 his right was a divine right4 
,according to ,dumas3 8,in human nature 
there are antipathies to be             
overcome--sympathies which may be       
forced40 7,the italics are mine47 8,iron
 is not the loadstone2 but by rubbing it
 with a loadstone we make it1 in its    
turn1 attract iron40 ,this may be1 but  
it is not in reality so4 ,it is but a   
mere figure of speech that the great    
novelist makes use of1 and which he puts
 into the mouth of ,ren1 the poisoner1  
in support of some theory or argument4  
,it is1 of course1 possible that        
antipathies may be overcome by sympathy4
 ,this1 however1 depends entirely on the
 power of the one and the weakness of   
the other4 ,but sympathy cannot be      
forced4 ,to endeavour to force sympathy 
is to attempt the unnatural4 ,the most  
that can be expected from such a cause  
is dissimulation4 ,this certainly was   

,mohammed's experience4 ,although       
ultimately he and his successors forced 
the word of ,god on these his inveterate
 enemies1 he never succeeded in forcing 
his sympathies upon them4 ,death and    
,time alone accomplished what his own   
personality failed to do4 ,through the  
victory he gained by them1 he now lives 
enshrined in the sanctified halo of a   
sympathy that1 emanating from every     
,moslem heart1 forms with his own the   
great and throbbing soul of ,islam4     
,but ,mohammed was not only spiritual4  
,he1 like every human being1 had a      
material side to his character4 ,not    
only was he a preacher and a prophet2   
not only was he a lawgiver--a law and a 
light unto his people to this very day2 
but as one who himself rigidly practised
 self-denial and economy and condemned  
extravagance1 who possessed the         
organizing ability to administer the    
estate of others1 and who could command 
preferably in peace1 but if necessary in
 war1 he was a statesman and an         

economist4 ,unquestionably too he looked
 ahead--he made provision for the       
future4 ,his whole apostolic life was   
one long and arduous preparation for    
coming events4 ,as an instance of this1 
the ordering of the yearly pilgrimage to
 ,mecca was as much a political as a    
religious ordinance4 ,by this measure of
 policy--this master stroke of          
psychologic insight into human          
eventualities1 ,mohammed showed his     
natural genius4 ,for without a doubt he 
aimed at preserving to ,arabia the point
 and focus of a religious centre1 that  
would make for national consolidation   
and unity1 and serve as the sacred rduit
 and rallying ground for the world of   
,islam4 ,so too he showed his capacity  
for system and organization in          
legalizing the fifth part of all booty  
and property confiscated to be paid into
 the public treasury4 ,in the same way  
he insisted on the giving of ,zakat or  
alms for charitable purposes1 apart from
 those contributions he received from   

his followers for maintenance4 ,in      
making these ordinances appear as divine
 injunctions1 ,mohammed showed no more  
insincerity or inconsistence than he did
 in claiming the whole ,koran as a      
series of revelations4 ,the political   
and economic factors were as much a     
radical part of his entire design1 as   
the religious4 ,the one could not exist 
without the other4 ,statesman as he was1
 he recognized that religious unity     
could only be firmly established through
 political co-operation1 and that to    
secure national stability the sinews of 
war were essential4  ,it is all through 
quite obvious that he had the trading   
instinct of his people4 ,in any case the
 training he received at the hands and  
in the employ of his uncle ,abu ,talib1 
as well as the subsequent management of 
,khadija's business1 had imbued him very
 powerfully with business principles and
 practical ideas4 ,abu ,talib1 like his 
father and grandfather before him1      
carried on a considerable trade with    

,syria and ,yemen4 ,he carried to       
,damascus1 to ,basra and other places in
 ,syria1 the dates of ,hijaz and ,hijr1 
and the perfumes of ,yemen1 bringing    
back with him in return the products of 
the ,byzantine ,empire4 ,mohammed1 as is
 known1 accompanied him1 and without    
doubt laid the foundation of an economic
 experience1 that subsequently proved   
valuable4  ,commerce has always been the
 greatest of civilizing factors4        
,according to ,buckle3 8,among the      
accessories of modern civilization there
 is none of greater moment than ,trade40
 ,so too ,hallam says3 8,under a second 
class of events that contributed to     
destroy the spirit of the ,feudal       
system1 we may reckon the abolition of  
villenage1 the increase of commerce1 and
 consequent opulence of merchants and   
artisans1 and especially the institution
 of free cities and boroughs4 ,this is  
one of the most important and           
interesting steps in the progress of    
society during the ,middle ,ages1 and   

deserves particular consideration40 ,but
 this is all the more important as      
showing that trade was in reality a more
 powerful factor for civilization than  
,christianity1 which after several      
centuries of hold on the people of      
,europe1 had done little more than      
inflame them with a zeal and a zest for 
fighting4 ,it is significant also that  
while ,rome rose to her greatest        
eminence under the ,ancestral worship of
 her founders1 when she became          
,christian1 ,christianity did not       
prevent her from declining and falling  
into pieces4 ,but it is equally         
significant that while the opulence     
conferred by commerce on ,rome1         
eventually brought reaction and ruin    
upon her people1 the effect it had upon 
the barbarians who overthrew the        
,eternal ,city1 was sufficiently        
stimulating to encourage them to invade 
a degenerate empire4 ,for the desire of 
wealth and plunder was but the first    
awakening of the spirit of commerce4 ,to

 be sure the crusades gave a great      
stimulus to trade4 ,but there was more  
of the militant spirit than             
,christianity about them4 ,besides1     
although commercial prosperity often    
accompanies war1 reaction is certain to 
supervene4 ,obviously the essential     
importance of trade was a truth that the
 ,merchant-,prophet soon recognized4    
,intuitively1 and with the keenness of  
perception that marked him1 he naturally
 utilized every lesson that it taught   
him and every advantage that it gave    
him4 ,nor has he been the only          
theologian who saw its utility in a     
religious light4 ,the ,jesuits long     
afterwards recognized the agency of     
commerce in promoting and diffusing     
religious belief1 and became great      
merchants as well as great missionaries4
 ,so too it was through commerce1 as    
,draper points out1 8that the ,papacy   
first learned to turn to art4 ,the      
ensuing development of ,europe0 7in the 
,renaissance7 8was really based on the  

commerce of upper ,italy1 and not on the
 ,church4 ,the statesmen of ,florence   
were the inventors of the balance of    
power40  ,quoting from ,syed ,ameer     
,ali's ,spirit of ,islam1 ,fihr1        
surnamed ,koreish1 a descendant of      
,maad--who flourished in the third      
century--was the ancestor of the tribe  
that gave to ,arabia her prophet and    
legislator4 ,this fact1 trifling as it  
may appear1 is1 however1 remarkable1 if 
not significant4 ,for this word         
8,koreish0 is derived from 8,karash10 to
 trade2 and it appears that ,fihr and   
his descendants were always devoted to  
commerce4 ,from this it is safe to      
assume that trading was an inherent     
instinct in ,mohammed4  ,this apart1 to 
him personally ,islam was a something   
more than a mere creed or belief4 ,it   
was ,god's own religion sealed and      
delivered to him by ,god4 ,not to       
deliver it to his people as commanded1  
not to carry it through--by persuasion  
first of all1 by fire and sword if man's

 obstinacy and rejection of it made it  
necessary--would mean that he had failed
 in his duty to the ,most ,high4 ,the   
sense and spirit of duty was stronger in
 ,mohammed than in ,nelson4 ,in him it  
was not simply an active and vital      
principle4 ,it was an impelling force4  
,so inseparable from ,god1 that to him  
it appeared as ,god ,himself4 ,but with 
him ,god always came first4 ,his duty to
 his country was subordinate to his duty
 to his ,maker4 ,his duty to ,him1      
therefore1 was his duty to his country4 
,so in surah xi4 he says3 8,o my people1
 do ye work according to your condition2
 ,i will surely work according to my    
duty10 i4e4 according to ,god4 ,in      
numerous passages he points out that    
,god was absolutely averse to profusion 
and extravagance1 equally so to         
meanness4 ,true liberality in his       
opinion consisted in the happy mean     
between the two extremes4 8,and waste   
not thy substance profusely2 for the    
profuse are brethren of the devils3 and 

the devil was ungrateful unto his ,lord0
 7surah xvii474 ,again in the sixth1    
8,but be not profuse1 for ,god loveth   
not those who are too profuse02 and in  
the following the economic instinct     
shows itself most significantly3 8,o    
true believers1 consume not your wealth 
among yourselves in vanity2 unless there
 be merchandizing among you by mutual   
consent40 ,once more ,mohammed          
demonstrates his great profundity and   
insight into the character1 the customs 
and traditions of his countrymen4 ,all  
,oriental and ,african nations from time
 immemorial have been notably           
extravagant1 especially in regard to    
marriage ceremonials and funeral rites4 
,even to this day among the ,hindus and 
most ,african tribes1 it is a code of   
honour1 a sacred injunction of their    
religion1 to spend profusely on marriage
 and burial feasts4 ,indeed this is     
frequently done to the impoverishment1  
and1 in the latter case1 even to the    
ruination of whole families or          

households4 ,the ,arabs1 it appears1    
were no exception to this4 ,at the same 
time they were a curious blend of       
meanness and extravagance4 ,to          
,mohammed1 rigid economist as he was1   
and inspired to the core by the duty    
that had been intrusted to him1 this    
prodigality was a great sin4 ,not only  
did his countrymen squander away their  
substance in folly and luxury1 but they 
were particularly guilty of extravagance
 in killing camels1 and distributing    
them by lot merely out of vanity and    
ostentation4 ,worse even than this1 they
 were given to the destruction of their 
female children4 ,against this evil     
,mohammed sternly set his face4 ,this in
 itself shows his great moral           
superiority over his countrymen4 ,it    
shows also the possession of a higher   
and more refined yet practical          
intelligence1 that was able to grasp the
 economic possibilities which were bound
 to ensue from the preservation of      
female children4 ,essentially an ,arab  

patriarch at heart 7which he in some    
measure proved by his marriages71       
,mohammed1 however1 was still more      
essentially a ,humanist4 ,with the moral
 greatness of a good man1 and the mental
 perception of genius1 he felt and      
recognized that it was against all the  
laws of ,god to destroy the fecundity of
 and the productive in nature4 ,thus it 
was that he placed the divine tabu on   
the abuse and destruction of all that   
was beneficial to humanity1 but         
especially on men1 animals and the      
produce of the earth4     ,,chapter ,,vi
  ,a ,,brief ,,summary ,,of             
,,mohammed',s ,,work ,,and ,,worth      
,taken as a whole1 the ,koran is        
certainly not a work of literary art4   
,mohammed1 in a literary sense1 was     
neither a poet nor a writer4 ,he was1 as
 he says of himself1 only an illiterate 
apostle4 ,this1 from an artistic point  
of view1 is of course regrettable4 ,in  
his mother tongue he had a rich and     
splendid medium4 ,a language of high    

philosophical and poetical character1   
that 8follows the mind10 as ,burton     
says1 and gives birth to its offspring3 
that is free from the 8luggage of       
particles0 which clogs our modern       
tongues--leaves a mysterious vagueness  
between the relation of word to word1   
which materially assists the sentiment1 
not the sense of the poet4 ,a language  
too that luxuriates in 8rich and varied 
synonyms1 illustrating the finest shades
 of meaning10 that are artfully         
used--8now scattered to startle us by   
distinctness1 now to form as it were a  
star about which dimly seen satellites  
revolve40 ,finally which revels in a    
wealth of rhyme that leaves the poet    
almost unfettered to choose the desired 
or exact expression4 ,undoubtedly in a  
literary sense1 here at hand1 was a     
mighty and magnificent weapon4 ,a       
quiverful of musical arrows1 quivering  
as they waited for the poetic muse--the 
fine frenzy1 the seething imagination1  
the running ready fire--to launch them  

forth into the humming haunts and hearts
 of men4 ,but in no sense was this      
,merchant-,prophet a knight-errant4     
,kindly and tender as he was towards    
women and children1 he was not addicted 
7as his countrymen were7 to chivalry in 
any form4 ,the race of heroines of ,al  
,islam had no attraction for him4 ,the  
8,hawa 7or #8,ishk'7 uzri10 8pardonable 
love10 of the ,bedawin1 a certain       
species of platonic affection1 did not  
exist for him4 ,he had no room for such 
trivialities in his life4 ,it was too   
serious and pre-occupied4 ,too much     
occupied with the affairs of his        
,master1 and worldly business matters   
that had to be attended to4 ,so that he 
had no time to waste on such            
pleasantries4 ,trifles that were as     
light as air in contrast to the stern   
and deadly realities of existence4 ,yet 
without doubt he must have attended the 
annual fairs that were held at various  
places1 at 8,zul ,mejaz10 at ,majna1 and
 at ,okadh4 ,the latter1 ,syed ,ameer   

,ali tells us1 was a place famous in    
,arab tradition4 ,it was the ,olympia of
 ,yemen4 ,the fair held here in the     
sacred month of 8,zu'lkada10 was a great
 national gathering4 ,a sort of 8,god's 
truce0 was then proclaimed4 ,war and the
 shedding of human blood was forbidden4 
,to it came merchants with their wares  
from all parts of ,arabia and other     
distant lands2 also the poets and heroes
 of the desert4 ,these 7many of whom    
were disguised from the avengers of     
blood feuds in masks or veils7 recited  
their poems1 displayed their literary   
talents1 and sang of their glory and    
their prowess4 ,but ,mohammed's aims and
 inclinations did not lie in this       
direction4 ,he was too much of a working
 philosopher to be a mere poetic dreamer
 or play actor4 ,his genius lay in his  
profound earnestness1 his great moral   
strength1 his capacity for work1 his    
political foresight and acumen1 his iron
 will and his inexhaustible patience4   
,it is certain that he believed 7in the 

philosophic principle7 that 8everything 
comes to him who waits40 ,for he himself
 says3 8,wait therefore the event1 for  
,i also will wait it with you40         
,obviously he was imbued with the same  
tenacity1 and many of the imperturbable 
characteristics of the camel of his own 
,arabian deserts4 ,unquestionably he    
knew how 8to wait10 recognized that the 
essence of all human wisdom lies in this
 single feature1 and that the greatest1 
the strongest and the most successful is
 he who waits and watches4 ,it was thus 
that he waited with the unvarying       
purpose and pertinacity of a man who    
knew and appreciated his own value at   
its proper worth4 ,for he felt in every 
nerve and fibre of his consciousness1   
that as ,god makes no man or no thing in
 vain1 the future must have some 7great7
 thing1 some great prize1 in reserve for
 him4 ,we know what that prize was4 ,we 
know also that it only came to him after
 a life of unwearied toil1 and assiduous
 devotion to his great and noble        

purpose1 and then only in reality       
through the moral and spiritual victory 
which death gave him4  ,yet1 in spite of
 its artistic defects1 ,mohammed's work 
turned out1 as we know1 into a success  
that even he himself could never have   
anticipated4 ,but in a spiritual sense1 
judging merely by results1 the ,koran   
has lost nothing because of its lack of 
literary art and beauty4 ,had it gushed 
all over with the eastern music of the  
,songs of ,solomon1 had it arrested the 
attention by the same aphoristic wisdom 
of the ,proverbs1 thrilled its readers  
by the recital of a tragedy so intensely
 powerful1 so realistic and majestic as 
the drama of ,job1 and appealed to them 
through the joys1 the sorrows and the   
grand poetry of the ,psalms6 ,had it1 in
 fact1 sparkled all over with those     
beauties of language and metaphor that  
distinguish the ,bible1 the result that 
it might have attained could scarcely   
have been greater than that which it has
 accomplished without these trappings4  

,it is1 in fact1 probable that it might 
have lost4 ,it is just possible that    
what it would have gained as an ornate  
work1 it would have lost in sincerity4  
,the ,koran1 in fact1 was essentially   
the offspring of ,mohammed's own unique 
personality4 ,this1 as ,i have tried to 
show1 was the peculiar outcome of his   
dual environment--the frowning1 rugged  
and arid aspect of stony mountains and  
sandy wastes1 plus the commercial and   
political instincts that were inherent  
as well as developed on his trade       
journeys and at the various towns and   
marts which he visited4 ,nevertheless   
there was in this ,semitic ,puritan1 as 
there is in almost every ,arab1 a       
certain rugged vein of poetry--the wild 
song of freedom--that bursts out here   
and there4 ,but only now and then like  
the thunderstorm that is so great a     
rarity in the desert4 ,for the gravity  
and over-concentration of his thoughts  
on the one definite object1 oppressed   
him so weightily1 that it left no time  

for others4 ,just as fast as rain is    
swallowed up by the parched and thirsty 
sand after a long spell of drought1 so  
his soul1 thirsting as it did after     
,god1 gulped and kept down the poetry   
and sentiment at bottom of him4 ,all the
 same1 if a book is to be gauged by its 
net results--by the effect it has       
produced on all that is deepest and best
 in human nature--then the ,koran must  
necessarily take high rank as one of the
 world's greatest works4 ,in much the   
same way1 only in another and more      
material direction1 the ,wealth of      
,nations has also left its impress on   
the shaping of human destinies4         
,mohammed's sincerity and fixity of     
purpose is a fact we cannot get away    
from4 ,it is this which has chained his 
followers as with the sure cord of ,god 
to the ,faith4 ,islam1 in a word1 is a  
creed of practice not theory4 ,by       
practice it was formed4 ,on practice it 
has lived4 ,it was because ,mohammed    
practised what he preached1 that the    

small seed of his original idea         
blossomed at last into the mighty       
8,igdrasil0 of the ,east--the great     
banyan tree of existence4 ,verily this  
sun-burnt son of ,arabia ,petra was a   
tangible reality and no desert          
simulacrum4 ,a reality that lives in the
 soul of ,islam4 ,a reality that will   
endure until the end of all things      
human4 ,it is not manners that maketh   
the man4 ,it is man that makes the      
manners4 ,it is the nature that is      
around him1 the nature that is in him1  
and that comes out of him as mental and 
moral energies1 that makes the man4     
,town bred as he was1 it was the desert 
in all its naked and silent grandeur    
that made ,mohammed1 that inspired him  
with all the might and majesty of ,god1 
and turned him into a prophet4 ,yet it  
was his career as a trader and the      
inherent tribal instinct that developed 
the political element in him4 ,as       
,longfellow says3 8,glorious indeed is  
the world of ,god around us2 but more   

glorious is the world of ,god within us4
 ,there lies the land of song1 there    
lies the poet's native land40 ,but in   
,mohammed's case1 as in the case of all 
great workers and thinkers1 the world   
that is around us1 is the world of our  
inner consciousness4 ,the two are       
synonymous if not one4 ,only with him   
the native earth was religion1 and he   
was the ,prophet1 not the ,poet of it4  
8,it is ,nature's highest reward to a   
true1 simple1 great soul1 that he gets  
thus to be a part of herself40 ,it was  
thus with ,mohammed4 ,thought1 though   
changeable1 is eternal4 ,it never dies4 
,so the one idea that possessed         
,mohammed now possesses 7differing only 
in merely superficial degrees7 some two 
hundred and fifty millions4  ,carlyle is
 mistaken1 certainly much too premature1
 when he says3 8,even in ,arabia1 as ,i 
compute1 ,mahommet will have exhausted  
himself and become obsolete1 while this 
,shakespeare1 this ,dante may still be  
young2 while this ,shakespeare may still

 pretend to be a priest of mankind1 of  
,arabia as of other places1 for         
unlimited periods to come40 ,religion is
 entirely an universal matter1 ,thought 
a question of environment4 ,roughly     
speaking1 the world of ,thought is      
divided into two camps of east and west4
 ,to the former belongs ,buddhism1      
,hinduism1 and ,islam2 to the latter    
,christianity and the growing cult of   
,rationalism4 ,it is impossible to      
predict or in any way to foreshadow any 
fusion of these hostile elements4 ,the  
day when humanism--i4e4 the religion of 
humanity1 as the natural product of her 
highest intellectual effort--shall have 
fused and humanized all the nations of  
the ,earth into one great civilized     
family1 is too far distant and beyond   
the present scope of human speculation4 
,if men are to be regarded especially as
 to the weight and power with which they
 operate on the minds of their          
fellow-men1 then this camel-driving     
trader must without question be         

estimated as a great man--a man a long  
way above his fellows4 ,assuredly too it
 is chiefly through the ,koran that his 
great and ,god-like thoughts1           
crystallized into greater motives and   
actions1 have filtered down through the 
events and developments of thirteen     
centuries1 as a purifying1 fertilizing1 
and elevating factor4  ,looking at him  
and his work from every aspect1         
,mohammed was not merely a heroic       
prophet4 ,he was much more4 ,a king and 
a leader of men4 ,a ruler and a judge   
over them4 ,if we are to judge of him1  
to take him for what he is worth1 by his
 work--the rich ripe fruit of his rare  
and strenuous effort--the ,koran on the 
one hand1 and1 on the other1 the mighty 
spiritual force he has left behind him  
in the ,church of ,islam1 we must       
pronounce him to have been a great and  
remarkable man4 ,a man who1 when his    
true value is understood and            
appreciated1 will stand out in history  
as a political and religious reformer of

 a virile and heroic type4 ,a man who   
will be regarded in even a greater light
 than he now is1 when humanity shall    
have become less denominational and more
 rationally humanitarian4 ,in reality   
,mohammed was an ultra great man4 ,the  
difference 7as it appears to me7 between
 other great men and himself was wide4  
,the ordinary type of great man--a ,john
 ,knox for example--is a patriot        
essentially4 ,he is for his country     
first1 then for ,god and humanity4 ,as  
,i have shown1 with ,mohammed it was    
just the reverse4 ,an ,arab by accident 
of birth1 he put ,god and nature before 
everything4 ,it was this that made him a
 humanist2 this that placed him before  
his age4 ,for ,mohammed1 without a      
shadow of a doubt1 was centuries before 
his age4 ,in his ,god concept1 in his   
rejection of the ancient myth of        
immaculate conception1 in his refusing  
to acknowledge ,christ's divinity1 he   
was essentially a modern--a modern of   
the twentieth century4 ,it was this     

catholicity therefore that made ,islam  
blossom into a spiritual energy that    
embraces so many national units4        
,mohammed fought with all his might and 
main4 ,in exact proportion to his labour
 he has prevailed4 ,prevailed over the  
issues of life and death4 ,death had no 
terrors for him4 ,life alone was full of
 terror--i4e4 of the fear of ,god4 ,in  
death there was no sting4 ,in the grave 
there was no victory4 ,death but killed 
the mortal part of him4 ,the spiritual  
it has increased and multiplied out of  
all proportion4 ,the present soul of    
,islam is the spirit of ,mohammed4 ,only
 when this exhausts itself will ,islam  
wither and die6 ,to this day he is1 and 
for many ons to come he will be in      
spirit1 the ruler and judge over ,islam4
 ,in spite of sects and theological     
speculators1 as long as ,islam lasts1   
his spirit will continue to preside over
 its destinies4 ,his spirit lives in the
 spirit of the creed that he bequeathed 
as a divine legacy to humanity--i4e4 to 

those sections of it which have been    
nurtured in the system and adoration of 
the ,patriarch4 ,for though the material
 part of him is dead1 the spiritual     
still speaks with a voice that is       
myriad-tongued4 ,as ,god's word1 there  
is a sanctity in the ,koran for every   
,moslem that exceeds the reverence of   
the ,christian for the ,bible1 as much  
as the fiery splendour of the sun       
surpasses the cold pale glamour of the  
moon--which is but a shadow1 a pale     
reflection of the substance and reality4
 ,there is1 in fact1 on the part of the 
,moslem a veneration accorded to the    
,koran that practically equals the      
veneration of the ,african or the ,irish
 for their land4 ,compatible with this1 
there is for the ,moslem but one        
,prophet4 ,as ,god's chosen agent for   
the dissemination of ,his word1         
,mohammed stands alone and aloof on a   
pinnacle that is humanly unapproachable4
 ,many faults have been imputed to him1 
many charges brought against him4 ,to   

the average1 indeed even to the educated
 ,christian1 ,mohammed is nothing but   
the very strangest compound of right and
 wrong1 of error and truth1 the         
abolisher of superstition according to  
his own showing1 yet a believer in      
charms1 dreams1 omens1 and jinns4 ,but  
what of all this8 ,does not reasoning   
such as this itself prove how very      
inconsequent and inconsistent is man1   
even though he be a ,european and a     
,christian8 ,is not superstition of the 
same kind as rife at this very moment in
 ,europe1 nay in the very centres and   
strongholds of ,christendom8 ,what about
 the ikons1 the charms1 the amulets1 the
 sacred relics and the images of the    
,greek and ,romish ,churches8 ,is not   
this but a form of materialism which    
itself is a phase or part--a very large 
part--of ,nature8 ,did not superstition 
7derived from 8super10 above or beyond  
measure1 and 8sto10 to stand7 originally
 imply excess of scruple1 or of         
ceremonial observances in religion8 ,did

 it not describe a superfluity of       
worship that exceeded what was either   
enjoined or fitting8 ,what does ,cicero 
say of it in his treatise on ,the       
,nature of the ,gods8 7,i quote from an 
old translation73 8,not only            
,philosophers1 but all our forefathers  
dydde ever separate superstition from   
true religion4 ,for they whiche prayed  
all day that theyr children might       
overlyve 7superstites essent71 were     
called superstitious2 which name after  
was larger extended40 ,is not this thing
 we call superstition--this belief in   
the super or rather outside natural as  
distinguished from the vague and merely 
vulgar absurdities that are so          
common--but the result of inherent      
instincts that humanity1 as simply one  
form of natural development1 derives    
direct from ,nature8 ,is not this       
,naturism more or less developed in us  
all--more in the ignorant1 less in the  
educated1 and least of all in the       
scientist2 the sceptic who knows most1  

because he has looked and searched more 
into the truth and reality of things2   
because he has learnt by experience1    
fact1 knowledge1 therefore a greater    
intelligence to discriminate which from 
what and why from wherefore8 ,in any    
case1 does not the fact that ,mohammed  
was superstitious all the more clearly  
prove that he was no mere vulgar        
designer who practised self-deception   
and pretensions with regard to his      
mission1 but that he was thoroughly     
sincere in believing himself to be the  
specially selected ,apostle of the      
,great ,designer and ,controller of the 
universe8  ,but it is not to ,mohammed's
 faults that we must look4 ,all great   
men are moulded out of faults4 ,it is in
 his virtues and greatnesses--and they  
are many--that we will find the true    
man4 ,in this ,carlyle was a right      
guide1 and showed his own breadth of    
mind and greatness4 ,these prove        
,mohammed to have been one of humanity's
 greatest constructors4 ,it is true that

 he destroyed1 but on a small scale     
comparatively in proportion to the      
immensity of his constructive labour4   
,as evidence of this1 the physical1 the 
moral and the spiritual wealth of ,islam
 speaks in round numbers and solid      
realities4 ,in another of his great     
romances1 ,dumas1 speaking of ,john     
,knox1 says3 8,he who had raised such a 
storm had need to be1 and he was1 a     
,titan2 indeed ,john ,knox was one of   
those men whom great religious and      
political revolutions invariably beget4 
,born in ,scotland or ,england during   
the ,presbyterian ,reformation1 they are
 called ,john ,knox or ,oliver          
,cromwell2 born in ,france1 in the time 
of political reform1 they are called    
,mirabeau or ,danton40 ,mohammed was1 in
 every sense of the word1 more titanic  
than a ,cromwell or a ,mirabeau4 ,he was
 not by nature or at heart a destroyer4 
,when he destroyed it was only because  
his hand was forced by the crass and    
obstinate antagonism of those upon whom 

his sincerity and persuasiveness had    
aroused an envious and deadly hatred4   
,the whole aim1 end and object of his   
existence was to develop the adoration  
and religion of ,god4 ,the storm he     
raised was conjured into being by the   
,god that obsessed him4 ,hence the soul 
and constructiveness in it4 ,hence the  
mighty spirit of ,islam1 measurable only
 by a soul capacity which has never     
ceased to expand and develop4 ,no sane  
man surely can deny that ,islam was and 
is a great work8 ,the moral figs and    
grapes that she has achieved are not    
such as could have been gathered from   
the thorn and thistle of human effort4  
,yet curiously enough1 as ,i have shown1
 the environment in which it was born   
was strangely stern and sterile6 ,this1 
however1 is one of those natural        
anomalies that we would do well to leave
 alone4 ,one of those paradoxes1 those  
mysteries which ,nature teems with1 that
 are altogether beyond human            
comprehension4  ,whether or not he had  

made a study of the ,socratic precept 8 
0 8know thyself10 ,mohammed knew himself
 as thoroughly as it is possible for a  
man to do4 ,early in life he took his   
own measure4 ,gauged his own strength   
and weakness4 ,estimated the breadth1   
the length1 and the depth to which he   
could go4 ,as a result of this moral    
estimate1 he felt that his resources    
without ,god were as slender as a broken
 reed buffeted by storm winds4 ,he knew 
that his real strength lay in the       
knowledge and power of ,god and of      
,nature4 ,the temperament and character 
of the ,psalmist--he who looked on ,god 
as the strong tower and rock of his     
defence1 his refuge1 not however in time
 of trouble alone1 but at all times--was
 strongly developed in him4 ,the genius 
of the whole ,semitic race was centred  
in ,mohammed4 ,it was this1 amounting as
 it does to the sublimest egotheism1    
that gave him confidence1 then          
conviction4 ,it was this righteous      
conviction that carried him as it were  

on the wings of the wind--immortal      
breath and soul1 as he pictured it--of  
the living and eternal ,god4 ,through   
this feeling he converted the innate    
fear and veneration that inspired him   
into the hand and power of the          
,almighty4 ,if genius implies a keen    
psychological insight into the nature   
and inner consciousness of life's       
issues1 added to inexhaustible energy1  
capacity for work and patience1 then    
,mohammed was a genius4 ,certainly1 if  
we accept ,buffon's definition of       
genius1 as1 8but a greater aptitude for 
perseverance10 he was without doubt a   
genius of the highest degree4 ,the      
founder of a faith--one of the greatest 
the world has produced--spiritual       
commander of the faithful1 his genius   
was essentially moral and religious4    
,his whole life was one long labour of  
love and devotion to achieve his object1
 i4e4 to proclaim ,god to the nations of
 the earth3 the first half of it passed 
in secular work but in silent           

contemplation2 the second half1 itself  
divisible into two periods1 twelve years
 of persuasion1 followed to the close by
 active aggression and battle4          
,impulsive1 passionate1 and spontaneous 
,mohammed may have been1 for like all   
great leaders he was many-sided4 ,but in
 no sense of the word can ,islam be said
 to have been the outcome of            
spontaneity4 ,on the contrary1 it was in
 every way the result of calm and       
deliberate reflection1 of long and      
continuous contact with the forces and  
phenomena of ,nature2 but above all of  
an unceasing concentration and communion
 with the unseen power that controls    
them4 ,stretching over some twenty      
years1 it went on uninterrupted by      
domestic cares or trade transactions4   
,all these were secondary matters and   
had to give way to the central idea that
 occupied his whole mind1 that revolved 
around his work and his thoughts1 as the
 earth gyrates about the sun4 ,his      
centre of gravity was ,god4 ,this       

gravity formed his character1 gave him  
courage and endurance in all his trials 
and afflictions1 counselled and guided  
him in his ordinary vocations4 ,it was  
this gravity and concentration that     
commanded the respect and trust of all  
who knew him and came under his magnetic
 influence4  ,but ,mohammed was not     
infallible4 ,dogma--everything human in 
fact--is open and liable to error4 ,even
 infallibility itself--as we speak of   
it--is fallible4 ,as ,draper so aptly   
remarks3 8,he who is infallible1 must   
needs be immutable40 ,in many of the    
ordinary ways of life he was no doubt   
changeable and inconsistent4 ,he was1   
after all1 only human--but not with     
regard to the ,faith4 ,here was he as   
firm as a rock1 and showed a fixity of  
purpose that nothing could shake or     
alter4 ,with him1 8,life was but a means
 to an end1 that end1 beginning1 mean   
and end to all things--,god40 ,only     
synchronous with this ruling principle  
was the idea of national unity4 ,never  

once did he falter or swerve from it4   
,to this allegiance and fidelity of his 
to ,god and centralization it is        
possible to trace the devotion of       
,moslems to their ,faith4 8,we are1 as  
we often say1 the creatures of          
circumstances4 ,in that expression there
 is a higher philosophy than might at   
first sight appear4 ,our actions are not
 the pure and unmingled results of our  
desires4 ,they are the offspring of many
 various and mixed conditions4 ,in that 
which seems to be the most voluntary    
decision1 there enters much that is     
altogether involuntary--more perhaps    
than we generally suppose40 ,this was   
very much the case with ,mohammed4 ,he  
was largely the creature of             
circumstances--the personification of   
his environment4 ,it was the genius of  
this that entered into and obsessed him4
 ,that formed and swayed him as it      
willed4 ,that made him as strong and    
inflexible as itself4 ,that1 combining  
with the commercial knowledge and       

experience he possessed and the         
political acumen he acquired1 made him  
what he was4 ,here in a tiny nutshell   
lies the kernel and origin of the soul  
of ,islam4 ,the possibility that        
,mohammed was rather of ,caucasian than 
,ishmaelitish descent1 in reality makes 
little if any difference in the         
psychological analysis of his character4
 ,fundamentally1 human nature is human  
nature all the world over4 ,in this     
respect racial and colour distinctions  
make no difference4 ,even moral and     
physical characteristics are merely     
superficial classifications4 ,inherent  
tendencies1 strong and rooted as they   
are1 may be amended or modified by      
environment4 ,so that although it is    
vaguely possible that his moral courage 
and other mental features were of       
,caucasian origin1 in the main he was   
essentially ,semitic in character1      
patriarchal in principle1 and humanistic
 in spirit4 ,in ,lecky's opinion3 8,if  
we take a broad view of the course of   

history and examine the relations of    
great bodies of men1 we find that       
religion and patriotism are the chief   
moral influences to which they have been
 subject1 and that the separate         
modification and mutual interaction of  
these two agents may almost be said to  
constitute the moral history of         
mankind40 ,this most certainly has been 
the case with regard to ,islam4         
,religion was the medium chosen by      
,mohammed for the furtherance of his    
truly imperial design4 ,it was entirely 
through religion1 or rather the         
interpretation he placed upon it1 that  
he built up first of all a natural      
patriotism1 then an international       
spirit1 that expanded into the mighty   
creed of ,islam4 ,prior to this1 ,arabia
 as he found it was narrow to an        
extreme4 ,the only patriotism--if       
patriotism it can be called--was        
clannish and communal4 ,outside these   
stilted limits1 every one was regarded  
with suspicion1 contempt1 indifference1 

and invariably with undisguised         
hostility4 ,yet the great and solid     
foundation of this splendid spiritual   
and temporal empire was laid by one man4
 ,but how great and how heroic6 ,indeed1
 8take him all in all1 the history of   
humanity has seen few more earnest1     
noble and sincere #8prophets1' men      
irresistibly impelled by an inner power 
to admonish and to teach1 and to utter  
austere and sublime truths1 the full    
purport of which is often unknown to    
themselves40     ,,chapter ,,vii        
,,moslem ,,morality ,,and               
,,christendom',s ,,attitude ,,towards   
,,islam   ,the better to gauge the      
present political aspect of the ,moslem 
world1 the statesmen of ,europe--of     
,france and ,great ,britain more        
particularly--should make an earnest    
study of the spirit of ,islam4 ,if we   
regard ,islam as the work of            
,mohammed--as we are bound to--there are
 certain broad features we must also    
recognize4 ,right away from its very    

inception he worked not only as a       
prophet1 but as a political reformer4   
,travelling as he did with his eyes1    
ears and all his senses open1 the       
political state of the eastern portion  
of ,europe and the western side of ,asia
 must have been well known to him4 ,to  
accomplish his religious ends was       
impossible without the political unity  
of ,arabia4 ,to him the political and   
religious unity of his country were     
synonymous4 ,as a shrewd and practical  
trader1 the material advantages of      
commerce were taken into consideration4 
,he recognized that without a sound     
commercial basis and political unity    
there could be no national stability4   
,he also saw that in a country like     
,arabia1 split up into clans and        
communities1 it was only possible to    
effect this through the spiritual       
potentialities of the one and only true 
,god4 ,if he did not himself accomplish 
this great project1 we know at least    
that it was the magnificent legacy he   

bequeathed to his followers in the      
spirit of ,islam1 that eventually did so
 in reality4 ,he or the spirit he evoked
 was clearly and unmistakably the cause 
of all subsequent ,moslem triumphs1     
intellectual and political as well as   
religious4 ,thus it was that scarcely   
eighty years after his death1 ,islam    
reigned supreme over ,arabia1 ,syria1   
,persia1 all the northern coast of      
,africa1 including ,egypt1 as well as   
,spain4 ,so1 too1 notwithstanding the   
internal schisms and rifts that         
subsequently took place1 it kept on     
growing with great strides1 until at    
last in #adec1 the ,crescent gleamed    
from the spires of ,st4 ,sophia at      
,constantinople1 and the soul-stirring  
war cry 8,la ilah illa ,allah0 resounded
 seventy-six years afterwards before the
 very gates of ,vienna4 ,lecky is       
undoubtedly right in assuming that3 8,to
 trace in every great movement the part 
which belongs to the individual and the 
part which belongs to general causes    

without exaggerating either side is one 
of the most difficult tasks of the      
historian40 ,but in the case of ,islam  
there can be no mistake4 ,true1 the     
,arabs in themselves were a great and   
virile people4 ,but it was the genius of
 ,mohammed1 the spirit he breathed into 
them through the soul of ,islam1 that   
exalted them4 ,that raised them out of  
the lethargy and low level of tribal    
stagnation1 up to the high water mark of
 national unity and ,empire4 ,it was in 
the sublimity of ,mohammed's deism1 the 
simplicity1 the sobriety and purity it  
inculcated1 the fidelity of its founder 
to his own tenets1 that acted on their  
moral and intellectual fibre with all   
the magnetism of true inspiration4 ,to  
them ,islam was the ,faith--the ,faith  
,god4  ,just as ,christianity stands for
 the faith of the great ,european family
 of nations1 ,islam stands for those    
countries whose political institutions  
are still based on the ,patriarchal     
system4 ,but ,europe--however superior  

her peoples may think themselves--is not
 in the position1 and certainly cannot  
afford1 to look down upon ,islam as an  
inferior product of an inferior section 
of the great human family4 ,east may be 
,east1 and ,west1 ,west--the system of  
one represented by polygamy1 of the     
other by monogamy4 ,but because         
,christianity is conformable to         
,european ideals and notions1 it does   
not in the least follow that it is      
compatible with those of the ,east4     
,because the civilized net result it has
 effected has eventually proved greater 
than that achieved by ,islam1 is no     
evidence whatever of ,islam's           
worthlessness or decadence4 ,it is not  
the spirit of ,islam that has failed1   
but the people who believe in it4 ,they 
have fallen away from the high ideal    
that was set them by their master4 ,in  
this respect1 however1 ,christianity has
 also degenerated4 ,it is a creed of    
profession more than of practice4 ,it   
has never consistently practised what it

 has preached4 ,a very wide gulf divides
 its practices from its ideals4 8,if to 
do were as easy as to know what were    
good to do1 chapels had been churches   
and poor men's cottages princes'        
palaces4 ,it is a good divine that      
follows his own instructions3 ,i can    
easier teach twenty what were good to be
 done1 than be one of the twenty to     
follow mine own teaching40 ,so          
,shakespeare4 ,this holds as good now as
 when he wrote it4 ,human nature never  
alters fundamentally4 ,it is the same   
to-day as it was yesterday1 and as it   
will be unto all eternity4 ,christendom 
much more so than ,islam1 is split up   
into sects and denominations1 and there 
can be no question about it that the    
chief obstacle to unity among these     
various bodies at the present moment is 
want of sincerity and earnestness6      
,compared with the average ,moslem1 the 
average ,christian too is certainly     
lukewarm4 ,the nearest approach to      
,moslem perfervidness is in the piety of

 the ,irish ,catholics4 ,but devotional 
as they are1 even this falls far short  
of the rigid practice of the true       
,moslem4 ,not only1 however1 is he      
fervid and in downright earnest1 but he 
is above all constant1 faithful1 and    
consistent to the principles of his     
creed4 ,thus1 although there is no      
fatherhood about ,allah1 there is for   
all that a true and real brotherhood in 
,islam which contrasts very favourably  
with the professed brotherhood of       
,christendom4 ,colour or race1 for      
instance1 makes no difference to it4    
,islam1 in fact1 is above all such petty
 differences4 ,she draws no hard and    
fast rules1 has no such violent         
antipathies1 bigotries and prejudices as
 ,christendom4 ,professes little but    
practises much4 ,colour in her eyes is  
no disgrace1 no bar to ,god1 much less  
therefore to human fellowship and       
assimilation4 ,this1 as we know1 is not 
the case with ,christians4 ,to them     
colour and race 7as witness in the      

,united ,states of ,america7 is an      
impassable barrier1 that is more        
insurmountable even than the great wall 
of ,china1 over which they find it      
impossible to step4  ,there are in      
nature1 as ,novalis endeavours to       
explain in his philosophical romances1  
many realities and verities1 the truth  
or essence of which cannot be grasped by
 the cold and critical intellect of man4
 ,only by and through the sympathetic   
intuition of feeling can truths such as 
these be known or understood4 ,this is  
indeed so4 ,no matter how hard and      
material we may be1 however thoroughly  
scientific2 no matter how high we may   
place reason--even on the highest       
pinnacle of human attainment1 there are 
times when the emotions overpower and   
dominate it4 ,there are times when      
reason1 even in its calmest and most    
calculating moments1 is simply inundated
 and overwhelmed by the flood-tide of   
human feelings4 ,in any case it is clear
 that although in the abstract it is    

impossible to detach or even insulate   
thought from feeling and feeling from   
volition1 these three--feeling1 thought 
and will--act1 and often co-operate     
together1 in every mental causation4    
,but it is just as difficult for a      
system to free itself from its own      
peculiar idiosyncrasies and prejudices  
as it is for an individual to dissociate
 himself from his motives4 ,it is       
exactly the same with regard to ,islam  
and ,christendom4 ,the latter has       
allowed its prejudices and its feelings 
to obliterate or to stultify its reason4
 ,it does not know1 it does not         
understand ,islam4 ,merely because it   
does not want or makes no effort to know
 or to understand it4 ,because it has no
 sympathy with it4 ,because in place of 
sympathy it is in reality antipathetic4 
,yet while professing toleration1       
,christendom does not hesitate to       
despise and condemn ,islam4 ,to         
,christendom1 ,islam is a mere creed and
 abstraction--a creed beyond and outside

 its cold and autocratic pale4 ,a creed 
belonging to another world and heaven   
than its own4 ,a creed of colour and of 
sombre shades1 nay even of gloom and    
darkness1 blood1 fire and sword1 when   
the crescent and green flag of the      
,jihad is hoisted2 a creed which is not 
to be thought of in the same breath as  
the snow-white fabric of the            
transcendent cross4  ,the fact of the   
matter is1 that ,christendom in the     
earlier days of ,islam1 jealous and     
fearful of her younger and more vigorous
 rival1 always recoiled from ,islam     
under the veil of a self-satisfied cant1
 as from a monstrous monstrosity of the 
most vicious and immoral type4 ,a form  
of 8,moloch horridus10 bristling all    
over with polygamous excrescences1 and  
cruel sharp-pointed spines1 ever ready  
to thrust their awful venom into the    
unoffending human species4 ,yet if only 
,christendom had long ago cultivated the
 virtue of patience1 and the breadth and
 depth of mind1 to look into the matter1

 she would have discovered--as those    
sceptics who have done so have          
discovered--the pure and unadulterated  
truth4 ,she would have found1 that as   
the ,moloch horridus of ,australia      
conceals an inoffensive character under 
a weird if repulsive exterior2 so       
,islam1 under an outward form which     
bigotry and prejudice have exaggerated  
out of all shape1 possesses a moral and 
spiritual value beyond all cavil or     
question4 ,islam no doubt has its faults
 and many of them4 ,the position of     
women is not perhaps as it should be4   
,the law and the practice of divorce is 
a real blot on her system4 ,education is
 at a low ebb4 ,the custom of the       
separation of sexes1 of which polygamy  
and divorce are the necessary outcome1  
are undoubtedly pernicious4 ,it cannot1 
of course1 be expected that young men   
and women who have never met or         
associated1 and whose marriages are     
arranged for them1 can have any exalted 
ideas or feelings on the subject of     

love4 ,it is not possible that young men
 who have never felt the refining       
influence and the moral restraint of    
female society1 can possess either      
chivalry or a high ideal1 with regard to
 an element unique in itself4           
,nevertheless1 contrary to received     
,european opinion1 there exists for all 
that a very real and hearty affection   
and a warm sympathy between ,moslem     
husbands and wives4 ,what is more1 this 
affection and sympathy will possibly    
contrast quite favourably with the      
family devotion of most ,european       
countries4  ,with regard to women1      
however1 the social system1 it must be  
admitted1 is less successful4 ,it leaves
 room for improvement4 ,the institution 
of female slavery is distinctly a blot4 
,the lot of the ,moslem girl morally and
 socially is not so much unhappy as     
neglected4 ,her ordinary education is   
practically negative2 the religious part
 of it is regarded as superfluous4 ,but 
it is a popular fallacy1 as ,i have     

already pointed out1 to attribute to    
,islam the doctrine that women have no  
souls4 ,unfortunately1 however1 the idea
 prevails generally throughout ,europe  
that these precious possessions are     
ignored by modern custom3 that the fair 
sex is not encouraged to pray either in 
private or in public4 ,it is believed1  
too1 that the vigorous ritual prescribed
 for the male members is considered     
sufficient for both4 ,so that ,moslem   
women by ignoring the one neglect the   
other1 with consequences that are       
morally and physically disastrous4 ,but 
these are not by any means the real     
facts of the case4 ,personally1 of      
course1 ,i cannot speak of such matters 
from experience4 ,isolated and secluded 
as the women of ,islam are1 and their   
privacy so rigorously guarded by a ring 
fence of stringent rules1 it is not     
possible for the ,european to give an   
adequate opinion thereon4 ,but according
 to the reliable authority of so eminent
 a ,moslem as ,syed ,ameer ,ali1 and    

others1 the women among civilized       
,moslem communities know their prayers  
and religious duties just as well as the
 men--and are devout and pious--more so 
perhaps than the other sex4 ,as to their
 cleanliness1 it is beyond question4    
,yet in spite of so many obstacles--no  
education1 seclusion1 and a generally   
defective training--the women are not   
unhappy4 ,they are on the whole as fully
 occupied 7in their own way of course7  
and as well cared for as the women of   
,europe4  ,the fact of the matter is1   
,islam is suffering from mental         
stagnation1 from the inevitable reaction
 that always succeeds a long period of  
active development4 ,the ,arabs1 in a   
word1 have had their day4 ,with regard  
to education generally1 the teaching is 
of a stereotyped pattern4 ,there is no  
freshness or originality about it4      
,moslem studies have1 in fact1 lost all 
or most of their vitality4 8,the bloom  
of ,arab culture has long been brushed  
away1 and there now remains only a      

hollow kernel40 ,but it is after all by 
her virtues and not her defects that we 
must appraise the true value of ,islam4 
,most unquestionably she has great and  
redeeming features4 ,the throwing of    
stones or of mud is at best an          
injudicious proceeding4 ,apart from this
 it is undignified and unworthy of so   
high a civilization4 ,it is not for     
,christendom to throw stones any more   
than it is for ,islam4 ,indeed1 in this 
respect1 ,europe could well take a leaf 
out of the book of ,moslem              
self-restraint and dignity4 ,moslem     
society1 too1 may compare very          
favourably with ,european4 ,taken in the
 mass1 the polygamous ,moslem is every  
whit as moral--more so in fact--than his
 ,english1 ,french1 or ,german          
contemporary4 ,in a great measure       
polygamy is much more a theoretical than
 a practical institution4 ,not one in   
twenty ,moslems has even two wives4 ,in 
any case it is not in the proper and    
legitimate practice of polygamy1 but in 

the abuse of it1 that the evil lies4 ,on
 the whole there is no promiscuous      
immorality among the followers of       
,islam4 ,drunkenness and prostitution   
are practically non-existent4 ,in towns 
where ,europeans have made them a       
necessity1 they are always worse4       
,abstinence and sobriety are not only   
professed but practised4 ,in these      
respects the young ,moslem certainly    
stands above his contemporary in        
,europe4 ,marrying early as he does1 he 
knows nothing of 8the wild oats0 that   
are so promiscuously and so religiously 
sown by the youth of ,europe4 ,he sows  
no rank or noisome weeds for his        
children's children to reap a gruesome  
harvest4 ,as far1 therefore1 as the male
 sex are concerned1 the social system of
 ,islam is certainly more moral and     
wholesome than that of ,christendom4    
,the cult of ,mormonism1 as it has      
existed and still exists in ,utah ,state
 and ,salt ,lake ,city1 is a problem    
that should set all statesmen thinking6 

,as a psychological conundrum and from a
 rational standpoint1 it is a most      
interesting question4 ,it confronts us  
with a dual anomaly6 ,first of all by   
the enforcement of a sociological system
 in distinct opposition to1 and in      
defiance of all ethnic conditions4 ,to  
make the anomaly all the greater1 the   
religious part of this cult is founded  
on a palpable sham4 ,there is not even  
about it the possibility of reality that
 always exists at the back of many      
ancient myths4  ,the so-called          
revelation of ,joseph ,smith1 is the    
clumsy imposture of a man who in no     
sense of the word was either great or   
sincere4 ,it is unquestionably the work 
of one or more persons who initiated the
 movement in their own self-interests1  
and to cloak principles that were at    
complete variance with ,christian       
doctrine and ,european opinion4         
,mohammed1 as we know1 did not receive  
any revelation 8on the eternity of the  
marriage covenant1 or the plurality of  

wives40 ,this1 according to ,mormon     
statement1 was reserved for ,joseph     
,smith alone4 ,as a great statesman and 
prophet1 ,mohammed recognized polygamy  
to be an ethnic condition1 therefore    
wisely did not interfere with it4 ,any  
radical innovation in this direction    
would have been more than a political   
error4 ,as a revolutionary measure1 it  
would have completely upset the entire  
fabric of ,arabian and ,eastern society4
 ,a pandemoniac topsy-turveydom would   
have been the immediate consequence4    
,the death-knell of ,islam1 the direct  
result4 ,yet the very personal god of   
,joseph ,smith was so very short-sighted
 or painstaking that he sanctioned      
absolutely a mere matter of domestic    
arrangement and economy4 ,could any two 
extremes present a wider and more       
striking contrast8 ,is it possible even 
to compare the splendid sincerity of    
this sublime creed of self-surrender to 
,god--the soul of which came direct from
 all that is great in nature--with the  

thin transparency of what at best was a 
poor attempt at fiction1 which emanated 
from the mentality of a human           
mediocrity8 ,is it justifiable to       
mention them in the same breath8  ,yet  
in spite of these startling             
contradictions1 it is quite certain that
 the ,mormon ,state1 in an economic     
sense1 is a prosperous1 flourishing and 
thriving community4 ,its people too are 
orderly1 well-behaved1 law-abiding and  
industrious4 ,from a moral and social   
standpoint1 there is no fault to find   
with them4 ,the anti-polygamic          
legislation of the ,united ,states      
,government1 although it has recently   
been enforced with much greater severity
 than at first1 has not stamped out     
polygamy4 ,does this or does this not   
demonstrate that polygamy--which in the 
eyes of ,christendom constitutes one of 
the chief offences of ,islam--is not the
 crime it is represented to be8 ,is it1 
in fact1 a crime at all8 ,does it not   
prove that only the abuse of it1 as the 

abuse of any1 even a good thing1 is     
wrong8 ,but that the actual system      
itself as an ethnic condition peculiar  
to certain racial sections of mankind1  
is nothing but the outcome or evolution 
of sociologic customs and usages8  ,to  
contend as all the ,mu'tazilite doctors 
do that ,islam is not a polygamous      
system because it only tolerates a      
limited polygamy under stringent        
conditions which tends to monogamy is   
but a metaphysical quibble4 ,it is but  
an attempt to split a hair4 ,it does not
 alter the fact that when a system      
permits more than one wife1 and its     
founder sanctioned four1 it is certainly
 not monogamous4 ,such an argument will 
not hold water for even a moment4 ,it is
 but a mere contention--8a bone10 as the
 ,persian proverb says1 8thrown to two  
dogs10 a palpable piece of sophistry4   
,it is but the begging of an obvious    
fact1 a reality that can neither be     
avoided nor eluded4 ,as ,burns so very  
happily puts it3      8,but facts are   

cheels that winna ding     ,an downa be 
disputed40  ,from theories such as this1
 ,islam can derive no benefit4 ,just as 
in a broad sense she can suffer no      
disparagement from the fact that she    
countenances polygamy1 she can afford to
 dispense with any such apologies4 ,it  
is always a sounder principle to look   
truth in the face1 even if that truth is
 unpalatable4 ,however much civilization
 or the march and progress of events may
 ultimately modify polygamy1 the actual 
custom itself was but an outcome of     
circumstances and conditions that at the
 time were inevitable and did not 7as   
they do not now7 imply a crime against  
or subversion of natural laws4 ,to      
stigmatize a system that time and usage 
have sanctified for thousands of years1 
merely because it offends the easily    
outraged feelings of a super-sensitive  
,christendom1 or even on other grounds1 
is1 to say the least of it1 undignified4
 ,to impute a crime to the thing itself 
is almost1 but not quite1 on a par with 

the theology that pronounces a child to 
be the product of a sinful act4 ,if the 
cause is sinful1 the effect must also be
 sinful8 ,such a theory is certainly    
unnatural1 if not monstrous6 ,it is a   
perversion of that ,nature from which we
 ourselves have evolved1 and of that    
,god or ,first ,cause from which all    
causes and effects have proceeded4      
,regarding this question from the       
broadest of standpoints1 there is no    
need of an apology4 ,contention such as 
that of the ,mu'tazilite doctors1 casts 
too much of a reflection--an insult     
almost--on the great spirit and the     
splendid traditions of ,islam4 ,it is   
altogether unworthy of her4 ,the fact of
 a polygamous system did not in one whit
 detract from the splendour of the      
empire that was built upon ,mohammed's  
virile creed1 although the subsequent   
abuse of it may possibly have done so6  
,even admitting that monogamy is an     
improvement on polygamy1 the ,christian 
,faith was yet young when ,mohammed     

first founded ,islam4 ,thirteen hundred 
years make a vast difference in the     
aspect of social progress and           
development4 ,and as ,i have already    
pointed out1 even ,mohammed1 with all   
his great power and influence1 dared not
 have upset the corner-stone upon which 
the entire social fabric of the         
,patriarchal system was based4 ,however 
great he was as a ,prophet1 he was much 
too great a statesman to have even spent
 a thought on an innovation so          
startlingly radical and revolutionary4  
,but ,christendom in the mass has never 
rationally considered this question from
 a broad-minded and liberal aspect6 ,the
 attitude of its missionaries towards   
the great ,moslem ,church is1 to say the
 least of it1 uncalled for and          
unjustifiable4 ,their irrational        
arrogance and aggressiveness is only    
exceeded by their psychological         
ignorance of ,islamic spirit and        
morality1 added to an overweening       
egotism1 blind bigotry and narrow       

sectarian prejudices4 ,in a dual sense  
their attitude is offensive in the      
extreme4 ,offensive because it is       
hostile as well as impertinent4 ,to     
attempt the conversion of ,islam is a   
liberty that amounts to licence in face 
of its utter futility4 ,this in itself  
demonstrates an ignorance of ethnic     
conditions on the part of ,european     
statesmen and missionaries that is as   
amazing and preposterous as it is       
deplorable4 ,so1 too1 to denounce       
,islam1 as ,christian missionaries do in
 no unmeasured terms1 in books1 on      
platforms and in the pulpit1 is surely  
unpardonable--surely a reflection on    
civilization4 ,christianity will never  
convert or supplant ,islam4 ,as long as 
the one lasts the other will endure4    
,from the most catholic of standpoints1 
from a religious1 a social1 a political1
 and an economic sense1 it would be     
sounder and more politic to leave ,islam
 alone4 ,it would be more to the point  
if ,christian missionaries devoted their

 energies to the bottom dogs of the     
slums of their own ,european cities1 and
 to rescue the poor helpless infants who
 in their thousands are being slowly    
done to death through vice and crime    
that is worse than bestial4             
,unquestionably there is in our own     
,european system a moral cancer that is 
just as virulent as any that ,islam can 
produce4 ,this indeed is a question that
 ,european statesmen should turn their  
attention to4 ,for more than anything1  
it is this onslaught on the strongholds 
of ,islam by ,christendom1 that explains
 the ,moslem menace4 ,the one1 if it    
exists1 is but a counterblast to the    
other4  ,it is an indisputable fact that
 in ,china and in various parts of the  
world1 the high-handed interference and 
injudicious zeal of ,christian          
missionaries--outrunning all discretion1
 tact1 and common sense--has frequently 
been the cause of war and bloodshed4 ,is
 this1 ,i ask1 compatible with          
,christian tenets and professions8 ,do  

not practices such as these fall far    
short of the high ideals that are so    
consistently flourished in the face of  
those who are outside its pale8 ,do they
 not bring moral discredit on a great   
creed1 and tend to reduce it to the low 
level of mere and fulsome cant8 ,but one
 small specimen of this open and        
undisguised hostility will suffice4 ,in 
the ,x4 ,y4 ,z4 of ,july #bd1 #aijh1    
under the heading in large type of      
8,,islam ,,the ,,enemy10 appears the    
following3 8,at the annual meeting held 
in connexion with the ,church           
,missionary ,society at ,harrogate      
recently1 the ,rev4 ,w4 ,y4 ,potter     
said3 #8,the calls which are most urgent
 are perhaps those to combat advancing  
,mohammedanism in ,west ,africa1 to     
direct the new desire for learning in   
,china1 to protect the ,japanese nation 
from ,agnosticism1 by gathering in the  
millions in these lands into the folds  
of the ,christian ,church4'0  ,a        
sentence like this speaks for itself4   

,it is self-condemnatory4 ,it condemns  
the speaker and the whole system which  
advances and encourages such narrow and 
vicious methods4 ,it condemns1 too1 a   
journalism that gives such poor and     
unworthy utterances a place1 even as a  
mere 8,fill up40  ,islam is not an      
enemy4 ,it is ,christendom only that    
makes her so4 ,it is that craven        
conscience1 which finding in her a      
teacher and a worker of solid worth1 has
 aroused the envy and malice of the ever
 jealous theological spirit1 which has  
invariably been responsible for so much 
war and bloodshed4 ,it is a relic of the
 same militant envy that1 burning with  
fury throughout the ,dark ,ages1 fired  
the ,crusades to a very great extent4 ,a
 cramped and dogmatic spirit such as    
this does not surely represent the true 
spirit of modern ,europe1 which is      
presumably rational and reasonable1 and 
consistent with the genius of progress  
and advancement4 ,there is no real and  
spontaneous ,moslem menace4 ,even1      

however1 if there is1 it is but the     
re-echo of these aggressively ,christian
 sentiments4 ,it is but the answer to a 
challenge1 as undignified and           
contemptuous as it is aggressive and    
defiant4 ,islam1 ,i repeat1 is not an   
enemy1 but a co-worker with us in the   
great and glorious cause of uplifting   
humanity from a lower to a higher       
civilization4 ,islam has neither        
intention nor design of encroaching upon
 the spiritual preserves of             
,christendom4 ,further1 she has no      
itching wish to do so4 ,her leaders have
 the common sense to recognize that     
,christendom is separated from her by   
ethnic laws and social customs that are 
indivisible4 ,she is only too willing2  
all1 in fact1 she asks1 is to be left   
alone to work in her own sphere of      
influence4 ,is it not possible1 then1   
for a ,christendom professing so vast a 
moral and every other kind of           
superiority1 to meet her half way1 to   
make a truce or compromise to the effect

 that each should work in its own       
legitimate sphere8 ,a pugnacious method 
such as she pursues towards ,islam is as
 bad1 worse in fact1 than a thousand red
 rags to an infuriated bull4 ,for like  
the unfortunate victim in a ,spanish    
bull-fight1 tormented to its death by   
matadors1 piccadors1 torreadors1 and a  
host of other 8dors10 ,islam is beset   
and heckled by the frothy vapourings of 
theocratic firebrands1 and the unbridled
 licence of ,europe's gutter press4     
,the origin of ,islam1 as ,i have       
described it1 is in itself evidence of  
,islam's moral and spiritual            
stability--of that part of her which has
 not deviated from1 but clung to the    
spirit of her great ,founder4 ,but even 
allowing for denominational deviations1 
,islam in the mass is truly devout4     
,the two creeds represent two absolutely
 divergent sections of humanity4        
,unquestionably in a social1 moral and  
religious sense1 ,islam is ,islam1 and  
,christendom1 ,christendom4 ,to remedy  

this divergence1 to bring the two       
sections together1 enters into the      
impossible4  ,a natural arrangement such
 as this cannot be interfered with or   
altered4 ,defective as it is from a     
human aspect1 it is all the same        
irremediable--a hiatus as wide apart as 
the suns in space1 beyond the power of  
human effort to bring together4 ,it is  
only possible for the rational gospel of
 humanism1 the great religion of natural
 sympathy1 to heal the breach4 ,this it 
can only do by turning humanity into one
 great human family4 ,this alone would  
sweep away the disturbing factors of    
creeds1 denominations1 and sects4 ,but  
is such a thing possible8 ,scarcely6    
,certainly not so long as the egotism   
and egotheism of man is so predominant a
 force in human sociology1 or so long as
 the present physical and mental        
environments of the two sections remain 
the same4     ,,chapter ,,viii          
,,europe',s ,,debt ,,to ,,islam3        
,,ethnic ,,spheres ,,of ,,influence     

,but apart from all these weighty       
considerations1 the attitude of ,europe 
towards ,islam should be one of eternal 
gratitude1 instead of base ingratitude  
and forgetfulness4 ,never to this day   
has ,europe acknowledged in an honest   
and whole-hearted manner the great and  
everlasting debt she owes to ,islamic   
culture and civilization4 ,only in a    
lukewarm and perfunctory way has she    
recognized that when1 during the ,dark  
,ages1 her people were sunk in feudalism
 and ignorance1 ,moslem civilization    
under the ,arabs reached a high standard
 of social and scientific splendour1    
that kept alive the flickering embers of
 ,european society from utter decadence4
  ,do not we1 who now consider ourselves
 on the topmost pinnacle ever reached by
 culture and civilization1 recognize    
that had it not been for the high       
culture1 the civilization and           
intellectual as well as social splendour
 of the ,arabs1 and to the soundness of 
their school system1 ,europe would to   

this day have remained sunk in the      
darkness of ignorance8 ,have we         
forgotten that the ,mohammedan maxim was
 that1 8the real learning of a man is of
 more public importance than any        
particular religious opinions he may    
entertain0--that ,moslem liberality was 
in striking contrast with the then      
intolerant state of ,europe8 ,have we   
forgotten that the ,khalifate arose in  
the most degenerate period of ,rome and 
,persia1 also that the greater part of  
,europe lay under the dark cloud of     
barbarism8 ,does the magnificent valour 
of the ,arabs1 inspired as it was by a  
theism as lofty as it was pure1 not     
appeal to us8 ,does not the moderation  
and comparative toleration shown by them
 to the conquered1 notwithstanding the  
fierce and burning ardour to regenerate 
mankind that impelled them onwards to   
conquest1 also appeal to us8 ,does it   
not all the more appeal to us1 when we  
contrast this with the bitterness of the
 attitude of the ,christian sects       

towards one another8 ,especially when we
 consider that in ,christendom as it was
 then constituted1 extortion1 tyranny   
and imperial centralization1 combining  
with ecclesiastical despotism and       
persecution1 had practically            
extinguished patriotism1 by substituting
 in its place a schismatic and          
degenerate church4  ,is it not obvious  
that in her outlook on ,islam1 ,europe  
has overlooked her own ,dark ,ages--that
 awful period of intellectual oblivion  
which commenced with the decline of     
classical learning subsequent to the    
establishment of the barbarians in      
,europe in the fifth century1 and       
continued down to the ,renaissance1 i4e4
 towards the end of the fourteenth      
century8 ,is it too not evident that she
 has lost all recollection of the torn  
and disturbed state of ,christendom even
 in the middle of the fifteenth century 
when the ,renaissance was in full swing1
 or had at least run half its course8   
,how few ,europeans there are who know  

the name of neas ,sylvius--fewer still  
who can remember the striking and vivid 
picture he has drawn of the state of    
,europe in those days of dawning        
intelligence6 ,yet this prelate1        
afterward ,pope ,pius ,,ii1 sums up the 
then ,european situation in a curious   
but concise and explicit document--a    
species of state paper dated #aded4     
,possessing as he did a personal        
knowledge of ,europe1 and being a man of
 great natural shrewdness and power of  
observation1 neas ,sylvius was of all   
men then living the best qualified to   
describe the state of affairs at this   
period4 ,so that his observations are   
not only significant1 but entitled to   
weight and consideration4  ,discussing  
the prospects of the projected crusade1 
he praises warmly ,philip of ,burgundy  
for his readiness in the matter1 then   
gives his reason for concluding that the
 ,diet at ,frankfort must be a failure4 
,for there is no real unity in          
,christendom2 neither ,pope nor ,csar is

 duly reverenced or believed in2 they   
are but feigned names or painted        
effigies--each state has its own king3  
there is a prince to every house4 ,italy
 is disturbed1 ,genoa being at feud with
 ,aragon2 nay1 worse1 ,venice has       
actually a treaty with the ,turk4 ,in   
,spain are many kings1 all differing in 
power1 government1 aims and opinions4   
,there is even war too there about      
,granada4 ,france is still looking      
uneasily across the ,channel at         
,england1 her old foe1 and ,england     
watches ,france4 ,the ,germans are      
divided1 without coherence2 their cities
 quarrel with their princes2 their      
princes fight among themselves4         
,luxemburg is a cause of dispute between
 the ,king of ,bohemia and the ,duke of 
,burgundy4  ,is it possible that ,europe
 is unmindful of1 and has the           
ingratitude to ignore1 the splendid     
services of the scientists and          
philosophers of ,arabia8 ,are the names 
of ,assamh1 ,abu ,othman1 ,alberuni1    

,albeithar1 ,abu ,ali ,ibn ,sina        
7,avicenna71 the great physician and    
philosopher1 ,ibn ,rushd 7,averroes7 of 
,cordova1 the chief commentator on      
,aristotle1 ,ibn ,bajja 7,avempace7     
besides a host of others1 but dead      
letters8 ,is the great work that they   
have done1 and the fame they have left  
behind them in their books1 to be       
consigned to the limbo of oblivion1 by  
an ungrateful because antipathetic      
,europe8 ,does the work of ,alhazen1    
author of optical treatises1 who        
understood the weight of air1 corrected 
the ,greek misconception or theory of   
vision1 and determined the function of  
the retina1 count for nothing8 ,do we   
owe no tribute to a great thinker such  
as ,ghazali1 who in speaking of his     
attempts to detach himself from his     
youthful opinions says3 8,i said to     
myself1 my aim is simply to know the    
truth of things1 consequently it is     
indispensable for me to ascertain what  
is knowledge08 ,it cannot be that       

already we have lost sight of the       
amazing intellectual activity of the    
,moslem world1 during the earlier part  
of the 8,abbasid0 period more           
especially8 ,it cannot be that we have  
quite forgotten the irrecoverable loss  
that was inflicted on ,arabian          
literature and on the world at large by 
the wanton destruction of thousands of  
books that was prompted by ,christian   
bigotry and fanaticism8 ,it cannot      
surely be said of ,christian ,europe    
that for centuries now she has done her 
best to hide her obligation to the      
,arabs8 ,yet most assuredly obligations 
such as these are far too sacred to lie 
much longer hidden6 ,let                
,europe--,christendom rather--confess   
and acknowledge her fault4 ,let her     
proclaim aloud to her own ignorant      
masses1 and to the world at large1 the  
ingratitude she has displayed1 and the  
eternal debt she owes to the ,islam she 
no longer despises4 ,open confession is 
good for the soul1 and only a confession

 such as this can wipe off the black    
stain which has for so long besmirched  
her fair fame4 ,let ,christendom once   
and for all recognize that the greatest 
of all faults is to be conscious of     
none--that acknowledging a fault is     
saying1 only in other words1 we are     
wiser to-day than we were yesterday4    
,only through magnanimity such as this  
can she claim redemption4 ,for she must 
surely know that 8injustice founded on  
religious rancour and national conceit  
cannot be perpetrated for ever40  ,let  
me endeavour to make my meaning somewhat
 clearer1 by means of two simple        
illustrations--the one belonging to the 
eighteenth century1 the other to the    
twentieth4 8,how many great men do you  
reckon80 ,buffon was asked one day4     
8,five10 answered he at once2 8,newton1 
,bacon1 ,leibnitz1 ,montesquieu1 and    
myself40  ,some five to six years ago1  
the present ,german ,emperor1 in giving 
his views on divine revelation and      
manifestation1 is said to have expressed

 himself as follows3 8,to promote man's 
development ,god has revealed ,himself  
in man1 whether he be priest or king1   
whether heathen1 ,jew1 or ,christian4   
,so in ,moses1 ,abraham1 ,homer1        
,charlemagne1 ,luther1 ,shakespeare1    
,goethe1 ,kant1 and the ,emperor        
,william the ,great1 whom ,god thus     
sought out to achieve imperishable      
results4 ,his grandfather often said    
that he was an instrument in ,god's     
hands40  ,comment on my part of any kind
 would be but an insult to the          
intelligent or sympathetic reader4 ,but 
the way in which ,islam is studiously   
ignored in both cases is surely         
significant and luminous4 ,these are but
 two mere examples taken at random1 but 
they are typical of ,european arrogance1
 egotism1 and her general attitude of   
supercilious apathy towards the ,moslem 
world4 ,after all--even when an         
enlightened emperor is concerned--it is 
but a step1 and a short quick step1 from
 the sublime to the ridiculous4  ,in    

,europe's own interest it would in the  
end repay her statesmen to treat the    
world of ,islam with greater sympathy   
and toleration1 also with but ordinary  
justice4 ,these remarks apply more      
forcibly of course to ,great ,britain   
and ,france4 ,from the standpoint of the
 highest statesmanship1 these two states
 should utilize the power they possess  
towards the attainment of this wise and 
politic object4 ,instead of permitting  
any such impolitic measures 7as e4g4    
those made by ,christian missionaries to
 proselytize7 they should1 by every     
means that lies within their power1     
advance1 encourage1 and stimulate the   
work of ,islam in its own proper and    
legitimate sphere of influence4         
,reflection will remind them that       
intolerance or persecution in any form1 
as the history of ,christianity itself  
proves1 always aided1 but never         
deterred1 the development of any creed4 
,these facts alone ought to recommend   
the study of ,islam to all ,british     

statesman4 ,but in addition1 ,i would   
point out to them one feature that is   
worth looking into4 ,this is1 that the  
same blend of materialism and spirit1   
the same desire for unity1 cohesion and 
construction1 which characterized       
,mohammed's efforts1 have operated also 
in the building up of the ,british      
,empire4 ,it is practically out of these
 forces1 but under different aspects and
 conditions of social and physical      
environment1 that ,england has expanded 
into ,greater ,britain4 ,given the same 
conditions and environment1 and the same
 vigorous people1 and there is no       
knowing what the true spirit and fervour
 of ,islam might not have effected4     
,remember that the soul of ,islam1 as   
the ,prophet left it1 did not lack in   
spiritual stamina4 ,the lack of it has  
been in her disciples1 who have found it
 difficult to live up to the rigid      
standard that was set them by their     
,lord and ,master4 ,in a great          
international or rather intercreedal    

question such as this1 it is highly     
impolitic to make comparisons1 more     
especially when the creeds in question  
represent a sphere of thought and a     
sociological system so widely divergent 
as ,islam and ,christendom4 ,all the    
same1 there are facts that the latter   
should be reminded of4 ,throughout its  
great and growing history1 particularly 
its earlier career when fanaticism was  
excusable1 militant and violent as she  
has been1 ,islam never descended to so  
hateful a system as the diabolical      
,inquisition1 never stained the great   
soul of her ,faith by ruthless and      
bloody massacres such as those of the   
,albigenses1 ,waldenses1 and ,st4       
,bartholomew4 ,on the contrary1 she     
showed a spirit of religious toleration 
that was as rational as it was          
remarkable4 ,indeed under the ,ommiades 
of ,spain 7#gee-ajca7 this was in every 
sense greater1 higher and wider than    
that which prevails at present in modern
 ,spain4 ,it is true of course that     

,ma'mun1 one of the ,abbasid ,caliphs1  
established in #hcc ,a4,d4 a mihna or   
,inquisition1 in order to uphold the    
rationalism of the ,mu'tazilite doctrine
 against orthodoxy4 ,but it was         
shortlived4 ,for soon after his         
successor ,w'athik is said to have      
officially abandoned rationalism2 and in
 fourteen years from its initiation1 the
 cruel and bigoted ,mutawakkil sternly  
put his foot on it1 and with it the     
,inquisition4 ,this1 however1 was not an
 ,inquisition such as that of the       
,romish ,church4 ,in reality it was but 
a council established with the object   
only of introducing rationalism into the
 empire and to keep out reactionaries   
from the ,state ,service4 ,in other     
words1 it was but a 8,test10 which was  
promulgated and administered on the same
 lines and principles as the ,test ,act 
in ,england4 ,is it wise then for the   
statesmen of ,europe to ignore such     
weighty facts8 ,would it not be more    
politic on their part to take cognizance

 of them8 ,it is on facts such as these 
that ,european policy in its            
relationship to ,islam should be based4 
,it is only by making the study of      
universal history a science that the    
politician can ever hope to become a    
statesman4 ,this means a thorough and   
comprehensive grasp of ancient as well  
as modern history4 ,such a grasp alone  
will enable him to look into the future 
and shape his policy4 ,but to do so     
without a complete knowledge of ,islam's
 history in the past1 and the manifest  
part she has yet to play in the history 
of the future1 is to show an utter      
ignorance of statecraft1 but especially 
of that wider sphere of 8welt politik0  
which bears the same analogy to the     
former as1 in military parlance1        
strategy does to tactics4 ,these shapers
 of the destinies of their various      
nations must remember that ,islam has   
done for the ,east1 or rather for the   
world of polygamy1 what ,christendom has
 done for the ,west or world of         

monogamy4 ,she has uplifted millions    
upon millions of human beings from a    
much lower to a far higher scale of     
civilization4 ,in ,africa and in ,asia  
she has purified the primitive cults of 
their sacrificial abominations1 has     
introduced a better and humaner         
legislation1 has encouraged commerce and
 industries and established a more      
stable form of government4 ,finally1 she
 has exalted the supreme ,god1 whose    
worship had practically fallen into     
abeyance1 to a pinnacle of solitary     
grandeur1 and in this way uplifted the  
people into a far higher moral and      
spiritual atmosphere4 ,to quote ,stanley
 ,lane ,poole1 she has given them 8a    
form of pure theism1 simpler and more   
austere than the theism of most forms of
 ,christianity1 lofty in its conception 
of the relation of man to ,god1 and     
noble in its doctrine of the duty of man
 to man1 and of man to the lower        
creation40 ,islam1 in fact1 has done a  
great work4 ,she has left a mark on the 

pages of human history which is         
indelible1 that can never be            
effaced--that only when the world grows 
wiser will be acknowledged in full--in  
other words1 when the sun of knowledge  
shall have dispelled the black clouds of
 ignorance4 ,but ,islam is still doing1 
and will continue to do1 the great work 
that her founder initiated4 ,this is a  
work that ,christianity can never do4   
,islam too has a mission4 ,but her      
mission is in quite another sphere to   
that of ,christendom4 ,it is 7and has   
for some time been7 the preconceived    
opinion in ,europe that the power and   
influence of ,islam since the waning of 
her conquests have come to a standstill4
 ,that morally and spiritually her      
influence is demoralizing and           
corruptive--the bane1 in a word1 of     
those nations that she is proselytizing4
 ,but this is not so4 ,never was a      
greater and more unpardonable mistake   
made than this4 ,an error rather than a 
mistake4 ,the wish but prompts the      

thought4 ,there is still much moral and 
spiritual vitality in ,islam1 therefore 
elasticity and power of expansion4 ,in  
,africa especially1 among all the ,bantu
 and negroid tribes whose sociology is  
patriarchal1 there is a great work for  
her to do4 ,these peoples by their whole
 social system and in every moral sense 
belong to the sphere of ,islam and not  
of ,christendom4  ,to judge or even     
criticize ,islam from a ,european       
standpoint is uneven4 ,to get her proper
 measure1 ,islam must be weighed from   
the aspect of the ethnic basis upon     
which she rests4 ,to compare one system 
by the standard of another1 it is only  
possible to arrive at a distorted or    
unequal result4 ,islam can no more be   
judged by modern commonplace methods    
than ,europe can be judged on the same  
lines by ,islam1 or than ,mohammed      
himself whose splendid concept it was4  
,the manners and morals of his own time 
must also be taken into consideration4  
,the two creeds of ,islam and           

,christendom have been built on         
different bases1 and constructed out of 
different material4 ,the ,god of one is 
the ,god of universal nature4 ,the ,god 
of the other is a triform ,being--a     
metaphysical trinity in unity4 ,socially
 the ,moslem is a polygamist1           
religiously he is an unitarian4 ,the    
,european is just the opposite to this4 
,socially he is a monogamist1           
religiously he is a trinitarian4 ,in a  
word1 the system of these two great     
human divisions differ as much from each
 other as their foot gear4 ,that of the 
,moslem again conforms to nature4 ,that 
is1 his shoe is made to fit the foot1   
which narrows at the heel1 and splays   
out at the toes4 ,in ,europe1 on the    
contrary1 the foot is made to fit the   
shoe1 which1 wide at the heel1 narrows  
into a point at the toes4 ,how is it    
possible then for two such widely       
divergent systems to agree8  ,but at    
least they can agree to differ4 ,at     
least there is one broad base upon which

 they can meet4 ,on the grounds of a    
common humanity1 on the grounds of a    
common sympathy1 by a common birth and a
 common death they are equal4 ,it is not
 for ,christendom to hang back4 ,islam  
is quite ready to meet her more than    
half-way4 ,from the superior vantage    
ground of her position1 it is for her to
 hold out the right hand of fellowship4 
,it is for her to recognize the real    
worth of ,islam4 ,it is for her to      
respect not to contemn her great        
coadjutor4 ,for her to regard ,islam1   
not as a foe or even a rival1 so much as
 a great and worthy co-partner with her1
 in the work of civilization4 ,from this
 reasonable and rational standpoint the 
sphere of ,islam's influence should be  
wisely left alone4 ,for the enforcement 
of ,christianity on races such as those 
of ,africa1 for instance1 whose system  
is patriarchal1 can only end1 as it has 
already done1 in their utter            
denationalization and hybridization4 ,to
 ,europeanize and turn into ,christians 

these sons of nature merely for the     
motive of gaining converts is impolitic1
 if not immoral4 ,it but makes human    
mules of them4 ,wiser far to let them   
remain as they are4 ,as well try to turn
 camelopards into crocodiles or pythons 
into hippos1 as convert ,africans into  
,europeans4 ,islam attempts nothing     
unnatural of this kind--nothing that is 
opposed to ethnic conditions and        
sociological usages4 ,in her case she   
but develops the lama into the camel4   
,it is impossible1 fatuous in fact1 to  
ignore or even overlook the basic       
importance of physical environment4     
,even science in this respect has been  
backward1 and very slowly recognized    
that geography is obviously and         
essentially the basis of all            
history--i4e4 of all human action and   
development4 ,the importance of climate 
and climatic changes on the habits1     
customs1 temperament and character of   
races1 has never been clearly and       
thoroughly realized4 ,not until this has

 been estimated and appreciated at its  
true value1 will it be possible for     
reason to override the dogmas and       
bigotries of short-sighted and          
prejudiced theology4 ,but the day is    
fast approaching when this fact must be 
acknowledged as a universal truth4 ,then
 only will ,islam and other creeds be   
appraised from an even and rational     
standpoint4  ,even admitting that ,islam
 has receded from ,mohammed's moral and 
spiritual high water mark1 this is all  
the more reason why the statesmen of    
,europe should stretch out a helping    
hand to assist in raising her to her    
former level4 ,all the more reason why  
they should encourage and stimulate her 
to higher aims and endeavours4 ,this    
assuredly would be a more dignified and 
statesmanlike proceeding than that      
which1 if it does not sanction1 at all  
events permits the good name and fame of
 ,islam to be smirched with contumely1  
and to be held up before the world as a 
standing menace to civilization4 ,a     

course such as ,i have suggested1 is    
much more likely to bring about a better
 understanding and preparation towards  
any possible fusion4 ,on the other hand1
 the present propaganda of active       
theological aggression and political    
indifference1 is bound to make the      
breach wider than ever with the ultimate
 certainty of disruption4 ,in face of   
such a climax there is but this one     
remedy4 ,as a moral and spiritual factor
 in the regeneration of humanity1 ,islam
 is indispensable4 ,in her own sphere   
she must not be interfered with4 ,the   
good of humanity is a higher cause to   
work for than the mere glorification of 
creed and sect4 ,the cause of humanity  
strikes wider1 deeper and higher than   
that of any creed or denomination4 ,by  
working towards this end1 by sinking    
denominational differences in the common
 stock-pot of humanity1 the world at    
large and civilization in particular    
will in the end gain ever so much more4 
,in speaking of ,islam and of ,moslems  

as ,i have done1 ,i have spoken of them 
as ,i have found them4 ,apart from a    
careful study of the ,koran1 my         
knowledge of both is based on personal  
facts and experiences as varied as they 
are extensive4 ,in every clime and under
 a variety of conditions1 ,i have been  
in touch with ,moslems of all classes   
and shades1 and have always found them  
animated by the same spirit--for race or
 colour makes no difference to the      
spirit of ,islam4 ,always consistent and
 devout1 always ,god-fearing and sincere
 as regards their ,faith4 ,before all   
things religious1 their cult1 the creed 
of ,mohammed--i4e4 ,el ,islam or        
self-surrender4 ,afghan1 ,arab1         
,baluchi1 ,hindustani1 ,somali1 ,turk1  
,egyptian1 ,hadendowa1 ,berber1         
,senegalese1 ,fulani1 ,hausa1 ,yoruba1  
,mandingo1 ,malay1 ,i have found them in
 the main ,islamic to the very core4 ,in
 peace or war1 in camp and cantonment1  
working and fighting with or against    
them1 my experience of their moral      

consistency and spiritual stamina has   
been the same4 ,brave to a fault1       
endowed with the reckless courage of the
 ,fatalist1 fearless and contemptuous of
 death1 their fidelity to their ,faith1 
their belief in the greatness of        
,mohammed1 and their veneration of ,god1
 is a something that once it is rightly 
understood1 can only be respected and   
appreciated at its true value4 ,for my  
part1 seeing as ,i have their splendid  
heroism in their own cause1 and their   
touching devotion to those whose salt   
they have eaten1 my feelings towards    
them is not only one of unmixed         
admiration and respect1 but also of deep
 esteem and regard4 ,such men are worthy
 of ,islam1 as ,islam indeed is worthy  
of them4 ,only the soul--the moral and  
spiritual essence--of ,islam could have 
made them what they are1 could have     
turned out of the dregs of barbarism a  
human material so truly splendid4  ,with
 experience and facts such as these     
before me1 ,i for one find it impossible

 to forget1 and only natural to         
acknowledge with candour1 the great and 
magnificent part that ,islam has        
occupied in the history of the world4   
,in the intellectual strife of heroes   
who have wrestled and fought for the    
truth and who for many centuries led the
 world1 in the arena of battle and of   
conquest where warriors have led the    
van1 the sons of ,islam stand on a      
pedestal of their own making1 that as   
the world grows older and more          
enlightened1 will stand out in all the  
greater prominence4 ,stand out as men   
who have taken as great and heroic      
though not so sustained a part on the   
stage of universal history as the giants
 and heroes of ,christendom4  ,even in a
 study of this length it is in reality  
impossible to deal exhaustively with a  
question so wide and extensive as this1 
which requires a large volume to itself4
 ,but ,i have said enough1 ,i trust1 to 
show that the value of ,islam as a moral
 and spiritual factor in the            

civilization of the world is very       
considerable4 ,i hope too that to all   
who are reasonable and rational in their
 views1 ,i have shown1 as clearly and as
 concisely as it is possible to do      
within such narrow limits1 that the     
so-called 8,moslem menace0 is but the   
wraith of an over-heated                
imagination--the bogie conjured up by a 
hectoring and arrogant theocracy1 backed
 up1 unfortunately1 by an indiscreet and
 tactless ,press1 ever ready to         
exaggerate any piece of cheap claptrap  
into the sensation of the moment4       
,always eager to lift up even garbage   
such as this to the higher level of     
dramatic denouements1 by giving undue   
prominence to the unreliable froth and  
effervescence of irresponsible and      
excitable cranks4 ,in a word1 by a      
process of moral aggravation that is    
unworthy a great and liberal ,press4    
,finally1 ,i have endeavoured to make it
 clear1 that apart from motives of      
honour and high principles and          

consistent with the dignity of the great
 ,aryan family1 ,europe should adopt    
towards ,islam a policy of conciliation 
and co-operation3 if for nothing else1  
to avoid being hoisted by her own       
overcharged and explosive petard4 ,if ,i
 have done but this1 then at least my   
labour shall not have been in vain4     
,decoration     ,,islam--,,corrigenda4  
,p4 #h1 ,foreword4 ,in lines #c and #b  
from bottom1 united should read suited4 
,on p4 #eg1 line just above quotation1  
could be still3 should read could be3   
still--  ,p4 #hg4 ,in line #c from      
bottom1 an an alysis of should read an  
analysis of4     ,liscard ,commercial   
and ,collegiate ,schools1  ,liscard1    
,cheshire4   ,these ,schools1 which are 
highly recommended by ,major ,a4 ,g4    
,,leonard1 differentiate in the teaching
 given to their ,senior boys1 there     
being three courses to meet the         
requirements of those destined for 7,a7 
,commerce1 7,b7 the ,professions or the 
,university1 7,c7 ,engineering1 etc4    

,this ,advertisement is inserted in the 
hope of securing as private boarders a  
limited number of ,european1 ,asiatic1  
or ,african pupils whose parents wish   
them to be educated in ,england4 ,such  
parents may rely on the ,headmaster's   
complete and sympathetic attention to   
their children4  ,references given and  
required4 ,all particulars will be      
furnished on application to--      ,,mr4
 ,w4 ,p4 ,,hammersley1      8,harbour   
,view10      ,seabank ,road1 ,liscard1  
,cheshire4     ,,provisions  ,,outfit   
,griffiths1 ,mc,alister  ,co41          
,,export ,,provision ,,merchants1 ,etc41
       #bi-ca1 ,manesty's ,lane1        
,,liverpool4         #ad1 ,billiter     
,street1 ,,london1 ,e4,c4   ,suppliers  
of all kinds of ,provisions1 ,camp      
,equipment1 ,medical ,stores1 ,wines1   
,spirits1 and ,mineral ,waters1 etc41   
for ,exploring and ,mining ,expeditions2
 also for private use abroad4  ,all     
,goods suitably packed for ,hot and     
,cold ,climates1 and made up in loads   

suitable for all modes of ,transport4   
,,contractors ,,to ,,the ,,crown        
,,agents     ,,for ,,the ,,colonies4    
,suppliers to ,lieut4 ,shackleton's     
,antarctic ,expedition1     #aijg-aiji4 
,telegraphic ,addresses3--              
8,,coomassie10 ,,liverpool4             
8,,appeasable10 ,,london4  ,codes       
used--,a1 ,b1 ,c1 #dth and #eth         
,editions and ,lieber's4   ,,established
 #ahhj4     ,transcriber's ,note        
,italics are indicated by underscores1  
like this4  ,the corrigenda were        
originally inserted before the          
,foreword2 they have been implemented1  
and moved to the end of the text for    
reference4  ,the advertisements were    
originally printed on either side of the
 title page2 they have been moved to the
 end of the text4  ,the following       
sentence1 which seems to be missing one 
or more words1 has been retained as     
printed3       ,yet synchronous with    
this the man of ideas and ideals that he
 kept      to himself however2 that he  

divulged to no one4  ,both 8half way0   
and 8half-way0 are used4  ,the following
 typographical errors and               
inconsistencies have been corrected3    
,title page3     8,personal ,law of the 
,mohammedans10 etc     changed to       
8,personal ,law of the ,mohammedans10   
etc4      ,page #i3     ,south ,american
 ,guacho is not     changed to          
,south ,american ,gaucho is not         
,page #i3     adapted for idealistic    
minds4     changed to     adapted for   
idealistic minds8      ,page #bg3       
the orginator of a new     changed to   
the originator of a new      ,page #cb3 
7an under rather than an over-estimate7 
changed to     7an under- rather than an
 over-estimate7      ,page #cc3         
,god's omnipresence and omipotence had  
made     changed to     ,god's          
omnipresence and omnipotence had made   
,page #ef3     each a mighty voice1     
changed to     each a mighty voice10    
,page #ef3     blackness that prevades  
the very soul     changed to            

blackness that pervades the very soul   
,page #eg3     grandeur and appaling    
sameness     changed to     grandeur and
 appalling sameness      ,page #ff3     
truths are only found in the depths of  
the thought4     changed to     truths  
are only found in the depths of the     
thought40      ,page #gb3     were much 
in repute1 when both1     changed to    
were much in repute2 when both1         
,page #hb3     secrets of ,god neither  
do ,i say     changed to     secrets of 
,god1 neither do ,i say      ,page #hg3 
to hurl inuendoes1 anathemas     changed
 to     to hurl innuendoes1 anathemas   
,page #ia3     known as ,aeneas ,sylvius
 7,pius ,aeneas73     changed to        
known as neas ,sylvius 7,pius neas73    
,page #id3     the sacred reduit and    
rallying ground     changed to     the  
sacred rduit and rallying ground        
,page #if3     awakening of the spirit  
of commerce     changed to     awakening
 of the spirit of commerce4      ,page  
#ajc3     ,i also will wait it with you4

     changed to     ,i also will wait it
 with you40      ,page #abe3     ,islam1
 in fact is above     changed to        
,islam1 in fact1 is above      ,page    
#acj3     ,in a great measure pologamy  
is much more     changed to     ,in a   
great measure polygamy is much more     
,page #acd3     all the ,mutalazite     
doctors     changed to     all the      
,mu'tazilite doctors      ,page #ace3   
that of the ,mutalazite doctors         
changed to     that of the ,mu'tazilite 
doctors      ,page #aci3     ,she is    
only too willing1 all1 in fact1         
changed to     ,she is only too willing2
 all1 in fact1      ,page #adf3         
ascertain what is knowledge80           
changed to     ascertain what is        
knowledge08      ,page #adg3            
8,newton1 ,bacon1 ,liebnitz1            
,montesquieu1 and myself40     changed  
to     8,newton1 ,bacon1 ,leibnitz1     
,montesquieu1 and myself40      ,page   
#aef3     other creeds be apprised      
changed to     other creeds be appraised

  ,all other peculiarities and          
inconsistencies of spelling1 punctuation
 and capitalisation have been retained  
as printed4