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         Reprinted from the =_Hindustan Review_=, September and
                             October 1909.




THE ISLAM OF MOHAMED.

BY MR. SALAHUDDIN KHUDA BUKHSH, M.A., B.C.L., BAR-AT-LAW.




Table of Contents


  Table of Contents.      1
  I.                      1
  II.                     5
  III.                    8
  IV.                    13
  The Hindustan Review.  18
  Transcriber’s Note.




I.


I do not desire to explain the importance and significance of Islam
among the religious systems of the world; nor am I to fix and ascertain
the exact position of Mohamed as a religious teacher among the world’s
great teachers of religions. My effort in this paper is simpler and
yet not altogether free from bewildering perplexities. I desire to
explain what Islam is and what its teachings are: Islam as preached and
delivered by the prophet of Arabia; Islam stripped of the accretions
of ages of theological disputes and controversies; in other words to
sketch out, to the best of my light and leading, Islam of the prophet
Mohamed. Difficult though this task is, it is not indeed a hopeless
venture for one who has kept himself clear and free from narrow
sectarianism.

To fully appreciate the message of Mohamed, it is essential that I
should say something about the condition of Arabia before Islam. I must
readily admit that so far as the Pagan Arabia is concerned, we are in
great dearth of authorities. Our information is shadowy, fitful, and
fragmentary and the industry of European scholars (such as Caussin De
Perceval, Krehl, Wellhausen, Robertson Smith and Sir Charles Lyall) has
succeeded but in lifting the veil merely at its fringe. But however
partial and unsatisfactory as the account is, of the Pagan days; we can
yet form an idea of the life that the Pagan Arabs led and the thoughts
that swayed and animated their conduct and their deeds. I will,
therefore, describe “The Pre-Islamic Arabia” as briefly as I can.

The Pre-Islamic Arabs were not a nation. Of the sense of nationality,
indeed, they had not the vaguest conception, though they were linked by
community of speech. Arabia was a sum-total of loose and disconnected
congeries of tribes and the tribe was the source and the limit of
social and political obligation. Beyond the tribe there lay no duty and
no obligation either. Political relations were moral; for morality was
confined within the limits of the tribe. Political organisation was
represented by the corporate feeling which found expression in the
exercise of the duties of brotherhood. Within the pale of the tribe
obtained the prohibition to kill, to commit adultery, to steal, &c.,
&c. Beyond it there was no such prohibition. Fidelity to one’s kinsman
was an imperative duty, apart from any question of the justness of the
cause.[1] Outside the tribe there was nothing but constant plunder
and unceasing warfare. “Certain large groups were, indeed, almost
continually at war with one another. Ma`add, the people of the Hijaz
and Al-yamamah generally looked upon Al-yaman as their natural prey
and were constantly raiding on the herds of their southern neighbours.
Between Tamim and Bakr, son of Wail, there was permanent bad blood,
Ghatafan and Hawazin had a standing feud. In the north the kingdom of
Al-Hirah, the representative of Persian predominance was the hereditary
enemy of Ghassan, the representative of the might of Rome.” (Lyall,
_Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. xxiii.) Arabia, before Islam, was thus
a theatre of internecine warfare, restrained, but partially, by the
introduction of blood money. There was compensation for everything for
which vengeance could be exacted. All crimes were assessed as economic
damage. Every loss of honor, property, or life could be appraised by
agreement; all having their price in camels. We thus see that the
Arabs before Islam had scarcely emerged from barbaric conditions.[2]
There was no social order, no organised government. The law of sheer
brute force prevailed, untempered and unrestrained, by any civilizing
or controlling influence. Nor did they attain any refined idea of
religion. Their religion was nothing more or less than gross fetichism;
the worship of tree and stone, the veneration of certain personified
divine attributes, meaningless ritual and ceremonials. The true
religious spirit they never succeeded in grasping and the fear of God
never exercised any real, practical influence over their conduct and
actions. It was reserved for Islam to instil into them the sense of
responsibility to God and to make this idea of human responsibility
the guiding and controlling principle of life. To all appearance the
Arabs honoured the gods, went on pilgrimage to their sanctuaries,
made sacrifices in the temples, anointed with the blood of the victims
gods carved out of stone or made of wood, consulted the oracles, when
in difficulty, and questioned them about the future. But all this was
sham and counterfeit. Of real, genuine, religious feeling there was
none. This empty show, however, was kept up for purposes of gain; the
manifold sanctuaries yielding large incomes to certain noble families
and clans.[3]

In a soil, apparently so uncongenial, how did Islam strike its root?
This is an interesting and fascinating question and we must try to
solve it here. The solution of this question is to be found in the
existence of Judaism and Christianity, on the one hand, and in the
commercial activity of the Arabs, on the other. By commerce the
Arabs acquired an extended knowledge of foreign nations and their
civilisation. Frequent contact with the outer world widened their
intellectual horizon and awakened in them higher and more spiritual
thoughts. They learnt new ideas, acquired new habits and, what was
most valuable of all, they learnt to think for themselves. But not
merely did travel in foreign countries and intercourse with foreign
people exercise a disruptive influence, but there were forces, alike
subversive and destructive, nearer home. In Arabia itself the two
streams of Christianity and Judaism flowed, side by side, with the Arab
Heathenism.

That Christianity had made a considerable advance among the Arabs is
clear from the fact, that, at the time of Mohamed, it was considerably
diffused not merely among the Rabia tribes but even among the Tamim.
Nor did the Taiyy altogether escape its influence. Its growth, however,
was not so favourable in Hijaz and central Arabia, but even here
Christian ideas undoubtedly made their way through commerce and social
intercourse. Similarly the Jewish influence was equally powerful. When
the Jews came to Arabia we do not definitely know, but Dr. Nöldeke
points out that a great Jewish immigration into Arabia cannot be fixed
prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and Hadrian. At all
events, it is clear that at the time of Mohamed there was a large
colony of Jews at Taima, Khaibar, Yathrib, Fedak and Yaman. They did
not live scattered amidst Arab population but kept together and,
though despised by the Ara`sq they were yet indispensible to them as
merchants, jewellers, and goldsmiths. It would, therefore, be not
an error to suppose that they exerted no small spiritual influence
over the Arabs.[4] That this is no unfounded theory or improbable
supposition is evidenced by the fact that in the works of four of the
most prominent Arabian poets of the Pre-Islamic time--An-Nabigah,
Zuhair, Al-Asha and Labid--we find expressions which show that they,
at least, if not the wild wanderers of the desert, knew very well what
a spiritual religion meant.[5] Ibn Qutaibah enumerates drinking, joy,
wrath and love among the “motive causes” which speed the poet but we
cannot fail to detect in their poems an undercurrent of deep religious
feelings. Individual minds felt a sense of uneasiness and sought to
find some plausible solution of the mysteries of life and death and
traces of such a frame of mind we notice frequently in ancient Arab
poetry. On no other basis, indeed, can we explain away the lamentations
of the royal poet Imra-ul-Qais over the worthlessness of the life of
pleasure that he had led and the conversion to Christianity of Qais B.
Zuhair, the leader of the Abs in the long fratricidal war against the
Dhubian.[6] In considering the rise of Islam we cannot be unwatchful
of the course of contemporary thought or unmindful of the religious
forces which contributed to its success. Such, indeed, were the forces
at work in Arabia before Mohamed; forces which could not have failed
to stir higher thoughts in enlightened minds and to create a reaction
against the Arab Heathenism. And a reaction, indeed, did set in. A
band of distinguished men, whom we must recognise as the heralds and
standard-bearers of Islam, no longer willing to tolerate idolatrous
practices, definitely cut themselves adrift from the Arabian Paganism.
They called themselves Hanifs; a word of doubtful meaning and the cause
of much controversy. “The most acceptable conjecture seems to me”, says
Sir Charles Lyall, “to be that of Sprenger that it is connected with
the Hebrew HANEF heretic.” Hanifism had certain specific features:
rejection of idolatory, abstention from certain kinds of food, and
the worship of “the God of Abraham.” Ascetic practices, such as the
wearing of sackcloth, are also ascribed to some of the Hanifs.[7]
Islamic tradition has handed down to us the names of a number of
religious thinkers before Mohamed, who are described as Hanifs and of
whom the following is a list:--

  1. Warakah b. Naufal of Kuraish.
  2. Ubaidulla b. Jahsh.
  3. Uthman b. Al Huwarith.
  4. Zaid b. ´Amr b. Naufal.

Ibn Kutaibah adds to the above:--

  5. Urbab b. al Bara´ of Abdul Qais
  6. Umayyah b. Abi-s-Salt.
  7. Kuss b. Saidah of Iyad (Aghani XIV, 41-44) Mohamed heard him at
     Ukaidh but he died before the mission.
  8. Abu Kais Simrah b. Abi Anas.
  9. Khalid b. Sinan b. Ghaith of Abs.

To these Sir Charles Lyall adds:--

  10. Abu Kais Saifi, Ibn Al-Aslat of the Aus-allah of Yathrib.

It is impossible to misconceive the importance and significance of
Hanifism in the origin of Islam. The path was already prepared for
it and Islam offered to the Arabs what they were long in search for:
a moral, ethical, and spiritual teaching; a higher form of worship
and last but not least fraternity and union. The tribal cults were
henceforward merged in a higher worship and the nobler energies of the
Arab race obtained a religious consecration.

Islam became the starting point for the Arabs for conquests, alike
spiritual and temporal. With Islam became the prerogative of the
Arab race to be “an ensign to the nations;” to bear and to carry the
banner of the true God to the remotest corner of the earth. Hence the
unceasing campaigns and hence the far-extending conquests.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Wellhausen, _Reste Arabischen Heidentums_, p. 226.

[2] I have avoided further details here, as I have dealt with this
subject, at length, in my _Contributions to the History of Islamic
Civilisation_, pp. 146-169.

[3] Deutsch, _Literary Remains_, p. 87. For further information see Von
Kremer, _Culturgeschichtliche Streifzüge_ (my translation, p. 49.)

[4] Wellhausen, _Reste_, pp. 230-231.

[5] Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 93.

[6] In Wellhausen’s _Reste_, p. 229 will be found the passage in
question from Imra-ul-Qais.

[7] Journal of the Asiatic Society October, 1903 p. 773. Khuda Bukhsh,
_Islamic Civilisation_ p. 147 and the authorities therein cited.




II.


It is clear beyond doubt that Christian and Jewish influences, to a
large extent, unsettled and disturbed the beliefs of the Pagan Arabs
and paved the way for the prophet. Resistance to his faith there was,
but it was resistance on the part of those, who sought to maintain the
old faith and superstition; not on account of any warmth of conviction
or sincerity of zeal, but on account of the fear and apprehension that
the success of Islam would mean loss of large incomes derived from the
temples and old heathen practices.[8] But resistance, founded upon
such a selfish basis, could not prevent, and indeed did not prevent,
the onward progress of Islam. In the deadly conflict between Islam and
the Arab Heathenism Islam triumphed.

We, now, proceed to enquire as to what was the basis or, in other
words, what were the sources from which Islam was derived. Islam freely
borrowed from Judaism and Christianity and even did not hesitate to
adopt practices prevalent in Pre-Islamic Arabia. In fashioning his
religion the prophet adopted an eclectic method, retaining or rejecting
from the older systems whatever seemed to him necessary and proper.
It is not exactly within the scope of my paper to precisely specify
or to accurately define the exact obligation of Islam to Christianity
or Judaism. Such a discussion would take me far afield. Professor
Wellhausen is inclined to belittle the influence of Judaism in the
birth and infancy of Islam and points to the Islamic conception of
Jesus, as the greatest of the prophets before Mohamed, as a conclusive
proof of his contention. But the present writer is not prepared to
attach much weight to this argument. If the Islamic conception of
Jesus, indeed, is to be put forward as indicating the absence of Judaic
influence on early Islam; with equal force might the Islamic conception
of Jesus be urged as subversive of the theory of Christian influence,
so stoutly advocated by Professor Wellhausen.[9] The basis of dogmatic
Christianity, namely, the sonship of Christ, Mohamed inveighed against
early and late. It would be idle to deny the indebtedness of Islam
to Judaism. Mohamed has not merely accepted dogmas and doctrines of
Judaism, minute Talmudical ordinances, but has even adopted, in its
entirety, some of the Jewish practices and, far above all these, that
which indeed constitutes the very foundation of Islam, namely, the
conception of a severe and uncompromising monotheism.[10] The fact is
that both Judaism and Christianity were used and used freely by the
prophet in building up his religion. Nor is this a new theory. The
prophet never put himself forward as introducing something new but he
invariably claimed for himself the honour of reviving the old and the
true beliefs which had fallen into neglect and oblivion. But besides
the Jewish and Christian sources, not a small portion of Islamic ritual
and ceremonials were mere reproductions of Pre-Islamic practices. The
entire ceremonies relating to the pilgrimage (Hajj) and the sacred
service, at the temple of Mecca, have survived in Islam with little
or no variation from the days of Arab Heathenism;[11] the only change
that Mohamed effected in them was to allow the pilgrims to put on a
particular pilgrim dress consisting of two pieces of cloth of which one
covers the hip and the other breast and shoulders; while the head has
to be kept uncovered, as in ancient days, when they used to make up
their hair into a sort of wig by means of some glutinous substance. And
so indeed it has remained, to this day, the prescribed pilgrim costume.
After visiting the Kabah they used, in heathen days, to visit the two
rocky hills of Safa and Merwah on which were placed two bronze idols.
Mohamed went so far in his toleration of the heathen pilgrimage customs
that he suffered the visit to Safa and Marwah to continue as before,
but had the two idols removed. Of the history of the origin of the
forms of the prayer, prostration, ablution, and fasts our knowledge is
vague, uncertain and shadowy.

Islam has, says Von Kremer,

  largely drawn upon Judaism, Christianity, the religion of Zoroaster
  and possibly even from Manichenism. From Parsiism it has taken both
  directly and indirectly. A number of obviously Parsi ideas have
  penetrated into Islam through the channel of Jewish books; notably
  the Talmud. The doctrine of the resurrection, most of the legends
  relating to heaven and hell, and the entire system of demonology have
  found their way into the Qur´an through Judaism. So indeed did the
  description of the trial and the tortures of the dead in the grave by
  two angels _Munkar_ and _Nakir_. The idea of the bridge _sirat_ as
  thin as a hair, which leads to paradise across the abyss of hell is
  certainly derived from the Parsis; having passed over into the Qur´an
  through the Midrash. But Islam has not hesitated to borrow directly
  from Parsiism. It is a significant fact that the word _din_, which
  so repeatedly occurs in the Qur´an, has been borrowed from the Parsi
  books. In the Huzveresh it appears in exactly the same form (old
  Backtrian dæna).[12]

It is not suggested that the prophet had access to the written books
of either the Jews or the Christians; though in some passages of
the Qur´an we can trace direct resemblances to the text of the Old
Testament and the Mishna.[13] His knowledge of the Jewish and Christian
books, at times faulty and imperfect to a degree, was derived almost
exclusively by oral communications.

I trust I have said enough to illustrate the condition of Arabia before
Islam and the sources from which the prophet of Arabia received his
religious inspiration. I, now, go on to explain Islam and its tenets.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] Von Kremer, _Culturgeschichte des orients_, p. 24, vol. I.

[9] Wellhausen pp. 236 ct. Seq. Prof. Wellhausen admits Jewish
influence in the Islamic theocracy and in the belief that the prophet,
as representative of God, is alone entitled to rule and govern, to the
exclusion of all other powers. See, also Deutsch p. 171.

[10] See the learned monograph of Geiger, _Was hat Mohammed ans
Judenthume aufgenommen_.

[11] Lyall, p. 93; Von Kremer’s _Culturgeschichtliche Streifzüge_ (my
translation p. 47). The author of Ras´ Mal-in-Nadim, (Bankipore, M.S.)
gives an account of Heathen practices (Fol. 17 et Seq.); specially
drawing attention to those retained by Islam.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Von Kremer, _Culturgeschichtliche Streifzüge_ (my translation p.
47) Comp. Qur´an XXI, 105 with Ps. XXX VII 29; 1-5 with Ps. XXVII. The
New Testament. Comp. VII, 48 with Luke XVI. 24; XLVI, 19 with Luke XVI.
25. Then again verse 35 corresponds almost word for word with Mishna
Sanh IV. 5; also II. 183 with Mishna Ber. 1.2. Nöldeke, _Sketches from
Eastern History_, p. 31.




III.


Mr. Ameer Ali explains Islam as “striving after righteousness,” but
Prof. Hirschfeld, in his luminous _Researches into the Composition
and Exegesis of the Qur´an_, very correctly points out that Mr. Ameer
Ali’s definition only reflects the theoretical and moral side of the
question--limited to the initial stage of Islam.[14]

The term Islam, as time went by, included the whole of the theoretical
and practical constitution of the faith and as such it is interpreted
by Al-Ghazzali in his Ihya-ul-ulum (p. 104, vol. I.) Islam, says he, is
an expression for submission and unquestioning obedience, abandonment
of insubordination, defiance and opposition. And it is in this light,
indeed, that the prophet himself regarded Islam. “The Bedwins say: ‘we
believe,’ Speak! you shall not ‘believe’ (only) but say we practice
Islam (Aslamna).” (XLIX. 14) In Surah III. 17 (Cf. V. 79) Islam is
identified with _din_ (Cf. LXI. 7-9) and the relation between the two
synonyms, says Prof. Hirschfeld, is broadly discussed by Al-Shahrastani
(Milal, pp. 25 to 27) and is stated to embrace the five duties,
_viz._:--Of testifying to the unity of God and the Divine inspiration
of Mohamed, the duties of reciting prayers, giving alms, fasting in the
_Ramadhan_, and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca. The fundamental
basis of Islam is the unity of God; stern, unbending monotheism and
this doctrine of the unity of God is proclaimed in the Qur´an, in
season and out of season and ever and anon with augmented emphasis. To
associate gods with God is the most unpardonable sin and the prophet’s
extensive vocabulary of vituperation is never exhausted in attacking
those who associate gods with God. In Surah VI (verses 74-79) we have
one of the most charming passages testifying to the unity of God:--

  And remember when Abraham said to his father, Azar, thou takest those
  images as God? verily I see that thou and thy people are in manifest
  error.

  And so did we show Abraham the domain of the heavens and of the earth
  that he might be one of those who are established in knowledge. And
  when the night overshadowed him he beheld a star “This, said he, is
  My Lord” but when it set, he cried, “I love not gods which set.” And
  when he beheld the moon uprising “This,” said he, “is my Lord” but
  when it set, he said, “surely, if My Lord guide me not I shall be of
  those who go astray.”

  And when he beheld the Sun uprise, he said, “This is my Lord,” “this
  is the greatest” but when it set, he said “O my people I share not
  with you the guilt of joining gods with God.”

  _I verily turn my face to him who hath created the Heavens and the
  earth following the right religion and I am not one of those who add
  gods to God._

Not a whit has Gibbon[15] exaggerated the truth when he wrote “the
creed of Mohamed is free from suspicion or ambiguity and the Qur´an is
a glorious testimony to the unity of God. The prophet of Mecca rejected
the worship of idols and men, of stars and planets, on the rational
principle that whatever is born must die, that whatever is corruptible
must decay and perish.” And, again, says the historian of the Roman
Empire, “these sublime truths, thus announced in the language of the
prophet, are firmly held by his disciples and defined with metaphysical
precision by the interpreters of the Qur´an. A philosophic atheist
might subscribe the popular creed of Mohamedans: a creed too sublime
perhaps for our present faculties.”

The unity of God, therefore, is the central faith of Islam and
connected with it, by natural process as it were, is the belief that
man is responsible to the creator for his actions and deeds. This
belief, the Pre-Islamic Arab never knew or conceived, and the prophet
Mohamed, by inculcating this belief, not only laid the foundation of
a spiritual life among his countrymen, but laid the foundation of
a well-organized society; soon destined to grow into a magnificent
empire. The sphere of duty and obligation, charity and sympathy,
confined hitherto merely to tribesmen, was widened and extended and
the narrow tribal tie was lost in the larger brotherhood of faith. At
this distance of time, it is perhaps difficult for us to fully realize
the influence of this teaching, but to it alone must we ascribe the
dethronement of those ideals of Arabian Paganism which the author of
the _Muhammedanische Studien_ has so graphically described, comparing
and contrasting them with the higher ideals substituted by Islam.[16]
The religion of the prophet, like the wand of a magician, completely
and utterly changed the life of the Arabs. It hushed their tribal
disputes into silence, it destroyed their insularity, it set up a purer
and a more refined standard of domestic life, it opened before them
fresh vistas of spiritual happiness and temporal success.

Next to the unity of God, Islam enjoins five daily prayers upon its
followers. It is curious that the Qur´an lays down no rule as to the
manner in which the prayer should be offered. Apparently, as Mr.
Ameer Ali[17] points out, the practice of the prophet has associated
certain rights and ceremonies to the due observance of prayers. In the
Mohamedan prayer we observe the Jewish practice of standing erect, the
Christian of prostration and a third of inclination.[18] Originally the
prophet instituted three daily prayers.[19] Their extension to five
was an innovation of the late Meccan period; the details of the purity
legislation appear to have still later. “Yet the theory,” says Prof.
Margoliouth, “that God should be approached only by persons in a state
of purity was known in South Arabia before Mohamed’s time, whence it is
probable that his earliest converts were instructed therein.”

Prayers are to be performed five times in course of every day: between
daybreak and sunrise, between noon and the “asr” (which later period
is about mid-time between noon and nightfall) between the ‘asr’ and
sunset, between sunset and the “asha” (or the period when the darkness
of night commences) and at, or after the “asha.” It is considered
more meritorious to take part in the public _salat_ of the community
conducted by a leader (Imam) than to discharge the _salat_ by
oneself.[20] Von Kremer has rightly emphasised the importance of the
Muslim prayer by recognizing the mosque as the drill ground for the
warlike believers of early Islam. In stern discipline, in unconditional
obedience, says Von Kremer, the author of the _Culturgeschichte des
orients_, lay the greatest achievement of Mohamed and the real secret
of the strength of Islam.[21] The five daily prayers where the leader
(the Imam) stood before the community, closely arrayed behind him, and
where every movement of his was imitated with military preciseness, by
the hundreds of the faithful assembled in the mosque, served, among the
Muslims, in those times, the purpose of that what is known now as the
drill ground: a school where the people learnt to assemble, to move in
a body and to follow the Commander.

In the Qur´an[22] the command to pay the poor-tax (zakat) directly
follows the command to pray: perform the prayers and pay the poor-tax.
This tax had a strong communistic complexion which is evidenced by
the following tradition: “The prophet sent Ma´dh to Yaman and told
him: summon them to accept the confession of faith namely, there is
no God but Allah and I that am his prophet; if they listen to it;
teach them further that God has ordained five daily prayers; if they
are also agreeable to this; teach them further that God has enjoined
the poor-tax (sadakah) payable by the wealthy upon their property for
distribution among the poor.”[23] This tax was annually payable upon
camels, oxen (bulls and cows) and buffalos, sheep and goats, horses and
mules and asses and gold and silver (whether in money or ornaments,
etc.,) provided the property was of a certain amount; as five camels,
thirty oxen, forty sheep, five horses, two hundred dirhams, or twenty
dinars.[24] The proportion is generally one-fortieth, which is to be
paid in kind or in money or other equivalent.

The third most important obligation enjoined by Islam is fasting in the
month of _Ramadhan_. The Muslim must abstain from eating and drinking
and from every indulgence of the senses, every day during the month of
_Ramadhan_, from the first appearance of daybreak until sunset, unless
physically incapacitated. The last but not least is the pilgrimage to
Mecca and mount Arafat, which the Muslim must perform at least once in
his life.

These then; namely, the unity of God, the belief in the Divine mission
of the prophet, five daily prayers, fasting in the month of _Ramadhan_
and the pilgrimage, are the essentials of Islam. The one supreme
mission of the prophet was to create and to maintain an absolute
brotherhood in faith. All Muslims were declared equal, irrespective of
birth, rank or profession; and the world has never seen, perhaps, a
more perfect democracy than the one called into being by the prophet.
Truly, the most worthy of honour in the sight of God, says the Qur´an,
is he who feareth Him most; for the faithful are brethren; whereupon
make peace between your brethren. A similar refrain runs through the
parting sermon of the prophet; “O men! God has taken away from you
the arrogance and pride of ancestry of heathen days. An Arab has no
excellence or superiority over a barbarian than that which is secured
to him by his God-fearing and righteousness. Ye are all the progeny of
Adam, and Adam himself is of the Earth.”

No caste and no priestcraft does Islam recognise. Every Muslim is
his own priest and every spot of land is his _mosque_ to pray and to
worship _Allah_. For no other purpose than to keep alive the sense of
corporate unity of the Muslims did the prophet declare the superiority
of the public prayer over prayer by oneself and establish the
institution of pilgrimage.

Year after year, from all parts of the Islamic world, streamed to
Mekka, Muslims in thousands and tens of thousands, to worship Allah at
the Ka´bah and to perform the _Hajj_. There, at Mekka, year after year,
Muslims of divers nationalities recognised and realised the potent
spell of their faith and felt more deeply and keenly than ever the tie
which bound them together. Moreover, as Von Kremer points out, there
did the Muslims obtain an opportunity of listening to the lectures of
far-famed professors and men of letters who attracted, year by year, an
ever-increasing audience. There indeed, did Islam shine forth in its
full lustre; attracting and alluring, enthralling and captivating its
followers, as it could do nowhere else. Every spot, associated with
some historical incident; every place, connected with some important
event or other of the life of the teacher, awakened the love and fired
the enthusiasm of Muslims for the son of Abdullah, the maker of Arabia
and the founder of Islam.

In his fascinating book, _The Life and Teachings of Mohamed_, Mr.
Ameer Ali has admirably summed up the Islamic teachings:--“Nothing can
be simpler or more in accord with the advance of the human intellect
than the teachings of the Arabian prophet. The few rules for religious
ceremonial which he prescribed were chiefly with the object of
maintaining discipline and uniformity, so necessary in certain stages
of society, but they were by no means of an inflexible character. He
allowed them to be broken in cases of illness or other causes. ‘God
wishes to make things easy for you, for’ says the Qur´an ‘man was
created weak.’ The legal principles which he enunciated were either
delivered as answers to questions put to him as the Chief Magistrate
of Medina or to remove or correct patent evils. The prophet’s Islam
recognized no ritual likely to distract the mind from the thought of
the one God, no law to keep enchained the conscience of advancing
humanity.”

Nothing was more distant from the prophet’s thought than to fetter
the mind or to lay down fixed, immutable, unchanging laws for his
followers. The Qur´an is a book of guidance to the faithful and not,
to be sure, an obstacle in the path of their social, moral, legal and
intellectual progress. The requirements of Islam are at once easy and
simple and leave scope to Muslims to take part in their duties as
subjects or citizens; to attend to their religious obligations without
sacrificing their worldly prosperity and to adopt, whatever is good, in
any community or civilisation, without any interference on the part of
their religion.

FOOTNOTES:

[14] _Life and Teachings of Mohamed_ p. 226 Prof. Hirschfeld p. 14.

[15] Gibbon, Bury’s Ed. Vol. V. p. 339.

[16] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_. Vol. I. The chapter on
Muruwwa und Din; Nicholson, _Literary History of the Arabs_ pp.
177-179; Browne _Literary History of Persia_ pp. 189 et Seq.

[17] _Life and Teachings of Mohamed_ p. 263.

[18] Margoliouth _Life of Mohamed_ p. 102.

[19] Ibn Sad, Vol. IV. Part I. p. 159.

[20] In Lane’s _Arabian Society in the Middle Ages_ the reader will
find a detailed account of religious institutions of Islam pp. 1-24.

[21] Vol. I. p. 10.

[22] Surah. II. 3, 43, 83, 110, 177, 277, etc.

[23] Von Kremer, Vol. I. p. 50.

[24] Lane, _Arabian Society_ p. 14.




IV.


I shall now make a few general observations on the religion of the
prophet of Arabia. Whatever Islam may have become through pharisaic
artificiality and theological subtlety, its leading principles are
as broad as the starriest heavens and as enduring as the everlasting
hills. It contains, in common with other great religions, those eternal
truths which are only too liable to be forgotten in blind zeal, in
warmth of controversy, in sectarian narrow-mindedness, in religious
fanaticism but which our education and culture teach us to discover
and appreciate, wherever we find them. The governing principle of all
religions is the same. In the language of the apostle James: “Pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this; to visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted
from the world.” This is the burden of all religions and this the
burden of Islam.

The kernel and doctrine of Islam, Goethe has found in the second
_surah_ which begins as follows:--“This is the Book. There is no
doubt in the same. A guidance to the righteous, who believe in the
unseen, who observe the prayer and who give alms of that which we have
vouchsafed unto them. And who believe in that which has been sent down
unto thee--(the Revelation) which had been sent down to those before
thee, and who believe in the life to come. They walk in the guidance of
their Lord, and they are the blessed. As to them who believe not--it
is indifferent to them whether thou exhortest them or not exhortest
them. They will not believe. Sealed hath Allah their hearts and
their ears and over their eye is darkness and theirs will be a great
punishment.--” “And in this wise,” Goethe continues, “we have _surah_
after _surah_. Belief and unbelief are divided into higher and lower.
Heaven and hell await the believers or deniers. Detailed inductions
of things allowed and forbidden, legendary stories of Jewish and
Christian religion, amplifications of all kinds, boundless tautologies
and repetitions, form the body of this sacred volume, which, to us, as
often as we approach it, is repellent anew, next attracts us ever anew
and fills us with admiration, and finally forces us into veneration.”

This passage, indeed, is as good a summary as any other, but there is
one, and in this same chapter, still more explicit, illustrating the
catholicity of the prophet’s mind and his discerning judgment. When
Mohamed, says Deutsch[25], told his adherents at Medina no longer to
turn in prayer towards Jerusalem but towards the Ka´bah at Mekka, to
which their fathers had turned, and he was blamed for this innovation
he replied:--“That is not righteousness: whether ye turn your faces
towards east or west, God’s is the east as well as the west. But verily
righteousness is his who believes in God, in the day of judgment, in
the angels, in the book and the prophets; who bestows his wealth for
God’s sake, upon kindred, and orphans, and the poor, and the homeless,
and all those who ask; and also upon delivering the captives; he who is
steadfast in prayer, giveth alms, who stands firmly by his covenants,
when he has once entered into them; and who is patient in adversity,
in hardship and in times of trial. These are the righteous, and these
are the God-fearing.” What a noble idea of life and religion do we find
here. It is not merely the recitation of prayers which constitutes
righteousness but in solemnly acting the religion we profess; in tender
regard for the poor and the orphan, the forlorn and the suffering; in
relieving the miseries of the captives, in holding by the promises
made, in enduring with calm fortitude the trials and reverses of
fortune. Here, in this passage, we have the key to Islam, nay, I would
go further and say a key to all religions. It is only the clouded
vision which sees difference between one religion and the other; to one
who has the eyes to see and the heart to feel, all religions appear as
but a reflection of one and the same light.

    Where do you seek shelter? House of God or house of idols?
      Oh, the house-wrecker there, which one is your house?
    More holes on the roof will not give you more suns
      And you, the diverged-minded, say house of God or house of idols?[26]

This was the spirit of the prophet’s religion which he preached in the
Qur´an in every accent of pleading and warning, of pathos and hope,
of repentance and forgiveness. He stood firm by his faith unshaken
by threats and persuasion. His success, indeed, marks the ascent of
the soul, of the higher and nobler nature of man from the darkness to
the light. Nor was it a different light to that which had appeared to
humanity “at sundry times and in divers manners.” His preaching fell
on the Arabs, still in the spring tide of their national life, and
laid a tremendous hold upon their mind and their imagination; changing
and transforming them and giving them as it were, a new existence.
It taught them firmness of resolve, contempt of death, singleness of
purpose, unity and fraternity, and it gave them that intensity of
religious fervour which became the most valued asset of their national
life. Above all, says Dr. Nöldeke, Islam gave and gives, to those who
profess it a feeling of confidence such as is imparted by hardly any
other faith.[27] And, indeed, it was this, again, which made them great
warriors and conquerors of the world.[28]

Islam possesses an inherent force and vitality which nothing can weaken
or destroy. It carries within it germs of progress and development
and has great powers of adaptability to changing circumstances. There
is nothing in its teachings which conflicts with or militates against
modern civilisation, and the moment Muslims realise this truth their
future will be assured and their greatness only a question of time.
Modern Islam, with its hierarchy of priesthood, gross fanaticism,
appalling ignorance and superstitious practices, is, indeed, a
discredit to the Islam of the prophet Mohamed. Instead of unity we
have Islam torn into factions, instead of culture we have indifference
to learning; instead of liberal-minded toleration we have gross
bigotry. But this intellectual darkness must necessarily be followed by
intellectual dawn and we trust, that it is not now far distant or too
long to come.

An impartial consideration of the life of the prophet and his
teachings cannot fail to awaken the warmest admiration for the man
and his mission. Whatever may be the defects in the Qur´an, even
non-Muslims must concede that it is a noble testimony to the unity
of God and whatever may be the blemishes in the life of the prophet,
none, but a perverse mind, will regard him as anything but sincere in
his conviction, honest in his purpose and unshaken in his resolve.
Mohamedan civilisation was the outcome of Mohamedan faith and nothing
but Islam alone can again give to the Mohamedans what they have lost:
their civilisation, their culture, and their empire.


The City Press, Allahabad.

FOOTNOTES:

[25] _Literary Remains_, p. 128.

[26] _See Transcriber’s Note._

[27] _Sketches from Eastern History_, p. 27.

[28] Von Kremer, vol. I. p. 92.




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Transcriber’s Note


Archaic, obsolete and unusual words have been left in the text. Obvious
errors have been fixed as detailed below.

Details of the changes:

Page 1:

_The Table of Contents was inserted by the transcriber._

Page 4:

  Originally:    of Islam, no longer willing to tolerate idolatorous
  In this book:  of Islam, no longer willing to tolerate idolatrous

Footnote 3:

  Originally:    Von per, _Culturgeschichtliche Streifzuge_
                 (my translation, p. 49.)
  In this book:  Von Kremer, _Culturgeschichtliche Streifzüge_
                 (my translation, p. 49.)

Page 5:

  Originally:   any warmth of conviction or sincerety of zeal, but on
  In this book: any warmth of conviction or sincerity of zeal, but on

Page 7:

_In the original book, there were two footnote anchors pointing to
footnote 11. I inserted footnote 12 with the first anchor pointing to
11 and the second to 12._

Page 8:

  Originally:    “The Bedwins say: (XLIX. 14) we believe,” Speak! you
                 shall not “believe” (only) but say we practice Islam
                 (Aslamna).
  In this book: “The Bedwins say: ‘we believe,’ Speak! you shall not
                ‘believe’ (only) but say we practice Islam (Aslamna).”
                (XLIX. 14)

Page 10:

  Originally:   of inclination.[18] Orginally the prophet instituted
  In this book: of inclination.[18] Originally the prophet instituted

Page 11:

  Originally:   of the _Culturgeschichite des orients_, lay the
  In this book: of the _Culturgeschichte des orients_, lay the

Page 11:

_The footnote anchors for 20 and 21 were not clearly marked. I placed them
where they seemed most appropriate to me._

Footnote 20:

  Originally:    _in the Middle Ages_ the reader will find a datailed
  In this book:  _in the Middle Ages_ the reader will find a detailed

Footnote 22:
  Originally:   Surah 2. 40. (_What does this mean? There are many
                references to zakat in Surah II., but not in ayat 40.
                And there is no refence to zakat in Surah XL._)
  In this book: Surah II. 3, 43, 83, 110, 177, 277, etc.

Footnote 23:

  Originally:   Von Kremer, VoI. p. 50.
  In this book: Von Kremer, Vol. I. p. 50.

Page 16:

  Originally:   can weaken or destory. It carries within it germs of
  In this book: can weaken or destroy. It carries within it germs of

Footnote 26:

_In the original text, these lines of a ghazal by Saib Tabrizi
(1592-1676) were included in Farsi with no attribution. In a book
intended for an English speaking audience that generally does not read
Farsi, it is better to include the translation. The original Farsi text
was lines one and three (two hemistiches per line) of his Ghazal 2135.
Due to line length considerations, I have split the hemistiches to
separate lines in the translation in the text, and also in the Farsi
and transliteration below._

_The translation was provided by Intercombase (www.intercombase.com)._

The original Farsi: (_Depending on your software, the words may appear
in inverse order._)

  مأوای تو از کعبه و بتخانه کدام است؟
  ای خانه برانداز، ترا خانه کدام است؟
  از کثرت روزن نشود مهر مکرر
  ای کج نظران کعبه و بتخانه کدام است؟

Transliteration:

  maʾvā-yi tū az masjid u maykhāna kudām ast?
    ay khāna-barandāz tu-rā khāna kudām ast?
  az ḵasrat-i rawzan nashavad mihr mukarrar
    ay kaj-naẓarān kaʿba u butkhāna kudām ast?

Page 18:

  Originally:   writers from every race and sections. This is why we
  In this book: writers from every race and section. This is why we

Page 18:

  Originally:   Foregin, 10 shillings.
  In this book: Foreign, 10 shillings.





End of Project Gutenberg's The Islam of Mohamed, by Salahuddin Khuda Bukhsh

*** 