Ebook Islam Under the Khalifs of Baghdad

The character of Muhammad is, of course, a problem of great interest and no small difficulty. It has been approached by different writers from different standpoints and different theories have, in consequence, been started to account for it. In all these theories there are, probably, certain elements of truth; and none, we may be certain, which are not defective and insufficient. But the inner character of the Prophet has nothing to do with the practical con sequences of Islam; and this for a very simple reason. Throughout the Moslem world his words and his acts constitute the standard of morality. The servant of Islam never thinks and never has thought of at tempting to penetrate behind the recorded act or speech to the motive which might have inspired it. In all the acts and speeches of the Prophet, the Faith ful see but one and the same impelling spirit. What ever Muhammad did, he did under Divine guidance. The Koran is not his composition, but the direct utter ances of the Deity. The sayings of the Prophet handed down by tradition are not the sayings of a man, but Divine decrees recorded on the Everlasting Table before man and the world were called into existence. And so also with the acts of Muhammad. Whatever were his motives, none can deny that he had many wives, that he massacred the men of a Jewish tribe in cold blood, that he traded in slaves, that he had recourse to the secret dagger to rid himself of dangerous opponents. These acts, in the belief of the Moslem world, are in perfect harmony with the Pro phetic character, and were wrought with the Divine sanction. In estimating the results of Islam, this belief, with the distorted morality resulting from it, is the important fact to bear in mind the motives which impelled Muhammad are indifferent.