MAHOGANY

mahogany, a dark-coloured wood largely used for household furniture, the product of a large tree indigenous to central america and the west indies. it was originally received from jamaica; 521,300 ft. were exported from that island in 1753. it is known botanically as _swietenia mahogani_, and is a member of the order _meliaceae_. it bears compound leaves, resembling those of the ash, and clusters of small flowers, with five sepals and petals and ten stamens which are united into a tube. the fruit is a pear-shaped woody capsule, and contains many winged seeds. the dark-coloured bark has been considered a febrifuge, and the seeds were used by the ancient aztecs with oil for a cosmetic, but the most valuable product is the timber, first noticed by the carpenter on board sir walter raleigh's ship in 1595 for its great beauty, hardness and durability. dr gibbons brought it into notice as well adapted for furniture in the early part of the 18th century, and its use as a cabinet wood was first practically established by a cabinet-maker named wollaston, who was employed by gibbons to work up some mahogany brought to england by his brother. it was introduced into india in 1795, and is now cultivated in bengal and as far north as saharunpur. the timber of species of _cedrela_ and _melia_, other members of the order _meliaceae_, are used as mahogany, and the product of the west african _khaya senegalensis_ is known as african mahogany. there is some confusion between the product of these various trees. herbert stone (_the timbers of commerce_, 1904) says: "the various species of mahogany and cedar are so confusing that it is difficult to make precise statements as to their structure or origin. i know of no convincing proof that any of the american kinds met with on the english market are the wood of _swietenia mahogani_, nor that those shipped from africa are the wood of _khaya senegalensis_. these two genera are very nearly allied to _cedrela_ and _melia_, and it is difficult to separate any of the four from the rest by the characters of the wood. after giving the most careful attention to every detail, i lean to the view that most if not all of the mahoganies commonly met with are cedrelas." _kiggelaria dregeana_ (natural order _bixineae_), a native of south africa, is known as natal mahogany. mahomet (strictly muhammad, commonly also mohammed), founder of the religious system called in europe after him mahommedanism, and by himself islam or hanifism. he died, according to the ordinary synchronism, on the 7th of june 632 (12 rabia, a.h. 11), and his birthday was exactly sixty-three or sixty-five years earlier, the latter number being evidently an interpretation in lunar years of a number thought to refer to solar years. the lunar system was introduced into arabia by mahomet himself quite at the close of his career; that which existed before was certainly solar, as it involved a process of intercalation--which, however, seems to have been arbitrarily manipulated by priests, whence certain synchronisms cannot be got for the events in the prophet's career. the number 63 for the years of his life may rest on tradition, though it is unlikely that such matters were accurately noted; it can also be accounted for by a priori combination. a meccan, it is said, became a full citizen at the age of 40; this then would be the age at which the mission might be started. the medina period (of which count was kept) lasted ten to eleven years; for the meccan period ten years would seem a likely length. finally it was known that for some years--about three--the mission had been conducted secretly. the only event in contemporary history to which the koran alludes in its earlier parts is the persian conquest of palestine in 616. clearly mahomet had begun to prophesy at that date. his country. before the rise of islam, mahomet's native place, mecca, appears to figure nowhere in historical records, unless there be a reference to it in the "valley of baca" (psalm lxxxiv. 6). its sacred, and therefore archaic, name is _bakkah_; hence the identification of the name with that of the sanctuary makoraba, known to the greek geographers, is not philologically tenable; although so eminent a linguist as dozy evolved a theory of the origin of the city from this name, which appears to be south arabian for "sanctuary," and has no connexion with hebrew (as dozy supposed). in the 3rd century of islam the mythology of mecca was collected and published in book form, but we learn little more from it than names of tribes and places; it is clear that there was no record of the mode in which the community inhabiting the place had got there, and that little was remembered with accuracy of the events which preceded the rise of its prophet. the city had a sanctuary, called the _cube_ (_ka'ba_), of which the nucleus was the "black stone," probably to be identified with allah, the god of the community; both still exist, or rather their legitimate substitutes, as the ka`ba has been repeatedly reconstructed, and the original black stone was stolen by the carmathians in the 4th century of islam; they afterwards returned one, but it may or may not have been the same as that which they removed. at some time in the 6th century--said to have been the birth-year of the prophet, but really much earlier--an abyssinian invader raided mecca with the view of abolishing this sanctuary; but for some reason had to desist. this expedition, known as the "raid of the elephant," one of these animals being employed in it, seems to be of great importance for explaining the rise of islam; for a sanctuary which can repel an invader acquires tremendous reputation. some verses in the koran which are perhaps not genuine, record the miracle whereby allah repelled the "people of the elephant." the sanctuary was apparently in the possession of the tribe koreish (quraish), the origin of whose name is unknown, said to have come originally from cutha in mesopotamia. they were known (we are told) as the people of allah, and, by wearing a badge, were sacrosanct throughout arabia. if this be true, it was probably a privilege earned by the miraculous defence of the ka`ba, and is sufficient to account for the rise of meccan commerce of which we hear much in the biography of the prophet, and to which some verses of the earliest part of the koran allude; for merchants who were safe from attacks by bandits would have an enormous advantage. the records seem, however, to be inconsistent with this assertion; and the growth of the meccan commerce is sufficiently accounted for by the fact that after the abyssinian invasion pilgrimage to the ka`ba became the practice of numerous arab tribes, and for four months in the year (selected by meccan priests) raiding was forbidden, in order to enable the pilgrimage to be safely made. in addition to this it would seem that all mecca counted as sanctuary--i.e. no blood might under any circumstances be shed there. the community lived by purveying to pilgrims and the carrying trade; and both these operations led to the immigration of strangers. mahomet's family. there seems to be no doubt that mahomet was himself a member of the tribe koreish, and indeed too many of his relatives figure in history to permit of his parentage being questioned. his cousin 'ali, fourth caliph, was the son of abu talib, whose name attests the historical character of the kindred name `abd al-mottalib, mahomet's grandfather: for the fact that this name is in part enigmatical is certainly no argument against its genuineness. in the 3rd century of islam a document was shown in which a man of san'a in yemen acknowledged that he had borrowed from `abd al-mottalib 1000 silver dirhems of the hudaida standard, and allah with the two "angels" (probably a euphemism for the goddesses al-lat and al-`uzza) served as witness; it is difficult to see why such a document should have been forged. the name hashim (for `abd al-mottalib's father) may or may not be historical; here, as in the ascending line throughout, we have subjects without predicates. the name of `abd al-mottalib's son, who was mahomet's father, is given as `abdallah; the correctness of this has been questioned, because "servant of allah" would seem to be too appropriate, and the name was often given by the prophet to converts as a substitute for some pagan appellation. this, however, is hypercritical, as the name of the father could not easily be altered, when relatives abounded, and it would seem that at one time the prophet made no theological use of the name allah, for which he intended to substitute rahman. the name of his mother is given as aminah, and with this one of his own titles, amin, agrees; although the arabs do not appear to bring the two into connexion. her father's name is given as wahb, and she is brought into relation with a medinese tribe called the banu `adi b. al-najjar, to whom she is said to have brought her son in his early infancy. the circumstances may have been suggested by his later connexion with that place; yet in what seems a historical narrative her grave is mentioned as known to be at abwa, midway between the two cities, whence this early bond between the prophet and his future home may have really existed. his own name is given in the koran in the forms ahmad and the familiar muhammad; in contemporary poetry we also find the form mahmud. similar variation between derivatives from the same root is found in proper names which occur in early poetry; the meaning of all would be "the praised," if the root be given its arabic signification--"the desired" if interpreted from the hebrew. the form muhammad (ordinarily transliterated mohammed; mahomet, mehmet, &c., represent the turkish pronunciation) is found in a pre-islamic inscription, and appears to have been fairly common in arabia. in hag. ii. 7 a derivative of the hebrew equivalent root occurs in the prophecy "and the desired of all nations shall come," and this passage has suggested the idea that the name may have been taken by the prophet as the equivalent of "messiah," while the moslems themselves find its equivalent in the _paraclete_ of the fourth gospel, though this identification requires more ingenuity. his _kunyah_ (i.e. the arab title of respect, in which a man is called after his son) is abu'l-qasim; other names by which he is called are titles of honour, e.g. mustafa "chosen." (see further the genealogical table, _ad fin._) early life. in the koran, allah says that he found the prophet an orphan, poor and astray; it is possible that all these expressions should be understood figuratively, like the "poor, naked, blind" of christian hymns; the arabs, however, take them literally, and mahomet is said to have been a posthumous child, whose mother died a few months or years after his birth, and who was brought up first by his grandfather, and then by his uncle abu talib, one of the poorer members of the family; in the controversy between the alid and abbasid pretenders of the 2nd century of islam the abbasid mansur claims that his ancestor fed the ancestor of `ali, i.e. abu talib, otherwise he would have had to beg. there was evidently an apparent inconsistency between mahomet's being a poor orphan and the favourite grandchild of the eminent and wealthy `abd al-mottalib; and it was solved in this way. there was a tradition that in his early years he was sent into the desert to acquire the habits and the language of the bedouins; and this seems to have been attested by the prophet himself. in a tribal fight he is said to have acted as armour-bearer to one of his uncles, zubair. there seems no doubt that he often accompanied meccan caravans to the countries with which the meccans had trade relations; such especially were syria and south arabia, and perhaps egypt and mesopotamia. it is conceivable that he may have visited abyssinia by sea. for though accurate knowledge is nowhere to be found in the koran, it exhibits a large amount of miscellaneous information, such as a trader might well pick up. his career as a caravan-conductor appears to have terminated with his marriage to khadija, daughter of khuwailid, represented by the tradition as a wealthy widow, fifteen years his senior and forty years of age at the time of the union. as she became the mother of a numerous family, a special rule was discovered by moslem physiologists extending the child-bearing period of korashite women beyond that of others. since it is claimed for mahomet that he first gave arab women the right to inherit property, the difficulty noticed is not the only one connected with this marriage; and robertson smith has called attention to some others, unconnected with his theory of "marriage and kinship in early arabia." after his marriage mahomet appears to have been partner in a shop in mecca; where he apparently sold agricultural produce. his style is strongly marked by phrases and metaphors drawn from trade, though as a statesman he never displayed any financial ability. education. writing in the monumental script of south arabia had been known for centuries in the peninsula; and shortly before the rise of islam a cursive script--the parent of the ordinary arabic character--had been started in the christian state of hira, with which the beginnings of modern arabic literature are connected. a modification of this had been introduced into mecca, and was probably used for contracts and similar documents. the word _ummi_, literally "popular" or "plebeian" (according to one etymology), applied to mahomet in the koran, is said to mean "one who can neither read nor write," and the most generally accepted view is that he could do neither, a supposition which enters into the doctrine of the miraculous nature of the koran. according to another interpretation the word means "meccan," i.e. native of "the mother of the villages" (_umm al-qura_); and the most probable theory is that he could do both, but unskilfully. indeed on one historic occasion he erased certain words in a document; and where in the koran he rebuts the charge of "taking notes," he does not employ the obvious retort that he could not write, but gives a far less convincing answer. for poetry, which seems to have been cultivated in arabia long before his time, he possessed no ear; but we have little reason for supposing that either writing or versification had yet entered into arabian education. the former would be acquired by those who needed it, the latter was regarded as a natural gift. there is reason for thinking the language of the koran incorrect and ungrammatical in parts, but as it afterwards became the ultimate standard of classical arabic, this point is not easy to prove. on the whole then his early life seems to have been such as was normal in the case of a man belonging to one of the more important families in a community which had not long been started on a career of prosperity. social system. of the organization of that community we unfortunately know very little, though we hear of a council-chamber, and, as has been seen, of an age-qualification for admission to it. it is, however, certain that the theory of decision by majority was absolutely unknown to mahomet's second successor, whence we learn little from this tradition (even if it be authentic) of the mode whereby the tribes who together formed the meccan population managed their common concerns, whether commercial or political. the form of government seems to have been a rudimentary oligarchy, directed by some masterful individual; before the flight we read of various prominent personages, after the flight and the battle of badr (a.h. 2) one chieftain, abu sofian (see caliphate, _ad init._), appears to take the lead whether in war or in policy. it would seem, however, that the right of independent action belonged to the individual tribes, even to the extent of refusing to take part in a campaign. for the settlement of ordinary disputes recourse was had (it appears) rather to soothsayers, near or distant, than to any regularly constituted authority or tribunal. on the other hand we are furnished with a list of officials who were concerned with different parts of the festal performances and the ordinary worship. of these we may mention the custodian of the ka`ba, and the official whose duty was _siqayah_ ("watering"), said to mean furnishing the pilgrims with water, but more ingeniously interpreted in recent times as "rain-bringing," a function which even in the 2nd century of islam the governor in some places was supposed to exercise. beginnings of the mission. of arabian paganism we possess no trustworthy or complete account; since we hear of no theological literature belonging to it, probably no such account could have been given. there were doubtless a variety of practices, many of which have been continued to this day in the ceremonies of the pilgrimage, and offerings of different sorts to various deities, interpreted variously by the worshippers in accordance with their spiritual, intellectual and moral levels; e.g. as actual stones, or as men (or more often women) residing in the stones or otherwise connected with them, or bearing a similar relation to trees, or stars, &c. in general every tribe had its patron of the kind, and where there were aggregations of tribes, connexions were established between these deities, and affiliation-theories excogitated; hence the theory attributed in the koran to the meccans that the goddesses al-`uzza, &c. were the daughters of allah, may well represent the outcome of such speculation. these, however, were known to few, whereas the practices were familiar to all. some of these were harmless, others barbarous; many offensive, but not very reprehensible, superstitions. external influences. before mahomet's time arabian paganism had already been attacked both from the outside and from the inside. on the one hand the northern tribes had gradually been christianized, owing to the influence of the byzantine empire; on the other hand south arabia had fallen successively under jewish, abyssinian and persian influence; and the last, though little is known of persian rule, is unlikely to have favoured pagan cults. christianity had also some important representation in najran far south of mecca, while jewish settlements were prospering north of mecca in the prophet's future home yathrib and its neighbourhood. power, civilization and learning were thus associated with monotheism (judaism), dualism (mazdaism) and tritheism (as the arabs interpreted christianity); paganism was the religion of ignorance (_jahiliyyah_, interpreted by goldziher as "barbarism," but the difference is not very considerable). mecca itself and the neighbouring and allied taif are said to have produced some monotheists or christians, who identified the _allah_ of mecca with the _allaha_ or god of the syrian christians, called by the abyssinian christians "lord of the regions," and by the jews "the merciful" (_rahmana_); one such is said to have been a cousin of khadija, mahomet's wife; his name is given as waraqah, son of naufal, and he is credited with copying or translating a gospel. we even hear of flagellant monks and persons vowed to total abstinence among the precursors of islam. with these persons mahomet had little in common, since they do not appear to have claimed to enforce their views upon others, or to have interfered with politics. he appears mainly to have been struck by the personality of the founders of the systems dominant in the civilized world, and to have aspired from the first to occupy the place of legislator or mouthpiece of the deity; and that he was this was and is the main proposition of the mahommedan creed. the "prophet" or "apostle" (at different times he employed both the jewish and the christian phrase) was the divinely appointed dictator of his community; if he were not obeyed, divine vengeance would overtake the disobedient. at this proposition mahomet arrived by induction from the records of the biblical prophets, as well as others who seem to have figured in arabian mythology, e.g. the destruction of the tribe thamud (mentioned by pliny, and therefore historical) for their disobedience to their prophet salih, and of `ad (probably mythical) for their similar treatment of hud. the character of the message did not affect the necessity for obedience; at times it was condemnation of some moral offence, at others a trivial order. divine vengeance overtook those who disobeyed either. the prophet's call. this is the theory of the prophetic office which pervades the koran, wherein the doctrine is formulated that every nation had its divine guide and that mecca before mahomet's time had none. this place, then, mahomet felt a divine call to fill. but we are never likely to ascertain what first put the idea into his mind. the fables which his biographers tell on this subject are not worth repeating; his own system, in which he is brought into direct communication with the deity, though at a later period the angel gabriel appears to have acted as intermediary, naturally leaves no room for such speculations; and since his dispensation was thought to be absolutely new, and to make a _tabula rasa_ of the pagan past, his first followers, having broken with that past, left no intelligible account of the state of affairs which preceded their master's call. some generations therefore elapsed before that past was studied with any sort of sympathy, and details could not then be recovered, any more than they can now be supplied by conjecture. so far as mahomet may be said from the first to have formulated a definite notion of his work, we should probably be right in thinking it to be the restoration of the religion of abraham, or (as the koran calls him) ibrahim. though we have no reason for supposing the name of abraham or ishmael to have been known in mecca generally before mahomet's time, the biblical ethnology was not apparently questioned by those who were told of it, and there are stories, not necessarily apocryphal, of precursors of mahomet going abroad in search of the "religion of abraham." one feature of that system, associated in the bible with the name of ishmael as well, was circumcision, which was actually observed by the meccan tribes, though it would appear with technical differences from the jewish method; the association of monotheism with it would seem reasonable enough, in view of jewish traditions, such as mahomet may have heard on his travels; why the doctrine of the future life should be coupled with it is less obvious. that the meccan temple and its rites had been founded by these two patriarchs appears to have been deduced by mahomet himself, but perhaps at a later stage of his career. that these rites, so far as they were idolatrous, were in flagrant defiance of the religion of abraham must have struck any one who accepted the accounts of it which were current among jews and christians. the precursors, however, appear to have felt no call to reform their fellow-citizens; whereas it is evident that mahomet regarded himself as charged with a message, which he was bound to deliver, and which his god would in some way render effective. as it was obvious that the claim to be god's mouthpiece was to claim autocracy, mahomet employed the utmost caution in his mode of asserting this claim; on the question of his sincerity there have been different opinions held, and it is not necessary to take any view on this matter. for three years his followers were a secret society; and this period appears to have been preceded by one of private preparation, the first revelation being received when the prophet was in religious retirement--a ceremony called _tahannuth_, of which the meaning is uncertain, but which can have no connexion with the hebrew _tehinnoth_ ("supplications")--on mount hira, near mecca. the koran. if the traditional dates assigned to the _suras_ (chapters) of the koran (q.v.) are correct, the earliest revelations took the form of pages or rolls which the prophet was to read by the "grace of god," as joseph smith, the founder of the mormon community, said of the power given him to read the "egyptian" characters on the gold plates which he had found. the command to read is accompanied by the statement that "his most generous lord had taught man by the pen (_calamus_) that which he did not know." waraqah, to whom the event is said to have been communicated by khadija, called these communications "the greater law (_nomos_)." the prophet was directed to communicate his mission at the first only to his nearest relatives. the utterances were from the first in a sort of rhyme, such as is said to have been employed for solemn matter in general, e.g. oracles or prayers. at an early period the production of a written communication was abandoned for oral communications, delivered by the prophet in trance; their delivery was preceded by copious perspiration, for which the prophet prepared (in accordance with instructions found in the koran) by wrapping himself in a blanket. trusty followers were instructed to take these utterances down, but the phenomena which accompanied their delivery at least in one case suggested imposture to the scribe, who apostatized in consequence. it is extraordinary that there is no reason to suppose that any official record was ever kept of these revelations; the prophet treated them somewhat as the sibyl did her leaves. this carelessness is equally astounding whether the prophet was sincere or insincere. if the matter afterwards collected in the koran be genuine, the early revelations must have been miscellaneous in content, magical, historical and homiletic. to some strange oaths are prefixed. apparently the purpose to be compassed was to convince the audience of their miraculous origin. the formulation of doctrines belongs to a later period and that of jurisprudence to the latest of all. in that last period also, when mahomet was despot of medina, the koran served as an official chronicle, well compared by sprenger to the leading articles on current events in a ministerial organ. where the continuous paragraph is substituted for the ejaculation, the divine author apologizes for the style. certain doctrines and practices (e.g. washing of the person and the garments) must have been enjoined from the first, but our authorities scarcely give us any clear notion what they were. the doctrines to which the prophet himself throughout assigned most value seem to have been the unity of god and the future life, or resurrection of the body. the former necessitated the abandonment of the idolatrous worship which formed part of the daily life of mecca, and in which mahomet and khadija had been accustomed to take their part. yet it seems to have been due to the initiative of the proselytes themselves rather than to the prophet's orders that the meccan worship was actually flouted by them; for the anecdote which represents the prophet and his young cousin attempting to pull down the images in or about the ka'ba appears to be apocryphal. the first moslem ceremony would appear to have been the religious meeting for the purpose of hearing the delivery of revelations, of which after the prophet's death the sermon (_khutbah_) took the place. after various provisional meeting-places, the house of one al-arqam on mt. safa was adopted for this purpose; and here proselytes were initiated. growth of the early community. the names which the new community received from its founder are both philological puzzles; for the natural sense of moslem (_muslim_) appear to be "traitors," and to this a contemporary war-song of mahomet's enemies alludes; while _hanif_ (especially applied in the koran to abraham) seems to be the hebrew word for "hypocrite." the former is explained in the koran to mean "one who hands over his face or person to god," and is said to have been invented by abraham; of the latter no explanation is given, but it seems to signify from the context "devotee." since the divine name _rahman_ was at one time favoured by mahomet, and this was connected with one maslama of the tribe hanifa, who figures in politics at the end of mahomet's career but must have been a religious leader far earlier, it has been suggested that the names originally belonged to maslama's community. the honour of having been mahomet's first convert is claimed for three persons: his wife khadija, his cousin ali, who must have been a lad at the commencement of the mission, and abu bekr, son of abu quhafah, afterwards mahomet's first successor. this last person became mahomet's _alter ego_, and is usually known as the _siddiq_ (heb. word signifying "the saint," but to the arabs meaning "faithful friend)". his loyalty from first to last was absolutely unswerving; he was selected to accompany mahomet on the most critical occasion of his life, the flight from mecca; mahomet is said to have declared that had he ever made a confidant of any one, that person would have been abu bekr; implying that there were things which were not confided even to him. the success of the prophet's enterprise seems to have been very largely due to the part played by this adherent, who possessed a variety of attainments which he put at mahomet's service; who when an intermediary was required was always ready to represent him, and who placed the commendation of the prophet above every other consideration, private or public. the two appear to have regularly laid siege to those persons in mecca whose adherence was desirable; and the ability which many of the earlier converts afterwards displayed, whether as statesmen or generals, is a remarkable testimony to their power of gauging men. it seems clear that the growth of wealth in mecca had led to the accentuation of the difference between persons of different station, and that many were discontented with the oligarchy which governed the city. converts could, therefore, be won without serious difficulty among the aliens and in general those who suffered under various disqualifications. some members of the jewish community seem also to have joined; and some relics of the abyssinian expedition (i.e. descendants of the invaders). among the most important converts of the meccan period were mahomet's uncle hamza, afterwards for his valour called "the lion of god"; 'abd al-rahman (abdar-rahman) son of 'auf; othman, son of 'affan, who married two of the prophet's daughters successively, and was mahomet's third successor; and, more important than any save abu bekr, omar, son of al-khattab, a man of extraordinary force of character, to whom siege seems to have been laid with extraordinary skill. at some time he received the honourable title _faruq_ ("deliverer"); he is represented as regularly favouring force, where abu bekr favoured gentle methods; unlike abu bekr, his loyalty was not always above suspicion. his adherence is ascribed to the period of publicity. the secrecy which marked its early years was of the greatest value for the eventual success of the mission; for when mahomet came forward publicly he was already the head of a band of united followers. his own family appear to have been either firm adherents, or violent enemies, or lukewarm and temporizing--this is the best which can be said for 'abbas, eponymus of the abbasid dynasty; or finally espousers of his cause, on family grounds, but not as believers. first period of publicity. rejecting accounts of mahomet's first appearance as a public preacher, which are evidently comments on a text of the koran, we have reason for supposing that his hand was forced by ardent followers, who many times in his career compelled him to advance. the astute rulers of the community perceived that the claim made by mahomet was to be dictator or autocrat; and while this was naturally ridiculed by them, some appear to have been devoted adherents of the gods or goddesses whom he attacked. the absence of dated documents for the period between this open proclamation (which in any case commenced before 616) and the flight to medina in 622 renders the course of events somewhat conjectural, though certain details appear to be well established. apparently there was a war of words, followed by a resort to diplomacy and then to force; and then a period in which mahomet's attention was directed to foreign conversions, resulting in his being offered and accepting the dictatorship of yathrib. of the war of words we have an imperfect record in the meccan suras of the koran, which occasionally state the objections urged by the opponents. in the course of the debate the theological position of both parties seems to have shifted, and the knowledge of both was probably increased in various ways. the miracle of the koran, which at first consisted in its mode of production, was transformed into a marvel connected with its contents; first by mahomet's claiming to tell historical narratives which had previously been unknown to him; afterwards by the assertion that the united efforts of mankind and jinn would be unable to match the smallest passage of the koran in sublimity. probably the first of these claims could not be long maintained, though a. j. davis, "the seer of poughkeepsie," in our own time brought a similar one in regard to his _principles of nature_. indeed both parties evidently resorted to external aid. to those who undertook to name the man who dictated stories of the ancients to mahomet day and night, he replied that the individual whom they had in mind was a foreigner, whereas the koran was in pure arabic. this was obviously a quibble, for it was scarcely asserted that he delivered the matter dictated to him without alteration. the purity of the arabic also appears to have been very questionable; for several expressions appear to be ethiopic rather than arabic, and the person whom the meccans had in mind is likely to have been an abyssinian christian, since the christian technicalities of the koran are mainly derived from the ethiopic gospels and acts. on one occasion when some questions suggested by learned foreigners had been propounded to the prophet he required a fortnight's delay before the revelation which solved them came; the matter contained in his reply was certainly such as required research. his sources of information seem at all times to have been legendary rather than canonical; and the community which seemed to his opponents to agree best with his views was that of the sabians or mandaeans (qq.v.). it has been suggested that mahomet first threatened the meccans with temporal punishment, and only when this threat failed to take effect resorted to the terrors of the day of judgment and the tortures of hell; it seems however a mistake to distinguish between the two. these threats provided the prophet with his most powerful sermons. the boasts of incomparable eloquence which the koran contains are evidence that his oratorical power was effective with his audiences, since the more successful among the arabic poets talk of their compositions somewhat in the same way. these discourses certainly led to occasional conversions, perhaps more frequently among women than men. the exiles in axum. the diplomatic war seems to have been due to the prophet's increasing success, which led to serious persecution of mahomet's less influential followers, though, as has been seen, no blood could be shed in mecca. abu talib, moreover, prevented him from being exiled, though he probably had to endure many personal insults. something however had to be done for the persecuted moslems, and (perhaps at the suggestion of his abyssinian helper) mahomet endeavoured to find a refuge for them in the realm of axum. abyssinia was doubtless connected in every meccan mind with the "expedition of the elephant"; and such an alliance secured by mahomet was a menace to the existence of the meccan community. a deputation was therefore sent by the meccan leaders to demand extradition of the exiles; and as chief of this expedition the future conqueror of egypt, 'amr b. al-'as (see 'amr ibn el-ass), first figures in history. to frustrate his efforts mahomet sent his cousin ja'far armed with an exposition of the prophet's beliefs and doctrines afterwards embodied in the koran as the sura of mary (no. xix.; though with the addition of some anti-christian matter). the original document contained an account of the nativity of christ with various miracles not known to either the canonical or even the apocryphal gospels which have been preserved, but which would be found edifying rather than unorthodox by a church one of whose most popular books is _the miracles of the virgin mary_. to this there were added certain notices of old testament prophets. the abyssinian king and his ecclesiastical advisers took the side of mahomet and his followers, whom they appear to have regarded as persecuted christians; and an attempt made probably by the astute 'amr to embroil them with the abyssinians on the difficult question of the natures of christ failed completely. there seems reason for thinking that the abyssinian king contemplated bringing back the exiles by force, but was diverted from this purpose by frontier wars; meanwhile they were safely harboured, though they seem to have suffered from extreme poverty. the want of an abyssinian chronicle for this period is a serious disadvantage for the study of islamic origins. the sequel shows that regular correspondence went on between the exiles and those who remained in mecca, whence the former were retained within the fold of islam, with occasional though rare apostasies to christianity. mahomet's diplomatic victory roused the meccan leaders to fury, and they decided on the most vigorous measures to which they could rise; abu talib, mahomet's protector, and the clan which acknowledged him as _sheikh_, including the prophet and his family, were blockaded in the quarter which they occupied; as in other sanctuaries, though blood might not be shed, a culprit might be starved to death. that this did not occur, though the siege appears to have lasted some months at least, was due to the weak good nature of the meccans, but doubtless also to the fact that there were enlisted on mahomet's side many men of great physical strength and courage (as their subsequent careers proved), who could with impunity defy the meccan embargo. after a time however the besieged found the situation intolerable, and any assistance which they might have expected from the king of axum failed to come. the course adopted by mahomet was retractation of those of his utterances which had most offended the meccans, involving something like a return to paganism. a revelation came acknowledging the effectiveness of the meccan goddesses as well as allah, and the meccans raised the siege. news of the reconciliation reached the abyssinian exiles and they proceeded to return. by the time they reached the arabian coast the dispute had recommenced. the revelation was discovered to be a fabrication of the devil, who, it appears, regularly interpolates in prophetic revelations; such at least is the apology preserved in the koran, whence the fabricated verses have been expunged. since our knowledge of this episode (regarded as the most disgraceful in the prophet's career) is fragmentary, we can only guess that the prophet's hand had once more been forced by the more earnest of his followers, for whom any compromise with paganism was impossible. the exiles went back to abyssinia; and about this time both abu talib and khadija died, leaving the prophet unprotected. he fled to the neighbouring oasis of taif, where wealthy meccans had possessions, and where the goddess al-`uzza was worshipped with special zeal--where she is said still to exist in the form of a block of stone. he had but little success there in proselytizing, and indeed had to cease preaching; but he opened negotiations with various meccan magnates for a promise of protection in case of his return. this was at last obtained with difficulty from one mot`im b. `adi. it would appear that his efforts were now confined to preaching to the strangers who assembled at or near mecca for the ceremonies connected with the feasts. he received in consequence some invitations to come and expound his views away from mecca, but had to wait some time before one came of a sort which he could wisely accept. the flight to yathrib. the situation which led to mahomet's flight (_hijra_, anglicized incorrectly _hejira_, q.v.) was singularly favourable to mahomet's enterprise, and utilized by him with extraordinary caution and skill. at the palm plantation called yathrib, afterwards known as _al-medina_, medina, "the city" (i.e. of the prophet), there were various tribes, the two most important, called aus and khazraj, being pagan, and engaged in an internecine feud, while under their protection there were certain jewish tribes, whose names have come down to us as qainuqa, nadir and quraiza--implying that the israelites, as might be expected, imitated the totem nomenclature of their neighbours. the memory of these israelites is exclusively preserved by the moslem records; the main stream of jewish history flowed elsewhere. in the series of combats between the aus and khazraj the former had generally been worsted; the jews, as usual, had avoided taking any active part in the fray. finally, owing to an act of gross perfidy, they were compelled to fight in aid of the aus; and in the so-called battle of bu`ath the aus aided by the jews had won a victory, doubtless attributed to the god of the jews. as has been seen, the divine name employed by mahomet (_rahman_) was one familiar to the jews; and the yathribites who visited mecca at feast-time were naturally attracted by a professed representative of al-rahman. the first yathribite converts appear to have been khazrajites, and one as`ad, son of zurarah, is the most prominent figure. their idea may have been in the first place to secure the aid of the israelitish deity in their next battle with the aus, and indeed the primary object of their visit to mecca is said to have been to request assistance for their war. for this the plan was substituted of inviting the prophet to come to mecca as dictator, to heal the feud and restore order, a procedure to which greek antiquity offers parallels. the new converts were told to carry on secret propaganda in yathrib with this end in view. at the next feast some of the rival faction embraced islam. a trusty follower of mahomet, mus'ab b.'umair, who resembled mahomet in personal appearance, was sent to yathrib to assist in the work. the correspondence between this person and the prophet would, if we possessed it, be of the greatest value for the study of islamic antiquity. we first hear at this time of _the conditions of islam_, i.e. a series of undertakings into which the convert entered: namely, to abstain from adultery, theft, infanticide and lying, and to obey mahomet _in licitis et honestis_. the wholesale conversion of yathrib was determined by that of two chieftains, usaid b. huraith and sa'd b. mu'adh, both ausites. the example of these was quickly followed, and iconoclasm became rife in the place. at the next meccan feast a deputation of seventy yathribites brought mahomet a formal invitation, which he accepted, after imposing certain conditions. the interviews between mahomet and the yathribites are known as the _'aqabah_ (probably with reference to a text of the koran). the attitude of the jews towards the project appears to have been favourable. the refugees. among the conditions imposed by mahomet on his new adherents appears to have been the protection and harbouring of the older proselytes, whom mahomet most wisely determined to send before him to yathrib, where, in the event of the yathribite loyalty wavering, they could be counted on with certainty. the welcome given these refugees (_muhajirun_), as they were from this time known in contra-distinction to the helpers (_ansar_) or allies from yathrib, is said to have been of the warmest; a helper with two wives would hand one over to a wifeless refugee. a yet more important condition which preceded the flight was readiness to fight men of all colours in defence of the faith. although the transactions with the people of yathrib had been carried on with profound secrecy, the nature of mahomet's contract with his new adherents was somewhat divulged to the meccan magnates, and the danger of allowing an implacable enemy to establish himself on the high-road of their north-bound caravans flashed upon them. the rule which forbade bloodshed in the sacred city had at last to be suspended; but elaborate precautions were to be taken whereby every tribe (except mahomet's own clan) should have their share in the guilt, which would thus be spread over the whole community fairly. when the committee appointed to perpetrate the crime reached mahomet's house, they found that it was too late; mahomet had already departed, leaving ali in his bed. the actual flight from mecca to yathrib has naturally been a favourite subject for romance, and indeed appears to have been executed with the greatest cunning. accompanied by abu bekr only, mahomet took refuge in a cave of mt thaur, in the opposite direction to that which he intended to take finally, and there remained for three days; provision had been made of every requisite, food, powerful camels, a trusty and competent guide. the date at which he reached kuba, on the outskirts of yathrib, where there was already some sort of moslem oratory, is given as 8 rabia i., of the year a.h. 1; the fact that he arrived there on the jewish day of atonement gives us the date september 20, 622. the meccans, who had employed professional trackers to hunt down the fugitives, proceeded to confiscate the houses and goods of mahomet and of his followers who had fled. mahomet as despot of yathrib. the safe arrival of mahomet at his destination marks the turning-point in his career, which now became one of almost unbroken success; his intellectual superiority over both friends and enemies enabling him to profit by defeat little less than by victory. his policy appears to have been to bind his followers to himself and them to each other by every possible tie; he instituted brotherhoods between the refugees and helpers, which were to count as relationships for legal purposes, and having himself no sons, he contracted numerous marriages partly with the same end in view; e.g. with the infant daughter of abu bekr, ayesha ('a'ishah), whose ability he appears to have discerned; and the unamiable hafsa, daughter of omar. of his own daughters three were given to faithful allies, the one by whom his line is supposed to have been continued to our time, fatima, was reserved for his cousin ali. owing to his efforts the alliance between the refugees and helpers resisted numerous attempts on the part of enemies to break it up, and only towards the end of the prophet's life, when he appeared to favour meccans unduly, do we hear of any bitterness between the two communities. the medina community. the population of yathrib, or, as it may now be called, medina, soon divided into three groups: mahomet's united followers; the jews; and a party known as the "hypocrites," i.e. professing moslems, who were lukewarm, or disaffected, among whom the most prominent is `abdallah b. ubayy, a khazrajite chieftain, who is said to have himself aspired to be despot of yathrib, and who till nearly the end of mahomet's career figures somewhat as a leader of the opposition; of his importance there is no question, but the reason for it and the mode whereby he made it felt are often obscure. it would seem that the pagans remaining in yathrib speedily adopted islam after the prophet's arrival, whence we hear little of serious opposition on their part. coming in the capacity of prophet of the israelitish god, mahomet at first seems to have courted alliance with the jews, and to have been ready to adopt their system with very slight modifications--similar to those which, according to his opinion, jesus had come to introduce. the jews met these advances by submitting him to examination in the intricacies of the _torah_, and, finding him very poorly equipped, proceeded to denounce him as an imposter; one of his examiners is said to have even translated the _torah_ into arabic with a view of convicting him of ignorance and imposture. they are' further charged with exercising their magical arts on the prophet and his followers, and to have succeeded thereby in producing barrenness among the moslem women. their conduct must not of course be judged by the statement of their enemies; it is however clear that mahomet soon found that there was no possibility of compromising with them on religious questions, or of obtaining their loyal support; meanwhile he discovered that they were incapable of united and persistent action, and useless as warriors except against each other. he therefore resolved on their extermination. his ruthlessness in their case compared with his patience and forbearance in the case of the "hypocrites" was consistent with his principle (always faithfully observed) that no inquiry was permissible into the motives of conversion, and with his division of mankind into the two antagonistic factions believers and unbelievers. the latter principle, as will be seen, was somewhat modified before the end of his life. development of islam. mahomet's failure to effect a compromise with the jews caused a reaction in his mind towards paganism, and after about a year's residence at medina the direction of prayer, which had till then been towards jerusalem, was turned southward to the pagan temple at mecca. with this change we may perhaps couple the adoption of the name _allah_ for the deity; in the moslem formula "in the name of allah the rahman the merciful," the translation attached to the word _rahman_, and the prefixing to it of the name _allah_ furnish clear evidence of theological transition, though the stages are not recorded; we know, however, that the meccans approved of the name _allah_, but objected to the name _rahman_. prayer (_salat_), said to have been prescribed on the occasion of the prophet's ascent into heaven after a miraculous journey from mecca to jerusalem, began to assume a stereotyped form in the place of assembly built by mahomet immediately after his arrival; the attitudes of prayer in use among many communities (e.g. the jewish standing, the prostration of some christian sects) were combined. in general it was mahomet's principle, while taking over a practice from some other sect, to modify it so as to render the moslem method absolutely distinct; thus when a summons to prayer became requisite, a new mode (by the voice of a crier called _muaddhin_ or _muezzin_) was preferred to the christian hammer; a new sacred day was adopted, in lieu of the jewish saturday and the christian sunday, in the weekday on which he had safely reached kuba, friday; but the sanctity was reduced to the actual time occupied by public worship. on the subject of food he was satisfied with the regulations of the council of jerusalem, recorded in acts xv.; which were observed by few if any christian sects. the prohibition of wine, which was enacted in a.h. 3, is said to have been occasioned by the riotous conduct of one of his followers when under the influence of liquor; palgrave saw in it (perhaps with justice) a deliberate attempt to prevent harmony between moslems and christians, in whose most sacred rite wine is used. the fast of ramadan, in which food both liquid and solid is forbidden from sunrise to sunset, is said to be a pagan or semi-pagan institution; its importance for military training and discipline is not likely to have been overlooked by the prophet. when the direction of prayer was altered, it is probable that mahomet already intended to introduce into his system the whole of the pagan pilgrimage with its antique ceremonial (with, of course, a new interpretation); before this he is supposed to have aimed at the abolition of the ka`ba and all that appertained to it. the difference between religious and civil law has never been recognized by islamic jurists, whose manuals deal equally with the law of contract and the amount of the body to be washed before prayer; the prophet's ordinances on both subjects were suggested by the occasion in each case, and it would seem that the opinions of trusted advisers were regularly heard before a revelation was issued. even when this had been done the ordinance might be cancelled by an abrogating revelation; it being "easy for allah" to substitute for a text already revealed another that was better or at least as good. as islam began to spread outside the limits of medina both conversion to islam and persistence therein were reduced to simple tests; the pronunciation of the double formula of belief in allah and mahomet was sufficient to indicate conversion, whilst payment of an income-tax, called by the jewish names for alms (_zakat_ and _sadaqah_), was evidence of loyalty. this income-tax, of which the definite assessment perhaps belongs to a later period, was for the support of necessitous converts--an element in the community whose presence accounts for the mode in which the development of the islamic state proceeded. first campaigns of mahomet. the industries in which the meccan refugees had been engaged were not of a sort which they could exercise at medina, where the palm took the place of the camel as the basis of society. moreover the prophet seems to have given some disastrous advice on the subject of palmiculture, and thereby to have accentuated the poverty of the place. he had, therefore, to find some fresh source of revenue in order to deal with this difficulty, and one of the helpers is said to have suggested the plan which he adopted, viz. of attacking the meccan caravans. with this view he organized a series of expeditions, taking the lead himself sometimes, while at others he gave it to one of his veteran followers; and at first only refugees took part in them. the leaders of the caravans, however, were expert in evading attacks of this sort, which were doubtless regularly attempted by the desert tribes; and in the first year of his despotism mahomet did not score a single success of the kind intended. the attempts were not wholly fruitless; for while on the one hand he accustomed his followers to campaigning, on the other he made a series of agreements with the chieftains of the tribes through whose territory the caravans ordinarily passed. finding continued failure intolerable, he resolved to take advantage of his power to bind and to loose by sending an expedition of seven men under his cousin `abdallah b. jahsh to attack a caravan at the beginning of the sacred month rajab, when, as raiding during such a season was unknown, success was practically certain. the commander on this, the nakhlah raid, was given sealed orders, to be opened after two days' march; the men were then to be given the option of retiring, if they disapproved. of this no one seems definitely to have availed himself, and the raid ended successfully, for considerable booty was captured, while of the four persons who escorted the caravan two were made prisoners, one escaped, and one, `amr b. al-hadrami, was killed; he was the first person slain fighting against an islamic force. the violation of the sacred month seems to have caused considerable scandal in arabia, but led to no serious consequence; on the other hand the shedding of blood created a feud between the people of mecca and the refugees, with whom the meccans long declined to identify the people of medina. the fact that the man who had been killed was a client, not a citizen, made no difference. the circumstance that booty had been actually acquired appears to have helped the prophet's cause very considerably. attack on meccan caravan. both these consequences, the meccan desire to avenge the blood that had been shed and the anxiety of the medinese to take part in a successful raid, manifested themselves a few months later, when an expedition was organized by mahomet to attack a caravan returning from syria, which had escaped him the previous year. many desired to take part in the raid, and finally some 300 persons were selected, including a large number of "helpers." the leader of the caravan learned somehow that an attack was being organized by mahomet on a large scale, and sent to mecca for aid, while hurrying home by forced marches. this is the first historical appearance of abu sofian (the leader of the caravan), who now for some years played the part of president in the meccan opposition to mahomet, and whose son was destined to found the second mahommedan dynasty (see