BHTaTuTiTiTnTii ,, t.c mo^ic,, ^ , ^^ PRINCETON, N. J %, S/ie//.. « ■* Division Section Number ...:&i.52. I' t THE MISSIONARY'S VADE-MECUM .—FIRST SERIES AN EXAMINATION OF THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL AS VIEWED BY M U H A M M A D A N S (BEING THE FIRST CHAPTER OF SECTION I. OF STUDIES IN ISLAM) BY J. D/BATE, M.R.A.S., MISSIONAKY OF THE UAI'TIST Ml.SSIONy\RV SOCIETY, OF LONDON. PRINTED AND PUDLISHKD BY E. J. LAZARUS AND CO., liANARAS: MAY BE HAD ALSO OK W. H. ALLEN AND CO., PALL MALL; AND OF THE AUTHOR, ALLAHABAD. 1884. {All rights reserved.) TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY: — IF THKY SPEAK .NUT ACCORDING TO THIS WORD, IT IS BECAUSE THERE IS NO LIGHT IN THEM. CONTENTS. Page Preface, ... ... ... ... ... i-vii. Analysis of the Argument, ... ... ... ix-xiii. The Examination of Ishmael's claims, ... ... 1-3S2 Indexes: — 1. The Qur'an passages cited in this volume, ... I. 2. The passages cited from the Old Testament, ll-iv. 3. The New Testament passages cited, ... v-vi. 4. Index of general subjects, ... ... VI-XIX. ^ JUL 2 1885 ^ >2^gfcal 'b^ PREFACE. The reason for writing this book needs to be stated.— It mifjht well be asked in reference to it — What is the use of crushing dead flies ? And, in trutli, the reli- gion of Muhammad lias no better basis now than it had wlien its founder was alive to foster its early struggles. The light of history and the march of intellect have not improved its position in the judgment of the dispassionate seeker after a reli- gion. But there are many scores of millions of our cotemporaries who are not able to think thus; and who accept this weird decoction of deism and idolatry, of truth and fable, as a veritable Revelation from 'the Father of Lights' for their guidance to heaven. It is among these that the lot of the missionary is cast; and it is in the hope of making him acquainted, in some measure at least, with the nature of the situation, that I have ventured to commend to his study, at some early period in his career, the pages which follow. The difficulty of the task assumed by the evangelist who seeks the salvation of Muhammadans in any portion of the world, is so generally admitted as to have become almost proverbial. But the difficulty is, in truth, more imaginary than real. It does not ai-ise from the logical strength of the Islamic position, but from its weakness. It is always easier to deal with intelligence than with ignorance, and with avowed unrest than with self-contentment. ' They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.' The nature of the difficulty is well exemplified by the respective theological positions of the Muhammadan and the Hindu. In regard to his religion, the latter is a born philosopher — exceptions aside — and the former is by all reasonable men understood to be a born fanatic. It is impossible to give thoughtful attention to the religious system of the Hindu, without feeling that the men who made it in the first instance were earnest, great, and wise. But the study of the religious system of the Muhammadan awakens no such sentiment. Let but the missionary be possessed of the necessary information, and of skill in the use of it, and the Muhammadan, however learned he may be, is at the end of his tether in no time : but the Hindu, misguided though he is, can give a reason for the hope that is in him. A genuine Hindu philosopher, put on his defence, is no mean antago- nist; but the Muhammadan, if not on the offensive, is nowhere. -When he has to assume the defence of his religion, he is like a bull at bay: no position is too irra- tional for him, no dogma too self -contradictory, no stratagem too contemptible. Evangelists, at the beginning of their expei-ience, are apt to be thrown off their guard by the evasive and unprincipled tactics of the Muhammadan opponent of Christianity. Studies of I.sl.vM, of which this is the first instalment, is designed to meet what the writer has himself felt to be a want at that stage. The present imperfect Treatise is offered to the young missionary as a help to the apprehension of the bearings of a fundamental question. The dogma of which it treats — that Ishmael, and not Isaac, was ' the Child of Promise ' — lies at the root of Islam. The point is so neatly put by Palgrave in his Article on Akabia in the latest Edition of the Encydopcedia Britannica that we can hardly do better than cite his remarks here. Speaking of the Bani Quraish tribe he says, — "Of their pedigree (which, as is well known, includes that of Mahomet himself) we have ii PREFACE, a carefully— too carefully, indeed, for authenticity— constructed chronicle, liring- ing the family tree uj) in due form to Ishniael, the son of Abraham, of whom the Koreysh 6gure as the direct descendants. In the same arlifieial auuals the Yemen- ite (or genuine) Arabs appear under the cousinly character of • the Children of Jok- tan,' the son of Heber. On these points all Mahometan annalists are equally posi- tive and distinct; all other Arab testimony equally adverse or silent. That a fable 30 utterly defiant of reasonable chronology, and even of the common sense of His- tory itself, should have been adopted as matter of fact by Arab vanity and igno- rance, is less surprising than that it should have found favour in the eyes of not a few, indeed of most, of our own European writers. Enough here to say that Mahome- tan chroniclers, by adopting as irrefragable historical authority the Jewish records, and then retouching them here and there in accordance with their own special pre- dilections and tenets, have succeeded in concealing the truth of their own national identity and story from themselves and even from others, under an almost hopeless incrustation of childish fiction.' This uncompromising indictment of the chrono- logical tables on which The Faithful base their belief respecting the genealogy of their Prophet, harmonizes in its essential features with the conclusions arrived at by Mons. do Percival and with the view propounded in the present Treatise. In the course of the work, indications that my lot has been cast among the Musalmiins of India will doubtless appear to the experienced reader : but I venture to indulge the hope that the intelligent missionary who labours for the salvation of Muslims in any other portion of the world, will understand how to make allowance for this. The dogma, at any rate, is believed and defended wherever the adherents of The Prophet are found. Thus much for the ground which the work covers and for the use which may be made of it. But does nothing in this department of controversy already exist in the whole range of literature ? As far as my knowledge goes, the subject has never yet been specifically and separately treated of by any advocate of Christianity. Allusions to it, indeed, more or less fragmentary, do occur in nearly all books on Arabia and Islam ; but whatever literature exists in regard to the subject is unsystematized and incomplete. This remark applies to missionary literature in English or other tongues. Muham- madan writers also — among whom should be mentioned, with great deference, Maulvi the Honourable Mr. Sayyid Ahmad Khan Bahadur, Companion of the Order of the Star of India* — have in different ways glanced at it; but they have not written for the express purpose of working out the evidences of the dogma. * Although this eminent gentleman, and most learned and accomplished of all the defenders of The Faith of Islam, is no longer a sitting Member of the Coun- cil of the Government of India, it is only just and fair that the title which so dis- tinguished a position confers should still be borne in mind whenever his name is mentioned. As a matter of fact, moreover, his retirement from that position took place while the present work was passing through the press. The occasion which the preparation of this work has forced upon me, of indicating what appear to be the fatally weak points in his treatment of the genealogy of Muhammad, has awakened in me emotions of sincere pain in proportion to the high repute he bears for amiability. The great services which in a variety of ways he is discharging to the movements of his time, render him no less an ornament to the body politic than to the Faith which with so much learning and ability he defends. PREFACE. iii The writer who has dealt most fully with it is Forster; but he runs the subject into the Books of Danikl and Revelation, and mixes it up with the bewitching, ami interminable question of prophecy, fulfilled and unfulfilled. This, of course, renders his work calculated to be vastly attractive to miuds versed iu prophetical speculation, but it circumscribes its usefulness; for the recondite subject of Prophecy is one which it would be useless for the missionary to discuss in preaching to Muham- madans. It is a subject which has for the Muslim no interest and no meaning, and is consequently an edgeless tool. It clearly was not Forster's object to subject the question to such a mode of treatment as should render his work specially adapted to the Christian preacher to Muslims. He adopts a particular line or branch of the subject, — his object being to free the question of the Ishmaelitic descent of Muham- mad from the sneers which Gibbon cast upon it. This he has achieved in a manner which is not likely to be ever surpassed. Eut inasmuch as he has used Biblical materials to carry the point, the apologists and the adherents of Islam find it prudent to ignore his learned contribution, and prefer to fall back upon the few fragmentary utterances of Gibbon, notwithstanding the scathing cynicism respect^ ing the religious pretensions of Muhammad which he imports into them. For the rest, Forster goes far afield on the controverted subject of Prophecy,— which for the immediate purpose of the present Treatise would be unprofitable, however pro- fitable and important it might be in other connexions. Besides all this, the labour? of this accomplished student are marred throughout by an infirmity which very seri- ously affects his quotability as an authority. The most bewildering department of Arabian studies is undoubtedly the etymology of the names of places and tribes. In this department Forster is so unsafe, that all his attempts at identifying and localizing have to be received ^vith constant circumspection. This would be fully acknowledged by any one who might subject the matter to due investigation. We say this, while cherishing, at the same time, the most profound respect for the in- dustry of a man who has done more than any other man has ever done in this arid depai-tment of labour. Foi-ster's work may be regarded as a most valuable contri- bution towards the study of a diflftcult subject, but as falling short of a final clear- ing up of its difficulties. — Arnold, also, wrote a book which he entitled 'Ishmael,* butt he line of argument of which is more justly indicated by himself as an account of the ' Natural History of Islamism and its Relation to Christianity .' In point of fact„ it is a miscellaneous — but, at the same time, a most helpful and erudite — Treatise on the subject of Muhammadanism in general. I would say, without disparagement to either of these writers, that my aim has been to subject the question of the re- spective claims of Ishmael and Isaac to a method more calculated to meet the aim of the missionary. The renderings of passages of the Qur'an which I have adopted are for the. most part those of Sale, whom I consider to be, on the whole, one of the least preju- diced of the men who have translated that book; for there is such a thing as pre- judice in favour of Islam as well as prejudice against it. Occasionally I have adopted the rendering of some other translator,— such as Rodwell, Lane, etc.,— but only when the difference in the renderings has been such as to affect the purpose of the citation. For the most part, the differences of the translations are merely in the wording,— the sense remaining untouched. I have not thought it well to burden the pages with various translations in the case of every passage quoted, Thouo-h every missionary who labours among IVIuhamraadans may be supposed to be possessed of a copy of the Qur'an in the Original, yet (it being in the ordinary iv PREFACE. C'litions a large book) he may not at all times have it at hand. I have therefore thouf,'ht it might be useful if the passages from the Qur'An be all embodied in the prcHont Treatise. Muhammadans, moreover, avow entire distrust of all transla- tions of the Qur'An, — especially of tliose made by persons not of their religion ; such as Sale, Rodwell, and the others. The missionary will consequently find it an advantage to be able to shew the Muslim, without tT'ouble or loss of time, the jys themselves. Disregard of the correct spelling of proper names haa proved to be one of the chief impediments in historical research. The Latin writers appear to have studied how to augment the difficulties of posterity when they wrote ♦Asarnioth' for ' Hazaramitwat.' If Forster's derivations are to be trusted, it is not easy to acquit ancient writers of having gone out of their way who changed •RSbigh' into 'Copar' or 'Copar' into 'RSbigh.' Exact transliteration (as far, at least, as the laws of different languages will admit of it) surely seems the best, at all hazards, I have this consolation, at any rate, that no method which has yet been adopted has escaped animadversion. Gibbon, Burton, Muir, Lane, Burckhardt, Palgrave, ISriebuhr,Rodwell, de Percival,Sprcnger, Lane, with many others, have all failed to hit the mark that might result in a settlement of the matter. But, in truth, the question is of no moment : if it were, it would, from its very nature, have been settled long ago. It is one of those things about which, whatever course be adopted, there is room for such endless diversity, that every man will condemn every other man's method, and will follow his own. The solution of the difficulty lies, we are sometimes told, in the spelling of Arabic names in such a way as to reproduce the sounds of them as uttered by the Natives: but the truth is, that nearly all the varieties of the spelling of these names among us have arisen from the attempts of scholars to conform to this very rule. The diversity has arisen from the fact that some of them have made one English letter — the letter c — do duty for three Arabic letters [^ , ^, J) when there is no necessity, seeing that these three letters can be represented by quite different letters in English, and with a very near approach to exact equivalency (much nearer than can be attained by the letter c), — indicating better the sound, and answering, in point of power, to the Arabic letters. Thus, »S is adequately represented by k, and J by q. There is no c in Arabic. The letter ^ iathe only one that presents any difficulty, as M may be the equivalent not only of this letter, but also of -J'aspirated, and more suitably so. As there is in the English alpha= bet no exact equivalent of ^ (the sound itself being unknown in English) the dis- tinction necessary to be made may be indicated by a stroke or a dot under the letters ; thus, Ich, or lib, — or some such device. A similar difficulty exists in the representation of other Arabic letters, — such as ^. The French have the advantage of us in that they are able to represent j* by 9 ; e.g,^ Q^f ^> — thus distinguishing between this letter and j*. Arabic scholars, moreover, in different parts of the world, give to some of the letters widely different i>ronunciations, as also do some even of the Arab tribes themselves. Under the circumstances, the misspelling of words seems to be at least as much to be deprecated as the adoption of some fixed principle of exact transliteration. The latter principle has the advantage of en- abling the student more readily to find the word in the Lexicon. But on no prin- -vi PREFACE. ciple of transliteration can tbe true sounds be learned excepting by the ear. To transliterate accurately is at least as helpful and as reasonable as to transliterate inaccurately. I should add that the sign {') in the transliteration of Arabic words has not the same meaning as in Greek, where it indicates merely the so-called •light breathing;' as in the word 'IvSikoq- In such words as 'Ali, Ka'ba it indicates that the vowel which it jirecedes or follows stands connected with the consonant ^, which has no equivalent in Englisli; and in the word Qur"au it indicates that the first syllable ends after r, and not before it. Seeing that there is so much diversity, I do the reader the credit of taking for granted that nothing in the present work, relating to the subject of .spelling, will occasion him any serious difficulty. All that is needed is an intelligent principle of transliterating clearly carried through. In the present work, no vowel in an Arabic word is 'long' unless marked with a circumflex. In Arabic the letter u has never the sound it has in the English words 'quite' and 'but,' 'turbid' and 'tumour.' In the words 'Muslim,' 'Qur'dn,' the first syllable never has the sound of 'mew,' 'kcw:' it ends on the consonant following the vowel. The s, moreover, has not the r-sound of s in 'muslin,' but its proper sharp sound, — the us being pronounced exactly like riss in the English word 'Puss.' So that these two words are pronounced, not 'Meuzlim,' but 'Mooss-lim; ' not 'Kew-ran,' but * Coor-an,' — the double o in each case having the sound of oo in such English words as 'coo,' 'coot.' This is the unvai-ying sound of short m in Arabic. The reader will now perceive the correct pronunciation of the word 'Muhammad,' — taking particu- lar care not to pronounce the second syllable like the English word 'ham,' nor the third like the English word 'mad.' In the ill-used word 'IslSm,' again, the first syllable ends with s, with its sharpest sound; and the a is, as indicated, 'open,' — as in the English word 'far.' Thus, it is not 'Izlam,' but 'Is-lam.' Again, a re- peated letter (vowel or consonant) has always to be pronounced with a double measure of sound, but not with a hiatus. The form 'Mecca' is a purely fantastic spelling; and though it is so often adopted, it docs not represent the correct pro- nunciation. The absence of the letter c in Arabic has led some writers to go in for an innovation in the form of ' Mekka.' But there is, in truth, no e in the word, nor is there even an e sound. The letter is, like the letter at the end, simply a short fl, — which has to be pronounced like u in 'but,' 'cut,' 'muck,' and a in 'America,' etc. The only true spelling is ' Makka,' — pronounced not ' Mack ' but ' Muckka,' — with both the vowels the same in nature and in quantity, — the organs of pronunciation lingering a little on the letter k, and then softly giving way. Long i is always pro- nounced as on the Continent of Europe; that is, as in the English word 'police.' Thus, 'Madina,' with both a's short, is pronounced 'Mudeena,' not 'Miulaynah.' But with these few hints the reader will see his way through, — always remembering that in the pronunciation of proper names in the Oriental languages, it is a good rule to take care of the vowels, and then leave the accent to take care of itself. Henceforth this little work — my companion during the spare moments of my last ten hot seasons in the plains of India — will have to take its own course, and sink or float as its merits deserve. No one can, in the face of such an array of works (by men who have written on every side of the controversy) as are here cited, suppose that I have not heeded 'the other side,' or have not listened to the newest as well as the oldest of what has been said; though the apologists of Isldm will, to be sure, not suspect me of having weighed the facts impartially. I confess my inability to arrive at a more favourable verdict upon the evidence than the one I have arrived PREFACE. vii at. Whether this inability arises from mental obscurity or religious auimosity, I can only leave to the judgment of competent j)erson9. I am at least conscious of having tried to be impartial, and to refrain as earnestly against ' bearing false wit- ness against my neighbour' Muhammad, as if he were a cotemporary residing in the next house. In commending the work to the charitable judgment of those whom it may interest, I do so with the feeling that no one can be more assured of its shortcomings than I am myself, and that the last and best word has not as yet been said respecting the great subject of which the work treats. If at times I have beeu betrayed into the use of language calculated to hurt the feelings of any, I beg, before parting company with the reader, to settle the matter at once by ample apology; and I ask any who may feel themselves aggrieved, to attribute such lan- guage not to a desire to hurt any fellow-traveller on the path of life, but to a desire to discount that only which every rational man, whatever may be his Creed, must desire to see destroyed. JOHN DREW BATE, Allahabad: Nov. 1884. THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL:— Page From all of which it follows that as far as the Qur'an is concerned, the best argument that can be adduced in support of the dogma is based on no- thing more than an inference from a certain sequence of verses in Sura'e-SAFFAT. But even though the Qur'an could be shewn to support the dogma (which it cannot) the claims of Ishmael as com- pared with Isaac would still remain unproven. 2nd. The dogma, whether held by Muhammad or not, is, in certain essential particulars, directly subversive of Muhammad's own teaching ; for i. If it is sound, the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians are corrupted, though Muhammad gives in his adhesion to the question of their authenticity and genuineness, ... ... 46-48 ii. The author of the Qur'an, moreover, in many places and in a variety of ways teaches the supe- riority of the Israelitish to the Ishmaelitish race, 48-59 2. Certain facts of history which Muslims quote in favour of their view, ... ... ... ... ... 60-133 1st. As to thequestionof Ishmael'sconnexionwithMakka, 60-102 i. The account of Hagar's first departure from the patriarchal home, ... ... ... ... 62-4 ii. The narrative of her second departure thence in company with her son, ... .,. ... 64-82 From all of which it appeals (1) That the opinion that Ishmael ever visited Makka is contrary to evidence : and ... ... 67-81 (2) That it is equally contrary to evidence that Abraham ever did so : and ... ... ... 82-7 (3) That several other considerations of an import- ant nature tell in the same direction — namely, 87-133 a. The fact that the occasion of Ishmael's de- parture from Abraham's home is not accu- rately stated in the Islamic legends, ... 87-9? b. In regard to the localities where Hagar so- journed the Muhammadan theologians draw some unguarded conclusions, ... ... 91-5 c. The errors of Muslims in regard to Ishmael's Analysis. xi Page age at the time of his removal from the patriarchal home, ... ... ... 95-100 ind. As to the genealogy of Muhammad, ... ... 103-33 i. As to the question whether Muhammad himself held the opinion of his having descended from Ishmael, ... ... ... ... ... 104-g (Evidence from the Qur'an, from Muslini histo- tianSj and from European Orientalists, — GibboHj Forster, de Percival, Sprenger, Muir, Deutsche Burton, and Maulvi Sayyid Ahmad Khafi, among others.) ii. The exigencies of controversy have, however, led to his followers ignoring his own expressed views of the subject, ... ... ... 109-33 (The unsatisfactory nature of all efforts that have hitherto been made to establish the claims of Ishmael and of his seed to the promise in ques- tion, contrasted with the claims of the posterity of Isaac.) II. The Muslim dogma that Ishmael was the Child of Promise viewed in the light of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures ... 133-317 1. The predictions and promises of Scripture relating to Ishmael have been fulfilled in him and in his posterity ... 134-85 1st. This is true of those predictions and promises which preceded his birth, ... ... ... ... 134-79 i. As to the fixed locality where he and his posterity Ivould eventually settle. (^In the presence of his brethren.') ... ... ... ... 135 41 ii. As to the character which would distinguish him and his posterity. (The wild ass and the Badawis.) 141-79 2nd. It is also true of those which followed that event, 179-85 i. Those made to Abraham, ... ... ... 179 ii. Those made to Hagar, ... ... ... 180-1 From all of which it appears that in none of the superna- tural utterances regarding Ishmael is there anything to justify the Muslim dogma that the Saviour of the world would be a descendant of his, ... ... ... 181-5 2. Elated by the admission that the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians contain predictions relating to Ishmael, xii THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL:— Page Muhammadans are apt to lose sight of the fact that they contain predictions relating to Isaac as well, — in reference to whom, as distinguished from Ishmael, THE covenant was, beyond all controversy, made, ... ... ... 185-317 This is shewn 1st. By the nature of the predictions that preceded Isaac's birth, ... ... ... ... ... 186 i. The striking contrast in the wording of the pre- dictions relating to the two children, ... 186 ii. The importance of the circumstances attendant upon the predictions regarding Isaac, ... 186 iii. The emotions of Abraham on the announcement that Sarah would become a mother, ... 186 iv. The particular time of Isaac's birth specified, ... 186-91 V. The 'Ijlessing' confirmed to that branch of the family by the repetition of the promise to Jacob after the decease of both Abraham and Isaac, 19 1-2 2nd. By the miraculous conditions which characterized that event, ... ... ... ... ... 186-200 3rd. By the import of events in the history of Isaac, ... 182-194 4th. By the history and mission of his posterity, ... 200-3 The question considered as to whether the posterity of Ishmael or the posterity of Isaac has been the greater 'blessing' to the world thus far. Muham- madanism and Christianity in relation to the world's advancement, ... ... ... ... 203 III. A few other considerations claim the attention of all parties concerned in the issues of this controversy, ... ... 317-49 1. It is important to bear continually in mind the Scripture usage of the word 'seed,' ... ... ... ... 317-18 2. The supernatural Ln connexion with the birth of Isaac, ... 318-20 1st. The age of Sarah is represented as carrying the event into the region of the miraculous, ... 319 2nd. The change of name in the case of both parents is enjoined by God in direct connexion with the event, 319-20 3. The significance of the conflict of evidence of the (2ui'an and the Pentateuch regarding the character of Ismael, ... 321 4. The effect of the date of the contemplated immolation of Isaac upon the issues of the argument, ... ... 328 ANALYSIS. xiii Page 5. The supposition that Ishmael was 'the Child of Promise' renders the terms of the Divine allusion to Isaac para- doxical and untrue, ... ... ••• ••• 329"3o 6. The typical character of Isaac. (As to whether the author of the Qur'an concedes this.) ... ... ••• 333-5 7. The significance of the re-institution of the rite of circum- cision in the family of Isaac, ... ... ••• 33^ 8. Coincident teaching of the Qur'an and the New Testament on the subject of hereditary salvation, ... ... 336-40 9. Some final considerations on the Scripture use of the word 'seed,' ... ... ... 340-9 Conclusion : — The state of the evidence as thus reviewed shews that the whole question of the claims of Ishmael to be 'the Child of Promise' is entitled to reconsideration on the part of all earnest-minded Muslims, ... ... ... ... ••• ••• ••• 349-52 CORRIGENDA. Page 88, line 24, for ' 1727' read ' 1767-' 124, line 21, for 'Christian' and 'christian.' 271, line 7 from bottom, omit 'if they can to do so.' (The reader is requested to mark these points in his copy. Besides those, it is hoped tliat any otlicr press-errors which may be discovered will be only such as will occasion no misgiving. J JUL 3 1885 ^^ AN EXAMINATION OF THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL AS VIEWED BY MUHAMMADANS. There are many portions of our Scriptures in which Muslims profess to discover traces of Isl^m and its founder. The investi- gation of one only of these will be the business of the present treatise. It is maintained by most of the followers of Muhammad that Ishmael, and not Isaac, was the Child of Promise ; and they f do so for the sake of the dogma that the predictions embodied in the promise made to Abraham had ulterior reference not to Christ but to Muhammad, and to him only, — whom they accordingly designate /^«/-/$-w^'//, ' Son of Ishmael.' This is one of the cardinal points of the Islamic system ; and Muslims maintain, accordingly, that it is through the seed of Ishmael and not through that of Isaac that all nations of the earth are to be blessed. So eager, indeed, are they to establish this dogma, that though they accept on the whole the statements of the Bible in reference to Ishmael, they yet are almost unanimous in the opinion that it was Ishmael and not Isaac whom Abraham was commanded to offer up in sacrifice.* This opinion is held by * Mrs. Meer Hussan Ali, Observations on the Mussnlmaims of India, i. 260-61 (edii. Lo:idoii, 1832); Heiklots, Qdmhi-i-fsidin, 66 (edii. Loud. 1832); Syed Ahmed Khan, Historical Geography of Arabia, 91 (edn. Lond. 1S70); Sale, Al Koran, 368 (edii, Tegg, Lend. No date). 2 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. nearly all the Muslims who have written commentaries on the Qur'an, and it is quite commonly maintained in public by Muham- madan opponents of the advocacy of Christianity. This explains the application, in Muslim parlance, of the expressions Az-Zabth ('the Sacrifice') and ZabiJail-ldh ('the Sacrifice of God') as distinctive epithets of Ishmael, and as equivalents of his proper name.* So addicted are Muslim controversialists to the habit of speaking at random in the hope of catching the Christian off his guard, that we have even heard learned and venerable Muham- madans roundly assert in public, that Ishmael was actually slain in sacrifice by his father, and that he afterwards rose from the dead ! When asked for proof of this they have asserted that it is written in the Taurat and in the Qur'an : but they may be safely challenged to quote a verse in proof o^ it from either of these books. The sacrifice of Ishmael, say they, took place on Mount 'Arafat, — one of the heights in the valley of Mina, in the Makkan territory. Inasmuch as he survived his father, the dogma of his resurrection follows of necessity. Another account given by Muslim writers is as follows : — When Abraham founded the city of Makka, the Divine Being desired the patriarch to prepare a feast for Him. Upon Abraham's requesting to be informed what He would have on the occasion, He replied, — Offer up thy son Ishmael. Agreeably to this behest, he took Ishmael to the Ka'ba, and having laid him down, made several ineffectual strokes at his throat with a very sharp knife. Hereupon Lshmael said — Your eyes being uncovered, it is through pity and compassion for me that you allow the knife to miss. It would be better, therefore, if you blindfolded yourself with the end of your turban, and then sacrificed me. Acting upon his son's suggestion, the patriarch, having repeated the formula of initia- tion, Bism'il-lAh AllAIin akbar (' In the name of the Great God,' here goes !), drew the knife across Ishmael's neck. Meanwhile, * Taylor, History ej Mohammedanism, 23 (edn. Lend. 1834). THE CONDITION OF THE CONTROVERSY. 3 however, the angel Gabriel had dexterously substituted a broad- tailed sheep (Arab, dnnibd) for the lad ; and Abraham, on uncovering his eyes, found to his astonishment the sheep slain, and his son standing behind him. This story is given with slight variations in many Muhammadan books. It obviously is a parody of the narrative given in the Book of GENESIS. Sayyid Ahmad Khaii, who writes in defence of Muhammadanism, expressly affirms that Ishmael was never offered up in sacrifice.* In this he agrees with the Persians, but whether for the same reason or not, is not quite clear ; for they claim this distinction for Isaac because they consider themselves among his descendants.-f* As the object of Sayyid Ahmad Khaii v/as to establish the dogma of his own descent from Ishmael, it is possible that he may have been influenced by this reason in holding the opinion : but he does not expressly say so. Hundreds of other assertions and fables of a similar nature and equally untenable, are put forward by Muslims in discussion and in print ; and so wedded are they to these peculiar errors that their minds seem to realize no force whatever in any matters of fact adverse to such errors, that may be laid before them. That gifted and sagacious persons, as multitudes of Muslims are, should arrive at different conclusions regarding the facts of history is intelligible enough, and wholesome perhaps ; but that these persons should disown or mutilate facts which are admitted by all the world besides, is a phenomenon which can only be explained by an enthusiastic attachment to a foregone conclusion. It has to be constantly borne in mind by any one who is desirous of arriving at actual facts, that when Muslims are engaged in the advocacy of their religion, they are not wont to speak according to their knowledge. A certain tradition which no Muslim likes to hear cited, and which they all disown if they can, assures them of the permission of Muhammad to give utterance to an * Syed Ahmed Khan, The Pedig>-ee of Mohammed, 3, + Price, Essay tcnuards the History of Arabia, 67 (edn. Lo:id. 1824). d 4 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. untruth under certain circumstances. One of these conditions is the defence of religion!^ And accordingly, if Muslims can only snatch a temporary victory over an ill-informed or too ingenuous Christian by any distortion of fact or perversion of reason, they have the inward gratification of knowing that so far they have done what their religion requires of them. ' Such unblushing inventions,' says Sir William Muir.f ' will lead us to receive with suspicion the whole series of tales in which it is pretended that Mahomet and his religion were fore- shadowed, so that pious men^anticipated, long before the Prophet arose, many of the peculiar rites and doctrines of Islam. It was a fond conceit of Mahomet that Islam was as old as Adam, and has from the beginning been the faith of all good men, who looked forward to himself as the Prophet charged with winding up all previous Dispensations. It was therefore natural for his credulous followers to carry out this idea, and to invest the memory of any serious-minded man or earnest inquirer who preceded Mahomet, with some of the dawning rays of the divine effulgence about to burst upon the world. To this spirit we may attribute the palpable endeavour to make Mahometan tradition and the legends of Arabia tally with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and with Jewish tradition. This canon has little application to the biography of Mahomet himself, but it has a wide and most effective range in reference to the legendary history of his ancestors and of early Arabia. The desire to regard, and possibly the endeavour to prove, the Prophet of Islam a descendant of Ishmael, began even in his lifetime. Many Jews, versed in the Scriptures, and won over by the inducements of Islam, pandered their knowledge to the service of Mahomet and his followers. Jewish tradition had long been well known in Medina and in the countries over which Islam early spread, and • Wherry, Conwientary on the Qurdn, i. Ii8 (edn. Lond., 1882); Muir, Life of Mahomet, i. Ixxiii— iv; Waqid!, I33>^. 227 K : Hishami, 392; Mishqat, ii. 427. t Muir, Life of Mahomet, i. Ixix (edn. Lond. 1861. Edition of 1877, p. 591). THE CONDITION OF THE CONTRO VERS V. 5 the Mahometan system was now made to fit upon it ; for Islam did not ignore, but merely superseded, Judaism and Christianity, as the whole docs a part, or rather as that which is complete swallows up that which is inchoate. Hence arose such absurd anachronisms as the attempts to identify Cahtan with Joktan (between whom, at the most moderate estimate, fifteen centuries intervene) ; and thus were forged the earlier links of the Abrahamic genealogy of Mahomet, and numberless tales of Ishmael and the Israelites, cast in a semi-Jewish semi-Arab mould. These, though pretending to be original traditions, can generally be recognized as plagiarisms from rabbinical lore, or as Arabian legends forced into accommodation with them.' Many points of a historical nature ally themselves with the present subject, such as the question as to who may have been the original occupants of Arabia ; w^hat became of the immediate offspring of Ishmael's twelve sons ; the Abrahamic descent of the Quraishite tribe, of which Muhammad is believed to have been a member. These and other points have already been treated with great learning and ability by Forster, Crichton, Muir, and other writers. The purpose of the present monograph is to shew that the dogma which Muslims ground upon the reputed Abrahamic descent of Muhammad — z'is. that Ishmael was what is known as • the Child of Promise' — is one that is contrary to the evidence ot the only authoritative document in existence which contains evidence on the subject, — that is, the Book of GENESIS. The interest which Muslims have in maintaining this dogma arises partly from the fact that they wish to preserve the tradi- tional sacredness of the Ka'ba (the Temple which forpis the head- quarters of the Muhammadan religion at Makka) ; partly from a desire to protect the tradition of their own ecclesiastical relation to ' the Father of the Faithful ;' and partly from the dogma, held by the entire Muslim community, of the eventual triumph of the Muhammadan creed over all other religious beliefs throughout the world. Here we may remark that the Ka'ba was from the 6 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. earliest period of known history prior to the pubh'c announce- ment of Muhammad, the scene of idolatrous practices ; it was, in fact, from time immemorial the seat of Arabian stone-worship and other forms of fctichism.* Yet notwithstanding that idola- trous observances of the most benighted sort were carried on there, the traditions of the place were always strangely mixed up with the Biblical accounts of Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael, — • the most important feature of this phenomenon being that many of the Scripture statements regarding Isaac were appropriated in these traditions to Ishmael. The narrative regarding these per- sonages is already so well known to the readers of the Bible, that we may now safely introduce them forthwith to the controversy. We will examine, in the first place, the nature of the position which the adherents of Islam thus take up ; and, in the second place, we will view that position in the light of the canonical Scriptures of the Jews and Christians. In looking at the subject from the Muhammadan standpoint, we will examine the materials on which the Muslim bases his opinion ; and in so doing we will shew that the very strongest support he can adduce for it, is at the best ambiguous. Muhammadans ground this opinion on what they allege to be the teachings of the Quran. It happens, however, that they arc not able to quote any clear and express text in support of it. They base it merely on a sequence of verses in a certain passage where Jehovah is represented as revealing to Abraham His covenant in regard to the patriarch's two sons. The passage occurs in SOra xxxvii (Saffat) 97—113, where we read,— S\ AjJ'-'- -'A Oi ' A A ' ^'' A A--' Aj,^ 9 A.V ^ ^ , ^ ^ t, \^ A lAjjii^-l'^-A;? /-" /-^^ i^^ A '' \ f * Bate SkHne of f shim (a work on the ka'ba which will appear shortly). THE GROUNDS OF THE DOGMA. 7 '- r - JJ E Au/ -' AJJ' A' ^A A 01/ A ^1 A A ' A ^jJ- ^ \^ 3j . — . y ^ y y y y y A^y A-*- A*- A ^lA^^ 9\ }a 9 — \ A y f' iCw -'A A>'a A " ijlc Ur yj ® ^;lif. ^J>J i5Jji 5 ffl l:«<^' '')-V)-^ '"^ cJ- ® ^iS-T""^^^ \S''fT^ A ^jj ^AA^ A^^l'' ^AIA --• /l' -'A ^ A -lA -- A- A^l ''A 3^''j>'jJ-|A^I AjJ-' -- A A^A ■* j>A^ A^j^i/^^:/ A^ 5;*^ 'And (Abraham) said, — Verily, I (am) going unto my Lord who will direct me. O Lord, grant me a righteous (issue). Wherefore we acquainted him (that he should have a son who should be) a meek youth. And when he had attained to (years) of discretion (and could join in acts of religion) with him, (Abraham) said (unto him), — O my son, verily I saw in a dream that I should offer thee in sacrifice. Consider, therefore, what thou art of opinion (I should do). He answered, — O my father, do what thou art commanded. Thou shalt find me, if God please, a patient person. And when they had submitted themselves (to the Divine will), and (Abraham) had laid (his son) prostrate on his face, WE cried unto him, — O Abraham, now hast thou verified the vision. Thus do we reward the righteous. Verily this was a manifest trial. And we ransomed him with a noble victim. And we left (the following salutation to be bestowed) on him by the latest posterity (namely) — Peace (be) on Abraham ! Thus do we reward the righteous. For he (was one) of our faithful servants. And we rejoiced him with the promise of Isaac, — a righteous prophet. And we blessed him and Isaac. And of their offering some (were) righteous doers, and (others) who manifestly injured their own souls.'* * The translation is Sale's; so also are the portions in brackets, which Sale prints in italics. Other translators (Lane, Rodwell, etc.) word their respective translations differently, of course; but the gist is the same: and therefore we have thought it unnecessary to burden our pages with all the translations that have been given of each passage we have occasion to cite. We shall only give the different renderings in those iiistances in which the difference is material to the argument. 8 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Other passages might be quoted, in which Ishmael is singled out for commendation by the author of the Qur an. Thus, in SClra xix (Maryam) 55, we read, — C $ jJ ^l\f ■> ^ y A^A -- ' -^ - ^3j ^a '^ , I A A ^ A O) UJ Ify-^ ^1^5 JXjJ) Jjlo ^1^ 4;l j J^sSW-l .T*=J^ljy yj f) ' Remember also Ishmael in the Book. For he was true to (his) promise, and was an apostle, and a prophet.' Again, in Sfira xxi (Ambiya) 85, Z6, — ^AxAA^IA-'A -'A \U ■^ ^ M 9 AA^ ^Aa -'AiA -"A ULt <^>i A ^W (t) 'And (remember) Ishmnel, and Edris, and Uhu'lkefl. All (these) were patient persons : wherefore we led them into Our mercy; for they were righteous doers.' What the ' promise' was which is alluded to in the former of these two passages the Our'an nowhere tells us. Baizawi says that it was t'lie promise he made to Abraham that he would submit to be offered up in sacrifice.* Whether this was the author's mean- ing or not it is impossible to say. It is easy enough for a Muslim, as Baizawi was, to place arbitrary interpretations upon passages, so as to make them support foregone conclusions. These are the only passages which Muslims are able to cite when appealed to for evidence from the Qur'an in support of a dogma which gives the lie direct to the Biblical narrative, and aims at overturning God's covenant with the Jews. As the first of these passages is obviously the most important, and is the one on which they chiefly rely, it calls for our best attention. In the first place, it is to be noted that the author of the Qur an docs not make it at all clear as to what his meaning here really is. Even his own followers, in fact, are not agreed among themselves as to whether the individual he here refers to is Ishmael or Isaac. Some of them hold the one opinion and some the * Sale, Al Kcran, 25X. HISTORICAL INACCURACY. 9 other, while some of them maintain that the person who figured in the case was not a son but a grandson, — Jacob.* This assumption involves a double contradiction of history; for, Jacob was not a son of Abraham's, but a grandson ; and it can be proved that he was not even born at the time of the sacrifice. Islamic tradition embodies also another contradiction in con- nexion with the subject — viz. as to the place to which belongs the honour of having been the birth-place of Ishmael. In the valley of Mina, close by the block of stone on which the sacrifice is said to have taken place, is a small cavern, capable of contain- ing four or five persons. In this cavern, Hagar is said to have been delivered of Ishmael ! Such an assertion directly contradicts not Scripture only, but even Muliammadan tradition itself, which says that Ishmael was born in Syria, and that his mother Hagar carried him to the Hijaz when he was as yet an infant at her breast. But a small cavern offering itself so conveniently, appears to have been sufficient to justify the substitution of Mina for ' Syria as a fit birth-place for the father of the Badawis ; more especially, says Burckhardt, as the fiction serves to attract so many pious donations from pilgrims to those of the Makkawls who sit around the place with out-spread handkerchiefs.-f- Those of them who are concerned rather for the establishment of their own ecclesiastical prepossessions than for the interests of truth, seek to make good their opinion by flatly contradicting the statements of the Jewish records. Say what they will, however, it is no- where affirmed in the Our an that the son to whom the author here alludes was Ishmael; nor does the author anywhere affirm that it was Ishmael whom Abraham was commanded to offer up. It is remarkable how, with every desire to be strictly accurate, even learned and careful writers are not able to keep their state- ments free of the most manifest errors of fact. Thus, Price translates vv. io6 — io8 of the above citation, — ' Resigning himself • Burckhardt, Travels in Arabia, ii. 66 (efln. Load. 1S29). + Ibid. lo THE CLAIMS OF IS MM A EL. entirely to the will of his God, he made up his mind to the actual sacrifice of his son : but I myself sent him a victim, — a great ram, which he was directed to slay as a substitute for Ishmaeil.'* No one could read this passage without arriving at the conclusion that Ishmael is actually named by the author of the Qur an as the son in question. The truth is that the Quran does not specify which of the sons it was. But in ver. 112 of this quotation Muhammad represents Jehovah as saying, — 'And WE rejoiced him with the promise of Isaac, a righteous prophet' Putting together this verse and ver. 99 — ' WE gave him tidings of a meek youth' — and remembering that the account of the contemplated sacrifice comes between them, Muslims draw the inference that the Qur'an teaches that the son whose immolation was com- manded was beyond all question Ishmael, and not Isaac. There are several points that may be mentioned here which might fairly be quoted as militating against the theory that the author of the Qur'an referred in this passage to Ishmael, as distinguished from Isaac. In the first place, while on the one hand the very strongest support which Muslims can adduce in favour of their dogma, is shewn to be at the best ambiguous, on the other hand the dogma is in direct opposition to Muhammad's own teaching in other parts of the Qur'an. i. The Qur'an nowhere names Ishmael as having been the son referred to in the passage. This is remarkable when we note the detailed and circum- stantial nature of the allusions believed by Muslims to have been made to him, — especially in regard to the subject of his birth, of the contemplated immolation, and of his future history. On the other hand, the author is careful, in this very passage, to mention Isaac by name. Now, if it be supposed that the author of the Qur'an aimed in this passage at demolishing a dogma held alike • Price, History of Arabia, 67, NOT SUPPORTED BY THE QURAN. n by his Jewish and Christian contemporaries and their ancestors as a fundamental and essential element in their respective faiths, we confess that these two circumstances taken together appear to our mind to be unaccountable. ii. Take in conjunction with this point the fact that in ver. 112 it is not mentioned that the birth of Isaac M'as predicted, but merely that God announced to Abraham that Isaac would be ' a righteous prophet.' In other words, there is nothing in the passage to shew that Isaac was not already in existence, and that he was not the son to whom the whole context refers. Nor is there a trace of evidence to shew that the person here spoken of as 'a righteous prophet' was not identical with the one referred to in ver. 99 as • a meek youth.' So that for anything this passage contains to the contrary, it is in perfect harmony with the narrative as contained in our own Scriptures. iii. Note, also, a point of grammar in the passage under consideration. In the context {I'er. 10 1) the great patriarch is represented as disclosing to his son his dream in which he had received the command to offer him up in sacrifice, and he addresses him " Yci b/innaija !" (O little son). It may, indeed, be urged in reply that the author of the Qur'an meant to represent the patriarch as having here used the diminutive form, not to indicate that the son referred to was the lesser of the two, but merely to indicate endearment. Obviously, however, it would not be prudent in either party to make too much of the point. It is only intro- duced here as one of the facts that arise in the study of the subject. Taken in connexion with the other points mentioned it appears not impossible that the intention of the author may have been, as suggested — vis. to indicate that the son he referred to was the younger of the two. iv. The Muslim interpretation of the passage is very con- siderably out of harmony with what the text says regarding personal character. 12 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. The character for meekness which the text {vcr. 99) attri- butes to the son to whom the author refers, accords rather with the known character of Isaac, and is in striking contrast with the character which Scripture and history alike attribute to Ishmael. Scripture teaches that Ishmael would be ' a wild man,' and that ' his hand would be against every man and man's hand against him.' That this was really the character of Ishmael no one can for a moment hesitate to admit; and it is equally agreed that the life of Isaac was that of a quiet shepherd. No less striking does the contrast become when we bear in mind the fierce relentless character of Ishmael's descendants through all the ages, down even to our own day. All these points, be it noted, come from that source which every faithful Muslim must regard as ultimate and decisive. Though opinions may differ as to the extent of their logical value when isolated from each other, there can be little doubt that the natural tendency of each of them is, as to their moral title, when taken together, to produce logical conviction. Those Muslims, therefore, who do not agree with the majority of their coreligionists in the interpretation they put upon this passage, are not without reason in their dissent from the view generally received. Whether or not Muhammad himself really held the opinion that not Isaac but Ishmael was ' the Child of Promise,' is there- fore a point on which, in the Qur'an at least, he docs not express himself Most of his followers, however, confidently maintain that he did hold it ; and in support of their view they cite the fact that the author of the Qur'dn gives to Ishmael priority over Isaac in point of rank among the patriarchs. Thus, in SCira ii (BAQR) 133 we read, — f^ A' ' ^ A 9 ffi' '' A ^ ' ^ ^ f A-'A '- A 'a '- ^ /"^ A '^^ A^A-' A 3 C ,^, (^1 '{ A ^A 1 A ■'A -' "1 ^ ^ ^ f y ^f,9 >^^i 5 J-JU-.I 5 ^\y>\ jo'lii 4JI 5 .iA«Ji j.jl;|jJT5 ^ ' ' ' ^^9 „^ fy f ^ ffi ^)U-^ »J ^ MUHAMMAUS OPINION NOT KNOWN. 13 • Were ye present when Jacob was at the point of death, when he said to his sons, — Whom will ye worship after me? They answered,— We will worship thy God, and the God of thy fathers Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac,— one God, and to Him will we be resigned.' And ver. 136, — ' 5; ^ -fti JJ 'A A ">> A ^ - ^ ^^ ■^ A^A^ A/Aji» A -'A ^'jJ-^ c) r^ '^' e;^. 0>*' * Say ye, — We believe in God, and in that which hath been sent down unto us, and in that which hath been sent down unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and in that which was delivered unto the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them.' And I'er. 140, — ft ^ lA^^ • A ^A '' A^A^ '' I A ^A - A ^ I ^ .fhf Kf" K_ I I .< A b ^/^ 3 ' * Will ye say, — Truly Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes were Jews or Christians?' These are the only passages we know of in which the patriarchal precedence of Ishmael over Isaac is indicated by the order of the names. But even though it were possible to cite ten times as many passages, it would not affect the argument, for they would merely prove a fact which no one doubts. If the Muslim is mainly concerned for the ascertainment of truth, he should be careful how he builds on such a foundation as this ; for, this placing the name of Ishmael before that of Isaac may, from anything that appears in the Quran to the contrary, not import anything more than the recognition by the author of that book of the mere circumstance of Ishmael's seniority, — a fact which no Jew or Christian calls in question. Keeping this view of the matter before us we should balance against all such passages as the three just quoted, those numerous passages in 14 THE ^CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. which Muhammad, in naming the members of the patriarchal household, actually omits all mention of Ishmael. As examples we may cite Sfjra xxix ('anqabCjt) 26, where we read, — * And WE gave liim Isaac and Jacob.' And Sdra xxxviii (swaD) 45, where we read, — 'V-'A AAA -' hfh/" - I A ^ A A 'I A^"" 'And remember Our servants Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, — men of might and vision.' Had Ishmael been as important a person in Muhammad's estima- tion as he is in that of Muhammad's followers, it is simply inexplicable that he should in so many passages have passed him over in silence, while going at the same time out of his way to name a grandson of the patriarch's. Here, however, as in so many other instances, Muslims avail themselves of their never-failing resource, TRADITION. In regard to most of the points of difference that exist between Islam and the ancient systems which it professes to supersede, Muslims quite frequently out-Muhammad their leader, and where the Qur'an fails them they fall back upon the Altadis, traditional or patristic literature regarding Muhammad. One of the chief characteristics, however, of the traditions embodied in this church literature, is their conflicting and mutually contradictory nature. Muhammadans, accordingly, disagree entirely among themselves not only in regard to the authority of these traditions, but even in regard to their substance. We may give a sample of these traditions as they relate to our present subject. They represent that Muhammad said, — ' I am the son of the two that were offered in sacrifice' — AnA ibn zahthain {lit. the son of two sacrifices). Muslims allege that in saying this, he alluded to his reputed ancestor Ishmael and to his own father 'Abdu'1-lah.* The point with which we are at present • Price, History of Arabia, 67; Lane, Selections from the A'ur'dn, 73 (edn. I.ond. 1879); Muir, Life of MahoTHt-f, i. cclx. THE EXIGENCIES OF THE CONTROVERSY. 15 concerned is not whether Muliammad himself beh'eved in his Ishmaelitic descent, but rather whether he teaches in the Qur'dn that Ishmael was the son whom Abraham was commanded to offer up in sacrifice. And the exceedingly doubtful nature of the tradition just quoted and of the interpretation which Muslims put upon it, should be evident when we remember the four points just mentioned, and when we give due weight to the circumstance that even Muhammad himself gave up the question of his geneo- logy as one that was incapable of solution,— a point to which we shall give closer attention on a subsequent page. What the Biblical account is in regard to Ishmael is already known to the reader and will presently receive further attention. Thus much for the allusion to Ishmael. The legend relating to the father of Muhammad is substantially as follows. 'Abdu'l- Muttalib, the grandfather of Muhammad, took a solemn vow that if God would vouchsafe to him ten sons he would devote one of them to Him. The circumstances are thus related in authorities cited by Sir William Muir.* The discovery of the well ZAMZAM by 'Abdu'l-Muttalib led to his becoming the virtual chief of Makka. A strange calamity, however, threatened to embitter his prosperity. During his early troubles, after the discovery of the Well, he was so much impressed with the sense of his weakness and inferiority in contending with the large and influential families of his opponents, as to pledge himself to the vow above referred to ; for at that time he had but one son (Harith) to support and encourage him against his more prosper- ous neighbours. There appears, however, to be grave reason for doubting whether the vow referred to involved actual immolation. As far as Arabian tradition enables us to form an opinion, the custom of offering human beings in sacrifice to a deity was unknown at Makka.i- The more probable state of the case would * Muir, Life cf Mahomet, i. cclix. t Ibid. cclx. As to the practice in other parts of Arabia in this particular, see Gibbon, Decline and Fall, 908 (edn. Chatto and Windus, 1875), and Muir, Life of Mahomet, i cclxi, and the authorities whom they cite. 1 6 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. seem to be that 'Abdu'l-Muttalib vow ed that he would devote a tenth son to the great idol Hubal which stood within the Ka'ba. The Arabic term uazr would probably be the word he employed, — whence the Biblical term ' Nazarene' or ' Nazarite' (one devoted to God) ; and the idea of a son being devoted to the service of a deity may have become known among the Arabs from the cir- cumstance of its being current among the Jews. But however natural to the Judaistic system may have been the custom of devoting a son to God's service, it would have lacked the sanction of precedent at Makka ; and, as it formed no part of the Makkan ceremonies, it would not have readily moulded itself to the creed there held. The sacrifice of human beings in Arabia was only incidental : so much so, that even in the case of cruel and fero- cious tyrants who are alleged to have done it uniformly and on principle, the authority seems doubtful. Seeing then that the devotion of a son to God, whether by immolation or in any other way, was a thing unknown at Makka, it is not easy to see how the thing could have been carried out there. Muliammadans, however, hold that while Abraham acted rightly, inasmuch as he was following out a Divine behest, the father of 'Abdu'1-ldh acted wrongly, in making so rash a vow. This fact lends countenance to the opinion that though the legend referred to is more or less exaggerated in point of detail, it is not pure invention. The important part played in the affair by the idol Hubal, requires that we here insert a few notes regarding that interesting personage. But there is the usual discordancy between authorities. Some points, however, seem clearly agreed upon in reference to the matter. In the first place, all agree that the idol was an importation ; and the fact is used to explain how image-worship came to supersede, in the Hijaz, that ' Religion of Abraham' which, according to the Islamic creed, was the ancestral religion of that territory. — The man who is credited with having thus first intro- duced idolatry there is Amr bin Luhai, — called by Sale ' Amru' THE ORACLE OF HUBAL. i; and by Burckhardt 'Ammar.'* He is said by Burckhardt to have been of the tribe of Qussai, and by Osborn to have belonged to the Bani Khuza'a.f Shahrastani and most Arabian authors assert that prior to the ascendancy of the Khuzd'aVtes in the Hijdz, the One only God was worshipped at the Ka'ba, and that Hubal was imported by their chief 'Amr bin Luhai. The point, how- ever, is not one on which they all agree. Thus, Waqidi states that Hubal was the chief representative idol of the Kindna tribes ; and that it was anciently called the idol of Khuzaima, the supposed father of the Kinana and some tribes related to them. These more ancient worshippers of Hubal were nomadic tribes, and lived to the west of the Sacred Territory, and on the high road that leads to the north. Al Fasi also, dissents from the common view, and calls Hubal emphatically, an idol of the Quraishites. He says that the idols imported by 'Amr bin Luhai were three — viz. Al Khalasa (which was worshipped to the south of Makka) Nahik (also called Muhddzir), and Muta'm.j The general opinion, however, credits 'Amr bin Luhai with havino- introduced the idol among the worshippers at the Ka'ba. The unsoundness of this opinion we have shewn elsewhere,§ where we prove that the idolatrous institutions of Makka were ancient in his time. This man 'Amr, or 'AmrCi, flourished at the commencement of the third century of the Christian era, and was king in the Hijaz, on which account the term 'Malik' is also applied to him, and frequent allusion is made to him in the Arabian historians.il There is difference of statement as to the place whence the idol was brought. Azraki says that Amru imported it from Hyt in * Sale, Prdiminary Discourse, 14; Burckhardt, Aiabia, i. 298-9; De Percival Essai SUV V Histoire des Arabes, i. 223 (edn. Paris, 1847), t Burckhardt, Arabia, i. 298; Oshorn, /sldin iindcr t/ie Arabs, 75 (edn. Lond. 1876). X Sprengcr, Lije oj Mohainviad, 7 (edn. Allahabad, 1851). § Bate, Origin and History of the A'aba (a work that will appear shortly). II Pocock, Specimen Historice Arabitm, 82 (edn. Oxon. 1806); Osborn Isldm under (he Arabs, 75; Syed Ahmed Khan, Historical Geography of Arabia, 54. 2 i8 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Mesopotamia ;* Abulfida, however, tells us that it was brought from Balka, in the province of Damascus, in Syria.f According to the Merdcid-al-ittila, Balka is situated between Damascus and Wadi-il-Kora ; and is the locality of the ancient Moabites, to the east of Judaea, near the Dead Sea.:|: De Percival remarks that the name ' Balkd' recalls that of Balak, the son of Zippor, king of the Moabites.§ At the time of Amrfi's visit, the district was occupied by Amalikites — viz. by the Bani Samaida, or Bani Amila-al-Am^lik.ll This man made a journey into Syria, and on his return he passed by Ma'ab, the town of Moab or Areopolis, in the distinct of Balka, where he saw the people worshipping images.H He asked the meaning and object of the homage thus rendered, and was informed, — ' These are our gods, formed in imitation of the celestial bodies and of human figures. When we ask of them victory, they give it us ; when, in times of drought, we ask for rain, they send it ; wealth, — they bestow it ; in danger, — they accord us their succour. In short, all the prayers we address to them are heard, and granted.' How well, exclaims the learned Pocock, does the name of the idol, which may be derived from the Hebrew ^^n Hevel, 'breath,' •wind,' 'puffing,' 'vanity,' suit such a figment as this!** Amr, however, was much rejoiced at this intelligence, and asked that one of the idols might be given to him. They gave him Hubal ; and he carried it away to Makka, and placed it in the Ka'ba.ff Such is the rendering given by Pocock to the expression 'ALA' ZAHRU'L-KA'ba, used by Shahrastdni, which Pocock translates • Burckhardt, Arabia, i. 299. t Sale, Prel. Disc. 14; Tocock, Specimen, 97. X De Percival, Tfistoire des Atabes, i. 224. § Numb. xxii. 10; Josh. xxiv. 9. II De Percival, Ilistoire des Arabes, i. 23, 224; Ii)n Khaldun, fol. 12, 130; Osborn, Islihn under tlie Arabs, 75. t Pocock, S/>edtfien, 97; De Percival, Histoire des Arabes, i. 224; Osborn, Ishim under the Arabs, 75. ** Pocock, Specimen, 97. •H Pocock, Specimen, 97; Osborn, /sldni under ike Arabs, 75. THE ORACLE Of IIUBAL. 19 *Ad postcriorcm {sen exteriorcm) Caabae partem.' He explains that some writers relate that some of the images were within the Ka'ba, and others round about it. But De Percival renders the phrase, 'sur la Caba,' — an expression that can have but one meaning, — the one given it by Sayyid Ahmad Khan who records that this idol was 'placed on the suinmit of the Kaaba.'* It seems a curious circumstance that the idol should have been placed in such a position ; yet we learn on good authority that prior to its attaining the honour of supremacy among the idols of the Ka'ba, it passed through a term of probation, — standing for a considerable period outside the Ka'ba, patiently awaiting admission.f The information of Dr. Crichton regarding this point seems rather * mixed.' Speaking of the fate of Hubal on the occasion of Muhammad's conquest of the city, he says, — ' Mounted on the shoulders of the Prophet, AH pulled down the great idol of the Khozaites from the top of the Kaaba.':[: If it was on the outside of the Ka'ba at that time, it must have been degraded after its promotion. Yet the statement of Muir is tantamount to the same thing : he speaks of Hubal as having been on that occasion * in front of the Kaaba, as the tutelary deity of Mecca.' § As the matter was ' referred to the arrows of Hubal within the Kaaba,' and those arrows were 'thrown' /;^ fro7it of the image, there seems to be some oversight here. Sprenger, who gets the information from Waqidi, says that after the time of Oussai at least, this idol stood behind the Ka'ba over a well. II The only well there in our day is Zamzam.IT It is not improbable that this particular idol was chosen by Amrvi for the Ka'ba, for it was supposed to have the power of * De Percival, Histoiie des Arabes, i. 224 ; Syed Ahmed Khan, Customs of the prc-Isldviic Arabians, 12 ; and his Histoiical Geography of Arabia, 54. + Arnold, Islam and Christianity, 26 (edn. Lond. 1S74) ; De Percival, Histoirc des Arabes, i. 250. X Crichton, History of Arabia, i. 277 (edn. Edinburgh, 1834). § Muir, Life of Mahomet, iv. 127. II Sprenger, Life of Mohammad, 7. H Bate, The well Zamzam (a work that will appear shortly). 30 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL, giving rain,* — the great desideratum of Arabia. The king who had thus imported the idol proceeded to engage in worshipping it and offering sacrifices to it, — exercises in which he was followed by his compatriots.-f- Hubal became eventually the chief among the idols of the Ka'ba, — the presiding god in the Temple, and the principal deity of the Quraishites who were the guardians of the Temple,! — the man to whom it was eventually indebted for its promotion being the same man that had introduced it from Syria.§ This preeminence of Hubal was evinced by the fact that in front of it the casting of lots with arrows took place. II Its exaltation ^o this supremacy among the idols of the Ka'ba took place pro- bably at the time when that sanctuary of the Bani Ouraish came to be the pantheon for the whole of Arabia.ir If so, we have here a noteworthy exemplification of the truth of the proverb ' Facilis descensus Averni ;' for, the degeneration of the endless congeries of tribes in that immense country from ' the Religion of Abraham' to fetichism in some of its coarsest forms must have taken place within a mere fraction of the lifetime of one man, — Amr bin Luhai^ to whom it owed its elevation to the supreme status among the idols, being said to have been the first to introduce idolatry among his fellow-countymen.** De Percival, however, shows that idol- worship in the Hijaz existed long before this time ; and he is of opinion that the crime of which the Musalman authorities accuse Amru is that he first introduced into the Ka'ba images already held in veneration by the Arabs.-f-f- Such a fact would help to remove the difficulty of making out how, if Hubal was the first * Pocock, Sednien, 97; Sale, Ptel. Disc. I4;^lrving, Life of Mahomet, 30, 151 (edn. Lond. 1876). + Abulfida, Ilistona ante-lslcitiiica [G^n. Fleischer, Leipzig, 1S31) 136; Sird/ar- Has/il, fol. 12; De Percival, Histoire des Arabes, i, 224. X Arnold, Isldin and Christianity, 26. § Ibid. II Ibid. H Ibid. ** Burckhardt, Arabia, i. 299; De Percival, Hiiloiri des Atabcs, i. 223-4. tt De Percival, Histvirc des Anxbes, i. 224. THE ORACLE OF HUBAL. 2i idol introduced into the Ka'ba, it can be understood to have been elevated to supremacy among the idols there. There is no doubt that in subsequent times it was chief.* It is important, however, to qualify this by saying that it was chief among what might be termed the moveable or adventitious idols of the Ka'ba, — for an exception must always be made in favour of the Black Stone, which has from time immemorial been the fixed and permanent idol of the Ka'ba-f Waqidi, speaking of the dignity of Hubal, says that it 'received almost as much homage as the Black Stone.'+ This could never be second to Hubal or any other idol, being a bona-fide bit of the celestial paradise, which is distined to escape the final conflagration by returning bodily, on the Day of Resurrection, to the place whence it came.§ Hubal, whose name J-^ is sometimes spelt 'Hebal' and generally 'Hobal,' was a huge image made of red agate (Arab. '^^Z^/) in the shape of an old man with a long heavy beard. II One of his hands having by some accident been broken off, was replaced by the Ouraish by a hand of gold.lT In connexion with this idol there are seven arrows of the kind that were used by the Arabs for the purpose of divination.** There is no agreement among writers as to whether, ordinarily, it was the custom to place the whole seven arrows in one hand, or in both, or whether they were not rather placed in front of him, and therefore between his hands, but not in either of them.f f De Percival says that they were * Pccock, S^ecinun, 97; Arnold, Islija and Chistianity, 2(>', Macbride, MAam- medan Religion Explained, 37 (edn. Lond. 1857). t Bate, The Black Stone (a work that will appear shortly). + Sprengcr, Life of Mohai)n)iad, 7. § Buit(3n, nigrimage lo El Mcdinah and Meccak, ii. 65 (edn. Lond. 1855). 11 Pocock, Specimen, 98 ; Reinaud, Mvnuinenfa Musalmdnica, i. 246 ; Sale Ptel. Dis(. 14; De Pei-cival, Histoire des Arabes, i. 224-5; Dods, Mohaviined, Buddha.^ and Christ, 74 (edn. Lond. 1877); Crichton, History op Arabia, i. 277. IT Pocock, Specimen, 98. ** Sale, Prel. Disc. 14. i:i Pocock, Specimen, 98. r "22 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. consecrated to the idol and kept near It ('pres d'elle').* The arrows that were kept for this kind of ceremony were, Hke those with which the Arabs were wont to cast lots, — that is, they were without heads, points, or wings ; and they were distinguished from other arrows by the technical designations Azlam (pi. of zalam or zulani) and Qidal.i (pi. of qidlh) 'arrows of divination. '-f These curious arrows were kept in the temple of the idol in whose presence they were consulted. | Seven such arrows as we have described were accordingly kept in the Ka'ba.§ There was inside the Ka'ba a hollow or cavity in which were preserved the offerings and other treasures belonging to the Temple: the image of Hubal was situated over this hollow. II Sale says that though seven arrows were kept for divination before this idol, yet in actual divination three only were made use ofH On one of these were written the words — 'My Lord hath commanded me ;' on another — ' My Lord hath forbidden me ;' and the third was blank. If the arrow containing the first of these inscriptions was drawn, it was deemed an indication of the Divine approval of the enterprise concerning which the oracle had been resorted to : the arrow containing the second inscription indicated the reverse of this : but if the blank one happened to be drawn, the arrows were mixed and thrown over again till a decisive answer was obtained by one of the others appearing twice out of the three throws.** Though it is usually a most unsafe thing to differ with Sale, yet it is not easy to escape the suspicion that there is some slip in the account he thus gives. If three • Dc Percival, Hisioirc dcs Ar.ihcs, i. 265 ; ii. 310. t Pocock, Specimen, 98-99; De Percival, Hist oil e des Araks, i. 261, 265; S.ile, Prel. Disc. 14; Syed Ahmed Khan, Customs of t/ie pre-Isldmic Arabians, 12; Chris' tian RaiiciHbrancer (]3.\\. 1855) 118. + Sale, Prd. Disc. 90. § Ibid. II Burckhardt, Arabia, i. 300 ; De Percival, Ilistcirc des Aiabis, i. 250 ; Muir, Life of Mahomet, i. cclvi. H Sale, Prel. Disc 90. ** Ibid. THE ORACLE OF HUBAL. 23 arrows only were used, how came there to be so many as seven ? It is not sufficient to reply that seven was 'the perfect number,' for we shall presently see that each of these seven arrows bore an inscription indicating that it was designed for actual use in divination. Besides, in the case of 'Abdu'l-Muttalib now under consideration, it is expressly said that six arrows were used, — in pairs, it is true; but still six, and not 'three.'* Now, besides Hubal, there was another idol at Tebala which was much venerated among the Arabs and was used for exactly the same purposes as Hubal, and consulted by means of the wingless and unpointed arrows. -f- It was called ' Ziu'l-Khulusa.' This is the form given it by de Percival. It is also spelt by Arabian writers Zu'1-Khalusa, Zu'1-Khalsa, Zij'l-Khalasa, — this last being the form most com- monly used. The form applied by de Percival to the idol is not very commonly so applied, — it being not usual to prefix the relative pronoun to any but generic names. The most usual designation for the idol is 'Al Khalasa,' and for the temple *Ziu'l-Khalasa,' — the name being by some attributed to the fact that the tree called 'Khalas' (a kind of clinging tree, like the vine) grew in the locality. The temple was also called 'Ka'batu'l- Yamama' or 'Al Ka'batu'l-Yamaniyya,' from its geographical position ; and 'Al Ka'batu'sh-Shamiyya,' because its door faced the north (Syria = Sham). The temple belonged to several different tribes, among which were the Bani Khatha'm, the Bani Daus, and the Bani Bijila. This idol Al Khalasa was eventually demolished by command of Muhammad after his conquest of Makka.j In consulting it three arrows only were used, on each of which was written one of the words 'Command,' 'Prohibition,' 'Delay.'§ * De Perch'al, Histiire des Arahes. i. 261; Muir, Life oj MaJwimt, i. cclvi. + De Percival, Histoire des Arabes, ii. 310 ; D'Herbelot, Bibliothcque Orientale, Art, Acdah; Reinaud, Momnventa Mitsaltndnua, ii. 14. X Lane, Arabic Lexicon, p. 786, col. 2 (edn. Lond. 1863); Richardson, Persian and Arabic Dictionary, p. 532, col. 2 (edn. Johnson, Lond, 1852). § De Percival, IJistoire des Arabes, ii. 310; Christian Remembrancer (Jan, 185s) 119; Dods, Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ, 82, 24 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. The correspondence both in number and in sense, of these two sets of oracles, suggests the possibility that Sale may have overlooked the distinction between the two idols. Among the pagans of pre-Islamite Arabia there were ordin- arily seven arrows used in consulting the oracle of Hubal.* On these arrows were written certain fixed responses from which some sort of oracle could be gathered in any matter whatever that mitrht be referred to the idol. On each of the arrows of Hubal was inscribed one of the following seven terms, — ' The price of blood ;' ' Yes ;' ' No ;' ' It is yours ;' ' Assistant ;' ' Stranger ;* ' Water.' -f- The arrows were thrown into a bag, and drawn by an official of the Ka'ba specially charged with that duty, for which he received one hundred dirhams and a camel. J The technical designation of this official was SaJdh al-Azldm or Sahib al-QUdh ' Master of the Arrows' ( = Master of Divination, or ' The Diviner' par excellence). Generally speaking, the oracle was consulted before anything of moment was undertaken, — domestic, commer- cial, political. As examples we may mention the circumcision of a lad, the fixing of a child's paternity, going to war, concluding a treaty, starting on a journey, entering a state of matrimony, ascertaining the guilty party in a murder, tracing a person's genealogy, and such-like.§ Before the operation of drawing the arrows began, the applicants had to offer to Hubal the following petition: — ' O divinity, the desire to know such or such a thing has brought us to Thee. Make us to know the truth !'l! Having consulted the oracle, persons were expected to take action upon the information or advice thus received. * Muir, Life of Mahcmd, \. cclvi. t De Tercival, Histoirc des Anihes, i. 265. + Ibid. § Tocock, Spcxivien, 327 scqq. ; D'Hevbelot, Bihliothiquc Or'untalj, Art. AcDAH ; Sale, Pr:l. Disc, 90; De Peicivai, Ilistoire des Afabes,, i. 265; Muir, Life of Mahomet, i. cclvi. II De Peicivai, Ilisicire des Arabcs, i. 265; SinilJ-r-Rasiil, fol. 23; Journal Asiatiqite (Sept. 1838), 227. THE ORACLE OF HUBAL. 25 The question as to whom this idol Hubal was supposed to represent, eHcits information of some interest. The learned Dr. Pocock, whose Specimen Historice Aralnivi has not yet been surpassed as the ultimate authority in critical questions relating to Arabia and Islam, derives the name of it from the Hebrew ^^»nn Hahbaal or \r^ Habbcl,—^nd, by ignoring the vowel- points, suggests the appropriateness of ^in Hevel, 'vanity!'* Among the Arabs, Hubal appears to have had a double character, in which respect he resembled the Syrian idol Baal (properly, Ba'al), who was regarded both as the founder of the Babylonian empire, and as the Sun personified as a deity.-f" The opinion that Hubal was the same as the Babylonian or Syrian idol Ba'al or Bel, or synonymous with it, is in fact supported by the testimony of the Arabian authorities, who relate that it was originally brought from Syria or Mesopotamia. :]: Of course, the Arabian writers do not maintain that Hubal was identical with Ba'al : they admit, however, that it was an astronomical deity, which Ba'al also is believed to have been, — whose design- ation, by the way, like that of 'the sun' among ourselves, always appears with the article — ' Habba'al.'§ Further, Herodotus (and after him, Rawlinson) held the opinion that Hubal was 'the Jupiter of the Arabians,' II — presumably because he was believed to have the power of sending rain. Once more, Pocock mentions that this idol is supposed by some to have been the one known in Arabian literature as 'the Image of Abraham' which was among the idols demolished by Muhammad when he ' cleansed the Ka'ba' of idolatry in the eighth year of the Hajira.H This was the opinion of Abulfida, who expressly states that the image * Pocock, Specimen, 97-S. ■t Arnold, Islini and Chnsttaniiy, 27. + Ibid. § Smith, Dictionary of the Bible, Art. Baal (edn. Lond. 1863). II Rawliiisoa, Herodotus, i. 318; Smith, Dictionary of the Bible, Art. BaaL; Burckhardt, Arabij, i. 300; Lenormant, Chaldean Mat^ic, 134. ^ Pocock, Specimen, 98-9. 26 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. of Abraham occupied the chief place in the Ka'ba, and that he was represented by Hubal.* Hishami says that among the images and pictures that covered the walls of the Ka'ba was a figure of Abraham in the act of divining by arrows.f If this was not Hubal, there were more deities than one who divined by arrows ; and if it was, how happens it that this image was inside the Ka'ba, and the image of Hubal outside ? It has to be borne in mind, however, that much of this, though it is all of it from the best sources, is in great measure conjectural, — Hubal remains a mystery '4 as to the actual identity of the idol, its history and origin, and the etymology of its name, no satisfactory knowledge exists. § We may add that this practice of divining by arrows was followed not only by the Arabs, but also by the ancient Greeks and other nations of ancient times, li It is, moreover, particularly mentioned in Scripture: for example, in EzEK. xxi. 21 — 23 we read, — ' The king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He made bright his arrows, he consulted with images, he looked in- to the liver. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, — to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the gates, to cast up a mound, to build a fort. And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, — to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.' The allusion to Babylon recalls the statement that it was from Mesopotamia that the idol Hubal was imported into Makka.lF * Arnold, Idhn and Christianity, 27. Cnf. Forster, MahomeianismUnveiled,\\, 405. + Muir, Life of Mahomet, iv. 128; Hishami, 364. X Arnold, Isldm and Christianity, 27. § Pocock, Specimen, 98. The curious reader may follow up the subject in Lcnormant, Chaldean Magic and Sorcery, 133-4 (cdn. Lond. 1877) and his Lettrcs Assyriologiqnes, ii. 164 — 178. II Potter, Antiquities oj Greece, i. 334; Sale, Prcl. Disc. 90. t Burckhardt, Arabia, i. 299. THE ORACLE OF HUBAL. 27 The comment of Jerome on this passage is in remarkable agree- ment with what we are told of the custom as it existed among the ancient Arabs. He writes, — ' He shall stand in the highway and consult the oracle after the manner of his nation, that he may cast arrows into a quiver and mix them together, being written upon or marked with the names of such people, that he may see whose arrow will come forth, and which city he ought first to attack.'* The superstitious practice of divination was forbidden by the author of the Our'an. Thus, in Sura v (Maida) 4 we read, — ' Ye are forbidden to make division by casting lots with arrows: this is an impiety!' Notwithstanding this very plain prohibition. Burton came upon what he believes to be a relic of this practice of the pagan times of Arabia. At no less a place than Madina he found a religious performance called ' Istikhara,' or more commonly ' Khira,' in which the will of the Divine Being is consulted by praying for a dream in one's sleep, revealing to those concerned how any affair (such as a marriage, etc.) ought best to be settled. But they consult God not by prayer alone, but also by the rosary, by opening the Our'an, and other devices of a similar nature, which devices bear blame if a negative be deemed necessary. Burton attests that this kind of superstition obtains throughout the Muhammadan world.-f* To return, however, to the narrative on p. 1 5. Years rolled on, and the rash father found himself surrounded by a family of six daughters, — and ten sons.:]: The sight of these sons daily reminded him of his vow. According to one legend, his friends among the Makkan aristocracy, held him back just as he was about to plunge the knife into the vitals of the luckless boy, and offered a ransom. But he would not heed their remonstrances. * Pocock, Specimen, 329; Sale, Prel. Disc. 90-91. t Billion, Pilgritiiage, ii. 287. X Muir, Life of MaJioin:t,.\. cclix. 28 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. At length they prevailed upon him to refer the matter for decision to a certain female diviner at Khaibar, who suggested that the matter should be referred to the arrows of Hubal within the Ka'ba. This woman, it seems, had as her friend a certain demon who was wont to obtain stealthily for her secret information from the celestial world. Accordingly 'Abdu'l-Muttalib bade his sons accompany him to the Sacred building. Each of them was made to write his own name on a lot, and the lots were finally made over to the officer of the Temple, who cast them in the usual way. The lot fell upon 'Abdu'1-lah, the youngest and best- beioved of his sons, who, handsome in appearance, brave in spirit, and expert in the use of the bow, had endeared himself to his parent and to his numerous family connexions. The vow devoting him to the deity must needs be observed ; and how else could it be fulfilled excepting by the sacrificial knife? The daughters wept and clung around their fond father, who, willing enough to avail himself of any feasible suggestion, was readily prevailed upon to cast lots between 'Abdu'1-lah and ten camels, — the current fine for the blood of a man. And should the deity accept the ransom, the father need not hesitate to spare his son. But the lot fell yet a second time ujxjn 'Abdu'1-lah ; and again, and with a similar result, was a lot cast between him and twenty camels. At each successive attempt 'Abdu'l-Muttalib added ten more camels to the stake. But the deity appeared to inexorably refuse the vicarious offering, and to require the blood of the son. At length, at the tenth throw, when the ransom had reached a hundred camels, the deity relented, and the lot fell upon the numerous victims. Joyfully did the anxious father release 'Abdu'1-lah from his impending fate, and taking a hundred camels, he slaughtered them between the little hills Safa and Marwa.* The inhabitants of Makka feasted upon the camels and what remained was left to the beasts and birds, — the family of Abdu'l-MuUulib refusing to taste of them. It was this * Bate, S/iriiit- of /slim. THE SON OF TWO SACRIFICES. 29 'Abdu'l-lah who eventually became the father of Muhammad ; and it is on the strength of this legend, coupled with the legend regarding Ishmael, that he is called 'the son of the two sacrifices.'* Tabari states that the party among the Makkans who opposed the slaughter of 'Abdu'1-lah, were the Bani Zuhaira, and that on their expostulating with 'Abdu'l-Muttalib, he, in imitation of what had been done in the case of Ishmael, substituted a ram for his son. This, however, was rejected as insufficient, and at length it was agreed upon that a hundred camels should be the commutation for the blood of 'Abdu'I-lah. Tabari states that from this event the fine for homicide was ever afterwards fixed at a hundred camels.-f- In regard to all this it has to be observed that there appears to be grave reason for doubting whether the vow in question, whatever its import may have been, was followed by any attempt to really put into execution the sacrifice of a human life. From that day, however, the father of Muhammad was looked upon by the Arabians of Makka as Isaac is looked upon by Jews and Christians ; while 'Abdu'l-Muttalib is held to be analogous to Abraham. They, however, overlook the circumstance that whereas the vow regarding 'Abdu'1-lah was purely voluntary on the part of his father and was confessedly made with no other object in view than the obtaining of a certain number of sons, the sacrifice contemplated by Abraham was not in fulfilment of any such vow, was not the result of any selfish desire on the part of the patriarch, and was in pursuance of a direct and explicit behest of the Almighty. And while, moreover, the legend referred to makes it evident that 'Abdu'l-Muttalib regretted the rashness of his vow, and did all in his power to shew his unwill- ingness to fulfil it, there is no evidence whatever that Abraham, — albeit, his son was his ' 07ily son,' — sought in any way to elude * Consult Azraky's History of Mekka, See also Stobart, fsldm and its Fotcnder, 44 (edn. 1876; Christian Knowledge Society). + Price, Essay en Arabia, 67 ; Burckhardt, A'oles on the Bedouins and IVa/tabys, i. 362 (edn. Lond. 1831). 30 THE CLAIMS OF ISIIMAEL. the exact and literal fulfilment of the Divine command. Not only, again, is there no evidence to shew that 'Abdu'l-Muttalib was required by God, as Abraham was, to immolate his son, but even the Muslim legends themselves shew that the vow was uncalled-for, — as far, at least, as God was concerned. In the one case, both father and son were equally worthy of commenda- tion ; in the other, they are equally destitute of any claim to it. In the one case the fact of the Divine acceptance of the sacrifice was signified by an unfallcn angel ; in the other (the partisans of Islam themselves being witnesses) the mode of escape from the actual fulfilment of the vow was indicated by a demon to a sor- ceress, — and this, by a stratagem in which a demon is represented as inveigling the Divine Being into a divulgence of His secret. In the one case, again, a substitute was provided miraculously by the Almighty, — and this without any co-operation of the great patriarch himself; in the other case, so great was the unwilling- ness of the father to make the sacrifice, that he himself substituted no less than ten camels in the first instance, and (according to the legend) declared his readiness to sacrifice all the camels he had, if need were. The one case is an instance of prompt and unquestioning obedience to God ; the other is an instance of a ludicrous and irreverent attempt on the part of a mortal man to drive a hard bargain with Him. In the one case, the scene is solemnly enacted in the presence of the Divine Being alone ; the other is declared by the Islamic legends to have been enacted in an idol-temple, and before an image the worship of which even Muhammad himself is believed by Muslims to have denounced and overthrown. In the one case, the sacrificer was the chosen servant and ' friend' of the one living and true God ; in the other he was an avowed worshipper of numerous images, and was after his death pronounced in the presence of one of his own sons to be ' an inhabitant of hell,' — and this by Muhammad himself There can be no doubt that this whole story, like so many of the other stories connected with the Muhammadan system, owes MUSLIM ASPERSION ON THE JEWS. %! its origin to the exigencies of controversy. There is an evident attempt to become possessed of a story intimately connected with Muhammad and at the same time vividly recalling the surrender by Abraham of his best-beloved son.* The unfortunate thing is that the Muslim traditionists know so little where to draw the line between the probable and the improbable, that no man of understanding could accept their narratives even when there may be a substratum of truth in them. It is still further worthy of remark that in various Muslim traditions the Jews are declared to have been the avowed enemies of 'Abdu'1-lah, — and this for no other reason than that they knew quite well that he would yet become the father of Muhammad, — the promised seed of the son of Abraham, — and they, accord- ingly, plotted to take his life. It is remarkable, too, that since Muhammad's time no record has ever come to light shewing that such a doctrine was ever held among the Jews, — not even in their own annals. Indeed, although the Jews are second to no people in their jealousy for the presei-vation of their national records, yet as far as they are concerned, such a doctrine is unknown and unheard-of ^ Such is a specimen of Muslim tradition in regard to the present subject. The thing to mark is that not only are the Muhammadan traditions contradictory of the best-authenticated records in existence that relate to the subject, — viz. the records of the Jews, — they are also contradictory of one another. As to their contrariety to the Jewish records, it may here be still further noted that some of them assert that the scene of the immolation which Abraham contemplated was not Mount Moriah in the land of Canaan, where the patriarch resided, but some eight hundred miles thence, in the valley of Mina, near Mount Thabir, in the neighbourhood of Makka. They also assert that the animal which was eventually substituted for Abraham's son was the identical ram that Abel had offered up in sacrifice many ages * De Percival, Histoire des Arabes, i. 264, 32 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. before, and which was brought down to Abraham from the celes- tial paradise for the purpose.* The contrariety thus seen to exist between the traditions of the Muhammadans and the records of the Jews, is fully borne out by the teachings of the Qur'an. Though the question of the priority of Isaac over Ishmael — considered as heir of the promise made by Jehovah to Abraham — is so clearly stated in GENESIS and is corroborated in language no less clear in the Epistle to the GALATIANS, yet the author of the Qur'an never as much as hints at the circumstance that the matter was thus plainly and emphatically set forth in those inspired records. This is the more' noteworthy from the fact that he says he was commissioned by the Almighty to 'attest' and 'confirm' them, — in other words, to bear witness to their inspiration and veracity as they then existed in the hands of the Jews and Christians. How incongruous this state of things is with Bible teaching as it relates to the matter now under con- sideration, is known no less to Muslims themselves than to Jews and Christians; and they account for it by roundly asserting that the followers of Moses and of Jesus have combined together to corrupt and alter the text of their own Scriptures with the special view of excluding the claims of Muhammad. If it were indeed a fact that God had by means of the pro- phets and apostles of Scripture-times foretold of one who should transcend and supersede all the Heaven-sent messengers who had preceded him, it would surely have been the business of that prophet not to abrogate or nullify the messages which God had sent to mankind by the agency of his predecessors, but rather to fulfil them. And those men of faith who held that God had such a gracious purpose in store for them and for mankind, could have had no motive for obliterating, at any period prior to the time of his appearing, all reference to him in those records which they believed to have been entrusted to them by Heaven. Why, indeed, should Jews and Christians, of all persons in the world, * Sale, Al Koran, 369; D'Heibelot, Bibliolhfquc Orientah, Art. Ismail. SHIFTING THE GROUND, 33 to whom ill particular the gracious promise would in that case have been delivered, have decided ages beforehand that such a divinely-sent person would eventually turn out to be the special enemy of themselves? And if, on the other hand, they did not suspect that he would be their enemy, but knew rather that he would be their friend, what motive could they have for expunging from their Scriptures every allusion by which they might identify him at his appearing ? Even in the case of the dcspoilers of the faithful, of whom warning was previously given in their Scriptures, they jealously preserved every scrap of prophecy concerning them. I low much more, then, would they do so in the case of predictio^is concerning one who was to be their comforter and saviour, and the last and greatest of all that noble line of prophets of whom they were so proud ? Though the Jews rejected Jesus at His coming, yet did they themselves guard most jealously the records which foretold His advent ; and they were as a nation all earnestly expecting Him,— not as their foe but as their deliverer. It is, consequently, incredible that if their Scriptures had so much abounded in distinct and glowing allusions to one who should come after Him, and who should be even greater than He was, they should not have preserved with equally jealous care those predictions of their Scriptures which related to him also, and watched for his appearing with still greater eagerness. It is incredible that they should with their own hands have voluntarily and wittingly destroyed their own hopes ! Surely such a hypo- thesis implies rather that Muslims, who without a shadow of evidence cling to it with such tenacity, have, in regard to this subject at least, abdicated their claim to the exercise of their understanding. Perceiving the absurdity of the position, some of. the Muslim traditionists affirm that large numbers of Jews and Christians ^vere thus watching for the advent of Muhammad,* and that on hearing of his advent, they at once embraced him. We are even * Tuylui, Jliiloiy (f Mo/iaiiiDiedaniip:, 104-5. 34 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. told that the Arab women were at this time in the habit of pray- ing for male children, in the hope that of them the long-expected prophet might be born. There is one passage in the Qur'dn that might seem to bear them out in this opinion. It occurs in Sura xcviii (Baiyyina) I, 2, where we read, — U 1 fy^ A fP^ti ■' Ol ^ ^■^,tlf^f ^ A t^f\ I A A A A >>^- ^A 3j f" A-* * The unbelievers among those to whom the Scriptures were given, and the idolaters, did not stagger till the (clear) revelation had come unto them, — an apostle from God, rehearsing (unto them) pure pages containing right discourses.' In interpreting this passage the Muslim commentators, Zama- khshari and Jallalu'd-din, maintain that before Muhammad came, Jews, Christians, and even the worshippers of idols, unanimously- believed in the fact of his future advent, and lived in expectation of it ; and that they declared that they would persevere in their respective religions till such time as he should come, — when they would forthwith abandon their different creeds and become his followers. The text teaches that they did not waver in their attachment to their various faiths, nor in their promises to recog- nize and follow Muhammad, till the time when he actually came, when, through envy and unbelief, they rejected him.* Not all of them, however. And those among them who eventually came over to the side of Muhammad are believed by the Muslim commentators to have done so by reason of their recognizing in him the Messiah described and foretold in the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians. This, however, is a purely ex-parte interpretation put forward by the partisans of the Islamic faith, and is wholly destitute of historical support. One of the best-known instances of this is the one given by Pridcaux. * Sale, Al Koran, 495; Maityii, Controversial Tracts, 102-3 (Lee's edn. 1824). CONCERNING THE MONK BUHAIRA. 35 Muhammad, on the decease of both of his parents and after them of his grandfather, was while yet a boy taken care of by one of his uncles, Abu Talib, whose chief occupation was the caravan-trade with Syria. He early inducted the young Muhammad into the same business. When, on one occasion, he was pursuing this calling, he arrived at Bostra, a city on the confines of Syria; and while in the market-place attending to his uncle's business, he was seen, the legends say, by a learned Christian monk of Bostra, named Buhaira, who instantly recognized him to be the great prophet whom, according to Muslim legends, not only Jews but Christians also were expecting to appear. With great eagerness Buhaira pressed through the crowd to get to Muhammad, and, seizing his hand, foretold of him then and there all those great things which afterwards came to pass. The means by which he recognized Muhammad in the midst of the crowd was the celebrated NAnin-Naht, or ' Prophetic Light,' which Muslims believe to have always shone on his face. Other Muslims,however, affirm that the mark by which the monk recognized him was the A'//^//w«'«-YVa<5z^, or 'Seal of the Prophet,' — the seal of Muhammad's prophetic mission which was from the first stamped between his shoulders. It is quite a curious instance of the contradictoriness of Muslim traditions that notwithstandingthestatement of Buhaira's having seen Muhammad and his mark, it is actually related in some of them, that he had already lost his sight by weeping, throughhis longdesire to see the great prophet that was to appear !* The truth is, that Muhammad did not become acquainted with this man Buhaira till some years later on, when he carried on business for the widow lady whom he eventually married.f * Four Treatises, The Life of Mahomet, 2i. + Prideaux, Life of Mahomet, 5, 6 (7th edn. 1718); Pocock, Specimen^i, 168, 170. For more information concerning this man, the reader may consult Muir, Life of Mahomet, i. 36; Deutsch, Literary Retnains, 87; and Arnold, Isldm and Christianity, 40. Deutsch is of opinion that Buhaira, upon whose veiy existence he throws doubt, was in all probability a Jew. Arnold, judging from the monk's names Bakhir, Heb., and Serdjis [ = Sergius, Grk. Georgius], is of opinion that he was a converted Jew, — the name ' Serdjis' having been given him on the occasion of his baptism. 36 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Examples of persons who were thus expecting that a great prophet would arise in Arabia are what are called in Muham- / madan literature the Fojir Enquirers — viz. 'Uthinan and Waraqa (cousins of Khadija, Muhammad's first wife), 'Ubaidu'1-lah bin Jahsh (second-cousin of Muhammad), and Zaid bin Amr (grand- son of Nufail and cousin of 'Umar). All these were members ' of the tribe of the Quraish. The third of them is said to have embraced Islam, and to have subsequently emigrated with some of his co-religionists to Abyssinia, where he abandoned that faith f and became a Christian. Of the fourth of them Tradition says that he condemned the idolatrous sacrifices of the Ka'ba, repro- f bated the burying alive of infant daughters, and ' followed the Religion of Abraham.' But not content with such assertions, the traditionists add that this man possessed distinct knowledge regarding the coming prophet, and even left his 'salutation' to be delivered to him when he should appear. They add that he even described his person, predicted that he would be of the family of 'Abdu'l-Muttalib, and said that he would emigrate to Madina.* This from its very nature is clearly one of those stages at which fancy and credulity would be busy ; and, according to the traditionists, the known sentiments of the founder of Islam would encourage rather than discourage such sentiments. It was, says I Muir, a fond conceit of his that Islam was as old as Adam, and that it had from the beginning of the world been the faith of all good men who looked forward to himself as the great prophet who would be charged with the unexampled dignity of winding up the Dispensations that preceded his time. It was therefore natural that his credulous followers should catch up this idea and carry it out as far as possible, investing any serious-minded man or earnest enquirer who preceded Muhammad with some of the dawn- ing rays of the divine effulgence about to burst upon the world.-f * De Perciv.il, Jlistoire (fe<; Arahcs, i. 321. + Muir, Life oj Mahomet, i. Ixix. THE FOUR ENQUIRERS. 37 Of such sort are the tales regarding the Enquirer Zaid, who, it is said, spent his h'fe in searching for 'the ReHgion of Abraham/ till at last, a monk, meeting him at Balka, sent him back to Makka ta await the prophet about to arise there.* We may hei-e quote some samples of these tales as given by Sprenger; though, indeed, the lesson they chiefly exemplify is how easily the human intellect lends itself, in the realm of religion, to what is palpably incredible and absurd. It has not, says he, escaped' the attention of Arabic historians that the great revolu- tion of the establishment of a new religion was foreshadowed. In the introduction to the most ancient biography of Muhammad we find a chapter inscribed ' An account of four men who with- out revelation saw before Mohammad's tfme the fallacy of paganism.' Of that chapter the following is a translation : — One day the Quraishites celebrated an annual feast, and assembled before one of their idols. They expressed tlieir adoration for it, sfew sacrifices, surrounded it,, and went round it. Four men, however, (the four above mentioned,) kept secretly aloof, and said — Let us be friends and open our hearts to each, other. And they agreed. One said to the others — By God,.you see our tribe does not know the true religion. They have corrupted the ireligion of Abraham^ and are worshipping a stone,, and walking round it, though it neither hears nor sees, and can do neither good nor harm. Friends,^ seek for yourselves, for you are not in the right path. These four men consequently dispersed over the country, and went in search of the orthodox faith of Abraham. The subsequent history in each case was as follows : — Waraqa obtained the Scriptures,, acquired from those who believed in them a considerable share of knowledge, and at last embraced Christianity. Mons. de Percival says that Waraqa had been entertaining the idea that an Arabian prophet was at hand, and spoke to his cousin Khadija, wife of Muhammad, in such a * HLshami, 55—59 ; Waqidi, 30. 38 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. manner as to confirm her belief in her husband's mission.* This, however, must have taken place before Waraqa's conversion to Christianity, — unless, indeed, we are to suppose that he regarded Muhammad as an apostle of that religion.f The more imme- diate occasion of Waraqa's adoption of the Christian faith would appear to have been the defection of Muhammad from the prin- ciples of the sect of the Hanifs, of which sect they were both of them members. :J: Mons. Ernest Renan appears not to have been aware of the fact of Waraqa's conversion to the religion of Jesus: at least, he makes no mention of the fact, though it is as well- attested as any of the other facts of that period. § Such an assumption, though difficult to admit, is more charitable than the alternative one — viz. that Renan preferred passing over such a fact in silence ; for this assumption, besides the implied indict- ment against his integrity and ingenuousness, would tend to shake the faith of self-respecting men in all history written by dis- believers in the Christian faith. Thus much for Waraqa, the first of the four. Ubaidu'1-lah, a son of 'Umaima, sister of Muhammad's father, remained a sceptic, as to the religion of the Quraish, till at length he embraced the religion of Muhammad. He emigrated to Abyssinia with his wife, Umm Habiba, daughter of Abu Sufian, who also embraced Islam ; and on his arrival in Abyssinia he adopted the Christian faith, and died a Christian. When he passed the followers of Muhammad, after he had embraced Christianity, he used to say — * We see ; and you try to see.* His widow at length became one of the wives of Muhammad. 'Uthman bin Hawairith, at one time king of Makka,ll went to the * Percival, Ilistoirc des Arabes, i. 356. + The Christian Remembrancer {ox ']a.\\wzvj 1S55, p. 106. X Arnold, Isl&tn and Chiistianity, 36; Rodwell, El Koran, Pief, xvi-xvii (edn. Lond. 1876). § Renan, Mahomet et les Origities de V Islamis7ue in the Revue des deux Mcndes (185 1 ), toni. xii. p. 1090. II Spienger, Life of Mohammad, 34. THE FOUR ENQUIRERS. 39 emperor of the Byzantines, and professed the Christian reh'gion. As for Zaid, he remained as he was ; he neither turned Jew nor Christian. Up to so recent a period as the time of de Percival this man was almost unnoticed by European savans:* it is there- fore due to the reader that a fuller account should be given of him than of the other three. This man renounced the religion of his tribe, would not worship idols, and abstained from eating what had died of itself, as also blood, and what had been sacrificed to idols.-f- He also disapproved of burying girls alive. | He used to say — ' I worship the God of Abraham.' And he was wont to expose the errors of his tribe. Asma, mother of 'Urwa, related that she had seen Zaid, when he was a very old man, leaning his back against the Ka'ba and saying — ' O Quraishites, by Him in whose hands the soul of Zaid is, none of you follow the religion of Abraham, except myself!' Then he continued — 'O Lord, if I knew what form of worshipping Thee is most acceptable to Thee, I would adopt it: but I do not know it.'§ Then he prayed, resting his forehead on the palms of his hands. Ibn Is-haq says — I heard that Sa'id, son of Zaid, and 'Umar bin Khattab, his second cousin, requested the prophet to intercede for the soul of Zaid. The prophet said — ' Yes.' Zaid said the following verses on leaving the religion of his tribe — 'Shall I believe that there is one Lord, or one thousand ? Is the government of this world divided? I have given up Al-Lat and Al-'Uzza, for I am strong- minded. I neither believe in Al-'Uzza, nor in her two daughters. Nor do I visit the idol of the Banu 'Amr' (a branch of the Banfi Asad), ' nor do I believe in Ghanam. He was my Lord when * De Percival, Histcire des Arabes, i. 321. t Muhammad forbad the same to his followers ; see SOra ii (Baqr) 68. X Tiele, Outlines of the History of the Ancient Religions to the Spread of the Univeisal Religions, 65 (edn. Lend. 1880); Spreiiger, Das Leben tmd die Lehre des Mohaviviad, i. 120 (edn. Berlin, 1869). This practice was abolished by Mulam- mad; see Sura Ixxxi (Takwir) 8. § De Percival, Histoire des Arabes, i, 321. 40 THE CLAIMS OF IS II MARL. my intellect was yet weak ; but now I worship the Merciful as my Lord ; in order that lie, the Lord of forgiveness, might pardon my sins. Obsei-\'C piety to God, your Lord! As long as you fear God you will not be lost ! Do ye observe the good ? Their abodes are the gardens of Paradise, while the wicked will be condemned to fire. They do not prosper in life ; and when they die they will have a fate that will contract their hearts.' Zaid intended to leave Makka, and to go in search of the orthodox faith of Abraham; but KhattAb, who was his uncle and half-brother (they having both had the same mother), had given directions to Zaid's wife, Saffia, to acquaint him that he might be preparing for a journey : and he detained him. Zaid made, on this occasion, a qasLia, or elegiac poem,* which begins — 'Was I afraid of humiliation, etc' When Zaid came to the Ka'ba, he went into the Mosque and said — * I am truly at Thy service, for I am Thy slave. I do what Abraham did. He was standing when he said — I incline myself till my nose touches the ground. Whatev^er Thou mayest impose upon me, I will do. Virtue is lasting, but not pride. He who travels during the heat of the day is not like unto him who sleeps during that time.' He used also to say — ' I submit' (here occurs the word Ishhn) ' to Him to whom the earth submits.-f It carries heavy rocks, and God has expanded it. And when He had seen it He placed the earth in the water,;|: and made it firm by putting mountains upon it.s:^ I submit to Him whom the clouds obey, which carry sweet water. II And if a cloud goes to any country,!! it is by His orders; and it pours pails of water upon it.'** To such an extent did Khattab persecute Zaid that he drove him out from Makka, and appointed some young men of the fools of Makka to watch him, with injunctions not to allow him to * The q.Tsi(la is a kind of longer ^^Sf?/ (or 'ode'), — the gazal seldom exceeding thirteen distichs, and never exceeding eighteen. + Sec SOra iii (Al'i-'Imran) 8. || See Sui-a hi (Waqia') 68. + See Sura xlvii (Qati.) 30. H See Sura xxxv (Mai.aika) 10. § See Siira Ixxxix (Fajr) 32. ** See Sura Ixkx ('Abas) 25. THE FOUR ENQUIRERS. 41 return to the city. Zaid remained at Hira, which is above Makka ; and he was not able to visit the city except by conceal- ing his movements from his gaolers. If they obtained informa- tion they told Khattab of it, who sent him back to Hira,* and punished him. The Quraishites were afraid that their religion might be corrupted, and that others might follow his example. Zaid went, after all, in search of ' the Faith of Abraham,' and inquired of the monks and rabbins regarding it. He travelled through Mosul and Mesopotamia. Then he proceeded to Syria, and wandered through the whole country. At length he came to a monk at Mayfa'at, in Balka, who was renowned for his knowledge of the Christian religion ; and he asked him respect- ing the orthodox faith of Abraham. He answered — ' Thou seekest a religion with which no one can acquaint thee just now. But stop ! a prophet has arisen in the country from which thou comest, who has been sent with the true and orthodox faith of Abraham. He has been sent just at this time.' Zaid was aquainted with the tenets of the Jews and Christians ; and as neither of them satisfied him, he started, immediately on hearing this, for Makka ; but when he passed through the country of the Lakhmites, he was murdered by them.f Such, with some infor- mation introduced by us from other writers, is the translation given by Dr. Sprenger of the chapter from Ibn Is-haq. The examples of sceptics converted to Christianity, and of prophets who preceded Muhammad in the Hijaz, might be multi- * This is the mountain to which Muhammad was in tlie habit of retiring for religious purposes, and where he is said to have received the earlier revelations recorded in the Qur'an. It is a steep ascent just outside Makka, and is mounted by Stone steps. See, Bate, The Holy Places of Makka (a work that will appear shortly). t Ibn Is-haq, 56 ; .Sprenger, Life of Mohammad, 43. As to Ibn Is-haq as an authority, see Muir, Life of Maho7iiet,\A\\v\\~cw-, Bosworth Smith, Mohamtiicd and Moliannncdanism, 72 (edn. Lond. 1874). It will be noted that nearly all the sayings of Zaid in this account are almost literal reproductions of the passages in the Qur'an. The conclusion of tlie story, says Sprenger, is veiy suspicious. He adds that Ibn Is-h;iq is wont to place a prediction or a miracle wliere there is something to be concealed. 42 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. plied. But what has been said will be sufficient to shew tliat the successful prophet of the Arabs, in founding a new religion, did nothing more than gather the floating elements which had been imported or originated by others in obedience to the irresistible force of the spirit of the time, — that spirit which carries in the beginning the elect, but in the end, all and anything before itself.* Thus are sentences of the Qur'an, and invocations in the exact expressions of that book, put by the traditionists into the lips of Zaid who lived long before a word of the Qur'an was written. The discreditable nature of these narratives is, as Sprenger in his footnote just quoted says, palpable from their very style and contents. Still, says Muir, I am far from denying that Zaid's enquiries and doctrines may have constituted one of the causes which prompted Muhammad to enquiry and religious thought. But whatever grounds may exist for regarding Zaid as a philosophical or a religious enquirer, one would only have smiled at the clumsiness of the structure erected by the tradi- tionists on so slender a basis, had it not been that Sprenger appears himself to recognize that basis, and even builds thereon in part, as we have seen, his own theory, — namely, that Muham- mad ' did nothing more than gather the floating elements which had been already imported or originated by others;' and, instead of (as is commonly supposed) carrying Arabia along with him, was himself carried away ' by the irresistible force of the spirit of the time.' It follows from Sprcnger's theory that Muham- mad was actually preceded by many of his followers in the discovery and adoption of the Islamic faith. This would appear to have been also the view of the greatest of French students of Islam, Mons. Caussin de Percival, who speaks of Zaid as 'this precurser of Mohammed.'-f- Arabia, says Sir William Muir, was no doubt prepared for a * Sprenger, Life of Mohamviady 39 — 44. Cnf. Shahrastani, 437; Masa'udT, cap. 6. + Percival, Histoire dcS Arabes, i. 321. AS TO THE ORIGIN OF ISLAM. 43 religious change. Judaism and Christianity had sown the seeds of divine knowledge in different parts of that continent ; and many inquiring minds may have groped the way to the light of truth, and paved the way for Muhammad's investigations and convictions. Disgusted, says Deutsch, with the fctichism into which their countrymen had sunk, the four men we have named (all of them relations of Muhammad's) once met at the Ka'ba during the annual feast, and thus expressed their secret opinion to each other ; — ' Shall we encompass a stone which neither seeth nor heareth ? Let us seek a better faith!'* These men were not so much idolaters as Muhammad was and taught his followers to be. But to none of these is the religion established by him directly attributable. Its distinctive peculiarities are all his own. He alone is responsible for its faults, and he alone is entitled to all the credit, whatever it may be, of being its sole founder. It is the workmanship of his wonderful mind, and it bears in every part the impress of his own strong individuality. In this view, such passages as the following are strangely mis- taken, where Sprenger, after re-asserting in substance his theory already mentioned, says — 'Islam is not the work of Moham- mad, — it is not the doctrine of the Impostor. It embodies the faith and sentiments of men who, for their talents and virtues, must be considered as the most distinguished of their nation ; and who under all circumstances acted in a manner so faithful to the spirit of the Arabs, that they must be regarded as the representatives of them. Islam is therefore the offspring of the spirit of the time, and the voice of the Arabian nation. f Though such anticipations of Muhammad are to be rejected as altogether puerile, and though the manifest tendency to invent * Deutsch, Literary Remains, 95. + Muir, Life of Mahomet, i. p. Ixix, ccxxxix — xli ; Noldeke, De Origine et Com- pisiticne Qorani, 15 (edn. Gottingen, 1856); Noldeke, Geschichte des Qorans, 14; Dozy, Islamisme, 14; Sprenger, Life of Mohammad, 171, 174, znA Lehen des Mokam- VI. d. i. 83 — 88, 119, seqq. ; Tiele, The Universal Religions, I02j Bosworth Smith, A'ohamvied and Mohatnmedanism, 73-4. / 44 THE CLAIMS OF TSHMAEL. legends of this description makes it difficult to sever the real from the fictitious in the matter of these four men, yet it may be admitted as highly probable that a spirit of religious enquirx', the disposition to reject idolatry, and a perception of the superi- ority of Judaism and Christianity, did in some quarters about this time exist.* With such persons Muhammad would no doubt deeply sympathize, and would hold converse with them on the gross idolatry of their race and the need of a more spiritual faith for their regeneration.-f- It is remarkable that with all the facts of history before him, so learned a man as Sayyid Ahmad Khan should assert that the coming of Muhammad was 'sudden and unexpected.'^: If such an assertion had been made by a Chris- tian or a Jew, it would have been cited by some zealous believer in Muhammad as additional evidence, in the teeth of all history, of religious prejudice and bitterness. It has to be borne in mind that Islamic tradition, such as it is, has arisen out of the exigencies of controversy. This circum- stance must ever suggest a variety of the gravest misgivings as to the amount of credit properly attaching to it. The traditions of one party among Muhammadans have ever been strenuously discredited by some other party. Even Muslims themselves have often proclaimed 'war to the knife' to their own co-religion- ists in regard to this very matter of the credibility of the Islamic traditions. Apart from the siding with Muhammad of a few (a very few) renegades, who in many instances turned out to be as great a dishonour to the faith they adopted as they had been to the faiths they had abjured, no hoiict-fide annals recorded at the time can be cited in support of such a tradition. The impedi- ment to the acceptance of such a tradition is, moreover, consider- * Cazenove, Lectures on Mahcnietanisin, 47. + Muir, Life of Mahemet, ii. 52. Osborn, Islam trtder the Arahs, 4, seqq.; Arnold, IsLim and Christu.nity, 35-7; The Christian A'/ii>7a/ue>- (ov Janu:xry 1855, pp. 106-7 ; Macbiiiie, The Mohainmedun Religion Explained, 19, 20. X Sycd Ahuied Klian, Essay on Ike Manners and Customs of the Pre-hlamic Arabs, 13, 14. MUHAMMEDANISM BEFORE MUHAMMAD. 45 ably enhanced when we remember the wide extent of empire over which Judaism and Christianity had extended prior to Muhammad's day. Long before his time translations of the Scriptures in several different languages and dialects had become more or less extensively circulated throughout many of the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa, original manuscripts of which are still open to inspection in the great libraries of Europe. Now, in the days of Muhammad it was not as much as known to many of the people of those countries that a person of that name existed. How, then, can it be shewn that those people, not being believers in him, rejected him in the manner above described ? How can it be supposed that all the Jews and Christians residing in countries that were unknown or inimical to each other, could have combined together in the manner described by Muslims, and for such a purpose ? Of similar effect are the words in Slara xxvlii (Oasas) 52, 53, where we read, — CC--| l\9 A A - ty? " •' A^ A^ A^ A^ A -' J A f f^^^< -'A 33 ^A >\y A/- A JJ /jj gxS'-' JJ -' A >ji * Those to whom v/E gave the Scriptures which were before it (/'. e. before the Oiu an) believe in it ; and when it is read unto them they say — We believe therein : it is cer- tainly the truth from our Lord : verily, we were Muslims before ! ' The meaning is that they recognized Muhammad from descrip- tions given of him in the previous revelations. Now, according to the Qur'an itself those revelations were none other than those we now have, — which, however, contain no allusions to Muham- mad. The Muslim infers that the Scriptures must have been corrupted : the Jew and the Christian infer that either the state- ment embodied in the text is a fabrication, or the persons repre- sented as speaking thus, said what was not true. 46 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Thus far we have taken into consideration those portions of the Qur'an which are held by MusHms to contain direct evidence in favour of their dogma that Ishmael was 'the Child of Promise;' and we have added some samples of those traditions which in their opinion tell in the same direction. We think it must be manifest that the evidence, even at its best, fails to carry the point, and is hampered with ambiguities of a tendency most disastrous to the dogma which the Muslim wishes to establish. We now proceed to shew that if we take the Our an as our guide in this matter, the collateral or incidental evidence which it yields in regard to the subject is such that the Muslim puts the benefit of the ambiguity thus shewn to exist in its teachings, to the credit of the wrong side in the argument. That is to say, the support on which the Islamic dogma in regard to the matter chiefly rests, proves to be unsound and insufficient. The Muslim, therefore, in continuing to maintain it, assumes a discord between the teachings of the Bible and the Qur'an which cannot be shewn to exist The proof of this will appear if we remember, in the first place, that if the dogma is sound, it follows that Muhammad authorizes the belief that the Old and New Testament Scriptures are corrupted ; and in the second place, that the Qur'an distinctly teaches that the Israelitish race is superior to the race of Ishmael. It is a tenet universally held by Muslims that the Sriptures of the Jews and Christians have been corrupted and interpolated by them. This tenet is in fact essential to the very existence of Islam. Strange as it may seem, it would be quite easy to prove that such a belief is in direct opposition to a large number of passages that might be cited from the Qur'an.* For the present we need quote no more than two. Thus, in Sura xii (YCsuf) 1 1 1, we read, — --• • • ■*' ^ ® ^.^. i:rt^. t/-^' o^>*^^ \if^ 5 ssr^. ^."^^ J^^ * See, Muir, The Testimony home by the Coran to the Jewish and Christian Scriptmes, passim (edn. Agra, 1856, Allahabad, 1S60, Loud. 1878). THE QUR'AN CORROBORATES THE BIBLE. 47 * The Qur'an is not a fabrication, but the attestation of that Revelation which was prior to it.' Similarly, in Sura v (MAi'DA) 72, the Divine Being is represented as directing Muhammad thus, — -A A A -' I aS; ^lA ^ v«J^ A' '' ^f^^ t A A I Ai" I ® A^jj^ Xjj A-^A^ ^ A * Say thou — O ye People of the Book, ye are not grounded upon anything until ye observe the Taurat and the Injil, and that which hath been revealed unto you from your Lord.'* In these passages the author of the Qur'an bears emphatic testi- mony to the authenticity and uncorruptness of the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians as extant in his time. Now, the latest writer in the New Testament canon died about five centuries before the time when Muhammad recorded these passages ; and the canon of the Old Testament was closed about nine hundred years before his day. We submit, then, that these verses attest the genuineness and authenticity of those Books as they existed in Mtihammad' s own ti^ne. If they do not, the burden of proof rests with those which deny it, and yet declare themselves believers in the Qur'an : if they do, the fol- lo'/ers of Muhammad are bound to admit in evidence the Books referred to. Be it borne in mind that the testimony thus addu- ced is taken from that quarter to which every true Muslim is pledged to attach the highest possible value. Clearly, then, he cannot hold his present dogma in regard to Ishmael unless he is prepared to deny the teaching of the Qur'an as to the authority and uncorruptness of the Scriptures. The only supposition on which he can maintain such a view is that the Qur'an — so far from ' confirming,' as it professes to do, the Taurat and the Gospel, and 'attesting' their origin and their value — impugns * The allusion in the last clause is to the Qur'an. The Taurat is the Pentateuch; the Injil (Grk. ivayyiXiov, through Lat. Evaugdiui/i) is the Gospel, 48 THE CLAIMS OF ISIIMAEL. their accuracy and their trustworthiness. If, therefore, the dogma of Muslims in regard to Ishmael be the correct one, not only is the Bible untrue, but Muhammad and the Qur'An are likewise untrue! If Muslims can prove either that the inspired records of the Jews have been tampered with, or that the writer of the Book of Genesis was guilty of misstatement in regard to the narrative concerning these two sons of the patriarch's, they clearly are entitled to the enjoyment of their victory. Failing this, it is equally clear that it is their duty to acknowledge the unsoundness of their position, and to abandon it That the disagreement which the MuLammadan supposes to exist between the teachings of the Bible and the Qur an in regard to Ishmael and Isaac is a mere fancy of his own, will still further appear if we note what the Qur'an teaches regarding the superi- ority of the Israclitish race when contrasted with the race of Ishmael. Let us carefully note the teaching embodied in Sura xxix ('Anqabut) 26, where we read, — ' And WK gave him Isaac and Jacob: and WR placed among his descendants the gift of prophecy and the Scriptures.' The reader of the Qur'an who is acquainted with the Bible must often be struck with the singularly loose way it has of mixing historical facts and jumbling up Scripture names regardless of chronological sequence and family relationship. A great number of passages might be instanced in proof of this ;* and it may be uro-ed that the omission of the name of Ishmael here, shews merely that this verse is a case in point. We know not on what grounds such strange inadvertency can be vindicated in the case of a book designed by God to supersede the Sacred records of the Jews. * Sec, for example, the following places: — Sura ii. 127; vi. S4; xii. 6; xix. 72; xxix. 38. THE QU KAN AND THE JEWS. 49 The only explanation we can suggest is the reputed inability of Muhammad to read and write, so that he was dependent upon second hand both for his historical facts and also for the trans- mission of his words to writing. The Muhammadan, however, believes that the author of the Qur'an was not a fallible man, but the omniscient God, — that it was written by Him from all eternity and preserved in heaven under infallible guardianship, and that it consequently contains no error.* It is therefore but poor consola- tion which the Christian apologist of Islam gives the Muham- madan when he charitably discovers palliation for slips which imply that Muhammad was by reason of his want of education cut off from the usual sources of information. To turn, however, to our verse. The context shews that the person here alluded to as he to whom Isaac and Jacob were 'given' is Abraham. There are other passages also where the same fact is mentioned. There are two points in this verse which call for notice, — the trust committed by God to the posterity of Abraham, and the omission of all mention of Ishmael. Muslims contend that Muhammad held and taught that the eldest son of Abraham was ' the Child of Promise.' Whether he did or no, it is nowhere taught in the Qur'an. No dispassionate person reading this verse would get the impression that the posterity of Abraham here men- tioned was his posterity through Ishmael. If the author of the Qur'an really held the dogma that the descendants of Ishmael were the chosen race through whom all nations of the earth were to be blessed, is it not worthy of remark that in a passage of such import as this one is, he should have been so strangely silent concerning so important a point ? He even goes out of his way to embody in the text a sentiment that must produce in any unprejudiced mind an impression quite contrary to such a supposition. Secondly, let it be noted that the blessings referred to in this verse are spiritual ones, — ' the gift of prophecy and the Scriptures.' What trust could be more momentous and more sacred ! The • Sale, Prel. Disc. 46, 48, 74, and Al Koran, 397. 50 THE CLAIMS OF ISIIMAEL. Qur'dn in various places represents the Almighty as alluding to the Jewish nation in terms of complacency and laudation. Thus, in Sijra ii (Baqr) 46, we read, — ^A '•[a '- a^i^aSj^ a^ ^f^y^ 9 ^-^ a CJJ ''A a^'^a ''a -_»'-a a -'I I * i " I " ^ ^ - ' » ' O Children of Israel, remember My favour wherewith I have favoured you, and (remember) that I have favoured you above all nations !' The same sentiment is of frequent occurrence in the other earlier Madina Suras. And while even Muslims themselves will admit that all the great prophets who had appeared before the days of Muhammad were of the race of Isaac and Jacob, it is impossible for them to shew that the race of Ishmael was ever so far an object of the Divine favour as to give birth to even one such Heaven-sent messenger. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezckiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Christ, were all of them persons the divine origin of whose commission Muhammadans admit ; they were all of them persons in whom, whether by means of their deeds or by means of their teachings, the Divine element was conspicuous to all men ; and they were all of them 0/ tlie seed of Isaac. But what became of the descendants of Ishmael during all the ages during which the above-named personages were known for their teachings and for the wonders that were wrought by them? There is, in truth, no answer but this, that during all those long ages the descendants of Ishmael were given over to the grossest fctichism, the most benighted superstition, and the most heartless and diabolical barbarism and cruelty. There was among them neither prophecy, nor miracle, nor interpretation of dreams. They were a pagan nation, sunkinidolatry, — makingforthemselves gods with their own hands, and then becoming subject to them. And in entire keeping with this we find that the only miracles which are recorded even in the Quran itself, are such as were wrought, not by descendants of Ishmael, but by descendants of Isaac, — through whose seed the promises made to Abraham were THE QUR'AN AND THE JEWS. 51 in fact fulfilled. Surely if miracles had been wrought and pro- phecies uttered by any of the descendants of Ishmael, the author of the Our'dn would not have failed to accord thc^circumstance some notice ; nor would he, as the chief of all the inspired pro- phets, have been unaware of it. There is not, however, through- out the whole Our'dn, as much as a'single trace of an allusion to any such proof of the Divine presence and guidance. And is not the maimer of the allusion which Muhammad makes in this verse to the descendants of Abraham well calculated to suggest enquiry in the mind of any thoughtful Muslim ? If indeed he had intended it to be held by his followers, as one of the chief corner-stones of their faith, that not merely was Ishmael the eldest of the patriarch's children, but also the child specially announced to him by the angel as the son of his old age, and the child through whom the promised Deliverer was to^be born, it is simply unaccountable that he should in this passage have over- looked him, and made special reference to a son and even to a grandson whose progeny was, according to the Muslim dogma, to cut a quite subordinate and even unenviable figure in the future history of the world as compared with the progeny of that son who was first not only in point of birth but also in point of ecclesiastical importance and rank. If the Muslim regarded the Qur'an as an inspired book written by an erring fellow-man, he would be manageable, and there would be some chance of his difficulty being mitigated ; but believing it, as he does, to have been written as it now stands from all eternity,* he is morally bound to admit that the conclusion deduced from the text taken according to the proper and natural meaning of its terms has * The phrase is continually on the lips of Muhammadans, who seem quite insen- sible to the contradiction it involves. It is only charitable to suppose that it may be but an instance of that passion for hyperbole and antiquity which everywhere char- acterizes the Oriental mind,— the idea being that the event dates from a period altogether transcending human conception. This charitable supposition, however the average Muhammadan would reject as a suggestion of Hell-born infidelity. But the more philosophical of them understand it to mean that the Qur'an has always existed in the very essence of God. 52 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMABL. the sanction of the Divine Being Himself whom the Mush'm bch'eves to have made the promise. The verse clearly proves the spiritual precedence and superi- ority of that branch of the Abrahamic race which descended through Isaac over that which descended through Ishmacl. It also proves with equal clearness that in the opinion of Muham- mad the custody of the Inspired records, as also the gift of pro- phecy — regarded as a token of the Divine favour, preference, and inspiration — was confined to the Israelitish race to the complete exclusion of the race of Ishmael. Nor can it be said that we have based the argument on a single and isolated passage, for the same teaching is embodied in a large number of other passages. But even supposing it were not so, — supposing the testimony of the Quran in regard to the matter were so plain and clear as to admit of no two opinions as to what it was that Muhammad himself intended to teach, — the case docs not amount to one of discrepancy in Divinely-inspired statements. For whatever opinion may be held as to the nature and extent of Muhammad's inspiration, a dispassionate comparison of the historical element in the Quran with that in the Bible will shew that in regard to matters of fact the statements of that book cannot be accepted. It is evident throughout the Qur an, that if we are to receive as fact the historical statements of the book, we must hold ourselves in readiness to impale our common sense at almost every step, for no wilder statements were ever put forth than those which that book contains, — not even by avowed writers of fiction. The charm of a perfect writer of fiction is mainly in that near approach to fact and probability which invests his visions with an air of reality. But the author of the Qur an seems to have made an effort to go out of his way to turn the sober statements of Scrip- ture history into such a jumble of contradictions and improbabi- lities as no man of understanding could for an instant accept.* In * This fact has been well pointed out by Thomas Carlyle in his famous Eisay on Heio-woiship. THE NEMESIS OF MUHAMMADANS. 53 the ordinary afTairs of life Muslims arc not wanting in that sagacity and circumspection which fall to the lot of other members of the human race ; but in the realm of religion there is one maxim which is all-pervading and ever-present in every true Muslim, — Credo quia absurdum, 'I believe the thing because it is absurd.' We do not see that there is any necessity for charging Muhammad with falsehood in order to account for this ; — the fact is sufficiently accounted for by the circumstance that beinghimself unable to read, he accepted in common with his fellow-countrymen those legendary scraps of history that were currentinhis time.* However much the statements of the Our'an regarding matters of historical fact may differ from those of the Bible, there is no evidence that they differed from the garbled traditions which found acceptance among the illiterate and benighted inhabitants of pre-Islamite Arabia. From all that has been thus far advanced it will be perceived that in attributing, as Muhammadans do, the dogma now under consideration to the teachings of the Our'dn, they are very much in the position of a man who reckons without his host. We have here, however, only one instance out of many that could be ad- duced, of the cruel dilemmas in which Muhammad — by reason apparently, of his well-known inexactness and illiterateness — fixes his adherents. The strange and awkward point is that the Qur'an says just enough to render it as impossible for the Muhammadan to affirm that Ishmael was the child in question as for the Jew to deny it. One passage attests that Abraham's vow must necessarily have had reference to the son on whose promised birth he had been congratulated by the angel ; and this was unquestionably Isaac : while another passage, taken in con- nexion with its context, does undoubtedly appear to favour the popular Muhammadan view. A very rare state of things is this, and one which to a man who believes the Qur'an to be a special revelation from God, ought to be startling. f If Muslims are to be • Sprenger, Life of Mohammad, loi. t Price, Essay on Arabia, 67, 54 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. believed, the views of the author of the Qur an in favour of Ish- mael to the exclusion of Isaac were of the most pronounced sort. Yet the only evidence they can produce from what they deem the highest quarter is the verse from Sdra'e-SAFFAT already cited. What that is worth for their case we have seen. Strangely out of keeping with their opinion too, are the passages from the Madina Suras just cited. And equally so, and of similarly damag- ing effect, is the following passage from Siira vii (A'raf) 140, where Moses is represented as saying to the Children of Israel, — *- »• A ^I A ^■^ ^^ 3^^ ■' yS> , I A^A A out •'A'' '• .' G> y^*i]^ ^XJUai yfcj C^l fX^ijT aU) y^\ Jl5 * Shall I seek for you any other god than Jehovah, seeing that it is He who hath preferred you to the rest of the world?' Whether Moses ever said anything of the sort is a point concerning which the Jewish records are silent. According to those records he was more in the habit of chiding the Israelites than of flattering them. With the historical accuracy of the fact, however, we have at present nothing to do ; our concern is with the evidence the passage yields regarding the superiority of the race of Isaac to that of Ishmael. Evident as it is from these passages that until the time of Muhammad at least, God looked with less favour on the Ishmaelites than on the Jews, this is a point on which the author of the Our'an seems to have been not quite clear in his own mind, for in Silra iii (Al'i-'Imran) no he addresses his Arabian fellow-countrymen in the following fulsome terms, — Q> 3^ l\ -^ h Oj ^A A^A^ ^ * Ye are the best nation that God hath raised up unto man- kind !' It does not say much for the judgment of the author that he should have had recourse to such very broad adulation. He professed to hold a Divine commission to abolish idol-worship ; and seeing that this offence had been abolished from among the descendants of Isaac, the truth of the assertion is hard to find. ANTECEDENT IMPROBABILITIES. 55 If the exceptional degree of excellence implied in the language were really theirs, still it is language which no wise and devout religious reformer would put before his followers. And that it should have been uttered by the supercessor of all the inspired prophets, does not stand to reason. It is one of the most notori- ous facts of history that the Arabians were a race wholly given to idolatry and all its concomitant vices. There surely could be no impropriety in a Muslim's inquiring what evidence was ever afforded in the history of the Arabian people prior to Muhammad which could justify the use of such language. Evidence of God's special favour towards the race of Isaac is, as we have shewn, forthcoming in abundance in the pages of the Qur'an. The case of a better and more highly favoured people still than they, ought not to be difficult of proof So far from God's cherishing towards the Arabians those feelings of admiration and complacency im- plied in such language, we learn that the crime of image-worship was so abhorrent in His sight that He on many different occasions revealed His signal displeasure towards the Jews on account of this very crime.* Religiously considered the Arabians were a singularly benighted people. In their own literature they are called Uninii, {lit. 'appertaining to a mother;' i.e. as their mothers bore them ; hence,) in one's natural state, uninstructed, ignorant, illiterate. ' Ea detenti ignorantia,' says Dr. Pocock, ' qua ex ntero matris prodibant, nee scribendi nee computandi artem edocti.'-f- The term was a regular technical expression among the Arabs, and is applied to them both in a social and religious sense in reference to their wild and benighted condition. It was hence applied to them by the Jews to indicate that they were a people to whom no Divine revelation had been vouchsafed; in other words, that they were ' heathen,' or ' Gentiles,' in the technical * Brinckman, Nctes on Isldm, 70 (edn. Lond. 1S68). t Pocock, Specimen, 161-2; Deutsch, Literary Remains, 114; Macbride, The Mohammadan Religion Explained, 21; Lane, Arabic Lexicon, p. 92, col. i; Sprenrer Life of Mohammad, 101-2; Syed Ahmed Khan, Essay on the Holy Koran, p. 2; Mon. Williams, Indian Wisdom, Pref. xli-ii; Syed Ameer h\\, Life of Mohammed, J^, 56 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. sense. In the present instance, therefore, Muhammad was administering to them a piece of overdone flattery. The self- satisfaction impHed in such language is such as is well known to be characteristic of ignorant persons all the world over. Of a similar tendency are those other pieces of egotistical flattery which we find in SClra ii (Baqr) 130 — 133, where we read, — C Aw S\^" r^ -^ f ■'K^ ^ ^ A ■' "i y a C5w A' f ^a31 a ^ ' A ^I A ji^ / A -« ^-- A A S'M^f'' ^'A t.---A U/ •/■/\ ^j, i ;p/ A '^'-' ^ Aj« ^i"^ ^ A 'UK 35 5j •'f f SfK/' A -'>' A ^ JL ■^ A ' A JJ A/» * Who will be averse to the religion of Abraham but he whose mind is infatuated? Surely we have chosen him in this world, and in that which is to come he shall be one of the righteous. When his Lord said unto him — Resign thyself ! he answered — To the Lord of all creatures have I resigned myself. And Abraham bequenthcd this to his children, and (so did) Jacob (saying\ — My children, verily God hath chosen this religion for you: therefore die not unless ye also become Musalmans !' A Similarly in S6ra iii (Al'i-'Imran) 66 we are brought acquainted with the interesting fact that, — ' A w » «- ^ ^ A I ;53j ^-'-35$ i\9' f A ^ ^ ^ I - '1 ' *l ' 'Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian; he was of the true religion, — a Musalman !' The same spirit of fulsome adulation and vain-glory is found again in Sura xxii (Hajj) 79, where Muhammad administers to ' true believers' the following exhortation, — CHRIST A MUSALMAN. 57 --A A >'A A^UU^ •';' •'A A A^A _ ^tP ^' A |x ^ ^ ^ ^ 4 ^ * Fight ye in defence of God's true religion, as it behovcth to fight for the same. He hath chosen you, and hath not /- imposed on you any difficulty in the religion (He hath given you),— the religion of your father Abraham. He called you Musalmans before.' The commentators interpret that the religion to which so much importance is here attached is that taught by Muhammad as distinguished from that believed in by Jews and by Christians. It was an essential point in the teaching of Muhammad that the Musalman faith was the creed held and observed by Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and their posterity. Nor was the 'true religion' thus spoken of the religion of 'resignation' merely, as the term 'Musalman' implies; for Muhammadans hold that it was also the acceptance of that formula which Gibbon affirms embodies * an eternal truth and a necessary fiction' — vis. ' There IS NO Deity but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah !' In other words, the apostles, prophets, and patriarchs of the former times, together with all their true and faithful fol- lowers, were believers by anticipation in that creed which was now offered by Muhammad to the illiterate Arabs. Abraham, and even Christ Himself, were Musalmans ! The conclusion which charity suggests in regard to such an affirmation is that he was unacquainted with the historical facts. How far a person so misdirected in regard to facts that are patent to all men may be relied upon to guide his fellow-men safely into the great mystery of The Unknown, it must be left to those who trust to his guidance to inform us. Lastly. — We are well aware that Muhammadans are wont to cite passages in favour of their dogma from their traditionary literature. We have, however, carefully abstained from attach- ing conclusive weight to passages that might be cited from that 58 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. quarter; partly because Muslims themselves are as far as possible from bcinc^ agreed as to the authority properly attaching to it, and partly because, making all due allowance for difference of interpretation of the text, the Qur'an is the only book to which, almost without exception, they appeal as to ultimate and decisive authority.* Our purpose has been to shew that concerning the dogma now under consideration, the Our an at least knows nothing. We have also striven to shew that whatever may be said by Muslims as to Muhammad's private opinion in regard to the matter, the evidence of the 'eternal' and 'uncreated' book is clearly unfavourable to the dogma so generally received by the adherents of Islam. Thus much for the evidence of the Qur'an. Even if it be agreed on all hands, among both the adherents of Islam and its non-adherents, that the passage teaches that Ishmael was the son commanded to be offered, the Muliammadan has still to account for the fact that the author of the Qur'an says nothing in reference to that 'blessing' which was to accrue to all mankind through the son in question. Muslims have been wont to choose their own man in this case, and then coolly take as proven all that follows upon such an assumption, — transferring to him and his posterity those prophecies which the Bible attaches to another person, and getting out of the difficulty by roundly asserting that long before the birth of Muhammad, Jews and Christians mutilated the text of Genesis for purposes of their own, and thus excluded from that document all mention of him. But even though the Our'an expressly applied the promises and predictions to Ishmael by name, there would yet remain the question as to the Divine authority of the respective books, — the Qur'an and the Bible. The subject is not a Christian one merely; it is of equal concern to Christians and to Jews: and the apologist of Islam who would * The objection of tlac Shi'as to llie Qur'an is not that it is corrupt, but that it is incomplete. ISHMAEL A TYPICAL CHARACTER. 59 get out of the difficulty by the time-honoured ascription of 'bigotry' and 'bias' and similar attributes, should remember that his language is opposed to the beliefs not of the followers of Jesus alone, but also of the followers of Moses. The Muham- madan will contend that every Jew and Christian is ipso facto incapable of estimating aright the merits of the argument. But he does not see that this same assertion applies in exactly the same way to himself. In either instance, it is the case of men being arbiters in their own suit. The assertion, therefore, is but a 'man of straw;' though it is sufficiently plausible to entrap the unwary into misplaced sympathy. It is evident that, exceptions aside, the most suitable persons to engage in the controversy are the trained theologians of the three sides, — the Jewish, the Christian, and the Muslim : else, as well might a physician be expected, in a matter of which a practised physician alone could be considered qualified to judge, to abide by the verdict of an architect. The thing that makes it so hard for the Muslim to admit the Jewish and Christian interpretation of the matter, is that the Israelite and the Ishmaelite are representative men, they represent principles ; or what is nearer the fact, they repre- sent opposing attitudes in reference to a certain eternal verity, and their respective characters are typical. The eternal verity is that symbolized by the principle of separation which God set up in the family of Abraham. ' He that was born of the bond- woman was born after the flesh ; but he of the freewoman was by promise. These things are an allegory ; for these are the two covenants.' The one. child is in the covenant, and the other out of it ; the one represents the unbelieving world, and the other the Church of God. ' As then he that was born after the flesh per- secuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now.' The jealousy of the boy Ishmael in regard to the Child of Promise is but typical of the aversion of the men of the world for the men of faith, and of the contempt and hostility they cherish towards them. 6o THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Let us now take note of certain facts of history which Mus- lims are wont to quote as corroborative of their view in relation to this subject. We will examine, in the first place, the historical value of their opinion as to the connexion of Abraham and Ish- mael with Makka ; and in the second place, we will examine their dogma regarding the pedigree of Muhammad. Islamic legends teach that when Abraham, in obedience to Divine command, sent away Hagar and her son, the homeless outcasts wandered as far as the territory of Makka, where Jehovah caused the fountain of Zamzam to spring forth for their relief* A number of traditions of various kinds in relation to the matter have gained currency among Muslims. One of them tells us that when Hagar and her son reached Makka, the anxious mother placed her child on the ground while she went to seek for water to quench their thirst. Seven times did she run about between the little hills Safa and Marwa, — now pausing to examine the soil for indications of water, and now in intense solicitude rushing hurriedly about again. At this point the legends shew some divergence. One of them relates that while Hagar was away, her parched child began to kick about him, as he lay, in a childish passion, when on a sudden and by miracle, water sprang forth from the ground at his fect.f Another legend relates that at the command of God the angel Gabriel interposed at this crisis on behalf of the poor outcasts, and himself digging the Well, supplied them with water of such miraculous quality that it not only quenched their thirst, but served also to remove their hunger. The legends go on to relate how. the Jurhumites, who were the masters of the Hijaz, on witnessing the miracle by which water was supplied to the forlorn refugees, permitted them to settle among them. In course of time Ishmael attained to manhood and became married to an Egyptian wife, — whom, • Herklots, QAnfinH-Isldm, 64; Burckhardt, Arabia, i. 178. t Muir, Lije of Mahomet, i. cxcii. ABRAHAM'S VISITS TO MAKKA. 6r however, he eventually divorced, and took to himself Ra'la,* a daughter of Muzaz, the twelfth of the Jurhumite kings.f Lastly, some legends have it that the birth-place of Ishmael was not at the home of Abraham in Hebron, but in the valley Mina, about three miles east of Makka ; and Burckhardt in his sketch of the Valley points out the site of the birth-place.j It is a small cavern capable of holding four or five persons. § Such are some specimens of the traditions relating to the origin of the now famous Well at Makka. Under the influence of such traditions as these, the Well has become invested with a peculiar sacredness in the estimation of the Ishmaelitic races. But the tale of wonder does not end here. Not only are Hagar and her son thus miraculously associated with the Sacred City, — the connexion with it of the great patriarch himself is no less wonderful. There, we are told, he built an altar unto God ; and in conjunction with Ishmael, he re-erected the Ka'ba for the first time since its demolition on the occasion of the Deluge, li Very different opinions, however, are held among Muslims, as to the manner of his connexion with the city, — whether he really held permanent residence there, or whether he merely went thither as an occasional visitor at the house of Ishmael. Some of the traditionists are of opinion that he actually resided there with his son, and that they together built the Ka'ba during the period of his sojourn there. Others of them hold that only Ishmael resided there, and that his father visited the spot by a series of miraculous pilgrimages. According to the latter opinion the great patriarch was wont to leave his home in Hebron every morning, and flying miraculously through the air on a certain * Sprenger, Li/i of Mohammad, 55. + His name in full was Muzaz bin 'Amr. AccordingtoKalbi, however, Ra'la was the daughter of Yashjob bin Ya'rob bin Ludzen bin Jurhum bin 'Amr bin Saba. For an account of the Amalekites and Jurhumites, see Sprenger, Life of Mohammad, ix, J Burckhardt, Arabia, ii. 64. § Bate, Th( Holy Places of Makka. II Bate, The Origin and History of the Ka^ba. / 62 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. winged animal of the donkey species (Arab. Z;//;'^?;/ = Pegasus) was required by Sarah to be at his home again by noon, — having in the meantime performed a day's work at the Ka'ba.* These rapid movements were necessitated by reason of Sarah's jealousy of Hagar. Such is a very brief epitome of the opinions held by Muslims in recrard to this matter. It will not be difficult to shew that the traditions on which these opinions are based are destitute of adequate support. That we may have before us the only materials extant upon which reliance may be placed, we will cite in full the narrative as contained in the most ancient Jewish records in relation to the subject. It may be well to keep distinct the two departures of Hagar from Abraham's abode. i. Her first departure occurred before the birth of Ishmael, and is thus narrated. Gen. xvi. — ' Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no child- ren. And she had a handmaid, — an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram — Behold, now, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid ; it may be that I may obtain children by her.t And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And when Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai his wife took Hagar her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram — My wrong (be) upon thee ! 1 have given my maid into thy bosom ; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes : — the Lord judge between me and thee ! But Abram said unto Sarai — Behold, thy maid is in thy hand ; do to * Sprenger, Life of Mohammad, 55, 127. t The practice was apparently common, as no expression of surprise accom- panies the request; and this place, as also ch. xxx. 3, shews that even the households of the patriarchs were not free from it : none the less is the practice wrong and mischievous, as is abundantly evident in the miseries which it introduced into the patriarch's home and family,— a sufficiently clear proof that God regarded it with disapproval. — 77j^ Annotated Taragraph Bible, R. T. S. THE FLIGHT OF HAGAR. 63 her as it pleascth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her. And the angel of the Lord* found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, — by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said— H agar, Sarai's maid, whence comcst thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said— I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said unto her — Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself to her ! And the angel of the Lord said (further) unto her— I will multiply thy seed exceedingly; so much so, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said (again) unto her — Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, t for the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man, — his hand against every man and every man's hand against him : and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.! And she called the name of the Lord who spake unto her Elroi,\ for she said — Have I also here looked after Him that seeth me?|| Wherefore the well was called BEERLAHAiROi,Tr behold it is between Kadesh and * ' The angel of the Lord : ' — This expression is of frequent occurrence in the Bible. It signifies any agent or messenger sent from God, — whethef a human creature, or a being of a higher or celestial order, or even a Providential dispensation. In the present passage the genitive is the Genitive of Apposition ; so that the phrase signifies ' the Jehovah-angel' (/»/. 'the Angel [of] Jehovah,' /.i-. 'the Angel Jehovah'): in other words, the Angel was the Lord Himself in human form. — The Paragraph Bible R. T. S. Cnf. ch. xxii. 15, 16; ExOD. iii. 2—14, and xxiii. 20, 21. + Lit. 'Whom God hears,' or 'heard of God,' or 'God will hear.' X Some Muliammadan writers are of opinion that the person foretold in this and the foregoing verse was no other than Muhammad himself! See Martyn's CcM^rc^i/fr- sial Tracts, 271. § Lit. 'Thou, O God, seest me.' II 'Have I also here;' — Which may mean — Have I here also, away though I am from Abram's tent, beheld Ilim that appeared to me.' H Lit. 'The well of Him who liveth and seeth me.' According to Kalisch the translation given of this word in the English Bible is very wide of the mark. His explanation is so suggestive that we give it in its entirety. "The confidence and the distinctness with which the assurances were expressed were to Hagar a convincing proof that they had been uttered by a superhuman being. The misery to which her flight had exposed her had proved a school of correction for her over-bearing character, and she confided in the promises she had just received. Joy and fear, trembling and gratitude, struggled in her heart. She believed she had seen that eternal Being whom, according to a general notion of antiquity, no mortal can behold without forfeiting his life ; yet not only was she nninjured, she had also received the pledge that she should 64 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Bered. And Hagar bare Abram a son. And Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bare, Ishmael. Now, Abram was fourscore and six years old when Hagar bare him Ishmael.'* ii. The account of Hagar's second departure, in company with her son, is related as follows, — the change in the names of the patriarchal pair having in the meantime been effected by Divine authority. Gen. xxi.— ' And Jehovah visited Sarah, as He had said ;t and did unto Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah con- ceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of the son whom Sarah bare to him, ISAAC. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said — God hath made me laugh; all who hear will laugh with me ! And she said — Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should give children suck? — for I have borne him a son in his old age! And the child grew, and was weaned :t and Abraham made a great feast on the day when Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham — Cast out this bond- woman with her son ; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his son. And God become the parent of mighty tribes. She exclaimed, therefore, with mingled feelings of exultation and submission, — 'Thou art the God of seeing; for she said— Do I even still see (or live) after seeing (Him)?' In other words — 'Thou art to me a God whom I saw with impunity; for, allliough I saw Thee, I still hve and see the light of day.' The angel proves to be God Himself, — a case of not unfrequent occurrence (ExoD, iii. 4). The fountain at which tliis vision of God took place waa therefore called — The well of seeing (God) and living."— Kalisch, Genesis, 245. Cnf. ExoD. xxx. 20 (John i. 18; \ Ti.m. i. 16; IIeb. i. 1—3). * See a good paper in the Christian Remembrancer for January 1855, p. 95. See also Smiili, The Student's Old Testament History, 54 (edn. Lond. 1S65). For the Muhammadan view of this passage, see Martyn, Controversial Tracts, 269 seqq., and 432. t 'As He had said;' — And thus gave a pledge of the fulfilment of those other promises which rccjuircd longer time for their accomplishment. X 'Was weaucd;'— Probably when he was three years old. HAGAR'S DISMISSAL. 65 said unto Abraham — Let It not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy bondwoman. In all that Sarah hath said unto thee hearken unto her voice; for, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And of the son of the bondwoman also will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. And Abraham rose up eaily in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water — putting them on her shoulder — and the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beershcba. And the water was spent in the bottle ; and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went and sal her down over against him, a good way off, — as it were a bow- shot : for she said — Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the cry of the lad : and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said unto her — What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the cry of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand ; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water : and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad:* and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer: and he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran:t and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.' t Such are the accounts — Muslim and Jewish respectively — of the matter which we are now considering. The reader will not fail to note how strikingly the natural simplicity of the one account contrasts with the non-natural embellishment and strain- ing after effect which are so apparent in the other. It is not enough to say by way of accounting for the artificial and obviously fabricated nature of the Muslim account, that such is the manner of oriental writers, for the writer of the Jewish account was also * 'God was with the lad ;' — That is, God protected and prospered him, and did not lose sight of the promises He had made concerning him. + 'Paran :' — This, as we shall presently see, is the name of a district between Egypt and Edoni, and extending from Beersheba nearly to Sinai, which is still in- habited by %vandering tribes of Arabs, who boast their descent from Ishmael and retain still the customs of the patriarchs. t Smith, Old Testament History, 6i; Robinson, Scripture Characters, i. 86 seqq. (edn. Lond. 1822). 66 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. an Oriental. Why the one account should be a sober, rational, and common-sense statement, and the other an account which no man could for a moment accept unless he were carried away by a spirit of unreasoning credulity, must therefore be explained on some other theory. The avidity with which Muhammadans seize on every mention of a 'well' in the Scripture narrative is quite a psychological curiosity. They leap at a single bound over geographical difficulties of the most stupendous description with the same lightheartedness with which they bridge over in the most imaginative fashion a gulf of many hundreds of years without any sound chronological data. They jumble up, inter- change, and alter names, places, and dates, as if these things had nothing to do with genuine history. According to them, the ' fountain on the waytoShur' mentioned in the narrative of Hagar's first departure when her son was yet unborn and which she named Lahairoi, is identical with the one she found when many years afterwards she 'wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba,' and both of these are none other than the well Zamzam at Makka!* The only evidence they can adduce in favour of such an opinion is in the following verse of the Quran — viz, Siira xiv (Ibrahim) 40, where Abraham is represented as saying, — i ^ /a A^ ^A A^ a A'' A 31 ^9 A .fA 'A yH 3J^ e *^fl^l .iiiji jJ* £)3 ^j y^ jTj.; ^.)'>i ^ c^ii^\ ^1 U.JJ — ^ ■'^ ^ ^ ^ ^ '' ^ ^ I ' O Lord, I have caused (some) of my offspring to settle in an unfruitful valley, near Thy holy house,' The 'holy house' here referred to is the Ka'ba ; and Muslims base upon the passage their rejection of the Scripture narrative and their belief that Makka was the place to which Ishmael and his mother journeyed on their removal from the household of Abraham.-f- An examination, however, of the historical and geographical allusions in the passages just quoted from Genesis, as also of the chronological order of the events to which they refer, * See the note by Dr. Samuel Lee on p. 279 of his eJition of Henry Martyn's Controversial Tracts, + Martyn, Contrcversial Tiuits, Pref. xlvii. TOPOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF ISHMAEL. 67 will reveal how weak the Isldmic dogma in relation to the subject really is. We shall see that the opinion that either Ishmael or Abraham ever visited Makka finds no support in the only trust- worthy history that can be quoted, and is, on the contrary, opposed to the evidence of that history. The first locality in which we find Hagar and her son after their departure from the patriarchal home at Hebron is in ' the wilderness of Beersheba' — Gen. xxi. 14. Here, it would seem, the outcast wanderers took up their abode ; for in ver. 20 we are told that ' Ishmael grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.' In the following verse the place of his abode is specified ; — it was 'the wilderness of Paran.'* And we are told that his mother at length obtained for him, as might naturally have been anticipated, a wife from among her own people, the Egyptians.-|- From that time till the time when he assisted at the interment of his father (Gen. xxv. 9), more than a half-a-century afterwards, we get no further mention of him. The reason obvi- ously is that he was practically cut off from that branch of the family with which the Scripture narrative is mainly concerned. In ver. 18 of that chapter we find the following important record ; — 'And they' — i. e. Ishmael and his family — 'dwelt from Havilah unto Shur which is before Egypt, as thou goest towards Assyria. And he died in the presence of all his brethren.' Thus, living and dying, he was in proximity to his own people. If the words are to be taken literally, and if Makka was the place, the Muslim will have to shew that not only did Ishmael reside in Makka, but also that the other sons of Abraham resided there too. It surely is sufficient, however, that we are thus so expressly told that the country between Havilah and Shur, on the road from Palestine to Egypt, is the locality where Ishmael and his family dwelt, and where at length he died. * Martyn, Contrcversial Tracts, 270. + Palgrave, Nairative of a Year's J oitrmy through Central and Eastnn Arabia, i- 455 (edn. Lond. 1865); Newton, Dissertations on the Pr^^phciies, 20-21 (edn, Lond. 1830). 68 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. The subject of the settlement of Ishmael has received such full and conclusive treatment by P'orster as to leave nothing to be desired.* Space forbids the reproduction here of his masterly investigation. The geographical difficulties which Muslims make so light of in connexion with this part of the subject are simply appalling. The efforts of the Muhammadan doctors to remove a moun- tain are well exemplified in the controversy that has gathered round the word 'Paran.' The controversy, from their standpoint, is important not merely on account of the fact that 'the wilderness of Paran' became the abode of Ishmael, but also on account of the use they make of other Scripture statements that have reference to this place, for the purpose of finding in the Scriptures of the Jews, allusion to Muhammad. A notable sample of such statements is given in Deut. xxxiii. 2, where we read, — 'And he+ said, — Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto tliem : He shined forth from mount Paran ; and He came with ten thousands of saints : from His right hand went forth a fiery law for them.' The great Persian Maulvi with whom the memorable 'Contro- versy' was carried on by Henry Martyn, renders the passage thus, — 'A light came from mount Sinai, and it shone upon us from mount Seir, and it was revealed to us from mount Paran. 't Elsewhere he renders it with differences which are such as do not inspire confidence in his fidelity, — ' God was revealed from Sinai : He shone forth from Seir: and imparted His bounty from Paran.'§ The passage is confessedly difficult of interpretation. MuLam- madans understand it to mean that there were to appear three great prophets — viz. Moses, Christ, and Muhammad, — the first, from Sinai; the second, from Seir; and the third, from Paran, — • See his Historical Geography of Arabia, and Alahometanism Unveiled. + 'He'; — that is, Moses. X Martyn, Controvefsial Tracts, Pref. xlvi, § Ibid. 278. THE THREE MISSIONS. 69 these three personages representing respectively Judaism, Chris- tianity, and Islam.* The different authorities express the matter somewhat differently: thus, Deutsch points out that in the Sifrah it is paraphrased thus, — "'The Lord came from Sinai;' that means — The Law was given in Hebrew: 'and rose up from Seir unto them;' that means that it {sic) was also given in RClmi {i.e. Greek): 'and He shined forth from mount Paran;' that means in Arabic." f There can be no doubt, says the Muhammadan doctor already alluded to, that the passage relates to the missions of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad \\ 'for, the place in which Moses saw the glory was mount Sinai, that {sic) of the mission of Jesus was Seir, that of Muhammad the desert of Paran.' " For it is well known," says he, "that the passage 'A light came from mount Sinai,' alludes to the revelation received by Moses on that moun- tain ; and that the passage ' It shone upon us from mount Seir,' alludes to the revelation received by the Messiah from mount Seir: for, by 'Seir' is meant Galilee, in a village of which, called Nazareth, the Messiah dwelt, whence his followers have been called Nasdra (sing. Nasrdn) 'Nazarenes.'" He goes on, — As to the passage — 'It was revealed to us from mount Paran:' the meaning is the revelation of Muhammad received on mount Paran, which is a mountain in the neighbourhood of Makka, between which and Makka there is a journey of two days. He then secures, as he thinks, the last and the essential link of the chain of proof, by assuring us that 'it is also well known that Abraham made. Mecca the residence of Ishmael, and that Mohammed is des- cended from him,'§ — thus taking in at an easy gulp cill the genealogical and geographical difficulties of the controversy as if no such difficulties existed ! Even so impartial and trusted a historian as Freeman declares the identification of Ishmael with * See Shahrastanf and 6afi'u'd-din in Pocock, Specimen, 15, 183, 188, J89. t Deutsch, Liteiury A'cwains, 66. J Martyn, Controvcrsiai' Tnuts, 27S. § Ibid. Vx4. xlvi. 70 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Makka to be 'a bold stretch of geography.'* The Maulvl elsewhere affirms that "all the Jewish commentators agree that Paran and Mecca are the same place, — whether the word 'Paran' occur in The Law or elsewhere."-f- This sample of the acquain- tance of this Muslim scholar with the statements of 'all the Jewish commentators' is thus summarily dealt with by Dr. Lee, whose immense learning in this department places him in a position almost unique, — 'It is certain that no Jewish commen- tator whatever has said that Mecca and Paran are one and the same place.'j Thus much for the passage in DEUTERONOMY. Another passage in which this word 'Paran' occurs is very much utilized by Muhammadan doctors — viz. Hab. iii. 3, where we read, — * God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens; and the earth was full of His praise.' The same Maulvi renders this passage in a way that is intended to shew its allusion to Muhammad: thus, — * God shall come from the sooth, and the choice one from the Desert of Paran: his excellency shall continually cover the heavens ; and his praise shall fill the earth.' § Elsewhere he renders it in a way still less likely to meet the approval of the Hebraist; — 'Again, the prophet Habakkuk has read, — * Their book shall speak of that which God has brought for a revelation from mountain Paran, and the heavens shall be filled with the praise of Ahmed.' || The words 'of Ahmed' have been inserted by this divine: they answer to nothing in the Hebrew.H In the former of these two * Freeman, History and Conquests of the Saracens, 26 (edn. Lend. 1876). t Martyn, Conlr.VirAal Trads, 279. % Ibid. § Ibid. II Il)id. Pref. xlvii. In Muslim theology 'Ahmad' is the celestial name of Muhammad, 'Muhammad' his earthly name, and Mahmud his name in the infernal regions. — Hettinger, Ilistdia Oiicntalis, 10 ; Sprengei; Lt/i- 0/ Jl/o/niffiwd,/, 142; Brinckman, AV/^j on JslAm, 40. See, on this whole subject, a forthcoming work of the present author entitled Muhammad ai The Paraclete. U On this whole subject the reader will find much curious and learned informa- tion in Tusey's Minor Prophets, and Henderson's Minor Prophets; also in Smith's Diitlonary 0/ the Bible, Ait. AiUblA. ISHMAEL AND MARK A. J\ renderings of his, he does not give the word 'Ahmed.' This verse is held by Muhammadans to contain a prediction of the advent of Muhammad. 'In the prophecy of Habakkuk,' says the Maulvi, 'who was one of the most illustrious of the Prophets, we have intimations, not only of the place in which the Prophet who had been promised should reside, but also of his character.'* As already intimated, the difficulty of applying the verse in Deuteronomy is admitted by all men who have laboured to understand it. The interpretation, however, which Muham- madans put upon it is very much open to criticism. In the first place, Moses did not 'come from' Sinai, nor Christ from Seir, nor Muhammad from Paran. Their respective birthplaces were Egypt, Judaea, and Makka, — each of which places is unmistak- ably distinct from the localities mentioned in the text. Sinai and Paran are in Arabia Petrsea (or Deserta), Seir is in Idumaea (Edom),f and Makka is in Arabia Felix (in the Hijaz). Again, Martyn's opponent writes, — ' Every one knows that Makka was the residence of Ishmael:' and elsewhere, — 'Ishmael resided in the Desert of Paran, — that is, Mecca.'j In reference to these astounding assumptions of the whole question at issue, Dr. Samuel Lee writes, — 'Nothing can, I believe, be more certain than that Mecca is not situated in the Desert of Paran.'§ It has been well pointed out by Reland, that Paran was, in fact, the name of a city situated about three days' journey to the east of Elath, which city gave its name to the district, and from which Makka is situated at a distance of at least five hundred miles to the south. It This was also the opinion of Ptolemy. IT Further, the reader scarcely needs to be reminded, that Galilee is in the north of * Martyn, Controversial Traits, 279. t Lowth, Lectuies on the Sacred Poetry of the Hibreii.s 449 (edn. Andover, 1829); Muir, Life of Mahcmet, i. cxiii. X Martyn, Controversial Tracts, 271, 279. § Ibid. 271. II Reland, Palestine, ii. 556; Martyn, Conirovirsial Tracts, 271, 279;Prideauxj Life of Mahctnet, 93. U Prideaux, Life of Mahomet, 93. 72 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Palestine, and Seir in the south.* Our Lord never even visited Seir, nor did Muhammad ever visit Paran, — and even if it could be proved that he did, it would still be incumbent on the Muham- madan to shew that his visit to the place was attended with events of such moment as to justify the conclusion which Muslims would wish to draw from it. However the case may be looked at, the geographical difficulties in the way of that interpretation which Muslims give to the passage, are insuperable. The assertion made by Muslims that Muhammad was the person refisrred to under the figure ' Jehovah shined forth from mount Paran,' is based upon a comparison of this passage with that in Gen. xxi. 21, where it is said that Ishmael, after taking leave of Abraham, ' dwelt in the wilderness of P^ran.' Assum- ing, as they do, that Muhammad was lineally descended from Ishmael, — .an opinion of which we have no wish to deprive them, but one to the establishment of which there are, as we shall yet see, fatal objections, — they get over the geographical difficulty as to the distance between Paran and Makka in two ways :— .Some of them assert that Muhammad came from V^X3.x\representatively^ inasmuch as he was of that nation of which Ishmael was the great ancestor; while others of them affirm that the writer of the Book of Deuteronomy made reference to a certain hill near Makka which happens now to bear the name of Paran or Faran. llow this name came to be applied to that locality is thus told us by Sayyjd Ahmad Khan,— who certainly is the most able of all the apologists of IsUm whom the Mul.iammadan commu- nity has yet given us. He first connects the Auf mountains, which lie westward of the great territory of Najd, with Auf the father of Paran, whom he holds to be the grandson of Himyar, the fourth in descent from Yuqtan (or Joktan) whom he considers identical with Qai.itan.f Paran, he then proceeds, settled in the • Martyr, Cont'vvcrsial Travis, 278. t Sycd Ahmed Klian, I/isiorual Geogra'^hy of Arabia, 33; Muir, Life ,f Alaka- met, i. cvii. Cnf. GtN. x. 21— 30. To this qug..tiou \vc shall have lo rcvcvt at a later stage of oui work. THE IDENTIFICA TION OF PARAN. 73 neighbourhood where his father before him had lived, which the Maulvi affirms to be 'the plain wherein Holy Mecca now stands; and it was upon this account that the name of Pharan was given not only to the vast northern desert, extending as far as Kadesh, but also to the mountains therein situated. All Oriental histo- rians,' he goes on, 'as well as every traditionist, confirms this fact, as do also the Scriptures, which distinctly state that the name of Paran was given to the locality in question.'* We claim no acquaintance with the writings of 'all Oriental historians,' nor with those of 'every traditionist;' but if the learned Maulvi's Statement here regarding them is as wide of the mark as his assertion regarding the testimony of the Scriptures on the point, he may rest assured that his opinion is not based on fact.f He elsewhere repeats this same statement in another form, with the addition that 'the wilderness of Paran is that widespread plain, extending from Syria as far as Yaman, as is mentio7ied in Holy Writ itself, and maintained to be such not only by all the local traditions but also by Oriental writers.' :|; The Maulvi seeks to make good his conclusion by a number of passages from the Old Testament which do not bear on the subject, but which happen to contain the word Paran. § The reader of his book has to be on his guard in reference to these so-called 'proofs from Holy Writ itself,' as also in reference to the Maulvi's citations from the Hebrew Bible. Quotations in an unknown tongue have a great effect upon some minds. The Hebrew scattered up and down the Maulvi's pages, hasquite an imposing look, and his inferences are very much to the disad- * Syed Ahmed Khan, HisUrical Geography of Arabia, 34. + It may interest the reader to have before him here all the Scripture passages in which the word 'I'aran' Ovcurs. Gkn. xxi. 21; NuMb. x. 12; xii. 16; xiii. 3, 26; Deut. i. l; xxxiii. 2; i Sam. xxv. i, 2 ; i Kings xi. 18; Hab. iii. 3; and. possibly Gen. xiv. 6. A careful perusal of these passages will supply the most effec- tive argument that whatever may be the difficulty in fixing the exact locality of jiiount Paran, that mountain was certainly not in the neighbourhood of Makka. % Syed Ahmed Khan, Ilutciic^l Geography of Arabia, 85. § Ibid. 77—79- • 74 ' • THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. vantage of the translators; but a critical investigation of the points on which he makes his case turn, shews that there is nothing in them. On p. 79 he gives us quite an impressive array of Hebrew, which on investigation, amounts to nothing at all: it has, in point of fact, nothing whatever to do with the matter which the Maulvi seeks to establish! We need not impute a motive to the Maulvi; but we certainly cannot compliment him on the light which his quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures shed on the question of his scholarship. The passage he cites is Numb. xiii. 26, where we read, — • * And they went (on their return) and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadeshj and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congrega- tion, and shewed them the fruit of the land.' In regard to this verse the Maulvi has the following re- marks: — 'As we suspect the faithfulness of the English rendering of the italicised portion of the passage, we herewith subjoin the original passage in Hebrew, with the Arabic version of it.' He then gives the entire verse in both languages : we will select merely the portion that is italicized, — ntrhp pb^Q -^-i-ra-^t^ T • • X 'X X I - . • T* "While this," says the Maulvi, (we presume he means the Origi- nal) " clearly shows the defect of the English translation, it also corroborates the correctness of our own remark. The true trans- lation of it is, 'unto the wilderness of Paran, tJirougJi Kadesh,' a translation that perfectly coincides with the Arabic version. In this case it is quite evident that Paran and Kadesh are the names of two distinct wildernesses."* The Maulvi does not seem aware that this unqualified man- ner of impugning the scholarship of the Translators, can render no assistance to his argument. Those men had no interest to • Syed Ahmed Khan, IlisUrUal Geography oj Arabia, 79. A MU SALMAN GEOGRAPHY. 75 serve in wronging the cause to which he is attached : their interests were, advanced in proportion to their accuracy (or 'faithfuhiess,' as we suppose the Maulvi to term it). But the passage contained the word 'Paran:' that was sufficient for the Maulvi: he must somehow press it into his service, — assured that not one reader in a thousand would take the pains to search up the point for himself, and that by 'kicking up so much dust,' people would begin to think that there really must be 'something in it.' Not only, however, does not the Hebrew nominal affix n ^ (al.i) ever mean 'through,' but neither also does his own Arabic ^\ (iley). The meaning of each particle is 'to,' 'towards,' 'in the direction of,' 'even to,' 'as far as.'* The Hebrew affix and the Arabic prefix particle carry much the same meaning that the affix 'wards' does in such expressions as 'homewards,' 'Qiblawards,' 'Kadesh- wards.' Any of these English prepositions may be adopted, and the Maulvi can do what he likes with them: but his word 'through' has nothing whatever to do with the subject. There really is nothing to be added to what the English Translators have given in this place. We feel obliged to assure the Maulvi that the pas- sage has nothing to do with the point he seeks to establish. The case, alas! exhibits but another feature of the tactics of the Muhammadan controversialist, — the invention of difficulties where in fact none exist. The cases we have given are but samples of the manner in which, throughout all his treatises, this accom- plished apologist of Islam manipulates the materials in order to suit them to his own purpose. It is difficult to refrain from com- miserating a man who is so hopelessly the victim of a foregone conclusion. He still holds on to those portions of the Scriptures from which nearly a century ago his great Persian co-religionist was beaten away by the wisdom and learning of good Henry Martyn, but he adopts another line of defence, — thereby tacitly conceding that the defence set up by his learned predecessor is * Cnf. for the Hebrew, the Lexicons of Gesenius, Furst, and Davies ; and for the Arabic, those of Richardson and Lane. 'je THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. no longer tenable. These are the tactics of the street, — tactics with which every Missionary to Muhammadans is thoroughly familiar, and which reveal a solicitude for triumph and not for truth. The allusions to the locality in question, contained in the chapter of the Book of Numbers from which the Maulvi makes the above citation, are not without importance in the present enquiry. The Israelites had arrived at the borders of the Pro- mised Land, and Moses sent forward spies to bring a report of it. In ver. 3 we are told that he sent on this mission one of the lead- ing men of each of the twelve tribes ' from the wilderness of Paran.' We then have their names, and a brief account of the manner in which they discharged the duty with which they had been entrusted, and in ver. 26 we are told that they came back again to the camp of Israel, to that same place. The point to mark is that the place from which they took their departure and to which they returned was 'the wilderness of Paran.' Now, that the Paran here referred to was not the same as that in the Makkan territory, is evident from the entire connexion of the narrative. The only alternative left to the Muhammadan is to contend that the forty years' wanderings of the Israelities included a journey to southern Arabia, — a conception so grotesque, and so remote from the historical record, that charity forbids our crediting him with so much imagination. It is important to observe that the circumstance of Hagar having obtained for her son a wife 'out of the Land of Eg}^pt,' goes a great way towards localizing and identifying the Paran where he settled, and shewing that it must have been some locality not far from that country. It is beyond all reasonable doubt that the 'wilderness of Paran' where the two outcasts settled was situated on the high road which connected Egypt with Palestine. These, however, are not the only difficulties of a local nature, in which Muhammadans are involved by the interpretation they put upon the passage in DEUTERONOMY. One most serious REMO VI NG MO UNTAINS. 77 consideration is that even Muhammad himself nowhere gives the passage any such interpretation as the one his followers thus give it. Further, some of them argue that the passage is to be inter- preted //-^///^//V^//;^,— that it alludes to the circumstance that just as Moses received the Law on mount Sinai, so likewise would Christ receive from God the Injil on mount Seir, and Muhammad the Our'dn on mount Paran. As to mount Seir, wc have already said all that the case needs. Regarding mount Paran, it is quite true that during the latter portion of the period of Muhammad's first marriage, when he was still a resident of Makka, he was wont to indulge his natural love of solitude by frequently retiring to a cave in a certain hill close to the city, and continuing there for days together. Here it is that he at length professed to have received visits from celestial beings, — notably, from Gabriel, and in at least one instance, from the Divine Being Himself in person* Muslims, accordingly, find no difficulty in applying the words, — 'God shined forth from mount Paran.' Unfortunately, however, they overlook several matters of essential importance. In the first place, the hill in which the said cave was situated was not Paran, but Hir^ (or Hdra, as it is variously called). In the second place, the hill called Paran is two days' journey from Makka, — a day's journey in Arabia being twenty miles ;f while mount Hird (or, as its post-Muhammadan name is, Jabal Nur) is in the imme- diate neighbourhood of the city.:|: In the third place, though Muhammad associated the reception of the first five verses of his 'revelation' with the little cave in mount Hira, yet the great body of it was 'received' by him in fragments as occasion required, in his own dwellings at Makka and Madina. This last point Muham- madans seek to elude by maintaining that the whole Qur'an was brought down to him by Gabriel for his inspection in that cave.§ * Muir, Life of Mahomet, ii. 55 — 96. + Mrs. Ali, Mussulmauns of India, i. 26. X Ali Bey, Travels in Arabia, ii. 64 (edn. Lond. 1816); Sprenger, Life cf Mohatnmad, 94; Muir, Life of Mahoviet, ii. 55; Burckhardt, Arabia, i. in. § Sale, /Vt/. Disc, 30, 46. 78 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. It is important for Muluimmadans to note that the verse does not contain a prophecy at all. It merely embodies a historical allusion to the circumstance that at each of those three moun- tains the glory of God had been, at different times, it may be, during the pilgrimage of the Israelites, displayed in the sight of all the people. Thus, as to mount Sinai, see ExoDUS, xix ; as to Seir, see Numbers, xvi; and as to Paran, see Numbers, xiii. These three mountains were all of them in comparative proximity to each other ;* and the events alluded to in the passage, occurred during the lifetime of Moses. But if it be urged that there is any difficulty in specifying three different occasions on which these several mountain districts figured thus prominently in the history of the Israelites in the Desert, we have no concern in contending for the number; for the comparative proximity of the localities to one another renders it not at all improbable that the words Sinai, Seir, and Paran here denote comprehensively the great scene of the one sublime transaction of the giving of The Law, together with all the stupendous supernatural occurrences that accompanied that event; and the expressions 'came,' 'rose up,' 'shined forth,' refer, all of them, to one and the same glorious manifestation of the Divine presence. So distinctly were these localities associated in the minds of the Israelites with the sub- lime wonders which had already rendered them famous, that they were mentioned ages afterwards by the prophets and poets of the nation. Thus, Deborah and Barak (Judges, v. 1—5) make allusion to Seir; David (Psalms, Ixviii. 7, 8, 17, 18) makes allusion to Sinai; and Habakkuk (Hab. iii. 3, 4) makes allusion to Paran, Lastly, the hill Paran, in the territory of Makka, was one of the numerous, moderate-sized eminences so common in the Hijaz. But the majestic tone of the allusion to the Paran of the Scrip- tures, naturally suggests something more than a mere hill. And, as a matter of fact, the mount Paran to which the passage in Deuteronomy alludes, is so large as to be visible at a very • Wilson, Lands of the Bible, i. 290, 337, 340 (edn. Edinburgh, 1847). MISCONCEVTIONS W TOPOGRAPHY. 79 great distance. It has, moreover, enormous precipices, such as to render ascent impossible, excepting on one only of its sides: and even there, the ascent is difficult. This huge mountain is situated in 'the wilderness of Paran,' about three days' journey from mount Sinai. It is so lofty, indeed, as to be visible from this latter mountain.* The last clause of the verse, — 'From His right hand went forth a fiery law for them,' — embodies an allu- sion which applies in no way whatever either to the mission of Christ or of Muhammad ; but which, on the other hand, applies in every particular to what were then matters of history ; — we refer to the going forth from Jehovah of a 'fiery law' for the Israelites: the fact being that the Decalogue was handed down to Moses amid circumstances which are most solemnly and fit- tingly described by such language. Muhammadans, in fact, misunderstand what is the real point in dispute when they cheer themselves with the reflection that even Jewish and Christian travellers and divines are not agreed among themselves as to the exact locality of the Paran of Scrip- ture. We are not aware that it has ever been as much as doubted among Jewish and Christian writers as to the claim of the Faran near Makka: the only point in dispute is the one indicated by the late Dr. John Wilson, of Bombay, — whether the mount Paran of Scripture is or is not in any way connected with the majestic mountains that enclose the Wadi Fairan of the Sinaitic penin- sula, — an entirely different question. Niebuhr is disposed to reply to it in the affirmative ; Burckhardt in the negative.f The Hebrew 'Paran' and the Arabic 'Fairan' may, as far as etymo- logy goes, be identical denominations. Dr. Wilson has pointed * Cnf. Smith, Dictionary of the Bible, Art. Paran. See also Artt. IDUM^^A, Seir, Shur, Sinai. Much interesting information, corroborative of this view, may be found in Wilson, Larids of the Bible, i. 199 seqq., and Burckhardt, Travels in Syria, 604 seqq. (edn. Lond. 1829), See also Le Quien, Orietts Christianus, iii. 747—758; Tillemont, Mt'moites, x. 453; Robinson, Biblical Researches, i. 186. + Niebuhr, Travels in Arabia, i. 189 (edn. Edinburgh, 1792); Burckhardt, Travels in Syria. See also Carolus, Geographia S.tcra a. Sancto Paulo, 317. 8o THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. out that in the Scripture passages in which the word occurs, it seems to be used in a comprehensive sense, as applicable not merely to some particular part or parts of the desert contiguous to Sinai and south of Judaea, but to a large portion, if not the whole, of Arabia Petraia; and it may thus include the district of the Wadi Fairdn, from which it may also have derived its name. To this view Dr. Wilson (who, it should be observed, wrote from personal observation of the locality) sees no objection; and adds that if it be the correct view, it corresponds entirely with the nature of the place, and suggests a very sublime interpretation of the most sublime poetry of Habakkuk, — ' God came from Teman, — Yea, the Holy One from mount Paran : His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of His praise, And His brightness was as the light. He had horns (/. e. rays) coming out of His hand, And there was the hiding of His power. He stood and measured the earth; He beheld and drove asunder the nation : And the everlasting hills were scattered; The perpetual hills did bow : — His ways are everlasting! I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; Yea, the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble!' These 'curtains' were probably the tents of the Midian Cushltc;, of whose priest Moses kept the flock in these very parts, where also he obtained, as his wife, the daughter of his master, who is called an Ethiopian or Cushite.* In the sublime imagery of the passage, the prophet clearly intended to commemorate the historical fact that when God descended to give The Law to His people, the Divine glory was revealed from Teman (or Ma'an), in the east of Edom, to Paran (or Serbal) in the west. As a matter of fact, that glory liter- ally covered the heavens over this extent of country, and His majestic presence, indicated by the thunderings and earthquakes, shook the land.f ♦ Cnf. EXOD. iii. t, and NuMB. xii. i. + Wilson, Lands of (he Bible, i. 201-2. PATRONAGE OF MOUNTAINS. 8i The whole case shews, by a very curious but fatal instance, the great eagerness of Muhaminadan divines to bring into the service of their faith that connexion of mountains with religion which is so frequent in all religions, and in none more so than in Judaism and Christianity.* Sinai and Tabor, Hermon and Moriah, Zion and Lebanon, are instances that will at once suggest themselves, Mohler, again, reminds us of Olympus, among the Greeks; of Maru, the source of the Ganges, among the Hindis; of the hills which cause the cataracts of the Nile, among the ancient Egyptians ; of the Albordi among the Persians ; and of the Phrj^gian title of Cybele — viz. 'the Mother of Mountains.' f It would be interesting to enquire what may be the philosophy of that connexion, how the practice could have originated, and which of all the religions came first to exhibit this instinct for connecting mountains with its solemnities; but this would be aside from our present purpose. It remains to observe that Muhammadans can- not appeal with success to their dogma regarding the right inter- pretation of the words in DEUTERONOMY, until it be granted that Seir is a mountain in Galilee, to the north of Judaea, and not in Idumaea, to the south of it ; and that Paran is a mountain near Makka, and not in Arabia Petraea, five hundred miles to the north. :j: We must ask the reader's forbearance for this digression, introduced with the view of shewing with what uncommon facility Muslim divines manipulate mountains. We may now return to the wanderings of Hagar. — It is obvious from the narrative that on being sent away from the home of Abraham, the forlorn out' cast bent her steps homewards towards her native country of Egypt. On her first departure she went in a southerly direction to the Isthmus of Suez ; and when she reached the Desert of Shur * The curious reader will find more about this subject of mountains in con- nexion with the Muslim faith in Burclihardt, Aiabia, ii. 230, and in the twentieth Chapter of Burton's Pilgrimage. t Mohler, Ul>er das Verhaltniss des hlan.s zum Evattgeiium, 355 (edn. Regens- burg. 1839). X The Christian Remembrancer (]&.n. 1855), 136. 6 82 THE CLAIMS OF ISIIMAEL. she was met by the angel and ordered to return to her mistress.* On the occasion of her second departure she was still bent on taking the same dh-cction, and settled, with her son (then ap- proaching an age when he would be able to care for her and become her protector) in the wilderness of Bccrshcba. The contention that Paran and Makka were one and the same place is a piece of special pleading designed to meet the exigencies of the case. There were, and have subsequently been, many Parans, Havilahs, etc. in the great continent of Arabia. The district of Paran to which allusion is made in the narrative in GENESIS took its name from a 'city so called. The city of Paran was situated in Arabia Deserta, about three days' journey east of Elath; while Makka is situated in the district of HijAz, at least five hundred miles south of Paran, The force of all this is realij^cd at once by a glance at a map. What may have become of the descendants of Ishmael after his decease is a question that belongs to a period of history with which the present portion of the argument has no direct concern, It is enough for our purpose that the oldest records in exi.stence that relate the events of the patriarchal pci-iod, are absolutely silent as to any evidence of such a circumstance as that of Ishmael having been a resident of Makka, On the other hand, that evi- dence is such as fairly entitles us to conclude that he never bC' came a resident either of Makka or of any other place in southern Arabia, There is, in fact, no evidence whatsoever, apart from the mere traditions of the pagan Arabs, that Ishmael was at any period a resident of Makka. And it is important to note the plain contradiction thus pointed out between that tradition on the one hand, and the statements of Scripture on the other, as to the place of Ishmael's settlement on his departure from the home of Abraham.f * See RoseimiliUer's Biblical Geography translated by Monen in the BlhJUal Ciibhiiit, xi. 6 (etln. Edinlnirjih, 1S36). t Stobart, Isl&m and i,s founder, 17—10, 34, 35, TOPOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF ABRAHAM. 83 And equally contrary to the evidence of history is the opinion so essential in the Muhammadan faith, that Makka was ever visited b)' ^Vbraham. The verse of the Qur an on which Muslims chiefly rely for evidence that Abraham visited Makka occurs in Sura xxii (Hajj) 27, where wc read, — ffi Z^\ ^jjUlo ^\y, « ^ ty. JIj ' We gave the site of the House for an abode unto Abraham.' The traditions themselves, however, are (as we have already seen) not at all agreed on the question whether Abraham ever became a permanent resident of the city. But even if they were agreed, this would not constitute it a fact ; for it Is opposed to the evidence of the Jewish records, the writers of which lived many ceinturies before Muhammad, and must therefore be acquitted oi any design to subvert his claims. Born in Mesopotamia, at Ur of the Chaldees,* Abraham con- tinued to reside there till after his first 'call,' in obedience to whichf he went and dwelt in the land of Haran. Here, in course of time, on the death of his father, he received a second 'call,' and with it the first intimation of 'the promise;' whereupon, at the Divine behest he quitted Haran, :|: and went to dwell in the * Gen. xi. 26, 28, 31, — 'And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram Nahor, and Haran. And Haran died before liis father Terah, in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Terah took Abram his son and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with tliem from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan, And they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.' + Gen. XV. 7, — 'And He said untc him — I am Jehevah who brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inhabit it.' + Gen. xii. I — 6, — 'Now Jehovah had said unto Abram — Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house, unto a land that 1 will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation ; and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shah be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee; and in thej shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as Jehovah had said unto him; and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram look Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went fortl) i.Uo the 84 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. rich plain of Moreh in the land of Canaan.* There it was that he received the first distinct promise of the future heritage and greatness of his posterity.-f- Finding himself, however, regarded with unfriendly eyes by 'the Canaanite,' he next removed to the strong mountain country that lay between Ai and Bethel, whence he was at length driven by famine into Egypt. | After his return thence he again took up his residence in his mountain home, where occurred the separation from Lot, on which event the great patriarch removed to the land of Canaan,§ and took up his abode at Hebron in the plain of Mamre, — a city which was situated in the direct line of communication between Egypt and Palestine. The portiort of country in which his new home was situated lay to the westward, — Lot preferring the plains of Jordan, and journeying eastwards thereto from the place where they separated. It was concerning the country thus chosen by land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichcm, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.' • Acts vii. 2 — 4, — 'And Stephen said — Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken! The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in M£Sopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran (in Grk. =Haran); and said unto him — Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I will shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwell in Charran ; and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed into this land wherein ye now dwell.' + Gen. xii. 7, — 'And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said — Unto thy seed will I "ive this land. And there he built an altar unto the LORD who appeared unto him.' J Gen. xii. 8 — 10, — 'And Abram removed thence' (from 'the place of Sichem, in the plain of Moreh,' in the laud of Canaan) 'unto a mountain on the east of Buthel, and pitched his tent, — having Bethel on the west, and Hai (==Ai) on the east. And there he built an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. Anil Abram journeyed, — going still towards the south. And there was a famine in the land ; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land.' § Gen. xiii. 12, 13, — 'Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan. And Lot iourneyed east. And they' {viz. Lot and his following, and Abraham and his follow- ing) 'separated themselves the one from the other. And Abram dwell in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodum. TOPOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF ABRAHAM. 85 Abraham that Jehovah said — 'To thy seed will I give it.'* Here, when the patriarch was eighty-six years of age, occurred the birth of Ishmaclf and, fourteen years later, the birth of Isaac. I Here too it was that he interceded with God on behalf of the doomed cities. He afterwards journeyed south, and dwelt at Gcrar, between Kadesh and Shur, in the land of the Philis- tines. § Thence, in process of time, he removed to Beersheba, situated on the north-west border of the territory of the Philis- tines, where for a long time he sojourned, II and where, moreover, he was residing at the time of the sacrifice.H His last change of residence appears to have been from Beersheba back to Hebron, * Gen. xiii. 14— 18,— And Jehovali said unto Abram, after Lot was separated from him,— Lift up, now, thy eyes, and look, from the place where thou art, north- ward and southward and eastward and westward ; for, all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And 1 will make thy sied as the dust of the earth ; so that If a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise thou, walk through the land, in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it u.ito thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.' t Gen. xvi. 16,— 'And Abram was fourscore and six years old when Ilagarbare him Ishmael.' X Gen. xvii. 21, 24,— 'My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee this set time next year. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.' Ch. xxi. i, 2,— 'And Jehovah visited Sarah, as He had said: and Jehovah did unto Sarah as He had spoken ; frr Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him.' § Gen. XX. i, — 'And Abraham journeyed thence toward the south country, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.' Ch. xxvi. I, — 'And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham : and Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto Gerar.' II Gen. xxi. 31— 33,— 'Wherefore he called that place Beersheba' (///. the Well of the Oath), because there they sware both of them' {i. e. Abraham and Abimelech). 'Thus made they a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the chief captain of his host ; and they returned into the land of the Philistines. And he' (t'/z. Abraham) 'planted a grove in Beersheba, and there called on the name of Jehovah, the everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.' H Gen. xxii. 19,— 'So Abraham returned unto his young men: and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.' 86 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. where Sarah died,* and where at length at the age of a century and three quarters died also the patriarch himself, — his last rest- ing place being by the side of Sarah in the cave of Machpelah.-f- Such is a brief outline of the wanderings of Abraham as recorded in the^original document. It is seldom that the geo- graphy of the lifetime of a man living in a remote age has been so carefully recorded, and so jealously and almost miraculously preserved as this of Abraham. The steps of Abraham from his birth to his death have been linked together as if the writer had forecast the geographical difficulties which the wild traditions of Arabia would in after times create. There is not, either in Scripture or in Josephus, the most distant allusion to such an event as his having at any time journeyed further eastward or southward than is thus indicated.:]: It is, in fact, impossible to prove that Abraham ever either resided in Makka or even visited the place ; and the facts of his history, as far as they arc known, are plainly adverse to such a supposition. There is, moreover, not merely in the outline of his wanderings provided to our hands in Scripture, but also in the nature of the case, everything that is calculated to render such a supposition in the highest degree improbable. And from what we shall yet discover as to his personal predilections as regards the members of his family, it is in the abstract most improbable that he should have ignored the existence of his favourite Isaac, his 'only son,' and have undertaken a journey at once so inconve- nient, so perilous, and so purposeless, as a journey to such a remote locality as the city of the Ka'ba would have been. It is * Gkx. xxiii. 2, 19, — 'And Sarah died in Kirjalliaiba; the same is TIchron in the land of Canaan: and Abraliani came to mouni for Sarah, and to weep for her. And after this Abraham buried Sarah liis wife in tlie cave of MachpcKah before Mainre ; the same is Hebron in tlie land of Canaan. + Gen. XXV. 9, 10, — 'And his sons, Isaac and Tshmael, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Epliron, the son of Zohar the Ilittite, whicli is before Mamre, the field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Ileth ; there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.' X Sniilli, Old Tistamcnt JHslcry, 60; Stobart, Ishiin and its Fcundcr, 35. MANUFACTURED HISTORY. 87 impossible to admit what the tradition affirms without admitting also what it certainly implies, — namely, either that there was a split in the patriarchal home of which ihc original document says nothing ; or, that not Abraham and Ishmaci alone, but also Isaac, Sarah, and the other members of the family went and resided in Makka ! The legend appears to be of a piece with another legend attributed to Muhammad and most religiously held by the generality of his followers, to the effect that the patriarch Moses went on pilgrimage to Makka with seventy thousand Israelites!* Thus much for the light which the Taurat throws upon the subject. Some other points of a comparatively subordinate nature arising out of the case as represented in the Muslim tra- ditions quoted above, require attention. In the first place, the Islamic traditions are contrary to the statements of the Taurat as to the more immediate cause, on each occasion, of Hagar's departure from the patriarchal home* What may have been the particular part enacted by Sarah m reference to the removal of Hagar is clearly not of itself a matter of much importance to the present enquiry. Since, however, it is expressly asserted by Muslim authorities that Sarah demanded her removal ' in a fit of jealousy,' we naturally turn to the only authoritative record now extant which affords any information in relation to the point. Fully possessed of the idea we have mentioned as to what was the real occasion of Hagar's removal, the Islamic legends represent that Sarah, in the fury of her jealousy and anger to- wards her, took an oath that she would cut three pieces of flesh out of her body. To what parts of the body reference was thus made the traditions deemed it needless to mention. The poor slave-girl was greatly distressed at this heartless and wicked threat ; and Abraham ventured to intercede with his irate partner * Euiton, Pilgrimage, ii. 17. SS THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL, on her behalf. Byway of compromise he sought to limit the actfotl of Sarah, as to the fulfilment of her oath, by suggesting that one piece should be cut out by an incision in each ear. As to the remaining excision it will be sufficient to allude to that carnal rite which is the chief characteristic of the Abrahamic covenant.* * The question of the origin of circumcision is one that tias greatly exercised the minds of historians. Thus much at least is certain, — the rite has from time imme- ttlorial existed not only among Israelites, but among other Abrahamic races as well. Among them may be mentioned not only races more or less directly descended from Abraham, but also races thcit have been subjugated by them. Among most of these races, persons of both sexes are subjected to the rite. Gibbon throws doubt ujjo-n its religious significancy and purpose, and even upon its original connexion with Abra- ham 5 but Sayyid Ahmad Khaii affirms without hesitation, that circumcision was introduced by Abraham. Tlie Ishmaelitic races administer the rite at the age of thirteen in the case of males, — that being aboilt the age of Ishmael when his father circumcised him. It is now practised among the Arabs, the Abyssinians, the Copts, the Egyptians, the Nubians, and the Hottentots. The curious reader may find some interesting information on this whole sul^ject in the following places, — Herodotus, lib. ii, cap. 14, 37, 1O4; Strabo, lib. xvi, cap. 761; DiodorUs Siculus, lib. i, cap. 28, and iii. 32; Mishqat, i. 139; Roland, De Religione MohavivicdicA, 58-9, 75; Bobovius, De Circumciiione, 22, and Turkish Liturgy, 145; Marsham, Canon Chvonicics, 72 — 74, 168; Niebulir, Description De P Arabic, 67 — 71, and his Travels in Arabia, ii. 24S — 251 ; Pocock, Specimen, 19, 303, 304, 309, 310, 319, 3Z0,' Fabricius, Lux Christiana, 720; Hyde, Opera, ii. 236 (edn. Oxon. 1727); Recherches Philcsophiqnes sur Us Ante ricains, tom. ii ; Priaulx, Qiucst tones Mosaiae, 384, 386; W\ci!n\<^\%, Alosaiches Kecht, vol. iv, p. clxxxv; and his Qt/estions a N^iehuhr, 185 — 192; Ersch and Grubers Ency- clopedic, ix. 268 (Art. Beschneidung); ^xmih. Dictionary of the Bible, i. 331 (Art. Circumcision); Gibbon, Dedi'.e and Fall, 844 (ch. xlvii); Adams, Narrative, 112; Mills, History of Mtihammedanism, 320-21 (edn. Lond. 1818); Forster, Mahometan- ism Unveiled, ii. 394 (edn. Lond. 1829); The Quarterly Rroieiu (Jan. 1877), 223. Burton, Pilgt image, ii. 282: Syed Ahmed Khan, Essav on the Various Religions cf the pre- Isldmic Arabs, 5; Arnold, Isldm and Chtistianity, 1 15; Muir, Life of Mahrtnct, ii. 108; Sale, Picl. Disc. 76; Philostorgius, Histoiia Ecclesiastica, lib. iii; Abu'1-Fida, Vita Mihammedis, p. 2 (edn. Gagnier, Oxon, 1723); Josephus, Antiqtdties of the fews, lib. I, cap. X, sect. 5, and xii, 3; VIII. x. 3; XIII. ix. i, and xi. 3; Against Apicn, lib. I, sect. 22; Life, sect. 23; Hardwick, Christ and other Masters, 407, 491 (edn. Lond. 1874); Russell, Polynesia, 36 (edn. Lond. 1852); Miiller, Geschichte des Americanise hen Urreligionen, 285, 479-So, 640 (edn, Basel, 1855); Winer, Reakvorter- buck, Art. Beschneidung; Rawlinson, Herodotus, ii. 17 1; Dbllenger, I/eidenthum und Judcnthum, 790 (edn. Regcnsburg, 1857); Kenrick, Ancient Egypt, i. 450 (edn. Lond. 1850); Livingstone, Researches in South Africa, 146-7; Prichard, Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, iii. 287; Kurtz, Geschichte des Alten Bundes, i. 185; Origen, Opera, v. 138-9 (edn. Lommatzsch); \j\?' The opinion suggested by Drake is maintained strongly by Good, whose description, however, of the latter of these animals cor- responds in almost every particular with the description given by other writers of the former. + That the two words designate one and the same animal is the opinion that is advocated by most scholars, among whom is Gesenius. This writer explains the occurrence of the second word, Ti'ii^ by the opinion that it is merely the Aramaean equivalent of the Hebrew word used in the promise given to Hagar. In the Targums the form is «Tiii^. 'arodhda; Syr. 'Urdun; Arab. ^;^ 'ardaH.% The usage of the * Bochart, Hierozoicon, pars I, lib. iii, cap. i6, col. 878. + See his Article on the word Ass in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. The strange thing is that in his Notes on Hosca, viii. 9 (edn. Lond. 1S53) he speaks of the words as being alternative names of one and the same animal. + See The Book of JOB, literally translatal, ivith Critical Notes, by John Mason Good, F.R.S., etc. (edn. Lond. 1812). § We may remark that the common word in Arabic for the wild ass is y*^, 'ayr. It has several forms in the plural ; thus, a'yar, 'iyar, 'uyiir, 'uyiirat, ma yOra', Myarat. Lane, Arabic Lexicon, p. 22oS, col. 3; Richardson, Persian and Arabic Dictionary, p. 885, col. 2. THE WILD ASS MAN. 143 Book of Job does not help us, for as we have just seen, both words occur in that book. There is some ground for supposing that the opinion held by Gesenius is the same that was held by The Seventy, The unfortunate thing is that their usage vacillates, so as to suggest the surmise, either that the point did not occur to them, or that they did not observe any particular principle of concert in regard to the translation of equivalent terms, or that they found the question too difficult for them to solve. The Aramaean word occurs again in Dan. v. 21, where we get the Chaldee definite or emphatic plural form of it w^'ii? 'ar&dhayyda which Theodoret renders rwv bvli-^phiv. The Seventy also render it by the same word in that place, and by the component parts of that word, ovoq aypiog, in the place in JOB. The usage of The Seventy, however, does not help us to ascertain whether in their opinion these animals were the same or different; for whereas in JOB xi. 12 they render it ovoq IpnjjLiTrig, and in Gen. xvi. 12 they translate it as an adjective — viz. aypoiKog (av^ptuirog), yet in PSA. civ. 1 1 and JER. xiv. 6 they render it by the same word by which they render the other word in the place cited in Daniel. It is, indeed, remarkable that in Job xxxix. 5, The Seventy omit to render the word Tiii? and thus force upon the reader the impression that no other animal excepting the «^5 is mentioned in the Original. The conclusion which Good arrives at is that The Seventy 'did not know what to make of it.' The more charitable supposition seems to be that, believing the words to refer to one and the same animal, they did not think it worth while to render it twice by the same equivalent or by any other equivalent in one short verse. It is, not improbably, by a similar principle that we are to account for its appearing in the Original in this place, for with the single exception of the Chaldaic plural in Daniel, the word occurs nowhere else the whole Bible through. We would not, however, vindicate the conduct of The Seventy in apparently 'taking from' the Word of God, even in so seemingly unimportant a case as this. 144 THE CLAIMS OF ISIIMAEL. Nor does the etymology of the words afford any assistance, for in the case of each of them it amounts in the end to nearly the same thing. Dr. Benjamin Davics understands the word Ti'ij.* to mean, in effect, the sJty one, the tiviid one ; and hence, the fleer ; while wiQ signifies tJie swift runner. Fiirst and Gcse- nius hold, both of them, what is in substance the same opinion as Davies holds. The creature is indeed so exceedingly shy, quick-sighted, and alert, that even good marksmen find it very difficult to get within rifle-range of it, and it is captured rather by strategy than by open pursuit. Bochart* hints a suspicion that the word "rnr is onomatopoetic, and is given from the peculiar cry of the creature (that is of the «'^c) when he catches sight of a human being. The word would thus mean 'the neigher,' 'the brayer,' 'the alarmist,' 'the screecher,' or something to that effect. (Cnf. Aram, 'drodh, Sk. rud, Lat. rtidere.) Gesenius thinks that there may be some truth in Bochart's conjecture, though we have no confirmation of it in the other Shemitic dialects.-f- The Hebrew name of the creature occurs several times in the Old Testament; but that particular and most remarkable combina- tion of words we find in the text, whose peculiarity is that the designation of the wild ass is united adjectivally with the word for 'man,' occurs in only one other place — namely, in JOB xi. I3, where we read, — ' For vain man would be wise, though man be born a wild ass's colt'; — literally, 'the colt of a wild ass man', — a person not amenable to instruction, cultivation, or control. It is a very striking image of what is wild, untamed, refractory, and rebellious. Not without reason, we must suppose, was this animal chosen under Divine authority as the emblem of the unborn posterity * Bochart, Hicrozoicon, ii. 218 (edn. Leipzig). + Some interesting things on the matter of this discussion may be found by consvdling, in addition to the works already mentioned, Gesenius's Thesaurus; Furst's Ilebrdisches unci Chalddischcs Jfa>id2i'diierbu':h ; Davies's Student's Hebreio Lexicon; Richardson's Persian and Arabic Dictionary ; Lane's Arabic Lexicon. THE WILD ASS MAN. 145 of Ishmael. It is, of course, impossible to say to what extent it was customary in the common parlance of the ancient Hebrews to apply the term to members of the human species. The use of it in a document so ancient as the one from which we have just quoted, proves that long before the writing of the Pentateuch the creature attracted attention, and suggests the probability that the application of it to human beings may not have been unprecedented. It is evident from Burckhardt that among the Arabs, just as in all nations, the ass is the emblem of stupidity.* Although the period of this enterprising and scholarly traveller dates so recently as the first decade of the present century, yet the Proverbs, which he so carefully collected, of a people so little influenced by change, would be of very ancient date. But the word in use among the Arabs for the purpose of sarcasm— 7//>. ,Ua. himdr—\s the designation of another member of the species and not of the beautiful creature — the f;i fara' mentioned in the text. The former of these terms is general, and the latter particular; in other words, \hefara' is a himdr, but the himdr is not necessarily a fara\ Though there is an essential difference between the himdr of the proverb and the pere (or fara') of the prediction, yet the beautiful pere is still an ass,— the hereditary possessor of those distinctive qualities which marked him out as answering the purposes of the comparison. But that the implied comparison in the prediction of the * Burckhardt, Arabic Proverbs, p. 14 (Art. 41) and many other places in that book (edn. Lond. 1875). Popular feeling seems undecided as to the true character of this humble applicant for leave to exist:— now he is the emblem of 'stupidity » and now of 'patience.' He endures what other brutes will not put up with, and his recompense is that his endurance is construed into stupidity. This endurance may be the result of stolidity, or of absence of feeling, or want of self-respect or proper pride: but it may also result from natural self-restraint. If the latter, then his reputation for stupidity arises from a vulgar misunderstanding and a hasty generalization, — in which case he is grievously wronged: if the former, then it is not the stolid ass but the high-bred horse (who wants to go, but may not) that should rather be the emblem of patience. If patience is a virtue possessed in perfection only by donkeys the example is not inspiring, IQ 146 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. angel was not considered so depreciatory as comparison to the asinine species is considered among ourselves, would appear from the fact that the prospect did not elicit from Hagar any symptoms of distress or dismay. Not improbable, either, is the supposition that the language conveyed to her mind a very distinct image of the kind of persons the posterity of her son were to be, — that image being to her one which to most mothers would occasion emotionsof complacency, — the imageof dauntless and indomitable independence.* The latter part of the verse would convey to her mind the additional idea of reprisals, — an idea that would be not at all unpleasing to her, who with her beloved and only son, had been cast out and disinherited. The wild ass was a creature with which she was already quite familiar; even the expression '.wild ass man' itself may have been familiar to her, and from what we have just seen from the Book of Job, it is highly probable that it was. That Ishmael and his posterity were the first to whom the designation had been applied, is therefore not by any means certain. Indeed, it is hardly credible that the peoples who passed their lives in the wilds of Arabia were not themselves possessed of the genius of the wilderness. And, as a matter of fact, there is plenty of evidence to shew that many tribes of people were scattered over the peninsula long anterior to the days of Ishmael, and that these were given to habits of plundering. In addition to the evidence of the Book of Genesis, — which contains, among other things of a similar import, evidence of the incom- patibility of the presence of 'the Canaanite' with the peaceful nomad life of Abraham, — there is the emphatic evidence afforded by the narrative of Job, where the Sabeans are said to have fallen suddenly and unexpectedly, after the regular traditional manner, upon the flocks of the afflicted patriarch, and to have taken them away.i* And in that graphic account of the depredations of the wilderness robbers which we have in Job xxiv, we have this very * Keith, Evidence of Prophecy, 517. + Job i. 15. THE WILD ASS MAN. 147 word «'^Q employed by the writer to add vividness to his descrip- tion. The point for us to mark is that the descendants of Ishmael were to roam in the wilds of Arabia, and develop characteristics corresponding to those of the onager. A very clear and correct conception of the characteristics of this animal may be gathered from the allusions made to it by the Scripture writers. The effect of those allusions is to shew that he was known thousands of years ago to be the same as to- day, — a wild, independent, and haughty creature, a denizen of the wilderness. Rude, bold, shy of the human race, untamed, intractable, loving to live at large, impatient of restraint, — a very emblem of roughness, wildness, and irrationality. The peculiar characteristics of the creature attracted the observation not of Scripture writers alone, but also of nations not residing in his immediate neighbourhood. His terrible and unrelenting nature was perceived by the Romans; and just as among our fathers the term 'ram' was applied in military service from the method in which the ram is wont to fight, so the name of the 'onager' was used by the Romans as the synonym for a kind of engine used in war for projecting large stones.* And that shyness and ten- dency to take flight which the onager in a special degree exhibits, and which is so characteristic of wild animals, is alluded to by Virgil.-f- Our concern, however, is with those features that shew the analogy of the creature to the posterity of Ishmael. From the time when Ishmael was removed from the patriar- chal home, he began, all unconsciously to himself, to answer the description given of him in the prediction which was made before his birth. He took to the savage and uncivilized life of the Arabian wilderness, and became an archer. Early he must have become inured to hardship; and as his body grew robust, his * Ammianus Marcellinus, iY».y/^fW, xxiii. 4, "j; VegGii\x%, De ret militaris instiiu, iv, 22. t Virgil, Georgica, bk. iii, line 409. The creature is alluded to frequently in the classical writers. 148 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL, mind doubtless became energetic and even fierce from the condi- tion of exile into which he had almost from the first been forced. Not only, Ishmael, however, but also the race of men who were to have the misfortune of being his descendants, were to reveal a ch aracter in all essential respects analogous to that of the wild ass Possessed by nature of the distinctive qualities of this animal, they were to find their gratification in the exercise of them, — displaying them with fearful accuracy, and not possessed of any emotion that should prompt them to rise above that inhuman condition. As might have been expected, the posterityof Ishmael, even down to the present day, keep to the occupations and pastimes of their father, — combining the duties of nomad life with the pleasures of archery. So dexterous and successful are they in the use of the bow and the matchlock, that nothing can escape their fatal aim. As the wild ass is remarkable for its scorn of a tamed and domesticated life, and for its love of the precarious and reckless life of the Desert, so do the descendants of Ishmael despise and shun the tumult of the city and revel in a savage independence. It might have been well for the Sons of Ishmael if the pre- diction had stopped at the analogy of the wild ass; but it goes further, and foretells that they would live in a condition of wrong- doing and of consequent suffering. The wrong-doing would consist in a chronic condition of strife, mischief, and guerilla war; and the suffering would consist in exclusion from the society of civilized and progressive humanity, and the stirring up against them of feelings corresponding to those which they themselves would foster and display. Their course would be marked by the wanton infliction of misery upon the human species without assignable justice and without intelligent reason. And now that some forty centuries have rolled slowly away, the verdict of his- tory declares that the fulfilment corresponds with the prediction. As far as the Ishmaclites of the Desert are concerned, there is nothing in history or in any of the accounts of travellers to shew THE WILD ASS MAN, 149 that there are any exceptions. If there are any, they must in- deed be few. The Badawi, wherever he turns up, . is found to bear about with him the same characteristics, — a bold and daring and restless character, living in the wilderness by the precarious product of plunder and the bow. Relentless as a persecutor, cruel as an enemy, and altogether reckless of danger, he seems to court the calamity that could bring his dreary and useless existence to a close. And the suffering and estrangement to. which the posterity of Ishm.ael have always been subject, are but the natural echo of civilized men in response to that spirit of;" bitter aversion and hostility which the former have always and! everywhere manifested towards their species. With the view of putting ourselves into position for a more adequate realization of the force of the analogy, we will look care^- fully at the creature mentioned by the angel. There are several kinds of asses mentioned in Scripture; but the one now referred to is a particular breed, — the wild ass of Asia, in some respects the most remarkable of them all. The best modern elucidation of several creatures of the ass species we owe to the researches of Dr. Pallas, He supposes the animal now under review to be the same that Aristotle calls Hemiofios* The idea embodied in this name — r)fii + 6vog, 'half-donkey' — suggests the compromise that will naturally occur to any one who has seen the creature. Good affirms that though it is called 'the wild mule,' it is not a mongrel production; and he ridicules as 'vulgar' the opinion of its being *a hybrid product of the ass and ox genus.' If it is a hybrid, the difficulty is to ascertain its parentage. But its habits shew that it cannot be a mule in the strict sense of the term; and it is probably sa called only in allusion to its appearance;-f- In works on Natural History it is sometimes called 'the onager' — Asimis Onager, Gray — the Latin outcome of the Greek name. Pennant, however, describes it under the name given it * Pallas, Reisen, iii. 51 r. t Cof. Jer, ii, 24, of which more presentlf . I50 THE CLAIMS Of ISHMAEL. by the Mongolians — namely, Dschiketai, which is variously spelt in English books Dsigetai, Dziggetai, Jiggetai, etc.* Shaw calls it Jickta, obviously from the Mongolian. The Chinese call it Yototse, which also is doubtless after the Mongolian. Its Heb- rew designation «1Q is derived from an unused root signifying * to run swiftly,' 'to run wild:' it consequently means 'the swift runner,' 'the fleet one,' 'the wild one;' and the creature is .so designated on account of that extraordinary fleetness and un- tameability which form its most marked characteristics. It has been doubted by some whether this beautiful creature is really and purely an animal of the ass tribe; and it is not to be won- dered at that doubt should arise regarding such a point. In general outline it is distinguished from the ordinary ass by its greater length and by the finer form of its limbs, its straight-up chest, and somewhat compressed body.-f* Altogether its appear- ance, character, and bearing suggest something far nobler than even the cultured ass of the East. It was formerly found in Palestine, Syria, Arabia, and adjacent countries, but is now said to be rare in the western portions of Asia. It avoids wood-lands, and is found only in treeless and interminable Deserts, and on rocky mountain sides.j It continues to be found in the wilder- ness wilds of Arabia and Persia, in the plains of Mesopotamia, in the deserts of northern Africa, in Kutch, on the shores of the Indus, in the Panjab, Siberia, and China; but it is found chiefly jn Tartari, where it is known under the name of 'Koulan.' How strikingly suited this animal was for the purpose of comparison in the present instance, will be readily apprehended * See also Rebau, Naturgeschichte, 320. Liddell and Scott (in their Greek and English Lexicon, 5th edn. 1861, s. v. I'lfxiovog) say that this word 'Jiggetai' is Persian for this animal. But its Persian name is ^vr ()y^). There is no such word as 'Jiggetai' in the Persian language. t The reader will find a picture of It in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, vol. iii, Appendix A, p. xx, from which invaluable repertory much of our information regard- ing this curious creature has been obtained. X Burckhardt, Bedouins and IVahdbys, i. 221. THE WILD ASS MAN. 151 if we note a little closely some of its habits and characteristics. In the first place, its very appearance is remarkable in no ordin- ary degree, as was perceived long ago by Martial, the Roman veterinarian, who speaks of it as 'pulcher onager^* How well this description meets the case must have been felt by anyone who has seen the specimen in the gardens of the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park. A fine, strong, noble-looking creature, of the size and bearing of a lightly-built horse; light- footed and slender, with a neck resembling that of the stag, which, unlike the ordinary ass, he always carries erect. The forehead is arched and high, and the ears slender, sharp-pointed, and erect, but not so long as those of the common member of the species. He differs from his relation as known to us, by the greater length of his body and the finer form of his limbs. In size and proportions he surpasses by far the finest specimensof the ass tribe, even when they have been subjected to culture, and the breeds have been carefully guarded. Its smooth skin is generally of a silver colour, and sometimes of a cherry-brown, cream, or grey, with broad patches of bright bay on the thigh, shoulder, and neck The mane is of a dark colour, sometimes woolly, sometimes hanging vertically along the neck. The coffee-brown colour of the mane is prolonged in a bushy stripe of hair down the back to the tuft of the long tail ; but though the dark stripe across the shoulders, common to the ass species, is sometimes found in the pere, it is not by any means an invariable mark. In point of gracefulness the creature resembles the horse, as it bears its arched neck aloft with a fierce haughtiness of air that seems to defy control. In entire keeping with what might have been expected in a creature of this description, we find that he is wonderfully nimble and alert. His motions are so fleet that he easily escapes the hunter. The very name that is used regarding him in the pre- diction under notice, embodies the idea of rapidity. Testimony * Gargilius Martialis, xiii. loo. 152 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. to his extraordinary swiftness has been borne by everyone who has had opportunity of observing his characteristics. Aristotle says that he is swifter than the swiftest horse.* This testimony is corroborated by an eminent travellerf quoted by Gesenius, who in turn adds his own testimony to the description by saying that it agrees precisely with a live specimen which he himself 5aw in the Zoological Gardens in London in 1835. According to Layard, who had ample opportunity of observing the creature during his researches around Nineveh, it equals the gazelle in fieetness, and to match it in point of agility is a feat which only one or two of the most celebrated mares have been known to accomplish. In the region to which Layard refers, Xenophon, more than twenty centuries ago, during the famous expedition of Cyrus, observed herds of these creatures so fleet that the horse- men could only capture them by dividing themselves into relays, and succeeding one another in the pursuit. + Thus the natural alertness of the wild ass, its dread of capture, and its perpetual apprehension of the thing it dreads, must render its whole existence one of sustained unrest. Not less remarkable than the exceeding swiftness of the wild ass is the indomitability of his temper, his impatience of control, and his power of enduring privation. His wild and proud appearance is such as to indicate unsubdued power and perfect independence ; and indeed no one has hitherto succeeded in tam- ing him. They are sometimes caught by the Arabs while yet young, and the Arabs feed them with milk in their tents. But even in such cases the wild element in their natures inevitably develops itself in due time, and they then prefer dying in their fetters rather than submit to the will of man. As might have been anticipated, one of its most marked characteristics is its * Aristotle, Historia Animalium, lib. vi, cap. 29. + Ker Porter, Travels in Georgia, i. 459. See also, Oppian. KynigtiikA; Rosenmiiller on Gen. xvi. 12; Bochart, Hierozoicon, i. 870. % Xenophon, Aito/>asis, bk. I, ch. v, parag. 2. THE WILD ASS MAN. 153 obstinate preference of the hardships of a precarious existence to the plenty that is often the concomitant of loss of independence. Although in those latitudes which it generally inhabits, water seems to be a vital condition, the wild ass can exist long without it. Its marvellous power of enduring hunger and thirst is the one consideration that explains its continuance in its arid and cheerless abodes. None the less must it be sensible of the deprivation, for if by chance it meets with an abundant supply of food, it seizes it eagerly and sates its whole desire. Their food, according to Shaw, consists mainly of saline or bitter and lactescent plants. They are also fond of salt or brackish water. The Arabs and Persians hunt them as game, and esteem their flesh a peculiar delicacy,* — an opinion in which people of more civilized habits have not been able to agree with them. As already intimated, the allusions made to the wild ass by the Scripture writers are such as throw considerable light on several of its characteristics. Besides those already noted, a few yet remain which we quote on account of their correspondence to the characteristics of the Badawis. Thus, in JER. ii. 23, 24 we read, — ' See thy way in the valley !t know what thou hast done, — / a swift dromedary traversing her ways ! X a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure ! In her occasion who can turn her away ? All they that seek her will not weary themselves : in her month they shall find her.' A glance at the Original will shew that under the influence of an honourable regard for the feelings of the reader, the translators have even obscured the actual thought of the prophet. The vehemence with which the female of this species of animal, courses the Desert in search of a male, — snuffing the wind in * Burckhardt, Bedouins and Wahdbys, i. 221. + 'In the valley'; — AUuding to the worship of Molokh in the valley of Hinnom, Cnf. 2 Kings xxiii. lo. $ 'Tfaversing her ways'; — That is, running about hither ?ind thither, 154 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. order to ascertain where one may be found, — is thus selected by the inspired authority to set forth the uncontrollable impulse to idolatry which found place in the hearts of the Jews. By the 'month' of the ass is to be understood the particular season when the impulse for copulation was strongest. Instead of then keep- ing to the Desert, the female is found frequenting those places in which even the tame asses are in pasture, so that there might be no difficulty in finding her. Thus does the Scripture, in fixing upon something that should fitly symbolize the obstinate and unreasoning apostasy of Israel from the one living and true God, attest the savage and uncontrollable libidinosity of the wild ass, — fit emblem of the unsubdued waywardness and crude tenacity of the wild sons of Arabia. Another remarkable feature of the analogy is shewn in that singular combination of gregariousness and solitude which marks both the wild ass and the descendant of Ishmael. In their native wilds the asses live socially together in herds numbering from fifteen to a hundred. The strongest and most courageous of the males acts as guide and watchman to the rest. In time of danger he gives the signal for flight by running three times round in a circle. If the leader is slain, the flock is easily and at once dis- persed, and falls a prey to the enemy. But though they thus generally go in herds and live sociably among themselves, yet they keep aloof from animals of other species. Living thus in wild herds, untamed and untameable, the wild ass scorns the tumult of the town, and roves on the parched mountain sides in search of grass and herbs. All this is forcibly expressed in Job xxxix. 5 — 8, where we read, — ' Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass, — whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwelling.' He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the cry of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.' From this it appears that Ishmael and his posterity were to be THE WILD ASS MAN. i55 wild, savage, fierce, ranging the Desert, not easily softened and tamed to society. From all that is known of the Badawis, from our own time back to the remotest periods, this is but a true description of their genuine character and their actual practice. Their custom of moving about in troops is attested in Job xxiv. 5, where we read, — * Behold, as wild asses in the desert go they forth to their / work, — rising betimes for a prey of the wilderness, food for them and their children.' The allusion is to the tribes of plunderers, or to the houseless poor mentioned in ver. 4, whom the extortion and violence of haughty tyrants had scared away from society, and compelled unitedly to seek subsistence by public pillage, — they roamed about, like herds of wild asses, in search of plunder. Their habit of segregating themselves from creatures of other species than their own is attested in ISA. xxxii. 14, where we read, — ' The palaces shall be forsaken ; the multitude of the city . shall be left ; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, — a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks.' We thus have evidence that the aversion of the wild ass to the human species, and its habit of isolating itself in herds for the double purpose of society and defence, are characteristics of the creature which were observed by men at a very remote period of human history. But though thus frequently found in herds, yet they are apt to separate from one another from a certain love of solitude, and when so separated they become the victims of fatal calamity. These facts are alluded to in Hos. viii. 9, where we read, — ' They are gone up to Assyria, — a wi/dassaXone by himself.'* And in ECCLUS. xiii. (ver. 19 in the LXX.), — ' * The wild asses are the prey of lions in the wilderness.' * 'Alone by himself; — The point of comparison in this animal is its untract- ableness and waywardness, which lead it to keep clear of the haunts of other animals. 156 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL, Under the emblem of the wild ass the character of Ishmael and his descendants is here affectingly set forth, — self-willed, per- tinacious, swift to do evil. The former passage describes the attitude of idolatrous and apostate Israel towards God, and incidentally shews, under the figure of the obstinate wild ass, that the man who turns away from his Creator pursues a course which must culminate as fatally as isolation from the herd is apt to culminate in the case of the solitary onager which becomes the prey of the carnivorous beasts that waylay him in the Desert.* It will be evident by a reference to the Hebrew that the 'wild ass' alluded to in these passages is the creature whose designation occurs in the prediction now before us. Thus much for an account of the animal with whom the Badawis and their father Ishmael are pointedly compared by inspired authority in the text. No comparison could be more apt or more powerful, for in all essential particulars they meet the comparison the whole way along. In the remarks we are about to make an important distinc- tion will need to be borne in mind, — the distinction between the Yoktanide and the Ishmaelite Arabs.-f" The former are variously called 'Araba'l-'Araba, Ahli Hadr, Hadesi; and the latter, Must- 'Araba, Mut-'Arraba, Ahli Badu, Badawin.J The former — that is, the Yoktanide Arabs — are the dwellers in fixed localities, and the latter are the people of the Desert; the one class form themselves into townships, and carry on trade, — chiefly in the south ; the latter, like the earlier offspring of Ishmael, roam about with their flocks and tents in the vast Desert between * Pusey, Minor Prophets, in loc. + The reader will find much interesting information on this point in Ibna'l-Athtr, i. 55— 58; Pocock, Specime'i, 40, 46; Weil, Lcben des Mohatumed, 5, seqq. ; De Percival, Histoire des Arab^s, i. 5, seqq.; Muir, Life 0/ Mahomet, i. Introd. ch. iii; Syed Ahmed Khan, Historical Geography of Arabia, 12, seqq.; Lenormant, Anc'unt History of the East, ii. 293; Burton, Pilgrimage, ch. xxiv; Syed Ameer Ali, Life of Mohammed, 22; Forster, Mahometanisvi Unveiled, ii. 411; Sale, Prel. Disc. 4 — 7. % All these wo.ds. we may remark, are variovisly spelt, not only by English H'ritcrs but also by the people of Arabia, THE WILD ASS MAN. I57 Egypt and the Euphrates: the former earn their livelihood by industries of various kinds; while the latter combine with the care of their flocks the business of plunder. Roughly speaking, the distinction to which we refer may be said to be the distinction between the southern and the northern Arabs, or the older Arabs and the subsequent ones, the pure and the mixed or half-caste, the aboriginal and the adventitious. The designations, therefore, •of the latter class imply something of contempt, — that they are interlopers, and of mixed breed, — the allusion being to the fact that Ishmael was not properly a native of the country, and that his mother was an Egyptian, This distinction is expressly indicated in the narrative in Genesis; and it happens to be the distinction which the Arabians themselves make with regard to the two leading sections of the population of their country. They strictly separate the descendants of Yoktan from the pro- geny of Ishmael ; and we thus find the germ of the later divisions of the Arabians into the chief southern tribe of the Himyari, and the chief northern tribe of the Quraish.* Our present concern is with the second of these classes,—. the Ishmaelite Arabs or Badawis. Lane tells us that wherever the Arabic language is spoken, the term 'Arab is used to designate only the Badawis regarded collectively. In speaking of a tribe of Badawis, or of a small number, the word 'Urbdn is also used. Asingle individualof the class is c^^.\e:dBada^v^{iem.Bada^vtJah).■\' It is, indeed, wonderful to observe to what an extent the very same language that describes the character and habits of the wild ass describes also the character and habits of these descen- * Kalisch, Genesis, in loc. ; Lane's Arabic Lexicon, s. vv. On the subject of the Arabs before Ishmael, the reader may consult Palgrave, Central and Eastern Arabia, + Lane, Modern Egyptians, i. 37. Cnf. Forster, Mahometanism Unveiled, ii. 414, It will have been noted that in the present treatise we have kept to the Anglicized form 'Badawis' for the plural. The word is derived irom Bdidah, 'a desert:' so that a Badawi is a 'Desert-man.' The genuine Arabic plural is Baddwai: also Bidawdn, The reader will agree, at any rate, that the use of the forms 'Bedouin' for the singular and 'Bedouins' for the plural is a little too bad, 1S8 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. dants of Ishmael.* There are features even in the bodily struc- ture and constitution of the one that awaken the memory of the other; so that if we turn from the description of the physique of the wild ass to that of those other denizens of the Arabian wilderness to whom the angel alluded, it is almost impossible not to catch the application of the angel's words or to realize the gist of the analogy. It is true that in person most Badawis are rather undersized, — the men as well as the women. This results no doubt from hardship and irregular living endured through un- numbered generations. Theircomplexion, especially in the south, ^ is dark; their hair coarse, copious, and black; their eyes dark and oval: the nose is commonly aquiline, and the features well- formed ; and the beard and moustache are apt to be somewhat scanty. The men are active, but not always strong; the women for the most part plain. Yet with all this there is great and almost inexhaustible power of endurance; while the spare but athletic form, the grave and matter-of-fact but social temperament, the active habits and wonderful swiftness, all combine to proclaim the Badawi to be the man referred to under the figure of the wild ass of the Desert. To the description of the wild ass we have but to add that the reference in the prediction is to a being of the human species. The worst of all the enemies of the human race is man. If it is true that it is the posterity of Isaac who in the first instance are the special aversion of the posterity of Ishmael, it is no less true, as history abundantly shews, that by reason of their aversion to the human species they are excluded from the comity of nations, — 'his hand shall be against every man.' The picture is not of our making, — its details were supplied by 'the angel of God.' The subject of the prediction was to be not only «iti p^rS, but also di« dddm, — not only a wild animal, but also vv T r 'a man.' We have but to picture to our imagination a creature in which the essential qualities of the two are combined, and we * Forsler, Mahomdaniim Unveiled, ii. 391; Newton, Prophecies, 20 scqq. ; Sale, Fiel. Disc. 22. THE WILD ASS MAN. 159 have then the best possible conception of the true son of Ishmael in all history down to our own time. It is a fact well sustained by the evidence of travellers that the Muslims of the southern parts of Arabia are much less in- hospitable to strangers and much less strict in their adhesion to Islam than are those of the north.* As Makka, the original spring of The Faith, is as near to the south as to the north, the pheno- menon is probably attributable rather to the proximity of the territories of the Jews than to any other cause. It is not un- reasonable to suppose that such should be the case, seeing that Ishmaelite and Jew are the hereditary enemies of each other. The nearer we approach the lines of contact between their terri- tories the more distinctly should we expect the special aversions of the people to reveal themselves ; and inasmuch as their aver- sions are emphatically of a religious nature, the principle of tenacity for points of religious faith and practice ought to shew itself more strongly in the north than in the far remote regions of the south. Planted by the hand of Providence at the first in immediate contact with their brethren, the offspring of Isaac, the Ishmaelites early cultivated a spirit of general hostility to man- kind by the habitual exercise of an implacable and unremitting hostility towards the Jews. When this characteristic feature in the prophetic portion of Ishmael is compared with the history of the Jews and the Arabs, the exactness of the correspondence between the prediction and the accomplishment must strike even the most cursory observer. Scripture and Jewish history alike abound with evidence of the rooted and hereditary antipathy reciprocally indulged in by the two nations, and with notices of the incessant though desultory warfare carried on between them. Such, indeed, was the proverbial inveteracy of this international hatred, that we find Tacitus, in his enumeration of the forces which composed the army of Titus at the siege of Jerusalem, • No less striking than beautiful is a proof of this given by Burckhardt, Arabia^ ii. 380. i6o THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. accompanying his laconic allusion to the Arab auxiliaries with mention of their notorious hostility towards their neighbours the Jews, — ' Solito inter accolas odio infensa JudaeisArabum manus!'* With his usual brevity and characteristic pregnancy and sugges- tiveness does the philosophic historian thus attest in one signifi- cant sentence the prescriptive notoriety of the mutual hatred of these two races. Their mutual hostility indeed bespoke more than the hatred of mere neighbourhood, and induced 'plus quam civilia bella.'f Thus have the desendants of Ishmael been all along unconsciously and undesignedly proving their paternity and verifying the words of the prediction. But the prophetic promise of the text has been realized far beyond this its immediate tenour •,X the aversion of the Ishmaelite has extended not to one nation, but to all, — his hand has been against every man. The chief importance of the Ishmaelites commenced only when the kindred nations had either been ex- pelled or extirpated. They became powerful and formidable under the name of Saracens. § They marched forth to curb the world, and to subdue it to their dominion, and force the nations into an acceptance of their newly-acquired faith. They swarmed into Persia, they inundated northern India and the territories east of the Caspian Sea. They carried their victorious arms into Syria, Egypt, and the interior of Africa. They took possession of Spain and Portugal, Sicily and Sardinia, and 'beyond their native tracts ascended more than a hundred thrones.' II And prior to their subjection to the power of Muhammad they pre- served their liberty, with very little interruption, even from the time of the Deluge.H No hero has at any time succeeded in * Tacitus, Historia, lib. v. sect. I. t Forster, Mahometatxism Unveiled, i. 135, and ref. X Kalisch, Genesis, 244. § For an interesting discussion concerning the origin of this word, see Pocock, Specimen, 33—5. II Kalisch, Genesis, 244. H Sale, FrcL Disc. 10. THE WILD ASS MAN. i6i mastering them in their own Deserts;* and though very great armies have at times been sent against them, all attempts to subdue them have been unsuccessful.*}- The power which the Assyrian and Babylonish kings had over them was limited to small portions only of their tribes, and was but transitory, — they never obtained permanent footing among them. J The monarchs of Persia, again, though friendly to the Arabs, and so far respected by them as to have an annual present of frankincense sent them by the Arabs, § could never make them tributary: II but these presents, as also the presents of cattle which they sent to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were not of the nature of tribute, but were purely voluntary.lT They are, in fact, expressly mentioned in this connexion as 'independent allies.'** So far, indeed, were the Persians from being masters of the Arabs, that we are told that Cambyses, on his expedition against Egypt, was obliged to ask their permission to be allowed to pass through their terri- tories.-f-f Even the ambition of Alexander the Great and of his successors in the Grecian empire experienced in the attempt to subjugate the Arabs an insuperable check. :^| When Alexander had subdued the mighty empire of the Persians, the Arabs had yet so little dread of him, that they alone, of all the neighbouring nations, sent no ambassadors to him from first to last.§§ This fact, together with a desire to possess himself of so rich a country as in some respects Arabia was,llll led to his forming a design against it; and had he not died before he could put that design into execution,1[ir the Arabs might possibly have convinced him * Kalisch, Genesis, 244. t Sale, I'rel. Disc. 10. X Diodorus Siculus, ii. 131; Sale, Prel. Disc. 10. § Herodotus, lib. iii, cap. 97. II Diodorus Siculus, ii. 131; Herodotus, lib. iii, cap. 97. H Keith, Evidence of Prophecy, 517; Kalisch, Genesis, 244. ** Kalisch, Genesis, 244. tt Herodotus, lib. iii, capp. 8, 98; Sale, Prel. Disc. 10, tt Kalisch, Genesis, 244. §§ Sale, Prel. Disc. 10. |||| Cnf. p. 177, note* HIT Strabo, lib. xvi, pp. 1076, 1132 (edn. Amsterdam, 1707); Arrianu?, lib. vii, p. 300 (edn, Gronovius). II i62 THE CLAIMS OF ISIIMAEL. that he was not invincible: nor does it appear that any of his successors in the Grecian empire, whether in Asia or in Egypt, ever afterwards made any attempt against these indomitable Sons of the Desert.* Nor were the attempts of the Romans more successful than tlrosG of the Greeks. They never conquered any part of Arabia properly so called.-f- The most they did was to make some tribes in Syria tributary to them, — as Pompey did in the case of a tribe commanded by Sampsikcramus (Shamsu'l-Kariim) who reigned at Hums or Emessa.;]: But none of the Romans, or any other nations that we know of, ever penetrated so far into Arabia as did ^lius Gallus, under Augustus Caesar ;§ yet this expedition against the Arabs totally failed. II So far was this great Roman General from subduing Arabia, as some writers have contended, IT that we have it on the authority of Strabo that he was soon obliged to retire from the country without having achieved any- thing considerable, and having lost the better portion of his army by sickness and other calamities.** And the later efforts of the Romans — when, in the year 105 of the Christian era, Bostra (one degree south of Damascus) was, under Cornelius Palma, Governor of Syria, constituted the northern capital of that province of the peninsula which extended thence to the Red Sea — were unable cither to bend the independence of the Arabs, or to exercise any influence over their manncrs.-f"f- Such ill success it probably was that discouraged the Romans from attacking them any more; for Trajan, notwithstanding the flatteries of the historians and orators of his time, and notwithstanding the medals struck by * Diodoms Siculus, ii. 131; Sale, Prcl. Disc. 10, + Sale, Prd. Disc. 10. % Strabo, lib. xvi, p. IO92; Sale, Picl. Disc. 10, The word is ako variously written 'Horns' and 'Iliins.' § Dion Cassius, lib. liii, p. 516. || Kalisch, Genesis, 244. IT Huct, Histoire du Commerce et de la Navigation des Amiens, cap. 50. ** Sale, Prel. Disc. lO; Strabo, lib. xvi, p. 1 126. The whole expedition is there described at large by Strabo. it Kalisch, Genesis, 244. THE WILD ASS MAN. 163 him, did not subdue the Arabs, — the province of Arabia which he is credited with having added to the Roman empire, scarce reaching further than Arabia Petraea, or the mere skirts of the country.* We arc even told by one authorf that this prince, marching against the Hagarensj who had revolted, met with such a reception that he was obliged to return without achieving any- thing. And thus have Jews and Babylonians, Persians and Abyssinians, Greeks, Romans, and other nations, all in turn made war upon these wild Children of Ishmael; but by no nation, however powerful and victorious, have they ever been perma- nently subdued. And in modern times, narratives both abund- ant and delightful have shewn that the Badawis have remained essentially unaltered since the periods when those ancient powers sought to bring them into subjection. § Some of the Badawis have, it is true, beeni known at times to enlist in foreign armies, but only when by doing so they have been able to vent their national antipathy towards the Jews, or to serve temporarily some personal end of their own. Thus, some of them fought, both as foot-soldiers and as horsemen, in the legions of the Syrian kings, and sided with them in their pro- tracted war against the Jews ; and they had even spread beyond Damascus and the frontiers of Palestine, when they were repelled under Alexander the Maccabee.ll Indeed, though warlike and restless, yet there is evidence that they even carried on commerce in cattle, which they sent to the neighbouring countries. They were engaged in regular and active trade with Syria, Babylonia, * Sale, Prel. Disc, lo. + Xiphilinus in his Epitojne of Dion Cassius. Cnf. Sale, Prcl. Disc. \o, X An alternative name of the Ishmaelites, from their great ancestress. § Kalisch, Genesis, 224-5, On this whole subject the reader will find much interesting information in Power, The Empire of the Mnsitlnians in Spain and PvrtU' gal, 23-4; The Four Treatises (Anon.), Reflexions on Mahometanism, 162; The Christian Remembrancer (Jan. 1855), 94; Newton, Prophecies, 24 — 28; Newman, Historical Sketches, i. I— 238; Freeman, History and Ccnquesis of the Satacens, 21, II Kalisch, Genesis, 245. i64 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. and Eg-ypt; yet even then they were more generally known by the sudden and formidable invasions with which they surprised and terrified the neighbouring nations. Thus does every addition to our knowledge concerning them confirm yet more strongly the fact that the statements and predictions of the portions of Scripture under review have been reduced to reality in actual experience.* As already pointed out, in speaking of the Arabs, a distinc- tion mu.st be made between the husbandmen and the shepherds. The former section of the people live always on the same soil, submit themselves to regular government, and enjoy something like a social state. Such are the inhabitants of Yaman, and the descendants of the ancient Arabian conquerors, who partly con- stitute the population of Syria, Egypt, and the States of Barbary.-f- TheBadawis.on theother hand, or tribes of the Desert, are nomads and live in tents, and are hence called by ancient geographers 'Skenits;.':]: Like the Skythian hordes, they wander incessantly with their sheep, their horses, and their camels, in quest of the few spots of pasturage with which nature occasionally mitigates the dreariness of the plains. § Not only are they found in the Deserts of Arabia, they even spread over the Asiatic and African worlds. But, like the Jews, they preserve everywhere and always their own peculiar language and customs. From the riv-er Senegal to the Indus, from the Euphrates to Mosambique and Madagascar, the tribes of the Badawis, the pastoral Arabians, exist. But they everywhere maintain the character of their ancestors for fierceness and rapacity. In every country of the East where Arabs are found, they form a striking contrast to the native inhabitants. * Kalisch, Genesis, 245. + Abu'l-Pharajius, 2 — 5; Volney, Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte, i. 345, etc. :J: Newton, Prophecies, 23, 31; Pocock, Specimen, 37. In the words of Pliny,— Skenitae, vagi, a tabernaculis (aTTO rwi^ aiciji'wi') cognoniinati, 'Skenites, wan- derers, — so named from their dwelling in tents,'' called (TKijvui [skcnai), in Greek. Cnf. Plinius, Historia Naturalis, lib. vi, cap. xxviii, sect. 32 (edn. llardouin, Paris). § Mills, History of Muhavimedamstu, 3. THE WILD ASS MAN, 165 Palgrave assures us that genuine Badawis, like genuine Arabian coffee, are seldom if ever seen excepting by a stray traveller like himself who has the courage and the qualifications to run the gauntlet of the terrible Desert.* Badavvis of pure blood are sel- dom seen so far north as Syria and so far west as Egypt. A line drawn from Mount Sinai across to the Mouths of the Euphrates would form in a general way their most northerly boundary. They have a physiognomy which is not easily mistaken. Their brows are broad, though not low, and their faces narrow, though not long: their features are regular, and their eyes of a moderate size. Their eyes are full of vivacity, their speech is voluble and articulate, their deportment manly and dignified,, their apprehen- sion quick, their minds always present and attentive, while in the countenances even of the lowest among them, there appears a spirit of freedom. Considerable numbers of them are to be found in Egypt and in the territories bordering thereupon. But as an element of the population they are almost independent; for they are rather tributary allies than subjects of the ruling power. But tlieir position as an element of the body politic of Egypt is altogether anomalous, and they are in many respects the most remarkable branch of the nation. On paying a certain tribute to Government, they are permitted to feed their flocks through the rich pasture-grounds of Egypt. But they frequently abuse this permission, and pillage without distinction both the husbandmen in the districts in vv'hich they encamp and the travellers who have the misfortune to fall into their hands. They are ready, too, to take part in the political dissensions which frequently arise there. But when the authorities attempt to punish them or to constrain them to their duty, they either defend themselves by force or retire into the Deserts till such time as they imagine their misdemeanours are forgotten. Independence renders them haughty and insolent ; and their idle unsettled way of life, together with the poverty * Palgrave, dnlml and Easkrn Ambia, ii. 163, 1 66 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. which naturally attends it, probably inspires that spirit of pillage by which they are so much distinguished.* Still keeping to the analogy of the wild ass, it may be further noted that the Badawis are divided into tribes, each of which chooses a leader, — the Shaikh (or Amir), under whose direction they rob, fight, and rove about from place to place. These tribes arc again subordinate to a great or general Shaikh who has author- ity over several tribes. In very early times they were divided into twdve chief tribes, each of which was under the presidency or head- ship of a Shaikh ; and the centres of their encampments were the wells which they dug or the halting-places which they appointed. The existence of such tribal chiefs is frequently attested by Strabo, who calls them 'Phylarchs,' or rulers of tribes. Melo, also, quoted by Eusebius from Alexander Polyhistor, a heathen historian, relates that 'Abraham, of his Egyptian wife, begat twelve sons,-f- who, departing into Arabia, divided the region between them, and were the first kings of the inhabitants; whence even to our days the Arabians have twelve kings of the same names as the first. J Thus from the earliest times, through all the intervening ages down even to our own days, as all travellers have testified, these strange people have herded together in tribes, and have been governed by phylarchs.§ The only authority which the Badawi obeys is that of his Shaikh, whom he regards as the father rather than the ruler of his tribe. To him, accordingly, he yields ready submission, nor can anything shake his allegiance.il * Niebuhr, Travds in Aiabia, i. io8; Mills, History of Mtthavivudanisvi, 3. + lie sliouUl, of course, have said rather, — One son who begat twelve sons. X Eusebius, Pm'aratio Evaitgdica, IX. xix, 421 (cdn. Viger, Cologne, 1688). § Thcvenot, I. ii. 32; Harris, Voyages, II. \\\. <); Newton, Prophecies, 21 ; Burckhardt, Bcdiuins ami Waiuibys, i. 116, et passim. II Taylor, Histoiy of Alohavimedanism, 69. The reader who is interested in the subject of Shaikhs may find much that will prove valuable in his researches scattered up and down in the works of Niebuhr, Burckhardt, and Palgravc. The word 'Shaikh,' through the inadccjuacy of the Englisli ali)habet, is very variously spelt in English books. Niebuhr's spelling, 'Schiech' — with the e pronounced as in the French mire, and the ch as in ihc Scottish /t-cA— conies very near the sound, — nearer, and less apt THE WILD ASS MAN. 167 It is the man who is himself the subject of misanthropy who lives in dread of the same thing from his fellow-men, while the benevolent and unsuspecting nature is at peace. With the wild and misanthropic disposition of Ishmael which his posterity in- herit as they inherit the danger and desolation of the wilderness, they live still in sustained and irrational animosity with their fellow-men on every hand.* To plunder whomsoever they can, they deem no crime; and they allege in vindication of this the dogma that Ishmael was turned out of his father's house, and received the wilderness as his inheritance, with permission to take whatever he might be able to take. The Badawi thus feels as free as the air, while he roves through illimitable deserts, and finds his delight in wandering in wild and unfettered liberty through the wastes that constitute his patrimony. Almost always on horseback, and armed with a lance, he ranges without prohibition from place to place, — the care of his cattle, and excursions for robbery or amusement, forming the beginning and the end of his employment. The Badawis are the outlaws among the nations. As little as the wild asses could they ever be subdued. Civilization, not- withstanding its endless comforts and reciprocities, they hate for its own sake. 'Saraceni ncc amici vobis unquam, nee hostes optandi, ultro citroque discursantes, quidquid inveniri poterat momento temporis parvi vastabant. Omnes pari sorte sunt bellatores, per diversa reptantes in tranquillis vel turbidis rebus; (o mislead than tlie more usual spelling 'Sheykh.' We have adopted the plan of simple transliteration, leaving the sound to care for itself To represent the proper sounds of Arabic words in Roman letters has ever been found to be a hopeless and thankless task. * No statements could be stronger than those of Burckhardt, — himself, as Mus- lims suppose, a co-religinnist of theirs, — who records {Ai-abia, i. 129, and ii. 109, 129, 408) that plundering is in their code an honourable profession; and he sustains his assertion I y narratives the perusal of which make a Christian mind sicken with despair. Still more emphatic and overwhelming, if possible, is the testimony of Palgrave, — a traveller who brought to his task an education surpassed by that of none of his predecessors, and a si)irit of charity and gentleness that gives overpowering weight to his testimony: — Cnf CciUnil auU Eastern Arabia, i. 223, ct passim, i68 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. nee quidem aliquando, sed crant semper per spatia longe latequc distenta, sine lare sine sedibus fixis aut legibus.'* Thus have they both successfully defied the softening influence of civilization and mocked the attacks of the invader. For them alone, of all the nations of the earth, time seems to have no sickle, and the conqueror's sword no edge. They may be hunted like game, but they cannot be caught. The waste tracks shunned by other nations are their terrestrial paradise. Liberty is the very atmos- phere they breathe; indeed, the love of liberty is frequently carried by them to the utmost pitch of unbridled ferocity. They are noted not so much for habits of murder as for quarrelsome- ness and plundering; but upon slight occasion they are ready to proceed to extremes and to take life. Their power of endurance is almost exhaustless, and serves vividly to recal the memory of the wild ass; indeed, the indomitable love of liberty in them leads them to habitual feats of endurance. They court danger for its own sake, and they revel in the excitement of combat and pursuit. Like the wild ass, if the Badawi were captured and thrown into servitude, he would either break the yoke, or perish in the attempt to break it. He could not have been better com- pared than with the wild ass, which delights in the rough and hardy independence of its native deserts, and is easily satisfied with the scanty food furnished by those inhospitable regions. They neither covet wealth, nor tempt the conqueror's avarice, for their wants are but few, and riches would be an encumbrance. Even the Shaikh is not unfrequently one of the poorest of the tribe he heads, so little do considerations of wealth influence their estimate of men. Roaming and ungovernable, they obey no law but the promptings of their own adventurous spirit, regarding all mankind as their enemies whom they must either attack with their spears or elude with their faithful steeds, and cherishing their deserts as heartily as they despise the restraint of civilized towns. Nor is this condition of things limited to their bearing * Ammianub MaiccUinus, IlUtorio, I. ,\iv. 4. THE WILD ASS MAN. 169 towards foreign peoples, for however united they may to the view of the outsider appear as a nation, they nevertheless present the spectacle of a house divided against itself, — the several tribes maintaining the most inveterate and interminable feuds with one another. *In the Desert,' says a proverb of theirs, 'everybody is everybody else's enemy', — thus expressing, merely in other lan- guage, the sense of the text, — 'His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him.' The fact of the Badawis having never, as a nation, been con- quered, must not be misunderstood or attributed to the wrong cause. It cannot be owing to overpowering numbers, for popu- lation never can be great in a land where the means of subsistence are so precarious and so few, and withal so difficult of acquisition. Of course, the population cannot be ascertained: it is roughly conjectured by some at a half-a-million, and by others at a million and a half. But it is not difficult to assign their invincibility to its proper cause; it is but the natural result of conditions and circumstances. A nomadic population, thinly scattered over a large and open space of meagre pasture-land, will always be un- conquered, for it presents no adequate return for the trouble and cost. When a tribe is on its way across the Desert, pursuit is difficult ; and even if the fugitives were overtaken, they would be found to be possessed of nothing to repay the trouble of the pursuit. It may be worth the while of such people to occasion- ally plunder one another; but it can never be worth the while of any foreign power to plunder them, still less to subdue them. They do not live in houses or cities, and they have no standing or landed property, — nothing but their tents and flocks. Here lies the whole secret of their imagined independence. Destitute of trade, wealth, and national aspiration, they are no prey for conquest. Their uncivilized disposition and the dreary barren- ness of their territory, have ever proved safer barriers to their freedom than the ships, and fortresses, and diplomacy of civilized peoples. 170 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL, But the principle of analogy must not be misunderstood if we arc concerned in the present enquiry to advance the interests of truth. We use the term in thesenseof resemblance of relations, and not in the sense of resemblance in mere particulars. Thus, 'his hand will be against every man' is language that is in no sense true of the wild ass, for he flees from the presence of human kind. Yet the principle that leads to his thus taking flight is the principle where the true analogy might be found, — the principle of luildiiess: The text is paraphrased by the learned Bochart in the words ^ Tavi fents quain onager^ 'as wild as the wild ass.'* What in the wild ass we call merely aversion to the human species, we call in the case of the Ishmaclite misanthropy. In this matter of aversion to human society beyond his own clan or race, he resembles with all fidelity the creature mentioned in the prediction. The language just cited from that prediction forms only an addi- tional element in the case, and shews that over and above the untameableness of the wild ass, there would be in the posterity of Ishmael the added bitterness of the hostility of man to man. What measure of truth there is in this will be apprehended when it is remembered that though the Badawis are comparatively few in number, they are yet the terror of every man, nor can even the most fearless of travellers afford to venture unarmed within their reach. The style of talk in which the fashionable writers of the hour delight might lead the uninitiated to suppose that Islam, if not better than Christianity, is quite as good, and is productive of results at least equally good. They write as if the Arabs were at the summit of culture, and as if the Badawis were as loving and gentle as sucking doves. Let a party of explorers make for the heart of Arabia, armed even with the credentials of the Royal Geographical Society, and let that Society think itself well off if but one of the members of such an expedition returns to tell the talc of the charity and the culture that arc bred of the religion * Cnf. 1'. 142- THE WILD ASS MAN. 171 of Muhammad.* Let them try it among the Wahhabis of Najd, amoncf whom the doctrines of the founder are held in their greatest simplicity. 15ut they might save their friends from the possible contingencies of such an expedition by a perusal of the pages of the latest traveller in those regions. But the amateur critics whose contact with living Muhammadanism is as yet an affair of the imagination only, are, as a general rule, not made of the stuff that could lead them to ^Datiently plod through the thoughtful and matter-of-fact pages of Palgrave. Nor is this misanthropy confined to considerations of nationality or religious creed. They are as truly the foes of the Arabian pilgrim to the Shrine of Islam as to the curious English traveller. It matters little to them whether their victim be an adherent of their own Faith or of the despised and alien faith of the Nazarene, — their hand is 'against every man.' Those of them who live nearest the outskirts of civilization, and who are brought in some measure under its influence, soon reveal how thin is the veil and how imperfect is the cure. The following instance in point is given by Niebuhr. He and one of his fellow, travellers made an excusion to the Pyramids; and for their greater security they adopted a plan which is commonly held to be the safe one, — they made a compact with a Shaikh whom they hired for their guidance and protection. They soon had experience of the fallacy. 'Setting out from Geesh we met two Bedouins on horse-back whom we hired to guide and escort us. Just as we reached the foot of the Pyramids we observed an Arab riding up to us at full gallop. He was a young Schiech, and behaved at first to us with great civility. But he soon changed his tone, threatened us with his lance, and ordered us to give him money before we quitted the spot. Upon Mr. Forskal's refusing to comply with so insolent a demand, the Schiech seized * Strikingly confirmatoiy of this is the deplorable and untimely end of the lamented Professor Palmer and his companions, whom the best of credentials, learn- ing and kindness, and abundant money, all proved unavailing to save from a fate too awful to be contemplated. 172 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. his turban, and held his pistol to my breast when I offered to defend my friend. The two Bedouins, our guides, made no attempt to interpose, either out of respect to the Schiech, or from natural perfidy.* We were at last obliged to gratify the robber. Another time we returned better attended ; but this did not hinder the Arabs from gathering about us, and stealing whatever they could lay their hands on unobserved.'f To make terms with them is as when the kid made terms with the wolf. They cannot stand civilization ; to them it is at the best but a thin covering, and the 'wild' nature soon reveals itself. They differ in nothing from other men, excepting that they are 'wild'; the element of untamcableness is in their nature, and it is as incurable as the same element in the nature of the tiger or of the crocodile. All the world has been moving fctfward in the march of civilization and participating in its benefits. Even the wild Fijians, New Zealanders, Hottentots, and North Ame- rican Indians, catch the influence and to some extent at least rise with the tide, — abandoning by degrees the symbols of their here- ditary degradation, and taking their place among the beneficiaries of the general progress. But the Badawi remains the same he always was from the beginning, and is no more improved in any respect than the 'wild ass' who shares with him the stagnant desolation of the Desert. The thoughts and enterprises which captivate and absorb other men have no interest for him. He is no more touched by the countless influences of civilization than if he were himself the wild ass of the wilderness whose counter- part he is declared to be. He is the enemy of every man who has shared the general advancement of the race, and all attempts to make him a better man have utterly and hopelessly failed, j The language in which the Divine Being raised an impassable * Tliat they were fellow-clansmen or accotnplices is neither an impossible nor an unchaiilablc supposition. t Niebuhr, Tiavds in Arabidy i. 109. X Torter, Ttavds in Georgia, 304; Kcitb^ Evidence 0/ Prophecy, 51$, THE WILD ASS MAN. 173 barrier between the man and the serpent might have been uttered with equal truth to the mother of Ishmael — 'I will put enmity between thy seed and hers.' The latest notices of them in the books of such travellers as Niebuhr, Burckhardt, Burton, and Palgrave, correspond entirely with the earliest, however remote. To them the Desert is the world. The events of contemporane- ous history, so full of absorbing interest to other men, are nothing to t/ie;;i. So severed are they from the comity of nations that the world is not bettered by them, nor they by the world. For all the purposes of cosmopolitanism, the posterity of Ishmael might just as well have been for the last forty centuries the occupants of another globe. We would not be understood to say that the Ishmaelitic character corresponds in every minute particular to that of the wild ass. Enough has already been said to shew that we hold no such opinion. The general resemblance, however, even in point of detail, is so striking that it cannot fail to attract notice. This is our apology for so long and minute an account as must appear to be almost a digression from the general drift of the argument. But our concern has been to place as many as possible of the details before the reader, and then to leave him to make whatever use of them his judgment may dictate. With so many examples on record of the danger of seekincf among one's own contemporaries identifications of Scripture characters, we would earnestly avoid pressing the principle of analogy in all details. Examples of the danger we would keep clear of occur chiefly in the domain of unfulfilled prophecy, where the method to which we allude has generally led to the complete exposure of the fallacy by the all-revealer. Time, The evil has for the most part arisen from pressing too closely minute points of detail. Happily we have not to deal here with a ques- tion of unfulfilled prophecy, but with simple historical fact. In our own judgment, the main point, as far as the analogy of the ass is concerned is the wildness; and then, secondly, as far as 174 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. the latter part of the verse is concerned, the aversion to social order and urbanity, and to amenity to the requirements of public safety and good fellowship. To find close analogy in every particular is not necessary to the vindication of the truth of the angel's words. No comparison ever went on all fours. If wc can shew that the Badawi has hitherto proved untameable, wc shall have done all that analogy in the present case requires, — he is the man. History overflows with narratives proving the identity of the Badawis with the kind of character spoken of by the angel. The wilds of Arabia are still, as of old, their chosen habitation ; and uncompanionable, abandoned, and lawless as they are, such exclusion from the precincts of civilized humanity is the only fitting place and portion for them. They pursue no such calling as might confine them to one place and bring them into civilized relations to their fellow-men, or such as might make one tribe of them in any way dependent on one another, such as agriculture. This is attested by ancient writers no less than modern.* They thus have had provided for them from the first, by an inscrutable Providence, a natural sphere in which they can more easily cherish the ferocity of their nature, and can do so with a minimum of damage to their fellow-men. We now leave the reader to apply the principle of analogy as he thinks fit, satisfied if we have but succeeded in shewing that the language of the prophecy given before the birth of Ishmael has been fulfilled in him and his posterity, and how truly that language describes the weird crea- tures who even to the present moment roam the Desert after the manner of their father Ishmael, and glory in their paternity.-|- * Ammianus Marcellinus, Historia, lib. XIV, cap. iv, pag. 14 (edn. Valcsius, Taris, 1681); Harris, Voyages, II, ii. 9. * We may here remark that the best account of the Tkiclawis is that of Burck- hardt. It is the most careful, accurate, and full. Niebuhr, forty years before him, and Burton, forty years after Iiim, have given each of them an account of his own, and their writings have e.ach a peculiar charm ; but they amount merely to a corrobora- tion of the very learned and judicious descriptions given by the lamented Swiss. THE ISHMAELITES AND THE ISRAELITES. 175 In bringing this part of our subject to a close wc feel that we cannot do better than quote, with a few alterations, the lan- guage of one already more than once summoned to give evidence in the present enquiry. Speaking of the irrational misanthropy of the Ishmaelitic character, Dr. Arnold says, — The Word of Jehovah thus set forth the future character of the wild man Ishmael, and that of his posterity. Out of all the nations of antiquity, only those descended from these two sons of Abraham have entirely preserved their nationality. The Phoenicians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, clear as were the marks they respectively made on the history of the world, have either altogether disappeared, or exist only in degenerated fragments. The Chinese and Hindus remain only in two great masses, inert and torpid, their ancient vigour having utterly decayed. They have, moreover, mixed with other nations who have successively conquered them, each wave of foreign conquest having left its own deposit on the native soil. Even the Greek and Roman nations, notwithstanding their marvellous strength of character, have participated in the general decadence, for the Greeks and Romans of the present day are essentially different from those of the classic times. But to this day the posterity of Isaac and the posterity of Ishmael stand before the world as two separate nations, unchanged from what they were in the pristine ages of their existence, retaining still not only their ancient manners and customs to an extent truly remarkable, but what is still more wonderful, — their distinctive peculiarities of character. As to the matter of nationality both of these nations pre- serve the distinctive characteristics of the ancient members of their respective races. The Ishmaelites cling to the hostile There is an admirable article on the subject, given by another traveller, Palgrave, in the Encyclopedia Brittanica, s. v. Arauia {9th edn.). The curious reader may consult with great advantage the charming account of these wierd creatures in Travels in Central and Easfein Arabia by this last-named writer. We are greatly indebted, also, to the articles in The Dictionary cf the Bible, by Dr. William Smith, and to the exquisite Commentaries of Dr. Kalisch. 176 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. and nomadic habits of their particular patriarch, and up to this day they follow exactly the same rude and natural mode of life that existed among them nearly four thousand years ago. They prefer the wild and independent life of the Desert to the comforts and conveniences of a civilized state, and no foreign power has been able to impose upon them new manners and customs, — a fact without parallel in the history of nations. The amalgama- tion of the Jews with other nations makes their case seem even more wonderful still. That the Ishmaclites should have pre- served their independence and nationality in their Desert wilds is less surprising than that the Hebrews should have continued a separate people after having been dispersed and persecuted from eighteen to four-and-twenty centuries among all the nations of the earth. But the reason is not far to seek, — the Jews accommodate themselves easily to the strangers among whom they dwell. In them we perceive a finer and more delicate shade of nationality than among the descendants of Ishmael; they arc more flexible and of a less untractable spirit; and yet while adapting themselves very much to the nations with which they mingle, they do so without endangering the obliteration of their national character. Equally wonderful is it to note how the respective mental and spiritual peculiarities of these extraordinary peoples still mark them out for observation. The religious peculiarity of the Jewish type of mind is a blind adhesion to the traditions of their ancestors, as also to the mere letter of the Old Testament, which has virtually become a sealed Book to them. That same blind adhesion to ecclesiastical tradition marks also the other branch of the Abrahamic family. Pre-eminently believing, rather than religions, both Ishmaclites and Jews pride themselves on the fact that they accept without enquiry whatever has been handed down to them through the accepted ecclesiastical channels, and they regard this uninquiring temper as a praiseworthy feature; and yet they subject to the narrowest scrutiny and suspicion A RESEMBLANCE AND A CONTRAST. 177 every new truth that claims their credence. Yet with all the ex- clusiveness,blindncss,and fixity which characterize these peoples in common, there is an egotism alid an indomitable love of freedom about the Ishmaelite that is missing in the case of the Jew. This temper of mind proved to be tlie very soil for the growth of Islam. It is these intellectual features of theirs that account, in no small degree, for the rejection, by these peoples, of the teachings of Christianity, and account for their deadly opposition to it: As the heirs of Abrahamic instincts, they both of them inherit^ pretty much the same class of prejudices to the revelation laid before the world by the Son of God. And in a religious point of view we may safely take the typical Muhammadan as repre- senting the literal descendant of Ishmael. He is acquainted with some of the leading facts of the Book of God, and is therefore harder to convince of his errors than the idolater who is totally ignorant of Divine revelation. After having corrupted what he has borrowed from the Bible, the Muslim, like Ishmael, 'mocks' at the uncorrupted truth of God. Inflated with a gross super- stition, wild fanaticism, and inconceivable pride, egoism, and self- satisfaction, and v/ithal possessed of a special animosity against the truth of Christ, the Muhammadan is, humanly speaking, more difficult to convert than even the Jew.* It is this animosity against the Christ of the Gospel that leads to Muhammadanism being, like Romanism, a distinctly persecuting agency. It is. the true spirit of Antichrist, — a spirit of persecution on account of religious conviction. Those systems make no allowance for differences of intellectual constitution and prepossession ; t^iey shew no quarter to the doubtful and hesitant, — 'submit or suffer' is the war-cry of them both. 'As then he that was born after * Arnold, Islam and Christianity, p. 13; Osboin, Isldin under the Arabs, 96. The reader will find in Palgrave [.Central and Eastern Arabia, i. 68 seqq.) some very suggestive thoughts on this subject of the credulity of the Arab mind. The views given above regarding the comparison of Islam with Judaism, in their practical effect on the miad, are borne out by one of the ablest writers of our time, Dr. Marcus Uods, in Mchaiitjred, Buddha, and Chriit, 121 (edn. Lond, 1877). 1:2 178 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now.' The self-complacent and overbearing^ spirit attributed to Ishmael in regard to the Child of Promise, is thus the heritage of his natural and ecclesiastical progeny to this moment. The spirit of Ishmael is thus not confined to the Badawis nor circumscribed within the limits of the Arabian deserts. The spirit of Ishmael is the spirit of Islam, and is found in the heart of every true Muslim the world over. With all the diversity of national characteristics and of individual disposition, with all those differences which arise from education, social status, and personal prejudices, together with those which arise from the almost endless diversities of religious belief that are to be found among the followers of Muhammad, wherever the genuine Mus- lim is found he is found to be possessed of the spirit of Ishmael. It may be concealed with a veil of politeness, or covered with the glamour of officialism or of circumstance. But 'scratch him', — and you will find him an Ishmaelite; and the sincerer he is in his religious creed, the more bitter will be his misanthropy and the more rankling his sarcasm. And Muhammadans find palliation for all this aversion to their follow-men in the irrational dogma of fatalism.* They interpret the prediction of the angel as not only a prophecy but also a predetermination of the good Father of the human race. There was to be perpetual enmity both between Ishmael and Isaac, and also between their respec- tive descendants to the end of time. The implacable bitterness, hostility, and rancour which possessed the mind of Muhammad towards the followers of Moses and of Christ, and which have ever possessed the minds of his adherents, is merely, say they, the natural and proper fulfilment of the prediction of the good angel of God. That a Being so good and merciful as the com- * Osboni, Palgravc, and Emanuel Deutscli, in tlieir works, so frequently cited, speak empliatically of this jirinciiilc of Fatalism (excluding, as it docs, all the inspi- ration of hope) as the evil genius of Muhammad's system, and as tending, more than anything else, to bring about its disintegration and decay. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISIIMAEL. 179 mon Father is in the experience of us all, should deliberately and of set purpose have designed that mutual affection and allegiance should be for ever banished from the two great fami- lies of 'the seed of Abraham His friend,' and give place to- mutual slaughter and irreconcilcable hate, awakens within them no perplexity, no misgiving, no sense of the incongruous or the impossible. And truly the teachings and spirit of the Q\n-'an, and indeed the entire history of the Muslim race, demonstrate how truly the closing words of the prediction describe, not only the character of Ishmael's natural offspring, but also of his ecclesiastical descendants all the world over and in every age. Thus much for the predictions that preceded the birth of Ishmael ; we will now turn to those that were given regarding, him subsequently to that event. The first was made to Abraham^ It occurs in Gen. xvii, 2O3, and reads thus, — 'And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold^ I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.'* Similarly, in Gen. xxi. 13 God again reveals to the patriarch His- purpose concerning Ishmael, where Fie says, — 'And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a- nation, because he is thy seed.'t • Fuller, Works, 378; Martyn, Controversial Tracts, 432.- Muhammadans oC the Shi'a sect sometimes contend that the passage contains allusion to the twelve- Imams whom those of their sect acknowletlge as the yightful Successors of Mutammad^' By thus availing themselves of the fragile and hazardous argument from a mere coincidence of numbers, they lose sight of the fact that the larger number of their co-religionists reject their twelve Imams, that the promise was made not in reference to any member of the posterity of Ishmael, but in reference to. Ishmael himself, and that it was actually fulfilled in his lifetime. The believers in the twelve Imams are mainly the Muhammadans of Persia. Muhammadans of Turkey, India, Arabia Egypt (and Africa geneially) belong, with comparatively few exceptions, to one or otlier of tlie four great schools of the Sunms. CnC Wolff, Travels and Adveniures,. 213. t Fuller, Works, 384;. i8o THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. In the same strain the narrative goes on in vv. 17, i8, where we read, — * And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, — What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand, for I will make him a great nation.'* In the second of these passages two important truths are embodied which Mush"ms, of course, find it convenient to over- look. In the first place, the passage makes it evident that the son of Hagar was not the Child of Promise, but that the promise appertained to another who was yet unborn. In the second place, the passage teaches that the reason why the angel appeared on this occasion to Hagar was, not that her child was the Child of Promise, but that of the child who was born of her, Abraham was the father, — 'Because he is thy seed.' The fact that the angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar did not shew that the promise 'Sarah shall have a son' was revoked; it was rather a proof of God's compassion towards her who had been the victim of Sarah's unreasonable displeasure, and of His mindfulness that even the son who should be born of the bondwoman stood in close natural relationship to Abraham His 'friend.' 'The pro- mise' had been made to Abraham before the birth of Ishmael, and after his birth some thirteen years had passed away before any further intimation concerning the birth of a son to Sarah was vouchsafed; — 'the promise' was then repeated. It, was clear enough that Abraham had at length a son in his old age ; but the absence of all celestial congratulation or celestial allusion to the matter, rendered it equally clear that this at least was not the child referred to in 'the promise.' And the repetition of 'the promise' so many years after Ishmael's birth, should of itself alone be sufficient to decide the whole question. Meanwhile the advanced age of the patriarchal pair rendered the fulfilment of * Cnf. Fuller, Works, 384. PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN ISHMAEL. i8r 'the promise' more problematical every day. To all human appearance Sarah had been 'written childless;' and in a fit of despondency she had abdicated her rightful position in favour of her slave-girl.* These are all the promises and predictions given under Divine authority in reference to Ishmael. Their fulfilment is recorded in Gen. xxv. 12 — 16, where we read, — ' Now, these are the generations of Ishniael,t Abraham's / son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham. And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations:— the first born of Ishmael, Nebajoth,t and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishmah, and Dumah, and Massa, and Hadar,§ and Tema, and Jetur, and Naphish, and Kedemah, These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. '|| (This hst of names is given again in i Chron. i. 29 — 31.) It is maintained by some Muhammadans that the 'twelve princes' here again mentioned were the twelve Imams.lF This -* however, is merely a matter of interpretation, the unsoundness of which we have already pointed out. The point which it is to our purpose to mark is that the prediction regarding the greatness of Ishmael's posterity has been fulfilled. Such is the record contained in the Taurat of the fulfilment of the promises made by God in relation to Ishmael, The pro- * Priaulx, Quastio7ies Mosaicce, 364 seqq. + It is evident that this account of 'the generations of Ishmael' is added in this place for tlie purpose of bringing the narrative of the history of Abraham appropriately to a close, and to shew that the promise respecting Ishmael (ch. xvii. 20) was in due time fullilled. Cnf. The Annotated Paragraph Bible (R. T. S.) in ioc. X Altornalive forms of this word are Nebaioth and Nabit. Cnf. Isa. Ix 7 A Smith, PLUonary of the Bible, Art. Nebaioth. § An alternative form of this word is Hadad.— Cnf i. Chron. i. 46, and Smith DUtiviiarv t/f the Bible, Artt. Hadad and Hadar. ' ' ; Fuller, Works, 391. •' The names of the twelve Imams of the Shi'as will be found in Wolff / iv. 39;, riS2 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. mises relating to him must have already begun to be realized at the time the Book of Genesis was written or compiled.* This is evident from the fact that the compiler of that Book says, speaking in the past tense, regarding the immediate descendants of Ishmael, — 'They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur.'-f- It is in- teresting to note at how early a period the predictions concerning him beean to be fulfilled. These fruitful tribes extended at first along the frontier of Arabia from the northern extremity of the Red Sea towards the mouths df the Euphrates. By the word ""towns' we are to understand, probably, moveable villagesof tents, while the 'castles' are probably fortified folds for protection in time of war.+ The immediate descendants of Ishmael appear to have occupied each a separate district, and to have followed a nomad life in moveable encampments, with here and there a fortified place as a refuge for their cattle. They also practised merchandise, and became wealthy and powerful. § They were not only the fathers of families, but also the founders of potent tribes. II Nothing short of Divine prescience could have predicted the remarkable nomadic and predatory habits which Ishmael and his posterity through successive ages would adopt, and which were the less to be expected in that his mother belonged to a civilized and settled nation. The prophecy that Ishmael would be 'a wild man' has been very strikingly fulfilled in the history of the various tribes of Arabs, many of whom are descended from him, and who have even to the present day remained a fierce, hardy, distinct, and unsubdued race, subsisting chiefly by plunder. • Triavilx, Qturstioncs ATosaiccr, 402. + Gen. XXV. 18. Cnf. Newton, Prophecies, 24, + 'Castles,' so called, are still found in many parts of Arabia, especially at some of the haltingplaccs along the Hajj routes. In tirrtcs of commotion, as at the Wahhabi invasion carried on at the l^eginning of the present century, these places arc used for the ordinary purposes of war: but in time of peace they are used as storehouses for supplying the needs of the Caravans of the yearly Hajj. § Muir, Life of Mahomety i. p. cxi. II Forstcr, Muliotiutanisin Unveiled, ii. 386. AGREEMENT AMONG CONTROVERSIALISTS. 183 The fulfilment of these promises has thus been going on through all the intermediate ages, and reaches even to the present day in the great Ishmacliti.sh or Arabian race.* This part of our subject has been very fully treated by a legion of writers on both sides of the controversy. And the works of Forster, Muir, Kalisch, and Sayyid Ahmad Khdfl may be generally taken as gathering up the results of the investiga- tions. But the subject of the present enquiry — namely, as to the claims of Ishmael to be considered the Child of Promise, as opposed to Isaac — is one that is not vitally affected by the ques- tions they have discussed. On one essential point they are all agreed — namely, that the promises made concerning Ishmael have been fulfilled. The difficulties in dispute among them arise almost entirely from the impossibility of settling at this distance of time the identity of certain names of places and persons. There is no trustworthy history sufficiently old to afford them any real help, excepting the Scriptures of the Jews. A large number of traditions exist among Muliammadans; but nearly the whole of these originated as lately as since the time of Muhammad, and sprang out of the exigencies of controversy. They are therefore not historical, — as Muhammadans like Sayyid Ahmad admit when they reject them.-f* Yet such is the strange fatuity that is always the concomitant of the acceptance of the Islamic faith, that whenever the Jewish Scriptures happen not to agree with Muslim traditions, the Muhammadan regards the rejection and vilification of those Scriptures as the thing incum- bent upon him. \ We have never met with a single instance in which an adherent of the Muslim faith has accepted the state- ments of the Jewish Scriptures as against what he would himself acknowledge to be one of the most recent and untrustworthy of Islamic traditions. Every reader of history is aware of the exceeding multitude of the progeny of Ishmael ; and stories of their determined and * Newton, Prophecies, 20—3. t Cnf, p. 115. X Cnf. p. 4(5. 1 84 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. indomitable character abound in all ages from the time of Ish- mael's immediate offspring till now. Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, have all tried among the Arabs their skill in the art of conquest; and when the surly Arab has been beateafrom the cities nearest to civilized life, and even Makka itself has fallen into the hands of the invader, he has retired to the solitude of the Desert, and has dwelt there in safety. All this is merely the fulfilment of the vWord of God. It is not necessary to affirm that the promise 'Unto thy seed will I give it' referred exclusively to the seed of Abraham through Isaac; for the term ' thy seed' involved other sons than Isaac, and other races than Israelites. And for the same season is it unnecessary to affirm that the phraseology re- ferred exclusively to Ishm.ael and his posterity. As a matter of fact, the inhabitants of the whole of those territories over which Abraham was directed to look, are to this day descendants of his through Ishmael, through Isaac, and through Keturah. We are not concerned here to follow out the m.atter in all its ^detail. Jt -is enough for the present purpose if we are able to recall to the mind of the reader sufficient of historical fact to shew that the promise of the Almighty as it related to Ishmael has really been fulfilled. -But when we thus admit that God made promise to Abraham ;and Hagar concerning their son, it is necessary that the Muslim guard against the inference that the promise thus made was a '.prophecy concerning the Messiahship of any of Ishmael's off- :spring. Of course, a promise by its very nature implies futurity; but the mere fact of God's making a revelation concerning a man's future does not of necessity imply that the portion of that man IS one to be desired, nor that he is in any particular sense an ^object of the Divine complacency. It is sufficient to know that the promise actually made was fulfilled to the letter. Ishmael and his descendants have been ^ wild' men. By a strange fatality, ihe spirit of strife, robbery, and even of bloodthirstiness, has continued among them all along the ages. No mention was PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN ISHMAEL. 185 made in 'the promise' of the worl,d being blessed by Ilagar's offspring. It was merely a promise designed to comfort her in her disconsolate and desolate condition, as she sat there by the highway in the wilderness. Nor does 'the promise' contain any allusion to any such circumstance as that of her son being a prophet, though the opinion that he was a prophet is one of the cardinal points of Islam.* Nor does 'the promise' contain the dimmest intimation that any prophet was at any time to arise from among his descendants. It says merely that he would be the father of 'twelve princes,' or head-men of tribes, and that God would make of him 'a great nation.' And though the Muslim reply that pillage was not confined to Arabia, such a reply does not logically affect the awkwardness of his position. It cannot be denied that nowhere is that heartless and brutal profession carried on so systematically, relentlessly, and universally as in that unhappy country. So much indeed is this cruel and inhu- man business the national characteristic of the descendants of Ishmael, that no traveller in Arabia or in regions contiguous to it is safe unless he make due provision before setting out, against those perils which the cruelty of savage Arabians, professing the Muslim creed, will almost certainly occasion in the course of his journeyings. At no moment of the day or night can he venture to indulge in a feeling of safety and repose. So true is this that in the literature of all travellers the term 'Bedawin' is synony- mous with 'highway robber and murderer.'-f* And the Persians, their nearest neighbours, have in their literature also, designated them by a name of similar import. But the seed of the Child of Promise was to bring blessing to 'all families of the earth!' We have thus noted the promises made by God concerning * To this point we shall need to refer more in detail on a subsequent page. + Palgrave {Central and Eastern Arabia, i. 3, and in many other places) shews that the 'good faith' with which Badawis are usually credited, is greatly exaggerated. The experience of Niebuhr and his companions, noted on p. 172, is strikingly con- firmatory of this. 186 THE CLAIMS OF I SUM A EL. Ishmacl. But Muhammadans are apt to lose sight of the cir- cumstance that He made promises concerning Isaac also. A careful comparison of the wording of the promises made by Jehovah in reference to the one child with the wording of those concerning the other, will shew a surprising contrast. In Gen. xvii. 19 — 21 we read, — ' And God said, — Sarah thy wife shall of a truth bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting cove- nant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold I have blessed him and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.* But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee this set time next year.'t The circumstances under which these words were uttered are of importance to our subject. In ver. 16 God had said con- cerning Sarah, — ' And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her; yea, I will bless her, and she shall be (a mother) of nations: kings of people shall be of her.'l The emotions that were awakened in the mind of the aged patriarch on hearing these words are indicated in the verse which immediately follows; — ' Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, — Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah who is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, — Oh that Ishmael might live§ before Thee!'|| The state of emotion which these words indicate is accounted for by the fact that never till now had Abraham been told that he should have a child by Sarah. Ishmael was still residing in the family; and for aught that appears, the patriarch does not * Cnf. p. 179. + Fuller, JVorh, 378. X Priaulx, Quccsliones Mosaicce, 400; Fuller, VVoiks, 378. § 'Live'; — The word 'life,' in the language of the inspired writers, often in- cluding, in fact, all good. — Cnf. 2 Pet. i. 3. II Priaulx, Qtdcstioncs MosaiLts, 402; Fuller, Works, 378. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISAAC. 187 seem to have doubted that this was the Child of Promise. His laughter on the occasion, does not of necessity imply either scorn or unbelief, — qualities which appear not to have been ingredients of the patriarch's nature. His true character at this period of his life is thus attested by Paul, in ROM. iv. 19 — 22, — * And being not weak in faith,* he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deoidness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God,t and was fully assured that what He had promised He was able also to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.' The period of life thus indicated, together with Sarah's condi- tion of natural decay, shew clearly that the praise thus accorded to the faith of Abraham "had reference to this very occasion on which he is said to have 'laughed.' It would therefore be doing him very serious injustice if we were to suppose that his laughter was the laughter of disbelief or of derisive contempt. Rather it was a laughter that implied an emotion of surprise, — not un- mingled, probably, with something of sudden bewilderment and gratitude. This is a state of mind which might well have been occasioned by the facts of the patriarch's case; for 'the promise' had been first made some seventeen years previously, the patri- archal pair were already 'past age,' and a son had been born to Abraham after the promise had been made. Similar emotions appear to have been awakened on a subsequent occasion in the mind of Sarah also; and the memory of the coincidence would seem to have been intentionally perpetuated in the name after- wards prescribed by Jehovah for their son. The language of the passage, and more especially of vcr. 18, seems to indicate the existence of a desire in the mind of the patriarch that the covenant might be considered as already ful- * 'Not weak in faith', — but, on the contrary, 'strong in faith,' and that to a remarkable degree, as the writer goes on to shew. + 'Giving glory to God'; — That is, honouring, with his practical confidence, God's faithfulness and power. / 1 88 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. filled in the birth of Ishmacl. At any rate, it indicates a very natural wish on his part that Ishmael, his only son, and the child of his old age, might at least not be overlooked, but might if possible be a sharer of the blessing. But the circumstances of Ishmael's birth were such as could not receive the blessing of the full and unqualified approval of the Almighty. If the Divine resources are to be taxed at all, they must be taxed by some greater exigency than the age of Sarah. And the response vouchsafed by God to the patriarch's plea on behalf of Ishmael, shews that the miracle was to be really as great as the aged pair had originally supposed. Jehovah was not driven to the neces- sity of recognizing in so grave a matter the offspring of a con- nexion which was attributable rather to an evil custom of the heathen than to any design or ordinance of the Great Ruler.* Hence is the promise 'Sarah shall have a son,' hereafter thrice reiterated to the patriarch. Notwithstanding 'the deadness of Sarah's womb,' the original promise was to be literally fulfilled, — without compromise and without fail. It is accordingly made clear at the interview recorded in these verses, that much as God might bless Ishmael in consideration of his being the child of Abraham, yet THE COVENANT had reference to the son yet un- born, and to him absolutely and exclusively. So explicit indeed is Jehovah in anticipating any confusion that might in future arise in regard to these two children, that He even goes on to specify the time of Isaac's birth, — and this, be it observed, while Ishmael is yet in his father's house, — 'My covenant will I estab- ish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee this set time next year.' This is the son concerning whom the Almighty, speaking to Abraham many years afterwards, said, — ' Because thou hast not withheld thy son, thy only son, from Me.' What could be more startling than such a description of Isaac, — * See Quia, ii. 407; and Crichton, History of Ar obi a, i. 270. • Dods, Mohatnmeit, Buddha, and Christ, 112. t Sprenger, Das Lchcn und die Lchte des Mihavttnad, iii. 131. Reading and writing were not rare accomplishments among the Quraishites of Makka, though the people of Madina were ignorant of those arts. Hence we are told, in a tradition of 'Amir given by Waqidi, that on the heads of the seventy men of the Makkan party whom Muhammad took as prisoners at the Battle of Badr, the prophet fixed a ran- som proportioned to their means. But to each prisoner who had not the means of paying the ransom, ten (sic) boys of Madina were given for instruction, and his teaching them to write was considered as a ransom. Cnf. Waqidi, fol. vcr. 285, quoted in Sprciiger, Life of Mohammad, 37. A ISLAM AND EDUCATION. 219 statements we have no higher authority than that of Arabs, who were, moreover, themselves admirers and partisans of Muhammad. Such traditions are ever contradictory and mutually destructive ; * and the student who is familiar with the tone and manner of them, will receive the records we have just cited for what they are worth. That Muhammad, who had experienced so much the disadvantage of a neglected education, should have encouraged the arts of reading and writing among his followers, and especi- ally among the rising generation, is a circumstance that is but natural, when we remember that he wished to perpetuate among them the recitation of a book, and that he continually urged his followers to read the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians. He had a good field, too, for any education he might wish to promote among them ; for the intellectual capacity of the Arabs is ad- mitted on all hands : though they were not a race given to read- ing and writing: indeed, it is to this day an open question whe- ther Muhammad himself was possessed of either of these accom- plishments.i* But even admitting the utmost that can be said regarding the interest displayed by the founder of Islam in the arts of reading and writing, we do not discover how this could be made to prove that Muhammad was authorized by God to be the supercessor of Christ. Enthusiastic apologists of Isldm are apt to exaggerate, Muhamimad did not become the educator of the Arabs in any sense that could commend itself to the ideas of modern men. He did not found any educational institutions, nor did he make any provision in his administration or laws for the creation or endowment of such, though he had every opportunity for doing so. Nor w'as he the creator of the intellectual life of the Arabs ; for they had for ages before his time been addicted to competi- tion in poetry and oratory at the celebrated annual Fairs. :[ It • Cnf. p. 115. t Spienger, Life of Moh.unmad, 95, loi. X Of these important gatherings a full account will be found in our work entitled The Origin and History of the Ki'ba which, we hope, will shortly appear. 220 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. was rather by the indirect effect of his system that Muhammad could be said to have become the educator of the Arabs. It has been well pointed out that the Qur'an was better, even alone, than an enactment of compulsory education;* for, to recite it became a positive duty binding on all The Faithful, and was regarded, moreover, as a work of merit which would surely re- ceive due recognition in the Day of Judgment. The Qur'an became the book of the people, and the arts of reading and writing came to be cultivated with the view of learning it. With the reading of the Qur'in was associated the additional incen- tives of religious obligation and future bliss. To be able to read became thus a distinct object of individual ambition.-f And yet, while admitting all this, the fact remains that to this day the Muhammadans, taken as a whole, are not, in any educational sense, the wise men of the East. The recitation of certain ver- ses of the Qur'an which constitute the liturgy, is acquired by unnumbered millions of men who have not as much as learned the alphabet, either of the Arabic or of any other language, The necessary portions are taught, parrot-fashion, to the rising generation in very early life. The sounds of the words are taught, together with the traditional intonations; but multitudes of Muhammadans are as ignorant of the meanings of the words, and of the sense of the liturgy, as they are of the alphabet of the language in which they are written. As a natural consequence, multitudes of them forget the prayer-forms, multitudes of them never repeat them, and multitudes are never taught them at all. Incredible as this may seem, we learn from Burckhardt what is if possible more incredible still. Hetclls us that until the Wahhabi * Dods, Mohamtned, Buddha, and Christ, li|. + The reader will thus perceive that the statement sometimes made that the Qur'an is not to be read by the common people, is not correct. Pitts, who spoke from long and intimate acquaintance with the poorer classes, enters his earnest pro- test against the statement, and attests the eagerness of Muhammadans, especially when they find old age creeping upon them, to be able to read the Qur'an for them- selves. — Cnf. Fills, Mahometans, 147. MUHAMMADANS AND HINDUS, 221 conquests in southern Arabia, at the close of the last century, the Muhammadans of Yaman were in such a condition of igno- rance, even in regard to the religion, that they knew nothing more of it than the brief formula, — ' LA ilaha ilia 'llah wa Muhammad Rasfilu'l-lah,'* and that they never performed the prescribed rites of The Faith. The orthodox invaders had to teach them both the rites and the doctrines If If such things happen in Arabia, what is to be expected in lands more remote from the head-quarters of The Faith ! As a general rule, again, Muhammadans, whether in the Deserts of Arabia or in the great educational centres of countries further east, are as innocent of the education they might acquire in their various mother-tongues as they are of the language in which the Quran is written, and they are as indifferent to the one as to the other. We do not deny that a certain very small proportion of the Muhammadan community have, under force of the circumstances of English rule and by the example of the more philosophic Hindus around them, pursued a species of education in a certain contracted line; and we have no wish to ignore that in the proportion of perhaps one in five millions, they have followed the example of the Hindus, and learned the English tongue. But the exceptions are such as only prove the general statement. It is to be noted, too, that it is only in places where the influences of Christian nations are felt, that even these exceptions exist. In Arabia, where Muhammad holds undivided possession of the minds of the people to this day, the genuine Natives of the country, who have not fallen under Christian in- fluences by trade and by travel, are as destitute of education as were the Arabs before the time of Muhammad. Unless the apologists of Islam can refute these statements, they surely should * This is the Arabic form of the Kalima mentioned on pp. 57 and 126-7. + Burckhardt, Arabia, ii. 378; with which compare p. 260. The reader who is curious on the subject will find many things in the works of the travellers in Arabia, — especially of Burckhardt, Palgrave, and Niebuhr,— which suggest very sceptical reflections on the subject of the educational impulses of The Faith. 222 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. restrain their enthusiasm. The educational effects of the work of the great Arabian are clearly things of which the least said the better. There is neither permanency, thoroughness, nor depth, in the education that is born of the Our'an.* There is everything, then, to shew that the case has been greatly over-stated. What of education is directly attributable to the Qur'an and its author, is very poor. The educational influences of Islam are nearly all of them indirect, and are main- ly attributable to the natural brightness and alertness of the in- tellect of the people among whom Muhammad lived. And as to the education acquired by a member of the Muhammadan faith here and there, it has not resulted from his religion at all. Nor ought it to be overlooked, that the spurt given to edu- cation soon after the new religion began to spread, owes both its existence and its failure to circumstances that were wholly in- dependent of Muhammad's influence, — the quality of the Arab intellect. The lack of inventiveness, originality, and grasp, has been noted by writers of very diff"erent types. The Arabs are, in fact, copyists rather than teachers, followers rather than ori- ginators. We are assured by a learned French writer, that the Arabians are 'le peuple le moins inventif du monde.'-f- They had not, in fact, sufficient mental grasp or power of organizing rough materials, to formulate from their own idolatry a mythological system. And even after they gave themselves, centuries later, to scientific pursuits, the same writer goes on, ' ils ont montre la * The reader who is desirous of pursuing this subject of the state of learning among the Saracens should consult Gregoiius, Rcnnn Arabicarinr qua ad historiam Siculam s^'cctant ampla coUcdio, pp. 233 — 40, fol. Panorm. 1790; Leo, Historia Africa, lib. i, p. 33; ii. 60; iii. no; viii. 267, 272; Casiri, Bibliotheca Arabico- HispatM F.sciin'alc-}tsis, ii. 38, 71,201-2; Renaudot, Ilistoiia Patriarchoritm Alcxaitd- riniriitn, 836; Mills, History of JSIiihaviviedanisfn, 376 — 413; Jones, Works, v. 447; Pocock, Specimen, 153; Elmacinus, Historia Saracenorum, lib. ii, capp. 3, 6; Abu'l- Farajius, Historia Dynastlarum, 9; Meninski, Lexicon, i. 38, 42; Fabricius, Bi/'lio- thcca Gruca, i. S61; Montucla, Histoire des Mathcvtatiques, i. 46, 573; Colebrooke, HindA Algebra, 20, 22, 70, 72. + Dozy, Histoire des Mussulm&ns, i. 12. A ISLAM AND LITERATURE. 223 meme absence de puissance crdatrice. lis ont traduit et com- mente les ouvrages des anciens: ils ont enriche certainc special- ites par des observations patientes, exactes, minuticuses: mais ils n'ont rien invente, ou ne leur doit aucune idee grande et feconde.'* Thus much may be said, that not only in post-Mu^ammadan times, but from unknown ages before Muhammad appeared, the Arabian mind has always shewn itself lively, and intelligent, and susceptible of culture, — especially in an emotional and imaginative direction.-f* In such a soil, the Qur'an, — itself (if our Muhammadan friends will allow us to say so) the work of an Arabian mind, — found congenial and favouring elements ; and with the motives to which its author appealed for the committing of it to memory, such capabilities as the Arabs possessed, received by its means an impulse which for a time produced results which, considering the literary barrenness of the Arabs, were quite exceptional and unexpected. Not only were mosques for worship erected in different places, but schools were in many places erected along- side of them ; while in some instances, the work of instruction was carried on within the mosque itself | 'To learn to read,' it was said by some of the early Muslims, 'is worth more than fasting; to teach it, is more meritorious than prayer.'§ Nor was the impulse limited to schools for the instruction of boys. Within a comparatively short time after the departure of Mu- hammad, there were, we are assured, crowded universities at Baghdad, Damascus, Alexandria, Bassora, and Samarkand.il Probably at no period in the world's history was literary enter- prise so richly rewarded as under some of the Abbaside princes. * Dozy, Histoire des Mussiilmins, i. I2. + Dods, Mohammed^ Btiddha, and Christ, III. Cnf. Chateaubriand, La Vie de Mahomet; Pritchard, Researches into the Physical History of Mankind; Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Rctnan Geography, Art. ARABIA. X Dods, Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ, III. § Oelsner, Des Effsls de l.i Religion de Mohammed, 208. II The reader will find much interesting information on this subject in Newman, Histirical Sketches, i. 66 (edn. Lond. 1876). 224 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. The victor at the poetic contests, even in those rude times, is said to have received a hundred pieces of gold, a horse, an embroidered qaft^n, and a lovely slave-girl ; while AbC Tamdn is said to have received from his sovereign, apparently in one gift, as much as fifty thousand pieces of gold !* Nor was it in mere literature that the work of the Saracens was of greatest service to the world, but rather in the departments of medicine, the mathematical sciences, and philosophy. In the first of these three departments, we are told, their work has never been adequately appraised, for the simple reason that barely three European students have cared to bestow the labour necessary to the study of their medical books ; and as to the second department, the influence of the Arabs on the study of chemistry, algebra, and astronomy, is visible in the very nomenclature of these branches of knowledge. -f* It has, however, been well observed that even in these departments, in which the Arabs have undoubtedly laboured hard, it is easy is over-rate our indebtedness to them. The so-called 'Arabic Numerals' are undoubtedly of Sanskrit origin ; and as to Astro- nomy, it is indigenous in the East, where the mode of life of the people favours and facilitates the study of it. J It is evident from Pitts's account that education in astronomy could not have per- meated Muslim society very deeply, nor have ever become a passion among the followers of The Faith : their astronomical talents, in fact, appear to have been long ' laid up in a napkin,' for there is neither continuity nor development about it. So unique, in- deed, was the ignorance that Pitts found among Muhammadans regarding this charming branch of study, that their sentiment towards it was one of distrust and positive aversion : — ' They hold it a great piece of Arrogance^ and indeed Profane for any * Dods, Mohiimmed, Buddha, and Christ, 112. This man was the compiler of the Hamdsa, — a collection of old Arabic epigrams, odes, and elegies. For some specimens of his genius the reader may consult Crichton, History of Arabia, i. 192 ; the Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th edn.), s. v. HamaSAH. t Dods, Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ, 112. X Stephens, Christianity and IslAm, 147 (edn. Lond. 1877), ISLAM AND SCIENCE. 225 to dive into those thinj^s which belong to that Science. And they moreover say, That no man in the World knows when the Neiv-Moon is, but God alone knows. That none but Christians would presume to enquire into such hidden and abstruse matters.'* Even to so uninstructed a man as Pitts then was, the ignorance of Muhammadans of this branch of knowledge was patent.-f- And as to Algebra, we are told by so high an authority as Colebrookc, that the Hindis far excelled the Arabs in this science. | So that, upon the whole, the researches of the present century, as far as they have gone, have tended to lower the estimate of the literary wealth supposed to lie enshrined in what has been called the ' intactis Arabum thesauris.'§ As to the cultivation of art among Muslims, the blame undoubtedly rests with Muhammad for the peculiar attitude of his followers towards it from the first. II The arts of statuary and painting were denounced by the early * Pitts, A Faithful Account 0/ tk( Ketigion and Manners of the Mah(ir?ietans, 79, (4th edn. Lond. 1738). The Italics are, of course, Pitts's. At the period referred to (1678 — 1695) poor Pitts was in captivity among the Muhammadans of Algiers, After his escape, he became a minister of the Gospel in connexion with the English Episcopal Church, and became the author of a volume of Sermons, a copy of \\hich may be seen in the library of the British Museum. t The reader will find some interesting information on this subject in Sate, Prel. Disc. 22-3. The limitations of the Astronomy of the Arabs are indicated by Sir William Jones, who describes their contribution to the subject as ' the mere amusement of giving names to the stars' — Cnf. Crichton, History 0/ Arabia, i. 200.. X 'Learning and science,' says Burckhardt (Arabia, i. 389), — he is speaking of Makka, — 'cannot be expected to flourish in a place where every mind is occupied in the search of gain or of paradise.' The works of this writer, indeed, are loaded with testimony shewing that in no place in the Islamic world does learning thrive so badly as in the two Sacred cities of The Faith. § Horace, Odes, i. 29, and iii. 24, cited in The Christian Renumbrancer (Jan, >85S), 147; Crichton, History of Arabia, i. 152. II Even so philosophic a writer as Lecky uses very strong language on this point. He snys (The Rise and Influence of Rationalism in Europe, i. 246), — 'In this way Mahomet preserved his religion from idolatry, but he nmdo it tiie deadly enemy of art. How much art has lost by the antagonism it is impossible to say.' Indeed, on this whole subject, the voice of sll dispassionate writers on Philosophy and .Art is as one, See also Alley, Vindicicc Christiance, 225 (cdn. Lond. 1836); Volney, Tiavels in Syria, ch. xxxix. 15 a«5 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Muslims as incentives to idolatry. To attribute this to the idol- atry which Muslims tell us existed in the Church of Rome, does not release them from the charge of narrowness. The misuse of these valuable branches of aesthetical culture by others, is a very poor reason for the eternal extinction of them. But this species of iconoclasm long ago gave way in some directions. Even yet, however, Muslim doctors may be found who forbid, under pain of being cast into hell, the delineation of any thing that has life. But while the statues of human beings are forbid- den, other works of art are allowed by some of the divines, — excepting, of course, in mosques.* One of the arts, however, has too rooted a place in human nature to be abandoned ; and if we are tq.credit all accounts which the Saracen musicians give concerning their own influence among the people, they brought their art, notwithstanding Muhammad's proscription of it, to a high state of efficiency.-f- Clearly, therefore, the achievements of his followers in these directions are not attributable to Isl4m, whether directly or otherwise. The whole situation has been well delineated by Major Osborn in a work too little known. \ It is quite true that when IslSm penetrates to countries lower in the scale of humanity than were the Arabs of Muhammad's day, it has the faculty of raising them to that levek but this, upon the whole, is a doubtful blessing, for it is achieved at a tremendous cost. It reproduces in its new converts the characteristics which have marked its • Lane, Modern Egyptians, ii. 2; Burton, Pilgrimage, i. 137; Syed Ameer Ali, Critical Examination of the Life and Teachings of Mihainmed, 331 (edn. Lond. 1873). •They blame the Papists," says Pitts {Mahometans, 55) 'for having so many Trum' peries- in their Churches, eikI have a greater Respect for Protestants, because they have not the like. I once had a Draught of an English Ship, which I hung against the Wall ; but my Patroon perceiving it had a Cross in its Ancient, obliged me to blot it out, and then seemed well enough pleased with the picture.' + Berington, Literary History of the Middle Ages, 426. The reader will find some interesting things in reference to this subject of the music of tha Arabs in Wellsted, Travels in Arabia, i. 345 et aliis locis (edn. Lond. 1838). X Osborn, IslAm under tht Arabs, 93—5. DARKNESS AGAINST LIGHT. 227 adherents from the earliest period, — an impenetrabl« self-esteem, an unintelligent scorn, and a blind, irrational hatred of all creeds but one. And thus is the capacity for further advance destroy- ed ; — the mind is obdurately shut to the entrance of any purer light. The transient gleam of culture which illuminated Baghdad under the earlier Abbaside Khalifas is sometimes regarded as a legitimate fruit of Islam. This is a grievous error. When the Arabs overwhelmed Syria cind Persia they brought with them no new knowledge to take the place of the knowledge which had preceded them in those countries. There, Badawis of the Desert, as they were, they found themselves all at once the masters of vast and comparatively enlightened territories, and they soon discovered that they had everything to learn : they were compel- led to put themselves to school under the very peoples they had vanquished. And the result was that the Persians and Syrians, conquered though they were and tributary,, retained in their hands the control of the administrative machinery by reason of the ignorance of their conquerors ,- and the Abbiside Khalifas were borne into power by means of a Persian revolution headed by a Persian slave. Then began the endeavour to make the old Greek philosophy of Syria and the deep and beautiful thoughts of Zoroaster take root and flourish on the hard and barren soil of the Muslim creed ; and like every attempt to make a frail exotic flourish in uncongenial soil, it ended only in failure. It imparted indeed a kind of borrowed lustre to this period of Muhammadan history; but that lustre proved to be but transient and unreal. The more orthodox among the Muhammadans knew that their Faith and the wisdom of the Greeks could not amalgamate, and they fought fiercely against the innovators. Successive swarms of barbarians swooping down from northern Asia, tore up the fragile plant by the roots and scattered its blossoms to the winds.* The new comers embraced the Creed * The reader who would pursue this point might satisfy his curiosity by pajusal of the first volume of the admirable Historical Sketches of Dr. J. II. Newman. 228 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. of Islam in all its primitive simplicity, and true to the savage nature, they abhorred and repudiated the refinements which the Persians would fain have grafted on it. And the barbarians won the day. Not the glories of Baghdad, — which were but the after-glow of the thought and culture which sank with the fall of the Sassanides and the expulsion of the Byzantine emperors, — not those, but the present condition of Central Asia is the legitimate fruit of The Faith. — And the same is true of Spain during the Muhammadan ascendancy there. The blossom and the fruitage which Islam seemed to put forth there, were in fact due to influences altogether alien to The Faith, — to contact with Jewish and Christian thought ; for when the Moors were driven back into northern Africa, all that blossom and fruitage withered away, and the country whither they went sank into the condition of intellectual barrenness and political anarchy in which we see it at the present time. — In fine, there are to be found in the history of The Faith all the elements of greatness: — courage, endurance, self-sacrifice, faith; but enclosed, as they are, within the narrow walls of a crude theology and a barbarous polity, from which the capacity to grow and the liberty to modify have been sternly cut off, these noble qualities work no deliverance upon the earth. They are strong only for destruction ; and when that work of destruction is over, they either prey upon each other, or they beat themselves to death against the bars of their prison-house. The darvesh, ejaculating 'Allah! Allah!' as he revolves in a series of rapid gyrations until he drops senseless, is an exact image of the course of the history of States where Islam is in the ascen- dant. When they cease to be racked by revolutions, they succumb to the poison diffused by a corrupt moral atmosphere. The his- tory of IMuhammadanism everywhere is but a dreary monotonous commentary upon the self-evident maxim that no permanent structure can be raised on a foundation of sand, — no durable or humanizing policy upon a basis of Fatalism, Despotism, Poly- gamy, and Slavery, THE DARKNESS PREVAILS. 229 Upon the whole, then, we can hardly summarize this portion of the enquiry better than in the words of a very discriminating writer of our own time. 'With regard/ says Mr. Stephens, 'to the science, literature, and art of the Saracens, of which one has to hear and read so much, while not for a moment desiring either to question their reality or to under-rate their value, one is com- pelled to doubt very much whether they were, in any sense, direct products of Islam ; it certainly is not by any means generally evident to what extent they could be said to have been products of Islam at all. Where did the Saracens get these things? They certainly did not bring them from Mecca or Medina; and if they evolved them from their own ' inner consciousness,' the credit is due not to their religion, but to their natural gifts and to Him who created them. So far, however, from their being possessed with a passion for art for its own sake, as is the case with every true genius in that department of culture, they exercised them- selves rather to destroy all the literature and art of Greece and Rome of which they could obtain possession.'* It was only to be expected that the severe monotheism of the Saracens would brook no contamination with the profuse polytheism and licentious mythology of those countries. No accuracy of thought, no deli- cate finish of language could, in their judgment, compensate for the stain of error which blots the work of the classical o-enius. The colourless writings of Hippocrates and Galen, Euclid and Aristotle, were freely translated and widely read amono- them: yet even the liberal-minded son of the celebrated Haruna'r- Rashid, when he preferred to bring books instead of captives as his spoils from conquered Greece, left behind him in contempt the Plays of Sophocles and yEschylus, the Histories of Thucy- dides and Herodotus, and the Orations of Demosthenes: he left behind him, in fact, all that could have opened a new world to the mind of the Oriental.-j- Now, all this happened in what is * Stephens, Christianity and Islim, 146. + Dods, Mohainmedy Buddha^ and Christ, no. 330 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. known as the Golden Age of Saracen history. If such deliber- ate choice of darkness rather than light marked the best period of the history, there is but little difficulty in crediting as possible the story of the burning of the Alexandrian library,* at the twilight period when Islam was only beginning to emerge from its native Deserts. The manner in which this catastrophe occurred serves well to shew the indebtedness of Muslim to Christian literati, and the form which Muslim appreciation and gratitude assumed. 'Amrvl ibna'l-'As,-f- conqueror and governor of Egypt, j was an orator and poet, a lover of learning and of learned men.§ His literary gifts had been displayed in his earlier days, when he (like so many of his fellow-countrymen) wrote lampoons on Muhammad. II This conduct he afterwards came to regret, and embraced The Faith.1T • For a most interesting account of this magnificent store of the ftisdqm of the ancients the reader is referred to Rollin, Ancient History, vol. v. pp. 19 — 22 (edn. Lond. 1 841). + Also spelt 'Aas,' 'Aasi,^ and 'Aass;' but not 'Dass,' as Mr. Lake's printer (p. 96) has it. The form 'AmrCi is also spelt 'Amr, — the fi being added merely to prevent the word from being confounded with the name of 'Umar. The letters in Arabic are exactly the same in each case, ^**, — the vowel of the initial consonant being omitted. Cnf. Burckhardt, Arabia, ii. 416. % Elmacinus, Historia Saracenica, L 23-4; Ockley, History of the Saracens, i. 344 seqq. ; Abu'l-Farajius, Historia Dynastiaruvi, 9; Pocock, Spicimcn, 1 12. § Ockiey, Histcty of the Saracens, i. 312; Forster, M,:hontetanism Unveiled, i. 46. II Muir, Life of Mahomet, iv. 90; Irving, Lifi of Mihomet, 48. II This maa was the son of a courtesan of Makka, who seems to have rivalled in fir.cination the Phiynes and Aspasias of Greece, and to have numbered some of the nobles of the land among her lovers. Who may have been his real father is not known. When his mother gave biith to him, she mentioned several of the tribe of the Bani Quraish who had equal claims to the paternity. The oldest of her admirers was a man named 'As ("As ibni Wayil, of the Sahm family) and to him the infant was declared to have most resemblance; and from this fact he came to receive, in addition to his own name of 'AuutI,' the patronymic Ibna'l-As, 'son of 'As.' A? if t40 alone for the blemish of his birth. Nature had lavished upon this child some of tlv choicest of her gifts; and while yet young, he came to be one of the most po- pular poets of Arabia, — being distinguished no less for the pungency of his satirical allusions than for the captivating sweetness of his more serious lays. When Mu- hammad first announced hiuiself a prophet, this youth assailed him with Lampoons and humourous madrigals; and these, being, as they were, exactly the kind of thing T-HE LIGHT IS EXTINGUISHED. 331 He was fond of the society of the learned ; and he sought to make up, by association with them, for the deficiencies of his early education. He found a congenial companion in a Native of Alexandria, the celebrated John the Grammarian, — the last disciple of Ammonius. This man was a Christian, of the sect of the Jacobites, and was surnamed Philoponns* 'a lover of labour,' — John the Industrious. He had attained to eminence for his laborious treatises of various kinds, — such as, works on Gram- mar and Philology, and Commentaries on Moses and Aristotle.-f- The Arabian conqueror and chief, being naturally of a more in- quiring and liberal spirit than his Muslim co-religionists, iijterested himself during his leisure hours in conversation with this Chris- tian scholar, and an intimacy was soon formed between them. Now, after the capture of Alexandria, an account was taken of all the public property ; but the collection of bodks and manu- scripts which constituted the Alexandrian library was omitted. It is alleged that, in an unlucky moment^ John gave information to 'Amrti of this unnoticed treasure ; and that, emboldened by the terms of familiar intercourse which had sprung up between them, the loving student went so far as to ask that the collection might be given to him.j In his opinion the treasure was inesti- mable, 'however eontemptfble,' to use Gibbon's term, 'it may have been in the estimation of the barbarians.' 'AmrO, it is said was inclined to gratify the wish of his friend, but could not give effect to his inclinations without first referring the matter to the to fall in with the taste of the Arabs in respect of poetry, obtaiaed a wide circulation and proved greater impediments to the growth of the new religion than the bitterest persecution. Thus was 'Amru, who afterwards made such a distinguished figure in the history of The Faith, one of the most redoubtable and effective of the assailants of its founder. — Cnf. Irving, Life of Mahcmei, 49. * ^tXoTTOVOe;— not 'Philopomus,' as Mr. Lake's printer (p. 96) calls him. + The reader who is interested in the achievements of this man in the realm of philosophy may consult Sir Wm. Hamilton's Lectures ok AldiiphysicSy i. 114 200 250, and ii. 7, 38, 155 (edn. Edinb. and Lond. 1861). X tftwton, Dissirtaticns en the Propht\ics, 197. 232 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Khalifa, his master.* To this came the famous answer of 'Umar, — an answer embodying a sophism that might have weight with an ignorant fanatic, but which could only excite the astonish- ment and regret of a philosopher, — 'If these writings of the Greeks agree with the Our'an — the Book of God — they are superfluous, and need not be preserved ; but if they disagree, they are pernicious and ought to be destroyed !'-f- The sentence was carried out with blind obedience ; and the volumes of parch- ment were distributed to the four thousand baths of the city, — not necessarily to heat them, perhaps, but probably rather to kindle them. Rollin, however, says 'they were used for fuel in- stead of wood.' However this may be, such was the almost incredible quantity of literature that six months were barely sufficient for the consumption of this precious fuel.:]: The story is given by Abu'l-Faragius :§ it is doubted, as everyone knows, by Gibbon, but received by many scholars, — among whom are such high authorities as Von Hammer and Pocock.ll One of the arguments on which Gibbon bases his rejection of the story is given in the following words : — 'The rigid sentence of Omar is repugnant to the sound and orthodox precept of the Mahometan casuists : they expressly declare that the religious books of the Jews and christiansIT which are acquired by the right of war, should never be committed to the flames,'** — the reason being 'the respect due to the name of God' which those books contain. This has a good sound ; but Gibbon is compelled to add that 'a more destructive zeal may perhaps be attributed • Newton, DisstrMions on the Prophecies, 197. + Crichton, History oj Arabia, i. 392. + Cnf. Ockley, History of the Sufacens, 293-4 (edn. T.oncl. 1S70) ; Pride.nux, Ccnnccticn of the OU and Ne'M Testaments, pt. II, bk. i, anno. 2S4. § Abu'l-Faragius, IJisiorici Dyiiastiarinn, 180 (p. 1 14 of edn. Oxen. 1663). II Pocock, Specimen, 1 70; Harris, Philological /inquiries, 251 ; White, Batnp' ton Lecture, 335, and the Notes, p. Ix. H On the singidar frailty of the great historian respecting the mode in which this word should be written, we have had occasion to remark elsewhere (see p. 124). ** Gibbon, Decline and Fall, 956. THE AL EXANDRIAN LIBRAR Y. 233 to the first successors of Mahomet;' which is the same as saying that the early Khah'fas were not so scrupulous regarding the destruction of the books of Jews and Christians, though they were known to be certain to contain the Divine name. Now, 'Umar was the first but one of The Successors,— he having succeeded to the Khilafat only two years after Muhammad's death. So that, Gibbon may be said, in effect, to concede the point as to at least the high probability of the destruction of the library having been effected, as Abu'l-Faragius records, by the order of this Khalifa. The only authority whom Gibbon quotes in support of the dis- credit he thus casts upon the story is a writer so late as Reland : he cites no Muhammadan author contemporary with the alleged piece of Vandalism : but he is of opinion that the report of a solitary witness who wrote at the end of six hundred years on the confines of Media, is overbalanced by the fact of the silence of two annalists of an earlier date, both of whom were Christians and both of them Natives of Egypt, — the more ancient of whom, the patriarch Eutychius, having amply described the Conquest of Alexandria. But it may safely be urged that the positive asser- tion of a historian of such unquestioned credit as Abu'l-Faragius is worthily held to be, cannot be set aside by an argument that is, after all, merely negative.* Gibbon's reference to Aulius Gellius.t to Ammianus Marcellinus,+ and to Orosius,§ as speaking of the libraries of Alexandria in the past tense, are (as Enfield has pointed out) foreign to the purpose ; for these writers refer only to the destruction of books there in the time of Julius Caesar some seven centuries before. II Subsequently to that period, large • Enfield, Histcry of Philosophy, 420 (edn. Lond. 1837). + Aulius Gellius, Nodes AttioB, lib. vi, cap. 17. X Ammianus Maicelliaus, Historia, lib. xxii, cap. 16 {p. 314 of the edn, of Valesius, Paris, 1681). § Orosius, Historiariim adversus Paganos Libri VII, lib. vi, cap. 17 {p. 421 of the edn. of Havercamp, 1738). II Mills would guard his reader against a very natural misapprehension regarding the various libraries of Alexandria which have at different times been for various reasons destroyed. ' When we talk,' says he {History of Muhammedamsm, 381-2). 234 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. libraries must have been continually accumulating, during the long period in which the various schools of philosophy flourished in that city. The destruction of the various libraries there in the time of Caesar, as also the growth of the great library to which we refer, are carefully related in detail by Rollin, and by many other historians.* But, in truth, the fact of the destruction of the library hav- ing taken place by the order of 'Umar, docs not, as Gibbon sup- poses, rest on the authority of but one man. So high an authority as Charles Mills (who, it should be observed, does not by any means write in an anti-Muhammadan spirit) exhibits the rare spectacle of a scholar of profound reading, voluntarily submit- ing to the humiliation of withdrawing, after sufficient research, his opinions formerly published. He writes, — 'The Saracens, as well as other good people, occasionally condemned books an feu. Absorbed with ideas of the conquest or conversion of the world, the early Successors of the Prophet held in equal contempt the religion and the learning of their new subjects and tributaries. Their most pious act in this line' — by which we understand him to mean, the act at once most prominent and noteworthy, and at the same time the most expressive of the genius and tendency of their Faith — 'was the destroying of a large library at Alex- andria. It was done by the order of the Caliph Omar, when Amrou conquered Egypt. The fact does not, as I once thought, rest on the sole authority of Abul-Pharajius: Macrisi,f and also Abdollatif (the writer of a work expressly on Egyptian antiqui- 'of the destruction of the Alexandrian library, let us not be deceived by words. It must not be imagined ihajt the libraiy of the Ptolomies was the one wliich tlie Saracens pillaged. That ' elegantise regain curseque egregium opus' was destroyed in Caesar's time; and the new collection which Cleopatra formed, was dissipated in the wars which the Christians made upon the Pagans.' — Cnf. Newton, llie Frcplucics, 196-7. * Cnf. Rollin, Ancient History, i. 21, and v. 20 (and references there); Arnold, Is!dm and Chtistianiiy, 182-3. Consult, slso, Home's Introduction to the Study of Bibliography. + Cnf. Macrisi, cited by White, .-Egypticg, 56, 65. THAT CATASTROPHE DOUBTED. 235 tics*) mention the circumstance. I hesitated, with Langlds, from crediting the story on the authority of Abul-Pharajius alone ; but the authorities cited by Macrisi and Abdollatif re- moved his scepticism, and I willingly retract the error I made in my first edition. 'f It should be added that so high an authority as the Baron de Sacy, in a long note to his translation of Abdol- latif, has collected various testimonies from the works of Arabian writers, preserved in the Royal Library in Paris, which concur in establishing the credibility of the narrative of Abu'l-Farajius.]: It is, indeed, i-mpossible to regard it (as Gibbon would insinuate) as a fiction invented by the Armenian historian. It is only charitable to suppose that Gibbon was sincerely convinced of the repugnance of such coarse Vandalism to the genius of Muslim casuistry. But the student of Islamic tradition will be neither astonished nor deceived by what is so transpa- rently an after-thought. It clearly is, like so much of the church- literature of Muhimmadans, a makeshift designed to mitigate the odium of an act which no man not a genuine fanatic could have been guilty of Indeed, even Gibbon, notwithstanding his well-known prejudices, does not see his way to giving a distinct denial to the story : he merely says, by way of stating his own position regarding the matter, — ' I am strongly tempted to deny both the fact and its consequences.' We are the more earnest in mentioning this, because of the tendency there appears to be to accept without further enquiry the opinions of this great writer, and because of the disposition we observe in men to conclude that because Gibbon failed to be satisfied with the grounds on which the story rests, therefore the story is a fabrication, — for- getting, altogether, that there may have been evidence of which * Abdoliatiphus, Hist,ria, 115 (edn. 4to); Crichton, History 0/ Arabia, i. 393. + Mills, History of Miih .mmedanism, 381. On the whole subject the reader who would follow the matter up, should consult the Dissertation of Mons. Bonamy on the subject of the 'Alexandria i library' in Les Memoir:s de I'AcaJeinie des Insiriptions^ torn, ix, and the Fifth Year of the Magasin Encydo^Mie, torn, iii, p. 384. X De Sacy, Relation de r Egypt, 240. 236 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Gibbon was not cognizant (which was, as we have seen, the actual fact). That such a tendency docs really exist will be seen in the case of so profound a scholar as Baron von Humboldt, who appa- rently on no better ground than that of Gibbon's doubt, hesitates not to brand the story as a 'myth.'* We easily believe what we ivisJi to believe. Hence we find that though Gibbon found the story of the burning of the library by 'Umar too much for his historical digestion, he records the opinion that it was destroyed several centuries before — vis. circa 389 A. D. — by the fanaticism of Theophilus, the Christian Archbishop of Alexandria, — and he does so without hesitation, and without the faintest apparent symptom of a doubt.f Lake adds to the argument of Gibbon — to whom, as we have already noted, ^i he acts a faithful henchman — the statement that such an act was inconsistent with the character of 'Amru.§ Under some circumstances, such an argument might have relieved the dreariness of the episode : it happens, however, that the true character of 'Amru is well known. II Besides, we submit that the point turns rather upon the character of one greater than 'AmrO, and whose mandate 'Amrft would not have dared to contravene. IT It was beyond his power to alienate any portion of the spoil ; the consent of the Khalifa was necessary.** The violent and irrational nature of this Vandal among the Khalifas is but too well known to the student of Saracenic history ;ff and it is an * Ilumboklt, Cosmos, ii. 5S2, t Gibbon, Decline aud Fall, 467. t Cnf. p. 212. § Lake, Isldm, 97. Cnf. Ockley, History of t/u Saracens, 84 — 92. II Consult on this point, Muir, Annals of the /ui'ly Caliphate, passim. H Kollin, Ancient History, vol. v, p. 21. Of gigantic stature, great courage, and prodigious strength, the chief characteristic of 'Umar was /ieireness. His sav- age aspect appalled even the boldest, and his very walking-stick struck more terror into beholders than another man's sword. Such are tlic words of tlie Arabian his- torian Al-Waqidi ; and the events of Umar's life after he became Khalifa, prove that these words of the historian are not chargeable with exaggeration. *• Crichton, Histiry of Arabia, i. 392. \\ Miiller, Univef sal History, ii. 46. For instances of his curious destructiveness of temperament, the reader should consult Taylor, Hi.tory of Mohanimaianist/i, 175. THE DOUBT UNFOUNDED. 237 object of special glory to The Faithful to the present hour, lie exhibited, if possible, more of the spirit of Muhammadanism than even Muhammad himself did, and his reckless and wanton destruction of treasures held sacred by persons of other religions has earned for him a notoriety unique among the most faithful copyists of the Original. Theother Khalifas — AbuBikr,'Uthman, and 'xVli — were mildness itself in comparison with 'Umar, — the very archetype of the Wahhabi of the earlier years of our own century.* Characterized, though his reign was, by all the worst fruits of his religion, the act of folly which history thus fastens upon him has done more to familiarize posterity with his name than all the other devastations committed under his authority.*}- Whether the world is indebted to the fanaticism of 'Umar or not, for this coarse destruction of the untold treasures of the wisdom of the ancients,^ and whether the words of the sentence of de- struction were or were not the product of his peculiar genius, — are points which it is now-a-days impossible to decide and fruit- less to discuss : but, as has been well observed, if the words are not his, at least they are full of historical versimilitude and signi- ficance.§ Lest it should be supposed that this opinion is the offspring of Christian sentiment in Dr. Marcus Dods, we may add that the elder Disraeli, who must be acquitted of any suspicion of collusion with the Christian teacher, gives his opinion in con- current language. He remarks, in referring to this lamentable * Palgiave, in his Central and Eastern Arabia, has surpassed all writers in the exquisite delicacy of his judgment on the WahhaW renaissance. t Crichton, History of Arahi :, i. 392. J We should here observe that beyond the statement that the parchments sup- plied the public baths of Alexandria for a half-a-year, there is no clue by which the measure of the loss might be approximately estimated. There were, in fact, several libraries in different parts of the city; and it is now impossible to ascertain whether the one now under consideration was or was not one of those that had been previously destroyed. If it was not, the loss to the world is one which it clearly is impossible to exaggerate. § Dods, Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ, 1 10. As to the character of 'Umar as a ruler, note some just remarks in Taylor, History of Mohammedanism, 174. 238 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. catastrophe, that though modern paradox attempt to deny the fects of the story, yet the tale would not be singular even if it should turn out to be true, — inasmuch as it perfectly suits the character of 'a bigot, a barbarian, and a blockhead !' He goes on to shew that we owe to the same destructive spirit of the Muhammadan religion the loss, by this same resort to the agency of devouring flame, much of the most ancient literature of the Persians.* These invaluable records of Persian genius and learning, collected by the zeal of the Sassanide princes in Modain were hurled, by the order of 'Umar into the waters of the Tigris.-f- The obvious conclusion, from the facts thus brought together, is that the burden of proof rests with those who deny the story. The grounds on which Gibbon bases his scepticism regarding it, we have seen to be worthless : it would have been interesting to have learnt on what grounds so eminently careful a writer as Humboldt was would justify the contemptuous term by which he characterizes it. A story so long credited, upon high authority, calls for more critical treatment than, from all that appears, the worthy Baron devoted it. Thus much, at any rate, seems beyond possibility of doubt, — that the story is in entire harmony with the known character of 'Umar and with the practices of Muham- madans in the earlier ages of The Faith. Taking the account as recorded, it is impossible to estimate the loss which literature has sustained by the destruction of the treasures of this library. It is true that in speaking of the lib- raries of times which preceded the invention of printing, we must not be misled by magnificent descriptions, or by the ample catalogues of their contents. The manuscripts were numerous, indeed, but the matter they contained would in modern print be compressed within a space much smaller than might at first be supposed. The fifteen ' Books,' for example, of Ovid's I\Icta- vwyphoses, which in classic times composed literally as many • D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature, iS (ecln. Lond. l866). t Taylor, History of Mvhammedanism, 175. VANDALISM OF THE KHALIFAS. 239 volumes, are all of them together reduced now-a-days to a few dozens of pages. Still, we cannot renounce the belief that though much of the ancient literature has escaped the ravages of ignorance and the calamities of war, a great deal that would have been of value and interest perished in the sack of this famed metropolis.* But notwithstanding the Vandalism which marked the early days of Islam,f there were some works of literature and art which these enthusiasts in the pursuit of knowledge could not destroy. They could not destroy every copy of a Greek or Roman classic, they could not destroy the Great Pyramid, they couJd not break down every Roman arch, nor did they demolish the mighty dome of the beautiful temple of St. Sufia. And though the true spirit of Ishmael swayed the conduct of the party of war, yet there was among the Arabs a party of peace, however weak and unheeded. There were men among them who were wise enough to study the master-pieces of thought and art which had evolved themselves from the genius of Roman ajid of Greek, and who had enough of intellectual capacity to turn their study to good practical account. And what these men had learned in the eastern part of the Roman dominions, they taught in the western part of it and in Persia ; and they reproduced, possibly with improvements, in Cordova and Bagddd, what they had seen in Byzantium.;]: But these men's range of study among the Greek authors was limited, and their work upon them was confined to translat- ing books on physics and metaphysics. Gibbon, with all his * Crichton, History of Aiabia, i. 394. + ShouW any one be in doubt as to the propriety of this manner of alluding to the best days of The Faith, he may find assistance by carefully studying the valuable work of Sir Williaii Muir just mentioned, the Amials of the Eatly Caliphate, the materials of which are drawn from Muhammadan sources. In the entire history of barbarity and vice, it would be difficult to match the picture there given of the reigns of the Four Khalifas as drawn by Muhammadan authors themselves. X Stephens, Isldm ami Christianity, 146. 240 THE CLAIMS OF IS II MARL. research, is obliged at last to confess that he failed to discover even so much as a record of any translation into Arabic of a single Greek poet, orator, or historian. We cannot rate very highly the literary genius of a people who thus, when they had the best possible opportunity, neglected the richest treasures of human thought in the departments of poetry, eloquence, and history, which the world has ever possessed. And what shall we say by way of apology for the spirit that could have led to the wilful destruction of these treasures? Muslims never weary of assuring us of the high quality of the productions of native writers in the Arabic language. All that they say may be true of the literary style of such writings, for the genius of the lan- guage itself favours them, — Arabic being a language that so readily lends itself to cadence that we are assured by so accom- plished a witness as Burton, that it is almost impossible not to rhyme in it.* But what are we to say if the moment an Arabic work is translated into any other tongue, all that makes it of any value vanishes ? It is difficult to understand how a work that cuts so very insignificant a figure in translation could, in point of subject-matter, be positively first-rate even in its original dress. If, then, it be true that Muhammadans picked up their science and art second-hand, — such portions as they obtained of both consisting of those fragments which barely escaped destruction at the hands of the earlier Muslim invaders, — is it quite truthful to attribute such advances as they made in these departments to the genius of Islam ? Supposing Christianity had been left to pursue its course in Syria and Palestine, Asia Minor and Turkey, Egypt, Northern Africa, and Spain, unmolested by the Saracen invader, would not science, literature, the arts, and everything else that makes up civilization, have gone on flourishing, at least as well as they have flourished in those countries since they came under Muslim rule, or as well as they flourish now in those coun- tries that are still under it. They could not have flourished less • Burton, PUsritragc, ii. 7S. HOPE FOR ARABIA. 241 than they do in most of those countries at the present moment ; and it is hard to believe that they would not have flourished in the absence of Muslim rule, not only as well as they have flour- ished under it, but a great deal better.* One of the most recent travellers in Arabia, and at the same time one of the most accomplished in every particular that goes to make a man a trustworthy witness, bears strong testimony to the high intellectual and practical qualities of the Arabs. He sees capacities and aptitudes in the race for accomplishing great things in science and art ; but he adds, — ' When the Koran and Mecca shall have disappeared from Arabia, then, and then only, can we expect to see the Arab assume that place in the ranks of civilization from which Mahomet and his workhave,more than any othercause long held him back.'f Thus in Arabia, just as in Persia and the Turkish empire, IsUm, when left to itself and allowed the freest scope for its genius, so far from creating a love of learning and promoting its advancement, has somehow the very opposite effect — of consuming energy and retarding progress. J It is, in fact, simple folly to suppose that any literary art can make progress among Muhammadans so long as despotism, indolence, and superstition,— ever the great enemies of literary and scientific advancement, — continue to maintain their ground among them.S That the testimony we have thus brought together under the present head may if possible not be open to the time-honoured stigma of one-sidedness, we will conclude by citing the deliber- • Stephens, Chfistianity and lilim, 148. + Palgrave, Cental and F astern Arabia, i. 175. The capabilities of the Arab mind are attested by all competent authorities ; and so far from Islam having tended to lead it on to higher stages of delopment, it appears that the intelligence of the Arabs of the times before Muhammad was noted by persons not of their race, and the comparison of the Arabs of Islamic and pre-Islamic times is rather in favour of the latter— Cnf. Ecchelensis, Historia Orientalis, 142, 147; Ilottinger, Archaohgia Orientalis, lO; Pocock, Specimen, 135; Wright, Christianity in Arabia, 7—9. Plinius, A'rt/Mrrt/j.f /i^«/,r/a, lib. vi, cap. 28. ' X Stephens, Christianity and IslAm, 149. S Niebuhr, Tr.ivels in Arabia, ii. 437. 16 242 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. ate judgment of one who has never yet been charged with being tainted with the animus of a Christian fanatic against the be- lievers in the religion of ' Holy Mecca.' Voltaire exclaims, in his own nervous way, — 'I detest the Turks, as the tyrants of their wives, and the enemies of the arts I'* But the tendency of Islam to the promotion of intellectual pursuits is argued by its apologists on a broader basis than that of the sciences and the arts. . One writer has, in late years, as- signed to the Arab thinkers the honourable function of actually creating modern philosophy. ' Theology and philosophy,' says this writer, 'became, in the hands of the Moors, fused and blended. The Greek scientific theory as to the origin of things, interwound with the Hebrew faith in a Creator. And thus did speculation become, in a new and higher sense, theistic ; and the interpreta- tion of the universe became the explication of God's relation to it, and of its relation to God.'f This is but a specimen of the way in which the attainments of Muhammadans have been over- rated rather than depreciated, j Dr. Dods points out that spe- culation had become theistic long before such a thing as an Arab philosophy came into existence. The same questions that form the staple of modern philosophy, were discussed at Alexandria as much as three centuries before the time of Muhammad. There is scarcely a single Christian author of the third or fourth cen- tury who does not write in presence of the great problem of God's connexion with the world, and of the relation of the Infinite to the Finite, of the unseen intangible Spirit to the crass material universe. What we have to do here, however, is not to ascertain whether modern philosophy be truly the offspring of the unex- pected marriage between Aristotle and the Qur'^n, but whether the religion promulgated in the Qur'dn is or is not obstructive of intellectual effort and enlightenment. And enough has been said • Dods, Mohammed, Buddha, and Chfist, Ii6. + Fairhairn, Sludus, 398. + D'jds, AL'hamniid, Buddha, and Chriu, 113. ATTAINMENTS OF THE ARABIANS. 243 to shew that though there may, on the one hand, be nothing in that reh'gion to necessarily and directly tend to obstruct either science or philosophy, yet when we consider the history and achievements of that race, — the Turkish race, which has for six centuries been before the world as the leading representation of Islam, — we are inclined to add that there is nothing in the religion which necessarily leads on the mind to the highest intellectual efforts.* This is the opinion not only of the judicious writer just quoted, but also of Berington, who sums up a pretty full and interesting account of Saracenic learning with the remark that it 'has experienced too much prodigality of praise.'-f- Even Oelsner admits that the results are somewhat disappointing.! Freeman, too, thinks that he discerns a prevalent disposition to assert for the Saracens an untruemonopolyof excellence in science and philosophy ; and he calls attention to the fact that many of the most famous literary men at the courts of the Khalifas were not Muhammadans at all, but Jews and Christians. § Our only concern is to state with exactitude the achieve- ments of the Arabs in the realm of p?h!losophy. As the point is only indirectly related to the great subject of the present work we shall hardly be suspected of any such vice as that of the wilful distortion of evidence or suppression of fact. We have already admitted freely the important part which the Saracens have played in relation to the knowledge which they found ready-made in the territories of the Romans and the Greeks. And we would add further, that some of them at first appeared even more zeal- ous to learn the contents of the books of the vanquished Greeks than was even the contiguous empire of the Romans ; and that some of them were keen students of the works of Aristotle at a * Dods, Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ, ii6. + Berington, Literaty IJisCcry cf the Middle Ages. 455. X Dods, M.diammed, Buddha, and Christ, 113. § Freeman, History 0/ the Saracens, 60—94. 244 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. time when the very language in which he wrote was, in a measure, unknown in Roman Christendom.* The commentaries of Aver- roes, moreover, on the most exact of Greek philosophers, are thought by some to be worthy of the text. It was at the Muhammadan university in his native city of Cordova, and from Arabian teachers, that this precurscr of Spinoza derived those germs of thought whose fruit may be seen in the whole history of scholastic theology. And just before Averroes entered those halls, a young man passed from them equipped with the same learning, and gifted with a genius and penetration of judgment which have made his opinions final wherever the name of Maimonides is known.-f* Undoubtedly, these two fellow-citizens, — the Arabic-speaking Muhammadan and the Arabic-speaking Jew, — have left their mark deep on all subsequent Jewish and Christian learning. And even though it be doubted whether their influence has been wholly beneficial, they may well be claimed as instances of the intellectual ardour which Muham- madan learning could supply.^ It would, however, be scarcely truthful to suppress the fact that only one of these scholars was a Muhammadan, that neither of them was an Arab, that when they entered that seat of learning they took their native genius with them, and that the educational projects of Muhammadans in the countries they had conquered were in great measure the result of the enlightened spirit of Jews, Christians, and other civilized peoples whose examples were all around them. It is easy to place too high an estimate on the relations of the Saracens to philosophy and learning. As middle-men, indeed, or transmitters of the products of other men's genius, the literati of Arabia have made their mark, and their importance in the work of translating into Arabic can scarcely be over-estimated. But what have they, • Dods, M hammed, Buddha, and Christ, II4. + De Sacy, Relati n d'Egyf-U par Abd-Allatif, 4S7 (edn. Paris, 1810). + Dods, M'hamncd, Buddha, and Christ, 1 14. As to the religious opinions of Avenocs the reader should consult the works of Ncander aad iMcsheim. ARABIA'S PLACE IN LITERATURE. 245 as a nation, given us, in the realm of philosophy, which we did not possess before from other sources, and which is the genuine creation of an Arab? The utmost that, in regard to this point, can be said is that with the birth of Islam there was a certain mental awakening, and that by means of conquest in other coun- tries than Arabia, the wild Sons of the Desert became aware of other worlds than the oceans of sand in the Arabian continent, other pursuits than the pursuits of war, and other triumphs than the triumphs of brute force. Thus much can, upon the whole, be said, that in the main, education up to a certain point, literature in certain departments, and science in some of its branches, were in the best days of Islam, materially promoted by the mental awakening which it produced.* Lastly, it may be mentioned as a remarkable deficiency in the literary enterprises of the Arabs, that Islam, — notwithstand- ing its long-continued existence, its far-extending conquests, and the high pretensions claimed for it both by its adherents and its apologists, — has never yet given birth to any literary work of which the world demands a translation. f Indeed, but for the inquisitiveness of specialists, even the Qur'an itself would never have appeared in any other tongue than the one in which it first appeared. In this particular, the literature of Islam cuts a very poor figure beside the literature of other lands, which literature, for the mere sake of its Christian teaching, is being translated into various tongues every year and every day. For this there is a reason. Precisely in so far as individuals have shewn them- selves possessed of great speculation and creative genius, they have departed from the rigid orthodoxy demanded by the Qur'an. It may be inferred, therefore, that the outburst of literary and scientific enthusiasm among Muhammadans which took place in the eighth century of the Christian era, was due, not directly to the influence of The Religion, but rather to that mental quickening • Dods, Mchatumid, Buddha, aud Christ, no. t Ibid. 116. 246 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. and exultant consciousness of power and widened horizon, which came to the conquering Saracens. That this was the order of sequence in this matter, has been well pointed out. At first their newly-awakened energy found scope in other fields than the field of philosophy.* But when the din of war died down, the voice of the Muses was heard. ' RIarte undique obstrepentc, Musis vix crat locus.'f And now, the same fervour that had made the Saracen arms irresistible, was spent in the race for knowledge among the peoples they had subdued. Competition changed its direction. But so far was the icligion of Muhammad from lead' ing men to apply themselves to the highest development of science and philosophy, that it has even been pronounced by a very high authority to be actually incompatible with it. * Incapable de se transformer et d'admettre aucun ^>lement de vie civile et profane, I'islamisme arracha de son sein tout germe de culture rationelle.'j This is the judgment of so independent a critic as Mons. Renan, a man who is not committed to Christian interpretations of history, and one of the few authorities qualified by first-hand acquaint- ance with the subject, to pronounce an opinion upon it.'§ As to the fruits of intellectual energy among Muhammadans in the various departments of literature it has to be noted that there is a total lack of continuity and development. The literary achievements of which the apologists of Islam boast date many centuries ago. Through the long course of several hundreds of years, no book of permanent value in the domain of scientific knowledge or philosophical enquiry has been written by an Arabian. We note the fact because we believe that mere in- tellectual pursuit is not the true test that is needed by either party to the controversy. If it is, it is fair to ask, — What has Arabia done — what has Islam done — in these depaiLments * Dods, Mohammed, Biiddka, and Christ, Il6, + Hunt's Oration De Antiqitiiatt Lingua Arabuvi, quoted by Inchbald, p. 37, + Renan, Avcrroes, p. iii. § Uods, Mi hammed, Buddha, a»d Christ, 1 17. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF MUHAMMAD ANISM. 247 during the centuries of the greatest intellectual activity and fruit- fulness which have in modern times been passing over us ? We are quite willing that the apologists of Islam should be allowed to choose their own test. The process of final collapse set in long ago. The man who could by the utmost effort of genius (and for such a task he would need all he could muster) shew that there is any real intellectual vitality left in Isldm, qud Isldm, or in Arabia, as having been long its undisputed home, is the man for the present hour. The millions who are now languishing for want of a new sensation, would give divine honours, and a fortune to boot, to the genius who should accomplish this per- formance. And even should he succeed, it would be all in vain for the purpose of the present enquiry, for it would not prove that the Qur'dn was designed by the Almighty to supersede the New Testament. It would merely prove that the Arabs are a race of people gifted with a certain species of intellectual force, — a fact which has never been denied. Thus much for the relation of Islam to intellectual pursuits. We may now turn our attention to its social aspects. The claim of Muhammadanism to supersede every other religion, unavoidably commits it to a combative attitude. It challenges investigation and awakens enquiry. More than this; it challenges comparison with all other religions before or after it, — not merely with the fetichism that surrounded its cradle, but also with well-attested Christianity and hoary Judaism, the Divine origin of both of which systems Islam itself assumes as not even requiring to be discussed. Now, the social life of a people is so inseparably bound up in its religion, that it is impos- sible to touch the one without touching also the other. Tell us what the one is, and we know instinctively what the other is sure to be. This is particularly the case with Muhammadanism ; for the Qur'dn embodies directions of the most detailed character in regard to the social life of those who accept it. In no respect is 248 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. this more true than in respect of the relationsofmasterand servant, of husband and wife. Without purposing, therefore, to traverse the whole ground of the social aspects of Qur anic teaching, we may confine ourselves to these two,— which afford, indeed, the best material for comparison. The reader is aware that the Qur'dn allows to every man four legally-married wives at a time.* It is contended by those who believe in the Divine origin of the Quran, that this arrangement is wise, and beneficent, and salutary ; and some of them go so far as to contend that polygamy is preferable to monogamy.f It may be feared that there is only too much truth in the assertion of Dr. Marcus Dods, that so far from the author of the Qur an being the Great Supreme Himself, its author 'was an ignorant man,— so ignorant, indeed, that he did not even know his own ignorance.'^ Whether polygamy, as sanctioned in the Quran^ was a blessing to the wild Sons of the Desert who flocked to the standard of Muhammad, is not so much our present question, as whether it was an advance on the teachings of the New Testament regarding the relations of husband and wife ; and there seems abundant reason for believing that the author of the Qur'an knew nothing of the best fruits of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If, indeed, he knew nothing more of the genuine fruits of evange- lical belief than what he could gather from the specimens of so called Christians whom he met with in Arabia, the fact deprives his opinions on the subject of all value. All that it seems necessary here to say on this point may be elicited by a couple of simple tests, — First, Does the limitation laid down in the Qur'dn serve to secure abstention from miscon- duct on the part of those who believe that limitation to carry • Sale Prel. Disc. 95, and Al Roran. The reader who is interested in the sub- iect of Marriage in Islam may with profit consult Muir, Life of Mahomet, 346 — 50. + Syed Ahmed Khan, Essay on the Question 'ivhtlher Isldtn has been beneficial or fniuricus to Human Society in general and to tht Mosaic and Christian DisfensO' tions, 8, 9. ♦ Dodi, Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ, 1 23. POL VGA M y A ND DI VOR CE. 249 Divine authority ? And second, Does that limitation, when we thus have regard to its practical operation, bear out the belief of the claim of Islam to supersede Christianity? It is quite usual to urge that Muhammad designed to place restrictions on licentious indulgence. If this was his purpose, it has been defeated ; and the cause of its defeat lies mainly in the conditions with which he surrounded his law of marriage. The law of divorce in Islam is such as to deprive the restrictions of all real meaning ; so much so, that in actual practice Muhamma- dans find that they can marry as many wives as they like, and yet be acting within the Qur anic law, — provided the number of cotemporary wives do not exceed a certain figure. The limitation is, not more than four at one time who can have legal claims upon a man. The pronouncement of the three simple words — in Arabic two — Ent idlik, or Ent talika, ' I divorce thee,' or, 'Thou art divorced,' (or any one of a score of other such phrases that may be found in the Hidaya or in the Tagore Law Lectures^ is sufficient to dissolve the tie, and he may now replace her, though she be already but one of four, by another.* This is done with such rapidity that it is on record that some young men have had as many as twenty and even thirty wives, — a new one every three months.f In so doing, they have not been contravening any law • On this painful subject of divorce in Arabia, the student might with profit consult Burckhardt, Bedouins and Wahdbys, i. no — 15, 270 — 80, and Crichton History cj Arabia, ii. 362 — 6, t The case was strikingly illustrated in the very earliest days of The Faith and in the family of The Prophet himself. Hasan, son of Muhammad's daughter and successor of his father 'Ali in the Khilafat of Qufa, was so intent on varying the charms of his ever-changing Harim, that the Muslim historians relate that he exer- cised the power of divorce, as a matter of simple caprice, no less than seventy times, — some of them say ninety. The vagrancy of his passions became so notorious as to gain for him the nickname of 'The Divorcer;' for it was only by continual divorces that he could harmonize his craving for new nuptials with the requirements of the Qur'an which limited his legal wives to four. The leading men of The Faith com- plained to his father that Hasan was continually marrying their daughters and con- tinually divorcing them. The Kh.alifa replied that the remedy lay in their own hands, — they should refuse to give him their daughters. These divorced wives of his were 250 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. of their rcli'f^ion ; but have, rather, been acting within their legal right, and in the belief that they enjoy in so doing the Divine authority and sanction. Thus does the ease with which divorce can be effected afford all the opportunity which the most licenti- ous could desire, to effect a change of wives as often as caprice dictates. The only restriction placed upon divorce is that the woman can claim (and get if she can) the balance of her dowry (generally a very insignificant sum) and maintenance for three months, at the end of which time she is available for remarriage.* irrespective of his concubines ami slave-girls, upon the number and variety of whom there was no limit or check whatever. The case of Hasan (who, according to Mus- lim teaching is sinless, inasnuicli as he was a member of The Prophet's family and one of his Successors) forms, as has been well said, the best commentary on the marriage laws of the Qur'an. Cnf. Muir, Annals of the Early diUphate, 418; Osborn, I.\ldm under the Arabs, 92. If Palgrave is to be believed (and what reason- able man ever doubted his testimony?) the slate of things at the present time among the strictest of all the strict adherents of The Faith is such as cannot be contem- plated without intense pain. Speaking of one of the chiefs of that sect, he says, — ' The personal character of the present Viceroy, Mohammed, has added considerably to the evils of its position (he is referring to Bahrayn). This governor is a perfect Sybarite, — marrying on trial, so to say, eveiy fortnight ; while every fortnight sees a new divorce followed by a new marriage ; and all this accompanied by great dis- play, expense, and lavish waste, in pensioning off the old love and purchasing the new ; not to mention the scandalous publicity of these transactions, and a nee nisi legitivii viilt ntihcre enough to put Rome and Messalina to the blush ! ' Further on he says, — ' In the hands of this worthy, the control (or presidential authority) appears to consist in the exercise of choosing now and than a pretty girl, on whom to bestow the brief honours of matrimony for a fortnight or at the furthest a month, with a retir- ing pension afterwards. While I was myself at Bedaa', the uxorious Khaleefah paid a visit to the neighbouring town of Dowhah, and there lightly espoused a fair sea- nymph of the place, — to be no less lightly divorced long before my return from 'Oman. No solemnity was spared on the occasion: jurists were consulted, fhe dowry paid ; public rejoicings were ordered, and ptiblic laughter came unbidden ; while Mohammed wasted the hard-earned wealth of Menamah and Moharrek in the pomp of open vice!' Palgrave, Central and Eastern Arabia, \\. 214, 233. ♦ The sum is technically called Siddq (or SadAq). One half of it has, generally speaking, to be paid to the woman on the occasion of her marriage, and the other she may claim (and get if she can) in the event of her being divorced. The amount may, therefore, be regarded in the light of what we call 'security.' The amount has to be specified in the marri.ige-contract, — a 'written document which must be signed by at least two witnesses, else the agreement is void and the marriage not legal— Cnf. Morgan, Mahometism Explained, i. 107. Tliis is corroborated by Burckhardt, POL VGA MY AND DI VOR CE. 251 If the orcat reformer was really desirous of securing a purer morality in this matter of marriage, it is, to say the least, strange that he should, for all practical purposes, have left his followers unlimited licence by the peculiarity of his laws of divorce. That the facility of divorce is a fact, and not ' a calumny of the christians,' to use Gibbon's phrase, will be seen when we note that the Muhammadan is permitted by Islamic law to cast his wife away without any warning, and without even assigning any reason.* Against this the husband has no check and the dis- honoured woman no redress, — excepting the poor sum called the ' dowry,' or hite as it is called in the too plain language of the Qur'an.f Thus the remedy was but little better than the disease. Those who wish us to admire the wisdom of Muhammad in the limitation of the number of wives to four, forget, moreover, to add that this limitation is further neutralized by the authoriz- ation which he gives to unlimited concubinage. It is true that he denounces in clear terms the practice of public misconduct, as ' a foul thing, and an evil way ;' but he as clearly allows his followers as many damsels ' as their right hands might get pos- who says {Arabia, i. 402) — ' The price paid for virgins, among the respectable classes, varies at Mekka from forty to three hundred dollars, and from ten to twenty dollars among the poorer classes. Half the xum only is usually paid down ; the other half is left in possession of the husband, who pays it in case he should divorce his wife.' On the subject of the Haqqu'l-bint, or 'daughter's price,' consult Burckhardt, Bedouins and IVahdbys, i. 109. • Muir, Life of Mahomet, 348 (edn. Lend. 1877) and his Rise and Decline of Jsldm, 43-4, in a Series entitled Present Day Tracts, published by the Religious Tract Society, about 1881). The facility of divorce under the Islamic law is so much like that under the Romans, that what is said of the heathen practices of these latter might be said, mutatis mutandis, of Muhammadans. To be convinced of this the reader has only to read a paragraph from Alley's Vindicice Christians, 370 — 2, — with its important quotations from the Latin historians too long to be inserted here. t Muir, The Rise and Decline oj Islam, 44. Cnf. Sale, Al Koran, On this sub- ject of what is euphemistically termed the woman's 'dowry,' again, it has to be observad that even this allowance does not owe its origin to Muhammad. So high an authority as Sayyid Ahmad Khaii, speaking on the subject of the Custotns of the pre- Jsllmic Arabs, says (p. 17) that 'the law of dower was also recognized' among them. See, also, Pitts, Mahometans, 38-9. 252 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. session of, — in other words, as many as they might feel disposed to purchase in the market, and as many as they could succeed in capturing in war. The Qur'^n declares that fornication is punish- able with stripes, and adultery with death ; but the punishment is never inflicted. Thus the only limits to license, under this head, again, are a man's inclination and his purse. It has, hence, been well pointed out by so high an authority as Lane, that notwith- standing what Sale and some other learned men have asserted regarding this matter, the Muslim law does certainly not limit the number of concubine-slaves whom a man may have, — whether in addition to or without a wife or wives.* The Qur an affords, in effect, the widest liberty which the libertine could desire. The practical result of the regulations is rather to remove impedi- ments to unlimited licence, and to enable the Muslim libertine (supposing such a person to exist) to contend, Quran in hand, that God authorizes his proceedings. To what an extent the law of the Quran in the matter of temporary marriages and of what for the sake of euphemy, are termed 'slave-girls,' is carried among the followers of Muhammad, it would be 'a shame even to men- tion.' The name of 'unbridled licentiousness,' which has been given to their practices, has been bitterly complained of by ama- teur writers as sounding harsh. If the language of truth was ever yet uttered, it was uttered by the man who first applied those words to the usage of The Faithful in their relations towards that portion of the human family which every true man feels bound to honour. Let one example suffice. The Sultans of Turkey are the heads of The Faith ; and though not, strictly speaking genuine Khalifas,-]- they are practically so, inasmuch as they occupy the office, and hold the authority, and wield the influence, and discharge the functions, temporal and spiritual, of Sovereign Pontiffs in Islam. It will be remembered that on the occasion of the supposed suicide of a late Sultan, his women who were • Lane, Modern F.gy''liatts, i. 123. •t Macbiide, 5f.'haininediin Rclii^i n ExplaUteJ, 70, 88, FACIIJTY OF DIVORCE. 253 floated away from the palace at Constantinople, amounted to as many as fifty boat-loads. We are not told how large the boats were ; but this statement, which was recorded in the public jour- nals at the time, will shew to what an extent even the highest dignitaries of The Faith avail themselves, when wealth permits, of the spirit in which 'the Holy Quran' sympathizes with The Faithful, — 'Allah would make it easy for you: and Allah is gracious and merciful !'* In all this the Sultan acted within the letter of the Qur'Sn ; and it would not be surprising to learn that out of this vast number of women, there were not more than four (the orthodox number) who had legal claims upon him. For all practical purposes, the legislative enactments of the Arabian re- former amount to this, that his follower is free to take as many wives as he may wish, and concubines without limit as well.i* Thus has the great Arabian reformer made permanent pro- vision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof But the facility with which he has thus placed within the reach of The Faithful the means for the easy appeasement of their desires has had an effect which he doubtless never contemplated. It has resulted that there is probably no community in the whole world so abandoned to promiscuous intercourse as the followers of Muhammad are, and the very course which he denounced as ' a foul thing, and an evil way,' is the course for which they, more than other men, are notorious.^ Those who understand the customs of The Faithful • Miiir, The Rise and Decline of Tslhn, 36, 51. t The reader who cares to go into the question and its defence from the stand- point of the Muhammadan apologist, should consult Syed Ameer Ali, Life of Mohammed, 240-1 ; Sedillot, Histobe Gencrale Des Arabes, 85. But the persecuting spirit with which the apologists of Islam pursue the study, renders it all but hopeless that aiygood should ever result from the controversy. When such men learn to credit their oppone.its with as sincere a desire as their own for the ascertainment of histori- cal fact, we shall all breathe more freely in connexion with the great questions that sever Muslim from Christian and Jew. X The reader who would obtain proof of this is recommended to peruse the in- valuable work recently published by Sir William Muir, Annals of the Early Cali- fhatt, 265,— and, iudecd, throughout the work. To the mind of a Christian it it 2 54 THE CLAIMS OF I SUM A EL. arc aware that they know of practices less Hkcly to entail perma- nent expense and chronic domestic misery thafi that of observing the law of the Qur'an, whether in regard to wives or to slave-girls.* Experience has sliewn that the broader the limits of indulgence are, the more likely are they to be transgressed. The step from a man who keeps a slave-girl for himself to the man who keeps a slave-girl for himself and others, becomes very slight when the passions are concerned ; and the step from one such poor victim to several is if possible slighter still. And thus it may be said with truth that the utterances of the Qur'an are distinctly respon- sible for the gross immorality, that distinguishes all Muhammadan nations, and which they practice without shame, and apparently without consciousness of wrong-doing. Ii it be agreed that time is the true test of the value of a reform, the verdict of the long period of thirteen hundred years will surely be accepted as throw- ing some light on the question : and the verdict from east to west, difficult to form a conception of anything more levoltiny than the fiendish giossness of Tiie Faithful i.i those eanly ages of Islam for which iMusIims in these degenerate times are wont to sigh. * For some vtry plain facts regarding this point the reader may consult Muir, Thi Rise and Decline of Lldm, 33; also Pil^f image to Mecca, by the reigning licguui of Bhui>al, 82, 88 (edn. Lond. 1870). The evidence of this lady should go a great way; for as she is herself a Musalman and an orthodox follower of The i'rophet, it is not in reason to suspect her of undue leaning in favour of Christian views of these matters. After making the pilgrimage of the Holy Places of The Faith, she writes, — 'Women frequently contract as many as tea marriages, and those who have only been married twice are few in number. If a woman sees her husband growing old, or if she happen to admire any one else, she goes to the Sherecf (the spiritual and civil head of the holy city); and after having setiletl the matter with him, she puts away her husband, and lakes to herself another who is perhaps young, good-looking, and rich. In this way, a marriage seldom lasts more than a year or tw'o.' What Her Highness thus tells us of women divi nuig their husbands is, of course, entirely ultra vires, as Sir William Muir has pointed out, and shews how the laxity of conjugal relations allowed to the male sex has extended itself to the female also, — and that, in a city where, if anywhere, we should have expected to find the law observed. To dispute the truthfulness of Her liighness's representation, would be absurd. Even if it be granted that the reformer raised in some measure the comiition of wumcn among the Arabs, we need only glunce at the accounts given of TurUisii b.Tiims, to feel convinced thai Khudaija, 'Aisha, and Fatima, have not been repioduced, nor evpn imitated, 1>y the later daughters of The Faith, CONCUBINA GE IN ISL A M. 255 and from north to south, wherever the Faith of Muhammad has spread, and irrespective of considerations of climate or nationality, is uniform, — that whatever may have been the intentions of the great reformer, the restrictions and regulations he laid down in regard to the intercourse of the sexes have operated most disas- trously for his claims as the authorized supercessor of Jesus of Nazareth. That believers in Muhammad are less licentious than believers in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is a point which hardly admits of discussion. It would be more to the purpose to inquire whether the followers of Muhammad would have been less or more licentious than they are if the great Arabian had followed the example af the Old and New Testaments in their comparative silence regarding the exact allowance of wives. The case well shews that restriction is not the sure road to re- straint, and that there are some things for which restriction is not the most effectual cure. By a broad induction embracing all mankind, and all the ages back to the days of happy Eden, it is proved that restriction presents a direct appeal to opposition, and that those who are the most stringently bounded are those who are the most likely to prove restive and to overleap their bounds. It is clearly shewn that such of the followers of Muhammad as can be considered 'moral' persons, owe their morality to their particular physical tone and natural bent; and that the Qur'dn, when men give themselves up to its unrestricted direction, has the unfortunate effect of affording to the licentious unlimited licence. The assertion, therefore, so often made, that by the restrictions he placed on polygamy, Muhammad did a great deal towards improving the condition of the feebler sex, is erro- neous.* It is quite curious to note the shifts to which the apologists of Islam have recourse in order to make out their case. How they succeed in keeping clear of the real point in their efforts to make out a case for polygamy, divorce, and concubinage, is a * Osborn, IslAm undit the Aiabs, 91. 256 Tim CLAIMS OF fSHMAEL. psycological phenomenon that could scarcely be credited except- ing by those who have made the matter a study. The arguments put forward by Sayyid Ahmad Khan on this subject of polygamy are so far past endurance that the reader must see the Sayyid's book for himself We cannot wound the feelings of readers by transcribing his words, and our only apology for thus hinting at his mode of handling the subject is that, in point of eminence, he stands first among Muhammadans who have ventured to clothe their defence of this odious practice in the Queen's English. His argument, all through, is based upon considerations which have regard only to the male portion of mankind ; that the female portion has any claim to an equal share of consideration in such a matter is a conception which from all that appears had not, at the time he wrote, risen upon his mental horizon : at any rate, if it had, he has carefully refrained from embodying it in his book. The learned Maulvi should not conclude, as we fear he is dis- posed to do, that the reason why Christian writers do not attempt confutation of his statements on this revolting subject is that his facts are incontrovertable or his reasoning sound. If the Maulvi had been blessed with a Christian training, he never could have marred his pages as he has done. The point to ascertain is whether the so-called restrictions placed by Muhammad on the number of cotcmporary marriages which a Believer is at liberty legally to contract, has had an improving effect upon the morals of his followers. The arguments put forward in commendation of his restrictions are for the most part too abstract and general to admit of analysis or refutation, — they deal with the subject unpractically. The fact is that no nation which acknowledges that religion has any voice at all in such a matter, is so abandoned to licentious practices as are the followers of Muhammad. The 'restrictions,' so loudly boasted of by the apologists by Isldm, are among the things that ' look well on paper', — and there the goodness of the whole matter ends. We can fairly say that in all our reading of books old and MONOGAMY IN ISLAM. 257 new, we have not seen an argument on either of these subjects that could be deemed a successful refutation of the objection raised to them by the advocate of Christianity. The most ori- ginal, perhaps, of all the arguments ever put forward is one that we find in a work of the learned Muhammadan doctor already so frequently named in the course of our work. He assures his readers that 'it is a great mistake to suppose that by Islam poly- gamy is made compulsory upon its followers.'* Did the writer imagine that he would advance his own reputation as a man as- sured of the goodness of his cause, by thus insinuating an argu- ment which no one ever used ? Further, the argument so fre- quently put forward that Muhammadans, as a rule, have not more than one wife, does not touch the point.f If it proves anything, it proves what we have just contended, — that some Muham- madans are better than their creed. Most of them, again, keep to monogamy by reason of poverty. \ In using such an argument, it is evident that the apologists of Islam have a sort of sneaking notion that monogamy is the better practice. The half-ashamed way in which polygamy is defended shews that it is difficult to discover presentable arguments for it in the strong light of this late century. § The whole difficulty of the apologists arises from their continuing to maintain that Muhammad's words were the * Syed Ahmed Khan, The Benefits of IslAm to Human Society, 7-8. + Syed Ameer Ali, Life of Mohammed, 246. X On this point the reader should consult Pitts, Mahometans, 39. Though this writer makes no attempt to conceal his aversion as to the religious practices of The Faithful, there is no reason to believe him to be careless as to matters of fact. His solicitude to be truthful and just is a very noticeable feature in his quaiat little book. § As an instance we may mention that the Honourable Mr. Sayyid Amir Ali informs us (Life of Mohammed, 227, 246) that in India 'ninety-five moslems out of every hundred are perfect monogamists,' and that 'plurality of wives has come to be regarded as an evil and as something opposed to the teaching of the Prophet' ! Elsewhere (id. 223) this learned writer assures us tliat ' the greatest and most repre- hensible mistake committed by Christian writers is to suppose that Mohammed either adopted or legalized polygamy', — an opinion than which 'no belief could be more false,' To ordinary minds the possession of four wives at a time comes within the definition of 'polygamy'; and this Muhammad did certainly legalize. 17 2 58 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. words of God. It is contended that he spoke as an Oriental to Orientals: if this means anything, it means that Isl^m was never intended for persons in cooler latitudes; which is the same thing as saying plainly that the Qur'^n is false, — for that book lays down rules for all lands, for all conditions, and for all time. IslAm, in that case, is fitted for none but eastern nations, sunk in a condition of barbarism, as were the savage tribes of the Desert in which IsUm was born. The improvement and elevation of eastern peoples from their degraded condition is, in that case, placed by the fiat of the Almighty beyond the range of possi- bility, and what is a sin in one part of God's dominion is no sin in another a few days' journey off. It has been well said by Dr. Marcus Dods, that what were restrictions to the Arabs who joined themselves to Muhammad would be license to other men. The accommodations to a rude and untaught tribe which are judicious, seasonable, and helpful, as a temporary expedient, are an insufferable offence to morality when proclaimed as the ultimate law of conscience.* It is somewhat strange, we confess, that in all the apologies put forward in vindication of the teachings of the Qur'An re- garding this unpleasant subject, no attempt is ever made to deal with the question of the extra allowance of wives whom the re- former appropriated to himself It surely is not unreasonable to expect that the man who undertakes a reform should himself not act in direct disregard of the practices which he has advo- cated.-f- It would hardly do to urge that Muhammad, being an * Dods, Mohammed, Buddha, and Chiist, 122. + A noteworthy instance in proof of this occurred in connexion with the late Keshah Ch.indra Sen, the excellent founder of what is known to all the world as 'the Brahma Samaj of India.' His permitting his young daughter to be betrothed to the Raja of Kuch Bihar was held to amount practically to a relinquishment of what was held to be one of the distinctive tenets of his reform in reference to child- marriage. The arrangement was generally attributed to the temptation arising out of the consideration of the great wealth of the Raja ; and no explanation put forward by the excellent Babii served to prevent the dissatisfactio.i that spread with great rapidity among his followers, and eveu the defection of some ofthem. Into the THE WIVES OF MUHAMMAD. 259 Oriental, could not help himself; and that his eleven wives* were a necessity of the climate, or of his peculiar nature, or that this allowance was asceticism itself when contrasted with the prac- tices of other eastern potentates ;-f- for the same arguments might be urged by his followers. It is generally thought sufficient to contend that being, as he was, the prophet and favourite of the Most High, he enjoyed peculiar privileges and allowances in this matter. + We have even heard it contended that he had neither will nor choice in the matter, owing to the fact that in taking so many wives beyond what his own law allowed, the helpless man was merely acting in obedience to the express requirement of the Great Supreme. § Such pretensions carry their own condemna- tion, and can deceive no one. It is usual to commend Muhammad for having rendered marriage 'sacred.' It sounds well to put it so: but is it true ? What does the Christian mind say to the 'sacredness' of marriage in which an unlimited number of concubines also may be sharers of a man's attentions and possibly of his affections too ? or what does that mind say to the 'sacredness' of a marriage tie which, with a facility almost incredible, may, without legal process, be severed at anymoment when groundless jealousy.orpuerile caprice or bad temper may gain a transient ascendancy over the utterances merits of the case we have no intention of entering: the Babu was a man whom it was impossible to know without fv.eling that he was a suitable object for respect and love : we allude to the case merely to shew that the hubbub which in his case threat- ened at the time to become so dangerous to his reputation and usefulness, aptly illus- trates the principle noted in the text. * The number is differently stated by different writers. The Muslim traditionists vary in their statements from nine to thirty. The number given in the text is the number made out by Sir William Muir. The curious reader may consult on this sub- ject an Article entitled 'The Wives of Muhammad' in the Indian Anliquary (Bom- bay Monthly) for March 1878. + All these arguments have, in fact, been used ad nauseam, t Sale, Prel. Disc. 95, 97. § The learned Dr. A\oys?ii>rtr\gtr\\a.%{Li/c of Afoltamiitad, 153-4) some remarks on the subject of Muhammad's relations with the gentle sex, wliich may help the reader to form an opinion of his own regarding it. 26o THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. of a man's lips, and leave the thing he called by the hallowed name of ' wife' helpless and hopeless on the streets?* We pre- fer, then, to say that Muhammad rendered marriage 'inviolable.' The only advantage was that his regulations conferred certain exclusive rights on marriage, and secured men from violation of those rights; and one of these was that he forbad his followers access to each other's wives.f This was good ; but it was nothing new or unkno\\ai to the followers of Christ or of Moses, — nor even to the wild Sons of the Desert. He merely declared invio- lable those rights which Nature herself had declared inviolable from the beginning, and which it did not need the ponderous apparatus of a Divine revelation to re-assert. However impor- tant rt may have been to enforce rights which the coarse violence of many of the lawless Arabs had for many ages disregarded, the whole world did not need to be reminded of those rights. But as happens in the case of some other points of Muhammad's reforms, there was nothing new in this, even to the Arabs. But the terms in which he stated the inviolability of a man's conju- gal relationships, and the conditions and possibilities with which he hampered those relationships, deprive them of all moral signi- ficance. Those terms are framed in consideration of the capricious inclinations of the man, and not of the feelings and dignity of the woman ; and they bear the impress of a time-serving reformer, and not of one who thought only of moral purity. The author of the Our'an has rendered it impossible to regard the marriage of Muhammadans as 'sacred' in the sense in which the believer in Moses or in Jesus has learned to regard it so. • Muir, Annals of the Early Caliphate, 457. t It is but consistent with mere fact to observe that even this restriction was not promulgated by Muhammad till after he had been smitten with the charms of another man's wife whom he soon transferred to his own harim. We refer to the case of Zaii^ab, wife of Znid ibiii H:";rilh, who was at once divorced from her lawful husband for the sake of The Prophet, — that divorce being sanctioned, as Muhammad assured his followers, by a special revelation from the Supreme Being. The case taught him, in his own experience, the possible evils of men's catching sight of each other's wives. The 'revelation' was after the event. MAR/AGE DR CONVENANCE. 261 Wc come now to the second point, — Is the claim of Islam to be the authorized supcrcessor of Christianity sustained by tho marriage policy of Mubammadi when regard is had to the prac- tical working of that policy? It will be admitted that super- cession, in the case of successive religious, Dispensations, con- notes superiority. Is it admissible, on moral or logical grounds, that polygamy aspractised amongMuhammadansis a better thing than monogamy as practised among Christians? Now, with polygamy as practised iii Islam it is necessary to associate the idea of forced marriage-; that is. ta say, of marriage with or with- out the consent of the female, without personal' acquaititance between the parties, and generally speaking, while the female- is, yet a child: in other word&, marriage among Muliammadans is, even at its best, a tnariage de coitvenaticc, — without aJTectLoa and even without courtship.* It is argued in defence of the marriage of all females, nill they will they, that it secures that every female shall have a protector; Now, the importance of every woman having a protector will be doubted by no one ; but the plea o£ the apologists overlooks some considerations that are of essen- tial importance — Is it riglxt that the woman should have no. voice in the decision of a matter fraught, to her, with such consequences- and such perils? Does it necessarily follow that the husband who is not bound to his wife by any tie of true affection, will be a protector at all ? Does not the facility of divorce associate, even with protection, an element of insecurity that might render the life of a womaa so protected' unspeakably more desolate than * The idea of coiirlship, in the sense in whicli. it lias come to be regarded by communities that have become permeated by the influence of Chrislianty, is to the Muslim mind ridiculous. That the gradual growth of mutual effection,. based upon acquaintanceship and choice, shculd be held to be a necessary precuj-sor of niarringe, is unhappily to the follower of Muhammad, a thing unknown. Mr. Stanley Lane Poole, in his recent edition of Lane's Sdecdons fr,in the Riir-an (Introd. p. Ixxi) tells us that ' the system of Muhammad certainly does its best to make marriage from love impossible.' It is only fair to add that Mr. Poole is far from insensible to the good points of The Faith. If Muslims fnul him a damaging apologist, it is the sub- ject that is to blame, not he. 262 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. if she were unmarried ? The man who practises polyamy is not by any means necessarily the protector of his wives ; he is often the exact reverse. There might be some motive for him to for fulfil the office of protector, if divorce were impossible, or even if it were difficult. But the woman who may in a moment of fickle temper be turned on to the streets, — rejected by her husband, discarded by her former and natural relations, — can scarcely be supposed to know the feeling of safety, and can hardly realize that she has a protector at all. To us, therefore, it appears that the argument about protectorship is a subterfuge and an unreality. Polygamy appears to us to contemplate the case of the male, not that of the female. The miseries that a woman may ex- perience in consequence of being a cotemporary wife, it would scarcely be just to lay at her door, for she had no voice in the disposal of her own lot in life. Whether polygamy be contrary to the ideas of the woman, is a view of the case which to the Muslim mind borders on the grotesque. The fate that made her a woman deprived her of the right of the choice. The whole argument about protectorship is so ludicrously untrue, that it is a miracle that any one who has witnessed the degraded condition of the generality of Muhammadan women could be deceived into using it. Yet this argument is seriously used to shew that Muslim polygamy is an advance on Christian monogamy. It has been argued that the married life of Muhammadan women is often a happy one, even though the marriage was not negotiated on the ground of affection, — the parties having never so much as seen each other till the tie had been secured by force of law. This, again, is 'a man of straw;' for it has never been asserted that Muhammadan marriages are necessarily and in every instance unhappy ones. But as long as the seclusion of women continues among Muhammadans, it will be as impossible to prove the point as to deny it. The question, therefore, of the comparative happiness of Muhammadan and Christian women becomes one of probabilities. And whether such a method of HAPPINESS OF MUSLIM WOMEN. 263 deciding a woman's fate for life as that which is practised among Muhammadans would be felt to be a degradation by any one in- structed in the laws of Christ, is a question that needs no answer. The question of married ' happiness,' in the sense in which Chris- tian civilization has taught people to understand it, is one that does not enter into the case of a Muhammadan. The woman certainly has every motive for sinking her own individuality in her attentions to her husband, for she has all through her married life hanging over her the possibility of that fatal sentence of divorce. With such an abiding source of unrest, it is hardly to be wondei^ at that she does all in her power to contribute to his * happiness.' And so far as her own happiness is bound up in his, she is happy if he is. But Christian women will hardly think of it as a happiness that knows no fear, but rather as the happiness of the servile and the obsequious. However exempla- ry and devoted her conduct may be, she may at any moment of her husband's caprice be forced to quit her home and her child- ren, and know that her place is occupied by some younger and more favoured stranger ; for some Muhammadans make a habit of continually changing their wives.* Of course, there is but little danger of this if the man be of a sedate or patient turn of mind, averse to change : but what if it be otherwise ? What if he be thoughtless, passionate, hasty, capricious, selfish, — all of which infirmities it is the natural tendency of the life of boys in the East to produce and to foster. Even mothers pander to their boys, and succumb to all their whims ; and while yet they are boys they find themselves husbands: what kind of husbands are such boys likely to make ? Let women whose training has been imbued with the spirit of Christian teaching, judge of the nature of the 'happiness' that is likely to fall to the lot of women under the law of Islam. But the apologists of Islam never appear aware of the vanity of arguing as if 'two blacks made a white.' They contend that * Stobart, IJini and its J-ciatdet, 152; Crichtm, Hiitory r/ Amiin, i. 329. 264 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. at some periods the practice of Muhammadans has been at least as favourable to good morals as the practice of nominal Christians. Even Mr. Bosworth Smith takes Christianity at a period when the Papal heresy had done its worst with it, and then asks if Muhammadanism is not better than ///«/ /* Now, the force of this contention vanishes when it is remembered that in the judg- ments of the only persons whom it is designed to convince, a good Muhammadan is better than a bad Christian, — that a Muhammadan who holds his religion intelligently and follows it faithfully, is an incomparably better person in all that makes a man, than one who by the mere accident of nationality is doomed against his will to be called ' a Christian.' A man who disavows the claim of Christ to govern his life, and does not hesitate to avow his disbelief in the Bible and the Day of Judgment, is scarcely a man whom an honest controversialist would accept as a criterion of the value of the Christian religion. What, indeed, is meant by applying the holy name of Christ to such a man ? Those apologists further announce the very original sentiment that a Muhammadan Sultan whose harim is an indulgence allowed him by the religion of his country, is less guilty than the Christian prince who assumes to himself the same license in defiance of the religion of his.-|- Was there ever an advocate of Christianity who stood in need of being convinced of such an obvious truth? The point which the apologists of Islam should exercise them- * Smith, Mohammed a^jd Mohammedanism, 21 1. We should here obsei-ve that nothing is more common than for writers of this school to speak of Christimiity and Popei7 as if they were one and the same thing; and wdien they do so, it is always for the purpose of shewing that Muhammadanism compares favourably with Christi- anity. To saddle upon a system of religion the defects of one of the sections of its professors, is clearly a course than which nothing could be more irrational. The Honourable Mr. Sayyid Amtr 'Alt, througliout his learned volume, uniformly places to llic credit of 'Christianity' the vices and the cruelties of the Romish religion, as also its antipathy to scientific research and general intellectual advancement. Even so philosophical a writer as the late Emanuel Deutsch falls iiito the same error: — See his Article in the Quarterly Reviezo, No. 254, p. 315. + The North British Review for August 1855, p. 461. WOMAN A CHATTEL. 265 selves to establish is that the allowance by law and by religion of polygamy at all, is not an evil of enormous portent to the social and moral well-being of a community ; but that, on the contrary, it is a distinct advance upon the pure laws of Christ. It has been well pointed out that this is one of the cases in which the first step is everything. The extent to which poly- gamy is carried, — whether a man has four wives or four thousand, — is a question of but secondary import.* The vice is in having more wives than one, — in practising polygamy at all. The point to note is that in the case of Muhammadanism, polygamy has the consecration of religious ordinance and divine law ; while among so-called 'Christians' it is, to any extent whatever, contrary to divine law, and entails the Divine displeasure. A Christian who practises polygamy proclaims himself an 'infidel;' a Muhammadan who practises it is acting the part of a ' true be- liever.' A profligacy which, however general, is still known to be against law and religion, degrades only those who are guilty of it ; a licensed polygamy at once degrades the whole female sex, — virtuous as well as vicious. Muhammad did certainly fence in, as far as he dared to do so, the rights of women with a certain amount of legal protection ; but however much this may be done, the woman, after all, who shares her husband with others is no longer an equal companion, like the Christian or even the old Roman wife. She becomes at once an inferior being, a crea- ture created merely for the man's pleasure, with no complete re- ciprocal obligation on his side: in a word, she becomes a slave. The connexion is not a mutual contract on equal terms: she be- longs to him ; he does not belong to her. He has property in his wife ; his wife has no property in him. Being, then, not his partner, but merely an article of property, she is, like any other article of property, no longer to be trusted, but guarded. Her attractions must be sedulously kept out sight of all but him who is the master of them, for in them alone consists her value to him * Freeman, History of the Saracens, 56. 266 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. as an article of property. She has, consequently to be secured with bolts and bars. And thus is polygamy to blame for the seclusion of women in the East. Even the seclusion of Hindd women owes its origin to the necessity laid upon the Hindis when India passed under Muslim domination. The Christian law of monogamy, — making, as it does, the wife the equal of the husband, and giving her as much right in him as he has in her, — renders it as impossible for a man to impose upon his wife the obligation of seclusion, as for his wife to impose it upon him. She is no longer a servant, but a friend ; and their interests, unlike the interests of master and servant, are bound to be identical. We should add that though it thus appear that polygamy entails the seclusion of women, it does not by any means follow that the reverse statement would be true — namely, that seclusion implies polygamy. It has been well pointed out that ancient Greece, with the exception of Sparta, was a curious example of a country, legally monogamous, where the seclusion of all virtuous women was almost as strict as in polygamous ones. But there is no allusion to any such practice in Homer, — a fact which might corroborate the opinion that the seclusion of women in Greece was merely one out of many abuses (some of them worse than this) which crept into Greece after the Ionian migration had brought about a connexion with Asia.* It is generally thought sufficient to meet the argument against Muslim polygamy by citing the practices of the Jews in Old-Testament times; and the citation is supposed to be suffi- cient to administer to the advocate of Christianity his quietus^ by demonstrating that the custom has Divine authority.f But it has been well pointed out that under the law of Moses the vice was but tolerated ; while under the system of Muhammad it is established as a Divine ordinance for The Faithful. It is • The North British Review (Aug. 1855) 462. + Sale, Prel. Pi (. 95; Maimonides, Halachoth Ishoth, cap. 14; Seldcn, Uxor Htbraica, lib. i, cap. 9. THE DOCTRINE OF ABROGATION. 267 true that while Muhammad placed definite limitations on the practice of polygamy, Moses placed none : but this, so far from proving that Isldm is an advance on Judaism, proves the exact reverse ; for whereas, by placing no limitations, the Mosaic system left the way clear for its ultimate abolition, the Qur'dn constitutes it a Divinely-sanctioned condition of life to the end of time. The law of Moses was never intended for a permanency ; Muhammadanism is. The system of Moses admitted of modi- fication and reform ; Muhammadanism admits of none. Every part of the Mosaic system had a forward look, and was designed to leave the mind in an attitude of suspense and expectation. 'A prophet/ said Moses, 'shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me : him shall ye hear.' In the meantime, allowances were made for the weakness and imma- turity of the people, and accommodations made to them which were abolished when they attained the fullness of the time. Mosaism must, therefore, be judged according to its own claims, — viz. as a temporary and local religion, as the mere pedagogue servant, leading to the teacher, but not itself uttering the final truth. Thus is the Divine wisdom manifested in the Mosaic law, — disclaiming, as it emphatically does, both finality and completeness. But Islam claims to be complete, final, and uni- versal. It must therefore be judged for what it professes to be. And professing, as it does, to have been charged by God with the mission of superseding not Judaism only, but also Christian- ity, it must be condemned by every point in which we find it a retrogression and not an advance upon our own religion, inasmuch as Christianity also professes to be final. And the conclusion in reference to the regulations of Muhammad as regards the rela- tions of the sexes is that by making those regulations final, he has prevented further progress and conferred on immorality a character of permanent consecration.* • Dods, Mchammcd, Buddh.i, and Christ, 121 ; Stephens, Chris tianity and Isldm, 156. 268 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. This conclusion raises a scries of questions of most grave import to all the followers of Muhammad. Did he really per- ceive the antagonism which he thus established between his own religion and the religion which it was intended to supersede ? Did he intend the depreciation of monogamy ? Did he foresee the evils of his own regulations ? Did his regulations owe their conception in the first instance to a desire to suppress immorality among his followers, or to a desire to guarantee to them, in one way and another, unlimited license? These appear to be ques- tions which need the serious consideration of those who accept Muhammad at his own appraisement. All those who acknow- ledge the Divine authorship of the Qur'in, and who hold Mu- hammad to be a true prophet of God, must admit that polygamy and unlimited concubinage enjoy the Divine approval, being actually sanctioned and prescribed by the Almighty. If the Divine Being designed by such regulations to suppress immorality it does appear to us that He ought by this time to be convinced of His defeat. If the regulations are not His, then it follows that the author of the Qur'an was man and not God ; which is the same thing as saying that Muhammad was, whether wittingly or otherwise, a deceiver of himself and of all his followers. There is no evidence in the Qur'an, that its author ever as much as perceived the evils of polygamy and concubinage : there is, on the contrary, plenty of evidence both in his book and in his own life, that he was distinctly assured that these practices were benefits. He raised no protest against them, he sanctioned them, he praised them, he practised them, — and in the case of poly- gamy, even far beyond the limits which his own law allowed. He clearly was not solicitous for the abolition of pol)^gamy; and though the limitations he placed upon it were not intended to apply to his own case, yet they served, in an unmeaning shilly- shally sort of way, to restrict the evil in the case of his imme- diate followers. The limitations which Muhammad thus placed on the number of wives, were undoubtedly an advance upon the DIVORCE A LA MILTON. 269 unrcstaincd intercourse into which through long ages of barbar- ism, the Arabs had sunk: but were those Hmitations an advance upon the law of Christ ? This, we submit, is the point which the apologists of Islam have to make. But no amount of evidence, in a case of this nature, will obtain acknowledgment of defeat from a man who has previously made up his mind that the case of his opponent is wrong; and thus, as a last resort, recourse is had to the authority of Milton.* It would scarcely be possible for the advocate of Muslim poly- gamy and divorce to cite a more unfortunate case. In citing this case, the position of Milton is apt to be misunderstood. He doubted whether the utterances of the Bible on the points men- tioned were sufficiently distinct to justify the condition of the law of England on the point; and his opposition brought him into conflict with the moral sense of civilized humanity. He cannot be regarded as an independent witness, for he was a man with a grievance. It may be doubted, judging from all that is known of him, whether he would have accepted a brief for the side he took, if he had not been goaded to it by a life sorrow ; and it may be accepted as absolutely certain, that he would not have advo- cated the substitution of the laws of Islam regarding the inter- course of the sexes, for those laws of which he complained. A man who learns in a bitter school to become prepossessed in favour of a certain view, can hardly be regarded as a disinterested or dispassionate witness. No one could consent to the opinion of 5uch a one being made a guide for all mankind. Besides, the polygamy and divorce for which Milton pleaded arc quite differ- ent things from the things allowed by Muhammad under these names. The reasons which Milton cites from the words of Moses are not as much as hinted at by Muhammad. Polygamy and divorce were clearly, in the case of Moses, intended to be escapes from misery ; but in the case of Muhammad, they are nothing more than insruments for what Christians understand by licentiousness. * Syed Ahmed lyhan, The Benefits of I shim to Hinnan^Society, 13. 270 THE CLAIMS OP ISHMAEL. Without the causes and grievances mentioned by Moses and by- Milton, the follower of Muhammad acts within his right in seek- ing those gratifications which Moses never sanctioned, and which Milton never sought. We submit, then, that the citation of the authority of Milton in defence of polygamy and divorce as they exist among the followers of Muhammad, is beside the mark. And what during the past twelve centuries has been the value to the cause of morality of the reforms introduced by Muhammad regarding this whole matter? No real limit, as we have seen, is placed on the intercourse of the sexes. And the very limitations and restrictions so continually dinned into our ears, so far from raising the Muhammadan population to a higher platform than that occupied by believers in Jesus, have led to license, — and a license aggravated by the support of the Divine sanction. The effect of the innovations he introduced has simply been to favour the inclinations and convenience of the male por- tion of his followers. Another sad result has been that Muham- madans have learned to call things byother than their right names, and what the Christian would call license, the Muslim calls re- striction. But in the midst of the contention it is not unusual to over- look one class of persons who if they are not gainers by the alterations established by Muhammad, are certainly losers in no small degree. All the pleas put forward in vindication of Mu- hammad's law of marriage and divorce go on the supposition that there is only one party who needs to be considered, — namely, the man: the woman is passed over as if she had no voice in the matter; no natural rights, no moral sentiment: the party chiefly concerned is left out of court. On several occasions up to this point we have had to note how the Qur'dnic law affects the case of the weaker part of the population, and we have seen how they are hopelessly handed over by the new religion to early marriage, to forced union with husbands they have never seen, to sudden and unexpected expulsion from the enjoyments and rights of DIVORCE BY WOMEN. 271 home, and to permanent seclusion from all those delights which can only be shared by those who are allowed free and unfettered intercourse with the outer world. Women, in fact, are regarded in the Qur'An as not possessed of any rights which they can really call their own : their homes, their husbands, even their offspring, they cannot call their own. There doubtless is here and there a Muhammadan woman to whom 'the lines have fallen in pleasant places, and who has a goodly heritage:' but no thanks to the law of IslSm for this. As long as that law remains, it is not easy to see how any man who is concerned to possess sound opinions, could contend that the position of Christian women might as a general rule be advantageously exchanged with their poor de- graded Muslim sisters. It is, indeed, quite striking to observe how all the restrictions and all the relaxations introduced by Muhammad are such as declare that the real elevation of the weaker sex was not the thing he had in view. The only benefit which accrued to women from those reforms which we are ex- pected so much to admire is the paltry sum magniloquently called the 'dowry,' and maintenance for three months.* It would not be surprising to learn that the same heartless cowardice that could lead a bad-hearted man to avail himself for selfish purposes of the facility of divorce which the law allows, should also lead him to refuse even this paltry allowance. This is, in effect, corrobo- rated by Mr. Hughes, than whom few non-Muslims writers are more entitled to a respectful hearing. He says that 'the difficulty of restoring the dowry is avoided by compelling the poor woman, through harsh treatment, to herself sue for a divorce, — in which case she can claim nothing !'f 'Wives' says Niebuhr, 'are entitled to demand a divorce, if they can to do so, when they consider themselves ill used by their husbands.' J The surest preservative, • Sale, Pre! Disc. 96, The reader who would learn how the apologists of Islam make out their case regarding this subject should consult Syed Ameer AH, Life of Mohammed, 240, and those European writers whose authority he there accepts. t Hughes, Notes on Muhammadanism, 122. Cnf. p. 254 of the present work. % Niebuhr, Travels in Arabia, ii. 214; Crichton, History of Arabia, i. 329. 272 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. therefore, of the marriage bond is a man's own avarice; for if the divorce be at Jiis instigation, his wife can claim her 'dowry.'* With this poor exception, the reforms which 'broad-minded' Christians are supposed to admire, affected women in no other way than to degrade them still more than they had been degraded before, and to seal their degradation by Divine authority. To shew that wc are not alone in this opinion, we may cite the deliberate judgment of one who is more familiar with the subject than any authority of our time. Sir William Muir does not hesitate to record his opinion that 'under the preexisting insti- tutions of Arabia, woman possessed more freedom and exercised more legitimate influence' than under the law of the Qur'an.-f* And as if to complete the proof of the self-defeating quality of the reforms of Muhammad, even divorce itself, which is applauded as a happy escape for the husband from a bondage he has grown averse to, becomes at length by the law of the Our'an as much a source of bitterness to him as to her whom he puts away. Should he wish to have her back again after the third time of divorcing her, the arrangement is hampered by a condition so disgusting in itself, so shameful and dishonouring to the poor outcast, and involving at the same time an exposure so calculated to make the man look ridiculous and contemptible, that in none but an extreme case would the man consent to being the victim of such a series of humiliating circumstances.:]: It is possible that Muhammad, knowing how abhorrent it is to the Oriental that his wife should even be seen by another man, sup- posed that by issuing this enactment he was availing himself of * The reader who would follow up this point should consult Niebuhr, DescHp' tu n lie r Arable, 62—6; Russel, Histirv of Alc^pc, vol. i, ch. 6; Labat, Metnoires du Chevalier d'Arvieiix, iii. 311; Mills, HhUny of MuhaintiiaJanistn, 469; Thorn- ton, The Present Slate of Turkey, 342; Dallaway, History of Constantinople, 32. + Muir, Life of Mahotnet, iii. 305; and The Else and Decline of Isld?n, 44. + Sale, Prel. Disc. 95 ; and Al Koran, 27 ; Muir, Life of Mahomet, iii. 306. See, also, Sclden, Uxor Hebraica, lib. ii, cap. 21; Ricaut, State of the Ottoman Empire, lib. ii, cap. 21. THE TRIPLE DIVORCE. 273 the strongest possible deterrent from divorce: if he did, he mis- calculated the effect of his own law, — which has, in point of fact, been to degrade Muslim women to a deplorable extent.* From this odious custom, originated by The Prophet of God, has sprung the Arabian proverb, — 'A thousand lovers rather than one Mostahel,'t — a proverb Burckhardt's brief note on which should be a caution to all apologists of this ill-advised law. J This revolting and most monstrous custom is part of the code of law throughout the Turkish empire, and is one of the fragments of Muhammadanism which has been retained even by the Druzes.§ Upon the whole, we know of no sounder dictum in connexion with this subject than that of a writer just quoted, — ' It would be a gratuitous dishonour to Christian marriage, to compare it with marriage under the law of the Qur'an.'ll We suppose it will be accepted as a general principle, that the effect of a religion upon the female portion of those who adopt it, may be regarded as a fair criterion of its excellence, and that no religion which when allowed free and unrestricted authority in social affairs, distinctly tends to the degradation of women, can lay claim to a Divine origin.lT Now, the account we have given of the bearing of the policy of Islam on the gentler sex may seem too strongly coloured ; yet on no subject, that we know of, is there a more general consensus of opinion among * Lane, Modern Egyptians, i. 23O. t Burckhardt, Arabic Privetbs, p. 25 (No. 79), X Dods, Mchatnmed, Bi-.dJha, and Christ, 63, It is sad to note that notwith- standing the testimony of writers of such high repute as Lane and Burckhardt, men whose very names are guarantees for disinterestedness and high-mindedness that are altogether above suspicion, — the Honourable Mr. Sayyid Amir 'Alt {Li/e of Mokainmed, 247) sees in the aversion of Christian writers to what Sir William Muir calls this 'disgusting ordeal,' nothing more than a mere 'dislike for Mohammed 'I § Cnf. Taylor, Histcty of Mokammedanistn, 279, II Muir, Life of Mahomet, iii. 306. H On this point the reader should consult a very learned and valuable Article in the Christian Riniemhrancer, for Jan. 1855,— often cited in the course of these pages. 18 274 I^HE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. the accepted authorities than on this, — that the condition of women in Arabia, judged of in the light of modern civilization, was even better in the so-called ' Times of Ignorance' than since the prevalence of The Faith there.* We confess to a feeling of considerable reluctance to adopting such a view, for if it is a sound one, it must appear even to the follower of Muhammad to be fatal to the claim of Islam to be the Divinely-appointed supercessor of the religion of Jesus : yet the authorities are so weighty that to ignore them would be simply foolish. The subject is so important in its connexion with the argument of the present work, that we venture to bespeak the forbearance of the reader while we cite the statements of the authorities referred to. One of the most sympathetic and unprejudiced writers on the subject of Islam is Mr. Stanley Lane Poole, already several times quoted. In regard to the subject now under review he says, speaking of the poetry of the pre-Islamite Arabs.f that many writers have drawn a gloomy picture of the condition of women in Arabia before the coming of Muhammad, and there is no doubt that in many cases their lot was a miserable one. There are ancient Arabic proverbs which point to the contempt in which woman's judgment and character were held by the Arabs of those pagan times, and The Prophet must have derived his mean opinion of women from a too general impression amonghis country- men. If this be so, it does not say much for the inspiration and infallibility of Muhammad, or for the Divine authority of the books in which his opinion of the gentle sex is promulgated. • As to the condition of women in Arabia in the present day, the reader may easily disillusionize his mind as to the namby-pamby notions which are frequently found in the pages of writers of the dilettante sort by studyiig the pages of Burck- hardt, — especially his work on the Bedouins and Wahdbys. The fidelity of the picture of Arab life and manners drawn by this accurate and scholarly traveller has never been impugned. + Lane, Selecti ens from the Kur-in, Introd. p. xxvi. We should here acknow- ledge our indebtedness to the learned author of that INTRODUCTION for much of what will be found in the few pages which here follow. IVOMAJV IN PRE-ISLAMITE ARABIA 275 The marriage tie was certainly very loose among the ancient Arabs. The ceremony itself was of the briefest. The man said Khitb ('I am an asker in marriage'); and the giver away an- swered Nikh ('I am a giver in marriage'); and thus the knot was tied, — only to be undone with equal facility and brevity. The frequency of divorce among the Arabs does not speak well for their constancy of affection or their settledness of character, and must have had a degrading effect upon the women. From these facts it has been argued by some that women were the objects of contempt, rather than of respect, among the Arabs of the time before Muhammad. There is, however, reason to believe that the evidence upon which this conclusion is founded is partial and one-sided. It is important to distinguish in our judgments, between the Arab of the Desert and the Arab of the town, between whom, in respect of the matter under consideration, there was a wide gulf It is not impossible that the view commonly entertained as to the con- dition of Arabian women in the pre-Isldmite times, is based main- ly on what Muhammad saw around him in Makka, and not on the ordinary life of the Desert. To such a conjecture a curiously uniform support is lent by the ancient poetry of the Desert: and though the poets were then, as they generally are, men of finer mould than their fellows, yet their example, and still more their poems passing from mouth to mouth, must have created a wide- spread belief in their principles. It is certain that the roaming Badawi, like the mediaeval knight, entertained a chivalrous rever- ence for women, — although he too, like the knight, was not always above a career of promiscuous gallantry: but there was always a certain glamour of romance about the intrigues of the Badawf. He did not regard the object of his love as a chattel to be pos- sessed, but as a divinity to be assiduously worshipped. The poems are full of instances of the courtly respect displayed by the heroes of the Desert towards defenceless maidens, and the mere existence of so general an ideal of conduct in the poems is 276 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. a strong argument for the chivalry of the Arabians; for among those wild Sons of the Desert, the abyss between the ideal accept- ed of the mind and the attaining thereof in action, was narrower than it is among nations now held to be more advanced.* The true Arab, as he was in the so-called 'Times of Igno- rance,' we can now no longer see ; and we cannot but regret our loss, for the Pagan Arab is a nobler type of man than his des- cendant of The Faith,t though there are nobler types of manhood even than he. There is much that is admirable in his high mettle, his fine sense of bonour, his knightlincss, his 'open-hand- ed, both-handed' generosity, his frank friendship, his spirit of manly independence: and the faults of this wild and reckless nature are not to be weighed against its many excellences. When Muhammad turned abroad the current of Arab life, he changed the character of the people. The mixture with foreign nations, and the comparatively quiet town-life that succeeded to the tumult of conquest,gradually effaced many of the leading ideas of the old Arab nature ; and the remnant that still dwell in the land of their fathers have lost much of that nobleness of character which in the case of their ancestors covered many shortcomings. Muhammad in part destroyed the Arab and created the Muslim; and the last is no amends for the first. The modern Badawi is neither the one nor the other ; he has lost the greatness of the old type without gaining that of the new. As far as the Arabs alone are concerned, the great reformer effected a temporary good and a lasting harm. \ As to the condition of women in the trading centres, — the cities and towns, — it is certain that in the Desert, woman was regarded as she has never been regarded in Arabia since the as- cendancy of Islam. The modern harim-system, which owes its • Lane, Selections from the Kur-dit, Introd. xxvii. t Buvckhardt, Aiabic Prweihs, p. 56 (No. 176); Lane, Modern Egyptians, i. 390. X Lane, Selecticm from the Kur-dn, Introd. pp. xxxv-vi. fi LIBERTY OF PRE-ISLAMITE WOMEN. 277 origin distinctly to the founder of The Faith,* was there as yet undreamed of The maid of the Desert was unfettered by the ruinous restrictions of modern life in the East.-f As an instance of her dignity and respect it should be noted that she was free to choose her own husband, — a trace of which usage we see in the case of Muhammad himself, who was the honoured subject of overtures of marriage in the case of his first wife, the wealthy Khudaija. The maid of the Desert was, moreover, free to bind over her husband to have no other wife than herself As to her- self, she was at liberty to receive male visitors (even though they were strangers) without any suspicion, — for her virtue was too dear to her, and too well assured, to need the vigilance of a keeper. To say to a hostile clan that their men had not the heart to give, nor their women the heart to deny, was among them the bitter- est taunt that could be hurled at a foe, — for the chastity of the women of a clan was reckoned only next to the valour and gene- rosity of its men. In those days, bastardy was an indelible stain. It was the wife who inspired the hero to deeds of glory ; and it was her praise that he most valued when he returned triumphant, j * Burton, Pilgrimage, i. 350 (2nd edn. 1857). t These restrictions are sanctioned in the Qur'an in the following terms; — 'Ye People ! ye have rights demandable of your wives, and they have rights demandable of you — upon them it is incumbent not to violate their conjugal faith, neither to com- mit any act of open impropriety: — which things if they do, ye have authority to shut them up in separate apartments, and to beat them with stripes, yet not severely. But if they lefrain therefrom, clothe them and feed them suitably. And treat your women well; for they are with you as captives and prisoners: they have not power over anything as regards themselves. And ye have only taken them on the security of God; and have made their persons lawful unto you by the words of God.' This may have been an improvement on the barbarism of the Arabs, but the Christian reader will fail to perceive how such a system could prove ameliorative of the condi- tion of Christian women in any age. — Cnf. Muir, Life of Mahomet, 485-6. X We seem to have a remnant of this pre-Islamite usage in the custom of Muhammad and the early Muslim warriors of taking their women-folk with them to battle. The reader of Sir William Muir's Annals of the Early Caliphate will meet with many a thrilling incident connected with this romantic usage, — a usage which, as Burton shews, has not even yet died out. — Cnf. Burton, Pilgrimage, ji, 93 (2nd edn. 1857). 278 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. The hero of Desert song thought himself happy even to die in guarding some women from their pursuers. Hence 'Antara, wounded to the death, halted alone in a narrow pass, and bade the women press on to a place of safety. Planting his spear in the ground, he supported himself on his horse, so that when the pursuers came up, they knew not that he was dead, and dared not approach within reach of his dreaded arm. At length, the horse moved, and the body fell to the ground, and then the ene- my perceived that it was but the corpse of the hero that had held the pass. In death, as in a life sans peur et sans reproche, this hero was true to the chivalry of his race.* The traditions of the Arabians of the 'Times of Igno- rance' have embalmed many instances like this of the knightly courtesy of the Arab chief In the old days, as an ancient writer says, the true Arab had but one love, — and her he loved till death, and she him. Even when polygamy came to be a custom among them, — as it eventually did, especially in the towns, — it was not what is meant by polygamy in a modern Muslim State: it was rather the polygamy known under the patriarchal system, of which we see an instance in the case of Abraham and Sarah. There is much in the fragments of the poetry of the old Arabs which has come down to us, that reflects this fine spirit. It is oft-times 'tender and true;' and even Islam could not wholly root out the real Arab sentiment, — which reappears in Muslim times in the poems of Abu Firas. Especially valuable is the evidence of the old poetry with regard to the love of a father for his daughters. Infanticide, which it is common to attribute to the whole Arab nation of every age before the establishment of Islam, was, in truth, exceedingly rare in the Desert, and after almost dying out, only revived about the time of Muhammad. It was probably adopted by poor and weak classes, either from in- ability to support their children, or in order to protect themselves from the stain of having their children dishonoured by stronger • Lane, Selecti hs ffom thi Kur-dn, Introd. p. xxviii. FEMALE INFANTICIDE. 279 tribes, and the occasional practice of this suicidal and barbarous custom affords no ground for assuming an unnatural hatred and contempt for girls among the ancient Arabs. The following verses of a father to his daughter tell a different story: — 'If no Umaima were there, no want would trouble my soul, no labour call me to toil for bread through pitchiest night. What moves my longing to live is but that well do I know how low the fatherless lies, how hard the kindness of kin. I quake before loss of wealth, lest lacking fall upon her, and leave her shieldless and bare, as flesh set forth on a board. My life she prays for, and I from mere love pray for her death, — yea death, the gentlest and kindest guest to visit a maid, I fear an uncle's rebuke, — a brother's hardness, — for her: my chiefest end was to spare her heart the grief of a word.' The following lines, again, do not breathe the spirit of in- fanticide: — 'Fortune has brought me down (her wonted way) from station great and high to low estate : Fortune has rent away my plenteous store -. of all my wealth, honour alone is left. Fortune has turned my joy to tears: how oft did Fortune make me laugh with what she gave I But for these girls, the Qata's downy brood, unkindly thrust from door to door as hard, Far would I roam, and wide, to seek my bread in Earth that has no lack of breadth and length. Nay, but, our children in our midst, what else but our hearts are they, walking on the ground ? If but the wind blow harsh on one of them, my eye says 'No' to slumber, all night long.' * These quotations shew clearly enough the position which women held in the sentiments of the so-called pagan Arabs.-f* It is hardly to be wondered at that the Badawis themselves confess that the condition of women under Islamic influence is worse than what it was in the old chivalrous times. The wife of noble blood, says Sir William Muir, held, under the old chivalrous code * Lane, Selections from the Kur-dn, Introd. pp. xxix-xxx. t Some specimens from the Soyigs of Antar also, of the value set upon woman- hood in pre-Islamite times and of the high sentiments of honour then cherished towards the weaker sex, may be seen in Burton, Pilgrimage, ii. 95 (2nd edn. 1857). 280 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. of the Arabs, a position of honour and supremacy in the house- hold from which she could be ousted by no base-born rival, how- ever fair or fruitful : but she was now, under the law of the re- former, to be, in the estimation of her husband, but one amongst many, to whose level she was gradually being lowered. If his slave-girls bore him children, they became at once (as the children of an Umm Walad, or 'freed wife'*) free, and in point of legiti- macy and inheritance, the offspring of such were equal to the children of the free and noble wife. Thus the old Arab chivalry towards the weaker sex came rapidly to disappear, even so early as in the days of the first Khalifas, i* The evils that have thus overtaken the female sex arise from the unfortunate fact that Islam is a social system as well as a religion, — and herein lies the great difficulty of fairly estimating its good and its bad influence on the world. % It is but in the nature of things that the teacher who lays down the law as to the relation of man to God, should also endeavour to appoint the proper relation between man and his neighbour. Christianity was a social as well as a religious reform ; but its social regulations were too indefinite, or at all events too impracticable, for any wide acceptance among those who professed it. Islam was less fortunate. Muhammad not only propagated a religion, — he laid down a complete social system, containing minute regulations for a man's conduct in all circumstances of life, with definite promise of due rewards or penalties according to his attendance to these rules. As a religion, Islam has certain elements of great- ness ; — it has taught idolatrous peoples to worship but one God : • The tarm UmmtCl-walid (also spelt ' Omm al Walad ' and 'Omm Walad ') properly means 'the mother of a child,' and is applied in Muhammadan law to a slave who bears a child to her owner. She and her child are considered 'free,' not by the authority of any text of the Qur'an, but because Muhammad gave to his slave- girl 'Mary the Qopt' her freedom on her bearing him Ibrahim.— Cnf. Muir, Lifi of Mahomet, 349. + Muir, Annals of the Earh Caliphate, 265, 271. J Lane, Selections from tlu Kur-d», latrod. p. Ixxxviii. POL YGAMY AGAINST NATURE. 281 but as a social system, it is a failure. It has misunderstood the relations of the sexes, — relations upon which the whole character of a nation's life depends, — and by degrading women, has de- graded each successive generation of their children down an in- creasing scale of infamy and corruption, — until it seems almost impossible to reach a lower level of vice. In short, as Mr. Poole expresses it, the fatal spot in Islam is the degradation of women.* The truth is, that many of the laws of Muhammad betray, if Muhammadans will allow us to say so, the shortsightedness of their author to the extensiveness of their influence. The practice of polygamy would never be permitted by the founder of a re- ligion designed to be general or universal. The continuance of polygamy at all most ever prove fatal to the universal acceptance of a religion,— even perhaps, though Christianity were not con- tinually at hand to confront it, — for polygamy can never satisfy the needs of woman's heart.f And thus are Nature and policy united against the practice; and although it is in accordance with the licentious manners of one part of the world, yet mankind at large, not to say Christian people, hold it in abhorrence. Silence upon the subject, or an absolute prohibition of the practice, would have been the course of a man who wished to legislate for all people and for all time.:|: The true test of a nation's place in the ranks of civilization is the position of its women. When they are held in reverence when it is considered the most infamous of crimes to subject a woman to dishonour, and the highest distinction to protect her from wrong; when the family life is real and strong, of which the mother-wife is the centre and the heart ; when each man's pulse beats loyal to womanhood, — then is a nation great. But when women are treated as playthings, toys, drudges,— of worth, only if they have beauty to be enjoyed or strength to labour ; * Lane, Selections fi om ike Ktir-di, Introd. p. Ixxxix. t The Christian Remembrancer, for Jan. 1855, p. 148. + Cnf. Mills, History of Muhammed.mism, 333-4. 282 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. when sex is considered the chief thing in a woman, and her heart and mind are forgotten ; when a man buys women for his pleasure, and dimisses or sells them when his appetite is glutted, — then is a nation despicable.* Such is the state of things among all Muhammadan nations. Exceptions, there assuredly are, in the case of individual house- holds. It is hard to lay the blame altogether on Muhammad : the real roots of the degradation of women in Muslim countries lie in the corrupting influence of heathen darkness, which long anterior to him and independently of him, enveloped those lands. But if his religion had been designed by the Almighty to super- sede the religion of 'the Seed of Isaac,' it would have presented to heathen corruption a strong and purifying barrier. It has been well said by the learned writer whom we have cited, that Muhammad might have done better than he did in respect of his policy towards the weaker sex. He might have boldly swept away the corrupt traditions of society which he found to exist among the heathen Arabs, — he might have unveiled the women, intermingled the sexes, and punished by the most severe measures any license which such association might at first have encouraged. With the boundless influence he possessed through the length and breadth of Arabia, he might have done this; and then, the new system, once fairly settled, and the people grown accustomed to it, the good effects of the change would have begun to shew themselves. So we may think: but there is reason to believe that such an idea could not occur to such a mind as his. We are dealing with a social system of the seventh century, and not of the nineteenth; and though the founder of IslSm was, indeed, the greatest man in that century, his ideas about women were those of his cotemporaries in Arabia. He looked upon them as charm- ing snares to 'the true believer', — ornamental articles of furniture difficult to keep in order, — pretty playthings: but that a woman should have been the counsellor and equal friend of man, is an • Lane, SiUctions from thi A'ur-dn, Introd. p. Ixxxix. MUHAMMAD AND WOMEN. 283 idea that does not seem to have occurred to him. It is true that he appears to have always entertained feelings of respect for Khudaija ; but this is partly accounted for by the fact that she was old enough to have been his mother, and partly by the fact that his marriage to her raised him at once from a position of poverty to the very front rank of local wealth and ease. But this feeling of respect for his first wife (which was further shewn in the fact that during her lifetime he took no second wife) found no coun- terpart in his opinions regarding women in general or in his treatment of them. ' Woman,' said he, 'was made from a crooked rib ; and if you try to bend it straight, it will break : therefore treat your wives kindly.' Muhammad was not the man to make a social reform affecting women, nor was Arabia the country in which such a change should be initiated, nor, perhaps, were Arab ladies the best subjects for the experiment* Still, it is impossible to deny that Muhammad attempted, at least, to do something for the amelioration of the condition of Arabian women. He placed a definite limit to the number of wives his followers might lawfully appropriate ; he laid his hand with the utmost severity on the incestuous marriages which were then rife in Arabia; he required husbands to support their wives for four months after divorcing them ; he made irrevocable divorce less common by adding the rough and revolting condition that a woman who had been three times divorced from her husband might not return to him without first being married to another man ;f and he laid down the law that four witnesses should be requisite in order to establish against a married wife a charge of adultery, — a provision which, of course, rendered adultery impos- sible to prove. We say 'impossible', — for the law is interpreted * Lane, Selections from the Riir-dn, Introd. pp. Ixxxix — xci. + The reader who cares to see evidence of the extremely disgusting condition of things to which this regulation has given rise in Muhammadan lands not under the law of England, may consult the statemeits of a Muhammadan writer in the work of Joseph Morgan, Mak, metism Explained, i. 279 — 93, and ii, Introd. pp. xii-xiii. 384 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. by the Muslim divines as meaning that each of the said four witnesses must actually have seen with their own eyes the act ; and that failing this, they are not qualified witnesses. So that the law thus laid down is so merciful as to be manifestly self- destructive.* The law, moreover, in respect of the number of cotemporary wives which every Believer might take, is also, in some sense, self-destructive, — for the possession of the harim consisting of four women who have legal claims upon a man, in- volves the probability of the sacrifice of domestic peace; and the expense of keeping several wives, each of whom mu^t have a separate suite of apartments or a separate house, is so great that not more than one Muhammadan in twenty can afford it. f It is, perhaps, not so much in the matter of wives as in that of concubines that Muhammad made a mistake, — if, indeed, in the case of a man believed to have been under special Divine in- struction in the matter, 'mistake' is an admissible term. The condition of the concubine, or female slave, in the East is indeed deplorable. She is wholly at the mercy of her owner, who may do as he pleases with her and her companions whom he posses- ses, — for the Muhammadan is not restricted in the number of his concubines as he is in that of his wives. The female white slave is kept by the master solely for the purpose of his own sensual gratification ; and when he is tired of her, she is put up for sale. And thus she passes from master to master, — a very wreck of womanhood. Her condition, indeed, is a little improved if she bear a son to her tyrant ; though even then, he is at liberty to refuse to acknowledge the child as his own. But by reason of the fondness of the Oriental for male offspring, this is a liberty of which he seldom avails himself There is no reason to doubt the considerateness of Muhammad himself towards his bond-women; • The reader who would have proof of this should consult Gibbon, Decline and Fall, Ch. 50 (p. 927), where, in a foot-note, he quotes from Abu'1-Fida, Annalis Afoslevtici, 71 (edn. Reiske) language which we must leave the reader to see for himself. + Lane, Selections from the Kur-dn, Introd, p. xci. A THE SLAVE-GIRLS OF ISLAM. 285 but one cannot forget the unutterable brutalities which he suffered his followers to inflict upon conquered nations in the taking of women into what is euphemistically termed 'slavery.' The Mus- lim soldier was at full liberty to do as he pleased with any 'infidel' woman he might meet with on his victorious march. When one thinks of the thousands of women, — all of them mothers, sisters, and daughters, — who must have suffered untold shame and dis- honour by the license thus authorized by The Prophet of God, it is impossible for a Christian to find words to express his horror.* And this brutal indulgence, which The Faithful believe to have been sanctioned for their own especiaVbehoof by the good Father above, has left its mark on the Muslim character, — nay, on the whole character of life in the East.f In the present day, just as in the earlier days of The Faith, are young Christian girls dragged away from their homes and handed over to the cruel lusts of a Turkish voluptuary, whose sole plea for this violation of all that is most sacred in humanity is that he does it 'by the Order of God.' And not only are these tender girls thus sold off from hand to hand among men who were born and bred in the Faith of Muhammad, it is not uncommon for our own country- men in the East to secure the protection of law in the pursuit of their brutal appetites by 'changing their religion.' \ The contagion has spread to Englishmen; and thus do those, who by their * Lane, Selections jrom the Kur-dn, Introd. p. xcii. t It has left its mark abundantly on the literature of Arabia. Even the AhAdts ('Traditionary literature relating to Muhammad ) a doimcf in obscene passages. Some of the poems of Hassan, a contemporary of The Prophet's, are exceeding gross. Dr. Sprenger {Lif of Mohammad, 45) gives a couple of edifying specimens, in which are described the pleasures of heaven a: promised by Muhammad to all true fol- lowers of his. X Thio, in fact, is the true history of all the so-called 'conversions' to Muham- madanism professed by Europeans ; — at least, of all whose history we have known. It is not unknown, either, that 'Native Christians,' so called, have 'gone over to Muhammadanism' on the same principle. A course of misconduct, loss of character, a sense of isolation, a drunken bout, an illicit intrigue, the abjuration of Christianity, and the 'turning Muhammadan',— such, speaking generally, are the steps by which such 'conversions' arc preceded. 286 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. nationality and better knowledge should be prompted to raise their protest, as men of honour if not as 'Christians,' against the abomination, follow the example of The Faithful, and help in the ruin of womanhood.* And thus is concubinage the black stain in the Faith of Islam. With such views of women as Muhammad entertained, we could hardly have expected him to have done better: on the other hand, he could scarcely have done worse. But there are one or two con- siderations that afford a kind of temporary relief to the dreariness of the picture. In the first place, the evils of the system as it affects the weaker sex are seen mainly among the rich; and these, as is the case all the world over, are the minority. In a sense, therefore, it may be said that the canker has not eaten into the whole of the Muhammadan population. In the second place, prostitution, in the ordinary sense of the term, is not so common in Muslim communities as in so-called Christian countries. The courtesan forms a very small item in the census of a Muhammadan city ; and even there, she is retained more for strangers than for the inhabitants. Thus is the social system of Muhammad free from a defect which social systems better in other respects than his are subject to. Instances frequently occur in the law-courts of India which shew the strong feeling that e.xists on the subject among the Musalmans resident in that land. They appear to consider it quite inconceivable that an adherent of The Faith should have illicit intercourse with a free woman of his own Faith; and this inconceivableness of the action is urged, in trials, as evi- dence of the legitimacy of children. Of course, this conderation does not exclude the idea of members of The Faith holding unlawful intercourse with persons of a different creed. But while we admit the existence of this feature in the practical aspect of the social system of Muliammadans, it must not be forgotten that the liberty allowed them by their law in the matter of concubinage, does not very materially differ from prostitution ; • Lane, Seltctions from the Kw-dn, Introd. p. xcii. WOMAN IN TURKEY. 287 and that whilst prostitution is directly forbidden by Christianity, concubinage is as directly sanctioned by Islam.* One would think that long intercourse with Europeans might have raised the estimation in which women are held in the East ; but it is certain that women there are no better ofif now than they were before the advent of the European element. Either travellers in the East are not in all instances the best specimens of Christian morality ; or the oriental mind has a peculiar aptitude for assimilating the bad and rejecting the good in any system with which it is brought into contact. A well- known correspondent of a leading daily print writes thus of the domestic life of The Faithful in Turkey: — 'It is obvious that the home life of any people will depend almost entirely on the posi- tion which is assigned to women. It is not necessary to inquire what this position is according to the teaching of the sacred books of a race. Between Christianity and Islam it is enough to notice that there is apparently no country where the former is the prevailing religion, in which woman is hindered by religion from obtaining a position almost, if not quite, on an equality with man ; and similarly, no country where the latter prevails, where woman is not in a degraded position. Under Christianity she is everywhere free : under Islam she is everywhere a slave. The pious Mohammadan, like the pious Jew, thanks God that he has not been made a woman : the pious Mohammadan woman, like the pious Jewess, thanks Him that she has been made ac- cording to her creator's will. Man and woman alike recognize that to be a woman is to be in an inferior condition. This feel- ing as to the degradation of woman so pervades Turkey that the poorer classes of Christians there have even become infected by it. When a son is born, there is nothing but congratulations : when a daughter, nothing but condolences. A polite Turk, if he has occasion to mention his wife, will do so with an apology. He regards it as a piece of rudeness to mention the fact to you : * Lane, Selections from th: Ktir-dn, Introd. p. xcii-iii. 288 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. and it would be equally rude for him to inquire after your wife, or to hint that he knew you were guilty of anything so unmen- tionable as to be possessed of one.* Charles the Twelfth told his queen that she had been chosen to give children, and not advice: the Turk regards woman as destined solely for the same purpose and for his pleasure. Probably polygamy is of itself sufficient to account for the way in which Mohammadans regard woman. But whether this is so or not, there is one influence which poly- gamy asserts which accounts for the low ideal of woman preva- lent in all Muslim countries. When a man has a number of wives, it is impossible that they can all become his companions and confidantes, or that one of them can become his companion and confidante in the same way as if he had but one wife. Hence a man who is limited to one will not be content with beauty merely : he must have a certain amount of intelligence and educa- tion. The Turk, on the other hand, has no reason whatever to think of anything excepting beauty : as he never means to see much of his wife, intelligence and education are matters of small account. If he can afford it, he will have a Circassian wife, — a woman who has been reared with the intention of being sold, who has not an idea in her head, who has seen nothing, and knows nothing. To the great majority of Christians such a woman would be wholly ineligible as a wife, and as distasteful and objectionable as a South Sea Island beauty. But she satisfies the ideal of the Turk : she is beautiful ; and beauty is all that he rcquires.'-f- • This state of things is corroborated by so hiqh and impartial an authority as Pnlgrave. — who, in the accouut he gives of the family of TiLil, govcruor of Hdyil iu Central Arabia, says, — 'lie has some daughters too, but I do not know their number; for, here, as elsewhere in the East, they are looked on as something rather to be ashamed of than othersvise, and accordingly are never mentioned. It will be long,' he adds, 'before this ungallant indication ol ancient barbarism, fostered by Maho- metan influences, disappears from Oriental manners.' — Palgrave, Central atui Easlitn Arabia y i. 135. t Lane, Selections from the Kur-dn, Introd. p. xciii-iv. MOTHERS AND CHILDREN. 289 It is this sensual and degraded view of woman that destroys to so great an extent the good influence which the better part of the teaching of the Qur'an might otherwise exert in Muhamma- dan lands. So long as women are held in so light an esteem, they will remain ignorant, and benighted, and sensual ; and so long as mothers are what most Muslim mothers now are, their offspring will be ignorant, and fanatical, and vicious. In Turkey there are other influences at work besides the Muhammadan social system ; but Turkish women may serve as an instance of the state of things which that system encourages. In those early years spent at home, when the child ought to have instilled into him some germ of those principles of conduct by which men must walk in the world if they are to hold up their heads among civilized nations, the Turkish child is only taught the first steps towards those vicious habits of mind and body which have made his race what it is. It is in the harim-system that the root of the evil is mainly found. So long as that system keeps Turkish women in their present depressed state, so long will Turkish boys and girls be vicious and ignorant. It is quite certain that there is no hope for Muhammadans as long as their women are com- pelled to remain what they are, and home training is the initia- tion of vice.* If the mother is ignorant and vicious, the son cannot form a high ideal of womanhood : and thus is he barred off from the chivalrous spirit wherewith alone a man may reach to the highest love, — that ' Subtle master under heaven, Not only to keep down the base in man, But teach high thought, and amiable words, And courtliness, and the desire of fame, And love of truth, and all that makes a man.' The Muhammadan has no ideal of chivalry like this to make his life pure and honourable. His religion encourages an opposite view, and the women among whom he is brought up only confirm itf • See a work entitled The People of Trnk-.y, by a Consul's I>aughter, Prcf. p.xxii. + Lane, Selections from the Ktir-dn, Litrod. p. xciv-v. 19 290 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. We have already had occasion to point out that Islam, by as much as it inculcates a belief in One only God, is assuredly an advance upon the religious systemsof the savage races of Africa, and that its acceptance by them has so far been a good thing.* But the good influence it has exerted among them is very par- tial and limited, even among the poorer classes. In communities where all are poor, Islam might prove in some respects an agent for improvement ; but in lands where there are many grades of rank and wealth, the poor only ape in a humble manner the vices of those whom they are taught to regard as their betters. But in all civilized and wealthy countries, the social system of Islam exerts a ruinous influence on all classes ; and if there is to be any great future for the Muhammadan world, that system of i^ociety must be done away. ' The woman's cause is man's : they rise or sink Together, — dwarfed or Godlike, bond or free.' If Islam is to be a power for good in the future, it is impera- tively necessary that the .social system be cut off from the religion. At the beginning, among a people who had advanced but a little way on the road to civilization, the defects of the social system of Muhammad were not so apparent. But now, when Orientals ?ire de5irQUs of meeting on equal terms v/ith Europeans and are gradually coming tq adopt the manners and customs of the West, it is clear that the condition of their women must be radically changed if any real and lasting good is to come of the European - izing tendency. It is not ea.sy for Muhammadans to see that the difficulty lies in the close connexion between the religious and the social ordinances of the Qur an. The two are so intermingled that it is h^rd to see how they can be disentangled without de- stroying both. The very theory of revelation, as understood by Muhammadans, would have to be radically and essentially modi- fied. They would have to give up their doctrine of the syllabic inspiration of the Qur an ; and they would have to commence f Ou tliis poiut consult Macbride, Tht Mohammedan Religion Explainid, 90. A SLA VER V IN ISLAM. 291 the exercise of their moral sense in distinguishing between the particular and the general, the temporary and the permanent. They would have to recognize the fact that there is much in the Qur'dn and in the teachings of their Prophet which, though use- ful enough at the time, is inapplicable to the present conditions of existence; that his information was in many respects very imperfect, and his judgment sometimes at fault ; that the moral sense is as truly capable of education as is the intellect ; and that what may have been to all appearance moral and wise in the seventh century, may conceivably be immoral, unwise, and suici- dal in such a state of society as that of the age in which we now live^* Closely allied to this social aspect of Qur anic law is another 1 — viz. Slavery. In apology for this system, considered as an organic part of the religion of Muhammad, it is usual to put for- ward several well-worn arguments, which though they contain a great deal of truth, have the misfortune of being beside the mark. In the first place, we are cautioned against taking our ideas of Muslim slavery from the slavery which for the last generation or two has been the subject of much writing and much legislation in countries professedly Christian. There is, as Burton has said, * Lane, Selections from the A'ur-dn, Introd. pp. xcv-vi. According to tradi- tions given in the Misqitul-Masdbih (i. 46, 51) Muhammad himself said, — 'I am no more than a man. When I order you anything respecting religion, receive it ; and when I order you concerning the affairs of the world, then I am nothing more than man.' He even seemed to have presentiment that the time would come when his minor regulations would call for revision j — ' Ye are in an age,' said he, ' in which if ye abandon one tenth of what is ordered, ye will be ruined. After this, a time will come when he who shall observe one tenth of what is now ordered will be redeemed.' If Muhammadans would but take these warnings of their Prophet to heart, there would be some prospect of the preservation of their Faith from de- cadence. The principle, indeed, of moral criticism as applied to the Qur'an has already been admitted by some few of the higher intellects among them. But the majority, refraining from the exercise of individual judgment in the matter of reli. gion, regard these few as heterodox. 292 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. truth in the terrible remark of Sonnini, that 'the severe treatment under which the slaves languish in the West Indies is the shame- ful prerogative of civilization, and is unknown to those nations among whom barbarism is reported to hold sway.'* Under the regulation of the Our'an, slavery is of a better type than that, and is surrounded by certain important safeguards. In fact, under Muslim rule, all are slaves together, from the Pasha down to the humblest menial. Despot over the province which is in bondage to his rule, he is himself but the slave of the greater despot, his Sovereign master. The wife is the slave of her hus- band, rather than his companion and partner; and their domestic servant is the bond-slave of them both. Slavery, indeed, per- vades the whole social and political life of the people. But as compared to the slavery with which civilized countries have be- come familiar, Muhammadan slavery is mild; for kind treatment of the slave is enjoined in the Qur'an: nor is slavery considered dishonoring ; for where all are more or less in the condition of slaves, servitude ceases to be a disgrace; and where all are equally subject to the absolute will of the Sovereign, the sharp distinctions of rank disappear. -f* It hence happens that in Muhammadan countries, servitude becomes no barrier to a man's elevation to the highest offices of the State ; the contrary is, in fact, the case.:^ The slave purchased in the market has a better chance of rising to the highest offices in the army and the State than the man of noble blood, not to say the member of the freeman class, whose very exemption from slavery (in its ordinary meaning) consigns him, however deserving, to a position of obscurity. The Pasha of the Syrian Caravan • Sonnini, Tr.iveh in Upper and Lcwer Egvpf, vol. ii; Burton, Pilgrimage, i. 89. + Stephens, Christianity and IsLhn, 161. The readeriwho would pursue this subject further, should consult Wellsted, Travels in Arabia, i. 390-91, and ii 217 (cdn. Lond. 1838). X Burton, Pilgnmage, i. 90. Cnf. Pitts, Makonutans, 172-3, 216, 225; Burck- h*rdt, Arabia, \. 291, and li. 281. SLAVE KINGS. 293 by which Burton travelled to Damascus, had been the slave of a slave. This, our traveller assures us, is but a solitary instance of cases perpetually occuring in all lands to which Muhammadan rule extends. Said a Turkish officer in Egypt, — 'C'est un homme de bonne famille, il a ^t^ achet6.'* Conversion to Islam, when followed, as it often is, by manumission, makes the slave at once the equal of his master; and the will of the sovereign, who is master of them both, may make him his master's ruler. -f Under these circumstances there is a direct incentive to kind treatment of slaves, — when, of course, the slaves happen to be of the male sex. Hence the bravest and most turbulent warriors of IslSm have been men who were captive Janissaries and Mameluks. Even the thrones of Egypt and India have been occupied by whole dynasties of kings who had been slaves. J Sebuktegin, father of Mahmfid the Magnificent, and founder of the Ghazavid dynasty, had been a slave: so, too,hadQutbu'd-Din, the conqueror of Delhi and its first king, and the true founder, therefore, of the Muham- madan empire in India. § The Sultan of Constantinople himself is necessarily of slave origin on the maternal side, and he is even familiarly spoken of as Al-Waladu l-J driya, 'the Son of a Slave- girl.' Where strictly arbitrary power exists, birth, merit, popular esteem, must all be less sure guides to advancement than that capricious favour of the despot which his personal dependents have clearly the fairest chanceof obtaining. No democracy is so hostile to anything like aristocratic and hereditary claims as is a perfectly arbitrary despotism. Thus is the favour of a despot more likely to be bestowed on a slave than a man of noble origin, — the policy of the despot being to suppress aspirants and to disallow those whose claims on the ground of aristocratic descent may tempt • Burton, Pilgrimage, i. 90. t Pitts, Mahometans, 107; Burton, Pilgrimage, 250, 350. X ' Egyptian men,' says Burton, 'own unwillingly to being Egyptians ; for the free-born never forget that the banks of the Nile have for centuries been ruled by the slaves of slaves'— Barton, Pilgrimage, i. 1 71 (2nd edn.). § Elphinstone, HiAo^y of India, 320, 363, 370. 294 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. them to rivalry. His policy is to reduce all ranks as much as possible to one dead level of subjection, and thus effectually deprive the aristocracy of all motives to becoming leaders of re- bellion. It hence happens that in all Muslim States, and at no place more than at the capital of the Turkish Empire, the men who have risen to the highest offices have generally been men who began by discharging functions the most menial and often the basest and most disgraceful, about the court of the sovereign.* All this may be very well for the slave ; but what of the Empire ? Do Christians — do even Muhammadans — believe that such a method of supplying the highest offices of constitutional power, is likely in the nature of things to be better for the Em- pire than the supplying of those offices with persons duly trained for them ? Is not such an arrangement directly responsible in a large degree for that permanent degradation of Muhammadan countries with which we are all of us only too familiar ? There is nothing in the utterances of the Qur'dn on the subject of slavery, which at all corresponds to this fitful and arbitrary use of despotic power ; so that the slave who becomes thus suddenly exalted to a position for which he is in no way fitted, has to thank rather the fears of a despot than the ordinance of God.f And when the apologists of Islim have succeeded in explaining these difficulties, it will remain for them to shew in what respects such • Stepliens, Christianity and Isldm, 162; The iVofth British Revlrw (for Aug. ,855) p. 465. Consult, also, on this subject, Burckhardt, Arabia, i. 429. t We should here remark that the elevation of persons of the lowest ranks of the body politic to the highest place of all, is not due to any beneficent genius distinctive of Mubammadanism. It is, rather, an outcome (as has already been suggested) of Oriental slavery. Hence we find that long before the birth of Islam, Abraha, the Christian king of Yaman in the Year of the Elephant, rose, from being the slave of a Roman merchant, to high rank in the Abyssinian army, and eventually to the throne of that great historical territory:— Cnf. Procopius, De Belli s Pcfsiiaritm, cap. XX ; Wright, Christianity in ArMa, 89. In this, as in so many other instances, therefore, those of the excellences (if it is not a misuse of the word) of Mulamma- danism vfhich are not merely accidental, can be traced to some pre-Islamite and mundane source. . ENGLAND AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. 295 a system of things can be said to substantiate the claim of Muhammadanism to be the superior and supercessor of Christi- anity, and in what sense such a system proves that through the seed of Ishmael all nations of the earth have been blessed. This is the best that has ever been said of Muhammadan slavery. And those whose minds are so peculiarly constituted that they see in it nothing but blessing to the world at large, have even then to bear in mind that such an unnatural method of supplying offices of power is not a result but an accident, — not a result of Quranic law, but an evidence of the^base uses to which this ordinance of Islam may be put when the power of monarchs is not curbed and tempered by constitutional law. If this is the best and brightest side of Islamic slavery, what is the darker side likely to be ! The next best argument by which the apologists of Islim defend the system of slavery is framed on the principle with which they have so well familiarized us, — that 'two blacks do make a white.' The institution of slavery, they tell us, long enjoyed the support of the dignitaries of the English episcopal body.* But what the Muhammadan has to prove is that slavery has been established by the Divine Being as an ordinance for ever ; and that in this view Isl^m raises mankind to a higher level than Christianity does. There is all imaginable difference between an evil that admits of reform and an evil that does not. We do not blame the enemies of Christ if by having recourse to this argument they wished to shew that those who were respon- sibly for the conduct of the affairs of the British nation acted in- consistently with the teachings of the New Testament. The evil received the sanction of the British Legislature at a period when that Legislature did not represent the Christianity or even the * Syed Ahmed Khan, Bettejits of I shim to the World, 21. Mr. Keane, the latest of European 'Hajis,' while jiianifesting unquestionable signs of the soundness of his 'Churchmanship,' rides roughshod over some very tender places when alluding to the question of 'Church.' For proof of this the reader may consult his work en- titled Six Monthi in Mecch, 3 1 -2. 296 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. intelligence of the nation. Inasmuch as our opponents blame the church dignitaries, it is but right to say that the majority of the British people do not believe that those dignitaries did their duty in respect of this matter : nay more, the support so long given by them to the West African slave-trade has often been cited by the foes and even by the friends of Christianity to prove that they are out of their proper place in the Legislative Council of the nation. Be this as it may, even the strongest objector could not contend that the British Legislature of the present day would defend such'an institution ;— it certainly could not inaug- urate it. This impossibility arises from the more representative character of the present Legislature; and it enables us to say that the West African slavery, so far from being in any way attributable to Christianity, was not even the child of the British nation, but owed both its origin and its continuance to evil men and to greed of filthy lucre. All this is borne out by the fact that as soon as the nation was made aware of the evil that was being thus perpetrated in her name in remote regions of the earth, she at once made, as far as in her lay, the amende honourable, — rendering the trade illegal by special enactment, paying from her own resources the cost of emancipation, giving her voice and all her influence against it in the Councils of other nations, hold- ing herself in readiness to spend her money and spill her blood in the work of suppressing it, opening her gates to the slave and affording him secure asylum, and declaring it impossible that a slave should breathe within her borders. The argument, therefore, which was for so long a period available to the apologists of Islam, from the complicity in the slave-trade of a Legislature bearing the holy name of Christ, now happily no longer exists. But Muslim slavery still exists; and it is bound to exist as long as belief in the Qur'An exists.* In the case of England, it was legalized in disregard of the law of Christ, and without the voice of the nation ; and under the light • Mills, History of Afuhammedanisni, 333— ?• SLA VER V AND SCRIPTURE. 297 of knowledge, it had to vanish: in Isl^m, slavery is established for ever by a law that can never be superseded, and never even modified. The discontinuance of the West African slave-trade shews that it was not in accordance with the authority of the New Testament, and was not a command enjoined on Christians as an ordinance for ever. The statement therefore of Mr. Higgins, who is quoted with 'thankfulness' by the Maulvi already named, that 'the legality of slavery is admitted in almost every page of the Gospels and Epistles,'* is not in accordance with fact. And as to thesilence of the NewTestament respecting any express and elaborate prohibition'of slavery, it may be inferred that the Author of the Book deemed it wiser to leave the practice to find its remedy eventually in the natural spread of Christian maxims and the unfettered operation of Christian truth and Christian love. We are bound to admit, from a mass of evidence, that the apologists of Islam deplore and deprecate the existence of slavery as an authorized portion of the Islamic system. Though so much has been said (and said with apparent truth, when we remember what the West African slave-trade was) regarding the comparative mildness of the domestic slavery of Muhammadans, yet even Mr. Godfrey Higgins (who, if a man may judged by his words, must be one of the most damaging apologists that Muhammad has yet had) goes so far as to admit that it is 'no doubt indefensible.' !-f- This, together with the statement of Sayyid Ahmad Khan,that Muham- mad 'did almost entirely abolish slavery,'^ is assuredly a great compliment to the cause of liberty for which Christians contend. • Syed Ahmed Khan, Benefits of lildin to the Wi.rld, 21. We have not been able to obtain a copy of the work of this writer, and are dependent for the quotations we make from it and for the opinion we have formed of its author'upon the citations made in the work of Maulvi the Honourable Mr. Sayyid Ahmad Khail Bahadur. + Syed Ahmed Khan, Benefits of Isldm to the IVotld, 21. The citations made from this writer by the learned Maulvi are, in the judgment of the dispassionate English reader, anything but helpful to the cause which the Maulv! seeks to serve, X Syed Ahmed Khan, Benefits 0/ Isl.lit: t<.> the World, 24. 298 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Burton, again, who was never yet charged with an excess of ' Christian bigotry,' after noting that though it is undoubtedly true that in Muslim communities the slave often fares better than the servant, and even than the freemen of the poorer orders, remarks that this, 'of course, in no wise affects the question of slavery hi the abstract:* Such statements shew that even the friends of Muhammadanism are themselves ashamed of slavery in these days and that they would be glad if they could say that it is not sanc- tioned in the Qur'an. They may well be ashamed of it, when they remember the use which The Faithful have always made of that sanction,— that to that sanction is to be attributed the fact that slavery, in one form or another, is a distinguishing institu- tion of all Muhammadan countries, and that immense numbers of the weaker sex are bought and sold in the markets of the East for purposes which it is a shame even to mention. The most abominable instance of this that we have ever read is con- nected with 'the Holy Mecca,' and the witness is one whose name the apologists of Islam ever quote as high authority, — 'the ac- curate Burckhardt.'t Whether for labour or for vice, the trad- ing in human flesh is attested by all travellers. Under the teaching of the Qur'an the slave-owner is taught to feel that such possession is not a thing to be ashamed of, and that his fellow- creatures, bought for money, are as much his property as any other chattels which he obtains by the same means.J The slavery * Burton, Pilgrimage to Mecca k ami Medina/!, i. 90. + Burckhardt, Arabia, i. 218. Similar testimony is borne by the other travellers; but though the disgusting facts jar in no way on the moral sense of the Muhamma- dan and do not affect his belief in the sanctity of 'the Holy Mecca,' we warn the Christian reader that he had better not refer to the page. + 'Female slavery,' says Sir William Muir, {Life of Mahimiet, 347,) 'being a condition necessary to the legality of the coveted indulgence (of unlimited and un- restricted cohabitation) will never be put down by any Musalman community with a willing and hearty cooperation.' On the subject of the laxity of morals connected with female slavery, the evidence of the Muhammadan Princess, cited above, who lately visited Makka, may once more be taken. Speaking of the great numbers of African and Georgian slave-girls, the reigning Begam of Bhiipal writes,— ' Some of SLAVERY AND WOMEN. 299 of women in Islam is but a euphemy for concubinage, and a synonym for it. Women taken in war, moreover, are by Qur'anic law, to be reduced to slavery in that sense of the term, — and this, even though they be already married.* And thus is the Quran responsible for legalized concubinage without limit and to the end of the world. But the intelligent amateur instructively reminds us that Muhammad was an Oriental, and that he gave laws to people who were in a condition but little removed from the brute creation in their various social practices. He tells us, moreover, that in certain conditions of society, such as those which existed in Arabia, domestic slavery of the sort which the Qur'an prescribes may be a beneficent institution.^ Buthe forgets to tell us thatthe Qur'anic law, being 'like the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not,' stamps with the brand of slavery for ever all who become its victims ; that while on the one hand it reduces to a state of degradation every civilized State over which it obtains ascendancy, it renders impossible the social and moral elevation beyond a certain point, of even the most degraded peoples. It forces degraded peoples into a common mould, and leaves upon them are taken in marriage ; and after that, on being sold again, they receive from their masters a divorce, and are sold in their houses. That is to say, they are sent to the purchaser from their master's house on receipt of payment, and not exposed for sale (in the ordinary way) in the market-place. They are only married when purchased for the first time. When the poorir people buy girls, they keep them for themselves, and change them every year as one would replace old things by new.' Such, according to a shrewd observer, — herself an adherent of the Muslim faith, — are the results of female slavery in the holiest city in Islam. — Cnf. The Begam of BhCipal, Pilgriviage to Mecca, Translated by Mrs. W. Osborne, 1870; Muir, Rise and Dscline 0/ Isldm, 34. * Stobart, Isl&m and its Founder, 193. Sir William Muir expresses well {Life of MaJwmet, 349) the feeling of every Christian mind when he says, — 'The subject is not one which I can explain or illustrate further without offence to decency. The reader must believe at second hand that the whole system is vile and revolting.'' + 'As regards the general condition of women,' says the Honourable Mr. Say- yid Amir 'All {Life of Mohammed, ii,T^ 'the amelioration Islam effected in their status alone is sufficient stamp it ab one of the most beneficent institutions the world has seen.' 3cx» THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. them all a certain impress; but it leaves the filthy 'filthy still,' and the barbarian a barbarian still. Any doubt on this point should be speedily removed by study of the pages of Burckhardt and Palgrave, who give us the best account that learning and wisdom and charity can devise of the condition of that country where Muhammadanism has had the best chance and an undis- puted field.* Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece were severally taken by the sword of the Saracen ; and what has been the result ? The fairest fields of earth have withheld from man their natural products, and have been reduced to common lands where with difficulty the wandering herds of cattle find their poor farcf Islam has rendered the world none the happier, none the richer, for the vast treasures which the Almighty has secreted in those once prosperous and most promising of all lands. What measure of civilization is visible there, is either the remnant of times anterior to Islamite domination, or is the invitable consequence of proximity to progressive countries. Mr. Lake seeks to re- move the impression that the degradation of south-eastern Europe was the result of Muhammadan invasion, and says that the eastern empire had sunk 'to the lowest depths of corruption* * The powerlessness of Islam, even when left an undisputed occupant of the field, has been well pointed out by Stobart, /sld>n and its Founder, 225. One of the arguments by which Maulvi Amir 'Alt [Life of Afohantnied, 226) seeks to prove the excellence of polygamy as compared with monogamy is that it is 'absolutely needful for the preservation of women from starvation or utter destitution.' 'This,' adds he 'is a fact, and we cannot blind ourselves to it' ! He sustains it by saying that 'if reports and statistics speak true, I should say that the greatest proportion of the frightful immorality prevalent in the centres of civilization in the West, arises from absolute destitution.' It is strange that this author should not have remembered that the same statement is . 193. 330 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. edly the prior claim to consideration. Yet even the righteous and omniscient Jehovah here passes him by as if he had never existed, and speaks of Isaac again and again as the patriarch's *only son.' In entire keeping with this we find that Jehovah in •the promise' says— 'in thy seed.' No course, perhaps, can be safer or wiser than to hear what the Bible has to say in expla- nation of its own utterances: we may, accordingly, turn to Gal. iii. 15 — 1 8, where we read, — ♦ Brethren, I speak after the manner of men*:— Though it be but a man's covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no man maketh it void or addeth thereto. Now, to Abra- ham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. It does not say — And to seeds (as of many), but as of one — And to thy seedt, — which is Christ, t Now, this I say§— A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, The Law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, || doth not dis- annul, so as to make the promise of none effect :ir for, if the inheritance is of The Law, it is no more of promise; but God granted it** to Abraham by promise.' * In other words, — ' Looking at it from the human point of view, as if it were merely an engagement between man and man.' + Cnf. Gen. xxii. i8 in the LXX. + Christ is named here probably as the Representative of all who belong to Him by saving grace, and who thus constitute ' Abraham's seed' (according to ver. 29). 5 He still keeps up the human comparison instituted in ver. 15, — 'This, how- ever, I say, speakuig in human fashion, — The solemn promise of God cannot be annulled by the subsequent revelation.' II In the allusions which the inspired writers make to time, they speak according to the computation current among the people in whose immediate age they wrote. That computation was according to modern ndtions, the roughest and most inexact, — 30 days to a month, and 360 days to a year. (Cnf. Smith, Dictionary oj thi Bible, Artt. Month, Chronology, Ykar.) The point to note is that it is not necessary to the apostle's argument that the popular computation of time, which he here follows, should be correct according to our scientific creeds. Cnf. notes in the An- notated Paragraph Bible of the Religious Tract Society on Gen. xv. 13, EXOD. xii. 40, Acts vii. 6. II /. e. to invalidate, or render it inoperative, to supersede or abrogate it. ** Rather, 'freely gave', — as that which is the fulfilment of a voluntary promise, and not as a reward of mere obedience to 'law.' As to the 'inheritance,' see Heb. xi. 8—10, and 13—16. THY ONLY SON. • 33^ Now, inasmuch as God had ignored the existence of Ishmael, we are entitled to expect that if He had intended that the blessing should come upon all mankind through the progeny of the patriarch's eldest son, He would have clearly embodied 'the pro- mise' in more specific terms, and said — 'In thy descendants' — i. e. in thy seed, whether through Ishmael or through any other — 'shall all nations of the earth be blessed.' But just as Jehovah speaks expressly of the patriarch's younger son as his 'only son,' so here he makes the promise in reference to the patriarch's seed, — him whom Jehovah had Himself instructed the father to re- gard as his 'only son.' It is evident that by the term 'seed,' Isaac alone, to the exclusion of Ishmael, is here meant; for in Gen. xxi. 12 Jehovah expressly says to Abraham, — 'In Isaac shall thy seed be called.' After this, the application of the phrase 'seed of Abraham' to the descendants of Ishmael to the exclusion of those of Isaac, or even to the descendants of Ishmael at all, would plainly be a perversion of the language of the only Records that supply us with our information in reference to the point. Though many sons were born to Abraham, yet at the time when he contemplated effecting the sacrifice, Isaac was spoken of by the Almighty as his father's 'only son.' Consider- ed as to family membership, Ishmael was 'no more.' How strikingly evident in this particular is the typical nature of the character of Isaac at this juncture of his life, and how close and suggestive is the analogy ! There is nothing in the whole narrative of the Book of Genesis, or in any of the allusions to the narrative which occur in the other Books of Scripture, to afford the faintest trace of countenance to the supposition that it was Ishmael who was ordered to be offered up in sacrifice. Such a supposition involves the annihilation of that analogy to • the only-begotten Son of God,' and the setting aside as false or meaningless of the express statements of those Jewish Records whose inspiration and authority it is the avowed business of the Our'an to 'attest' and 'confirm.' 332 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. Another proof that the Seed of Isaac was the chosen seed may be found in the circumstance that the rite of circumcision, originally enjoined on Abraham, was confinned by renewed precept to the descendants of Isaac in the time of Moses and through his agency. When we call to mind the fact that Muhammadans, no less than Jews, regard circumcision as the distinguishing mark of The Faithful, the weight of such a fact as this should be overwhelming. There is no evidence whatsoever that any such renewal of the command was ever made in the case of the descendants of Ishmael. Even the Quran itself, moreover, notwithstanding this confirmation of this ceremony in the case of the posterity of Isaac, does not in as much as a single verse make mention of the subject of circumcision at all.* We find also that the promise 'to thy seed will I give it' — that is, the land of Canaan — was literally fulfilled when the Israelites were led into the land by Joshua amidst so many overwhelming in- dications of special Divine interposition. And although Mus- lims may urge that the land came into the possession of the representatives of the Ishmaelitish tribes at an early stage of the IMuhammadan period, we answer in the first place, that it is not proved nor is it provable that the people of Makka were really the Seed of Ishmael; and secondly, that whereas the Muslims obtained possession of the land by sheer violence and brute forcef, — so that there was nothing about the conditions and circumstances of their conquest of the country that could lead mankind to regard it as differing in any respect from conquest ordinarily won in battle, — on the other hand, the entrance of the Israelites into the land was so associated with miracle as to ren- der it evident that not by their own power, strategy, or skill, but by the special interposition of the Lord was the land being delivered to them. 'To thy Seed will I give it' is a promise * Anioltl, Islim and Christianity, 1 14-15. + The reader who would satisfy himself on this point should consult the great work of Gibbon, or Muir's Atinali of l/i,- J.aily Caliphate, THE NOBLE RANSOM. 333 which was in their case patently and literally fulfilled. Attempts have sometimes been made to shew that the offer- ing up of Isaac had both retrospective and prospective reference — retrospective, to the promise given to our first parents on the event of the Fall, that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head,* and prospective, to that Sacrifice by means of which more immediately the promise embodied alike in the Adamic and Abrahamic covenants, would eventually be realized. Of the latter idea the Christian finds evidence in Gen. xxii. 7, 8, where we read, — 'And Isaac said — Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering ? And Abraham said — My son, God will Himself provide + a Lamb for a burnt offering !'J Even the author of the Qur'an would appear to have had some inkling of the significancy of this marvellous utterance of the great patriarch's, when in Sura xxxvii (Saffat) 107 he represents God as saying, — * And WE ransomed him with a 7toble victim.' The person alluded to as having been so ransomed was the son whose immolation was in contemplation. Some suppose that the victim here alluded to was a ram : one tradition even goes so far as to assert that it was the very same that Abel had sacrificed, — it having been reserved in heaven during the intervening ages, • Gen. iii. 15. + Or as the Hebrew might also be rendered, — God will 'see,' or .'choose.' In other words, — 'When we arrive at the mount, the Lord will provide: our extremity will be His opportunity.' The double allusion we have mentioned is therefore not at all necessarily to be regarded as the only correct one. The reference may, in fact, not have been a spiritual one at all, but merely an indication of that trust in God, the wisdom of which experience had taught the patriarch and which was the dis- tinguishing feature'of his character. X Fuller, Works, 385. / 334 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. and brought out thence to Abraham on this occasion.* Others are of opinion that it was a wild goat which opportunely came down from Thabir, one of the hills near Makka, — the scene of the transaction having been in the neighbouring valley of Mina.f The question, as far as it affects Muhammadans, is thus relegated to the region of conjecture, owing to the indefiniteness of the information embodied in their text. The word here translated 'noble' is by some rendered 'great' or 'large,' and they under- stand it to allude merely to the fact that the animal was fat and of considerable size. Others, again, suppose it to allude to the fact that this creature was accepted by the Almighty as the ran- som of a prophet. \ Lane and Deutsch, two very high authorities, both render the Arabic term by the English word 'excellent,' in view, apparently, of the fact that the victim is understood to have been supplied from Paradise. {ij The passage is one of a large number in which the author of the Qur'an involves his followers in a very labyrinth of truth, fiction, and discrepancy, — owing, as would seem, to his lack of education debarring him from the advantage of going direct to original sources for his information.il The typical character of Isaac seems, indeed, to have been more or less definitely apprehended by his father. Thus, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (ch. xi. 17 — 19), speaking of Isaac as being a figure of One who was to come, tells us that when the father of the faithful 'took the knife to slay his son,' he 'reckoned that God was able even to raise him from the dead ; * The Mubammadan theologians maintain that the horns of this substitutionary ram were for many ages suspended from the Mlz'ab (or water-spout which conveys the rain-water from the roof) of the Ka'ba. — Cnf. Geiger, Was hat Mohammed atis dem fndenthuvt aufgenommen, 1 33 — 5. t Bate, Sacfifict in IsLun (a work on the Doctrine of Sacrifice as viewed by Muhammadans, which we hope will shortly be printed). X Sale, Al Koran, Sur. xxxvii (p. 369, note a); D'Herbelot, Bibliothiqut Ori- tntale. Art. Ismail. § Lane, Selections f torn the ICur-An, 72; Deutsch, Literacy Remains, 133. II Muir, Liji of Mahomet, ii. 187. Cnf. Price, Es^ay on Arabia, 72-3. THE FIGURE OF DEATH. 335 —whence, indeed, he received him in a figure.' The language in which the apostle clothes the idea is very striking, — ' By faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ; and he that had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called : accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead ; from whence also he received him in a figure.' No less remarkable is the language of the apostle James, who says, ch. ii. 31, — ' Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered up Isaac his son upon the altar.' The great patriarch is here represented as having actually com- pleted the sacrifice of his son. The fact is important as shewing the view of the subject which passed without question among the Jews of the times of the apostles. Hence, we read those remarkable words of Abraham's in Gen. xxii. 5, — * And Abraham said unto his young men — Abide ye here / with the ass ; and I and the lad will go yonder and wor- ship, afid come again to you' 1* How strong must have been his confidence in the power of God and in the faithfulness of His promises, is evident when we re- member that up to his time there was no instance of the return of the dead. Already had he, notwithstanding 'the deadness of Sarah's womb,' experienced in the birth of Isaac the fulfilment of the Divine promise, and witnessed the great power of God; and he was 'fully persuaded' that, happen what might, the com- pletion of the fulfilment of 'the promise' could not be impeded even by the intervention of death itself. In the 'figure' of the ram the sacrifice required was really offered ; and by its substi- tution for Isaac, Abraham received his only son back 'from the dead.' Although in the case of the orthodox Muslim such a v'xev/ of the case must, by reason of his peculiar prepossessions, be without effect, yet in the case of a Muslim who, in common with ♦ Priaulx, Qucestiones Mosaica, 495; Fuller, Worh, 385. 336 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL, many of us, is still seeking light, as also in the case of believers in Jesus, it is of real importance and of great value. Of a simi- lar nature is the argument that arises out of the language of Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians, ch. iii. 8, where we read, — ' TlieSciipturc,foreseeingthatGod would justify the heathen through failli, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying — In thee shall all nations be blessed.' The 'Gospel' here alluded to as having been made known by the Author of Scripture to Abraham, could not have been any other than that which Paul himself understood by the term. And the heathen alluded to in the passage could have been those only whom he, as a 'Hebrew of Hebrews,' would understand to be such. To the same effect is the testimony of Christ in J NO. viii. 56, where we read, — * Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day ; and he saw it, and was glad.' Thus was 'the Father of The Faithful' — exercising, as he did, faith in the Christ who was yet to come — a Christian by antici- pation, just as zve are Christians by exercising faith in Him by retrospection. Old-Testament believers and New-Testament believers, Jew and Gentiles, the Seed of the bondwoman and the Seed of the freewoman, have but one Saviour, through all time. Again, the Scriptures state expressly that the mere fact of one's being of the seed of Abraham 'according to the flesh' does not entail of necessity the experience of the fulfilment of the promises. Thus, in ROM. ix. 7, 8, we read, — ' Neither because they arc the seed of Abraham are they all children; but — In Isaac shall thy seed be called.'* That is, they which are the clildren of (Abraham accord- ing to) the flesh, these are not the children of God ; but the children of the Promise are counted for the secd.^ 'The covenant' has reference to a particular fact, — the imparta- tion of 'blessing' which was to affect eventually 'all the families of the earth.' The passage teaches that for the purposes of that * Cnf. Gen. xxi. 12 in the LXX. THE TRUE SEED. 33; covenant^ the descendants of Isaac, and they alone, arc truly and properly to be understood by the expression 'the Seed of Abra- ham,' according to the flesh. Those whose birth 13 connected with the Divine promise are the chosen and specific heirs of the blessing. Such was Isaac, — the representative of all believers who become children of God by special Divine interposition.* The sense of the passage applies to the case of the Muslim as well as of the Jew; for large numbers of Muslims are descended from Abraham through Ishmael. In one view it applies, in fact, to all Muslims; for those of them who cannot claim this natural relationship, still make a boast of the connexion on the ground of ecclesiastical affinity. How vain all such boasting is ought to be evident to any man who takes a common-sense view of religious questions. The passage, however, is very pointed, and does not allow scope for any latitudinarian interpretation : it distinctly excludes the posterity oi Ishmael, and teaches that one must be of the Seed of Abraham through a particular son — viz, Isaac — ere he can be entitled to deem himself within the meaning of the covenant, — even according to the flesh. Nor is the New Testament alone in this view of the case ; for even the teaching of the Qur an is to the same effect. Thus, in Sfira ii (Baqr) 124 we read, — /■ ^ * ^ ^ \ ^ ■^ ■y " \ y ^ ^ I ' ' II * O children of Israel, remember when the Lord tried Ab- raham by certain words which he fulfilled. God said — Verily I will constitute thee a religious leader to all man- kind. He answered — And of my own posterity also.' God said — My covenant doth not comprehend the un- godly.' t * Cnf. Rom. ix. 9 and Gal. iv. 23 with Jno. i. 13 and Gal. iii. 9 and 29. + Cnf. p. 30. So rigidly did Muhammad hold the principle, that though he taught his followers to believe in the efficacy of prayers for the dead, he refused to 22 338 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. We are not concerned with the authenticity or truth of the state- ments here recorded. It is enough for our purpose if we are able to cite from that book whose statements every true Muhammadan is bound to accept without question, evidence of the uselessncss of mere consanguinity if unaccompanied by corresponding char- acter. The passage represents Abraham as seeking the pledge and promise of the Almighty in regard to the reception of the spiritual blessings by all his posterity indiscriminately. And the author of the Quran represents him as receiving a distinct re- fusal* The Muslim may argue that the part here described as 'the ungodly' portion of the posterity of Abraham, must be the Jewish race as distinguished from the Ishmaelitish. Be it so ; the effect is the same. The principle of the passage is that mere natural relationship to the patriarch is of itself of no avail before God. The same thing is taught in other places: thus, in SCira iii (Al'I-'Imran) 6"] we read,— ffPK^ ''ft ^jj-* ^ A ft 3S ^A- 05 ^ — ^' -- ^ * Verily, the men who are the nearest of kin to Abraham are they who follow him.' Thus does the author of the Qur an solemnly warn both Ishmael- ites and Jews in respect of their pride of exclusiveness in regard to their great progenitor. In this important particular, therefore, the Quran harmoni- zes with the teaching of Paul, — That mere descent from 'the father of the faithful' is no secure ground for self-complacency even, much less for inflation and boasting, — whether the case be that of a Jew or that of a Muslim. The unfortunate thing is that Muhammadans, with perhaps the exception of a single sect, — pray for the peace of the soul of his own mother (Amina), because she happened to die before his announcement of his 'mission.' Her decease took place more than thirty years before thai announcement, and when Muhammad was a lilUe boy : so that she had not even had the chance of becomiug a follower of his. * Price, Essay on Arabia, 78-9. CONSANGUINITY A USELESS PLEA. 339 the Wahhabis, — have allowed traditionists to make their theo- logy for them ; and it consequently happens that much of their religious belief is directly contrary to the teaching of the Quran. Hence, some of their traditions teach that mere physical descent from Muhammad constitutes a title to salvation, — a dogma which expressly contravenes what the passages just cited teach. Ac- cording to these traditions, the two sons of Fatima, who had often been fondled on their grandfather's knee and exhibited even in the pulpit as the hope of his old age, are regarded as 'chiefs among the youths of Paradise.'* In other words, the fact of mere relationship, irrespective of personal character, does, after all, entitle to salvation. It is to be hoped that Sayyid Ahmad Khdn grounds his anticipation of acceptance with God upon a more intelligent basis than that of mers descent. At any rate, a sen- sible man could hardly feel well-at-ease in cherishing in regard to such a momentous affair as the salvation of his soul, an ex- pectation that is distinctly opposed by a book which he believes to have been revealed by the Almighty as 'a direction and a guide.' But of infinitely greater moment to every man than the question of blood-relationship or of ecclesiastical affinity, is the question of the redemption of his soul. No man ought to be so dark as to suppose that the decree of the Eternal King at the Great Assize will be influenced by considerations so purely outside himself Even descent through Isaac does not of itself constitute one an heir of the promise; for 'if the Uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the Law, shall not circumcision be reckoned to him though he be uncircumcised ? For, he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, — in the spirit and not in the * Macbride, The Mohammedan Riligiott Explained, 48. As to the acknowledg- ed character of one at least of these ' youths' the reader will recall what has been said on p. 249. 340 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. letter, — whose praise is not of men, but of God. For, in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith which workcth by love,' We have already had occasion to allude to the usage of the word 'seed' In connexion with the great subject which has occu- pied our attention. The word is so important in its bearing on the practical issues of the subject and in the place it occupies in the entire teaching of the Taurat, Zabftr, and Injil respecting the whole question of human salvation, that we venture to be- speak the forbearance of the reader while we dwell upon it a few moments longer before taking our final leave of the subject. The word used — V'\\ — means, properly speaking, 'the act of sowing;' hence, 'seed:' it is therefore used of 'progeny' in general, — 'descendants;' and does not of itself convey the idea of an individual, but rather of a plurality of descendants. The word is also used collectively — ^that is, of descendants in general, but as constituting an ideal unity;* hence, David is promised a posterity which would descend from his loins and which would rear a temple to Jehovah ; and he is told that the throne of this posterity would be established for ever — yea, that God would be to it a Father and it would be to Him a son. Thus in 2 SAM. vii. II — 16 we read, — ' Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee a house. And when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shall sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the tbrone of his kingdom for ever. And I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit ini- quity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men : but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom • Hardwick, Christ and other Masters, Sg, 104. Cnf. Dci\ies, //direw Lexicon, (s.v.) p. 189. The different shades of meaning arc well brought out in the following passages,— Gen. xlvii. $4; xii. 7; 2 Kings xi. i. THE 'SEED' DEFINED. 34 » I put away before thee. And thy house aiid thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee ; tby throne shall be established for ever.' This leads on to a wider view of the subject than has hitherto engaged our attention, and suggests that the promise made to Abraham had reference not to a single individual, but to a race,— through whom all the families of the earth should be blessed. That the allusion is not exclusively to one Person — vis. to Isi ibni Mariam — is evident from ver. 14, of the passage just cited; where v/e read,- — ^ ' If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men.' Muhammadans do not believe that Jesus was subject to sin.* On the other hand, none but a superhuman Personage could bring about the realization of the absolute perpetuity of the race, and fully satisfy the remaining conditions of the prophecy.f This is very expressly corroborated by the apostle Peter in the course of his address to the Jewish assembly at Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost The words are recorded in ACTS ii. 29 — 33, where we read, — * Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the pa- triarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.J Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins,. according to the flesh, • Not, however, it is to be noted, from any admission on their part of the doc- trine of Ilis deity, but because, according to-their theology, all prophets of God are ipso facto without sin, — a character which they indicate in applying to them the ex- pression ma'sihn, 'preserved' (by God), 'simple,' 'artless,' 'without guile,' 'inno- cent' (like an infant). This term they apply to Our Lord as being 'one of the pro- phets:' they also apply it to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to David, to Muhammad, —and to all whom the Qur'an teaches them to regard as 'prophets,' t Hardwick, Christ and other Masters, 104. X The sepulchre of David on mount Zion was well known to those whom the apostle was addressing — Cnf. I Kings ii. 10; Nr.u. iii. 16. Josephus relates {An- tiqq. VII. XV. 3) that both Ilyrcanus and Herod opened and plundered it. It re- mained till the time of Adrian.— Cnf The Annotated Paragraph Bible (R.T.S.) in loc. 342 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;* he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, + that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are wit- nesses.! Therefore, being by the right hand of God ex- alted, § and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.' At the commencement of this passage, Peter entreats a patient hearing whilst he shews that what he had been citing from the Old-Testament knowledge of his hearers, could not refer to David, the founder of the royal house, seeing that he had not been raised from the dead. He then proceeds to shew {ver. 30) that it must have been of the Messiah that David spoke prophetically, when he said that his soul was not left in hell, etc. ; and he then points out {vv. 33 — 6) that he in whom this is historically ful- filled is Jesus of Nazareth. II The intimate connexion thus shewn to exist between the prophecy just quoted from the Book of the prophet Samuel and the Lord Jesus Christ, is still further estab- lished in the sublime language of the Book of PSALMS, — notably in the Second and the Seventy-second Psalm, which throw very • The best MSS. read, — 'Of the fruit of his loins one should sit on his throne' (that is, in perpetuity). Cnf. 2 Sam. vii. II — 16; PsA. l.wxix. 3, 4; and cxxxii. Ii, t Rather, 'of the Christ,' the long-expected Messiah, as the authors of the Westminster Revision have rendered tov ^kttov in this place. X Not the apostles alone, but multitudes of others besides them — Cnf. i CoR. XV. 6. In the verse next following, the apostle proceeds still further to appeal to the senses of his hearers in respect of the evidences of the resurrection of Jesus in the manifestations of supernatural power v.hich had suddenly come upon the apostles, and which the people who listened to him had witnessed with undisguised amazement. § Or, as it may also be rendered, 'to the right hand,' the pl.ice of favour and dominion (see PsA. ex. i; COL. iii. i; Heb. i. 3, and x. 12), — .is is clearly shewn by His fulfilment of God's promise (Acts i. 4) in respect of the Divine gift the bestowal of which they themselves had seen and were still seeing. 'For David is not ascended, etc.'; on the contrary, he calls Ilini who ascended 'my Lord' — Cnf. Matt. xxii. 42 with PsA. ex. In either case, it is God's power which has exalted Ilim and invested him with authority, and glory, and honor. II Cnf, Acts xiii. 35 — 7. THE SEED OF THE WOMAN. 343 important light upon the prophecy referred to.* And upon the whole, it is evident that that prophecy comprises the following promises — First, a son is promised to David as successor on the throne of Israel, who should moreover build a temple for the worship of God : — Second, through that son a line of descendants who were to possess the throne of Israel conditionally upon their obedience to the Divine law,— with an assurance that even should they violate that condition, and thus forfeit the throne, the family, though subjected to chastisement, should not be utterly rejected, as the family of Saul had hQQxw— Third, that out of that family should arise a glorious King, in whom the kingdom of David should be established for ever.f The question whether the promise made in the garden of Eden respecting the seed of the woman, implied a destructive blow to be inflicted by the human species in general, or by some particular race of Eve's descendants, or by a single champion belonging to that race, was left unanswered at the time the pro- mise was given, i It has hence happened that some writers, while admitting the prophetic character of the promise, under- stand the expression 'seed of the woman' to be equivalent to the entire human race. Hence, Kurtz says,— 'Das ganze Menschen- geshlecht (der Weibessame) soil den Kampf mit dem Urheber der Siinde kampfen und soil ihn kraft des gotlichen Willens sicgrcich Kampfen.' § A similar ambiguity appears to attach to the language of the promise made to Abraham in GEN. xii. 3, where we read, — ' In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.' • Hardwick, Christ and ether Masters, 104. Cnf. Ebrard, Epistle to the He- brews, 39-40 (edn. Edinb. 1853). + Cnf. The Annctated Paragraph Bible (R.T. S. ) in loc. The reader who would follow up still further the teaching cf Scripture regarding the subject, should consult 2 Sam. xxxiii. 3—5; Isa. Iv. 3; Jer. xxxiii. 15, 26; Acts ii. 30, and xiii. 34; Heb. i. 5. + Hardwick, Christ and other Masters, 89. Cnf. RoM. xvi. 20. 5 Kurtz, Geschichtis des Alttn Bttndes, i. 62-3, 344 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. On a subsequent occasion when the promise was repeated to th3 patriarch, the phrase 'in thee' is explained by the expression ^jrin, *in thy seed:' thus, in ch. xxii. i8, we read, — 'And in thy ^^,?^ shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.'* In this expanded form the promise was, as already pointed out,-f- republished in the case of Isaac — Gen. xxvi. 4 — and in that of Jacob — Gen. xxviii. i2>.X The great patriarch himself would probably discover in the language of the promise allusion to a single individual. § The Hebrew word is certainly used in this sense in several places, among which we may note GENESIS iv. 25 and xxi. 13. II The difficulty, however, of uniformly restricting the appli- cation of the term "s-n in this way is more and more apparent as the promise becomes amplified in process of time. Thus, in Gen. xxii. 17, 18 Jehovah says to Abraham, — ' I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies : and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' Similarly, in ch. xxviii. 14, — ' And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth ; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south : and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' From these passages we learn that so far from the word 'seed* being limited to a single individual, it is used also in the widest sense imaginable. On the other hand, it has been argued from the distinction which Paul makes between the singular and the plural in his Epistle to the Galatians (iii. 16),— 'seed' and 'seeds',— and his • Hardwick, Chust attd ether Masters, 89. + Cnf. pp. I90-9'- J For some notes on these passages consult the Annotated Paragraph BibU, in locis. § Hardwick, Christ and other A/asUrs, 90. 11 Cnf. Furst, Hcbnw and Chaldet Lexicon (s. v.), p. 407. PAUL'S POINT OF GRAMMAR. 345 exposition of the 'one seed* as distinctly prophetic of the Mes- siah, that the patriarchs may have been taught by such expres- sions as occur in the passages just cited from GENESIS to look out for an individual Saviour. It is not unlikely that they did by some process or other arrive at such a conclusion. Indeed, the language of Jesus Himself implies as much, where He says, in John viii. 56, — ' Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it, and was glad.' Still, it is all but certain that Paul, in the passage in Galatians, did not mean to rest his inference on the Hebrew equivalent of 'seed.' His meaning rather is that the promise was not given to all the (rmpfiara ('posterities' or 'descendants') of Abraham, — that is, to races descended from him, — but only to the single line of Isaac, — that line of which Christ, the Ktt^aX/j and -n-Xriptv/xa of all the Christian body, was the representative and consummation.* Avoiding, as an inspired writer, such comparative trivialities as the mere technical terms of grammar, he could not express his meaning more simply than by placing in opposition the thing he meant and the thing he did not mean: — 'Not, to thy seeds, but to thy seed.' A plural substantive would have been inconsistent with his intention: the singular noun used collectively, — admit- ting as, according to the usage of Paul elsewhere, it does, an organism regarded as an entirety (i COR. xii. 2) — involves at the same time the idea of unity. Hence, in Rom. iv. 18, he writes, — * That he might become the father of many nations, accord- ing to that which is written, — So shall thy seed be.'X And in ch. ix. 6 — 8, he says again, — * They are not all Israel, which are of Israel ; neither be- cause they are the seed of Abraham are they all children : but — In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the * Hardwick, Christ and other Masters, 89. X So; — that is, 'as the stars of heaven.' Cnf. Gen. xv. 5 and PsA. cxlvii. 4. See AlfcrJ, Greek Testament, in loc. 340 THE CLAIMS OF JSHMAEL. children of God ; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.'* Thus is the question no longer one of mere grammatical pre- cision, but of theological interpretation, as has been pointed out by an eminent divine of the English Episcopal Church.f The question arises, — Is this a legitimate sense to assign to the ex- pression 'the seed of Abraham'? Doubtless the apostle intend- ed by the phrase to designate, in the first instance, the Jewish people, — ^just as by 'the inheritance' was meant the land of Canaan. But in accordance with the analogy of Old-Testament types and symbols, the term 'seed' here involves two subordinate meanings: — First, with atrue spiritual instinct, though the concep- tion embodied itself at times in strangely grotesque and artificial forms, even the rabbinical writers saw that the true seed of Ab- raham was 6 xpiaToq. In Him the race was, as it were, summed up. In Him it fulfilled its purpose, and became a blessing to the whole earth. Without Him the separate existence of the seed of Abraham as 'a peculiar people' was a phenomenon which had no meaning. And thus was He not only the Representative of the race, but also its Embodiment. In this way is the people of Israel the type of Christ; and in the New Testament, paral- lels are sought in the career of the one to the life of the other. Thus, in Matt. ii. 14, 15 we read,— ' When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by niglit, and departed into Egypt ; and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,- Out of Egypt have I called my son,' In this way does the Evangelist apply the words of the prophet Hosca (ch. xi. i) who says, — • la other words, God has not broken His promise; for He chose from the first but -x portion (f the seed of Abraham (which even Muhammadans maintain); and from the two sons of Rebecca He only chose one — see ROM. ix. 10—13. Alford (in his Greek Testament) has some very important notes on this subject. t Lightfoot, F.pistlc to the Galatians, 139. CHRIST 'THE SEED.' 347 * When Israel was a child, tlicn I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.' It is in this same sense that the apostle uses the expression 'seed of Abraham' in the passage we are considering. According, however, to the analogy of the interpretation of the Old Testa- ment in the New, the spiritual takes the place of the natural, — the Israel after the flesh becomes the Israel after the spirit ; the Jewish nation denotes the Christian church. And in this sense. Secondly, this same apostle interprets the expression 'seed of Abraham' in RoM. iv. 18, and ix. 7 (quoted above), and in Gal. iii. 7, when he says, — ' Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.' But as the eminent authority to whom we have referred has pointed out, these two interpretations are not opposed to each other: they are not even independent of each other. Apart from Christ, the people called 'Christians' have no existence: — He is the source of that new and divine life which has made them Christians; and in Him they are one. By this link the apostle at the close of the Chapter connects together the two senses of the term, — dwelling once more on the unity of 'the seed.' Hence, in Gal. iii. 28-9 we find him saying, — z ' Ye are all one in Christ Jesus: and if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.'* Or, as it is paraphrased by the learned commentator already named, — 'Ye are all one man in Christ; and if ye are part of Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed (for He is that seed of Ab- raham to whom the promise was given) and heirs according to promise,' -f- — part of Christ, members of Him, — not merely the property of Christ, or the servants of Christ; but 'members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.' J The argument turns * See Alford, Greek Testament, in loc, and Ellicott, Epistle to the Galatians, in loc. t See, especially, the remarks of Tholuck, Das Alte Testament im Netien Tes- tament, 44 seqq. X Cnf. Eph. v. 30, Compare with this the striking language of Gen. ii. 23. 348 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. on the entire spiritual identification of the Clinstian brotherhood with Christ* The form airepfiaTa is used in this same way by Josephus (^Antiqq. VIII. vii. 6), — itaiq fK /SaaiXiKwv aTrtfi/jLUTiov, 'A child of royal seed.' Paul, again, in another part of his writings, consi- ders 6 x/o'OToc, 'Christ,' to be a term involving mystically the whole spiritual organism, — the Church united with Him.f Thus, in I COR. xii. I2 we read, — * For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body» so also is Christ/ 1 That is to say, the unity or oneness which characterizes and per- vades man's natural body and its members, characterizes also and pervades Christ's spiritual body (the believing church) and its members. § The evidence contributed by the facts which these passages present, shews clearly that the word 'seed,' as far as it bears upon the subject we have been considering, h^s both a limited and a broader application. By means of the 'seed ' of Abraham through the son whom he was commanded to offer up, — by means of the incarnate Benefactor of the human race> — the regeneration of the entire family of man is eventually to take place. As in one re- presentative man, the first Adam, all became dead men, so in one representative man, the second Adam, all \\\\\ be made alive. And thus through the agency of the spiritual progeny of Abra- ham, 'the Father of the Faithful,' blessing extends to all the families of the earth. The last eighteen centuries supply a sufficient commentary on that interpretation of the Abrahamic promise supplied in the writings of the New Testament: — that not by means of any particular race or nation, but by means of * Lightfoot, Epistle i,' the Galatians, pp. 140, \.\'j. t Tholuck, Epistle t,- the Hebrews, ii. 230 seqq. (Appendix to Dissertatioa i.). X Ilardwick, Christ i. ml other Masters, 90. § Cnf. The Annotated raragiaph Bible (R. T, S.) in loc, and Alfurd, Greek Testament, in loc. THE AUTHOR'S APPEAL. 349 the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, of what tribe or nationality soever, the blessing promised to Abraham is destined to reach even to the darkest regions of human life, and to spread light and salvation everywhere, till 'even the wilderness and the soli- tary place shall be glad for them, and the Desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.' Among the many men of culture who acknowledge the Is- lamic faith, there surely are some who are prepared to approach the study of this subject in a spirit of impartial investigation, and to give to their fellow-travellers on the voyage of life the benefit of the light which convinces and satisfies themselves. We have frankly stated the grounds of our own conviction in regard to the point which we have had under consideration : most thankful should we be if any persons of the description mentioned would fully and frankly state theirs. But we crave permission to utter a word of caution as to the method of argument. The arguments usually put forward by the apologists of Islam are, generally speaking, wide of the mark. They involuntarily recall the traditional anecdote of the student who wrote on his examination-paper that though he was unable to answer any of the questions given by the examiner in relation to the subject, yet there were a great number of ot/iey questions which he could have answered if they had been put. To reply to the arguments we have put forward by shewing how great an improvement Islam is upon the ancient Arabian idolatry amidst which it took its rise, is clearly not the form of argument which in the present instance is calculated to carry conviction to a care- ful mind ; and the same must be said concerning what is so often pleaded, — that Islam has performed a noble mission. All this is, as every one can perceive, beside the mark. What is rather needed is that the effect of what has been here put forward should be neutralized by facts and arguments advanced by those who maintain the dogma against which we have been contending. 350 THE CLAIMS OF JSHMAEL. The entire Muliammadan world, no less than the Jewish and Christian, believe the Book of GENESIS to be, with perhaps the single exception of the Book of Job, the oldest piece of literary composition which the human race possesses; and indeed the most ancient piece of alphabetical writing of which anything is known.* Muslims readily avail themselves of the Biblical records when they happen to tell in favour of their views ; — why do they discard them when they tell the other way? If the extreme antiquity and high authority of the Mosaic writings be regarded as lending to the argument an effect which is ultimate and deci- sive in the one case, why not also in the other? Our object has been to deal in a spirit of the most rigid impartiality with the materials thus at our disposal ; and as far as we are conscious we have kept honestly to this rule. Not permitting mere Tra- dition to influence our judgment, — whether Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, — we have taken, as our text-books, those Records only which Jews, Christians, and Muslims respectively are pretty generally agreed in regarding as their standards of appeal. We need hardly observe that we could not accept in evidence in re- lation to a matter so important as this the unauthoritative and conflicting materials of the uninspired records of either of the systems which have as their bases the Taurat, the Injil, and the Qur an. Thankful indeed should we be to know the steps by which thoughtful and earnest-minded men of the Islamic faith have arrived at a conclusion the reverse of our own by working with the same materials, or with other materials drawn from the same sources. We crave but one thing from the followers of Muhammad, when will they grant it? Let them lay aside the prejudice and and bitterness so uniformly begotten of their Creed, and deal * Wclsford, Mithridates Minor, p. I (edit. Lond. 1848); Smith, Dictionary of the Bible (i. 669) Art. GENESIS. HELPFUL AND UNHELPFUL CHARITY. 351 manfully with the facts here submitted to their notice. Let them eschew the authority of those European writers who make light of Christianity but do not embrace Islam. Let them not sup- pose that every European who writes on religious subjects is a believer in Christ and an authority as to the verities of Chris- tianity ; but remember that there are unnumbered millions of per- sons in European countries who would be as astonished and as disgusted as they themselves would be, if they were taken for 'Christians.' Let them beware of those who speak with patron- izing pity of the hard measure which the advocates of Christ deal out to the adherents of Islam ; and remember that such men are the enemies not of Christianity alone, but of revelation per se, — of all revelation whatsoever ; and that consequently IsUm is in their esteem as little entitled to human credence as Christianity is, — that both are alike impostures.* We do not expect to escape the animadversions of those who are ever ready, when they see that the followers of Jesus have the stronger side in an argument, to call upon them to be ' charitable.' But it is not always borne in mind by those who do so, that it is Muhammad himself who challenges us to investi- gate his claims, and to judge of them by such phenomena as he himself put forward. Those who accept the challenge are as- suredly not wisely designated uninvited or self-constituted critics. And what can we do but accept his own standard, — the standard by which he himself asks that his pretensions be estimated ? It is only too evident from the facts that have been handed down by Muslims themselves, that The Prophet was less concerned about the redemption of mankind from sin than about the ad- mission of his own pretensions. If this is not so, then language has no meaning and no function, and to judge of any man what- soever by historical data, and even by the admissions of his own admirers, must be useless and even wicked. And as to what it * Prideaux, Life of Mahomet ^ 97, 98. 352 THE CLAIMS OF ISHMAEL. has become the fashion to call 'unchantablcncss,' it finds in Muhammad its most distinguished specimen. No language was sufficiently bitter or sufficiently condemnatory by which he might shew the violence of his hatred of all who disagreed with his religious views, — of those whom he classed under the general name of ' Idolaters,' but especially of Christians and Jews. With such an example before the Muslim as the highest of which he has any knowledge, we are not insensible of what are to him the difficulties of the situation. To ask him to enter upon the study with his mind free from bias, would clearly be to ask what is impossible and absurd ; for if he is not possessed of a foregone conclusion he is not an ad- herent of religion of any sort. But we ask him to enter upon the study in a peace-loving temper. And we, on our part, look to the One only God, — the Instructor of the patriarchs and the Proprietor of truth, — and ask that our words, as far as they are right, may be vitalized by His Holy Spirit, that the truth in its simplicity may assert its right in the conscience of Muslims, and that all religious darkness — theirs and ours — with its con- comitant miseries, may come to a speedy and final end. THE END. [The Second Chapter of Section i. of Stupies in Islam will be devoted to the investigation of the Muslim interpretation of the Doctrine of The Paraclete.] INDEX I. PASSAGES FROM THE QUR'aN CITEU OR REFERRED TO. Page. Page. Sdra ii (Baqr) . . . 46, ... 50 Sdra xix (Mariam) 55, ■ 7,321 124, ••• 337 72, . .. 48 127, ... 48 Sfira xxi (Anbiya) 85-6, .. 7 130-33. ... 56 S6ra xxii (Hajj) ... 27, .. 83 133, ... 12 79, ■ .. 56 136, 13-321 Sura xxviii (Qasas) 52, .. 45 140, ... 13 Sura xxix (Anqabut) 26, .14,48 SGra iii (Al'i-'Imran) 38, . .. 48 66, ... 56 Suraxxvvii(SAFFAT) 97-113, ... 6 67, ... 338 98-9, . .. 325 no, ... 54 99, 10,11,12 Sura V (Maida) ... 4, ... 27 lOI, . 12 72, ... 47 106-8, 9 Sura vii (A'raf) ... 140, ... 54 112, . ..10,11 Sura xi (Hud) ... 71-4, ...324-5 197, •• 333 Sura xii (Yusuf)... 84, ... 48 SGra xxxvii (Swad) 45, ... 14 III, ... 46 Sura xcviii (Bayyina) Sfira xiv (Ibrahim) 40, ... 66 ... 1-2, ... 34 Sura XV (Hajr) ... 51-6, ... 334 INDEX IL PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE CITED OR REFERRED TO. PASSAGES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. Page. Page. Genesis. Gen ESIS. ii. 23» • • • 347 xvi. 6, ... 197 iii. 15. • • • 333 7-10, ... 84 iv. 4,5, • * • 199 7-14, ... 93 25, • • t 344 10-ii, • • • 134 X. 21-30, • • • 72 12, • • * 143, 152,197 25. • • • 1 1 1 18, • <• 197 30, ■ • • III 21,24, • • • 85 xi. 18, • • • III xvii. 5-6, « • a 319 26,28,3 I, 83 15-16 ... 319 xii. 1-6, • *• 83 16, • * « 186 3, • • • 343 i7i ... 186 7, WW 340 18, • • • 180, 182,187 xiii. 12-13, ... 84 19-21, ... 186 14-18, ... 85 20, • • ■ 179, 181,197 xiv. 6. • •• 73 21, ... 192 XV. 2,3l • • 195 xviii. 17,18, • * • 190 5> ... 345 XX. I, • . • 85,92 1, ... 83 xxi. «*• 64 8-18, ... 196 8, • • • 328 9,10, • • • 202 9»io» • • • 89 13. • • • 98,330 9-12, • •• 192 13.M • «• 318 ", ... 67,331.336 xvi. 1-15 . • • 62 »3, • a • 197 3, • • * 329 14-18, • . • 96 4-6, • • • 196 14 19, • ■ • 89,94 4-7, f f 89 14-31, • • • 95 INDEX II. ill Page. Page. Genesis. Exodus. Xxi. 21, 72,73 iii. I, • . • 80 3^-3y • t • 85 2-14, ... 63 xxit. 1-18, 326-7 xii. 40, • • • 330 2, • « • 326 xxiii. 20,21, • • • 63 5. • *4 98,335 XXX. 20, ... 64 6, • V* 328 1, • • • 328 Numbers. 7.8, i3' 333 X. 12, ... 73 344 xii. I, • •• 80 15,16, •' • • 63 1 6. «t'« 73 15-18, • • « 326 xiii. 3,26, • •• 73 17,18, • • • 344 ig, ... 190 :330»344 Deuteronomy. 19. 85 i. I, • • • 73 86 x*xiii. 2, • •' • 68,73 xxiii. 2,ig, • • .■ XXV. 5,6, • • • 194 6,18, 138 J UDGES. 9.io» • • • 86 V. 1-5, ... 78 9,18, • • • 67 12-16, • • • i8i I Samuel. 14,18, ... 21 xxvi. 1,2, • • • 73 18, . . > 92 xxvi. T-5, . . • 190 2 Samuel. 4» • ■ « 344 vii. 11-16, 340,342 xxvii. 37. • •• 119 i4» 1 • • • 341 xxviii. i3^5» • • • 191 xxxiii. 3-5, ... 343 i4» • • • 344 18, . . . 344 I Kings. XXX. 3, • • • 19s ii. 10, ... 341 xxxiv. 1 9, • • • 98 iv. 30, • • • 139 xxxvii. 2, 98 xi. 18, ... 73 xli. 12, • • • 98 xix. 5, •fl» 97 xliii. 8, ... 98 xlvii. 54. 340 IV INDEX II. 2 Kings. XI. I, xix. 2 2, xxiii. lo, I Chronicles, i. 29-31, Nehemiah. iii. 16, Job. 1. i5» ... V. 4. • • • xi. 12, • • xxiv. 4,5, ... xxxix. 5, « • • 5-8, • » • PSA LMS Ixviii. 7,8,1 7,18, Ixxxix. 3,4, ... civ. II, a • • ex. ... I, • •• cxxvii. 5, ... cxxxii. II, cxlvii. 4, • • • Isaiah. xxxii. 14, xliv. 20, Iv. 3, Page. 340 138 I S3 181 341 146 327 143,144 155 142,143 153 78 342 143 342 342 327 342 345 155 100 343 Jeremiah ii. 23,24, 34, xiv. 6, xxxiii. 15.26, xxiv. 18,19, xlix. 7, 28, Page. EZEKIEL xxi, 21-3, V. 21. Daniel, Hose A. VUl. 9, xi. 1, Habakkuk iii. 3, ••• 3,4» 3-7, Malachi. i. 2,3, ii. 15, ECCLUSIASTIC xiii. 19, 153 149 143 343 202 139 139 26 M3 155 346 70 78 80 199 196 155 INDEX IE. PASSAGES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. Page. Page. Matthew. r Corinthians. 11. 14,15. • • • 346 xii. 12, 345-348 XX ii. 42, Mark. 342 XV. 6, Galatians. 342 V. 23, • •• 99 iii. 7. 347 39-42, • • • John. 99 8, 9>- 15. 336 337 330 I. 13; ... 337 15,18, 330 18, ... 64 16, 328,344 viii. 56,. ... 202,336,345 28-9, 347 29. 330,337 Acts. 30, 193 i. 4i ... 342 iv. 23, 337 ii. 29-33; 30. ••^ 341 342,343 24, 200 32-6,. ... 342 Ephesians. vii. 2-4. 6, .... 84. 330 V. 30, 347 xiii. 34, • . • 343 COLOSSIANS; 35-7i. ... 342 iii. I, 342 Romans. IV. 17-21, 18, 19-22,. ilx. 6-8^ 7. 7,8, 9. 10-13. 13. xvi. 20, 91 ••. 187,345,347 187 345 347 336- 337 346 199 343 I Timothy:. i. 16, HlEBREWS. 1. r-3. 3. 5. X. 12, xi. 8-10, It, 12^ 13-16, 64 64 342 343 342 330 91 330 VI INDEX II. H EBREWS. Page. 2 Peter. P'^ge. xi. 15-18, ... 326 !• 3. • • • 186 i7-i9» • • • 33.4 19, • •# 326 I John. 11. ai, James. 335 IV. 12, 199 INDEX III. INDEX OF GENERAL SUBJECTS. The names of Authors signify either that the full title of tljeir works and the number of the edition quoted from are given in the places indicated, or that some important opinion of theirs is there cited. The former of these two classes of refer- ences indicate also the first occasion of an Author being quoted. AbdoUatif, 234. Abdu'1-lah (father of Muhammad), 14, 28, 29, 31. Abdu'l-Muttalib, 15, 28. 29, 36. Abel's ram, 31, 333. Abraham, an image of, 26; his vis- its to Makka, 60-j ; the topo- graphical history of, 837; his descendants, 103, 106, 197; his laughter, 186-7, 324 ; his change of name, 319-20; mistakes of the Qur'an regarding him, 324, 328; mere relationship to him of no spiritual avail, 337-9. Abrakhia, Secretary of the prophet Jeremiah, 116. [267. Abrogation, the Muslim dogma of. Abu'l-Faragius, 232 seqq. Abu'1-Fida, 18, 20, 25, 88. Abu-Talib, foster-uncle of AJuham- mad, 35. Abfl-Tuman, the Arabian poet, 224. Abyssinia, emigration of pre-lslam- ite Arabs to, 38. Adamic covenant, the, 333. 'Adnan, remotest known ancestor of Muhammad, 107 seqq. Adultery, proof of, in Islamic law, 383. .(^lius Gallus, 162. Ahadis, Al, what, 14. Ahli Badu, the, who, 15^, Ahli Hadr, the, who, ib. Ahmad, who, 70-1. INDEX III. VII Ahmed; see 'Syed Ahmed.' AiKMAN, Wm. Robertson, 217. Albordi, 81. Alexander the Great, 141, i6r. Alexander the Maccabee, 163. Alexander Polyhistor, 166. Alexandrian Library, 205, 230. Al Fasi, historian of Makka, 17. Algebra, the Arabs and, 225. Ali Bey, assumed name of Badia the Spaniard, traveller in Ara- bia, 77. Ali, cousin of Muhammad, 19. Ali, Mrs. Meer Hassan, i. Ali; see 'Syed Ameer Ali.' Al-Khalasa, the idol, 17, 23. Alley, the Rev. Jerome, 225. Alphabet, the Deaf-and-Dumb,204. Amina, mother of Muhammad, Ammianus Marcellinus, 174, 233. Amr bin Luhai, 16. A Aniru ibn al 'As, 230. Ana ibti Zablhain, one of the many epithets of Muhammad, 14. 'Angel of the Lord,' who, 63. Anti-Christ, the spirit of, 177. 'Arab' (the term), limits of signifi- cation, 157. Arabia, its place in Literature, 245; hope for, 241; and modern Christian missions, 208. Arabian women, before and after Islam, 274 seqq. Arabian Half-castes, loi, 105. Arabians, attainments of the, 243. Arabic Numerals, the, 224. Arabs, intellectual characteristics of the, 222; the, before Ishmael, 157; credulity of the, 177; the, and Astronomy, 224; the, of Town and Desert distinguished, 275; their conversion to Islam, 'Arabu'l-'Araba, the, who, 157. 'Arafat, mount, 2. Arnold (John Muehleisen), 35 135-6, 139-40, 175- Arnold (Thomas Kerchever), 309, Arrianus, 161. Arrows, divination by, 27. Art and Islam, 225. Ass, the Wild, 141 seqq. Assyrians, 175. Astronomy, the Arabs and, 224. Auf, ivhat and who, 72. Augustus Caesar, 162. Aulius Gellius, 233. Averrhoes, 224. Awf = Auf, q. V. Azlafu, what, 22, 24. Azraki, 17. Az-Zabih, what, 2, Ba'al, the idol, 25, Babylonians, 175. Badawai, 157. Badawin, 156. Badawis, 131 seqq., 157 seqq.; their chivalry, 275. Baizawi, the Muslim commentator, 8. VIII INDEX III. Balqa, i8. Barrenness of Arabia in respect of intellect, 239-40. Baruch = Abrakhia, q. v. Beauty, the Muhammadan estimate of, 288. Bedawin, 156. Bedouins, 157. Beersheba, 85. Begum, the, of Bhupal, 254, 298. Bel, the idol /3»?X (Bel), 25. Berington, quoted, 243. Bhopal, Bhupal; see s. v. * Begum.' Bidawan, 157. Bishops, the English, and Slavery, 295- Black Stone, The, of the Ka'ba, 21, 212. Blessing, The, nature of, 203, 303, 314-15- BocHART, the learned, 142, 144. Boheyrah = Buhaira, q. v. Bonamy, 235. Borac = Buraq, q. v. Bostra, 35. Bottle of water, Hagar's, 97. Buhaira, the monk, 35. Buraq, the Pegasus of the Arabs, 62. BuRCKHARDT, Johanu Ludwig, \\\?,Travcls in Arabia, 9, 1 67, 1 73, 1 74 ; Bedouins and Wahabys, 29 \ AraMc Proverbs, wi; Syria, 79; and Muhammad 'Ali, 30S, Burton, Richard Francis, ai, 27, 105, i73> 174. Cahtan = Qahtan, q. v. Caliphs = Khalifas, q. v. Cambyses, loi. Canals between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, 205. Caravans, the, of Al-Hajj, 183. Carlyle, Thomas, 127, 211. Caucasian, Muhammad believed to be a, 107. 'Castles' in Arabia, what, 182. Charles the Twelfth, 288. Chinese and Hindis, analogy be- tween the, 175. Christ a Muhammadan, 57, 68, 69, 71; His resurrection, 342; his representative character, 346. Christianity foretold, 69 ; and Ca- tholicism, not identical, 264. Christian Remembrancer,T\\&, 163. Christian Slave-girls in Islam, 285. Circassian wives, 288. Circumcision, 88, 96 ; and the Qur'an, 332. CiviHzation,Muhammadanism and, 301, 314, 316-17. Colebrooke, quoted, 225. Concubinage, in Islam, 255 ; and Slavery identical, 299. Concubines, Muslim, 284. Consanguinity, uselessnessof mere, 337-9- Conversion to Islam, what, 303, 3 1 3. Coran = Qur'an, q. v. Coseida = Qasida, q. v. Cossai = Qussai, g. v. Courtship, in Islam, unknown, 261. INDEX III. IX Covenant-making, God's, 201-2. Covenants, the Two, 200-3. Credulity, the, of tlie Arabs, 177. Crichton, Andrew, 19. Cussai = Qussai, q. v. Cybele, what^ 81. Cyrus, the expedition of, 152. * Dakka,' in Arabia, ivhat, 302. Dante, the persecution of, 315. Daughter's Price, the, 251. David, the plundering of his sepul- chre, 341, Davies, Dr. Benjamin, quoted, 144. Dead, The, prayers for, 337-8. Death, the Figure of, 335. Decay of Islam, 178. De Percival, a. p. Caussin, 17, 20, 27, 42, i20. De Sacy, Baron, quoted, 235. Descent, patriarchal, value of, 106. Deutsch, Emanuel, 35, 43, 69, 1 78. D'Israeli, the Elder, 238. Divination by arrows, 27. Divorce in Islam, facility of. 253 ; the triple, 273; odiousness of the triple, 272 ; at Makka, 254; and polygamy, 249, of husbands by their wives, 254, 271, 273; the sentence of, 249. * Divorcer,' The, an epithet of Mu- hammad's grandson Hasan, 249. DoDS, Marcus, 177. Dollinger, 88. Dowry, the, of Muslim divorcees, what, 250, 271. Dozv, quoted, 43. Drake, William, 142. Druzes, the, what they have bor- rowed from Islam, 273. Dschiketai, the, lohat, 150. * East, The,' definition of, 136-41, Education, Islam and, 218-19. Egyptians, the, deterioration of, 175. Egypto-Arab, the, who, 10 1. Emessa, 162. Enfield, William, 233. England and the slave-trade, 295. 'Enquirers,' The Four, 36 seqq. Euphrates, the, one of the limits of Arabia, loi. EusEBius, quoted, 166. Eutychius and the Alexandrian Library, 233. Fahr the Quraishite, 107-8. Faith not national nor hereditary, 307- Fara\ the Wild Ass, 145. Fasi, Al; see 'Al-Fasi.' Fatalism the secret of Muslim inur- banity, 178, and of Muslim de- cay, 300-2. Fatima, the sons of, 339. Fetish-worshippers, conversion of, to Islam, 203. FoRSTER, Charles, his Historical Geography of Arabia, 95 ; Maho- metanism Unveiled, 88; 6B>, in, i35> 1S3, 200-1; against Gibbon, ia6. INDEX III. Four Treatises, The, 124. Freeman, Edward A., 69, 70, 243. Fresnel, Augustin Jean,hisopinion of Muljammadan tradition, 105. Gabriel in Isldm, 60, 77. Galileo, persecution of, 306, 315. Gazal, the, its relation to the Qa- sida, 40. Genesis, antiquity of the Book of, 35°- Genealogy of Arabian traditionists fictitious, 109. Geography, the, of Muhammadans, 75- Gesenius, Guilielmus, 142, 144. GiBEON, Edward, 15, 57, ii3> 124, 211, 213, 219 ; on the Alexan- drian Library, 231. Girls in Islam, 285 ; sale of, in Makka at pilgrimage-time, 298. 'Good Faith' of the Badawis, 185. Good, John Mason, 142, 143. Graves, Richard, 303. Greeks, the Ancient, divination among, 26 ; decadence of the, 175- Green, Samuel, 103. Hadad, an alternative form of 'Hadar,' 181. Hadesi, the, tuho, 157. Hagar, 6, 9 ; her flight, 63 ; her dismissal, 65 ; her several re- movals, 89; the localities of her sojournings, 91 ; and Ishmael, 76 ; miscellaneous references to her, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67, 81, 87-95, 97-100, 102. Hagarenes, the tribe of the, 166, Hajj Caravans, the, 182. Half-caste tribes of Arabia, loi, 105. Hamasa, The, tvhat, 224. Hamilton, Sir William, 231. Hanif sect, the, ivhat, 38. Happy marriages in Islam, 262. Hara = Hira, q. v. Hardwick, Charles, 88. Harith, son of Abdu'l-Muttalib, 15. HaqqiCl-bitit, the, what, 251. Hasan's divorces, 249, 339. Hebrews, the, their analogy to the Ishmaelites, 175-6. Hemionos, the, of Aristotle, 149. Herklots, G. A., I. Herodotus, quoted 25. Hiddya, The, quoted, 249. HiGGiNS, Godfrey, 297. Himar, the, mhat, 145. Hims, 162. Himyar, the territory of, 72. Hindfis, Rluhammadans and, com- pared, 175, 221, 311. Hira, mount, 77, 41. History, manufactured, 87. Homs, 162. Horace, quoted, 225. Hubal, the idol, 16 seqq. Human sacrifices, 15. Humboldt, Baron von, quoted, 256. Hums, 162. INDEX III. XI Hyde on Circumcision, 88. Hyt, in Mesopotamia, the supposed home of Hubal, 17, 25. Ibni IshSq, quoted, 41. Ibiii Jsmd'tl, * a Son of Ishmael,' an epithet of Muhammad, i. Idols in the Ka'ba, 210. Ignorance of Muhammadans, 221. ImamSj The Twelve, 179, 181. Indomitability of Ishmael's descend- ants, 175-6, 184. Indus, one of the geographical li- mits of the Arabs, 164. Infanticide, female, in Arabia, 39, 278-9. Injil, the, 7uhai, 47, 77, 340, 350. Inquirers ; see ' Enquirers.' Inspiration, Muhammadan and Jewish' ideas of, 323-4. Irving, Washington, 20. Isaac, whether 'the Child of Pro- mise,' I, 8-13; his claims not opposed by the Qur'^n, 48-52 ; his descendants, 46, 48, 50, 59, 60, 104, 175-6; the heirship of, 194-5 ; prophecies concern- ing, 186; twofold aspect of the projected sacrifice of him, 333 ; his typical character, 333-6. Ishmael, epithets of, 2 ; views of Muhammadans as to whether he was ' the Child of Promise,' I, 46; different views of Mu- hammadans concerning the sa- crifice of, 2 seqq.; traditions con- cerning, 6 ; Qur'anic references to, 8-15, 49, 325; opinions re- garding the birthplace of, 9, 61; the character of, 12; and Mu- hammad, 29 ; logical effect of the Islamic dogma concerning, 48; the descendants of, 49-52; a typical character, 59 ; as to his reputed connexion with Makka and the Ka'ba, 61, 66-8, 71, 82, 102 ; his topographical his- tory, 67 ; Sarah's annoyance at, 89-90; the age of, 92, 95-100 ; the twelve sons of, loi; his de- scendants, 104, 332; the descent of Muhammad from, never yet proved, 103; prophecies con- cerning, 137-9; believed to have been a prophet, 185, 321-3; his final exclusion from the house- hold of Abraham, 193-4. Islam, the word, 40; foietold, 69; independence of, 130; the de- cay of, 1 78; its attitude in re- gard to war, 205 ; races under its rule, ib. ; different classes of writers on, 207; spread of, 215; and science, 224; and as- tronomy, 225; its attitude to- wards other religions, 247 ; and marriage, 248 ; its elements of greatness, 280; as a social and as a religious system, ib.; for whom suited, 304; as a conqueror, ib.; its fatal inadequacy, 309. Israelites; see 'IsaaCjdescendants of.' XII INDEX III. Isthmus of Suez, Hagar at the, 8i ; canals at the, 205. Istikhdra, the, xvhat, zj. Jabal 'Arafat, 2 ; Hira (or NCr), 41, 77; Marwa, 28; Safa, 28. Jacob, allusion to, in the Qur'an, 9. 49- Jallalu'd-Duijthe Muslim commen- tator, opinions of, 34. Jariya, the, what, 293, 302. Jehoshaphat and the Arabs, 261. Jennings, David, 89. Jeremiah, the Secretary of, 117. Jerome, a paraphrase of his, 27. Jews, Muslim aspersions on the, 31 seqq.; character of the, 175-6; the, of Khaibar, 217; attitude of the, towards Islam, ib. Jiggetai = Dschiketai, q. v. Job, antiquity of the Book of, 3 so, Joctan = Yuqlan, q. v. Joctanide Arabs, the, 156. John the grammarian, 231. Joktan = Yuqtan, g. v. Jones, Sir William, 225. Joramites = Jurhumites, q. v. Judaism, typified by Sinai, 69 ; and Islam compared, 177. Julius Ccesar and the Alexandrian Library, 233. Jupiter, the, of the Arabs, 25. Jurhumites of the Hijaz, 60 ; Ish- mael marries among them, 61 ; an idolatrous race, 194. Ka'ba, the Shrine of Makka and Head-Quarters of The Faith, 2, 5, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 61, 66, 100, 102, 106. Kaiima,\.\\Q,what, 57, 126-7, 221. Kalisch, Dr. M. M., 63, 94, 141. Keith, Alexander, 135. Kenrick, John, 88. Keshab Chandra Sen, 258. Kelurah, mother of soiwe of the descendants of Abraham, 103,. 104, 106, 194. Khadaiia) ^^, ... T'u A- HKhudaija, q.v. Khadija J Khalasa, an idol of tiie pre-Islamite Arabs, 17, 23. Khalifas, the Vandalism of the, 239. Khdtimiin-Nabi, the, ui/iat, 35. Khattab, a persecutor of Zaid the Enq^iiirer, 40. Kh'ira, the, what, 27. Khudaija, first wife of Muhammad,. 36, 37- Koran, Kuran = Qur'an, q. v. Lake, John Josei)h, 210. Lane, Edward William, his Selec- tions, from the Kur- an, 14, 1 89,. 204; Arabic Lexicon, 23; Modern Egyptians^ 96, 211. Langhorne, Translator of Plu- tarch's Lives, 211. Laughter of Abraham, i86, 324 ; of Sarah, 187. Layard, his opinion regarding the Wild Ass, 152. INDEX III, XIII Lebanon, mount ; concerning ihe religious associations of moun- tains, 8 1. Lecky, W. E. H., 225. Lee, Dr. Samuel, 70, 71, 316. Lenormant, Frangois, 26. Leupolt, C. B., 20S, 209. Liberty of Arabian women in pre- Islamite times, 277. Literature, Islam and, 223; Ara- bia's place in, 245. Light, the Prophetic, 35, 322. LowTH, Robert, 71. Lying, whether sanctioned by Mu- hammad, 4. Maadd = Ma'dd, q. v. Macbride, J. D., 21, Macrisi, on the burning of the Al- exandrian Library, 234. Madagascar, one of the geographi- cal limits of the Arabs, 164. Ma'dd, who, 118 seqq. Madina Siiras of the Qur'an, the, 50. 54- Mahammad ) Mahomet > = Muhammad, q. v. Mahommed j Mahmud, one of the names of Muhammad, 70. Maimonides, and Arabian learn- ing, 244. • Makka,' the word, whether found in Scripture or not, 10 1. Malik, as an epithet of Amr bin Luliai, 17. Marcellinus ; See 'Ammianus.' Manage de co7ivenance, 261. Mariam Qubti = Mary the Qopt, q.v. Marriage, in Islam, 247 ; sacred- ness of, not understood under Qur'anic law, 259 ; in pre-Islam- ic Arabia, 277. Martyn, Henry, his 'Controversy' with the Persian Maulvi, 34, 68, 75, 208, 209. Marwa, Jabal, 28. Mary the Qopt, 280. Masa'udi, traditions of, 102. Massa, the, of Scripture, is the same as Makka, loi. Ma'sum, application of the word, 341- Mecca = Makka, q. v. Mehemet = Muhammad, q. v. Mekkeh = Makka, q. v. Melo, on the descendants of Ish- mael, 166. Mesopotamia, home of the idol Hubal, 18, 26 ; visited by the ' Enquirer ' Zaid in search of 'the Religion of Abraham,' 41. MetamorpJioses, the, of Ovid, its bulk, 238. Mills, Charles, 88 ; his opinion as to the destruction of the Alexandrian Library, 234. Milton on Divorce, 269. Mina, the Valley of, 2, 9,31. Miracles limited to the Seed of Isaac, 50. Missions, The Three, 69 ; Arabia XIV INDEX III. and modern Christian missions, 20S. Mistake, the, of Muhammad, 305. Moad = Ma'dd, q. v. MoHLER, anent sacred mountains, 81. Moid= Ma'dd, q. v. Monogamy, as practised in Islam, 248—57. Monotheism, among the pre-Islamite Arabs, 34, 45^ 3i3; inadequacy of Islamic, 313-14- Moon.Muhammadans and the new, 225. Moors, the, their quarrel with Spain, 216. Morgan, Joseph, 113. Moriah, among religious mountains, 81. MoRREN, his Translation of Rosen- miiller, 82. Mosaism not intended to be per- manent, 267. Mosambique, one of the geographi- cal limits of the Arabs, 164. Moses, the Mission of, 68-71. Mostahel, a, what, 273. Most-Araba= Must-'Araba, q. v. Mothers, their position in Islam, 289. Mountains (in religion), 81. Muad = Ma'dd, q. v. Muhadzir, the idol, 17. Muhammad, epithets of, 1,29; birth of, watched for by Jews and Christians, 33 seqq.; his descent from Ishmael never yet proved, 103; believed to be a pure Caucasian, 107; his wives, 258-9 ; not opposed to Slavery, 302; his fatal mistake, 305; his policy respecting concubinage, 268 ; inability to read and write, 49; foretold, 63, 68-71. Muhammad 'Ali, conqueror of the Wahhabis, 308. Muhammadism, before Muham- mad, 45, 312; social aspects of, 247; and Rome-ism compared, 177, 315-16; spread of, 215; its fatal inadequacy, 311. MuiR, Sir William, his Life of Mahomet, 4 ; Testimony of the Scriptures, 46; Caliphate, 206; Rise and Decay, 252; his opi- nions quoted, 4, 19, in. MuLLER, John von, 88. Mungo Park, anent theAfricans, 203 . Music, the attitude of Islam re- garding music, 226. Muslim, the true, a picture of, 178; traditions, value of, in the pre- sent enquiry, 183. Must-'Araba, the, who, 100, loi, 105, 106. Mustariba "| Mut-'Araba, > = Must-'Araba, q. v. Nabi as distinguished from RasQl, 324- Nabit, designation in Arabic of one of the tribes of the Ishmaelites, i8i, 133- INDEX III. XV Nahik, the idol, 17. Nasara\ \\\t^who, 69. Nazarene, Nazareth, Nazarite, Nazr, 69. Names, changing of the, of Abra- ham and Sarah, 319-20, Nebaioth) , ,^^,. , ,, , . , Vconsult ' Nabit.' NebajothJ Nebuchadnezzar, his invasion of the Hijaz, 118, Nemesis, the, of Islam, 53, 305. Newman, John Henry, 223, 305. Newton, Thomas, 67. NiEBUHR, Karsten, 79, 171, 173, 174. NoLDEKE, Theodor, 43. Numerals, the Arabic, 224. Niiru'n-Nabi, the, what, 35. Oath, The, of God, 329. Obeyd = Ubaid, q. v. Oelsner, quoted, 243. Olympus, among religious moun- tains, 81. Omar = 'Umar, q. v. 0mm = Umm, q. v. Onager, account of the, 147. One-sidedness of the Islamic law of marriage, 262. Origen, quoted anent Circumci- sion, 88. Orosius on the Alexandrian Li- brary, 233. OsBORN, Robert Durie, 17, 178, 226. Osman ) ,_. , ^ >- Uthman, q. v. Othman J ^ Ovid's Metamorphoses, 238. I Palgrave, William Gifford, 67, 105. 167, 173, 175, 178. Pallas, Dr., on the AVild Ass, 149. Palma, Cornelius, and the bounds of Arabia, 162. Palmer, the late Prof, 171. Palmyra, in Arabia, 117. Papacy, the, 216. Paraclete, the, Muslim dogma an- ent, 70. Paragraph Bible, The Annotated^ 62. Paran, the identification of, 69-82. Park; See ' Mungo Park.' Peleg, brother of Yuqtan, in. Pennant, on the Wild Ass, 149. Persians, the Ancient, 175. Philoponus the Alexandrian, 231. Phoenicians, the, disappearance of, 175- Phylarchs, the, of Strabo, who, 166. Pitts, Joseph, 225. Pliny, anent the Saracens, 164. Plutarch on Solon, 211. PococK, Edward, 18, 25. Poetry, the, of the pre-Islamite Arabs, 274. Polygamy in Islam, 248-300. Pompey, his Arabian conquests, r 62. Popery and Christianity not identi- cal, 264. Power, George, 163. Prayers for the Dead, 337-8. Preston, Theodore, 13G. XVI INDEX III. Priaulx, Osmond ile Beauvoir.Sg. Price (Major David) 3. Prideaux, tluniphrey, 35. Primogeniture, tlie law of, 199, 329. Piornise, the heirs of the, who, 336. Prophet, Miihammadan and Jewish ideas of, 324-341. Protection of Women in Islam, 261. Ptolemy, his opinion as to the lo- cality of Paran, 71. Pyramids, the, 171, 205, 329. Qah'an and his descendants in Arabia, 5, 72, 105, 110-12. Qasitla, a, tuhat, 40. Qidah, the, what, 22, 24. Qiyamat, the, what, 213. Qoss, pre-Islamite preacher of Al- Tauhid, 312. Quraish, the Bani, their earliest known progenitor, 107-8; and education, 219. Qur'an, the, corroborates The Bible, 47; as an educator, 220; its fatal inadequacy, 291. Qussai, tlic successful adventurer in the Hijaz, 19. Ra'la, the Jurhumite wife of Ish- mael, 61. Ram, the, offered instead of Isaac, 333-4- Ransom, the Noble, 12>t^. Rasul as distinguished Nabi, 324. Rawlinson on Hubal, 25. Rehatsek, his Prize Essay, 205. Reinaud, quoted, 21. Reland, Adrian, 71. Relationship to Abraham, value of, 100. Renan, Ernest, 38, 246. Richardson, Francis Johnson's Edition of, 23. Robinson, Thomas, 65. Rodwell, J. M., 38. ROLLIN, M., 230. Romanism and Christianity not identical, 306, 315; and Islam, 316. Romans, did not conquer the Arabs, 162; Ancientand Modern, 175- RosENMULLRR, quoted anent the topographical history of Hagar, 82, 91. Russell, concerning Circumcision 88. Ruh, Muhammadans are believers in, 213. 'Sacrifices,' * the Son of Two,' an epithet of Muhammad, 14, 29; human sacrifices in Arabia, 15. Sadaq= Sidaq, q. v. Safa, Jabal, 28. Sahibu'l-Azlam) , Sahibu l-Qidah J Sale, George, i; on Arabian divi- nation, 22. Savipsikeravius^ derivation of the name, 162. Saracens, their origin, 160; deriva- INDEX III. XVII tion of their name, 1 60, 1 64; their conquest of Spain, 215; learning among the, 223. Sarah, her burial-place, 86; whether she ever visited Makka, 87; her quarrels with Hagar, 87 seqq.; her laughter, 187; her inspira- tion, 193; was God's instrument, id.; change of her name, 319. Savonarola, the persecution of, 315. Savyid Ahmad Khan Bahadur, Maulvi the Honourable Mr. i, 3. ^9, 44, 72-4, 102, 104, 1 13-18, 129-32, 213. Sayvid 'AmIr 'Ali, Maulvi the Honourable Mr. 217, 226, 309. Schiechs = Shaikhs, ^. v. Science, Islam and, 224 seqq. Scriptures, The Holy, attitude of Islam towards, 4, 6, 32-3, 44-8; value of, in the present contro- versy, 183; and Slavery, 297. Scythians, the, w/io, 164. Seclusion of women, 260, 266. • Seed,' the word, 1 34, 3 1 7, 33 7-49- Seir, the position of mount, 68-9, 71-2, 77-8, 81. Senegal, one of the Geographical bounds of the Arabs, 164. Serdjis, w/io, 35. Seventy, The, apparent vacillation of, 143. Shaikhs, w/io, 166, 171. Shaw, on the food of the Wild Ass, 152. Shechs, Sheykhs •= Shaikhs, ^. v. Sht'as and Sunnis, Geographical limits of, 179. Shiechs = ' Shaikhs,' ^. v. Shur, the Desert of, 81, 92. Sidaq, the, what, 250. Sinai, dogma of Muhammadans concerning, 68-9, 71, 77-8, 81, 165. Skenitoe, the, 7vho^ 164. Skytheans, the, who, 164. Slave-girls in Islam, 285. Slave-kings in Islam, 293. Slavery, in Islam, 291; mistakes regarding, 291 seqq.; where uni- versal, 292 ; whether it is a be- neficent institution, 299; and Scripture, 297. Slave-trade, the, England and, 295. Smith, Bosworth, 41, 208-9; Dr. William, Dictionary of the Bible ^ 25; Old Testatnent History, 64. Solon, his rectification of chrono- logy, 211. Son, Abraham's 'only,' 329-31. SoNNiNi, on Slavery, 292. Spain, the Saracen Conquest of, 216. Sprenger, Dr. Aloys, opinions of, 17, 39, 43) 107, 108. Stephens, W. R. W., 224. Stobart, J. W. H., 29. Strabo, on Conquests of Arabia, 161-2. Sunnis and Shi'as, Geographical limits of, 179. Syed = Sayyid, q. v. XVIII INDEX III. Tabar!, the Arabian historian, 95; his tradition regarding Abrakhia, 116 seqq. Tabor, one of the mountains in religion, 81. Tacitus, anent Titus and the Arabs, 159-60. Tadmor, identical with Palmyra, 117. Talib, Aba, foster-uncle of Muham- mad, 35. Taurat, the, what, 2, 47, 34O1 35°- Taylor, W. C, 2. Tebala, and divination, 23. Thabir, confounded with monnt Moriah, 31. Thales and ancient chronology, 210. Thur, confounded by Muhamma- dans with the 'Shur' of Scrip- ture, 92. TiELE, C. P., 39. Titus and the Arabs at the siege of Jernsalem, 159-60. 'Towns' in Arabia, tuhat, 1S2. Tradition, importance of, in Islam, 14; self-contradictory nature of Muslim, passim. Trajan, his conquests in Arabia exaggerated, 162. Turk, the, as a Muhammadan re- ligionist, 307. Turkish women and children, 289. Ubaidu'1-lah, one of 'The Four In- quirers,' 36, 38 seqq. Uhlemann, anent circumcision, 88. 'Umar, and the Alexandrian Lib- rary, 232; character of, 236. Umm Walad, the, who^ 280. Ummi, what, 55. Ungallantryof Muhammadans,288. Unity of God, the, a pre-Islamile doctrine among the Arabs, 312. 'Urb&n, meaning of the word, among the Badawis, 157. Uthman ibni Harith, 36, 38. Voltaire, his pronounced abhor- rence of the Turks, 242. Wahhabis, the, and Divorce, 250; and Tradition, 339. WaQidi, the Arabian traditionist, 112. War, Islam and, 205. Waraqa, one of The Four Inquires, 36-8. Weil (quoted), 206. Wellsted, 226. West African Slave-trade, 292. Wherry, E. M., 4. Wild Ass, the, 114 seqq. Wilson, Dr. John, 78-80. Wives, lawful number of, in Islam, 249 ; number of Muhammad's 258. Wolff, Joseph, his Journal, 96 ; his Travels and Adventures, no. Woman, a chattel, 255 ; her dig- nity ignored by law, 270 ; in Arabia before and since Muham- mad, 272 seqq. INDEX III. XIX Women, happiness of Muslim, 263 ; and Divorce under Islamic law, 271; pre-Islamite, and war, 277 ; liberty of pre-Islainite, ib.; policy of Muhammad towards, 283; in Turkey, 289; and Slave- ry, 299. Xenophon, his observation of the Wild Ass, 152. Yaman, ignorance of The Faithful who reside there, 221. Yuqtan, who, 5, 72, 1 10-12. ZahihuU-lah, epithet of Ishmael, 2. ZabQr, The, 7vhat, 47, 340, 350. Zaid ibn 'Amr, one of ' The Four Inquirers,' 36-42. Zainab, Muhammad and, wife of Zaid ibni Harith, 260. Zamakhshart, the Muslim com- mentator, 34. Zamzam, The Well, 15, 19, 92, 93, 95, 60, 61, 66. Zion, one of the mountains in re- ligion, 81. Zuhaira, the Bani, 29. Zu'l-Khalasa, the idol, 23. By the same Author : A DICTIONARY OF THE HINDI LANGUAGE WITH THE MEANINGS IN ENGLISH. 8vo. Super-royal; pp. 805. Rs. /j. MAY BE HAD OF E. J. LAZARUS AND CO., BANARAS ; OR OF THE AUTHOR, ALLAHABAD. 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