Mohammed and Mohammedanism

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The founder

Mohammed, "the Praised One", theprophet ofIslam and the founder of Mohammedanism, was born atMecca (20 August?) A.D. 570.

Arabia was then torn bywarring factions. The tribe of Fihr, or Quarish, to which Mohammed belonged, had established itself in the south of Hijas (Hedjaz), nearMecca, which was, even then, the principal religious and commercial centre ofArabia. The power of the tribe was continually increasing; they had become the masters and the acknowledged guardians of the sacred Kaaba, within the town ofMecca — then visited in annualpilgrimage by theheathenArabs with their offerings and tributes — and had thereby gained such preeminence that it was comparatively easy for Mohammed to inaugurate his religious reform and his political campaign, which ended with the conquest of allArabia and the fusion of the numerousArab tribes into one nation, with one religion, one code, and one sanctuary. (SeeA,Christianity in Arabia.)

Mohammed's father was Abdallah, of thefamily of Hashim, who died soon after his son's birth. At the age of six the boy lost his mother and was thereafter taken care of by his uncle Abu-Talib. He spent his early life as a shepherd and an attendant of caravans, and at the age of twenty-five married a richwidow, Khadeejah, fifteen years his senior. She bore him six children, all of whom died very young except Fatima, his beloved daughter.

On his commercial journeys toSyria and Palestine he became acquainted withJews andChristians, and acquired an imperfectknowledge of their religion and traditions. He was a man of retiring disposition, addicted toprayer andfasting, and was subject to epileptic fits. In his fortieth year (A.D. 612), he claimed to have received a call from theAngel Gabriel, and thus began his active career as theprophet ofAllah and theapostle ofArabia. Hisconverts were about forty in all, including his wife, his daughter, his father-in-law Abu Bakr, his adopted son Ali Omar, and hisslave Zayd. By his preaching and his attack onheathenism, Mohammed provokedpersecution which drove him fromMecca to Medina in 622, the year of the Hejira (Flight) and the beginning of the Mohammedan Era. At Medina he was recognized as theprophet ofGod, and his followers increased. He took the field against his enemies, conquered severalArabian,Jewish, andChristian tribes, enteredMecca in triumph in 630, demolished theidols of the Kaaba, became master ofArabia, and finally united all the tribes under one emblem and one religion. In 632 he made his lastpilgrimage toMecca at the head of forty thousand followers, and soon after his return died of aviolent fever in the sixty-third year of his age, the eleventh of the Hejira, and the year 633 of theChristian era.

The sources of Mohammed's biography are numerous, but on the whole untrustworthy, being crowded with fictitious details, legends, and stories. None of his biographies were compiled during his lifetime, and the earliest was written a century and a half after his death. TheKoran is perhaps the only reliable source for the leading events in his career. His earliest and chief biographers are Ibn Ishaq (A.H. 151=A.D. 768), Wakidi (207=822), Ibn Hisham (213=828), Ibn Sa'd (230=845), Tirmidhi (279=892), Tabari (310-929), the "Lives of the Companions of Mohammed", the numerousKoranic commentators [especially Tabari, quoted above, Zamakhshari 538=1144), and Baidawi (691=1292)], the "Musnad", or collection of traditions of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (241=855), the collections of Bokhari (256=870), the "Isabah", or "Dictionary of Persons who knew Mohammed", by Ibn Hajar, etc. All these collections and biographies are based on the so-called Hadiths, or "traditions", the historical value of which is more thandoubtful.

These traditions, in fact, represent a gradual, and more or less artificial, legendary development, rather than supplementary historical information. According to them, Mohammed was simple in his habits, but most careful of his personal appearance. He loved perfumes andhated strong drink. Of a highly nervous temperament, he shrank from bodily pain. Though gifted with great powers ofimagination, he was taciturn. He was affectionate and magnanimous,pious and austere in the practice of his religion,brave,zealous, and above reproach in his personal andfamily conduct. Palgrave, however, wisely remarks that "the ideals ofArabvirtue were first conceived and then attributed to him". Nevertheless, with every allowance for exaggeration, Mohammed is shown by his life and deeds to have been a man of dauntlesscourage, great generalship, strongpatriotism, merciful by nature, and quick to forgive. And yet he was ruthless in his dealings with theJews, when once he had ceased to hope for their submission. He approved ofassassination, when it furthered his cause; however barbarous or treacherous the means, the end justified it in his eyes; and in more than one case he not only approved, but also instigated the crime.

Concerning hismoralcharacter and sincerity, contradictory opinions have been expressed by scholars in the last three centuries. Many of these opinions are biased either by an extremehatred of Islam and its founder or by an exaggerated admiration, coupled with ahatred ofChristianity.

Luther looked upon him as "adevil andfirst-born child ofSatan". Maracci held that Mohammed and Mohammedanism were not very dissimilar toLuther andProtestantism. Spanheim and D'Herbelot characterize him as a "wickedimpostor", and a "dastardlyliar", while Prideaux stamps him as a wilful deceiver. Such indiscriminate abuse is unsupported by facts.

Modern scholars, such as Sprenger, Noldeke, Weil, Muir, Koelle, Grimme, Margoliouth, give us a more correct and unbiased estimate of Mohammed's life andcharacter, and substantially agree as to his motives, prophetic call, personal qualifications, and sincerity. The various estimates of several recent critics have been ably collected and summarized by Zwemer, in his "Islam, a Challenge to Faith" (New York, 1907). According to Sir William Muir, Marcus Dods, and some others, Mohammed was at first sincere, but later, carried away by success, he practiseddeception wherever it would gain his end. Koelle "finds the key to the first period of Mohammed's life in Khadija, his first wife", after whose death he became a prey to hisevilpassions. Sprenger attributes the allegedrevelations to epileptic fits, or to "a paroxysm of catalepticinsanity".

Zwemer himself goes on to criticize the life of Mohammed by the standards, first, of theOld andNew Testaments, both of which Mohammed acknowledged asDivine revelation; second, by thepaganmorality of hisArabian compatriots; lastly, by the newlaw of which he pretended to be the "divinely appointed medium and custodian". According to this author, theprophet wasfalse even to theethical traditions of theidolatrous brigands among whom he lived, and grossly violated the easy sexualmorality of his own system. After this, it is hardlynecessary to say that, in Zwemer's opinion, Mohammed fell very far short of the most elementary requirements ofScripturalmorality. Quoting Johnstone, Zwemer concludes by remarking that the judgment of these modern scholars, however harsh, rests on evidence which "comes all from the lips and the pens of his own devoted adherents. . .And the followers of theprophet can scarcely complain if, even on such evidence, the verdict of history goes against him".

The system

Geographical extent, divisions, and distribution of Mohammedans

After Mohammed's death Mohammedanism aspired to become a world power and a universal religion. The weakness of theByzantine Empire, the unfortunate rivalry between theGreek andLatinChurches, theschisms ofNestorius andEutyches, the failing power of the Sassanian dynasty ofPersia, the laxmoral code of the new religion, the power of the sword and of fanaticism, the hope of plunder and the love of conquest — all these factors combined with the genius of the caliphs, the successors of Mohammed, to effect the conquest, in considerably less than a century, of Palestine,Syria, Mesopotamia,Egypt, NorthAfrica, and the South ofSpain. The Moslems even crossed the Pyrenees, threatening to stable their horses inSt. Peter's atRome, but were at last defeated byCharles Martel atTours, in 732, just one hundred years from the death of Mohammed. This defeat arrested their western conquests and savedEurope.

In the eighth and ninth centuries they conqueredPersia, Afghanistan, and a large part ofIndia, and in the twelfth century they had already become the absolute masters of all WesternAsia,Spain and NorthAfrica,Sicily, etc. They were finally conquered by the Mongols andTurks, in the thirteenth century, but the new conquerors adopted Mohammed's religion and, in the fifteenth century, overthrew the totteringByzantine Empire (1453). From that stronghold (Constantinople) they even threatened theGerman Empire, but were successfully defeated at the gates ofVienna, and driven back across the Danube, in 1683.

Mohammedanism now comprises varioustheological schools and political factions. The Orthodox (Sunni) uphold the legitimacy of the succession of the first three caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar, and Uthman, while the Schismatics (Shiah) champion the Divineright of Ali as against the successions of these caliphs whom they call "usurpers", and whose names,tombs, and memorials they insult and detest. The Shiah number at present about twelve million adherents, or about one-twentieth of the whole Mohammedan world, and are scattered overPersia andIndia. The Sunni are subdivided into four principaltheological schools, orsects, viz., the Hanifites, found mostly inTurkey, CentralAsia, and NorthernIndia; the Shafites in SouthernIndia andEgypt; the Malikites, inMorocco, Barbary, and parts ofArabia; and the Hanbalites in Central and EasternArabia and in some parts ofAfrica. The Shiah are also subdivided into various, but less important,sects. Of the proverbial seventy-threesects of Islam, thirty-two are assigned to the Shiah. The principal differences between the two are:

There are also minorsects, the principal of which are the Aliites, or Fatimites, the Asharians, Azaragites, Babakites, Babbis, Idrisites, Ismailians and Assassins, Jabrians, Kaissanites, Karmathians, Kharjites, followers of the Mahdi, Mu'tazilites, Qadrains, Safrians, Sifatians, Sufis, Wahabis, and Zaidites. The distinctive features of these varioussects are political as well as religious; only three or four of them now possess any influence.

In spite of these divisions, however, the principal articles offaith andmorality, and theritual, are substantially uniform.

According to the latest and most reliable accounts (1907), the number of Mohammedans in the world is about 233 millions, although some estimate the number as high as 300 millions, others, again, as low as 175 millions. Nearly 60 millions are inAfrica, 170 millions inAsia, and about 5 millions inEurope. Their total number amounts to about one-fourth of the population ofAsia, and one-seventh that of the whole world. Theirgeographical distribution is as follows:

Asia

India, 62 millions; other British possessions (such asAden, Bahrein,Ceylon, andCyprus), about one million and a half;Russia (Asiatic andEuropean), the Caucasus, RussianTurkestan, and the Amur region, about 13 millions;Philippine Islands, 350,000;Dutch East Indies (including Java,Sumatra,Borneo, Celebes, etc.) about 30 millions; French possessions inAsia (Pondicherry, Annam, Cambodia, Cochin-China, Tonking,Laos), about one million and a half; Bokhara, 1,200,000; Khiva, 800,000;Persia, 8,800,000; Afghanistan, 4,000,000;China andChineseTurkestan, 30,000,000;Japan and Formosa, 30,000;Korea, 10,000;Siam, 1,000,000;Asia Minor;Armenia and Kurdistan, 1,795,000; Mesopotamia, 1,200,000;Syria, 1,100,000;Arabia, 4,500,000. Total, 170,000,000.

Africa

Egypt, 9,000,000; Tripoli, 1,250,000;Tunis, 1,700,000; Algeria, 4,000,000;Morocco, 5,600,000; Eritrea, 150,000; Anglo-EgyptianSudan, 1,000,000; Senegambia-Niger, 18,000,000;Abyssinia, 350,000;Kamerun, 2,000,000;Nigeria, 6,000,000;Dahomey, 350,000; Ivory Coast, 800,000;Liberia, 600,000;Sierra Leone, 333,000; French Guinea, 1,500,000; French, British, and ItalianSomaliland, British East African Protectorate, Uganda, Togoland, Gambia and Senegal, about 2,000,000;Zanzibar, German East Africa,Portuguese East Africa,Rhodesia,Congo Free State, and FrenchCongo, about 4,000,000; South Africa and adjacent island, about 235,000.-Approximate total, 60,000,000.

Europe

Turkey inEurope, 2,100,000;Greece,Servia,Rumania, andBulgaria, about 1,369,000. Total, about 3,500,000.

America and Australia

About 70,000.

About 7,000,000 (i.e., four-fifths) of thePersian Mohammedans and about 5,000,000 of the Indian Mohammedans are Shiahs; the rest of the Mohammedan world — about 221,000,000 — are almost all Sunnites.

Tenets

The principal tents of Mohammedanism are laid down in theKoran. As aids in interpreting the religious system of theKoran we have:first, the so-called "Traditions", which are supposed to contain supplementary teachings and doctrine of Mohammed, a very considerable part of which, however, is decidedly spurious;second, the consensus of thedoctors of Islam represented by the most celebrated imâms, the founders of the various Islamicsects, theKoranic commentators and the masters of Mohammedansjurisprudence;third, theanalogy, ordeduction from recognized principles admitted in theKoran and in the Traditions. Mohammed's religion, known among its adherents as Islam, contains practically nothing original; it is a confused combination of nativeArabianheathenism,Judaism,Christianity,Sabiism (Mandoeanism), Hanifism, andZoroastrianism.

The system may be divided into two parts:dogma, or theory; andmorals, or practice. The whole fabric is built on five fundamental points, one belonging tofaith, or theory, and the other four tomorals, or practice. All Mohammedandogma is supposed to be expressed in the one formula: "there is noGod but thetrue God; and Mohammed is Hisprophet." But this one confession implies for Mohammedans six distinct articles:

The four points relating tomorals, or practice, are:

(1) Dogma

The doctrines of Islam concerningGod — Hisunity andDivine attributes — are essentially those of theBible; but to the doctrines of theTrinity and of theDivine Sonship ofChrist Mohammed had the strongest antipathy. As Noldeke remarks, Mohammed's acquaintance with those twodogmas was superficial; even the clauses of theCreed that referred to them were not properlyknown to him, and thus he felt that it was quite impossible to bring them into harmony with the simpleSemiticMonotheism; probably, too, it was this consideration alone that hindered him from embracingChristianity (Sketches from Eastern History, 62).

The number ofprophets sent byGod is said to have been about 124,000, and ofapostles, 315. Of the former, 22 are mentioned by name in theKoran — such asAdam,Noah,Abraham,Moses,Jesus.

According to the Sunni, theProphets andApostles were sinless and superior to theangels, and they had the power of performingmiracles. Mohammedan angelology anddemonology are almost wholly based on laterJewish and earlyChristian traditions. Theangels arebelieved to be free from allsin; they neither eat nor drink; there is no distinction of sex among them. They are, as a rule, invisible, save to animals, although, at times, they appear inhumanform. The principalangels are:Gabriel, the guardian and communicator ofGod's revelation toman;Michael, the guardian ofmen; Azrail, theangel of death, whoseduty is to receivemen'ssouls when they die; and Israfil, theangel of theResurrection.

In addition to these there are theSeraphim, who surround the throne ofGod, constantlychanting His praises; the Secretaries, who record the actions ofmen; the Observers, who spy on every word and deed ofmankind; the Travellers, whoseduty it is to traverse the whole earth in order toknow whether, and when,men utter the name ofGod; theAngels of the Seven Planets; theAngels who have charge ofhell; and a countless multitude ofheavenly beings who fill allspace. The chiefdevil is Iblis, who, like his numerous companions, was once the nearest toGod, but was cast out for refusing to pay homage toAdam at the command ofGod. Thesedevils are harmful both to thesouls and to the bodies ofmen, although theirevil influence is constantly checked by Divine interference.

Besidesangels anddevils, there are also jinns, or genii, creatures of fire, able to eat, drink, propagate, and die; somegood, othersbad, but all capable of futuresalvation and damnation.

God rewardsgood and punishesevil deeds. He is merciful and is easily propitiated byrepentance. The punishment of the impenitent wicked will be fearful, and the reward of the faithful great. Allmen will have torise from the dead and submit to theuniversal judgment. The Day ofResurrection and ofJudgment will be preceded and accompanied by seventeen fearful, or greater, signs inheaven and on earth, and eight lesser ones, some of which are identical with those mentioned in theNew Testament. TheResurrection will be general and will extend to all creatures —angels, jinns,men, and brutes. The torments ofhell and the pleasures ofParadise, but especially the latter, are proverbially crass and sensual.Hell is divided into seven regions: Jahannam, reserved for faithless Mohammedans; Laza, for theJews; Al-Hutama, for theChristians; Al-Sair, for theSabians; Al-Saqar, for the Magians; Al-Jahim, foridolaters; Al-Hawiyat, forhypocrites. As to the torments ofhell, it isbelieved that the damned will dwell amid pestilential winds and in scalding water, and in the shadow of a black smoke. Draughts of boiling water will be forced down their throats. They will be dragged by the scalp, flung into the fire, wrapped in garments of flame, and beaten with iron maces. When their skins are well burned, other skins will be given them for their greater torture. While the damnation of allinfidels will be hopeless andeternal, the Moslems, who, though holding thetrue religion, have been guilty of heinoussins, will be delivered fromhell after expiating their crimes.

The joys andglories ofParadise are as fantastic and sensual as the lasciviousArabianmind could possibly imagine. "As plenty of water is one of the greatest additions to the delights of the BedouinArab, theKoran often speaks of the rivers ofParadise as a principal ornament thereof; some of these streams flow with water, some with wine and others with honey, besides many other lesser springs and fountains, whose pebbles are rubies and emeralds, while their earth consists of camphor, their beds of musk, and their sides of saffron. But all theseglories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and ravishing girls, orhouris, ofParadise, the enjoyment of whose company will be the principalfelicity of the faithful. These maidens arecreated not of clay, as in the case of mortalwomen, but of pure musk, and free from all natural impurities, defects, and inconveniences. They will be beautiful and modest and secluded from public view in pavilions of hollow pearls. The pleasures ofParadise will be so overwhelming thatGod will give to everyone the potentialities of a hundredindividuals. To eachindividuals a large mansion will be assigned, and the very meanest will have at his disposal at least 80,000 servants and seventy-two wives of the girls ofParadise. While eating they will be waited on by 300 attendants, the food being served in dishes of gold, whereof 300 shall be set before him at once, containing each a different kind of food, and an inexhaustible supply of wine and liquors. The magnificence of the garments and gems is conformable to the delicacy of their diet. For they will be clothed in the richest silks and brocades, and adorned with bracelets of gold and silver, and crowns set with pearls, and will make use of silken carpets, couches, pillows, etc., and in order that they may enjoy all these pleasures,God will grant them perpetual youth, beauty, and vigour. Music and singing will also be ravishing and everlasting" (Wollaston, "Muhammed, His Life and Doctrines").

The Mohammedan doctrine ofpredestination is equivalent tofatalism. Theybelieve inGod's absolute decree and predetermination both ofgood and ofevil; viz., whatever has been or shall be in the world, whethergood orbad, proceeds entirely from the Divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and recorded from alleternity. The possession and the exercise of our ownfree will is, accordingly, futile and useless. The absurdity of this doctrine was felt by later Mohammedantheologians, who sought in vain by various subtile distinctions to minimize it.

(2) Practice

The five pillars of the practical and of the ritualistic side of Islam are the recital of the Creed andprayers,fasting,almsgiving, and thepilgrimage toMecca.

The formula of the Creed has been given above, and its recital isnecessary forsalvation.

The dailyprayers are five in number: before sunrise, at midday, at four in the afternoon, at sunset, and shortly before midnight. The forms ofprayer and the postures are prescribed in a very limitedKoranicliturgy. Allprayers must be made looking towardsMecca, and must be preceded by washing, neglect of which renders theprayers of no effect. Publicprayer is made on Friday in the mosque, and is led by an imâm. Only men attend the publicprayers, aswomen seldompray even at home.Prayers for the dead aremeritorious and commended.

Fasting is commended at all seasons, but prescribed only in the month of Ramadan. It begins at sunrise and ends at sunset, and is very rigorous, especially when thefasting season falls in summer. At the end of Ramadan comes the great feast-day, generally called Bairam, or Fitr, i.e., "Breaking of the Fast". The other great festival is that of Azha, borrowed with modifications from theJewish Day of Atonement.

Almsgiving is highly commended: on the feast-day after Ramadan it isobligatory, and is to be directed to the "faithful" (Mohammedans) only.

Pilgrimage toMecca once in a lifetime is aduty incumbent on every free Moslem of sufficient means and bodily strength; the merit of it cannot be obtained by deputy, and theceremonies are strictly similar to those performed by theProphet himself (seeMECCA).Pilgrimages to thetombs ofsaints are very common nowadays, especially inPersia andIndia, although they were absolutely forbidden by Mohammed.

Morals

It is hardlynecessary here to emphasize the fact that theethics of Islam are far inferior to those ofJudaism and even more inferior to those of theNew Testament. Furthermore, we cannot agree with Noldeke when he maintains that, although in many respects theethics of Islam are not to be compared even with suchChristianity as prevailed, and still prevails, in the East, nevertheless, in other points, the newfaith — simple, robust, in the vigour of its youth — far surpassed the religion of theSyrian andEgyptianChristians, which was in a stagnating condition, and steadily sinking lower and lower into the depths of barbarism (op. cit., Wollaston, 71, 72). The history and the development, as well as the past and present religious, social, andethical condition of all theChristian nations and countries, no matter of whatsect or school they may be, as compared with these of the various Mohammedan countries, in all ages, is a sufficient refutation of Noldeke's assertion. That in theethics of Islam there is a great deal to admire and to approve, is beyond dispute; but of originality or superiority, there is none. What is reallygood in Mohammedanethics is either commonplace or borrowed from some otherreligions, whereas what is characteristic is nearly always imperfect or wicked.

The principalsins forbidden by Mohammed areidolatry andapostasy,adultery,false witness against a brother Moslem,games of chance, the drinking of wine or other intoxicants,usury, anddivination by arrows. Brotherlylove is confined in Islam to Mohammedans. Any form ofidolatry orapostasy is severely punished in Islam, but the violation of any of the other ordinances is generally allowed to go unpunished, unless it seriously conflicts with the social welfare or the political order of the State. Among other prohibitions mention must be made of the eating of blood, of swine's flesh, of whatever dies of itself, or is slain inhonour of any idol, or is strangled, or killed by a blow, or a fall, or by another beast. In case of direnecessity, however, these restrictions may be dispensed with.Infanticide, extensively practiced by the pre-IslamicArabs, is strictly forbidden by Mohammed, as is also thesacrificing of children toidols in fulfilment ofvows, etc. The crime ofinfanticide commonly took the form of burying newbornfemales, lest theparents should be reduced to poverty by providing for them, or else that they might avoid the sorrow and disgrace which would follow, if their daughters should be made captives or becomescandalous by their behaviour.

Religion and the State are not separated in Islam. Hence Mohammedanjurisprudence, civil and criminal, is mainly based on theKoran and on the "Traditions". Thousands of judicial decisions are attributed to Mohammed and incorporated in the various collections of Hadith. Mohammed commanded reverence and obedience toparents, and kindness to wives andslaves.Slander andbackbiting are strongly denounced, althoughfalse evidence is allowed to hide a Moslem's crime and to save hisreputation orlife.

As regards marriage,polygamy, anddivorce, theKoran explicitly (sura iv, v. 3) allows four lawful wives at a time, whom the husband maydivorce whenever he pleases. Slave-mistresses andconcubines are permitted in any number. At present, however, owing toeconomic reasons,concubinage is not as commonly practiced as Western popular opinion seems to hold. Seclusion of wives is commanded, and in case ofunfaithfulness, the wife's evidence, either in her own defense or against her husband, is not admitted, while that of the husband invariably is. In this, as in there judicial cases, the evidence of twowomen, if admitted, is sometimes allowed to be worth that of oneman. Theman is allowed torepudiate his wife on the slightest pretext, but thewoman is not permitted even to separate herself from her husband unless it be for ill-usage, want of proper maintenance, or neglect of conjugalduty; and even then she generally loses her dowry, when she does not ifdivorced by her husband, unless she has been guilty of immodesty ornotorious disobedience. Both husband and wife are explicitly forbidden by Mohammed to seekdivorce on any slight occasion or the prompting of a whim, but this warning was not heeded either by Mohammed himself or by his followers. Adivorced wife, in order to ascertain the paternity of a possible or probable offspring, must wait three months before she marries again. Awidow, on the other hand, must wait four months and ten days. Immorality in general is severely condemned and punished by theKoran, but themoral laxity and depraved sensualism of the Mohammedans at large have practically nullified its effects.

Slavery is not only tolerated in theKoran, but is looked upon as a practicalnecessity, while the manumission ofslaves is regarded as ameritorious deed. It must be observed, however, that among Mohammedans, the children ofslaves and ofconcubines are generally considered equally legitimate with those of legal wives, none being accounted bastards except such as are born of public prostitutes, and whose fathers are unknown. The accusation often brought against theKoran that it teaches thatwomen have nosouls is without foundation. TheKoraniclaw concerning inheritance insists thatwomen andorphans be treated withjustice and kindness. Generally speaking, however, males are entitled to twice as much asfemales. Contracts are to be conscientiously drawn up in the presence ofwitnesses.Murder, manslaughter, andsuicide are explicitly forbidden, although blood revenge is allowed. In case of personal injury, thelaw of retaliation is approved.

In conclusion, reference must be made here to the sacred months, and to the weekly holy day. TheArabs had a year of twelve lunar months, and this, as often as seemednecessary, they brought roughly into accordance with the solar year by the intercalation of a thirteenth month. The Mohammedan year, however, has a mean duration of 354 days, and is ten or eleven days shorter than the solar year, and Mohammedan festivals, accordingly, move in succession through all the seasons.

The Mohammedan Era begins with the Hegira, which is assumed to have taken place on the 16th day of July, A.D. 622. To find what year of theChristian Era (A.D.) is represented by a given year of the Mohammedan Era (A.H.), the rule is: Subtract from the Mohammedandate the product of three times the last completed number of centuries, and add 621 to the remainder. (This rule, however, gives an exact result only for the first day of a Mohammedan century. Thus, e.g., the first day of the fourteenth century came in the course of the year of Our Lord 1883.) The first, seven, eleventh and twelfth months of the Mohammedan year are sacred; during these months it is not lawful to wagewar. The twelfth month isconsecrated to the annualpilgrimage toMecca, and, in order to protectpilgrims, the preceding (eleventh) month and the following (first of the new year) are also inviolable. The seventh month is reserved for thefast which Mohammed substituted for a month (the ninth) devoted by theArabs in pre-Islamic times to excessive eating and drinking. Mohammed selected Friday as the sacred day of the week, and several fanciful reasons are adduced by the Prophet himself and by his followers for the selection; the most probable motive was the desire to have a holy day different from that of theJews and that of theChristians. It iscertain, however, that Friday was a day of solemn gatherings and public festivities among the pre-IslamicArabs. Abstinence from work is not enjoined on Friday, but it is commanded that publicprayers and worship must be performed on that day. Another custom dating from antiquity and still universally observed by all Mohammedans, although not explicitly enjoined in theKoran, iscircumcision. It is looked upon as a semi-religious practice, and its performance is preceded and accompanied by great festivities.

In matters political Islam is a system of despotism at home and aggression abroad. The Prophet commanded absolute submission to the imâm. In no case was the sword to be raised against him. Therights of non-Moslem subjects are of the vaguest and most limited kind, and a religiouswar is a sacredduty whenever there is a chance of success against the "Infidel".Medieval and modern Mohammedan, especiallyTurkish,persecutions of bothJews andChristians are perhaps the best illustration of this fanatical religious and political spirit.

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