MOHAMMED 



3872 



MOHAMMEDAN ARCHITECTURE 



Mohammed, like most great leaders and 

 teachers, was a product of the conditions of 

 his time. Ever since the days of the Baby- 

 lonian captivity there had been Jews scattered 

 throughout Arabia who worshiped one God, 

 Jehovah. The teachings of Christianity were 

 being slowly spread in the East. Owing to 

 the influence of Judaism and Christianity there 

 was a strong religious unrest in Arabia, and 

 many were turning from idolatry to find a 

 purer belief. It had been Mohammed's cus- 

 tom from boyhood to spend a great deal of 

 time alone, thinking upon religious subjects, 

 and when he became older he spent an entire 

 month each year alone on the mountain Hira, 

 near Mecca. When he reached his fortieth 

 year he declared himsel'f to be a prophet and 

 his writings of the Koran to be inspired reve- 

 lations of divine will, entrusted to him through 

 the angel Gabriel. 



That he was strongly influenced by Judaism 

 is shown by many of his teachings, such as the 

 unity of God and the power of prayer and 

 fasts; the influence of Christianity was 'proba- 

 bly less strong, though he taught the prophetic 

 mission of Christ, admitting it to be second 

 only to his own in importance. He retained 

 some of the forms and teachings of the old 

 idolatry. In Mecca was an ancient temple, the 

 Kaaba, dedicated to the worship of the god 

 Hobal, and Mohammed taught the sanctity of 

 this place and the ceremonies of the pilgrimage 

 to it. His preaching against idols brought un- 

 popularity, and temporarily he had to leave 

 Mecca in flight to save his life, but he soon 

 returned. 



At this time, about 621, his wife, one of the 

 most faithful converts to his faith, and his 

 uncle, both died. Again he left Mecca, this 

 time going to Taif in a vain effort to better 

 his broken fortunes. He was compelled to 

 return to his own city, where he soon gained 

 the converts which gradually brought the turn- 

 ing point in his career. These men were from 

 Yathrib, an important city north of Mecca, 

 which had been a home of Judaism for many 

 years. Here the new faith was kindly received 

 and it spread rapidly. In course of time his 

 popularity in Yathrib was assured, and he, 

 with about 150 of his followers, went in 622 

 to that city, which became known as Medina, 

 the city of the Prophet. This flight, or Hegira, 

 is the event which marks the beginning of time 

 as reckoned by Mohammedans. It was a very 

 important circumstance in the life of the new 

 religion. 



Up to this time Mohammed had held an 

 humble place indeed in his world, but after 

 entering Yathrib his position became one of 

 power and influence. Soon after he became 

 established there he claimed to have received 

 divine permission to spread his faith by means 

 of warfare, and he gradually won all of Arabia. 

 His missionaries were sent to Khosen II, of 

 Persia, to the Emperor Heraclius of Byzantine, 

 to the king of Abyssinia and to the governor 

 of Egypt. They were not received in Persia, 

 which event led to the first war between the 

 Moslems and the Christians. At the time of 

 his death plans were being made for the con- 

 quest of Syria and war with the Roman Em- 

 pire. He named no one who should succeed 

 him as leader of Islam, but suggested two, 

 between whom the loyalty of Mohammedans 

 was divided. 



Mohammed was an Oriental, no better, no 

 worse than the most of his followers. He was 

 not an idealist, and his creed made few severe 

 demands on belief or conduct. His leadership 

 was kindly to his friends, ruthless to his foes. 

 He understood human nature and especially 

 that in the part of the world in which he lived. 

 To-day his followers, 250,000,000, are greater 

 in number than the followers of any other re- 

 ligion. The religion he founded is described 

 under its title, MOHAMMEDANISM. E.B.H. 



Consult Sell's The Life of Mohammed and refer- 

 ences given in the article MOHAMMEDANISM. 



MOHAMMEDAN ARCHITECTURE. Practi- 

 cally every new style of building is the result 

 of some previously developed style or styles 

 modified to express the needs and ideals of a 

 certain people. Especially is this true of Mo- 

 hammedan architecture. As a result of con- 

 quests beginning in the seventh century, the 

 Saracens came to know and use the architec- 

 tural forms of parts of the Byzantine Empire, 

 Syria, Persia, Egypt, Asia Minor, Northern 

 Africa and Spain. Influenced by their creed, 

 which forbade representation of any living 

 object, their Oriental love of ornamentation 

 and color expressed itself in the most elaborate 

 surface designs of geometric patterns. In some 

 instances, as the alabaster screens in the Taj 

 Mahal (which see), these patterns were open- 

 work designs. 



The minaret (which see) was also a direct 

 result of the Mohammedan religion. This is 

 a tall slender tower of many stories, each sur- 

 rounded by a balcony, from which the muezzin 

 calls the people to prayer. The Saracens de- 

 veloped the bulbous dome, often brightly col- 



