MAHOMETANS. 



MAHOMETANS, believers Jn the doc- 

 trines and divine mission of Mahomet, the 

 celebrated warrior and pseudo-prophet of 

 Arabia, who was born at Mecca in the 

 year 571. The father of Mahomet was Ab- 

 tlollech, descended from the Korashites, 

 tribes who had long enjoyed the regal 

 dignity in Arabia. Notwithstanding the 

 royal descent of the prophet, it appears 

 that a variety of adverse circumstances 

 concurred to render him, in the early part 

 of his life, indigent and obscure. His 

 father died before he was two years of 

 age, and his mother when he was about 

 eight; so that he was left in a manner 

 destitute of subsistence, and his educa- 

 tion, in a great measure, if not altogether, 

 neglected. After the death of his mother, 

 he was committed to the care of his 

 grandfather, who dying within a year af- 

 terwards, he was taken under the pro- 

 tection ot" his uncle Taleb, a merchant of 

 some respectability. There are various 

 accounts relative to the manner in which 

 Mahomet first began to invent and pro- 

 pagate his new system of faith and wor- 

 ship. It appears, according to the Ma- 

 hometan historians, that his pretended 

 mission was revealed to him in a dream, 

 in the fortieth year of his age. From 

 that time, say his biographers, Mahomet, 

 under the influence of a holy terror, de- 

 voted himself to a solitary life. He re- 

 tired to a grotto in the mountain of Hira, 

 which overlooks Mecca. He there pass- 

 ed his days and nights in fasting, prayer, 

 and meditation. In the midst of one of 

 these profound ecstasies, the angel Ga- 

 briel appeared to him, with the first chap- 

 ter of the Koran, and commanded him to 

 read. Mahomet replied, he was unable ; 

 upon which the angel repeatedly em. 

 braced him, and commanded him to read, 

 in the name of his Creator. A few days 

 after, praying upon the same mountain of 

 Hira, Mahomet again saw the angel of the 

 Lord, seated in the midst ot the clouds 

 on a glittering throne, with the second 

 chapter of the Koran ; and was addressed 

 by him in the following words : ' O thou 

 who art covered with a celestial mantle, 

 arise and preach 1" Thus the angel Ga- 

 briel communicated, by command of the 

 Eternal, to his prophet, in the twenty- 

 three last years of his life, the whole book 

 of the Koran, leaf by leaf, chapter by 

 chapter. There are, however, different 

 accounts respecting the portions or par- 

 cels in which the Koran was given to 

 Mahomet. See ATXORA.N. 



During the first thirteen years of the 

 nrophet's mission, he appears to have 



VOL. IV 



made very slow progress; but the last 

 ten were employed with greater success. 

 Finding that visions, ecstasies, revela- 

 tions, and arguments, did not succeed so 

 rapidly as be could have wished in mak- 

 ing proselytes, he determined to try the 

 more powerful and adventurous induce- 

 ments of coercion. After his flight from 

 Mecca to Medina, which took place A. D. 

 622, and from which his followers com- 

 pute their time, the prophet made rapid 

 progress. Thousands flocked to his stand- 

 ard, and he soon convinced his enemies, 

 that if they refused to admit the divinity 

 of his mission, they should feel the weight 

 of his arm. He declared, that God sent 

 him into the world, not only to teach his 

 will, but to compel mankind to embrace 

 it. " The word," said he, " is the key of 

 heaven and hell ; a drop of blood shed 

 in the cause of God, or a night spent in 

 arms, is of more avail than two months 

 of fasting and prayer. Whosoever falls 

 in battle, his sins are forgiven at the day 

 of judgment ; his wounds shall be re- 

 splendent as vermilion, and odoriferous 

 as musk, the loss of his limbs shall be 

 supplied by the wings of angels and 

 cherubim." Who would not die to be 

 acquitted at the bar of heaven ? Who 

 would not prefer a night in arms to a fast 

 of two months ? And what mortal but 

 would prefer the odours of musk to 

 the stench of plasters or foetid ointments ; 

 the wings of angels to the cumbrous ap- 

 pendages of human limbs ? These repre- 

 sentations were attended with the desired 

 effect on the minds and conduct of the 

 prophet's admirers. They assembled in 

 numbers to fight for God and his prophet. 

 Headed by a chieftain of invincible 

 courage, attractive eloquence, and as- 

 tonishing genius, guarded by angels (as 

 they supposed), and enflamed by the 

 holy fire of fanaticism, success attended 

 almost all their engagements. Mahomet, 

 thus elevated, formed the stupendous 

 design of creating a new empire. Here 

 again success crowned his efforts. His 

 plan was executed with such intrepidity, 

 that he died, A. D. 632, master of a'll 

 Arabia, besides several adjacent pro- 

 vinces. It is not our business, nor will 

 our limits admit of it, to account for the 

 rapid progress of the Mahometan faith. 

 We may, however, summarily state, as 

 causes of the eastern prophet's success : 

 the terror of his arms ; the artful nature 

 of his law, which offered such rewards 

 to the faithful, and such punishments to 

 the infidels, as were best suited to the 

 luxuriant fancies of the Arabians; the 

 C r 



