ITS ORIGIN, ITS STRENGTH, AND ITS WEAKNESS. 145 
faith which he founded, are very far indeed from being in 
accord with one another. Some authors are inclined to 
attribute Muhammad’s system, taken as a whole, to something 
very similar to Satanic inspiration,* while others would 
venture to claim for him the honour of being “a very 
Prophet of Gop.’t It is but fair to say, however, that those 
who take the latter view are, generally speaking, persons who 
have little or no personal knowledge of Mubammadan 
countries, and who, being ignorant of Arabic and other 
languages of the Muslim world, derive all their information 
at second hand from other authorities, or are indebted for it to 
a considerable extent to their own imagination. Those 
whose personal acquaintance with the subject alone entitles 
their opinions to much weight, are almost, without exception, 
opposed to the favourable views so very prevalent at the 
present time among many people in this country. The sa- 
called liberalism of the day is too often based upon hasty 
and ill-weighed conclusions, and a determination to oppose 
Christianity{ at any cost. Nota few of our fellow countrymen, 
who are loud in their praises of Buddhism and Muhammad- 
anism, would be unable to speak as they do if they had 
really studted the religions which they so much admire.§ I 
purpose in the present paper, so far as my limits will permit, 
to inquire intd the origin of Islam in the first place, and then 
to endeavour to estimate the degree of credit due to its 
claim to be the last and most perfect Revelation of Gop. 
I. What then is Muhammadanism, or, as it is more properly 
called, Isl4m ?| Some have called it a reformed Christianity, 
* Among others, Sir W. Muir, “ Life of Mahomet.” 
+ Bosworth Smith, “Mohammed and Mohammedanism,” 2nd Edition, 
p. 344. Cf, also Carlyle, “Heroes and Hero-Worship,” lecture on 
Mohammed. 
t Vide Prof. Grau: “Urspriinge und Ziele unserer Kulturentwickel- 
ung,” concluding chapter, pp. 245, sqq. 
§ Nothing strikes one acquainted with the East and with Eastern 
thought on revisiting England, so much as the astounding degree of 
ignorance still prevalent on these subjects in this country, especially among 
those (speaking generally) who endeavour to extol such religions as 
Buddhism and Islam at the expense of Christianity. 
|| This is the name given to the religion in the Qur'an: eg., Sarah 
III, 17:— 
5 DADE NN i) he Z ue 
. ute ¢ kee J . 
a 
