258 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 



There was a town-hall, in which councils were held 

 to discuss questions relating to the common welfare of 

 the federated families ; but the minority were not 

 bound by the voice of the majority. If, for instance, 

 it was decided to make war, a single family could hold 

 aloof. In this town-hall marriages were celebrated, 

 circumcisions were performed, and young girls were 

 invested with the dress of womanhood. It was the 

 starting place of the militia and the caravans. It was 

 near the Caaba, and opened towards it : in Mecca the 

 church was closely united to the state. 



Throughout all time, Mecca had preserved its inde- 

 pendence and its religion ; the ancient idolatry had 

 there a sacred home. The Meccans recognised a single 

 creator, Allah Taala, the Most High God, whom 

 Abraham, and others before Abraham, had adored. 

 But they believed that the stars were live beings, 

 daughters of the Deity, who acted as intercessors on 

 behalf of men ; and to propitiate their favour, idols 

 were made to represent them. Within the Caaba, or 

 around it, were also images of foreign deities and of 

 celebrated meu ; a picture of Mary with the child 

 Jesus in her lap was painted on a column, and a 

 portrait of Abraham, with a bundle of divining arrows 

 in his hands, upon the wall. 



Among the Meccans, there were many who regarded 

 that idolatry with abhorrence and contempt ; yet, to 

 that idolatry their town owed all that it possessed, its 

 wealth and its glory, which extended round a crescent 

 of a thousand miles. They were therefore obliged, as 

 good citizens, to content themselves with seeking a 

 simpler religion for themselves, and those who did pro- 

 test against the Caaba gods were persuaded to silence 

 by their families, or, if they would not be silent, were 



