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M A H O M E 
pofTibly be fome part of the true word of God therein, yet 
no credit is to be given to the prefent copies in the hands 
of the Jews and Chriftians, The Mahometans have alfo 
a gofpel in Arabic, attributed to St. Barnabas; wherein 
the hiftory of Jefus Chritt is related in a manner very dif¬ 
ferent from what we find in the true Gofpels, and corre- 
fpondent to thofe traditions which Mahomet has followed 
in his Koran. Of this gofpel the Marifcoes in Africa have 
a tranflation in Spanifh ; and there was, in the library of 
prince Eugene of Savoy, a manufcript of fome antiquity, 
containing an Italian tranflation of the fame gofpel; 
made, it is to be fuppofed, for the ufe of renegades. This 
book appears be no original forgery of the Mahometans ; 
though they have, no doubt, interpolated and altered it 
fince, the better to ferve their purpofe; and in particular, 
inftead of the Paraclete , or Comforter, they have in this 
apocryphal gofpel inferred the word Peric/yte, that is, the 
Famous, or Illuftrious; by which they pretend their pro¬ 
phet was foretold by name, that being the fignification of 
Mohammed in Arabic ; and this they fay to juftify that 
palfage of the Koran, where Jefus Chrift is formally af- 
ierted to have foretold his coming, under his other name 
of Ahmed, which is derived from the fame root as Moham¬ 
med, and of the fame import. From thefe, or fome other 
forgeries of the fame ftamp, it is that the Mahometans 
quote feveral paffages of which there are not the leaft 
footfteps in the New Teftament. 
4. The number of the prophets, which have been from 
time fent by God into the world amounts to no lefs than 
224,000, according to one Mahometan tradition; or to 
124,000, according to another; among whom 313 were 
apoftles, fent with fpecial commiflions to reclaim man¬ 
kind from infidelity and fuperftition ; and fix of them 
brought new laws or difpenfations, which fucceflively 
abrogated the preceding; thefe were Adam, Noah, Abra¬ 
ham, Mofes, Jefus, and Mahomet. All the prophets in 
general, the Mahometans believe to have been free from 
great fins and errors of confequence, and profeflors of one 
and the fame religion, that is, Iflam, notwithlfanding the 
different laws and inftitutions which they obferved. They 
allow of degrees among them, and hold fome of them to 
be more excellent and honourable than others. The firlt 
place they give to the revealers and eftablifliers of new 
difpenfations, and the next to the apoftles. In this great 
number of prophets, they not only reckon divers patriarchs 
and perfons named in Scripture, but not recorded to have 
been prophets, (wherein the Jewifli and Chriftian writers 
Itave foinetimes led the way,) as Adam, Seth, Lot, Ifh- 
anael, Nun, Jofhua, See. and introduce fome of them un¬ 
der different names, as Enoch, Heber, and Jethro, who are 
called, in the Koran, Edris, Hud, and Shoaib ; but feveral 
others, whofe very names do not appear in Scripture, 
(though they endeavour to find fome perfons there to fix 
them on,) as Saleh, Khedr, Dhu’lkefl, See. 
5. The belief of a general rsfurrcBion and a future judg¬ 
ment. —When a corpfe is laid in the grave, they fay he is 
received by an angel, who gives him notice of the com¬ 
ing of the two examiners: thefe are two black livid an¬ 
gels, of a terrible appearance, named Monker and Nakir. 
They order the dead perfon to fit upright; and examine 
him concerning his faith, as to the unity of God, and 
miffion of Mahomet. If he anfwer rightly, they fuffer 
the body to reft in peace, and it is refrefhed by the air 
of paradife ; but, if not, they beat him on the temples 
■with iron maces, till he roars out foranguifh fo loud, that 
he is heard by all from eaft to weft, except men and genii. 
They then prefs the earth on the corpfe, which is gnawed 
and ftung till the refurrection by 99 dragons, with feven 
heads each 5 or, as others fay, their fins will become ve¬ 
nomous beads, the grievous ones flinging like dragons, 
the fmaller ones like fcorpions, and the others like fer- 
pents; circumftances which fome underhand in a figura¬ 
tive fenfe. As to the foul, they hold, that, when it is fe- 
parated from the body by the angel of death, who per¬ 
forms liis office with eafe and gentlenefs towards the good, 
TANISM, 
and with violence towards the wicked, it enters into that 
which they call al lerzahh, or the “ the interval” between 
death and the refurreftion. If the departed perfon was a 
believer, they fay two angels meet it, who convey it to 
heaven, that its place there may beafligned, according to 
its merit and degree. For they diftinguifli the fouls of the 
faithful into three clafles : the firfl of prophets, whofe 
fouls are admitted into paradife immediately ; the fecond 
of martyrs, whofe fpirits, according to a tradition of Ma¬ 
homet, reft in the crops of green birds, which eat of the 
fruits and drink of the rivers of paradife ; and the third 
of other believers, concerning the ftate of whofe fouls be¬ 
fore the refurrection there are various opinions. 
Though fome among the Mahometans have thought 
that the refurrection will be merely fpiritual, and no more 
thanrthe returning of the foul to the place whence it firlt 
came (an opinion defended by Ebn Sina, and called by 
fome the opinion of the philofophers) ; and others who allow 
man to confift of body only, that it will be merely corpo¬ 
real ; the received opinion is, that both body and foul will 
be raifed : and their doctors argue ftrenuoufly for the pof- 
fibility of the refurrection of the body, and difpute with 
great fubtilty concerning the manner of it. But Maho¬ 
met has taken care to preferve one part of the body, what¬ 
ever becomes of the reft, to ferve for a bafis of the future 
edifice, or rather a leaven for the mafs which is to be joined 
to it. For he taught, that a man’s body was entirely con- 
fumed by the earth, except only the bone called al ajb, 
which we name the os coccgis, or rump-bone ; and that, at 
it was the firft formed in the human body, it will alfo re¬ 
main uncorrupted till the laft day, as a feed from whence 
the whole is to be renewed ; and this, he faid, would be 
effected by a forty-years rain, which God fhould fend, and 
which would cover the earth to the height of twelve cu¬ 
bits, and caufe the bodies to fprout forth like plants. 
Herein alfo is Mahomet beholden to the Jews, who lay the 
fame things of the bone lux, excepting that what he attri¬ 
butes to a great rain, will be effected, according to them, 
by a dew impregnating the dull of the earth. 
The time of the refurrection the Mahometans allow to 
be a perfeft fecret to all but God alone; the angel Ga¬ 
briel himfelf acknowledging his ignorance in this point, 
when Mahomet alked him about it. However, they fay, 
the approach of that day may be known from certain 
figns which are to precede it. Thefe figns they diftin- 
guifh into two forts, the greater and the lefs. 
The fmaller figns are, 1. The decay of faith among 
men. 2. The advancing of the meaneft perfons to emi¬ 
nent dignity. 3. That a maid-fervant lliall become the 
mother of her miftrefs (or mafter) ; by which is meant, 
either that towards the end of the world men fhall be 
much given to fenfuality, or that the Mahometans lliall 
then take many captives. 4. Tumults and feditions. 5. 
A war with the Turks. 6. Great diftrefs in the world, 
fo that a man when he paffes by another’s grave, fhall 
fay, Would to God I were in his place! 7. That the pro¬ 
vinces of Irac and Syria fhall refufe to pay their tribute. 
And, 8. That the buildings of Medina fhall reach to Ahab) 
or Yahab. 
The greater figns are, 1. The fun’s rifing in the weft; 
which fome have imagined it originally did. 2. The ap¬ 
pearance of the beaft, which fhall rife out of the earth, in 
the temple of Mecca, or on Mount Safa, or in the territory 
of Tayef, or fome other place. This beaft, they fay, is to 
be fixty cubits high, though others, not fatisfied with fo 
fmall a fize, will have her reach to the clouds and to 
heaven, when her head only is out; and that fhe will ap¬ 
pear for three days, but fliow only a third part of her 
body. They deferibe this monfter, as to her form, to 
be a compound of various fpecies, having the head of a 
bull, the eyes of a hog, the ears of an elephant, the horns 
of a flag, the neck of an oftrich, the breall of a lion, the 
colour of a tiger, the back of a cat, the tail of a ram, the 
legs of a camel, and the voice of an afs. Some fay this 
beaft is to appear three times in feveral places, and that 
