M A II 
145 
M A II 
was confirmed by bis example; and his ordinary food con- 
lifted of barley-bread, milk and honey, dates and water. 
Still it is a natural inquiry how this man, without litera¬ 
ture, without pretending to the power of working mira¬ 
cles, and without a charafler that entitled him to vene¬ 
ration among perfons who made any pretence to religion 
and virtue, fecured the fuccefs of a fyftem of doClrine and 
pra&ice, w;hich mult have appeared to all but his preju¬ 
diced followers to have originated in enthufiafm and im- 
pofture?—a fyftem which reftrided the boundlefs licenfe 
of Arabian idolatry, which impofed obligations of prayer, 
purification, and alms-giving, that were burthenfome; and 
which undermined the intereft and influence of fome of 
the moll powerful and affluent of his countrymen? The 
bafis of his doClrine, we have already faid, was the truth 
of the unity and fpiritual nature of the Deity: this truth 
muft have approved itfelf to the minds of the thoughtful; 
and the vulgar would be allured with the profpefts which 
he held out to them of a future happinefs adapted to their 
groffer apprehenfions and paflions. Whiift we admit that, 
in the early period of his pretended million, he might 
have been actuated by a fincere defire of ameliorating the 
faith and manners of his countrymen, and allow his cha¬ 
racter to have poflefled fome traits of the patriot and re¬ 
former, pride and ambition were his ruling principles; and 
his difcriminating character muft be that of an ufurper 
and impoftor, who owed his fuccefs more to the accom¬ 
modating nature of his doCtrine, and to the power of the 
fword, than to any other caufe. “ Are we furprifed,” fays 
Gibbon, “ that a multitude of profelytes fhould embrace 
the doCtrine and the paflions of an eloquent fanatic? In 
the herefies of the church, the fame feduCtion has been 
tried and repeated from the time of the apoftles to that 
of the reformers. Does it feem incredible that a private 
citizen Ihould grafp the fword and thefceptre, fubduehis 
native country, and ereCt a monarchy by his victorious 
arms? In the moving picture of the dynafties of the laft 
hundred fortunate ufurpers, none have arifen from a bafer 
origin, furmounted more formidable obftacles, and filled 
a larger fcope of empire and conquelt. Mahomet was 
alike inftruCted to preach and to fight; and the union of 
thefe oppofite qualities, while it enhanced his merit, con¬ 
tributed to his fuccefs : the operation of force and per- 
fuafion, of enthufiafm and fear, continually aCted on each 
other, till every barrier yielded to their irrefiftible power. 
His voice invited the Arabs to freedom and victory—to 
arms and rapine—to the indulgence of their darling paf- 
fions in this world and the other. The reftraints which 
he impofed were requifite to eftablilh the credit of the 
prophet, and to exercife the obedience of the people. It 
is not the propagation, but the permanency, of his reli¬ 
gion, that deferves our wonder: the fame pure and per¬ 
fect impreflion, which he engraved at Mecca and Medina, 
is preferved, after the revolutions of twelve centuries, by 
the Indian, the African, and the Turkifti, profelytes of 
the Koran.”—The Turkifh dome of St. Sophia, with an 
increafe of fplendour and fize," reprefents the humble ta¬ 
bernacle ereCted at Medina by the hands of Mahomet. 
The Mahometans have uniformly withftood the tempta¬ 
tion of reducing the objeCt of their faith and devotion to 
a level with the fenfes and imagination of man. 1 believe 
in one God , and Mahomet the apoJUe cf God , is the Ample and 
invariable profeflion of Iflam. The intellectual image of 
the Deity has never been degraded by any vifible idol. 
From the Atlantic to the Ganges, the Koran is acknow¬ 
ledged as the fundamental code, not only of theology, 
but of civil and criminal jurifprudence; and the laws 
which regulate the aCtions and the property of mankind 
are guarded by the infallible and immutable fanCtion cf 
the will of God. 
In a review of the caufes which feem to have facilitated 
the original fuccefs of Mahometanifm, profeftor White 
(Sermons, ii.) traces them in the fcandalous divifions and 
deplorable corruptions of the Chriftian church; in the 
political and religious ftate of Arabia} in the independ- 
VOi. XIV. No. 9.S3. 
ence and want of union among its tribes; in the grofs 
ignorance (particularly with regard to religion) of its 
barbarous and uncivilized inhabitants; and, laftly, in the 
nature and genius of Mahometanifm itfelf; in the fafei- 
nating allurements of its promifed rewards, in their agree* 
ablenefs to the propenfities of corrupt nature in general, 
and to thofe of the inhabitants of warmer climates in par¬ 
ticular; in the artful accommodation of its doCtrines and 
its rites to the preconceived opinions, the favourite paf- 
fions, and the deep-rooted prejudices, of thofe to whom 
it was addrefted ; in the poetic elegance with which its 
doctrines, its precepts, and its hiftories, were adorned, 
and in the captivating manner in which they were deli¬ 
vered. See Alcoran, vol. i. As the corrupt and dif- 
tradted ftate of the Chriftian church had originally aflifted 
the rife, fo did it operate with ftill greater force in favour 
of the fubfequent progrefs, of Mahometan impoliure. If, 
indeed, we allow to this caufe its proper influence; if we 
confider the weakness of the furrounding nations, and the 
natural ftrength of Arabia, now collected and pointed to 
one objeCt ; if we reflect on that fervour of zeal, and that 
wildnefs of enthufiafm, which were now fuperadded to the 
native valour of a hardy and warlike people ; we fhall ceafe 
to wonder at the victories and triumphs they obtained 
over the lukewarm and degenerate defenders of the gof- 
pel. Of thefe victories and thefe triumphs, the propaga¬ 
tion of their new faith was the profefled objeCt and defign : 
thus, by violence and bloodflied had the prophet himfelf 
finally eftablifhed his religion among his countrymen ; and 
thus had he exprefsly commanded his followers to extend 
it over all the regions of the earth. Of the continuance 
of Mahometanifm, when thus eftablifhed, and of its exift- 
ence to the prefent times, various caufes might be affigned, 
whofe joint operation would be fufficient to account fully 
for the effeCt, without having recourfe to any miraculous 
or particular interpofition of Providence. Of thefe caufes 
we fhall fatisfy ourfelves with mentioning only one, which 
appears to be of peculiar force and importance. In almoft 
all thofe countries, which acknowledge the authority of 
Mahomet, fo intimate is the connection, fo abfolute the 
dependence, of the civil government on religion, that any 
change in the latter muft neceflarily and inevitably in¬ 
volve the ruin and overthrow of the former. The Koran 
is not, like the Gofpel, to be confidered merely as the 
ftandard by which the religious opinions, the worfhip, and 
the practice, of its followers are regulated; but it is a 
political fyftem ; on this foundation the throne itfelf is 
ereCted ; from hence every law of the ftate is derived ; and 
by this authority every queftion of life and of property 
is finally decided. It is obvious, therefore, that in every 
country where Mahometanifm had been once received and 
eftablifhed, the circumftance now mentioned muft have 
operated with uncommon weight to crufli any important 
innovation in religion; fince from this infeparable con¬ 
nection between the fanctions of religion and thofe of the 
ftate, every fuch innovation would be confidered in no 
other light than as an attempt to overturn the civil go¬ 
vernment, to loofen the bands of fociety, and to deftroy 
every privilege of law, and every fecurity of property. 
White's Sermons. Gibbon's Decline and Fall. Mo/keim's Eccl. 
FUJI. Sale's Preliminary Difcourfe to his Tranjlation of the 
Koran. Hozoel's Familiar Letters , vol. ii. 
M AIIOM'ETISM ft, Mahometanifm.— Makometifm, Pa- 
ganifm, Judaifm, or any other belief, may ftand as well 
as the trueft, upon this foundation. Shafiejbury. 
MAHO'N, or Port Mahon, a fea-port town of the 
ifland of Minorca, of which it is the prefent capital, i> 
owes its name and foundation to Mago, erroneoufly called 
Magan and Mahon, the Carthaginian general. This town 
is fituated upon rocks, on the left bank of the port, on 
entering from the fea, which it commands ; and this ele¬ 
vated fnuation affords it the benefit of a pure and healthy 
sir. The houfes have in general no other foundation 
than the rocks, which are undermined, or rendered hol¬ 
low, by the water, and which in courfe of time will re:w 
P p der 
