Among the foreign settlers in Arabia, we pass over in silence the few adherents of Zoroaster, scattered along the Persian (Julf, and the Sab;uans, on the south- ern coast of the peninsula, who, even from the time of David and Solomon, stored their rich emporiums of Ophir, Saba, and afterwards Aden, with Indian nierchan- dise, and who, as is clear from many good arguments, were undoubtedly of llindtl origin. The Christian re- ligion had long been established in several parts of Arabia, but the Christianity of the Oriental Church at that time almost resembled paganism, being associated with monachism, and with the worship of martyrs, rel- ics, and images. Among the heretic.d sectaries who, absorbed in their mouoiihysitical and other abstruse dog- matical controversies, looked upon each other with the utmost hatred, we find particularly mentioned the Xes- torians, Jacobites, ^larcionites, and Mauich:fans. be- sides some other obscure sects, such as the I'nUyridi.ans, who, deifying the mother of Christ, and adoring her as the third person in the Trinity, probably gave rise to the Christian tritheism so ofteu dwelt on bv the author
MOHAMMED
405
MOHAMMED
''of the Koran. The Jews were at this time in Arabia in great numbers. After the destruction of Jerusalem many of them had retired hither, where, owing to the loose connection and the jealousy of the aboriginal tribes, they had gained considerable power. Some of them, adopting the fierce manners of the desert, chose a wandering life, connected with all its dangers and adventurous strife, and a poem composed by a Jewish Bedouin has been preserved in the Hamasa, which breathes the true spirit of Arabian chivalry {Hamasa, p. 49, ed. Freytag). But in general the Jews were peacefully settled in towns and fortified castles, princi- pally along the coast, or dispersed among the inhabi- tants of large cities. (Comp. Krehl, Vorislamitisclie Re- ligionen [Leips. 1863] ; Zeitschrift d. deufsch, Morgenl. Gesellsch. x, 61 sq. ; xix, 262; xx, 284; Malcom, His- tory of Persia, i, 1G8 sq., 180 sq.) See Akabia.
Early Zf/K— Since ]\Iohammed was by birth any- thing but a prince, nothing certain is known about its
' time, and even tlie oldest sources do not agree as to the date. According to the most probable reckoning, he was born in AprU, A.D. 571, at Mecca. This city was at that time a considerable commercial centre, where caravans from Southern Arabia, Abyssinia, Persia, and India crossed those from Egypt, Syria, and Mesopota- mia, and exchanged their agricultural and industrial products. This happened particularly at the time of the pilgrimage. By descent Mohammed belonged to the aristocracy of Mecca, but the branch of which he was an offspring was very much impoverished. His mother, Aminah, possessed, it is said, a peculiarlj' ner- vous temperament, and used to fancy, while between sleeping and waking, that she was visited by spirits. It is probable that Mohammed inherited from her his constitutional tendenc}^ to epilepsy, as well as his most remarkable mental peculiarities. Mohammedan au- thors have labored to endow the birth of their prophet with miraculous events, and in consequeoce many mar- vellous stories are told. It is related, among other things, that his mother experienced none of the pangs of travail. As soon as her child was born, he raised his eyes to heaven, exclaiming, " There is no God but God, and I am his prophet !" That same night, it is related, also with the same inclination to extravagance, that the fire of Zoroaster, which, guarded by the Magi, had biu-ned uninterruptedly for more than a thousand years, was suddenly extinguished, and all the idols in the world fell do\vn. When only two months old, Mohammed's father died (according to some accounts, he died two months before the birth of Mohammed). Aminah for a short time nursed the infant herself; but sorrow soon dried the fountains of her breast, and the young child, after much exertion to meet this extra expenditure, was committed to the care of a nurse, with whom he re- mained about five years. It is related by Mohamme- dans that when the nurse, who was a shepherd's wife, showed the child to a celebrated soothsayer, who was an idolater, the latter exclaimed, " Kill this child !" Halimah snatched away her precious charge and fled. Afterwards the soothsayer explained to the excited multitude : " I swear by all the gods that this child will kill those who belong to your faith; he will de- stroy your gods, and he Avill be victorious over you." When Mohammed was six years old he lost his mother, and the poor orphaned child fell to the care of relatives. He was taken charge of by his grandfather, Abdul Mutalib, who was then the chief priest of the Kaaba. Upon his decease the care of the child fell to his uncle. Abu-Talib; but he was so indigent that he could not long afford to keep his nephew, and Mohammed was obliged to earn his livelihood as a shepherd — an occu- pation to which only the lower class of the population resorted, while the more opulent engaged in trade. Later (in his twenty-fifth j'ear) he entered the service of a rich widow (Kadijah), attended to her affairs in Southern Arabia, according to some accounts also in Syria, where he is said to have become conversant with
monks, who gave him information regarding Christian- ity. Mohammed soon gained Kadijah's confidence to such a degree that she offered him her hand in matri- mony, which he accepted, though she was much his senior — she was forty years old.