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The History of Mohammedanism, and Its Sects
The History of Mohammedanism and Its Sects Author:William Cooke Taylor Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. THE PROMULGATION OF ISLAM BY MOHAMMED. rPHE biography of Mohammed is a subject of grave hn- J- portance, because the incidents of his life moul... more »ded his doctrines, and there scarcely ever appeared a lawgiver whose personal character, and even personal adventures, were more deeply impressed on his political and religious system. To write a complete history of his life, would be inconsistent with our limits, and not necessary for our immediate purpose; our business is only with those incidents in his career that developed his character, and influenced his conduct; these are fortunately easy to be ascertained, for he has alluded to most of them in the Koran. The legends respecting his miraculous power, and the traditions respecting his domestic economy, we shall dismiss once for all, with the remark, that the former are contradicted by his own express declaration, and the latter possess not the slightest interest. It will also be unnecessary for us to examine the controverted points in the history of his career, because they are for the most part insignificant, and there is a sufficiency of certain facts to enable us to form a fair estimate of his motives as a reformer, his capacity as a legislator, and his claims as an inspired teacher. Mohammed was born at Mecca, A.d. 569; he was of the family of Hashem, the most illustrious in the tribe of Koreish, and the hereditary guardians of the Kaaba. His grandfather had been governor of Mecca, when the city was attacked by the Ethiopians: the valour he displayed in repelling the enemy, gained universal applause. The father of Mohammed died young, leaving him only fivecamels and a single slave, but his grandfather took charge of the destitute child, and on his death-bed intrusted him to the care of his uncle Abu-Thaleb. Th...« less