7 - Mohammed and his Sword

Most of the bad times in human history have an important thing in common: that sooner or later somebody comes along with enough courage and enough persistence to remedy them. For instance, we have seen how, in times of greatest trouble, the Hebrews had their Prophets. And certainly, when Mohammed began his great work, he was exactly what Arabia most needed. But this is starting in the middle of the story instead of at its beginning.

In the beginning of Jewish history, there was Abraham—and in the beginning of Arabian history, there was also Abraham. This is how it happened:

Abraham had two wives. One of them was named Sarah, and she was the mother of Isaac, from whom the whole of the Jewish race is said to be descended. His other wife was named Hagar, and she was the mother of a boy called Ishmael. These two wives did not get along very well together, and there came the time when Sarah—who was Abraham's favourite—begged him to turn Hagar and Ishmael out into the desert.

Abraham was very reluctant about this, but then it seemed to him that God spoke telling him that indeed it would be the right thing to do, as he intended that Ishmael should give rise to a whole, entirely different nation of people. So Abraham obediently sent Hagar and the young boy from his house, after supplying them with plenty of water and bread. But these supplies did not last very long in the heat of the desert, and at last Hagar felt sure that they must both soon die.

She left the boy lying in the sparse shade of a desert shrub, and went off a short distance to pray. As he lay there, exhausted almost to the point of unconsciousness, Ishmael also prayed—to the One God of his fathers—and suddenly, quite near him, a spring of clear, cool water bubbled out of the hot sands.

The Arabs and their Mecca

A story is told that when Abraham heard of this wonderful happening, he hurried out across the desert and built a temple near to the miraculous well. In one corner of this temple, named the Kaaba, he placed a sacred Black Stone which he believed had come down to him from Adam, who was supposed to have carried it with him when he and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden.

Here in this temple, Hagar and Ishmael lived happily. When Ishmael grew to manhood, he journeyed into Egypt, where he chose a wife. With her, he returned to his home in the wilderness, and there they raised a large family. All of his children also had large families, and this was the beginning of the proud race of Arabs. As they grew in numbers, they erected more and more houses and more and more large buildings, so that a great city gradually rose up around the temple Kaaba, and the name of this city was Mecca—ever since, for many millions of people, one of the most sacred places on Earth.

Naturally the Arabs worshipped Ishmael, and their original father Abraham, who had smashed idols and declared that there was only One God. But they also worshipped certain things in Nature, especially the sun and the moon, and as time went on they took to worshipping other idols as well, until they had 360 of them—one for every day of the Arabian year. Certainly they also worshipped Allah Taala as the great Lord over all—but He seemed rather distant and unapproachable. He received very little attention by comparison with the idols.

Since Mecca was such a very holy city with its sacred temple and its sacred well, pilgrims came to it from far and wide, as the centuries passed by, and at last the merchants began to realise that they could make a lot of money out of these pilgrims, by charging them for the right to drink from the well. And certainly they did make a lot of money in this way, but they also destroyed people's feeling of the sacredness of the well, for no truly sacred thing can be bought with money, as everyone knows in his heart of hearts.

Then the question arose—if Ishmael's well is not sacred, what is? Perhaps nothing is.

But man must put his faith in something, so the Arabs placed more and more of theirs in the stars and the winds, in rocks and pebbles, in 'magical' signs, and in all manner of worthless things. Gradually they developed into a race of gamblers, drinkers and fortune-tellers, without ideals and without a God. It was into this state of affairs that Mohammed was born in A.D. 570.

The Young Mohammed

As far as anyone knew, he was just an ordinary little boy, born into one of Mecca's more important families. His name, to begin with, was Ubu'l-Kassim. It was only years later that he became Mohammed (or 'Praised One').

His parents both died when he was six years old, and after this he was brought up by one of his uncles, who saw to it that the lad made early use of himself as a shepherd, and later as a camel-driver.

It was only years afterwards that marvellous stories began to be told about Mohammed's birth and childhood. It was said that when he was a baby, anyone who wished to look at him had to wear a face-veil so as not to be blinded by the radiance that came from the tiny child. It was also said that a glorious star shone over Mecca at the hour of his birth, and that everything in Nature danced and sang for joy—fish, birds, trees, even mountains. All through his childhood angels waited upon him, and whenever he tended sheep or rode in the desert, a cloud hung over him to shield him from the sun's fierce heat.

There was no end to such stories—afterwards. But for just now he was only a young man of powerful build, with flashing eyes, pure-white teeth and a mass of curly black hair.

He did so well as a camel-driver and a leader of trading caravans that he was hired to lead a caravan and to trade goods for a rich widow named Kadijah. He and Kadijah did not meet until he returned from this trip and went to deliver his report to her—but from the moment they first saw each other, they fell in love. Mohammed was only 25 at the time, and she was 40. But she was very beautiful, and soon after their first meeting they were married.

For 15 years Mohammed lived on in Mecca, comfortably and happily. His affection for Kadijah never wavered, nor did hers for him, and he became one of the most important merchants in the city. But also, he was a very thoughtful and intelligent man, who grasped at every opportunity to learn about the ways and beliefs of other people. Travellers to Mecca sometimes had much to tell about two great, wonderful religions called Judaism and Christianity which taught that there was but One, ever-present God— the ruler and creator of all. Mohammed listened with the keenest attention to every word that the strangers had to say. He asked them endless questions, and sometimes kept them answering and explaining for hours at a time.

Mohammed and the Angel

He compared the nobility of Judaism and Christianity with the degraded ways of living and thinking that he saw everywhere around him. As time went on, he thought about this more and more. He took to wandering out alone, across the desert and among the nearby hills, thinking about it in the silence. And once, during the month called Ramadan, when he returned home from one of these lonely walks, he told Kadijah with great excitement that the angel Gabriel had come to him out there in the hills, and had announced to him that he was the last and greatest Prophet of the One God (whom, of course, he called Allah), and that he had been chosen to lead the Arabs out of idolatry and into the worship of that One true God.

Kadijah did not doubt for a moment that all of this was true. She encouraged Mohammed to go out into the hills again, and receive any further instructions that Gabriel might wish to give him. She also encouraged him to start spreading his great message among the people.

He did both of these things, but whereas his contacts with Gabriel were always joyous, his speeches among the people were far from successful. With a new fluency which he had never known before, he spoke of the glories of Allah. But the people shrugged their shoulders and walked away. To them, the delights of drinking and gambling were far greater.

With words that swept forward like mighty storm-clouds before the winds of Heaven, he told about the sounding of the Last Trumpet on the Day of Judgment, when all who had believed in Allah would be rewarded with everlasting bliss, while those who had not believed would be condemned to the fires of Hell. But the people only scoffed and jeered at him.

In a blaze of anger he shouted against the evils of idolatry and against the evils of the most powerful men in Mecca, with their making of profits out of the pilgrims who came to visit the sacred Kaaba and the Well of Ishmael. And now at last he was taken a little notice of— by those who were making the profits. They angrily threatened him against any more such preaching, and they passed a law that anyone who followed him would be driven out of Mecca.

Mohammed replied: 'Not even if you set the sun against me on my right hand, and the moon on my left hand, would I abandon my mission!' And his actions were as brave as his words, for he went on preaching louder than ever. But even those who might have liked to join him were afraid to because of the law against them, so it seemed as if his work was all in vain. Even after three years he had only 13 followers—and these, of course, followed him only in secret.

Then his beloved wife Kadijah died, and Mohammed was bowed down with sorrow. Finally, in the year A.D. 622, he learned of a plot to murder him, and on the very night of the plot he took flight to the city of Yathrib.

The Beginning of Islam

Today, Mohammed's millions of followers celebrate this flight (or Hegira) with as much joy as that with which Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, and they count it as the first year in their calendar, for it was then that their religion had its true beginning.

Mohammed fled to Yathrib because he had learnt that great numbers of people there were ready to accept his teachings. And indeed, when he arrived it seemed as if they had been eagerly awaiting him. He was immediately hailed as the Prophet of Allah, and the leader of their city. The city was renamed Medina, meaning the City of the Prophet, and the new religion was now ready to become a great power in the world. Its name was Islam, meaning submission (in this case, submission to the will of Allah) and those who followed it were called Moslems, meaning those who submit.

Just as Lao Tzu had taught that people should submit their individual wills to Tao—and just as Judaism teaches that one should strive, throughout life, to understand and obey the will of God—so Mohammed taught that the first duty of every Moslem was to praise Allah and serve him. A Moslem's faith is as important in his life, and as closely interwoven with his everyday affairs, as is that of the Jews.

At the time of his triumph in Medina, Mohammed was 52 years old. This was the beginning of his leadership and also the beginning of his real problems, for the Meccans soon heard of his success and were determined to destroy both him and his city.

They sent out armies against him again and again, so that Mohammed had to organise an army too—to defend not so much himself personally, or even his city, but the new religion, Islam. And in order to keep his army well paid and fed, the angel Gabriel instructed him (or so he thought) to waylay any of the trading caravans laden with goods, which made their way from Mecca to other cities, across the desert. So, feeling quite sure that Allah was on their side, he and his armies set out over and over again with such confidence and daring that their raids were always successful.

Now, the rulers of Mecca were more than ever anxious to see Mohammed killed, and a long series of battles followed, involving practically all of the many Arabian tribes scattered through the desert. But these battles were always unequal, for the enemies of Mohammed were all fighting for material things, and for the continued worship of idols, whereas Mohammed and his armies were fighting for the recognition of the One God, and this noble purpose gave them almost superhuman strength.

One after another the various desert tribes were conquered and became converted to Islam. Then, eight years after his flight from Mecca, Mohammed returned there with a large army, for he knew that this holiest of cities in Arabia must be saved from the evils of idolatry. And he took possession of it without a drop of blood being shed.

When the Meccans heard that he was marching upon them, they fled in terror, and watched to see what would happen from the safety of the encircling hills. So the great army of Mohammed entered a silent and empty city.

We are told that, with Mohammed himself leading them, they marched straight to the Kaaba, which was surrounded with 360 large, gaudy idols. Mohammed pointed to the first of these and declared, 'Truth is come, and falsehood is fled away.' Then some of his soldiers came forward, dragged it down and broke it to bits. The same happened for the next, and the next, until not a single idol was left standing.

But here the destruction ended. No harm was done to any person or to any property, and the people of Mecca, returning to their homes at last, seemed only too happy to accept Mohammed and his religion.

The Teachings of Islam

Within a few years the whole of Arabia had become Islamic—and also united as it had never been in the past. Before the teachings of Mohammed, it had been divided into many small, embittered, warring tribes. Now, there was this bond of Islam joining them together into one great nation of brothers, their small differences appearing as nothing in the light of the five important rules which they all must follow.

There was nothing vague or difficult about these rules. They were perfectly simple and clear-cut: 1. The daily repetition of the words 'There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his Prophet.' 2. Prayer five times a day, kneeling and facing Mecca, with forehead on the ground. 3. The giving of alms, with true love and compassion for those less fortunate than oneself. 4. Fasting from food and drink between dawn and sunset on every day of the holy month called Ramadan. 5. The making of a pilgrimage to Mecca and the sacred Kaaba at least once in a lifetime.

Mohammed's teachings were as direct as his methods. He came not meekly but with a sword, and he taught his soldiers that a wonderful heaven awaited those who died in battle for Allah. Heaven for an Eskimo would, one supposes, be a place filled with warm sunshine, but for the desert-dwelling Arabians it is a cool, green garden filled with streams of cold water, and with lovely ladies, and never-ending peace. This was what Mohammed promised to those who believed. But to those who did not believe, he promised a hell of raging, everlasting fires.

There are no priests in Islam. Every Moslem goes to God directly, on his own, through his own life and his own prayers. And Mohammed made sure that Islam was not a religion merely for churches or mosques, but for everyday living. Again and again he declared that nobody could truly call himself a Moslem if he were selfish or greedy, if he gave short measure to those buying from him, if he spoke evil things about other people, if he did not keep promises, if he were wasteful, unkind to women or cruel to slaves, if he gambled or became drunk, if he did not honour his parents or help the poor.

So that once again, if everyone had truly obeyed the rules of Islam, we would already today have a completely peaceful and happy world—just as we would have if everyone truly followed the teachings of Christianity, or Judaism, or Confucianism and Taoism, or Buddhism, or the real Hinduism or Shinto. A true Moslem would be one of the kindest and most upright people on Earth. But of course it does not always work out like this with Islam, or with any other religion.

The Practice of Islam

For instance, Mohammed said, 'Lo, those who believe, and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabaeans— whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right—surely their reward is with the Lord, and there shall be no fear come upon them, neither shall they grieve.' And he urged all Moslems to say, 'We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.' Yet in reality, there is little friendship between Moslems and Christians.

The Moslems do, however, practise the various 'forms' of their religion faithfully, and these forms are important as the expressions of noble ideals. For instance, the great pilgrimage to Mecca expresses the brotherhood of Moslems, since they must all go wearing the same flowing white robes, whether they be masters or servants, rich or poor. And they must do no harm to anything alive— human, animal or vegetable.

Their first duty in Mecca is to visit the Holy Temple or Kaaba, with its sacred Black Stone. And their last duty, when all the other activities are finished, is to climb the Mount of Mercy and stay there communing with Allah from midday to sunset. This is the highest point of their whole pilgrimage—a period of stillness and of inner silence, and of a great lifting of the spirit.

Then, the fast throughout the holy month of Ramadan is more than a fasting from food and drink, but also from any selfish or dishonest action, and from any unkind word or thought.

The thought of God should be so constantly in a Moslem's mind that he should never begin anything, great or small, without first saying, 'In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful!' If he said this with real understanding, he could not then—in the name of Allah— do anything wrong.

The 'Koran'—and Mohammed's Character

This phrase is also repeated at the beginning of every chapter except one in the Bible of Islam, named the Koran, and there are 114 chapters in it.

The Koran is a remarkable book for many reasons. It is one of the loveliest pieces of writing in the Arabian language. Also, it is one of the most widely read books in the world. And, strangest of all, it was entirely the work of Mohammed himself; yet we are told that he could neither read nor write. But then, we are also told that the Koran came to him, over the years, as inspiration.

He would go off on one of his lonely walks, across the sands or into the hills, and the angel Gabriel would come to him, telling him the word of God, then Mohammed would return and tell it to the people, in a flow of beautiful language. While he spoke, one of his most faithful followers would write down the inspired words. It is all of these lessons, gathered together, which form the Koran.

Like the Jewish Talmud, it is a book which covers a great range of subjects—history and legends, rules for proper conduct in all kinds of human affairs, and of course every possible detail about religion. It lays down rules for running a business, for making judgments in a court of law, and for governing a nation as well as governing oneself.

So naturally, the Moslems regard their Koran with the greatest reverence, certain that it expresses the will of Allah to the last possible detail. And for this reason they also feel the greatest reverence for Mohammed as the mouthpiece of Allah.

They do not think of him as a god (Mohammed himself made very sure that his followers would never worship him in this way) but they do think of him as the last and greatest of all the prophets: a man infinitely kind, yet who came with a sword against evil.

In one part of the Koran, Allah—speaking to Mohammed—tells him, 'Therefore the orphan oppress not, therefore the beggar turn not away'. And indeed, he was never known to do either of these things. A seat was always kept outside his house, and anybody who sat there was given food and clothing. He particularly loved children, and had endless patience with them. Even when he became the most powerful man in Arabia, he remained humble in his own person, insisted upon sharing in the menial tasks of his soldiers, and always treated his servants with gentle kindness.

So it is not surprising to find that much good came from the teachings of such a man.

What Islam has Achieved

Mohammed died only two years after he conquered Mecca and even by that time tribal warfare had ceased, and Arabia was a united nation, worshipping One God. No longer was there any gambling or drunkenness or immorality.

Before the coming of Islam, Arabian women were treated as slaves, and were considered so unimportant that girl babies were often killed at birth. Mohammed completely stopped this terrible practice, and taught a new respect for women.

Also, of course, by the time he died there was no more idolatry among his millions of followers. There is a story told which shows how strongly Mohammed opposed the worship of idols. It is said that when he conquered Mecca, he was presented with a handsome bow decorated with the picture of an eagle. Fearing that even this picture might suggest an idol, Mohammed placed his hand over it. It immediately came to life and flew away, and only then did he happily accept the bow.

As time went on, the churches of Islam, or mosques, became more and more lavish in design and decoration, but they have never contained a single statue or picture— not even of Mohammed.

From the night of Hegira, Islam spread among the Arab tribes with the blaze and speed of a grass fire and continued to do so after Mohammed's death. His closest disciple, Abu Bekr, who recorded his teachings in writing (the Koran) became the first Caliph (or 'Shadow of God on Earth') after the prophet's death, and sent armies out to conquer Persia, Syria and north Africa.

Islam's holy wars went on for many years, under following Caliphs, and the victories were nearly always for Islam. Only in Europe were the Moslems turned back at last. Today after 1300 years they are still a great united group, despite their many different sects, and they are still spreading.

The countries in which Islam is strongest are Arabia, Africa, Indonesia, Iran and parts of Russia, China and India, and it is followed by almost 540,000,000 people.

It is a religion which arose among a rough, violent, divided race, and because of it, that race became one of the world's greatest civilisations. It made people understand Allah as a God of Infinite power, of wisdom and of justice, whose rewards are as splendid as his punishments are terrible. And finally, it brought a new sense of brotherhood and mercy. This is because, above every thing else, Allah is known to be kind. In his own words, as revealed to Mohammed, 'Verily my love overcometh my anger.'

If this alone were the case throughout the whole race of man, our world would be a heaven of everlasting peace.