MOHAMMED, MOHAMMEDANISM.

I. Introduction.

lI. Mohammed.

Early Life, Physique, Temperament (§ 1).

Second Period (§ 2).

The Medina Period (§ 3).

Final Period (§ 4).

Character (§ 5).

III. The Koran.

IV. The Religion.

The Background (§ 1).

The Theology and Its Implicates (§ 2).

System of Practise (§ 3).

V. Developments after Mohammed.

The Four Bases of Doctrine and Practise (§ 1).

The Early Caliphate (§ 2).

Shiites and Sunnites (§ 3).

Causes of Sectarianism (§ 4).

I. Introduction:

Mohammedanism has unique claims upon the interest of the student of religions. (1) It is one of the three great monotheistic faiths (its followers would say one of the two, since to them Christianity is tritheistic), and its fundamental tenet is essentially the same as that given in the Shema` of Israel: "Hear, O Israel; Yahweh thy God is one" (Deut. vi. 4). (2) It is not, like Judaism or Shinto, a national but a world religion. Sprung, like Judaism and Christianity, from Semitic origins, it claims its followers also among Arian, and Turanian peoples and bas proved its adaptability to the needs of them all. (3) It is, therefore, one of the missionary religions, and with Buddhism and Christianity, it is contesting, not unsuccessfully, for the religious leadership of mankind. It confronts the Christian missionary in the great fields of missionary effort in Asia and Africa and presents knotty problems for him and for the Christian apologist. (4) It is the one world religion outside of Christianity the origins of which lie open in the light of history. It arose in one man's lifetime, was shaped by one hand and directed by a single mentality. It is a religion in which the miraculous is minimized, yet within eighty years it won an empire as great as Christianity's in the time of Constantine, and it is still extending its influence. The initial success of Islam was due not simply to its own power, but in large part to the conditions of the times and to the effects of surprise. A unified Arabia was the world's astonishment. The peninsula was outside the track of world movements, its forces were unknown. Moreover, Rome and Persia had exhausted each the other's strength by centuries of warfare. Besides this, the Christian Church was divided, and neither branch was loath to see the other crippled by a third power. The onset of the Arabs, inspired by the certainty of conquest and the assurance of paradise if they fell, was irresistible till 732, when their progress was checked in the West by Charles Martel, and 740, when they met defeat in the East by Leo III. at Acroinon. The present strength of Mohammedanism can only be estimated, since an Eastern census is not exact. Estimates for 1909 place the number of adher ents in Europe at 6,000,000, in Africa at 72,000,000, in Asia at 192,000,000, or about 270,000,000 in all.

II. Mohammed: