The coming of Mohammed was in a sense opportune. The local religions of the Arabs were growing effete. Allah was already known, but much in the same way as Baal was in pre-Israelitic Canaan-each tribe might call its own deity Allah, and a process of unification had already begun. That this was due in part to the influence of Judaism and Christianity is very probable. There were a number of Jewish tribes in Arabia, and to Arabs Jews were "the people of the book." Jewish accounts of Arab origins were accepted, and both peoples claimed Abraham as the common ancestor. That from the Jews in his early journeys the founder derived his tendency toward a rigid monotheism is at least possible; and Mohammedanism employs many Jewish theological terms. Christianity also, through two channels, affected Islam: (1) through the hermits whose huts and caves dotted the desert, while they themselves were respected by the nomads; (2) through the faith of the Abyssinians, whose country was the refuge of Mohammed's followers in the stormy times of the close of the first Meccan period. By Mohammed and his followers Jesus was recognized as a prophet second in honor only to Mohammed, while the devout Moslem never speaks of him without uttering the benediction "on whom be peace." But the complexion Christianity takes on as reflected in Islam is, like that of Judaism, apocryphal rather than as portrayed in the Gospels. A third source of Mohammed's inspiration was the Hands -a discovery comparatively recent. Hanif probably means "penitent," and the name was applied to men who, not constituting a sect, were scattered through Arabia as recluses, individual seekers after God. Among these men had developed belief in a deity like Allah, who was rising into lofty superiority above the idols of the tribes. The problems of sin and judgment were real to these Hanifs, and the practise of austerity and penitence were parts of their solution of the question. Through a cousin of Hadijah Mohammed came into contact with these men and their developing monotheism; and the light gained from Judaism and Christianity doubtless illumined for him the meditations of the Hanifs as communicated to him. His own rapid logic and invincible spirit conducted him to his own absolute monotheism, and the later steps followed as already indicated: instruction of his friends, public preaching, intensification of purpose through opposition, development at Medina, assimilation of elements not absolutely incompatible with the system, break with Judaism, politicalization of the faith, and the submission of Arabia.
The fundamental theological doctrine of Islam is the unity of God, whose will, declared by the prophet Mohammed, is law for man. The doctrine of God is intensely and baldly unitarian. Special points antagonized were the Christian trinity and the deity of Christ. Emphasis was laid upon the sovereignty of Allah and his omnipotence. Allah was not a philosophic first cause, but a present active agency ever working in his world a. The and accomplishing his purposes. In Theology other words, Mohammed's was a prao- and itstical, not a speculative monotheism. Implicates. Allah was sharply distinguished from his creation, and the latter included evil as well as good. From no logical consequences of this doctrine did the founder shrink. Right is right not because of its essence but because Allah decrees it. Hence Mohammedan predestination is arbitrary in its absoluteness, acquiring the force of fatalism. The practical result was the inspiration of a magnificent but terrible courage. Arab war riors went into battle convinced that their life-span was so definitely determined that whether they stayed at home or went to the fight their hop would: surely overtake them. This fanaticism was intensi fied by the eschatology of the faith, which is gross, crude, and vivid. Both heaven and hell are mate rial, both are preceded by resurrection and judgment, through which all Moslems pass with success -though some may have to be purified in purgatory. But the warrior who dies in battle is sure of paradise. It is to these facts that the dread of a ' jehad or holy war is due. Hell is in seven regions, of which the first is purgatory; to hell all infidels (non-Mohammedans) are destined. Heaven is across' a chasm over which is a bridge broad and easy for the believer, but shrinking to the width of a razor's edge when infidels attempt its passage, and they then fall from it into the fire which for them is eternal. While the delights of the Moslem heaven as portrayed in the Koran are sensual, there can be no doubt that, as in other religions, the idea con veyed depends upon the mental and spiritual culture }
ture of the individual. One may well compare the conceptions inspired in Christians by the reading of the Book of Revelation, though the adjectives sensuous and sensual well distinguish the views held by Christian and Mohammedans respectively. Surah xiii. proves that the prophet's heaven was not hounded by the delights of the senses. Another consequence of the doctrine of the unity of God was the prohibition of idolatry, both of the making and worshiping of images. The only inconsistency is the retention of the Black Stone of the Kaaba-an inconsistency recognized and denounced by some of the sects of the religion. Equally a corollary of the doctrine of the absoluteness of deity is the angelology of Islam. Angels are a postulate of the faith. They are required as ministers of Allah, who is too exalted to accomplish his ends by personal -ministrations. The angelology is elaborate, the angelic beings are arranged in order of rank, with the archangels Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and Asrael at the head, each of whom has duties here or hereafter in relation to mankind. There are also recording angels whose records appear as testimony at the judgment. Of angels of lesser rank there are hosts; besides these there are genii, good and bad. The devil is a fallen angel named Iblis.
Briefly, the four practical points of the Mohammedan creed are: (1) prayer five times a day; directed toward Mecca.; (2) almsgiving on a fixed
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scale at least, above that scale according to one's inclination; (3) fasting in the daytime during Ramadan; (4) pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime. These things are regarded as most
firmly binding on all Moslems. By 3. System prayer, in Arabic, five times a day
of Practise. facing Mecca, the day is mortgaged toGod. Yet the prayers are short, therefore soon over, and consequently not burdensome. On Friday, in addition to the prayers, brief hortatory addresses or sermons are delivered in the mosques. But Friday is not a day of cessation from labor. There can be little doubt that the injunction to turn toward Mecca at prayer does much to support the observance of the injunction to make the pilgrimage. Equally faithful are Mohammedans in observing the command to bestow alms, a consequence of which is the large proportion of beggars found in most Mohammedan centers. In its social system Islam lags centuries behind because of its legitimation of polygamy, of divorce by the husband at will, and of slavery. The charter of Islam is the Surah numbered ix. by Sale, caiii. by Rodwell, and caiv. by Muir, and believed to be the last but one delivered. Moslems are to enforce conversion of idolaters with the aIternative of death, while to Jews and Christians the alternative is payment of heavy tribute. Force became the basis of the propaganda, the sword was the instrument. Hence the two characteristics which obtrude themselves in .contact of Moham. medanism with other faiths are fanaticism and intolerance. Yet it is not improbable that modern Mohammedan success in Africa is not wholly due to the sword. The function of this religion in world history seems to be that of disciplining peoples in a low stage of culture. Its fault is that it is an insuperable obstacle to progress beyond a certain stage. Christianity makes relatively few converts from its adherents.
V. Developments after Mohammed: While the primitive doctrine of Islam was as thus stated, that the Koran would continue alone to be the norm of action was not to be expected. This work summed up merely the phenomena within the founder's horizon. Consequently, just as in Christianity there grew up in the ecumenical councils and in the life of the Church norms as really authoritative in
belief and practise as the New Tester. The ment itself, so in Islam there came to Four Bases recognition four bases of authority,
of Doc- the Koran, aunnah, ijma, and kiyas. trine and Sunnah, "custom, usage," sums up Practise. the doctrine that so far as practicablenot only the injunctions but the practise of the founder is to be followed. This led to a collection of traditions respecting Mohammed, made in the third Mohammedan century, which were compared with the Koran, and this body of tradition, thus sifted, became equally authoritative with the Koran. Ijma is a word which is the Islamic equivalent of the Christian semper, ubique, et ab omnibus, or "universal assent." It is the collection of legal and doctrinal decisions made by the prophet, his companions, and their immediate successors. It is of three kinds, unanimity in opinion, in practise, and by
tacit consent. Where this unanimity exists with reference to any doctrine, that doctrine is as binding as any explicitly taught in Koran or sunnah. Kiyas is the Mohammedan equivalent of the Jew ish Talmud. It is a collection of inferences drawn from the more general pronouncements of Koran, sunnah, and ijma, meant to be applied to special calm such as may at any moment arise. It is therefore the interpretation of the other three collections applied to practical life. It will at once be noticed that these three additions to the Koran added immensely to the elasticity of the system.
At the death of Mohammed there were three possible candidates for leadership: Ali, nephew and son-in-law of the prophet, of whom it is said that Mohammed indicated him as leader before his death, but that the pronouncement was suppressed by Ayesha because Ali had accused
The her of unchastity; Omar, a father=inEarly law of Mohammed; and Abu Bekr,
Caliphate. father of Ayesha. Omar refused to stand, and Abu Bekr was elected. The partisans of Ali were prevented from contesting the election with arms only by the general revolt of the tribes which left Mecca, Medina, and Taif the only. faithful centers, While the revolt was quelled only on the return of the army then operating in south, ern Palestine. Under the first caliph (" succes sor ") Arabia was once more united, - and Persia, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Egypt came in large part under Moslem rule. Be fore Abu Bekr died (634) he nominated Omar, who was elected, the conquest of the countries named. was nearly completed, and the erection of a Mos lem state proceeded under the able administration of Omar. At his death in 644, Ali was again a candi date, but was defeated by Othman supported by the Koraish, against whom uprisings at once be gan, and Othman, detected in double-dealing, was slain (655). Ali was then elected, and his two rivals fled to Persia and raised a revolt, but this was sup pressed, Ayesha was captured and the two rivals killed (656). The governor of Syria at this time was Mu'awiya, holding a strong position because of the better discipline of the Arabs who formed his army. He espoused the cause of Othman, re fused to acknowledge Ali as caliph, and an attempt was made to arbitrate the dispute. Meanwhile Ali's following became divided and a part deserted him, while a conspiracy was formed to murder both parties to the dispute and also the General Amr, who was acting as arbitrator. Ali alone was killed, though Mu'awiya was wounded. Ali's brother Husain went to Mecca to assume the caliphate, but he was slain and Mu'awiya was acknowledged in his place. Thus Mu'awiya became the first of the Ummayad caliphs (so named from Ummaya, great grandfather of Mu'awiya), fourteen in number, who ruled at Damascus till 750, and were succeeded by the Abbasids (claiming descent from Abbas, uncle of the prophet). Out of this contest, which involved the first five caliphs, sprang the prime distinction in Islam between Sumzah and Shiah, two forms of doctrine which comprise between them all the lesser distinctions or sects into which Islam has been and is still divided. The Sum-ah doctrine is that all|
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four of the first caliphs were legitimate; Shish holds that the office of caliph is not elective and not usurpable, that it comes by divine right and is spiritual, and that Ali was the first caliph or Imam, kept from his own by Ayesha, and finally dislodged by Mu'awiya.
Possibly the tradition is apocryphal which attributes to Mohammed the prediction that Islam would split into seventy-two divisions, but for a man who knew his people as did the prophet the prediction is not improbable. Within his own lifetime the seeds of division were sown in the honor paid to the Muhajirs, "companions in the Hegira," who went with him from Mecca to Medina 3. Shiites (together with the Ansar, "helpers," and who invited him thither); and in the Sunnites. distinction of these from the converts who accepted Islam because they must, among whom developed the Ummayads, so important in the very near future of Mohammed's time. The events of the succession created a party to whom the name "legitimists" may be applied, because they held that succession was through appointment by Allah and not through election by men. The election of the third caliph was a triumph for the Ummayads, his assassination and the election of the fourth caliph (Ali) was a triumph for the legitimists. The contest between Ali and Mu'awiya was fruitful in divisions. Thus the promise by Ali given to Mu'awiya, to submit his right to the caliphate to arbitration, evoked the active disapproval of a large party of his followers on the ground that the duly elected caliph had no right to submit to question his unquestionable right. These were the Kharijites, "seceders," who differed from the legitimists in that they held election to give an undisputed title. The Kharijites in turn continued for centuries to split into factions, each of which differed from the others on various counts, practical or theoretical, and their survivors in the present are the sect of Ibadites. But the great division was between Shiah and Sunnah, already defined. Shiah started as a political tenet, concerned primarily with the succession to the caliphate; but this had a theological basis, and naturally the distinction between Shiites and Sunnit~ became essentially theological. From the Shiah doctrine of the inherent right of Ali developed divisions in the body of Shiites according as the conception of Ali's personality varied-Ali being regarded at one time as an incarnation of deity, at another as an Imam in whom the heavenly light existed (see Babism), and so on-or as opinions varied concerning the line through which legitimacy flowed, whether through descendants of Ali by his wife Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed, or through some other of Ali's descendants. The great freedom in Speculation which has always characterized Shiah contributed further to division into sects as pantheism and mysticism and rationalism evolved positions around which those to whom the variant doctrines appealed easily gathered. Especially fruitful of divisions was the doctrine of the Imamate, the two great parties of the " Seveners " and the " Twelvers " differing on the question whether the Imamate descended to the twelfth or only to the seventh generation from Ali before it suffered occultation. The Druses (q.v.) and the Assassins are but extreme developments in the circle of Shiah. The distinction between Shiites and Sunnites in its total intra-Islamic effect is that between the heterodox and the orthodox, the latter term being applicable to Sunnah doctrine alone. The Sunnites were, so to speak, driven into existence by the necessity of opposing Shiah tenets . and their developments. Hence Sunnites are the traditionalists of Mohammedanism, whose central position is that in the four bases of authority named above all necessary guidance is contained. But even while they thus explicitly disavowed philosophizing, this activity claimed its workers among them, and as differences of theory and practise grew up in the larger life opened up by Islamic conquests, discord arose, and the history of Sunnah is no less a story of division than is that of Shiah. But the Sunnites are by far the more numerous, constituting nine-tenths of Mohammedan religionists.
The reasons for this great diversity of sects in a system theoretically so rigid as Mohammedanism may be given as follows: (1) Advance in culture through contact with the peoples of the world brought its immediate consequences in an acquired bent for speculative and analytical 4. Causes philosophizing-not a native trait in of Sec- Semites (see Arabia). Thus the im- tarianism. plicit contradictions in the Koran re specting predestination and free will, the interpretation and methods of interpreting that book, difficulties in eschatology-all these chal lenged individual opinion, prejudice, and passion, and opened chasms between bodies of believers. (2) The diversity in the human make-up of the great realm covered by the faith had its influence. Peoples as diverse as the Negro races of Africa, the Aryans and native races of India and Persia, Malays and Mongolians own its away. Peoples so different could not be expected to hold the faith in the same way. An illustration of the modifications thus brought in is furnished by Persia, where the de cided trend of the mind of the Eastern Aryan toward pantheism and the liking for the theory of reincar nation have compelled Islam to include within its fold believers in both these originally un-Moham medan principles. (3) The fanaticism which Mo hammed evoked and fostered contributed to the ardor with which any tenet once enunciated and received with any degree of favor was embraced and its propaganda carried on. (4) Coordinate ele ments were the Semitic tendency to segregation and the hugeness of the Mohammedan realm. Arabs of unnumbered clans, Babylonians, Assyrians, Syrians, Arameans, Copts-indeed the whole Semitic world except the Jews-accepted the faith. Scission was in the very material of which the fabric was built, even if no account be taken of the alien races, each with its own psychological history and categories of religious intuitions. The mystery is not that sects developed, but rather that the religion has held together the hordes of Semites, not to mention the swarms of other peoples whom it dominates. From these roots therefore sprang division. Scho lasticism developed, and logical, theological, and
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Bibliography: The literature on the subject is enormous. An authoritative bibliography of some of the phases is given in the indispensable volume of D. B. Macdonald, Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory, pp. 358-367, New York, 1903. On the founder consult: the lives by W. Muir, 4 vols., London, 1858-61 (the classic; contains valuable introduction and notes; an abridged eel., Life of Mohammed from Original Sources, appeared, ib. 1877, and still further abridged, 1887); Syed Ameer AIL London, 1873, cf. his Life and Teachings of Mohammed, ib. 1881; A. Sprenger, 3 vols., Berlin, 1861-69; T. Nöldeke, Hanover, 1863, cf. his Sketches from Eastern History, chap. ii., London, 1892; W. Irving, under title Lives of Mahomet and his Successors, New York, 1849-50, often reissued. The preceding are of importance. Further literature on Mohammed is: G. Weil, Mohammed der Prophet, Stuttgart, 1844; B. SRint-Hilaire, Mahomd et to Coran, Paris, 1865; R. B. Smith, Mohammed and Mohammedanism, London, 1874; J. Wellbausen, Muhammad in Medina, Berlin, 1882; R. Krehl, Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammeds, Leipsic, 1884; W. Koelle. Mohammed and Mohammedanism, London,1889; H. P. Smith, The Bible and Islam, chap i., New York, 1897; H. Gramme, Mohammed, new eel., Münster, 1904; D. S. Margolioutb, Mahomet and the Rise of Islam, London, 1905; R. Dueasae, Mahomet dons son temps, Geneva, 1909; Ibn Sand, Biographien Muhammade, eel. E. Sachau, vols. i.-ii., Leyden, 1905-09. The works on the Koran and on the religion usually contain sketches of the life of the founder.
Of the Koran the best eel. is that by G. Fluegel, Leipsic, 1834, often reprinted. Of English translations the best are by E. H. Palmer, in SBE, vols. vi., ix., and by J. M. Rodwell, London, 1879. Still of high value for its notes is the rendering of G. Sale, London, 1734, and often, e.g., 1882; valuable also is E. Lane, Selections from the Koran, ib. 1879. For introduction consult: G. Weil, Einleitung in den Koran, Bielefeld, 1878; E. Sell, Historical Development of the Quran, London, 1905; and for exegesis, E. M. Wherry, Comprehensive Commentary on the Quean, 4 vols., London, 188286. Consult further: T. Nöldeke, Geschichte des Qorans, Göttingen, 1860, 2d eel., eel. F. Schwally, part 1, Leipsic, 1909; W. St. C. Tisdall, Original Sources of the Quran, London, 1904; H. Hirschfeld, Beiträge zur Erkltirung des Korans, Leipsic, 1886.
On the religion: T. Nöldeke, Orientalische Skizzen, Berlin. 1892, Eng. transl., London, 1892; I. Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, 2 parts, Leipsic, 1889-90; J. W. H. Stobart, Islam and its Founder, ib. 1878; T. P. Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, ib. 1885; W. St. C. Tisdall, The Religion of the Crescent, ib. 1895, new eel., 1906; T. W. Arnold, The Preaching of Islam, ib. 1896; R. F. Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to al-Madinah and Mecca, 2 vols., London, 1898 (indispensable for insight into the character and psychology of the Arabs); E. Sell,
The Faith of Islam, ib. 1908; idem, Essays on Islam, Madras, 1901 (Sell's attitude is polemical); idem, The Religious Orders of Islam, ib. 1908; P. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, Lehrbuch der Religionegeschichte, i. 438-538, Tübingen, 1905 (contains sketch of Mohammed's life and a treatment of the Koran); A. N. Wollaston, The Sword of Islam, London, 1905; Die Kultur der Gegenwart, L, iii. 87-135, Berlin, 1906; F. A. Klein, Religion of Islam, London, 1906. Special topics are discussed in: M. Wolff, Muhammedanische Eschatologie, Leipsic, 1872 (giving the ideas of the populace); C. Brookelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, Weimar, 1898--99; T. J. De Boer, Geschichte der Philosophie in Islam, Stuttgart, 1901, Eng. transl., London, 1903; D. B. Macdonald, ut sup.; E. M. Wherry, The Muslim Controversy, London, 1905; H. Galla,nd, Easai sur les Motaulites, Paris, 1906; E. Herzfeld, Samarra. Aufnahmen and Untersuchungen cum islomiechen Archaeologie, Berlin, 1907; L. Caetani, Annali dell' Islam, 2 vols., Milan, 1907; W. Eiekmann, Die Angelologie and Dnmonologie des Koram im Verglefeh zu der Engel- and Geiaterlehre der heiligen Schrift, Leipsic, 1908; T. N. Juynboll, Handbuch des ialamischen Gesetzes each der Lehre der scha f'itischen Schule, nebst einer allgemeinen Einleitung, ib. 1908; W. Niekrens, Die Engel- and Geister-oorstellungen des Korans, Rostock, 1908; H. Saladin, Manuel d'art musudman, Paris, 1908; A. G. Leonard, Islam: her moral and spiritual Value, London, 1909; D. B. Maedonald, The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam, Chicago, 1909; H. R. Sayani, Hasan, Ibn Adham, and Junaid, in Saints of Islam, London, 1909; Carra de Vaux, La Doctrine de flslam, Paris, 1909. Consult further: H. P. Smith, The Bible and Islam, ut sup.; T. Nöldeke, Sketches, ut sup., chap. iii.; Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. 1.; Smith, Rel. of Sem, and Kinship; and the literature under Arabia, especially Doughty. The new Enzyklopddie des Islam (in English, Encyclopedia of Islam, London) begun by T. Houtsma and A. Schaade, Leyden and Leipsic, 1908, has unfortunately suspended publication.
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