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c. 594] of the Ḳuraish, but the evidence which we possess tends to prove that in pre-Muslim times it occupied quite a subordinate place. Of Mahomet's father, 'Abdallāh, son of 'Abd-al-Muṭṭalib, we know scarcely anything except that he died shortly before the Prophet's birth. 'Āmina, the mother of Mahomet, died a very few years later, and the orphan boy afterwards lived for a while in the charge of his grandfather, 'Abd-al-Muṭṭalib, who had a numerous family. On the death of 'Abd-al-Muṭṭalib, one of his sons, Abū Ṭālib, undertook the care of Mahomet, who seems to have been treated kindly but to have endured many hardships, since none of his near relatives were wealthy. When he was about 24 years of age he entered the service of an opulent woman, considerably older than himself, named Khadīja. The antecedents and social position of Khadīja are shrouded in some mystery, but it is certain that she had been twice married and that at the time when she made the acquaintance of Mahomet she was living at Mecca with several of her children, who were still quite young. Mahomet appears to have succeeded at once in gaining her confidence. She entrusted him with the management of her property, and about the year 594 sent him to Syria on a commercial expedition, which he directed with conspicuous success. On his return he became her husband. For a few years he led the life of a prosperous tradesman; several daughters were born to him and two sons, both of whom died in infancy.

The process whereby Mahomet was led to occupy himself with religious questions and finally to believe in his divine mission is altogether obscure. That the doctrines which he afterwards preached did not arise spontaneously in his mind but were mainly derived from older religions seems obvious. It appears certain, however, that he was wholly unacquainted with religious literature. Whether he ever learnt the Arabic alphabet is a question which has been fiercely debated, both among Muslims and Christians; at all events we know that, in his later years, whenever he wished to record anything in writing he employed a secretary. But the question whether he could read is of little practical importance, since no religious books seem to have existed in Arabic at that period, and that he could read any foreign language is utterly incredible. We are therefore obliged to conclude that his information was derived entirely from oral sources; who his informants were we can only conjecture. At Mecca itself there was apparently no permanent colony of Christians, Jews, or Zoroastrians, but isolated adherents of the principal foreign religions doubtless visited the town from time to time. It has often been suggested that Mahomet