Page:Bury J B The Cambridge Medieval History Vol 2 1913.djvu/337

Rh of the world and the expectation of the overthrow of Jerusalem were sometimes so closely connected as to become indistinguishable.

A great part of the Koran consists of narratives, inserted for purposes of edification. Scarcely any of these can be described as historical; on the other hand, scarcely any is a pure invention of Mahomet's. In almost every case he utilises some legend that he has heard, in order to enforce his doctrines. Thus he repeatedly introduces persons mentioned in the Old Testament and puts into their mouths discourses in favour of monotheism, moral precepts, etc. The opposition which they encountered and the chastisements which overtook their adversaries are likewise described at great length. The allusions to Christ and the early Christian Church present some very curious and hitherto unexplained features. That Christ, or any other being, can be a "son of God" is emphatically denied; at the same time the belief that Christ was born of a virgin is fully accepted, and among the prophets of past ages He occupies a specially prominent place. But of the facts of Christ's life Mahomet appears to have known next to nothing. In one of the later chapters of the Koran (iv. 156) the Jews are condemned for asserting that Christ was put to death and the crucifixion is represented as a deceptive appearance. The fact that Christians believed in the Crucifixion is totally ignored, and we may therefore conclude that on this very important point Mahomet's Christian informants held opinions resembling those which are ascribed to the ancient Docetists.

The disciples of the Prophet called themselves Muslims, but were usually known by the name of "Sabians" (Ṣābi'ūn), Their organisation and rules of life were at first of a very simple kind. They bound themselves to abstain from idolatry and from certain immoral practices, especially fornication and infanticide. The cult consisted mainly of prayers, according to the formulae prescribed by the Prophet; meetings for this purpose were held at stated times, but always in strict privacy. In order to indicate that the God whom he proclaimed was identical with the God of the Jews, Mahomet commanded his followers to adopt the Jewish practice of praying towards Jerusalem. At this time he appears to have had scarcely any notion of the difference between Judaism and Christianity; consequently he was able to regard both Jews and Christians as his brethren in religion.