Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/508

 486 THE DECLINE AND FALL the most prosperous aera of the riches, the cultivation, and the populousness of Spain. 2-" Eeugious The wars of the Moslems were sanctified by the prophet ; but, among the various precepts and examples of his life, the caliphs selected the lessons of toleration that might tend to disarm the resistance of the unbelievers. Arabia was the temple and patri- mony of the God of Mahomet ; but he beheld with less jealousy and affection the nations of the earth. The polytheists and idolaters who were ignorant of his name might be lawfully ex- tirpated by his votaries ; -^ but a wise policy supplied the obli- gation of justice ; and, after some acts of intolerant zeal, the Mahometan conquerors of Hindostan have spared the pagods of that devout and populous country. The disciples of Abraham, of Moses, and of Jesus were solemnly invited to accept the more perfect revelation of Mahomet ; but, if they preferred the pay- ment of a moderate tribute, they were entitled to the freedom propaga- of conscicnce and religious worship.--^ In a field of battle, the MahometiBm forfeit livcs of the prisoners were redeemed by the pi-ofession of Islam ; the females were bound to embrace the religion of their masters, and a race of sincere proselytes was gradually multiplied by the education of the infant captives. But the millions of African and Asiatic converts, who swelled the native band of the faithful Arabs, must have been allured, rather than constrained, to declare their belief in one God and the apostle of God. By the repetition of a sentence and the loss of a foreskin, the subject or the slave, the captive or the criminal, arose in a moment the 227 I am happy enough to possess a splendid and interesting work, which has only been distributed in presents by the court of Madrid : Bibliotheca Arabico- Hlspana Escurialensis opera et studio Michaelis Casiri, Syro Afaronitae. Matriti, in folio, tomus prior, 1760, tomus posterior, 1770. The execution of this work does honour to the Spanish press ; the Mss. to the number of mdcccli, are judiciously classed by the editor, and his copious extracts throw some light on the Mahometan literature and history of Spain. These relics are now secure, but the task has been supinely delayed, till in the year 1671 a fire consumed the greatest part of the Escurial library, rich in the spoils of Grenada and Morocco. [In his History of Mohammiwlan Dynasties in Spain M. Gayangos criticised Casiri's work as " hasty and superficial," and containing " unaccountable blunders".] 228 The Harbii, as they are styled, qui tolerari nequeunt, are, i. Those who, be- sides God, worship the sun, moon, or idols. 2. Atheists. Utrique, quamdiu princeps aliquis inter Mohammedanos superest, oppugnari debent donee religionem amplec- tantur, nee requies iis concedenda est, nee pretium acceptandum pro optinendS. conscientias libertate (Reland, Dissertat. x. de Jure Militari Mohammedan, torn, iii. p. 14). A rigid theory ! 229 The distinction between a proscribed and a tolerated sect, between the Harbii and the people of the Book, the believers in some divine revelation, is correctly defined in the conversation of the caliph Al Mamun with the idolaters or Sabaeans of Charrse. Hottinger, Hist. Orient, p. 107, 108,