Page:Mohammed and the Rise of Islam.djvu/16

vi the authorities utilised already by his predecessors, of which the chief are enumerated in the Bibliography. One of these, the Class Book of Ibn Sa'd (ob. 230 A.H., 845 A.D.) is in course of publication. Since the authors of books in this series have the number of their pages limited, it has been found necessary to abbreviate, and this has been done by omitting three kinds of matter:

Some principles for estimating the credibility of traditions are given by Muir in his Introduction, and by Goldziher in his Muhammadanische Studien. A few important observations bearing on this subject are also made by Nöldeke, Z. D. M. G., lii., 16, foll. The number of motives leading to the fabrication of traditions was so great that the historian is in constant danger of employing as veracious records what were deliberate fictions. I can only hope that I have not displayed greater credulity than my predecessors. In condemning traditions as unhistorical I have ordinarily considered the obelus of Goldziher, Nöldeke, or Wellhausen as sufficient.
 * 1) Translations of the Koran (except in the rarest cases).
 * 2) All anecdotes that are obviously or most probably fabulous.
 * 3) Such incidents as are of little consequence either in themselves or for the development of the narrative.

The standpoint from which this book is written is suggested by the title of the series. I regard Mohammed as a great man, who solved a political problem of appalling difficulty,—the construction of