Page:The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930).pdf/12



Muhammad, son of Abdullah, son of Abdul Mutallib, of the tribe of Qureysh, was born at Mecca fifty-three years before the Hijrah. His father died before he was born, and he was protected first by his grandfather, Abdul Mutallib, and, after his grandfather’s death, by his uncle, Abû Tâlib. As a young boy he travelled with his uncle in the merchants’ caravan to Syria, and some years afterwards made the same journey in the service of a wealthy widow named Khadîjah. So faithfully did he transact the widow's business, and so excellent was the report of his behaviour which she received from her old servant who had accompanied him, that she soon afterwards married her young agent; and the marriage proved a very happy one, though she was fifteen years older than he was. Throughout the twenty-six years of their life together he remained devoted to her; and after her death, when he took other wives he always mentioned her with the greatest love and reverence. This marriage gave him rank among the notables of Mecca, while his conduct earned for him the surname Al-Amîn, the "trustworthy."

The Meccans claimed descent from Abraham through Ishmael, and tradition stated that their temple, the Ka'bah, had been built by Abraham for the worship of the One God. It was still called the House of Allah, but the chief objects of worship there were a number of idols which were called daughters of Allah and intercessors. The few who felt disgust at this idolatry, which had prevailed for centuries, longed for the religion of Abraham and tried to find out what had been its teaching. Such seekers of the truth were known as Ḥunafa (sing. Hanîf), a word originally meaning "those who turn away" (from the existing idol-worship), but coming in the end to