Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/742

* MOHAMMEDANISM. 664 MOHAMMEDANISM. history, gtugiaiiliy. lii>uir_v. grammar, rhetoric, scliooled by the old Hellenic masters, and the "golden art of poetry," brought forth an abun- dant harvest of works, many of which will live and teach as long as there will be generations to be taught. See Arabic LAjiGt;AGE and Liteba- TUBE. HisTOKV. In the first three years of his mis- sion Mohammed won forty converts, including his wife. Khadija. Abu Bekr. and Othnian. Then followed Ali. Omar ilin Khattab. and llamza. In 615 the persecutions of the Koreish drove fifteen of the converts into Abyssinia, and they were later joined by a hundred more. After Mohammed's return from Taif to ilecca he won over some of the Bani Khazraj of Yathrib (Me- dina), who then made converts among the Bani Alls, formerly their enemies. The new faith spread rajiidly fruni tribe to tribe, the Bani Abd al-Ashhal going over in a body. In (522 the number of Mohammedan pilgrims from Vathrib was 73. After the flight from ilecca Medina was organized into a commonwealth, and Islam be- came a polHical as well as a religious move- ment. Mohammed's plans included now nothing less than the conversion of the world to Islam. It he had at lirst hoped to accomplish this by peaceful mea.sures alone, the aggressiveness of his enemies in advancing against iledina soon forced the preacher to become warrior also, and mili- tary success won more and more converts. In the sixth year of the Ilejira Mohannned sent letters to the Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius, to the King of I'ersia. to the Governor of Yemen, to the Governor of Egjpt, and to the King of Abys- sinia inviting them to join the new religion. In the same year he converted part of the Bani Daws of Y'emen, and two years later the rest of the tribe followed: in the meanwhile fifteen other tribes responded. With the fall of Mecca in A.u. 8, the triumph of Islam in Arabia was assured. Some of the Prophet's bitterest enemies became his most ardent followers; and the next year saw so many embassies suing for alliance that it became known as the "year of the deputa- tions.' After Abu Bekr had brought about the re- subjugation of the northern tribes, who had re- volted on MohaninKil's death, an army was sent into Syria, as the I'rophet himself had ])lanned. A second army was sent into Irak. The latter came into contact with the Persian forces, and in Omar's caliphate, by the victory at Kadisiy- yah, Chaldira and Mesopotamia were assured to the Arabs. Christian liedouins of both sides of the Euphrates became converted at this time, even though tolerance was extended to those who kept their own faith. In Syria almost the only (>])position came from Heraclius's armies. The great mass of the people, oppressed by the Byzan- tines, welcomed the .rabs. By fi."!!! the Greeks had been driven out of the province, most of the large towns having made treaties whiih guaranteed them toleration of religious belief, and protection of life and properly on the mere payment of the jhiinh (jKiU-tax) and Ihiiraj (land-tax). Kricndly relations being thus estab- lished, in the following years there was a gradual assimilation of .ral>ic manners and customs throughout Syria, which made the conversion of the natives easy. Many Christians were con- Terted in the fifty venrs between Omar and Abd al-.Malik in Irak. Khoia^an. etc. Omar II. (717- 720) was particularly successful bj- lightening the burdens of .Mohanuiiedan landowners. In ad- dition, the children of women captives were brought up as Moslems; and slaves were allowed to purchase their freedom at ths price of conver- sion. In the tenth c-entury the Xestorian Bishop of Bet Garmai was a noted convert; in 1016 Ignatius, the .Jacobite Metropolitan of Takrit (at Bagdad), became Abu Muslim. Converts were won in the following centuries, even from among the Crusaders. Bainaud and his follow- ers embraced Mohammedanism in a body; 3000 Crusaders accepted Islam in I'hrygia in 1148. as a result of Mohammedan kindness contrasted with ill-treatment on the part of Greek Chris- tians. Today over fifty per cent, of the popula- tion of Syria and Palestine is Moslem. The rapidity with which Mohammedanism spread in Syria and Mesopotamia was not dupli- cated in the country to the north. In .rmenia, even after the Christian power had been over- thrown by the Seljuks of the eleventh century, , the mass of the po])ulation continued Christian. ) Georgia resisted until the invasion of the Mon- gols. After the fall of Constantinople (14.'i3) the western and central portions of the country became converted, and after the ruling dynasty of .Samtskhe in 11)25 had become Mohammedan, progress was rapid among the aristocracy. The eastern portion of the country had submitted to Persia, and as such was naturally subject to Mohammedan influence. In the seventeenth cen- tury there were two petty kingdoms in the East the rulers of which, though native princes, were Moslems. .Since the beginning of the nineteenth century Georgia has belonged to Russia, but cer- tain parts are still Mohammedan. After the Jlohammeilans had succeeded in sub- duing Syria they turned their attention to Egypt. Amr ibn al-Asi drove the Byzantines out in A.n. 641, and the whole of the country as far south as Abyssinia and as far west as Libya came under Moslem inlluence. The conquerors, who treated the natives, and cs])ecially the Copts, with great favor, were welcomed by them. Many Copts accepted Islam even before the fall of Alexandria: while the number of converts, partly forced, partly willing, that were made up to the (^alipliate of Omar II. (717-720) was large. In the twelfth century Islam was carried, prin- cipally by Moslem merchants, into Lower Egypt, and in the fourteenth century into Xuliia. the King of Dongola becoming a Moslem in 1340. In Abyssinia conversicms were first made in the coast towns in the tenth century, and toward the end of the twelfth a Mohauuncdan dynasty was founded. In the sixteenth century the Moham- medan Kingdom of Adal. between .Abyssinia ami the southern end of the Bed Sea. came into ex- istence: in the seventeenth, one-third of its entire population was Moslem, while in the middle of the nineteenth one-half of the central province of .l)yssinia had likewise been converted. Amr ibn al-Asi conquered Northern Africa as far as Bar<a. Before the end of the cen- tury rapid progress had been made among the Berbers, who made their last resistance at the Spring of Kahina in 703. Musa ibn Nusair and Onuir II.. the Conqueror, made innumerable con- verts. In 780 Western Africa (Mauretania) be- came separated from Egypt as a kingdom un<ler Idris, founder of the Idriside dynasty; in addi-