Page:Thomas Patrick Hughes - Notes on Muhammadanism - 2ed. (1877).djvu/28

 Rh We follow the would-be prophet in his self-asserted mission from the cave of Híra to the closing scene, when he dies in the midst of the lamentations of his harem, and the contentions of his friends—the visions of Gabriel, the period of mental depression, the contemplated suicide, the assumption of the prophetic office, his struggles with Meccan unbelief, his flight to Medina, his triumphant entry into Mecca—and whilst we wonder at the genius of the hero, we pause at every stage and inquire, "Is this the Apostle of God whose mission is to claim universal dominion to the suppression not merely of idolatry, but of Christianity itself?" Then it is that the divine and holy character of Jesus rises to our view, and the inquiring mind sickens at the thought of the beloved, the pure, the lowly Jesus giving place to that of the ambitious, the sensual, the time-serving hero of Arabia. In the study of Islam the character of Muhammad needs an apology or a defence at every stage; but in the contemplation of the Christian system, whilst we everywhere read of Jesus, and see the reflection of His image in everything we read, the heart revels in the