Page:Thomas Patrick Hughes - Notes on Muhammadanism - 2ed. (1877).djvu/286

 Rh apostle; other apostles have flourished before him, and his mother was a just person ; they both ate food."

Verse 116 of the same Súra:—

"O Jesus, son of Mary, hast thou said unto mankind, 'Take me and my mother as two Gods beside God?

From the above verses it appears that Muhammad thought the Holy Trinity of the Christians consisted of the Father, the Son, and the Virgin; and historians tell us that there existed in Arabia a sect called Collyridians, who considered the Virgin Mary a divine person, and offered in worship to her a cake called Collyris; it is, therefore, not improbable that Muhammad obtained his perverted notion of the Holy Trinity from the existence of this sect. From the expression "they both ate food," we must conclude that Muhammad had but a sensuous idea of the Trinity in Unity, and had never been instructed in the orthodox faith with reference to this dogma.

In dealing with Muhammadans the Christian missionary must not treat their system as though the views of Islám were precisely those