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BIOGRAPHIES OF MOHAMMED
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biography of Mohammed, have been wrought into the history, while no means are
afforded to the reader for discerning the real from the fictitious events; nor
amongst the latter, for discriminating which originated with Mohammed himself,
and which were long afterwards without grounds ascribed to him. The beautiful
portrait of Mohammed, placed at its commencement, is a fit emblem of the whole
work. The countenance beams with intelligence, struggling between sensuousness
and lofty resolve; while in the background is the Kaaba, with its sombre
hangings; and a crowd of followers are seen flourishing their scimitars and
daggers with angry gesture at each other. A charming picture! But not that of
the real Mohammed in his Arab garb; for here he is sumptuously arrayed in an
ermine-bound robe; in one hand he holds an open volume, and the other is
stretched aloft, to enforce his earnest address. Now Mohammed never preached
from any book; the Coran was, in fact, not even collected during his lifetime,
but remained recorded in scattered shreds. So much for the delightful but
fancy sketches of Washington Irving: pleasant, perhaps profitable, for the
English reader, but in no wise suited for Mohammedan lands.
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The biographies of the two Tract Societies equally abound in misstatements
which it would be fatal to publish in the proposed translations. It may be
well to quote a few instances.1 Here is the first paragraph:—
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Mohammed was left in his
childhood to the care of his grandfather, who, at his death, intrusted the
orphan to his son Abu Talib, on whom the honours and the wealth
of the family then devolved. The uncle trained the youth at a proper age, to
the business of a merchant traveller. He continued in the employ of his
uncle till he was twenty-five years old; and this is all that is known of
his early history.
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Now Abu Tâlib, instead of being wealthy, was extremely indigent. A portion of
the honours of the family did, indeed, devolve upon him, but his poverty
forced him to abandon them to his brother Abbas. Thus Weil:—
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