Mahomet - Founder of Islam | Page 6

a relic of the rites practised by the
stone-worshippers of old; while the seven circuits of the Kaaba,
obligatory on all pilgrims, are probably a symbol of the courses of the
planets. Arab divinities, such as Alilat and Uzza, were associated with
the Kaaba before any records are available, and at the time of Mahomet,
idolatry mingled with various rites still held sway among the Meccans,
though the leaven of Jewish tradition was of great help to him in the
establishment of the monotheistic idea. At Mahomet's birth the Kaaba
consisted of a small roofless house, with the Black Stone imbedded in
its wall. Near it lay the well Zemzem, and the reputed grave of Ishmael.
The Holy Place of Arabia held thus within itself traces of a purer faith,
that were to be discovered and filled in by Mahomet, until the Kaaba
became the goal of thousands, the recipient of the devotion and
longings of that mighty host of Muslim who went forth to subdue the
world. Mahomet's ancestors had for some time held a high position in
the city. He came of the race of Hashim, whose privilege it was to give
service to the pilgrims coming to worship at the Kaaba. The Hashim
were renowned for generosity, and Mahomet's grandfather, Abd al
Muttalib, was revered by the Kureisch, inhabitants of Mecca, as a just
and honourable man, who had greatly increased their prosperity by his
rediscovery of the holy well.
Its healing waters had been choked by the accumulations of years, so
that even the knowledge of its site was lost, when an angel appeared to
Abd al Muttalib, as he slept at the gate of the temple, saying:
"Dig up that which is pure!"
Three times the command fell on uncomprehending ears, until the
angel revealed to the sleeper where the precious water might be found.
And as he dug, the well burst forth once more, and behold within its
deeps lay two golden gazelles, with weapons, the treasure of former
kings. And there was strife among the Kureisch for the possession of
these riches, until they were forced to draw lots. So the treasure fell to

Abd al Muttalib, who melted the weapons to make a door for the Kaaba,
and set up the golden gazelles within it.
Abd al Muttalib figures very prominently in the early legends
concerning Mahomet, because he was sole guardian of the Prophet
during very early childhood. These legends are mainly later accretions,
but the kernel of truth within them is not difficult to discover. Like all
forerunners of the great teachers, he stands in communion with
heavenly messengers, the symbol of his purity of heart. He is humble,
compassionate, and devout, living continually in the presence of his
god--a fitting guardian for the renewer of the faith of his nation. Most
significant of the legends is the story of his vow to sacrifice a son if ten
were born to him, and of the choice of Abdullah, Mahomet's father, and
the repeated staying of the father's hand, so that the sacrifice could not
be accomplished until is son's life was bought with the blood of a
hundred camels. This and all allied legends are fruit of a desire to
magnify the divine authority of Mahomet's mission by dwelling on the
intervention of a higher power in the disposal of his fate.
Of Abd al Muttalib's ten sons, Abdallah was the most handsome in
form and stature, so that the fame of his beauty spread into the harems
of the city, and many women coveted him in their hearts. But he, after
his father had sacrificed the camels in his stead, went straightway to the
house of Amina, a maiden well-born and lovely, and remained there to
complete his nuptials with her. Then, after some weeks, he departed to
Gaza for the exchange of merchandise, but, returning, was overtaken by
sickness and died at Medina.
Amina, left thus desolate, sought the house of Abd al Muttalib, where
she stayed until her child was born. Visions of his future greatness were
vouchsafed to her before his birth by an angel, who told her the name
he was to bear, and his destiny as Prophet of his people. Long before
the child's eyes opened to the light, a brightness surrounded his mother,
so that by it might be seen the far-off towers of the castles in Syrian
Bostra. A tenderness hangs over the story of Mahomet's birth, akin to
that immortal beauty surrounding the coming of Christ. We have faint
glimpses of Amina, in the dignity of her sorrow, waiting for the birth of

her son, and in the house of Mecca's leading citizen, hearing around her
not alone the celestial voices of her spirit-comforters, but also rumours
of earthly strife and the threatenings