Asiatic Breezes Part 34

"What has become of Koser, Captain Ringgold?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, as the commander joined the party.

"We pa.s.sed it about two o'clock this morning," replied the captain.

"I felt some interest in that town; for when we were on the Nile we came to a place where the Arabs wanted us to take the journey of four days across the desert to Koser on camels," the lady explained.

"It is the first port in Egypt we come to, and was formerly an important place, though the Suez Ca.n.a.l has diverted the greater part of its trade. It was one of the chief outlets for the productions of Egypt, especially grain, while those of Arabia and other Eastern countries pa.s.sed in by the same route. The poorer Mohammedans of Egypt make their pilgrimage to Mecca this way, journeying across the Arabian Desert on foot or by camel, and by steamers or dhows to Yembo.

"General Sir Ralph Abercromby, who commanded the British army at Abukir when the French had possession of Egypt, landed at this port, marched across the desert to the Nile, which he descended to Cairo, where he found that the French army had surrendered to the English. The population has fallen from seven thousand to twelve hundred. The more wealthy Egyptians and Arabs make their pilgrimage now by the way of Suez, and in the season there are plenty of steamers to take them to Yembo.

"We are now nearing the Tropic of Cancer, and when we have pa.s.sed it we shall be in the Torrid Zone, in which are situated all those places on the globe where the sun is ever directly overhead. The tropics are generally said to be twenty-three and a half degrees from the equator, which is near enough for ordinary purposes, but it is not quite accurate. When the sun is at the summer solstice, June 21, it is overhead on this tropic, and enters the constellation of Cancer, after which it is named. Nicer calculations than I can follow show that the sun is not precisely overhead at this place every year. In January of this year the tropics were in lat.i.tude 23 27' 11.84'', which places it nearly three miles farther south than the location usually named. I yield the floor to Professor Giroud."

"I am informed by the commander that we shall be off Yembo, the nearest seaport to Medina, at about half-past three this afternoon; and this place is a hundred and thirty-two miles from it. The two cities of Medina and Mecca are the holy places of the Mohammedans. The princ.i.p.al and enjoined pilgrimage of the sect is to the latter, though many devout Moslems visit the other with pious intentions.

"Mecca is the birthplace of Mohammed; but, for reasons which will presently be given, he went to Medina at the age of fifty-two, where he lived the rest of his life, and died there. What I have to say of Medina will come in better after we have followed the prophet through the first portion of his life.

"I give the name according to the best English authorities at the present time, though some call it Mahomet still, as we call it in French. The word means 'praised' in Arabic. Mohammed the Prophet was born at Mecca about A.D. 570; but the precise year is not known, though the date I give is within a year of it. His father's name was Abdallah, a poor merchant, who died about the time of the child's birth. A great many stories have been invented in later years about the mother and the child.

"The father was said to be the handsomest man of his time, and it is claimed that his wife Aminah was of a n.o.ble family. She was of a nervous temperament, and fancied she was visited by spirits. She was inclined to epilepsy, which may explain her visions. Mohammed was her only child. As soon as he was born, his mother is said to have raised her eyes to heaven, exclaiming: 'There is no G.o.d but G.o.d, and I am his Prophet.' It is also declared that the fire of the fire-wors.h.i.+ppers, which had burned without going out for a thousand-years, was suddenly quenched, and all the idols in the world dropped from their pedestals."

"Goodness, gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom.

"The mother of the Prophet handed him over to a Bedouin woman to bring up, in order that he might have the benefit of the desert air; but the child appears to have been afflicted with his mother's malady, and the nurse returned him because he was subject to frequent fits. When he was six years old his mother died, and his grandfather adopted him; but the old man lived only two years after, and then he was taken by Abu Talib, his uncle, who, though poor himself, gave him a home, and continued to be his best friend through life.

"At first the boy gained a precarious living by tending the flocks of the Meccans. When he was twenty-five years old he went into the service of a rich widow named Khadija, having the blood of the same ancestors in their veins. Up to this time his position had been in a low grade of poverty. He did not take the advice of Mr. Weller, and 'beware of the vidders,' and his fortunes suddenly changed. Doubtless he was a handsome man, as his father was said to be; and he was too much for the susceptible Khadija, twice widowed, and fifteen years older than her employe, and she offered him her hand and heart, which he accepted.

"They had two sons and four daughters; but both of the former died in early life. He established himself as a merchant after his marriage; and he continued in the business, though he spent most of his time in meditation by himself. Up to the age of forty Mohammed was a strict devotee in the religion of his fathers, which was a species of idolatry.

When he was about thirty years old Christianity had made its way into Arabia through Syria on one side, and Abyssinia on the other, and there were Jewish colonies in the peninsula. Though the missionaries of the new faith pervaded Mecca and Medina, the future Prophet was not converted, more is the pity!

"It was at this time that he was moved to teach a new religion which should displace the idolatry of the people, and come into compet.i.tion, as it were, with the teachings of the missionaries of Judaism and Christianity. He was forty years old when he received what he claimed as his first divine communication, on a mountain near Mecca. He declared that Gabriel appeared to him there, and commanded him to preach the true religion. It is now generally admitted that he was no vulgar and tricky impostor, and it cannot be known to what extent his inherited epilepsy or hysteria governed the alleged revelations.

"After his long and lonely vigils pa.s.sed in meditation, he proclaimed what he insisted had been revealed to him; and at these times he appears to have been little better than a lunatic, for he was moved to the most frightful fanatical vehemence. He frothed at the mouth, his eyes became red, and the perspiration rained from his head and face. He roared like a camel in his wrath, and such an exhibition could hardly fail to make a strong impression upon his ignorant audience.

"His first revelations were related to Khadija and other members of his household; and they accepted his teachings, while his other relatives rejected them with scorn. His uncle called him a fool; and his adopted father never believed in him as a prophet, though for the honor of the family he remained his friend. After four years of preaching he mustered forty converts, slaves and men of the lowest social rank. Then he spoke more publicly, in response to new revelations commanding him to do so, denouncing boldly the superst.i.tions of his people, exhorting them to lead pious and moral lives, and to believe in the one all-wise, almighty, and all-merciful G.o.d, who had chosen him as his Prophet. He held out the reward of paradise to those who accepted his religion, and the penalty of h.e.l.l to those who rejected it.

"Two of the most sacred objects of the Arabians were the fetich of a black stone and the spring of Zemzem, both of which were believed to be endowed with miraculous powers for the healing of the body and the soul.

These imparted a sanct.i.ty above any other charms to the Kaaba in which the stone and the fountain were to be visited. In the valley by the city stands the great mosque, in which there is an immense square holding 35,000 people. In the centre of it is the Kaaba, which is not a Mohammedan invention, for it existed ages before the Prophet was born.

Pilgrimages had been made to it from Medina for many generations. The stone is perhaps a meteorite, set in a corner at a proper height for kissing.

"The Kaaba was one of the superst.i.tions with which the Prophet had to contend; and he was too politic, as well as too deeply rooted in his own belief, to think of abolis.h.i.+ng it. He therefore converted the heathen shrine into an altar of his own faith, inventing the legend that it had been constructed by Abraham when he sent away his son Ishmael to found a nation. Though Mohammed was prudent in many things, he offended the people, particularly by prohibiting certain kinds of food. He condemned the Bedouin for killing their newly born daughters, and for other barbarous practices.

"Though the number of proselytes increased more rapidly, he had raised a fierce opposition against him. About this time his faithful wife Khadija died, and then his devoted uncle. His misery over these events was increased by the fact that his business failed him, and he was reduced to poverty. He tried to improve his fortunes by emigration; but the scheme was a failure. He was so persecuted by the Meccans that he had on occasions narrowly escaped with his life. After his return he married again; and afterwards he had as many as nine wives at one time, though he never took a second while Khadija was living.

"Now, good friends, I think we all need a rest, which the commander instructed me to give you at a convenient place in my remarks."

The professor retired from the rostrum, and the company scattered over the s.h.i.+p.

CHAPTER x.x.xI

THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF ISLAMISM

Captain Ringgold permitted the day, which was only the second of the voyage, to pa.s.s away until half past three o'clock in the afternoon without again calling the conference together. The pa.s.sengers appeared to be well occupied; for the boys had brought shuffle-board and the potato game on the planks, and everybody was enjoying these plays, either by taking part or looking on. The commander had taught them these amus.e.m.e.nts early in their sea experience, and they always became very hilarious over them.

Besides, he was prudent and judicious in the conduct of the study department; for the adults were not in training as students, and he was somewhat afraid of overworking them, and creating a dislike for the conferences. As he expressed it, he desired to make them hungry for lectures. The schoolroom, which had been made of the after cabin, and contained the extensive library of the s.h.i.+p, had been deserted for several weeks so far as its regular use was concerned.

Miss Blanche, Louis, Morris, and Scott formed a cla.s.s, or rather several of them, and pursued their studies systematically under the professor; but they had been interrupted by the visit to Egypt and the trip to Cyprus, and their work was not resumed till the s.h.i.+p sailed from Suez.

The recitations and the study were not confined to the cla.s.sroom, but some of them were given on deck and in the cabin to individuals as the convenience of both permitted; and some of the hours of the first two days had been used in this manner.

"Now you can see Yembo," said the commander at half-past three in the afternoon, as he pointed out a town on the sh.o.r.e of Arabia. "The name is spelled in so many different ways it is hard to find it in the books.

Sometimes it is Yembo, Yanba, and Yembu, and again it is Zembo, Zambu, and Zanba. It is Yembo on my charts, and for that reason I use it. It is of not much importance except as the port of Medina, the later home of Mohammed, where the professor will take you at the next conference this afternoon.

"But it is one hundred and thirty miles from its princ.i.p.al, and there are no railroads or stages here, and it must be a journey of four or five days by camel over the desert. A pilgrimage to Medina is recommended to the faithful; but it is not required, as it is at least once in a lifetime to Mecca. Mohammed was buried there, and it stands next to Mecca as the holiest city of the world to the followers of Islam. But I will not purloin the professor's thunder. On the other side of the Red Sea is Berenice, the seat of the Egyptian trade with India in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus; but there is not much besides ruins there at the present time."

The conference met at four o'clock, and the map of Arabia still hung on the frame. The professor took his place, and pointed out Yembo on it, adding that Medina was two hundred and seventy miles north of Mecca.

"When I suspended my remarks this morning, Mohammed had failed to improve his fortunes by emigration, had returned to Mecca, and had married again," the professor began. "At his death he left nine wives, and how many more he may have had I am not informed."

"The wretch!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom.

"The Prophet did not live in Von Blonk Park," suggested the instructor.

"If he had, he would have been driven out of town by a mob," added the lady rather spitefully for her.

"On this subject, if I should refer you to some of the patriarchs of the Bible, you would be able to see how much Christianity has improved the world in this respect. Among the wives of the Prophet was Ayeshah, the daughter of Abu Bekr, one of Mohammed's most enthusiastic disciples, a man of great influence in Mecca, belonging to the Koreish tribe, the religious aristocracy of the city.

"Everything except matrimony, though he had not married all these wives at this time, was in a bad way with Mohammed; for he had lost his property, and had excited a violent opposition to himself among the people, though some of his proselytes remained faithful to him. The pilgrimages to the Kaaba brought many people to Mecca from all quarters, including Medina. Among those from the latter he succeeded in converting several; for he still preached, and still had remarkable visions.

"At the next pilgrimage he obtained twelve more converts, and the one following seventy. All these new disciples sowed the seed of his teachings; and Medina, from which all of them came, appeared to contain the richest soil for the growth of his doctrines. Cast out and persecuted in his own city, the Prophet decided to emigrate to Medina; for he was in close alliance with the converts from that place. In 622 he started on his flight from the city of his birth. This was the Hegira, which means 'the going away;' and from it the Mohammedans reckon their dates, as we do from the birth of Christ.

"The Prophet was attended by Abu Bekr, and followed by about a hundred families of his Meccan adherents; and his going away was not without danger, for his enemies were many and vindictive. But with his mult.i.tude he made his way over the desert, and reached his destination in safety.

He was received for all he claimed to be by his converts there, and the current of his fortunes as a religious leader was suddenly and entirely changed. He was no longer a madman and an impostor. He had come out of his former obscurity, and now all the details of his daily life became matters of record.

"His modesty did not seem to stand in his way; and he now a.s.sumed the functions of the most powerful judge, lawgiver, and ruler of the two most influential Arabic tribes. He devoted his time and study to the organization of the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d according to Mohammed, his sole prophet. He was gathering in converts all the time, and his new home was entirely favorable to this work.

"There were many Jews there to whom he turned his attention, preaching to them, and proclaiming that he was the Messiah whose coming they awaited; but they ridiculed his pretensions, and he became furious against them, remaining their enemy till the last day of his life.

Whatever good precepts Mohammed promulgated, there appears to have been but little of the 'meek and lowly' spirit of Him 'who spake as never man spake;' for in the first year of the Hegira he gave it out that it was the will of G.o.d, expressed by his chosen prophet, that the faithful should make war on the enemies of Islam; which was a sort of manifesto directed against the Meccans who had practically cast him out.

"But he had not the means to carry on war at his command at first in the open field: he a.s.sailed the caravans through his agents on their way to and from Syria, and succeeded in seriously disturbing the current of trade. His employment of the sons of the desert enabled him to form alliances with them, and thus obtain the semblance of an army. His first battle was fought between 314 Moslems and about 600 Meccans, and the inspiration of his fanaticism gave him the victory in spite of his inferior force.

"This event gave him a degree of prestige, and many adventurers flocked to his standard. With an increased force he continued to send out expeditions against both of his old enemies, the Meccans and the Jews, exiling the latter. He was generally successful; and after one battle he caused 700 prisoners to be beheaded, and their women and children to be sold into slavery. But in 625 the Meccans defeated him; and he was dangerously wounded in the face by a javelin, some of his teeth having been knocked out. The enemy then besieged Medina; but Mohammed defeated them with the aid of earthworks and a ditch. In the sixth year of the Hegira, he proclaimed a pilgrimage to Mecca; and though the Meccans prevented it from being carried out, it led to a treaty of peace with them for ten years.

"This event enabled him to send out missionaries all over Arabia; and the next year he conducted a pilgrimage to Mecca with 2,000 followers, remaining there undisturbed for three days. After this he carried on war vigorously against more potent powers, whose rulers he summoned to become converts. Some yielded, and others scorned him, one of them beheading the Prophet's messengers. This brought on battles of greater magnitude, and in one he was badly beaten.

"He accused the Meccans of taking part against him, and marched against their city at the head of 10,000 men. It surrendered, and Mohammed was publicly recognized as ruler, and prophet of G.o.d. I will read one of his sayings, that you may better understand the man and his religion: 'The sword is the key of heaven and h.e.l.l: a drop of blood shed in the cause of G.o.d, or a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer. Whoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven him, and at the day of judgment the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of cherubim.'

"In one of his expeditions against the Jews, a Jewess who had lost a relative in a fight against him placed a piece of poisoned roast meat before him. He barely tasted it, but he carried the effects of the poison to his grave.