Mohammed, The Prophet of Islam

by Herbert E. E. Hayes

Other wives did not play such an important part in the prophet's life work. He seems to have exhibited his taste for beauty in all his selections. Keud was the daughter of a man of considerable wealth and influence, and, like Zainab, was one of the Abyssinian refugees. In the expedition against Khaibah, Mohammed's greed was excited by the sight of some valuable ornaments belonging to one of his vanquished enemies. He sought to gain possession of them by marrying the daughter of the owner, Safiyyah, whose husband and brother had both been killed in the battle that had been fought. She accepted the prophet's offer, and contented herself for her losses in the squabbles of his harem. His other wives were Juwairijah, Hafsah, Um Salmah, Um Kabibah, another of the Abyssinian refugees, and Zainab, widow of his cousin. The last wife was Maimunah, who is said to have offered herself to him when he was considering the invasion of Mecca. A Coptic (Christian) slave girl, Mary, and Rihanah, a Jewess, were added to the harem, but went through no form of marriage with him. Mary was sent as a present from one of the Coptic rulers in answer to the prophet's letter, urging the claims of Islam; while Rihanah, whose husband was one of the many who were cruelly slaughtered by decapitation after a victory over the Jews, was at nightfall, almost immediately after the massacre, taken to the prophet's tent. It is evident that the prophet had many opportunities of still further increasing his harem, for many women offered themselves; while the relatives of handsome widows would make no arrangements for the re-marriage of the bereaved ones until they had been offered to the prophet and refused.

It cannot be expected that things could always run smoothly with so many women possessing rights to his attention, and there is much evidence to show that Mohammed was often disturbed by the difficulty of pleasing all. His relations to the feminine sex, as may be expected, led to a very low estimate of the position of women. Hence the utter degradation to which they are subjected in Islam. Although he did not practice it, he sanctioned wife beating. Divorce was made easy for the men, who could cast off their wives any time they so desired. Thus it is quite common to-day for women to steal from their husbands in order to provide for themselves in case of divorce. The evil of such a system is apparent. It makes the women mere slaves at the mercy of the caprice of their husbands. The polygamy and concubinage which is sanctioned in the Koran, has degraded the women to a degree that may be imagined, and certainly has not, as some authorities contend, abolished other evils. It is true that he improved slightly the condition of women in his day, giving them privileges they had not up to that time enjoyed, and by those who endeavour to picture him as a hero, his failure to arrive at a true estimate of the position of women is covered by the statement that it was impossible for him to grapple with a hopeless problem. It is encouraging to know that, with the growing influence of Western Christian civilisation, the condition of women in Moslem lands is gradually improving, although the village folk still consider us to be weak in character because we are courteous in our behaviour to them. In Egypt, Government schools for girls are being organised, and throughout the whole Moslem world education is spreading. The religion of Mohammed is so clearly defined that it can never be reformed. The only hope for the nations that are under its sway is that with the advance of western civilisation there may be a yielding to the influence of Christianity. It cannot be possible to enjoy the blessings of the West while men are tyrannised by a non-progressive religion of the East.

Just before he died Mohammed organised an expedition against the Romans, and this in spite of sickness unto death. He had made his last pilgrimage to Mecca, and had delivered what may be termed his final charge to his followers. The whole tone of his address seems to have been influenced by the thought of the proximity of death. He emphasised the doctrines he had inculcated, showing that the Islamic brotherhood removed all that tended to social inequality. The rich man was no better than the poor; the aristocrat who boasted of his ancestry, no more important in the sight of God than the lowliest beggar. The only difference that could exist between man and man was a difference in degree of piety. Property rights he recognised as regarding believers, and evidently implied that unbelievers possessed no such rights. He asked respect and humane treatment for women, and undoubtedly manifested a desire for a better condition of affairs than he in his lifetime had been able to establish. The subsequent illness was probably due to the strain and anxiety of this pilgrimage. Ayesha, the girl wife, tended him. The many stories that have been told of these last days are not at all reliable, but it is certain that for five days he was quite helpless and delirious. On the 7th of June, 632 A.D., ten years after the flight from Mecca, he died in the arms of Ayesha, leaving a work that wrought havoc in the Christian Church for centuries, and which, inspired by his immortal spirit, still exists in unyielding enmity against the faith of the meek and lowly Nazarene, whose native soil, in the providence of God, is owned by Islam's son. Never again will be heard the clash of steel on steel as Christian tries to vanquish Moslem. Those days are happily past and gone. Carnal weapons cannot avail against spiritual forces. The eternal, peaceable Spirit of Jesus is slowly but surely permeating the gloom of Islam. We see the resultant disintegration, and hope for that great day when, led by the broken and contrite spirit of their leader, the hosts of Islam shall bow before the King of Kings, recognising what, in time, they were impelled to deny—Unity in Trinity, the at present unrevealed mystery of Deity.

Britain, the greatest Moslem power of the world, needs to change her policy in regard to Christian missionary work amongst Moslems, if she is desirous of promoting the welfare of those benighted people. She must give freedom to the heralds of the Cross who labour in the lands of the Crescent. And the prayers of her people must ascend on behalf of the sons and daughters of Islam who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.