National Religions and Universal Religions (1882)

Seitenzahl:

254

Gewicht:

376 g

Erschienen bei:

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Kurzbeschreibung

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: seals."l As showing what Islam is, it may leave nothing to be desired in point of clearness, and may even suffer from over fulness; but as soon as we try to follow Mohammed in his development, the confused mass of revelations constantly fails us. This or that saying would give us the light we want, did we but know where to place it. Behind this or that passage an important fact obviously lies concealed, but who shall unveil it for us ? Our present task is to define the relation of Mohammed's preaching to the religion of the Arabs. Can we accomplish it with adequate certainly ? Mohammed preached the one Allah, and in so doing combated the polytheism of the great majority of his people. So far, of course, all is clear. But no sooner do we pass beyond this generality than we are assailed by doubt, and find a wide diversity of opinion even amongst the historians of Mohammed. Let us first listen to the prophet himself. More than once he declares that his object is simply to restore " the religion of Abraham," the father of Ish- mael, and therefore the ancestor of the Arabs. " Believers ! bow down and prostrate yourselves and worship your Lord, and work righteousness, that ye may fare well; and do valiantly in the cause of Allah as it behoveth you to do for Him. He hath elected you, 1 Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammed, Band I. S. xv. THE PRAYER OF ABRAHAAf. 13 and hath not laid on you any hardship in religion, (nothing but) the religion of your father Abraham. He hath named you the Moslems, heretofore and now, that the apostle (of Allah) may be a witness against you, and that ye may be witnesses against the rest of mankind." l Abraham, with Ishmael's assistance, had built the house of Allah, the Ka'ba, and had prayed to his Lord, even then, for such a prophet as afterw...

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Mehr von:  Abraham Kuenen, Cambridge Scholars Publishing