The existence of a
fortune-telling class among the Arabs shows that Muhammed may well
have been endowed with psychological tendencies which only awaited the
vivifying influence of Judaism and Christianity to emerge as the
prophetic impulse forcing him to stand forth in public and to stir the
people from their indifference: "Be ye converted, for the day of
judgment is at hand: God has declared it unto me, as he declared it
unto Moses and Jesus. I am the apostle of God to you, Arabs. Salvation
is yours only if ye submit to the will of God preached by me." This
act of submission Muhammed calls Islam. Thus at the hour of Islam's
birth, before its founder had proclaimed his ideas, the influence of
Christianity is indisputable. It was this influence which made of the
Arab seer and inspired prophet, the apostle of God.
Muhammed regarded Judaism and Christianity as religious movements
purely national in character. God in His mercy had announced His will
to different nations through His prophets. As God's word had been
interpreted for the Jews and for the Christians, so there was to be a
special interpretation for the benefit of the Arabs. These
interpretations were naturally identical in manner and differed only
as regards place and time. Muhammed had heard of the Jewish Messiah
and of the Christian Paraclete, whom, however, he failed to identify
with the Holy Ghost and he applied to himself the allusions to one who
should come after Moses and Jesus.
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