Show > A THB < KOR fir S J r i i vlJt J K A certain formality is noticeable in the custom now introduced of beginning speech with the statement state-ment tins is the revelation of God and emphasizing the name of the Diety as it were by inverted commas com-mas by the initial verb say which never appears in the earlier chapters except in certain formulas The signs of nature still hold a prominent place in Mohammeds argumentbut the evidence he most frequently appeals ap-peals tois the history of former prophets proph-ets These legends derived from the Jewish Hajgadah but considerably considera-bly corrupted constitute a very important im-portant but also a very uninteresting I uninterest-ing part of the Koran More than 1500 verse or a quarter of the whole work are occupied with endless end-less repetitions of the same wearisome weari-some tales They may be found arranged ar-ranged methodically in the second part of Lanes Selections where the repetitions are omited and the main incidents prominently brought out From the Creation the rebellion of Jdlis or the devil and the expulsion from Paradise these legends extend to the miraculous birth of the Messiah Mes-siah Adam and EveCain and Able Enoch Noah Abraham Ishmael Isaac Jacob Joseph and his brethren breth-ren Job Jethro Moses Saul David Solomon Jonah Ezra and Christ are the chief characters who figure in the Koranic lives of the saints and the events recorded arc often as puerile and absurd am any related in mediaeval hagiology To Mohammed Moham-med however they possessed ahigh value God has sent down the best of legendsa book uniformrepeating whereat the skins of those that fear their Lord to creep V His doctrine of the continuity of revelation required re-quired the support of such legends He held that all these preceeding prophets were true messengers of God Each brought his message to I the people and each were rejected and disbelieved He puts words into the mouths of the patriarchs which are almost identical with his own speechesand the family likeness between be-tween rahamand Moses and other Hebrew teachers and Mohammedas depicted in the Koran cannot escape the most superficial reader I hammed ham-med believed t lat all these early prophets were sent by God to bring precisely the same messaga as was contained in the Koran he believed in a species of apostolic succession and the only ground preeminence he claimed for himself was that of finality Abraham and Moses and David and Christ had all come with a portion of Gods truth but Mohammed Mo-hammed came with the final revelation revela-tion which superceded while it confirmed all that went before He is the seal of prophecy the last apostle whom God sends before the day of retribution Beyond this he differs no whit from his predecessors predeces-sors and he is ever striving to impress im-press upon his audience that his doctrine doc-trine is nothing new but simply the teaching of all good men who have gone before him No doubt there were times when his frequent recitals reci-tals of the revelations which he attributed at-tributed to Moses and Christ had the special motive converting Jews and Christians but many of these stories were told before he c ime into any intimate contract with either and can only be attributed to his theory of the unity ot prophecy |