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    But this explanation will not account for the acknowledged facts . Muhammed was understood by his followers , and even by his earliest disciples , to Jay claim to a special delegation from God , and this claim he maintained through the whole period of his life . , But the term by which he describes himself , represents him , Mr . Higgins tells us , not as " the sent , " but as " a sent . " This allegation does not at all modify the fact that Muhammed

    pretended to be sent . This remains . the same . Though by this title he may not arrogate to himself pre-eminence among the messengers of God , he yet vindicates to himself the name . If not •* the , " still he is " a" prophet . Instead of being the chief , or the only one , he is one among many * If , however , as Mr . Higgins assures us , Muharnmed did not use in the formulary of his faith any term of pre-eminence to describe himself , it is not a little strange that the author should have , in other places of his book ,

    spoken of him as " the apostle or messenger of God , " ? ** the resoul or the sent of God . " And it is rather unfortunate for the author ' s consistency that in one part of his work he should represent his hero as having , and knowing that he had , a particular mission from the Almighty , and in others , as believing that he was " foretold , " and " feeling" that he was " inspired . " f How far the version of Sale may accurately represent the original , not knowing the Arabic , we cannot say , but in it Muhammed is repeatedly styled " the Apostle . " One fact is , however , too clear to be doubted , that he

    represents himself as constantly acting under the special direction of God , and his doctrines and decrees are repeatedly said to have been sent down from God . Nay , the only visible difference between the nature , we do not say the character , of the attestations that he alleged , and those preferred by Moses and Christ , which is found in his want of miraculous power , Muhammed accounts for by introducing the Almighty as speaking in these words : " Nothing hindered us from sending thee with miracles , except that the former nations have charged them with imposture . " J

    And if , by all these pretensions , which would be , and undoubtedly were , understood as claiming the special favour and guidance of God , Muhammed meant merely that he felt himself moved by a sense of duty to labour for the welfare of his fellow-men , this interpretation , which Mr . Higgins has adopted to defend his hero , would in reality fix . most firmly upon him the charge of imposture , inasmuch as it leads us to believe that he used language deceptive in itself , and actually deceiving those who heard it .

    Mr . Higgins strangely sees an evidence of Muhammed ' s sincerity in the fact of his wife being his first convert . If we are to believe Gibbon , this lirst was also thq most arduous of his conquests ; a circumstance which argues that even with a person whose interests were one with his , he found no small difficulty . For ourselves , it is not without suspicion we look on the fact that his earliest converts were 4 i his wife , his servant , ( his slave , ) his pupil , and his

    friend . " § With equal perversity of mind , Mr . Higg ins prefers the converts of ** high respectability , " made immediately after those now mentioned , to the •* uneducated * ' and " humble" disciples of Jesus Christ . Yet some of these very men he himself accuses—yes , those on whom he , in this instance , relies—as having at least tampered with the Koran . How far they were " likely not to be deceived , " we do not say ; but the assertion of Mr . Higgins himself , that they became leaders of armies and rulers of kingdoms ,

    * Pp . 28 , 73 , 81 . t P . 84 ; see also pp . 83 and 85 . X Koran , cap . xvii . § Gibbon , cap . 1 .

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    titggins's Apology for Moharned . 237

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1830, page 237, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2583/page/21/