Religion of the Crescent

164	THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT.

His disciples. On the other hand, although Muhammad frequently asserted that the Qur'an was in accord with Holy Scripture, and even sent to confirm its teaching, yet his multitudinous blunders regarding even the simplest matters of Bible history show that he could never have read that volume.

The Jews¹ knew more of their Talmud than of the writings of the Prophets; the corrupt Eastern Churches of Muhammad's day could teach him little that he cared to know, knowing little themselves of GOD'S Holy Word. But there lingered among the many sects of Christians and Christian

Christian Legends:
Apocryphal Gospels.

heretics then represented in Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, many marvellous tales connected with our Lord and His Apostles and the saints and martyrs of the past. Many of these are still to be found in the so-called Apocryphal Gospels, of which several are of considerable² antiquity.

¹ R. Geiger, op. cit., p. 10: "Gehorten nun auch die Juden dortiger Gegend zu den unwissendsten . . . . : so lebten doch so viele Sagen und so viele gesunde Kernspruche im Munde des Volkes, die wohl in so truben Zeiten und Gegenden auf sie einen Schein von Geistesreichthum werfen konnten und sie ehrbar in den Augen Andrer machten."
² Vide Dr. Giles's "Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti," vols. i. and ii.; also Cowper's "Apocryphal Gospels," Introduction, sect. iv.; and Tischendorf, "On the Origin and Use of the Apocryphal Gospels." Cowper says of the Protevangelium of James that it "was in no case written before the second century, and in its actual form it belongs to a later century" (p. xlix.). He also says that this Protevangelium was "used by the compilers of the Pseudo-Matthew, the Nativity of Mary, the History of Joseph the Carpenter, and the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy" (p. lii.).

THE ORIGIN OF ISLAM.

165

Mixing with men who loved to relate such tales, and being ignorant of the genuine books of the New Testament, Muhammad adopted many silly legends and incorporated them in the Qur'an. As examples

Seven
Sleepers.

The
Virgins.
of these may be cited that of the Seven Sleepers, whom he calls the¹ "Companions of the Cave." In the Qur'an we find many fables about the birth and bringing up of the Virgin Mary,—how her mother vowed before her birth to consecrate her to GOD'S ² service, how she was reared under the charge of Zacharias³ in the temple, where GOD sent angels⁴ to supply her with food, and how lots were cast with rods⁵ that it

¹ Surah xviii. 8-26[10-27].
² Surah iii. 31[35]; and cf. "Protevang Jacobi iv.":

Ειπε δε Αννα Ζη Κυριος ο Θεος μου, εάν γεννησω ειτε αρρεν ειτε θηλυ, προσαξω αυτό δωρον Κυριω τω θεω μου.

"Evang. de Nat. Mariae," cap. i.: "Voverunt tamen" (Joachim et Anna), "si forte Deus donaret eis sobolem, eam se Domini servitio mancipaturos, cuius rei gratia et templum Domini singulis per annum festis frequentare solebant." Pseudo-Matt. ii.: "Tu enim, Domine, nosti cor meum, quia ab initio coniugii mei hoc vovisse me confiteor, ut si tu, Domine, dedisses mihi filium aut filiam, obtulissem tibi in templo sancto tuo," &c. &c.
³ Surah iii. 32[37]: cf. Protev. Jac., cap. viii., sqq.
⁴ Surah iii. 32[37]: cf. Protev. Jac. viii.; Evang. de Nativ. "Mariae, cap. vii.; Hist. Nativ. Mariae, cap. vi.; &c.
⁵ Surah iii. 39[44]: cf. Protev. Jac., cap. ix.; Evang. de Nativ. Mariae, capp. vii. and viii.; Hist. de Nativ. Mariae, cap. viii.; &c.

Go To Start: WWW.BIBLE.CA