The question of the chief source,

01'
sources, of Mohammedanism has
long been discussed, and quite recently has called forth a number of
scholarly investigations throwing new light on this or that feature of the
subject,l The Arabian prophet himself declared Islam to be the true heir
of the old Hebrew revelation-in which term he would include also the
New Testament. Whether it can be said in some true sense that Mohammedanism grew out .0 Judaism, may appear in the progress of these
lectures. It is fitting that this Jewish Institute of Religion should give the
opp(;~tunity, through the medium of the Stroock Foundation, for a new
treatment of the subject by a representative of the other great religion
which traces its origin to the Israelite faith.
The history of Islam is of great interest in every part, but most of all
in its beginnings. What we are now. called upon to notice is not that it
is the religion of some
200
millions of men, but tbat its inception was in
remarkable degree the work of one man; of whose life, private and pub~
lie, we have a considerable amount of definite knowledge. Its sacred
the Koran, was his own creatioll; and it lies before us practically unchanged from the form which he himself gave it. We thus seem to know Arabian prophet's religious
education had been thoroughly Jewish. Even
2
the origins of Mohammedanism much more intimately than those of any
other world faith. There is another side, however, and the serious problems are many, even here at the outset. The man and the book stand out
pretty clearly to our view, but the surroundings are badly blurred. We
know very little about the Mekka of that day, and we have scant information regarding either the materials or the processes by whose aid a grent
religion was then coming into being. Apparently a root out of dry ground,_
3
These facts, if taken by themselves, would obviously indicate that the
so, we should be reduced to conjecture as to the details of the process:
how, and in what form, he obtained his instructionj what teachers and
what means of teaching were available. But there are many more facts
to be taken into account. Islam is a fusion of diverse e1ements,some,~<:!.~ily
identified, others of obscure-orlgin.- The Kor~n' cOl~t~ins a- c~nsiderable
contribution _f!.~~~-A;~bian paganism, whi~h Mohammed adopted,
"WJieth~;-by his own choice or under constraint. The borrowing from the
an Arabian religion intended for Arabs, it nevertheless was designed and native hea"thendom is
usually obvious enough, and yet even here some
expected by its founder to conquer the world. There was behind this con- things are doubtful. There
is also in the~:Koran a distinctly. Christian elefidence more than mere self-assurance, more than pride in the Koran ment; how pervasive and how
important, is at present a subject of conand trust in Ml,lslim armies. Mohammed firmly believed that the new troversy. Its sources have
been even more problematic than those of the
faith was an old faith, and that its evident foundations went far outside
Arabia. Jewisl~ .. teaching~'
Abraham Geiger's brilliant little study, Was hat MQhamm~d

(lUS
dem
It did indeed sweep over all Western Asia, Egypt, North Africa, and a luden/hume aulgenommen?,
1833 (reprinted in '902), held the field for
portion of Europe, in an incredibly short time. We can see certain ex- many years, even after the
progress of Islamic studies had left it far be~
ternal reasons for this; the impetus of an awakened race, whose country hind. There followed a
reaction in favor of Christianity as the main
was_ already too narraWj and the comparative weakness of the civilized source of Mohammed's
inspiration. To this, the great influence of Wellnations which were encounte