for any one living in Mecca, to perceive and expose the folly of idolatry, to profess Monotheism, and, at the same time, to retain the ancient customs and ceremonies of the national sanctuary, the Kaaba. Mohammed in attempting all this only followed the example of others. They were unable to bring about the change in the national religion which they desired but he succeeded in the difficult undertaking because he was more favoured by circumstances, and because he did not shrink from freely adopting the means of violence and coercion, or of craftiness and bribery, which lie outside the domain of pure religion. Zeid Ibn Amr signally failed in his attempted national reformation, because, instead of being supported by a powerful family, he was shamefully abandoned by his nearest relatives and delivered over to the cruel persecution and heartless contumely of an ignorant and frivolous populace. Mohammed, on the contrary, when likewise at the point of succumbing to popular annoyances and vexations, was protected by mighty friends and patrons; and it is abundantly clear that what saved him from the fate of Zeid and others, was his kinship to a powerful aristocratic family. This, therefore, aptly forms our next subject for consideration.

III. The Ancestral or Family Factor.

It is a great mistake to represent Mohammed as a poor man of low birth and as having been in his youth a mere 'camel-driver.' His biographer, Ibn Hisham, concludes the genealogy he gives of him with this remark: 'Accordingly the Apostle of God was the noblest of the sons of Adam, as regards descent, both on the paternal and the maternal side.' The fact is, that he belonged to one of the most distinguished tribes of Arabia, and was the scion of one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the important mercantile city of Mecca, that religious metropolis of the whole nation.

Several generations before Mohammed, Kussei, a leading man of the tribe of the Koreish, a branch of the larger Kinana tribe, married the daughter of Huleil, at that time the chief man of Mecca and the overseer of the temple. When Huleil died, Kussei's influence had already so far increased, that he could meditate on plans of securing for him

self the position hitherto occupied by his father-in-law. He united round his person the family of the Koreish, who till then had been divided and dispersed amongst the Kinana tribe, together with many of the Kinanites themselves, and with the help of the party thus gained, he overcame his rivals and made himself the chief man of Mecca and the protector of its temple. The Koreish, thenceforth, were the ruling tribe or clan in Mecca, and Kussei's the most influential family. In recognition of his having united them into one tribe and raised them to their commanding position in Mecca, they surnamed him 'the Uniter or Gatherer' (El Mojammi).

After Kussei's death, the privileges connected with the supervision of the temple and the annual pilgrimage caused rivalries and discord amongst his sons. They formed two opposite factions, each allying itself with native clans and entering into solemn pacts and covenants with them, faithfully to support each other, and never to deliver any of their number to the opposite party, 'as long as the sea availed to wet a fleece of wool.' When both sides were already mustering for an open fight, the fratricidal combat was happily avoided by an agreement to share the coveted privileges between the two rival factions. The alliances and covenants, however, by which the opposite parties had severally united themselves with other clans, remained in force and imparted a certain dual character to the social state of Mecca, which lasted till the time of Mohammed and essentially contributed to ensure to him a protection without which he would certainly have been crushed by his enemies. No wonder, therefore that, as Ibn Ishak informs us, the Prophet at one period declared, The alliances which existed in the time of idolatry, are rendered only the more firm by Islam.'

In the above-mentioned peaceable arrangement, the important privilege of providing the pilgrims with food and water was assigned to Abd Menaf, the son of Kussei, and at his death, passed to his son Hashim, because he was wealthier than his elder brother Abd Shems. On one occasion Hashim made a journey to Medina and there married into an influential family. Salma, the new wife, had been married before, and Ibn Hisham says of her that she was so independent and held in such high repute that she could presume to