He felt certain that success lay in the determined proclamation of one god as opposed to the many of the Arab pantheon, and the more he pondered over this Being, of whom he had heard from the Jews and Christians, the greater became his certainty.  God was supreme and omnipotent; of that there could be no doubt.  But how to convince the people was a difficulty that needed much careful thought and cautious propagation.  Jews and Christians could boast of prophets—­of men inspired to speak with the voice of God—­but the Arabs had had no one who had spoken with such authority.  Why had they been so neglected?  Surely they needed to hear the Divine voice, and that need was never greater than now, when all was unrest and dissention.  Where was the man who would fill the office?  Who would be willing to face the odds, and declare against evil by proclaiming the good and the true?  Such must have been the questions that exercised Mohammed’s mind.  Then came the thought—­“Why should not I be the messenger?” And this so grew upon him that he was convinced of his “call.”  The possession of this idea made him sincere in his purpose at first, but after the tide had turned in his favour, that sincerity was marred—­nay, eclipsed—­by an inflated notion of self-importance, and a consuming ambition to which every virtue and good feeling was subordinated, until at last he was able, with superb arrogance, to bracket his name with Deity, making the confession of his claim as important as the confession of the Unity of God.  Wherein his inconsistency and falsity is chiefly apparent, for confession of Unity is insufficient without recognition of Mohammed’s apostleship!

Ascetic practices tend to lead to physical disorders, which generally upset the mind and lead to mental and moral distemper.  Judgment is warped because the functions of the mind are thrown out of gear.  The varied departments of consciousness act with ungoverned caprice, with the result that fantastical fancies and visions are interpreted to be realties, which become misleading and deceptive.  Thus may be explained the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to Mohammed, but it can hardly be conceived that it will account for the ingenious method of revelation which he received.  Some people believe it to have been inspired by Satan; it must ever remain a matter of speculation.

The necessity of a piecemeal revelation could not at this time have been apparent to the prophet.  But we may give him the credit of the policy of abrogation which he afterwards adopted, for such a policy was necessary to enable him to cover or justify his actions which, like those of even the best of men, were marked by inconsistency.

III.—­BIRTH OF THE ISLAMIC SOCIETY.