Studies in a Mosque - The Search For Mecca

66 STUDIES IN A MOSQUE.
knew it, he yet insisted on liis own mission as in
nowise inferior to theirs—as, in fact, the seal of pro-
phecy by which all that went before was confirmed or
abrogated. The illusion was over ; the Jews would
have nothing to say to Islam : they set themselves
instead to oppose it, ridicule it, and vex its Preacher
in every way that their notorious ingenuity could
devise.
The step was false : the Jews missed their game,
and they had to pay for it. Whether it was possible
to form a coalition,—whether the Jews might have
induced Mohammad to waive certain minor points if
they recognised his prophetic mission,—it is difficult
to say. It seems most probable that Mohammad
would not have yielded a jot to their demands, and
would have accepted nothing short of unconditional
surrender to his religion. And it is at least doubtful
whether Islam would have gained anything by a
further infusion of Judaism. It already contained
all that it could assimilate of the Hebrew faith ; the
rest was too narrow for the universal scope of Ishlm.
The religion of Mohammad lost little, we may be sure,
by the standing aloof of the Arabian Jews ; but the
Jews themselves lost much. Mohammad, indeed,
treated them kindly so long as kindness was possible.
He made a treaty with them, whereby the rights of
the Muslims and the Jews were defined. They were
to practise their respective religions unmolested ;
pro-
tection and security were promised to all the parties
to the treaty, without distinction of creed ; each was to
help the other if attacked ; no alliance was to be made