Читать книгу A Dictionary of Islam. Being a cyclopedia of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the Muhammadan religion онлайн

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Al-Baiẓāwī and other Muslim commentators, admit that Muḥammad received Christian instruction from learned Christians, named Jubrā and Yasāra (al-Baiẓāwī on Sūrah xvi. 105), and that on this account the Quraish said, “It is only some mortal that teaches him!” For the Traditions relate that Muḥammad used to stop and listen to these two Christians as they read aloud the Books of Moses (Taurāt) and the New Testament (Injīl). But it is remarkable that Muḥammad should, after all, have obtained such a cursory knowledge of Christianity. For from the text of the Qurʾān (extracts of which are subjoined), it is evident that he was under the impression that the Sacrament of Baptism was Ṣibg͟hah, or the dyeing of the Christians’ clothes; and if the Chapter of the Table refers to the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (which is uncertain), it was “a table sent out of heaven that it may be a recurring festival.” The doctrine of the Trinity is supposed to be a Tritheism of God, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary; and a proof against the Divinity of Christ is urged from the fact that He and His mother “both ate food.” The crucifixion is denied, and Mary the mother of Jesus is confounded with Mary the sister of Aaron. Such mistakes and omissions could only arise from a most imperfect acquaintance with the ordinary institutions and beliefs of the Christian communities, with whom Muḥammad must have been brought in contact. The gentler tone and spirit of the Christians seems to have won the sympathy of Muḥammad, and his expressions regarding them are less severe than with reference to the Jews; but the abstruse character of their creed, as shown in their endless schisms regarding the nature of the Trinity and the person of Christ, and the idolatrous character of their worship, as still seen in the ancient Syrian and Coptic churches, led him to turn from Christianity to Judaism as a model whereby to effect the reformation of a degraded and idolatrous people like the ancient Arabians. The Jewish and Mosaic character of Muḥammad’s system will be treated of in another place. [JUDAISM.]