Islam Rediscovered
24. A Case of Discovery*
~ 426 ~
the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him,
was all that he claimed to be, namely a Prophet of
God in the highest sense of that word, will be
evident to all fair-minded men, unbiased by
missionary or sectarian prejudices, who take the
trouble to study his life and teachings and
particularly the Quran which has been called the
“autobiography of Muhammad.” All the Traditions
represent him as uncommonly true and just, liberal
and generous, good and pure. He has been the beau
ideal of a Perfect Man to one-third of our race for
the last 13 centuries. It is absurd to suppose, that “a
wicked impostor” as Christian writers commonly
represent him to be, should have had that immense
and abiding influence on such vast masses of men
for such a long time as Muhammad. After all,
Carlyle’s dictum, contained in his lecture on
“Heroes and Hero-worship” which I have already
referred to, will be found to be true:
“This deep-hearted son of the wilderness with his
beaming black eyes, and open, social, deep soul had
other thoughts in him than ambition. A silent, great
soul, he was one of those who cannot but be in
earnest; whom nature herself has appointed to be
