Koran says,
"We believe in God, and that which hath been sent down to us, and that
which was sent down unto Abraham, and Ishmael and Isaac, and Jacob,
and the tribes, and that which was delivered unto Moses, and Jesus and
the prophets from the Lord, and we make no distinction between any
of them." Thus Muhammad accepted the bulk of the Old but not of the
New Testament, which the Jews also do not receive. His deity was the
Jewish Jehovah of the Old Testament, though called Allah after the name
of a god worshipped at Mecca. The six prophets who brought new laws
were Adam, the chosen of God; Noah, the preacher of God; Abraham, the
friend of God; Moses, one who conversed with God; Jesus, the Spirit
of God; and Muhammad, the Messenger of God. His seven heavens and
his prophecy of a Messiah and Day of Judgment were Jewish beliefs,
though it is supposed that he took the idea of the Sirat or narrow
bridge over the midst of hell, sharper than the edge of a sword,
over which all must pass, while the wicked fall from it into hell,
from Zoroastrianism. Muhammad recognised a devil, known as Iblis,
while the Jinns or Genii of pagan Arabia became bad angels. The great
difference between Islam and Judaism arose from Muhammad's position
in being obliged continually to fight for his own existence and
the preservation of his sect This circumstance coloured the later
parts of the Koran and gave Islam the character of a religious and
political crusade, a kind of faith eminently fitted to the Arab nature
and training. And to this character may be assigned its extraordinary
success, but, at the same time, probably the religion itself might have
been of a somewhat purer and higher tenor if its birth and infancy
had not had place in a constant state of war. Muhammad accomplished
most beneficent reforms in abolishing polytheism and such abuses as
female infanticide, and at least regulating polygamy. In forbidding
both gambling and the use of alcohol he set a very high standard to his
disciples, which if adhered to would remove two of the main sources of
vice. His religion retained fewer relics of the pre-existing animism
and spirit-worship than almost any other, though in practice uneducated
Indian Muhammadans, at least, preserve them in a large measure. And
owing to the fact that the Muhammadan months revolve round the year,
its festivals have been dissociated from the old pagan observances of
the changes of the sun and seasons and the growth o