Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1926-09-02
THE WORLDS
GREAT EVENTS
ALBERT PAYsoN TERHUNE
p. Iead . CompanY.l



epileptlc son, MuhOmet by name, al
! nOuuced that he was Gods chose
nouthpiece to mankind and that ne wa
also The pr9daeter and high priest OF
brand new religion. Be backed thes
statements with series Of catalepti
frances and few neat, hand-mad
, miracles. Half-fanatic and haIf-char
atan, he succeeded In changing tn
o'aD and history Of the world.
Arabia and its surrounding coun
1 tries, al the time of Mahomet's birth
were made up OF small, eomparativeT,
unimportant states; some Independent
some subject to Greece or Persia
They worshiDed IN an Indifferent, half
hearted way long list OF gods. wifi
Allah as the chief divinity. Mahomet
within brief lifetime converted the
East to a religion known as Islam.
oIagiarized by him almost entirely
rom the Christian and Hebrew Scrip
.ures. He had persuaded Orientals to
'egard their subsidiary gods as de
mons (for he was too polite to deny
HEIR alleged deItIes' exlstencel. and
TO recognize Allah as the one true
iod. Had he stopped there, no great
larm would have been done. But I'M
fortunately ne preached conquest Cor
molly wars') as we'll as religion. The
'esult was a series OF conflicts stretch
ne intermittent.y from 622 to 1898;
and united horde OF fanatics who
'or centuries menaced the worlds
peace and progress.
Mahomet was left a pennlIess or.
)han when only three. He was reared
poverty, but IN early manhood be
same sort Of commercial traveller
Tor a business owned by a rich widow
Mecca. He soon after married the
widow and became power In his
acme city. He was afflicted with ep-
leptic fits, which were followed By
long swOOns or frances. In these
frances he claimed to hold commune
,ation with the Angel Gabriel and
other divine messengers, who little by |
little Taught him creed which was
20 replace heathenism, and babe him /
proclaim the new teachings. These
teachings, though declared wholly
lew. bore startling resemblance to
hodge-podge Of other and older re-
igions. But many orientals-a race
Fho= stiif regard the scientifically In
ane with sort of awed reverence
istened eagerly TO him and assented
o his claim that he was a prophet.
lie set forth his revelations In a
ook called the Koran.
How far AfahOmet was sincere and
ow far a mere trickster can never be
nown lie had strongly fanaticaI
and probably believed
hat certain heavenly revelations we're
lade TO him In visions But he Is
hrewdy suspected Of twisting his Wis
ms on occasions 10 suit his own de-
res or plans number of Meccans
lgerly Joined him; while the city
1vernment as strenuously opposed
I'm. Finding he could make no great
galway in his own city, he and his
sciples, In 80 A. d., left Mecca and
I'd to Medina. an Arabian town
here his doctrines had already taken p"
ot. Mahometan time dates from
is "Hegira" (fiight) of the prophet
ID his followers.
Having established himself at l.
edna, Mahomef straightway began
lecting new recruits from the sur
unding country. rolling up wealth
ID power for his cause. and
mbining earthly power with his so
He'd heavenly mission. He became,
a measure. sort of medieval
'wie feFblddlRg his followers to say
God morning" and forcing them to =
bstitute peace be with youl" and
rforming countless acts OF temporal
pedlence in the name of piety. His
piration appealed to the fanatical
nperament OF the Arabs.
on the fiery. susceptible
ab nature. he made his subjects be-
We that If they died for their faith
while killing infidels, they would
once enter into a very gorgeous sort
heaven. whose delights included as
ny and as garish attractions as q
side amusement park.
having thus prepared his forces.
rking on the well-recognIzed plan
I fanatic is the most dangerous
foes. MahOmet declared the first
ly war" Oddly enough II CHANGED
be against the city of Mecca which
cast him out Having conquered
Meccans he turned his attention
,ther ''unbelieyers." and had so far
ceeded that he was threatening the
elk empire itself when, In 6S2 A.
ct the age of sixty-two. he died.
ut he had set rolling a bali that
Id not be stopped. His successors,
callphs Representatives OF the
phet J. extended me c0nquests OF
throughout Egypt,
Ia. Palestine. Asia Minor, the East.
empire and the Persian and Greek
sessions They even made Con
ltinople their capital and pene-
ed Spain. the Adriatic and other
3 Of Europe.
new world power had sprung up
sinRle generation with fanaticfsm