Page 194 - Think & Grow Rich 1937 Edition
P. 194
194 THINK AND GROW RICH
480 Khadija, the widow, looked upon him with favor, and married him. Her
481 father would have objected to such a marriage, so she got him drunk and held
482 him up while he gave the paternal blessing. For the next twelve years
483 Mohammed lived as a rich and respected and very shrewd trader. Then he
484 took to wandering in the desert, and one day he returned with the first verse
485 of the Koran and told Khadija that the archangel Gabriel had appeared to
486 him and said that he was to be the Messenger of God.
487 "The Koran, the revealed word of God, was the closest thing to a miracle in
488 Mohammed's life. He had not been a poet; he had no gift of words. Yet the
489 verses of the Koran, as he received them and recited them to the faithful, were
490 better than any verses which the professional poets of the tribes could produce.
491 This, to the Arabs, was a miracle. To them the gift of words was the greatest
492 gift, the poet was all-powerful. In addition the Koran said that all men were
493 equal before God, that the world should be a democratic state-Islam. It was
494 this political heresy, plus Mohammed's desire to destroy all the 360 idols in
495 the courtyard of the Caaba, which brought about his banishment. The idols
496 brought the desert tribes to Mecca, and that meant trade. So the business
497 men of Mecca, the capitalists, of which he had been one, set upon
498 Mohammed. Then he retreated to the desert and demanded sovereignty over
499 the world.
500 "The rise of Islam began. Out of the desert came aflame which would not be
501 extinguished-a democratic army fighting as a unit and prepared to die
502 without wincing. Mohammed had invited the Jews and Christians to join
503 him; for he was not building a new religion. He was calling all who believed
504 in one God to join in a single faith. If the Jews and Christians had accepted
505 his invitation Is- lam would have conquered the world. They didn't. They
506 would not even accept Mohammed's innovation of humane warfare. When
507 the armies of the prophet entered Jerusalem not a single person was killed
508 because of his faith. When the crusaders entered the city, centuries later, not a
480 Khadija, the widow, looked upon him with favor, and married him. Her
481 father would have objected to such a marriage, so she got him drunk and held
482 him up while he gave the paternal blessing. For the next twelve years
483 Mohammed lived as a rich and respected and very shrewd trader. Then he
484 took to wandering in the desert, and one day he returned with the first verse
485 of the Koran and told Khadija that the archangel Gabriel had appeared to
486 him and said that he was to be the Messenger of God.
487 "The Koran, the revealed word of God, was the closest thing to a miracle in
488 Mohammed's life. He had not been a poet; he had no gift of words. Yet the
489 verses of the Koran, as he received them and recited them to the faithful, were
490 better than any verses which the professional poets of the tribes could produce.
491 This, to the Arabs, was a miracle. To them the gift of words was the greatest
492 gift, the poet was all-powerful. In addition the Koran said that all men were
493 equal before God, that the world should be a democratic state-Islam. It was
494 this political heresy, plus Mohammed's desire to destroy all the 360 idols in
495 the courtyard of the Caaba, which brought about his banishment. The idols
496 brought the desert tribes to Mecca, and that meant trade. So the business
497 men of Mecca, the capitalists, of which he had been one, set upon
498 Mohammed. Then he retreated to the desert and demanded sovereignty over
499 the world.
500 "The rise of Islam began. Out of the desert came aflame which would not be
501 extinguished-a democratic army fighting as a unit and prepared to die
502 without wincing. Mohammed had invited the Jews and Christians to join
503 him; for he was not building a new religion. He was calling all who believed
504 in one God to join in a single faith. If the Jews and Christians had accepted
505 his invitation Is- lam would have conquered the world. They didn't. They
506 would not even accept Mohammed's innovation of humane warfare. When
507 the armies of the prophet entered Jerusalem not a single person was killed
508 because of his faith. When the crusaders entered the city, centuries later, not a
