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MUHAMED
MUḤAMMAD

1 U ovom trenutku dolazimo do Muhameda. Amerikanci i Europljani čuli su brojne priče o Proroku, koje su smatrali istinitima premda su pripovjedači bili neupućeni ili neprijateljski raspoloženi: većinom su to bili svećenici; ostali su bili neuki muslimani koji su ponavljali neutemeljene pripovijesti o Muhamedu za koje su, kako bijahu neupućeni, vjerovali da služe Njegovoj slavi. Now we come to Muḥammad. Americans and Europeans have heard a number of stories about the Prophet which they have thought to be true, although the narrators were either ignorant or antagonistic: most of them were clergy; others were ignorant Muslims who repeated unfounded traditions about Muḥammad which they ignorantly believed to be to His praise.
2 Tako su neki neprosvijećeni muslimani Njegovu poligamiju načinili središtem svojih pohvala i držali to čudesnim, pravim čudom; a europski povjesničari većinom se oslanjaju na bajke tih neukih ljudi. Thus some benighted Muslims made His polygamy the pivot of their praises and held it to be a wonder, regarding it as a miracle; and European historians, for the most part, rely on the tales of these ignorant people.
3 Na primjer, neki glupan rekao je svećeniku da je pravi dokaz veličine smionost i prolijevanje krvi, te da je u samo jednom danu na bojnom polju jedan sljedbenik Muhameda odsjekao glave stotini ljudi! To je zavelo svećenike na krivi zaključak da se ubijanje smatra načinom dokazivanja nečije vjere u Muhameda, što je puka izmišljotina. Naprotiv, Muhamedove vojne ekspedicije uvijek su bile obrambene akcije: dokaz tome je činjenica da su On i Njegovi sljedbenici tijekom trinaest godina u Meki pretrpjeli najnasilnija proganjanja. U tom su razdoblju oni bili mete strijelama mržnje: neki Njegovi drugovi ubijeni su, a imovina im je konfiscirana; drugi su pobjegli u strane zemlje. Sam Muhamed, nakon najgorih progona od strane Qurayshita (Qurayshites), koji su na kraju odlučili ubiti Ga, pobjegao je u Medinu usred noći. Ipak, čak ni tada Njegovi neprijatelji nisu prekinuli svoje progone, nego su ga slijedili do Medine, a Njegove učenike sve do Abesinije. For example, a foolish man said to a clergyman that the true proof of greatness is bravery and the shedding of blood, and that in one day on the field of battle a follower of Muḥammad had cut off the heads of one hundred men! This misled the clergyman to infer that killing is considered the way to prove one’s faith to Muḥammad, while this is merely imaginary. The military expeditions of Muḥammad, on the contrary, were always defensive actions: a proof of this is that during thirteen years, in Mecca, He and His followers endured the most violent persecutions. At this period they were the target for the arrows of hatred: some of His companions were killed and their property confiscated; others fled to foreign lands. Muḥammad Himself, after the most extreme persecutions by the Qurayshites, who finally resolved to kill Him, fled to Medina in the middle of the night. Yet even then His enemies did not cease their persecutions, but pursued Him to Medina, and His disciples even to Abyssinia.
4 Ta su arapska plemena bila na najnižem stupnju divljaštva i u usporedbi s njima divljaci u Africi i Indijanci u Americi bili su napredni poput Platona. Domoroci u Americi ne sahranjuju svoju djecu živu kao što su ti Arapi činili sa svojim kćerima, slaveći to djelo kao časnu stvar7. Tako su mnogi muškarci prijetili svojim ženama, govoreći: “Rodiš li kćer, ubit ću te”. Čak i do današnjeg dana Arapi se groze rođenja kćeri. Nadalje, čovjeku je bilo dopušteno da uzme tisuću žena, a mnogi su muževi u svom kućanstvu imali više od deset žena. Kad su ta plemena ratovala, pobjedničko pleme zarobljavalo je žene i djecu poraženog plemena i postupalo s njima kao s robovima. These Arab tribes were in the lowest depths of savagery and barbarism, and in comparison with them the savages of Africa and wild Indians of America were as advanced as a Plato. The savages of America do not bury their children alive as these Arabs did their daughters, glorying in it as being an honorable thing to do.7 Thus many of the men would threaten their wives, saying, “If a daughter is born to you, I will kill you.” Even down to the present time the Arabs dread having daughters. Further, a man was permitted to take a thousand women, and most husbands had more than ten wives in their household. When these tribes made war, the one which was victorious would take the women and children of the vanquished tribe captive and treat them as slaves.
5 Kad bi čovjek koji je imao deset žena umro, sinovi tih žena pojurili bi svaki prema majci onog drugog i kad bi jedan od njih bacio plašt preko glave jedne od žena svoga oca i povikao: “Ova je žena moje zakonsko vlasništvo”, nesretna bi žena odmah postala njegovom zatočenicom i ropkinjom. On je s njom mogao činiti što god poželi. Mogao ju je ubiti, zatvoriti je u nekom zdencu, ili tući, psovati i mučiti sve dok je smrt ne oslobodi. Prema arapskim navikama i običajima, on je bio njen gospodar. Očevidno je da su pakost, ljubomora, mržnja i neprijateljstvo postojali među ženama i djecom kućanstva i stoga je nepotrebno o tome dalje govoriti. Promislite onda o tome kakvi su bili životni uvjeti tih potlačenih žena! Štoviše, ta su arapska plemena dolazila do sredstava za život grabežom i pljačkom, te su stalno vodili borbe i ratove, ubijajući jedni druge, plijeneći i pustošeći tuđu imovinu i zarobljavajući žene i djecu koje bi prodavali strancima. Često bi se događalo da sinovi ili kćeri nekog princa, koji su život proveli u raskoši i udobnosti, preko noći budu izloženi sramoti, siromaštvu i zarobljeništvu. Jučer su bili prinčevi, danas su zarobljenici; jučer, velike dame, a danas ropkinje. When a man who had ten wives died, the sons of these women rushed at each other’s mothers; and if one of the sons threw his mantle over the head of his father’s wife and cried out, “This woman is my lawful property,” at once the unfortunate woman became his prisoner and slave. He could do whatever he wished with her. He could kill her, imprison her in a well, or beat, curse and torture her until death released her. According to the Arab habits and customs, he was her master. It is evident that malignity, jealousy, hatred and enmity must have existed between the wives and children of a household, and it is, therefore, needless to enlarge upon the subject. Again, consider what was the condition and life of these oppressed women! Moreover, the means by which these Arab tribes lived consisted in pillage and robbery, so that they were perpetually engaged in fighting and war, killing one another, plundering and devastating each other’s property, and capturing women and children, whom they would sell to strangers. How often it happened that the daughters and sons of a prince, who spent their day in comfort and luxury, found themselves, when night fell, reduced to shame, poverty and captivity. Yesterday they were princes, today they are captives; yesterday they were great ladies, today they are slaves.
6 Muhamed je Božansko Otkrivenje primio među tim plemenima i, nakon što su ga trinaest godina proganjali, pobjegao je8. No ti ljudi nisu prestali s ugnjetavanjem; ujedinili su se da bi uništili Njega i Njegove sljedbenike. U takvim je okolnostima Muhamed bio prisiljen posegnuti za oružjem. To je istina: mi nismo pristaše i ne želimo Ga braniti, ali smo pravedni i kazujemo ono što je pravedno. Pravedno gledajte na to. Da je Sam Krist bio stavljen u takve okolnosti među takva tiranska i barbarska plemena i da su trinaest godina On i Njegovi sljedbenici strpljivo podnosili sve te kušnje, koje su kulminirale bijegom iz Njegove domovine – da su Ga usprkos tome ta neobuzdana plemena nastavila progoniti, ubijati ljude, pljačkati njihovu imovinu i zarobljavati njihove žene i djecu – kako bi se Krist prema njima ponašao? Da je to ugnjetavanje bilo usmjereno samo prema Njemu, On bi im oprostio i takav čin oprosta bio bi uvelike hvalevrijedan; ali da je vidio da te okrutne i krvožedne ubojice žele ubijati, pljačkati i ozlijediti sve potlačene i zarobljavati žene i djecu, zasigurno bi ih On zaštitio i odupro se tiranima. Kakvu onda primjedbu možemo dati protiv Muhamedova postupka? Prigovor da se On zajedno sa Svojim sljedbenicima i njihovim ženama i djecom nije pokorio tim divljim plemenima? Osloboditi ta plemena njihove krvožednosti bio je čin najveće naklonosti, a sputati ih i zaustaviti bila je istinska milost. Oni su bili poput čovjeka koji u ruci drži vrč otrova i kojega, u trenutku kad ga namjerava popiti, prijatelj razbija i tako ga spasi. Da je Krist stavljen u slične okolnosti, sigurno je da bi s pobjedničkom moći oslobodio muškarce, žene i djecu iz kandža tih krvoločnih vukova. Muḥammad received the Divine Revelation among these tribes, and after enduring thirteen years of persecution from them, He fled.8 But this people did not cease to oppress; they united to exterminate Him and all His followers. It was under such circumstances that Muḥammad was forced to take up arms. This is the truth: we are not bigoted and do not wish to defend Him, but we are just, and we say what is just. Look at it with justice. If Christ Himself had been placed in such circumstances among such tyrannical and barbarous tribes, and if for thirteen years He with His disciples had endured all these trials with patience, culminating in flight from His native land—if in spite of this these lawless tribes continued to pursue Him, to slaughter the men, to pillage their property, and to capture their women and children—what would have been Christ’s conduct with regard to them? If this oppression had fallen only upon Himself, He would have forgiven them, and such an act of forgiveness would have been most praiseworthy; but if He had seen that these cruel and bloodthirsty murderers wished to kill, to pillage and to injure all these oppressed ones, and to take captive the women and children, it is certain that He would have protected them and would have resisted the tyrants. What objection, then, can be taken to Muḥammad’s action? Is it this, that He did not, with His followers, and their women and children, submit to these savage tribes? To free these tribes from their bloodthirstiness was the greatest kindness, and to coerce and restrain them was a true mercy. They were like a man holding in his hand a cup of poison, which, when about to drink, a friend breaks and thus saves him. If Christ had been placed in similar circumstances, it is certain that with a conquering power He would have delivered the men, women and children from the claws of these bloodthirsty wolves.
7 Muhamed se nikad nije borio protiv kršćana; naprotiv, On je s njima postupao ljubazno i dao im potpunu slobodu. Zajednica kršćana živjela je u Najránu i bila je pod Njegovom skrbi i zaštitom. Muhamed je rekao: “Ukoliko bilo tko ugrozi njihova prava, ja ću osobno biti njegov neprijatelj i u Božjoj nazočnosti kaznit ću ga”. U Njegovim naredbama jasno se kaže da su životi, imovina i čast kršćana i Židova pod Božjom zaštitom; te da ako muhamedanac oženi kršćanku, muž je ne smije sprečavati da odlazi u crkvu niti je obvezivati da nosi veo; i da, ako ona umre, mora njezine posmrtne ostatke predati na skrb kršćanskom svećenstvu. Budu li kršćani željeli sagraditi crkvu, islam im mora pomoći. U slučaju rata između islama i njegovih neprijatelja, kršćane treba izuzeti iz obveze ratovanja, osim ako oni sami svojom vlastitom slobodnom voljom ne zažele to učiniti u obrani islama, jer su bili pod njegovom zaštitom. No kao naknadu za ovaj imunitet morali su godišnje plaćati manju sumu novca. Ukratko, postoji sedam detaljnih naredbi o ovim stvarima, a kopije nekih još se uvijek nalaze u Jeruzalemu. To je utvrđena činjenica i ne ovisi o mojoj potvrdi. Naredba drugog Kalifa9 još uvijek je pohranjena kod pravoslavnog patrijarha Jeruzalema i o tome nema nikakve dvojbe10. Muḥammad never fought against the Christians; on the contrary, He treated them kindly and gave them perfect freedom. A community of Christian people lived at Najrán and were under His care and protection. Muḥammad said, “If anyone infringes their rights, I Myself will be his enemy, and in the presence of God I will bring a charge against him.” In the edicts which He promulgated it is clearly stated that the lives, properties and honor of the Christians and Jews are under the protection of God; and that if a Muḥammadan married a Christian woman, the husband must not prevent her from going to church, nor oblige her to veil herself; and that if she died, he must place her remains in the care of the Christian clergy. Should the Christians desire to build a church, Islám ought to help them. In case of war between Islám and her enemies, the Christians should be exempted from the obligation of fighting, unless they desired of their own free will to do so in defense of Islám, because they were under its protection. But as a compensation for this immunity, they should pay yearly a small sum of money. In short, there are seven detailed edicts on these subjects, some copies of which are still extant at Jerusalem. This is an established fact and is not dependent on my affirmation. The edict of the second Caliph9 still exists in the custody of the orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, and of this there is no doubt.10
8 Bez obzira na to, nakon nekog vremena i kroz prijestupe i muhamedanaca i kršćana, među njima su izbili mržnja i neprijateljstvo. Izvan te činjenice sve priče muslimana, kršćana i ostalih samo su izmišljotine koje potječu iz fanatizma ili neznanja ili emaniraju iz snažne netrpeljivosti. Nevertheless, after a certain time, and through the transgression of both the Muḥammadans and the Christians, hatred and enmity arose between them. Beyond this fact, all the narrations of the Muslims, Christians and others are simply fabrications, which have their origin in fanaticism, or ignorance, or emanate from intense hostility.
9 Na primjer, muslimani kažu da je Muhamed raskolio mjesec i da je on pao na planinu Meke: misle da je mjesec malo tijelo koje je Muhamed podijelio na dva dijela i jedan dio bacio na tu planinu, a drugi na neku drugu. For example, the Muslims say that Muḥammad cleft the moon, and that it fell on the mountain of Mecca: they think that the moon is a small body which Muḥammad divided into two parts and threw one part on this mountain, and the other part on another mountain.
10 Takve su priče posvemašnji fanatizam. Isto su tako predaje koje citira svećenstvo i događaji kojima pronalaze zamjerke preuveličani, ako ne i posve neutemeljeni. Such stories are pure fanaticism. Also the traditions which the clergy quote, and the incidents with which they find fault, are all exaggerated, if not entirely without foundation.
11 Ukratko, Muhamed se pojavio u pustinji Hijáz na Arapskom poluotoku, koja je bila pusta, neplodna divljina, pješčana i nenastanjena. Neki su dijelovi, posebno Meka i Medina, izuzetno topli; narod čine nomadi koji imaju manire i običaje stanovnika pustinje i potpuno su lišeni odgoja i obrazovanja. Sam Muhamed bio je nepismen a Kuran je izvorno napisan na ovčjim lopatičnim kostima ili na palminu lišću. Ove pojedinosti ukazuju na uvjete u kojima su živjeli ljudi kojima je Muhamed bio poslan. Prvo pitanje koje im je postavio bilo je: “Zašto ne prihvaćate Petoknjižje i Evanđelje i zašto ne vjerujete u Krista i Mojsija?” To im je pitanje bilo teško, pa su uzvratili: “Naši preci nisu vjerovali u Petoknjižje i Evanđelje; reci nam zašto je to bilo tako?” Odgovorio je: “Bili su zavedeni; vi morate odbaciti one koji ne vjeruju u Petoknjižje i Evanđelje, pa bili oni vaši očevi i preci”. Briefly, Muḥammad appeared in the desert of Ḥijáz in the Arabian Peninsula, which was a desolate, sterile wilderness, sandy and uninhabited. Some parts, like Mecca and Medina, are extremely hot; the people are nomads with the manners and customs of the dwellers in the desert, and are entirely destitute of education and science. Muḥammad Himself was illiterate, and the Qur’án was originally written upon the bladebones of sheep, or on palm leaves. These details indicate the condition of the people to whom Muḥammad was sent. The first question which He put to them was, “Why do you not accept the Pentateuch and the Gospel, and why do you not believe in Christ and in Moses?” This saying presented difficulties to them, and they argued, “Our forefathers did not believe in the Pentateuch and the Gospel; tell us, why was this?” He answered, “They were misled; you ought to reject those who do not believe in the Pentateuch and the Gospel, even though they are your fathers and your ancestors.”
12 U takvoj zemlji i usred barbarskih plemena jedan je nepismen Čovjek stvorio knjigu u kojoj je On, savršenim i rječitim stilom, objasnio božanske pridjevke i odlike, položaj proroštva Glasnika Božjih, božanske zakone i neke znanstvene  činjenice. In such a country, and amidst such barbarous tribes, an illiterate Man produced a book in which, in a perfect and eloquent style, He explained the divine attributes and perfections, the prophethood of the Messengers of God, the divine laws, and some scientific facts.
13 Tako, vi znate da su se prije saznanja modernog doba – tj., tijekom prvih stoljeća pa sve do petnaestog stoljeća kršćanske ere – svi matematičari svijeta slagali u tome da je Zemlja središte svemira i da se Sunce kreće. Poznati astronom, koji je bio zagovornik nove teorije, otkrio je kretanje Zemlje i nepomičnost Sunca11. Sve do njegova vremena svi su astronomi i filozofi svijeta slijedili ptolomejski sustav i tko god bi rekao bilo što protiv njega smatran je neznalicom. Premda su Pitagora i Platon, tijekom druge polovice svog života, usvojili teoriju da godišnje kretanje Sunca po zodijaku ne dolazi od Sunca već prije kretanjem Zemlje oko Sunca, ta je teorija bila potpuno zaboravljena, a ptolomejski sustav usvojili su svi matematičari. Ali u Kuranu su otkriveni neki stihovi suprotni teoriji ptolomejskog sustava. Jedan od njih kaže: “Sunce se kreće u stalnom mjestu”, što pokazuje nepomičnost sunca i njegovo kretanje oko osi12. Opet, u drugom stihu: “I svaka se zvijezda kreće na svom vlastitom nebu”13. Tako je objašnjeno kretanje Sunca, Mjeseca, Zemlje i drugih tijela. Kad se Kuran pojavio svi su matematičari ismijavali ove tvrdnje i teoriju pripisivali neznanju. Čak su i učenjaci islama, vidjevši da su ti stihovi u suprotnosti s prihvaćenim ptolomejskim sustavom, bili obvezni odbaciti ih. Thus, you know that before the observations of modern times—that is to say, during the first centuries and down to the fifteenth century of the Christian era—all the mathematicians of the world agreed that the earth was the center of the universe, and that the sun moved. The famous astronomer who was the protagonist of the new theory discovered the movement of the earth and the immobility of the sun.11 Until his time all the astronomers and philosophers of the world followed the Ptolemaic system, and whoever said anything against it was considered ignorant. Though Pythagoras, and Plato during the latter part of his life, adopted the theory that the annual movement of the sun around the zodiac does not proceed from the sun, but rather from the movement of the earth around the sun, this theory had been entirely forgotten, and the Ptolemaic system was accepted by all mathematicians. But there are some verses revealed in the Qur’án contrary to the theory of the Ptolemaic system. One of them is “The sun moves in a fixed place,” which shows the fixity of the sun, and its movement around an axis.12 Again, in another verse, “And each star moves in its own heaven.”13 Thus is explained the movement of the sun, of the moon, of the earth, and of other bodies. When the Qur’án appeared, all the mathematicians ridiculed these statements and attributed the theory to ignorance. Even the doctors of Islám, when they saw that these verses were contrary to the accepted Ptolemaic system, were obliged to explain them away.
14 Tek u petnaestom stoljeću kršćanske ere, skoro devet stotina godina poslije Muhameda, poznati je astronom došao do novih saznanja i važnih otkrića uz pomoć teleskopa, koji je sam pronašao14. Otkrivena su rotacija Zemlje, nepomičnost Sunca, kao i njegovo okretanje oko osi. Postalo je očito da se stihovi Kurana slažu s postojećim činjenicama i da je ptolomejski sustav imaginaran. It was not until after the fifteenth century of the Christian era, nearly nine hundred years after Muḥammad, that a famous astronomer made new observations and important discoveries by the aid of the telescope, which he had invented.14 The rotation of the earth, the fixity of the sun, and also its movement around an axis, were discovered. It became evident that the verses of the Qur’án agreed with existing facts, and that the Ptolemaic system was imaginary.
15 Ukratko, mnogi narodi Istoka trinaest su stoljeća odgajani u sjeni Muhamedove religije. Tijekom srednjeg vijeka, dok je Europa bila u najvećim dubinama barbarizma, arapski su narodi bili iznad ostalih nacija na zemlji po učenosti, umjetnostima, matematici, civilizaciji, upravljanju i ostalim znanostima. Prosvjetitelj i Odgajatelj tih arapskih plemena i Utemeljitelj civilizacije i savršenosti ljudskog roda među tim različitim rasama bio je nepismen Čovjek, Muhamed. Je li taj uzvišeni Čovjek bio potpuni Odgajatelj ili ne? Tu je potreban pravedan sud. In short, many Oriental peoples have been reared for thirteen centuries under the shadow of the religion of Muḥammad. During the Middle Ages, while Europe was in the lowest depths of barbarism, the Arab peoples were superior to the other nations of the earth in learning, in the arts, mathematics, civilization, government and other sciences. The Enlightener and Educator of these Arab tribes, and the Founder of the civilization and perfections of humanity among these different races, was an illiterate Man, Muḥammad. Was this illustrious Man a thorough Educator or not? A just judgment is necessary.