and for which Mohammed felt in no way personally responsible, and the fact that they came at times when he was in a trance or fit, and that he appeared to he only a medium for receiving and delivering the messages and not the author of them, all seemed to reassure him and his wife Khadijah that he had really received a divine revelation.
Now completely certain of his revelations, he began to proclaim his divine message, first of all to the members of his immediate family and to his close friends. Following his wife, Khadijah, his cousin Ali, then Zaid, a former slave, and Abu Bakr, a close and influential friend, became his followers. They were undoubtedly impressed by his sincerity and humility.
MOHAMMED'S EARLY PREACHING
In due course his career as a public preacher began. The period of mild persuasive methods was past, when he had declared that "there must be no compulsion in religion." His messages from heaven, which later on formed the basis of the Koran, became more forceful and aggressive. He met not only with great opposition, but also with fierce persecution from the idolaters of Mecca. They told him he was a lunatic, and possessed with evil spirits. They called him an impostor, and made fun of him publicly. But all to no purpose. Little by little the band of believers grew; and, on the occasion of the annual pilgrimages to Mecca, Mohammed was able to preach his new doctrines of the unity of God to the thousands of pilgrims
THE
