The Mohammedan Controversy

This is pure imagination. The body was never removed from the little chamber in Ayesha's house in which the Prophet died, and there it still lies below the spot on which he breathed his last.

Our chief object in the above review has been to show the inexpediency of publishing any vernacular version of the "Bombay Life" in its present state. Much it contains that is admirable and well suited to the natives of India; but it requires careful revision; and the numerous errors must first be rectified before it is presented to the Mohammedan and the Hindoo public. It is, indeed, high time for us to bestir ourselves; and give to our Native fellow-subjects a vernacular life of the Prophet of Arabia. We have as yet presented them with nothing of the kind, and their own current biographies of Mohammed are the veriest inanities which, by any possibility, could be imagined.

To give some idea of the recent Biographies by Native writers, extracts will now be given from a treatise in Urdoo, which has met with a favourable reception, and is much sought after by Mohammedans. It is called Maul&#251d Sharif, "THE ENNOBLED NATIVITY," though not confined to the birth or childhood of Mohammed. Three editions now lie on our table, the first printed at Lucknow in 1265 Hegira (1843); the second at Cawnpore in 1267 Hegira (1845); the third at Agra in the present year, much enlarged (pp. 94). No less than ten or twelve editions have already been printed at Lucknow. The author is Gholâm Imâm Shahid, a polished and ornate writer of some celebrity, and formerly an officer of standing in the Court of Sudder Dewany.

The work is composed of so-called traditions and stories, each new story being introduced by the words "It is related," or "There is a narrative to the effect that," etc. It is interspersed with pieces of poetry, generally in Persian, sometimes in Urdoo, lauding Mohammed, and appealing to the hearts and affections of devout Moslems. The great bulk of the tales are of late