We must perforce believe in Mahomet's good faith. There is a tendency in
modern times to think of him as a man who knowingly played upon the
credulity of his followers to establish a sovereignty whereof he should
be head. But no student of psychology can support this conception of the
Prophet of Islam. There is a subtle _rapprochement_ between leader
and people in all great movements that divines instinctively any
imposture. Mahomet used and moulded men by reason of his faith in his own
creed. The establishment of the worship of Allah brought in its train the
aggrandisement of his Prophet, but it was not achieved by profanation of
the source whence his greatness came.

Mahomet is the last of those leaders who win both the religious
devotion and the political trust of his followers. He wrought out his
sovereignty perforce and created his own _milieu_; but more than all, he
diffused around him the tradition of loyalty to one God and one state
with sword for artificer, which outlived its creator through centuries of
Arabian prosperity. Stone by slow stone his empire was built up, an
edifice owing its contour to his complete grasp of detail and his
dauntless energy. The last days at Mecca had shown him a careful schemer,
the early days at Medina proved his capacity as leader and his skill in
organisation and government.




CHAPTER IX


THE CONSOLIDATION OF POWER