A Life Saved by a Spider'S Web

There are many forms of the tradition that the life of Mohammed was saved by a spider's web; the main points are as follows; When he fled from his would-be assassins in Mecca, in company with his friend Abu Bekr, the two sought refuge from their pursuers in a cave. It was on the summit of a mountain called Jebel Thor, a few miles south of Mecca. Here they passed the night. When the morning light streamed through the crevice, Abu Bekr whispered in alarm; "What if one of them were to look beneath him, he might see us under his very feet!" drawing from Mahomet the celebrated saying: "Think not thus, Abu Bekr; we are two, but God is in the midst a third." As long as they stayed in the cave they were cared for by friends, who brought them supplies of food and drink with regularity. The fact that they were thus able to escape, led to the formation of many wonderful stories, which are believed among the faithful followers of Mahomet to this day. One story is, that the cave was inhabited by venomous reptiles, which Abu Bekr was able, through the miraculous power given him by Mahomet, to handle without injury. Another familiar tradition is, that the prophet's enemies, the Koreish, pursued him until they came to the mouth of the cave, where they found a spider's web, or many of them, covering the opening ("For God had sent a spider to weave such a web for the purpose of deceiving the pursuers"), and that they said one to another, "Spider webs are over it from before the birth of Mahomet," and turned back. These, and many other stories, may be set down as mere embellishments of the more prosaic history of the prophet, and were probably suggested to the active Oriental imagination by references in their sacred writings, which seemed to need something of this sort to explain them.

Mohammed, born 570 or 571, was the son of a rich merchant of the priestly race of Koreish. During his youth he made frequent journeys with caravans into foreign lands. Associating thus with Jews and Christians, of other countries, he became convinced that their religion must be purer than the idol worship of Arabia.

Retiring from the busy world, and spending the greater part of five years in a cave, he imagined himself to be the deliverer looked for by the Jews, and the Comforter promised by Christ to His Apostles.

He began to preach in 609, and entered upon his public ministry in 612. His career is too well known to need comment here.

He died at Medina in 632, and was buried in the mosque at that place. Thousands of pilgrims still gather at his tomb every year.

Of the numerous biographies of Mohammed, the best are Sprenger's in German and Muir's in English.