consequence. It was. Outwardly it has always been recognised that this was a turning point in Muhammad's career. It gave him prestige and established his power. Inwardly I think it was of equal consequence. The victory of the Moslems, 300 over thrice their number, was miraculous. The angels had been sent down to the assistance of the Prophet and his band. The Battle of Badr was the Calamity upon the unbelieving Meccans. It was the Furqan, the deliverance out of that Calamity, for the believers.

Here, then, at last was a real miracle. It is referred to in the Qur'an as an aya or "sign". Muhammad is confirmed not only in his power but in his assurance that he is a prophet like Moses. He is no longer a warner to his own city alone. He is now "a warner to the world". He is the giver of laws and head of a theocratic community. He is now at last the full-fledged Prophet.

In the story of Moses the Furqan was associated with the giving of the Torah or the Law. Muhammad associates his Furqan with the revelation of the Qur'an. That is why he says that the Qur'an was sent down in the month of Ramadan (ii. v. 181); for the Battle of Badr was fought in the month of Ramadan. It is probably also the night of the Battle of Badr which is referred to in one of the short fragments at the end of the present Qur'an (xcvii.) as the lailat al-Qadr on which "it" was sent down. I may remark also in passing that that is why the month of Ramadan was appointed as a fastmonth. It is acknowledged that this institution

was introduced shortly after Badr, and the way it is referred to in the Qur'an leaves no doubt in my mind.

Islam as it finally took shape belongs to Medina and not to Mecca. The same, I am convinced, is true of the Qur'an itself. "The Book" sent down from Heaven and revealed to him as required has now taken concrete shape in his mind. He does not discard the earlier portions, however, any more than he discarded the prayer and ablutions which he had practised in Mecca. (He could not throw away what had cost him so much trouble, and much of which was, no doubt, imprinted upon the memory of his followers.) But I suspect that it is now that he re-edits the early passages, making the additions and changes which study of these passages themselves reveals. The character of the new revelations is different. There are no more long prophetic stories, though he still incorporates items of information which reach him concerning the beliefs of previous Monotheists. He has now to do with the regulation and guidance of a community. His deliverances become legal in content. As time goes on, they take the character of rescripts or proclamations issued by the head of a state. By the crowning mercy of Badr he has become convinced that he stands in a quite special relation to God. He is a prophet as Moses was a prophet. The Book has been sent down to him, and is revealed to him as the needs of his community demand it. That he surrounded these Divine communications with a certain mystery and led his followers to believe that they were conveyed to him by the