Chapter XLII

, Vol. V, p. 207, foot-note; and Muir's Vol. I, p. ccxxviii.]

[Footnote 197: A name applied to an idol or idols--especially Allat and Ozza, the ancient idols of the Meccans.]

[Footnote 198: The past tense, third person plural, of the infinitive _Fitnah_.]

_The Ninth Chapter, or Sura Barat._

[Sidenote 40. The opening portion of the IXth Sura of the Koran only relates to the Koreish who had violated the truce.]

[Sidenote: The injunctions contained in it were not carried out owing to the compromise.]

Sir William Muir, while relating the publication of some verses of the ninth chapter of the Koran on the occasion of the great pilgrimage A.H. 9, and referring to the opening verses of the Sura (from 1st to 7th inclusive) writes: "The passages just quoted completed the system of Mahomet so far as its relations with idolatrous tribes and races were concerned. The few cases of truce excepted, uncompromising warfare was declared against them all."[199] This is not correct. The mistake, he as well as others who follow him commit, lies in their taking the incipient verses of