"Bring the mountain to Mohammed"

Factual Questions
1

I know what the expression means, but am unaware of it’s origin or if it is at all related to the prophet Mohammed. Any clues?

2

That’s not the saying. The saying is “If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain.”

It has its origin in a legend about something Mohammed said when he was asked to prove his teachings. He raised a hand and ordered a nearby mountain to come to him. The mountain, of course, did nothing and Mohammed then declared that this was proof of God’s mercy, because if God had granted God’s wish, Mohammed and those around him would have been crushed by the mountain. He then said he was going to go to the mountain and thank God for his mercy.

The meaning of the expression now is that you sometimes have to do things for yourself instead of expecting the world to give you what you want.

3

Does anyone have a cite that the story of Mohammed and the Mountain is Islamic in origin?

4

It was Mount Safa.

Another interpretation of the phrase: it is often used of one who, unable to get his own way, bows before the inevitable.

5

Previous thread

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=151741&highlight=mountain+mohammed

6

This is interesting, and after doing a little googoling I agree the original quote is “If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain” (in arabic, of course:)). The English version, I see, goes back to at least Francis Bacon. The advice then is that one must adjust oneself instead of demanding the world to change.

However, IMHO, the expression is far more prevalently mis-quoted as “If Mohammed will not come to the mountain, the mountain will go to Mohammed” (or, as I glibly put it, “Bring the mountain to Mohammed”). This reverses the original meaning, encouraging a person to, say, look at a problem in reverse (if I can’t get someone out to look at my broken computer, take the computer to the repairman).

I can’t be the only one whose mis-interpreted this quote; anyone have any cites to back up if/when the meaning became reversed?

7

You are first person I have ever heard of who reversed the meaning like that. Is it a Chicago thing?

8

Thanks, I knew I heard somewhere it wasn’t of Islamic origin, it was in that thread.

Is there any evidence that the story has anything to do with Islamic writings? It always struck me as strange since Islam has no myracles except the Qur’an itself (according at least to several muslims I have spoken to).

9

This saying reminds me of a Far Side cartoon. With a mountain ringing Muhammed’s door bell. I have always wondered what that refered to, till now.

10

But no miracle occurred; the mountain didn’t move.

11

Many thanks **samclem ** for finding that.

Correct, and it was not the “peace be upon him” Mohammed, and to make matters more confusing: the original meaning of the tale was to discourage man to the idea that god would move mountains or do other “acts of god” at man’s request.

Brewer and Bacon mentioned this legend, but there is information that points that indeed the Mahomet here is not The Muhammad, from the early thread:

12

There’s a reference to it in A Beautiful Mind, when the spymaster moves their base to the main character’s backyard. It’s used in the reversed sense, in that they went to the effort of moving their base rather than making the main character come to them.

I’ve heard it used frequently in this sense of “we’ll do it the hard way.”

13

I know many years have passed, but a Google search brought me here, so I just wanted to add this to the record.

The reversed version is actually the first version I ever heard, in the Babylon 5 episode “Geometry of Shadows”, aired November 16, 1994. When Security Chief Garibaldi never showed up to meet the new captain of the space station, the captain went to visit him instead.

So the ironic version goes back at least that far.