After the prophet Mohammed and his testator heir and successor Abu Bakr (+634) established the theocratic rule of Islam on the mostly of the sparsely populated Arabian peninsula, the armies of the next caliphs victoriously planted the green banner of the new religion in the vast territories conquered from the neighboring giaur (infidel) empires of Persia and Byzantium.
In April 1705 Lawson’s widow petitioned the crown against this final bequest and in August the Treasury, following a report from the attorney-general that ‘the codicil containing the bequest is so worded that it carries a presumption with it that the testator was not in his senses when he dictated it’, awarded the £600 to Lawson’s widow.