NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS y _ R FMrmN I ii t r\ t Li b I LJ IN dfthe Crescent REV. W. St CLA1R-T1SDM 3. 3c PRINCETON, N. J. % Shelf. Division Section,,. Nuviber 3B\ .X&i NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS. THE IPJGIOH OF THE OpSGEUT, OR ISLAM: its strength, its weakness, ITS ORIGIN, ITS INFLUENCE. BEING THE JAMES LONG LECTURES ON MUHAMMADANISM FOR THE YEARS 1891—1892. . . . . rb 8' evrvxew, to5' eV fiporots 6e6s re Kal 6eov irXeov. pOTTT) 8' GltlGKOTtti AlKCtS TOxeTo tovs /xev iv *--» - C *,* - s3 cS"» (Qur'an, Surah ii., v. 130.) " Natura inest mentibus nostris insatiabilis quaedam cupi- ditas veri visendi."— Cicero, Tuscc. Dispp. i. 19. THE HELIGIOH; Of TJIE CI\ESCEfs[T. LECTURE I. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. § i. Islam is to-day the religion of about one Extent of hundred and fifty millions x of our fellow-creatures. Its sway extends from the Pillars of Hercules to the Caspian Sea, from the Pamir Steppes to Zanzibar, from the Balkans to Sumatra. It is the faith of Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Turkey in Europe, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Persia, Af- ghanistan, Bilochistan, of the vast regions of Turkistan and other parts of Central Asia. In India alone its professors number more than fifty-seven 2 millions. It is the religion of the Malay Peninsula, and is said to be still extend- ing in the Malay Archipelago. In Yun-nan 3 and 1 The numbers are differently reckoned by different authorities, some estimating them as 173,000,000. 2 The Indian Census of 1891 gives the Muslim popula- tion of India (including Further India) as 57,365,000. 3 See some interesting statements on the subject in vol. i. of the Report of Conference on Christian Missions, London, 1888, pp. 15-30. B 2 4 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. other parts of China its devotees may be numbered by tens of thousands. It is the religion of Egypt and of the whole of the Sudan, and its professors may be found not only in Zanzibar but as far inland as the Lake Victoria Nyanza, in Buganda and the neighbouring countries. We find it again in the Niger Basin, in the regions of Haiisa and Sokoto, and it is by no means unknown or void of power at Sierra Leone. The Tawariks and other fierce tribes of the Sahara profess their belief in Muhammad, and the Arabian prophet is acknow- ledged by sovereigns and people alike throughout Tripoli, Tunis, and Morocco, and by the natives of Algiers. To what extent this faith is still being spread 1 in Africa it is difficult precisely to ascertain, but it is already the dominant religion of fully one half of the entire continent, and is still spreading there to Spreading, a very considerable extent, principally though not exclusively by the persuasive power of the sword. itsPast. xhe mighty billows of the ocean of Arabian faith and zeal swept over the Strait of Gibraltar in days 1 The question of the spread of Islam in our own day is a far more serious one than most people think. For ex- ample, the Madras Census Report for 18S1 (vol. i. § 151) estimates the increase of Muslims in the Malabar Collecto- rate alone during the ten years 1 87 1-18S1 as about 50,000, drawn from the lowest ranks of the Non-Aryan population (v. George Milne Rae's article " The Last of the Ferumals," in "Madras Christian College Magazine" for Nov. 1890 (vol. viii., No. 5, p. 340). Vide also Bosworth Smith, " Mohammed and Mohammedanism," 2nd Ed., pp. 27-40. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 5 of yore, and hurled themselves far beyond the adamantine barrier of the Pyrenees, striking terror into all but the stoutest hearts that beat beneath the breastplates of the warriors of the Franks. The valour of John Sobiesky and his Poles was needed to check the hitherto irresistible advance of the Turkish armies as they rushed forward in their victorious career over the plains of Austria. And although the sword of Islam l is broken its Present, to-day and its political power is fading away, yet as a religion it shows little tendency to surrender its claims to the sovereignty of the human race. The Muslim boasts that the Crescent gleams and the cry of the Muezzin is heard even in London 2 and Liverpool. The classic land of Greece has 1 The word means "self-surrender," and is the name given by Muhammad himself to the religion which he pro- claimed: vide e.g. Surah iii. 17: <5d5\ Ju^c (j.jjJ\ g\ - S s> 2 The idea that Muhammadan worship is practised in London is founded upon what people in the East have heard of Dr. Leitner's Institute at Woking (!) with its attached Mosque. Whether any one worships there at all or not is not known. Omne ignotum pro magnijico. As for the so- called Mosque at Liverpool, the report of Dr. H. Martin Clark's visit of inspection, and of his interview with Mr. Quilliam, the President of the Muhammadan Association there, shows that the movement is a fiasco. {Vide verbatim report in the Panjab Mission News for Jan., Feb., and March 1892, and also Sir Wm. Muir's article on the subject in the C. M. S. " Intelligencer" for June, 1892.) 6 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. but lately shaken off the yoke of Muhammad's followers, while the prayers he prescribed and the creed he taught still resound on the very site of the Temple of Solomon. The language of the Ishmaelites, before which almost every other Semitic tongue has vanished, is in use throughout the vast area above mentioned in the ceremonial devotions of the people, and almost the whole of the volu- minous literature of that and of the Persian, the Turkish, the Urdu, and the Afghan languages celebrates the praises of the " Seal of the Prophets/' 1 the " Messenger of God." It cannot be devoid of interest to us therefore to investigate the main tenets of this mighfy religious system and seek to discover the secret of the influence it has wielded in the past and even now exercises over the minds of so many of our fellow men in many lands and many climes. Secret of its § 2. The secret of the might of Islam lies in the proportion of truth which it inculcates. The mind of Man in all ages seeks to discover for itself or learn from a higher source the solution of the great mysteries of our existence, and busies itself with inquiries into the meaning and object of life, while at the same time striving to pierce the dark veil which hangs over the grave, and to find some lingering ray of heavenly light to gild the gloomy shadows of the tomb. Nature within and 1 Two of Muhammad's many titles— in Arabic ^SU. eL*>5\ and <5jJ\ .Jj~*; . Strength. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 7 around us testifies to the being and the power of God, while our intellect utterly fails by seeking to find out the Almighty unto perfection. Our con- sciences testify to our responsibility to Him for our actions, while the world around us seems to have for us no voice of comfort when in penitence we seek the way of pardon. Yet at the same time Man is engrossed with the cares and pleasures of life, and has no inclination — for the most part — to concern himself with mysteries * which seem to him impenetrable. If then a religion be found which promises to answer the most pressing questions in a clear and practical manner, .which professes to come from God and to reveal God and the way of salvation, which promises an eternity of bliss to its adherents and offers to them as an earnest thereof the good things of this lower world, and which is (to the mind of ordinary men) devoid of any manifest ab- surdity, — such a faith will have much to recommend it to most men. And this attractiveness will be still further increased if the religion which thus demands their adherence is accompanied by the pomp of war, the glories of victory, and supported by the irresistible logic of the sword. Such is the case with the religion of Muhammad. We are not Not now at present concerned with the method of the i^lpfJId propagation of that faith, but there can be no doubt ° f Isl ™' 1 Ovras OLTaAalirctipos toTs ttoWoTs 7) £i)T7)(Tis rrjs a\r)6eias f Koi iirl ret. €To2]ua (.laAAov Tpiirovrai, (Thucydides, i. 20.) 8 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. that one main reason why so many still hold it as their comfort in life and their hope in death is be- cause their consciences and intellects assure them that some at least of its main tenets are true. The same may be said of all religions to a greater or less extent. Falsehood unmixed with the smallest modicum of truth seems unable to maintain itself in this world, and those faiths show the most vitality and energy in which the proportion of truth is greatest. The Christian, as a follower of Him who is the Truth, is bound to seek truth wherever he can find it, and to remember that " Every 1 good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights." The True Light still to some degree "lighteth every 2 man coming into the world." And in dealing with all systems of religion, and especially those to which we are opposed, it will be our highest wisdom carefully to distinguish the truths which may exist in them from the falsehoods with which they are com- mingled or overlaid, and strive to cleanse the jewel from the mire into which it has fallen. If instead of doing this we vainly endeavour to overthrow the whole structure because the Enemy of Souls has entrenched himself therein, we are measuring our puny strength against the adamantine bases of the 1 Uaaa Sucris ayaOrj iced nav dwpi]/j.a reAc iov &va>6ev kan, KOLTafiouvov awb rov Ylarpbs tS>v «ra>f. (James i. 1 7.) 2 ^Hv fb S>s rb a\r)9i bv, o (poori^ei iravra ai'Qfu>irov 4px6^vov (U rbt> K6(Tfxoi>. (John i. 9.) THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. Q world, and our efforts can avail only to strengthen that which we would assail. Islam contains many noble truths mingled with Truths ... _ ..... contained in much that is erroneous. Its strength lies in these islam, truths, its weakness in its false doctrines and its imperfect moral system. Some of the main truths inculcated by Muhammad it is now our duty to discover, leaving until another opportunity the consideration of the sources 1 from which the religion is derived. § 3. The first doctrine with which we deal is Unity of that of the Unity of God. This is taught in the Kalimah or creed of the Muslims, which, as Gibbon remarks, 2 " consists of an eternal truth and a necessary fiction,"— " La ildha illaUlahu, Muhammadim Rasuhi 1 Uahi" — "There is no God but God : Muhammad is the Apostle of God." 3 Later theories with regard to the " Light i of . J Vide Lecture III. 2 " Decline and Fall," vol. ix., cap. 1. s &!&\ JPJ j£a^ (£* a> (<*^) ^**W? &£ v5)**" ' Koelle, "Mohammed and Mohammedanism," pp. 247, sqq. : " Rusiim-i-Hind," cap. v., sect. i. : jjSW. &£ ^ lg$3 q** Qf^ ^ (&~& J^ ^j& ^.xL© A^.fej^ ci>»-a=. ,_l^> c *a «^>W *=-»/• i*W» ^ ^ii^fla. \S ^ U^. <_£ utAijlajy- ^U i^ ^\ US' \ju* ; y \i ^a> ei^cl> . The nur or light of Muhammad denotes his iO THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. Muhammad " and the eternity of the Qur'an 1 may seem to us in some degree contradictory to this doctrine, but there can be no doubt that it lies at the very basis of the whole Muhammadan faith. 2 A tradition current among Muslims represents their whole kalimah, as having been inscribed by the command of God Most High upon the base" of the Celestial Throne 3 before the creation of the world : and another 4 tells us that Muhammad himself taught his followers that out of all the verses in the whole Qur'an the greatest in value and import- ance is that which says " God, there is no God but He, the Living, the Enduring " (Surah iii., v. i). The Unity of God is proclaimed in every Surah or chapter of the Qur'an, and that with no uncer- oiiginal essence, said to have been created from the Divine light. Hughes, ' ; Diet, of Islam." 1 Stobart's " Islam," p. 99, and note : Osborn, " Islam under the Khalifs of Baghdad," pp. 255, 256. 2 E.g. " Mishkat," Bk. I., sect. i. : J\J - Jli l$.f> ^j\ ^c 3 See e.g. " Qisasu'l Anbiya," initio, \j*kt &*\ ^Uji y«*> 4 Mishkat, " Book on the Virtues of the Qur'an" : ^ Aj\ _ cJi5 .... fkc\ *&** ^yu* 6&\ ^u^ ^ &y\ l$\ THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM II tain sound. The Chapter of Simplicity or Purity of Essence (Surah CXIL), revealed at Mecca in Muhammad's early days as a prophet, and which pious Muslims assert on his authority to be equal in value to one-third of the whole Book, very clearly states the Muhammadan conception of the Divine Unity and its abhorrence of Polytheistic ideas, in these terms : — " Say l thou, He is God alone, God the eternal : He begat not, nor was He begotten; nor hath He any equal." True, one Tradition 2 represents the Prophet as Muhammad deviating on one occasion from his otherwise wavered in unswerving assertion of this cardinal doctrine by aS trS mg 1 Suratu'l Ikhlas : A> p\ I**J\ &SS\ J^\ JJjTyJ J3 S-E «fjj J- C-»- C-— C- j C-- . a^ \jfl£ dj (£& ftij jjji ^ 2 Related by Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad's earliest biogra- pher, whose work has come down to us, and confirmed by Ibn Hisham, " Sirat," vol. i., pp. 127, sqq. (Arabic edit.), and many other Muhammadan historians, as At Tabaii (Tarikh) and other writers of authority, though fiercely denied by Al Ghazzali, Baihaqi, and others. In the Mawdhib Alluduniyah several versions of the story are given, among others the following : iL&Ag* ^y & *£'£ (a) ^att _ J^ &A\J$\ SU.j fey**]} u*M\ ftZgji] _ £i> 12 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. acknowledging in the presence of his opponents that three of their goddesses were worthy of honour and would intercede effectually with God. On that occasion, deserted by almost all his followers (whom he had sent to take refuge in Abyssinia), and almost despairing of success in his mission, Muhammad went to pray in the Ka'abah, the great national sanctuary at Mecca. There, when repeat- ing the Chapter of the Star (Surah LIU.), when he had recited vv. 19 and 20, " Have ye not then seen Al-lat and Al-'Uzza' and Manat the other the third?" he added— at the instigation of Satan, as the Muslims confess, — the words, " These are the exalted beauties, and verily their intercession may indeed be hoped for." But hardly had the Meccans accepted the admission when Muhammad r \J$\ £jb \. 6 l^^ ^> r > JgUs M U£, (b) . &£^ Q» if* )<*»> ^ ^ c ^*^ 0* ^ tr* ^**N e> ? S isr^h THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 1 3 declared that he had been mislecl, and instead of these words of compromise he substituted those now found in that Surah, " Have ye male (issue) and hath He (/. e. God) female ? 1 That indeed were an unfair division. They are nought but names which ye and your fathers have named. " 2 Soon after Khadijah's death the leaders of the a.d. 616. Quraish came to Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle and protector, and induced him to invite Muhammad to a friendly meeting with them in order to come to an agreement. When they met and suggested that he should tolerate their continuing their ancestral worship on the condition of their not interfering with his religious teaching, Muhammad bravely and firmly declared that he would be satisfied only on condition of their repeating the words La ilaha ilia 'llci/iu, &c. (" There is no God but God ") and putting away whatever else they worshipped. 3 From that time Muhammad never wavered in his Quranic r u 1 -•"/■•» 1 tt- r ^ 1 assertions of firm adherence to his faith in the Unity of God. Unity. 1 It was regarded as a misfortune and a possible source of disgrace among the Arabs to have daughters. 2 Suratu'n-Najm (liii.), 21, 22, 23: 2^ t&N 1&\ C -»CE ' jjO*' -O'rf ' C § -C =? c Cj£^=> d \ * * " " * - f*X^\j . In a later Surah (xviii. 75, 70) Muhammad con- fessed the danger he was at that time in of making a com- promise with his opponents. 3 Ibn Hisham, " Sirat," vol. i., pp. 145, 146 (Arabic edit.). 14 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. Many of the verses in which this truth is stated are very grand. For instance in Surah XX., vv. 4 — 7, we read : " The Merciful One 1 is firmly seated upon the Throne (or above the Highest Heaven). To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and whatever is between them both and whatever is under the soil. And if thou speakest aloud with (thy) voice, then indeed He knoweth the secret and what is most hidden. God, there is no God but He, to Him belong the most excellent names." Verse of the The " Verse of the Throne," as it is called, in the second Surah runs as follows : " God, 2 there is no God but He, the Living, the Eternal. Slumber seizeth Him not, nor sleep. To Him belongeth whatever there is in the heavens and what is in the earth. Who is it that intercedeth with Him except by His permission ? He knoweth what was — • - -as ■"? — -»- - "C -» c-c^o - j i c si t C-C-=> C^C- C - -^-° --0- "j'C" - - C£-« -c jc~° -'Cjc-oj- -j si ^i - ji-* -« c s- a*-~o _,-c~ J* - .^-^tt U- )\ &5 ytb S\ ti\ ) ~J\ JlJO teih a a - a 2 Surah ii. 256: iSlx 3 jipal ^i5 yS> S\ "iit "i iSjf u." 3 — C — CC -» — ^ <-|,j)^o — J- sc- —»« 5 — -■- O'C^ - - e ce ~-c- - j-c- c to j--c j - c - - - -•-- a- t. *~ — 1 * r? -»sJ c* — - - — ~ a c c c- .-_»_» j — "j =4 ,' C ,T " J " i" J f c -»-»*" "" ** ow*- THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 1 5 before them and what will be after them, nor shall they comprehend any portion of His knowledge, except what He hath willed. His throne encom- passeth the heavens and the earth, nor doth the guardianship of them both burden Him. And He is the Exalted, the Mighty One." The first Surah, which is called Suratu fati- First Sfirah. hatiil Kitdb (" the chapter which opens the Book "), occupies among Muslims almost the same position that the Lord's Prayer does with us, being by them repeated frequently in their devotions. It runs thus : — " Praise * be to God, the Lord of the worlds, the Merciful, the Gracious, Lord of the Day of Judgment. Thee we adore and Thee we ask for aid. Guide us in the right way, the way of those to whom Thou art gracious, not that of those with whom Thou art angry, nor of those who go astray." The Attributes of God are acknowledged by assigning to Him ninety-nine Names of Names 2 or Titles, among which some of the GoD * ■*■ -c _» tr° ** ^%v ""°-- c _» .- c -~ «- <3 — j j c-** -- ;? *, "■<* - - & £ & - "- 2 See Miskk&tu'l Mas&bih, Book on the Names of God, sects, i. and ii. : y\ ^«lc &)S\ J^ Jli . JU S^a ^ ^c r ^ yUft.y\ )&Wti\ 3 ^J3\ &m ys» _ etc. fc^N J^J l6 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. principal are : — The Merciful, the Gracious, the Master, the Holy, the Faithful, the Creator, the Pardoner, the Wrathful, the Provider of Daily bread, the All-Wise, He that raiseth up and bringeth down, He that hearkeneth, the Beholder, the Just, the Kind, the Great, the Exalted, the Guardian, the Glorious, the Lover, the Witness, the Truth, the Inspirer, the Living, the Eternal, the Vivifier, the Slayer, the One, the Almighty, the First, the Last, the Pure, the Avenger, the Light, the Guide, the Patient One. ^i\ c U«tt Jrf\ sAfejM ; U*n £*A\ ^ ; Ltt jSU^ r *j\ &+~s\ ja^j\ -^ &y\ ^w^ t=~,u\ ^un jy SJ*\ ; y*H p^y pM j^\ U^S\ JoUtt ^W\ &£) J*W\ s-*~*J\ c^uJ\ M*^ jtt^y J^\ ^A^\ Ju^l ^\ ^ZzJ] £J\ 3 1\ ^^ ^J)\ ^>s^\ A-^aJ\ jy\ &&& ^y*^ J**^ v3«=^ *t&^\ ^Ui\ &$\f\ p£&\ ^l\ «t****N c5 &42\ Ju**N t5 J^J\ ^ JjS^ A?-^ r^ j* 3 ***^ ; jU ^ ■^ ^ ^V* cdJU cJp\ £*fl ^u3\ v>yK p\ jy\ e LUJ\ ys>U~n e sW5\ ^autt ^\ ^U^ ts^l r \p\, JM ^ «s*Wt ^ a^\ *4»^ jm ^n ^ov a n ; p\ &&\ ; u« This is given on the authority of Tirmidhi and Bail aqi, though Tirmidhi calls it a rare (<-~o,c) tradition. The list sometimes varies. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 1 7 A great Muhammadan authority, Al Ghazzali, 1 ai Ghazzali speaks thus of God. " He is One, who hath no Nature. partner; singular, having no like,... He is ancient, having no first ; eternal, having no beginning ; remaining for ever, having no end.... He, praised be His name, is Living, Powerful, Mighty, Omni- potent,... who neither slumbers nor sleeps, nor is obnoxious to decay or death. To Him belongs the kingdom and the power and the might. His is the dominion and the excellency, and the creation and the command thereof. And the heavens are folded up in His right hand, and all creatures are couched within His grasp .... He knows all things that can be understood, and comprehends whatsoever passes, from the extremi- ties of the earth to the highest heavens ; so that an ant's weight should not escape Him either in earth or heaven, but He would know the creeping of the black ant in the dark night upon the hard stone." § 4. Muhammad from the beginning of his Muham- claim to the prophetic office showed himself to be "Tkion ti°' irreconcilably opposed to polytheism in whatever ° yt eism * form, and to be the bitter enemy of all idol-worship. And if ever iconoclasm was needed in the world, it was needed then. Not to speak of the shameful 1 Al Ghazzali upon the Kalimah, quoted by Ockley, " Hist, of the Saracens." Muhammad's conception of the D ivine Nature seems to have been much less exalted and more material, but Al Ghazzali's expresses the present Mu- hammadan creed far better. C Arabic Idolatry. 1 8 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. spectacle l which the Christian Church in almost every part of the world then presented in this respect, 2 the ancestral Temple at Mecca contained 360 idols, 3 one for every day of the Lunar year. Besides these the planets and other heavenly bodies were worshipped, and almost every Arab tribe had contributed its own local deity to help to fill the building 4 which, though still retaining its ancient appellation of " The House of God " (Baitu'llah), had become a pantheon in which even " Christian" idols were adored. When he cap- 1 Hauri (" Der Islam in seiner Einfluss," &c), ch. ii., well says: — " Wir verkennen auch keineswegs dass Moham- meds Lehre von Gott eine Reaction war gegen die in die christliche Kirche eingedrungene Vielgotterei. Die starke Betonung der Einheit Gottes hat entschieden seiner Lehre grosse Kraft gegeben, und stets wird die Thatsache, dass einst eine neue Religion sich der christlichen gegeniiber mit ungeheurem Erfolg als die Vertreterin des Monotheismus ausgeben konnte, fur die Kirche eine Warnung sein,sich vor polytheistischen Abwegung zu hiiten." 2 Vide Isaac Taylor's " Ancient Christianity," vol. i., p. 266. 3 Stobart's "Islam and its Founder," pp. 32. 33. Koelle, " Mohammed and Mohammedanism," p. 17, sqq. 4 The Ka'abah at Mecca. In reference to its antiquity there are many very strange tales. The Muslims assert that Abraham and Ishmael built it, but that a similar building had existed there in Adam's time. Diodorus, mentions a Temple there revered by all the Arabs in his time. Vide Sayyid Ahmad. " Essay on History of the Holy Mecca," Koelle, nt supra, also Ibn Hisham and Tabari : also (for absurdities on the subject) "Araishu't Tijan," " Qisasu'l Anbiya" (s. Adam) : also the " Dabistan-i-Ma/ahib." THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 1 9 tured Mecca in 630 a.d. after his victory over the Quraish, Muhammad is said to have entered the Ka'abah and entirely demolished 1 every one of these idols and even obliterated every picture which it contained. From that time to the present every true Muslim is animated by the same hatred of idolatry, and in many countries this has led to the shedding of oceans of human blood. 2 Although great faith is placed in the efficacy of Muslim charms, talismans and the like, and great reverence idolatry. — almost if not quite amounting to worship — is paid to deceased saints, 3 and to holy places, yet the worship of idols has never been able to gain an entrance into the religion of the Musalmans. Their Monotheism is far from being all that could be desired ; their conceptions of God (as we shall see in a later lecture 4 ) are faulty and defective in many respects : yet their firm faith in the Unity of God and the profession of this grand truth in the very fore-front of their kalimah has given the Religion of Islam a strength and a power which has never been owned by any other non-Christian 1 Koelle, tit supra, p. 203 : Ibn IsMq, 2 Wheeler, " Hist, of India; " Firishta, " Tarikh," &c. 3 Vide Hauri, "Der Islam/' pp. no, sqq. My own per- sonal experience in India, with which that of others in almost every Muhammadan country agrees, enables me to affirm that the worship paid to deceased saints is one of the main features of practical Muhammadanism, as distinguished from the religion as it exists in theory. 4 Vide Lecture II. C 2 20 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. creed. The Muslim believes, as no heathen does, that the distinction between the Creator and His creation is absolute. No system of cosmogony, strictly so called, commends itself to him in the very slightest degree, but he holds as firmly as a Christian can do the great truth " He that built all things is God." x The Qur'an represents God as God the saying, " And 2 We created the heavens and the Creator. J °' earth and what is between them in six days, nor did any weariness touch Us." The Traditions represent Muhammad as saying, " God 3 Most High made the seven days of the week. On Sunday He created the Porters of the highest heaven, on Monday 4 the seven storeys of heaven, on Tuesday He constructed the seven storeys of the earth, on Wednesday He made darkness, on Thursday He created the produce of 1 Ileb. iii. 4. 2 Surah 1. 37: W$~o l/»j (j«p^ o^ \\ LaL*. *X«Jj j> c -3- ■ — <**„«> . s-^}*5 ^* \^~~* \*j p\i} &£~, ^i 3 " Qisasu'l Anbiya," p. 6., Persian edition. But in the Arabic edition of the book, 'Ardisu't Ttjdn, ch. iii., we have it thus : — " Muhammad said, ' On Saturday God created the earth, the mountains on Sunday, the trees on Monday, darkness on Tuesday, light on Wednesday, animals on Thursday, Adam on Friday.' " With this agrees Mishkdt, Bk. XXIV., ch. i., § 3, adding that all unpleasant things also were made on Tuesday, and Adam was created after the hour of afternoon prayer on Friday. 4 Hamalahfl l Arsh. Al Baghawi, says that these are eight angels of the highest rank. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 21 the earth and all that is in it, and on Friday He made the sun and the moon and the stars, and caused the seven celestial spheres to revolve. And in six days He created the whole world." One day, however, of that upper-world is said to be equal to one thousand years of this, for the Qur'an says, " And x indeed one day with thy Lord is as a thousand years as ye reckon." And as He is the Creator and Ruler of the universe, so must the spirits of all men return 2 to give an account to Him of the works done in the body The judge. and to be judged by Him at the last day. § q. There is a sreat deal of truth in what the Man's _, ,. . . relation to Muhammadan Religion teaches with reference to God. Man's relations to God. Man as a creature is absolutely dependent upon his Creator in every- thing. His first duty is to believe in, worship and confess his Lord and Maker, and that too precisely in the way which God has laid down for his guidance. He must submit himself to His will and pleasure and be perfectly resigned to Him in everything, submitting himself humbly as a slave to his master. The celebrated Muhammadan theologian Al Submission. 1 Surah xxii. 46: U* <5o«, t^JU" cd>^ ju£ U^j ^\ } - * - - - » 2 Ibid, lxxxviii. 25, 26 : LJ^ q\ +> _ *. ( >M LJ\ q\ c J Imam 2 2 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. Ghazzali has defined Islam as "Submission 1 and resignation in subjection and obedience, the renunciation of objecting and disobedience"; while other orthodox writers compare the pious man's attitude towards God to that of a corpse 2 in the hands of the washers of the dead. " Man 3 has no refuge from his rebellion against Him but only His help and His mercy, nor hath man any power to perform any duty towards Him but u through His love and will." The Muhammadan DiQ ' doctors sometimes treat of their religion under two heads, viz. Belief {hum) and Practical Observance (Din). It is related in the Mishkatu'l Masabih 4 on the authority of 'Umr bin al Khattab that one day, when he and some others were conversing with Muhammad, the angel Gabriel appeared to them in the disguise of a very tall and strong man clothed in white, who for their information and instruction said to the " Prophet," " O Muhammad, Essence of tel1 me about Isl am." Muhammad replied, " Islam ?s£° i s t h at thou bear witness that there is no God Muhammad, but God and that Muhammad is the Apostle of God ; and that thou offer prayer and pay thine alms and fast during the months of Ramadhan and perform the pilgrimage to the House 5 if thou art 1 A. von Kremer, " Geschichte der herrsch. Ideen," p. 234. 2 Hauri, " Der Islam," p. 76. s Al Ghazzali (quoted by Ockley). 4 Book I., "On Faith " (jman), sect i. 5 I.e. theKa'abah or "House of God" (Baitu'llah) at Mecca. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 23 able for the journey." The angel continued, " I accept it as true, now tell me about Faith." Muhammad said, " It is that thou believe in God and in His Angels, and in His Books, and in His Messengers, and in the Last Day, and that thou believe in Fate regarding good and evil." The angel rejoined, " I accept it as true, now tell me about well-doing." Muhammad answered, "It is that thou serve God just as if thou didst see Him, even though thou seest Him not, for indeed He seeth thee." Ibn 'Umr states that Muhammad Five . t ia 1 • it Foundations said on another occasion, " Islam 1 is founded upon of islam, five things : (i) the testifying that there is no God but God and that Muhammad is His Servant and His Apostle; (2) the offering of prayer; (3) the payment of (the stated) alms {zakai) ; (4) the Pilgrimage to Mecca; (5) and fasting during Ramadhan." An Urdu 2 writer says, "In the opinion of Muslims, Faith is the pivot upon which all kinds of good works turn, and the root of all acts of worship. And its great support is to believe in and trust with sincerity of heart to what- ever things His Excellency Muhammad stated. Moreover, the prevalence in the world of the injunctions of Islam depends upon their confession with the tongue. Therefore in the opinion of Musalmans, while, in order to be a true Believer, belief with the heart is necessary, yet at the same 1 Mishkat, Bk. i , p. 4 (Arabic edition). 2 "Rusum-i-Hind," Muhammadan portion (Part IL)j p. 261. 24 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. time its acknowledgment with the tongue is also required." Divine 8 6. The Muhammadan religion not only acknow- Revelation f> , ' ° J , ledges the possibility of a Divine Revelation being given to Mankind for their guidance and instruction, but asserts that without such a Revelation Man can know nothing of God and of His Will. The grand truth that God has given us a Revelation it maintains in opposition to the Materialistic and Rationalistic theories which, in our own day, are becoming extensively known in many parts of the East. Muhammad held, as firmly as Job did in earlier ages and in the same country, that the intellect alone is unable to reveal God's Nature and the way of salvation, and all Muslims at the present time would most heartily assent to the Patriarch's words, " Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ? It is high as heaven ; what canst thou do ? Deeper than Sheol ; what canst thou know ? " l Prophets. They hold that from the very beginning 2 God taught His servants by direct inspiration : that Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, as well as a multitude of other Prophets, were sent by Him as occasion required, some for all men and gome for individual tribes, that they might guide 1 Job xi. 7, 8. 2 " Rusum-i-Hind," Pt. II., ch. ii., p. 262 : At Tabari, " Taiikh," initio. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 25 men to God and reveal His will. Belief in all that these P;ophets taught is incumbent upon every Muslim, and whenever he mentions the name of any of them he adds the formula (X~S\ &J.C (^alaihi ^ssalam) "Peace be upon him." This is in strict accord with the teaching of the Qur'an itself, in which we find many passages like the following (Surah II., 130): — "Say 1 ye, 'We believe in God, and in what hath been sent down unto us, and in what hath been sent down unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what Moses was brought and Jesus, and in what the Prophets were brought from their Lord ; we make no distinction between one of them (and another) ; and unto Him we are resigned.' " Their view of Inspiration, however, Mechanical is a very mechanical one, since they hold that God Revelation. revealed not merely the subject-matter but the very words recorded by the Prophets in the books which they are said to have caused to be written down from the Divine dictation communicated to them through the Archangel Gabriel. To express this the Muslims use the expression " God 2 sent 1 Surah ii. 130: U^ LJ\ Jyl Uj ilib UM- \}£ *■*—*■ -CS-o- - JC-- - 1 C - - 1 C - - tC ^ CS js£ U^ LL~Jj vr** 5 **; <3-ss>~*^ J**-*~»^ f***j^ ds) * J)^ -I - C- J^-J -- c ^51 " *" T* "" *» C" " "* ^ &*> Jf> ■» fS?; er* Q)*^\ J>y> ^ ^ty-*^ J^y "J C J J- J c — - C -»C 2 Cf. Surah ii 93, 154; iv. 106 ; v. 48, &c. &c. 26 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. down" the books in question, or "the books Number of descended" l from Him. The number of books Inspired Books, which tradition relates as having "descended upon," or having been revealed to, the prophets is one hundred and four, out of which ten were entrusted to Adam, fifty to Seth, to Idris thirty, to Abraham ten, to Moses one, to David one, to Jesus one, and to Muhammad 2 one. Muhammadans are convinced that each and all of the Prophets bore witness to Muhammad and believed in him. They say that when any one revelation became lost or corrupted a new message was sent down. The last of all the Prophets, according to them, is Muhammad, 3 and the final and most perfect Revelation is that contained in the Qur'an. They hold that it is incumbent upon all men therefore to accept their creed under penalty of eternal punishment in one 1 Cf. Siirah xxvi. 193 ; xlvi. 29, &c. 2 " Rusum-i-Hind," Pt. II., ch. ii., p. 262. 3 Aminah, Muhammad's mother, is related to have said that, among many other marvels at his birth, she heard a voice cry, " Go around all the world with Muhammad and arrange before him all angels, genii, men and beasts. Give him Adam's form, Seth's science, Noah's bravery, the love God had towards Abraham, Ishmael's tongue, Isaac's pros- perity, Salih's eloquence, Lot's wisdom, Jacob's joy at finding Joseph, Moses' strength, Job's patience, Jonah's submisssive- ness, Joshua's skill in war, David's voice, Daniel's love for God, Elijah's nobleness, John's firmness, and Jesus' con- tinence." Weil, "Mohammed der Prophet," pp. 23, 24 (notes). THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 27 or other of the seven 1 divisions of Hell. Although theoretically professing to believe in all that the earlier Prophets taught, the Muhammadans say that such inspired books as still remain, that is the Quran and Tanrat (Law), the Zabur (Psalms) and the Injil (Gospel), are to be interpreted by the Qur'an and understood only by means of the explanation which this final Revelation gives of their teaching. Many of them assert that this is the reason why the title of the Furqan ("Distinction" or " means of distinguishing," i.e. between good and evil) is given to the Qur'an, 2 entirely ignoring the fact that the same title is given to the Law of Moses also in the Qur'an itself. 3 Those who hold this view say that the Qur'an enables them to distinguish the true meaning of the teaching of the Prophets from our erroneous 4 interpretations and explanations of it. The most learned and thoughtful Muslims in India at the present day adopt this opinion, in preference to the older and perhaps still more prevalent idea that 1 Mishkat ; Qisasu'l Anbiya, &c. 2 E.g. in Surah iii. 2. (But Rabbi Geiger shows good reason to doubt whether Furqan, in the Qur'an, has the meaning now given to it by Muslims.) 3 Surah xxi. 49 : q\3js&\ <$)/*) dr*T* ^»^ ^) 5 and Surah ii. 50 : q\2jS&\j ^UXJ^ ^»y \j&\ *i\j . - & 4 This is the argument, e.g., in Mizanu'l Mawazin, and is used also by Sayyid Ahmad, "Essay on the Prophecies respecting Muhammad." 28 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. the Holy Books of the Jews and of the Christians have been corrupted. 1 Muslims often say, how- ever, that as (in their opinion) the Tanrat was annulled 2 by the Zabicr and the latter by the lujil, so the InjU also in its turn was annulled and rendered obsolete by the " descent of the Qur'an upon Muhammad." I have often had all these different opinions to meet in conversation with Muslims in India. The Qur'an. § 7. Practically speaking therefore the Religion of Islam rests upon the supposed revelation given by God to Muhammad. This revelation, how- ever, is said to be of 3 two kinds, technically termed Wahl Mat lit (jbU ^^ or " Recited Re- /C C - C - —\ velation," and Wahl Ghair Matlu y^~* ^ ^.^J or " Unrecited Revelation." The Quran belongs to the former or higher class, being supposed to have been recited by the Prophet in the very words taught to him by God Himself through the instrumentality of Gabriel. Its authorship being Divine it is often termed " the Book of God," and the greatest possible reverence is shown it. The second kind of the revelation given to Muhammad Its Authoi The Ahadith. 1 This argument is veiy well met in the MizanuT Haqq," by Dr. Pfander. 2 E.g. Sa'di, Bustan, near beginning. In July 1893 the Wali of Baghdad forbade the sale of the Bible to Muslims on this plea. 3 Sayyid Ahmad, " Essay on the Holy Koran," pp. 3, 4 J '• Essay on Muhammadan Traditions," pp. I, sqq. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 29 is known only through the "Traditions" of the " Prophet," which are technically termed Ahadlth a - (sing. Hadith ^.^ often pronounced Hadh) to distinguish them from the Tales about Muhammad known as Rhvayat (cl>M^). Many collections of these Traditions have been made by leading Muhammadan theologians, the most 1 famous of which, and those which are acknowledged by the Sunnis, are the six following : — the " Muwatta " of Malik ibn Anas, the " Sahih " of Al Bukhari, the " Sahih " of his friend Muslim, the "Sunan " of Abu Daud Sulaiman, the "Jdwz 1 " of Al Tirmidhi, and the " Kitabii's Su?ia?i " of Muhammad ibn Yazidi'l Kasimir. 2 The authority of any genuine Tradition ranks next to that of the Qur'an itself, but a very great degree of uncertainty 1 Osborn, " Islam under the Khalifs of Baghdad," p. 60, note. 2 Sayyid Ahmad (" Essay on the Muhammadan Theo* logical Literature," p. 5) says that the following Hadith- writers are more entitled to credit than the rest : — (i) Bukhari, (2) Muslim, (3) Tirmidhi, (4) Abu Daud, (5) Nasai, (6) Ibn Majah, and (7) the Muwatta of Imam Malik. [Bukhari was born a.d. 810 and died 870: Muslim born a.d. 819, died 875: Tirmidhi born a.d. 824, died 892 : Abu Daud born a.d. 817, died 858: Nasai born (?), died A.D. 915: Ibn Majah died a.d. 906 : Malik born a.d. 713, died 795-] But in his "Essay on the Birth and Childhood of Muhammad," p. 24, the same writer speaks of Muslim's and Bukhari's works as " the most authentic and authorita- tive works upon Traditions," while classing " Tirmidhi and other less scrupulous authors " in a different category! 30 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. and difference of opinion exists among the various sects of Musalmans with reference to the Traditions, which they accept or reject. A very large number of the Traditions are filled with absurdities, but from our present point of view they are interesting because the genuine ones are considered a form of revelation and are for that reason accepted. The inspiration of the Qur'an is, of course, of a much higher order. The The Muhammadan theologians teach us that the Tablet, whole Qur'an, as dictated to Muhammad by Gabriel, is a literal copy of what was written ages before the creation of the world by the Divine decree upon the Everlasting (or rather the J J -» C "C~° -»!C-\ Preserved) Tablet (M*-^ ^) 1 in heaven. The purity of its Arabic and the eloquence and beauty of its language are regarded as proving its Divine authorship and as a perpetual miracle, sufficient to prove their " Prophet's " claim to be sent by God. They hold that the writers of the Law, the Psalms and the Gospel were inspired and given the ideas which God wished them to express in those books, but that the language in which they expressed the revealed teaching was their own mother tongue, and being human was necessarily imperfect. Arabic, however, being the language of Heaven, the Qur'an is a miracle 2 as well as a jC^C- G -5-J-jC- 1 Surah lxxxv. 21, 22 : t »»«»/• £j5 ^i X*?*.* ^ji ^& J: 2 Even Sayyid Ahmad accepts this theory: vide his THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 3 1 revelation, and is perfect in style as well as in doctrine. There are, of course, many absurdities involved in all this, but we see this deep truth underlying it all, that God does in a miraculous manner reveal His will to Mankind by Revelations communicated through inspired prophets. § 8. With regard to the Creation of Man 1 the Creation of Muhammadan belief is that Adam 2 was created in Man ' Paradise 3 or " the Garden," which they locate in Heaven, but that God sent an angel to obtain from the ground a handful or a few handfuls of earth, from which Adam's body was then made. When the spirit entered into this body, God commanded all the Angels to worship Adam. All obeyed except Iblis, who was thereupon condemned to hell fire, and became known as Sheitan (Satan), Satan, his former name as an angel having been 'Azazil. "Fail" of Eve was created from Adam's rib, and when they Ad Eve? nd ate the forbidden fruit — which many authorities hold to have been wheat — they were hurled forth from the heavenly Paradise and fell to the earth. Adam fell ia Ceylon and Eve at Jiddah, the port "Essay on the Holy Koran," pp. 35, sqq. {Vide also Sale's " Preliminary Discourse," sect, iii.) 1 Vide Surahs ii. 29-35; *"• 3°> 5 2 ? v - 3° 5 vu - IO > J 8> 25-33,171; xvii. 63, 72; xviii. 48; xix. 59; xx. 114- 119 ; xxxvi. 60. 2 " Qisasu'l Anbiya " ; " 'Araisu't Tijan"; and Weil, " Biblische Legenden der Muselmanner," pp. 12, sqq. 3 Other accounts say he was created on the earth (at Mecca) and immediately taken up to Paradise. 32 THE RELTGION OF THE CRESCENT. of Mecca. " When 1 Adam fell in Ceylon, he kept on weeping and wailing and lamenting for his offence for 200 years (or, according to another account, for 300 years) so that from his tears rivers began to flow, and on their banks there grew dates and cloves and nutmeg-trees. " From Eve's tears were produced henna and collyrium and indigo. Every one of their tears which fell into the sea became a pearl, and these her daughters take as their heritage." Gabriel, by God's command, directed Adam to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, where, on the mount, thence called 'Arafat, he met and recognized Eve. Al- though Adam's offence was serious enough to cause his expulsion from Paradise, yet the Muham- Adam did ma d ans ca n it not a sin but merely an error (^})> not sin. J \ >/ holding as they do that all the Prophets are sinless. The doctrine of Original Sin accordingly finds no place in their theology, although they hold that all men are descended from Adam and Eve. Angels. § 9. The Muslims believe in the existence of a great multitude 2 of Angels. They were all created 1 " Qisasu'l Anbiya"; Qissat-i Hazrat-i Adam, p. 19 (Persian edition). 2 "'Abdullah bin 'Abbas says that God Most High created a light in the midst of each heaven, and from that light He made innumerable angels," " Qisasu'l Anbiya," Per- sian edition, p. 6. And in speaking of the ' Night Journey,' Thabit represents Muhammad as saying of Gabriel : Jute. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 33 by God ages before the creation of the world, and were made out of fire, whence the superiority of their nature to that of Man, who partakes of the nature of the earth whence he was created. They are, however, capable of falling into x sin. They are appointed to various offices and are of different ranks. God uses many of them as His messengers to Mankind. The Muslims, on the authority of Their .,._,,.. , , . number. one of their Traditions, assert that there is not a particle of matter in the universe which is not guarded by an angel specially appointed for the purpose. " There is 2 a hierarchy of angels. In the highest rank are those nearest to God. These are the four 3 supporters of His Throne, and they receive the homage of the others. On the Day of Judgment four other angels will be added to these, because in the Qur'an it is written 4 that on that occasion eight angels will sustain the throne of God. After these come the angel named Ruh Heavenly (spirit), thus named because every breath he breathes creates a soul ; Israfil, the messenger of God, whose office it is to conduct souls to the 1 As Harut and Marut did (Surah ii. 96) : cf. also Surah xxiv. 31. 2 Osborn, "Islam under the Khalifs of Baghdad," p. 64, Ibid. 3 Bamilatu'l 'Arsh. The Muhammadan idea that four angels surround God's throne is taken from the Jewish book Zohar, in which their number is given as four ; their names as given in that book are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel (R. Bechai). 4 Surah lxix. 17. D 34 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. bodies appointed to receive them \Jibtail (Gabriel), the guardian and communicator of God's reve- lation ; Mikail (Michael), who conveys to souls and bodies their daily nourishment, spiritual and material; 'Azrail, whose feet stand on the foundations of the earth, while his head reaches to the highest heaven ; his office is to conduct souls, after death, to their everlasting habitation, whether in hell or in Paradise. In addition to these are the Cherubim {Karubiyyiiti), occupied exclusively in chanting the praises of God ; the two Secretaries, who record the actions of men, each in a distinct writing; the Observers, who spy out the least gestuies and hear every word of men ; the Travellers, who traverse the whole earth in order to know when men utter the name of God and pray to Him ; Hariit 1 and Marut, who, having offended God, are confined in a well near Babylon until the Day of Judgment ; the angels of the seven planets ; the guardian angels appointed to keep watch over men ; and the two angels of the grave," Prince of Munkir and Nakir. Over hell an angel reigns who is called Malik, probably the Molech of the Old Testament ; and under his authority there are nineteen 2 other angels appointed to aid him in maintaining authority there. These, according to Tradition, 3 are preserved from being injured by the flames through having the Divine Seal impressed 1 Surah ii. 96. 2 Surah lxxiv. 30. 3 " Qisasu'l Anbiya," Pers. ed., p. 71. Hell. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 35 upon their forehead, the inscription on the Seal of God being the Muhammadan Creed, "There is no God but God ; Muhammad is the Apostle of God." § io. One of the most noteworthy points in the importance Muhammadan Religion is the importance which they attach to Prayer} God is described by them, in accordance with the Qur'an, as hearing and answering the prayers of His worshippers. They regard it as impossible for anyone to be saved who does not pray, and consider the man who wilfully neglects this duty as an out-and-out infidel. 3 Wc have already seen that prayer is insisted on as one of the Five Points or Five Foundations of Islam. Muhammad himself showed the importance of prayer by calling it the " key of Paradise " and the "pillar of religion." So in Surah LXXIII. Muhammad is addressed as follows : " O thou that art wrapped up, 3 arise during the night except 1 A. von Kremer, " Culturgeschichte des Orients," vol. ii., pp. 30 sqq. : Qur'an, ubique : MishkahCl Masabih, Book on Sa 7 dt (Prayer). 2 Mishkatj Book on Prayer, cap. iii. : )j+z tfi &&\ -^ ^ ^S /Arf, &*UsJ\ 44> &WS t$\&*i> }jf &$ c^>V£ VgJlft kiW 3 Commentators say that when this Surah was revealed Muhammad was wrapped up, either asleep or at prayers. (Penrice, Diet, of Koran, s. voce J"*j)- D 2 36 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. a small part of it, during half of it, or take from it a little, or add to it, and repeat the Qur'an with distinct enunciation. . . . Verily the early 1 part of the night is stronger for treading down (evil thoughts) and more suitable for distinct pro- nunciation. Verily thou hast long-continued business during the day. And mention the name of thy Lord, and separate thyself unto Him with seclusion. The Lord of the East and of the West, there is no God but He, therefore take thou Him for a guardian." 2 Prayer a A^ain and a^ain in the Qur'an is repeated the Duty, not a & , G _ . ^ , ^ . \, .. Privilege, command to pray. It is true that the Muslim is taught that prayer is a duty rather than a privilege, and that in this and other respects the view which Muhammad took of prayer was very defective. This we shall have to point out more fully when we come to consider the defects of Islam as a religious system. But the very fact that every true Muslim recognises— and is by his creed obliged to recognise — the obligation and to some extent the 1 Penrice suggests the version I have adopted in this Surah. -» J S>-»C-«> -a!E - 2 Surah lxiii., I, 2, 3. 4, 6, 7, 8, 9: ^i - J*)^ V#>\ b .m—- C^— C CS s= -* -»C C j — CO ^=> j* _»--CS-- = C- rf-- t- " c0 jC"*" *= — * C-" -**v "*° — -^ (p . cd>j pJ\ SS\* - \£> W^ j\$A\ ^i cdJ 0\ . JLSj & J^Vi ya> >\ Aft i> V>j***\) j^JUft v>j - V^" THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 37 value of prayer, is a matter for 1 which we should be very thankful. Five times a day there sounds forth from the Ciyofthe J Muezzin. minarets of the Mosque the solemn call to prayer in these 2 words: " Allahu akbar!" "God is most great," repeated four times in a loud tone of voice. Then in a lower tone the Muezzin says, repeating each clause separately twice, " I bear witness that there is no God but God, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Apostle of God." Then raising his voice once more he again recites these two clauses twice over, and then proceeding in the 1 An English officer who had for some time served in Egypt said to me that one thing that struck him very much when there was the difference in this respect between the Egyptian and the English soldier. "The Muhammadan," he said, " five times a day repeated his prayer, wherever he might be, caring not who saw him, while as a rule the English soldier never thought of doing anything of the kind." 2 Mishkat, p. 55 : y£\ 6&\ ^\ m j^\ &\ pZ\ AlN s5 -» C m j^ w^. &\ js*m &m ^ *$\ $ \ &&\ m ft M\ ^ SjUN JlC ^ i^\ J^ ^ AlN J^-j \*x*^ q\ a&\ &^\ (cUS j-jln l^o tf e)U) C ^ Jb ^ C ^\ JUs <5J\ » ; ^ &U\ ^\ AlN _ j»yi\ ^ ^ SyLsJ\ ^\ ^ ^ . &m St 38 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. same tone he cries, "Come to prayer, come to prayer ! come to the Refuge, come to the 1 Refuge ! God is most great, God is most great ! There is no God but God ! " In the morning call to prayer, before the two last tahbirs or celebra- tions of the greatness of God, there is added twice over the declaration, " Prayer is better than Fiv pra^er!° fslee P-" The five times of prayer 2 observed by the Muhammadans are : (i) In the morning before sunrise; (2) at noon; (3) before the sun sets; (4) during the twilight after sunset ; (5) when night has commenced. At these specified times 3 the Muslim, wherever he may be, in the street, in his own house, in a mosque, spreads on the ground his sajjadah or " prayer-carpet," turns his face towards Mecca, his qiblah, and recites the set form of prayer in Arabic, the language of Paradise. At the conclusion of this prescribed form, with its many prostrations and 1 That is, ' to God ' ; but some render ' to good works.' 2 In the time fixed for each prayer a slight variation is allowed. Tradition (recorded by Abu Daud and At-Tir- midhi on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas) relates that Muham- mad said that Gabriel prayed with him and taught him the proper hours of worship {Mishk&t, Babu'l Mauaqit, sect.ii., p. 51). 3 Two other times of prayer are observed daily by very pious persons, but they are not obligatory. These are the IshrdfsX sunrise and the TahajjudXdXo, at night. There are, moreover, special seasons for devotion, as during the Feasts, &c. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 39 genuflexions, the worshipper is permitted * to ask God, in his own language and in words chosen by himself, for anything he needs. But the formal and prescribed prayers must always be in Arabic, just as Latin is used for a similar purpose in the public worship of the Roman Catholics. In neither instance is it deemed necessary to the efficacy of the petition that the worshipper should be able to understand it himself. Prayer in a mosque is much more efficacious than if offered elsewhere, because there the 2 angels pray with and for the worshipper. Fatimah, the "" Prophet's" great- Muham- granddaughter, relates on the authority of her Prayers, grandmother his daughter, who bore the same name, that whenever Muhammad entered the Mosque he 3 used to pray, " O my Lord, forgive me my offences and open to me the gates of Thy mercy," and on leaving the building he would say, "O my Lord, forgive me my offences and open to me the gates of Thy 4 grace." 1 Stobart, "Islam/' p. 118. 2 Mishkdt, Babu'l Masajid, sect. i. p. 6o. 3 Mishkdt, ibid., sect. ii. p. 62 : ^.a^^H c>-X> &*J=U ^ ^yj J )^ ^) J^J f^*) ***** ^ (4 &*\r}v, Scktos avrip iart. (Acts x. 34, 35.) THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 43 I § 12. The last grand truth of Islam with which The After- I purpose to deal is their belief in the After-Life. They hold that every man is responsible to his Creator for his conduct and belief in this world, and must render an account to Him in the Day 1 of Judgment. Even as soon as he is buried he undergoes a trial — or at least an examination regarding his faith — at the hands of the two angels, Munkir and Nakir, 2 who visit him in the grave. But when the Resurrection Day shall come — a day the very mention of one of the many 3 names of which sends a thrill of terror through the heart of every Muslim — then the angel Israfil, who now stands with his trumpet to his lips awaiting the signal, will sound the last 4 trump. Then the dead "^J^f shall rise from their graves to be judged. The Resun-ec- CI. Surah 5 says : — 1 See the Qur'an passim, esp. Suras ioi, 88, 70, 75, &c, and Miskkdt, Kitabu'l Ilashr. Rusum-i Hind," p. 263, Mishkat. 3 It is called dx^lsJ\ AcUt tf>M\ f}> , &»USJ\ jty # &c. 4 Mishkat, ut supra, p. 473, sqq. 5 Surah ci.: £ d\j*\ Uj (2) £e ; lfitt U ~&t$$\ (1) q£s] (4) ^yC2? JX]S\£ ^»\S\ QJ& '^ (3) ieffi ••~J- JJ — - C -J- C' df- J C-C~° C C"«- J - c-° S- - j^ji" JJ -- - C «J- O - *£- .. - - „- 5 (• ) &>y& &ffo ^xifiy* c^«s> (^v* L**» (6) &s*m ^*i^- . U c^\^f - J - -CE 44 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. " The Day of Judgment, what is the Day of Judgment? And what can make thee know what is the Day of Judg- ment? A day when men shall be like moths scattered abroad : And the mountains shall be like parti-coloured carded wool. Then he whose scales are heavy shall be in a happy life : But he whose scales are light, — his mother (i.e. dwelling) is lowest hell. And what can make thee know what that is ? — Burning fire." So also in Surah LXXXII. :— " When the sky shall be cleft asunder, And when the stars shall be scattered, And when the seas shall be made flow together, And when the graves shall be rent, The soul shall know what it hath done first and last. O Man, what hath seduced thee from thy gracious Lord, Who created thee and then perfected and made thee rightly disposed ? " l Surah LXXXI. is too long to quote, but it gives even a more striking description of the great and terrible day of the Lord, telling how in that day: — " When the sun shall be folded up .... And the Books shall be unrolled .... And when Hell shall be kindled, And when Paradise shall be brought near, The soul 2 shall know what it hath put forward." Sirat. After the Resurrection every one has to cross the Bridge 3 Sirat (l\j^\), which is finer than a hair 1 Surah lxxxii. 1-7. 2 Surah lxxxi. 1, io, 12, 13, 14. 3 Surah xxiii. 76; xxxvi. 66. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 45 explanation of Carnal Paradise. and sharper than a sword and is stretched right across the abyss of Hell. The righteous pass over with ease, and in an instant find themselves welcomed by the angels to share with them the delights of Paradise, where they dwell for ever in the enjoyment of carnal pleasures. Yet some more thoughtful and more pious Muslims try to spiritualise what the Qur'an teaches on this subject, and hold that it is to be figuratively understood. Al Baidhawi for instance says that the wine the Mystical just drink in Paradise is the wine of Purity, so called because its taste purifies the heart from the desire of all things but the yearning to see God Himself, and that the Divine 1 Vision is the highest and noblest of the delights of Paradise. It would not be fair to represent this as the common and the popular view, nor even as one that may possibly represent the teaching of the Qur'an 3 on the subject : but it is most encouraging to find that some among the Muslims deem admission to the immediate Presence of God the chief thing required to make them eternally blessed. In the hearts of some of them at least — God alone knows how many or how few — there still echoes, half unconsciously, 1 MishMtitl Masdbih, Kitabu'l Fitan, Babu Ru'yatillah, pp. 492 sqq. 2 The passage of the Qur'an which such commentators as those of whom we are speaking generally quote in support of their view, is Surah lxxv. 22, 23 : ^J\ l^\t A£/»y. Sj^« 46 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. the grand truth which his own soul had taught an Augustine in days of yore, " Fecisti x nos ad Te, et inquietum est cor nostrum donee requiescat in Te." Unable to cross the Bridge, the unrighteous fall down into the abyss of fire, where they undergo the most exquisite tortures. There are in Hell seven stages, the lowest of which is reserved for hypocrites, who, though with their lips professing to be Muslims and to believe in God and His " Prophet," yet wrought deeds of infidelity. The tortures of Hell and the happiness of Heaven are both alike eternal, but the Muslims believe 2 that every man who has as much as a grain of the true Faith in his heart, though he may for a time suffer in Hell the punishment of his sins, will yet, after receiving punishment, find an entrance into Paradise at last, there henceforth to dwell for ever and ever. § 13. I have now endeavoured to detail for you, as fully as the limits of a lecture would permit, the main truths of Islam. It would have been an easy task— it has been done before 3 now — to depict Islam in glowing colours as a noble, spiritual, and almost GoD-given faith. Truth compels me to decline to make any such state- ment as this with regard to the Muhammadan religion, just as it forbids me to deny the existence of anything noble and true in the "Prophet's" teach- 1 Augustini, Confess, i. I. 2 Mishk&t. 3 E.g., in the works of E. Deutsch, Bosworth Smith, &c. THE STRENGTH OF ISLAM. 47 ing. I have, I confess, as yet shown you only one Only one ., r , ,. ,„ r,, • • , ,,, •, side of the side of the shield, lo imagine that Muhammadan- shield ism, taken all in all, is as worthy of admiration as s Jet? aS some of these tenets are, would be to judge of a thundercloud by the arch of Divine Promise shining amid its gloom, or of the fever-haunted Sunderbunds of Bengal by a glimpse of the snow- clad sublimity of the Himalayas. There is much that is puerile, much that is ridiculous, much that is vile and loathsome in the teachings of Muhammad. But it is not these things that give that Religion its strength, the enormous influence which it has for far more than a millennium exercised over the hearts and consciences of so many millions of our race. The secret of this is in the truths which it - embodies. And although for a time these very truths are permitted to recommend to men's acceptance the terrible errors with which they are united in Islam, yet may we not hope and trust, — yes, may we not labour too and pray — that the time will soon come when, through believing the great truths which Muhammadanism has borrowed from a purer faith, many of the followers of the great False Prophet of Arabia may be led to seek Him from Whom all true Light proceeds, and, having for their guide the Light of the World, find His promise true, " He 1 that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the Light of Life." 1 John viii. 12. LECTURE II. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 11 Facilis descensus Averni • Noctes atque dies patet atra ianua Ditis : Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad aura?, Hoc opus, hie labor est." — Vergil, Aen. vi. 126-129. — Democritus, Fragm. LECTURE II. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. § i. "One strong thing I find here below," p °*« of . . . Irutli. says Carlyle, 1 " the just thing, the true thing." " The cause 2 thou tightest for, so far as it is true, no further, yet precisely so far, is very sure of victory. The falsehood alone of it will be con- quered, will be abolished, as it ought to be ; but the truth of it is part of Nature's, own laws, co- operates with the World's eternal tendencies, and cannot be conquered." This testimony is true. But although it has .Often . .. mixed with come to be generally recognised at the present and used to time that the sage in the Apocrypha was right in FaKSd. affirming " Magna 3 est Veritas, et praevalebit," yet it often happens that the power of Truth is used to support Falsehood and gain credit for it for a time. The first lie ever uttered in this world was more 1 " Past and Present," ch. ii. 2 Ibid., p. ii. 3 I Esdras iv. 35 : 'H aArjdeia /xiydArj Kal lax v P 0T *P a 7ra£l ^ ■ndvTu. E 2 52 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. than half truth. " Ye 1 shall not surely die," said the Serpent : " for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as 2 God, knowing good and evil." Truth commends itself to the human spirit, falsehood can make itself acceptable only in the disguise of truth. And it is never so successful 3 in doing this as when it is mixed with what is unquestionably true. In the end, no doubt, the deception will be detected, the false rejected, and the truth accepted, confessed and honoured. But this is often a very slow process ; and meanwhile Falsehood does its work of destruction until revealed in its true character by its evil fruits. None but a fool or a madman knowingly takes poison into his system of his own free will : but how often is this done when the deadly drug is mixed with and concealed in food that would otherwise be healthy and 1 Gen. iii. 4, 5 : D^"^? TVtitftV 1 ?!* tf TOil ItoW T • T V T T - " ~ hdq DDtaa ova *a dv6k jrp ^ • pnon ijrnnto *jrp D\ito*a Dn N ;m nyy% Trprni 2 Onkilos explains QTHiO in this passage as " like great ones "; Jonathan ben Uzriel and the Jer. Targum as "among the great angels," Eben Ezra as " like the angels," Rashi as " devisers of secrets." 3 " Falsehood is never so successful as when she baits her hook with truth j and no opinions so fatally mislead us as those that are not wholly wrong, as no watches so effectually deceive the wearers as those that are sometimes right." (Cotton.) THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 53 nourishing, but which is thus turned into a means As in islam. of death. The Muhammadan religion in this respect is strikingly like the dish set before the " Prophet " himself at Khaibar, of which he un- suspiciously partook, and only when too late, and when the poison was already at work in his system, 1 discovered that the food had been tam- pered with. The amount of truth which is included in the Religion of Islam has, as we have already seen, commended it to the acceptance of vast multitudes of our fellow-creatures. The errors, superstitions and falsehoods with which these doctrines are mingled have deceived the followers of the " Arabian Prophet " to their ruin. The evil results which have followed are everywhere patent. We are confident that in the long run the truth must prevail, — that although the inhabitants of the vast regions now dominated by Muhammad- anism will ever be able to cling firmly to the great truth expressed in the first part of their creed — La ilaha ilia 'lld/i?/, " There is no God but (Tod," — yet they must ultimately be enabled by the clear light of truth to reject the lie 2 with which 1 Abu'l Fida, ,s Vita Muhammetl," p. 203. Weil, " Mo- hammed der Prophet," p. 187. 2 Gibbon, vol. ix. cap. 50. Mr. Bosvvorth Smith does not believe that Muhammad's claim was a false one, but believes he will yet be .recognized as " a Prophet, a very Prophet of God." (" Mohammed and Mohammedanism," P- 344-) ^4 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. they now conclude, " Muhammad is the Apostle of God." Islam, we have seen, has as its strength the great truths which it inculcates. These have pre- served it for ages. But we are certain that it will be proved, more clearly and fully than has yet been the case, that it has in it great sources of weakness which must ultimately result in its utter overthrow, though its final collapse may take ages 1 before it is accomplished. It is our duty in the present lecture to indicate very briefly a few at least of the elements of weakness in Islam which prevent it from being, as it professes to be, " a guide 2 and a mercy" to men, and render it a false and antichristian creed. Errors about § 2. The first point in which the weakness and NatiuS unsatisfactoriness of the doctrines of Islam force themselves upon our attention is in the conception which an orthodox Muhammadan is led to form of the Nature and Attributes of God. It is the glory of Islam that it teaches that God alone should be worshipped, that it preaches Mono- theism, and recognises God as Personal, Omni- scient and Almighty, the Creator and the Preserver, Master, not the Master and the Judge of all creation. But of Father. a q qd o j. j n fj n j te Holiness and of infinite Love, Muhammad had no idea whatever. Among the 1 Doubtless, however, this will not be the case, for Chris- tian missions are beginning — we can hardly say more— among Muslims. See sect, iv., conclus. 2 Sura ii. I, &c. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 55 ninety-nine Titles or Names of God repeated by Muslims when they tell their beads, the name of Father does not occur. Not only so, but the very application of this term to God in any sense seems to the Muhammadan mind to be the most utter blasphemy. " He is our Master," a pious Muslim would say, " and we are His 1 slaves. Far be it from Him — may He be praised and exalted — that He should have any children ! " Muhammad's conception 2 of God was an altogether Deistic one, and it is perhaps for this very reason that English Deists have felt so much sympathy with him. He taught his followers to regard God as absolutely separated from His creatures, so much so indeed that no inference can be drawn as to God's actions from considering what our ideas of holiness and justice 3 require. In the whole Qur'an and in 1 In Arabic the word ol^e , and in Persian and Urdu the words £)lxx^ and ^jJuj respectively, literally meaning slaves, bondmen, are constantly used to mean simply men, man- kind. The Old and New Testaments also apply the word slave ("7^ , lovKoi) to God's servants ; but the distinction between Christianity and Islam in this matter is that Islam denies the sonship of Man and the Divine Fatherhood, while Christianity teaches that man stands in both relations to God, and not only in that of a slave. 2 Hauri, " Der Islam," pp. 44 sqq. ; Osborn, " Islam under the Khalifs of Baghdad," Pref. p. vii, and chapter i. pp. 4, 5- 3 Al Shahristani says, e.g., "Nor is His justice to be compared with the justice of men, because a man may be 56 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. the whole body of orthodox Muslim theology we do not find even the very slightest approach to an acceptance of the doctrine that* as far at least as concerns the human spirit and mind, God created Man in His own 1 image. Of any kinship between God and Man, of the very possibility of any genuine sympathy between the Creator and His creatures, Muhammad had not the least idea. Tennyson 2 grandly sings : — u Speak to Him thou, for He hears, and spirit with spirit can meet : Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet : " but' few orthodox Muslims would accept the teaching of the latter portion of the first line, though the Qur'an, in accordance with the second, asserts that God " is 3 near to everything that hath Agnosticism, a being; nay, nearer to men than their jugular veins." Except what has been revealed in the Qur'an and through His prophets, Man cannot know anything whatever of God. His intentions suspected of acting unjustly by invading the possession of another ; but no injustice can be conceived of God, who can find nothing belonging to any other besides Himself." (Quoted by Ockley.) 1 Gen. i. 27. 2 "The Higher Pantheism." j c -_» j-c-.- - - cc-° -c-" c — • 3 Surah 1. 15 : fa ^* A*') (j^~>^ \^J&±, ±i&* - r? t/ - c c-- j -tt j c — j j c- . *\>j»j\ l} -5- ^ C^"* ^ S-\)*^ (jy^i &~Mi THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 57 and his conscience cannot enable him to judge of any professed revelation. Nor can any inquiry into the constitution of the Universe enable Man to understand anything of the mind and will of its Maker. Philosophers of old had taught men that the first thing to be done in searching for a knowledge of God was to learn to know 1 oneself. Such an idea would have seemed impious to Muhammad, if it had occurred to him. Hence " there 2 is no creed the inner life of which has been so com- pletely crushed under an inexorable weight of ritual. For that deep, impassable gulf which divides Man from God empties all religious acts of spiritual life and meaning, and reduces them to rites and ceremonies. They are laws to be obeyed. They do not imply that a way has been opened out between the visible and the invisible world." It is because of this extreme contrast between the human nature 3 and the Divine that the Qur'an so frequently and in such eloquent terms celebrates the greatness of God's exaltation above all created 1 " YvuQi creavTop." In Shi 'ah traditions, however, it is said that 'Ah asserted &>. cJ»*fc ^ai &~~*> «-Jkn ^, i.e. '•' Whoever knows himself knows his Lord." But (1) this is contrary to "orthodox" Islam, and (2) is explained away even by Shi'ahs : see, e.g., the Persian work " Hidayat u't- Talibin fi Usuli'din." 2 Osborn, ut supra, p. 4. 3 Mauri, ut supra, p. 45. 58 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. existences. Muhammad's descriptions 1 of God's Majesty and All-sufficiency are extremely striking. Allah t " Far more feeble is what he is able to say defective in . ... __ , Holiness and regarding God s moral attributes. However much he discourses about His Righteousness, His Wrath against sin, His Grace and Mercy, yet " (according to Muhammad) " Allah is not holy Love, not the negation of all Self-seeking and Sensuality. Neither in Holiness nor in Love is He just. Towards the ungodly Love does not attain to its right; Allah is quick and ready enough to punish them, to lead them astray and to harden their hearts ; His Wrath is not free from passion. Towards Believers, that Holiness which can love nothing impure is defective. Allah can permit His Prophet to do things that would otherwise be objectionable : to the rest of the Believers also He can allow what is not of itself good. . . . The commandments which God gives are not tb~ expression of His Nature ; they are arbitrary, anu can therefore be retracted and replaced by others. God a " Thus the God of Muhammad leaves upon us the impression of an arbitrary Oriental despot, who makes His enemies experience His wrath in a terrible manner and loads His faithful servants with benefits, besides winking at their misdeeds." Some writers have accused Muhammad of taking very 1 Yet even Pindar could say, — *Ev avfipwv, %v 8iooi> yivo%' c'/c ^ua5 5e tvp4oj.l(:V Ma.Tpbs a/j.(poTepoL' dieipyei 5e ircicra /ce/c/n- MeVa Avya/xis, us rb jxkv ouShi', 6 8e x«^ Keoy a(T(pa\zs £«**' edos MeVei ovpavos. (Pind. " Nem." vi. I — 4.) THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 59 anthropomorphic 1 views of God, and there are islam not passages both in the Qur'an 2 itself and in the m or P h?cin Traditions 3 which give occasion for such remarks. Doctnne - We know also from history that among Muslims 4 themselves there have been disputes upon this question. But taking orthodox Islam as it now exists, it is not too much to say that all such unworthy conceptions are entirely rejected by all true Muhammadans. The one attribute of God which, in the mind of the Muslim of to-day, just as in that of His " Prophet " thirteen hundred years ago, towers above and seems almost to overshadow all others, is His Almighty Power. Islam may with reason be called the Deification of Power, just as Deification Hinduism is the creed which deifies the productive 5 and generative principles of Nature. "God is G 'nighty and wise," " God is able to do everything," *\e expressions which meet us at the conclusion of Almost every verse in some portions of the Qur'an. 1 The Muhammadan sect called Karamians, or Mujassa- mians, held that this is the teaching of the Qur'an.— Ash Shahristani apud Pocock, Spec. Hist. Ar., pp. 225-228. 2 As e.g. those in which His Throne, Face, Hands, &c &c, are mentioned. 3 Mishkdt, "Kitabu'l Fitan, Babu'l Mi'raj," &c. : "Ba- bu'r Ru'yah": also "Babu'l Masajid wa Mawadhi'is .Salat," pp. 91, 92. See also Hauri, " Der Islam," p. 46. 4 Vide Sale, " Prelim. Disc./' sect. viii. ; Osborn, "Islam under the Khalifs," pp. 132, sqq. 5 Barth, " The Religions of India." 6 E. g., Surah ii. 19, 27, 30, &c. &c. 60 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. This Power may be exercised in the most arbitrary 1 manner, and is unrestrained by any Law of Holi- 1 As an example, take the following story, found among the Bilochis (Rev. Arthur Lewis' " Bilochi Stones," pp. 22, 25):- " The prophet Moses was going one day to the court of God. In the way he met a man saying his prayers, who was very attentive to the service of God. There was another man who was careless, and did nothing. The man of prayer said, ' O Moses, the friend of God, you are going to the court of God. Speak to God and ask Him to take me to heaven. Give my message to God.' The other (idle) man said, 'Ask God if I am written in His account or not.' Then -. the Friend of God, went to the court of God. He told God this story, that one man who was very prayerful asked to be taken to heaven because he was troubled in the world, and that another (idle) fellow wished to know what would become of him. God said to Moses, ■ You go and give this message. Tell that idle fellow that I will torment him in hell, and the other man that I will take him to hea- ven. I am at present engaged in work ; I am causing one hundred camels with their loads to pass through the eye of a needle. When that shall be done, I will take him to heaven.' ••The prayerful man, when he heard this, said, 'Is God such a person as to cause one hundred camels with their loads to pass through the eye of a needle? How could there possibly be a way for them ? » The other man, the idle one, said, ■ Doubtless God will cause them to pass through ; it is an easy thing for God to do.' "Then Moses the Friend of God went home. Some time after Moses went again to the court of God. He sees the man of prayer tormented in hell, and the idle one sittiug in the court of heaven. Then Moses sat down very troubled. God said, 'You are My friend; why are you troubled?' answered, 'Lord, I am not troubled.' God again THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 6 1 ness or Justice 1 existent in the very Being of God. Hence it is that Muhammadans entirely fail to see the moral obliquity of many of their " Prophet's " actions. If one mentions them they say, " Yes, if any one of us were to do such a thing it would be murder or adultery, but when Muhammad the Chosen, the Apostle of God, did so, he did not thereby become either a murderer or an adulterer, 3 asked, saying, * I see you are troubled, tell me the cause.' Then he said, ' Lord, I am troubled because Thy actions are incomprehensible. That man who was so diligent in his prayers, is tormented in hell ; that idle fellow is seated in heaven. This is the reason of my trouble.' God said, 'Do not be troubled. When you took My message, what answer did that man of prayer give ? He answered, What kind of a person is God, that He can cause a hundred camels with their hundred loads to pass through the eye of a needle? He did not tru?t Me, therefore he is now tor- mented. The idle and careless man trusted Me, therefore he is come to heaven.' '• "The man of prayer lost his game through one word. The idle man won his by one word, because he trusted Me.'" 1 Yet, without the Divine inspiration to which Muham- mad pretended, Euripides knew that El 0eoi ti Spucriv cuVxpoV, ovk slalv Oeoi (Frag. Belleroph. 300.) - Mr. Bosworth Smith, ''Mohammed and Mohammedanism," pp. I43-4, says that the Jewish Rabbis also held " that a prophet who was properly commissioned might supersede any law." But even so they assuredly did not hold that Prophets were above the moral law. Certainly the Old Testament is clear enough in its Teaching on this point. It shows us that not even David or Solomon could transgress 62 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. for God commanded him to do so." The fact that it is a moral impossibility for God to sanction, much less to command, the commission of distinct breaches of the eternal Moral Law, is quite beyond their comprehension, and the enunciation of such a theory strikes them as blasphemous, because it contradicts, in their opinion, the doctrine of the Omnipotence of the Deity ! " Two things," says Immanuel 1 Kant, " fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe, the more frequently and perseveringly reflection busies itself therewith,— the star-strewn Heaven above me, and the Moral Law within me." But so far are the Muslims from feeling the importance of the testimony which the human spirit bears to the character and being of its Creator, that neither in the Arabic itself nor in any other Muhammadan language is there a word which properly expresses what we mean by conscience? the moral law with impunity. How far in this matter Islam falls behind the morality of the Jews even in the times of the Kings, is well seen by comparing what the Bible says of David's adultery with Bathsheba, and what the Qur'cvi says of that of Muhammad with Zeinab. (Cf. 2 Sam. xi., xii. with Surah xxxiii. 37-40. Vide also Al Beidhawi's com- mentary in loco.) 1 "Zwei Dinge erfiillen das Gemuth mit immer neuer und zunehmender Bewunderung und Ehrfurcht, je ofter und anhaltender sich das Nachdenhen damit beschaftige,— der bestirnte Himmel iiber mir, und das moralische Gesetz in mil." ? In Arabic and Persian we have to use ^.^ {the heart, THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 6$ They believe that sin is a violation of the arbitrary sin. commands of God; that what is wrong, because prohibited, in this world will be in many cases right in the next. For example, the drinking -of wine is prohibited in the Qur'an, 1 and is regarded as a great sin on earth, yet in Paradise one of the many carnal delights promised to "the faithful" is unlimited indulgence in this pleasure. 2 Again, there are some few indications that Muhammad deemed a very great excess of unchastity a sin 3 on earth, but he nevertheless in the Qur'an en- couraged his followers to contend for their faith by promising them a practically unlimited indulgence in that vileness before the very Throne of God in heaven. 4 How can people who represent God as not only Mora! net condemning such practices, but even approving view! of them so much as to prepare such pleasures for the perpetual enjoyment of His faithful servants in Paradise, — how can they possibly be said to believe in His Holiness, or to understand that He the mind), but even this does not occur in the Qur'an. In Urdu ;^*.V } the judgment, is generally used for the con- science. 1 E.g., Surah ii. 216 and v. 92. 2 Surah xlvii. 16 and lvi. 18, &c. 3 Fornication and adultery are forbidden in the Qur'an, but Muhammad's ideas as to what constituted these sins were very different from ours. 4 See the passages quoted below regarding Paradise, and especially Surahs xlvii. 13, 16, 17 ; lv. 46-yfrz. ; lvi. n-39 ; &c. 64 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. is " of 1 purer eyes than to behold evil " ? And how different is Muhammad's conception of God in this respect from that held by the Patriarchs, and even by Abraham the Friend of 2 God, to whose religion Muhammad professed to wish to recall 3 his fellow-countrymen ! " The 4 very source and fountain-head of the religion of the Old Testa- ment," as a German writer well says, " is the religious experience of the Holiness of God." Although it was not until Moses' time and the giving of the Law at Sinai that it was verbally commanded to the chosen People, "Be 5 ye holy, for I am holy," yet the very nature of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is Holiness, 6 as is evident from His recorded actions and laws. In His sternness and might, His irresistible decrees and His despotic acts, the Allah of Islam bears a x Hah. i. 13. 2 This title — in Arabic Khalihi Hah — is more frequently used by the Muslims with reference to Abraham than even by the Jews, and is justified by e.g. Surah iv. 124: Jk=^\» 8 Surah ii. 129 ; iii, 89, sqq. 4 Grau, " Urspriinge," p. 123. Even De Wette acknow- ledges -this. (" Biblische Dogmatik," §83: " Die sittliche, voiu Mythns lefreite Idee Ernes Gotles, als ernes heiligen Willens, zeigt sich als dieser Gegensatz unci Beziehungspunct. . . . . Er" [i.e., der subjective Charakter des Hebraismus] "ist . . . . Wahrheitsliebe und sitt.ichcr Ernst") 5 Lev. xix. 2 ; and xi. 44; cf. Ex. xv. II ; xxviii. 36. 6 Grau, ibid., p. 125. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 65 most striking resemblance to the Zeus of that immortal creation of the grandest of the tragedians of Hellas, the " Prometheus Bound " : so much so indeed that the words which it rends even the stern heart of Hephaistos to utter to the ill-fated Prometheus, 1 w ttoWovs 8' oSvpfiovs kou yoovs avaicfaeXeLS 6iy£ec Atos yap hvairapatr'qTOi (^peVe?," might well be said by Gabriel to one of those whom the Muslim terms the "enemies of' 2 God." But the God of Islam is more terrible even than the Aeschylean Zeus, inasmuch as of Him it cannot be asserted that He fears 3 Fate or dreads the coming of one who shall drive Him from power. Nay further, instead of being subject to Fate or Necessity, Allah's will is Fate, and by it the lot of every creature for time 4 and eternity is 1 " Prometheus Desmotes," vv. 33, 34. " 6tt\ i\*z\ , This phrase and its singular &1^ .ac are of continual recurrence in Arabic books ; e.g., in the St rat it r Kasul of Ibn Hisham. a The ordinary view with regard to the relation subsisting between the ^Eschylean Zeus and Fate is ably combated by Dr. Westcott in his " Religious Thought in the West." If his view be adopted, the parallel between Zeus and Allah will be still closer. 4 V. Sale, " Preliminary Discourse," sect. iv. ; Muir, "The Coran, its Composition and Teaching," pp. 52, 53; Stobart, " Islam," p. 96, sqq. V. also Qur'an, Surah vi. 123, 125; vii. 177, 185; x. 99; xi. 12OJ xiii. 27, 30; xvi. 39> 95 5 xv ii- Hi xviii. 16; xxxii. 17; Lxxiv, 34; Ixxvi. F 66 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. unalterably fixed. The proper and in fact the only possible attitude for the Muslim with reference to his God is therefore that expressed by Prome- theus in his hopeless— or all but hopeless— agony, . . T7jv 7reTrpiofxevY)v Se xprj ala-av epeiv ws /mora, ytyvwo-KovO' on to Trjs 'Avay/o^ loV dSyptrov (rOivos." 1 A Muhammadan tradition states that when God showed Adam the spirits of his descendants as yet unborn, 2 He divided them into two bands, ranking Re roba- °™ COmpan y on Adam 's right hand and one on e £ a " ms left. Of those on the right God said, "These are for Paradise, and I care not ; " while of the unfortunate shades on the left-hand side the Deity, who is so often in the Qu'ran termed "the Merciful, the Gracious," uttered these fearful words, "These are for hell-fire, and I care 3 not." 29, 30 ; lxxxi. 28, 29 ; xcv. 4> 5. The most usual way of expressing the matter is the phrase : ^ A*J ^ 3&T j4 Ate ^. Certain sects, however, believe in man's freewill, and the subject has given rise to much discussion among Muslims. Almost all orthodox Muhammadans hold the belief in Fate very strongly, and history shows the same feeling in all Muhammadan countries from the beginning of Islam. 1 "Prometheus Desmotes," vv. 103-105. 2 " Qisasu'l Anbiya," Ters. ed., p. 21. 8 JV?1 ^ jU\ j, jijij jtf ^ C^\ Jk »sji, ibid. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 67 Adam, tradition says, weeps 1 even now in Paradise when he beholds so many of his children doomed, whole ages before their birth, to everlasting torture ; but no feeling of pity touches the heart of the Author of their doom. The Qur'an itself represents God Almighty as saying, " Verily I will fill Hell with genii and men all 2 together " (Surah xi., 120, and Surah xxxii., 13), and makes Him declare that He had 3 created them for this very purpose. " God," we are told, 4 " misleadeth whom He willeth, and guideth aright whom He willeth " ; 1 In relating the tale of the Mi 1 raj of Muhammad, Ibn Shahdb writes, on Muhammad's authority : ^\ ci^S*- Ui» ,JLcj Sj^\ to*** J^ . Ac\i J^j \S\ .... L>J^ sU~J\ J^sJ uOi> - ^U\ &$), e 5U3\ ^\> Wy J^ ^ dJU& ^ <5Ju*> (j& ij^\ fiJJ&j pS\ \JJt> Jtf - \ Jufc ^ J-J jk» U^ J^^-o fc-a+> (j* ^a* W\i sUJ\ J^ &JUa» (Mishk&t.) ^ &3U* Cj"' ^saLl cdJJ3., Surah xi. 120 ; also Surah vii. 178: — a c - 4 .E.^., Surah lxxiv. 34 : ^ ^^ &&* (^* F 2 68 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. and He says of Himself in the Qur'an, "And 1 as for every man, We have firmly fixed his bird (/ (jijOjS JJjl &) ji La_i {Ibid., p. 17.) 4 According to Muhammadan theology, God is the Author as well of evil as of good. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 69 resignation of impotence, of fear, of despair. How different it is from Christian resignation — the simple, child 'ike, trustful, reliance in love and faith upon an All-wise, Almighty, loving Father in Heaven, Who orders all things for our present and eternal good ! § 3. Although the Muhammadan Religion incul- Muham- cates the obligation of Prayer, as we have already about seen, 1 yet the ideas which Muslims have of prayer rayer ' are very far indeed from being correct. It is regarded as a duty, not as a privilege, a task imposed upon Believers by the arbitrary fiat of their Lord, rather than a spiritual exercise and as a means of grace and refreshing. This is made very clear by a tradition related by a great many Muhammadan authorities. 2 Qatadah, for example, Tradition in relating the incidents of Muhammad's famous Night "Night Journey," 3 tells us that the "Prophet," J° urne y- 1 Lecture i., § 10. 2 Qatadah, Ibn Shaliab, Thabit, &c. ^jii e^asJlcj edLS ^L^ c^o^s- Jj> &U\j ^J\j pj> JS' $y<© j- \ 1 .» « ^ -» . Al£* JU» ~»y* ^ c^*^ ; » - \ r is£ ^y^ ^i cs^ji > j 1 1 j = -♦ ' * J C j£- = w 70 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. after visiting the seventh Heaven and there entering the very Presence of God Himself, began his return to earth by retraversing the sixth Heaven, where he had previously met with Moses. " Then I returned,' said Muhammad, 'and I passed' by Moses. He said to me, 'What hast thou been commanded ? ' I said, ' I have been ordered to offer fifty prayers every day.' He said, 'Verily thy people will not be able to offer fifty prayers each day, and indeed I myself — I swear by God ! — have tried men before thee, and I endeavoured to cure the Children of Israel by the strongest remedial treatment. Return thou therefore unto thy Lord and ask of Him a lightening of the burden for thy people.' I thereupon returned, then He relieved me of ten prayers. Then I returned to Moses. He said, as before. Then I went back and He (God) relieved me of ten prayers. Thereupon I went again to Moses, and he said the same thing. Again I returned, and (God) relieved me of ten prayers more, and I was commanded to offer ten prayers every day. Then Prayer Five I went back to Moses, and he said as before. I ay. ^^^ returned ar^l was bidden to offer 1 five prayers * j C i- j *y, J£ c^jlo (j~+&. t^j>j*\h u^*^ji . (S.Lt» JUi < - j—j'* (Qaladah, quoted by Sayyid Ahmad, "Essay on Shaqq-i Sadr and Mi'raj," p. 31.) 1 Mishkat, " Kitabut Taharah"; " Babu'l Ghusl," sect. iii., confirms this: ( ^.^^.^<. t>Xel\ u^iV^ JlS . »*£ ^\ ^.c SJCS\ uJb4 iJL Jl~* ^*U ito\ J^* ; Jj> ^'i .... THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 71 a day." The same writer 1 adds that the "Pro- phet " said in conclusion, " Then, when I departed, a crier cried aloud, ' I have completed My injunc- tion and removed a burden from My servants.' " Another traditionalist says that each of the five prescribed prayers was accounted as equal in merit to ten, and that thus the number originally en- joined was made up. 2 It is evident, from the very fact of such a tradition being current among the Muslims, that they regard Prayer as a kind of tribute to be paid to God as His due, and that it is not in any way a means of heartfelt spiritual Pray** not J m J L Communion communion with Him, but rather the homage due with GoD - from slaves to their Lord. The worshipper is required to offer his adoration to God at certain fixed times, and in doing so to use definitely prescribed ceremonies and to follow with the utmost precision the appointed ritual. If he blunders in these matters, his prayer is useless, the homage is not acceptable 3 to his Lord, and no degree of earnestness and devotion can render it so. The postures which a believer Formalism. is commanded to adopt in praying may to some 1 c^afli*. <^~*»;* cs^*-o/*\ - *)b <^<->U <^>j«W- UAi - J '05 ^oLxi ^.c (Qatadah, ibid., p. 33.) 2 Thabit {/bid., p. 32) says: ^~**£. cdlxi ijJ~z S^Ls J£J 3 Vide Osborn, "Islam under the Kha'ifs of Baghdad," pp. 6, sqq. ; Hauri, " Der Islam," pp. 56, 80, 81. 72 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. ' extent be modified, however, when he is confined to his bed through 1 sickness. But even in this case he must continue day after day to repeat the same string of jejune phrases, and that too in the Arabic language, which the great mass of Muslims do not understand. This exaltation of the outer ceremonial over the inner kernel of worship must tend to deaden all aspirations after a more spiritual service. Thus, in reference to prayer as well as to almost everything else, Islam gives Man a stone when his heart hungers for the bread of life, and too often chokes the aspiration after God which has been implanted in the heart of every man in order to lead him to feel after His Creator till he find Him, and in Him attain to life and peace. fegaJdin 115 * P roceed to q uote a few of the directions prayeV. regarding Prayer in order to show how puerile and formal they are. " ' When 2 any one of you says his prayers, he must have something in front of him ; but if he cannot find anything for that purpose, he must put his walking-stick into the ground. But if the ground be hard, then let him place it lengthways before him. But if he has no staff, he must draw a line on the ground, after which there will be no detriment in his prayers from any one passing in front of it.' This passing in front of a man is a terrible crime, and exceed- 1 "As Shafi'i directs that the sick should pray lying on their right side." (Sale, note on Qur'an, Surah iii., v. 18S.) ' Osborn, ut supra, p. 7. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 73 ingly detrimental to prayer, though it does not altogether -nullify it. The c Prophet ' empowered a Believer annoyed in this way to 'draw his sword ' upon the intruder- and ' cut him down,' and further declared that, if ' a passenger did but know the sin of passing before a person employed in prayer, he would find it better for him to sink into the earth.' Equally important is the manner of performing the ablutions previous to prayer. When the ' Prophet ' performed these, ' he took a handful of water and raised it to the under part of his chin, and combed his beard with his hand, and said, In this way has my Lord ordered me.' And on a certain occasion when a party of his followers, performing their ablutions in a hurry, had omitted to wet the soles of their feet, the * Prophet ' said, 1 Alas for the soles of their feet, for they will be in hell-fire ! ' " Equal importance is attached to the posture adopted while offering prayer. " ' Resting 1 on the arms while at prayer is pleasing to the people of hell,' so also is 'hurry in prostration like a cock pecking grain,' and 'spreading the arms like dogs and tigers.' The safest plan in this as in all other things was exactly to imitate the 1 Prophet.' And this was accordingly done. The 1 Prophet's ' gestures and attitudes 3 during prayer 1 Osborn, p. 8 ; vide Mishkdi, chapters on Prayer (Set/tit). 2 Vide, e.g., Mishkat, " Babu'l Masajid wa Mawadhi'i's Salat," sect. i. ; also the chapter entitled if Sifatu's Salut," &c,, &c. 74 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. were carefully noted down and have been imitated by the Faithful ever since." Hypocrisy The natural consequence of all this formalism is Pharisaism, the development of hypocrisy. In their ceremonial washings and purifications, their fasts, their prayers in the streets and in public places, and many other similar practices, the resemblance between the devout Muslims of the present time and the Pharisees of our Lord's day is so striking that it has often occurred to Muhammadan inquirers when reading the Gospels with me. Prayer and ceremonial rites, when conducted in the way we have described, have no good effect upon the heart and conscience. It all becomes a meaning- less formality in too many cases, 1 persisted in from habit and perhaps from superstition — the fungoid growth which tells of the death of true Religion in the soul of Man. " The 2 merchant lies and cheats, — then the Muezzin's voice interrupts him : he offers up his prayer, and turns back once more to his lying. At a feast the revellers listen to equivocal songs,— they pray, and then they recover the broken thread of their subject." 1 Even Bosworth Smith is unable altogether to deny this, lie writes: "Some of the characteristics of Musalmau prayer are almost peculiar to it, and render it sometimes, perhaps, more profoundly devotional (! !), and sometimes more purely mechanical, than is to be found amongst the followers of any other creed." (" Mohammad and Moham- medanism," p. 164.) 2 Uauri, <: Der Islam," p. Si, THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 75 The amount of merit which attaches to a prayer, Merit though not affected by the devotedness or the a £?ay™i n y comprehension of the worshipper, is greatly p j£Si Mr increased if it be offered in a specially holy place. "A prayer in this mosque of mine," said the " Prophet," * " is better than a thousand prayers anywhere else except in the Holy Mosque (at Mecca)." At another time he said, " A 2 man's prayer in the congregation doubles in value twenty- five times over his prayer in his own house or in his bazaar." In consequence of this Tradition — (so we are told by Ibn Khallikan, 3 ) — a celebrated Jurist, Al Muzani, whenever he was unavoidably prevented from attending service in a mosque, used to repeat his prayers twenty-five times over in his own house, striving thus to gain the same degree of merit that he would have attained had he been present in the mosque. A great deal of merit is also supposed to be acquired by the repetition of the Divine Names, or even by saying the word " Allah " many hundreds of times. In 1 Mishkat, ibid., p. 59 (Arabic.ed.) : - ^*Lo i\l\ J^ JU 2 Ibid., p. 60 : ^ J^Jtt SjLo - ^*U &ti\ J^ jVi \Jul6 3 Ibn Khallikan, vol. i., p. 201 (quoted by Osborn, ut sup., p. 9, note). Muslim 76 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. India one of the distinctions between a Muslim mendicant and a Hindu beggar is that the former thus utters the name "Allah" in an unceasing chant or whine, while the latter substitutes the name of his deity, Ram or Hari generally, and reiterates it in precisely the same way. Merit is also gained by repeated recitations or readings of the Qur'an, or of portions of it ; and this may be done for the benefit of those who are dead. Pi«y? § 4- The character of Muslim piety may easily be inferred from what we have said regarding God's attributes and their notions concerning prayer. It is legal, slavish, mechanical, un- spiritual. Good works are commanded to be done for the sake of the reward which they bring and as a means of salvation. For example, the Qur an tells all true Believers, " If ye 1 cause your alms to appear, then how excellent are they ! and if ye conceal them and give them to the poor, then that is good for you and will atone for your evil deeds ■ Formaiand and God is aware of what ye do." Tradition represents Muhammad as saying, "Offer 2 ye your c - ^ 1 Surah ii.. v. 273: y\; <> U*i ^\3&\ \g$ & \ ^ L^ ^ ^ y,5oj ^ ^ ^i -\^ ^yy^ ^^. 2 Mishkat, li Kitabu's Salat," sect. ii. : fi < it » \ £, ►-X>. SjJb. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 77 five prayers, and fast during your month, 1 and pay the appointed alms out of your goods, and obey him who has authority over you, thus shall ye enter the Paradise of your Lord." And again, " Who- ever 2 prays with two acts of adoration and makes no blunder in them, him will his Lord pardon, whatever offence he may previously have com- mitted." Yet we must in fairness remark that the Qur'an Eut J ai * : distinctly teaches that faith is necessary to render the giving of alms or the doing of any kind of good works effectual for the acquirement of merit, and that hypocrisy annuls the value of the action, however good in itself. Thus in the second Surah we read, "Kindly 3 speech and forgiveness 4 is better than alms which is followed by injury." And again, " O 5 ye who believe, do not make your 1 I.e., during Ramadhan. 2 Mishkat, ibid., sect, iii.: Wfrji _je~- ?. ^ 0-^fis- J« &" &*JO (j.* #»Aai' La 6.1 6ll\ Jib. Surah. ii., v. 265 : &ju> ^.z* j-^ 6jfl*-»« *-*))** Jy ;- c- 4 The original word used for " forgiveness " (JLfijVe) here shows that the meaning is Gods forgiveness. Cj ^-- J CJ J- - =s-« -jSS ■» 5 Surah ii., v. 266 : pSo\3&* tjlkjS » \j^A <^?.^\ W?.^ U ness; 78 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. alms worthless by reminding (people of them) or by injury, like a man who giveth what he hath as a spectacle unto men, and believeth not in God and in the Last Day." Muhammad taught that the service acceptable to God was not merely out- righteous- ward, by saying (Surah ii., v. 172): — "It 1 is not righteousness for you to turn your faces towards the east and the west, but righteousness is his who believeth in God and the Last Day and the Angels, and the Book and the Prophets, and who giveth his wealth through his love to his relatives and the orphans and the poor and the traveller and beggars and those in bondage, and who ofTereth up prayer, and who giveth the legal alms; and it is theirs who perform their covenants when they have made them, and theirs who are patient in misfortune and distress and in time of adver- sity : these are they who speak the truth, and these are the pious." Muhammad rightly enough felt and taught that no amount of outward devotion -_» Cf « C-o ■• C \ 1 Surah ii., v. 172: J,J ^^ \ff y\ ^ l^* J ^j^A ^j U_\j - J-C-t C J '- hij" -C j-Cj --- 5- — - 'C j-Cj (j^cA* ^a> Sj J^ V^/» J^»> ^ &CV&& \§k* J*-?.. See also Surah lxxxii. 19. So THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. sins are done away with through 1 good works ; and Muslims who do not trust to gaining a happy eternity in any other way, tell us that heartfelt 3 repentance will save them. It would be unfair to regard their religion as inculcating a piety alto- gether external, therefore ; yet the stress which it lays upon ceremonial observances, such as fasting, 3 the pilgrimage 4 to Mecca, the recitation of 5 fixed prayers at stated hours, the proper mode of 6 pros- tration, etc., tends to make the great mass of Muhammadans mere formalists. In the whole Qur'an and in all the Traditions I do not knew of a single passage which teaches that prayer to be efficacious must be in spirit and in truth, nor that Man should or even could love God as well as fear Him. One of the most modern" apologists for Muhammad in his thought- 1 E.g., Surah xi., v. 116: «tA5*~J\ {$+&>*?. cyL~. ss^ y\ . - - a 2 li Rusiim-i Hind," part ii., chap, ii., p. 263. 8 Surah ii. 179-183. 4 Surah ii., vv. 192-200 ; Surah iii., v. 91 ; Surah xxii., v. 27, sqq., &c. &c. 5 Surah xxix. 44 ; Surah ii. 39; Surah xvii. 80 ; &c. &c. : Mishkat, "Kitabu's Salat," ; 'Babu'l Mawaqit," pp. 51, sqq. ,! Mishkat, ibid., " Babu'r Ruku' " and " Bab'us Sujud," pp. 74, sqq. 7 Bosworth Smith, " Mohammed and Mohammedanism," p. 199. This admission, coming as it does from one inclined to show all possible favour to Muhammadanism, is worthy of notice. Mr. Bosworth Smith's great mistake is that he evidently considers Sayyid Amir 'Ali, Sayyid Ahmad, and THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 8 1 ful work well says, "Muhammad's notion of God had never been that of a great moral Being who God not con- designs that the creatures He has created should, C g^t Moraf from love and gratitude to Him, become one with Beins ' Him, or even assimilated to Him." In Islam no distinction is felt between moral duties and the obligation to perform merely ceremonial x obser- vances, or if there be a distinction it is in favour of according more importance to what is cere- monial than to what is moral. One may be a very Divorce holy man, according to Muhammadan 2 ideas, ReHgkmand without being necessarily pure in deed or even in Morallt >'- thought. This is well exemplified by the case of Muhammad himself, whose character for holiness and acceptableness with God was not at all incon- sistent with the commission of murder and adultery. Nay rather, the Qur'an 3 teaches us that in one or two matters the moral law was relaxed by God for Muhammad's benefit as a special privilege because of his being God's apostle and the sanctity attaching to that high office ! Could other Neo-Muhammadans as representing orthodox Muham- madanism. 1 Hauri, " Der Islam," p. 50, well says: " Sittengebote unci Ceremonialgebote sind darum aiich auf erne Linie gerlickt, und man fiihlt es ihnen an, das sie nicht aus einem lebendigen religiosen Grundgedanken herausgewachsen son- dern aus einem altera. Reliyionssystem heruber genommen und willkurlich ge'andert und vermehrt word en sind." *JM& % p. 53. 3 See, e.g., Surah xxxiii., vv. 37, 3S, and vv. 49-51. G 52 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. the divorce between Religion and Morality be more complete ? Unsatis- § cj. One of the greatest defects in the factorv view __ . ° of Sin. Muhammadan Religion is the false and un- satisfactory view which it inculcates of Sin. * According to the opinion of Muslims, it is a violation of God's commandments, an acting contrary to His will. But that there is an inflexible and unchangeable Moral Law in the universe, which is identical with the very Nature of God, they are ignorant. The very words 2 used for God's will in Muhammadan languages convey rather the idea of fa?icy or whim than of anything else. A certain number of actions are right because God has happened to command them to be performed, and others are wrong because He has been pleased to forbid them. For example, although He forbade men to worship any other than Himself, and therefore it is an unpardonable 3 crime to " associate partners with 1 Hooper, " Christian Doctrine in contrast with Hinduism and Islam," pp. 5-28. s- — 2 In Arabic generally *^j\ , in Tersian ditto, in Urdu c- e. <*by. V. Hooper, itt sup., p. 13. 3 Al Baidhawi calls "ash shirk" or polytheism ("as- sociating others with God "), the unpardonable sin. V. Sale, C » J C- — -l^,^ tf> "Prelim. Disc.;" also Surah iv., v. 51 : ^A .&*.> 2J &J}\ ^\ C- - I - -» - j O- --CJ ' * ^Uuj (++S edJj /j«o \u» *fl«^ &? ^r~». See also Sayyid Ahmad, " Essay on the Shaqq-i Sadr and the Mi'raj," pp. 30 and 32. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 83 God," yet the angel 'Azazil 1 was driven forth from Paradise and became Iblis or Satan (Shaitan) as a punishment for the sin of not worshipping Adam ! God, the Qur'an assures us, 2 commanded all the angels to do this; all obeyed except 'Azazil, who therefore suffered punishment. That Man's original nature as created by God was in complete harmony with the Divine Nature regarded as the eternal Moral Law, and that therefore sin is a subversion of our true being, does not appear from either the Qur'an or the Traditions. On the Man's true contrary, although a few passages mention the fact Sensual that Man was created 3 upright, yet the general teaching of Islam in its authoritative documents is distinctly to the effect that his true nature is sensual, 4 and that it is only by doing violence 1 V. " Qisasu^l Anbiya," Story of 'Azazil (Pers. and Arab, editions). See also Weil, " Biblische Legenden der Musselm'anner," p. 15. 2 Surah vii., vv. 10, sqq. : Jl f$&\+o f$ *SUiiU. AaJ. -S — - - jC~£ O - .. C - - C - - -• - - «^» -c C C-^» - » C J-C— - - C -C-- J Surah iv. 32 : ,jU^ ^SUrs <_Ofl==:, ^ dlj\ ju ; > * \a*x<, y\~+>) G 2 84 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. to himself that he can obey God's arbitrary precepts. Why God should desire us to obey them no Muhammadan can tell, but z/we do so we shall, as a reward for such self-denial, be permitted the unlimited indulgence of our lower appetites in the unending Afterlife. Muhammad perhaps under- stood that happiness is possible only when one's circumstances and surroundings are consonant with one's disposition. And because he believed that Man's disposition, his nature as a man created by the hand of God, required sensual gratifications, the " Prophet " depicted the happiness of the Just as consisting, in the next life, of the enjoyment of savoury 1 viands, delicious liquids, the company of celestial damsels, and other sensuous pleasures. God has thought fit to forbid us to indulge to the full in these things here, but He has promised un- limited indulgence by and by. If, however, men indulge in them here, and in addition to this refuse to believe in God and His Apostles and to pray and offer alms, then they will not be allowed to follow the bent of their nature hereafter, but will have unpleasant 2 viands to eat and will be No Original punished in other ways as well. In a word, Islam ln " regards Man's fallen nature as his original one, and believes it will always remain as it now is. Hence 1 E.g., in Surah xlvii., vv. 13, 16, 17 ; lv., vv. efi-fui. lvi., 11-39; &c. &c. 2 E.g., Surah lvi. 40-55; xlvii. 16; lxix. 30-3S ; &c. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 85 the doctrine of a Fall and of Original Sin is en- tirely unknown to the Muslim. Adam, it is true, committed a fault (&j) when he ate the for- bidden fruit, 1 but the consequences — the spiritual as distinguished from any other results — are in no sense inherited by his children. When expelled from the heavenly Paradise and cast down to earth, Adam was distressed, not because of the loss of communion with his Maker, but because he could 3 no longer hear the voice of the angels. There is therefore, according to the Qur'an, no need whatever of a change of heart before one can see God. Repentance is required, if a man has been in the habit of doing what God has forbidden, yet the Arabic word (Jhf) taubah is not equivalent to the Greek fx^ravoia used in the New Testament, but signifies merely a. turning back from the error of one's ways. Man's nature never was in accord with God's, the Muhammadan thinks, and never can or should be so. Between God and Man there is no likeness No Likeness whatever, nor is it desirable that there ever should ^13^°" be. The Christian conception of God's command- ments as the expression of His innermost Being 3 1 Surah ii., v. 33. 2 " Rauzatu'l Ahbab," quoted by Dr. Koelle, " Mohammed and Mohammedanism," p. 20, and note. 3 "Nach dem Evangelium wird der Mensch durch die Erfuilung der Gebote Gottes seinem waliren Wesen zuriick- gegeben ; wie sie der Ausdruck des innersten Wesens Gottes 86 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. Merit. did not occur to Muhammad. Nor did he under- stand that our true happiness must necessarily depend upon our nature 1 being restored to its original purity and our wills harmonised with God's will. Nay rather, in the "Prophet's" opinion, God's commands are such as are foreign to and do violence to our nature, and Man feels himself restrained 2 through them from the true development of his being. He cannot therefore fulfil all God's commands perfectly. Yet he can to some extent at least atone for the breach of one of these fettering precepts by doing some act of self-denial, something which God did not order sind, so sincl sie audi fiir den Menschen, der zum Bilde Gottes geschaffen, also mit Gott wesensverwandt ist, nichts Fremdes. Gerade in ihrer Erfiillung wird er selig. Selig . sein und Gottes Willen thun ist eins und dasselbe. Die Moral des Islam aber ist heteronom und darum auch eudamonistisch. Wie in jeder Gesetzesreligion, so stehen auch im Islam die gottlichen Gebote dem Menschen als ein Fremdes gegeniiber, durch das er sich in der Entfaltung seines wahren Wesens gehemmt fiihlt ; ihre Erfiillung kann ihn daher nicht beseligen, vielmehr muss die Seligkeit als ein auserer Lohn hinzukommen. " — Hauri, "Der Islam" P- 53- 1 "Haben wir durch unsere bisherigen Untersuchungen als Realprincip des sittlich Guten dieLiebe zu Gott erkannt, so ergiebt sich von selbst, dass das Bose als Gegensatz gegen das Gute sein innercs Princip in der Entfremdung des Men- schen von Colt, in dem Mangel der Liebe zu ihm hat."— J. Miiller, "Die Christliche Lehre von der SUnde," vol. i p. 169. 2 V. also Osborn, " islam under the Khalifs of Baghdad," PP- 138, 139- THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 87 him to do of necessity, or by performing some rite appointed for this very purpose, e.g. by making a pilgrimage to Mecca, or by giving voluntary alms (sadaqahy f^, as distinguished from the legal "tithes" or zakdf, fir). Muslims often tell us that Sin is a disease, sin a rr,, ... , . . disease. Inis is true in one sense, but the comparison may easily lead us to an erroneous conclusion. This it does in Islam. " If it be a disease," a Muslim is inclined to think, " we can hardly be very much to blame for it after all. God is Merciful and Com- passionate, and He will not punish us very severely for being ill in this way, more especially if we are good Muslims, believing in His books and His prophets, offering the prayers He has commanded, and doing a great deal to please Him. Besides, He created us as we are, and He fated us to do what we are doing." The denial of Man's free- Guilt of Sin will, and the belief that all our actions are inalter- recognised. ably predestined for us, prevent Muslims from feeling the terrible guilt of sin. Of course Conscience frequently asserts itself, but Reason strives by this and similar arguments to silence the voice of the spirit. When hard pressed in dis- cussion on this subject a Maulavi is reported to have said, " We confess that we are sinners and have done wrong, but although we are obliged by our reverence for God to say this, yet if we go back to the root of the matter God is Himself the GoDthe Author of our sinful acts. It is not reverent to A ev?iI ° f 88 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. say that He has lied or stolen or murdered, and so we confess that we have done so. Yet after all the fault is not ours ; God is the Creator of both good and evil" By calling sin a disease the Muhammadan does not imply that we require to' be cured of it, any more than does the Hindu who uses precisely the same language. His idea is rather that liability to sin is a weakness consequent upon our being men, just in the same way that our inability to know or to do all things is a weakness or imperfection. Yet as the removal of the latter defect is not necessary for our happiness, so neither is the former. Certain actions are sins here because God has disallowed them to us on earth : they will be permitted in the next world and will then cease to be sinful. It will be evident that purity of heart is neither considered necessary nor desirable : in fact it would be hardly too much to say that it is impossible for a Muslim, is Paradise a Many Muhammadan writers 1 have seen some- Sensual one i 1 As, for example, Al Baidhawi, Al Ghazzali, &c. The writer of the controversial work " Mizanu'l Mavvazin" (written in answer to Dr. Pfander's "Mizanu'l Haqq "j seems inclined to do the same, but he does not venture to . do so very clearly lest he should shock orthodox minds. His defence amounts to saying that much that Muhammad says of Paradise— its four rivers of honey, wine, &c— is "supported by the Gemara and Talmud." So far he is right, but this is not the case with regard to the Houris and, in fact, the generally sensual character of the Muhammadan Paradise. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 89 thing of this, and have therefore endeavoured to explain the delights of Paradise as mentioned in the Qur'an and the Traditions as meaning some- thing spiritual and as not being merely sensual. Others believe l that, besides the sensual gratifica- tions there permitted to the majority of the Justified, a nobler and more spiritual recompense will be bestowed upon the noble natures among them. But all such ideas and suggestions are not only very probably of later date than Muhammad's time, but moreover are not generally accepted even now by the vast majority of Muslims. Again, from both the Qur'an 2 and the Traditions Sfcaa^ it is evident that Muhammad regarded Sin as a pollution. mere external pollution 3 adhering to the body and capable of being washed off by proper ablutions or by the performance of certain rites. On one occasion he is related to have said to some of his followers, "If 4 there be a river at the gate of any one of you, in which he bathes five times every day, will there remain any defilement on him ? " They replied, "No dirt will remain on him." The " Prophet " said, " Then that is what the Five Prayers are like ; by means of them God wipes out sins." Again Abu Dharr tells us that one day in winter Muhammad went out when the leaves were 1 We shall recur to this subject when speaking of Muham- madan ideas about the future life. 2 E.g., Surah ii. 273. ' 3 Mishkat, " Kitabu's Salat," sect. L, p. 45. •■ Ibid., sect, iii., p. 50. 9© THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. falling from the trees. He caught hold of some branches, and when he did so some leaves were shaken off and fell on the ground at his feet. Muhammad 1 said, "O Abu Dharr, verily let the believing man 2 offer the Prayers by which he seeks the face of God, then his offences will drop off him just as these leaves drop off this tree." One day 3 a man came to Muhammad and acknowledged to him that he had committed a fault, asking 4 at the same time how to atone for it. Muhammad gave no immediate answer, and the man went away. A few minutes later a verse occurred to Muhammad which would, he thought, meet the case. He therefore sent and called the man back and recited for him the verse now found in 5 Surah xi., v. 116:— "And raise thou the Prayer at both ends of the day and during a part of the night : verily good deeds drive away sins, this is a reminder to those who are mindful." On being asked whether this applied to this single man only or to all, the " Prophet " replied, "To all." 1 Literally, " the resigned slave" (i.e. of God). Ar. 2 Mishkat, ibid., p. 50. 3 Vide Osborn, op. cit., p. 79 and note. 'laveov Se on obros avrjp yvvainos twos iiridvfirio-as ij.ua.vQr] to aw/xa. 6 s, ' rah xi -> v - Il6: e* ^j; j^ Jh MS f#) of Sin. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 9 1 Those Muslims who have been led to take a Different ways of deeper view of sin than their " Prophet ap- getting rid parently did often say that something more than mere outward ceremony, something better than the perfunctory offering of the stated prayers or making a pilgrimage or giving alms, is needed to take away their guilt, or at least to deliver them from its evil consequences. But they differ among themselves as to what the remedy is. Some among them trust to the intercession of Muhammad himself, as we have already said above, believing that God created the whole world for his sake, 1 and that he loves the " Prophet " so deeply that He will certainly grant mercy in the last day to all 2 his followers at his request. This view is a most unworthy one : for, even presuming that Muhammad had been a particularly 1 Weil, "Biblische Legenden der Musselmanner," p. 14; v. also "'Araisu't Tijan," Majlis ft Qisjati Adama, p. 36: 2 Except those of them that "attribute partners to God." Ibn Ma'sud, speaking of the Mt'rdj, says that God— ui>WasS*S\ \£* &*»\ ^ AUb o^> 3 ^^Cj. (Quoted by Sayyid Ahmad, " Shaqq-i Sadr," p. 32.) 92 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. holy man— which he was not— it would be strange indeed for God to show so much favoritism to one of His creatures as to leave the eternal doom of so many in his hands. And 'Muhammad never claimed— nor do any of his orthodox followers claim for him— that he was anything but a creature. Others say, "The remedy 1 for the disease of Sin is repentance {taubah) and regret. Whoever turns to God Most High with self-abasement and con- trition, the Most High God pardons his sin." But when, in answer to this, it is urged that no earthly judge or magistrate would be thought just who let off a thief or a murderer from punishment merely because of the man's profession of penitence, the Muslim replies that no conclusion can be drawn from these premises regarding God's dealing with sinners. " For," he urges, " the magistrate is not his own master, but has to obey the orders of his superiors ; but God— Praised be He and exalted !— has no one to whom He must render 2 account." Such an argument appears to many a Muhammadan to be most conclusive ! There are some, however, in whose hearts the yearning rises for something better than this, something that will enable them to escape the terrors of conscience. Yet Islam is unable to give them any comfort if they are not 1 " Rusum-i Hind," part ii., chap, ii., p. 263. 2 This argument has actually been adduced by Muslims when arguing the point with myself. THE WEAKNESS GF ISLAM. 93 v satisfied with what has been said above. And many are not able to rest content therewith. History relates instances of the terrible mental Tortures of . J conscience. agonies endured by some of the most learned and devout Muslims because their consciences could not find any balm in the faith to which they held most tenaciously in life and in death. " Concern- ing 1 'Ammar ibn 'Abdu'llah, one of the ' Com- panions,' we are told that he was wont to fast the entire day and spend whole nights in prayer. On such occasions he would be heard by his neighbours shrieking out in the stillness of the night hours, ' O my God, the fire of hell robs me of sleep ! Oh, pardon me my sins ! The lot of Man in this world is care and sorrow, 2 and in the next judgment and the fire. Oh, where shall the soul find rest and happiness ' ? " Abu 'Imran was a celebrated Imam and 1 Osborn, op. cit., pp. 88, 89, et seqq. 2 Abu Bekr soil einmal ausgerufen haben, tl O ware ich doch als ein Vogel und nicht als ein Mensch erschaffen worden ! " Von Omar wird das Wort iiberliefert, " O ware ich doch dieser Strohhalm, o ware ich doch vergessen und fiir immer vergessen!" (A. von Kremer, "Ge>chicbte der herrschenden Ideen des Islams," page 24.) Einer der altesten Theologen des Islam, Hasan von Basra, pflegte zu sagen, "Der Mensch, welcher den Koran liest und daran glaubt, wird in der Regel mit Schrecken ert'ullt werden in dieser Welt und viel weinen." (Dozy, " Essai sur l'Histoire de l'lslamisme," page 201.) — Hauri, " Der Islam," p. 67. 3 Companions of Muhammad. 94 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. death drew near he was sorely troubled in spirit, and, being spoken, to about it, said, * What peril can be greater than mine? I must expect a messenger from my Lord, sent to an- nounce to me either Paradise or Hell. 1 declare solemnly I would rather remain as I am now, with my soul struggling in my throat till the Day of Resurrection, than undergo such a hazard.'" Such instances might be indefinitely multiplied. 1 There is nothing in the Religion of Islam to make men conscious of their sins, nay, rather there is much to prevent them from realising the fatal nature of Sin in itself. But when any earnest man does become aware of his deep sinfulness and his utter helplessness, he finds no provision for him in the teaching of the " Prophet," no way of salvation opened which will enable him to obtain peace with God. An arbitrary Master is his Judge, who may untold ages ago have predestinated him to Hell, — ■ his sins crowd upon his mind in the awful moment of death, — the flames of the Abyss seem already raging for their prey, and he has no refuge, no hope. Denial of an § 6. This leads us to consider another of the great defects of Islam as a Religion, viz. its entire denial of any Atonement for Sin. Almost all other religions that now exist in the world or that ever did exist afford at least traces of some original belief in an atonement. Some have believed that 1 The fearful death of Aurangzeb is well known. Atonement. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 95 one man's life 1 could be offered for another's guilt, or that the child 2 might die for his father's sin. Others have substituted animal for human sacri- fices. But, although even the heathen Arabs by their sacrifices of animals 3 to some degree recog- nised their felt need of an offering for sin, yet Muhammad — though permitting sacrifices 4 still to be offered on the ground that Abraham had done so, — entirely and designedly omitted from the faith which he promulgated all teaching on the subject, except such as would deny the very possibility of any propitiation being made for the sins of the world. Christ, according to the Qur'an, was one of the greatest 5 of the Prophets ; He was miracu- lously conceived and born of the Virgin Mary; 6 He wrought many wonderful 7 miracles ; He is called in the Qur'an, "The 8 Word of God" and 1 E.g., the Celts in Britain ; Caesar, bk. vi., 16 : " Pro vita hominis nisi hominis vita reddatur, non posse aliter deorum immortalium numen placari arbitrantur." 2 Vide, e.g., the " Sacrifice of Children," Cuneiform text in Sayce's Assyrian Gram., p. 123. 3 Sale, "Prelim. Disc.;" Weil," Mohammed der Prophet," p. 19; Sayyid Ahmad, "Ess. on Religions of pre-Islamic Arabs ; " Abu'l Fida, " Hist. Anteislamica." 4 Surah xxii. 33, &c. 5 The six greatest are : Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. (Sale, " Prelim. Disc," sect, iv.) 6 Surah iii., vv. 40, sqq. 7 Ibid: Surah v. 109, sqq., &c. 8 E.g., Surah iv. 169, &c 96 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. even " A spirit from Him,"— higher titles than are given to any other prophet. Yet he is regarded as inferior to Muhammad himself, " the Seal of the 1 demand ■ Pro P nets '" anc * as a mere man. 2 His death for our death sins is absolutely denied by all Muslims, in denied. . . , A _ J " accordance with Surah iv., v. 156, 3 where the Jews are represented as saying, "Verily we slew the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God," but in answer to them God, we are told, said to Muhammad, "And they slew Him not, and they crucified Him not, but he was represented unto them (by another) . . . And they slew Him not in reality, but God exalted Him unto Himself, and God was honoured, wise." It is believed that Christ is now in the second 4 heaven and will remain there until the Resurrection, when he will return to earth, 5 preach Muhammadanism, and die. QairSayyi. At Medina, in the chamber in the mosque where aina ._ . ...,., 1 'isabni Muhammad lies buried, a vacant place is left for Mary am a. 1 Surah xxxiii. 40: ^Wj y Jkl\ C\ j£^ "^ U . Q*ix&\ ^'U^ Cu£ SpS uj 4 Otliers say in the third ; others, again, the fourth. 5 Ath Thalabi. Comment, on Surah iv. 156. THE WEAKNESS GF ISLAM. 97 the tomb of " Our Lord Jesus, son 1 of Mary," as He is called by the Muslims : but His future death 2 is not regarded as in any manner atoning for sin, for we have already seen that the Qur'an teaches that no soul can answer for the sins of another. The Muslim is therefore destitute 3 of the hope of a Saviour, His religion knows of no Redeemer, 4 ?*•?* O* &*** "' x *~: v. Burton, "El Medina and El Mecca," vol. i., p. 89; Lane, "Mod. Egyptians," vol. i., p. 93. 2 In Surah xix. 34, Christ's death is spoken of, and He o3 -» -C- * -— J - * "=- is represented as saying, when a babe, cyj3« **> ^Jsi *iLJ^ Ua» t^jo* **?« ct>y»\ #♦)?.• . One explanation of this verse given by Muslim commentators is that Christ did not die before leaving the earth and ascending into heaven, but that on His return to earth He will die. Others, however, say that He did really die quietly, and remained a few hours dead, and then rose, and was taken up to heaven by Gabriel. See Appendix A. s Weil thus accounts for Muhammad's denial of Christ's crucifixion : "Auch in der Legende von Christus ist es leicht die Ansicht eines getauften Juden herauszufinden. . . . Eben so wenig kann er die Kreuzigung Christ's annehmen, weil sie in geradem Widerspruche mit der Gerechtigkeit Gottes steht, so wie auch mit der Geschichte aller iibrigen Propheten, welche Gott stets aus jeder Gefahr befreit hat. Kein Mensch hat fiir die Siinden seines Nachsten zu biissen, heisst es im Koran, darum mochte wohl Christus ohne Todesfurcht sein Ziel verfolgen, Gott konnte aber ihn, den Unschuldigen, nicht zur Vergebung der Siinden Anderer auf eine so smachvolle Weise sterben lassen." ("Biblische Legenden der Muselmanner," Einleitung, pp. 8, 9.) 4 There is a strange opinion current among some Muham- H 98 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. and in the hour of death he has no comfort except such as the thoughts of his own fancied merits can give him. It is true that self-righteousness does in many cases give the Muslim courage 1 to face death with composure, but how miserable such self- confidence is, and how terrible the awakening when Eternity receives the disembodied spirit, clothed in its own vileness, and unwashed in the blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world ! Felt need of The belief in the need of an Atonement has an Atone- . . ment. asserted itself, in spite of the Qur an, among many of the professed followers of the "Prophet." Just as in ancient Greece — and perhaps in those regions of Asia 2 in which the myth of Prometheus in its original form arose — it was felt that Man could not escape the eternal ruin which he by his sins had incurred, unless some one more 3 than human were madans to the effect that on the Judgment Day each Muslim will be given an unbeliever whom he may cast into hell in his own stead. This is another example of the manner in which a yearning for a substitute, if not for a propitiation, asserts itself among Muslims, in spite of the express teaching of the Quran. V. " Qisasu'l Anbiya," Pers. ed., p. 275 j also Mishkat, Bombay (Arabic) ed., p. 487. 1 Vide Dr. Cust's "Notes on Missionary Subjects," vol. ii., p. 60. - Paley's ^Eschylus, p. 89. 3 Prometheus Desmotes, vv. 1047.50: " ToiovSe ia6\Qov r4pjxa jutj rt irpo(r56i diwu tis SidSoxos TU>V (T&V ic6v(uv $avrj, 6t\r)(Tr) t' tls avavyrirov ixoKtlv "Atdrji/, Kve(pa7d t' aiJ. once a leading champion of Muhammadanism and a noted Maulain y now a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at Amritsar in the Panjab. In his Autobiography 2 he tells us how, finding the outward ordinances of Muhammadanism 3 unable to satisfy 4 the yearning of his soul for com- 1 Hughes, nt supra, t( Darvtsh ; " Osbom, " Islam under Khalifs," pp. 92, sqq. 2 "A Muhammadan Brought to Christ : being the Auto- biography of the Rev. 'Imadu'd Din, D.D." (Rev. R. Clark's translation, new edition: C. M. House, Salisbury Square, London, E.C. 1885.) 3 V. 'Imadu'd Din's "Autobiography," pp. 9.1 1. 4 Besides the passage quoted in the text, the following extract may be of interest : "I retired into my private chamber, and with many tears I prayed for the pardon of my sins. I often went and spent half the night in silence at THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. ioi munion with God and the assurance of acceptance with Him and the forgiveness of his sins, he first of the tomb of Shah Abii'l A«HL I used to take my petitions with joy to the shrine of Qalandar Bu 'Ali, and to the threshold of the saint Nizamird Din, and often to the graves of the elders. I sought for union with God from travellers and faqtrs, and even from the insane people of the city, according to the tenets of the Sufi mystics. The thought of utterly renouncing the world then came into my mind with so much power, that I left everybody and went out into the jungles, and became zfaqfr, putting on clothes covered with red ochre ; and wandered here and there, from city to city and f om village to village, step by step, alone, for about 2,000 kos (3,500 miles), without plan or baggage. Faith in the Muhammadan religion will never, indeed, allow true sincerity to be produced in the nature of Man ; yet I was then, although with many worldly motives, in search only of God. In this state I entered the city of Kariili, where a stream called Cholida flows beneath a mountain, and there I stayed to perform the Hisbul bahdr. I had a book with me on the doctrines of mysticism and the practice of de- votion, which I had received from my religious guide, and held more dear even than the Qur'an. In my journeys I slept with it at my side at nights, and took comfort in clasping it to my heart whenever my mind was perplexed. My religious guide had forbidden me to show this book or to speak of its secrets to anyone, for it contained the sum of everlasting happiness. ... I took up the book and sat down on the bank of the stream to perform the ceremonies as they were enjoined, according to the following rules :— The celebrant must first perform his ablutions on the banks of the flowing stream, and, wearing an unsewn dress, must sit in a particular manner on one knee for twelve days, and repeat the prayer called Jugopar thirty times every day with a loud voice. He must not eat any food with salt, or any- thing at all except some barley bread of flour lawfully earned, 102 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. all sought for a mediator, hoping to find one in Muhammad. On inquiry it became clear to him which he has made with his own hands, and baked with wood that he has brought himself from the jungles. During the day he must fast entirely, after performing his ablutions in the river before daylight, and he must remain barefooted, wearing no shoes ; nor must he touch any man, nor, except at an appointed time, even speak to anyone. The object of it all is that he may meet with God, and from the longing desire to attain to this I underwent all this pain. In addition to the above, I wrote the name of God on paper during this time 125,000 times, performing a certain portion ever/day ; and I cut out each word separately with scissors, and wrapped them up each in a little ball of flour, and fed the fishes of the river with them, in the way the book prescribed. My days were spent in this manner ; and during half the night I slept, and the remaining half I sat up and wrote the name of God mentally on my heart, and saw Him with the eye of thought. When all this toil was over and I went thence, I had no strength left in my body ; my face was wan and pale, and I could not even hold up myself against the wind. ... I preached the Qur'an constantly in the streets (of Karuli) and houses and mosques, and many people repented of their sins, and regarded me as one of the saints of God, and came and touched, my knees with their hands. But still my soul found no rest ; and, in consequence of the experience I had had, I only felt daily in my mind a growing abhorrence of the law of Muhammad. . . . During the next eight or ten years, the examples of the Muham- madan elders and their holy men and maulavis and faqirs, whom I used to meet, and my knowledge of their moral character, and of the thoughts that dwelt in their hearts, and their bigotry and frauds and deceits, and their ignorance, which I used to observe, altogether combined to convince my mind that there was no true religion in the world at all. I had got into the same state of mind that many learned THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 103 that the idea of Muhammad's intercession was entirely devoid of any foundation in the Qur'an itself; and he was thus left without hope, until he took refuge in the mysticism so popular among thoughtful Muslims dissatisfied with the popular creed. This led him to the practice of austerities and asceticisms of various kinds. " I began," he says, " to practise speaking little, eating little, living apart from men, afflicting my body, and keeping awake at nights. I used to spend whole nights in reading the Qur'an. I put in practice all the special penances and devotions that were enjoined. I used to shut my eyes and sit in retirement, seeking by thinking on the name of God to write it on my heart. I constantly sat on the graves of holy men, in hopes that by contem- plation I might receive some revelation from the tombs. ... I used to go even to the dreamy and intoxicated fanatics in the hope of thus obtaining union with God. ... In short, whatever afflictions or pain it is in the power of Man to endure, I submitted to them all, and suffered them to the last degree ; but nothing became manifest to me after all, except that it was all deceit." After undergoing another more lengthy and severe course of austerities he says, " Still my soul found no rest ;" and he became despairingly convinced " that there was no true religion in the world at all." In this Muhammadans have been in under similar circumstances." — Ibid., pp. 12-14. 104 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. conviction he remained until the conversion to Christianity of a friend led him to study the Bible in order to convince his friend that Christianity was false. But in the providence of God the reading of His Word brought peace to 'Imadu'd Din's heart and drew him to the feet of Christ. Man's need § 7. Man's need of Salvation is clearly taught of Salvation. . . y-* , A 1 1 1111 in the Quran and is acknowledged by every Muslim. But their religion gives them an entirely false view of what salvation really is and in what it consists. The most common words used in Arabic for salvation, f^T (najih) and * ^. (khalas) strictly mean " escape" and "deliverance."' If a Muslim be asked from what he hopes to be saved, his reply will generally be "From the punishment of my sins." If a mystic he will more probably say, " From intellectual ignorance of the Nature of God," or " from want of Union with Him." The latter view is allied to that of the Hindu Pantheists, who believe that they are really parts, so to speak, of God, and differ from Him only as the 1 rain-drop differs from the ocean, from 1 The same metaphor is used by the Sufis, who are very numerous in Persia especially. ( V. Osborn, at supra, p. 100.) The following verses from the Masnavi contain the Pan- theistic idea very clearly expressed : — c^~>) ^_£_i» ^jX^>» £\ji ^J vy* ("Lubb-i Libab," p. 102): that is, "To approach near to God is not to go up or to go down : to approach the Truth THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. I05 which it has sprung and towards which it tends. In this respect it is altogether alien to the prin- ciples of the Muhammadan faith, which teaches that the Creator is separated from His creatures, as far as essence is concerned, by an impassable gulf. Although Pantheistic ideas assert themselves very extensively among Muslims, especially among those prone to Mysticism, yet we need not discuss them here. The main point to which each and every answer regarding the meaning of Salvation to the Mu- hammadan mind calls attention, is that the Muslim does not believe that it denotes, and must necessarily denote, deliverance from the bondage of Sin. Our Lord has taught us this very clearly by saying, " Whosoever committeth 1 sin is the slave of sin," and before His birth the angel Gabriel announced that Christ's name should be called Jesus, "for 2 He shall save His people from their sins." Muhammadanism has no such Saviour, no such hope, no such teaching of the true nature of (i.e., God) is to escape from the prison of existence." The Persian poet Hafiz is supposed to signify the soul's search for God in his verses, which, taken in their literal sense, are erotic and bacchanalian. Quum Dei amorem laudare velint, epooros (^3.-^5) metaphora utuntur poetae mystici praesertim Persici, eo tamen modo ut numen feminae, cuttor antem mariti partes agat. 1 John viii. 34 : " 'A,uV afirjv A4yca vfuv '6ti 7r«s 6 iroi&v rty aixaprlav Sov\6s ion r?]S ap.apTias." 3 Matt. i. 21. 106 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. Sa from ion t ^ ie deliverance f° r which all men long. The punishment followers of the "Prophet" hope to find a way in which they may be enabled to escape the tortures of hell and gain admission into the gardens of Paradise. But we have already seen that they desire no change in their nature, no purification of heart, but rather the bestowal of greater power to enjoy the sensual pleasures there provided for them. For this among other reasons the Muham- madan creed can satisfy no human soul that is really athirst for the Living God and that, conscious of its own pollution and the thraldom of sin, longs for purity and hungers for true righteousness and peace with God. "* § 3. The descriptions which Muhammad gave to his followers of the reward of the righteous in the life after death were admirably calculated to allure the Arab temperament, and to incite his fellow-countrymen 1 to strive manfully to attain the happiness which he promised them, if they would "fight in the way 2 of God." Yet, however well suited for their immediate purpose, these descrip- tions are of such a nature that, in the minds of all sober and thoughtful men, and still more in those 1 See examples in Waqidi's "Futuhu'sh Sham," and in all Muhammadan histories ; also Gibbon, &c. 2 &U\ Js<~» ^ \^>\i (Surah ii. iS6, ct passim). Surah xlvii. distinctly holds out the enjoyment of corporeal pleasures in the next world as an inducement to fight for the spread of Islam. THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 107 of all really earnest seekers for the truth, they do more than almost anything else to show that Islam is not from God. This will be seen if we read a few verses from one or two of the passages in the Qur'an, in which Muhammad professes by Divine authority and inspiration to depict the lot of the justified in Paradise. For instance, in Surah lv., vv. 46 sqq., both men and genii are given an account of the pleasures of Paradise and the torments of hell, and after every detail comes in the refrain, " Which then of your Lord's benefits do ye both falsely deny ? " Omitting the repetition of this frequently recurring strain, the passage runs thus : — '•' And for him who feareth the tribunal of his Gardens, Lord are two gardens, dowered with branches. ^SSS? In each of them two fountains flow. In each of them there are of every fruit two kinds. (The Just) recline upon couches of which the inner lining is of brocade ; and the fruit of the two gardens hangs low. In them are (maidens 1 ) restraining their glances, whom neither man nor demon hath approached 2 before them. They are as it were rubies and pearls. Is the recompense for kindness other than kindness? And besides these two there are two (other) gardens — dark green. In each of them are two fountains stream- 1 The word is supplied from the context, and from the fem. adjj. connected with the understood subject of the verb. 3S-»C C^ C- 2 ^j.gJUJa> *J > 'ton stupravit eas. 108 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT. ing abundantly. In each of them are fruits and palms and pomegranates. In them are (maidens) good, beauteous, Houries enclosed in pavilions, whom neither man nor demon hath approached before them. (The Just) recline on green pillows and beautiful carpets. Blessed be the name of thy Lord, possessed of glory and honour." Again in Surah lvi., vv. n sqq., we are given a similar account of the future joys reserved for "the Companions 1 of the Right Hand" on the day of the Resurrection, to which is added some description of the woes which "the Companions 2 of the Left Hand " shall suffer. Of the former joys of the class it is said : "These are those who rre brought nigh, in gardens of delight . . . Upon bejewelled couches ; reclining upon them, facing one another. Upon them wait immortal youths, with goblets and beakers and a cup from a spring 3 (of wine). They do not suffer headache from it, nor do they become 1 W^ or JU-U\ wA5s-*\ , that is, " the con- demned." 3 The context shows that wine is meant. " Rivers of wine" are mentioned in Surah xlvii. 16. Mystics endeavour to explain away the sensuality of these descriptions, as the commentator Muhiyyu'd Din, in loco, who says : v~>\»Sl> JjjAttj