THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 / ' Mr- 
 
 2§S7 
 
 L^.^ 
 
 ,*-•- . ■•■■ ■ ■■ /
 
 KV
 
 THE BEACON OF TRUTH
 
 MORRISON AND GIBn, PRINTERS EDINBURGH.
 
 The Beacon of Truth 
 
 OR 
 
 TESTIMONY OF THE CORAM 
 
 TO THE 
 
 TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 
 
 'STntiisIatcb from the ^vabic 
 
 By sir WILLIAM MUIR, K.C.S.I., 
 LL.D., D.C.L., Ph.D. 
 
 "Buy the truth, and sell it not." — Prov. xxiii. 23 
 
 LONDON 
 
 THE RKLIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 
 56 Pateknoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Ciiurchyaru 
 
 1894
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction by the Translator .... 7 
 Preface . . . . . . . . 1 1 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Passages of the Coran to the effect that Mohammed was not 
 " sent " witli signs or miracles, and tliat in point of fact 
 he showed none . . . . . • ' 3 
 
 CHAPTER H 
 Passages of the Coran signifying that Moliammcd was not 
 
 sent to use force or compel men to join his religion . 23 
 
 CHAPTER HI 
 
 Passages of tlie Cur.ui lliat cancel, and passages that are 
 
 cancelled . . . . . . -55 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Passages of the Coran testifying that the Tour.lt and the 
 Gospel have not been altered, nor suffered virb.d cor- 
 ruption . . . . . -78 
 
 ^ r^KYY^^^
 
 6 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Passages of the Coran showing that Propliccy and 
 
 Revelation belong to the Beni Israel . . .104 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Passages of the Coran pointing to the Divinity of the Lord 
 
 Jesus Christ . . . . • • .122 
 
 Conclusion . . . • • • -15°
 
 INTRODUCTION BY THE 
 TRANSLATOR 
 
 The Mhidr ul Hakk is a treatise designed to show 
 the evidence in support of Christianity contained in 
 the Coran, — a Beacon, as it were, pointing to the faith 
 of the Gospel. Purely apologetic, the translation is 
 hardly suited, like that of the Sweet First-Fruits, 
 for English use. To the ordinary reader, indeed, 
 unfamiliar with the tenets and dialectics of Islam, 
 the course of the argument — however powerful and 
 convincing to a follower of the Arabian Prophet — 
 will appear strange ; if not, at times, altogether un- 
 intelligible. Still, even for the Western student, the 
 controversy will not be devoid of interest, exhibiting 
 as it does the style of dogmatic reasoning and thought 
 prevalent among Theologians of the East ; and the 
 reader may be reminded, here and there, of the 
 memorable colloquies held by Henry Martyn with 
 the Moulvies of Shiraz and Ispahan on his journey to 
 his resting-place at Tokat. 
 
 The basis of the argument is the Coran, taken 
 
 7
 
 8 INTRODUCTION BY THE TRANSLATOR 
 
 verse by verse, with the commentaries thereon. First 
 appears the text, then follow the explanations given 
 of it by the Moslem expositors, and lastly, the 
 remarks of the author on what has preceded. Each 
 chapter closes with a review summing up the most 
 important conclusions. The Commentators chiefly 
 relied on are Bokhari {d. 256 A.ii.) and the Imiim 
 Fakhr ud Deen Razi {d. 606 A.D.), — authorities much 
 esteemed by orthodox Moslems. 
 
 The opening chapters discuss the prophetic claim 
 of Mohammed. In the First, it is proved from an 
 abundance of passages that he showed no miracle, 
 and that the Coran, which is called by his followers 
 a miracle, has, notwithstanding its wonderful beauty 
 and power, no trace of the miraculous about it. In 
 the Second chapter are quoted an array of texts, 
 belonging to the early years of the Prophet's ministry, 
 in which toleration is enjoined and constraint for- 
 bidden in matters of religion, — his mission being 
 limited strictly to that of a "Preacher" and "Warner"; 
 — all in irreconcilable contrast with the intolerance 
 and force of later days. The Third chapter is devoted 
 to the question of" Cancelment," that is, of texts and 
 commands which, cancelling other texts and com- 
 mands, take thus their place. Such changes were 
 made in accordance with the expediency of the day, 
 or with the personal desires of Mohammed ; and, as 
 such, are shown to be incompatible with the assump- 
 tion that their source is divine. 
 
 The second half of the volume takes up the evid- 
 ences of the Christian faith as derived from the Coran.
 
 INTRODUCTION BY THE TRANSLATOR 9 
 
 Chapter Four contains texts which prove that the 
 Tourat and the Gospel are authentic and genuine, 
 and their teaching obligatory on the professor of 
 Islam, The Fifth chapter proves, in a similar way, 
 that the gift of prophecy and revelation runs by divine 
 promise in the line of Israel alone ; while the Sixth 
 is reserved for texts which contain clear admission of 
 the divine nature of Jesus the Messiah. The Con- 
 cluding chapter sums up the whole argument, and 
 leaves the lesson with the fair and intelligent Moslem, 
 that the follower of the Coran is bound to believe in 
 the Old and New Testaments, and there to find for 
 himself the way of life which is but dimly shadowed 
 forth in his own faith. The Coran leads the inquirer, 
 as it were, to the portal of Christianity, and there 
 stops short. The Beacon of TnitJi invites him to 
 mark the finger which nevertheless points to the 
 Scriptures, to enter in, and there be guided to the 
 faith in Jesus, the Saviour of the world. 
 
 The work from beginning to end is an argjiiucntuui 
 ad Jiominem^ from the conclusions of which it seems 
 impossible for the believer in the Coran to escape. 
 It is drawn with admirable power, and close famili- 
 arity with Moslem sentiment and dogma. It is also 
 written in language of singular grace and beauty, 
 vigorous throughout and often impassioned. The 
 discussion, though searching, is conducted with as 
 much amenity and forbearance as the tenacious and 
 conclusive character of the reasoning admitted. In 
 fine, without claiming that the treatise is in all its 
 parts equally powerful, r)r that the arguments here and
 
 10 INTRODUCTION BY THE TRANSLATOR 
 
 there may not to some appear defective or weak, I 
 am unhesitatingly of opinion that, taken as a whole, 
 no apology of the Christian faith carrying similar 
 weight and cogency has ever been addressed to the 
 Mahometan world. And I look upon it as the duty 
 of the Church — should this opinion be concurred in — 
 to take measures for the translation of the Mindr 
 ul Hakk into the vernacular of every land inhabited 
 by those professing the Moslem faith, and to see that 
 all Missionaries in these lands have the means of 
 becoming familiar with its contents. 
 
 W. M. 
 
 Edinburgh, 1894.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Praise be to the Lord who hath revealed the 
 Book, " a Light and a Guide to men of understand- 
 ing"; and hath, by manifest evidence, estabHshed 
 the same as a Message from Heaven, for every age 
 to the end of time. 
 
 Now, seeing that Moslems have in their Coran the 
 most excellent testimony to the purity, authenticity, 
 and authority of the Tourat and the Gospel, and also 
 a light illustrating the Divinity of the Messiah; — 
 
 Seeing also that most part of them in the present 
 day, accuse the Scriptures of having been changed 
 and corrupted ; and further, that they look upon the 
 Messiah as but one of the great Trophets, — albeit 
 amongst the Chiefest ; — as if they had read only parts 
 of the Coran, and never studied the many verses 
 which clearly prove the genuineness of the Scriptures, 
 and give the MESSIAH a place beyond all others, — 
 the place of the WONDERKUL;— 
 
 Seeing all this, I was burdened in si)irit, and 
 humbly prayed to the Almighty that I III would show 
 to them the truth respecting Ilis Son by means of 
 
 11
 
 12 PREFACE 
 
 their own writings. Musing thus on the best way 
 for this end, I was in God's providence led to study 
 the various works which, after the Goran, are held by 
 the Moslems to carry greatest weight in religious 
 matters, — such as the Stamat, or Gustom of the 
 Prophet ; the Sirat, or Biography of the Prophet ; the 
 Ahiya i Aliini of Imam Ghazali; the Gommentaries 
 on the Goran by the Imam Al Fakhr Al Razi, by the 
 Imam Al Beidhawi, and by Jelalein. These I carefully 
 perused, and extracted what was most important in 
 them. Then, to the best of my ability, I sought out 
 passages from the Goran itself, bearing on the truth 
 of the Ghristian faith, with the interpretations given 
 of them by these several authorities. And when, 
 with God's help, the required materials had been thus 
 got together, I arranged them as they appear in this 
 treatise, with my own observations, a review at the 
 close of each chapter, and an address which sums up 
 the whole. 
 
 A small and unpretending book, this aims with the 
 help of the Almighty at a great blessing, — attracting 
 him whom, without the divine help, there is no hope 
 of attracting ; so that as he stands by the spring he 
 may quench his thirst thereat. Well aware of my 
 want of skill in the art of writing, I fear that there 
 may be faults, and deficiencies in my work ; and I 
 therefore look to the gentle reader to excuse whatever 
 he may find of weakness and imperfection, and to 
 correct any error or oversight, as it becometh the 
 generous to do. 
 
 Fare ye well !
 
 THE BEACON OF TRUTH 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PASSAGES OF THE GORAN TO THE EFFECT THAT 
 MOHAMMED WAS NOT "SENT" WITH SIGNS OR 
 MIRACLES, AND THAT IN POINT OF FACT HE 
 SHOWED NONE 
 
 I. They say, "Why hath not a sign been sent doivn 
 unto hi)n from his Lord?" Say, " Verily God is able 
 to send dozvn a sign, but the greater part of them do 
 not understand." — SURA Al Inam (vi.) v. 37. 
 
 Commentary. — Razi observes that the objection in the text is one 
 of those raised against the Prophet by the Unbelievers, namely, 
 that if he had been sent of God, his mission would have been 
 attested by miracles. Why, then, did Mohammed reply that God 
 was able to send miracles ? The answer indicates that the Goran 
 was intended as a miracle which could not be gainsaid ; and as 
 the Unbelievers were not able in this to contradict the Prophet, it 
 shows that the Goran really was a miracle. Hmv then are we to 
 explain the repeated objection made by the Unbilicvers, " W'hy 
 hath no sign been sent down unto him from his Lr)ril " ? 
 
 The Im.'im in rcj)ly gives alternative answers — 
 
 First, The p«f)ple may have objected thai the Goran belonged 
 to the class of writings, like the Tourat, the Psalms, and the Gospel, 
 2
 
 14 PASSAGES FROM CO RAN 
 
 which dill iml profess to be miracles, and because of this doubt 
 the)' still called for a miracle. 
 
 Second, Or the miracles called for may have been of the kind 
 shown by the prophets of old, as dividing the sea, uplifting the 
 hills, or raising- the dead. To this it is replied, that '* God is able 
 to send down a miracle," that is, of the kind demanded, but that 
 " most of them do not understand" ; which means, according to the 
 Sunnat, that the Coran is a clear and infallible miracle, and that, 
 being so, it were vain and impious to demand more of the Lord, 
 with whom it rests to give such or to withhold ; or, according 
 to the Motazelites, other miracles were withheld because not 
 expedient. 
 
 Third, Or the reason may have been that a clear miracle 
 already given had left the Unbelievers no excuse. Supposing God 
 to have granted their unreasonable demand, they iflight have 
 gone on calling for a second, a third, and a fourth sign, and so on, 
 without end, in which event proof and objection would have had 
 no finality. It was necessary, therefore, to shut the door, and let 
 the miracle (of the Coran) already granted suffice. 
 
 Fotirih, or lastly, Had God granted the kind of miracles they 
 called for, and yet after all they had continued in unbelief, they 
 would, like those of old, have made themselves liable to destruc- 
 tion ; and so it was in mercy, though they knew it not, that the 
 Lord, by withholding what they asked for, saved them from that 
 doom. — R&zi. 
 
 SoBeidhawi: " The greater part do not understand," that is, 
 what they are asking for. God, it is true, was able to send 
 down the kind of miracles demanded ; but had their desire been 
 granted, they would have exposed themselves, continuing in un- 
 belief, to calamity, while the miracle already given (in the Coran) 
 was of itself sufficient without it. 
 
 Remarks. — Surely the Coreish were not to be 
 blamed because they demanded of Mohammed a 
 sign like to the signs shown by the prophets of old. 
 The answer, that " God is able to give them a sign," 
 was no answer at all, and justified the reply, " True, 
 God is able to give signs ; for, to show forth His 
 power, He gave signs to the prophets of old, as Moses
 
 ON ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 15 
 
 and Jesus ; and if Mohammed be as one of them, let 
 him show us hke signs, that we may beHeve." 
 
 Again, had the people recognised the Coran to be 
 a miracle, it would have satisfied them; and if so, 
 why this reply, that " God was able to send down a 
 miracle," and not rather, " Here is the Coran, take 
 that, for it is a miracle " ? But here rejoinder by the 
 Prophet's opponents would have been easy, for the 
 Arabs were well acquainted with the wonderful com- 
 positions of their poets and orators, as Imrul Cays, 
 Nabigha, Coss, etc. ; and though no one could equal 
 the beauty of their works, they were never regarded 
 as miracles. And if the Coran had really been a 
 miracle, like raising of the dead, dividing of the sea, 
 etc., then why should Mohammed not also have shown 
 other miracles like these ; and how would that have 
 cast any reflection on the wisdom of God ? 
 
 Similarly, to say that had their request been granted 
 they might have asked for a second, third, and fourth 
 miracle, is mere conjecture. It might equally be 
 asserted, that they would have been satisfied with a 
 single real miracle. Their demand was simply as if 
 they had said, " How can we accept Mohammed's claim 
 to be a prophet, when he fails to show a single miracle 
 in proof of his mission, as did the prophets of old ? 
 let him show one, and we will believe." Equally 
 fallacious is it to say that this would have been an 
 unreasonable and impious demand ; on the contrary, 
 it was all the more reasonable, seeing that the I'rophet 
 came with a new faith differing from that of the Ikni 
 Israel and the Christians, and the religion of the
 
 10 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 country ; and their refusal to accept this new rcHgion 
 without some miracle like those of the old prophets, is 
 rather a pn)of of their sagacity and sincerity than of 
 unreasonable obstinacy. 
 
 II. And IV hen thoti dost not shoiu unto them a sign, 
 they say, " Why hast tJiou avoided to bring it?" Say, 
 " Veri/y, I follozu that only ivhereivith the Lord hath 
 inspired me" This {revelation) is a ivitness from your 
 Lord, — a guide and a mejxy to the people that believe. — 
 Sura Al Araf (vii.) v. 204. 
 
 Coininmilary. — The Arabs demanded from Mohammed a sign 
 from heaven in proof of his mission ; to which he ropHed, that 
 failure to show a miracle, as they demanded of him, was a 
 groundless accusation, seeing that the Coran itself was a clear 
 and infallible miracle — one sufficient to prove his mission ; and 
 that such being the case, the call for anything further was an 
 unwarrantable and profane demand. — KAzi. 
 
 Remarks. — Apparently the Arabs in all sincerity 
 asked Mohammed for a sign in proof of his ministry, 
 not recognising the Coran as such. Thus, among 
 themselves, they would say, "If he would only show 
 us a real miracle"; and when they met him, " Why 
 dost thou avoid it ? Show us a sign like those of the 
 prophets of old, else we will not accept thee." His 
 answer was that he only followed that which was 
 revealed to him by his Lord. Was this any reply to 
 those who asked for a sign to prove his ministry? 
 Never ! 
 
 III. The Unbelievers say, " Why hath not a sign been 
 given him by his Lord? Nay, but thou art only a
 
 ON ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 17 
 
 Warner ; and unto every people there hath been g'iven a 
 gtiide." — Sura Al Rad (xiii.) v. 8. 
 
 Commentary. — Mohammed was sent as a Warner, just as a g-uide 
 and preacher had been sent to every people before him. So also as 
 to miracles. God puts all in this respect upon an equality, suiting 
 the kind of miracle to the special circumstances of each people. 
 Thus, magic or sorcery being in the ascendant in the days of 
 Moses, the miracles shown by him were of that nature ; and tiie 
 healing art being practised in the time of Jesus, it was suitable 
 that his miracles should be such as raising the dead, curing the 
 leper and the blind, etc. For the same reason, as beauty of com- 
 position was the distinguishing feature of the Prophet's time, the 
 miracle given to him was the wondrous eloquence of the Coran ; 
 and so, if the Arabs would not believe, notwithstanding that this 
 miracle was specially designed for them, it is clear that they 
 W'Ould not have been convinced by any other kind of miracle. 
 "Thou art but a Warner"; that is, "Thy duty is simply to 
 preach : to guide men into the right way belongs to God alone." — 
 Rdsi. 
 
 And Beidhavi : When his people demanded such miracles as 
 those of Moses and Jesus, Mohammed is told that he was only 
 a preacher like those before him. He had no concern with the 
 signs they called for ; he was but a guide to point out the right 
 wav. God alone was able to answer the demand, and it was 
 withheld because made perversely, and not with a sincere desire 
 for conviction. 
 
 Remarks. — The reader will observe that Razi's 
 comment is not apposite to the text, which contains 
 no hint of the Coran being a miracle, but simply 
 states that the Proi^het being nothing more than a 
 Warner, his duty is only to preach. The rest of his 
 words are equal 1)' wide of the mark. Vox, first, some 
 of Moses' signs had nothing to do w ith magic, as tlu- 
 death of the l'"gyptians' first-born, the destruction of 
 IMiaraoh's army, and the issuing of water from ihc 
 rock. And so also many of Jesus' iniracles Ii.id no
 
 18 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 reference to the healing art, — as the creation of a bird 
 from clay, and descent of the table from heaven, 
 according to the Coran ; or the feeding of multitudes 
 from a few loaves, and walking on the water, according 
 to the Gospel. Moreover, other prophets, as Joshua, 
 Elias, Elisha, and the apostles, showed various 
 miracles similar to those of Moses and Jesus. Second; 
 again, the Arabs had no such special claim to 
 eloquence and literary power that their miracle should 
 lie in that direction. Every nation has its own form 
 of eloquence, suited to its taste and language ; take, 
 for example, the models of the Jews and Greeks, as is 
 manifest from their wonderful writings in our hands. 
 And if there was neither magic nor the art of healing 
 amongst the Arabs, they certainly were not wanting 
 in intelligence and quick apprehension, and as such 
 equally entitled with the Egyptians and Israelites to 
 expect miracles, and equally qualified to judge of 
 them. 
 
 Indeed, as the mission of Moses and of Jesus was 
 established by miracles, it was a foi'tiori incumbent 
 on Mohammed, who sought to introduce a religion 
 differing from theirs and cancelling its obligations, to 
 prove his claim by miracles superior even to theirs, 
 and more wonderful. How, then, are those to be 
 blamed who, when he failed to show such, refused to 
 admit his claim or believe in his mission? 
 
 IV. And nothing- Jiindered Us from sending {thee) 
 zuith miracles, but that those of old time gave them the 
 lie.—SuRA Beni Israel (xvii.) v. 58.
 
 ON ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 19 
 
 Coitimentary. — We are told that people came to Mohammed 
 saying that the prophets of old showed miracles, such as causing 
 the winds to blow, and raising the dead, etc. "Now show us," 
 said they, "some miracle like these, and we shall believe." The 
 reply here signifies that were such miracles shown to them, and 
 they still continued in infidelity, they would have become liable, 
 like the nations of old, to the doom of extermination. It was 
 thus in goodness and mercy that the Lord withheld their request, 
 knowing that some of them would eventually believe, or would 
 have believing progeny. — Rdzi. 
 
 Beidhaivi gives a similar explanation, instancing the tribes of Ad 
 and Thamud, which, on rejecting the miracles which they called 
 for, were swept away. 
 
 Remarks. — It does not appear where the Commen- 
 tators got this notion of people being destroyed for 
 rejecting miracles. The Egyptians were not exter- 
 minated ; some were destroyed, but only some. So 
 with the Beni Israel ; many a time they denied their 
 prophets, yet they were never swept away, but 
 remained a people, as they are at this day. It is the 
 same with the tale of the Adites and Thamudites ; 
 even supposing that (like the Tusam and Judeis) they 
 did disappear, it may have been because of their 
 abounding iniquity or internecine warfare. The rise 
 and fall of nations is the natural law of God. It is 
 His to create and His to destroy, with a purpose 
 beyond our finite wisdom. 
 
 Again, we know of no people to whom a prophet 
 was sent (as were Moses and Jesus) with miracles, but 
 some of them believed. Now, seeing that Mohammed 
 came without a miracle, and yet very soon a great 
 number of the Corcish accepted his mission, and not 
 long after the whole city of Yathreb also, would it 
 possibly have been otherwise even if the Lord had
 
 20 PASSAGES FROM CO RAN 
 
 sent Mohammed with miracles like those of the 
 prophets of old ? If his people accepted him without 
 a miracle, what ground is there for the comment that 
 " no miracle was given him lest, having belied it, they 
 should have incurred the doom of extermination " ? 
 They received him without a miracle; why should 
 they have rejected him if he had shown one? So 
 the interpretation of the Commentators falls utterly 
 to pieces. If, indeed, after all his warnings, the 
 people had still rejected Mohammed because he failed 
 to show miracles like those of Moses and Jesus, then 
 indeed there might have been some sort of ground for 
 saying that they would not have believed, even after 
 witnessing miracles. But this was not the case, for 
 we know that Khadija accepted her husband as a 
 prophet at the very opening of his mission, and, 
 shortly after, his cousin Aly, Abu Bekr, Othman, and 
 Omar ; and in the course of a few years the whole of 
 Mecca, even those who had demanded miracles as the 
 condition of believing on him. Now, all this was 
 known to the Almighty beforehand ; how then can it 
 be said (as we are told is the meaning of the text) 
 that God withheld miracles, knowing that, if granted, 
 the Coreish would belie them, as did the nations of 
 old? Shall words be attributed to the Most High in- 
 consistent thus with His foreknowledge? God forbid ! 
 
 V. They say, " Why hath not a sign been sent doivn 
 jinto him from his Lord ? " Sa v, " Signs belong unto 
 the Lord : as for me, / am but a plain preacher!' — 
 Sura Al Ankabut (xxix.) v. 48.
 
 02Y ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 21 
 
 Commentary. — The people thus addressed the Prophet, " Thou 
 sayest that a Book hath been sent down unto thee, Hke to that 
 sent down unto Moses and Jesus. But it is not so, for Moses 
 showed nine miracles to prove the heavenly origin of his Book ; 
 and no sign hath been sent down unto thee." In reply, God in- 
 structed Mohammed to say, "Signs come from the Lord alone, 
 and are not a condition of the prophetic office. I am but a 
 prophet : it rests with the Lord, if He will, to show a miracle ; or, 
 if He will, to withhold the same. As for me, I have no concern 
 with miracles. I am simply a Warner, with no power bc^nnd." — 
 
 Beidhaiui and Jelalein have similar remarks, the latter adding, 
 " S41ih showed the miracle of the camel, Moses of the rod, and 
 Jesus of the table ; as for me (said the Prophet), I am but a plain 
 preacher, warning the wicked of hell-fire." 
 
 Remarks. — On this and the preceding passages, 
 one may remark how natural it was for those about 
 him to ask Mohammed for signs in proof of his 
 mission, such as Moses and Jesus showed. That 
 " miracles were in God's hand " was no sufficient 
 answer ; and it is evident that they did not 
 regard the Goran as a miracle, or they would have 
 been satisfied with it as such. Again, the text shows, 
 that instead of coming with signs, Mohammed pro- 
 fessed to be simply a preacher, warning the people 
 of future punishment ; an excellent office done by 
 others as well as by apostles and prophets, out of 
 love for their people's welfare. Miracles are said not 
 to be a necessary condition of a divine mission. 
 True; there have been prophets, like Jeremiah and 
 Jonah, sent of God without signs. But no prophet, 
 coitiDiissioncd to deliver a laiv, came unsupjiortcd by 
 miracles and signs ; and Mohammed set himself not 
 only to deliver a law , but to cancel an existing dis-
 
 22 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 pensation founded upon miracles. It was therefore 
 all the more incumbent on him (as we have said 
 before) to have supported his claim by miracles, even 
 greater and more numerous than those of the former 
 lawgivers. 
 
 VI. What? Doth it not suffice tJiem that I have 
 sent doiv7i unto thee the Book wJiicJi is recited unto 
 them ? — Sura Al AnkabOt (xxix.) v. 49. 
 
 Comme7itary. — The meaning is, that if miracles be a necessary 
 condition, one hath already appeared, namely, the Coran, which 
 is a manifest and continuing miracle. " Doth it not suffice to 
 them ? " — meaning that this revelation is a more perfect miracle 
 than others that have preceded it. — Rdzi. 
 
 And Beidhawi : The Coran is a miracle, better than any they 
 have demanded ; for its perusal is a continuing sign that shall not 
 pass away, but shall remain with them for ever. And so also 
 Jelalein. 
 
 Remarks. — In this text, again, there is nothing 
 implying (as the Commentators say) that the Coran 
 is a miracle. So far from its appearing as a miracle, 
 the people did not even accept it as a revelation, for 
 they said, " Surely this is a story which he hath fabri- 
 cated with the aid of strangers " (S. Al Forcan (xxiv.) 
 V. 4). Many amongst the Moslems themselves ques- 
 tion its being a miracle. Take, for example, the 
 arguments both for and against its miraculous char- 
 acter, as given in the Kitdb al Muajic : — 
 
 I. The Coran held to be a miracle. — It is so held because it is 
 impossible to produce the like (ijls^::' ). It challenges comparison 
 by its beauty, being superior to anything that ever appeared in
 
 ON ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 23 
 
 Arabia. Some, however, believe the language itself not to be 
 beyond rivalry, apart from the truth conveyed, the like of which 
 it would be impossible to produce. 
 
 Others hold the miraculous to consist in the revelation of the 
 unknown, as in the prophecy, " The Greeks, after their discom- 
 fiture, shall shortly defeat the Persians in a few years " ; the word 
 
 " few " {j ^') signifying from three to nine : and so it came to pass. 
 
 Some, again, believe the miracle to lie in the absence of dis- 
 crepancies in the Coran, notwithstanding its length, quoting the 
 divine words, " If it had been from any other than God, they 
 would surely have found many discrepancies therein." 
 
 Another view is that the miracle consists in "prevention" 
 
 ( , '% ^A\\. which signifies that imitation was rendered impossible 
 by divine hindrance ; that is to say, the Arabs, though aforetime 
 able to produce a work equal to the Coran, were unable by super- 
 natural prevention to do so afterwards. According to the Mota- 
 zelites,' the miracle consists in the Almighty " turning men aside" 
 from the attempt, though they otherwise possessed the power. A 
 Shie-itc writer (Murtaza) holds the "prevention" to consist in 
 God's "taking away the knowledge" necessary for successful 
 imitation, and so it became impossible. 
 
 II. The Coran held (hy certain of the Moslems themselves) to be 
 not a miracle. — Firsf, The proof of the miraculous must be so 
 evident as to admit of no doubt. And the variety of opinion as to 
 what constitutes the Coran a miracle is so great as to make it in- 
 admissible. Second, The several proofs are in themselves insufBcicnt. 
 
 First, As to the beauty of the Coran. When we look, say the 
 objectors, at the works of our great orators and poets, and com- 
 pare them, say, with Ihc shorter Suras (for the challenge, "pro- 
 duce a Sura the like thereof," applies equally to them), we find no 
 superior beauty ; nay, often the balance inclines the other way : 
 whereas in a niira< Ir lln-rc must be no room f<»r doubt ; the evidence 
 must be absolute. 
 
 Second, The Companions doubted certain pieces being part oi 
 the Coran ; for exam|}Ie, Ibn M.isful held the Fiteha and Ihi- 
 Incantatory Suras (the last two), though the best known in the 
 
 ' The Motazclitcs (suppr)rtr(l by the Caliph A! Mainnn and his 
 two successors) deny the Coran to lie eternal .ind mu rcalc
 
 24 PASSAGES FNOJf CO RAN 
 
 whole Coran, not to belong to it. Now, if the style had reached 
 the point required to prove it a miracle, that same style must have 
 sufficed to distinguish what was the Coran from what was not, 
 and they had not differed about it. 
 
 Third, While the Coran was being collected, if a verse or a couple 
 of verses were presented by some one not known to the collectors, 
 these were not entered in the collection excepting on oath and 
 evidence of the occasion on which revealed, etc. Now, had the dic- 
 tion itself been evidence of the miraculous, the collectors would have 
 recognised it thereby, aiu! have had no need of further evidence. 
 
 Pourlli, We find in compositions throughout the world various 
 degrees of excellence, without any fixed limit being reached im- 
 possible to surpass ; and so in every age there must be someone 
 who has excelled his compeers, even if in time to come there should 
 arise someone surpassing him again. Now, supposing Mohammed 
 to have been the most eloquent of his age ; if that is to be proof of 
 a miracle, it follows that the work of any man which surpasses 
 those of all others of his time is a miracle,— a manifest absurdity ! 
 
 Passing on to the evidence of the miraculous, arising from the 
 absence of discrepancies, notwithstanding the length of the Coran, 
 the arguments are as follows. First, it is objected that the Coran 
 does contain assertions contrary to fact, as in the verse, " We 
 have not omitted from the Book any single thing"; and, again, 
 " There is nothing in nature, moist or dry, but it is to be found in 
 the manifest Book." This is not the case, for we find no mention 
 whatever in the Coran of many matters, the healing art, the daily 
 phenomena of nature, and so forth ; so that the statements in 
 such texts are not in accord with fact. 
 
 Next, there are discrepancies in such expressions as in ^^'Jcto 
 (jl .>-UuJ ; and when certain pages of the Coran were put before 
 
 Othman, he said, "Verily, herein are slips which will catch the Arab 
 tongue." Then there is much useless tautology, as in Sura Al Rah- 
 man ; and repetition over and over of histories, as those of Moses 
 
 and Jesus ; and such superflous words as in (J.^\i S .iliS- ' ^\". 
 
 And, after all, what defect is greater than useless verbiage ? 
 
 Again we read, " Had it (the Coran) been from any other than 
 God, they would have found many discrepancies therein," — signi- 
 fying that the absence of discrepancies is proof of a writing 
 being divine. Now, on the contrary, says this writer, there are
 
 ON ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 25 
 
 throug'hoiit the Coran nuinerous faults and discrepancies, verbal 
 and idiomatic, as well as in the sense.^ 
 
 And as to discrepancies, in many of our most beautiful poems 
 and writing's we find no defects of any kind,^not to say discrep- 
 ancies. Now, taking a short Sura (for the challenge applies 
 equally to them), are we to say that the absence of contradiction 
 in that amount of prose or poetry is proof of its being a miracle ? 
 And yet this is the line of reasoning ! 
 
 Lastly, as to the argument from "prevention"; — the miracle 
 would consist in the prevention, not in the Coran. As if one were 
 to say, " I stand up, but ye are unable to rise," and so it came to 
 pass ; the miracle would not be in him who stood up, but in the 
 prevention of the others from rising up. And so this illustration is 
 fatal to the old argument that the Coran is a miracle, because 
 others were held back ("prevented") from producing the like. 
 
 Rejoinder of those vho hold the Coran a miracle. — The variety of 
 opinion as to what that is which proves the Coran a miracle, is 
 not really any ground of weakness. Supposing even the argu- 
 ments of some of its supporters to be weak, there is absolute 
 unanimity as to the unapproachable beauty and perfection of the 
 Coran as a whole, in its style and rhythm, as well as in its reve- 
 lation of the unseen, proving it to be a miracle ; and the variety of 
 argument complained of is simply due to variety of view and know- 
 ledge in the several observers. 
 
 Next, the doubts ascribed to some of the Companions as to 
 certain of the Suras being part of the Coran, are mere conjec- 
 ture, and vanish before the whole collection as handed down to 
 us by a continuous chain. And even if we admitted that the 
 Companions had doubts as to certain parts, we say that they 
 never doubted the Coran as a whole having been revealed to the 
 Prophet, nor its miraculous beauty, but merely as to whether 
 certain parts belonged to it ; and that docs not affect our argument. 
 
 Again, the evidence required when various [jcrsons brought (he 
 Collectors one or two separate verses, was not as to tlir authen- 
 
 ' Half a page of these is given by the objector, but they are 
 iiardly of sulhcitiit importance to quote. They are such as 
 
 >jUj.a>'^ Ul.-'jlilj instead of ijlivsv-^ l5^ •~'t^' ^-^^ 
 
 jAIj Ji.4.J^ instead of ^.i>llj t-l.?J,^. ttc.
 
 26 PASSAGES FROM COR AN 
 
 ticity of the verses themselves, but as to the place in the Corau 
 they were to occupy in reference to other passag'cs. This was 
 needful, because the revelation came from the moulh of the 
 Proj)het from time to time ; and evidence was necess^iry not as to 
 the matter itself", but as to the occasion of its utterance and the 
 place it should appear in. Further, the verbal faults complained 
 
 of were errors of the scribe, not of the original; as^' j^i^, where 
 
 the copyist by mistake put in an (') for a (^). The same remark 
 applies to Othman's reference to " slips," which were simply faults 
 
 of transcription. So also as to surplusage, in the phrase t C l" 
 
 cU^li sJLs. the word "complete" was added, though unusual, by 
 way of giving emphasis. The existence of discrepancies, verbal or 
 otherwise, in the successive transcription of copies, is no argument 
 against the Coran being a miracle, but rather the reverse. The 
 only discrepancies that would affect its character would be in the 
 beauty of its composition, and of these there are none. 
 
 Lastly, to compare the shorter Suras with lengthy pieces of 
 oratory or poems, is altogether unjust. The comparison is in the 
 eloquence of similar passages, not in those that differ in length, 
 as any fair observer would say. We take our stand on the Coran 
 as a whole, and on the longer Suras, as a proof by their miraculous 
 eloquence of the prophetic mission of Mohammed. 
 
 Remarks on the foregoing discussion as to the Coran 
 being a miracle. — We may regard the above argument 
 to be exhaustive, since those who hold the Coran a 
 miracle have here used their best endeavours to ex- 
 tricate themselves from the doubts raised by their 
 co-religionists who question that position. Now, even 
 assuming the Coran to be of consummate eloquence, 
 we see that there is great variety of opinion as to what 
 constitutes it a miracle. Some hold the proof to be 
 simply in the eloquence ; others, in its revelation of 
 the Unseen ; others, in the absence of discrepancy. 
 Others, again, disagreeing as to the perfect eloquence
 
 ON ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 27 
 
 of the revelation, hold to the doctrine of " prevention," 
 or inability to produce the like, owing to divine inter- 
 vention. So that there is difference of opinion all 
 round. 
 
 Further, it is objected that, to apply the challenge, 
 " Bring a Sura like unto this," to any Sura in the Coran, 
 even the shortest, is unfair. But surely it is not so. 
 For the shorter a piece is, the easier to make it 
 perfect in beauty, and avoid anything weak or de- 
 fective. Now the argument of the objectors is, that 
 if we take a poem or oration, and compare it even 
 with the shortest of the Suras, we find that the com- 
 position of the Arab poets or orators is equal to it, 
 or even superior. The comparison is not with long 
 and short pieces, but with beauty, where even short- 
 ness of the Sura gives the Coran the advantage. 
 Where, then, is injustice in the comparison ? 
 
 To the second objection, that some authorities 
 differ as to the Fateha and two Incantatory Suras 
 being part of the Coran, it is replied that, even so, 
 there was no difference of view as to the Coran itself 
 being a revelation from God. This is not a satis- 
 factory answer to the argument, that doubts as to 
 certain Suras being part of the Coran weaken the 
 assertion that there was no difference of opinion as 
 to the Coran being a divine revelation. It had been 
 more correct of the defenders to say, " If even wc 
 were to admit the doubt, we should still have no 
 difference of opinion as to the rest of the Coran being 
 an inspired revelation," than to say absolutely, 
 " There is no difference of opinion amongst us as to the
 
 28 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 Coran being a divine revelation." And so the doubt 
 thus thrown du the Coran as a miracle remains un- 
 rebutted. 
 
 The answer to the third objection is singularly weak. 
 Tradition tells us that when evidence on oath was re- 
 quired from such as brought separate texts to the Collec- 
 tors, it was not to prove their being part of the Coran, 
 but simply as to the place they were to be put into. 
 Now, to say of any verse that its place in the Coran was 
 unknown to the Companions, is surely very near to say- 
 ing that they did not know whether it formed part of 
 the Coran at all. For the Coran professes to be a reve- 
 lation arranged (like the Scriptures) in parts, chapters, 
 and verses. When, therefore, single verses were pro- 
 duced, if (as is suggested) the position and context of 
 such verses were unknown, the Collectors were bound 
 to take evidence, so as, after a legal fashion, to prove 
 that they formed part of the Coran itself. For we 
 are told that after the Prophet's death, the people 
 brought verses written on pieces of stone, or bone, or 
 palm-leaves, to the Companions collecting the Coran, 
 who, when other proof was wanting, took evidence on 
 oath. Had the Collectors been already satisfied that 
 such texts were parts of the Coran, and been doubtful 
 only of their place in the revelation, we should have 
 heard of their examining the persons bringing them 
 as to the occasion, the time, and the spot on which 
 the witness heard the words from the Prophet's lips ; 
 but we read of nothing of the kind in tradition. The 
 presumption therefore remains, as the objectors put it, 
 that the oath taken from those bringing such passages
 
 ON ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 29 
 
 had reference to the authenticity of the texts them- 
 selves. This makes the plea urged against the objectors 
 fall to the ground, and leaves the contention, that 
 evidence had to be brought to prove the verses part 
 of the Coran, untouched. 
 
 Next, the reply that the " slips " or " faults " spoken 
 of by Othman were errors of transcription is not valid ; 
 for, if so, the Caliph would surely have had them 
 corrected, instead of letting them remain in what was 
 believed to be the Word of God. So also as to the ex- 
 pression i"L*l^ iJLs. L-iOj, the advocate explains that 
 the word " complete " is added to dispel doubt, 
 "although it is unusually strong" — as if any such 
 addition were needed ; for who but a fool would mis- 
 take 9 for lo? And his admission as to the unusual 
 " strength " of the words only adds force to the 
 argument of the objectors. 
 
 Then, how strange is it that the advocate not only 
 denies that discrepancies in word and sense are an 
 argument against the miraculous, but rather holds 
 them to be in favour of it ! If he means that they 
 prove there has been no change in the text of the 
 Coran since its collection, the Book being a faithful 
 copy of the original, we readily admit the argument. 
 But how can such discrepancies be proof of perfec- 
 tion? If they existed prior to the collection, and at 
 the time of his revision the Caliph did not adventure 
 to correct them, but (like ,,,l,=^l«.! .,^jk>) kei)t them as 
 before, then tlie discrepancies must have been in the 
 original. So that their existence is really an argument 
 against perfection, and an answer to the challenge, 
 3
 
 30 PASSAGES FROiU CORAM 
 
 " Had it been from any other than God, they would 
 surely have found many discrepancies therein." 
 
 Still stranger is the distinction the advocate of the 
 miraculous draws between discrepancies (or variation) 
 in eloquence, and discrepancies in word and sense, 
 holding that the verse just quoted applies to the 
 former only, and not to the latter; in other words, that 
 a fault in the beauty and style of the Coran would 
 alone affect the miracle, and that a discrepancy in the 
 verbiage or sense would not do so. Are we to con- 
 clude, then, that the Coran is divine in respect of its 
 eloquence, and human in respect of its verbiage and 
 sense? Can that be the Moslem faith? Is not the 
 truth, rather, that perfect eloquence in any work is no 
 proof that the work is from God, but only that the 
 eloquence is the gift of God ? For are not genius, in- 
 telligence, memory, and mental power all the gifts of 
 God, so that when we meet with a man of marvellous 
 eloquence and unparalleled oratorical power we say, 
 " Praise be to the Great Giver ! " ? Do we ever dream 
 that his eloquence is inspired, or that their author is a 
 prophet ? So, let the Coran be ever so beautiful and 
 ever so perfect, we say of the author, it is God who 
 gave the talent ; and it is all the same whether the 
 book be inspired or not, or whether it surpass all 
 other efforts — as indeed we find in many writings and 
 poems of the Greeks and Arabs. 
 
 From the foregoing discussion it appears that the 
 Moslem is in this dilemma. Should he say the Coran 
 is a miracle in respect of its language and sense, he is 
 met (as even the Moslem objector shows) by discre-
 
 ON ABSENCE OF MIRACLES 31 
 
 pancies that destroy the assumption. Should he take 
 simple eloquence as the miracle, the claim is shown to 
 be equally untenable. These conclusions are drawn 
 from the doubts and objections, as we have seen, of 
 Believers themselves ; and many of the most learned 
 Grammarians hold the same view on art^uments that 
 cannot be gainsaid. 
 
 REVIEW 
 
 From the texts quoted in this chapter, as well as 
 from the Moslem commentaries thereon, it is clear that 
 no claim of having shown miracles was made by the 
 Prophet ; and that the absence of miracles to prove 
 his mission like that of the former prophets, is ascribed 
 to divine compassion, lest the Arabs, rejecting such 
 miracles, should (like the similar nations of old) 
 have become liable to destruction ; and hence they 
 were not destroyed when they rejected Mohammed, 
 because he came without miracles. Now, since the 
 Goran is by many held to be a miracle, like the 
 dividing of the sea or raising of the dead, or rather 
 to have been an even greater miracle,^ it would follow, 
 according to this law, that those who heard it and 
 did not believe should equally have suffered that 
 doom. And since nr; punishment did come, it would 
 follow that the Goran was not a miracle, — a conclusion 
 which accords with the text, " Nothing hindered US 
 from sending tliec with miracles, but that the peoples 
 before thee gave them the lie." 1 he difficulty is not 
 
 ' As I\;'i/,i, sec ]). 22.
 
 32 PASSAGES FROM COR AN 
 
 to be evaded. If we accei)t tlic Coran as a miracle, 
 the text breaks down ; on the other hand, if we hold 
 it not a miracle, it will satisfy the objection of those 
 who ask why those who rejected the Prophet were 
 not punished, namely, because he showed no miracle. 
 It is difficult to see how the intelligent Moslem can 
 get out of the maze otherwise than by admitting, as 
 this chapter fully proves, that the Coran was not a 
 miracle. 
 
 As to the marvellous tales in the Hadith of miracles 
 shown by the Prophet, such as causing water to flow 
 from between his fingers, satisfying multitudes from a 
 little food, etc., they are regarded by all enlightened 
 Moslems as absolutely worthless. Had there been 
 any single miracle of the kind, it would certainly have 
 been mentioned in the Coran, where Mohammed to 
 those who demanded of him a sign repeatedly says 
 that he was sent with none, and gives the reason. 
 And when the Hadith are at variance with the Coran, 
 the honest Believer must reject the Hadith and accept 
 the Coran. 
 
 In fine, every intelligent Moslem must see that the 
 Coran is no sufficient miracle, and that they are only 
 driven to set it up as a miracle because they have 
 none other.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 PASSAGES OF THE GORAN SIGNIFYING THAT 
 MOHAMMED WAS NOT SENT TO USE FORCE 
 OR COMPEL MEN TO JOIN HIS RELIGION 
 
 I. Let there be no coinpidsion in religion. Verily^ 
 the true direction hath been manifestly distinguished 
 from error. Whosoever, tJie7rfore, rcjecteth idols and 
 believeth in God, he verily hath laid hold of a strong 
 support that cannot be broken. And God both heareth 
 and seeth. — SuRA Bacr (ii.) v. 252. 
 
 Commentary. — First, The Lord halh not made faitli to be a 
 matter of compulsion or force. On the contrary, He liatli made it 
 a matter of intelligent adoption and free will ; for compulsion and 
 force are not allowable in this life, according to the text, " Whoso- 
 ever so willeth shall believe, and whosoever so willeth shall dis- 
 believe" ; and in another Sura, " If thy Lord so willed, every soul 
 on the earth had believed; why, then, sliDuldsl tlinn seek to 
 compel mL'n If) believe?" Compulsion, lhcrcl'oi-c, and ronstraint 
 in relijcion an; not lawful, Ijccausc lliry would supersetle ])tTson;d 
 endeavf)ur. Second, It is compulsion, as wiicii a hclicM-r s.iilli to 
 an infid(tl, nclii;ve, or else F shall slay IIk'c. To such llic l.<ii(l 
 saith, "Let there be no compulsion in rdii^ion." '/'/tin/, I,cl il nut 
 be said to one who embracirth tht- failh afler war, thai he ii.ilii 
 enibraced il undi.T compulsion; for, if after il^'lilintf, he aj^rces 
 thereto, and his profebsioii of Ilic failh is sound, llicic is no com- 
 pulsion here. — R^zi. 
 
 lieid/Knvi nol(,-s that compulsion is reall\' liiis - forcini;- a person 
 
 3:{
 
 34 PASSAGES FROM CORAN 
 
 to an act he iloos not approve of, by an attack upon \\\m. Agaui, 
 the divine command is either absolute {i.e. in respect both of the 
 heathen and the People of the Book), in which case cancelled by 
 the text, "Fight against the Unbelievers and the hypocrites"; or it 
 applies exclusively to the people of the Book (Jews and Christians). 
 And of these latter there is a tradition that an Ansar (citizen of 
 Medina) had two sons who became Christians before the mission of 
 the Prophet ; so their father laid hands on them, and would not let 
 thorn go unless they embraced Islam, wliich, they declining, the 
 father appealed to Mohammed, crying out, "O Prophet of God, 
 shall a part of my very self enter hell-fire, and I looking quietly 
 on?" Thereupon this verse was revealed, and he let them go. 
 Jelalein refers to the same tradition. 
 
 Remarks. — Both Razi and Beidhawi make here 
 three notable admissions. First, God does not accept 
 conversion, the result of force and compulsion ; second, 
 coercion and violence are unlawful, because they 
 supersede personal endeavour; and third, the text is 
 a distinct prohibition, " Thou shalt not compel." 
 Now, as God does not accept faith the result of force 
 and constraint, it follows that force and constraint 
 are opposed to the will of God ; and he who resorts 
 to them makes that to be lawful which in point of 
 fact is unlawful. Moreover, the text condemns force, 
 whether practised at the moment, or intended to be 
 resorted to when a fitting opportunity might here- 
 after occur. The verse is peremptory, " No force in 
 the faith " ; the prohibition absolute. It is also of 
 universal application, as we see from Razi's first two 
 conclusions. But his further remark, as to conversion 
 following upon war, is not reasonable. It assumes 
 that a person under such circumstances embracing 
 Islam, does so by choice ; whereas the presumption is 
 that, defeated in battle, humbled and ruined, and
 
 ENJOINING TOIERATION 35 
 
 having no alternative, he is driven to abandon his 
 former convictions. How can the Commentators 
 speak of there being " no compulsion " when such 
 things are done? Have they forgotten that Jehad 
 and fighting against heathen and People of the Book 
 are according to the command that the faith shall be 
 everywhere Islam alone ; for what else does this text 
 mean, " Fight against them till opposition cease, and 
 the faith be wholly God's"? (Sura Bacr, v. i88). 
 
 \\. It doth not belong unto thee to direct tJievi ; it is 
 God that directcth zvhoni He pleasetJi. That tvhicJi ye 
 spend in alms, it is for your ozvn souls; and ye shall 
 not spend anything, but to obtain the favojir of God. 
 And what good thing ye give in alms, it shall be repaid 
 unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly. — SURA 
 Back (ii.) v. 268. 
 
 Commentary. — We arc told that certain of the Companions 
 having refused an ahiis to their unbelieving brethren, the question 
 was referred to the Prophet, who, on this verse being revealed, 
 desired them to give the alms. Others say it was the I'rophet 
 himself who declined to give alms to Unbelievers till llic text was 
 sent down ; and its sense is this : — It is not thy place to be guide to 
 those who ojjpose thee, or to refuse them alms in order that they 
 may embrace the faith : r.ather give them alms for the Lord's sake, 
 .ind delay not i\\y cliarily until they are converted, for it is said, 
 " Thou shall not comjicl men to become believers." I'urther, the 
 Lord made known unto His prophet that he was sent a bearer of 
 Good, a Warner to call men unto the Lord, a Light to lighten man- 
 kind, and manifest the faith unto them ; as to guiding them, it was 
 not his concern ; it was all the same to him whether they look the 
 right way or refused. Therefore it was not for him to willulraw 
 his help or alms from them. Ag;iin, if he sought to gain them 
 over by withholding charity till they believed, their conversion 
 from njolives of bribery would be of no .avail: IIh' Hiilh r((|iiiri(l 
 was one of oberlicnre and free r\v\'\cv.—R/)si.
 
 30 PASSAGES FRO AT CORAM 
 
 Bcidlta7vi explains the passage tlius : II is no business of thine 
 to guide men ; it is simply thy business to advise them aright, to 
 stir them up to what is right, and to deter them from what is evil. 
 So also Jelah'in, who, referring to the above tradition, gives the 
 meaning thus : " Thou art not responsible for the conversion of 
 men to Islam, but simply for bearing the message : it belongeth to 
 God to lead ; and as to what ye give in charity, the merit thereof 
 returns unto your own souls. We are forbidden to give charity 
 with any motive beyond that." 
 
 Remarks. — How fair and excellent is the lesson 
 which these doctors of Islam draw from the text ! 
 Pause and consider, intelligent reader. If the offer- 
 ing of alms as an inducement to join the faith be 
 unjustifiable, how much more force ! If it were 
 thought wrong to give an Unbeliever charity, lest it 
 should have been taken as a bribe, what shall we say 
 of the wars and rapine, the slavery and terror, by 
 which it is held lawful to compel men to enter Islam ! ^ 
 And yet how strange and inconsistent with this is 
 Razi's sentiment, that such as go over to Islam when 
 beaten are not to be held as if they had yielded to 
 compulsion ! How can he reconcile such view with 
 these two texts? If we are (according to Jelalein) 
 forbidden to offer an alms in the hope of converting 
 the needy, and if that conversion is alone recognis- 
 able which is due to free choice, how can this be 
 reconciled with Jehad for the spread of Islam ? 
 
 HI. Say 7m to those to ivhom the Book hath been 
 given, and to the Heathen, Have ye believed? fo7- if 
 
 ^ The Author here refers to the fate of the Beni Coreitza, a 
 Jewish tribe in the neighbourhood of Medina, who were all 
 beheaded after their surrender (some 800 in number), and their 
 women and children sold into slavery, by command of the Prophet.
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 37 
 
 they have believed, verily they are guided aright ; but 
 if they turn tJieir backs, verily unto thee belongeth 
 only the delivering of the message ; for God zvatcheth 
 over His servants. — SURA Al Imran, Medina, (iii.) 
 V. 1 8. 
 
 Coinnienfary. — The Prophet's duty is simply to make use of 
 proofs and argument. This is the sole obligation devolving on 
 him ; he has no concern as to how the truth is received. It is the 
 Lord that watcheth and giveth effect to His promises and His 
 threats. — RAzi. 
 
 Beidhwivi : If men believe, they benefit their own souls, saving 
 themselves from destruction ; if they turn their backs, thy concern 
 is only to deliver the message : their unbelief will not endamage 
 thee, for thou hast delivered it, 
 
 Jelaletn : Jews, Christians, and Heathen Arabs are here ad- 
 dressed : if they believe, they are guided away from error ; if they 
 turn away, it is thine only to carry the message : it is God who 
 seeth, and will reward His servants according to their works. 
 
 Remarks. — The Prophet's duty is here distincll)' 
 confined to publishing his message, with the evidence 
 and arguments bearing on it. "It is God that 
 watcheth His servants, and visits them according to 
 their works," — a clear injunction, " thine to prrach, 
 ours to take account," — limiting the office of the 
 Prophet, and prohibiting resort to war, compulsion, or 
 even denunciation. Having delivered his message, no 
 other obligation remained ; just as the debtor of one 
 thousand pieces, having paid the thousand, nothing 
 else remains for him to do. Then why did Moham- 
 med, who was " cc)mmissi(un(l none otherwise than as 
 a preacher and a warncr," not confinr himself williin 
 the limit thus imposed upon him? 
 
 IV. 'Iliy prnf^lr have given it {the Coran) the lie.
 
 38 PASSAGES FROHf CORAM 
 
 Sa r, " / am not the keeper over you. For every announce- 
 1/ient there is ivi appointed tii?ie, and shortly ye shall 
 knozvr — Sura Al Inam (vi.) v. 66. 
 
 Commentary. — The Prophet is here told that, not being keeper 
 of his people, it was no concern of his to take them to task for 
 gfiving- the lie to his teaching-. He was but a warner ; it was for 
 God to take account of their actions. According to Ibn Abbas 
 and the Commentators, this text is cancelled by the passages that 
 command figliting for the faith. The ImA.m, however, is not of 
 that opinion, for "every announcement hath its appointed time," 
 may refer to punishment in the future life ; but it may also refer to 
 the ascendency of the Moslems over the heathen by war, slaughter, 
 and compulsion in the present. — Rdzi. 
 
 Remarks. — This is now the fourth text signifying 
 that Mohammed was not the Guardian of those who 
 rejected him. As to the cancelment of these verses, 
 one party holds that the order for Jehad took their 
 place, and has since remained the only rule of action ; 
 in other words, cancels all the texts enjoining freedom 
 of judgment and condemnatory of compulsion. The 
 Imam, on the other hand, disowns the cancelment, 
 but recognising, at the same time, the command to 
 use the sword, he fails to explain why these texts 
 have been so expressed ; why they so explicitly forbid 
 force, and represent in absolute terms the Prophet's 
 duty to be that of a simple warner and bringer of good 
 tidings. Verse after verse not only denies the use of 
 arms, but condemns everything approaching to interfer- 
 ence with free choice in religion ; suddenly the Revela- 
 tion changes, and the Prophet is desired to adopt the 
 very measures, as proper and expedient, which had 
 been so strenuously forbidden! Such a course, by my
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 39 
 
 life, would ill become any intelligent creature; how 
 much less can we dare attribute it to the Most High ! 
 
 V. Noiu have evident demonstrations come unto you 
 from your Lord: zvJioso seetli the same, it is for his 
 own soul; atid lie that is blind, it is against the same. I 
 am not a Keeper over you. — SuRA Al In am (vi.) v. 104. 
 
 Commentary. — He that seeth the truth, and believeth, does so 
 for his own benefit; and he that shutteth his eyes, injureth himself: 
 the Lord is Keeper, not the Prophet. He that maketh the choice 
 is benefited by the same, and gaineth the reward ; if driven 
 thereto, the merit would be marred. The text bars force. The 
 Commentators g-ivc the meaning thus: "My action towards you 
 in respect of the faith is not that of compulsion ; I am no Guardian 
 or Master over you ;" — which they say was prior to Jehad, for when 
 that was commanded, Mohammed did become the Keeper over 
 them. Some hold that the command to fight abrogates the 
 present text ; but that, says Razi, is far from being the case. 
 Such Commentators are too fond of cancelmcnt, for Doctors of 
 Divinity very properly limit that to the smallest possible extent. — 
 Rfizi. 
 
 Remarks. — Here we have a fifth text to the same 
 effect, in which note three points. (1) Mohammed 
 was in no way responsible for the conduct of Un- 
 believers, or for any punitive action towards thcin. 
 
 (2) Compulsion invalidates merit aiul recompense. 
 
 (3) The Lord holds men absolutely free in matters of 
 faith and worship — punishing them if they disobey, 
 and rewarding them if they submit. Now, as to these 
 principles being superseded by the command to 
 fight, how can that be held possible? Vox, according 
 to the law thus divinely enunciated, comjiulsion 
 neutralises personal effort, destroys the grand object 
 of religion, and cancels the merit and recom[)ense
 
 40 PASSAGES FROM COR AN 
 
 resulting from free choice. And hence the divine law 
 — Let there be no compulsion in the faith. 
 But now, alas, for its reversal ! The war-cry has 
 drowned the word of peace. Compulsion super- 
 sedes the command against it, and the maxim, " I 
 am not the Guardian over you," has vanished to the 
 winds. 
 
 And here I may observe that, by introducing force 
 and compulsion, Mohammed abrogated the first 
 principle of conversion, namely, personal responsi- 
 bility, with its spiritual recompense. How, then, can 
 it be said that Mohammed " came as a Mercy to 
 mankind," seeing that he hath deprived mankind, 
 by the forcible imposition of Islam, of the grand 
 virtue of personal effort ?nd free choice, and the 
 resulting recompense? In what way, my Friend, wilt 
 thou escape from so manifest a contradiction, or 
 reconcile two principles so diametrically opposed ? 
 
 Now, I praise the Imam for his desire to prove that 
 none of the tests enjoining toleration have been can- 
 celled. For he sees what every thinking man must 
 see, namely, that it is impossible to abrogate them, 
 since the prohibition against the use of force and 
 against resort to compulsion, cannot be cancelled 
 without destroying the chief purposes of religion and 
 contravening the freedom of conscience, which is the 
 gift of the Most High to mankind. Only, the Imam 
 fails to explain how abrogation is " far from being the 
 case," or how virtual cancelmcnt can be reconciled 
 with the absence of the same. To do so is beyond 
 the power of man.
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 41 
 
 VI. If God had so pleased, they had not been Idol- 
 aters ; and We have ttot made thee to be Guardian over 
 them, neither art thou their Keeper. — SURA Al Inam 
 (vi.) V. 107. 
 
 Commentary on the latter clause — 
 
 When the Lord had made it clear that there was no other power 
 but His own to put an end to unbelief, He completes the passage 
 by showing to the Prophet what his duty was, namely, that He 
 had not made him the Guardian of the people nor their Keeper in 
 the way of interference. His simple duty was to deliver the 
 divine commands and prohibitions in respect of doctrine and 
 practice, explain the grounds of the message, and pronounce its 
 sanctions. Those who accepted the same, the benefit was their 
 own ; and those who refused, the evil thereof rested on them- 
 selves. — KAzi. 
 
 And Beidha-^ai : We have not made thee a Watcher and Keeper 
 over them that thou shouldest manage their affairs. Nor do thou 
 upbraid those on whom they call besides the true God ; that is, 
 do not speak evil of the gods whom they worship. 
 
 Remarks. — This is now the sixth passage limiting 
 the duty of Mohammed to that of a Messenger and 
 Warner. Note, also, that it is to be the Prophet's 
 answer to those who defied his mission ; he is not to 
 trouble them in any way, or interfere with the view of 
 making them accept his faith; and that in three par- 
 ticulars — (i) by force of arms or other form of compul- 
 sion ; (2) by withholding help or kindness from them ; 
 (3) by reviling them. The only remaining way was 
 to warn them with kindness and benignity, whether 
 they would hear or whether they would forbear. 
 
 VII. }J tliy Lord had so willed, all upoti the earth 
 had believed, every one. /\h I wilt thoti compel men to 
 be believers, whereas no soul can believe but by the per-
 
 42 PASSAGES FROM CORAN 
 
 mission of God? And He iviil pour out His indigna- 
 tion on t/iosc that will not understand. — SuRA YuNUS 
 (x.) vv. 98, 99. 
 
 Commentary, by various aiitlioritics — 
 
 Had it been God's pleasure that foree should have been used to 
 lead men to the faith, He would have so decreed and legalised 
 the same ; but He hath not done so, because conversion which 
 comes of compulsion is of no benefit to the convert. "Ah! will 
 thou compel men to believe?" that is, thou hast no power to 
 convert anyone. The eflective power, and causative will, rest with 
 the Almig'hty alone, for "no soul can believe without the permis- 
 sion of God." Saith the Cazee, Faith goeth not forth otherwise 
 than by the knowledge of God and personal endeavour, or other- 
 wise by the divine decree therefor. — Rdzi. 
 
 Bcidhaivi : It is against the divine pleasure to use compulsion, 
 which in itself cannot possibly attain the object. No one can 
 believe but by the will of God ; wherefore do not make the 
 attempt, for that rests with God alone. 
 
 Remarks. — Doubtless the prohibition here made 
 against the resort to force, Hke that in the first verse 
 of this chapter, must have been clue to Mohammed 
 having either begun to use means of compulsion at 
 the time, or. having had it in his mind to do so when 
 opportunity should offer. He is here reminded of the 
 powerlessness of force to reach the goal of faith, 
 which is the gift of God alone, and His prerogative. 
 If compulsion be thus forbidden by God, whence 
 came its introduction ? 
 
 Vni. Say, "O men, the Truth hath nozv come 
 unto you from your Lord ! He, therefore, ivlio is guided 
 thereby is guided for {the benefit of) his ozun self ; and 
 he who goeth astray, for the same he goeth astray. And 
 I am not the Master over you" — SuRA YuNUS, 
 Meccan, (x.) v. 106.
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 43 
 
 Commentary. — As if the Prophet were commanded to say, God 
 hath perfected llie divine law, and taken away every excuse and 
 possible pretext. It is no business of mine to labour for your 
 reward, or save you from your punishment, any more than I have 
 done. Ibn Abbas says that the text is cancelled by the conunand 
 to fight.— >?<f0/. 
 
 Remarks. — Observe two things. First, that the pur- 
 pose of the Almighty in the mission of Mohammed 
 was simply to reveal the divine law, so that he might 
 place it before mankind ; second, that no other com- 
 mission was given him but to preach and warn. It 
 follows that, when he proclaimed war and measures of 
 violence, he was resorting to that which, being not the 
 purpose of God in his mission, was wide of his duty. 
 Now, seeing that his mission was so strictly confined 
 within these limits, how could it have been lawful in 
 him to smite and slay, to fight and raid and plunder, 
 to take prisoners and make slaves? If such things 
 were lawful, what arc we to make of the command, 
 "There shall be no force in religion"? What! art 
 thou forcing men to believe? Compulsion, and yet 
 no compulsion ! By my life ! one of the most extra- 
 ordinary contradictions the world has ever heard ; a 
 conjunction of two principles absolutely irreconcilable. 
 And how, O Ibn Abbas ! is it admissible for thee to 
 say that the text has been cancelled by the command 
 to fight ? Scest thou not that the prohibition of force 
 is abs(jlute; that to attempt forcible conversion is 
 declared to be of no benefit, and contrary tf) the will 
 of God? Jkit, alas! this view of Ibn Abbas has 
 become that (;f Moslems at large ever since the law 
 of war appeared. How can they read the verses
 
 44 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 denouncing force, and yet give place in their heart 
 to the command to fight? It is a mystery how the 
 theologians of Islam can accept the eternal law of "no 
 force in the faith," and at the same moment can see 
 in the warlike passages both obligation and expedi- 
 ency. Holding thus both mandates to be from God, 
 they are bewildered in a maze betwixt the one and 
 the other, with no prospect of finding an escape. 
 
 IX. They that have taken others besides Him as 
 patrons, God observeth them ; t/wu art not the Master 
 over them. — SURA SllURA, Meccan, (xlii.) v. 4. 
 
 Commentary. — Those who worship, besides God, other gods, 
 the Lord is Custodian over them and their affairs. Nothing 
 escapcth Him. He it is that t.'ikcth account of them ; tliere is 
 none other but He alone. Thou, O Mohammed ! hast no interest 
 to meddle with their concerns, or compel them to enter the faith. 
 Thou art but a Warner. — Rasi. 
 
 X. It is God loho hath made for you the thiftgs He 
 hath created, conveniences of shade, and places of retreat 
 in the mountains, and garments to defend you from the 
 heat, and coats of mail as a defence in danger. Thus 
 hath He fulfilled His favour towards you, that perchance 
 ye may submit ; but if they turn their backs, truly thy 
 duty is but that alone of a plain Messenger. They 
 recogjiise the favour of God, and then deny the same ; 
 and the most of tliem are Unbelievers. — SURA Al 
 Nakhl, Meccan, (Ixviii.) vv. 78, 79. 
 
 Commentary. — That is : If they turn back, O Mohammed ! 
 and, refusing- thy call, prefer the pleasures of this present life, 
 following their fathers in unbelief, they but incriminate their own
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 45 
 
 souls thereby. There is nothingf further for thee to do but what 
 thou art doing', namely, fully to deliver thy message. — Razi. 
 Beidha-wi to the same effect. 
 
 XI. Whether ive cause thee to see any part of that 
 which We have threatened them with, or cause thee first 
 to die, verily, upon thee devolveth the message, and upon 
 Us the reckoniiig. — SURA Al Rad, Medina, (xiii.) v. 40. 
 
 Commeyitary. — Whatever ma)' happen in the future, thj' duty is 
 simply to deliver the command of the Lord, fulfilling- thy trust and 
 commission ; with Us it rests to take account. 
 
 Remarks. — These three texts point to the same 
 truth — (i) Whether the idolaters listened to the Book 
 or went astray, Mohammed was not their keeper. It 
 was no business of his to force them to the faith. (2) 
 There was no keeper over them but God alone, in 
 whose hands, not in the Prophet's, lay their destiny. 
 (3) If the people rejected his summons, he had no 
 further duty but to deliver the message. Strange 
 that the learned doctors of Islam should have lost 
 sight of the truth so explicitly set forth here, and have 
 accepted in their stead the passages which they hold 
 to have been revealed sanctioning war. If there be no 
 keeper over the idolaters but God alone, how comest 
 thou, O Mohammed, to assume that office over them ; 
 and, when forbidden t(j use force for their conversion, 
 how earnest thou to war against them, shed their blood, 
 and carry f)ff their wives and children captive? And, 
 when commanded not to interfere with their affairs, 
 hut simply to deliver the message, whetlur they 
 would hear or whether forbear, \\h)- didst thou not 
 4
 
 46 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 take thy stand within that Hmit, and leave them and 
 their concerns to the Loi'd, with whom alone it rested ? 
 Or, as it is so plainly put in the third text, "With 
 thee lies the message ; with Me the reckoning." 
 
 XII. And obey not the Unbelievers and the Hypo- 
 crites ; and leave off Jiarassing tJiem. And put thy 
 trust in God ; for God is a sufficient protector. — SuRA 
 Al Ahzab (xxxiii.) V. 45. 
 
 Colli nioitdiy. — Obey not the Unbelievers ; a reference to the 
 Propliet's duty of warning- and admonishing-. And leave off 
 annoying- them ; that is, leave it to God to punish them, either at 
 your hands or by hell-fire. — R^iai, 
 
 Jelalein: "Leave off troubling- them"; countenance not their 
 infidelity and h3'pocrisy ; but put thy trust in the Lord : He will 
 suffice for thee. 
 
 Remarks. — It need not be wondered that Jelalein 
 is here nearer the mark than Razi, who is strangely 
 at fault ; for what intelligent reader would take the 
 words " leave off harassing " the Unbelievers, to mean 
 that the Unbelievers, instead of being left alone, 
 might be punished at the hands of the Prophet and 
 his followers? That is to say, prohibition to injure 
 is, in Razi's view, equal to an intimation of coming 
 punishment at the hand of him who is prohibited from 
 injuring them. In fact, Razi would seem as if he saw 
 no difference between such prohibition and the follow- 
 ing command : *' They desire that ye should become 
 disbelievers even as they are, and become like unto them. 
 But take not from amongst them any friends, until they 
 fly their country in the zaays of God. But if they turn 
 back, then seize them and slay them zvheresoever ye find
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 47 
 
 them, and take not from amongst them any friend nor 
 any helper " ; ^ and this extraordinary meaning is got 
 out of the text, " leave off harassing them " ! He does 
 not see that an agreement between these contradictory- 
 commands is about as great as an agreement between 
 fire and water, between the forbidden and the lawful. 
 Again, observe how successive texts throw light on 
 the apparent cause of their appearance. We have, 
 first, " No compulsion in religion";- then " Ah ! wilt 
 thou compel men to believe?"^ And now, " Leave 
 off harassing," which is a kind of compulsion. It 
 would seem as if the Prophet had intended, or had 
 even begun, to use such compulsoiy measures, when 
 he was forbidden to use force. Then appeared the 
 two verses repeating the prohibition ; " Wilt thou 
 compel ? " and " Leave off harassing them," — being a 
 clear interdiction of what apparently had already 
 been begun. Thus we sec that prohibition follows 
 [)rohibition, and injunction injunction, to the effect that 
 Mohammed should not harass the idolaters or distress 
 them with hostile acts, but confine himself to preach- 
 in;; and warning in a kindly way — ^^.^2-1 js. U.-. 
 And here is ground for grave reflection. 
 
 XIII. />o thou i)ivite into the way of thy Lord by 
 ivisdom and mild exhortation, and dispute ivitJi them in 
 the most graeious manner ; for thy Lord uell knoiveth 
 him that doth stray from His luay, and He well hno7veth 
 them that arc guided aright. — SUKA Al Naiil. (xvi.) 
 V. 123. 
 
 « Sura Al Nisa(iv.) V. R8. " \'- 2,^- ' I'. .4..
 
 48 ' PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 Commentary.— ^\\c best and wisest around him are to be 
 invited by wise and convincins^ evidence and discourse ; the people 
 at large by argument, reasonable, clear, and satisfying ; while 
 even the contentious are to be reasoned with in the most excellent 
 and perfect wa)'. " The Lord knoweth those that are guided 
 aright " ; that is, busy thyself in summoning people to the Lord in 
 these three ways, for the result, i.e. in men choosing the right, 
 appcrtaineth not unto thee. — RAzL 
 
 And Jelalein : Call men, O Mohammed, unto the way of the 
 Lord by wisdom, that is, by the Coran, and kindly discourse, and 
 friendly words ; and dispute in the way that is most attractive, 
 tliat is, by the Word of God and by argument; "for the Lord 
 knoweth him that shall go astray," and will recompense the same. 
 
 Remarks. — This text explains the office of the 
 Prophet. He was to summon those around him to 
 the faith, by proofs and evidence, in a mild and 
 friendly way ; and within these limits to restrain his 
 action. Would that Mohammed had held by the 
 procedure thus enjoined, and taken his stand on the 
 boundary here laid down ; and not, following in the 
 footsteps of his enemies (as Kab ibn Ashraf, Abu Afak, 
 Sofian ibn Khalid, Abu Rafi, etc.), overstepped that 
 limit into the domain of war and treachery; a line of 
 action unworthy of any brave man, how much more 
 of one that professed to be a prophet sent to teach 
 and guide mankind ! 
 
 XIV. Wf. have revealed it {the Cora^i) with the 
 truth, ajid zvith the truth it hath descended ; and We 
 have not sent thee otherxvise than as a bearer of good 
 tidifigs and a Warner. — SURA ISRAEL (xvii.) v. 104. 
 
 Com7ncntary.— The preceding passage speaks of the Coran as 
 a miracle and the evidence thereof. Then it is related how the 
 Unbelievers, not accepting it as such, demanded other kind of 
 miracles ; to which God replied that there was not any need for
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 49 
 
 such, and established it by many reasons. One is, that Moses 
 showed nine miracles, and that when the people nevertheless con- 
 tended with him, God destroyed them. And so it was here. If 
 Mohammed were to show his people such miracles as they de- 
 manded, and they denied them, they would have become liable to 
 the same doom of extermination ; but that, again, would not 
 have been permissible, seeing that God foreknew that amongst 
 them were such as should thereafter believe ; and that even of those 
 who might not, there would still arise a believing progeny. The 
 passage then returns to the glorification of the Goran, and its 
 perfection as having been " sent down with the truth"; that is, 
 its grand purpose hath been to establish the truth and right- 
 eousness. 
 
 The text proceeds to say that Mohammed was not sent but 
 as a Messenger of good and a Warner, thus : — These ignorant 
 people who demand miracles and refuse thy religion, these are not 
 in any wise responsible for their infidelity ; for Wi-: have not sent 
 thee otherwise than as a bringer of good tidings to the obedient, 
 and as a Warner to them that are rebellious. If they accept the 
 faith, it is for their own benefit ; if they refuse, their infidelity is 
 no business of thine. — KCizi. 
 
 Remarks. — The questicjiis whether the Coran is a 
 miracle, and why miracles are withheld, lest the 
 rejecters should be destroyed, have been disposed of 
 in the first chapter. And so I would only ask my 
 gentle reader's attention to the words ''not otherwise" 
 in the text. "Wk have not sent thee otherwise tliaii as 
 a preacher and a warner." This is the answer w hich 
 the prophet gives as coming from heaven to those 
 who demanded miracles like those of Moses and 
 Jesus. Mohammed, the verse says, was not sent to 
 I)erf(jrm miracles; his office embraced two things only, 
 namely, to bring good tidings and to warn ; " not 
 otherwise"; a distinct limit not 1(j be overi)assed. 
 And I ask any intelligent person whether the i'rophet 
 was not directly pnjhibited in this and other similar
 
 50 PASSAGES FROM CORAN 
 
 passages from overstepping the clear boundary here 
 marked out for him, and irrevocably fixed by the 
 words " not otherwise " ? 
 
 Now, how was it possible for men to recognise in 
 Mohammed the simple preacher and warner, when 
 they saw him soon after become the fierce warrior and 
 imperious autocrat, summoning those around him at 
 the point of the sword to accept his religion, or " pay 
 tribute with the hand, and be in subjection " ? Where 
 is the connection between two such opposing com- 
 mands, — said to emanate both from the same Almighty 
 hand, — one absolutely limiting the Prophet's duty to 
 preaching and warning, the other launching him forth 
 at the head of armies to force the acceptance of Islam? 
 Can any intelligent Moslem, free to think and judge 
 for himself, read the one set of positive and peremp- 
 tory limitations, and then without being utterly em- 
 barrassed and confounded, contemplate his Prophet as 
 a man of war and conquest, havoc, spoil, and rapine ? 
 No, by my life. No ! 
 
 XV. Verily, We have revealed unto thee the Book 
 with trutJi ; he that is guided thereby, it is for Ids own 
 sold ; and he that erreth, he errethfor the same ; and 
 thou art not over them a Master. — SURA Zamr, 
 Meccan, (xxxix.) v. 41. 
 
 Commentary. — Mohammed being distressed at the persistence of 
 his people in unbelief, is told by the Almig-hty that the perfect and 
 glorious Book had been sent down a blessing and guide unto man- 
 kind, itself the Truth and a miracle proving its own divine origin ; 
 that whether men followed its guidance or went astray, it was 
 their own matter ; he was not guardian over them. "Thou art 
 not set to drive them to the faith in the way of force and violence ;
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 51 
 
 its acceptance or rejection is their own affair," — all which w'as 
 meant to console the Prophet in his distress at their persistence in 
 unbelief. — R&zi. 
 
 Remarks. — The last six verses, taken from five 
 different Suras, are all to the same effect, that 
 Mohammed was forbidden to use compulsion or 
 constraint towards Unbelievers. He was not their 
 master to impose his own will and commands upon 
 them ; force, moreover, we are told, destroys the 
 virtue of conversion. God was the Master ; it rested 
 with Him to guide, and with Him to take account. 
 Man was free to accept the faith or to refuse. 
 Mohammed was not " over them a Master." Such 
 is the strenuously reiterated sense of the texts and 
 of the commentaries thereon. 
 
 The conclusions from the passages quoted in this 
 chapter may be thus summed up — (i) the unlaw- 
 fulness of compulsion in religion ; (2) or of interfer- 
 ing with those who refused the call of Mohammed ; 
 (3) the impropriety of even withholding alms from 
 such ; and (4) the Prophet's work was to preach 
 and warn, and that alone. Now consider, when 
 Mohammed was not only forbidden to use coercion 
 towards his opponents, but commanded to show 
 them kindness, — even to the extent of not with- 
 holding alms, lest the refusal might be held an 
 inducement to conversion, and lest such action 
 should detract from the merit of voluntary conver- 
 sion ; — after all these plain and stringent inhibitions, 
 was any possible plea left for the passages which 
 enjoin fighting and resort to force? Never! How
 
 52 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 shall there be no constraint in the faith, and yet 
 constraint ; compulsion neutralising virtue, and the 
 virtue yet remain ; Mohammed sent without these 
 things, yet sent with them? By my life! could 
 any contradictions transcend these ? They are abso- 
 lutely irreconcilable. 
 
 How is it conceivable to attribute inconsistency 
 such as this to the Most High ; that He should say, 
 " I have sent My servant to such a work," and, 
 again, " I have sent him for a work directly opposed 
 thereto " ; — forbidden His servant as wrong a certain 
 line of action, and then commanded him to do what 
 He had just forbidden ; prohibited the use of force 
 and compulsion towards the unbelievers and the 
 hypocrites, and then appointed His servants to fight 
 against such, even to the death? Impossible! God 
 forbid that we should speak thus of the Most High 
 and Holy One ! 
 
 REVIEW 
 
 The mild and tolerant precepts reviewed in this 
 chapter were acted on by Mohammed, so long as he 
 lived at Mecca, in a kindly, gentle, and forbearing 
 spirit ; and so, likewise, for a time after his flight to 
 Yathreb. But so soon as he had gained power there, 
 and found himself supported by a host of warriors 
 ready at his call, he saw it expedient to turn aside 
 from the paths of peace and moderation into those of 
 war, maraud, and plunder. From the messenger of 
 good tidings and simple warncr, he changed into .the
 
 ENJOINING TOLERATION 53 
 
 champion and the autocrat ; from the man of peace, 
 into the man of war and rapine. Once begun, 
 forays, raids, battles, and campaigns followed fast on 
 one another ; and we might even have doubted that 
 words of peace had ever proceeded from his lips, if 
 we had not found them still there in the Coran. 
 
 The question of cancelment, that is, of opposing 
 verses, abrogating one the other, is reserved for a 
 separate chapter. I would here only ask the thought- 
 ful and unprejudiced Moslem, whether he does not 
 see that the doctrine laid down in these verses, 
 forbidding force and constraint in religion, is an 
 obligation for all time, — one of those moral principles 
 which cannot be abrogated, but must last as long as 
 the world itself. Such being the case, running 
 counter to it by action directly its opposite, is running 
 counter to what is eternally right. Can that be ? 
 And if not, who will help us out of the labyrinth ? 
 True, some Commentators, as we have seen, avoid 
 the difficulty by holding that the tolerant commands 
 of the Coran were intended by their Divine Author 
 to be of only temporary duration. But this, as every 
 impartial thinker must see, is an utterly untenable 
 assumption. If any Believer, out of desire to pre- 
 serve the harmony of his Scripture, should hold this 
 view, one can only say that he docs violence to 
 his sense of right and wrong; for the very passages 
 which enjoin toleration are amongst the most weighty 
 and dominant in the Coran, and the principle they 
 over and over inculcate beyond the possibility of 
 recall,— a perpetual rule (^f human obligation.
 
 54 PASSAGES FORBIDDING COMPULSION 
 
 How can the enlightened and impartial Moslem 
 believe that these commands were sent down to be 
 observed by the Prophet only so long as he was in a 
 weak and helpless condition, and to be cast aside the 
 moment he became great amongst men, possessed of 
 resources, and surrounded by followers, while all the 
 time there was before his eyes, as in great letters of 
 gold— 
 
 Let there be no compulsion in the Faith. 
 
 We have not se?it thee but as a Messenger of good 
 tidings and a Warner. 
 
 To thee belongcth the message ; to Us the account. 
 
 How is the intelligent Believer to find his way here ? 
 If such commands be held, as they must needs be 
 held, binding and obligatory, where is the room for 
 the passages commanding war against the Unbelievers, 
 compulsion to join the faith, and vengeance against 
 those who refuse ? Can we reconcile the two sets of 
 passages, the tolerant and the hostile? And if not, 
 how can both have proceeded from the Almighty? 
 You endeavour to cut the Gordian knot by saying, 
 " Praise be to the Lord, the Glorious and All-wise ; 
 He knoweth that which we know not." Yes ; praise 
 be to the Lord, now and evermore ! — only, to praise 
 God, and exalt His holy name, is one thing, and to 
 understand aright these verses, their bearing, and the 
 bringing them into practice, is quite a different thing. 
 The Lord guide His servants by His grace and 
 mercy into that which is right and in accordance with 
 His glory ! He is over all things supreme, and He is 
 wcjrthy to be praised.
 
 CHAPTER HI 
 
 PASSAGES IN THE GORAN THAT GANGEL, AND 
 PASSAGES THAT ARE GANGELLED 
 
 1. Whatever verse We cancel, or cause thee to forget, 
 We will give a better than it, or one like thereunto. 
 What ! dost thou not knozu that God is over all things 
 powerful ^ — Sura Bagr (ii.) V. 102. 
 
 Commentary. — It was one of the taunts of the Jews, "See yc not 
 that Mohammed ^ives a command to his Companions, and then 
 withdrawing it, gives a directly opposite one? He says one tiling 
 to-day, and next day revokes it." Whereupon this was reveakd. 
 
 That some passages are cancelled by others, admits of several 
 
 proofs. First, There is the present verse. Second, The j^eriod 
 
 before which a widow can marry again was changed from a ) ear 
 
 to four months and ten days. Third, The verse, that "twenty of 
 
 you if steadfast shall beat two hundred," that is to say, in the 
 
 proportion of one to ten, was cancelled by another verse which, 
 
 recognising that some were weak, lightened the burden thus : "If 
 
 there be one hundred steadfast amongst you, they shall beat two 
 
 hundred," or in the proportion of one to two. Fourth, The Ilaram 
 
 of Mekka cancelled the former Kibla of Jerusalem. And so that 
 
 passage, "When We change one verse for another, they say. 
 
 Verily thou art a forger." The cancelled passage may be either 
 
 taken away or it may be left in its place. It niciy also have been 
 
 caused to be forgotten before being recorded (as we are told of a 
 
 Sura which, recited overnight, had passed altogether from the 
 
 memory by next morning), so that the whole passage disappeared 
 
 from the Goran, and thus also from being used in recitation or 
 
 at prayer. It may also be that a command ii.is been eain clkd, 
 
 G5
 
 56 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 wliiK- the passage containing it rcnuiiiis in llic Book, and continues 
 to be read. — Rdsi. 
 
 So also Beidha7vi: Tlio Jews and Idolaters saitl, "Look at 
 Mohammed ; he gives an order to his followers, and then tells them 
 exactly the opposite " ; on which this verse was revealed. Cancel- 
 ment consists cither in removing the verse itself or abrogating 
 what it commands, or both together. "We cancel," that is. We 
 command thee, or Gabriel, in respect of its abrogation, and thou 
 shall liiul it cancelled. 
 
 Abdullah has this various reading : "Whatever We cause thee to 
 forget, or cancel it. We bring thee a better than it " ; that is, one 
 which brings greater benefit and reward, or the like thereof. 
 " Knowest thou not that God is powerful over all things?" ; that 
 is, hath the power to cancel, and to give the like of what is can- 
 celled, or better? This verse proves that cancelment is to be held 
 as existing in the Goran. 
 
 And Jelalein : " Cancel " ; that is, cancel it in the heavenly Table. 
 "Cause thee to forget " ; that is, wipe it out of thy heart. "A 
 better " ; that is, a simpler and easier verse, or one bringing 
 greater reward. " Or like it " ; that is, in what it imposes, or the 
 reward it brings. " Over all things powerful " ; that is, as in other 
 things, so also here, able to cancel and change, or to alter the sense. 
 
 For the rest, as above. 
 
 Remarks. — I. Observe, first, the complaints of the 
 Idolaters and Jews ; what impartial person will not 
 recognise the reasonableness of their objection ? For, 
 as regard the Arabs, they are as famous for standing 
 by their word as for their generosity ; they would die 
 rather than change. So when they saw Mohammed 
 going back from what he had once said, authorising 
 to-day what he had prohibited the day before, they 
 took amiss a practice so foreign to Arabian wont, and 
 refused to accept the faith of Islam, which they held 
 responsible for it. 
 
 So also as regards the Jews scandalised at change 
 or cancelment ; they had never heard anything of the
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED 57 
 
 kind either in their Law or Prophets. For no com- 
 mand or prohibition in the Law as given by Moses was 
 ever cancelled either by Moses himself, or by Joshua 
 his successor.- And all the prophets that followed, 
 even to the days of Jesus, observed the Law as it was 
 revealed to Moses without change or variation. So 
 when the Jews saw Mohammed, who laid claim to the 
 gift of prophecy, cancelling not merely the commands 
 of the Tourat, but many of the commands which he 
 professed himself to have received from God, and 
 that in order to suit the exigencies of day and place, 
 they denied his pretensions, looking upon them as 
 the mere expedients of a secular government. 
 
 II. Again, resort to change and cancelment is a 
 mark of defective power; and far be it from the 
 Almighty that there should be sign of weakness in 
 His dealings, for a work showing weakness can be none 
 of His. In one example given us, the interval before 
 which a widow could not remany was shortened, as if 
 the reason for so shortening it was not known before. 
 In the next, the change is in the number required to rout 
 the enemy, — the proportion being increased fivefold in 
 view of God's knowledge as to weakness amongst them, 
 as if that had not been known to the Almighty before ! 
 
 III. As to the forgotten pas.sages, some hold that 
 they were altogether obliterated ; others, that their pur- 
 port was cancelled, but not their recitation ; others, 
 again, hold to both kinds of abrogation under the re- 
 peated "or" in the text; — "Or, We cause thee (Moham- 
 med or Gabriel) to forget." Of the various modes of 
 obliteration frf)in the memory or from the C'oran, of
 
 r>S PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 the text itself or of its purport, or of both, I would ask 
 my reader which he adopts ; and where the cancelled 
 verses remain in the Coran, how is it that they con- 
 tinue to be recited while their force and purport no 
 longer hold good ? 
 
 Again, " We shall make it forgotten " would signify 
 the obliviousness of the hearer or reader, — in fact, that 
 he became as if he had never heard it, — which hardly 
 accords with the tradition that the people read a Sura 
 to-day, and by the morning had forgotten all about it. 
 And if the cancelled verses continued in the Coran, 
 and so were read heard and understood, what does 
 the " cause it to be forgotten " mean, when it was not 
 forgotten ? Supposing now that this passage was 
 intended (as we are told) to silence the Jews and to 
 satisfy the Companions, the matter becomes stranger 
 still, for what is there in it at all likely to have such 
 an effect ? And now consider, in thus removing parts 
 of the law and supplying their place by others, " the 
 like thereof or better," what evidence is there of the 
 miraculous ? " True," you reply, " but knowest thou 
 not that God is over all things powerful ? " Rather, 
 is not all this a sign of the weakness of the creature, 
 who seeks to improve his work by revising it through- 
 out by changes and alterations ; and that just as is 
 the wont of authors from amongst mankind ? 
 
 II. A7id wJicn We substitute one verse in place of 
 another verse {and God best knoivetJi that which He 
 revealeth) they say, " Thoti art nothing but a forger." 
 Nay, but the most of them hnoiv not. Sa v, " The Holy
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED 59 
 
 Spirit Jiatli revealed it from thy Lord ivitJi truth, to 
 stablish them that do believe, and as a guide and 
 good tidings nnto the Moslems!' — SuRA Al Nahl 
 (xvi.) vv. 99, .100. 
 
 Commentary. — Ibn Abbas tells us that when a severe revelation 
 came from heaven, and shortly after a more lenient one, the un- 
 believing Coreish would sa)-, " Trul}', Mohammed maketh sport 
 of his followers ; to-day he giveth an order and the next day for- 
 biddeth it ; he saith these things simply out of his own head"; 
 whereupon this passage was revealed. 
 
 "Changing one verse for another" means taking away some- 
 thing and putting something else in its place, or cancelling one 
 verse by another. "God best knowcth," — He is acquainted with 
 what presses heavily, and what lightly, upon His servants, and 
 with their wants, modifying the revelation accordingly, — which is 
 an answer to the taunt of the Unbelievers, that the Prophet was 
 " a forger." " But most of them know not " ; that is, are ignorant 
 of the real nature of theCoran, and the advantage of changes and 
 cancelment for the benefit of His servants. 
 
 " The Holy Spirit," that is, Gabriel, brought down the Coran 
 from thy Lord, to stablish the Believers, and satisfy them in this 
 matter of cancelment. Abu Muslim (Ispahany school) alone holds 
 that there is no such thing as cancelment in the Moslem law, the 
 reference here being to the abrogation of something in the text of 
 the former Scriptures, — as the change of the Kibla from Jerusalem 
 to the Kaaba, — for which change the Unbelievers called the 
 Prophet " a forger." But the Commentators, without exception, 
 hold that cancelment has its place in the present law. Shafei, again, 
 says that no text in the Coran can be cancelled by the Sunnat, basing 
 this view on the text, "When Wk change one verse by avollwr 
 verse." But this argument cannot be based upon the text ; anil I)e- 
 sides, Gabriel revealed (lie Sunnat as well as the Coran. ^ — Razi. 
 
 BeidhuTvi : The cancelling verse t.'ikes the i)l;iee of tlie (ancciieil 
 both in word and authority. "The Lord best knmvilh wlial is 
 revealed" — liiat is, rjf its exiicdicncy ; wh.-il might l)e expedient 
 at one time might be iiurtlul aflerw.irds, and then it w'oul<I be 
 cancelled ; so also, what might not be expedient now miglit 
 become sf) there;iftc-r, .-iiid t.'ike- its j)lace. " They say thou art .-i 
 forger," palming o(T tilings of thine own on (Jod ; now issuing .-m
 
 GO PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 order, and then, having- changed thy mind, countermanding it, the 
 answer being, "The Lord best knowetli, but most of them know- 
 not " ; they know not the reason of such commands, nor can 
 distinguish tlie wrong from the right. 
 
 Jelalein : " When Wk change one verse for another," that is, 
 cancel it, and reveal a different one for the benefit of Thy servants, 
 they say to the Prophet, "Thou art a forger" — a liar; that is, 
 thou sayest just what is thine own. " But most of them under- 
 stand not " ; that is, the true sense of the Coran and advantage of 
 the cancelment. 
 
 Rcviai-ks, — The text contains no satisfactory answer 
 to the objections of the unbelieving Coreish. They 
 said that Mohammed trifled with his followers, giving 
 out as revelations from God things that came out of 
 his own head — " forgeries," as, in fact, they called 
 them ; and this both because of frequent abrogation 
 and change, and his failing to give any proof of the 
 Coran, and of the cancelled passages, being a divine 
 communication. The text simply denies the charge, 
 and asserts that the Coran is brought down from 
 heaven by Gabriel ; but as his opponents said that the 
 Coran was Mohammed's own composition, this simple 
 assertion, also from himself, left the accusation just 
 where it was. 
 
 The Commentators justify cancelment because "of 
 the advantage of the change so made for the benefit of 
 His servants." ^ True, both sides saw that the changes 
 were made for some object. The Arabs did not deny 
 that there was advantage to Mohammed in the war, 
 rapine, and victories sanctioned by such change; 
 what they did complain of was that the new com- 
 mands were diametrically opposed to the far more 
 
 1 Razi, i>. 59.
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED Gl 
 
 numerous passages in which the Ahnighty was repre- 
 sented as absohitely prohibiting resort to force, as 
 shown in the second chapter. Their objection, in short, 
 was that they saw the Prophet changing the Coran so as 
 to suit the expediency and exigencies of the moment, 
 and concluded that it was therefore the creation of 
 his own mind ; for, had it come from the Almighty, it 
 would not have been cancelled and altered simply to 
 meet the varying motions of the human heart. And 
 so it might be said that the Coran followed the 
 Moslems, not the Moslems the Coran. As if the 
 great God, dependent on the will of His servants, 
 withdrew to-day from the command of yesterday, and 
 changed His word at the will, desires, and inclinations 
 of the creature. Far exalted is the Lord Almighty 
 above such a thought ! As for man, the creature of 
 change and circumstance, weak and sinful, to suppose 
 that the Almighty cancels and alters His word, making 
 that lawful now which He had before declared unlawful, 
 to suit the inclination of the creature and the expedi- 
 ency of the day, is nothing but to forge a lie against 
 llim. How could it be otherwise? He is the All- 
 wise, unchangeable in word, steadfast in design. He 
 unfoldeth to the creature His will, and rcvcaleth unto 
 inankind His commands, — all in accord with the 
 infinite perfections and unappR^achable greatness of 
 I Us divine nature. He is ncjt a man that He should 
 lie, or the son of man that He should repent. Shall 
 I Ic say, and not bring it to pass? Glory be to Him, 
 with whom there is neither change nor the shadow of 
 turning! 
 5
 
 r,2 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 III. T/iosc of your women ivJio commit immorality, 
 let four of you be brought to witness against tJiem ; 
 and if they bear zuitness, tJien shut them up in apart- 
 ments until death release them, or God make a way for 
 them. — Sura Al Nisa, Medina, (iv.) v. 14. 
 
 Commentary. — It is thoug-ht that this text was cancelled by a 
 verbal command (Hadith) to the following effect : The Prophet 
 cried aloud, — " Come, listen to me ; listen to me ! God hath ' made 
 a way ' both for the maiden and the married woman. The maiden 
 shall be scourg-ed and sent away ; the married woman, scourged 
 and stoned to death." Afterwards the Hadith also was cancelled 
 by the word of God (in the Goran), — " The adulteress and the 
 adulterer, let both be scourged with an hundred stripes." 
 According to this view, the text in the Goran was cancelled by the 
 Sunnat (Hadith) ; and again the Sunnat cancelled by a second 
 text. Others hold that the text was cancelled by the verse com- 
 manding stripes instead. Such is the view of one set of Gom- 
 mentators. 
 
 Abu Bekr Al Razi, from his intense opposition to AI Shafei, says : 
 The first interpretation is the right one ; for if the verse enjoining 
 stripes had preceded the Prophet's call, " Gome, listen to nic," 
 that call could have had no meaning. We must therefore hold 
 that the Prophet's call preceded the verse commanding stripes. 
 And for the same reason, the verse enjoining imprisonment was 
 cancelled by the Hadith ; and likewise the Hadith was cancelled 
 b)' the verse enjoining stripes. Hence it follows that the Goran 
 and the Sunnat may both be cancelled, the one by the other. 
 
 Other Gommentators again, differing from Abu Bekr Al Razi, 
 hold that the meaning of the first verse is, that sinning women 
 must be "shut up in apartments until the Lord should make a 
 way of escape" ; "the way" being thus left to be determined in 
 the future. Then followed the Prophet's command, that the 
 married woman was to be stoned, etc.; which was, in fact, "the 
 way " promised in the text, not the cancelling of it. It might 
 even be held that this Hadith refers to both, being an explanation 
 specially of the one verse, and generally of the other, thus avoiding 
 the necessity of repeated cancelment. 
 
 The school of Abu Hanifa hold that the text commanding im- 
 prisonment was cancelled by that commanding stripes. — Rdzi,
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED G3 
 
 Remarks. — This verse, with its commentaiy, is in- 
 credibly strange ; the Coran cancelled by the Sunnat, 
 and the Sunnat by the Coran : a chase, as it were, 
 between the two. It is held that the text was can- 
 celled by the Sunnat (Hadith), " Come, listen to me," 
 etc., as we have seen ; and, again, that the Coran 
 asserted its authority, cancelling the Sunnat by the 
 verse ordering stripes instead.^ 
 
 It is as if the Coran and Hadith were, in respect 
 of this question, at variance, desiring each to discredit 
 the other. .Some seek to escape from the dilemma 
 by making the oral command in the Hadith to be, 
 in fact, " the way " promised in the text, — that is, 
 appointing stripes for the maiden, and stoning for the 
 married woman. Will this satisfy the sincere and 
 thoughtful Moslem? He will not fail to note that 
 the text, which lays down imprisonment as the 
 punishment for immoral women, is abrogated by the 
 later text, which substitutes stripes. Now, if " the 
 way " promised in the former text be (according to 
 the Hadith) stoning, then the subsequent verse sub- 
 stituting stripes must be held again to cancel the 
 Hadith; so that the Hadith, which prescribes stoning, 
 cannot be "the way" promised in the text. Now 
 consider (and the Lord guide thee aright !) what 
 all this implies. Does action of the kind here de- 
 scribed become the great and all-wise Creator? Is 
 it not derogatory to His perfections tliat He shmild 
 say one thing and then cancel it by a different (jrckr, 
 
 ' Sufnui/ is the l.'iw (lorivod from the pr.iclicc or s.iyinj^'s ril" ihc 
 I'lnplii I. //(li/il/i is till- li';i(liiiiin rmbotlying- the same.
 
 G4 PASSAGES FRO AT CORAM 
 
 aiul ai^aiii cancel the repealint^ order by a third? 
 Would this become any of the great men of tlic 
 earth ? Never ! Hast thou ever heard of behaviour 
 like this in the Princes of this world? And if it 
 would not be becoming in the creature, how much 
 more incompatible with the Lord of heaven and 
 earth! Far exalted is He above such infirmity. 
 High and mighty beyond such imputation ! 
 
 REVIEW 
 
 There is nothing that more perplexes the thought- 
 ful Believer of the day than this question of parts of 
 the divine revelation cancelling other parts ; and the 
 uneasiness is all the greater when he sees the pur- 
 pose for which the changes were made. Can such a 
 one shut his eyes to the fact that the passages can- 
 celled contain instructions highly expedient for the 
 interests of the day, the Moslems being at the 
 moment in a weak and dependent state ; and that 
 what is substituted in their stead, of war and force, 
 was equally expedient {ox Islam and the government 
 of Mohammed when he became strong and powerful ? 
 Is it possible to see any way out of the difficulty when 
 one has ever before his eyes the absolute command 
 revealed over and again at Mecca, while Islam was yet 
 depressed ; — " We have not sent thee otherwise than 
 as a Messenger and a Warner"?^ No, by my life! 
 And again, what is equally perplexing, namely, the 
 inability to determine which is the command that 
 ^ Sura Isr.'iel (Mecca), v. 104.
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED 05 
 
 cancels and which the one cancelled ; possibly that 
 which cancels might, for all that is in the Coran, be 
 held by me to be the one cancelled or the reverse. 
 For example^ how can I tell whether the command, 
 " Let there be no compulsion in the Faith," ^ does 
 not cancel the passages authorising compulsion ? and, 
 indeed, some of the Commentators, as we have seen, 
 do construe the passage as a continuing prohibition 
 having a perpetual force in matters of religion.'^ But 
 if not, I would ask what was the occasion for the 
 repeated prohibition of force, seeing that Mohammed 
 was preceded by Jesus, son of Mary, who, as all men 
 know, was himself gentle and gracious to all around, 
 preached love and benevolence to the multitudes 
 who followed him, and left this command to his 
 apostles and people, " Love your enemies : do good 
 to them that hate you ; and treat them that despite- 
 fully use you with pity and forbearance." Now, if, 
 on the contrary, Jesus had come forcing men unto 
 the faith, and Mohammed appeared a mercy to man- 
 kiiKJ, there might have been reason for the revela- 
 tion, " Let there be no force in religion," as a warning 
 to avoid the ways cjf his predecessor, and confine 
 himself to the simple duty of a Messenger and 
 Warner. But as Jesus never taught the use of force, 
 the reiterated command could have had no reference 
 to the past dispensation, and must therefore be re- 
 garded as an embargo addressed to Mohammed, 
 forbidding him to do something which he was in 
 danger of doing. Ami what thnjws a suggestive 
 
 ' Sur.i Al n.ikr, v. J5J. - Sic .ibovc, ("li,i|). II. p. ,-^3.
 
 66 PASSAGES I'KOM CQRAN 
 
 lii^lU on the occasion is that other jmssagc : "Ah! 
 wiU tliou ci)mpcl (or art thou compclHng^) men to 
 bcHeve, wliile it appcrtaincth to no one to believe 
 but by permissicjn of God alone ? " Now what reason 
 can be assigned for this, but that the Prophet had 
 already begun to use force, or desired to do so ? and 
 thus it became necessary to forbid him, which was 
 done by the numerous passages enjoining toleration 
 quoted in the foregoing chapter. It follows that the 
 cancelment of this prohibition by the subsequent 
 command legalising force (nothing in the way of 
 compulsion having as yet taken place), shows that the 
 foregoing passages were really a prohibition of what 
 Mohammed desired, or possibly was already beginning 
 to do. And so when the prohibition was cancelled, the 
 above text remained as it were standing between the 
 two sets of contradictory commands. The course 
 may thus be conceived : when the desire to use force 
 and impose tribute began to stir in the Prophet's 
 breast, or to be tried in practice, then came the texts 
 prohibiting such compulsion ; and so, for a time, it 
 was given up, and resort had only to " preaching and 
 warning," until the desire returned overpoweringly 
 upon him ; and then no longer able to forbear, he 
 cancelled the prohibition of force, and legalised, by 
 the new law, resort to war. Thenceforward the 
 course before prohibited became the course he 
 was commanded to pursue : that which had been 
 declared contrary to right principles and spiritual 
 
 ^ Sura Yunas(x.) vv. 97, 98 jOV^*^l tS"*^^ ^ywlAJi i^j' L::_-iJlii.
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED 67 
 
 benefit, declared to be directly in accord with 
 both. 
 
 In illustration, will the reader consider what princi- 
 ples could be more irreconcilable than these, " Let there 
 be no compulsion in the Faith," compared with " Fight 
 against them till opposition cease, and the Faith be 
 the Lord's alone " ; ^ " Fight in the way of God 
 against them that fight against you, and transgress 
 not; for God lovcth not the transgressors";- "When 
 the sacred months shall ha\c passed, then slay the 
 heathen wheresoever ye find thcm";^ and "When ye 
 meet the Unbelievers, strike off their heads until ye 
 have made great slaughter amongst them, and bind 
 them in bonds," and so on.^ 
 
 Also these texts : " Say unto those who have 
 received the Scriptures, and to the heathen. Will ye 
 believe? Now, if they believe {i.e. accept Lslam), 
 they are guided aright; but if tlic}- turn their backs, 
 thou hast but to deliver thy message, for God 
 watcheth over His servants";^ contrasted with, — 
 " height against those who believe not in God and in 
 the Last day, who forbid not that which God and His 
 Prophet have forbidden, and who follow not the 
 true religion, from amongst the people of the Book, 
 until they pay tribute with their hand, and are 
 abased."" 
 
 Also this: "Obey not llic Unbelievers and the 
 Hypocrites, and leave off troubling them; and place 
 
 1 Sura Hacr (ii.) 188. - Ihid. 185. 
 
 " Sura Al T.-iiih.-i (ix.) 5. ' Siii;i iMoh.immrtl (xKii.j 4. 
 
 " Sura Al Imraii (iii.) iH. '' Sura Al T.iiiba (ix.) 28.
 
 68 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 thy trust in God, for lie is a sufficient guardian";^ 
 with — "They would that ye should disbelieve, even as 
 they disbelieve, and that ye should become like unto 
 them ; wherefore, take no friend from amongst them 
 until they fly their country in the way of God ; but 
 if they turn their back, lay hold of them and slay 
 them wheresoever ye find them, and take not from 
 amongst them any friend nor any helper";- and " O 
 Prophet ! wage war against the infidels and the 
 hypocrites, and lay thy hand heavy upon them : their 
 home shall be hell, a miserable end." ^ 
 
 Compare again these : " We have not sent thee 
 otherwise than as a preacher of good tidings and a 
 warner";'* "Thy duty is to bear the message. Ours 
 to take the account," '-^ and " Thou art not their 
 master";^ with the following, " Fight in the way of the 
 IvOrd ; cumber none other than thine own self, and 
 stir up the Believers (to battle)";^ and "O Prophet! 
 stir up the Faithful to fight ; if there be twenty 
 steadfast men among you, they shall conquer two 
 hundred," and so on.^ Such passages abound, and 
 one need quote no more. 
 
 To maintain the harmony of the Goran against the 
 imputation of contradiction or. discrepancy, it is held 
 (as we have seen) that one set of these passages is 
 abrogated by the other, namely, that the former were 
 meant to be effective but for a limited term, and that 
 
 1 Sura Al Ahzab (xxxiii.) 45. 2 gura Al Nisa (iv.) 88. 
 
 " Sura Al Tauba (ix.) 71, and Sura Tahrim (Ixvi.) 1 1. 
 ■* Sura Israil (xvii.) 104. ^ Sura Al R.dd (xiii.) 40. 
 
 •> Sura Shora (xlil.) 4. '' Sura Al Nisa (iv.) 83. 
 
 ^ Sura Al Anfal (viii.) 65.
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED G9 
 
 this term was closed by the new revelation which 
 cancelled it, and brought in a new order of things. 
 When one asks for proof, we are referred to the 
 cancelling text as divine authority for the change. 
 But where is the proof of the cancelling text being 
 divine ? Is it in accordance with reason to suppose 
 that a course of action should be prohibited \\'hich 
 before was enjoined, and a new course commanded 
 which before was interdicted, and both by the same 
 divine authority? Can it be conceived that the 
 entire Coran, composed of such discordant materials, 
 should be from God ? And if one inquires, Which is 
 the cancelled command and which the text that, can- 
 celling it, brings it to its appointed end? — there is no 
 authoritative reply, when it is seen that, in the verse 
 said to be cancelled, there exists precisely the same 
 power of annulment as in the verse which is said to 
 cancel. How, then, is the simple reader of the Coran 
 to know whether the text, " There shall be no compul- 
 sion in the faith," and its fellows, do not in reality 
 cancel the verses directing compulsion, rather than 
 that they are cancelled by them? I cannot conceive 
 how any intelligent lieliever is able to reconcile his 
 mind to accept the abrogation of such distinct and 
 absolute prohibition of constraint, and of all approach 
 to coercion and intolerance. How much more, then, 
 with others than Moslems, who sec at once that the 
 transformation is in the Person, not in the Word; lliat 
 the wish to change the method changed the command ; 
 that the longing after war and its spoils led to the 
 supersession of the texts of peace and t«jleration by
 
 70 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 those cnjuiiiiiiL; tlic use i)f arms; that thus the 
 preacher and man of peace became the warrior and 
 the man of violence ; the Bearer of good tidings, the 
 intolerant Dictator. 
 
 And what makes this all the more remarkable is, 
 that the act sometimes preceded the repealing text 
 which sanctioned it, not the text the act ; that is to 
 say, the command was transgressed prior to its being 
 cancelled ; the transgression itself being, in fact, the 
 occasion of the repeal of the command transgressed. 
 The expedition of Abdallah ibn Jahsh to Nakhla 
 affords an apt illustration.^ The text which cancels 
 the prohibition of war in the Sacred month is as 
 follows : " They will ask thee concerning the Sacred 
 month, whether they may war therein. SAY, Warring 
 therein is grievous ; but to obstruct the way of God, 
 that is more grievous with God," etc.^ Observe that 
 this sanction was revealed after Abdallah had made 
 his murderous raid on the Coreishite travellers who 
 were halting, secure in the sacredness of the season ; 
 after the fifth of the booty had reached Medina ; and 
 after the complaint of the Coreish, and the disquiet 
 of the Companions at the breach of the inviolate 
 month. The cancelling order followed the act which 
 it legalised, did not precede it, — a fact to be noted. 
 There are many other instances of the change 
 following the occasion, or the wish for it. Take that 
 of the transfer of the Kibla from Jerusalem to the 
 Kaaba.=^ We are told that Mohammed greatly 
 
 ^ Life of Malmmcl, p. 201. - Sura Bacr (ii.) v. 217, and Razi. 
 
 '^ Life of Mahomet, p. 183.
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED 71 
 
 longed for this change, and then came this revelation, 
 " Verily We have observed thee turning about tov\ ard 
 the heavens ; wherefore We shall cause thee to turn 
 thyself toward a Kibla that shall please thee. Turn 
 thy face, therefore, towards the Masjid al Ilaram ; 
 wheresoever ye be turn your faces towards it."^ Thus 
 we see that when Mohammed was not pleased with 
 the Beit III Makdas of the Jews as the Kibla of his 
 Arab followers, but, for objects of State desired to 
 substitute the Ilaram of Mecca as the spot to which 
 they should turn in prayer, the change was made in 
 accordance with his wish. 
 
 Another similar instance of a revelation following 
 the desire for it, is that of the Prophet's marriage 
 with Zeinab, wife of Zeid, his adopted son.^ Hav- 
 ing accidentally seen this lady in scanty attire, 
 Mohammed was smitten by her beauty. " Good 
 Lord!" he exclaimed, "that turncth the hearts of 
 men " ; and he desired to marry her if he could find 
 a way to avoid the scandal. Thereupon the following 
 verse sanctioning the marriage appeared: "And when 
 thou saidst to him on whom God had bestowed 
 favour, and on whom thou too hadst bestowed 
 favours, A'^^/ tJiy zvife to thyself , and fear God; and 
 didst conceal in thy heart that which God was 
 minded to make known ; and thou fcarcdst man, 
 whereas God is more worthy to be feared ; and when 
 Zcid had fulfilled her divorce, We joined thee with 
 her ill marriage," so on t(; the end of the verse.'^ 
 
 ' Sur.i Mai:r (ii.) v. 14O, ;iik1 Ra/.i. -' Li/c of MtilioiucI, \i. j8i. 
 
 ' Sura Ali/.ab (xxxiii.) 236, and Razi.
 
 72 PASSAGES FROM CO RAN 
 
 A dispensation was y,rantccl from Heaven to the 
 folk)\vers of the Prophet, who were allowed to consort 
 with their wives during the fast, thus: "It is lawful 
 on the nights of the fast to \^o in unto your wives. 
 They are a garment unto you, and you are a garment 
 unto them. God knoweth that ye are defrauding 
 yourselves, wherefore He hath turned unto you and 
 forgiven you. Now, therefore, consort with them " ; — 
 and so on to the end of the verse.^ We are told that at 
 first such an indulgence w^as not lawful to the Moslems, 
 according to the Jewish institution, on the fast being 
 thus prescribed : — "A fast is appointed, as it was to those 
 before you " ; ^ and that the restraint was removed by 
 the above verse. There are other traditions about this 
 matter, but they are hardly fit to be mentioned here. 
 
 Another not very attractive passage is that which 
 relates to an oath which Mohammed had imposed on 
 himself, and is as follows : " O Prophet, why dost thou 
 forbid thyself that which God hath made lawful unto 
 thee, seeking to please thy wives? and God is for- 
 giving and merciful. Verily, God hath made lawful 
 unto you the unloosing of your oaths ; and God is 
 your Master, He is the Knowing and the Wise."^ 
 The occasion was in this wise. Haphsa, daughter of 
 Omar, being absent from her house, the Prophet took 
 advantage of the occasion to company with Maiy, his 
 Coptic slave-girl, in Haphsa's chamber; when she, 
 returning unexpectedly, surprised them thus together ; 
 and the affront was very grievous to her. On this 
 
 ' Sura Bacr (ii.) v. i88, and Rftzi. - Ibid. v. 184. 
 
 ^ Sura Tahrim (Ixvi.) vv. i, 2.
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED 73 
 
 the Prophet pacified her, and begged her to hide the 
 matter. He also engaged to forego entirely the 
 company of INIary, and gave her other promises 
 regarding the advancement of her father. But 
 Haphsa went- and told Ayesha ; and so, when the 
 scandal got abroad, the Prophet separated from her, 
 and retired also from the society of his other wives 
 for nine and twenty days, until (as they say) Gabriel 
 descended and bade him recall Haphsa, as she was 
 a good woman, fasting and upright. According to 
 Masruc, the passage making lawful the breaking of 
 oaths had reference to the Prophet's promise to 
 Haphsa, when he forbade himself the society of his 
 Omm Walad (Mary the Coptic maid), and swore that 
 he would not again approach her ; from which oath 
 he was thus set free. The reader will observe that 
 Mohammed, having renounced further intercourse 
 with Mary, confirmed it by an oath ; and that he sub- 
 sequently separated from Haphsa. But he could not 
 bear the separation long, and, moreover, regretted 
 having divorced the daughter of his friend Omar. 
 Still, for a prophet to do that which would have been 
 unlawful in others lay heavy on his mind, until this 
 verse was revealed sanctioning his return to Mary, 
 the oath notwithstanding; and then the message con- 
 veyed by Gabriel restored Haphsa to her position as 
 his wife. Comment on all this is hardly needed. 
 
 The following narrative is also in point. At the 
 siege of the l>eni Nadhir Ca Jewish tribe close to 
 Yalhrcb), Mohammed caused the dale trees round 
 their village to l)e destroyed, — a practice repugnant
 
 74 PASSAGES FROM CORAN 
 
 to the Jew ish law.' On this the Jews cried aloud from 
 their battlements : " O Mohammed, thou wert wont 
 to forbid injustice and rebuke the perpetrator thereof; 
 wherefore then hast thou cut down our date trees, 
 and burned them with fire ? Dost thou call that the 
 wrong or the right ? " The thing also displeased the 
 Companions, who were touched by the appeal of 
 the besieged. Thereupon the following justification 
 appeared : " That which thou didst cut down of the date 
 trees,- or left standing upon their roots, it was by the 
 command of God, that He might abase the evil-doers." ^ 
 We may here notice a passage of another nature, 
 said to have declared an act of the Prophet's to have 
 been unlawful, namely, his having prayed over the 
 grave of the hypocrite ^ Abdallah ibn Abi Salul, and 
 forbidding him to do anything of the kind for the 
 future. The text is, " And do not thou ever pray 
 over any of them that may die, nor stand over his 
 grave ; for they have denied God and His Prophet, 
 and die in their wickedness."^ The text, we are told, 
 was revealed just at the moment when Mohammed 
 had finished the prayer over Abdallah's body, and 
 was standing by his grave to see it filled up. Others 
 say that Omar having counselled the Prophet not to 
 pray over the body of Abdallah on account of his 
 hypocrisy, and he not consenting thereto, this passage 
 
 ^ RS.zi ; see also Life of Mahomet, p. 273. 
 
 ^ ^J^JO the fine date of Medina having- no stone. 
 
 3 Sura Al Hashar (lix.) v. 5. 
 
 ■* Hypocrite, i.e. outwardly a Believer, but at heart an inlltlel. 
 
 '•> Sura Al Tauba (ix.) v. 86.
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED 75 
 
 was revealed confirming the view of Omar; as was 
 also the case in passages supporting Omar's advice in 
 respect of the Kibla, the curtaining of women, and the 
 prohibition of wine,^ 
 
 And now reflect (and may the Lord guide thee !) on 
 the kind of wants and attractions, desires and actions, 
 which led to revelations such as these. By my life ! 
 hast thou ever met with the like thereof in the Tourat ; 
 that the Lord should cancel anyone of His command- 
 ments, or make that lawful which He had forbidden, 
 in order to sanction transgression of law or breach of 
 faith, or hath promulgated laws to meet man's desires, 
 or to satisfy his inclinations or passion, be it for an 
 individual or a people, for a prophet or a king? On 
 the contrary, where is there a breach of faith or a trans- 
 gression which has not been denounced by the law of 
 God ; and many are the instances of passages which 
 were revealed to deter from the conimission of evil 
 acts and so frustrate unlawful designs. How different 
 this from that ! 
 
 And now another point. Both the cancelled 
 passages and those which cancel remain equally in 
 the text of the Coran. One can imagine an unhappy 
 Moslem, upright and earnest, who morning and 
 evening reads his Coran with humility and reverence, 
 unable to distinguish between the commands that 
 remain and those that Jiave passed away, lost in 
 iiewildcrmcnt, giving vent tn liis anxiety in such 
 thfAights as these: "Alas! why all this opposition 
 a?id contradiction? Can these opposing passages 
 
 ' RAzi and Sir.il Al .\.il)ii<v;il.i.
 
 70 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 have proceeded from different sources? Nay, God 
 forbid ! for llic Scripture hath been sent down from 
 the One Almighty, and from Him alone. Then, 
 whence such contrarieties, and where the key to my 
 dilemma? Here are verses enjoining peace, toler- 
 ance, and free action as a perpetual obligation in the 
 Faith (and he muses over such texts as those 
 admonishing the Prophet that he is but a preacher 
 and a warner, forbidden to use constraint and force, 
 commissioned simply to deliver his message, whether 
 they will hear or whether they will forbear: — 'With 
 thee is the message, with Us the account ') ; — all this 
 sent in compassion from the great God, just as spake 
 Jesus and his holy apostles. What ! can the High 
 and Holy One turn back from His word ; the All-wise 
 and Merciful annul His command? Never; the 
 Lord forbid ! Had God sent His Prophet to fight 
 against the heathen and compel them to enter the 
 Faith, would He ever have revealed such texts as 
 those forbidding force and couched in terms incap- 
 able of change ? Could the Lord have commanded 
 Jehad, and He able under any contingency Himself 
 to succour and exalt His messenger? Where is the 
 way of escape, and which of these revelations shall I 
 accept ? I have been reading both one and the other 
 all my life as equally my rule of faith and practice, 
 and now I know not which are gone and which 
 remain, which disannul and which are the disannulled. 
 La hold, zva Id — ! " 
 
 The embarrassment will be all the greater when he 
 reflects on the challenge which he finds in the Coran
 
 THAT CANCEL AND ARE CANCELLED 77 
 
 itself: " If it had been from any other than God, they 
 would have found therein many a discrepancy." His 
 bewilderment, too, will be increased when he sees the 
 doctors of Islam contending among themselves as to 
 which passages cancel and which are cancelled, as 
 if the great question were not whether there could 
 in a divine revelation be discrepancy, contradiction, 
 or cancelment at all ; and yet (as we have seen in 
 the first chapter) they spend their time in nothing but 
 petty discussion of verbal differences and such like.^ 
 All that we ask, as the matter of supreme import, is, 
 whether the cancelling verse is not in contradiction to 
 the cancelled, and the text abrogated irreconcilable 
 w ith that which abrogates it. And what, O Believer, 
 dost thou call this discord and dissent? Perceivest thou 
 not between the two sets of passages in this chapter an 
 inapproachable divergence ; and if in the Coran there 
 are thus so many contradictions, from whom does the 
 revelation come ? We leave the answer to thy wise 
 and impartial judgment. May the Lord guide thee 
 aright; and to him that chooseth the right. He will 
 grant a gracious reward. 
 
 ^ See pp. 23-26.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 ON PASSAGES IN THE CORAN TESTIFYING THAT 
 THE TOURAT AND THE GOSPEL HAVE NOT BEEN 
 ALTERED, NOR SUFFERED VERBAL CORRUPTION 
 
 I. Cloak )iot the truth zvith falsehood ; nor conceal 
 the truth zohile ye hiozo it. — SURA Al Bacr (ii.) 
 
 Commentary. — A command to depart from decepLion and error. 
 The first clause refers to persons who bruig in superfluous 
 matters to confuse those who are Hstcniny to the evidences of the 
 truth ; and the second, to persons who withhold the truth 
 altogether from those thus precluded from hearing it. " Clothe 
 not," that is, envelope not, the truth in doubts suggested to the 
 hearers ; and that because the texts in the Tour^t and Gospel re- 
 garding Moliammed embrace a hidden meaning which needs to be 
 set forth : and those here referred to wrangled about those evi- 
 dences, and suggested doubts to the mind of the inquirers. — Razi. 
 
 And Beidha-ivi : Clothe not the truth revealed unto you with 
 false interpretations of your own, hiding it so that the one cannot 
 be distinguished from the other ; or do not disguise the truth by 
 mingling it with the false, so as to hide it within its folds ; or by 
 false interpretations. " Hiding the truth as though they knew 
 it"; commanded to abandon error, they misled those who heard, 
 and hid the truth from such as did not hear it ; knowing all the 
 time they were doing wrong. 
 
 So alaojelalein, shortly : Mixing up the true with the false, and so 
 changing it ; knowingly hiding the truth in respect of the Prophet. 
 
 Remarks. — The leading Commentators are agreed 
 
 78
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 79 
 
 on the sense of the text : the " clothing " and 
 "hiding" refer to the interpretation of passages and 
 the withholding of them. Thus, according to the 
 Coran, the People of the Book knew of passages bear- 
 ing on the description and character of the Prophet, but 
 did not dare, nor did their forefathers, to exclude or 
 alter them. They simply denied that such passages 
 when quoted bore evidence in favour of Mohammed ; 
 or they withheld their evidence altogether. The 
 clear inference is, that they believed in their own 
 Scriptures as a Revelation from God ; and so the 
 imputation made by some Moslems as to corruption 
 of the text falls to the ground, and has no claim to 
 our attention. It is quite clear that nothing more 
 was imputed by Mohammed to the Jews than mis- 
 interpretation and withholding evidence. 
 
 II. Do ye indeed desire that tJiey {the Jews) should 
 believe 07i you ? and truly a part of thevi, zuheu they 
 had heard the zvord of God, perverted the same after 
 they tenders tood it, and they luell kneiu. — SURA BiVCR 
 (ii.) v. 72. 
 
 Cutnmenlary. — Abstract of the most received interpretations— 
 It is said that the Prophet and his Companions desired that the 
 Jews should embrace Islam, but they refused ; on which the text 
 was revealed. Others, however, think that it refers to their 
 ancestors in the time of Moses. Imam Razi lakes the former 
 view, as the pronoun evidently refers back to the Jews whom tlu 
 Propiiet desired to convert. 
 
 Authorities differ as to the meaning of the words "llic}' ])er- 
 vortcd." The term (lahnf), it is held, implies either change of 
 word or change of meaning, and some adopt the former, i.e. that 
 tlie text w.-is .ijlered. Hut if that be not the case, then tlie " per- 
 version ■■ must be in the interpretation. VVcassunie lli;il Ihi- Tour/lt
 
 80 PASSAGES F/^O.U CO PAN 
 
 was rcvoali'd conscciitivi'ly, as was the Coraii, in jicrfcct Innii. 
 Now, if tho chaiii;"cs were in Ihe lime of Moses, they would 
 naturally have had no relation to matters bearing' on the advent 
 of Mohaninietl. The probability tlu'reforc is, that tiie " perver- 
 sion " or change was made, not in the time t)f Moses, but in that 
 of the Prophet, in such passages as related to his description and 
 character ; or it may have been that they made alterations in the 
 law, as in the passage which enjoins stoning for adultery ; but 
 the Coran does not tell us what it was they changed. Some speak 
 of the repetition of the same idea in the words " understood " and 
 " knew," as mere surplusage ; but it is not so ; for (i) after they 
 " understood " the word of God, they gave it a corrupt interpreta- 
 tion, while they "knew" it was contrary to the will of God; or 
 (2) they "understood" the purport of God, and they "knew" that 
 their evil interpretation would bring calamity and punishment from 
 the Almighty.— A'rf^/. 
 
 Beidhaiin : Some of them, tliat is, a ]')arty of their ancestors, 
 heard the Torfit and changed it, — i.e. such as the description of 
 Mohammed, or the verse for stoning, — or the interpretation there- 
 of, explaining passages according to their own desires. "After 
 they understood it," i.e. had no doubt of the true meaning. And 
 they "knew" the same, i.e. that they were fabricators and abro- 
 gators. The object of the text is this, that the Jewish Rabbis 
 w'ere no better than their ancestors ; the Prophet, therefore, was 
 not to rely on their folly and ignorance, for they would disbelieve 
 and corrupt the word, as their fathers had done before them. 
 
 Remarks. — What has preceded in respect of the 
 first text will suffice in respect of the absence of 
 change in the Scripture. We shall not stop to make 
 observations on each text as it occurs. It is only- 
 necessary here to note that both Beidhawi and Razi 
 agree as to tahrif in this verse meaning not change 
 in the text, but corrupt interpretation and conceal- 
 ment. But they differ as to the " party " here 
 accused of the perversion ; Razi thinking that they 
 belonged to the time of Mohammed, and Beidhawi 
 to the age of Moses. It does not matter which.
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 81 
 
 The main point is, what taJirif really consisted in, 
 I.e. in the interpretation or concealment, as in the 
 holding back of the text on the question of stoning 
 — not its alteration. The idea of "the change of 
 words from their places," or the possibility of such 
 change in the transmission of the Scripture, will be 
 amply shown to be groundless in what is to follow. 
 
 III. When a propJiet came iinto them from God 
 attesting that {Scripture) ivhich is with them, a part of 
 those to luhojn the Book was given cast the Booh of 
 God behind their hacks, as if they knew not. — SURA 
 Back (ii.) v. 97. 
 
 Commentary.— Thai which was "cast away" was the Toiinit ; 
 and if it be asked how that consists with their being- said to 
 "hold by" the same, we answer, that as the Tourat bore witness 
 to the description and person of the Prophet, such as made obli- 
 gatory the acceptance of the Faith, their rejection of Islam was 
 equivalent to casting- the Tourat aside. "As if they knew not," 
 signifying- that it was done with due knowledge of the truth. The 
 text also proves that they were aware of the truth of the Prophet's 
 mission, seeing lliat they opposed that which they knew.—K^si. 
 
 Jeliilein: "Cast it away"; i.e. they acted in respect of the 
 testimony of the Tour/lt to the Prophet, etc., as if they km w not 
 that he was the true IVophct, and it lh<- Rook of God. 
 
 Remarks. — The reader will .see, thank God ! that 
 every passage cjuoted in this chapter decisively sup- 
 ports all that has preceded in respect of the integrity of 
 "the l?(xjk." No intelligent person but must observe 
 that the "casting c)f their Scriptures behind their 
 backs," means disobedience in not accepting the proofs 
 of Mohammed's mission heltl to be in the Toiiral, and 
 opposing that in il which they knew to be true; not
 
 82 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 the putting out any part of it. lUit while Mohamined 
 clearly maintained that the Jews possessed their 
 ViOoV untampered with, he at the same time accused 
 them of misinterpretation, hiding, and " casting 
 away " ; that is, of suggesting doubts, suppressing 
 evidence, and shutting their eyes to the testimony 
 borne by these Scriptures to his mission : all which 
 should show to the believers in the Coran that 
 the Old Testament Scriptures are accredited by 
 Mohammed as free from the taint of corruption. 
 
 IV. J^cri/y they that hide that which God hath sent 
 dozvn of the Book, and sell the same for a small price, 
 they shall consume only fire in their bellies ; God shall 
 not speak with them in the Day of Resurrection, nor 
 purify them, and they shall suffer a grievous punish- 
 ment. — Sura Back (ii.) v. 170. 
 
 Commentary. — Ibn Abbas tells us that this text was revealed in 
 respect of Kab ibn Ashraf and other leading- Jews, who were in 
 the habit of receiving offerings from their followers. When the 
 Prophet appeared, they feared the loss of these gifts, and so they 
 concealed the prophecies regarding him and his dispensation ; he 
 
 also considers that the "hiding" consisted in altering (^,^^cv..') 
 the Tourat and the Gospel. But this cannot be accepted by the 
 learned, for both Tourat and Gospel had been handed down in 
 widespread and unbroken succession, which rendered that out of 
 the question. The meaning, then, was, that they kept back the 
 true interpretation of passages well known amongst them to bear 
 on the mission of the Prophet, and introduced false explanations 
 which diverted their true meaning as revealed by God, or, in other 
 words, hid it. — Rtizi. 
 
 Jelalein: "For a small price," that is, for revenues received 
 from their followers, and fear of their loss : their drink would be 
 the Fire.
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 83 
 
 Remarks. — Note, first, the admission of the learned 
 Doctors, that tampering with the Tourat and Gospel 
 was impossible, because of the widespread and 
 unbroken succession of the Jewish and Christian 
 Scriptures throughout the world. Change in the text 
 is here admitted to be out of the question. Note, 
 secondly, that "hiding" means concealment of the 
 true sense of passages in the Book by false glosses, 
 diverting them thus from their true significance. 
 Now these two points are unequivocal evidence, not 
 only that the People of the Book never dared to 
 tamper with the text of their Scripture, but that they 
 were its trusted custodians, even as it was originally 
 revealed to them. Further, if the Jewish chiefs did, 
 as we are told, so " hide " the testimony of their 
 Scripture relating to Mohammed, from the fear of 
 losing influence in the eyes of their people, and also 
 the support they had hitherto enjoyed, it follows that 
 they did so cither by the misinterpretation imputed 
 to them in the preceding verses, or by keeping back 
 passages, as is supposed in the present text and the 
 commentary thereon. And if the learned Doctors of 
 Islam in after days held this view, how much more 
 did the I'rf)phct himself believe in the integrity and 
 purity of the Scriptures, who said : " O ye People of 
 the Book, why do ye deny the revelation of God, to 
 which ye yourselves bear witness " ; that is, feign 
 ignorance before those who have nc\er heard it, while 
 all the lime ye know the same, and bear witness to it? 
 
 V. O yc People of the P>ook, ivhy do ye doiy tlir
 
 84 PASSAGES FRO AT CORAM 
 
 revelation of God^and yet yc are ivitnesscs of the same? 
 — Sura Al Imran (iii.) v. G'i. 
 
 Contnientary. — (i) The revelation (or "verses") here spoken of 
 means the Tour.^t and Gospel, which foretell of Mohammed. 
 (2) The Jews are accused as deniers of the very essence of the 
 Toiirat, seeing that they altered the same, and belied the existence 
 of the passages which bore evidence of the Prophet's mission. 
 " And ye bear witness," meaning- that in presence of the Moslems 
 and their own people they denied the existence of such passages 
 in the Toiiriltand Gospel ; then, when they were alone with certain 
 of themselves, they admitted their existence ; just like the text, 
 "Ye seek to make it crooked, and yet ye are witnesses thereof" 
 (Sura Bacr, v. 99).— y?(?^/. 
 
 Remarks. — From this verse and the commentary, 
 we gather that the Jews did not remove from their 
 Scriptures the passages which, as Mohammed sup- 
 posed, bore testimony to his person and mission. 
 The text is equally clear against any tampering with 
 the Scriptures, for they are said to have denied the 
 existence of such passages in them, while yet (when 
 alone) they admitted their being there ; and this 
 leaves no place whatever for the imputation that they 
 tampered with their Book. If there had been any 
 desire so to do, their first temptation would have 
 been to remove such passages altogether from their 
 Book, fearing their evidence in favour of Mohammed, 
 or to have altered them, instead of simply disbelieving 
 or withholding their testimony, " while they yet bore 
 witness to them," as parts of their Scripture. And 
 as they did not do anything of the kind, it follows 
 that they bestowed diligent and devoted care in 
 maintaining their Scripture intact as it was revealed 
 to them by the Most High.
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBIE 85 
 
 VI. Verily, there is amongst tJicin a party iJial 
 change their tongues in {j-eading) the Book, that ye 
 might think it to be from the Book, and it is not from 
 the Book. And they say, " This is from God" yet it 
 is not from .God ; and they ntter a lie against God, 
 knowing all the luhile. — SuRA Imran (iii.) v. yj. 
 
 Cotntnentary.— The Jews are said to have "altered" tluir 
 tontruc's, i.e. to have asserted a (hint;- and then contradicted it, 
 and so given a tortuous meaning. Others exphiin it as changing 
 (tahrif) of words, as the Arabs used to do in some of their dubious 
 expressions. And if it be asked how could there be change 
 (tahrtf) in the Tourat, spread as it was universally all over the 
 world, the answer is, that perhaps it was practised only by a few, 
 who passed ofl' their manipulated matter on some of the people, 
 and on such a supposition /«//r//" might have been possible. 
 
 Rilzi, on the other hand (speaking for himself), says that to him 
 the most reasonable interpretation is, that as the passages 
 referred to bore on tlie prophetical office of Mohammed, they 
 therefore needed for their explanation close inquiry and inward 
 thought ; and here the Jews introduced misleading points and 
 faithless objections, so as to cast doubt on their evidence for Islam 
 in the minds of those that listened ; for the Jews would hold that 
 the meaning of God in revealing these verses was that which we 
 say, not what you say ; and that is the real meaning of tahnf, 
 and " ciianging the tongue," or perversion in speech. In fact, it 
 is just what we sec in our own da\', wlu-n passages are quoted 
 from the Word of (lod, and the captious disputant introduces 
 rjueslions and doubts, saying (hat this is not the Lord's meaning, 
 but so and so. — RAzi. 
 
 And Jelahin : A party of the People of the Book, as Kab ibn 
 Ashraf, "change with their tongues"; i.e. in their reading of 
 the Book they join passages with others out of their places, thus 
 • hanging the meaning {/(i/irif) in respect of the description of llu- 
 I'rophet, "that ye njay think it," i.e. the perverted passage, to 
 be from God ; and it is not so. And I hey repeat against God a 
 !!<•, "(hey well knowing" that tli<y .'ir<' liars. 
 
 Remarks. — Tliis is a text whicli is so clear as 
 hardly to need comiticnt. It resembles tliose pre-
 
 86 PASSAGES FROM CO RAN 
 
 ceding it, and shows clearly what the perversion 
 {tahrtf) of the Tourat charged against the Jews 
 really was, that is, reciting passages in such a way as 
 to give them a wrong meaning. They " knew that 
 they were speaking a lie against God," i.e. something 
 opposed to the text of their Tourat, — a clear proof 
 that they dared not tamper with the text itself. 
 
 Now I praise the Imam Razi, and admire his 
 fairness, in that he has not allowed himself to be 
 drawn into the path of those shallow thinkers who, 
 when asked how changes could have been made in 
 the Scripture, gave so weak and silly an answer. 
 They say, '■'■ perJiaps a small party may have done it, 
 and then passed off the manipulated matter on 
 others of their people." But the very word " perhaps " 
 shows that it was felt to be no real argument at all ; 
 and hou^ could "a small party" have tampered with 
 the Tourat ? Let them tell us, if they can, how it 
 would have been possible from the very beginning. 
 Are they so ignorant of the history of the Beni 
 Israel, that there were vast multitudes under the 
 leadership of Moses before the Law was revealed ; 
 that it was read to his people during his lifetime for 
 forty years ; that after him followed Joshua and a 
 succession of prophets, all acquainted with the Scrip- 
 tures ; and then, long before the rise of Islam, that 
 these were spread abroad everywhere in such abund- 
 ance as to render any change impossible ? How, 
 then, docs the " perhaps " fall into an impossibility ! 
 
 And, after all, the interpretation of these Com- 
 mentators is quite sufficient for our purpose, since
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OE THE BIBLE 87 
 
 they hold that the party thus referred to falsified the 
 passages " with their to7igu€s " ; they did not touch 
 the texts themselves, or remove them from the Tourat, 
 simply made the meaning doubtful to the hearers by 
 equivocal suggestions and fallacious arguments. So 
 that, even in ' their view, this, and no more, is meant 
 by tahr// and change (U!) with their tongues. And 
 therein is matter for reflection. 
 
 VII. Afid when God tool' the covenant of those to 
 whom the Book luas given, — " That ye shal/ publish it to 
 mankind, and shall not hide it " ; yet they cast it behind 
 their backs, and sold it for a small price. Wretched is 
 that which they sold it /<?/-.— SURA Al Imran (iii.) 
 V. 185. 
 
 Commentary. — The followers of Moses and Jesus, to injure the 
 Prophet, concealed the passages in the Tourat and Gospel bearing- 
 on his mission ; and tampered (fahrtf) with them, or placed false 
 interpretations on them and suggested unworthy doubts. — Rdsi. 
 
 And Jelalein : The Jews acted so "for a small gain," namely, 
 the Ijeing looked up to by their followers as learned authorities ; 
 and they hid these passages for fear of losing that position : a 
 miserable bargain ! 
 
 Remarks. — We have no instance anywhere of 
 Mohammed casting reflection on the safe guanh'an- 
 ship of the Tourat and Gospel ; and he always speaks 
 of the Jews and Christians as " the People of tlu> 
 IJook " ; neither does he ever throw out any suspicion 
 that the T(jurat, as in tlicir hands, was any other than 
 " the Ikxjk " revealed to Moses, nor the Gospel other 
 than that revealed to Jesus (as some ignorant Mos- 
 lems of the present day talk); he simpl)- .iccuses
 
 «« PASSAGES FRO.}T CORAM 
 
 Ihcm df confusinL^ and liidiiinr the evidence which 
 (as he claimed) bore tesliniony to himself; just as 
 the Imam has told us before, they brought mis- 
 leading and embarrassing questions to bear on 
 passages that required careful thought and nice 
 discrimination. 
 
 From all this we conclude, first, that no Moslem 
 is justified in imputing tahnf, in the sense o{ tamper- 
 ing zvith tJtc text, to the People of the Book ; and 
 second, that every Moslem is bound to look rever- 
 ently on the Tourat and Gospel as now in the hands 
 of Jews and Christians; and himself to search there- 
 in for the proofs they were asserted to contain of the 
 mission of their Prophet ; and not only so, but he is 
 bound to accept all that is contained in them, and 
 to be guided himself thereby. 
 
 VIII. Of the Jews there are that change the ivord 
 from its place, and who saf, " JVe have heard, and 
 have disobeyed" ; and ''hear without being made to 
 hear"; and "- Raina" (look on us), changing {the 
 sense) zvith their tongues, and speaking evil of the 
 faith. Noiu, if they had said, " We have heard and 
 have obeyed" and ''Hearken and behold ns" it had 
 been better for them, and more uprigJit. Ihit God 
 hath cursed them for their unbelief, and they shall not 
 believe excepting a feiv. — SURA Al NiSA (iii.) v. 44. 
 
 Commentary. — Some explain it thus : the Jews changed (/aJirif) 
 one word for another, as ajt). {middle stature) into A(»L (tS\ 
 {Ada7n lofty in stature) ; and if it be asked how this could be, 
 seeing that the Scripture, in word and letter, had been regularly
 
 ON THE AUrHENTJCITY OF THE BIBLE 89 
 
 handed down, and spread all tlie world over, to the east and to 
 the west, we answer, first, that possibly it may have been when 
 the people, and especially those versed in the Book, were few in 
 number, and so the change was possible. And, secondly, the 
 meaning of tahrif is the casting of vain doubts on passages in 
 the Tourat ; just as schismatics in our own day do in respect of 
 passages in the Coran adverse to their tenets ; and this is the 
 true interpretation. It is also said that the Jews used to come 
 and ask the Prophet some question, and when he had answered, 
 they would go forth and change {tahrif) his words. — RAsi. 
 
 And Jelalein : They "changed the word from its place," i.e. 
 in which God had placed it ; or its critical mark ; or altered its 
 position, so as to give it another meaning from that origiiuilly 
 intended. 
 
 IX. They change the ivord from its place. — SURA 
 Al Maida (v.) v. 14. 
 
 Commentary. — That is, they change {tahrif) the word from the 
 position in which God had placed it ; meaning commands, sanc- 
 tions, and prohibitions, as laid down in His Word. The Com- 
 mentators cite in point the well-known case of the adulterers of 
 Kheibar. Now the penalty in the Tourat is stoning. But (he Jews, 
 looking to the rank of the offenders, sent a deputation to the 
 Prophet, hoping he would order a lighter punishment, saying at 
 the same time to them, "If he order stoning, bew^are, and do 
 not consent." When they had put the question to Mohammed, 
 Gabriel brought down the command for stoning. So they re- 
 fused the judgment ; on which Gabriel desired the Prophet to 
 propose Ibn Sureya of Fadak as arbiter between them. When 
 Mohammed had named him and described his person to them, 
 they said he was the best versed in the Scriptures of any Jew on 
 the whole face of the earth, and were content that he should judge. 
 So the Prophet put Ibn Sureya on his solemn oath as to whether 
 the punishment for adultery was stoning in the Tourill. He re- 
 plied that it was ; whereupon the Jewish rabble leapt upon him ; 
 but he was firm, saying that he feared to tell a lie for tlie |:)uiiish- 
 nienl thereof. Thereupon the Pro|)hi'l rirdered both offeiiiicrs lo 
 be stoned to death .it the gate of tin; Moscjue. Anil s(j the text 
 about " ( ii.inging the word from its pl.iee " refers to this affair, .-md 
 to tlie substitution of " scourging," in place of " stoning to death. '
 
 90 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 Remarks. — These two verses tell the same thing. 
 Three interpretations are given: (i) change of one 
 word for another ; (2) wrong exposition ; (3) sup- 
 pression. The first has been sufficiently disposed 
 of;^ just one point is new, viz. the alleged difference 
 as to the height of our father Adam. One marvels 
 at such vain objections ; for where do we find in the 
 Tourat that Adam was tall in stature ? A mere hallu- 
 cination of some foolish creature seized on as tahrif\ 
 It had become the critics better to have searched 
 the pages of the Tourat, and not to have fallen into 
 this slough. Praise be to the Lord that this solitary- 
 instance of alleged verbal alteration {talu'if) so utterly 
 falls to the ground ! And what is most surprising of 
 all is, the failure of the Commentators to notice the 
 bearing of those passages of the Coran, in which the 
 Jews are said to have admitted the existence of verses 
 in their books, which texts are said to have given 
 evidence of Mohammed's mission, but were clothed 
 by them in a false dress ; which simply means that 
 they interpreted them otherwise, or concealed them ; 
 so that no room whatever is left for the imputation 
 of taJirif^ or textual change, at any period, either in 
 early or later times. If, indeed, there had been 
 suspicion of textual interpolation, it would cer- 
 tainly have been mentioned in the Coran, as well as 
 misinterpretation and concealment. But the Com- 
 mentators themselves have no faith in any such im- 
 putation, since they qualify the suggestion, even when 
 they make it, with the proviso "possibly," showing 
 
 ^ See pp. 85, 86.
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 91 
 
 that, after all their endeavours, the conjecture is of the 
 weakest and shallowest nature. We need not, how- 
 ever, press the point further, since the Imam himself, 
 and others of the same high stamp, attach no credit 
 whatever to it, as we have already seen. 
 
 " Change of the word from its place " is said to 
 signify false glosses, or suppression, as in the case of 
 the Kheibar adulterers ; or perversion by his visitors 
 of Mohammed's own words, as mentioned in the 
 Imam's note on the first verse.^ 
 
 X. And hozu shall tJicy make thee their Judge, since 
 they already have the Tourdt, in which is the judg- 
 ment of God? then they zuill ticrn their backs after 
 that, and they are not true believers. — SuRA Al Maida 
 (v.) V. 44. 
 
 Commentary. — An expression of surprise from the Almighty at 
 the Jews appeahng to the Prophet in the case of the adulterer, 
 while they had already the punishment of stoning laid down in 
 their Tour/it. This was evidence of their obstinacy and falsity, in 
 that they turned aside from the command of God in their Scripture, 
 and sought exemption from Mohammed to give up the practice of 
 stoning for adultery ; and consented to an appeal from the Word 
 of God to the word of one (Ibn Sureya) in whose admission even 
 they had no faith. — RCizi. 
 
 And Jclalein : " How shall they make thee their judge," and 
 they already have the sentence for stoning? They were not seek- 
 ing after the truth, but for what was the easiest for them. 
 " Turned their backs," that is, from the command which they 
 knew to be in their Scriptures. Then follows : " We have sent 
 down the TourAt, in which is guidance and light," that is, guid- 
 ance from crnjr, and a knowledge of the conimandments. 
 
 Remarks. — Three important conclusions from this 
 
 p. S.;. 
 
 ' See 1). .S<)
 
 92 PASSAGES FROAf CORAM 
 
 verse as commented on : — l^'irst, the testimony that 
 the Toui'at,as in the hands of the Jews, contained the 
 law of God, which sets at rest any question of tahrif 
 in the sense of tampering; for every inteUigent 
 Moslem must see that if there had been textual 
 corruption, there would have been nothing authori- 
 tative to refer to ; and here we are told of the Jews 
 that " they had the Tourat, in which is the judgment 
 (commandment or law) of God." Second, it follows 
 that the Tourat was sufficient for their guidance, apart 
 from the word of Mohammed or any other ; since it 
 sufficed (as we are told) in the case of adultery ; and 
 so in every other matter, for it is described as " a 
 guide out of the ways of error." Third, as the Jews 
 are said to have applied to the Prophet in the hope 
 of obtaining from him a sentence " easier for them 
 than the law of the Tourat," it follows that they did 
 not dare to tamper with their Scripture in order 
 to obtain the relaxation of their law w^iich they 
 desired ; and even if they had so desired, any 
 such tampering would have been impossible, owing 
 to the universal spread of their Scriptures all over 
 the world. " With them," that is, " in their hands, is 
 the Tourat." Consider this : The Tourat, in which are 
 the commands of God, is here affirmed to be in use 
 by the Jews ; the Scripture which, as shown above, is 
 genuine and free from touch. Let the candid believer 
 lay it to heart. 
 
 XI. A7id let the People of the Gospel Judge accord- 
 ing to that zuhich is revealed therein; and whoso
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 93 
 
 judgeth not according to that ivJiicJi God hath revealed, 
 these are the wicked ones. — SuRA Al Maida (v.) 
 V. 48. 
 
 Commentary. — If it be asked how the Gospel could have been 
 the rule of judgment after the appearance of the Coran, we reply : 
 (i) that the Christians were bound to accept the evidences revealed 
 in their Gospel as to the mission of Mohammed ; there can be 
 no doubt about this ; (2) that they should still follow whatever in 
 tiie Gospel is not abrogated by the Coran ; (3) they are warned 
 ag-ainst tampering with their Scriptures, like the Jews who sup- 
 pressed the commands of the Tourat. "That the people of the 
 Gospel may judge," etc. ; that is, let them study the Gospel as 
 God has revealed it, without tiilin/or change. — Riizi. 
 
 Remarks. — It will not have escaped my good reader 
 that the testimony here given of tlie integrity of the 
 Gospel in the days of Mohammed, and of its freedom 
 from any change, is clear, seeing that Christians are 
 exhorted to abide by the commands which God has 
 revealed therein. The comment that this means the 
 evidence of Mohammed's mission, is but a testimony 
 to the integrity of the Gospel ; for if it had been tam- 
 pered with, what would have been the use of referring 
 them to its testimf )ny ? And the same inference arises 
 from the other interpretation of the text, as warning 
 the Christians to avoitl the example of the Jews in per- 
 verting and hiding the commandments of the ToiirAt. 
 
 Two clear and important lessons follow from t1iis 
 verse: (i) the integrity of the New Testament as 
 absolutely free from imi)Utation of tahrif or change ; 
 (2) the obligation devolving upon the followers of 
 Mohammed, c(iually with the j'eople of the Gospel, 
 to be guided by all that is revealed therein, not 
 merely in respect of its alleged support of the mission 
 7
 
 in PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 of Mohainmcil, but also in respect of its testimony to 
 Jesus Christ. Since, after the evidence that has been 
 given (and what is to follow) of the authenticity and 
 purity of the Gospel, it is not open to the Moslem to 
 accept parts of it and refuse others ; he is bound to 
 accept the zuho/c, as a guide of life and faith revealed 
 from above. 
 
 XII. The similitude of those ivlio have been charged 
 with the burden of the Tourat and have not borne it, 
 is as the similitude of the Ass laden zvith books. 
 Wretched is the similitude of that people. They give 
 the lie to the religion of God, attd God guideth not the 
 transgressing people. — SURA Al Jamaa (Ixii.) v. 5. 
 
 Cot)uuentary. — " Laden with the Tourat," that is, charged to act 
 in accordance with it, which the Jews failed to do, neglecting- the 
 intimation of the Prophet's advent, like an ass laden with books 
 and none the better for it. Evil is the similitude of those who give 
 the lie to prophecies of the kmd.^/etalein. 
 
 And Rdzi: Such is the similitude given by the Almighty of 
 those who, having this revelation, fail to act in accordance with its 
 precepts. They are like the ass ; for they are as little benefited. 
 The Tourat gives the description of Mohammed, with good tidings 
 of his coming and of his faith. They were "given this Tour.ut to 
 carry," that is, to give effect to its instructions and take their 
 stand thereon ; and failing to do this and believe on the Prophet, 
 they resembled the ass which, laden with books, was unaware of 
 their contents ; or as one who, knowing the teaching of the Coran, 
 lives as if he had no need of it. 
 
 Remarks. — The text is evidence that the Jews of 
 the day believed in the Tourat, as their fathers had 
 done before them, and faithfully preserved it as by 
 Moses handed down. The metaphor of the ass is clear 
 as to the absence of any tampering with their books,
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 95 
 
 for the ass does nothing of the sort, nor can. In like 
 manner, the Jews did nothing to injure the text, only 
 they ignored its testimony in favour of Mohammed, 
 and failed to act in accordance with its precepts. 
 The Tourat being thus accredited, and the text con- 
 tinuing as it then was up to the present day, and 
 being available to all in Arabic as the counterpart of 
 the Hebrew, why do our Moslem friends not set them- 
 selves now to its perusal, searching in its prophecies 
 and types for the intimations alleged to be there in 
 respect of their Prophet? Let them do so, and 
 they will fnid none. To the fair and unprejudiced 
 student, ihc notices it contains are as far from Islam 
 as the heavens from the earth. 
 
 But how vastly are we not indebted to the Coran 
 for the testimony it gives us of the safe custody and 
 preservation of both Tourat and Gospel ; not, indeed, 
 as if wc ourselves, being People of the Book, stood in 
 need of any such testimony, but we earnestly long 
 that the Moslem world should enjoy the light of its 
 blessed teaching, and, sharing our joy, may believe 
 in it as the Word which God hath revealed for our 
 salvation. 
 
 X 1 11. They to ivJioni Wn have given the Book recog- 
 nise him as they recognise their own sons; they that 
 injure their oivn sonls^ these ivill not believe. — SUKA 
 In. AM, Mcccan, Cvi.) v. 20. 
 
 Comtucnlary. — W'liciicc \v;is this rccoj^iiition f)f tlic Pioplict, ns 
 of tlu-ir own sons, to he derived ? I-'irst, it in.iy he said, thai ti)c 
 ToiirAt and thetlospcl contained predictions thai a l'r(i|)hil was to 
 arise in the latter time, and call llie uoild tu lii<- iiuc- liiili. ( )i-
 
 on PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 socoiully, that, in ailililioii, di'taik'tl Intiinatioi) was g-'ivcii of the 
 time and place at wliich he was to appear, of liis descent, stature, 
 appearance, etc. Now as to the first, such indefinite prediction 
 wmild have been insufficient to indicate the person of the Prophet, 
 antl enable tlieni to recog-nise him as tliey tlid their own sons. 
 The second I'xplanation, ay.iin, would im])ly that every Jew and 
 Christian must everywhere have at once recog'nised Mohammed 
 from the description so yiven, and the idea of falsehood on so vast a 
 scale is not admissible ; for we know of a certainty thai the Toui\^it 
 and Gos|)el did not contain any such ])articiilars as would have 
 sufficed tor the purpose. If it be objected (i) that particulars of 
 Ihis naluri' may jiave existed al the lime the Prophet arose ; or (2) 
 that they ()i-iyin;dly existi'd, but had been already tampered with 
 antl left out at some previous period ; — the reply to the first is, that 
 the concealment of such detailed predictions would have been 
 impossible, seeiiit;;; that the Scriptures said to contain them were 
 spread over the whole world ; and the second is equally out of the 
 question, as in that case there would not have been Jew or 
 Christian in any land, at the rise of Islam, possessing- any know- 
 ledge of the promised coming of the Prophet ; so that this too falls 
 to the ground. 
 
 The real purport of the text is, that Jews and Christians versed 
 in their Scriptures, and thus men of discernment and judg^ment, 
 were able to test the evidence of Mohammed's mission, and to 
 estimate the weig^ht of his miracles, and consequently to recogfnise 
 him as sent by God ; and the metajihor in the text as to this 
 recog-nition is thus quite in point. 
 
 Rcinarks. — The Imam has done well to admit the 
 impossibility of the Toufat and Gospel containing any 
 detailed prediction of the time, place, appearance, 
 etc., of the coming Prophet; and so the idea that the 
 People of the Book could not help recognising him 
 falls thus to the ground. His own interpretation 
 implies (i) that the Jews and Christians were "men 
 of discernment and judgment"; (2) that they were 
 witnesses of the Prophet's miracles ; and (3) that they 
 consequently recognised him as sent of God. On the
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 97 
 
 first, I observe that the People of the Book being in 
 Mohammed's time men of discernment and intelli- 
 gence, contradicts the previous text likening them to 
 the ass ; and again, how could they have recognised 
 him from their Scriptures as the coming Prophet if 
 they were as ignorant of the testimony they contained 
 as the ass is ignorant of what is in the load of books 
 upon its back? Could any contradiction be greater 
 than this ? Which of the two passages are we to 
 receive? Again, if the People of the I^ook, possess- 
 ing intelligence and judgment in respect of their 
 Scriptures, yet found no evidence therein regarding 
 Mohammed, it follows that they could not have 
 recognised him to be the coming Prophet " as they 
 recognised their own sons " ; for where is the man 
 that recognises his son and then denies him, but one 
 that is lost to all sense of humanity? 
 
 On the second point, how can it be said that the 
 People of the Book should have been convinced by 
 the miracles of Mohammed, since, as we saw in the 
 first chapter, he wrought no miracle? Alas, that the 
 Imam should have played here so childish a [)art, 
 and avoided an argument which can carry no weight 
 with any one having the least acquaintance w ilh the 
 Moslem faith ! And his third point fails w ith the 
 second ; for if they saw no miracle, they could not 
 therefrom have believed in the prophetic mission of 
 Mohammed. So that the idea r)f the Jews knowing 
 him as they knew their own sons, must have been 
 cither a mere conjecture, or based on the saying of 
 some of the Jewish converts. Thus (A Abtlailah ihn
 
 98 /'ASS AGES FROM CORAM 
 
 Salaiii it is said that, mcctiiiii^ Omar, he told him that 
 ho iccugniscd Moliammcd as the Prophet of God 
 more surely than he recoLjnised his own son, for of 
 the legitimacy of the latter he never could be so 
 absokitely certain. Whereupon Omar arose and kissed 
 him between his eyes ; which shows that such was not 
 b}' any means the confession of his people generally, 
 even if converts to Islam. 
 
 Lastly, the text about the recognition of sons is an 
 inestimable testimony to the Moslem of the faithful 
 manner in which the People of the Book have watched 
 over its integrity. The Imam, as we have seen, has 
 gone in his questions by way of exact analysis into 
 the inability of the People of the Book to recognise 
 the Prophet as they did their own sons, and the im- 
 possibility of their having tampered with their Scrip- 
 tures ; and his reasoning is clear and irrefragable. 
 Seeking to find an escape from the difficulty, he is 
 landed in a conclusion which not only does not in the 
 least help him, but actually proves the absurdity of 
 the statement that the Jews recognised the Prophet in 
 Mohammed as they recognised their own sons. So that 
 the Imam rather criticises than substantiates the text. 
 
 XIV. And if thou art in doubt as to that which We 
 have revealed wito thee, ask those zvho read the Book 
 {revealed) before thee, for verily the truth hath come 
 unto tJiec from thy Lord. Be not thou, therefore, amo7tg 
 those ivho doubt. — SuRA YUNAS (x.) v. 92. 
 
 Com)iie)ilufy(}i.hv\<\'g^iX). — Some hold that it is the Propiict in his 
 own person who is here addressed ; others, that it is some other
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 99 
 
 party ; others, ag-aiii, that it is the Prophet, but only so in 
 appearance, as in the Arabic proverb, in which, by " thee," ^ some 
 one else is meant. These last expositors think the text was 
 addressed, not to Believers or Unbelievers, but to such as halted 
 between two opinions, much in this sort of way : " O man, if thou 
 art in doubt as to that which We have revealed unto thee for 
 guidance by the tongue of the Prophet, then ask the People of the 
 Book, that they may assure thee of the truth of his mission." 
 
 There is difference of opinion also as to who the People of the 
 Book are to whom reference is here desired to be made. The 
 best opinion is, that tlioy were Jews who had come over to Islam, 
 as the two Kabs, Abdallah, etc. Others hold that it means both 
 those who had become Moslems and those who had not. And if 
 it be asked by such as hold tiiat the Scriptures were tampered 
 with, how confidence could still be placed in those same Scriptures, 
 we reply that the tampering consisted in the hiding of such 
 passages as bore testimony to Mohammed ; and if, nevertheless, 
 there remained in them that which ])roved the mission, the appeal 
 becomes all the stronger. 
 
 Lastly, if we suppose the Prophet himself to be here addressed 
 in his own person as "thou," the explanation is that, being a 
 man, he was, as such, liable to be troubled in his heart by doubts 
 and anxious possibilities, which could only be removed by clear 
 declarations and manifest proofs ; and the Almighty therefore 
 made this revelation to dispel these misgivings. And after all, it 
 is only stated as a possibility, " // " thou art in doubt. (The 
 above from R/izi.) 
 
 \nd IJcid/unvi: "The People of the Book iiave clear evidence 
 in their Scriptures of the truth of their history, in the manner that 
 We have made kiunvn their story unto thee" ; the reference being 
 to the truth thereof, and the testimony borne to it in the preceding 
 revelation. The Prophet is referred to the People of the Book as 
 well versed in the veracity of its contents ; or, it is a stirring up of 
 the Prophet, and consolidation of evidence, that there should be no 
 possibility of doubt in his mind. 
 
 .Also Jchtlvin : " If thou, O Prophet, art in doubt as to that 
 which We have revealed unto thee of past histories, ask those who 
 read the Book revealed before thee, for it is steadfastly believed in 
 by them, and they will assure thee of the truth thereof." 

 
 lUO PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 Remarks. — ihc learned Doctors are siully em- 
 barrassed by this verse. Referring the Prophet, as it 
 does, to the People of the Book who would solve his 
 doubts, they have striven to explain it in such a way 
 as miy;ht maintain his ditjnity, and are thus driven 
 to interpretations, the strangest one has ever heard, 
 such as that it is addressed ostensibly to the Prophet, 
 but really to such as questioned his claim, — which is 
 in the last degree opposed to the sense of the text. 
 Others admit that it was Mohammed himself that is 
 addressed ; but, however much they change and turn 
 the compass, it ever points to the same celestial pole, 
 — the purity and preservation of the Scriptures. If, 
 again, we take the party addressed to be those who 
 doubted the truth of Islam, this throws open the 
 whole foundation of the Prophet's mission, regarding 
 which these are referred to the Jews for an answer 
 to their doubts ; which would only strengthen the 
 argument for the authority of the Scriptures, — a 
 result the Moslem critics will hardly be prepared for. 
 
 Now, if the person addressed be the Prophet 
 himself (the more received and natural view), the 
 appeal is conclusive as to the faithful guardianship of 
 their Scriptures by the Jews ; for when doubt of his 
 mission, and distracting questionings as to what " We 
 have revealed to thee," arose in his heart, he is 
 referred to them, — " y\sk those who read the Book 
 revealed before thee " ; and thus his doubts would be 
 dispelled and set at rest by the evidence and light of 
 their Scriptures. This is so clear a testimony to 
 their authenticity that it leaves no room for the
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OE THE BIBLE 101 
 
 Imam's question (p. 99, — " If it be asked by those who 
 hold the Scriptures tampered with, how confidence 
 could still be placed in them," etc.). How could the 
 Imam treat the text in this cold and indifferent 
 manner, as if it admitted any doubt ; for if the Book 
 had been corrupted, what confidence could have been 
 placed therein, or the Prophet have been referred to it 
 to calm and remove his misgivings? It was unworthy 
 of the Imam to play thus fast and loose. Had he 
 forgotten the proofs he himself had given in this 
 chapter, that no imputation of tampering could hold 
 good, and that taJirif was nothing more than 
 "hiding," " misinterpretation," or " changing with the 
 tongue" words away from their proper meaning? 
 And, indeed, had there been no other testimony than 
 this present verse, it would have been a decisive 
 answer to anyone who would impeach the integrity 
 of the Book, and the faithful custody of its possessors. 
 The idea of the party addressed being Jewish 
 converts to Islam is clearly inadmissible, as we learn 
 from the comments, and from the preceding verse. 
 So also with the suggestions of Beidhawi and Jelalein, 
 that the doubts in tlic Prophet's mind related to the 
 historical notices in the Tourat; for what possible 
 connection could the text have liad with these? 
 
 Razi hits the nail on the head. Tlic doubts and 
 qucstifjnings were, as he says, in the i'rophet's own 
 heart. And when he was commanded to refer to 
 the People cjf the liook for reassurance, it ecjually 
 results that liis followers are bound to ascertain in 
 like maimer the testimony of the preceding Scri[)-
 
 10-2 PASSAGES J-'AU>.]/ CORAN 
 
 tures, aiKl accept their tlccisii)ii in all matters of faith 
 and doctrine, and the hne divich'ntj^ the true from the 
 false. Where, then, is the talk about talirif^ as if it 
 meant tampering;" w ilh the text ! The testimony of 
 the Coran should satisfy every hcjnest Moslem of the 
 safe guardianship of the People of the Book, and 
 consequent purity and authority of the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 RKVIEW 
 
 The foregoing passages of the Coran, with the 
 explanations of the most famous and reliable Doctors 
 of Islam, prove incontestably the integrity of the 
 Tourat and Gospel. Anyone talking of taJirif or 
 corruption, contradicts the Coran, and denies the 
 evidence of what is held a direct revelation from 
 Heaven. He who impeaches "the Book" impeaches 
 the Coran, and is not worthy to be called a Believer, 
 for he casts the Coran behind his back. 
 
 And now, O Moslem ! dost thou satisfy thy soul 
 by lip-service to the Coran, without reflection on its 
 meaning ; or read its teaching, and yet not act upon 
 it ? Thou sayest, " Nay, but I do reflect, and also 
 act." Then it behoves thee to believe the Tourat and 
 Gospel,— the " Book " attested thus by the Coran as 
 genuine and authentic, and (the Coran being witness) 
 beyond the breath of change. Take and read it, as 
 thy bounden duty, at eventide and in the morning ; 
 learn its testimony, and lay to heart its precepts ; — a 
 Book from which the Coran derived its ancient
 
 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 103 
 
 chronicles and knowledge. And dost thou not 
 perceive that the Coran itself is none other than a 
 guide that, by bearing testimony to the Scriptures, 
 would lead thee to their perusal, and obedience to 
 their precepts ? Abounding, as it does, with histories 
 of the past, it, as it were, invites to search the 
 original from whence those histories were derived ; 
 just as if one passed a friend whose hands were 
 filled with rare and precious gems, found in a mine 
 hard by, would he not at once go on to that mine and 
 gather for himself specimens of the rich material ; 
 or if, shutting his eyes, he turned therefrom, would 
 it not be regarded as foolishness and stupidity? 
 And here is this precious treasure at thy very door. 
 
 The Christian advocate, indeed, need hardly waste 
 his strength in proving to Mussulmans the genuine- 
 ness of " the Book," for the proof lies in the Coran 
 itself, as attested by the learned of their own faith. 
 Believers in the Ccjran ha\c no need, therefore, for 
 testimony from without. And if they believe in that 
 testimony of the Coran as to the divine authority 
 of those Scriptures, as they certainly would have 
 believed it had they lived in the daj-s of their 
 Prophet, does it not follow that they sliouKl devote 
 themselves to their study now, accept what they 
 reveal, and reject all else beside?
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 PASSAGES FROM TIIK CORAN SHOWING THAT PRO- 
 PHECY AND REVELATION BELONG TO THE JJENI 
 ISRAEL 
 
 I. O Children of Israel! Remember the favour 
 lohereivith I have favoured you and preferred you above 
 all nations (or all creatures'). — SURA Bacr (ii.) v. 44. 
 
 Comiiicn/ary.— The Lord c:ills to mind His former benefits to 
 the Children of Israel as a reason why they should not now refuse 
 to obey His prophet. " Favoured you above all creatures" might 
 be held to mean, " even above Mohammed," but that would be out 
 of the question, (i) Some say the words imply simply a great mulli- 
 
 tude, as we speak of " a world of people " ; but Ihe word .J^ U 
 signifies every existing being beside the Creator ; so that cannot 
 stand. (2) Others, that "the whole world existing at (he time 
 being" is meant, not in the future; and so that would take 
 Mohammed out of the comparison. (3) They were superior, others 
 say, to all creatures ; but only in one thing, that is, in the favour 
 bestowed upon them, not in anything else. 
 
 Again, it is said that the "favour" conferred was only on the 
 believing part of the nation, the rebellious being turned into apes 
 and swine, and cursed of God. Nor is there anything to show 
 that the same favour, whether in secular or spiritual things, would 
 be continued, whether in this world or in that to come, otherwise 
 why the solemn warning that follows: " Fear the day on which 
 one soul shall be unable to make satisfaction for another"; the 
 answer being, that rebellion, after great favour, is all the worse 
 
 and more to be condemned ; and hence the warnine. — Rdsi. 
 
 104 ^^
 
 PROPHECY IN THE LINE OF ISRAEL 105 
 
 An(\JflaIcin : Kemcnibcr with Ihankfulncss and obedience the 
 favour wherewith I have favoured you, that is, your forefathers, 
 beyond all the world of tiicir time. 
 
 Remarks. — One has no objection to the interpreta- 
 tion, that the superiority here affirmed of the children 
 of Israel simply means superiority over the rest of 
 the world for the time being, except the conclusion 
 that this must not be held to imply that they were 
 preferred before Mohammed ; and that for t\\ o 
 reasons, (i) Supposing Mohammed to be the Prince 
 of all the Prophets, — for whom, as they say, the 
 heavens and the earth were created, — then the seed 
 of Ishmael must certainly have been preferred over 
 the seed of Israel (Jacob) as the more favoured 
 race. If a prophet was to arise of the seed of Ishmael 
 greater than any prophet of the seed of Israel, how 
 then could it have been said that "We have favoured" 
 the latter beyond all the world, including at the 
 moment the seed of Ishmael? rhc Almighty, to 
 whom the end is as the beginning, must have know n 
 that this the greatest of all prophets was to be (^f the 
 seed of Ishmael, and therefore that the seed of 
 Ishmael (not that of Jacob) was the most favoured 
 race of all the world, which would be in direct opposi- 
 tion to the present text. (2) We are told that 
 Mohammed was the beginning of the creation ; that 
 he was a "//^///" which descended from the loins of 
 father to .son, — from Adam downwards, — till at the last 
 the I'rophet was born of Ahdallah and /\mina. In this 
 descent, it is held, he was ever present in the world ; 
 and soil follows from this verse tli.it the Almighty
 
 10(1 rFSTi.\fOX\' u/- T//r. coram as to 
 
 favoured the seed (if Jacob over "the h'<jht " of 
 Mohammed, which was at tlial moment in the loins 
 of his ancestor of the day. 
 
 II. And We gave to him {Abraliani) Isaac and 
 Jacob, and both of them Wr directed aright. 
 
 Coiiimentary. — It" it be ;iskcd why only Isaac and Jacob are 
 named as given by God to Abraham, and not also Ishmael, whose 
 name is kept back till after the names of several others, we 
 answer, that the object here is to mention the prophetical race of 
 the Children of Israel, which altog-ether descended from Isaac 
 and Jacob ; while from Ishmael there descended no prophet but 
 Mohammed alone. It was not therefore permissible to mention 
 Mohammed in this place, since the Lord sent him to put down 
 polytheism among the Arabs ; while Abraham, in abandoning 
 polytheism and taking hold of the unity, obtained great blessing 
 both in spiritual and secular things,— his progeny becoming 
 prophets and royal personages. Such being the case, Mohammed 
 was barred from makiTig mention of himself in that connection; 
 and for the same reason from naming Ishmael along with Isaac. 
 —Rtisi. 
 
 Remarks. — The Imam is here like one who, finding 
 no outlet, and unable to scale the walls around him, 
 retires discomfited. Observe that the question put is, 
 Why Ishmael is not mentioned with Isaac and Jacob, 
 but among other names in quite another connection ? 
 and the attempted explanation throws no light upon 
 it, as you will see, for two reasons. First, the inquirer 
 does not ask why Mohammed is not named with 
 Moses and other prophets at the end of the verse, 
 but why Ishmael is not mentioned along with 
 Isaac ; where, then, is the pertinence of the answer, 
 "It was not therefore permissible to mention 
 Mohammed in this place"? And how did the Imam
 
 PROPHECY BEING IN LINE OF ISRAEL 107 
 
 learn that the object of Isaac and Jacob — "the gift of 
 God to Abraham " — being named here, was that from 
 them descended the long line of Israelitish prophets ? 
 Supposing, however, that really to have been the reason, 
 then why was their brother Ishmael not also named 
 along with them, seeing that the greatest of all the pro- 
 phets was (as the Imam tells us) to arise from amongst 
 the descendants of Ishmael ? Second, if, according to 
 the Imam, the object in naming Isaac and Jacob as 
 having been " directed aright " was to indicate the pro- 
 geny of Abraham from whose line prophets should 
 arise, then it follows from the absence of Ishmael's 
 name that no prophet would arise from amongst his 
 descendants ; a point to be observed. And for the 
 same reason the Imam's remark about Mohammed 
 being " barred from naming himself," falls to the 
 ground, since he does not hold that the mention of 
 Ishmael with Isaac has any reference to Mohammed. 
 And so we see that aberration and disappointment 
 have led to the invention of reasons that are utterly 
 untenable. 
 
 III. And ivJien lie {Abj-a/iani) Jiad separated Jiimself 
 from t/icjH, and from that whicJi tJicy worsJiipped be- 
 side God, Wr gave him Isaac and Jacob ; and ]Vf. 
 made them both prophets ; and W k granted tinto them 
 {benefits of) our mercy ; and Wr granted unto them 
 a lofty t07igue of tnith. — SUKA Marvam (xix.) v. 49. 
 
 Commentury. — Wlun Abraham kft liis people, ami j;^ave up 
 their faith and liome, and went forth whither God had called him 
 logo, the Lord ^ave him a son and j^randson, Imili ])i<ipli( ts, — 
 g-nod ^-ifls both for tliis life and the next ; and of His niir( y He
 
 108 TESTIMONY OF TflR CORAM AS TO 
 
 flirt iKTiiKiro jL^c.iiiUcl llu-m wcallli ami lioiioui-, aiul a ])iiic' and 
 lioly seed. He gave them nlso a true and noble tongue ; blessings 
 of the lips as well as blessings of the hand ; according to the 
 praver of Abraham, "Grant unto me a tongue of truth among 
 the race to come," so that he became a pattern of righteousness 
 to all the religions of the world. — Riisi. 
 
 So also Bcidhaii'i : Isaac and Jacob, God's gift to Abraham, arc 
 alone here mentioned as the root and ancestry from which the 
 race of prophets sprang; or because il was the object to notice 
 Ishmael in his excellence In' himself. " And made tiiem pro|)hets," 
 i.e. both of them, or from amongst tlicni. 
 
 And Jclalchi : When Abraham departed to the holy land, Wic 
 gave him a son and grandson to live with liim, and made both 
 prophets, and gave to them {i.e. to .all three) of Our mercy, wealth, 
 and children, and an exalted name among all religions. 
 
 IV. And We gave him Isaac mid Jacob ; and Wr 
 placed among his descendajits the gift of prophecy and 
 the Scriptures ; and We gave him his rezvard in this 
 ivorld, and in that to cone he shall be one of the right- 
 eons. — SuRA Al Amkabut (xxix.) V. 25. 
 
 Co'iiiitenfary. — After explaining the verse, R;lzi raises two 
 questions. First, Ishmael was one of Abraham's children ; why, 
 then, is he not mentioned as well as Isaac and Jacob? The 
 answer is, that he is included among the descendants "to whom 
 We granted the gift of prophecy"; but he is not named here 
 because the intention was to show God's goodness to Abraham in 
 his sons and grandsons ; and so only one son is mentioned, and he 
 the elder ; and one grandson, and he the most famous. 
 
 Second, In answering Abraham's prayer, the Almighty may be 
 presumed to have shed abroad tlie gift of prophecy among .all his 
 children : why, then, did this gift prevail in the line of Isaac and 
 not in that of Ishmael ? We reply, that God hath divided time from 
 the day of Abraham to the Resurrection, in respect of all mankind, 
 into two halves. During the first lialf was the rise of prophecy, 
 — prophet following prophet in great numbers during this period. 
 Then, in the second half, arose fi'om the other son [i.e. Ishmael) 
 a single prophet, who combined in his jjcrson all the attributes that 
 were in the former race, .and whose mission was for .all mankind,
 
 PROPHECY BEING IN ISRAELS LINE 109 
 
 namely, Mohammed, whom the Lord made the lasl of the prophets. 
 And so the world remained under the religion of the seed of Isaac 
 during the first cycle for above 4000 years, and it shall equally 
 remain under the faith of the seed of Ishmael during a like cycle. 
 —Rdzi. 
 
 Remarks. — The attentive reader will not fail to 
 observe that the Imam here changes his front, and 
 gives quite another reason for the omission of Ishmael's 
 name. Formerly he told us it was omitted, the 
 object being to mention Isaac as the progenitor of 
 the race of Israelitish prophets. Here he tells us 
 that Ishmael, though one of the gifts of God to 
 Abraham, is not mentioned, since Isaac being the first- 
 born, it was natural only to name him as the repre- 
 sentative of the family ; — a strange slip, seeing that 
 Ishmael was born long before Isaac who was the son 
 of Abraham's old age. And supposing that Ishmael, 
 the ancestor (as the Imam has it) of the Prince of the 
 Prophets, was thus given as a blessing to Abraham, it 
 would surely have been all the more incumbent that, 
 as the first-born, he should here have been named. 
 No ; the real reason why he is not named was (as 
 Beidhawi says), that Isaac and Jacob were " the root " 
 and ancestry of the race of the prophets, and that from 
 them was to spring Him in whom "all the nations 
 of the earth would be blessed " ; ^ — further, because 
 Isaac was the child of promise (as we see both in the 
 Tourat and Goran), according to the angelic message 
 to Abraham and Sarah, whereas Ishmael was born of 
 the bondsmaid Ilagar, without promise or heavenly 
 message. Again, the promise of the gift of prophecy 
 
 ' Gen. xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, xxviii. 14.
 
 no TESTJMONY OF TlfE CORAM AS TO 
 
 to the seed of Abraham, in immediate connection 
 with the notice of Isaac and Jacob as progeny given 
 by covenant to Abraham, is in strong contrast with 
 the absence of any such promise in passages where 
 Ishmael is named.^ 
 
 And where did the Imam learn that the Ahnighty 
 divided the ages into two cycles, assigning the first 
 of 4000 years to the prophets of the Beni Israel, and 
 the second of a like period as the era of Mohammed 
 over all mankind, etc. ? Altogether opposed to fact ! 
 For the religion of Jesus, i.e. of the Beni Israel, is 
 still predominant ; spread over the whole earth, — its 
 followers some three times the number of the followers 
 of Mohammed, and vastly exceeding in name and 
 authority all the other religions in the world. 
 
 Again, how can the Imam say that in Mohammed 
 were centred all the graces of the prophets of Israel ? 
 We need notice but two of these. As for Moses, the 
 Lord spake with him face to face, and gave to him 
 the Tables of the Law, on Mount Horeb, before 
 assembled Israel ; and his signs and miracles are 
 known to all. But, as for Mohammed, the Almighty 
 (as you hold) did not speak with him directly at 
 all, but sent Gabriel with His messages ; and as for 
 miracles, he showed none, as we have seen in the 
 first chapter. Where, then, are the graces of Moses 
 to be found in Mohammed ? And then, as to Jesus 
 Christ, how vastly His dignity exceeds even that of 
 Moses ! Born without an earthly father. He is called 
 
 ^ Compare also Sura Al Anbia (xxi.) v. 82 ; and Sura 
 (xxxviii.) V. 46.
 
 PROPHECY BEING IN ISRAEL'S LINE 111 
 
 in the Coran "the Spirit of God and His Word"; 
 neither was there any fault found in Him, or need 
 of forgiveness, the Coran itself being witness ; while 
 His miracles surpassed those of Moses, in that (as the 
 Coran says) He raised the dead, healed the blind and 
 the leper, and made living creatures out of clay. Of 
 Mohammed, on the other hand, none of such wonder- 
 ful things can be said, cither in respect of birth or 
 works ; and that he needed forgiveness is plain from 
 the text : " Verily We have forgiven thee the sins 
 that have gone before and those that follow after." 
 How different from the pure and holy Jesus, gentle, 
 compassionate, and mild, who whithersoever He 
 went, scattered gifts and blessings amongst the poor 
 and wretched ! Where, then, is the comparison of 
 Mohammed with the Christ ? 
 
 And so, we see, it is easy to make assertions, a 
 different thing to prove them ; easy to rush into the 
 battle, and there find oneself all unprepared. The 
 Imam could hardly have considered how unreal was 
 such an argument, or with what ease it could be cast 
 aside by the People of the Book, to have adventured 
 on it. I scarcely think that such weak and groundless 
 reasoning will approve itself to the fair and intelligent 
 Moslems of the present day. 
 
 V. Afid IV Ji bestozued on him Isaac and Jacob as ati 
 additional (^ift ; and Wn made all of them righteous 
 persons ; \ Vi-: made them also leaders, that they might 
 guide others by Ouk command. And We inspired them 
 to do good loorks, the observance of prayer, and the
 
 112 TESTIMONY OF THE CORAM AS TO 
 
 giving of alms ; and tJicy served Us. — SURA Al Anuia 
 (xxi.) vv. 69, 70. 
 
 Com men /(try. — W'lu'ii Ahraliatn pra^i-d, "O God, bestow oil 
 me :i riyhteous son," the Lord ;ui.s\vcrcd liis prayer, and gave liini 
 Isaac, and Jacob also as an "adtlitional gift "; and all were made 
 prophets and messengers, doing Mis will, virtuous and holy. " And 
 they served Me"; that is, as God fulfilled His promise, so they 
 fulfilled their part in obedience and worship. — R^2i. 
 
 Bcidhawi is much to the same effect ; but I add what he says 
 on the preceding text (No. IV.); Isaac and Jacob were "given," 
 
 the latter as an "additional" (a.l.il;0 child, wlicn Abraham des- 
 paired of progeny on account of his age ; and on that account 
 Ishmael is not named. "Scriptures," he also says, mean the 
 "Four Books."! 
 
 Remarks. — Thus we have four texts from different 
 parts of the Coran, each excelHng that which precedes it 
 in the grandeur of the blessings bestowed on Abraham 
 and his two sons, (i) We guided them aright; (2) 
 We made them all prophets ; (3) We committed to 
 their progeny the gift of prophecy and the Scriptures ; 
 (4) and all of them We made righteous, — implying a 
 continuous grace in close accordance with the Tourat, 
 that " in their seed shall all nations of the earth be 
 blessed." Surely, then, if Ishmael had been a partaker 
 with Isaac in the promised blessing, his name would 
 have appeared somewhere in connection with it. 
 
 On 'Cc\& first of the series (No. ii.), the Imam remarks 
 that the word We " gave," signifies that Isaac was 
 born " from the loins of Abraham, and after him 
 Jacob from Isaac." It reads as if there was no other 
 son from his loins but Isaac, while we know that 
 Ishmael was also from his loins ; and yet he is not 
 ! The Tourat, Psalms, Gospel, and Coran.
 
 PROPHECY BEING IN ISRAELS LINE 113 
 
 named as coming within this "gift" from God, but only 
 his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. The only explana- 
 tion is, that the "righteous seed" in which the blessing 
 lay was that of Isaac and Jacob, apart from Ishmael. 
 And all this is in accord with the Tourat ; for when 
 Sarah cast out her maid Hagar with the boy Ishmael, 
 it was told .Abraham : " In all that Sarah hath said 
 unto thee, hearken unto her voice ; for in Isaac shall 
 thy seed be called" (Gen. xxi. 12), 
 
 Referring now to the second text (No. iii.), I praise 
 Razi for his honest admission that Ishmael had no 
 part in the promise there recited, either for himself 
 or for his descendant, — " the last and greatest of the 
 Prophets"; for he is nowhere mentioned as being with 
 Abraham, or even as his son. Jelalcin also speaks 
 of his two sons being given " to dwell " with Abraham, 
 and as being Prophets. But, Jclaluddeen ! was there 
 no other son ? and why is he not mentioned as 
 dwelling with his father? You have done well thus 
 to drop the verse. So also Beidhawi is sound in the 
 remark that Isaac and Jacob are named, being the "tree 
 or root" of the prophetic race ; but he adds " perhaps," 
 because no doubt this would exclude Ishmael, who, if 
 ancestor of the greatest and last of all the prophets, 
 should have had the highest claim to be named with 
 the other two, and yet is altogether ignored. 
 
 Our Author then proceeds at considerable length to 
 review the Commentaries on the tJiird and fourtJi 
 verses (iv. and v.), — drawing from them the same con- 
 clusion that Ishmael is not alluded to as the progenitor 
 from whom any projihetical race was to arise ; that he
 
 Ill TESTIMONY OF THE CORAM AS TO 
 
 must therefore be held exckidcd from the promise 
 given to the patriarch ; and that not being mentioned 
 as one of the " righteous " progeny, is significant that 
 there was nothing good in him,— the reason probably 
 why Abraham prayed for a better seed. Bcidhawi is 
 also taken to task for including the Coran in "the 
 l^ook," for the Book means the prophetical writings 
 of the Bcni Israel; and that expression is throughout 
 the Coran limited to the Tourat and the Gospel, as, 
 e.g., in the phrase, " the People of the Book." 
 
 The passage ends with these conclusions : First, 
 Prophecy and "the Book" are the peculiar inheritance 
 of the Beni Israel. Second, Ishmacl, son of the 
 bondsmaid, was not bestowed on Abraham, like Isaac 
 and Jacob, as "the gift of God"; nor was he a 
 prophet, or the progenitor of a prophet. The Coran 
 is thus in these conclusions in entire accord with the 
 words of the Tourat, that " in Isaac shall thy seed be 
 called " ; and with the promise to Abraham, that " in 
 thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed." 
 How true, then, the words of the Coran (No. i.), 
 " Verily, I have preferred you (the children of Israel) 
 above all the nations " ! ^ 
 
 VI. And {Abmhani) said, Verily, I am going to 
 viy Lord zvho zuill direct me : O Lord, grant nnto me 
 a righteous {issue). Whereupon We gave him the 
 
 ^ The English reader will wonder at the space and pains with 
 which our Author has returned with much reiteration to this 
 arg-ument ; but he has done well to bring it prominently forward, 
 since the doctrine that Mohammed came from the promised seed 
 of Ishmael is one on which Moslem apologists set much store.
 
 PROPHECY BEING IN ISRAELS UNE 115 
 
 promise of a meek youth. And luJieji he had grown 
 up to be a helper to him, Abraham said, O my son, 
 Verily, I saw in a dream that I sJioidd offer thee in 
 sacrifice ; consider therefore luhat thou seest fit to be 
 done. He said, O my fatJier, do as tJiou art commanded ; 
 thou shall find me, if God please, one of the resigned. 
 So when they had stdfmitted themselves {to the divine 
 command), and Abraham had laid his son pjvstrate 
 071 his face. We cried unto him, O AbraJiam, verily 
 thou hast verified the vision : thns do We reivard the 
 good. Truly this was a manifest trial. And We 
 ransomed him zuith a noble victim. And We left for 
 him {this blessing) by the latest posterity : — Peace be 
 ON Abraham ! Thus do We reiuard the righteous, 
 for he was one of Our faithftd servants. And We 
 gave him the good tiditigs of the promise of Isaac, a 
 righteous prophet ; afid We blessed him and Isaac. 
 And of their offspring there ivere righteous doers, and 
 others that manifestly injured their otvn sotds. — SURA 
 Al Saffat (xxxvii.) vv. 95-109. 
 
 Commentary (in brief). — When iVbrahrim dcparlcd from his 
 native land to Syria, he beg-gfcd for a righteous ofFspring, and 
 Isaac was granted to him, — a "patient" son; and who more 
 patient than one that gave himself up to be offered in sacrifice? 
 As to the son offered, there is variety of opinion. That it was 
 Isaac was held by the chief Companions — Omar, Aly, Abbas, Ibn 
 Masud, Kab the Jew, and eight others. In favour of Ishmacl is 
 the younger generation, as the sons of Abl^as and Omar, etc. 
 There is also the tradition that Mohammed called himself " Son 
 of the two victims," meaning thereby Ishmael and his father 
 Abdallah, who was saved from sacrifice by the ransom of one 
 hundred camels.' Al Asmai gives us lliis story: "1 asked Abu 
 
 ' Life of Mahomet, p. xcix.
 
 ih; riiSTiMONv or TfiE coram as to 
 
 Ami- 11)11 al Ala whuli ll was, Isaac or Islimacl ; ' C) willoss!' lie 
 answered, ' knowest thou not that Isaac never was at Mecca ; but 
 Ishmacl Hvcd there, and aided by his father built the holy house 
 and place of sacrifice.' There arc also many accounts of the ram's 
 horn being- hunij up In the Kaaba. The sacrifice was therefore 
 certainly that of Ishmael at Mecca ; whereas if it had been Isaac, 
 the place of sacrifice would have been in Syria." ^ 
 
 Others, again, hold thai it was Isaac; for the passage opens 
 with mention of the son promised to Abraham on his departure for 
 Syria, who could have been none other than he. Then there is 
 mention of his growing'- up, am! of the offering up of the same son. 
 And so, after the account of the sacrifice, the passage ends with 
 notice of that same son again, as a righteous prophet ;— the blessing 
 being awarded for his steadfast faith and patience in the sacrifice. 
 Thus from first to last the passage can refer to none other. A 
 further proof is, that in the letter to Joseph are these words, 
 "Jacob, the Israel of God, son of Isaac the sacrifice, son of 
 Abraham the friend of God." But, after all, what can we say but, 
 " The Lord knoweth " ? Those who say it was Ishmael, place the 
 sacrifice at Mina ; those who say Isaac, in Syria and Jerusalem ; 
 but God alone knoweth. — R^zi. 
 
 Remarks. — It is marvellous that with such inter- 
 pretations before them the Moslems of the present 
 day should hold that it was Ishmael, and not Isaac, 
 who was offered for sacrifice. In the first place, wc 
 have seen that the only son promised to Abraham 
 was Isaac, and here it was the same that was taken 
 for sacrifice. Next, observe that this is the view of all 
 the famous Companions, like Omar and Abbas, who, 
 being constantly about the Prophet, must have been 
 more likely than the next generation to have known 
 the mind of the Prophet. It must have been the 
 notion of the sacrifice at Mecca and Mina being more 
 in favour of Islam, which led to Ishmael being sub- 
 
 ^ Ibn Amr ihn al Ala was one of the seven famous Goran 
 readers, d. A.ii. 154 ; and Asmai was a celebrated philologist.
 
 PROPHECY BEING IN ISRAELS LINE 117 
 
 stitutcd for Isaac ; and it is impossible that if this 
 had been the view of Mohammed himself, it should 
 not have been known to Abbas his uncle, Aly his 
 cousin, and Omar his confidant ; in fact, if you give 
 up the opinion of his most immediate companions on 
 the interpretation of such a passage, you affect con- 
 fidence in the Goran itself; a result the Moslem would 
 hardly desire. There being thus no escape from 
 Isaac, the country must have been Syria, and the 
 place of sacrifice Jerusalem, or one of the surrounding 
 hills, not those about Mecca. In his commentary on 
 the next verse (vi.) we see that Razi mentions Isaac 
 " for his patience at the sacrifice," and this in accord 
 with the " Letter of Jacob to Joseph " ; and yet, after 
 this and all his admissions, is it not astonishing 
 that the Imam ends his comments by — " the Lord 
 knoweth " ? 
 
 Similarly the answer of Abu Amr to the " witless " 
 Al Asmai, as to Mecca and Mina having been always 
 the place of sacrifice, is no answer at all ; for Jerusalem, 
 as everyone knows, was the place of sacrifice from 
 the time of David to its destruction by the Romans ; 
 and it was on one of the hills in the land of Moriah 
 that Abraham was directed to take his son (see Gen. 
 xxii. 1-14). Then as to the horn of the ram being 
 suspended in the Kaaba, where is the proof? As if 
 there were no horns in the Hcjaz but that of the 
 sacrificed ram sent as a ransom to Abraham ! The 
 Kaaba has been over and again thrown down and 
 rebuilt, and we are to believe that this same horn has 
 been suspended there ever since ! Would any sensible
 
 118 rEsmroNV of the coram as to 
 
 Moslem for a moment accept this horn as any proof? 
 Moreover, the place to which Abraham was sent was 
 a remote and uninhabited mountain, not a place with 
 a Masjid and inhabitants about it.^ 
 
 VII. And remember Our servants, Abraham and 
 Isaac and Jacob, men strcmwus and prudent. Verily, 
 \Vf. purified them ivitJi a perfect purification, through 
 remembrance of the life to come. And tJicy ivere in 
 Our sight cJiosen men and good. And remember 
 Ishmael and Elislia and DJiul Kefl, all good men. — 
 Sura ^ (xxxviii.) w. 43-46. 
 
 Commentary. — Remember, O Mohammed, tlic constancy of 
 Abraham when cast into the furnace ; the patience also of Isaac 
 at the sacrifice ; and of Jacob when he lost his son, and his sight 
 departed from him. All men of action, knowledge, and wisdom ; 
 contemplation of the future life made them forget the present ; 
 exalted in the life to come ; and the Lord also granted them a 
 good name in the present world, answering thus the prayer, 
 " Grant to me a tongue of truth in the generations to come." 
 
 Then is added : " Remember Ishmael, Elisha, and Dhul Kefl, all 
 good men ; but these are another race from the Prophets, who 
 bore trouble in the religion of God." — RAzi. 
 
 Beidhmvi also praises Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for their 
 power in God's service, their insight in spiritual things, and ex- 
 cellent w'orks. 
 
 Remarks. — This is now the fifth verse in which 
 Ishmael is not mentioned as of the family of Abraham ; 
 a difficult point for the Moslem to explain. How is it 
 that God bids Mohammed to remember Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, their virtue, knowledge, and grace, 
 and not a word of his progenitor Ishmael, who is 
 
 1 The comments on this verse have been here again greatly 
 abbreviated.
 
 PROPHECY BEING IN ISRAEL'S LINE 119 
 
 spoken of as if he " belonged to another generation," 
 and not to Abraham at all ? We see, then, how vain 
 are the attempts of the Commentators to get over this 
 difficulty in their explanations of these texts. 
 
 Observe, also, that Ishmael is here named along 
 with Elisha, who lived some one thousand years after 
 him ; and that they, with Dhul Kefl, are said to have 
 belonged to a different race from the Prophets, — as if, 
 in fact, it had been another Ishmael altogether. But, 
 specially, it will not escape the intelligent Believer 
 that their Prophet is here desired to " remember " the 
 three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, without 
 any reference to Ishmael, who had thus no title to be 
 associated with them ; — in complete accord with the 
 promise already quoted from the Tourat, that in their 
 line it was that the whole earth should be blessed. 
 
 REVIEW 
 
 From the foregoing texts, and the commentaries 
 thereon, three conclusions may be drawn, (i) The 
 children of Israel were exalted above the rest of 
 mankind, in that the Almighty raised from amongst 
 them the race of Prophets and Messengers, culminating 
 in the chiefest of them all, the Messiah, spoken of in 
 the Coran as " the Word from God and a Spirit from 
 I lim," who came to bless the world ; and to them He 
 gave the precious Book, a Light to lighten the Gen- 
 tiles; a " Guide to him who is directed thereby, antl 
 an explanation of every matter." (2) That the grand
 
 I -JO rEsrn/ON]' of the coram as to 
 
 puriH)se aiul end of the Alniii;lily for mnnkind was 
 fulfilled through /Xbraham in the line of Isaac and 
 Jacob, the sons of promise, (3) That the son of sacri- 
 fice was Isaac, and the place of offering Jerusalem, not 
 Mecca. Further, we may conclude that no gift of 
 prophecy or revelation lies in the seed of Ishmael, 
 
 And the most remarkable thing is, that all this 
 comes from the Coran itself, Ishmael being absolutely 
 lost sight of, and cut off from the prophetical line ; 
 and one cannot help seeing the uneasiness and trouble 
 that consequently underlie the remarks of the Com- 
 mentators in their attempted explanations. 
 
 It is true that in one passage of the Coran we find 
 this verse, " And remember Ishmael, who was true to 
 his promise ; and he was a messenger and a prophet." ^ 
 But in this text he is not even mentioned as a son 
 of Abraham, or in connection with him at all, but 
 separately, and that between Moses and Idris ; nor 
 (even if it be the same Ishmael) as a " gift of God " to 
 Abraham, like Isaac and Jacob, — a difficult problem 
 for the student of the Coran. 
 
 Now, from all this does it not follow that the testi- 
 mony of the Coran is in entire accord with the Tourat, 
 namely, that it is in the race of Israel the world was 
 to be blessed, and that from this seed was to arise the 
 Messiah, the Word of God and the Quickener of the 
 dead, — an expression which the reader will recollect 
 is explained by Beidhawi to mean " the Quickener of 
 the hearts and souls of mankind," and by Razi as 
 " One that giveth life to the world in their religions " ? 
 
 ' Sura Maryam (xix.) v. 54.
 
 PROPHECY BEING IN ISRAELS LINE 121 
 
 Such is the Messiah as described in the Coran ; and 
 what greater need have we than of this Ouickener 
 to revive the hearts and souls of mankind and give 
 life to the world ! One in whom, by the common 
 consent both of Tourat and Coran, all nations are to 
 be blessed.
 
 CllArTER VI 
 
 PASSAGES IN THE CORAN POINTING TO THE 
 DIVINITY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST 
 
 I. When the Atigels said, O Mary, verily God giveth 
 thee good tidings of the Word {proceeding) from 
 Himself; his name Jesus Christ, son of Mary ; exalted 
 both in this zvorld and in the zvorld to come, and one of 
 those near the throne. And he shall speak unto men in 
 the cradle, and when he is groivn up; and he shall be 
 one of the righteous.— S\]'e.K Al Imran (iii.) vv. 44, 45. 
 
 Commentary.—" The Word from him " i.e. from " the Word," i.e. 
 the essence of the Word, as one would say of a brave or generous 
 man: "the essence of bravery" or "generosity itself." Then 
 follow traditions on "the Messiah," so called as kept clear from 
 the taint of sin ; as anointed with oil like the Prophets, or at his 
 birth ; or touched by the wing of Gabriel when born to avert the 
 tact of Satan. "Exalted in this world" by the prophetic rank 
 and wonderful miracles, and vindication from the accusations of 
 the Jews; and "in the world to come," in virtue of his exalted 
 place with God, and intercession for his people and his heavenly 
 graces. "The Word from him"; the pronoun "him" refers 
 back to "the Word" ; just as the same pronoun in "Aw name " 
 refers to the Messiah. Why, then, is the pronoun not of the same 
 gender (feminine) as " the Word"? Because the person referred 
 to is masculine. — Rdsi. 
 
 Beidhawi: " The angels" ; i.e. Gabriel. The rest pretty much 
 
 as above. 
 
 122
 
 PASSAGES ON THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST 123 
 
 Remarks. — The intelligent reader will not fail to 
 observe that the Imam's interpretation as to the 
 masculine pronoun (in the phrase, "the Word from 
 him") referring to the feminine noun "the Word," ^ 
 — is inadmissible. For, first, it is a mere conceit of 
 his, opposed to all grammatical usage ; and even 
 if otherwise admissible, it would make no sense ; 
 for as Jesus is " the Word," it would signify that the 
 " Word " was from the " Word," i.e. Jesus, as it were 
 the father of Jesus; whereas, the message borne by 
 Gabriel being from God to Mary, that the son she 
 was to bear was "the Word from Him," plainly 
 signifies the Fatherhood of God in a way glorious and 
 far removed beyond the fatherhood of man to son ; 
 so that in the text there is a distinct intimation of the 
 grand mystery of the incarnation, entirely different 
 from the crude and unnatural construction of the 
 Imam. Again, his remark as to the different gender 
 of the pronoun carries no weight; for even had it 
 been feminine, it would (as he says) have referred to 
 " the Word " (cuii), which signifies a Person ; the good 
 tidings would thus have been of a Person to be born 
 of Mary, of the nature of that Person, — a manifest 
 solecism. The pronoun must therefore refer back to 
 the speaker himself, i.e. to God. And since the Kali- 
 mat or Word was to be of a nature thus proceeding 
 from God, what, I would ask, must that nature be? 
 
 '"The Word from liiinself" (Kalimat iiiin liii) ; the pionoiin 
 "/»«" or "him" (masculine) means, according to the Imam, the 
 Word (Kalimat) feminine; whereas the only legitimate construc- 
 tion is " froni llijHself," i.e. from God.
 
 124 PASSAGES FRO. If CO RAN 
 
 1 kiuiw, iiuU'cxl, that there ai-c too mail)' Mussulmans 
 who will not oven enter on an arj^umcnt in this matter, 
 but simply shut their eyes and ears to it without 
 further thout;ht. lUit 1 trust tliat the ntiprcjudiccd 
 and tJioitgJttfiil reader w ill not let the question pass till 
 he has consideretl it from every point of view, and 
 compared it w itli w hat is said in the Gospel. It is no 
 part of wisdom to be satisfied with far-fetched inter- 
 pretations, like that of the Imam, who does not look 
 at the text for simple explanation, but as one anxious 
 only to avoid the difficulty involved in the simple and 
 natural explanation. He just interprets the verse so 
 as to square with his creed, without a thought as to 
 the interpretation being opposed to the obvious 
 construction, namely, that God sent good tidings to 
 Mary of a Son, the Messiah, " the Word from Him- 
 self." 
 
 As to the name " Messiah," the Commentators, 
 finding no explanation of it in the Goran, have 
 wandered altogether from its meaning. Now here 
 are two questions for the intelligent reader: (i) Why 
 has Jesus, Son of Mary, been distinguished by this 
 name above all prophets and apostles, to none of 
 whom it has been given but to Him alone? (2) What 
 is there in the person of Jesus which thus beyond all 
 others entitles Him to the name? Who can give 
 a satisfactory answer to either, apart from the Tourat 
 and Gospel? Now there we find He is so called 
 because God has anointed Him {inasahd) with the 
 Holy Ghost, a King over Israel and all peoples, His 
 Son in whom is life eternal. Thus He, who in the
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 125 
 
 Coran is exalted as " the Word of God and Spirit 
 from Him," is further distinguished by the title of 
 " Messiah," i.e. anointed Prince and King over all ; 
 the first {i.e. the divine " Word ") being the cause 
 of the second, and the second (the title Messiah) 
 being descriptive of the first. 
 
 How strange, then, and unmeaning are the at- 
 tempted explanations of the term " Messiah " ; such 
 as that the infant Jesus was rubbed over w ith oil at His 
 birth ! It was not with oil (like the kings of Israel 
 at their consecration) that He was anointed, but with 
 the Holy Ghost; as we read in Luke i. 35, when it 
 was said to Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come 
 upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall over- 
 shadow thee ; therefore also that holy thing which 
 shall be born of thee shall be called The Son of 
 God." 
 
 Now, turning to the reasons assigned by our Com- 
 mentators for the description of the Messiah as 
 " exalted in this life and in the world to come," we 
 read that He was a Prince in this world because of His 
 high prophetic rank ; because His prayers were heard 
 and answered ; because He raised the dead and per- 
 formed other wonderful miracles ; because He was 
 innocent of the imputations of the Jews. And in the 
 world to come, because of the glorious place assigned 
 in heaven to Him by the Almighty; and because of 
 His acceptance as the Intercessor for His people: all 
 which, cfjming from the pen of the Commentators, 
 raise the Messiah far above men and angels. And 
 truly the features of the Messiah's person, outlined 
 9
 
 126 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 thus in these two radiant verses, resemble links in a 
 golden chain, each reflecting brilliancy on that before 
 it, illustrating thus the sense intended. Taken all 
 together, they manifest the marvellous nature of " the 
 Messiah " the " Word of God " ; a prophet, not as 
 other prophets ; the Anointed, not as other anointed 
 ones; the Wonderful; unapproachable in Mis divine 
 and heavenly birth ; a Prince, both in this world and 
 in that to come. Consider this ! 
 
 II. When God said, O Jesus, son of Mary ! call to 
 mind M y favour towards thee, and towards thy Mother; 
 when I strengthened thee zvith the Holy Spirit, so that 
 thou sJioiddest speak unto men in the cradle, and when 
 thou wast groivn up ; and zuhen I taught thee the Book 
 and Wisdom, and the Tourdt and the Gospel; atid thou 
 didst create of clay, as it tvere tJie figure of a bird, and 
 didst blozv thereon, and it became a bird by My leave. 
 And zvJien, by My leave, thou didst heal the blind and 
 the leper, and by My leave didst cause the dead to come 
 forth. And when I held back the children of Israel 
 from thee, what time thou camest to them zvitJi evident 
 signs ; and those of them that believed not said. This is 
 nought but manifest sorcery. — SURA Al Maida (v.) 
 
 v. Ill, 
 
 Commentary. — " Ruh ul Quds " : of the phrase "Holy Spirit" 
 there are two interpretations: (i) "The Spirit" means Gabriel; 
 " Holy" means God, as if the Lord added the term by way of being 
 honorific. (2) Or it implies that God distinguished Jesus by the 
 special and peculiar gift of the spirit of holiness, light, dignity, 
 exaltation, and goodness. What he said in the cradle was, " I 
 am the servant of God who hath given me the Book " ; the very 
 same words as he spoke when grown up. This is the singular
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 127 
 
 dignity given exclusively to Jesus, such as hath been given to no 
 prophet before him, nor to any after him. — Rdzi. 
 
 Remarks. — Of the two meanings given to " Holy- 
 Spirit," the Imam does not tell us which he accepts 
 and which he disapproves, or which he considers 
 nearest the mark, — a duty surely incumbent on the 
 Commentator. The first is evidently wrong, as 
 opposed to the Coran itself. For (i) the Coran 
 never thus addresses Mohammed, though it speaks 
 to him in such language as this : the " holy spirit 
 hath brought (the Coran) down unto thee in truth " ; 
 and again, " The faithful spirit hath caused it to 
 descend upon thy heart." (See Sura Al Nahal (xvi.) 
 V. 99; and Sura Al Shora (xxvi.) vv. 189, 190.) And 
 (2) the Messiah is elsewhere called "a Spirit from God," 
 which the Commentators interpret to mean one of the 
 exalted and blessed spirits of heaven, the expression 
 " from God " being added as honorific. Now, do the 
 words, " I strengthened thee with the Holy Spirit," in 
 the present verse, refer to one of those exalted spirits, 
 or to " the special and peculiar gift" of the spirit, as in 
 the Imam's second interpretation? The apparently 
 inextricable difficulty for the Commentator is this : 
 If Jesus be — as i^\ ^^—%x — one of those exalted and 
 blessed spirits whom God distinguished as proceeding 
 " from Himself," how could this noblest of " holy spirits " 
 be addressed by God as " strengthened by the holy 
 spirit " : does it mean that a holy spirit is strengthened 
 by another holy spirit? What! did the Messiah, 
 that glorious Spirit whose place is (as wc are told) 
 near by the Almighty, need the helj) of any other
 
 128 PASSAGES FROM CORAN 
 
 spirit to strcnglluMi llim lui' the pciiorniiincc of His 
 miracles? Never! Such strengthening would only be 
 atimissible for one who was not " the Spirit of God." 
 
 This verse, with the commentary on it, is the 
 highest possible testimony to the glory of the Messiah 
 as far exalted above all prophets and apostles, seeing 
 that the Almighty distinguished I Urn with the 
 l)eculiar spirit of purity, illumination, nobility, and 
 goodness. Now we ask the candid Moslem what 
 was this " spirit " reserved as a special distinction for 
 the Messiah? Is it a person and nature; oris it a 
 gift? If you say "a gift," then what is that gift? If 
 you say a gift such as inspiration or holiness, then I 
 reply, that this stultifies the assertion that the Messiah 
 was distinguished by it from all other prophets and 
 apostles; and the expression "a Spirit from Him" 
 would thus be meaningless. But if you reply " a 
 Person or Nature," then it is in entire accord with 
 the creed of the People of the Gospel, that the Messiah 
 hath two Natures — one from God, i.e. divine, the 
 other human. And only thus will you escape the 
 maze, and find a solution of the difficulty. 
 
 III. O People of the Book! Go not beyond just 
 bounds in your religion, and say not regarding God 
 aught but the truth. Verily, Jesus Christ, Son of 
 Mary, is the Apostle of God, and His Word whicJi He 
 conveyed unto Alary, and a Spirit from Him. Where- 
 fore, believe in God and in His apostles, and say not, 
 " There are Three." Forbear this ; it will be better for 
 you. For God is One God. Far be it from Him that
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 129 
 
 He should have a son. To Him belongetJi whatsoever 
 is in the heavens and iii the earth: and God is a 
 sufficient guardian. — SuKA Al Nisa (iv.) v. 128. 
 
 Commentary. — "Do not go beyond just bounds"; do not be 
 immoderate in your exaltation of the Messiah. " The Word," i.e. 
 he came forth by the word of God and His command, without 
 other cause or any human origin. " A spirit from him " : several 
 meanings given, (i) A spirit from Gabriel's breath ; " from Him," 
 i.e. honorific, as you would say, "a gift from God." (2) From liis 
 being "the giver of life to the world in their religions." Or (3) 
 being "a mercy from Him," i.e. sent to guide the world to the 
 truth in their life, religious and secular. (4) There is a hidden 
 meaning in the word, signifying that the Messiah is one of the 
 glorious and blessed spirits; "from Him," added by way of 
 exaltation ; yet nevertheless he is but one of the prophets of God ; 
 " wherefore believe in him, as 3'e do in the other prophets, and 
 make him not a god." — R&zi. 
 
 And Beidharci : " His word conveyed into Mary " ; i.e. caused to 
 enter and rest in her. "A spirit from Him"; possessed of a 
 spirit proceeding from Him, not mediately but direct, both as to 
 origin and essence. Or " a Spirit " because he givelh life to the 
 dead, and to the hearts of men. 
 
 So aXsoJelalein : O People of Ihe Gospel, follow not heresy in 
 your religion ; antl speak not of CJod other than the words ot 
 truth, free from polytheisni or attributing a Son to the Almiglity. 
 " A Spirit from Him," added by way of exaltation ; but lie is not, 
 as ye think, the Son of God, or tlivine. 
 
 Remarks. — Christians are, in the text, addressed as 
 " People of the Book," the very name implying that 
 (as shown in Chap. IV.) they were custodians of an 
 authentic and authoritative Scripture. Was it not, 
 then, incumbent on Mohammed, before assuming that 
 they " went beyond bounds " in their faith, to have first 
 given them the opportunity of producing their warrant 
 from " the Book," just as we are told he gave the Jews 
 in the case of stoning for adultery ? It was surely not
 
 180 PASSAGES FROM CORAN 
 
 just to acknowledge them as " People of the Book," 
 aiul bouiul thereby, and at the same time to blame 
 them for holding doctrines as to the Sonship, which 
 they could have show n jiim to be in that very Book. 
 Nor is it fair and just in the Moslem of the present 
 day, as he recites this passage, to forget the opening 
 words, " O People of the Book," i.e. of the Scriptures 
 belonging to them, its Followers and its Keepers. 
 Neither is it just for him to hold that we Christians 
 go beyond that which hath been revealed to us therein 
 of the divine nature of the Messiah. It were more 
 reasonable to say; — Bring hither the Book, and let 
 us see whether your claim as to the Sonship and 
 Divinity of the Christ being revealed therein, is true 
 or false.^ 
 
 Again, Jesus is called the " Apostle " or " Messen- 
 ger" of God (RasLil). And what more natural than 
 that the vMmighty should send His Son as His 
 messenger, just as a king might do on any important 
 business? Thus, over and over again, you will find 
 
 1 Our author might here have referred to the deputation of (he 
 Beni Harith and their bishop from Najran. Mohammed held a 
 disputation witli these visitors as to the nature of the Messiah, 
 and, when they differed, instead of appealing to their Scriptures, 
 challenged them to curse each other as a test of the truth, and 
 " to lay the curse of God on those who lie." The Christians, very 
 naturally, declined. The passage is as follows: ''Verily, the 
 analogy of Jesus is, 7vilh God, like unto the analogy of Adam. . . . 
 And whosoever shall dispute ivith thee therein, after that the true 
 knowledge hath come zmto thee. Say, Come let us call out (the names 
 of) our sons and your sons, of our 7vives and your wives, of ourselves 
 and yourselves, then let us curse one the other, and lay the curse of 
 God on those that //>."— Sl'RA Al Imran (iii.) v. 6. {Life of 
 Mahomet, p. 445.)
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 131 
 
 the Messiah called Son of God in " the Book " (Matt. 
 xi. 27, xiv. 33 ; Mark i. i ; Luke i. 35 ; John i. 34, 49; 
 Rev. ii. 1 8). And the Coran comes very near it when 
 it names Him not only the Messiah of God, but " His 
 Word and a Spirit from Him." How, then, can 
 Christians be accused of "exceeding just bounds" 
 when they call the Messiah the Son of God, — attest- 
 ing thus nothing but the truth as it is revealed in 
 the Book of which they are to this day the " People " 
 and Custodians ? A matter for reflection. 
 
 Razi's explanation of " His Word," namely, that the 
 Messiah appeared at God's command without inter- 
 mediate cause or human origin, is surely a mere 
 evasion. For Adam, and indeed all creatures, are 
 formed at the command of God. Adam, like Jesus, 
 had not an earthly father, yet no one would on that 
 account call him " the Word from God." The 
 miraculous birth of Jesus was because of His divine 
 nature as " the Word," not the origin of the name. 
 Then again, Adam, being the first of the human race, 
 had of necessity no human father, whereas, in the 
 case of the Messiah, His birth was a miraculous event 
 away from the course of nature. But if the Moslem 
 will close his eyes to the Gospel, no wonder he is 
 misled by the untenable interpretation of Razi. 
 
 In respect of the immaculate conception, the 
 observations of Beidhawi and Jelalein differ entirely 
 from Razi. They speak of Mary as the receptacle of 
 " the Word." Now this phrase, having been shown 
 to signify a person or nature, the commentaiy of 
 Beidhawi may at this pf^int be interpreted in the true
 
 132 PASSAGES FROM CO RAN 
 
 sense of the Gospel, viz. the descent of the heavenly 
 nature or person into the womb of the Virgin. 
 However this may be, the explanation entirely 
 accords with the text, " God giveth thee (Mary) good 
 tidings of the Word from Him, his name the 
 Messiah." And the conclusion from this verse and 
 the two commentaries thereon is, that " the Word," 
 of which good tidings is here given to Mary, means a 
 Person who existed before the " descent " ( J»l>.), and 
 that such, in fact, was the cause of the Messiah's birth 
 without a father. 
 
 " A spirit from him." Razi gives four interpreta- 
 tions, without telling us which is right and which 
 wrong. In the first he says that the words may 
 signify " the breath of Gabriel," by which the Messiah 
 was brought into existence. God breathed into 
 Adam, and he became a living man ; ^ and here the 
 Imam would ascribe the same function to Gabriel. 
 That the Messiah, who is admitted even by Razi to 
 be " one of the glorious spirits," exalted beyond 
 prophets and apostles, should have been created by 
 the breath of Gabriel, — the very idea is profane ! To 
 what inconsistencies is not the Imam led in seeking 
 to lower the dignity of the Messiah ; wandering after 
 far-fetched ideas, while the plain sense lies before 
 him. There is more to be said for his second and 
 third interpretations, namely, that Jesus is so called 
 from His having " given life to the world in their 
 religions " ; and yet here, too, is a perversion, for it 
 was in virtue of His divine nature as the Spirit and 
 ' Sura Al Hejr (xv.) v. 30.
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 133 
 
 Word, that He gave spiritual life to the world, and 
 wrought such mighty works ; — not because of those 
 mighty works that He received the title. But, 
 apart from this, ^^•e see in the attributes given by the 
 Commentators to the Messiah, as raising the dead, 
 giving spiritual life to mankind, etc., a strong resem- 
 blance to His own words in the Gospel, as; — " I am 
 come that they might have life, and that they might 
 have it more abundantly " ; and again, " I am the 
 resurrection and the life; he that bclieveth in me, 
 though he were dead, yet shall he live." ^ How close to 
 this is the comment of Beidhawi, — that Jesus is called 
 the Spirit emanating from God " because he was the 
 raiser of the dead, and reviver of the human heart " ! 
 Truly, men may seek to hide the light that streams 
 from the Son of God, but through it all gleams of 
 the truth will still shine through. Observe, also, how 
 remarkable is his interpretation, " the Messiah, so 
 called, as possessed of a Spirit proceeding from the 
 Almighty, not mediately but direct, both as to 
 origin and essence " ; what real difference between 
 this and the teaching that " the Messiah came 
 forth from God, and that He is the Son of God"! 
 Strange that, after all these testimonies, this blessed 
 Person should be held to be a mere messenger like 
 other prophets ; just as if one recognised a prince to 
 be the king's son, with all the dignity and glory of 
 his birth, and at the same moment stripped him of his 
 majesty, and treated him as a common servant or 
 mere courier of the court. 
 
 ' Julrn X. lo, xi. 25.
 
 134 PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 IV. And for their saying, Wc have slain Jesus the 
 Messiah, Son of Mary, the Apostle of God. Yet they 
 sleiv him not, neither crucified him ; but he zuas simu- 
 lated unto them. And verily they ivho disagreed 
 concerning this matter zvere in doubt ; they had no 
 knozuledge thereof but folloiued mere conjecture. They 
 did not slay him of a certainty, but God raised him up 
 unto Himself. A fid God is mighty and w/j-^.— SURA 
 Al Nisa (iv.) V. 155. 
 
 Commentary. — Razi opens with a denunciation of the evils and 
 dangers of simulation in the daily walk of life, as well as in under- 
 mining confidence in testimony, tradition, and prophecy ; the 
 conclusion being against an interpretation which would make 
 simulation an act of the Deity. 
 
 Various explanations are then given. First, Many hold that 
 when the Jews designed the death of Jesus, God raised him up to 
 lieavcn ; and the Jewish leaders, fearing a tumult at his escape, 
 seized a man and crucified him, spreading the report that it was 
 the Messiah. Now the people knew the Messiah only by name, 
 for he mixed little with them, and so they were satisfied. And if 
 it be asked how the story of his death has been handed down 
 from their forefathers amongst the Christians, we answer that the 
 tradition originated amongst a small number, who might easily 
 have agreed to a lie. 
 
 Second, The next class represent the Almighty as causing the 
 simulation, (i) The Jews, knowing that Jesus was in a certain 
 house with his disciples, their leader, Yehudza, ordered one of 
 his companions, Tit4us by name, to bring out Jesus and slay him ; 
 but as he entered, God took Jesus up through the roof, and cast 
 upon that man the likeness of Jesus ; and so the people, believing 
 him to be Jesus, took and crucified him. (2) As Jesus ascended a 
 mountain, under charge of a guard, he was carried up to heaven ; 
 and God caused his likeness to fall on the guard, so that he was 
 slain while crying out, "I am not Jesus." (3) The Jews sought 
 to seize Jesus as he sat with his ten disciples, on which he said, 
 " Which of you will purchase Paradise by taking on my likeness ? " 
 One of them agreed, so he was taken out and slain, while Jesus 
 ascended \\\) to heaven. (4) There was a person called a disciple
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 135 
 
 of Jesus, but really a h3'pocrite. As this man went to the Jews to 
 betray his Master, God cast the similitude of Jesus upon him, and 
 he was crucified in his stead. These are the various explana- 
 tions. The Lord only knoweth the true one. — R&zi. 
 
 The note oi Beidhawi is to the same effect as No. (i) under the 
 second head, namely, that Tilaus was the betrayer on whom God 
 cast the likeness of Jesus. 
 
 Remarks. — Here, again, as in the preceding verse, 
 the majesty of Jesus above all other prophets is re- 
 cognised in this, that when the Jews sought His life, 
 He is said to have been carried up to heaven. 
 
 Next, if the reader wonders at Mohammed's denial 
 of the crucifixion, simply in opposition to the Jews 
 who claimed to have crucified Him, and without any 
 reference whatever, either here or elsewhere, to the 
 testimony and teaching of the Christians, — that won- 
 der will cease when he remembers that Mohammed 
 was surrounded at Medina only by Jews, and not 
 by Christians, and that neither the Prophet nor his 
 Companions were acquainted with the Gospel. 
 
 And here one would ask, — Did Mohammed not 
 know that the death of Jesus at the hands of the 
 Jews was the cardinal truth that runs through both 
 the Tourat and the Gospel?^ Moreover, Jesus Him- 
 self repeatedly foretold that the Jews would crucify 
 and put Him to death, and that on the third day 
 He would rise again; and the substance of His 
 disciples' preaching, as we find it in the Gospel, was 
 to the same effect, His death being the ransom for 
 our sins. Now both the Old and New Testaments 
 are acknowledged Ijy the Goran to be binding 
 
 ' Our author iiirr' (|iiotes Isa. liii. .'ind I).in. ix. 24-27.
 
 13G PASSAGES FROM CORAM 
 
 on Jews and Christians,' how is it, then, that 
 Mohammed denies the event which is the foundation 
 antl corner-stone of the whole? Better, surely, to 
 ha\e tlcnicd llie Book itself, the observance of which 
 is pressed upon them, than to have denied its main 
 purpose. Now, may we not picture to ourselves the 
 Christians of Mohammed's time addressing him 
 thus, as indeed we do this day : — O Abul Casim ! thou 
 tellest us to follow the commands of God sent down 
 to us in the Gospel that is in our hands. Good and 
 right. Now God hath there revealed to us the 
 history of the crucifixion and death of the Messiah at 
 the hands of the Jews, and His rising again the third 
 day from the dead, — all established by divers infallible 
 proofs. Moreover, these facts, as it cannot have 
 escaped thee, are the pivot of its teaching, that which 
 if thou takest away, thou takest away its very heart 
 and kernel. But if, in very deed and truth, thou dost 
 accredit this our Scripture, now before thee, then it 
 behoveth that thy faith be even as our faith, thyself 
 
 ^ Here our Author quotes and comments on several texts of tlie 
 Coran, on the authority of the Scriptures, as follows : — 
 
 "And when a Prophet came unto them from God, confirming- 
 the Scripture which was with them" (observe with thevi). — Sura 
 Al Bacr (ii.) v. 97 {et passim). 
 
 "He hath sent down unto thee the Book in truth, confirming- 
 that which was revealed before it ; for Hk had sent down the 
 Tourat and the Gospel from afore, to be a guide unto mankind." 
 — Sura Al Imran (iii.) v. 2. 
 
 "And We have sent down unto thee the Book in truth, attesting- 
 the Scripture (?.^. Tourat and Gospel) revealed before it." — SuraAl 
 Maida (v.) v. 49. And so, in v. 48, the Christians are urg-ed to 
 follow its precepts thus : — "And that the People of the Gospel may 
 judge according to that which God hath revealed therein."
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 137 
 
 a Christian like us, and thou a preacher of the Gospel. 
 Else thy claim, that thou dost attest this Book of ours 
 now before thee, cannot be true ; for to attest a thing, 
 and in the same breath deny it, is an irreconcilable 
 contradiction. Moreover, history is in accord with the 
 Gospel narrative. How, then, can it be gainsaid ? 
 
 Turning now to the explanations on our text ; 
 built on the sand, they hardly deserve criticism. For 
 example, how could it be said that the Messiah, being 
 little among the people, was known only by His 
 name ? We learn from the Gospel that He lived 
 thirty years with His parents, known as the carpenter 
 of Nazareth ; travelled thereafter continually over the 
 land of Judca, its plains and hills, its cities and 
 villages, preaching the kingdom of God, calling men 
 to repentance and faith, and performing miracles and 
 works of mercy, until " His fame went throughout all 
 Syria," so that great multitudes crowded around Him 
 from all the country round about, bringing their lame, 
 diseased, and lunatics to be healed by Him. Indeed, 
 the Goran itself tells us that He healed the blind and 
 the leper, raised the dead to life again, and brought 
 down the "Table" from heaven. To every comer He 
 opened His heart with divine love and grace; no 
 wonder, then, that, as on rapid wing, they sought Him 
 from afar, and that the eager crowds pressed in on 
 every side around Him. And yet we are told that, 
 being little among the people, He was known only 
 by name ! 
 
 And the view is that the story of the crucifixion has 
 come down from former generations, started originally
 
 138 PASSAGES FROM CO RAN 
 
 by but a small number, w ho miLjlit easily have agreed 
 upon a fiction and a lie. So far from that, it was 
 preached abroad from the very first, being the essence 
 of the Gospel, as before set forth. And again, even if 
 it did rest on tradition (as we have before seen that 
 the authority of tradition is recognised by the 
 Moslems themselves^), are we to imagine that the 
 Apostles of Christ and His people gave forth a lie, 
 as here supposed ; these Apostles (tO^^^s-) being 
 styled in the Goran, Helpers (Ansar) of God ? - 
 
 Then as to the childish stories of the likeness of 
 Jesus having been cast by God upon some other person, 
 who was thus crucified in His stead, — apart from the 
 criticism of Razi against the morality of a proceeding 
 thus ascribed to the Almighty, — the tales are simply 
 got up by persons who see no natural escape from the 
 dilemma. And so Razi ends by saying, " The Lord 
 knoweth the truth of these explanations," i.e. " I 
 cannot vouch for them." Well spoken, so far, Imam ! 
 If thou and thy forefathers had but sought for this 
 truth, they would have found it revealed in the Gospel, 
 " the Book " attested by the Goran of which thou art 
 an interpreter, i.e. the grand truth that the death of 
 Christ is the life of the world. 
 
 V. When God said, O Jesus, verily I will cause thee 
 to die, and I will raise thee tip unto myself ; and zvill 
 deliver thee fivm the Unbelievers ; afid will make them 
 that folloiv thee to be above the Unbelievers until the 
 day of resurrection. Then tmto Me shall be yotir 
 
 1 See above, pp. 8.* and 134. - Sura Al Iinran (iii.) v. 50.
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 139 
 
 return, and I will judge between you, concernmg that 
 wherein ye disagree. — SURA Al Imran (iii.) v. 53. 
 
 Commentary. — The interpretations being very lengthy, are here 
 much abbreviated. "Will cause thee to die"; (i) will bring- thy 
 life to an end, and not leave them to put thee to death, but cause 
 thee to ascend to heaven ; or (2) cause thee to die, — some saj'ing 
 that Jesus really died, but onl}' for three hours, others for seven, 
 and others that death took place as he ascended to heaven. 
 
 We have again a variety of views as to the simulation, some as 
 before questioning its justice ; others, that, being opposed to the 
 universal voice of Christendom, to question it would throw suspicion 
 on the value of traditional testimony, even on that of Islam. 
 Others say, that if Jesus had been taken up, and a similitude not 
 cast upon another, the ascension as a miracle would have reached 
 the limit of compulsion. 
 
 The old explanations as to the dissembling of the disciples, their 
 being few in number, etc., are repeated here as we have hatl them 
 before, ending with the conclusion that what Mohammed here tells 
 us in the heaven-inspired Coran, we must simply accept as the 
 word of God, surrounded as it is with difficulties ; and "it is the 
 Lord alone that can give the true direction." — RAzi. 
 
 Beidhaii'i says : " Cause thee to die " ; or rather " fulfil Ih)' lime 
 to its end, and save thee from being slain " ; or carry thee up from 
 the earth ; or raise thee upwards while asleep ; or cause to die 
 within thee all earthly desires that would hinder thee from ascend- 
 ing to the world above. Some, again, hold that God caused Jesus 
 really to die for seven hours ; then raised him up to the heavens, 
 whither the Christians will follow him: "will raise thee to My- 
 self," to the place of My glory, the habitation of My angels. 
 
 Remarks. — The text and commentaries thereon 
 suggest three things. First, the preceding verse 
 asserted that Christ did not die, but was taken up 
 to heaven alive ; here we are told as distinctly that 
 God caused Ilim to die, and then took Him up alive 
 to heaven, — two passages the direct contrary of each 
 other in a divine revelation ! The candid Moslem 
 falls here into a sad dilemma ; and the interpreters are
 
 no /'ASSylGFS FROM CORAN 
 
 fain to resort to unworthy shifts. Thus the first ex- 
 planation gives an unheard-of meaning to ( <Cj>«»a,«> 
 
 — namcl)', to "bring to a close the term of thy life"; 
 as if the word was ever used in any other sense 
 than that of natural death ; showing to what straits 
 they are reduced in seeking to reconcile the two 
 verses. And so we call on the followers of the Coran 
 either to confess the contradiction in these two verses, 
 or to explain it. 
 
 Another instance of strange reasoning is that in 
 which simulation is defended, on the ground that 
 Christ's ascension without the crucifixion of one like 
 Him, would have been wrong as a coercive miracle, 
 
 "to force the Jews," — l.a^^!l w\:^ (meaning apparently 
 to force them to the faith, or it may be to give up 
 their design of crucifying the Messiah). But, after 
 all, what should be the object of a miracle but such 
 as that, — for example, the quenching of the furnace 
 to effect the deliverance of Abraham, and the miracles 
 of Moses to make Pharaoh let the people go ? How 
 meaningless, then, is this alleged reason ! 
 
 The next remark is still more indefensible. The 
 disciples of Jesus, it is supposed, were cognisant of 
 the facts, were aware of the simulation which took 
 place in their presence, and told those about them 
 that it was not Jesus, but one in His likeness that was 
 crucified. By my life, this is the most extraordinary 
 charge ! When and where did the disciples ever say 
 anything of the kind ? On the contrary, these true 
 and holy men wrote by the inspiration of the Holy
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 141 
 
 Ghost, and with the utmost detail the facts of the 
 crucifixion of Jesus under the Roman government, 
 and of His rising again from the dead and ascension to 
 heaven ; — all this the grand object of their ministry, 
 as thou mayest see, if thou wouldest but look into the 
 Gospel. I will only add, that simulation with the 
 view of making the Jews believe that they had 
 crucified the Messiah, — what else can we call it but 
 to spread a fiction and a falsehood ? and who dare 
 suggest such a thing proceeding from the great God ? 
 
 We now come to the fcnam's escape from this 
 disquieting problem. It is this : — " Upon the whole, 
 the views we have given expression to land us in 
 the midst of doubtful and perplexing questions ; but 
 when we remember that the inspiration of Mohammed 
 has been established, in all that he hath revealed to 
 us, by an invincible miracle (meaning the Goran), the 
 existence of such doubts and difficulties can in no- 
 wise militate against the text of the Goran. And after 
 all, with the Lord is the true direction." The Imam, 
 seeing that all the attempted explanations fail to 
 remove his doubt and difficulty, and are in themselves 
 a discredit to the Goran, simply accepts the situation, 
 however much against his will ; according to the 
 proverb, — " Escaping the bear, he falls into the pit." 
 
 For, as already shown, the Goran is not a miracle, 
 and what the Imam here says of these difficulties 
 militating against its text, is not this but an additional 
 evidence in the same direction? If, then, the Goran 
 be not a miracle, and there is (by admission) no other 
 miracle to prove M(jhammed's inspiraticjii, Imw can 
 
 10
 
 142 PASSAGES FROM CO RAN 
 
 the Imam fall back on that inspiration, as proved by 
 the Coran, for a sufficient reply to the embarrassing 
 questions and bewildering inconsistencies in these 
 texts of the same Coran? It is, in fact, arguing in a 
 circle. The Coran is a miracle proving Mohammed's 
 inspiration ; and, again, Mohammed's inspiration is 
 proof against inconsistencies iti the Coran. The 
 Prophet rests on the Coran ; and, again, the Coran 
 rests on the Prophet. Surely the Imam must have 
 known that this was nothing of an argument. And so 
 these difficulties (which, as the Imam himself admits, 
 tell against the text) remain as they stand, and taken 
 in conjunction with the earlier chapters of this book 
 are decisive against the authority of the Coran. ^ 
 
 REVIEW 
 
 From the Texts quoted in this chapter, and the 
 Commentaries, we learn that Jesus was exalted above 
 all creatures in nine respects. (i) He was born 
 without a father ; (2) He was " the Word from God," or 
 " the Word of God " ; 2 (3) He was " a Spirit from God " ; 
 (4) He was called the Messiah ; (5) — a Prince in this 
 world and in the next ; (6) He spake to those about 
 Him while yet in the cradle; (7) He created the living 
 out of that which had no life ; (8) He was raised from 
 the dead ; (9) He was carried up alive into the heavens. 
 He w^as called " a Spirit from God " (we are told) 
 
 ^ This is much abridged. Reference is made especially to 
 Chap. I. 
 
 2 Pp. 124 and 128.
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 143 
 
 because He proceeded (^ Ju?) from God ; and " a Spirit," 
 because " He gave life to the dead and to the hearts 
 of men." Also the greatness ascribed in the Coran to 
 Him " in this life," is explained to mean His being 
 cleared of the imputations cast upon Him by the 
 Jews ; and "in the life to come," because of His merits 
 and high rank with the Almighty; again, "in this 
 life," because of the acceptance of His prayers, and 
 His wonderful miracles, such as healing the sick, the 
 blind, and the leper ; and " in the life to come," 
 because He is the recognised Intercessor of His people. 
 Now, my intelligent reader, do not all these distinctive 
 epithets, — which we find either in the Coran or in the 
 interpretations of the Commentators, — point out Jesus 
 to be of a marvellous origin and nature, far beyond that 
 of any prophet or apostle? And, considering it all, 
 can you blame the Christians for believing, in accord 
 with the words of their Scripture, that He is the Son 
 of the living God ? Now let us complete the lesson of 
 the close similarity and accord of the Coran with the 
 Gospel, in respect of what has gone before, by bringing 
 the testimony of both together in the subjoined table. 
 
 Coran and Commentaries 
 
 When the angels said, O 
 Mary, Verily God giveth tliec 
 good tidings of tlit; Word, pro- 
 ceeding from Ilimsflf; his 
 name Jesus, the Messiali, son 
 of Mary, exalted both in this 
 world and in the world to come, 
 and one of those near the 
 Throne. And he shall speak 
 
 Gospel 
 
 And in the sixth month the 
 angel Gabriel was sent from 
 God unto a city of Galilee, named 
 Nazareth, to a virgin espoused 
 to a man whose name was 
 Joseph, of the house of Uavid ; 
 and the virgin's name was 
 Mary. And the angel came in 
 unto her, and said, Hail, thou
 
 144 
 
 PASSAGES FROM CORAN 
 
 CORAN ANP CoMMKNlARIHS 
 
 uiiti) Ml', ill tlio cradle, ami 
 when he is thrown up ; and ho 
 shall be one of the righteous, 
 — she said, O Lord, how shall 
 there be a son to me, and no 
 man hath touched me? He 
 answered, Even so, God cre- 
 aleth that which W- pleaselh. 
 When lie decreeth a thing-, He 
 hut saith unto it. Be, and it is. — 
 Si'RA Al I.muan (iii.) vv. 44-47- 
 
 He shall give thee (Mary )good 
 tidings of thcWord from Himself. 
 
 And His Word which He con- 
 veyed into Mary. — SuRA Al 
 NiSA (iv.) V. 167. 
 
 Commentary. — Conveyed into 
 Mary, or placed in her womb. 
 (See p. i2q.1 
 
 Gospel 
 
 Ihal art higlily favoured, the 
 Lord is with thee : blcssetl art 
 thou among women. And when 
 sill- saw him, she was troul)le<l 
 al his saying, and cast in her 
 mind what manner of saluta- 
 tion this should be. And the 
 angel said imto her, Fear not, 
 Mary : for thou hast found 
 favour with God. And, behold, 
 thou shalt conceive in thy 
 womb, and bring forth a son, 
 and shalt call his name jHSl'S. 
 He shall be great, and shall be 
 called the Son of the Highest : 
 and the Lord God shall give 
 unto him the throne of his father 
 David : and he shall reign over 
 the house of Jacob for ever ; 
 and of his kingdom there shall 
 be no end. Then said Mary unto 
 the angel. How shall this be, 
 seeing I know not a man ? 
 And the angel answered and 
 said unto her. The Holy Ghost 
 shall come upon thee, and the 
 power of the Highest shall 
 overshadow thee ; therefore also 
 that holy thing which shall be 
 born of thee shall be called 
 the Son of God. — Luke i. 26-35. 
 
 And the W'ord was made flesh, 
 and dwelt among us (and we be- 
 held his glory, the glory as of the 
 only begotten of the Father), full 
 of grace and truth. — JoilN i. 14. 
 
 Concerning His Son which 
 wasmadeoftheseed of David ac- 
 cording to the flesh. — Rom. i. 3.
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 
 CoRAN AND Commentaries 
 
 145 
 
 And a Spirit from him. — 
 Sl-RA Al Xisa (iv.) V. 167. 
 
 CommenUiry. — And possessed 
 of a spirit proceeding' from 
 Him. (Sec p. 129.) 
 
 And it is said that he is called 
 a Spirit, because he gave life to 
 the dead and to the hearts (of 
 men). (See p. 129.) 
 
 He is called a Spirit, since he 
 was the cause of the life of the 
 world in their religions. (See 
 p. 117.) 
 
 A Prince in this life, and in 
 the life to come. 
 
 Commentary. — "In this 
 world," because he was cleared 
 from the imputations of the 
 Jews here below, and because 
 his prayers were answered, etc. 
 
 Gospel 
 
 And he was clothed in a 
 vesture dipped in blood : and 
 his name is called The Word of 
 God. — Rev. xix. 13. 
 
 The Father himself loveth 
 you, because ye have loved me, 
 and have believed that I came 
 out from God. I came forth 
 from th'} Father, and am come 
 into the world. — John xvi. 27, 28. 
 
 Jesus said unto them. If God 
 werej'our Father, ye would love 
 me : for I proceeded forth and 
 came from God. . . . Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you. Before 
 Abraham was, I am. — John 
 viii. 42, 58. 
 
 Jesus said unto her, I am the 
 resurrection, and the life : he 
 that believeth in me, though he 
 were dead, yet shall he live : 
 and whosoever liveth and be- 
 lieveth in me, shall never die. . . 
 And when he had thus spoken, 
 he cried with a loud voice, 
 Lazarus, come forth. And he 
 that was dead came forth, etc. 
 —John xi. 25, 26, 43, 44. 
 
 Which of 3'ou convinccth me 
 of sin ? And if I say the truth, 
 why do ye not believe me ? — 
 John viii. 46. 
 
 Pilate therefore went forth 
 again, and saith unto them, 
 Behold, I bring him forth to you, 
 that ye may know that I find no 
 fault in him. — John xix. 4.
 
 1 10 
 
 PASSAGES F/^O.U CORAM 
 
 CORAN AND COMMKNTARIKS 
 
 . . . .\iul ill 11k- lire ti) 
 como. 
 
 Coiniucntiiry. — Because lie 
 lialli been the Intercessor of his 
 true people. 
 
 His name, the Christ. — SuRA 
 Al Imran (iii.) V. 44. 
 
 Verily, Jesus the son of 
 Mary is the Apostle of God and 
 His Word, etc.— SuRA Al Nisa 
 (iv.) V. 167. 
 
 Commentary. — " His name, 
 the Christ," said Abu Amr 
 ibn al Ala, "the Christ the 
 King." (See p. 124.) 
 
 Gospel 
 
 And Jesus lifli-d up his eyes, 
 .-ind said. Father, 1 tiiaiiU thee 
 that thou hast heard nie ; and 
 I knew that thou he;irest me 
 always. — John xi. 41, 42. 
 
 W'iio is he that contlennielh ? 
 It is Christ that died, ye.a rather, 
 tluit is risen again, who is even 
 at the right hand of God, who 
 also niakcth intercession for us. 
 — Rom. viii. 34. 
 
 Unto you is born this day in 
 the city of David, a Saviour, which 
 is Christ the Lord. — LuKE ii. 1 1. 
 
 And Simon Peter answered 
 and said, Thou art the Christ, 
 the Son of the living God. — 
 Matt. xvi. 16. 
 
 God hath made that same 
 Jesus, whom ye have crucified, 
 both Lord and Christ. — Acts 
 ii. 36. 
 
 Now when Jesus was bcjrn in 
 Hethlehem of Juda;a in the d.'iys 
 of Herod the king, behold, there 
 came wise men from the east to 
 Jerusalem, saying, Where is he 
 that is born King of the Jews? 
 for we have seen his star in the 
 east, and are come to worship 
 him. . . . And when he had 
 gathered all the chief priests 
 and scribes together, he de- 
 manded of them where Christ 
 should be born. And they said 
 unto him. In Bethlehem of Judaea. 
 — Matt. ii. 1-5.
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 147 
 
 CoRAN AND Commentaries 
 
 And when thou didst create 
 from the clay as the figure of a 
 bird, and didst blow thereon, 
 and it became a bird by my per- 
 mission.^SLRA Al MAiDA(viii.) 
 p. 114. 
 
 When God said, O Jesus, 1 
 will cause thee to die, and I will 
 raise thee up unto myself. — 
 Sura Al Imran (iii.) v. 53. 
 
 Comtneritary. — It is related 
 of Ibn Abbas and Mohammed 
 ibn Ishac, that both explained 
 
 i Cx'i^'x.* to mean, " I will 
 
 cause thee to die." Then God 
 raised him up, and caused him 
 to ascend to heaven. Wahb 
 says, "caused him to die for 
 three hours, then raised him up 
 to heaven." And Mohammed 
 ibn Ishac, "caused him to die 
 for seven hours, then God 
 brought him to life again, 
 and raised him up to heaven. 
 (See p. 139.) 
 
 Gospel 
 
 As long as I am in the 
 world, I am the light of the 
 world. When he had thus 
 spoken, he spat on the ground, 
 and made clay of the spittle, 
 and he anointed the eyes of 
 the blind man with the clay, 
 and said unto him. Go, wash 
 in the pool of Siloam. . . . 
 He went his way therefore, and 
 came seeing. — John ix. 5-7. 
 
 And they crucified him, and 
 parted his garments, casting 
 lots. . . . Jesus, when he had 
 cried again with a loud voice, 
 yielded up the ghost.— Matt. 
 xxvii. 35, 50. 
 
 And it was the third hour, and 
 they crucified him. . . . Jesus 
 cried with a loud voice, and 
 gave up the ghost. — Mark xv. 
 
 25' 37- 
 
 And when Jesus had cried 
 
 with a loud voice, he said, 
 P'ather, into thy hands I com- 
 mend my spirit : and having 
 said thus, he gave up the ghost. 
 — Like xxiii. 46. 
 
 But when they came to Jesus, 
 and saw that he was dead 
 already, they brake not his legs. 
 —John xix. 33. 
 
 The angel answered ... I 
 know that ye seek Jesus, which 
 was crucified. He is not here ; 
 for he is risen, as he said. — 
 Matt, xxviii. 5, 6. 
 
 Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, 
 which was crucified. He is
 
 118 PASSAGES FROM CO RAN 
 
 CORAN AND COMMENTARlliS GOSPEL 
 
 risen : he is not here. — Mark 
 xvi. 6. 
 
 Why seek ye the living: among 
 the dead? He is not liere, but 
 is risen. — Luke xxiv. 5, 6. 
 
 And he led tiieni out :is far as 
 to Bethany ; and he lilted uj) his 
 hands, and blessed them. And 
 it came to pass, while he blessed 
 them, he was parted from them, 
 and carried up into heaven. 
 And tiiey worshipped him, and 
 returned to Jerusalem vvilli great 
 joy. — Luke xxiv. 50-52. 
 
 But ye shall receive power, 
 after that the Holy Ghost is 
 come upon you : and ye shall 
 be witnesses unto me both in 
 Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and 
 in Samaria, and unto the utter- 
 most part of the earth. And 
 when he had spoken these 
 tilings, while they beheld, he 
 was taken up ; and a cloud 
 received him out of their sight. 
 And while they looked stead- 
 fastly toward heaven as he 
 went up, behold, two men stood 
 by them in white apparel ; 
 which also said. Ye men of 
 Galilee, why stand ye gazing 
 up into heaven ? this same Jesus, 
 which is taken up from you into 
 heaven, shall so come in like 
 manner as ye have seen him go 
 into heaven. Then returned 
 they unto Jerusalem from the 
 mount called Olivet, which is 
 from Jerusalem a sabbath day's 
 journey. — Acts i. 8-12.
 
 POINTING TO DIVINITY OF CHRIST 149 
 
 Now, dear reader, dost thou not perceive the 
 close agreement and wonderful harmony between 
 the passages on either side of this table and the 
 majesty of the Messiah rising far above the rank of 
 prophet or apostle? The various interpretations 
 of the Commentators may not everywhere touch 
 the mark, but certainly they come very close to it. 
 And the passages from the Gospel in respect of 
 the Messiah, are they not an explanation, one might 
 say, of the various statements in the Coran, although 
 they were, in fact, then original ? But, alas for the 
 blinding prejudice which an ancestral faith casts 
 between the truth and the judgment, making both 
 sage and fool at one ! There is no remedy for this 
 evil, or way out of these crooked paths, but for a man, 
 casting this prejudice aside, to come like a little child, 
 newly born as it were, simple and teachable, searching 
 after the truth by the gate that alone leads to it, and 
 praying for guidance to enter therein from its only 
 source.
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 Now, having reached the end J had in view, namely, 
 to show the testimony which the Coran bears to the 
 Scriptures of the inspired prophets, and the evidences 
 it contains pointing to the mystery of the divine 
 nature of the Messiah, I would seek to address an 
 earnest and loving appeal to thee, my true and gentle 
 reader, — one diligent in the Coran, constant at the 
 Mosque, and whose supreme concern is nought but 
 the pleasure of the Almighty. May I hope for thy 
 forbearance, — that thou wouldest give me thine ear to 
 hear, and a kindly regard toward that which I shall 
 place before thee ? and then let thy soul within thee 
 be the judge. For it is not to the heedless and 
 unwise I address myself, — those that rest in the 
 name of their faith, led captive by the bonds of 
 prejudice, manacled with the chain of ignorance. 
 Not to such, but to thee, my noble and pious 
 reader, that I submit my case for judgment and 
 consideration. 
 
 Now thou hast seen — praised be God ! — the evidence 
 adduced in this treatise in respect of the Jewish and 
 Christian Scriptures. They are borne testimony to 
 
 150
 
 APPEAL TO THE READER 151 
 
 throughout the Coran, as in the hands of the People 
 of the Book, genuine and authoritative, a revelation 
 of the will of the Most High. Further, in view of 
 the most distinguished of your Doctors, they are pro- 
 nounced (as we have seen) to be true and authentic, 
 having been handed down by continuous succession 
 throughout the East and the West, and thus pure 
 from the taint of corruption or change. These learned 
 Doctors also believe that such passages as, — Clothe not 
 the true in the false, and hide not the truth when ye knoiv 
 it ; — They pervert the word from its place, and such like ; 
 — have no reference whatever to any tampering with 
 the text, but simply accuse the Prophet's opponents 
 of confusing their hearers with vain and doubtful argu- 
 ments ; preventing the truth from reaching others ; 
 putting false interpretations instead of true; changing 
 words, not in the text of their Scripture, but with 
 the lip in their speech ; and hiding or misrepresenting 
 the commands of God as in the case of the Jews of 
 Kheibar.^ There is no alternative for you, therefore, 
 but to accept the Tourat and the Gospel, as thus 
 accredited by the Coran. And when they tell thee, 
 — God forbid ! — as they tell the ignorant folk, that 
 verbal corruption has crept into these Scriptures 
 since the time of Mohammed and the Coran, — I say 
 at once that it is absolutely impossible, scattered as 
 these Scriptures already were, and have ever since 
 continued, throughout all nations, sects, and churches, 
 speaking various languages, bitterly opposed to one 
 another, and using the Sacred text in controversy 
 
 ' See above, j). 89.
 
 152 CONCLUSION 
 
 and in Ihcir Ihcological writint^s. Such a state of 
 things renders the charge of corruption, or of any 
 change whatever, altogether out of the question. In 
 the interval between Jesus and the rise of Islam, 
 that is, for six centuries, it is admitted that there had 
 been no tampering with, or change in, the text ; 
 is it possible, then, that such could have happened 
 since that time ? Never ! Further, we have seen — 
 the Lord guide thee ! — that the authority of what is 
 thus continuously handed down cannot be impugned ; 
 for to deny such continuity, your learned men hold, 
 would be to impugn the evidence of the prophetic 
 office of Mohammed or of the Messiah, — the evidence 
 even of their very existence, or of any of the prophets.^ 
 And here I would pause, and ask thee to reflect. 
 If these Scriptures be incorrupt, genuine and pure, 
 what is incumbent on thee as one that seeks the 
 truth alone, but to accept what is revealed therein 
 of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, and of His 
 death in the flesh a ransom for mankind ? for, surely, 
 belief in the inspiration and authenticity of the Book 
 must carry with it belief in all that is therein. And 
 now I think I see thee bewildered and perplexed ; 
 on one hand, unable to deny the authenticity of " the 
 Book," the grand object of the Tourat, the spirit of 
 prophecy, and the doctrines of the Gospel ; on the 
 other, equally unable to reconcile all this with the 
 teaching of Islam, and fearing to recognise anything 
 opposed to the Goran, as calculated to lead on to 
 disbelief in the revelation itself, and doing despite 
 
 ^ Sec pp. 82, 134.
 
 APPEAL TO THE READER 153 
 
 thereto. The writer deeply sympathises with thee 
 in thy struggle and distress ; — so often suffered by 
 those who reach this solemn stage of conflicting 
 thought, — who feel as if they could not relax their 
 hold on the belief inherited from their forefathers, 
 which is yet opposed to what is now seen and 
 apprehended. Yet would I fain hope that reflection 
 upon what has been advanced in the last two chapters, 
 with a single eye and a mind unprejudiced, may 
 dissipate the cloud of thy bewilderment, and let thee 
 go forth as one whose shackles are undone, in grateful 
 liberty. 
 
 As a house must stand on a firm foundation, so 
 Chapter V. is the foundation of Chapter VI. ; let us 
 therefore first revert to it, and may the Lord guide 
 thee aright ! Now in the Fifth chapter thou wilt find 
 these two positions established ; — namely (i) that Isaac 
 and Jacob were the sons of promise to Abraham, and 
 (2) that in their line was to be the gift of prophecy 
 and of the Scriptures. Ishmael and Esau are left 
 entirely out. The passages quoted from the Coran 
 all point with one finger to the race of Isaac and 
 Jacob as that in which the grand purpose of the 
 Almighty is to be wrought out ; and for this end 
 the children of Israel are " preferred beyond all 
 creatures," — exalted above all the world as the 
 chaimcls of spiritual blessing. The Commentators, 
 blinded by prejudice, too often miss the point; yet 
 ever and anon, even in their interpretations, the truth 
 appears. The Commentators have passed away ; but, 
 thank God, the texts of the Coran remain, — a witness
 
 154 CONCLUSION 
 
 to the grand truth, that it is in tlic Hnc of Isaac and 
 Jacob \vc must look for " Prophecy " and " the Book," 
 These passages bear witness that " God left, as an 
 inheritance to tlic children of Israel, the Book, a 
 direction and an admonition to men of understand- 
 ing," and that in this race the whole world is to be 
 blessed;^ — promises which find their full and only 
 accomplishment in the Messiah, the Redeemer of the 
 world, of the race of Jacob, — He of whose coming 
 the prophets spake, and whom they- magnify as a 
 blessing to all the world, — " a Light to them that sit 
 in darkness and in the shadow of death." Here, 
 then, the Gospel and the Coran are at one, declaring, 
 namely, that the Messiah came as a Blessing and 
 Mercy to all people. 
 
 We pass on to the argument in the Sixth chapter, 
 which might be called an immoveable bulwark, built 
 on the foregoing as its firm foundation. It is this ; 
 that the " the Word of God " announced to Mary was 
 a Person which existed before entering her womb ; 
 and that this Person, proceeding from God and of the 
 Divine essence, was conceived by her, which is the 
 cause of the Messiah being born without an earthly 
 father. Verily the account thus set forth in the 
 Coran of the divine origin of the Messiah, the de- 
 scription of Him as " the Word of God," and " a Spirit 
 from Him," His marvellous birth, and his wonderful 
 works, all cast a clear light on his Divinity. It is true 
 that the interpreters of the Coran deny the Divine 
 Nature thus proved by these signs and plainly set 
 
 ' See Sura Al Mamiin (xl.) v. 51, and above, p. 109.
 
 APPEAL TO THE READER 155 
 
 forth in the Gospel, being led thereto by the supposi- 
 tion that it detracts from the Unity of the Godhead. 
 But I would ask, — Does it consist with the independ- 
 ence of the soul to bind itself to the interpretation of 
 Commentators? Is it not more fitting to use the 
 intelligence which God has given us, in finding out for 
 ourselves what is the most natural meaning of the text? 
 And thou hast seen that certain of the Commentators 
 come singularly near the true interpretation, while some 
 are far off from it, and others again between the two. 
 In fact, as one reads their explanations, they seem 
 all to be hovering round one object, — and that is how 
 best to lower the Messiah, "the Word of God and His 
 Spirit," to the rank of other prophets and apostles ; 
 not perceiving in these texts the Divine origin and 
 Heavenly characteristics, which to the intelligent and 
 open mind must assign Him a place infinitely beyond 
 that of any other prophet or apostle. Surely no 
 sensible man could be satisfied with these interpreta- 
 tions in view of the wonderful nature and perfections 
 which could not possibly be assigned to any other 
 than to Him alone. In view of it all, my friend, is it 
 possible to let thine eye be darkened by any earthly 
 blind, so that thou shouldest not see, in the light 
 wliich streams all through these passages of the 
 Coran, the glory of the Son of God ? Beware ! for if 
 thou docst so, thou injurest thine own soul, and dost 
 rebel against the Almighty. 
 
 Let us now compare the passages in the Coran 
 regarding the Messiah with the account given in the 
 Gospel, and wc shall find in them at once corroboration
 
 15G CONCLUSION 
 
 and also clusc resemblance. There is corroboration, 
 almost to the very letter, in the account of His 
 phenomenal birth. His wonderful works, — as raising 
 the dead, healing the blind, the sick, and the leper, — 
 and His lofty rank in both worlds. There is also 
 close resemblance, as in the miraculous birth of the 
 Messiah, and His name "the Word of God and a 
 Spirit from Him," — coming very near the words of the 
 Gospel in which He is called " the Word of God " and 
 "the Son of God"; the description in both pointing, 
 in fact, to a nature far exalted above all creation. 
 Indeed, the Goran, and the Moslem traditions, in 
 some things go even beyond the Gospel; — the former 
 telling us that Jesus spake to those about him while 
 yet in the cradle, and made a living bird out of clay. 
 The latter, that at the time of his birth the idols 
 throughout the world hung down their heads ; and 
 that whereas at birth every son of Adam screams at 
 the prick of Satan, Mary and her Son were alone 
 free from his touch, the Almighty having caused 
 Satan to retire humbled and disgraced when he came 
 for the purpose ; also that a host of angels surrounded 
 the infant, so that Satan was unable to approach.^ 
 
 Does it, then, approve itself to thy reason, that the 
 Almighty should have caused such marvels to surround 
 the Messiah, and that the order of nature should have 
 been broken at His birth without some great purpose? 
 Impossible ! And doth not thy soul search high and 
 low to get at the secret of the mystery? Is it to be 
 found in the Goran ? Nay, my friend, it is not there. 
 
 ^ Quoted from the Kilab Ahya of the IiiKini al Ghazaly.
 
 APPEAL TO THE READER 157 
 
 True, the Coran gives thee some precious glimpses of 
 the Messiah's greatness ; but it stops short of unveiHng 
 His glorious perfections and divine majesty. It leads 
 to the portal, but fails to open the door ; it kindles the 
 flame, but leaves it in the heart a longing and unsatis- 
 fied desire. Art thou, then, content that this question, 
 in which the highest of human interests are bound up, 
 remain unsolved ? How now, if someone should re- 
 late to thee a marvellous tale leading up to a point of 
 intensest interest to thyself, and there stopped short, 
 wouldest thou be content, and not rather beg of him to 
 continue his story ? And should he say, " I know no 
 more than I have told thee," wouldest thou not ask 
 him to tell thee from whom he learned the story, or 
 where he read it, and where it was to be found ; and 
 when he told thee, wouldest thou not exhaust every 
 effort to get and read it for thyself, at whatever toil 
 or risk ? Now, by my life ! this is precisely what the 
 Coran hath done in respect of the Saviour, Christ. It 
 hath told thee of His wondrous nature and life, as 
 taken from the Gospel, but stopped short at the grand 
 purpose of it all, and said not one word about it. It 
 lifts thee, as it were, halfway out of the pit, then 
 leaves thee there, neither raising thee farther nor 
 letting thee drop. It fails to point to the Book 
 from which nearly all it tells thee has been taken, 
 namely, the Gospel, which alone can show thee the 
 completion of the story, and unveil the mystery ot 
 which but half is told thee in tlic Coran ; or send 
 thee to the Possessors of that l^ook, to whom, indeed, 
 
 Mohammed was himself referred for relief to his 
 II
 
 158 CONCLUSION 
 
 soul, and settlement of the doubts arising in his 
 heart.^ 
 
 And now, my friend, as thou believest in the inspira- 
 tion of the texts that have been quoted from the 
 Coran, and must see that it is incumbent on thee to 
 find out their full meaning and the lesson they would 
 teach ; seeing also — the Lord help thee ! — that thou art 
 aware of the authenticity of the Tourat and Gospel, 
 whose end and object is the incarnate Son of God, 
 who hath redeemed us from our sins by His own 
 blood ; seeing, further, that these verses of the Coran 
 agree with the Tourat and Gospel to a far greater 
 degree (as we have seen) than with the views of 
 the Commentators, — what becomes the duty incum- 
 bent on thee ? Wilt thou follow the careless world- 
 ling who fleeth away from any approach to the 
 Christian faith, that which alone can throw trans- 
 parent light on these texts regarding the Son of God ; 
 and say with him, — " God only knoweth what their 
 meaning is " ? Such a one recites these wonderful 
 verses over and over as, day by day, he reads the Coran 
 without thinking for a moment what their real meaning 
 is, or whether there may not be some way of under- 
 standing them, and getting at the heart of the matter. 
 As if the Almighty, having made a revelation to His 
 creatures, should yet render it impossible to compre- 
 hend the same, and hinder them from discussion and 
 search as to what its meaning is ! Or rather, wilt thou 
 not recognise the Messiah as raised in power and 
 glory far above all mankind, seek the guidance of the 
 
 ^ See pp. 98, 99,
 
 APPEAL TO THE READER 159 
 
 Almighty as thou approachest His Book, and study 
 the same with profoundest reverence and prayer for 
 guidance to learn the truth regarding the Person of 
 Jesus the Christ ? 
 
 Now, reflecting on the texts that bear testimony to 
 the unrivalled One, as alone in His birth, His nature, 
 and divine perfections, would not every thoughtful 
 earnest man put such anxious questions to himself as 
 these — 
 
 Who, thinkest thou, might that have been, con- 
 ceived without an earthly father, and to whom at His 
 birth Satan could find no way of approach ? 
 
 Who could that have been, named in the Coran 
 "The Word of God and a Spirit from Him"; called 
 also in the Sunnat "The Spirit of God"? For 
 what Being, one would ask, could be greater than the 
 Spirit of God ? 
 
 Who could that have been who, we are told, spoke 
 to those around Him while yet in the cradle? Who, 
 that could, as Beidhawi explains, give life to the dead 
 and to the hearts of men {i.e. to their bodies and to 
 their spirits) ; who other than the Almighty and the 
 Holy Ghost ? Who, that could form a thing of life out 
 of clay, even as God formed Adam out of the dust of 
 the ground ? 
 
 Who must that have been (as we read in the Coran), 
 free from all sin and frailty, who needed not as other 
 men, even the best and noblest of the Prophets, 
 to seek forgiveness? He, over whom death had 
 no power, nor corruption ; of whom one of your own 
 authorities says that He remained dead but for three
 
 160 CONCLUSION 
 
 hours/ and another seven, aw\\ tlien was raised aHve 
 to heaven;- and who shall surely so come again in 
 like manner as He went, and shall slay Dajjal the 
 Antichrist, and destroy the hosts of Gog and Magog?^ 
 
 Who must that have been who lived, unspotted by 
 the touch of the world, a life of purity, an example 
 to the innocent and virtuous ; who did no evil ; who 
 was to all around gracious, generous, and kind ; who 
 commanded to love our enemies, to do good to them 
 that hate us, to pray for such as despitefully use and 
 persecute us, and to be loving and beneficent to all 
 mankind, be they good or be they bad ? 
 
 Who may this be in whom centre all such glorious 
 perfections ? Were manifestations of divine origin and 
 heavenly perfection such as these ever seen in any of 
 the Prophets? Not one! Is it anywise consistent 
 with reason to hold Him a mere man? Never! 
 What ! doth God exalt Him, and wilt thou lower 
 Him? Doth the Almighty call Him His Word and 
 His Son (or the Coran " His Spirit "), testifying thus 
 to the loftiness of His Being, — a Nature that gives 
 Him the power of creating and that of " vivifying 
 both flesh and spirit," — and wouldest thou reduce 
 Him to the grade of messenger and servant? What 
 else should that be called than running counter to 
 the revealed will of God ; and what shall be the fate 
 of him that opposeth the Almighty ? 
 
 And now let me turn thy attention for a moment 
 
 1 Namely, by Mohammed Ibn Ishac, and Ibn Wahab, see p. 139. 
 * Imam Ghazaly, two references. 
 ' Tradition quoted from Muslim.
 
 APPEAL TO THE READER 161 
 
 to Sura Fateha. Look with favour upon it, and may 
 the Lord graciously incline thy heart unto its words, 
 which are these: Gicidc us in the Right ivay ; the Way 
 of those on whom Thou hast been gracious, not of those 
 against whom Thou hast becfi ajigiy, nor of those who 
 have gone astray. First, let us search the meaning 
 of this the opening prayer of thy Coran, and then of 
 the Commentary thereon. Now as to its meaning: 
 doth not the open and unprejudiced soul at once 
 reply, that the way into which we should seek to be 
 guided is the way of the servants of God, the Prophets 
 and Leaders of old ; of " those upon whom the Lord 
 hath been gracious," the way of faith in the Almighty, 
 the root and spring of all goodness and fear of the 
 Lord ? And who are they but those who have gone 
 before as patterns of righteousness, some of them prior 
 to Israel, as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; and 
 the rest that followed to whom God gave "the Book," 
 
 or as thou mightest call it l^L^l^ the "Way" of life. 
 
 And all this quite in accord with that other text: 
 O Children of Israel, call to mind My favour where- 
 with I have favoured you, and have pj-ef erred you above 
 all other creatures;^ "preferred," how otherwise than 
 that He gave them the Book, and multiplied amongst 
 them Prophets, until at the last He sent unto them 
 the Prince of all the Prophets, the Messiah of God, 
 His Word and His only Son, — or (as thou hast it in 
 the Coran) " a Spirit from Him " ? 
 
 And next I [)lace before you some comments of 
 
 ' Sura Bacr (ii.) v. 44.
 
 162 CONCLUSION 
 
 the Imam al Fakhr al Razi on the Sura: First, the 
 Right Way is that which leads, he says, to earnest 
 endeavour after the favour of the Ahnighty ; and we 
 are given, as an example, the practice of Noah, who 
 used several times a day to retire into a covered spot, 
 where each time he would pray, O Lord, guide my 
 people aright! Second, it directs justly in our 
 daily conduct, keeping midway in all the concerns of 
 life from going beyond or from falling short. Third, 
 the prayer is : Cause us, O Lord, in everything to 
 recognise the marks of Thy divine nature and per- 
 fections. Fourth, guide us into the Way of those 
 Thou hast been gracious unto, those of the just who 
 have gone before and gained Paradise. And who are 
 these but the Prophets and righteous men of old, for 
 the blessing of God is on those who have the grace 
 of faith ? And so the end of it all is this, — Guide us 
 into the Right path of their direction. 
 
 Such is the Imam's instruction; and the lesson to be 
 drawn is this, that the Prophet is here, in the Fateha, 
 directed to seek for guidance in the lives and faith 
 of the former Prophets and Saints of God. And so 
 it behoveth us to search for the nature and teaching 
 of that same faith which was in these men of God ; 
 and where else is this set forth but in the Books of 
 Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other 
 writers of the Old Testament, and in the Gospel? On 
 these grounds, then, both the purport of the Sura, and 
 the comments thereon, we conclude that the RiGiiT 
 Way by which Mohammed and his followers are here 
 commanded to seek for guidance, is the Sacred Scrip-
 
 APPEAL TO THE READER 103 
 
 tures, the Way and the teaching of those upon whom 
 God hath been gracious, — the Prophets, namely, and 
 the Holy Men of old. All which is in entire accord 
 with those other texts: — Attd verily We have given 
 Moses guidance, and have caused the Children of Israel 
 to inherit the Book, a Guide and an Admonition to men 
 of understanding;'^ and, — Then IVe gave unto Moses 
 the Book, a perfect 7-ule for Jiim that doeth luell, a special 
 instruction in all things, a?id a Guide and a Mercy, if 
 perchance they might believe in the meeting with their 
 Lord- And here let me ask thee,— Hath that " Way," 
 the way of the Prophets of old, passed into oblivion, 
 or is it still open for us to tread upon ? Surely the 
 Sirdt, the Way of right direction, can never pass 
 away ; and where are we to search for it, but with the 
 Jews and Christians — "the People of the Book," those 
 to whom Mohammed was referred for the calming of 
 his doubts? Again, I would ask, What difference is 
 there between the two texts : — Say unto those to whom 
 We have giveji the Book'^ and " Those to whom We 
 have given the Right Way'' \ for the " Way," as we 
 have seen, is but the knowledge of God, and faith in 
 His nature and perfections; the path that Icadcth unto 
 Paradise ; and this signifieth nothing else than " the 
 Book which is a Guide and Admonition (or Remem- 
 brancer) to men of understanding." Now, if the 
 Right Way, the precious " Book " which the Lord 
 revealed to the Prophets and Apostles of old time, 
 and caused the Children of Israel " to inherit," be 
 
 ' Sura Al Miimin (xl.) v. 56. - Sura Al Inam (vi.) v. 153. 
 
 ^ Sura Al Imran (iii.) v. 18,
 
 1G4 CONCLUSION 
 
 still existinpf pure and uncontaminatcd (as hath been 
 made clear to thcc in the former part of this Treatise), 
 why dost thou hold back from seeking guidance of it, 
 — neither taking hold of the Book, nor striving to be 
 led by its direction? O Hungry One, thou longest 
 for bread ; here it is before thee, and thou touchest 
 it not. In darkness, thou searchest for light to guide 
 thee ; light is close by, and yet thou hidest thyself 
 from it ! Is it wisdom for a man to thus wander 
 vainly in search of that which he yet knoweth to be 
 in abundance about him ? 
 
 REVIEW 
 
 Now, in conclusion, I would say to my valued 
 Reader, — Thou hast seen that Mohammed showed 
 no miracle to prove that he was the Prophet of God ; 
 and that which has been attributed to him as a 
 miracle, namely the Coran, hath been proved to have 
 none of the attributes of a miracle. Further, in 
 respect of his claim to be a Messenger of the Lord ; 
 — it is declared in the Coran that he was not sent to 
 compel men to embrace the faith, nor in any way to 
 punish those who refused to acknowledge him ; he was 
 but a " Preacher of good tidings " and a " Warner " ; 
 with him lay the message, with God the account. 
 But these texts were cancelled by other texts for 
 political reasons; and we have seen in Chapter III. 
 how this question of cancel ment is fraught with 
 inextricable confusion, and surrounded with inconsist- 
 encies which could not possibly have proceeded from
 
 APPEAL TO THE READER 165 
 
 the Almighty, and are indeed in some cases opposed 
 even to common intelHgence. Doth not my Moslem 
 reader see that, judging from the quotations of Coran 
 in the third chapter, there is no evidence to prove the 
 prophetic mission of Mohammed ? Rather, doth he 
 not perceive that in the cancelment of his first tolerant 
 principles, the course subsequently pursued was taken 
 by him as the Ruler of his people ? — a course dictated 
 by rare sagacity, and adapted with unrivalled address 
 and skill to the necessities of the day. 
 
 And lastly, in the next three chapters I trust that 
 the strongest testimony has been brought to bear 
 upon the authority of the Gospel from the Coran 
 itself, and the most convincing evidence of the truth 
 of the Christian faith as set forth in the Scriptures. 
 
 And now I trust that my reader will believe me 
 when I say that I have been led on to writing this 
 Treatise by no unworthy motives of prejudice and 
 race, or desire simply for victory in the field of c(jn- 
 troversy; and that, to the utmost of my power, I 
 have avoided any single word which might give 
 offence. 
 
 Indeed, my object at the first was simply to search 
 out the views of the earliest Doctors of Islam on such 
 passages of the Coran as I had long been pondering 
 over with wonder and with much perplexity. And 
 when I saw that their explanations generally agreed 
 with the plain sense and purpose of these texts, then 
 I began collecting and arranging them, with an 
 abstract of the Commentaries thereon and my own 
 
 12
 
 100 CONCLUSION 
 
 remarks, as thou hast seen throughout this work ; so 
 that all, whether Moslems or others, miy;ht with case, 
 and without time spent in painful and wearisome 
 search, become possessed of these marvellous testi- 
 monies of the Coran to the authority of the Scriptures 
 and the truth of the Christian faith. 
 
 And now I humbly trust that by the compilation 
 of this treatise in the way described, I may have 
 rendered a service to the candid, pious Moslem, — 
 the most useful service it was in the power of one like 
 myself to offer. I know too well that the best and most 
 effective cordials for restoration of health are often 
 put aside or thrown away by the ignorant, although 
 indeed these have far greater need of them than men 
 of wise and noble minds, who will not refuse a share 
 of their attention to that which is placed before them 
 — looking to what is said, not to him that saith it. 
 
 Now I pray God that He may make this little 
 Book material of reflection to men of understanding, 
 and the means of bringing Truth and Light and Bless- 
 ing to His servants. May He guide and direct the 
 Reader to Himself! And to His name be the praise 
 and the glory, now and for ever. Amen ! 
 
 MORRISON AND GIDB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH,
 
 SWEET FIRST-FRUITS. A True Tale of the N ineteenth 
 Century, on the Truth and Virtue of the Christian Religion. Trans- 
 lated from the Arabic, and abridged. With an Introduction by Sir 
 William Muir, K. C.S.I. , etc., Author of "Life of Mahomet," "The 
 CaUphate." Crown 8vo, 2S. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 Sir \V. Muir says: "It Is a work in many respects the most remarkable of its 
 kind which has appeared in the present day. It is a first-fruits of what we may 
 expect from the information now so steadily spreading among the Eastern Churches ; 
 and as such may take the highest rank in apologetic literature, being, beyond 
 question, one of the most powerful treatises on the claims of Christianity that has 
 ever been addressed to the Mohammedan world. It is singular, also, as a work 
 which only a native Christian could accomplish — one who, though born and bred in 
 the East, has cast aside the corruptions of an effete ecclesiasticism, and has em 
 braced, in all its purity, the faith preached in the same lands eighteen centuries ago." 
 
 "This is a most interesting and curious book. The story is a romance, 'but its 
 framework is primarily designed to give scope and opportunity for presenting to the 
 ftloslem reader the proofs of the Christian faith, the purity and genuineness of our 
 Bible, its attestation by the Coran, and the consequent obligation on Moslems to 
 obey its precepts.' It abounds in remarkable dialogues, in which the argument for 
 Christianity, drawn from the testimony of the Coran to the Old and New Testa- 
 ments, is acutely and impressively expressed. Doth in its original te.xt, and in this 
 very interesting translation, it is a volume of great interest and importance at the 
 present tin\e."^^/as^(rzu Herald. 
 
 " An interesting first-hand picliire of the relations of ' Evangelical ' Christianity to 
 Mahometanism. It is the genuine Eastern conferences and discussions between 
 Christian converts from Islam and the faithful Moslems that do this. Some of the 
 arguments adduced by the converts are very interesting, especially the Christians' 
 appeals to the Koran in proof of the genuineness and authority of the Old and New 
 Testaments, and, on the other h.ind, the Moslems' objections to some Christian 
 doctrines and their defence of Islam." — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 " The dialogues and conversation in the book have decided apologetic value, and 
 the incidents, the confessions, the recant.ations, the imprisonments, and the e.xiles, 
 etc., are often of thrilling interest." — Haptist .Magazine. 
 
 " \Vherever read it will excite and deepen keen interest in the subject it treats of, 
 which, in short, is Christianity versus Islam. Even should the reader not care much 
 alx)Ut the apologetic of the book, he will be charmed with the beautiful langu.ige of 
 the author as rendered by the Principal into the purest of English." — Scottish Leader. 
 
 "As a proof of the reformation going on all over the East, and a curious and 
 suggestive sample of a new Christian literature beginning to exert so wide and pure 
 an influence, we thank Sir William Muir and the Religious Tract Society for the 
 publication of Sweet Kirst-Fruits.' "—Independent. 
 
 "A lxx)k which is sent out with such a eulogium as the Principal of the University 
 of Edinburgh bestows on ' Sweet First-Fruits,' is assured of a warm welcome in 
 Scottish Evangelical circles. It is described as 'a work in many respects the most 
 remarkable of its kind which has appeared in the present day,' and as 'being beyond 
 (juestion one of the most powerful treatises on the claims of Christianity that has 
 ever Ijeen addressed to the Mahometan world.' The author of the little volume is a 
 native Christian, 'one who, though born and bred in the East, has cast aside the 
 corruption of an effete ecclc.->ia.>ticism.' He here seeks to establish, in the form of a 
 romance, which is thoroughly Oriental in colouring and texture, the genuineness of 
 the Christian faith. The stor>' is said to be largely 'founded on fact,' and is told in 
 a dialectic form, between a party of Christian converts in Damascus and their former 
 companions ; the persecutions and trials endured by the former recalling the sufferings 
 of the Covenanters in Scotland. Sir William Muir has written a preface in which he 
 briefly summarises the tale, furnishes some interesting particulars as to the scholarly 
 writer, and indicates how the work has been abridged from the original Arabic so as 
 to bring it more in accordance with the rc<|uirements of Western ideas. Without 
 homologating all that its kindly sfxjnsor has to say in praise of the work, the volume 
 may be commended to readers of like leanings and sympathies." — Scotsman. 
 
 London : THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, 5G Paternoster Row, E.G.
 
 WORKS BY 
 
 SIR WILLIAM MUIR, 
 
 K.C.S.I., LL.U., D.C.L., ril.U., ETC. 
 
 THE CALIPHATE: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall. 
 
 By Sir Wii.i.iAM MuiK, K. C.S.I. , LL.D., D.C.L., Vn.D., Author 
 of "The Life of Mahomet," "Mahomet and Islam," etc. New and 
 Revised Edition, with three Maps. Demy 8vo, los. 6d. cloth. 
 
 "The study of Islam, slation.iry as it is, is a study which En,c;lishmen who 
 represent, as Lord lieacoiisfield used to say, a jjreat Mussulman power, have no 
 ri,i;lit to neglect, and i[i this study Sir William Muir must always be regarded .as one 
 of the most competent and authoritative guides." — Tijiics. 
 
 "The volume does for the annals of the Caliphate something resembling what 
 has been done by Green, in his 'Short History,' for the ainials of the English 
 people." — Scotsman. 
 
 "As the work of Sir William Muir, this book has a special claim to be received 
 with respect ; for he is the first English .scholar that has written the history of the 
 Caliphs from the original Arabian authorities." — Saturday Kevietv. 
 
 MAHOMET AND ISLAM. A Sketch of the Prophet's 
 
 Life, from original sources, and a Brief Outline of his Kehgion. By 
 Sir William Muik, K.C.S.I., LL.D., D.C.L., formerly Lieutenant- 
 Governor of the North-West Provinces of India. With Illustrations 
 and a large Map of Arabia. Crown 8vo, 5s. cloth boards. 
 
 " A sketch of the prophet's life from origin.al sources, together with a brief outline 
 of his religion, so that the general reader is put in possession of all the salient facts of 
 one of the most remarkable of careers. Sir William Muir gives_ an interesting 
 appendix to his volume, in which he discusses the Koran and tr.adition, the observ- 
 ances and laws of Islam, and the differences between Isl.am and Christianity. He 
 demonstrates the incomparable superiority of Christianity in supplying the wants of 
 humanity, and in having love as its motive power." — Times. 
 
 " A precis of the author's larger works, but it is Vi. precis done by the author, which 
 makes all the difference." — Saturday Rcviciv. 
 
 PRESENT-DAY TRACTS BY 
 
 SIR WILLIAM MUIR, 
 
 K.C.S.L, ETC. 
 
 RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 4d., in paper 
 
 cover. 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER AN ABIDING WITNESS 
 TO THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 4d., in paper 
 
 cover. 
 
 London: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, 56 Paternoster Row, E.G.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is IHUl on tlie last date stanipi«l below. 
 
 I 
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed.
 
 c^^ 
 
 3 1158 00273 1338 
 
 , ,r CO, ITHFRN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 AA 000 628 342 8
 
 
 
 
 '<' 
 
 ■i5? 
 
 1' ;vi 
 
 ''•;,■•</■■■