86 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT.

did not occur to Muhammad. Nor did he understand that our true happiness must necessarily depend upon our nature1 being restored to its original purity and our wills harmonised. with GOD'S will. Nay rather, in the "Prophet's" opinion, GOD'S commands are such as are foreign to and do violence to our nature, and Man feels himself restrained2 through them from the true development of his being. He cannot therefore fulfil all GOD'S commands perfectly. Yet he can to some extent at least atone for the breach of one of these fettering precepts by doing some act of self-denial, something which GOD did not order

Merit.

dominant religion of fully one half of the entire continent, and is still spreading there to a very

[Footnote continued from previous page]
sind, so sind sie auch für den Menschen, der zum Bilde Gottes geschaffen, also mit Gott wesensverwandt ist, nichts Fremdes. Gerade in ihrer Erfüllung wird er selig. Selig sein und Gottes Willen thun ist eins und dasselbe. Die Moral des Islam aber ist heteronom und darum auch eudämonistisch. Wie in jeder Gesetzesreligion, so stehen auch im Islam die göttlichen Gebote dem Menschen als ein Fremdes gegenüber, durch das er sich in der Entfaltung seines wahren Wesens gehemmt fühlt; ihre Erfüllung kann ihn daher nicht beseligen, vielmehr muss die Seligkeit als ein äußerer Lohn hinzukommen."—Hauri, "Der Islam," p. 53.
 
3 "According to the gospel, by fulfilling the commandments man is given back to his true nature; as they are the expression of God's innermost being, they are also nothing alien to man who is created in God's image and so is similar in nature to God. It is in fulfilling them that he will be blessed. To be blessed and to do God's will is the very same thing. The morality of Islam, however, is heteronomous and therefore also eudemonistic. As in every religion of the law, in Islam the divine commandments stand before man as something alien, by which he feels inhibited in the development of his true nature; to fulfill them therefore cannot be a blessing to him, rather blessedness has to be added as an external reward." - Hauri, "Der Islam", p. 53
1 "Haben wir durch unsere bisherigen Untersuchungen als Realprincip des sittlich Guten die Liebe zu Gott erkannt, so ergiebt sich von selbst, dass das Böse als Gegensatz gegen das Gute sein inneres Princip in der Entfremdung des Menschen von Gott, in dem Mangel der Liebe zu ihm hat."—J. Müller, "Die Christliche Lehre von der Sünde," vol. i., p. 169.
1 "Since in our investigations up to now we have recognized the love of God as the fundamental principle of what is ethically good, it follows logically that evil as the opposite of good has its internal principle in the alienation of man from God, in the lack of love of Him." - J.Müller, "Die Christliche Lehre von der Sünde," vo. i., p. 169.
2 V. also Osborn, "Islam under the Khalifs of Baghdad," pp. 138, 139.
THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 87

him to do of necessity, or by performing some rite appointed for this very purpose, e.g. by making a pilgrimage to Mecca, or by giving voluntary alms (sadaqah, صَدَقَةٌ as distinguished from the legal "tithes" or zakat, زَكَوةٌ ).

Muslims often tell us that Sin is a disease. This is true in one sense, but the comparison may

Sin a
disease.

easily lead us to an erroneous conclusion. This it does in Islam. "If it be a disease," a Muslim is inclined to think, "we can hardly be very much to blame for it after all. GOD is Merciful and Compassionate, and He will not punish us very severely for being ill in this way, more especially if we are good Muslims, believing in His books and His prophets, offering the prayers He

Guilt of Sin
not recognised.

has commanded, and doing a great deal to please Him. Besides, He created us as we are, and He fated us to do what we are doing." The denial of Man's freewill, and the belief that all our actions are inalterably predestined for us, prevent Muslims from feeling the terrible guilt of sin. Of course Conscience frequently asserts itself, but Reason strives by this and similar arguments to silence the voice of the spirit. When hard pressed in discussion on this subject a Maulavi is

GOD the
 Author
of Evil.

reported to have said, "We confess that we are sinners and have done wrong, but although we are obliged by our reverence for GOD to say this, yet if we go back to the root of the matter GOD is Himself the Author of our sinful acts. It is not reverent to