120 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT.

and tongues as he has horns. It would be profitless to repeat any more of such nonsense.

 Another source of weakness in Islam is the terrible historical1 inaccuracy of

Historical
Inaccuracy
of the Qur'an.

the Qur'an. One or two examples of this may suffice. The Virgin Mary is said to be the sister of Aaron,2 and daughter of 'Imran,3 the Arabic form of Amram. The story of the Seven Sleepers is told as a4 fact, and firmly believed in by all Muslims. We are assured that GOD held up Mount Sinai over the heads5 of the Israelites and thereby terrified them into accepting the Law. Besides innumerable fables of this kind—as for instance,

Queen of
Sheba.

that about Solomon6 and Balqis, queen of Sheba—the Qur'an contradicts the Bible in a multitude of places. Many of these passages show the ignorance of the writer, while others are an evidence that he intentionally rejected whatever Jewish or Christian doctrines did not please him. This is a great argument against Muhammadanism, because the

1 Weil ("Biblische Legenden der Muselmanner," Vorrede, p. iii.) says: "Geschichte kann das Werk eines Muselmannes uber seinen Propheten nicht genannt werden." This is true of Muhammadan ideas of all prae-Islamic history also.
2 Surah xix. 29[28].
3 Surah iii. 31[35].
4 Surah xvii.
5 Surah ii. 60[63], and Surah vii. 170[171].
6 Surah xxvii. 22-45.
THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 121

Qur'an in many places asserts that it was revealed to1 confirm the Law and the Gospel.

§ 10.—Finally, Islam—like all other false religions—is entirely destitute of proof. In spite of Muhammadan arguments to the contrary,2 it has neither previous prophecies nor

Islam
Destitute
of Proof.

attendant3 miracles to confirm the lofty claims of Muhammad to be considered as the Seal of the Prophets and the bearer of GOD'S final and perfect Revelation to Mankind. Its results are not those of a Heaven-descended creed. Its doctrines are in many cases an insult to reason, and at their best cannot satisfy or cleanse the heart. It may for a time continue to exercise its baneful sway

Doomed to
Extinction.

over the hearts and consciences of men, but nothing can be clearer to any one who has had any personal acquaintance with the Muhammadan world, than that Islam, whether in any one of its present forms4 or in that which it had when given by Muhammad himself, is one of those creeds which are doomed to extinction.

1 As, e g., Surah ii. 130[97]; Surah v. 45-52[43-48]: &c. Vide Sir W. Muir's "Testimony of the Coran," passim.
2 See some of these in "Mizanu'l Mawazin," and in Sayyid Ahmad's "Essay on the Prophecies respecting Muhammad," passim.
3 Muhammad acknowledged this (Surah vi. 109, xiii. 8[7]), but his followers do not. Vide Mishkat, "Kitabu'l Fatan, Bab fi'l Mu'jizat," pp. 522-536.
4 I use the plural because of the immense number of sects into which the Muhammadan world is divided. (V. Ash Shahristani, and also the Dabistan-i Mazahib.)