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The Qur'anic Doctrine of God
I. THE NATURE OF GOD
WE have now come in our study of the Qur'an to the question
which above all others is the most difficult and yet the most
alluring. As soon as one attempts to form independently and
without bias a definite conception of the Qur'anic teaching
concerning God, the absolute inadequacy of the orthodox theologians'
treatment of the subject becomes apparent. The Doctrine of
God as taught by orthodox Muslim theologians is barren and
almost wholly negative.
The great difficulty there is in explaining the teaching
of the Qur'an and the position of Muhammadan theologians
with regard to this subject, is, perhaps, best exemplified
by quoting the words of Palgrave and of Johannes Hauri side
by side. '"Islam", says Palgrave, "is the
Pantheism of Force" . . . Johannes Hauri, in his classical
study of Islam says, . . . "Muhammad's idea of God
is out and out deistic. God and the world are in exclusive,
external, and eternal opposition."' 1
Both cannot be correct; each simply emphasizes one side of
the teaching of Muhammadanism, and leaves the other out of
consideration. To affirm that either the one |
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