but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation' (Heb. ix. 22-28).

b. REMARK: Above, in the account of Mohammed's ascension into heaven, there was already an incidental reference to the subject of atonement (see pp. 310, 311), which shows that, to his mind, this was so puzzling a question that he fancied even the angels in heaven contended about it, and he ascribes to a very special Divine manifestation what light he possessed on the subject, and which he embodies in the following definition: 'Atonement, that is, what causes atonement for sin, are — the abiding in the places of worship, after the prescribed prayers have been performed; the going to assemblies on foot; and the regular and complete performance of the legal ablutions during seasons of calamities and troubles. Whoever does these things will live and die well, and become so entirely purified from sins, as if his mother had only just given him birth.' If we may judge of the amount of light Mohammed possessed on ethical and religious questions, from this definition, how truly disappointing and lamentably sad is the result: and this, six centuries after the rise of the religion of atonement and reconciliation between God and man! But we may also infer from this recital that the great subject of Atonement, that cardinal point of the Christian religion, duly forced itself on the attention of Mohammed, though he never took it in. This ought never to have been left unnoticed by Christian writers.

'Omar Ibn Aas, after narrating how in the year 8 A.H. he went to Medina to profess his faith in Mohammed, and how, on the way, he fell in with Khalid Ibn Walid who was travelling in the same direction for the same purpose, thus continues his narrative: When we arrived at Medina, we went straight to that Excellency, who first required the confession of the Unity from Khalid. After him, I also went

into the presence of that prince saying, "Stretch out thy hand, that I may take the oath of allegiance to thee." But when he stretched out his blessed right hand, I withdrew my own. Thereupon he asked, "What has become the matter with thee, O Omar?" and I replied, "I wish to make a condition." On asking me again, "What is the condition thou wishest to make?" I answered, "I take the oath of allegiance with this condition, that all my sins shall be forgiven." His Excellency rejoined, "Dost thou not know, O Omar, that Islam blots out all previous sins, and that the Hegira (= flight, migration) from the domain of unbelief to the domain of Islam, and the religious visits to the house of the Kaaba, equally demolish the structure of former trangressions?"

'On the war-expedition to Tabuk, A.H. 9, his Excellency rose one night, took down the provender-bag with his own hand, and gave barley to one of his horses; and then wiped and cleaned its back and shoulder with his own mantle. When his friends said to him, "O Apostle of God, how can this be a proper use for thy blessed mantle?" he replied, "Ye do not know that Gabriel came and ordered me to do this; and that last night angels came and rebuked me on account of want of attention to the horses, and told me that every Mussulman who, with the intention of going to war and battle in the cause of God, ties a horse, will not do so without the Most High writing down for him a good action, and pardoning a sin for every grain of corn he has given to the horse."

'It is also recorded that when Adam was punished and sent into the world on account of his sin, he repented of his sins with weeping and sorrow; but his repentance was not accepted, until at length he took Mohammed, the Apostle of God, for his mediator, saying, "O God, forgive my sins for Mohammed's sake!" God asked him, "Whence knowest thou Mohammed?" Adam replied, "At the time when thou didst create me, the foot of the Throne was straight opposite my sight, and I beheld written upon it: There is no God but Allah: Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah. Then I knew that the dearest and noblest of beings in thy sight is Mohammed, whose name thou hast joined close to thy own name." After this, the voice came, "O Adam, know thou, that one of thy