present it is enough to say that Muhammad made no attempt to reconcile the two sides of this question; but was satisfied with asserting on the one side man's responsibility and freedom of choice, and on the other the all-embracing character of the divine will in the production, government, and regulation of the world. The same recognition of God's omnipotent will and of man's freedom and responsibility, is to be found in the Old Testament, along with the same absence of any attempt to resolve the philosophical difficulties connected with their reconciliation.

In considering the Qur'anic teaching on this question one should not lose sight of the fact that those passages which speak of the power of man's will as being dependent on the action of God's will refer to the choice of good, of right, of the true direction. I do not at present recollect any passage in the Qur'an, which, in like clear terms to those found in Suratu'l-Insan and Suratu't-Takwir, quoted above, refers men's choice of evil to the action of the divine will; whereas there are very many passages which state that when a man does evil, or refuses the preferred guidance of God, he is acting of himself, following the guidance of his own desires and lusts, or listening to the mischievous whisperings of Satan or his emissaries. 'And as to Thamud We directed them; but they loved blindness better than the (true) direction' [Suratu'l-Fussilat (xli) 16]. ' . . . or say, If God had directed me, Verily I had been one of the pious; or say . . .; but God (shall answer), My signs came unto thee heretofore, and thou didst charge them with falsehood, and wast puffed up with pride; and

becamest (one) of the unbelievers . . . ' [Suratu'z-Zumar (xxxix) 58-60]. 'And they say, If the Merciful had pleased, we had not worshipped them. They have no knowledge herein; they only utter a vain lie [Suratu'z-Zukhruf (xliii) 19]. 'And Satan shall say, . . . Yet I had not any power over you (to compel you); but I called you only and ye answered me: wherefore accuse me not, but accuse yourselves' [Suratu Ibrahim (xiv) 26-7] .

The same doctrine may be rightly developed from those passages which plainly teach that when man sins he is not following God's direction. Thus in Suratu'l-Qasas (xxviii) 50, we read: 'But if they return thee no answer, know that they only follow their own desires: and who erreth more widely (from the truth) than he who followeth his own desire, without a direction from God? Verily God directeth not the unjust people' [see Suras ii. 260; iii. 80; v. 56; vi. 145; ix. 19, 110; xlvi. 9; lxi. 7; lxii. 5].

The general teaching of the Qur'an is clearly that God's call is to all men, and may be accepted or rejected by them. 'The truth is from your Lord; wherefore let him who will believe, and let him who will be incredulous' [Suratu'l-Kahf (xviii) 28]. God's grace is offered to all, and all are called to repentance; but the calling is effectual only in the case of those who accept the offer. These are the elect. The doctrine of the hardening of men's hearts stands side by side with the universality of the offer of salvation. The Qur'an, like the New Testament, looks at the matter from a practical standpoint, and says that those who accept the offer of God's grace,