on that day shall be just; and they whose balances shall be heavy, these are they who shall be happy; and they whose balances shall be light, these are they who have lost their souls, for that to our signs they were unjust.' ¹

This figure brings out, after all, very much the same idea. It is character which is spoken of in the figure of the balances. Good deeds are those which are of weight, which tell and give character to a man, and for this he is accepted. The mere doing of what only seem to be good deeds and pious actions is of no avail. None must seek to justify himself. It is God alone who can tell whether the actions are of weight or not, for He alone knows a man thoroughly. Man may deceive others and even himself by outward piety. God alone can judge the heart.²

Thus, while faith is the necessary basis from which a man must start, so to speak, on his spiritual life, his happiness or woe hereafter depends on the amount of good works which he has done in faith, or the amount of evil which he has done in unbelief.

When once the balance has been struck, and he is condemned, his condemnation and punishment will be in direct proportion to the sum total of his evil deeds, in so far as they outweigh his good deeds. And, on the other hand, if the good has outweighed the evil, the approval and reward of the good man will be not only in direct proportion to the sum total of his good deeds according to the degree by which they outweigh his evil actions, but will far surpass what he has merited.

Having thus far seen what the Qur'an teaches on

repentance, faith, and good works, leading to justification, we now turn to see what it has to say, if anything, on the question of sanctification.

We note that this doctrine lies more in the background of the teaching of Muhammad than that of good works. In fact, in the teaching of the Qur'an sanctification is regarded almost as a by-product of good works. It can hardly be called, as represented in the Qur'an, an aim or object in itself. Sanctification is represented as being the effect on the soul or the character of the believer of a life of faith spent in good works. It would perhaps be better to say that the Qur'an has no doctrine of sanctification, but has in its place a doctrine of reformation.

This may be said because the Qur'an does not insist on the necessity of regeneration which can alone be the basis of any true doctrine of sanctification. This absence of teaching on the necessity of regeneration naturally arises from the view taken by Muhammad concerning sin, and the result of sin on man's nature.

Sanctification, according to the Qur'an, is the repolishing of a surface which has been marred and soiled, not the regeneration of a nature which has been ruined and which requires alteration. And yet from time to time in the Qur'an there appear gleams of light on this point showing that Muhammad suspected that there was more in the matter than was to be seen on the surface.

We may say that the Qur'anic doctrine of sanctification is based on the truth that man has a capacity for doing evil or doing good as a matter of choice. This we have already considered elsewhere, and it is unnecessary here to rediscuss the point. In the Qur'anic