which absolutely puts a man where he can have no hope of salvation; and further, the continued commission of little sins by one who professes to believe, which shows that there is no true desire to submit to the will of God, is also clearly a good reason for considering such a man as practically an unbeliever. For, continually to commit the smaller sins shows a want of true purpose and endeavour after righteousness.

The position of the true believer is thus regarded very much in the same way as that in which the Old Testament regarded the man whose heart was right with God. Such an one was not a man who never sinned, but one who, with honest purpose after doing the will of God, directed his life in accordance with his knowledge of that will. Whether he succeeded or whether at times he failed, sometimes even lamentably, did not come into consideration from this point of view.

He was one who believed in God, and who, with true and full purpose of heart, sought to please Him. This, as we say, is practically the position of the Qur'an. Not those who believe in God, but those who believe in God and do righteousness are the true believers. In opposition to these are the sinners, who believe not in God, and whose unbelief is the cause of all their failing to attain righteousness; that is, of all their sin.

Again, we shall change our standpoint, and shall now consider the manner in which Muhammad spoke of sins that were transgressions of the ceremonial law. Many have come to the conclusion that practically no distinction is made in the Qur'an between ceremonial impurity and moral obliquity as grounds for condemnation; for the denunciation of the former is often seen

to be as strong as the condemnation of the latter. We desire to point out clearly, before proceeding further, that, in regard to this point, as in regard to all others treated of here, we are not studying the teachings of the Muhammadan theologians, nor do we pay any attention to the traditions of what Muhammad said, nor are we considering those forms of Muhammadan belief and practice which are the common inheritance of all orthodox Muslims; but we are trying independently to gain some insight into the teachings of the Qur'an as it stands before us with its record of what Muhammad himself taught. Thus, though it may be true that according to orthodox Muhammadan doctrine, moral failings and ceremonial shortcomings stand equally marked down as sin, we have nothing to say on this point here. We desire to see simply whether the same is true of their treatment in the Qur'an, and if it be true, whether we can see any ground why Muhammad regarded a breach of the ceremonial law as being equally heinous in the sight of God, as a transgression of the moral law.

We shall quote only the following passage which gives a fair idea of the teaching of the Qur'an on sin in general. ' Man truly is by creation hasty; when evil befalleth him, impatient; but when good befalleth him, tenacious; not so the prayerful, who are ever constant at their prayers; and of whose substance there is a due and certain proportion for him who asketh, and for him who is ashamed to beg; and those who sincerely believe the day of judgment, and who dread the punishment of their Lord, for there is none secure from the punishment of their Lord—and who control their desires save with their wives, or the slaves whom their right hands possess,