and that which was delivered unto the Prophets from their Lord; we make no diftinction between any of them *." "He hath ordained you the religion which he commanded Noah, and which we have revealed unto thee, O Mohammed, and which we commanded Abraham and Mofes and Jesus, saying, Observe this religion, and be not divided therein †." "He hath chosen you, and hath not imposed on you any difficulty in the religion which he hath given you, the religion of your father Abraham ‡." ود وو 2. The author of the Koran never ceafes from defcribing the future anguish of unbelievers, their despair, regret, penitence, and torment. It is the point which he labours above all others. And these descriptions are conceived in terms which will appear in no small degree impressive, even to the modern reader of an English tranflation. * Sale's Koran, c. ii. p. 17. † Ib. c. xlii. p. 393‡ Ib. c. xxii. p. 281. 4 Doubtlefs Doubtless they would operate with much greater force upon the minds of those to whom they were immediately directed. The terror which they feem well calculated to inspire, would be to many tempers a powerful application. 3. On the other hand, his voluptuous paradise; his robes of filk, his palaces of marble, his rivers and shades, his groves and couches, his wines, his dainties; and, above all, his seventy-two virgins affigned to each of the faithful, of refplendent beauty and eternal youth; intoxicated the imaginations, and seized the passions, of his Eastern followers. 1 4. But Mahomet's highest heaven was referved for those who fought his battles, or expended their fortunes in his cause. "Those believers who fit still at home, not having any hurt, and those who employ their fortunes and their persons for the religion of God, shall not be held equal. God hath preferred those who employ their for T2 tunes tunes and their persons in that cause, to a degree above those who fit at home. God hath indeed promised every one Paradise, but God hath preferred those who fight for the faith, before those who fit still, by adding unto them a great reward; by degrees of honour conferred upon them from him, and by granting them forgiveness and mercy *." Again, "Do ye reckon the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visiting of the holy temple, to be actions as meritorious as those performed by him who believeth in God and the last day, and fighteth for the religion of God? They shall not be held equal with God.--They who have believed, and fled their country, and employed their fubstance and their persons in the defence of God's true religion, shall be in the highest degree of honour with God; and these are they who shall be happy. The Lord sendeth them good tidings of mercy from him, and good will, and of gardens wherein they shall enjoy lasting pleasures. They shall * Ib. c. iv. p. 73 continue : "Vé continue therein for ever, for with God is a great reward *." And, once more, rily God hath purchased of the true believers their fouls and their substance, promising them the enjoyment of Paradise, on condition that they fight for the cause of God: whether they flay or be flain, the promise for the fame is assuredly due by the Law and the Gospel and the Koran †‡." 5. His doctrine of predestination was applicable, and was applied by him, to the same purpose of fortifying and of exalting the courage of his adherents. " If any thing of the matter had happened unto us, * Ib. c. ix. p. 151. † Ib. p. 164. † "The sword (faith Mahomet) is the key of heaven and of hell; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fafting or prayer. Whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven at the day of judgement; his wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as musk, and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim." Gibb. vol. ix. p. 256. : we had not been flain here. Answer, If 'ye had been in your houses, verily they would have gone forth to fight, whose flaughter was decreed, to the places where they died *." 6. In warm regions, the appetite of the sexes is ardent, the paffion for inebriating liquors moderate. In compliance with this distinction, although Mahomet laid a restraint upon the drinking of wine, in the use of women he allowed an almost unbounded indulgence. Four wives, with the liberty of changing them at pleasure, together with the persons of all his captives‡,was an irresistible bribe to an Arabian warrior. "God is minded," says he, speaking of this very fubject, " to make his religion light unto you, for man was created weak." How different this from the unaccommodating purity of the gospel? How would Mahomet have succeeded with the Chrif * C. iii. p. 54. ‡ Gibb. p. 255. † C. iv. p. 63. |