deeds from us, and make us to die with the righteous. (195) O LORD, give us also the reward which thou hast promised by thy apostles; and cover us not with shame

foreign to Muhammad's mind, for he offered sacrifices himself), yet in his teaching he everywhere as studiously denied the doctrine of salvation by atonement as he did the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. And yet he had the daring to appeal to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures as bearing witness to his prophetic pretensions, and to claim for his Quran the excellency that it attested the doctrines of all the prophets.

It cannot be claimed for Muhammad that he was ignorant of Jewish belief and practice in respect to atoning sacrifices, for during his first year's residence at Madína "Mahomet kept the great day of atonement, with its sacrifices of victims, in conformity with the practice of the Jews; and had he continued on a friendly footing with them, he would probably have maintained this rite."-Muir's Life of Mahomet, vol. iii. p. 51. According to this author, Muhammad abandoned this Jewish rite in the second year of the Hijra, owing to his failure to win the Jews over to his cause. He then offered sacrifices himself. The following is the story of this transaction:-"After a service resembling that on the breaking of the fast, two fatted sucking kids with budding horns were placed before the prophet. Seizing a knife, he sacrificed one with his own hand, saying, O Lord! I sacrifice this for my whole people; all those that bear testimony to thy unity and to my mission. Then he called for the other, and slaying it likewise, said, 'O Lord! this is for Mahomet, and for the family of Mahomet.' Of the latter kid both he and his family partook, and what was over he gave to the poor. The double sacrifice seems in its main features to have been founded on the practice of the Jewish priest at the Feast of the Atonement, when he sacrificed first for his own sins, and then for the people's' (Heb. vii. 27). This ceremony was repeated by Mahomet every year of his residence at Medina, and it was kept up there after his decease."-Life of Mahomet, vol. iii. pp. 52, 53.

In answer to the question why Muhammad should have ignored the doctrine of salvation by atonement, there is available no definite reply. It was, however, probably due to a variety of reasons. First, such a doctrine would contradict Muhammad's idea of a sovereign God. Such being the case, his conformity to Jewish and Arab practice was simply a matter of policy. Or again, we may well believe that the opposition by the Jews estranged him from everything distinctively Jewish. To accept the doctrine of the divinity of Christ would not only have seemed to militate against his idea of God's unity, but also would logically have led to a rejection of his prophetic claim. In like manner, the adoption of the doctrine of atoning sacrifices as necessary to salvation would not only have contradicted Muhammad's notion of God's sovereignty, but would logically have led to his adopting Judaism or Christianity as his

on the day of resurrection: for thou art not contrary to the promise.

(196) Their LORD therefore answered them, saying, I SULS. will not suffer the work of him among you who worketh to be lost, whether he be male or female: the one of you is from the other. They therefore who have left their country, and have been turned out of their houses, and have suffered for my sake, and have been slain in battle; verily I will expiate their evil deeds from them, and I will surely bring them into gardens watered by rivers; a reward from GOD; and with GOD is the most excellent

religion, either of which conclusions would have rendered him unpopular with the Arabs, who, since the break with the Jews, had been constituted his chosen people. Either of these reasons would satisfactorily account for the fact that the doctrine of atonement as necessary to salvation is wanting in the teaching of Muhammad. When, however, he represents his own doctrine as that of all former prophets, and when, in all his allusions to the teaching of these prophets, he uniformly ignores the doctrine of salvation by atonement, we cannot but believe he did so deliberately. This is the rock upon which the cause of Islám falls, only to be dashed in pieces. The signal failure of the Qurán to attest this central doctrine of both the Old and New Testament Scriptures proves the Qurán, on its own testimony, to be a forgery, and Muhammad to be an impostor.

(196) Male or female. "These words were added, as some relate, on Omm Salma, one of the prophet's wives, telling him that she had observed God often made mention of the men who fled their country for the sake of their faith, but took no notice of the women." -Sale, Baidhawi.

The one of you, &c., i.e., the one is born of the other. Rodwell translates "the one of you is the issue of the other." The teaching of the passage is that all, whether male or female, will be rewarded according to their works. Women are not by any means excluded from the blessings of Islám, and they have formed by no means the least devoted followers of Muhammad.

Verily I will expiate, &c. The word used here for expiate is the same as that used in ver. 194 (see note there). The idea attached to it here is that of removal.

Gardens watered by rivers. The imagery of paradise is coloured by Arab ideas of beauty and pleasure. Heaven is likened to a beautiful oasis carpeted in green, with its sparkling fountains, limpid streams, shady trees, and delicious fruits. On the question as to whether these earthly surroundings are to be understood in a literal or figurative sense, see note on ver. 15.

reward. (197) Let not the prosperous dealing of the unbelievers in the land deceive thee; it is but a slender provision; and then their receptacle shall be hell; an unhappy couch shall it be. (198) But they who fear the LORD shall have gardens through which rivers flow; they shall continue therein for ever: this is the gift of GOD; for what is with GOD shall be better for the righteous than short-lived worldly prosperity. (199) There are some of those who have received the scriptures who believe in GOD, and that which hath been sent down unto you, and that which hath been sent down to them, submitting themselves unto GOD; they sell not the signs of GOD for a small price: these shall have their reward with their

(197) An unhappy couch. This expression, used so frequently in the Quran to describe the torment of hell, is probably used in contrast with the carnal and sensual delights of the Muslim heaven. There "they shall repose themselves on most delicate beds, adorned with gold and precious stones, under the shadow of the trees of paradise, which shall continually yield them all manner of delicious fruits; and there they shall enjoy most beautiful women, pure and clean, having black eyes, &c." But here, the couch shall be in the midst of fire, and be surrounded by smoke as with a coverlid, with nothing to eat "but the fruit of the tree Zaqún, which should be in their bellies like burning pitch," and nothing to drink "but boiling and stinking water," nor should they breathe ought but "exceeding hot winds," &c. (Prideaux, Life of Mahomet, p. 22).

(198) See notes on ver. 196.

For what is with God, &c. This passage, vers. 196-198, is said to have been revealed to comfort the Muslims, who, being in poverty and want, were surrounded by prosperous enemies.

(199) Some . . . who believe. The persons here meant some will have to be Abdullah Ibn Salám and his companions; others suppose they were forty Arabs of Najrán, or thirty-two Ethiopians, or else eight Greeks, who were converted from Christianity to Muhammadanism; and others say this passage was revealed in the ninth year of the Hijra, when Muhammad, on Gabriel's bringing him the news of the death of Ashámah, king of Ethiopia, who had embraced the Muhammadan religion some years before, prayed for the soul of the departed, at which some of his hypocritical followers were displeased, and wondered that he should pray for a Christian proselyte whom he had never seen."-Sale, Jalaluddin. Baidhawi.

See also verse 113, and note there.

LORD; for GOD is swift in taking an account. (200) O true believers, be patient and strive to excel in patience, and be constant-minded, and fear GOD, that ye may be happy.

God is swift, &c. See chap. ii. 201.

(200) Be patient, i.e., in fighting for religion. This is the conclusion of the exhortation to the disheartened followers of Muhammad, beginning with ver. 121.

CHAPTER IV.

ENTITLED SURAT UN NISA (WOMEN).

Revealed at Madina.

arose.

INTRODUCTION.

THIS chapter contains revelations suited to the circumstances of the Muslim community at Madína and the interests of the new religion after the defeat of Ohod. Questions relating to inheritance, the treatment of widows and orphans, forbidden degrees, &c., naturally These questions find an answer here. Besides these, there are numerous passages containing exhortations to fight for the faith of Islám, together with denunciations against the Jews and the disaffected tribes of Madina and its vicinity. The various expeditions sent against these during the year following the battle at Ohod called for certain regulations, which are the subject of a portion of this chapter. And, finally, the Christians are referred to in the latter part of the chapter, where they are reproved, partly under cover of the Jews, for their faith in the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and their belief in the doctrine of the Trinity and the Sonship of Christ.

Probable Date of the Revelations.

Nearly all the stories told by the commentators to illustrate this chapter point to a period following the battle of Ohod, the expulsion of the Bani Nadhír, and the expedition against the tribes of the Bani Ghatafán at Dzát al Riqá. It follows, therefore, that the revelations of this chapter belong in general to a period extending from the beginning of A.H. 4 to the middle or latter part of A.H. 5. The following passages may, however, belong to a different period, viz., ver. 42, which probably belongs to A.H. 3, and vers. 104-114 and 134, which may belong to a date later than A.H. 5, but earlier than the subjugation of Makkah (see note on ver. 186).

Vers. 115-125 and 130-132 probably belong to the number of