“It is He Who hath sent down unto you the book of the Quran, distinguishing between good and evil; and they to whom We gave the scripture know that it is sent down from thy Lord, with truth; Be not therefore one of these who doubt thereof. The words of the Lord are perfect in truth and justice; there is none who can change His words; He both heareth and knoweth.”
Quran The Will of God is supreme in His universe; Islam tells in one word the relation of the Faithful to that Will; and the Will is revealed to men in its final form the Quran. The Quran descended from highest heaven complete, and was passed on by the Angel to the Prophet Sura by Sura, as its message was required. The Quran supersedes all other scriptures, it is the eternal Divine Word; there is no further truth to be revealed, for this is literally the last word of God to man. The human language medium is Arabic, and as each several word is an Act of God, the very words are sacred. There cannot, therefore, be any authorized translation of the Quran; and, as in its completeness it is one undivided message, to issue it in parts would be grievous sin. The book is published and used in many lands, and passes through many hands, but so great has been the care that it should be preserved perfect, that it is believed to be practically unchanged since the scattered leaves were gathered reverently together after the Prophet’s death. There is no doctrine of inspiration so high as this.
3. THE THOUGHT OF SIN.
“Man chooseth to be wicked for the time which is before him. He asketh, When shall the day of resurrection be? But when the night shall be dazzled, and the moon shall be eclipsed, and the sun and the moon shall be in conjunction, on that day man shall say, Where is a place of refuge? By no means; there shall be no place to fly unto. With thy Lord shall be a sure mansion of rest in that day; on that day shall man be told that which he hath done, first and last. Yea, a man shall be an evidence against himself; and though he offer his excuses, they shall not be received.”
“There shall every soul experience that which it shall have sent before it.”
Sin As is the God so are His worshippers; and the conception of the religious life in Islam follows naturally upon the conception of God. Thus, sin is terrible, but not first as a deviation from a standard of absolute righteousness; it is terrible because it is rebellion against an awful majesty. This is fundamental. Yet to say that Islam is non-moral, that sin is an arbitrary term, and that reward and punishment are in the hands of an arbitrary God, is not the whole truth. There are two kinds of sin (reminding us of the Roman Catholic doctrine), sin greater and lesser. Among the greater sins are
- Unfaithfulness to God.
- Despair of the mercy of God, or
- Too strong an assurance of God’s mercy.
- False witness when on oath.
- The practice of magic.
- Drunkenness.
- Theft.
- Usury.
- Murder.
- Disobedience to parents.
- Flight before unbelievers in battle.
- Seizing the property of the orphan.
And the constant repetition of lesser sins becomes a greater sin.
Lesser sins are very many, and are not enumerated; among them are gambling, the use of images in worship, and slander. Punishment awarded by the law is very severe; the punishment awarded by God is as He shall ordain. The future has a great share in the thought of the people of the East; they are less materialistic, less bound up in the present life than those of the West. Therefore the present life is more affected by the future possibilities, and in the case of a larger proportion of men and women than is the case with us.