[247] Koran, ii. 277.
[248] Lane, op. cit. i. 95. Sell, op. cit. p. 228. The Muʿtazilas, however, teach that the Muslim who enters hell will remain there for ever. They maintain that the person who, having committed great sins, dies unrepentant, though not an infidel, ceases to be a believer, and hence suffers as the infidels do, though the punishment is lighter than that which an infidel receives (Sell, op. cit. pp. 229, 241).
[249] Koran, ii. 59.
[250] Ibid. iii. 79. Sell, op. cit. p. 359 sq.
[251] Sell, op. cit. p. 204 sq.
The formalism of Muhammedan orthodoxy has from time to time called forth protests from minds with deeper aspirations. The earlier Muhammedan mystics sought to impart life to the rigid ritual;[252] and in the nineteenth century Bábíism revolted against orthodox Islam, opposing bigotry and enjoining friendly intercourse with persons of all religions.[253] At present there are some liberal Muhammedans who set aside the scholastic tradition, maintain the right of private interpretation of the Koran, and warmly uphold the adaptability of Islam to the most advanced ideas of civilisation.[254] To them Muhammed’s mission was chiefly that of a moral reformer. “In Islam,” says Syed Ameer Ali, “the service of man and the good of humanity constitute pre-eminently the service and worship of God.”[255]
[252] Ibid. p. 110.
[253] Ibid. p. 136 sqq.
[254] Ameer Ali, Life and Teachings of Mohammed, passim. Idem, Ethics of Islâm, passim. Cf. Lane-Poole, Studies in a Mosque, p. 324; Sell, op. cit. p. 198 sq.
[255] Ameer Ali, Ethics of Islâm, p. 3 sq. Idem, Life and Teachings of Mohammed, p. 274.