before him. But even such writers cannot truthfully assert that it gives them peace of heart, such as Christ through all the ages has given and still gives ¹ to those who truly believe in Him. On the contrary, certain passages in the Qur'an, for instance Surah xix. 71, 72,—together with the Doctrine of Fate, must make all thoughtful Muslims live in perpetual dread of death. Nor does the Qur'an reveal God to man in such a way that He may be known. This is clear from the way in which so many Muslim writers explain the absolute impossibility of knowing God, even in books intended for the instruction of their own people. For example, Akhvund Mulla, Muhammad Taqqi of Kashan, in his book entitled Hidayatu't Talibin dar Usulu'd Din,² says: "To³ know the Nature of the Necessarily Existent One is impossible"; and again: "Between the created and the Creator, the Conditioned and the Absolute, the recent and the Ancient, the temporal and the Eternal, there is no kind of resemblance, so that it should be possible to know His Nature. And it is on this account that our Prophet, who is superior to all the prophets, has said, 'We have not known Thee with due knowledge of Thee. '" Now it is clear that if the Qur'an does not lead to a knowledge of God, and if Muhammad himself rightly admitted that his own knowledge of God was far from being what it should have been, then Islam in this most important matter fails to supply man's needs.

Again, the Qur'an does not teach that purity of heart is necessary before any man can find access to God. On the contrary, as we have already seen, it contains passages which are opposed to the possibility

of purity of heart in man, and which do not represent God as acting in a way consistent with His Holiness, Justice, Mercy, and Love. Nor does the Qur'an show how man may obtain pardon of his sins and be accounted righteous before God. It is true that certain precepts are given whereby merit may be acquired. But no means of escaping from Fate can be found in the Qur'an, and Fate decides every man's future happiness or misery. There is no Atonement in the Qur'an, nor does the Qur'an show how a man who is the slave of sin can break his chains.

Some Muslims hold that Muhammad will intercede for his people at the judgement Day: others fancy that perhaps even now, though he is dead, he has some influence with God Most High. But all this is absolutely contrary to the Bible, which the Qur'an claims to confirm. From such verses as John xiv. 6; Acts iv. 12; I Tim. ii. 5, 6, it is clear that there is and can be no Mediator but Christ. Moreover, it would be hard to find a single passage in the Qur'an itself which lends support to the idea that Muhammad is a Mediator between God and man. We need not refer to the value of the Traditions on this subject, for one who is in the Qur'an bidden to pray for the forgiveness of his own sins cannot act as a mediator with God. . A man who has sinned and repented may doubtless pray to God to forgive other men as well as himself; but that is quite a different matter. Both the Qur'an and the Traditions represent Muhammad as praying for forgiveness of both his own and his people's offences. For example, in Surah xl. 37, it is thus written: "Therefore be thou patient; verily God's promise is truth, and ask pardon for thine offence, and proclaim the praise of thy Lord at even and early morn." So also in Surah iv. 106: "Ask pardon of God: verily God has been forgiving, gracious." Somewhat similar are those verses in which the Qur'an states that God forgives Muhammad's offences, such as Surah xlviii. 1, 2: "Verily We have won for thee a manifest victory,