Religion of the Crescent

96	THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT.

even "A spirit from Him,"—higher titles than are given to any other prophet. Yet he

Christ's deity and
death denied.

is regarded as inferior to Muhammad himself, "the Seal of the¹ Prophets," and as a mere man.² His death for our sins is absolutely denied by all Muslims, in accordance with Surah iv., v. 156,³ where the Jews are represented as saying, "Verily we slew the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God," but in answer to them GOD, we are told, said to Muhammad, "And they slew Him not, and they crucified Him not, but he was represented unto them (by another) . . . And they slew Him not in reality, but GOD exalted Him unto Himself, and GOD was honoured, wise." It is believed that Christ is now in the second⁴

Qabr Sayyidina
'Isa'bni Maryama.

heaven and will remain there until the Resurrection, when he will return to earth,⁵ preach Muhammadanism, and die.

At Medina, in the chamber in the mosque where Muhammad lies buried, a vacant place is left for

¹ Surah xxxiii. 40:

مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَكِن رَّسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ

² Surah iii., v. 52; v., vv. 19, 166, sqq., &c.
³ Surah iv. 156[157-158]:

وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا الْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ اللّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ‫... ‬وَمَا قَتَلوهُ يَقِينًا
بَل رَّفَعَهُ اللّهُ إِلَيْهِ وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا

⁴ Others say in the third; others, again, the fourth.
⁵ Ath Thalabi, Comment. on Surah iv. 156[158].

THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM.

the tomb of "Our Lord Jesus, son¹ of Mary," as He is called by the Muslims: but His future death² is not regarded as in any manner atoning for sin, for we have already seen that the Qur'an teaches that no soul can answer for the sins of another. The Muslim is therefore destitute³ of the hope of a Saviour. His religion knows of no Redeemer,⁴

¹ سَيِّدُنَأ عيسىَ بْنُ مَرْيَمَ : v. Burton, "El Medina and El Mecca," vol. i., p. 89; Lane, "Mod. Egyptians," vol. i., p. 93.
² In Surah xix. 34[33], Christ's death is spoken of, and He is represented as saying, when a babe,

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيَّ يَوْمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوْمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ أُبْعَثُ حَيًّا

One explanation of this verse given by Muslim commentators is that Christ did not die before leaving the earth and ascending into heaven, but that on His return to earth He will die. Others, however, say that He did really die quietly, and remained a few hours dead, and then rose, and was taken up to heaven by Gabriel. See Appendix A.
³ Weil thus accounts for Muhammad's denial of Christ's crucifixion: "Auch in der Legende von Christus ist es leicht die Ansicht eines getauften Juden herauszufinden . . . . Eben so wenig kann er die Kreuzigung Christ's annehmen, weil sie in geradem Widerspruche mit der Gerechtigkeit Gottes steht, so wie auch mit der Geschichte aller ubrigen Propheten, welche Gott stets aus jeder Gefahr befreit hat. Kein Mensch hat fur die Sunden seines Nachsten zu bussen, heisst es im Koran, darum mochte wohl Christus ohne Todesfurcht sein Ziel verfolgen, Gott konnte aber ihn, den Unschuldigen, nicht zur Vergebung der Sunden Anderer auf eine so smachvolle Weise sterben lassen." ("Biblische Legenden der Muselmanner," Einleitung, pp. 8, 9.)
⁴ There is a strange opinion current among some Muhammadans
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