The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-10

the following extract from the Koran: Or do
those who do evil think that we will treat them
like those who believe and do good, making
their life and their death tho samel Evil is the
opinion they have formed. God has mado the
heavens and the earth in accordance with jus
tico and in order that every soul might be
recompcnsed for what ho has done. and thoy
shall not be wronged." Tho thought is plain,
tho notorious inequalities OF this life render
compensations in another life indispensable IL
Gods justice is to DO manifested. This thought
was evidently in Mohammed's mind when he
said: 1.-THE poor refugees will reach heaven be
fore the rich by forty years at the Resurrection"
The Koran conception of the Judgment is the
one known to us by the Cos pei description. The
world shall suddenly be visited by great por-
tents; the Judge will take his seat; all nations
shall be gathered before Him; the good shall be
placed on His right hand and be welcomed to
happiness; the evil shall be placed on tho left
hand and be consigned to punishment. The
picture recurs in al. its features in the Koran,
except that the JudRa is God and not tbs Sen
of Man. Koran and New Testament agroo also
in affirming the suddenness with which the
hour shall announce itself: ITO God belong the
secrets of heaven and earth. Tho matter Of
tho hour is like a glance of tho eye. or even
more abrupt" DR.. Smith endeavors to CONTINUE
in n single paragraph all the features Of Mo-
hammed's description. OF these details we Will
only mention one. namely, that even the animals
will be raised and brought into judgment.
though this is affirmed in but one passage Of the
Koran. The main point is that tho Justice OF
God will DO fully indicated by O universal
Judgment, for which the dead will he raised.
This idea provides a motive for faith and for
good works.
So long as an expectation of an early coming
Of the Judgment could be entertained. the view
of the future life propounded in
earliest utterances suficed. But the Judgment
was delayed. Many of the believers were taken
away from earth, and many Of the enemies Of
the Prophet were put to death. Tho question
arose, Where are these souls for the present
timef Do they simply sleep until the Resur-
%rectionf The natural answer Is that they sleep
with the body, and this answer seems implied
in the assertion that those who are raised will
think that they have rested only Q brief
time in their tombs. The impatience. how
ever, of Mohammed's followers for Para
disc. and his own impaience for the
punishment Of his enemies could not rest in tho
simple hypothesis Of sleeping souls. As jewish
and Christian theories upon the subject became
known to Mohammed. he seems to have adopted
them moro or less completely. and they have
been further developed by tradition. Concerning
this matter there are now, 1t seems. three Mos
lem theories. According to one the soul sleeps
between death and tho resurrection. A second
hypothesis maintains that the soul 10 present
with tho body. receiving a f~oretaste Of its
FINAL state. Thirdly, there are traces Of Q
belief that the soul enters at once upon
tho enjoyment Of heaven or tho suffering
of hell. The only indication Of this notion
in the Koran is an allusion to Pharaoh and his
people, who arc said to be brought to the nre
morning and evening, land. when tho Hour
shall dawn. It shall be said: Take the people of
Pharaoh to tho severest punishment" Tha
author Of this book does not attempt to recon
cile these three propositions, but recalls the fact
that Q similar confusion prevails in tho Chris
tan treatment of the life which comes imme-
diately after death and before the resurrec-
ton. 1t remains to add that the eternity OF re-
ward and punishment seems distinctly az
frmed in tho Koran. In truth. Q deliberate po-
lemic will DO found there against those Jews who
held the contrary theory: "They say: Tho hro
shall affect us only Q limited number Of days.
Say to them: Have you received an engagement
from God such that He will not change, or do
you say concerning God what you do not knowi
Nayi Whoever has deserved evil, and whose
sin has encompassed him, these are inhabitants
Of the Fire, and they viii remain forever in it"
But those who believe and do good. they are
Inhabitants Of tho Garden. They remain forever
tho impulse Of tho reasoning which led to ths
theory Of the Christian Church that no baptizeG
person can be eternally lost, have invented J
doctrine that 10 contrary to the express words
Of tho Koran.