Though he is the ruler of all things and may do as seemeth good in his sight, yet is he a just God, and punishes only where punish ment is due. "We will appoint just balances for the day of resurrection; neither shall any soul be injured at all; although the merit or guilt of an action he of the weight of a grain of mustard seed only, we will produce it pub licly; and there will be sufficient accountants with us.* (Sura 21, v. 48). Those who suffer have gone astray or are being prepared for bet ter things. "Every soul shall taste of death; and we will prove you with evil and with good, for a trial of you." (Sura 21, v. 36). Of those sorely tried it is said: "I have this day re warded them, for that they suffered the in juries ye offered with patience; verily they enjoy great felicity." Mira 23, 113). As he is a just God, every creature is responsi ble to Him, and must answer for his choice of good or had, "Did ye think that we had created you in sport, and that ye should not be brought again before us? . . . whoever, together with the true God, shall invoke another god, con cerning whom he hath no demonstrative proof, shall surely be brought to an account for the same before his Lord.* (Ibid. v. 117).
Though God is just, he is also merciful. do not lay upon any soul more than it can bear." (Sum 6, v. 153). Like the God of the Hebrews he puts off the evil day in the hope that man may repent. "If God should punish men for their iniquity, he would not leave on the earth any moving thing; but he giveth them respite unto an appointed time.° (Sura 16, v. 163).
God's absolute decree is a separate article (the sixth) of Iman. Everything that has hap pened or that will happen has been already axed by God. °Say, nothing shall befall us, but what God has decreed for us." (Sura 9, v. 51). "No soul can die unless by the permission of God, according to what is written in the book containing the determination of things." (Sura 3, v. 141. gle hath formed his creatures; and . . . determined them to various ends, and directed them to attain the same.* (Sure 87, v. 2). Mohammed was no theologian, how ever, so there arose no question about God's decree and man's free will. His attitude to the question may be shown by a quotation from sura 4, v. 80: °If good befall them they say it is from God; but if evil befall them, they say; this is from thee, 0 Mohammed: Say, all is from God; 'but what aileth these people that they are so far from understanding what is said unto them? Whatever good befalleth thee, 0 man, it is from God; and whatever evil befalleth thee, it is from thyself.*
There is one more aspect of the Moslem's belief in God that must not be neglected. It is the most important attribute of the deity, and its statement is found in sura 112: °Say, God is one God; the eternal God; he begetteth not, neither is he begotten; and there is not anyone like unto hini.* In sura 19, v. 91, we read: "They say, the Merciful has begotten issue. Now have ye uttered an impious thing.* In Islam there is no Trinity; there is no Fatherhood; God has taken to himself no son; hut is alone in his glory and power. Christ, to the Moslem, is a prophet. He was the word of God into Mary.° Islam, failing utterly to grasp the significance of Christ's life, could not accept the idea of his crucifixion. They have therefore found an end that they deem more worthy of a prophet, and in the Koran we read that one in the likeness of Christ was crucified.
Joined to the statement of the first great truthtruth of Islam, *There is no god but is another statement considered by Moslems to be just as important; "and Mohammed is the envoy of God.* Concerning his divine mission, Islam knows no doubt. He was the last and the greatest of all the prophets — °The seal of the Prophets.* Of prophets, thousands are recognized by Islam; but there are six, only, deemed great enough to be the holder of a title; they are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. As a prophet, Moham med announced himself to the world when he first recited the 96th sura: °Read in the name of thy Lord who bath created all things.* He never claimed to be more than the envoy or prophet of God, and as such only is he rever enced by the intelligent Moslem. His tomb at Medina is an object of veneration to the Mos lem world and should be visited by every pil grim. His intercession may be asked in prayers; for he was the friend of God. Five times every day Islam testifies to its faith in God and its veneration for the prophet. Every Moslem must believe in revelation, °that which is sent down.* (Sura 2, v. 3). Beginning from earliest times, there have been numerous revelations, each of which was a law for man kind, till superseded by the next. So each of the six prophets mentioned was the recipient of a revelation. Mohammed's revelation, the Koran, is the only one not to be abrogated. It is distinctly the Word of God as revealed to Mohammed and is on a higher plane than the Traditions or inspired sayings of the prophet. It was inscribed on tablets in heaven from eternity. From time to time portions of it were given to Mohammed by the angel Gabriel.