The origin and development of the moral ideas

In order fully to realise the true import of the dogma of damnation it is necessary to consider the punishment in store for the condemned. The immense bulk of the Christians have always regarded hell and its agonies as material facts.228 Origen, who was a Platonist and an heretic on many points, was severely censured for saying that the fire of hell was inward and of the conscience rather than outward and of the body;229 and in the later Middle Ages Scotus Erigena showed unusual audacity in questioning the locality of hell and the material tortures of the condemned.230 The punishment is burning—a penalty which even in the most barbaric codes is reserved for the very gravest crimes; and some great divines, like Jeremy Taylor and Jonathan Edwards, have been anxious to point out that the fire of hell is infinitely more painful than any fire on earth, being “fierce enough to melt the very rocks and elements.”231 This awful punishment also exceeds in dreadfulness anything which even the most vivid imagination can conceive, because it will last not for a passing moment, nor for a year or a hundred, thousand, million, or milliard years, but for ever and ever.

In case any doubt should arise as regards the physical capacity of the damned to withstand the heat, we are assured by some modern theologians that their bodies will be annealed like glass or asbestos-like or of the nature of salamanders.232 This, then, is the future state of the large majority of men, quite independently of any fault of their own, or of the degree of their “guilt.”233 It would seem that even the felicity of the few who are saved must be seriously impaired by their contemplation of this endless and undescribable misery, but we are told that the case is just the reverse. They become as merciless as their god. Thomas Aquinas says that a perfect sight of the punishment of the damned is granted to them that they “may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more richly.”234 And the Puritans, especially, have revelled in the idea that “the sight of hell torments will exalt the happiness of the saints for ever,” as a sense of the opposite misery always increases the relish of any pleasure.235

In the present times there is a distinct tendency among Christian theologians to humanise somewhat the doctrines of the future life.236 But if Christianity is to be judged from the dogmas which almost from its beginning until quite recent times have been recognised by the immense majority of its adherents, it must be admitted that its conception of a heavenly Father and Judge has been utterly inconsistent with all ordinary notions of goodness and justice. Calvin himself avowed that the decree according to which the fall of Adam involved, without remedy, in eternal death so many nations together with their infant children, was a “horrible” one. “But,” he adds, “no one can deny that God foreknew the future final fate of man before he created him, and that he did foreknow it because it was appointed by his own decree.”237

Like Christianity, Muhammedanism adorns its godhead with the highest moral attributes and at the same time ascribes to him decrees and actions which flatly contradict even the most elementary notions of human justice. The god of Islam is addressed as the compassionate and merciful; but his love is restricted to “those who fear,”238 and his mercy can only be gained by that submissiveness or self-surrender which is indicated by the very name of Islam. He demands a righteous life, he punishes the wrongdoer and rewards the charitable.239 Through his Prophet he has revealed to mankind both the rules of morality and the elements of a social system containing minute regulations for a man’s conduct in various circumstances of life, with due rewards or penalties according to his fulfilment of these regulations.240 The whole constitution of the State has on it a divine stamp; as an Arab proverb says, “country and religion are twins.”241 But foremost among duties is to believe in God and his Prophet. “God,” it is said, “does not pardon polytheism and infidelity, but He can, if He willeth, pardon other crimes.”242 And the “pillars of religion” are the five duties of reciting the Kalimah or creed, of performing the five stated daily prayers, of fasting—especially in the month of Ramaḍân,—of giving the legal alms, and of making the pilgrimage to Mecca.243 These duties are based on clear sentences of the Koran, but the traditions have raised the most trivial ceremonial observances into duties of the greatest importance.

It is true that hypocrisy and formalism without devotion were strongly condemned by Muhammed. “Righteousness,” he said, “is not that ye turn your faces towards the East or the West, but righteousness is, one who believes in God, and the last day, and the angels, and the Book, and the prophets, and who gives wealth for His love to kindred, and orphans, and the poor, and the son of the road, and beggars, and those in captivity; and who is steadfast in prayer, and gives alms; and those who are sure of their covenant when they make a covenant; and the patient in poverty, and distress, and in time of violence; these are they who are true, and these are those who fear.”244 Yet in Muhammedanism, as in other ritualistic religions, the chief importance is practically attached to the punctual performance of outward ceremonies, and the virtue of prayer is made dependent upon an ablution.245 In the future life the felicity or suffering of each person will be proportionate to his merits or demerits,246 but the admittance into paradise depends in the first place on faith. “Those who believe, and act righteously, and are steadfast in prayer, and give alms, theirs is their hire with their Lord.”247 Those who have acknowledged the faith of Islam and yet acted wickedly will be punished in hell for a certain period, but will finally enter paradise.248 As regards the future state of certain infidels the Koran contains contradictory statements.

In one place it is said, “Verily, whether it be of those who believe, or those who are Jews or Christians or Sabaeans, whosoever believe in God and the last day and act aright, they have their reward at their Lord’s hand, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.”249 But this passage is considered to have been abrogated by another where it is stated that whoso desires any other religion than Islam shall in the next world be among the lost.250 The punishments inflicted upon unbelievers are no less horrible than the torments of the Christian hell. Yet in one point the Muhammedan doctrine of the future life is more merciful than the dogmas of Christianity. The children of believers will all go to paradise, and the children of unbelievers are generally supposed to escape hell. Some think they will be in Aʿráf, a place situated between heaven and hell; whilst others maintain that they will be servants to the true believers in paradise.251

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