was in Umm Salmah's dwelling and was engaged in prayer, he wept and said, "O Lord, turn me not back at all to wickedness, though Thou hast delivered me therefrom, and never leave me to myself for the twinkling of an eye." Umm Salmah said to him, "Since God has forgiven thee thy past and future sin, why dost thou speak thus and weep?" He said, "O Umm Salmah, how should I become safe, since God Most High left Jonah to himself for the space of the twinkling of an eye, and he did what he did?" And, again, ¹ Muhammad Baqir is quoted as the authority for the Tradition that one night Muhammad was in 'Ayishah's abode, and was offering many prayers. 'Ayishah asked him why he wearied himself so much, since God Most High had forgiven him his past and future sin. He replied, "O 'Ayishah, should I not be, God's thankful servant? " We are also told ² that one day, at the close of an address to his followers, Muhammad repeatedly said, "O Lord, pardon me and my people," and added, " I seek pardon from God for myself and for you." Many other similar traditions might be quoted from both Sunni and Shi'ite Traditions, but these are sufficient.

All this represents Muhammad in a very favourable light. It shows that, like all the Prophets who were merely men, he felt his need of God's mercy and forgiveness. The Qur'an mentions certain sins as committed by the Old Testament Prophets and others, as for example by Adam,³ Noah,⁴ Abraham,⁵ Moses, ⁶ and Aaron, Joseph,⁷ David,⁸ Solomon,⁹ Jonah.¹⁰ Doubtless they repented, as the Bible informs us they did. We have in Ps. li. the prayer which David, for instance, offered in his penitence, as was most suitable. Everyone who has sinned needs to repent and seek forgiveness

from God, and the very fact of the request for pardon being made is an admission that the person who asks for it is guilty of an offence, and is conscience stricken on account of it. Every human being who is no more than human might well use these prayers of Muhammad which we have quoted above. But no one who needs or has ever needed repentance can ever atone for other men's sins. Hence the Qur'an teaches ¹ that no human being can in this way aid anyone else on the Day of Judgement. As Muhammad, therefore, cannot save his people, it is evident that they need someone who can save them. The Qur'an reveals no Saviour, no Atonement, and therefore cannot satisfy the wants of the human spirit. It fails in this and in every other point to fulfil the conditions laid down in the Introduction as the criteria of a true Revelation. In this it stands in striking contrast with the Injil, as has been shown in the Second Part of this Treatise. Christ is alive ² and Muhammad is dead; Christ is not only perfect man and sinless, but the Word of God, and "³ able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them".

Let it not be forgotten that throughout this Treatise our object is not controversy, but inquiry into and search for the Truth. Prejudice and party spirit in religious matters cannot help us. By God's grace they should be laid aside. In what has been said of the contents of the Qur'an, the writer of these pages has endeavoured with all his might to observe not only the rules of courtesy but those of honesty and fairness. In what remains to be discussed in the following chapters his guiding principle will be the same.