Page:Algeria from Within.pdf/139

MEKTOUB

say that all, good and bad, are decided and determined by the Almighty. Sins are predestined and are divided into two categories, the greater and the lesser. The greater comprise theft, adultery, usury, winedrinking, false witness.~ The smaller are the weaknesses of human nature, but, whatever they may be, man‘is destined to commit them, and nothing can prevent him from so doing. That is why Arabs take life so calmly, never hurry, or get into unnecessary tempers when things go wrong. They firmly believe that what is written is written, and that no power but God can alter it. Taking them as a whole, it makes them seem very happy, and it would appear to be the only solution to the worries of modern life. From this point of view are developed many other beliefs, and it is the basis of the strength of the Moslem faith. Mohammed, though a great religious genius and a reformer, was not a theologist, and it is even curious to note the lack of dogma in the Koran. His great merit was the way in which he created a great and living organization. His successors developed the theological side of the matter, but, if one examines the Koran itself, one is struck by the absence of mysticism. It is, in itself, more a book of laws, such as the Old Testament. The whole of the theology is really compressed into two passages occurring in Sourates II. and IV., which, summed up, convey that the true Mohammedan who wishes to be saved must believe in God; the prophets or envoys of God, with Mohammed as the greatest; the angels, the inspired books that is to say the Bible, with the Koran as the most important; and the Day of Judgment. They further believe in heaven and hell, which are depicted very roughly as places of happiness and torment. Above hell is a bridge as narrow as a hair

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