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Untitled Article
may they be burnt alive ! " was the charitable wish of the collected virtue and talent of the Christian Church at the second Council of Ephesus , ( A . D . 449 , ) and , " with all their violence and
oppression , the Moslem conquerors were mild and liberal , in comparison with those who obeyed the Pontiffs of Rome and Constantinople . " * The people of the book , or four sects of Christians . Jews , and ultimatel y Ma-ChristiansJewsand ultimately
Ma-, , Jgians and Sabians , f were ( although not honoured with much confidence or esteem §) always permitted to redeem their adherence to their ancient law , by the payment of tribute and other marks of submission , and the
word pledged to Unbelievers was scarcely ever violated . To his Christian subjects in particular , Mahomet readily granted the security of their persons , the freedom of their trade , the property of their goods , and the toleration of their worship . | J
What wonder is it that , under such circumstances , with such a state of things surrounding him , the system of Mahomet , founded on the grand principle of Monotheism , and enforced , as it certainly was , by the power of natural eloquence , the dignity of much moral truth , and the persuasive energy of manners which conciliated while
they commanded , should make rapid progress , especially as it did not pretend to abrogate , but rather enforce and confirm the divine mission of Jesus Christ , and would therefore be considered by tnany as an addition to , rather
than a change in , their faith ? And surely it cannot be denied that it has been made subservient to great and important ends in the dispensations of Providence .
* Hailam , II . 167 . + Koran , Chap . ix . 224 . X < € How can they be admitted into a league with you , since , if they prevail against you , they will not regard in you either consanguinity or faith ? " Koran , Chap . ix . 240 .
§ " And let not the unbelievers think , because we grant them lives long and prosperous , that it is better for their Gouls ; we grant them long and prosperous lives only that their iniquity , may
be increased , and they shall suffer [ in another world ] a grievous punishment . " Koran , Chap . Hi . 87 . || Gibbon , IX . 315 .
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The just and elevated notions of the Divine nature , and the rigorous incul cation of moral duty , the doctrine of a future state of proportionate rewards and punishments , 9 € the gold ore that pervades the dross" of that book in which ( however imperfectly , in all probability , represented ) we have to read
the system , could not but strike a serious and reflecting people , and would not , I am afraid , lose much in comparison with the dogmas which were then prevalent , and might be brought into contrast with the new faith , by the impartial spectator .
We find in it at least the acknowledgment of one infinite and eternal Being , to whom are attributed those perfections which reason faintly imagines and which Christianity revealed ; and , as Gibbon justly observes , " the
first principle of reason and revelation was confirmed by the voice of Mahomet . "—However absurd its ceremonial , no " elegant mythology , " no " celestial personifications of the human passions sully the holiness of the Moslem ' s faith " *
Its simplicity too was calculated to attract notice . "It had no mysteries , no sacraments , no intermediate persons between God and man , known b y the name of priests or ministers , no altars , images or ornaments ; God / ' it said , " was invisible , the heart of man his
altar , and every Mussulman his highpriest . " f Thus Islamism gave a new impulse to the human mind , where the corruptions of the Christian and Jewish Churches had almost obliterated their
plainest moral impressions . " The devout Mussulman always exhibited much more of the Stoic than the Epicurean ; " and there is little doubt that the cause of morality was considerably benefited b y the influence of the new system . Tne great doctrine of the Unity of God was never for a moment
compromised , but for a long period almost exclusively supported by . it ; and the Christian Church , which was fast verging towards Idolatry and Polytheism , was at least checked in its career , and taught the necessity of circumspection by the emulation which the rival faith excited , * Mill * , 321 . t Ali Bey ' s TVavels . I . 86 .
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262 The Nonconformist . No . XVHI .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1820, page 262, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2488/page/6/
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