that those who are to be admitted into paradise will take the right hand
way, and those who are destined into hell-fire will take the left; but
both of them must first pass the bridge called in Arabic _al Sirat_,
which, they say, is laid over the midst of hell, and described to be finer
than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword; so that it seems very
difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to stand upon it; for
which reason most of the sect of the Motazalites reject it as a fable;
though the orthodox think it a sufficient proof of the truth of this
article, that it was seriously affirmed by him who never asserted a
falsehood, meaning their prophet, who, to add to the difficulty of the
passage, has likewise declared that this bridge is beset on each side with
briers and hooked thorns, which will, however, be no impediment to the
good; for they shall pass with wonderful ease and swiftness, like
lightning, or the wind, Mahomet, and his Moslems leading the way; whereas
the wicked, what with the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of the path,
the entangling of the thorns, and the extinction of the light which
directed the former to paradise, will soon miss their footing, and fall
down headlong into hell, which is gaping beneath them.
As to the punishment of the wicked, the Mahometans are taught that hell is
divided into seven stories or apartments, one below another, designed for
the reception of as many distinct classes of the damned.
The first, which they call _Jehenan_, they say, will be the receptacle of
those who acknowledged one God, that is, the wicked Mahometans; who, after
having been punished according to their demerits, will at length be
released; the second, named _Ladha_, they assign to the Jews; the third,
named _al Hotama_, to the Christians; the fourth, named _al Sair_, to the
Sabians; the fifth; named _Sakar_, to the Magians; the sixth, named _al
Jahin_, to the idolaters; and the seventh, which is the lowest and worst
of all, and is called _al Howyat_, to the hypocrites, or those who
outwardly professed some religion, but in their hearts were of none. Over
each of these apartments they believe there will be set a guard of angels,
nineteen in number; to whom the damned will confess the just judgment of
God, and beg them to intercede with him for some alleviation of their
pain, or that they may be delivered by being annihilated.
Mahomet has, in his Koran and traditions, been very exact in describing
the various torments of hell, which, according to him, the wicked will
suffer, both from intense heat and excessive cold. The degrees of these
pains will also vary in proportion to the crimes of the sufferer, and the
apartment he is condemned to; and he who is punished the most lightly of
all will be shod with shoes of fire, the fervor of which will cause his
skull to boil like a caldron. The condition of these unhappy wretches, as
the same prophet teaches, cannot be properly called either _life_ or
_death_; and their misery will be greatly increased by their despair of
being ever delivered from that place, since, according to that frequent
expression in the Koran, _they must remain therein forever_. It must be
remarked, however, that the infidels alone will be liable to eternity of
damnation; for the Moslems, or those who have embraced the true religion,
and have been guilty of heinous sins, will be delivered thence after they
shall have expiated their crimes by their sufferings. The time which these
believers shall be detained there, according to a tradition handed down
from their prophet, will not be less than nine hundred years, nor more
than seven thousand. And, as to the manner of their delivery, they say
that they shall be distinguished by the marks of prostration on those
parts of their bodies with which they used to touch the ground in prayer,
and over which the fire will therefore have no power; and that, being
known by this characteristic, they will be released by the mercy of God,
at the intercession of Mahomet and the blessed whereupon those who shall
have been dead will be restored to life, as has been said; and those whose
bodies shall have contracted any sootiness or filth, from the flames and
smoke of hell, will be immersed in one of the rivers of paradise, called
the _River of Life_, which will wash them whiter than pearls.
The righteous, as the Mahometans are taught to believe, having surmounted
the difficulties, and passed the sharp bridge above mentioned, before they
enter paradise, will be refreshed by drinking at the _Pond_ of their
prophet, who describes it to be an exact square, of a month’s journey in
compass; its water, which is supplied by two pipes from al Cawthay, one of
the rivers of paradise, being whiter than milk or silver, and more
odoriferous than musk, with as many cups set round it as there are stars
in the firmament; of which water whoever drinks will thirst no more
forever. This is the first taste which the blessed will have of their
future and now near-approaching felicity.
Though paradise be so very frequently mentioned in the Koran, yet it is a
dispute among the Mahometans, whether it be already created, or to be
created hereafter; the Motazalites and some other sectaries asserting that
there is not at present any such place in nature, and that the paradise
which the righteous will inhabit in the next life will be different from
that from which Adam was expelled. However, the orthodox profess the
contrary, maintaining that it was created even before the world, and
describe it from their prophet’s traditions in the following manner:—
They say it is situated in the seventh heaven, and next under the throne
of God; and, to express the amenity of the place, tell us that the earth
of it is of the finest wheat-flour, or of the purest mask, or, as others
will have it, of saffron; that its stones are pearls and jacinths, the
walls of its building enriched with gold and silver, and that the trunks
of all its trees are of gold; among which the most remarkable is the tree
called _tuba_, or the tree of happiness. Concerning this tree, they fable
that it stands in the palace of Mahomet though a branch of it will reach
to the house of every true believer; that it will be laden with
pomegranates, grapes, dates, and other fruits of surprising bigness, and
of tastes unknown to mortals; so that, if a man desire to eat of any
particular kind of fruit, it will immediately be presented him; or, if he
choose flesh, birds ready dressed will be set before him, according to his
wish. They add that the boughs of this tree will spontaneously bend down
to the hand of the person who would gather of its fruits, and that it will
supply the blessed not only with food, but also with silken garments, and
beasts to ride on ready saddled and bridled, and adorned with rich
trappings, which will burst forth from its fruits; and that this tree is
so large, that a person mounted on the fleetest horse, would not be able
to gallop from one end of its shade to the other in one hundred years.
As plenty of water is one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of
any place, the Koran often speaks of the rivers of paradise as a principal
ornament thereof: some of these rivers, they say, flow with water, some
with milk, some with wine, and others with honey; all taking their rise
from the root of the tree tuba.
But all these glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and ravishing
girls of paradise, called, from their large black eyes, _Hur al oyun_, the
enjoyment of whose company will be a principal felicity of the faithful.
These, they say, are created, not of clay, as mortal women are, but of
pure musk; being, as their prophet often affirms in his Koran, free from
all natural impurities, of the strictest modesty, and secluded from public
view in pavilions of hollow pearls, so large that, as some traditions have
it, one of them will be no less than sixty miles square.
The name which the Mahometans usually give to this happy mansion is _al
Jannat_, or “the Garden;” and sometimes they call it the “Garden of
Paradise,” the “Garden of Eden,” the “Garden of Abode,” the “Garden of
Pleasure,” and the like; by which several appellations some understand so
many different gardens, or at least places of different degrees of
felicity, (for they reckon no less than one hundred such in all,) the very
meanest whereof will afford its inhabitants so many pleasures and
delights, that one would conclude they must even sink under them, had not
Mahomet declared that, in order to qualify the blessed for a full
enjoyment of them, God will give to every one the abilities of one hundred
men.
The orthodox doctrine is, that whatever hath or shall come to pass in this
world, whether it be good or whether it be bad, proceedeth entirely from
the divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and recorded from all eternity
in the preserved table; God having secretly predetermined not only the
adverse and prosperous fortune of every person in this world, in the most
minute particulars, but also his faith or infidelity, his obedience or
disobedience, and consequently his everlasting happiness or misery after
death; which fate or predestination it is not possible by any foresight or
wisdom to avoid.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary a point of practice, that,
according to a tradition of Mahomet, he who dies without performing it,
may as well die a Jew or a Christian; and the same is expressly commanded
in the Koran.
What is principally reverenced in Mecca, and gives sanctity to the whole,
is a square stone building, called the _Caaba_. Before the time of
Mahomet, this temple was a place of worship for the idolatrous Arabs, and
is said to have contained no less than three hundred and sixty different
images, equalling in number the days of the Arabian year. They were all
destroyed by Mahomet, who sanctified the Caaba, and appointed it to be the
chief place of worship for all true believers. The Mussulmen pay so great
a veneration to it, that they believe a single sight of its sacred walls,
without any particular act of devotion, is as meritorious in the sight of
God as the most careful discharge of one’s duty, for the space of a whole
year, in any other temple.
The Mahometans have an established priesthood and a numerous body of
clergymen: their spiritual head, in Turkey, whose power is not inferior to
the Roman Pontiff, or the Grecian Patriarch, is denominated the _Mufti_,
and is regarded as the oracle of sanctity and wisdom. Their houses of
worship are denominated mosques, many of which are very magnificent, and
very richly endowed. The revenues of some of the royal mosques are said to
amount to the enormous sum of 60,000 pounds sterling. In the city of Fez,
the capital of the emperor of Morocco, there are near one thousand
mosques, fifty of which are built in a most magnificent style, supported
by marble pillars. The circumference of the grand mosque is near a mile
and a half, in which near a thousand lamps are lighted every night. The
Mahometan priests, who perform the rites of their public worship, are
called _Imams_; and they have a set of ministers called _Sheiks_, who
preach every _Friday_, the Mahometan Sabbath, much in the manner of
Christian preachers. They seldom touch upon points of controversy in their
discourses, but preach upon moral duties, upon the dogmas and ceremonies
of their religion, and declaim against vice, luxury, and corruption of
manners.
The rapid success which attended the propagation of this new religion was
owing to causes that are plain and evident, and must remove, or rather
prevent, our surprise, when they are attentively considered. The terror of
Mahomet’s arms, and the repeated victories which were gained by him and
his successors, were, no doubt, the irresistible arguments that persuaded
such multitudes to embrace his religion, and submit to his dominion.
Besides, his law was artfully and marvellously adapted to the corrupt
nature of man, and, in a most particular manner, to the manners and
opinions of the Eastern nations, and the vices to which they were
naturally addicted; for the articles of faith which it proposed were few
in number, and extremely simple; and the duties it required were neither
many nor difficult, nor such as were incompatible with the empire of
appetites and passions. It is to be observed, further, that the gross
ignorance under which the Arabians, Syrians, Persians, and the greatest
part, of the Eastern nations, labored at this time, rendered many an easy
prey to the artifice and eloquence of this bold adventurer. To these
causes of the progress of Mahometanism we may add the bitter dissensions
and cruel animosities that reigned among the Christian sects—dissensions
that filled a great part of the East with carnage, assassinations, and
such detestable enormities as rendered the very name of Christianity
odious to many. Other causes of the sudden progress of that religion will
naturally occur to such as consider attentively its spirit and genius, and
the state of the world at this time.
To show the subtlety of Mahomet’s mind, and the extreme ignorance of his
followers, we give the story of that impostor’s night journey from Mecca
to Jerusalem, and from thence to heaven.
The story, as related in the Koran, and believed by the Mahometans, is
this: “At night, as he lay in his bed, with his best beloved wife Ayesha,
he heard a knocking at his door; upon which, arising, he found there the
angel Gabriel, with seventy pair of wings, expanded from his sides, whiter
than snow, and clearer than crystal, and the beast Alborak standing by
him; which, they say, is the beast on which the prophets used to ride,
when they were carried from one place to another, upon the execution of
any divine command. Mahomet describes it to be a beast as white as milk,
and of a mixed nature, between an ass and a mule, and also of a size
between both; but of such extraordinary swiftness as to equal even
lightning itself.
“As soon as Mahomet appeared at the door, the angel Gabriel kindly
embraced him, saluted him in the name of God, and told him that he was
sent to bring him unto God, into heaven, where he should see strange
mysteries, which were not lawful to be seen by any other man. He prayed
him, then, to get upon Alborak; but the beast, having lain idle and
unemployed from the time of Christ to Mahomet, was grown so mettlesome and
skittish, that he would not stand still for Mahomet to mount him, till at
length he was forced to bribe him to it by promising him a place in
paradise. When he was firmly seated on him, the angel Gabriel led the way,
with the bridle of the beast in his hand, and carried the prophet from
Mecca to Jerusalem in the twinkling of an eye. On his coming thither, all
the departed prophets and saints appeared at the gate of the temple to
salute him, and, thence attending him into the chief oratory, desired him
to pray for them, and then withdrew. After this, Mahomet went out of the
temple with the angel Gabriel, and found a ladder of light, ready fixed
for them, which they immediately ascended, leaving Alborak tied to a rock
till their return.
“On their arrival at the first heaven, the angel knocked at the gate; and,
informing the porter who he was, and that he had brought Mahomet, the
friend of God, he was immediately admitted. This first heaven, he tells
us, was all of pure silver; from whence he saw the stars hanging from it
by chains of gold, each as big as Mount Noho, near Mecca, in Arabia. On
his entrance, he met a decrepit old man, who, it seems, was our first
father, Adam; and, as he advanced, he saw a multitude of angels in all
manner of shapes—in the shape of birds, beasts, and men. We must not
forget to observe that Adam had the piety immediately to embrace the
prophet, giving God thanks for so great a son, and then recommended
himself to his prayers. From this first heaven he tells us that he
ascended into the second, which was at the distance of five hundred years’
journey above it, and this he makes to be the distance of every one of the
seven heavens, each above the other. Here the gates being opened to him as
before, at his entrance he met Noah, who, rejoicing much at the sight of
him, recommended himself to his prayers. This heaven was all of pure gold,
and there were twice as many angels in it as in the former; for he tells
us that the number of angels in every heaven increased as he advanced.
From this second heaven he ascended into the third, which was made of
precious stones, where he met Abraham, who also recommended himself to his
prayers; Joseph, the son of Jacob, did the same in the fourth heaven,
which was all of emerald; Moses in the fifth, which was all of adamant;
and John the Baptist in the sixth, which was all of carbuncle; whence he
ascended into the seventh, which was of divine light; and here he found
Jesus Christ. However, it is observed that here he alters his style; for
he does not say that Jesus Christ recommended himself to his prayers, but
that he recommended himself to the prayers of Jesus Christ.
“The angel Gabriel, having brought him thus far, told him that he was not
permitted to attend him any farther, and therefore directed him to ascend
the rest of the way to the throne of God by himself. This he performed
with great difficulty, passing through rough and dangerous places, till he
came where he heard a voice saying unto him, ‘O Mahomet, salute thy
Creator;’ whence ascending higher, he came into a place where he saw a
vast expansion of light, so exceedingly bright, that his eyes could not
bear it. This, it seems, was the habitation of the Almighty, where his
throne was placed; on the right side of which, he says, God’s name and his
own were written in these Arabic words: ‘La ellah ellallah Mahomet reful
ollah;’ that is, ‘THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD, AND MAHOMET IS HIS PROPHET,’
which is at this day the creed of the Mahometans. Being approached to the
divine presence, he tells us that God entered into a familiar converse
with him, revealed to him many hidden mysteries, made him understand the
whole of his law, gave him many things in charge concerning his
instructing men in the knowledge of it, and, in conclusion, bestowed on
him several privileges above the rest of mankind. He then returned, and
found the angel Gabriel waiting for him in the place where he left him.
The angel led him back along the seven heavens, through which he had
brought him, and set him again upon the beast Alborak, which stood tied to
the rock near Jerusalem. Then he conducted him back to Mecca, in the same
manner as he brought him thence; and all this within the space of the
tenth part of one night.”
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Dr. Joseph White thus concludes one of his discourses on Mahometanism:
“What raises Christ and his religion far above all the fictions of
Mahomet, is that awful alternative of hopes and fears, that looking-for of
judgment, which our Christian faith sets before us. At that day, when
time, the great arbiter of truth and falsehood, shall bring to pass the
accomplishment of the ages, and the Son of God shall make his enemies his
footstool,—then shall the deluded followers of the great Impostor,
disappointed of the expected intercession of their prophet, stand
trembling and dismayed at the approach of the glorified Messiah. Then
shall they say, ‘Yonder cometh in the clouds that Jesus whose religion we
labored to destroy; whose temples we profaned; whose servants and
followers we cruelly oppressed! Behold, he cometh, but no longer the
humble son of Mary; no longer a mere mortal prophet, the equal of Abraham,
and of Moses, as that deceiver taught us, but the everlasting Son of the
everlasting Father; the Judge of mankind; the Sovereign of angels; the
Lord of all things, both in earth and in heaven!’ ”
SIMONIANS.
An infidel sect, organized in France, some years since, whose fundamental
principle is, that religion is to perfect the social condition of man;
therefore Christianity is no longer suitable for society, because it
separates the Christian from other men, and leads him to live for another
world. The world requires a religion that shall be of this world, and,
consequently, a God of this world. They reject whatever they suppose to
have been derived from the philosophy of the East; they consider the Deity
neither as spirit nor matter, but as including the whole universe, and are
thus plainly Pantheists; and they regard evil as nothing more than an
indication of the progress which mankind are doomed make, in order to be
freed from it; in itself, they maintain it is nothing. Its members are
principally of the higher ranks, and display, not without success, the
greatest activity in spreading the venom of their infidel principles. They
occupy, in Paris, the largest and most handsomely fitted halls, where they
meet in great numbers.
What is very curious in the history of the Simonians is, that they were,
at first, merely philosophers, and not at all the founders of a religion.
They spoke of science and industry, but not of religious doctrines. All at
once, however, it seemed to occur to them to teach a religion. Then their
school became a church, and their association a sect. It is evident that,
with them, religion was not originally the end of their institution, but
has been employed by them as the means of collecting a greater number of
hearers.
PAGANS.
A general term, applied to heathen idolaters, who worship false gods, and
are not acquainted either with the doctrines of the Old Testament or the
Christian dispensation. The worship of the Grand Lama is of the most
extensive and splendid character among the Pagan idolaters. This extends
all over Thibet and Mongolia, is almost universal in Bucharia and several
provinces of Tartary; it has followers in Cashmere, and is the predominant
religion of China.
The Grand Lama is a name given to the sovereign pontiff, or high priest,
of the Thibetian Tartars, who resides at Patoli, a vast palace on a
mountain, near the banks of Burhampooter, about seven miles from Lahassa.
The foot of this mountain is inhabited by twenty thousand Lamas, or
priests, who have their separate apartments round about the mountain, and,
according to their respective quality, are placed nearer or at a greater
distance from the sovereign pontiff. He is not only the sovereign pontiff,
the vicegerent of the Deity on earth, but the more remote Tartars are said
to absolutely regard him as the Deity himself, and call him _God, the
everlasting Father of heaven_. They believe him to be immortal, and
endowed with all knowledge and virtue. Every year they come up, from
different parts, to worship, and make rich offerings at his shrine. Even
the emperor of China, who is a Manchou Tartar, does not fail in
acknowledgments to him, in his religious capacity, and actually
entertains, at a great expense, in the palace of Pekin, an inferior Lama,
deputed as his nuncio from Thibet. The Grand Lama, it has been said, is
never to be seen but in a secret place of his palace, amidst a great
number of lamps, sitting cross-legged upon a cushion, and decked all over
with gold and precious stones; where, at a distance, the people prostrate
themselves before him, it being not lawful for any so much as to kiss his
feet. He returns not the least sign of respect, nor ever speaks, even to
the greatest princes, but only lays his hand upon their heads; and they
are fully persuaded they receive from thence a full forgiveness of all
their sins.
The magnificence and number of the ancient heathen temples almost exceed
calculation or belief. At one time, there were no less than 424 temples in
the city of Rome, The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was accounted one of
the seven wonders of the world. It was 425 feet in length, 220 in breadth,
and was adorned with 100 columns 60 feet high; and, as each column is said
to have contained 150 tons of marble,—as the stupendous edifice, outside
and in, was adorned with gold, and a profusion of ornaments,—how immense
must have been the whole expense of its erection!
At the present day, many of the pagan nations go to immense expense in the
support of their religious worship. It is stated, in the Indo-Chinese
Gleaner, a paper published by the missionaries in China, that there are,
in that empire, 1056 temples dedicated to Confucius, where above 60,000
animals are annually offered. The followers of Confucius form one of the
smallest of the three leading sects among the Chinese.