'He in whose heart is the weight of a grain of mustard-seed of pride shall not enter paradise nor shall there enter paradise a miser, or a coward or a treacherous man, or one of evil habit.' In another Tradition in place of this last clause it is said, 'or an ingrate'.

The second class of means of salvation relied upon by Muslims comprises the mercy of God, repentance, faith, and the intercession of Muhammad and of the Imams. These we must now consider in order.

It is well known that in many verses of the Qur'an it is stated that God Most High is the merciful (الرحمان) and the gracious one ¹ (الرحيم). In this the Qur'an agrees with the Bible, which again and again speaks of God's mercy and lovingkindness. ² It is evidently true that the ocean of the divine mercy is unfathomable. Whoever denies this is, we grant, an unbeliever and practically denies God's very existence. But Muslims find in the Qur'an the verse: ³ (الله يضل من يشاء ويهدي من يشاء) (For verily God misleadeth whomsoever He will and guideth whomsoever He will); and from it and similar passages they draw the

conclusion that God will, therefore, forgive the sins of any one He pleases and accept him into favour. That is to say, Muslims in general fancy that God, paying no attention to the requirements of His own perfect justice, will, simply through His mercy, pardon one man's sins and bestow upon him faith, and then accept him unto salvation, while upon another He will have no mercy, but will render him destitute of faith, and will on that account punish him in hell, having predestinated him to eternal destruction. But this view is utterly untenable, since it sets God's holiness in opposition to His justice and makes His mercy superior to the latter to such a degree that, in some cases, it entirely overthrows and does away with it. But, since in God's nature and attributes, there can be no imperfection or defect, and it is impossible that one of the divine attributes should be less than or inferior to another (each of His attributes being, like His nature, absolute and infinite), hence it is certain that God Most High never does anything contrary to His own nature or to any of His perfect attributes, and that between these attributes there can be no contrariety or opposition, nor can one of them overcome any other. Accordingly it is clear that God will not pass over the demands of His justice in order to yield solely to mercy and pity and thus to forgive certain men's sins. On the contrary, in pardoning He will completely satisfy the demands of justice. That is to say, He will