The Reconciliation of Races and Religions by Thomas Kelly Cheyne
page 20 of 173 (11%)
page 20 of 173 (11%)
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'The Sufi has no prejudice against any prophet, and, contrary to
those who only love one to hate the other, the Sufi regards them all as the highest attribute of God, as Wisdom herself, present under the appearance of names and forms. He loves them with all his worship, for the lover worships the Beloved in all Her garments.... It is thus that the Sufis contemplate their Well-beloved, Divine Wisdom, in all her robes, in her different ages, and under all the names that she bears,--Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mahomet.' [Footnote: _Message Soufi de la Liberte_ (Paris, 1913), pp. 34, 35.] The idea of the equality of the members of the world-wide prophethood, the whole body of prophets being the unique personality of Divine Wisdom, is, in my judgment, far superior to the corresponding theory of the exclusive Muhammadan orthodoxy. That theory is that each prophet represents an advance on his predecessor, whom he therefore supersedes. Now, that Muhammad as a prophet was well adapted to the Arabians, I should be most unwilling to deny. I am also heartily of opinion that a Christian may well strengthen his own faith by the example of the fervour of many of the Muslims. But to say that the Kur'an is superior to either the Old Testament or the New is, surely, an error, only excusable on the ground of ignorance. It is true, neither of Judaism nor of Christianity were the representatives in Muhammad's time such as we should have desired; ignorance on Muhammad's part was unavoidable. But unavoidable also was the anti-Islamic reaction, as represented especially by the Order of the Sufis. One may hope that both action and reaction may one day become unnecessary. _That_ will depend largely on the Bahais. It is time, however, to pass on to those precursors of Babism who were neither Sufites nor Zoroastrians, but who none the less |
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