A Moslem Seeker after God

"The religion of Christ contains whole fields of morality and whole realms of thought which are all but outside the religion of Mohammed. It opens humility, purity of heart, forgiveness of injuries, sacrifice of self to man's moral nature; it gives scope for toleration, development, boundless progress to his mind; its motive power is stronger, even as a friend is better than a king and love higher than obedience. Its realized ideals in the various paths of human greatness have been more commanding, more many-sided, more holy, as Averroes is below Newton, Haroun below Alfred, and ʾAli below St. Paul. Finally, the ideal life of all is far more elevating, far more majestic, far more inspiring even as the life of the founder of Mohammedanism is below the life of the Founder of Christianity. " -_"Life of Mohammed," R. Bosworth Smith._

Martensen defines Christian ethics as "the science of morals conditioned by Christianity. " But the three fundamental concepts of Christian ethics are all of them challenged by the teaching of Islam. The Mohammedan idea of the Highest Good, of Virtue and of the Moral Law are not in accord with those of Christianity. This is evident both from the character of Mohammed himself and from his recorded sayings. Ideal virtue is to be found through imitation of Mohammed. And the moral law is practically abrogated because of loose views as to its real character, its teaching and finality. "The ethics of Islam bear the character of an outwardly and crudely conceived doctrine of righteousness; conscientiousness in the sphere of the social relations, faithfulness to conviction and to one's word, and the bringing of an action into relation to God, are its bright points; but there is a lack of heart-depth, of a basing of the moral in love. The highest good is the very outwardly and very sensuously conceived happiness of the individual. "[66]