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RECONCILIATION.
1039
that mythology appears ridiculous only when read from the standpoint of history.
The additional objection raised against Islam is with reference to the doctrine of sacrifice. The observations we made in reference to the principle underlying the doctrine, in the eighth chapter of this book, are sufficient to show that the Maliomedans have not understood the true sense of the teaching in this respect. Junayd once asked a man who had returned from the pilgrimage to Mecca : “When you reached the slaughter place and offered sacrifice, did you sacrifice the objects of worldly desire ?” The man replied that he had not, whereupon he was told : “ Then you have not sacrificed at all."
Our survey of the tenets of Islam is now complete and justifies the statement that the Holy Qur'an, when purged of the element of allegory and mysticism, and of the tendency to personify elements and essences, that is characteristic of all religions of the mystical type, contains the seeds of the true philosophy of the Science of Salvation, though, owing to the spirit of compromise, which the Prophet was led to adopt on political and social considerations, truth is not to be found in his sayings in its naked grandeur and majesty.
We may now conclude the subject of transmigration, and say that not only is the doctrine a perfect truth of philosophy, but has also been recognized by the founders of the principal religions now prevailing in the world, including Christianity and Islam. Even Sikhism is no exception to this, as its teachings show (see ' A Dictionary of Islam,' p. 590).
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