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CONFLUENCE OF OPPOSITES 241 The passage
"O my people ! how is it that I bid you to galvation, but that ye bid me to the fire ?"which occurs in the fortieth surah (verse 66) throws considerable light on the true tenets of the Qur'an, and is intelligible only on the hypothesis of trans. migration For the Arabic word naját jölau) employed in the text to denote the idea of salvation, will be meaningless except as signifying freedom from some kind of bondage or restraint, the true interpretation of which must be sought on the same lines as that of the famous Biblical text in Jobin, viii. 32-"And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." This is sufficient to show that the doctrine of the bondage of karma is taught in secret both in the Bible and the Holy Qur'an.
We shall now briefly dwell upon the means prescribed by Islam for the obtainment of salvation. They comprise :
(1) sacrifice, (2) prayer, (3) fasting, (4). pilgrimage and
(5) the general rules of piety. We shall consider the first two of these in a subsequent lecture, but pilgrimage is common to all religions,
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