that condition; but he answered her, that the business of the day would be too weighty and serious to allow them the making use of that liberty. Others however allege the authority of their prophet for a contrary opinion as to their nakedness; and pretend he asserted that the dead should arise dressed in the same clothes in which they died'; unless we interpret these words, as some do, not so much of the outward dress of the body, as the inward clothing of the mind; and understand thereby that every person will rise again in the same state as to his faith or infidelity, his knowledge or ignorance, his good or bad works. Mohammed is also said to have farther taught, by another tradition, that mankind shall be assembled at the last day, distinguished into three classes. The first, of those who go on foot; the second, of those who ride; and the third, of those who creep grovelling with their faces on the ground. The first class is to consist of those believers whose good works have been few; the second, of those who are in greater honour with GOD, and more acceptable to him; whence Ali affirmed that the pious, when they come forth from their sepulchres, shall find ready prepared for them white-winged camels, with saddles of gold; wherein are to be observed some footsteps of the doctrine of the ancient Arabians*; and the third class, they say, will be composed of the infidels, whom GOD shall cause to make their appearance with their faces on the earth, blind, dumb, and deaf. But the ungodly will not be thus only distinguished; for, according to a tradition of the prophet, there will be ten sorts of wicked men on whom GoD shall on that day fix certain discretory marks. The first will appear in the form of apes; these are the professors of Zendicism: the second in that of swine; these are they In this also they follow their old guides, the Jews, who say, that, if the wheat which is sown naked rise clothed, it is no wonder the pious who are buried in their clothes should rise with them. Gemar. Sanhedr. fol. 90. *See before, Sect. I. p.21 who have been greedy of filthy lucre, and enriched themselves by public oppression: the third will be brought with their heads reversed, and their feet distorted; these are the usurers : the fourth will. wander about blind; these are unjust judges: the fifth will be deaf, dumb, and blind, understanding nothing; these are they who glory in their own works: the sixth will gnaw their tongues, which will hang down upon their breasts, corrupted blood flowing from their mouths like spittle, so that every body shall detest them; these are the learned men and doctors, whose actions contradict their sayings: the seventh will have their hands and feet cut off; these are they who have injured their neighbours : the eighth will be fixed to the trunks of palm-trees or stakes of wood; these are the false accusers and informers: the ninth will stink worse than a corrupted corpse; these are they who have indulged their passions and voluptuous appetites, but refused GOD such part of their wealth as was due to him: the tenth will be clothed with garments daubed with pitch; and these are the proud, the vain-glorious, and the arrogant. As to the place where they are to be assembled to judgment, the Korân and the traditions of Mohammed agree that it will be on the earth, but in what part of the earth it is not agreed. Some say their prophet mentioned Syria for the place: others, a white and even tract of land, without inhabitants or any signs of buildings. Ál Ghazali imagines it will be a second earth, which he supposes to be of silver; and others, an earth which has nothing in common with ours, but the name; having, it is possible, heard something of the new heavens and new earth mentioned in scripture: whence the Korân has this expression, On the day wherein the earth shall be changed into another earth'. The end of the resurrection the Mohammedans declare to be, that they who are raised may give an account of their actions, and receive the reward thereof. And they believe, that not only mankind, but the genii and irrational animals also", shall be judged on this great day; when the unarmed cattle shall take vengeance on the horned, till entire satisfaction shall be given to the injured". As to mankind, they hold, that when they are all assembled together, they will not be immediately brought to judgment, but the angels will keep them in their ranks and order while they attend for that purpose; and this attendance, some say, is to last forty years; others seventy, others three hundred ; nay, some say no less than fifty thousand years, each of them vouching their prophet's authority. During this space they will stand looking up to heaven, but without receiving any information or orders thence, and are to suffer grievous torments, both the just and the unjust, though with manifest difference. For the limbs of the former, particularly those parts which they used to wash in making the ceremonial ablution before prayer, shall shine gloriously, and their sufferings shall be light in comparison, and shall last no longer than the time necessary to say the appointed prayers; but the latter will have their faces obscured with blackness, and disfigured with all the marks of sorrow and deformity. What will then occasion not the least of their pain is a wonderful and incredible sweat, which will even stop their mouths, and in which they will be immersed in various degrees, according to their demerits; some/to the ancles only, some to the knees, some to the middle, some so high as their mouth, n This m Kor. chap. 6. V. Maimonid. More Nev. part 3. c. 17. opinion the learned Greaves supposed to have taken its rise from the following words of Ezekiel, wrongly understood: And as for ye, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God, Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats.—Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle, and between the lean cattle; because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey, and I will judge between cattle and cattle, &c. Ezek. xxxiv. 17, &c. 20, 21, 22. Much might be said concerning brutes deserving future reward and punishment. See Bayle, Dict. Hist, Art. Rorarius, Rem. D. &c. |