ritual, and also ignored entirely the doctrine of the atonement as taught in the New Testament, denying even the very fact of our Saviour's crucifixion, he made the "day of sacrifice" the great central festival of his religion.
There is a very remarkable Hadís, related: by ʾA′yesha, who states, that Muhammad said, "Man hath not done anything on the ʾId-ul-Azhá more pleasing to God than spilling blood; for verily the animal sacrificed will come, on the day of resurrection, with its horns, its hair, and its hoofs, and will make the scales of his (good) actions heavy. Verily its blood reacheth the acceptance of God, before it falleth upon the ground, therefore be joyful in it."[1] Muhammad has thus become unwillingly a witness to the grand doctrine of the Christian faith that "without shedding of blood, there is no remission." The animal sacrificed must be without blemish, and of full age; but it may be either a goat, a sheep, a cow, or a camel.
According to the commentator Jalál-ud-dín Syúty, the sacrifice was instituted in com-
- ↑ Mishkát-ul-Masábih, bk. iv. chap. xlii. sect. 2.
