Although the Prophet reprobated the Jews as well as the Christians, whom he accused of perverting the Scriptures, yet he took care to keep up the latitudinarian principle of his own law, called Dêne-el-Wasah (the extended doctrine) by believing the divine inspiration of both the Old and New Testament, thus giving an opportunity to the expounders of the law, to regulate themselves according to circumstances. The Mohammedans, when disputing with Christians, which they rarely do, say, that Christians believe faith will save the soul: they also believe so; and that if their religion is the true one, they will go to Paradise; they tell us, if your’s be the true one, we both shall go there, because we believe in the divinity of Christ, but you do not believe in that of Mohammed, therefore, if faith save the soul, we have the advantage of you in being, in any case, on the safe side.[163] The Mooselmin’s ideas of the Creator are grand and elevated. Whatever is, exists either necessarily and of itself, and is God, or has not its being from itself, and does not exist necessarily, and is of two sorts: substance and accidents: substances are of two kinds, abstract and concrete; abstract substances are, all spirits and intellectual beings: concrete being the matter and form. Whenever God is spoken of by the Mohammedans, as having form, eyes, &c. it is meant, allegorically, to convey the idea of some particular attribute. They deny that Christ was crucified. Finally, the Mohammedan religion recommends toleration; and all liberal Mohammedans insist that every man ought to worship God according to the law of his forefathers. “If it pleased God,” say they, “all men would believe; why then should a worm, a wretched mortal, be so foolish as to pretend to force other men to believe? The soul believes only _by the will of God_: these are the true principles of Mohammedans.” It must, however, be observed, that the principles here laid down are not always the rule of action, any more than the sublime truths inculcated by the Christian religion are altogether acted upon by its professors. Both religions acknowledge the greatness of God, and yet _bigotry is so prevalent at Old Fas_, that if a Christian were there to exclaim Allah k’beer, God is great, he would be invited immediately to add to it, and Mohammed is his prophet, which, if he were inadvertently to utter before witnesses, he would be compelled to become a Mohammedan, and would be circumcised accordingly: so that Europeans should be extremely cautious, when unprotected, or not in the suite of an ambassador, what words they ever repeat after a Mohammedan, even if ignorant of the meaning thereof. I do not apprehend, however, that it is necessary to observe this caution in any part of the empire except at Old Fas, where bigotry, as before observed, _predominates_.