[97] Muhammad Isma'il concludes his great work, the Takwiat-ul-Iman, with the prayer--"O Lord teach us by Thy grace, the meaning of the terms Bid'at and Sunnat, and the Law of the Prophet. Make us pure Sunnis and strictly submissive to the Sunnat." This is a clear and distinct proof that Wahhabis do not reject Tradition as a basis of the Faith. It also shows their horror of innovation, and reveals the little hope there is of any real progress through their influence. [98] "Mr. Finlay, the clever but partial author of "The Byzantine Empire," has declared in a sweeping way 'that there is no greater delusion than to speak of the unity of the Christian Church.' However this may be, I can affirm the perfect applicability of this sentence to Islam in the East. In no part of the world is there more of secret division, aversion, misbelief (taking Muhammadanism as our standard), and unbelief than in those very lands which to a superficial survey, seem absolutely identified in the one common creed of the Quran and its author."--Palgrave's Arabia, vol. i. p. 10. [99] Strictly speaking, this chapter should be entitled the 'Faith of Islam,' as the subject of it is technically called Iman, or faith. The Kalima, or creed is, in the strict sense, the expression of belief in one God, and in Muhammad as His apostle. I here use the word creed in the usual sense of a body of dogmas. [100] Iqrarun bil-lisani wa tasdiqun bil janani. [101] Amantu billahi kama hua bismaihi wa sifatihi wa qabiltu jami'a ahkamihi. [102] Amantu billahi wa malaikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wal-youm-il-akhiri wal-qadri khairihi wa sharrihi min allahi ta'ala wal-ba'si ba'd al-mouti. [103] He speaks of it thus: "l'ouvrage elementaire de la religion Musulmane le plus estime et le plus repandu en Turquie," p. 154. [104] Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 27. [105] The above statements form the substance of several pages in the "Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun," in which also occurs the following: "Cela n'est pas toutefois un motif pour deprecier notre intelligence et nos facultes perceptives: l'intelligence est une balance parfaitement juste: elle nous fournit des resultats certains sans nous tromper. Mais on ne doit pas employer cette balance pour peser les choses qui se rattachent a l'unite de Dieu, a la vie future, a la nature du prophetisme, au veritable caractere des attributs divine et a tout ce qui est au dela de sa portee. Vouloir le faire, ce serait une absurdite." Vol. iii. p. 45. [106] "Telle fut la regle suivie par les anciens musulmans a l'egard des verses motachabeh; ils l'appliquaient aussi aux expressions du meme genre qui se presentent dans la Sonna, parce qu'elles proviennent de la meme source que celles du Coran." Ibn Khaldoun, vol. iii. p. 67. This passage is of some interest as maintaining the common source and origin of the Quran and the Sunnat. [107] Ibn Khallikan, vol. i. p. 565.