Orthodox Moslems divide sins into greater and lesser. Al-Ghazali quotes one who said, “There are no greater and lesser sins, but everything which is contrary to God’s will is a great sin,” but gives Koran passages contradicting this and then escapes the moral difficulty by showing that the smaller sins may become great if we continue in them: “like the dropping of water wearing away a stone”; and “when the servant of God reckons his sin great, God reckons it small, and when he reckons it small, then God reckons it great.” He divides the sins which overcome the heart into four classes: egoistic, satanic, brutal and cruel. Under the first he puts pride, conceit, boasting, selfishness, etc.; envy, hatred, deceit, malice, corruption and unbelief, belong to the second; while greed, gluttony, lust, adultery, sodomy, theft, and the robbing of orphans are classed as brutal sins; and anger, passion, abuse, cursing, murder, robbery, etc., are cruel. Yet in all of Al-Ghazali’s works on ethics and many of his smaller treatises are on this subject, there is no clear distinction made between the ritual and the moral law. In fact one word used for ethics in Arabic (_ʾadab_) refers to propriety of conduct, etiquette, politeness, and decency in outward behaviour, reverence in the presence of superiors, rather than to the keeping of the ten commandments or of the principles that are fundamental to noble character. This becomes very clear when we study the contents, for example, of one of his shorter books entitled _Al-ʾAdab fi Din_ (Ethics in Religion). The book begins by giving the basis of ethical teaching in these words: “Praise be to God who created us and perfected our creation, and taught us morals and beautified our morals, and honoured us by sending His Prophet Mohammed (upon whom may God’s blessing rest), and hath taught us how to honour him. Truly the most perfect element in character and the most elevated, and the best of good works, and the most glorious, is correct behaviour as regards religion, which teaches what a true believer should know of the work of the Lord of the worlds and the Creator of the prophets and apostles; and God hath taught us and clearly enlightened us concerning this in the Koran, and hath given us the example of conduct in his Prophet Mohammed according to his Traditions. He is our example, and likewise are his companions and immediate followers. These have shown us what it is necessary for us to follow in their conduct, which we have here recorded for all those who would follow.”