THE MAHOMETAN CREED

As an illustration of the Mahometan creed and practice I have thought it advisable to insert their famous Dr. Al-Gazali’s interpretation of the two articles of their faith, viz., “There is no God but God; Mahomet is the apostle of God”: 

“Praise be to God the Creator and Restorer of all things:  who does whatsoever he pleases, who is master of the glorious throne and mighty force, and directs his sincere servants into the right way and the straight path; who favoreth them who have once borne testimony to the unity, by preserving their confessions from the darkness of doubt and hesitation; who directs them to follow his chosen apostle, upon whom be the blessing and peace of God; and to go after his most honorable companions, to whom he hath vouchsafed his assistance and direction which is revealed to them in his essence and operations by the excellences of his attributes, to the knowledge whereof no man attains but he that hath been taught by hearing.  To these, as touching his essence, he maketh known that he is one, and hath no partner:  singular, without anything like him:  uniform, having no contrary:  separate, having no equal.  He is ancient, having no first:  eternal, having no beginning:  remaining forever, having no end:  continuing to eternity, without any termination.  He persists, without ceasing to be, remains without failing, and never did cease, nor ever shall cease, to be described by glorious attributes, nor is subject to any decree so as to be determined by any precise limits or set times, but is the First and the Last, and is within and without.

“What God is not.] He (glorified be his name) is not a body endued with form, nor a substance circumscribed with limits or determined by measure; neither does he resemble bodies, as they are capable of being measured or divided.  Neither is he a substance, neither do substances exist in him; neither is he an accident, nor do accidents exist in him.  Neither is he like to anything that exists, neither is anything like to him; nor is he determinate in quantity nor comprehended by bounds, nor circumscribed by the differences of situation nor contained in the heavens.  He sits upon the throne, after that manner which he himself hath described, and in that same sense which he himself means, which is a sitting far removed from any notion of contact, or resting upon, or local situation; but both the throne itself, and whatsoever is upon it, are sustained by the goodness of his power, and are subject to the grasp of his hand.  But he is above the throne, and above all things, even to the utmost ends of the earth; but so above as at the same time not to be a whit nearer the throne and the heaven; since he is exalted by (infinite) degrees above the throne no less than he is exalted above the earth, and at the same time is near to everything that hath a being; nay, nearer to men than their jugular veins, and is witness to