that the first is the
_belief_, say in the knowledge of a soothsayer, and the second the _habit_
of consulting him.

To swear by the name of the Prophet, of 'Ali, of the Imams, or of Pirs
(Leaders) is to give them the honour due to God alone. It is Ishrak fi'l
adab--'Shirk in association.'

Another common belief which Wahhabis oppose is that Musalmans can perform
the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), say prayers, read the Quran, abide in
meditation, give alms, and do other good works, the reward of which shall
be credited to a person already dead.[93] Amongst other Musalmans it is a
common practice to read the Quran in the belief that, if done with such an
intention, the reward will pass to the deceased object of the desire.
Wahabis entirely object to this.

The above technical exposition of Wahhabi tenets shows how much stress they
lay on a rigid adherence to the doctrine of the "Unity." "La-il-laha,
Il-lal-la-hu" (there is no God but God) is an eternal truth. Yet to the
Musalman God is a Being afar off. In rejecting the Fatherhood of God he has
accepted as the object of his worship, hardly of his affections, a Being
despotic in all He does, arbitrary in all His ways. He has accepted the
position of a slave instead of that of a son. Wahhabiism emphasizes the
ideas which flow from the first article of the Muslim creed. But {110} on
this subject we prefer to let Palgrave speak. He of all men knew the
Wahhabi best, and he, at least, can be accused of no sectarian bias. The
extract is rather long, but will repay perusal; indeed, the whole passage
from which this extract is taken should be read.

"'There is no God but God,' are words simply tantamount in English to
the negation of any deity save one alone; and thus much they certainly
mean in Arabic, but they imply much more also. Their full sense is, not
only to deny absolutely and unreservedly all plurality whether of
nature or of person in the Supreme Being, not only to establish the
unity of the Unbegetting and the Unbegot, in all its simple and
incommunicable oneness, but besides this, the words, in Arabic and
among Arabs, imply that this one Supreme Being is the only Agent, the
only Force, the only Act existing throughout the universe, and leave to
all beings else, matter or spirit, instinct or intelligence, physical
or moral, nothing but pure unconditional passiveness, alike in movement
or in quiescence, in action or in c