the vast majority of the common folk—indeed virtually all of them, save those whom Allah protects. By “common folk” I mean everyone who is unaware of the true essence of Islam, for many who lay claim to learning in jurisprudence or religion have also taken part in these practices.

Among the items foisted upon them is this so-called “consecrated” incense, which they believe carries a blessing that wards off the evil eye, sorcery, illnesses, and crawling creatures. They also draw pictures of snakes and scorpions on sheets of paper and paste them inside their houses, imagining that these images—whose maker is accursed, and into whose house the angels refuse to enter—will repel vermin. This is but a type of the Sabian talismans.

Many of them, so I have been informed, even fasten a cross to the doorway of the house. Large crowds then go out on the Thursday that precedes the main one to burn incense over the graves. They call the later day “the Great Thursday,” whereas in the sight of Allah it is the despicable, contemptible Thursday—despicable are the day itself, its devotees, and anyone who exalts it. For anything that is venerated on the basis of falsehood—whether a place, a moment in time, a stone, a tree, or a building—must be deliberately debased, just as the idols that are worshiped are debased; were it not for the worship directed at them, they would be no different from any other stones.

Another of the reprehensible acts people commit is that they levy upon the tenant farmers compulsory dues—most of them exacted under coercion—consisting of sheep, chickens, milk, and eggs. In this they combine two prohibitions: unlawfully consuming the wealth of a Muslim (or of a treaty-protegee) and upholding a Christian ritual. They even treat it as a fixed annual season.