the Christians; at other times they resemble the Sabians, and at others the Pharaonic deniers and similar eternalists. They belong to the Sabians, but are unbelievers from the outset.
The untainted among them worship Allah alone, but most of their worship does not follow the Quranic law brought by Muhammad. Thus they deviate either from the testimony that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah or from the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I have written about this elsewhere.
Each of the two paths—rational inquiry and detachment—offers great benefit and considerable value. Indeed, each is obligatory and indispensable, and happiness cannot be complete without it. Throughout, the Quran calls for inquiry, reflection, and contemplation, as well as purification, asceticism, and worship.
In several places, the Quran speaks of perfecting both the intellectual faculty concerned with knowledge and the volitional faculty concerned with action, as in His words:
“He is the One Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religion.”
Guidance is the perfection of knowledge, and the religion of truth is the perfection of action. Likewise, He says:
“Possessors of strength and insight.”
And:
“He has inscribed faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him.”
And:
“They believed and did righteous deeds.”
And:
“To Him good words ascend, and righteous deeds.”
In the Prophet’s sermon, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, he says:
“The best speech is the speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad.”
Beneficial inquiry, however, must examine evidence. Examining something that is not evidence yields no knowledge of what is to be established. Evidence is what leads to the desired conclusion and points toward the intended object. Complete evidence consists in the prophetic message and works. Likewise, complete worship consists in doing what the servant has been commanded to do and what the messengers brought. There has, however, been