deny divine decree. Although they attach great importance to the commands and prohibitions, the promise of reward and the threat of punishment—and go to excess in this—they deny divine decree and thus have an element of associating partners with Allah in this respect.

Acknowledging the commands and prohibitions, the promise of reward and the threat of punishment while denying divine decree is better than acknowledging divine decree while denying the commands and prohibitions, the promise of reward and the threat of punishment. Hence, during the time of the Companions and the Successors, there was no one who denied these commands, prohibitions, promises, and threats, although the Qadariyya had emerged among them, as had the Khawārij—the Harūriyya. The religious innovations that first appear are those whose error is less apparent. The weaker those who uphold the light of prophethood become, the stronger religious innovation grows.

Thus, these Sufis who witness the reality of Allah’s universal lordship while disregarding His commands and prohibitions are worse than the Qadariyya of the Mu'tazila and others like them. The latter resemble the Magians, whereas these Sufis resemble the polytheists who said:

“If Allah had willed, we would not have associated partners with Him, nor would our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything.”

The polytheists are worse than the Magians. This, then, is a momentous principle that every Muslim must understand, for it is the foundation of Islam by which the basis of faith is distinguished from what the unbelievers follow: belief in Allah’s oneness and in His Messenger’s mission, expressed in the testimony that none is worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

Many people have failed to uphold the true meaning of these two foundations, or one of them, while imagining that they have attained the utmost realization of truth, monotheism, knowledge, and spiritual understanding.