THEIR ORIGIN, HISTORY, TENETS, AND INFLUENCE. 319 
mortal? answer, yes, he is mortal. In proof of which we 
read, ‘Say I am but a mortal like yourselves, to whom it is 
revealed that your God is but one God.” Burckhardt also 
states that in 1815 a book had been received at Cairo 
containing various treatises on religious subjects written 
by Abd ul Wahab himself; it was read by the theologians of 
orthodox Islam, and they declared unanimously that if such 
were the opinions of the Wahabis, they themselves belonged 
altogether to that creed! Nevertheless, Moslems to-day do 
not look upon the Wahabis otherwise than as a pestilent 
sect, for however much they may agree technically with 
the average Moslem and with the Koran as taught in the 
schools, practically they are widely at variance with orthodox 
beliefs, and bitterly at war against many orthodox practices. 
Here are some of these points of difference :— 
1. They do not receive the dogmatic decisions of the four 
imams (founders of the chief systems of interpretation), 
but say that any man who can read and understand the 
Koran has the right of private judgment, and can interpret 
the Koran and the Tradition for himself. They therefore 
reject Ijmaa, i.e, “the unanimous consent of the fathers,” 
after the death of the companions of the prophet. 
2. Their monotheism is absolute. Prayers should not be 
offered to any prophet, wali, or saint. Palgrave’s matchless 
description of Allah, as “the pantheism of force,” in all its 
remarkable analytical detail applies rather to the Wahabis 
than to Moslems in general (see Travels in Central and 
Eastern Arabia, p. 365, Vol. I). 
3. Together with this absolute monotheism they are 
accused, not without cause, of having crude and anthropo- 
morphic ideas of deity. They understand the terms “ sitting 
of God” (Arabic os,i.|) and hand of God (alay)> ete., 10 
their literal sense. his most of all is the rock of offence to 
other Moslems, many of whom designate the doctrine as hufr 
(infidelity). 
4, Regarding Mohammed’s intercession, they differ from 
other Moslems in holding that it is impossible now, although 
it will be possible on the day of judgment. 
5. They think it wrong to build cupolas over graves or to 
honour the dead in any way, such as by illuminations or by 
perambulating their tombs. Even the tomb of Mohammed 
1s no exception. 
6. They are accused, rightly or wrongly, of holding that 
