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ArticlesOfTheIslamicFaithByGhazali, page : 246
early generation are just witnesses, and no one has any right
to depart from their judgment. What they have said is true;
but the important thing is to grasp its meaning. It proves
that good deeds are not an integral part of belief nor a
basic thing for its existence. Rather they are an addition which
augments belief. Both the surplus and the deficit exist,
but nothing increases in itself. Thus it cannot be said that
man's head is an addition or a surplus which increases his
stature or size; but his beard and corpulence are.
Similarly it is not permissible to say that prayer is augmented
and increased by kneeling and prostration; rather it is augmented
by the manner of its execution and the usages followed
therein. This, therefore, is a clear declaration that belief
as such does exist, and that once it exists, it may vary,
subject to increase and decrease.
to depart from their judgment. What they have said is true;
but the important thing is to grasp its meaning. It proves
that good deeds are not an integral part of belief nor a
basic thing for its existence. Rather they are an addition which
augments belief. Both the surplus and the deficit exist,
but nothing increases in itself. Thus it cannot be said that
man's head is an addition or a surplus which increases his
stature or size; but his beard and corpulence are.
Similarly it is not permissible to say that prayer is augmented
and increased by kneeling and prostration; rather it is augmented
by the manner of its execution and the usages followed
therein. This, therefore, is a clear declaration that belief
as such does exist, and that once it exists, it may vary,
subject to increase and decrease.