tions, it follows that there is a defect in these laws? Or can
one, God forbid, imagine that the Omnipotent Lord was moved to comply with
the opinions of the heathen? The divine wisdom takes many forms. Would it
have been impossible for Muhammad to reveal a Law which bore no
resemblance whatever to any practice current in the Days of Ignorance?
Rather, the purpose of His consummate wisdom was to free the people from
the chains of fanaticism which had bound them hand and foot, and to
forestall those very objections which today confuse the mind and trouble
the conscience of the simple and helpless.

Some, who are not sufficiently informed as to the meaning of the divine
Texts and the contents of traditional and written history, will aver that
these customs of the Days of Ignorance were laws which had come down from
His Holiness Abraham and had been retained by the idolaters. In this
connection they will cite the Qur'anic verse: "Follow the religion of
Abraham, the sound in faith."(17) Nevertheless it is a fact attested by
the writings of all the Islamic schools that the months of truce, the
lunar calendar, and the cutting off of the right hand as punishment for
theft, formed no part of Abraham's Law. In any case, the Pentateuch is
extant and available today, and contains the laws of Abraham. Let them
refer to it. They will then, of course, insist that the Torah has been
tampered with, and in proof will quote the Qur'anic verse: "They pervert
the text of the Word of God."(18) It is, however, known where such
distortion has occurred, and is a matter of record in critical texts and
commentaries.(19) Were We to develop the subject beyond this brief
reference, We would have to abandon Our present purpose.

According to some accounts, mankind has been directed to borrow various
good qualities and ways from wild animals, and to learn a lesson from
these. Since it is permissible to imitate virtues of dumb animals, it is
certainly far more so to borrow material sciences and techniques from
foreign peoples, who at least belong to the human race and are
distinguished by judgment and the power of speech. And if it be contended
that such praiseworthy qualities are inborn in animals, by what proof can
they claim that these essential principles of civilization, this knowledge
and these sciences current among other peoples, are not inborn? Is there
any Creator save God? Say: Praised be God!

The most learned and accomplished divines, th