of attention, so I preferred to postpone it to another time. However, his insistence upon it stirred up within me the dormant religious zeal to strive in clarifying the meaning of the two opposing views regarding the establishment of the exoteric acts of worship and the rejection thereof. For I used to observe the believing brethren gathering with my natural master and father, Sheikh ('Id al-Salih)—may God sanctify his spirit and theirs—and I would hear the debates between him and them due to his prohibition of religiously practicing and believing in the exoteric acts of worship and establishing them in seclusions. [I witnessed] the decisive testimonies, the righteous proofs, and the transmitted and rational interpretations and evidences he would bring forth, for he—may God sanctify his spirit—was among the scholars firmly grounded in knowledge and practice. And never in my life have I seen anyone in his presence bring forth anything that proves the obligation of believing in and religiously practicing the exoteric acts of worship and establishing them in seclusions and among the believers, because it is impermissible in the books of monotheism"¹.