Hidden Truths

"How could the hidden truths of this immaterial world (malakut) manifest themselves to a people whose god (ilah) is their undisciplined passions (hawa), whose object of worship (ma'bud) is their leaders, whose direction of prayers (qibla) is the dinar, whose religious law is their own frivolty, whose will (irada) is the promotion of reputation and carnal pleasures, whose worship ('ibada) is the service they render the rich among them, whose remembrance (of God) ist he devilish whisperings of their souls, whose most cherished possession is their (relationship with their) political leaders, and whose every thought is preoccupied with extracting legal dodges (hiyal/ sg. hila) to accommodate the dictates of their (would-be) sense of shame?"
- Imam Ghazzali, "On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance in Islam" by 88 -