67 Preface لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ جَعَلنا مَنسَكًا هُم ناسِكوهُ ۖ فَلا يُنازِعُنَّكَ فِي الأَمرِ ۚ وَادعُ إِلىٰ رَبِّكَ ۖ إِنَّكَ لَعَلىٰ هُدًى مُستَقيمٍYusuf AliTo every People have We appointed rites and ceremonies1 which they must follow: let them not then dispute with thee on the matter, but do thou invite (them) to thy Lord: for thou art assuredly on the Right Way.Rites and ceremonies may appear to be an unimportant matter compared with “weightier matters of the Law” and with the higher needs of man’s spiritual nature. But they are necessary for social and religious organisation, and their effect on the individual himself is not to be despised. In any case, as they are visible external symbols, they give rise to the most heated controversies. Such controversies are to be deprecated. That does not mean that our rites and ceremonies are to be made light of. Those in Islam rest on the highest social and religious needs of man, and if we are convinced that we are on the Right Way, we should invite all to join us, without entering into controversies about such matters.