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political islam 4112.3.within an adverbial clause of place. In ‘so Moses conceived inhis mind ( fÊ nafsihi) a (sort of ) fear’ (•§-H§ 20:67); even thoughfÊ means literally ‘in’, the fear in Moses’ head is nevertheless notreal. Finally, ‘within a few years…’ ( Al-Råm 30:4) uses fÊ as apreposition of time.As a preposition of cause, meaning ‘because of’ or ‘for’, forexample, the hadÊth says ‘A woman entered Hell because of thecat she imprisoned’, 80 that is, the woman will be punished becauseof ( fÊ) her cruelty to her cat.As a preposition meaning ‘in the company of’ or ‘with’, as in:‘He will say: “Enter you in the company of ( fÊ) the peoples whopassed away before you—men and jinns—into the Fire.”( Al-A#r§f 7:38)In all three instances, fÊ always points to something that is inside,hidden, or secretly concealed. If we, for example, say ‘I will look intoit ( fÊhi)’, it indicates that one is keen to discover or disclose what isstill hidden or concealed.The noun sabÊl, often translated as ‘cause’, literally means ‘way’,‘course’, or ‘means’ and is used in a neutral sense, that is, it can be(theologically) a good or a bad path since the term as such is valuefree. Its actual nature is determined by either the textual context orexplicit attributes, for example, ‘way of God’ or ‘way of evil’:…it took its course [sabÊlahu] through the sea in a marvellous way!( Al-Kahf 18:63)Invite (all) to the way of your Lord [sabÊl rabbika] with wisdom andbeautiful preaching… ( Al-NaÈl 16:125)In the first verse sabÊl literally means ‘path’, while the second verseuses sabÊl figuratively as ‘way’, in the sense of manner or method. Itsays ‘way of the Lord’, that is, His manner, method, or doctrine,referring to the straight path of God. But sabÊl can also turn into a‘way of evil’, that is, of deviation, aberration, and deceit, as we hearin the following verse:Those who believe fight in the cause of God [ fÊ sabÊl All§h], and thosewho reject faith fight in the cause of evil [ fÊ sabÊl al-ã§ghåt]… ( Al-Nisa"4:76)80Al-NÊs§bårÊ, ‘aÈÊÈ Muslim, vol. 8, 98 (ÈadÊth no. 7158).