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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Faith of Islam, by Edward Sell
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Faith of Islam
+
+Author: Edward Sell
+
+Release Date: February 24, 2007 [EBook #20660]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAITH OF ISLAM ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Michael Ciesielski, Keith Edkins and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they
+are listed at the end of the text. Original page numbers are shown as {99}.
+
+THE
+
+FAITH OF ISLAM:
+
+BY
+
+THE REV. EDWARD SELL,
+FELLOW OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TRUeBNER & CO., LONDON. ADDISON & CO., MADRAS. 1880.
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MADRAS:
+PRINTED BY ADDISON AND CO., MOUNT ROAD.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+The following pages embody a study of Islam during a residence of fifteen
+years in India, the greater part of which time I have been in daily
+intercourse with Musalmans. I have given in the footnotes the authorities
+from which I quote. I was not able to procure in Madras a copy of the
+Arabic edition of Ibn Khaldoun's great work, but the French translation by
+Baron M. de Slane, to which I so frequently refer, is thoroughly reliable.
+The quotations from the Quran are made from Rodwell's translation. The
+original has been consulted when necessary.
+
+A few slight and occasional errors in transliteration have occurred, such
+as Sulat for Salat, Munkar for Munkir, &c., but in no case is the meaning
+affected.
+
+In some words, such as Khalif, Khalifate, and Omar, I have retained the
+anglicised form instead of using the more correct terms, Khalifa, Khilafat,
+'Umr. The letter Q has been used to distinguish the Kaf-i-Karashat from the
+Kaf-i-Tazi.
+
+E. S.
+
+      MADRAS,
+  _December 1st, 1880._
+
+{v}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+Introduction. ... PAGE ix
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE FOUNDATIONS OF ISLAM.
+
+The Quran--Its revelation--Miraculous nature--Arrangement of Quran--Osman's
+recension. The Sunnat--The authority of Sunnat--Tradition--Bid'at or
+innovation--Shia'h Traditions. Ijma'--Ijtihad--Four orthodox Imams, Hanifa,
+Malik, Shafa'i and Hanbal. Qias--Established by the early
+Mujtahidin--Sterility of Islam ... PAGE 1
+
+Note to Chapter I. Ijtihad ... PAGE 32
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+EXEGESIS OF THE QURAN AND THE TRADITIONS.
+
+Inspiration--The seven readings--Work of a Commentator--Words and Sentences
+of the Quran--Use of the words--Deductions of arguments from the
+Quran--Divisions of the Quran--Abrogation--Creation of the Quran--Hadis or
+Tradition--Collections of Traditions--Classification of Traditions ... PAGE
+37
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE SECTS OF ISLAM.
+
+The Shia'hs--The Imamat--Kharigites--Nur-i-Muhammadi--Imam--Isma,ilians and
+Imamites--Ghair-i-Mahdis--Da,iri--Mahmudiah--Khalifate--Sufiism--Persian
+Poetry--Darwishes--Omar Khayyam--Wahhabis--their rise--spread in
+India--doctrines and influence ... PAGE 73
+
+Note to Chapter III. Wahhabiism ... PAGE 114
+
+{vi}
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE CREED OF ISLAM
+
+Iman--God--Attributes of God--Discussions on the nature of God--The rise of
+the Mutazilites--The Sifatians--Mushabihites--Names of God--Creation of the
+Quran. Angels--Recording Angels--Harut and Marut--Munkir and Nakir--Jinn.
+The Books--Abrogation--Tahrif. The Prophets--Rank and inspiration of
+prophets--Nabi and Rasul--Sinlessness of prophets--The
+Anbiya-ulul-'Azm--Miracles of prophets--The Mi'raj. The Resurrection and
+the last day--The Trumpets--Descent of the
+books--Balances--Bridge--Al-A'raf--Al-Barzakh--Intercession of
+Muhammad--Heaven--Hell. The Predestination of good and
+evil--Jabrians--Qadrians--Ash'arians--Free-will--Apostacy ... PAGE 116
+
+Note to Chapter IV. Muslim Philosophy ... PAGE 181
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE PRACTICAL DUTIES OF ISLAM.
+
+Farz, wajib, sunnat, mustahab and mubah actions--Haram or unlawful acts.
+Tashahhud. Salat--Wazu--Ghusl--Tayammum--Namaz--Farz, sunnat, witr and nafl
+rak'ats--Appointed hours of prayer--Friday Namaz and sermon--Namaz on a
+journey and in time of war--Namaz in Ramazan, during an eclipse and in time
+of drought--Funeral service--Its ritual and prayers. Fasting--Its time and
+nature. Zakat--Nisab--Proportion of property to be given as
+alms--Recipients of the Zakat. The Hajj--Farz, sunnat, wajib and mustahab
+duties connected with the Hajj--Time for the Hajj--Arrival of the Haji at
+Mecca--Tawaf--Ceremonies of the Hajj--Conclusion of the Hajj--Formal nature
+of Islam ... PAGE 187
+
+Note to Chapter V. Fatva on the Namaz ... PAGE 233
+
+{vii}
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE FEASTS AND FASTS OF ISLAM.
+
+Muharram--'Ashur Khana--Marsiya--Waqi'a Khan--'Alams--Ceremonies of the
+'Ashura--Fatihas for 'Ali, for Hasan and Husain--Akhir-i-char Shamba--Bara
+Wafat--Jashn-i-milad-i-Sharif--Asar-i-Sharif--Shab Barat--Ramazan and
+'Id-ul-Fitr--'Itikaf--Sadqa--Sermon on the 'Id-ul-Fitr--Baqr-'Id or
+'Id-uz-Zuha--Sermon on the 'Id-uz-Zuha--The Qurban or Sacrifice--Festival
+of Madar--Festival of Salar Mas'ud Ghazi--Festival of Khaja Khizr--Feast of
+Pir Dastgir Sahib--Festival of Qadir Wali Sahib ... PAGE 237
+
+Index of Technical Terms ... PAGE 265
+
+{ix}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+It is necessary to enter into some explanation as regards the contents of
+this work. It does not fall in with its plan to enter into an account
+either of the life of Muhammad or of the wide and rapid spread of the
+system founded by him. The first has been done by able writers in England,
+France and Germany. I could add nothing new to this portion of the subject,
+nor throw new light upon it. The political growth of Muslim nations has
+also been set forth in various ways.
+
+It seems to me that the more important study at this time is that of the
+religious system which has grown out of the Prophet's teaching, and of its
+effect upon the individual and the community. What the Church in her
+missionary enterprise has to deal with, what European Governments in the
+political world have to do with is Islam as it is, and as it now influences
+those who rule and those who are ruled under it.
+
+I have, therefore, tried to show from authentic sources, and from a
+practical knowledge of it, what the Faith of Islam really is, and how it
+influences men and nations in the present day. I think that recent Fatvas
+delivered by the 'Ulama in Constantinople show how firmly a Muslim State is
+bound in the fetters of an unchangeable Law, whilst the present practice of
+orthodox Muslims all the world {x} over is a constant carrying out of the
+precepts given in the Quran and the Sunnat, and an illustration of the
+principles I have shown to belong to Islam. On this subject it is not too
+much to say that there is, except amongst Oriental scholars, much
+misconception.
+
+Again, much that is written on Islam is written either in ignorant
+prejudice, or from an ideal standpoint. To understand it aright, one should
+know its literature and live amongst its people. I have tried faithfully to
+prove every statement I have made; and if, now and again, I have quoted
+European authors, it is only by way of illustration. I rest my case
+entirely upon Musalman authorities themselves. Still more, I have
+ascertained from living witnesses that the principles I have tried to show
+as existing in Islam, are really at work now and are as potent as at any
+previous period.
+
+I have thus traced up from the very foundations the rise and development of
+the system, seeking wherever possible to link the past with the present. In
+order not to interfere with this unity of plan, I have had to leave many
+subjects untouched, such as those connected with the civil law, with
+slavery, divorce, jihad or religious wars, &c. A good digest of Muhammadan
+Law[1] will give all necessary information on these points. The basis of
+the Law which determines these questions is what I have described in my
+first chapter. Ijtihad, for example, rules quite as effectually in a
+question of domestic {xi} economy or political jurisprudence as on points
+of dogma. It was not, therefore, necessary for me to go into details on
+these points.
+
+When I have drawn any conclusion from data which Muhammadan literature, and
+the present practice of Muslims have afforded me, I have striven to give
+what seems to me a just and right one. Still, I gladly take this
+opportunity of stating that I have found many Muslims better than their
+creed, men with whom it is a pleasure to associate, and whom I respect for
+many virtues and esteem as friends. I judge the system, not any individual
+in it.
+
+In India, there are a number of enlightened Muhammadans, ornaments to
+native society, useful servants of the State, men who show a laudable zeal
+in all social reforms, so far as is consistent with a reputation for
+orthodoxy. Their number is far too few, and they do not, in many cases,
+represent orthodox Islam, nor do I believe their counterpart would be found
+amongst the 'Ulama of a Muslim State. The fact is that the wave of
+scepticism which has passed over Europe has not left the East untouched.
+Hindu and Muslim alike have felt its influence, but to judge of either the
+one system or the other from the very liberal utterances of a few men who
+expound their views before English audiences is to yield oneself up to
+delusion on the subject.
+
+Islam in India has also felt the influence of contact with other races and
+creeds, though, theologically speaking, the Iman and the Din, the faith and
+the practice, are unchanged, and remain as I have {xii} described them in
+chapters four and five. If Islam in India has lost some of its original
+fierceness, it has also adopted many superstitious practices, such as those
+against which the Wahhabis protest. The great mass of the Musalman people
+are quite as superstitious, if not more so, than their heathen neighbours.
+Still the manliness, the suavity of manner, the deep learning, after an
+oriental fashion, of many Indian Musalmans render them a very attractive
+people. It is true there is a darker side--much bigotry, pride of race,
+scorn of other creeds, and, speaking generally, a tendency to inertness. It
+is thus that in Bengal, Madras and perhaps in other places, they have
+fallen far behind the Hindus in educational status, and in the number of
+appointments they hold in the Government service. Indeed, this subject is a
+serious one and deserves the special attention of the Indian Government. In
+Bengal the proportion of Musalmans to Hindus in the upper ranks of the
+Uncovenanted Civil Service in 1871 was 77 to 341. In the year 1880 it had
+declined to 53 to 451. The state of affairs in Madras is equally bad. Yet
+an intelligent Muslim, as a rule, makes a good official.
+
+Looking at the subject from a wider stand-point, I think the Church has
+hardly yet realised how great a barrier this system of Islam is to her
+onward march in the East. Surely special men with special training are
+required for such an enterprise as that of encountering Islam in its own
+strongholds. No better pioneers of the Christian {xiii} faith could be
+found in the East than men won from the Crescent to the Cross.
+
+All who are engaged in such an enterprise will perhaps find some help in
+this volume, and I am not without hope that it may also throw some light on
+the political questions of the day.
+
+{1}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE FAITH OF ISLAM.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE FOUNDATIONS OF ISLAM.
+
+The creed of Islam, "La-ilaha-il-lal-lahu wa Muhammad-ur-Rasul-Ullah,"
+(There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is the Apostle of God) is very
+short, but the system itself is a very dogmatic one. Such statements as:
+"The Quran is an all-embracing and sufficient code, regulating everything,"
+"The Quran contains the _entire_ code of Islam--that is, it is not a book
+of religious precepts merely, but it governs all that a Muslim does," "The
+Quran contains the whole religion of Muhammad," "The Quran which contains
+the whole Gospel of Islam" are not simply misleading, they are erroneous.
+So far from the Quran alone being the _sole_ rule of faith and practice to
+Muslims, there is not one single sect amongst them whose faith and practice
+is based on it alone. No one among them disputes its authority or casts any
+doubt upon its genuineness. Its voice is supreme in all that it concerns,
+but its exegesis, the whole system of legal jurisprudence and of
+theological science, is largely founded on the Traditions. Amongst the
+orthodox Musalmans, the foundations of the Faith are four in number, the
+Quran, Sunnat, Ijma' and Qias. The fact that all the sects do not agree
+with the orthodox--the Sunnis--in this matter illustrates another important
+fact in Islam--the want of unity amongst its followers. {2}
+
+1. THE QURAN.--The question of the inspiration will be fully discussed, and
+an account of the laws of the exegesis of the Quran will be given in the
+next chapter. It is sufficient now to state that this book is held in the
+highest veneration by Muslims of every sect. When being read it is kept on
+a stand elevated above the floor, and no one must read or touch it without
+first making a legal ablution.[2] It is not translated unless there is the
+most urgent necessity, and even then the Arabic text is printed with the
+translation. It is said that God chose the sacred month of Ramazan in which
+to give all the revelations which in the form of books have been vouchsafed
+to mankind. Thus on the first night of that month the books of Abraham came
+down from heaven; on the sixth the books of Moses; on the thirteenth the
+Injil, or Gospel, and on the twenty-seventh the Quran. On that night, the
+Laylut-ul-Qadr, or "night of power," the whole Quran is said to have
+descended to the lowest of the seven heavens, from whence it was brought
+piecemeal to Muhammad as occasion required.[3] "Verily we have caused it
+(the Quran) to descend on the night of power." (Sura xcvii. 1.) That night
+is called the blessed night, the night better than a thousand months, the
+night when angels came down by the permission of their Lord, the night
+which bringeth peace and blessings till the rosy dawn. Twice on that night
+in the solitude of the cave of Hira the voice called, twice though pressed
+sore "as if a fearful weight had been laid upon him," the prophet struggled
+{3} against its influence. The third time he heard the words:--
+
+ "Recite thou, in the name of thy Lord who created--
+  Created man from clots of blood." (Sura xcvi. 5.)
+
+"When the voice had ceased to speak, telling how from minutest beginnings
+man had been called into existence, and lifted up by understanding and
+knowledge of the Lord, who is most beneficent, and who by the pen had
+revealed that which man did not know, Muhammad woke up from his trance and
+felt as if "a book had been written in his heart." He was much alarmed.
+Tradition records that he went hastily to his wife and said--"O Khadija!
+what has happened to me!" He lay down and she watched by him. When he
+recovered from his paroxysm, he said "O Khadija! he of whom one would not
+have believed (_i.e._, himself) has become either a soothsayer (kahin) or
+mad." She replied, "God is my protection, O Ab-ul-kasim. He will surely not
+let such a thing happen unto thee, for thou speakest the truth, dost not
+return evil for evil, keepest faith, art of a good life and art kind to thy
+relatives and friends, and neither art thou a talker abroad in the bazaars.
+What has befallen thee? Hast thou seen aught terrible?" Muhammad replied
+"Yes." And he told her what he had seen. Whereupon she answered and
+said:--"Rejoice, O dear husband and be of good cheer. He in whose hands
+stands Khadija's life, is my witness that thou wilt be the Prophet of this
+people."[4] The next Sura, the 74th, was revealed at Mecca, after which
+there seems to have been an intermission, called the Fatrah. It was during
+this time that the Prophet gained some knowledge of the contents of the
+Jewish and the Christian Scriptures.
+
+Gabriel is believed to have been the medium of communication. This fact,
+however, is only once stated in the Quran:--"Say, whoso is the enemy of
+Gabriel--For he it is {4} who by God's leave hath caused the Quran to
+descend on thy heart" (Sura ii. 91.) This Sura was revealed some years
+after the Prophet's flight to Madina. The other references to the
+revelation of the Quran are:--"Verily from the Lord of the worlds hath this
+book come down; the Faithful Spirit (Ruh-ul-Amin) hath come down with it"
+(Sura xxvi. 192.) "The Quran is no other than a revelation revealed to him,
+one terrible in power (Shadid-ul-Qua) taught it him." (Sura liii. 5.) These
+latter passages do not state clearly that Gabriel was the medium of
+communication, but the belief that he was is almost, if not entirely,
+universal, and the Commentators say that the terms "Ruh-ul-Amin" and
+"Shadid-ul-Qua" refer to no other angel or spirit. The use of the word
+"taught" in the last Sura quoted, and the following expression in Sura
+lxxv. 18. "When we have _recited it_, then follow thou the recital," show
+that the Quran is entirely an objective revelation and that Muhammad was
+only a passive medium of communication. The Muhammadan historian, Ibn
+Khaldoun, says on this point:--"Of all the divine books the Quran is the
+only one of which the text, words and phrases have been communicated to a
+prophet by an audible voice. It is otherwise with the Pentateuch, the
+Gospel and the other divine books: the prophets received them under the
+form of ideas."[5] This expresses the universal belief on this point--a
+belief which reveals the essentially mechanical nature of Islam.
+
+The Quran thus revealed is now looked upon as the standing miracle of
+Islam. Other divine books, it is admitted, were revelations received under
+the form of ideas, but the Quran is far superior to them all for the actual
+text was revealed to the ear of the prophet. Thus we read in Sura lxxv.
+16-19:--
+
+{5}
+
+ "Move not thy tongue in haste to follow and master this revelation;
+  For we will see to the collecting and recital of it;
+  _But when we have recited it_, then follow thou the recital;
+  And verily it shall be ours to make it clear to thee."
+
+The Quran is, then, believed to be a miraculous revelation of divine
+eloquence, as regards both _form_ and _substance_, arrangement of words,
+and its revelation of sacred things. It is asserted that each
+well-accredited prophet performed miracles in that particular department of
+human skill or science most flourishing in his age. Thus in the days of
+Moses magic exercised a wide influence, but all the magicians of Pharaoh's
+court had to submit to the superior skill of the Hebrew prophet. In the
+days of Jesus the science of medicine flourished. Men possessed great skill
+in the art of healing; but no physician could equal the skill of Jesus, who
+not only healed the sick, but raised the dead. In the days of Muhammad the
+special and most striking feature of the age was the wonderful power of the
+Arabs in the art of poetry. Muhammad-ud-Damiri says:--"Wisdom hath alighted
+on three things--the brain of the Franks, the hands of the Chinese and the
+tongue of the Arabs." They were unrivalled for their eloquence, for the
+skill with which they arranged their material and gave expression to their
+thoughts. It is in this very particular that superior excellence is claimed
+for the Quran.[6] It is to the Muhammadan mind a sure evidence of its
+miraculous origin that it should excel in this respect. Muslims say that
+miracles have followed the revelations given to other prophets in order to
+confirm the divine message. In this case the Quran is both a revelation and
+a miracle. {6} Muhammad himself said:--"Each prophet has received manifest
+signs which carried conviction to men: but that which I have received is
+the revelation. So I hope to have a larger following on the day of
+resurrection than any other prophet has." Ibn Khaldoun says that "by this
+the Prophet means that such a wonderful miracle as the Quran, which is also
+a revelation, should carry conviction to a very large number."[7] To a
+Muslim the fact is quite clear, and so to him the Quran is far superior to
+all the preceding books. Muhammad is said to have convinced a rival, Lebid,
+a poet-laureate, of the truth of his mission by reciting to him a portion
+of the now second Sura. "Unquestionably it is one of the very grandest
+specimens of Koranic or Arabic diction.... But even descriptions of this
+kind, grand as they be, are not sufficient to kindle and preserve the
+enthusiasm and the faith and the hope of a nation like the Arabs.... The
+poets before him had sung of valour and generosity, of love and strife and
+revenge ... of early graves, upon which weeps the morning cloud, and of the
+fleeting nature of life which comes and goes as the waves of the desert
+sands, as the tents of a caravan, as a flower that shoots up and dies away.
+Or they shoot their bitter arrows of satire right into the enemy's own
+soul. Muhammad sang of none of these. No love-minstrelsy his, not the joys
+of the world, nor sword, nor camel, nor jealousy, nor human vengeance, not
+the glories of tribe or ancestor. He preached Islam." The very fierceness
+with which this is done, the swearing such as Arab orator, proficient
+though he may have been in the art, had never made, the dogmatic certainty
+with which the Prophet proclaimed his message have tended, equally with the
+passionate grandeur of his utterances, to hold the Muslim world spell-bound
+to the letter and imbued with all the narrowness of the book.
+
+So sacred is the text supposed to be that only the {7} Companions[8] of the
+Prophet are deemed worthy of being commentators on it. The work of learned
+divines since then has been to learn the Quran by heart and to master the
+traditions, with the writings of the earliest commentators thereon. The
+revelation itself is never made a subject of investigation or tried by the
+ordinary rules of criticism. If only the Isnad, or chain of authorities for
+any interpretation, is good, that interpretation is unhesitatingly accepted
+as the correct one. It is a fundamental article of belief that no other
+book in the world can possibly approach near to it in thought or
+expression. It deals with positive precepts rather than with principles.
+Its decrees are held to be binding not in the spirit merely but in the very
+letter on all men, at all times and under every circumstance of life. This
+follows as a natural consequence from the belief in its eternal nature.
+
+The various portions recited by the Prophet during the twenty-three years
+of his prophetical career were committed to writing by some of his
+followers, or treasured up in their memories. As the recital of the Quran
+formed a part of every act of public worship, and as such recital was an
+act of great religious merit, every Muslim tried to remember as much as he
+could. He who could do so best was entitled to the highest honour, and was
+often the recipient of a substantial reward.[9] The Arab love for poetry
+facilitated the exercise of this faculty. When the Prophet died the
+revelation ceased. There was no distinct copy of the whole, nothing to show
+what was of transitory importance, what of permanent value. There is
+nothing which proves that the Prophet took any special care of any
+portions. There seems to have been no definite order in which, when the
+book was {8} compiled, the various Suras were arranged, for the Quran, as
+it now exists, is utterly devoid of all historical or logical sequence. For
+a year after the Prophet's death nothing seems to have been done; but then
+the battle of Yemana took place in which a very large number of the best
+Quran reciters were slain. Omar took fright at this, and addressing the
+Khalif Abu Bakr, said, "The slaughter may again wax hot amongst the
+repeaters of the Quran in other fields of battle, and much may be lost
+therefrom. Now, therefore, my advice is that thou shouldest give speedy
+orders for the collection of the Quran." Abu Bakr agreed, and said to Zeid
+who had been an amanuensis of the Prophet:--"Thou art a young man, and
+wise, against whom no one amongst us can cast an imputation; and thou wert
+wont to write down the inspired revelations of the Prophet of the Lord,
+wherefore now search out the Quran and bring it all together." Zeid being
+at length pressed to undertake the task proceeded to gather the Quran
+together from "date leaves, and tablets of white stone, and from the hearts
+of men." In course of time it was all compiled in the order in which the
+book is now arranged. This was the authorized text for some twenty-three
+years after the death of Muhammad. Owing, however, either to different
+modes of recitation, or to differences of expression in the sources from
+which Zeid's first recension was made, a variety of different readings
+crept into the copies in use. The Faithful became alarmed and the Khalif
+Osman was persuaded to put a stop to such a danger. He appointed Zeid with
+three of the leading men of the Quraish as assistants to go over the whole
+work again. A careful recension was made of the whole book which was then
+assimilated to the Meccan dialect, the purest in Arabia. After this all
+other copies of the Quran were burnt by order of the Khalif, and new
+transcripts were made of the revised edition which was now the only
+authorised copy. As it is a fundamental tenet of Islam that the Quran is
+incorruptible and absolutely free {9} from error, no little difficulty has
+been felt in explaining the need of Osman's new and revised edition and of
+the circumstances under which it took place; but as usual a Tradition has
+been handed down which makes it lawful to read the Quran in seven dialects.
+The book in its present form may be accepted as a genuine reproduction of
+Abu Bakr's edition with authoritative corrections. We may rest assured that
+we have in the Quran now in use the record of what Muhammad said. It thus
+becomes a fundamental basis of Islam. It was a common practice of the early
+Muslims when speaking of the Prophet to say:--"His character is the Quran."
+When people curious to know details of the life of their beloved master
+asked 'Ayesha, one of his widows, about him, she used to reply:--"Thou hast
+the Quran, art thou not an Arab and readest the Arab tongue? Why dost thou
+ask me, for the Prophet's disposition is no other than the Quran?"
+
+Whether Muhammad would have arranged the Quran as we now have it is a
+subject on which it is impossible to form an opinion. There are Traditions
+which seem to show that he had some doubts as to its completeness. I give
+the following account on the authority of M. Caussin de Percival. When
+Muhammad felt his end draw near he said:--"Bring ink and paper: I wish to
+write to you a book to preserve you always from error." But it was too
+late. He could not write or dictate and so he said:--"May the Quran always
+be your guide. Perform what it commands you: avoid what it prohibits." The
+genuineness of the first part of this Tradition is, I think, very doubtful,
+the latter is quite in accordance with the Prophet's claim for his
+teaching. The letter of the book became, as Muhammad intended it should
+become, a despotic influence in the Muslim world, a barrier to freethinking
+on the part of all the orthodox, an obstacle to innovation in all
+spheres--political, social, intellectual and moral. There are many topics
+connected with it which can be better explained in the next chapter. All
+{10} that has now to be here stated is that the Quran is the first
+foundation of Islam. It is an error to suppose it is the only one: an error
+which more than anything else has led persons away from the only position
+in which they could obtain a true idea of the great system of Islam.
+
+The Shia'hs maintain, without good reason, that the following verses
+favourable to the claims of 'Ali and of the Shia'h faction were omitted in
+Osman's recension.
+
+    "O Believers! believe in the two lights. (Muhammad and 'Ali).
+
+    'Ali is of the number of the pious, we shall give him his right in the
+    day of judgment; we shall not pass over those who wish to deceive him.
+    We have honoured him above all this family. He and his family are very
+    patient. Their enemy[10] is the chief of sinners.
+
+    We have announced to thee a race of just men, men[11] who will not
+    oppose our orders. My mercy and peace are on them living[12] or dead.
+
+    As to those who walk in their way, my mercy is on them; they will
+    certainly gain the mansions of Paradise."
+
+2. THE SUNNAT.--The second foundation of Islam is based on the Hadis
+(plural Ahadis) or Tradition. Commands from God given in the Quran are
+called 'farz' and 'wajib.' A command given by the Prophet or an example set
+by him is called 'sunnat,' a word meaning a rule. It is then technically
+applied to the basis of religious faith and practice, which is founded on
+traditional accounts of the sayings and acts of Muhammad.[13] It is the
+belief common to all Musalmans, that the Prophet in all that he _did_, and
+in all that he _said_, was supernaturally guided, and that his words and
+acts are to all time and to all his followers a divine rule of faith and
+practice. "We should know that God Almighty has given commands and
+prohibitions to his {11} servants, either by means of the Quran, or by the
+mouth of His Prophet."[14] Al-Ghazali, a most distinguished theologian,
+writes:--"Neither is the faith according to His will, complete by the
+testimony to the Unity alone, that is, by simply saying, 'There is but one
+God,' without the addition of the further testimony to the Apostle, that
+is, the statement, 'Muhammad is the apostle of God.'" This belief in the
+Prophet must extend to all that he has said concerning the present and the
+future life, for, says the same author, "A man's faith is not accepted till
+he is fully persuaded of those things which the Prophet hath affirmed shall
+be after death."
+
+It is often said that the Wahhabis reject Tradition. In the ordinary sense
+of the word Tradition they may; but in Muslim Theology the term Hadis,
+which we translate Tradition, has a special meaning. It is applied only to
+the sayings of the Prophet, not to those of some uninspired divine or
+teacher. The Wahhabis reject the Traditions handed down by men who lived
+after the time of the Companions, but the Hadis, embodying the sayings of
+the Prophet, they, in common with _all_ Muslim sects, hold to be an
+inspired revelation of God's will to men. It would be as reasonable to say
+that Protestants reject the four Gospels as to say that the Wahhabis reject
+Tradition.[15] An orthodox Muslim places the Gospels in the same rank as
+the Hadis, that is, he looks upon them as a record of what Jesus said and
+did handed down to us by His Companions. "In the same way as other Prophets
+received their books under the form of ideas, so our Prophet has in the
+same way received a great number of communications which are found in the
+collections of the {12} Traditions (Ahadis).[16] This shows that the Sunnat
+must be placed on a level with the Jewish and Christian Scriptures; whilst
+the Quran is a revelation superior to them all. To no sect of Musalmans is
+the Quran alone the rule of faith. The Shia'hs, it is true, reject the
+Sunnat, but they have in their own collection of Traditions an exact
+equivalent.
+
+The nature of the inspiration of the Sunnat and its authoritative value are
+questions of the first importance, whether Islam is viewed from a
+theological or a political stand-point.
+
+"Muhammad said that seventy-three sects would arise, of whom only one would
+be worthy of Paradise. The Companions inquired which sect would be so
+highly favoured. The Prophet replied:--'The one which remains firm in my
+way and in that of my friends.' It is certain that this must refer to the
+Ahl-i-Sunnat wa Jama'at." (Sunnis.)[17]
+
+It is laid down as a preliminary religious duty that obedience should be
+rendered to the Sunnat of the Prophet. Thus in the fourth Sura of the Quran
+it is written: "O true believers! obey God and obey the apostle." "We have
+not sent any apostle but that he might be obeyed by the permission of God."
+From these and similar passages the following doctrine is deduced: "It is
+plain that the Prophet (on whom and on whose descendants be the mercy and
+peace of God!) is free from sin in what he ordered to be done, and in what
+he prohibited, in all his words and acts; for were it otherwise how could
+obedience rendered to him be accounted as obedience paid to God?"[18]
+Believers are exhorted to render obedience to God by witnessing to His
+divinity, and to the Prophet by bearing witness to his prophetship; this is
+a sign of love, and love is the cause of nearness to God. The Prophet
+himself is reported to have {13} said, "Obey me that God may regard you as
+friends." From this statement the conclusion is drawn that "the love of God
+(to man) is conditional on obedience to the Prophet." Belief in and
+obedience to the Prophet are essential elements of the true faith, and he
+who possesses not both of these is in error.[19]
+
+In order to show the necessity of this obedience, God is said to have
+appointed Muhammad as the Mediator between Himself and man. In a lower
+sense, believers are to follow the "Sunnat" of the four Khalifs, Abu Bakr,
+Omar, Osman, and 'Ali, who are true guides to men.
+
+To the Muslim all that the Prophet did was perfectly in accord with the
+will of God. Moral laws have a different application when applied to him.
+His jealousy, his cruelty to the Jewish tribes, his indulgence in
+licentiousness, his bold assertion of equality with God as regards his
+commands, his every act and word, are sinless, and a guide to men as long
+as the world shall last. It is easy for an apologist for Muhammad to say
+that this is an accretion, something which engrafted itself on to a simpler
+system. It is no such thing. It is rather one of the essential parts of the
+system. Let Muhammad be his own witness:--"He who loves not my Sunnat is
+not my follower." "He who revives my Sunnat revives me, and will be with me
+in Paradise." "He who in distress holds fast to the Sunnat will receive the
+reward of a hundred martyrs." As might be expected, the setting up of his
+own acts and words as an infallible and unvarying rule of faith accounts
+more than anything else for the immobility of the Muhammadan world, for it
+must be always remembered that in Islam Church and State are one. The Arab
+proverb, "Al mulk wa din tawamini"--country and religion are twins--is the
+popular form of expressing the unity of Church and State. {14} To the mind
+of the Musalman the rule of the one is the rule of the other,--a truth
+sometimes forgotten by politicians who look hopefully on the reform of
+Turkey or the regeneration of the House of Osman. The Sunnat as much as the
+Quran covers all law, whether political, social, moral, or religious. A
+modern writer who has an intimate acquaintance with Islam says:--"If Islam
+is to be a power for good in the future, it is imperatively necessary to
+cut off the social system from the religion. The difficulty lies in the
+close connection between the religious and social ordinances in the Kuran,
+the two are so intermingled that it is hard to see how they can be
+disentangled without destroying both." I believe this to be impossible, and
+the case becomes still more hopeless when we remember that the same remark
+would apply to the Sunnat. To forget this is to go astray, for Ibn Khaldoun
+distinctly speaks of "the Law derived from the Quran and the Sunnat," of
+the "maxims of Musalman Law based on the text of the Quran and the teaching
+of the Traditions."[20]
+
+The Prophet had a great dread of all innovation. The technical term for
+anything new is "bida't," and of it, it is said: "Bida't is the changer of
+Sunnat." In other words, if men seek after things new, if fresh forms of
+thought arise, and the changing condition of society demands new modes of
+expression for the Faith, or new laws to regulate the community, if in
+internals or externals, any new thing (bida't) is introduced, it is to be
+shunned. The law as revealed in the Quran and the Sunnat is perfect.
+Everything not in accordance with the precepts therein contained is
+innovation, and all innovation is heresy. Meanwhile some {15} "bida't" is
+allowable, such as the teaching of etymology and syntax, the establishment
+of schools, guest-houses, &c., which things did not exist in the time of
+the Prophet; but it is distinctly and clearly laid down that compliance
+with the least Sunnat (_i.e._ the obeying the least of the orders of the
+Prophet, however trivial) is far better than doing some new thing, however
+advantageous and desirable it may be.
+
+There are many stories which illustrate the importance the Companions of
+the Prophet attached to Sunnat. "The Khalif Omar looked towards the black
+stone at Mecca, and said, 'By God, I know that thou art only a stone, and
+canst grant no benefit, canst do no harm. If I had not known that the
+Prophet kissed thee, I would not have done so, but on account of that I do
+it.'" Abdullah-Ibn-'Umr was seen riding his camel round and round a certain
+place. In answer to an inquiry as to his reason for so doing he said: "I
+know not, only I have seen the Prophet do so here." Ahmad-Ibn-Hanbal, one
+of the four great Imams, and the founder of the Hanbali school of
+interpretation, is said to have been appointed on account of the care with
+which he observed the Sunnat. One day when sitting in an assembly he alone
+of all present observed some formal custom authorised by the practice of
+the Prophet. Gabriel at once appeared and informed him that now, and on
+account of his act, he was appointed an Imam.[21] In short, it is
+distinctly laid down that the best of all works is the following of the
+practice of Muhammad. The essence of religion has been stated by a learned
+theologian to consist of three things: first, to follow the Prophet in
+morals and in acts; secondly, to eat only lawful food; thirdly, to be
+sincere in all actions.
+
+{16}
+
+The Sunnat is now known to Musalmans through the collections of Traditions
+gathered together by the men whose names they now bear. The whole are
+called Sihah-Sittah, or "six correct books." Not one of these collectors
+flourished until the third century of the Hijra, and so, as may be easily
+supposed, their work has not passed unchallenged. There is by no means an
+absolute consensus of opinion among the Sunnis as to the exact value of
+each Tradition, yet all admit that a 'genuine Tradition' must be obeyed.
+Whether the Prophet spoke what in the Traditions is recorded as spoken by
+him under the influence of the highest kind of inspiration is, as will be
+shown in the next chapter, a disputed point; but it matters little.
+Whatever may have been the degree, it was according to Muslim belief a real
+inspiration, and thus his every act and word became a law as binding upon
+his followers as the example of Christ is upon Christians.
+
+The Shia'hs do not acknowledge the Sihah-Sittah, the six correct books of
+the Sunnis, but it by no means follows that they reject Tradition. They
+have five books of Traditions, the earliest of which was compiled by Abu
+Ja'far Muhammad A.H. 329, or a century later than the Sahih-i-Bukhari, the
+most trustworthy of the Sunni set. Thus all Musalman sects accept the first
+and second ground of the faith--the Quran and the Sunnat--as the inspired
+will of God; the Shia'hs substituting in the place of the Traditions on
+which the Sunnat is based, a collection of their own. What it is important
+to maintain is this, that the Quran alone is to no Musalman an
+all-sufficient guide.
+
+3. IJMA'.--The third foundation of the Faith is called Ijma', a word
+signifying to be collected or assembled. Technically it means the unanimous
+consent of the leading theologians, or what in Christian theology would be
+called the "unanimous consent of the Fathers." Practically it is a
+collection of the opinions of the Companions, the Tabi'in and the
+Taba-i-Tabi'in. "The Law," says Ibn Khaldoun {17} "is grounded on the
+general accord of the Companions and their followers." The election of Abu
+Bakr to the Khalifate is called Ijma'-i-Ummat, the unanimous consent of the
+whole sect. The Companions of the Prophet had special knowledge of the
+various circumstances under which special revelations had been made; they
+alone knew which verses of the Quran abrogated others, and which verses
+were thus abrogated. The knowledge of these matters and many other details
+they handed on to their successors, the Tabi'in, who passed the information
+on to their followers, the Taba-i-Tabi'in. Some Muslims, the Wahhabis for
+example, accept only the Ijma' of the Companions; and by all sects that is
+placed in the first rank as regards authority; others accept that of the
+'Fugitives' who dwelt at Madina; and there are some amongst the orthodox
+who allow, as a matter of theory, that Ijma' may be collected at any time,
+but that practically it is not done because there are now no Mujtahidin.
+The highest rank a Muslim Theologian could reach was that of a Mujtahid, or
+one who could make an Ijtihad, a word which, derived from the same root as
+Jihad (a Crescentade), means in its technical sense a logical deduction. It
+is defined as the "attaining to a certain degree of authority in searching
+into the principles of jurisprudence." The origin of Ijtihad was as
+follows:--Muhammad wished to send a man named Mu'az to Yaman to receive
+some money collected for alms, which he was then to distribute to the poor.
+On appointing him he said: "O Mu'az, by what rule will you act?" He
+replied, "by the Law of the Quran." "But if you find no direction therein?"
+"Then I will act according to the Sunnat of the Prophet." "But what if that
+fails?" "Then I will make an Ijtihad and act on that." The Prophet raised
+his hands and said, "Praise be to God who guides the messenger of His
+Prophet in what He pleases."[22] This is considered a proof of the
+authority of Ijtihad for the Prophet clearly sanctioned it.
+
+{18}
+
+When the Prophet was alive men could go to him with their doubts and fears:
+an infallible authority was always present ready to give an inspired
+direction. The Khalifs who succeeded the Prophet had only to administer the
+Law according to the opinions which they knew Muhammad had held. They were
+busily engaged in carrying on the work of conquest; they neither attempted
+any new legislation, nor did they depart from the practice of him whom they
+revered. "In the first days of Islam, the knowledge of the Law was purely
+Traditional. In forming their judgments they had no recourse either to
+speculation, to private opinion, or to arguments founded upon analogy."[23]
+However, as the Empire grew, new conditions of life arose, giving rise to
+questions, concerning which Muhammad had given no explicit direction. This
+necessitated the use of Ijtihad. During the Khalifates of Abu Bakr, Omar,
+Osman and 'Ali--the Khulafa-i-Rashidin, or the Khalifs who could guide men
+in the right way, the custom was for the Faithful to consult them as to the
+course of action to be pursued under some new development of circumstances;
+for they knew as none other did the Prophet's sayings and deeds, they could
+recall to their memories a saying or an act from which a decision could be
+deduced. In this way all Muslims could feel that in following their
+judgments and guidance they were walking in the right path. But after the
+death of 'Ali, the fourth Khalif, civil war and hostile factions imperilled
+the continuance of the Faith in its purity. At Madina, where Muhammad's
+career as a recognised Prophet was best known, devout men commenced to
+learn by heart the Quran, the Sunnat, and the analogical judgments
+(Ijtihad) of the four Khalifs. These men were looked up to as authorities,
+and their decisions were afterwards known as the 'Customs of Madina.'
+
+It is not difficult to see that a system, which sought to regulate all
+departments of life, all developments of men's ideas and energies by the
+Sunnat and analogical deductions {19} therefrom, was one which not only
+gave every temptation a system could give to the manufacture of Tradition,
+but one which would soon become too cumbersome to be of practical use.
+Hence, it was absolutely necessary to systematize all this incoherent mass
+of Tradition, of judgments given by Khalifs and Mujtahidin. This gave rise
+to the systems of jurisprudence, founded by the four orthodox Imams, to one
+or other of which all Muslims, except the Shia'hs, belong. These Imams, Abu
+Hanifa, Ibn Malik, As-Shafi'i and Ibn Hanbal were all Mujtahidin of the
+highest rank. After them it is the orthodox belief that there has been no
+Mujtahid. Thus in a standard theological book much used in India it is
+written: "Ijma' is this, that it is not lawful to follow any other than the
+four Imams." "In these days the Qazi must make no order, the Mufti give no
+fatva (_i.e._ a legal decision), contrary to the opinion of the four
+Imams." "To follow any other is not lawful." So far then as orthodoxy is
+concerned, change and progress are impossible.
+
+Imam Abu Hanifa was born at Basra (A.H. 80), but he spent the greater part
+of his life at Kufa. He was the founder and teacher of the body of legists
+known as 'the jurists of Irak.' His system differs considerably from that
+of the Imam Malik who, living at Madina, confined himself chiefly to
+Tradition as the basis of his judgments. Madina was full of the memories of
+the sayings and acts of the Prophet; Kufa, the home of Hanifa, on the
+contrary, was not founded till after the Prophet's death and so possessed
+none of his memories. Islam there came into contact with other races of
+men, but from them it had nothing to learn. If these men became Muslims,
+well and good: if not, the one law for them as for the Faithful was the
+teaching of Muhammad. Various texts of the Quran are adduced to prove the
+correctness of this position. "For to thee have we sent down the book which
+cleareth up every thing." (Sura xvi. 91) "Nothing have we passed over in
+the book." (Sura vi. {20} 38.) "Neither is there a grain in the darkness of
+the earth nor a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct
+writing." (Sura vi. 59). These texts were held to prove that all law was
+provided for by anticipation in the Quran. If a verse could not be found
+bearing on any given question, analogical deduction was resorted to. Thus:
+"He it is who created _for you_ all that is on earth." (Sura ii. 27).
+According to the Hanifite jurists, this is a deed of gift which annuls all
+other rights of property. The 'you' refers to Muslims. The earth[24] may be
+classified under three heads:--(1) land which never had an owner; (2) land
+which had an owner and has been abandoned; (3) the person and property of
+the Infidels. From the last division the same legists deduce the lawfulness
+of slavery, piracy and constant war against the unbelievers. To return to
+Abu Hanifa. He admitted very few Traditions as authoritative in his system,
+which claims to be a logical development from the Quran. "The merit of
+logical fearlessness cannot be denied to it. The wants and wishes of men,
+the previous history of a country--all those considerations, in fact, which
+are held in the West to be the governing principles of legislation, are set
+aside by the legists of Irak as being of no account whatever. Legislation
+is not a science inductive and experimental, but logical and
+deductive."[25]
+
+Imam Ibn Malik was born at Madina (A.H. 93) and his system of jurisprudence
+is founded, as might be expected from his connection with the sacred city,
+on the "Customs of Madina." His business was to arrange and systematize the
+Traditions current in Madina, and to form out of them and the "Customs" a
+system of jurisprudence embracing the whole sphere of life. The treatise
+composed by him was called the "Muwatta" or "The Beaten Path." The greater
+part of its contents are legal maxims and opinions {21} delivered by the
+Companions. His system of jurisprudence, therefore, has been described as
+historical and traditional. In an elegy on his death by Abu Muhammad Ja'far
+it is said: "His Traditions were of the greatest authority; his gravity was
+impressive; and when he delivered them, all his auditors were plunged in
+admiration."[26] The Traditions were his great delight. "I delight," said
+he, "in testifying my profound respect for the sayings of the Prophet of
+God, and I never repeat one unless I feel myself in a state of perfect
+purity,"[27] (_i.e._, after performing a legal ablution.) As death
+approached, his one fear was lest he should have exercised his private
+judgment in delivering any legal opinion. In his last illness a friend went
+to visit him, and enquiring why he wept, received the following answer:
+"Why should I not weep, and who has more right to weep than I? By Allah! I
+wish I had been flogged and reflogged for every question of law on which I
+pronounced an opinion founded on my own private judgment."[28]
+
+Imam As-Shafa'i, a member of the Quraish tribe, was born A.H. 150. He
+passed his youth at Mecca but finally settled in Cairo where he died (A.H.
+204). Ibn Khallikan relates of him that he was unrivalled for his knowledge
+of the Quran, the Sunnat, and the sayings of the Companions. "Never," said
+Imam Ibn Hanbal, "have I passed a night without praying for God's mercy and
+blessing upon As-Shafi'i." "Whosoever pretends," said Abu Thaur, "that he
+saw the like of As-Shafi'i for learning is a liar." Having carefully
+studied the systems of the two preceding Imams he then proceeded on an
+eclectic system to form his own. It was a reaction against the system of
+Abu Hanifa. As-Shafi'i follows rather the traditional plan of Ibn Malik.
+The Hanifite will be satisfied if, in the absence of a clear and a direct
+statement, he finds one {22} passage in the Quran, or one Tradition from
+which the required judgment may be deduced. The Shafi'ite in the same
+circumstances, if Tradition is the source of his deduction, will require a
+considerable number of Traditions from which to make it.
+
+Imam Ibn Hanbal was the last of the four Orthodox Imams. He was born at
+Baghdad (A.H. 164). His system is a distinct return to Traditionalism. He
+lived at Baghdad during the reign of the Khalif Mamun, when Orthodox Islam
+seemed in danger of being lost amid the rationalistic speculations, (that
+is, from an Orthodox Muslim stand-point), and licentious practices of the
+Court. The jurists most in favour at Court were followers of Abu Hanifa.
+They carried the principle of analogical deduction to dangerous lengths in
+order to satisfy the latitudinarianism of the Khalif. Human speculation
+seemed to be weakening all the essentials of the Faith. Ibn Hanbal met the
+difficulty by discarding altogether the principle of analogical deduction.
+At the same time he saw that the Maliki system, founded as it was on the
+"Customs of Madina," was ill-suited to meet the wants of a great and
+growing Empire. It needed to be supplemented. What better, what surer
+ground could he go upon than the Traditions. These at least were inspired,
+and thus formed a safer foundation on which to build a system of
+jurisprudence than the analogical deductions of Abu Hanifa did. The system
+of Ibn Hanbal has almost ceased to exist. There is now no Mufti of this
+sect at Mecca, though the other three are represented there. Still his
+influence is felt to this day in the importance he attached to Tradition.
+
+The distinction between the four Imams has been put in this way. Abu Hanifa
+exercised his own judgment. Malik and Hanbal preferred authority and
+precedent. As-Shafi'i entirely repudiated reason. They differ, too, as
+regards the value of certain Traditions, but to each of them an authentic
+Tradition is an incontestable authority. Their {23} opinion on points of
+doctrine and practice forms the third basis of the Faith.
+
+The Ijma' of the four Imams is a binding law upon all Sunnis. It might be
+supposed that as the growing needs of the Empire led to the formation of
+these schools of interpretation; so now the requirements of modern, social
+and political life might be met by fresh Imams making new analogical
+deductions. This is not the case. The orthodox belief is, that since the
+time of the four Imams there has been no Mujtahid who could do as they did.
+If circumstances should arise which absolutely require some decision to be
+arrived at, it must be given in full accordance with the 'mazhab,' or
+school of interpretation, to which the person framing the decision
+belongs.[29] This effectually prevents all change, and by excluding
+innovation, whether good or bad, keeps Islam stationary. Legislation is now
+purely deductive. Nothing must be done contrary to the principles contained
+in the jurisprudence of the four Imams. "Thus, in any Muhammadan State
+legislative reforms are simply impossible. There exists no initiative. The
+Sultan, or Khalif can claim the allegiance of his people only so long as he
+remains the exact executor of the prescriptions of the Law."
+
+The question then as regards the politics of the "Eastern {24} Question" is
+not whether Muhammad was a deceiver or self-deceived, an apostle or an
+impostor; whether the Quran is on the whole good or bad; whether Arabia was
+the better or the worse for the change Muhammad wrought; but what Islam as
+a religious and political system has become and is, how it now works, what
+Orthodox Muslims believe and how they act in that belief. The essence of
+that belief is, that the system as taught by Prophet, Khalifs and Imams is
+absolutely perfect.[30] Innovation is worse than a mistake. It is a crime,
+a sin. This completeness, this finality of his system of religion and
+polity, is the very pride and glory of a true Muslim. To look for an
+increase of light in the knowledge of his relation to God and the unseen
+world, in the laws which regulate Islam on earth is to admit that
+Muhammad's revelation was incomplete, and that admission no Muslim will
+make.
+
+It has been stated on high authority that all that is required for the
+reform of Turkey is that the Qanuns or orders of the Sultan should take the
+place of the Shari'at or law of Islam. Precisely so; if this could be done,
+Turkey might be reformed; but Islam would cease to be the religion of the
+State. That the law as formulated by the Imam Abu Hanifa ill suits the
+conditions of modern life is more than probable; but it is the very
+function of the Khalif of Islam, {25} which the Sultan claims to be, to
+maintain it. He is no Mujtahid, for such there are not now amongst the
+Sunnis, to which sect the Turks belong. If through stress of circumstances
+some new law must be made, orthodoxy demands that it should be strictly in
+accordance with the opinions of the Imams. The Shia'hs, in opposition to
+the Sunnis, hold that there are still Mujtahidin, but this opinion arises
+from their peculiar doctrine of the Imamat, a subject we shall discuss a
+little later on. At first sight it would seem that if there can be
+Mujtahidin who are now able to give authoritative opinions, there may be
+some hope of enlightened progress amongst Shia'h people--the Persians for
+example. There is doubtless amongst them more religious unrest, more
+mysticism, more heresy, but they are no further on the road of progress
+than their neighbours; and the apparent advantage of the presence of a
+Mujtahid is quite nullified by the fact that all his decisions must be
+strictly in accordance with the Quran and the Sunnat, or rather with what
+to the Shia'h stands in the place of the Sunnat. The Shia'h, as well as the
+Sunni, must base all legislation on the fossilized system of the past, not
+on the living needs of the present. Precedent rules both with an iron sway.
+The Wahhabis reject all Ijma' except that of the Companions, but that they
+accept; so when they are called the Puritans of Islam, it must be
+remembered that they accept as a rule of faith not only the Quran, but the
+Sunnat, and some Ijma'.
+
+In order to make Ijma' binding, it is necessary that the Mujtahidin should
+have been unanimous in their opinion or in their practice.
+
+The whole subject of Ijtihad is one of the most important in connection
+with the possibility of reforms in a Muslim state. A modern Muhammadan
+writer[31] seeking to show that Islam does possess a capacity for progress
+and that so far from being a hard and fast system, it is able to adapt
+itself to new circumstances, because the Prophet ushered in {26} "an age of
+active principles," uses the story I have already related when describing
+the origin of Ijtihad (Ante. p. 17) to prove the accuracy of his statement.
+He makes Mu'az to say:--"I will look first to the Quran, then to precedents
+of the Prophet, and lastly rely upon my _own judgment_." It is true that
+Ijtihad literally means 'great effort,' it is true that the Companions and
+Mujtahidin of the first class had the power of exercising their judgment in
+doubtful cases, and of deciding them according to their sense of the
+fitness of things, provided always, that their decision contravened no law
+of the Quran or the Sunnat; but this in no way proves that Islam has any
+capacity for progress, or that "an age of active principles" was ushered in
+by Muhammad, or that his "words breathe energy and force, and infuse new
+life into the dormant heart of humanity." For, though the term Ijtihad
+might, in reference to the men I have mentioned, be somewhat freely
+translated as "one's own judgment," it can have no such meaning now. It is
+a purely technical term, and its use and only use now is to express the
+"referring of a difficult case to some analogy drawn from the Quran and the
+Sunnat." But even were the meaning not thus restricted, even though it
+meant now as it sometimes meant at first, "one's own judgment;" still Syed
+Amir 'Ali's position would remain to be proved for, since the days of the
+four Imams, the orthodox believe that there has been no Mujtahid of the
+first class, and to none but men of this rank has such power ever been
+accorded. Thus granting, for the sake of argument merely, that the Syed's
+translation is grammatically and technically correct, all that results from
+it is that the "age of active principles" lasted only for two centuries. I
+do not admit that there ever was such an age in Islam, and certainly
+neither its theological development, nor its political growth negative the
+opposite assertion, _viz._, that Muhammad gave precepts rather than
+principles. The Turks are included in "the dormant heart of humanity," but
+it is difficult to see what "energy and {27} force" is breathed, what "new
+life is infused" into them by the "wonderful words" of the Prophet, or what
+lasting good the "age of active principles" has produced.
+
+4. QIAS is the fourth foundation of Islam. The word literally means
+reasoning, comparing. It is in common use in Hindustani and Persian in the
+sense of guessing, considering, &c. Technically, it means the analogical
+reasoning of the learned with regard to the teaching of the Quran, the
+Sunnat and the Ijma'. For example, the Quran says:--"Honour thy father and
+thy mother and be not a cause of displeasure to them." It is evident from
+this that disobedience to parents is prohibited, and prohibition implies
+punishment if the order is disobeyed. Again, if the Quran and the Sunnat
+hold children responsible, according to their means, for the debts of their
+father, does it not follow that the elder ones ought to fulfil for their
+parents all those obligations which for some reason or other the parents
+may not be able to perform, such as the pilgrimage to Mecca, &c. A
+Tradition said to come from the Companions runs thus:--"One day, a woman
+came to the Prophet and said, 'my father died without making the
+Pilgrimage.' The Prophet said, 'If thy father had left a debt what wouldest
+thou do,' 'I would pay the debt.' 'Good, then pay this debt also.'" The
+Quran forbids the use of Khamar, an intoxicating substance, and so it is
+argued that wine and opium are unlawful, though not forbidden by name. The
+Wahhabis would extend the prohibition to the use of tobacco.
+
+From cases such as these, many jurisconsults hold that the Mujtahidin of
+the earliest age established this fourth foundation of the faith which they
+call Qias. It is also called I'tibar-ul-Amsal, or "imitation of an
+example." The idea is taken from the verse: "Profit by this example, ye who
+are men of insight" (Sura lix. 2). There are strict rules laid down which
+regulate Qias, of which the most important is, that in all cases it must be
+based on the Quran, the Sunnat, and the Ijma'. In fact, the fundamental
+idea of Islam {28} is that a perfect law has been given, even unto details,
+of social and political life. The teaching of Muhammad contains the
+solution of every difficulty that can arise. Every law not provided by the
+Prophet must be deduced analogically. This produces uniformity after a
+fashion, but only because intellectual activity in higher pursuits ceases
+and moral stagnation follows. Thus all who come within the range of this
+system are bound down to political servitude. Whatever in feeling or
+conviction goes beyond the limits of an out-worn set of laws is swept away.
+There is a wonderful family likeness in the decay of all Musalman States,
+which seems to point to a common cause. All first principles are contained
+in the Quran and the Sunnat; all that does not coincide with them must be
+wrong. They are above all criticism.
+
+Qias, then, affords no hope of enlightened progress, removes no fetter of
+the past, for in it there must be no divergence in principle from a
+legislation imperfect in its relation to modern life and stationary in its
+essence.[32] In the Nihayat-ul-Murad it is written:--"We are shut up to
+following the four Imams." In the Tafsir-i-Ahmadi we read:--"To follow any
+other than the four Imams is unlawful." An objector may say that such
+respect is like the reverence the heathen pay to their ancestors. To this
+an answer is given in the preface to the Tarjuma-i-Sharh-i-Waqayah. The
+writer there says that it is nothing of the kind. "The Mujtahidin are not
+the source of the orders of the Law, but they are the medium by which we
+obtain the Law. Thus Imam Abu Hanifa said: 'We select first from the Quran,
+then from the Traditions, then from the decrees of the Companions; we act
+on what the Companions agreed upon; where they doubt, we doubt.' The
+Commentator Jelal-ud-din Mahli says, 'The common people and others who have
+{29} not reached the rank of a Mujtahid, must follow one of the four
+Imams.' Then when he enters one Mazhab (sect) he must not change. Again, it
+may be objected that God gave no order about the appointment of four Imams.
+Now, it is recorded in a Tradition that the Prophet said, 'Follow the way
+of the great company; whosoever departs from it will enter hell.' The
+Followers of the Imams are a great company." It is moreover the unanimous
+opinion, the "Ijma'-i-Ummat," that the Imams rightly occupy the position
+accorded to them. It is a great blessing, as we read in the
+Tafsir-i-Ahmadi: "It is of the grace of God, that we are shut up to these
+four Imams. God approves of this, and into this matter proofs and
+explanations do not enter." Should any one further object that, in the days
+of the Prophet, there were no Mujtahidin, that each man acted on a "saying"
+as he heard it, that he did not confine his belief or conduct to the
+deductions made by some "appointed Companion," he may be answered
+thus:--"For a long time after the death of the Prophet many Companions were
+alive, and consequently the Traditions then current were trustworthy; but
+now it is not so, hence the need for the Imams and their systems."
+
+These four foundations,--the QURAN, the SUNNAT, IJMA' and QIAS--form in
+orthodox Muslim opinion and belief a perfect basis of a perfect religion
+and polity. They secure the permanence of the system, but they repress an
+intelligent growth. The bearing of all this on modern politics is very
+plain. Take again the case of Turkey. The constitution of the Government is
+theocratic. The germs of freedom are wanting there as they have never been
+wanting in any other country in Europe. The ruling power desires no change;
+originality of thought, independence of judgment is repressed. Nothing good
+has the Turk ever done for the world.[33] This rule has been one continued
+display of brute {30} force unrelieved by any of the reflected glory which
+shone for a while in Cordova and in Baghdad. No nation can possibly
+progress, the foundations of whose legal and theocratic system are what has
+been described in this chapter. When brought into diplomatic and commercial
+intercourse with States possessing the energy and vigour of a national life
+and liberal constitution, Muslim kingdoms must, in the long run, fail and
+pass away. It has been well said that "Spain is the only instance of a
+country once thoroughly infused with Roman civilisation which has been
+actually severed from the empire; and even then the severance, though of
+long duration, was but partial and temporary. After a struggle of nearly
+eight centuries, the higher form of social organisation triumphed over the
+lower and the usurping power of Islam was expelled." So it ought to be, and
+so indeed it must ever be, for despotism must give way to freedom; the life
+latent in the subject Christian communities must sooner or later cast off
+the yoke of a barbarian rule, which even at its best is petrified and so is
+incapable of progress. However low a Christian community may have fallen,
+there is always the possibility of its rising again. A lofty ideal is
+placed before it. All its most cherished beliefs point forward and upward.
+In Islam there is no regenerative power. Its golden age was in the past.
+When the work of conquest is done, when a Muhammadan nation has to live by
+industry, intelligence and thrift, it always miserably fails.
+
+In this chapter which must now draw to a close, I have tried to prove from
+authentic and authoritative sources that {31} the Quran alone is to no
+Muslim the sole guide of life. The fetters of a dogmatic system fasten
+alike around the individual and the community. Islam is sterile, it gives
+no new birth to the spirit of a man, leads him not in search of new forms
+of truth, and so it can give no real life, no lasting vitality to a
+nation.[34]
+
+{32}
+
+    NOTE TO CHAPTER I.
+
+    IJTIHAD.
+
+    Questions connected with Ijtihad are so important in Islam, that I
+    think it well to give in the form of a note a fuller and more technical
+    account of it, than I could do in the Chapter just concluded. This
+    account which I shall now give is that of a learned Musalman, and is,
+    therefore, of the highest value. It consists of extracts from an
+    article in the Journal Asiatique, Quatrieme Serie, tome, 15, on "Le
+    Marche et les Progres de la Jurisprudence parmi les Sectes orthodoxes
+    Musalmanes" by Mirza Kazim Beg, Professor in the University of St.
+    Petersburg. It entirely supports all that has been said of the rigid
+    character of Muhammadan Law, and of the immobility of systems founded
+    thereon.
+
+    "Orthodox Musalmans admit the following propositions as axioms.
+
+    1. God the only legislator has shown the way of felicity to the people
+    whom He has chosen, and in order to enable them to walk in that way He
+    has shown to them the precepts which are found, partly in the eternal
+    Quran, and partly in the sayings of the Prophet transmitted to
+    posterity by the Companions and preserved in the Sunnat. That way is
+    called the "Shari'at." The rules thereof are called Ahkam.
+
+    2. The Quran and the Sunnat, which since their manifestation are the
+    primitive sources of the orders of the Law, form two branches of study,
+    _viz._, Ilm-i-Tafsir, or the interpretation of the Quran and
+    Ilm-i-Hadis, or the study of Tradition.
+
+    3. All the orders of the Law have regard either to the actions (Din),
+    or to the belief (Iman) of the Mukallifs.[35]
+
+    4. As the Quran and the Sunnat are the principal sources from whence
+    the precepts of the Shari'at have been drawn, so the rules recognized
+    as the principal elements of actual jurisprudence are the subject of
+    Ilm-i-Fiqh, or the science of Law.
+
+    Fiqh in its root signifies conception, comprehension. Thus Muhammad
+    prayed for Ibn Mas'ud: "May God make him {33} comprehend (Faqqihahu),
+    and make him know the interpretation of the Quran." Muhammad in his
+    quality of Judge and chief of the Believers decided, without appeal or
+    contradiction, all the affairs of the people. His sayings served as a
+    guide to the Companions. After the death of the Prophet the first
+    Khalifs acted on the authority of the Traditions. Meanwhile the Quran
+    and the Sunnat, the principal elements of religion and legislation,
+    became little by little the subject of controversy. It was then that
+    men applied themselves vigorously to the task of learning by heart the
+    Quran and the Traditions, and then that jurisprudence became a separate
+    science. No science had as yet been systematically taught, and the
+    early Musalmans did not possess books which would serve for such
+    teaching. A change soon, however, took place. In the year in which the
+    great jurisconsult of Syria died (A.H. 80) N'iman bin Sabit, surnamed
+    Abu Hanifa was born. He is the most celebrated of the founders of the
+    schools of jurisprudence, a science which ranks first in all Muslim
+    seats of learning. Until that time and for thirty years later the
+    Mufassirs,[36] the Muhaddis,[37] and the Fuqiha,[38] had all their
+    knowledge by heart, and those who possessed good memories were highly
+    esteemed. Many of them knew by heart the whole Quran with the comments
+    made on it by the Prophet and by the Companions; they also knew the
+    Traditions and their explanations, and all the commands (Ahkam) which
+    proceed from the Quran, and the Sunnat. Such men enjoyed the right of
+    Mujtahidin. They transmitted their knowledge to their scholars orally.
+    It was not till towards the middle of the second century A.H. that
+    treatises on the different branches of the Law were written, after
+    which six schools (Mazhabs) of jurisprudence were formed. The founders,
+    all Imams of the first class, were Abu Hanifa, the Imam-i-A'zam or
+    great Imam (A.H. 150),[39] Safian As-Sauri (A.H. 161), Malik (A.H.
+    179), As-Shafa'i (A.H. 204), Hanbal (A.H. 241) and Imam Daud Az-Zahari
+    (A.H. 270). The two sects founded by Sauri and Zahari became extinct in
+    the eighth century of the Hijra. The other four still remain. These men
+    venerated one another. The younger ones speak with great respect of the
+    elder. Thus Shafa'i said:--"No one in the world was so well versed in
+    jurisprudence as Abu Hanifa was, and he who has read neither his works,
+    nor those of his disciples knows nothing of jurisprudence." Hanbal when
+    sick wore a shirt which had belonged to Shafa'i, in order that he might
+    be cured of his malady; but all this {34} did not prevent them starting
+    schools of their own, for the right of Ijtihad is granted to those who
+    are real Mujtahidin. There are three degrees of Ijtihad.
+
+    1. Al-Ijtihad fi'l Shari': absolute independence in legislation
+
+    2. Al-Ijtihad fi'l Mazhab: authority in the judicial systems founded by
+    the Mujtahidin of the first class.
+
+    3. Al-Ijtihad fi'l Masail: authority in cases which have not been
+    decided by the authors of the four systems of jurisprudence.
+
+    The first is called a complete and absolute authority, the second
+    relative, the third special.
+
+    THE FIRST DEGREE OF IJTIHAD.
+
+    Absolute independence in legislation is the gift of God. He to whom it
+    is given when seeking to discover the meaning of the Divine Law is not
+    bound to follow any other teacher. He can use his own judgment. This
+    gift was bestowed on the jurisconsults of the first, and to some in the
+    second and third centuries. The Companions, however, who were closely
+    connected with the Prophet, having transmitted immediately to their
+    posterity the treasures of legislation, are looked upon as Mujtahidin
+    of much higher authority than those of the second and third centuries.
+    Thus Abu Hanifa says:--"That which comes to us from the Companions is
+    on our head and eyes (_i.e._, to be received with respect): as to that
+    which comes from the Tabi'in, they are men and we are men."
+
+    Since the time of the Tabi'in this degree of Ijtihad has only been
+    conferred on the six great Imams. Theoretically any Muslim can attain
+    to this degree, but it is one of the principles of jurisprudence that
+    the confirmation of this rank is dependent on many conditions, and so
+    no one now gains the honour. These conditions are:--
+
+    1. The knowledge of the Quran and all that is related to it; that is to
+    say, a complete knowledge of Arabic literature, a profound acquaintance
+    with the orders of the Quran and all their sub-divisions, their
+    relationship to each other and their connection with the orders of the
+    Sunnat. The candidate should know when, and why each verse of the Quran
+    was written, he should have a perfect acquaintance with the literal
+    meaning of the words, the speciality or generality of each clause, the
+    abrogating and abrogated sentences. He should be able to make clear the
+    meaning of the 'obscure' passages (Mutashabih), to discriminate between
+    the literal and the allegorical, the universal and the particular.
+
+    2. He must know the Quran by heart with all the Traditions and
+    explanations. {35}
+
+    3. He must have a perfect knowledge of the Traditions, or at least of
+    three thousand of them.
+
+    He must know their source, history, object and their connection with
+    the laws of the Quran. He should know by heart the most important
+    Traditions.
+
+    4. A pious and austere life.
+
+    5. A profound knowledge of all the sciences of the Law.
+
+    Should any one _now_ aspire to such a degree another condition would be
+    added, _viz_:--
+
+    6. A complete knowledge of the four schools of jurisprudence.
+
+    The obstacles, then, are almost insurmountable. On the one hand, there
+    is the severity of the 'Ulama, which requires from the candidate things
+    almost impossible; on the other, there is the attachment of the 'Ulama
+    to their own Imams, for should such a man arise no one is bound now to
+    listen to him. Imam Hanbal said:--"Draw your knowledge from whence the
+    Imams drew theirs, and do not content yourself with following others
+    for that is certainly blindness of sight". Thus the schools of the four
+    Imams remain intact after a thousand years have passed, and so the
+    'Ulama recognise since the time of these Imams no Mujtahid of the first
+    degree. Ibn Hanbal was the last.
+
+    The rights of the man who attained to this degree were very important.
+    He was not bound to be a disciple of another, he was a mediator between
+    the Law and his followers, for whom he established a system of
+    legislation, without any one having the right to make any objection. He
+    had the right to explain the Quran, the Sunnat and the Ijma' according
+    as he understood them. He used the Prophet's words, whilst his
+    disciples only used his. Should a disciple find some discrepancy
+    between a decision of his own Imam and the Quran or Traditions, he must
+    abide by the decision of the Imam. The Law does not permit him to
+    interpret after his own fashion. When once the disciple has entered the
+    sect of one Imam he cannot leave it and join another. He loses the
+    right of private judgment, for only a Mujtahid of the first class can
+    dispute the decision of one of the Imams. Theoretically such Mujtahidin
+    may still arise; but, as we have already shown, practically they do
+    not.
+
+    THE SECOND DEGREE OF IJTIHAD.
+
+    This degree has been granted to the immediate disciples of the great
+    Imams who have elaborated the systems of their masters. They enjoyed
+    the special consideration of the contemporary 'Ulama, and of their
+    respective Imams who in some cases have allowed them {36} to retain
+    their own opinion.' The most famous of these men are the two disciples
+    of Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad bin al Hasan. In a secondary
+    matter their opinion carries great weight. It is laid down as a rule
+    that a Mufti may follow the unanimous opinion of these two even when it
+    goes against that of Abu Hanifa.
+
+    THE THIRD DEGREE OF IJTIHAD.
+
+    This is the degree of special independence. The candidates for it
+    should have a perfect knowledge of all the branches of jurisprudence
+    according to the four schools of the Arabic language and literature.
+    They can solve cases which come before them, giving reasons for their
+    judgment, or decide on cases which have not been settled by previous
+    Mujtahidin; but in either case their decisions must always be in
+    absolute accordance with the opinions of the Mujtahidin of the first
+    and second classes, and with the principles which guided them. Many of
+    these men attained great celebrity during their lifetime, but to most
+    of them this rank is not accorded till after their death. Since Imam
+    Qazi Khan died (A.H. 592), no one has been recognised by the Sunnis as
+    a Mujtahid even of the third class.
+
+    There are three other inferior classes of jurists, called Muqallidin,
+    or followers of the Mujtahidin; but all that the highest in rank
+    amongst them can do is to explain obscure passages in the writings of
+    the older jurisconsults. By some of the 'Ulama they are considered to
+    be equal to the Mujtahidin of the third class. If there are several
+    conflicting legal opinions on any point, they can select one opinion on
+    which to base their decision. This a mere Qazi cannot do. In such a
+    case he would have to refer to those men, or to their writings for
+    guidance. They seem to have written commentaries on the legal systems
+    without originating anything new. The author of the Hidayah, who lived
+    at the end of the sixth century, was a Muqallid.
+
+    Such is Mirza Kazim Beg's account. The whole article, of which I have
+    only given the main points, is worthy of the closest study. It shows
+    how "the system, as a whole, rejects experience as a guide to deeper
+    insight or wider knowledge; tramples upon the teaching of the past;
+    pays no heed to differences of climate, character, or history; but
+    regards itself as a body of absolute truth, one jot or tittle of which
+    cannot be rejected without incurring the everlasting wrath of God."[40]
+
+{37}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+EXEGESIS OF THE QURAN AND THE TRADITIONS.
+
+The following account of this branch of Muslim theology, technically called
+'Ilm-i-Usul, may be introduced by a few remarks on the nature of
+inspiration according to Islam, though that is not strictly speaking a
+portion of this study.
+
+There are two terms used to express different degrees of inspiration, Wahi
+and Ilham. Wahi is the term applied to the inspiration of the Quran, and
+implies that the very words are the words of God. It is divided into Wahi
+Zahir (external inspiration), and Wahi Batin (internal inspiration). The
+whole book was prepared in heaven. Muhammad, instructed by Gabriel, is
+simply the medium through which the revelation of Wahi Zahir reaches man.
+The Wahi Quran, _i.e._, the highest form of inspiration, always came to the
+ear of the Prophet through the instrumentality of Gabriel. In Muhammadan
+theology, this is the special work of Gabriel. Thus in the Traditions it is
+related that he appeared to Adam twelve times, to Enoch four, to Noah
+fifty, to Abraham forty-two, to Moses four hundred, to Jesus ten times, to
+Muhammad twenty-four thousand times.
+
+Ilham means the inspiration given to a saint or to a prophet when he,
+though rightly guided, delivers the subject matter out of his own mind, and
+is not a mere machine to reproduce the messages of Gabriel. There is a
+lower form of Wahi Zahir, which is called Isharat-ul-Malak (literally,
+"sign of the Angel.") This expresses what Muhammad meant when he said: "The
+Holy Ghost has entered into my heart." In other words, he received the
+inspiration through {38} Gabriel, but not by word of mouth. This form of
+inspiration is higher than that possessed by saints, and is usually applied
+to the inspiration of the Traditions. This is denied by some, who say that
+except when delivering the Quran Muhammad spoke by Ilham and not by Wahi.
+The practical belief is, however, that the Traditions were Wahi
+inspiration, and thus they come to be as authoritative as the Quran.
+Sharastani speaks of "the signs (sayings) of the Prophet which have the
+marks of Wahi."[41] This opinion is said by some Muslim theologians to be
+supported by the first verse of the fifty-third Sura, entitled the Star.
+"By the Star when it setteth; your companion Muhammad _erreth not_, nor is
+he _led astray_, neither doth he _speak of his own will_. It is none other
+than a revelation which hath been revealed to him." In any case the
+inspiration of Muhammad is something quite different from the Christian
+idea of inspiration, which is to Musalmans a very imperfect mode of
+transmitting a revelation of God's will.
+
+That there should be a human as well as a divine side to inspiration is an
+idea not only foreign, but absolutely repugnant to Muhammadans. The Quran
+is not a book of principles. It is a book of directions. The Quran
+describes the revelation given to Moses thus:--"We wrote for him upon the
+tables a monition concerning every matter and said: 'Receive them thyself
+with steadfastness, and command thy people to receive them for the
+observance of its most goodly precepts.'" (Sura vii. 142). It is such an
+inspiration as this the Quran claims for itself. Muhammad's idea was that
+it should be a complete and final code of directions in every matter for
+all mankind. It is not the word of a prophet enlightened by God. It
+proceeds immediately from God, and the word 'say' or 'speak' precedes, or
+is understood to precede, every sentence. This to a Muslim is the highest
+form of inspiration; this alone stamps a book as {39} divine. It is
+acknowledged that the Injil--the Gospel--was given by Jesus; but as that,
+too, according to Muslim belief, was brought down from heaven by the angel
+Gabriel during the month of Ramazan, it is now asserted that it has been
+lost, and that the four Gospels of the New Testament are simply Traditions
+collected by the writers whose names they bear. Their value is, therefore,
+that of the second foundation of the Islamic system.
+
+The question next arises as to the exact way in which Gabriel made known
+his message to Muhammad. The Mudarij-un-Nabuwat, a standard theological
+work, gives some details on this point.[42] Though the Quran is all of God,
+both as to matter and form, yet it was not all made known to the Prophet in
+one and the same manner. The following are some of the modes:--
+
+1. It is recorded on the authority of 'Ayesha, one of Muhammad's wives,
+that a brightness like the brightness of the morning came upon the Prophet.
+According to some commentators this brightness remained six months. In some
+mysterious way Gabriel, through this brightness or vision, made known the
+will of God.
+
+2. Gabriel appeared in the form of Dahiah, one of the Companions of the
+Prophet, renowned for his beauty and gracefulness. A learned dispute has
+arisen with regard to the abode of the soul of Gabriel when he assumed the
+bodily form of Dahiah. At times, the angelic nature of Gabriel overcame
+Muhammad, who was then translated to the world of angels. This always
+happened when the revelation was one of bad news, such as denunciations or
+predictions of woe. At other times, when the message brought by Gabriel was
+one of consolation and comfort, the human nature of the Prophet overcame
+the angelic nature of the angel, who, in such case, having assumed a human
+form, proceeded to deliver the message. {40}
+
+3. The Prophet heard at times the noise of the tinkling of a bell. To him
+alone was known the meaning of the sound. He alone could distinguish in,
+and through it, the words which Gabriel wished him to understand. The
+effect of this mode of Wahi was more marvellous than that of any of the
+other ways. When his ear caught the sound his whole frame became agitated.
+On the coldest day, the perspiration, like beads of silver, would roll down
+his face. The glorious brightness of his countenance gave place to a
+ghastly hue, whilst the way in which he bent down his head showed the
+intensity of the emotion through which he was passing. If riding, the camel
+on which he sat would fall to the ground. The Prophet one day, when
+reclining with his head in the lap of Zeid, heard the well known sound:
+Zeid, too, knew that something unusual was happening, for so heavy became
+the head of Muhammad that it was with the greatest difficulty he could
+support the weight.
+
+4. At the time of the Mi'raj, or night ascent into heaven, God spoke to the
+Prophet without the intervention of an angel. It is a disputed point
+whether the face of the Lord was veiled or not.
+
+5. God sometimes appeared in a dream, and placing his hands on the
+Prophet's shoulders made known his will.
+
+6. Twice, angels having each six hundred wings, appeared and brought the
+message from God.
+
+7. Gabriel, though not appearing in bodily form, so inspired the heart of
+the Prophet that the words he uttered under its influence were the words of
+God. This is technically called Ilka, and is by some supposed to be the
+degree of inspiration to which the Traditions belong.
+
+Above all, the Prophet was not allowed to remain in any error; if, by any
+chance, he had made a wrong deduction from any previous revelation, another
+was always sent to rectify it. This idea has been worked up to a science of
+abrogation, according to which some verses of the Quran abrogate others.
+Muhammad found it necessary to shift {41} his stand-point more than once,
+and thus it became necessary to annul earlier portions of his revelation.
+
+Thus in various ways was the revelation made known to Muhammad. At first
+there seems to have been a season of doubt (Ante p. 3), the dread lest
+after all it might be a mockery. But as years rolled on confidence in
+himself and in his mission came. At times, too, there is a joyousness in
+his utterances as he swears by heaven and earth, by God and man; but more
+often the visions were weird and terrible. Tradition says:--"He roared like
+a camel, the sound as of bells well-nigh rent his heart in pieces." Some
+strange power moved him, his fear was uncontrollable. For twenty years or
+more the revelations came, a direction on things of heaven and of earth, to
+the Prophet as the spiritual guide of all men,[43] to the Warrior-Chief, as
+the founder of political unity among the Arab tribes.
+
+A Muhammadan student, after passing through a course of instruction in
+grammar, rhetoric, logic, law, and dogmatics, at length reaches the stage
+when he is permitted to enter upon the study of "'Ilm-i-usul," or the
+exegesis of the Quran, and the inspired sayings of the Prophet. This done,
+he can henceforth read the approved commentaries in order to learn what the
+Fathers of Islam have to say. This science in one way fits him to be a
+commentator, for the work of a Muslim divine now is, not to bring things
+"new and old" out of the sacred book, but to hand down to others the things
+old. There is no indwelling spirit in the Church of Islam which can reveal
+to the devout mind new views of truth, or lead the pious scholar on to
+deeper and more profound knowledge.
+
+The greatest proficient in theology is the man who can repeat the Quran by
+heart, who knows also and can reproduce at will what the early commentators
+have said, who can remember, and quote in the most apposite manner, the
+{42} Prophet's sayings preserved in the Traditions handed down by the
+Companions, their followers, and their followers' followers, who can point
+out a flaw in the Isnad (_i.e._ chain of narrators) of a Tradition quoted
+by an opponent, or maintain, by repeating the long list of names, the
+authority of the Isnad of the Tradition he quotes himself. A good memory,
+not critical acumen, is the great desideratum in a Muslim theologian. The
+chief qualification of a Hafiz, a man who can repeat the whole Quran by
+heart, is not that he shall understand its meaning, but that he shall be
+able to pronounce each word correctly. By men who are not Arabs by birth,
+this is only to be attained after years of practice from childhood. The
+Sunnis say that no Shia'h can ever become a Hafiz, from which fact they
+draw the conclusion that the Shia'hs are heretics. In the early days of
+Islam, the great authorities on the question of the correct pronunciation
+of the Quran were the Khalifs Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman, and 'Ali, and ten of
+the Companions, who learned from the Prophet himself the exact way in which
+Gabriel had spoken. The Arabic of heaven was the Arabic of Islam. The
+effort, however, to preserve one uniform method of repeating the Quran
+failed. Men of other lands could not acquire the pure intonation of Mecca,
+and so no less than seven different ways of reading the sacred book became
+current. Here was a great difficulty, but it proved surmountable. Abu Ibn
+Kab, one of the Companions, had become so famous as a reader that the
+Prophet himself said: "read the Quran under Abu Ibn Kab." These men
+remembered that Abu Ibn Kab had stated, that one day when scandalized at
+man after man who entered the mosque repeating the Quran in different ways,
+he spoke to Muhammad about it. His Highness said: "O Abu Ibn Kab!
+intelligence was sent to me to read the Quran in one dialect, and I was
+attentive to the Court of God, and said: 'make easy the reading of the
+Quran to my sects.' These instructions were sent to me a second time
+saying: 'read the {43} Quran in two dialects.' Then I turned myself to the
+Court of God saying: 'make easy the reading of the Quran to my sects.' Then
+a voice was sent to me the third time saying: 'read the Quran in seven
+dialects.'"
+
+This removed all difficulty, and the foresight displayed by the Prophet in
+thus obtaining a divine sanction for the various ways of reading was looked
+upon as a proof of his inspiration. Thus arose the "haft qira,at," or seven
+readings of the Quran, now recognised.
+
+In the Quran compiled by the order of the Khalif Osman there were no
+vowel-points, but when men of other countries embraced Islam they found
+great difficulty in mastering Arabic. Khalid bin Ahmad, a great grammarian,
+then invented the short vowels and other diacritical marks. The seven
+famous "Readers" whose names have been given to the various modes of
+reading, are Imam Nafi of Madina, Imam Ibn-i-Kasir of Mecca, Imam Abu 'Umr
+of Basra, Imam Hamza of Kufa, Imam Ibn 'Amir of Syria, Imam 'Asim of Kufa,
+Imam Kisae of Kufa.[44] These learned men affixed different vowel-points in
+many places in the Quran, and thus slight differences of meaning arose. In
+India the "qira,at--reading,--of Imam 'Asim is followed by both Sunnis and
+Shia'hs. There are three readings of lesser note allowable when reading the
+Quran privately, but not when reading any part in a liturgical service.
+During the month of Ramazan the Quran is repeated every night in the
+mosque, it being so arranged that one-thirtieth part shall be recited each
+night. The Imam of the mosque, or public Reader, (Qari) who commences
+according to one of the seven recognised readings (qira,at), must keep to
+the same all the month. As he has to recite without a book this involves a
+great exercise of the memory. A good Hafiz will know the whole seven
+varieties. The various readings thus introduced, though {44} unimportant in
+their nature,[45] amount to about five hundred in number. The following are
+a few illustrations. In the second Sura Abu 'Umr reads: "Nor shall ye be
+questioned concerning that which _they_ have done;" but 'Asim reads: "That
+which _ye_ have done." This is caused by putting two dots above the line
+instead of below it. Again 'Asim reads: "_Enter ye_ the gates of hell"
+(Sura xxxix. 73), but Nafi reads: "_Ye will be made to enter_ hell,"--that
+is, by a slight change the passive is substituted for the active voice.
+These are fair samples of the rest. No doctrine, so far as I know, is
+touched, but the way in which Tradition records the Prophet's anticipation
+of the difficulty is instructive to the student of Islam. At times, too,
+fierce disputes have arisen between the followers of the seven famous
+Readers whose names I have given above. In the year 935 A.H., Ibn Shanabud,
+a resident of Baghdad, ventured to introduce some different readings in his
+recital of the Quran. The people of Baghdad, not knowing these, were
+furious, and the Khalif was compelled to cast the offender into prison. A
+Council of divines was called together, before whom the unhappy Ibn
+Shanabud was produced. For a while he maintained the correctness of his
+"readings," but after being whipped seven times he said: "I renounce my
+manner of reading, and in future I shall follow no other than that of the
+manuscript drawn up by the Khalif Osman, and that which is generally
+received."[46]
+
+Closely connected with this subject is the history of the rise of the
+science of grammar. As Islam spread, it became necessary to expound the
+Quran to persons unacquainted with Arabic. The science of grammar then
+became an important branch of study, and the collection of Traditions a
+necessary duty. The Faithful were for a long time in {45} doubt as to the
+lawfulness of applying the laws of grammar to so sacred a book. There was
+no command in the book itself to do so, nor had the Prophet given any
+directions on this point. It was then neither "farz" nor "sunnat," that is,
+neither a command based on the Quran nor one based on any saying or act of
+the Prophet. The Traditions, however, solve the difficulty.
+
+Al Mamun, the distinguished though heretical Khalif of Baghdad, was a
+patron of Al Farra, the chief of grammarians. A distinguished pupil of his,
+Abu'l 'Abbas Thalub, on his death-bed expressed his belief in the fact that
+the Quranists, the Traditionists, and others, had gained their heavenly
+reward, but he had been only a grammarian, and grammar after all was, in
+connection with the Quran, a science of doubtful legality. The friend to
+whom he told his doubts and fears went home and saw a vision. It is
+recorded that he had a vision in his sleep that very night, in which he saw
+the blessed Prophet, who said to him: "Give my greeting to Abu'l 'Abbas
+Thalub, and say, 'thou art master of the superior science.'" The Prophet
+had now spoken, and henceforth grammar became a lawful study in Islam.
+Muslims now quote the Quran as a perfect model of style; it may be well to
+remember that the rules have been made for it, and that, therefore, it is
+but natural that it should be perfect according to the present canons of
+Arabic grammar.[47]
+
+The question of the interpretation of the text speedily became a very
+important branch of the "'Ilm-i-usul." It is said that the Quran was
+brought from Paradise by Gabriel to Muhammad as occasion required. The
+Prophet was reproached for not having a complete revelation, and {46}
+answered the reproach by the following verse, sent for the purpose. "The
+infidels say, 'unless the Quran be sent down to him all at once'--but in
+this way we establish thy heart in it, _in parcels have we parcelled it out
+to thee_" (Sura xxv. 34). The revelation thus given is entirely objective;
+it came to the ear of the Prophet through the teaching of Gabriel. "Yet it
+is a glorious Quran, _written on the preserved Table_." (Sura lxxxv. 22).
+Gabriel addresses the Prophet thus: "When we have _recited_ it then follow
+thou the _recital_." (Sura lxxv. 18). The external mode in which it came is
+referred to in the verse: "We have _sent down_ to thee an Arabic Quran."
+(Sura xx. 112). The fragmentary way in which the Quran was given[48] was
+not without its difficulties. Some passages contradicted others, some were
+difficult to understand. To the Prophet alone was the solution known. The
+knowledge he communicated to his immediate followers, the Companions, as
+they are called, thus: "To thee have we sent down this book of monitions,
+that _thou mayest make clear to men_ what hath been sent down to them."
+(Sura xvi. 46).
+
+Ibn Khaldoun says: "The Prophet unfolded the meaning, distinguished between
+abrogated and abrogating verses, {47} and communicated this knowledge to
+his Companions. It was from his mouth that they knew the meaning of the
+verses and the circumstances which led to each distinct revelation being
+made."[49] The Companions thus instructed became perfectly familiar with
+the whole revelation. This knowledge they handed down by word of mouth to
+their followers, the Taba'in, who in their turn passed it on to their
+followers the Taba-i-Taba'in. The art of writing then became common, and
+the business of the commentator henceforth was to collect together the
+sayings of the Companions thus handed down. Criticism of a passage in the
+Quran was not his duty, criticism of a comment made on it by a Companion
+was beyond his province: the first was too sacred to be touched, the second
+must be accepted if only the chain of narrators of the statement were
+perfect. Thus early in the history of Islam were the principles of exegesis
+fixed and settled. Every word, every sentence, has now its place and class.
+The commentator has now only to reproduce what was written before,[50]
+though he may in elucidation of the point, bring forth some Tradition
+hitherto unnoticed, which would, however, be a difficult thing to do. It
+will thus be seen that anything like the work of a Christian commentator,
+with all its fresh life and new ideas, is not to be had in Islam. The
+perfection of its exegesis is its dogmatic and antique nature--
+
+ "While as the world rolls on from age to age,
+  And realms of thought expand,
+  The letter stands without expanse or range,
+  Stiff as a dead man's hand."
+
+The technical terms which the student must know, and {48} the definitions
+of which he must understand, are those which relate to the nature of the
+words, the sentences, the use of the words of the Quran, and the deduction
+of arguments from passages in the book.
+
+I. The words of the Quran are divided into four classes.
+
+1. _Khass_, or special words. These are sub-divided into three classes.
+First, words which relate to genus, _e.g._ mankind. Secondly, words which
+relate to species, _e.g._ a man, which refers to men as distinguished from
+women. Thirdly, words which relate to special individuality, _e.g._ Zeid,
+which is the name of a special individual.
+
+2. _'Amm_, or common or collective names, such as "people."
+
+3. _Mushtarik_, or words which have several significations, as the Arabic
+word "'ain," which may mean an eye, a fountain, or the sun. Again, the word
+"Sulat," if connected with God, may mean mercy, as "Sulat Ullah," the mercy
+of God; if with man, it may mean either "namaz," a stated liturgical
+service, or "du'a," prayer in its ordinary sense, _e.g._ Sulat-ul-Istisqa
+(prayer in time of drought) is du'a, not namaz.
+
+4. _Muawwal_, words which have several significations, all of which are
+possible, and so a special explanation is required. For example, Sura
+cviii. 2, reads thus in Sale's translation. "Wherefore pray unto the Lord
+and _slay_ (the victims)." The word translated "slay" is in Arabic "nahr,"
+which has many meanings. The followers of the great Legist Abu Hanifa
+render it, "sacrifice," and add the words (the "victims"). The followers of
+Ibn Shafa'i say it means "placing the hands on the breast in prayer."
+
+This illustrates the difference between Mushtarik and Muawwal. In the
+former, only one meaning is allowable, and that meaning the context
+settles; in the latter both meanings are allowable and both right.
+
+These divisions of words having been well mastered and the power of
+defining any word in the Quran gained, the {49} student passes on to
+consider the nature of the sentences. These are divided into two great
+classes,--the "Obvious," and the "Hidden."
+
+This division is referred to in the following passage of the Quran. "He it
+is who hath sent down to thee the book. Some of its signs are of themselves
+_perspicuous_; these are the basis (literally "mother") of the book, and
+others are _figurative_. But they whose hearts are given to err follow its
+figures, craving discord, craving an interpretation; yet none know its
+interpretation, but God.[51] And the stable in knowledge say: 'We believe
+in it, it is all from God.'" (Sura iii. 3).
+
+This has given rise to the division of the whole book into literal and
+allegorical statements. In order to explain these correctly the commentator
+must know (1) the reason why, (2) the place where, (3) the time when, the
+particular passage he is expounding was revealed; he must know whether it
+abrogates or is abrogated, whether it is in its proper order and place or
+not; whether it contains its meaning within itself or needs the light which
+the context throws upon it; he must know all the Traditions which bear upon
+it, and the authority for each such Tradition. This effectually confines
+the order of commentators in the strict sense of the word to the
+Companions, and supplies the reason why commentators since then simply
+reproduce their opinions.[52] But to return from this digression. Sentences
+are Zahir--"Obvious," or Khafi--"Hidden." Obvious sentences are divided
+into four classes.
+
+I. (1). _Zahir_, or obvious, the meaning of which is so clear that he who
+hears it at once understands its meaning {50} without seeking for any
+explanation. This kind of sentence may be abrogated. Unless abrogated,
+action in accordance with it is to be considered as the express command of
+God. All penal laws and the rules regulating the substitution of one
+religious act for another, _e.g._ almsgiving instead of fasting, must be
+based on this, the clearest of the obvious sentences.
+
+(2). _Nass_, a word commonly used for a text of the Quran, but in its
+technical meaning here expressing what is meant by a sentence, the meaning
+of which is made clear by some word which occurs in it. The following
+sentence illustrates both Zahir and Nass: "Take in marriage of such other
+women as please you, two, three, four." This sentence is Zahir, because
+marriage is here declared lawful; it is Nass, because the words "one, two,
+three, four," which occur in the sentence, show the unlawfulness of having
+more than four wives.
+
+(3). _Mufassir_, or explained. This is a sentence which needs some word in
+it to explain it and make it clear. Thus: "And the angels prostrated
+themselves, all of them with one accord, save Iblis (Satan)." Here the
+words "save Iblis," show that he did not prostrate himself. This kind of
+sentence may be abrogated.
+
+(4). _Mukham_, or perspicuous. This is a sentence as to the meaning of
+which there can be no doubt, and which cannot be controverted, thus: "God
+knoweth all things." This kind of sentence cannot be abrogated. To act on
+such sentences without departing from the literal sense is the highest
+degree of obedience to God's command.
+
+The difference between these sentences is seen when there is a real or
+apparent contradiction between them. If such should occur, the first must
+give place to the second, and so on. Thus Mukham cannot be abrogated or
+changed by any of the preceding, or Mufassir by Nass, &c.
+
+The other great division of sentences is that of
+
+II. (1). _Khafi_ or hidden. Such are those sentences in {51} which other
+persons or things are hidden beneath the plain meaning of a word or
+expression contained therein, as: "as for a thief, whether male or female,
+cut ye off their hands in recompense for their doings." (Sura v. 42). The
+word for thief is "Sariq," and in this passage it is understood to include
+highwaymen, pickpockets, plunderers of the dead, &c. These meanings are
+Khafi or hidden under it.
+
+(2). _Muskhil_, or ambiguous, The following is given as an illustration:
+"And (their attendants) shall go round about them with vessels of silver
+and goblets. The bottles shall be bottles of silver." The difficulty here
+is that bottles are not made of silver, but of glass. The commentators say,
+however, that glass is dull in colour, though it has some lustre, whilst
+silver is white, and not so bright as glass. Now it may be, that the
+bottles of Paradise will be like glass bottles as regards their lustre, and
+like silver as regards their colour. But anyhow, it is very difficult to
+ascertain the meaning.
+
+(3.) _Mujmal._ These are, first, sentences which may have a variety of
+interpretations, owing to the words in them being capable of several
+meanings; in that case the meaning which is given to the sentence in the
+Traditions relating to it should be acted on and accepted. Secondly, the
+sentence may contain some very rare word, and thus its meaning may be
+doubtful, as: "Man truly is by creation hasty." (Sura lxx. 19.) In this
+verse the word "halu'"--hasty--occurs. It is very rarely used, and had it
+not been for the following words, "when evil toucheth him, he is full of
+complaint; but when good befalleth him, he becometh niggardly," its meaning
+would not have been at all easy to understand.
+
+The following is an illustration of the first kind of _Mujmal_ sentences:
+"Stand for prayer (salat) and give alms," (zakat.) Both salat and zakat are
+'Mushtarik' words. The people, therefore, did not understand this verse, so
+they applied to Muhammad for an explanation. He explained to them that
+"salat" might mean the ritual of public prayer, {52} standing to say the
+words "God is great," or standing to repeat a few verses of the Quran; or
+it might mean private prayer. The primitive meaning of "zakat" is growing.
+The Prophet, however, fixed the meaning here to that of "almsgiving," and
+said, "Give of your substance one-fortieth part."
+
+(4.) _Mutashabih._ These are sentences so difficult that men cannot
+understand them, a fact referred to in Sura iii. 3. (Ante. p. 49), nor will
+they do so until the day of resurrection. The Prophet, however, knew their
+meaning. Such portions are the letters A, L, M; A, L, R; Y, A at the
+commencement of some of the Suras.[53] Such expressions also as "God's
+hand," "The face of God," "God sitteth," &c., come under this category.
+
+The next point to be considered is the _use_ of words in the Quran, and
+here again the same symmetrical division into four classes is found,
+_viz_:--
+
+(1.) _Haqiqat_, that is, words which are used in their literal meaning, as
+"ruku'," a prostration, and "salat" in the sense of prayer.
+
+(2.) _Majaz_, or words which are used in a figurative sense, as "salat" in
+the sense of "namaz" a liturgical service.
+
+(3.) _Sarih_, or words the meaning of which is quite evident, as, "Thou art
+_divorced_," "Thou art _free_."
+
+(4.) _Kinayah_, or words which, being used in a metaphorical sense, require
+the aid of the context to make their meaning clear, as: "Thou art
+separated," which may, as it {53} stands alone, mean "Thou art divorced."
+This class also includes all pronouns the meaning of which is only to be
+known from the context, _e.g._ one day the Prophet not knowing who knocked
+at his door said, "Who art thou?" The man replied, "It is I." Muhammad
+answered, "Why dost thou say I, I? Say thy name that I may know who thou
+art." The pronoun "I" is here 'kinayah.'
+
+The most important and most difficult branch of exegesis is "istidlal," or
+the science of deducing arguments from the Quran. This too is divided into
+four sections, as follows:--
+
+(1.) _Ibarat_, or the plain sentence. "Mothers, after they are divorced,
+shall give suck unto their children two full years, and the father shall be
+obliged to maintain them and clothe them according to that which is
+reasonable." (Sura ii. 233.) From this verse two deductions are made.
+First, from the fact that the word "them" is in the feminine plural, it
+must refer to the mothers and not to the children; secondly, as the duty of
+supporting the mother is incumbent on the father, it shows that the
+relationship of the child is closer with the father than with the mother.
+Penal laws may be based on a deduction of this kind.
+
+(2.) _Isharat_, that is, a sign or hint which may be given from the order
+in which the words are placed.
+
+(3.) _Dalalat_, or the argument which may be deduced from the use of some
+special word in the verse, as: "say not to your parents, "Fie" (Arabic
+"uff") (Sura xvii. 23). From the use of the word "uff," it is argued that
+children may not beat or abuse their parents. Penal laws may be based on
+"dalalat," thus: "Their aim will be to abet disorder on the earth; but God
+loveth not the abettors of disorder." (Sura v. 69.) The word translated
+"aim" is in Arabic literally yasa'una, "they run." From this the argument
+is deduced that as highwaymen wander about, they are included amongst those
+whom "God loveth not," and that, therefore, the severest punishment may be
+given to {54} them, for any deduction that comes under the head of
+"dalalat" is a sufficient basis for the formation of the severest penal
+laws.
+
+(4.) _Iqtiza._ This is a deduction which demands certain conditions:
+"whosoever killeth a believer by mischance, shall be bound to free a
+believer from slavery." (Sura iv. 94). As a man has no authority to free
+his neighbour's slave, the condition here required, though not expressed,
+is that the slave should be his own property.
+
+The Quran is divided into:--
+
+(1). _Harf_ (plural _Huruf_), letters. The numbers given by different
+authorities vary. In one standard book it is said that there are 338,606
+letters.
+
+(2). _Kalima_ (plural _Kalimat_), words, stated by some to amount to
+79,087; by others to 77,934.
+
+(3). _Ayat_ (plural _Ayat_), verses. Ayat really means a sign, and was the
+name given by Muhammad to short sections or verses of the Quran. The end of
+a verse is determined by the position of a small circle (.). The early
+Quran Readers did not agree as to the position of these circles, and so
+five different ways of arranging them have arisen. This accounts for a
+variation in the number of verses in various editions. The varieties are:--
+
+(1). _Kufa_ verses. The Readers in the city of Kufa say that they followed
+the custom of 'Ali. Their way of reckoning is generally adopted in India.
+They reckon 6,239 verses.
+
+(2). _Basra_ verses. The Readers of Basra follow 'Asim bin Hajjaj, a
+Companion. They reckon 6,204.
+
+(3). _Shami_ verses. The Readers in Syria (Sham) followed Abd-ullah bin
+'Umr, a Companion. They reckon 6,225 verses.
+
+(4). _Mecca_ verses. According to this arrangement there are 6,219 verses.
+
+(5). _Madina_ verses. This way of reading contains 6,211 verses.
+
+{55}
+
+In each of the above varieties the verse "Bismillah" (in the name of God)
+is not reckoned. It occurs 113 times in the Quran.
+
+This diversity of punctuation does not generally affect the meaning of any
+important passage. The third verse of the third Sura is an important
+exception. The position of the circle (.), the symbol denoting a full stop,
+in that verse is of the highest importance in connection with the rise of
+scholasticism ('Ilm-i-kalam) in Islam.
+
+Most of the cases, however, are like the following:--
+
+In Sura xxvii. an account is given of the Queen of Sheba's receiving a
+letter from King Solomon. Addressing her nobles she said: "Verily, Kings,
+when they enter a city (by force) waste the same, and abase the most
+powerful of the inhabitants hereof: and so will (these) do (with us)." Many
+Readers put the full stop after the word "hereof," and say that God is the
+speaker of the words "and so will they do."
+
+(4). _Sura_, or chapter. The word Sura means a row or series, such as a
+line of bricks arranged in a wall, but it is now exclusively used for
+chapters in the Quran. These are one hundred and fourteen in number. The
+Suras are not numbered in the original Arabic, but each one has some
+approximate name, (as Baqr--the cow, Nisa--women, &c.,) generally taken
+from some expression which occurs in it. They are not arranged in
+chronological order, but according to their length. As a general rule, the
+shorter Suras which contain the theology of Islam, belong to the Meccan
+period of the Prophet's career,[54] and the longer ones relating chiefly to
+social duties and relationships, to the organisation of Islam as a civil
+polity, to the time when he was consolidating his power at Madina. The best
+way, therefore, to {56} read the Quran, is to begin at the end. The attempt
+to arrange the Suras in due order, is a very difficult one, and, after all,
+can only be approximately correct.[55] Carlyle referring to the confused
+mass of "endless iterations, long windedness, entanglement, most crude,
+incondite" says: "nothing but a sense of duty could carry any European
+through the Quran." When re-arranged the book becomes more intelligible.
+The chief tests for such re-arrangement are the style and the matter. There
+is a very distinct difference in both of these respects between the earlier
+and later Suras. The references to historical events sometimes give a clue.
+Individual Suras are often very composite in their character, but, such as
+they are, they have been from the beginning. The recension made by Zeid, in
+the reign of the Khalif Osman, has been handed down unaltered in its form.
+The only variations (qira'at) now to be found in the text have been already
+noticed. They in no way affect the arrangements of the Suras.
+
+5. _Sipara_ a thirtieth portion. This is a Persian word derived from _si_,
+thirty, and _para_, a portion. The Arabs call each of these divisions a
+_Juz_. Owing to this division, a pious man can recite the whole Quran in a
+month, taking one Sipara each day. Musalmans never quote the Quran as we do
+by Sura and Ayat, but by the Sipara and Ruku', a term I now proceed to
+explain.
+
+6. _Ruku'_ (plural _Rukuat_). This word literally means a prostration made
+by a worshipper in the act of saying the prayers. The collection of verses
+recited from the Quran, ascriptions of praise offered to God, and various
+ritual acts connected with these, constitute one act of worship called a
+"rak'at." After reciting some verses in this form of prayer, the worshipper
+makes a _Ruku'_, or prostration, the {57} portion then recited takes the
+name of _Ruku'_. Tradition states that the Khalif Osman, when reciting the
+Quran during the month of Ramazan, used to make twenty rak'ats each
+evening. In each rak'at he introduced different verses of the Quran,
+beginning with the first chapter and going steadily on. In this way he
+recited about two hundred verses each evening; that is, about ten verses in
+each rak'at. Since then, it has been the custom to recite the Quran in this
+way in Ramazan, and also to quote it by the ruku', _e.g._, "such a passage
+is in such a Sipara and in such a ruku'."
+
+The following account of a rak'at will make the matter plain. When the
+Faithful are assembled in the mosque, the Imam, or leader, being in front
+facing the Qibla, the service commences thus:--Each worshipper stands and
+says the Niyyat (literally "intention"), a form of words declaring his
+intention to say his prayers. He then says: "God is great." After this,
+looking downwards, he says: "Holiness to Thee, O God! and praise be to
+Thee, Great is Thy name, Great is Thy greatness, there is no deity but
+Thee." Then follows: "I seek from God refuge from cursed Satan." Then the
+Tasmiyah is repeated: "In the name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful."
+Then follows the Fatiha, that is, the short chapter at the commencement of
+the Quran. After this has been recited, the Imam proceeds, on the first
+night of the month Ramazan, with the first verse of the second chapter.[56]
+After saying a few verses, he makes a ruku'; that is, he bends his head and
+body down, and places his hands on his knees. In this position he says:
+"God is great." Then he repeats three times the words: "I extol the
+holiness of my Lord, the Great." He then stands up and says: "God hears him
+who praises Him." To this the people respond: "O Lord, thou art praised."
+Again, falling on his knees, the worshipper says: "God is great." Then he
+puts first his nose, and then his forehead on the {58} ground and says
+three times: "I extol the holiness of my Lord, the Most High." Then sitting
+on his heels, he says: "God is great;" and again repeats as before: "I
+extol, etc." He then rises and says: "God is great." This is one rak'at. On
+each night in the month of Ramazan this is gone through twenty times, the
+only variation being that after the Fatiha and before the first
+prostration, fresh verses of the Quran are introduced. The whole is, of
+course, done in Arabic, in whatever country the worshippers may be. The
+name of the prostration (ruku') has been transferred to the portion of the
+Quran recited just before it is made. There are altogether 557 Rukuat.
+
+(7). The other divisions are not important. They are, a _Sumn_, _Ruba'_,
+_Nisf_, _Suls_, that is one-eighth, one-fourth, one-half, one-third of a
+Sipara respectively.
+
+In reciting the Quran the worshipper must be careful to say the "Takbir,"
+_i.e._ "God is great," after the several appointed places. Such a place is
+after the recital of the 93rd Sura. The custom arose in this way. The
+hypocrites came to the Prophet and asked him to relate the story of the
+"Seven Sleepers." He said: "I will tell you to-morrow;" but he forgot to
+add the words "if God will." By way of warning, God allowed no inspiration
+to descend upon him for some days. Then the hypocrites began to laugh and
+say: "God has left him." As it was not God's purpose to put his messenger
+to ridicule, the Sura entitled "The brightness" (xciii) was immediately
+brought by the ever-ready Gabriel. It begins: "By the brightness of the
+morning, and by the night when it groweth dark, _thy Lord hath not forsaken
+thee_, neither doth He hate thee." In remembrance of this signal
+interposition of Providence on his behalf, the Prophet always concluded the
+recital of this Sura with the words: "God is great." The practice thus
+became a "Sunnat" obligation; that is, it should be done because the
+Prophet did it.
+
+The doctrine of abrogation is a very important one in {59} connection with
+the study of the Quran. It is referred to in the verses: "Whatever verses
+we cancel or cause thee to forget, we give thee better in their stead, or
+the like thereof." (Sura ii. 100). This is a Madina Sura. "What He pleaseth
+will God abrogate or confirm; for with Him is the source of revelation."
+(Sura xiii. 39). Some verses which were cancelled in the Prophet's
+life-time are not now extant. Abdullah Ibn Masud states that the Prophet
+one day recited a verse, which he immediately wrote down. The next morning
+he found it had vanished from the material on which it had been written.
+Astonished at this, he acquainted Muhammad with the fact, and was informed
+that the verse in question had been revoked. There are, however, many
+verses still in the Quran, which have been abrogated. It was an exceedingly
+convenient doctrine, and one needed to explain the change of front which
+Muhammad made at different periods of his career. Certain rules have been
+laid down to regulate the practice. The verse which abrogates is called
+_Nusikh_, and the abrogated verse _Mansukh_. _Mansukh_ verses are of three
+kinds:--first, where the words and the sense have both been abrogated;
+secondly, where the letter only is abrogated and the sense remains;
+thirdly, where the sense is abrogated though the letter remains. Imam Malik
+gives as an instance of the first kind the verse: "If a son of Adam had two
+rivers of gold, he would covet yet a third; and if he had three he would
+covet yet a fourth. Neither shall the belly of a son of Adam be filled, but
+with dust. God will turn unto him who shall repent." The Imam states that
+originally this verse was in the Sura (ix.) called Repentance. The verse,
+called the "verse of stoning" is an illustration of the second kind. It
+reads: "Abhor not your parents for this would be ingratitude in you. If a
+man and woman of reputation commit adultery, ye shall stone them both; it
+is a punishment ordained by God; for God is mighty and wise." The Khalif
+Omar says this verse was extant in Muhammad's life-time but that it {60} is
+now lost. But it is the third class which practically comes into
+'Ilm-i-usul. Authorities differ as to the number of verses abrogated. Sale
+states that they have been estimated at two hundred and twenty-five. The
+principal ones are not many in number, and are very generally agreed upon.
+I give a few examples. It is a fact worthy of notice that they occur
+chiefly, if not almost entirely, in Suras delivered at Madina. There, where
+Muhammad had to confront Jews and Christians, he was at first politic in
+his aim to win them over to his side, and then, when he found them
+obstinate, the doctrine of abrogation came in conveniently. This is seen
+plainly in the following case. At Mecca Muhammad and his followers did not
+stand facing any particular direction when at prayer, a fact to which the
+following passage refers:--"To God belongeth the east and west; therefore,
+whithersoever ye turn yourselves to pray there is the face of God." (Sura
+ii. 109). When Muhammad arrived at Madina, he entered into friendship with
+the Jews and tried to win them to his side. The Qibla (sanctuary) towards
+which the worshippers now invariably turned at prayer was Jerusalem. This
+went on for a while, but when Muhammad claimed to be not merely a Prophet
+for the Arabs, but the last and the greatest of all the Prophets, when he
+asserted that Moses had foretold his advent, and that his revelations were
+the same as those contained in their own Scriptures, they utterly refused
+allegiance to him. In the first half of the second year of the Hijra the
+breach between them was complete. It was now time to reconcile the leaders
+of the Quraish tribe at Mecca. So the verse quoted above was abrogated by:
+"We have seen thee turning thy face towards heaven, but we will have thee
+turn to a Qibla, which shall please thee. Turn then thy face toward the
+Holy Temple (of Mecca), and wherever ye be, turn your faces toward that
+part." (Sura ii. 139.) The Faithful were consoled by the assurance that
+though they had not done so hitherto, yet God would not let their {61}
+faith be fruitless, "for unto man is God merciful, gracious." (v. 138.) The
+doctrine of abrogation is brought in for a more personal matter in the
+following case: "It is not permitted to thee to take other wives hereafter,
+nor to change thy present wives for other women, though their beauty charm
+thee, except slaves, whom thy right hand shall possess." (Sura xxxiii. 52.)
+This is said by Beidawi, and other eminent Muslim divines, to have been
+abrogated by a verse which though placed before it in the arrangement of
+verses, was really delivered after it. The verse is: "O Prophet, we allow
+thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered, and the slaves which thy right hand
+possesseth out of the booty which God hath granted thee; and the daughters
+of thy uncle, and the daughters of thy aunts, both on thy father's side,
+and on thy mother's side, who have fled with thee (to Madina), and any
+other believing woman, who hath given herself up to the Prophet; if the
+Prophet desireth to wed her, it is a peculiar privilege for thee, above the
+rest of the Faithful." (Sura xxxiii. 49.)
+
+The Moghul Emperor Akbar, wishing to discredit the 'Ulama, in one of the
+meetings so frequently held for discussion during his long reign,
+propounded the question as to how many free born women a man might marry.
+The lawyers answered that four was the number fixed by the Prophet. "Of
+other women who seem good in your eyes marry two and two, and three and
+three, and four and four." (Sura iv. 3.) The Emperor said that he had not
+restricted himself to that number, and that Shaikh 'Abd-un-Nabi had told
+him that a certain Mujtahid had had nine wives. The Mujtahid in question,
+Ibn Abi Lailah reckoned the number allowed thus 2+3+4=9. Other learned men
+counted in this way 2+2, 3+3, 4+4=18. The Emperor wished the meeting to
+decide the point.
+
+Again, the second verse of Sura lxxiii reads: "Stand up all night, except a
+small portion of it, for prayer." According to a Tradition handed down by
+'Ayesha the last verse {62} of this Sura was revealed a year later. It
+makes the matter much easier. "God measureth the night and the day; he
+knoweth that ye cannot count its hours aright, and therefore turneth to you
+mercifully. Recite _then so much of the Quran as may be easy to you_." (v.
+20.)
+
+The following is an illustration of a verse abrogated, though there is no
+verse to prove its abrogation. However, according to the Ijma' it has been
+abrogated. "But alms are only to be given to the poor and the needy and to
+those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won to Islam." (Sura
+ix. 60.) The clause--"to those whose hearts are won to Islam"--is now
+cancelled.[57] Muhammad, to gain the hearts of those, who lately enemies,
+had now become friends, and to confirm them in the faith, gave them large
+presents from the spoils he took in war; but when Islam spread and became
+strong, the 'Ulama agreed that such a procedure was not required and said
+that the order was "mansukh."
+
+The other verses abrogated relate to the Ramazan fast, to Jihad, the law of
+retaliation, and other matters of social interest.
+
+The doctrine of abrogation is now almost invariably applied by Musalman
+controversialists to the Old and New Testaments, which they say are
+abrogated by the Quran. "His (Muhammad's) law is the abrogator of every
+other law."[58] This is not, however, a legitimate use of the doctrine.
+According to the best and most ancient Muslim divines, abrogation refers
+entirely to the Quran and the Traditions, and even then is confined to
+commands and prohibitions. "Those who imagine it to be part of the
+Muhammadan creed that one law has totally repealed another, are utterly
+mistaken--we hold no such doctrine."[59] In the Tafsir-i-Itifaq it is
+written: "Abrogation affects those {63} matters which God has confined to
+the followers of Muhammad, and one of the chief advantages of it is that
+the way is made easy." In the Tafsir-i-Mazhiri we find: "Abrogation refers
+only to commands and prohibitions, not to facts or historical
+statements."[60] Again, no verse of the Quran, or a Tradition can be
+abrogated unless the abrogating verse is distinctly opposed to it in
+meaning. If it is a verse of the Quran, we must have the authority of
+Muhammad himself for the abrogation; if a Tradition, that of a Companion.
+Thus "the word of a commentator or a Mujtahid is not sufficient unless
+there is a 'genuine Tradition' (Hadis-i-Sahih), to show the matter clearly.
+The question of the abrogation of any previous command depends on
+historical facts with regard to the abrogation, not on the mere opinion of
+a commentator." It cannot be shown that either Muhammad or a Companion ever
+said that the Bible was abrogated. This rule, whilst it shows that the
+assertion of modern controversialists on this point is void of foundation,
+also illustrates another point to which I have often called attention,
+_viz._; that in Islam all interpretation must be regulated by
+traditionalism.
+
+Additions were occasionally made. Thus when it was revealed that those who
+stay at home were not before God as those who go forth to war, Abdullah and
+Ibn Um-Maktum said: 'and what if they were blind.' The Prophet asked for
+the shoulder-blade on which the verse was written. He then had a spasmodic
+convulsion. After his recovery he made Zeid add the words, "free from
+trouble." So now the whole verse reads thus: "Those believers who sit at
+home _free from trouble_ (_i.e._, bodily infirmity), and those who do
+valiantly in the cause of God, with their substance and their persons,
+shall not be treated alike." (Sura iv. 97). Years after, Zeid said: "I
+fancy I see the words now on the shoulder-blade near a crack."
+
+{64}
+
+The question of the eternal nature of the Quran does not properly come
+under the head of 'Ilm-i-usul, but it is a dogma fondly cherished by many
+Muslims. In the days of the Khalif Al-Mamun this question was fiercely
+debated. The Freethinkers, whilst believing in the Mission of Muhammad,
+asserted that the Quran was created, by which statement they meant that the
+revelation came to him in a subjective mode, and that the language was his
+own. The book was thus brought within the reach of criticism. In the year
+212, A.H. the Khalif issued a decree to the effect that all who held the
+Quran to be uncreated were to be declared guilty of heresy. But the Khalif
+himself was a notorious rationalist, and so the orthodox, though they
+remained quiet, remained unconvinced. The arguments used on the orthodox
+side are, that both the words and their pronunciation are eternal, that the
+attempt to draw a distinction between the word as it exists in the Divine
+Mind and as it appears in the Quran is highly dangerous. In vain do their
+opponents argue that, if the Quran is uncreated, two Eternal Beings are in
+existence. To this it is answered: "This is the honourable Quran, written
+in the preserved Tablet." (Sura lvi. 76). A Tradition is also adduced which
+states: "God wrote the Thora (Law) with His own hand, and with His own hand
+He created Adam; and also in the Quran it is written, 'and We wrote for him
+upon the tables a monition concerning every matter,' in reference to the
+tables of the Law given to Moses." If God did this for former prophets and
+their works, how much more, it is argued, should he not have done it for
+the last and greatest of the prophets, and the noble Quran? It is not easy
+to get a correct definition of the term "the uncreated Quran," but it has
+been put thus: "The Word as it exists in the mind of God is 'Kalam-i-Nafsi'
+(spiritual word), something unwritten and eternal. It is acknowledged by
+the Ijma'-i-Ummat (consent of the Faithful), the Traditions, and by other
+prophets that God {65} speaks. The Kalam-i-Nafsi then is eternal, but the
+actual words, style, and eloquence are created by God; so also is the
+arrangement and the miraculous nature of the book." This seems to be a
+reasonable account of the doctrine, though there are theologians who hold
+that the very words are eternal. The doctrine of abrogation clashes with
+this idea, but they meet the objection by their theory of absolute
+predestination. This accounts for the circumstances which necessitated the
+abrogation, for the circumstances, as well as the abrogated verses, were
+determined on from all eternity.
+
+This concludes the consideration of the exegesis of the Quran, a book
+difficult and uninteresting for a non-Muslim to read, but one which has
+engaged and is still engaging the earnest thoughts of many millions of the
+human race. Thousands of devout students in the great theological schools
+of Cairo, Stamboul, Central Asia and India are now plodding through this
+very subject of which I have here been treating; soon will they go forth as
+teachers of the book they so much revere. How utterly unfit that training
+is to make them wise men in any true sense of the word, how calculated to
+render them proud, conceited, and scornful of other creeds, its rigid and
+exclusive character shows. Still, it is a marvellous book; for twelve
+hundred years and more it has helped to mould the faith, animate the
+courage, cheer the despondency of multitudes, whether dwellers in the wild
+uplands of Central Asia, in Hindustan, or on the shores of the
+Mediterranean. The Turanian and the Aryan, the Arab and the Negro, alike
+learn its sonorous sentences, day by day repeat its opening clauses, and
+pray in its words as their fathers prayed before them.
+
+Next to the act of testifying to the unity of God, the Quran is the great
+bond of Islam. No matter from what race the convert may have come, no
+matter what language he may speak, he must learn in Arabic, and repeat by
+rote portions of the Quran in every act of public worship.
+
+The next subject for consideration is that of the {66} Traditions, or the
+second branch of the science of 'Ilm-i-usul. The Traditions contain the
+record of all that Muhammad did and said. It is the belief of every Muslim,
+to whatever sect he belongs, that the Prophet not only spake but also acted
+under a divine influence. The mode of the inspiration is different from
+that of the Quran. There the revelation was objective. In the Prophet's
+sayings recorded in the Traditions the inspiration is subjective, but still
+a true inspiration. This belief places the Traditions in a place second
+only to the Quran; it makes them a true supplement to that book, and thus
+they not only throw light on its meaning, but themselves form the basis on
+which doctrines may be established. Without going so far as to say that
+every Tradition by itself is to be accepted as an authority in Islam, it
+may be distinctly asserted that there can be no true conception formed of
+that system if the Traditions are not studied and taken into account. So
+important a branch of Muslim theology is it, that the study of the
+Traditions is included in the 'Ilm-i-usul, or science of exegesis. Some
+account of them, therefore, naturally forms part of this chapter.
+
+The first four Khalifs were called the Khulafa-i-Rashidin that is, those
+who could guide others aright. They had been friends and Companions of the
+Prophet, and the Faithful could always appeal to them in cases of doubt.
+The Prophet had declared that Islam must be written in the hearts of men.
+There was therefore an unwillingness to commit his sayings to writing. They
+were handed down by word of mouth. As no argument was so effectual in a
+dispute as "a saying" of the Prophet, the door was opened by which spurious
+Traditions could be palmed off on the Faithful. To prevent this, a number
+of strict rules were framed, at the head of which stands the Prophet's
+saying, itself a Tradition: "Convey to other persons none of my words
+except those which ye know of a surety. Verily, he who purposely represents
+my {67} words wrongly will find a place for himself nowhere but in fire."
+To enforce this rule, it was laid down that the relator of a Tradition must
+also repeat its "Isnad," or chain of authorities, as: "I heard from such an
+one, who heard from such an one," and so on, until the chain reaches the
+Prophet himself. Each person, too, in this "Isnad," must have been well
+known for his good character and retentive memory. This failed, however, to
+prevent a vast number of manifestly false Traditions becoming current; so
+men set themselves to the work of collecting and sifting the great mass of
+Tradition that in the second century of Islam had begun to work untold
+evil. These men are called "Muhadisin," or "collectors of Tradition." The
+Sunnis and the Wahhabis recognise six such men, and their collections are
+known as the "Sihah-Sittah," or six correct books. They are the
+following:--
+
+(1). The _Sahih-i-Bukhari_, called after Abu Abdullah Muhammad
+Ibn-i-Isma'il, a native of Bukhara. He was born A.H. 194. He was a man of
+middle height, spare in frame, and as a boy totally blind. The grief of his
+father was on this account intense; but one day in a dream he saw the
+Patriarch Abraham, who said to him: "God on account of thy grief and sorrow
+has granted sight to thy son." The sight being thus restored, at the age of
+ten he went to school, and began to learn the Traditions by heart. After
+his education was finished, a famous Muhadis named Dakhli came to Bukhara.
+One day the youthful Bukhari ventured to correct the famous man. It was an
+astounding piece of audacity, but the youth was proved to be in the right.
+This set him on the work of collecting and sifting the Traditions. At the
+early age of sixteen he was able to remember fifteen thousand. In course of
+time he collected 600,000 Traditions. The result of his examination and
+selection was that he approved of seven thousand two hundred and
+seventy-five. These are now recorded in his great work, the
+Sahih-i-Bukhari. It {68} is said that he never sat down to examine a
+Tradition without first performing a legal ablution, and repeating two
+rak'at prayers. He then said: "O Lord, let me not make a mistake." For
+sixteen years he lived in a mosque and died much respected at the age of
+sixty-four.
+
+(2). _Sahih-i-Muslim._ Muslim Ibn-i-Hajjaj was born at Nishapur, a city of
+Khorasan. He collected about 300,000 Traditions, from which he made his
+collection. He is said to have been a very just man, and willing to oblige
+all who sought his advice. In fact, this willingness to oblige was the
+indirect cause of his death. One day he was sitting as usual in the mosque
+when some people came to ask him about a Tradition. As he could not
+discover it in the books he had with him, he went to his house to search
+there. The people brought him a basket of dates. He went on eating and
+searching, but unfortunately he ate so many dates that he died. (A.H. 261.)
+
+(3). _Sunan-i-Abu Daud._ Abu Daud Sajistani, a native of Seistan, was born
+A.H. 202. He was a great traveller, and went to all the chief places of
+Musalman learning. In knowledge of the Traditions, in devotion, in piety,
+he was unrivalled. He collected about 500,000 Traditions, of which he
+selected four thousand eight hundred for his book.
+
+(4). _Jami'-i-Tirmizi._ Abu Isa' Muhammad Tirmizi was born at Tirmiz in the
+year A.H. 209. He was a disciple of Bukhari. Ibn Khallikan says this work
+is "the production of a well-informed man: its exactness is
+proverbial."[61]
+
+(5). _Sunan-i-Nasai._ Abu Abd-ur-Rahman Nasai was born at Nasa, in
+Khorasan, in the year A.H. 214, and died A.H. 303. It is recorded of him,
+with great approbation, that he fasted every other day, and had four wives
+and many slaves. This book is considered of great value. He met with his
+death in rather a sad way. He had compiled a book on the virtues of 'Ali,
+and as the people of {69} Damascus were at that time inclined to the heresy
+of the Kharigites, he wished to read his book in the mosque of that place.
+After he had read a little way, a man arose and asked him whether he knew
+aught of the praises of Muavia, 'Ali's deadly enemy. He replied that he did
+not. This answer enraged the people, who beat him so severely that he died
+soon after.
+
+(6). _Sunan-i-Ibn Majah._ Ibn Majah[62] was born at 'Irak A.H. 209. This
+work contains 4,000 Traditions.
+
+The Shia'hs reject these books and substitute five books[63] of their own
+instead. They are of a much later date, the last one, indeed, having been
+compiled more than four hundred years after the Hijra.
+
+The belief which underlies the question of the authority of the Traditions
+is that before the Throne of God there stands a 'preserved Table,' on which
+all that can happen, and all that has ever entered, or will enter, the mind
+of man is 'noted in a distinct writing.' Through the medium of Gabriel, the
+Prophet had access to this. It follows then that the words of the Prophet
+are the words of God.
+
+Of the four great "Canonical Legists" of Islam, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was the
+greatest collector of Traditions. It is said that he knew by heart no less
+than one million. Of these he incorporated thirty thousand into his system
+of jurisprudence. That system is now almost obsolete. Abu Hanifa, who is
+said to have accepted only eighteen Traditions as authentic, founded a
+system which is to this day the most powerful in Islam. The Hanifites,
+however, as well as other Muslims, acknowledge the six standard collections
+of Traditions as direct revelations of the will of {70} God. They range
+over a vast number of subjects, and furnish a commentary on the Quran. The
+Prophet's personal appearance, his mental and moral qualities, his actions,
+his opinions, are all recorded over and over again. Many questions of
+religious belief are largely founded on the Traditions, and it is to them
+we must go for an explanation of much of the ritual of Islam. It is very
+difficult for any one, who has not lived in long and friendly intercourse
+with Muslims, to realize how much their religious life and opinions, their
+thought and actions, are based on the Traditions.
+
+Having thus shown the importance of the Traditions, I now proceed to enter
+a little into detail on the question of the rules framed concerning them.
+The classification adopted by different authors may vary in some
+subordinate points; but the following account is adopted from a standard
+Muhammadan work. A Tradition may be Hadis-i-Quali, that is, an account of
+something the Prophet said; or Hadis-i-Fa'li, a record of something which
+he did; or Hadis-i-Taqriri, a statement of some act performed by other
+persons in his presence, and which action he did not forbid.
+
+The Traditions may be classed under two general heads:--
+
+First.--_Hadis-i-Mutawatir_, that is, "an undoubted Tradition," the Isnad,
+or chain of narrators of which is perfect, and in which chain each narrator
+possessed all the necessary qualifications for his office.[64] Some
+authorities say there are only a few of these Traditions extant, but most
+allow that the following is one: "There are no good works except with
+intention," for example, a man may fast, but, unless he has the intention
+of fasting firmly in his mind, he gains no spiritual reward by so doing.
+
+Second.--_Hadis-i-Ahad._ The authority of this class is {71} theoretically
+somewhat less than that of the first, but practically it is the same.
+
+This class is again sub-divided into two:--
+
+(1). _Hadis-i-Sahih_, or a genuine Tradition. It is not necessary to go
+into the sub-divisions of this sub-division. A Tradition is Sahih if the
+narrators have been men of pious lives, abstemious in their habits, endowed
+with a good memory, free from blemish, and persons who lived at peace with
+their neighbours. The following also are Sahih, though their importance as
+authorities varies. I arrange them in the order of their value. Sahih
+Traditions are those which are found in the collections made by Bukhari and
+Muslim, or in the collection of either of the above, though not in both;
+or, if not mentioned by either of these famous collectors, if it has been
+retained in accordance with their canons for the rejection or retention of
+Traditions; or lastly, if retained in accordance with the rules of any
+other approved collector. For each of these classes there is a distinct
+name.
+
+(2). _Hadis-i-Hasan._ The narrators of this class are not of such good
+authority as those of the former with regard to one or two qualities; but
+these Traditions should be received as of equal authority as regards any
+practical use.[65] It is merely as a matter of classification that they
+rank second.
+
+In addition to these names, there are a number of other technical terms
+which have regard to the personal character of the narrators, the Isnad,
+and other points. A few may be mentioned.
+
+(1). _Hadis-i-Z'aif_, or a weak Tradition. The narrators of it have been
+persons whose characters were not above reproach, whose memories were bad,
+or who, worse still, were addicted to "bid'at," innovation, a habit now, as
+then, a crime in the eyes of all true Muslims. All agree that a {72} "weak
+Tradition" has little force; but few rival theologians agree as to which
+are, and which are not, "weak Traditions."
+
+(2). _Hadis-i-Mua'llaq_, or a Tradition in the Isnad of which there is some
+break. If it begins with a Tabi' (one in the generation after that of the
+Companions), it is called "_Mursal_" the one link in the chain, the
+Companion, being wanting. If the first link in the chain of narrators
+begins in a generation still later, it has another name, and so on.
+
+(3). Traditions which have various names, according as the narrator
+concealed the name of his Imam, or where different narrators disagree, or
+where the narrator has mixed some of his own words with the Tradition, or
+has been proved to be a liar, an evil liver, or mistaken; but into an
+account of these it is not necessary to enter, for no Tradition of this
+class would be considered as of itself sufficient ground on which to base
+any important doctrine.[66]
+
+It is the universally accepted rule, that no authentic Tradition can be
+contrary to the Quran. The importance attached to Tradition has been shown
+in the preceding chapter, an importance which has demanded the formation of
+an elaborate system of exegesis. To an orthodox Muslim the Book and the
+Sunnat, God's word direct and God's word through the mind of the Prophet,
+are the foundation and sum of Islam, a fact not always taken into account
+by modern panegyrists of the system.
+
+{73}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE SECTS OF ISLAM.
+
+It is a commonly received but nevertheless an erroneous opinion, that the
+Muhammadan religion is one remarkable for the absence of dogma and the
+unanimity of its professors. In this chapter I propose to show how the
+great sects differ in some very important principles of the faith, and
+their consequent divergence in practice. There is much that is common
+ground to all, and of that some account was given in the first chapter on
+the "Foundations of Islam."
+
+It was there shown that all Muslim sects are not agreed as to the essential
+foundations of the Faith. The Sunnis recognise four foundations, the
+Wahhabis two; whilst the Shia'hs reject altogether the Traditions held
+sacred by both Sunni and Wahhabi. The next chapter will contain a full
+account of the doctrines held by the Sunnis, and so no account of this, the
+orthodox sect, is given in this chapter.
+
+The first breach in Islam arose out of a civil war. The story has been so
+often told that it need not be reproduced here at any length. 'Ali, the
+son-in-law of Muhammad, was the fourth Khalif of Islam. He is described as
+"the last and worthiest of the primitive Musalmans who imbibed his
+religious enthusiasm from companionship with the Prophet himself, and who
+followed to the last the simplicity of his character." He was a man
+calculated by his earnest devotion to the Prophet and his own natural
+graces to win, as he has done, the admiration of succeeding generations. A
+strong opposition, however, arose, and 'Ali was assassinated in a mosque at
+Kufa. It is not easy, amid the conflicting statements of historians of the
+rival sects, to arrive at the truth in all the details of the events which
+happened then; {74} but the generally received opinion is, that after the
+assassination of 'Ali, Hasan, his son, renounced his claim to the Khalifate
+in favour of his father's rival, Muavia. Hasan was ultimately poisoned by
+his wife, who, it is said, was instigated by Muavia to do the deed, in
+order to leave the coast clear for his son Yezid. The most tragic event has
+yet to come. Yezid, who succeeded his father, was a very licentious and
+irreligious man. The people of Kufa, being disgusted at his conduct, sent
+messengers to Husain, the remaining son of 'Ali, with the request that he
+would assume the Khalifate. In vain the friends of Husain tried to persuade
+him to let the people of Kufa first revolt, and thus show the reality of
+their wishes by their deeds. In an evil hour Husain started with a small
+band of forty horsemen and one hundred foot-soldiers. On the plain of
+Karbala he found his way barred by a force of three thousand men. "We are
+few in number," said Husain, "and the enemy is in force. I am resolved to
+die. But you--I release you from your oath of allegiance; let all those who
+wish to do so leave me." "O Son of the Apostle of God!" was the reply,
+"what excuse could we give to thy grandfather on the day of resurrection
+did we abandon thee to the hands of thine enemies?" One by one these brave
+men fell beneath the swords of the enemy, until Husain and his infant son
+alone were left. Weary and thirsty, Husain sat upon the ground. The enemy
+drew near, but no one dared to kill the grandson of the Prophet. An arrow
+pierced the ear of the little boy and he died. "We came from God, and we
+return to him," were the pathetic words of Husain, as with a sorrowful
+heart he laid the dead body of his son on the sand. He then stooped down to
+drink some water from the river Euphrates. Seeing him thus stooping, the
+enemy discharged a flight of arrows, one of which wounded him in the mouth.
+He fought bravely for a while, but at last fell covered with many wounds.
+The schism between the Sunni and the Shia'h was now complete. {75}
+
+The ceremonies celebrated during the annual fast of Muharram refer to these
+historical facts, and help to keep alive a bitter feud; but to suppose that
+the only difference between the Shia'h and the Sunni is a mere dispute as
+to the proper order of the early Khalifs would be a mistake. Starting off
+with a political quarrel, the Shia'hs have travelled into a very distinct
+religious position of their own. The fundamental tenet of the Shia'h sect
+is the "divine right" of 'Ali the Chosen and his descendants. From this it
+follows that the chief duty of religion consists in devotion to the Imam
+(or Pontiff); from which position some curious dogmas issue. The whole
+question of the Imamat is a very important one. The word Imam comes from an
+Arabic word meaning to aim at, to follow after. The term Imam then becomes
+equal to the word leader or exemplar. It is applied in this sense to
+Muhammad as the leader in all civil and religious questions, and to the
+Khalifs, his successors. It is also, in its religious import only, applied
+to the founders of the four orthodox schools of jurisprudence, and in a
+restricted sense to the leader of a congregation at prayer in a mosque. It
+is with the first of these meanings that we have now to deal. It is so used
+in the Quran--"When his Lord made trial of Abraham by commands which he
+fulfilled, He said: 'I am about to make of thee an Imam to mankind;' he
+said: 'Of my offspring also?' 'My covenant,' said God, 'embraceth not the
+evil-doers.'" (Sura ii. 118.) From this verse two doctrines are deduced.
+First, that the Imam must be appointed by God, for if this is not the case,
+why did Abraham say "of my offspring also?" Secondly, the Imam is free from
+sin, for God said: "My covenant embraceth not the evil-doer."
+
+The first dispute about the Imamat originated with the twelve thousand who
+revolted from 'Ali after the battle of Siffin (657 A.D.), because he
+consented to submit to arbitration the dispute between himself and Muavia.
+Some years after they were nearly all destroyed by 'Ali. A few {76}
+survivors, however, fled to various parts. Two at last settled in Oman, and
+there preached their distinctive doctrines. In course of time the people of
+Oman adopted the doctrine that the Imamat was not hereditary but elective,
+and that in the event of misconduct the Imam might be deposed.
+'Abdullah-ibn-Ibadh (744 A.D.) was a vigorous preacher of this doctrine,
+and from him the sect known as the 'Ibadhiyah takes its rise. The result of
+this teaching was the establishment of the power and jurisdiction of the
+Imam of Oman. The 'Ibadhiyah seem to have always kept themselves
+independent of the Sunni Khalifs of Baghdad, and, therefore, would consider
+themselves free from any obligation to obey the Sultan of Turkey. From the
+ordinary Shia'hs they differ as regards the "divine right" of 'Ali and his
+children. The curious in such matters will find the whole subject well
+treated in Dr. Badger's "Seyyids of Oman."
+
+The term Kharigite (Separatist) has since become the generic name for a
+group of sects which agree as to the need of an Imam, though they differ as
+to the details of the dogma. In opposition to this heresy of the Kharigite
+stands what may be termed the orthodox doctrine of the Shia'h. The Shia'hs
+hold that the Imamat must continue in the family of 'Ali, and that religion
+consists mainly in devotion to the Imam. The tragic end of 'Ali and his
+sons invested them with peculiar interest. When grieving for the sad end of
+their leaders, the Shi'ahs found consolation in the doctrine which soon
+found development, _viz._, that it was God's will that the Imamat should
+continue in the family of 'Ali. Thus a tradition relates that the Prophet
+said: "He of whom I am master has 'Ali also for a master." "The best judge
+among you is 'Ali." Ibn Abbas, a Companion says: "I heard the Prophet say:
+'He who blasphemes my name blasphemes the name of God; he who blasphemes
+the name of 'Ali blasphemes my name.'" A popular Persian hymn shows to what
+an extent this feeling deepened. {77}
+
+ "Mysterious being! none can tell
+  The attributes in thee that dwell;
+  None can thine essence comprehend;
+  To thee should every mortal bend--
+  For 'tis by thee that man is given
+  To know the high behests of heaven."
+
+The general idea is, that long before the creation of the world, God took a
+ray of light from the splendour of His own glory and united it to the body
+of Muhammad, to which He said: "Thou art the elect, the chosen, I will make
+the members of thy family the guides to salvation." Muhammad said: "The
+first thing which God created was my light, and my spirit."[67] The body of
+the Prophet was then in some mysterious way hidden. In due time the world
+was created, but not until the birth of Muhammad did this ray of glory
+appear. It is well known to all Musalmans as the "Nur-i-Muhammadi"--light
+of Muhammad.
+
+This "Nur" is said to be of four kinds. From the first kind God created His
+Throne, from the second the Pen of Fate, from the third Paradise, and from
+the fourth the state, or place of Spirits and all created beings. According
+to a statement made by 'Ali, Muhammad said that he was created from the
+light of God, whilst all other created beings were formed from the "light
+of Muhammad."[68]
+
+This "light" descended to 'Ali, and from him passed on to the true Imams,
+who alone are the lawful successors of the Prophet. Rebellion against them
+is sin; devotion to them the very essence of religion.
+
+The doctrine of the Imamat has given rise to endless discussion and
+dissension, as the numerous sub-divisions of the Shia'h sect will show.
+They are said to be thirty-two in number. The Shia'h proper is the largest
+and most influential of them. The following are the Shi'ah tenets regarding
+the Imam, based on one of their standard books of {78} divinity.[69] The
+Imam is the successor of the Prophet, adorned with all the qualities which
+he possessed. He is wiser than the most learned men of the age, holier than
+the most pious. He is the noblest of the sons of men and is free from all
+sin original or actual: hence the Imam is called ma'sum (innocent.)[70] God
+rules the world by wisdom, hence the sending forth of prophets was a
+necessity; but it was equally necessary to establish the Imamat. Thus the
+Imam is equal to a prophet. 'Ali said: "In me is the glory of every prophet
+that has ever been." The authority of the Imam is the authority of God, for
+(I quote the Hyat-un-Nafis) "his word is the word of God and of the
+Prophet, and obedience to his order is incumbent." The nature of the Imam
+is identical with the nature of Muhammad, for did not 'Ali say: "I am
+Muhammad, and Muhammad is me." This probably refers to the possession by
+the Imam of the "light of Muhammad." The bodies of the Imams are so pure
+and delicate that they cast no shadow.[71] They {79} are the beginning and
+the end of all things. To know the Imams is the very essence of the
+knowledge which men can gain of God. "The Holy God calls the Imams His
+word, His hands, His signs, His secret. Their commands and prohibitions,
+their actions too, He recognises as His own." As mediums between God and
+man they hold a far higher position than the prophets, for "the grace of
+God, without their intervention, reaches to no created being." These
+extravagant claims for the Imams culminate in the assertion that "for them
+a pillar of light has been fixed between the earth and heaven, by which the
+actions of the Faithful are made known to them." The Imam is the supreme
+Pontiff, the Vicar of God on earth. The possession of an infallible book is
+not sufficient. The infallible guide is needed. Such wisdom and discernment
+as such a guide would require can only be found amongst the descendants of
+the Prophet. It is no longer, then, a matter of wonder, that in some cases,
+almost, if not entirely, divine honour is paid to 'Ali and his
+descendants.[72]
+
+The Usul, or fundamental tenets of the Shia'h sect are five in number. (1)
+To believe in the unity of God, (2) To admit that He is just, (3) To
+believe in the divine mission of all the prophets, and that Muhammad is the
+chief of all, (4) To consider 'Ali the Khalif next in order after Muhammad,
+(5) To believe 'Ali's descendants from Hasan to Mahdi, the twelfth Imam, to
+be his true successors, and to consider all of them in character, position
+and dignity as raised far above all other Muslims. This is the doctrine of
+the Imamat.
+
+{80}
+
+The first principal divisions of the Shia'h sect are the Isma'ilians and
+the Imamites. The latter believe in twelve Imams, reckoning 'Ali as the
+first.[73] The last of the twelve Abu'l-Qasim, is supposed to be alive
+still, though hidden in some secret place. He bears the name of Al-Mahdi,
+"the guided." It is expected that he will reappear at the second advent of
+Christ. They say that he was born near Baghdad in the year 258 A.H. He
+afterwards mysteriously disappeared. When he was born the words, "Say:
+'truth is come and falsehood is vanished: Verily falsehood is a thing that
+vanisheth,'" (Sura xvii. 83) were found written on his right arm. When he
+came into the world, he pointed with his fingers to heaven, sneezed, and
+said: 'Praise be to God, the Lord of the world.' A person one day visited
+Imam Hasan 'Askari (the eleventh Imam) and said: 'O son of the Prophet who
+will be Khalif and Imam after thee?' He brought out a child and said: 'if
+thou hadst not found favour in the eyes of God, He would not have shown
+thee this child; his name is that of the Prophet, and so is his
+patronymic,' (Abu 'l-Qasim). The sect who believe Mahdi to be alive at
+present, say that he rules over cities in the far west, and he is even said
+to have children. God alone knows the truth.[74]
+
+The other large division, the Isma'ilians, agree with the Imamites in all
+particulars save one. They hold that after Sadiq, the sixth Imam, commenced
+what is called the succession of the "concealed Imams." They believe that
+there never can be a time when there shall be no Imam, but that he is now
+in seclusion. This idea has given rise to all sorts of secret societies,
+and has paved the way for a mystical religion, which often lands its
+votaries in atheism.[75] {81}
+
+The Ghair-i-Mahdi (literally "without Mahdi") are a small sect who believe
+that Al-Mahdi will not reappear. They say that one Syed Muhammad of Jeypore
+was the real Mahdi, the twelfth Imam, and that he has now gone never more
+to return. They venerate him as highly as they do the Prophet, and consider
+all other Musalmans to be unbelievers. On the night called Lailat-ul-Qadr,
+in the month of Ramazan, they meet and repeat two rak'at prayers. After
+that act of devotion is over, they say: "God is Almighty, Muhammad is our
+Prophet, the Quran and Mahdi are just and true. Imam Mahdi is come and
+gone. Whosoever disbelieves this is an infidel." They are a very fanatical
+sect.
+
+There is another small community of Ghair-i-Mahdis called the Da,iri,
+settled in the province of Mysore, who hold peculiar views on this point.
+About four hundred years ago, a man named Syed Ahmad collected some
+followers in the dominions of the Nizam of Hyderabad. He called himself the
+Imam Mahdi, and said that he was superior to any prophet. He and his
+disciples, being bitterly persecuted by the orthodox Musalmans, fled to a
+village in the adjoining district of Mysore where their descendants,
+fifteen hundred in number, now reside. It is said that they do not
+intermarry with other Musalmans. The usual Friday service in the mosque is
+ended by the leader saying: "Imam Mahdi came and went away," to which the
+people respond: "He who does not believe this is a Kafir" (infidel).
+
+There are several Traditions which refer to the latter days. "When of time
+one day shall be left, God shall raise up a man from among my descendants,
+who shall fill the world with justice, just as before him the world was
+full of oppression." And again: "The world shall not come to an end till
+the king of the earth shall appear, who is a man of my family, and whose
+name is the same as mine." When Islam entered upon the tenth century of its
+existence, there was throughout Persia and India a millenarian movement.
+Men {82} declared that the end was drawing near, and various persons arose
+who claimed to be Al-Mahdi. I have already mentioned two. Amongst others
+was Shaikh 'Alai of Agra. (956 A.H.) Shaikh Mubarak, the father of
+Abu'l-Fazl--the Emperor Akbar's famous vizier, was a disciple of Shaikh
+'Alai and from him imbibed Mahdavi ideas. This brought upon him the wrath
+of the 'Ulama who, however, were finally overcome by the free-thinking and
+heretical Emperor and his vizier. There never was a better ruler in India
+than Akbar, and never a more heretical one as far as orthodox Islam is
+concerned. The Emperor delighted in the controversies of the age. The Sufis
+and Mahdavis were in favour at Court. The orthodox 'Ulama were treated with
+contempt. Akbar fully believed that the millennium had come. He started a
+new era, and a new religion called the 'Divine Faith.' There was toleration
+for all except the bigoted orthodox Muslims. Abu'l-Fazl and others like
+him, who professed to reflect Akbar's religious views, held that all
+religions contained truth. Thus:--
+
+ "O God, in every temple I see people that seek Thee, and in every language
+     I hear spoken, people praise Thee!
+      Polytheism and Islam feel after Thee,
+      Each religion says, 'Thou art one, without equal.'
+  If it be a mosque, people murmur the holy prayer, and if it be a
+      Christian Church, people ring the bell from love to Thee,
+      Sometimes I frequent the Christian cloister, and sometimes the
+          mosque,
+      But it is Thou whom I search from temple to temple."
+
+In this reign one Mir Sharif was promoted to the rank of a Commander of a
+thousand, and to an appointment in Bengal. His chief merit in Akbar's eyes
+was that he taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls and the
+close advent of the millennium. He was a disciple of Mahmud of Busakhwan,
+the founder of the Nuqtawiah sect. As this is another offshoot of the
+Shia'hs I give a brief account of them here. Mahmud lived in the reign of
+Timur and {83} professed to be Al-Mahdi. He also called himself the
+Shakhs-i-Wahid--the Individual one. He used to quote the verse, "It may be
+that thy Lord will raise thee up to a glorious (mahmud) station." (Sura
+xvii. 81). From this he argued that the body of man had been advancing in
+purity since the creation, and that on its reaching to a certain degree,
+one Mahmud (glorious) would arise, and that then the dispensation of
+Muhammad would come to an end. He claimed to be the Mahmud. He also taught
+the doctrine of transmigration, and that the beginning of everything was
+the Nuqtah-i-khak--earth atom. It is on this account that they are called
+the Nuqtawiah sect. They are also known by the names Mahmudiah and
+Wahidiah. Shah 'Abbas king of Persia expelled them from his dominions, but
+Akbar received the fugitives kindly and promoted some amongst them to high
+offices of State.
+
+This Mahdavi movement, arising as it did out of the Shia'h doctrine of the
+Imamat, is a very striking fact. That imposters should arise and claim the
+name and office of Al-Mahdi is not to be wondered at, but that large bodies
+of men should follow them shows the unrest which dwelt in men's hearts, and
+how they longed for a personal leader and guide.
+
+The whole of the Shia'h doctrine on this point seems to show that there is
+in the human heart a natural desire for some Mediator--some Word of the
+Father, who shall reveal Him to His children. At first sight it would seem,
+as if the doctrine of the Imamat might to some extent reconcile the
+thoughtful Shia'h to the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation and
+Mediation of Jesus Christ, to His office as the perfect revealer of God's
+will; and as our Guide in life; but alas! it is not so. The mystic lore
+connected with Shia'h doctrine has sapped the foundation of moral life and
+vigour. A system of religious reservation, too, is a fundamental part of
+the system in its mystical developments, whilst all Shia'hs may lawfully
+practise "takia," or religious {84} compromise in their daily lives. It
+thus becomes impossible to place dependence on what a Shia'h may profess,
+as pious frauds are legalised by his system of religion. If he becomes a
+mystic, he looks upon the ceremonial and the moral law as restrictions
+imposed by an Almighty Power. The omission of the one is a sin almost, if
+not quite, as bad as a breach, of the other. The advent of Mahdi is the
+good time when all such restrictions shall be removed, when the utmost
+freedom shall be allowed. Thus the moral sense, in many cases, becomes
+deadened to an extent such as those who are not in daily contact with these
+people can hardly credit. The practice of "takia," religious compromise,
+and the legality of "muta'h" or temporary marriages, have done much to
+demoralise the Shia'h community. The following words of a recent author
+descriptive of the Shia'h system are in the main true, though they do not
+apply to each individual in that system:--
+
+    "There can be no stronger testimony of the corrupting power and the
+    hard and hopeless bondage of the orthodox creed, than that men should
+    escape from it into a system which established falsehood as the supreme
+    law of conduct, and regarded the reduction of men to the level of swine
+    as the goal of human existence."[76]
+
+The Mutazilites, or Seceders, were once an influential body. They do not
+exist as a separate sect now. An account of them will be given in the next
+chapter.
+
+In the doctrine of the Imamat, common to all the offshoots of the Shia'h
+sect, is to be found the chief point of difference between the Sunni and
+the Shia'h, a difference so great that there is no danger of even a
+political union between these two great branches of Islam. I have already
+described, too, how the Shia'hs reject the Sunnat, though they do not
+reject Tradition. A good deal of ill-blood is still kept up by the
+recollection--a recollection kept alive by the annual recurrence of the
+Muharram fast--of the sad {85} fate of 'Ali and his sons. The Sunnis are
+blamed for the work of their ancestors in the faith, whilst the Khalifs Abu
+Bakr, Omar, and Osman are looked upon as usurpers. Not to them was
+committed the wonderful ray of light. In the possession of that alone can
+any one make good a claim to be the Imam, the Guide of the Believers. The
+terrible disorders of the early days of Islam can only be understood when
+we realise to some extent the passionate longing which men felt for a
+spiritual head--an Imam. It was thought to be impossible that Muhammad, the
+last--the seal--of the prophets should leave the Faithful without a guide,
+who would be the interpreter of the will of Allah.
+
+We here make a slight digression to show that this feeling extends beyond
+the Shia'h sect, and is of some importance in its bearing upon the Eastern
+Question. Apart from the superhuman claims for the Imam, what he is as a
+ruler to the Shia'h, the Khalif is to the Sunni--the supreme head in Church
+and State, the successor of the Prophet, the Conservator of Islam as made
+known in the Quran, the Sunnat and the Ijma' of the early Mujtahidin. To
+administer the laws, the administrator must have a divine sanction. Thus
+when the Ottoman ruler, Selim the First, conquered Egypt, (A.D. 1516) he
+sought and obtained, from an old descendant of the Baghdad Khalifs, the
+transfer of the title to himself, and in this way the Sultans of Turkey
+became the Khalifs of Islam. Whether Mutawakal Billal, the last titular
+Khalif of the house of 'Abbas, was right or wrong in thus transferring the
+title is not my purpose now to discuss. I only adduce the fact to show how
+it illustrates the feeling of the need of a Pontiff--a divinely appointed
+Ruler. Strictly speaking, according to Muhammadan law, the Sultans are not
+Khalifs, for it is clearly laid down in the Traditions that the Khalif (or
+the Imam) must be of the tribe of the Quraish, to which the Prophet himself
+belonged.
+
+Ibn-i-Umr relates that the Prophet said:--"The Khalifs shall be in the
+Quraish tribe as long as there are two {86} persons in it, one to rule and
+another to serve."[77] "It is a necessary condition that the Khalif should
+be of the Quraish tribe."[78] Such quotations might be multiplied, and they
+tend to show that it is not at all incumbent on orthodox Sunnis, other than
+the Turks, to rush to the rescue of the Sultan, whilst to the Shia'hs he is
+little better than a heretic. Certainly they would never look upon him as
+an Imam, which personage is to them in the place of a Khalif. In countries
+not under Turkish rule, the Khutbah, or prayer for the ruler, said on
+Fridays in the mosques, is said for the "ruler of the age," or for the
+Amir, or whatever happens to be the title of the head of the State. Of late
+years it has become more common in India to say it for the Sultan. This is
+not, strictly speaking, according to Muhammadan law, which declares that
+the Khutbah can only be said with the permission of the ruler, and as in
+India that ruler is the British Government, the prayers should be said for
+the Queen. Evidently the law never contemplated large bodies of Musalmans
+residing anywhere but where the influence of the Khalif extended.
+
+In thus casting doubt on the legality of the claim made by Turkish Sultans
+to the Khalifate of Islam, I do not deny that the Law of Islam requires
+that there should be a Khalif. Unfortunately for Islam, there is nothing in
+its history parallel to the conflict of Pope and Emperor, of Church and
+State. "The action and re-action of these powerful and partially
+independent forces, their resistance to each other, and their ministry to
+each other, have been of incalculable value to the higher activity and life
+of Christendom." In Islam the Khalif is both Pope and Emperor. Ibn Khaldoun
+states that the difference between the Khalif and any other ruler is that
+the former rules according to divine, the latter according to human law.
+The Prophet in transmitting his sacred authority to the Khalifs, his
+successors, conveyed to {87} them absolute powers. Khalifs can be
+assassinated, murdered, banished, but so long as they reign anything like
+constitutional liberty is impossible. It is a fatal mistake in European
+politics and an evil for Turkey to recognize the Sultan as the Khalif of
+Islam, for, if he be such, Turkey can never take any step forward to
+newness of political life.[79]
+
+This, however, is a digression from the subject of this chapter.
+
+There has been from the earliest ages of Islam a movement which exists to
+this day. It is a kind of mysticism, known as Sufiism. It has been
+especially prevalent among the Persians. It is a re-action from the burden
+of a rigid law, and a wearisome ritual. It has now existed for a thousand
+years, and if it has the element of progress in it, if it is the salt of
+Islam some fruit should now be seen. But what is Sufiism? The term Sufi is
+most probably derived from the Arabic word Suf, "wool," of which material
+the garments worn by Eastern ascetics used to be generally made. Some
+persons, however, derive it from the Persian, Suf, "pure," or the Greek
+[Greek: sophia], "wisdom." Tasawwuf, or Sufiism, is the abstract form of
+the word, and is, according to Sir W. Jones, and other learned
+orientalists, a figurative mode, borrowed mainly from the Indian
+philosophers of the Vedanta school, of expressing the fervour of devotion.
+The chief idea is that the souls of men differ in degree, but not {88} in
+kind, from the Divine Spirit, of which they are emanations, and to which
+they will ultimately return. The Spirit of God is in all He has made, and
+it in Him. He alone is perfect love, beauty, etc.--hence love to him is the
+only _real_ thing; all else is illusion. Sa'di says: "I swear by the truth
+of God, that when He showed me His glory all else was illusion." This
+present life is one of separation from the beloved. The beauties of nature,
+music, and art revive in men the divine idea, and recall their affections
+from wandering from Him to other objects. These sublime affections men must
+cherish, and by abstraction concentrate their thoughts on God, and so
+approximate to His essence, and finally reach the highest stage of
+bliss--absorption into the Eternal. The true end and object of human life
+is to lose all consciousness of individual existence--to sink "in the ocean
+of Divine Life, as a breaking bubble is merged into the stream on the
+surface of which it has for a moment risen."[80]
+
+Sufis, who all accept Islam as a divinely established religion, suppose
+that long before the creation of the world a contract was made by the
+Supreme Soul with the assembled world of spirits, who are parts of it. Each
+spirit was addressed separately, thus: "Art thou not with thy Lord?" that
+is, bound to him by a solemn contract. To this they all answered with one
+voice, "Yes."
+
+Another account says that the seed of theosophy (m'arifat) was placed in
+the ground in the time of Adam; that the plant {89} came forth in the days
+of Noah, was in flower when Abraham was alive and produced fruit before
+Moses passed away. The grapes of this noble plant were ripe in the time of
+Jesus, but it was not till the age of Muhammad that pure wine was made from
+them. Then those intoxicated with it, having attained to the highest degree
+of the knowledge of God, could forget their own personality and
+say:--"Praise to me, is there any greater than myself? I am the Truth."
+
+The following verse of the Quran is quoted by Sufis in support of their
+favourite dogma--the attaining to the knowledge of God: "When God said to
+the angels, 'I am about to place a viceregent on the earth,' they said:
+'Wilt Thou place therein one who shall commit abomination and shed blood?
+Nay; we celebrate Thy praise and holiness.' God answered them, 'Verily I
+know that ye wot not of.'" (Sura ii. 28.) It is said that this verse proves
+that, though the great mass of mankind would commit abomination, some would
+receive the divine light and attain to a knowledge of God. A Tradition
+states that David said: "'Oh Lord! why hast Thou created mankind?' God
+replied, 'I am a hidden treasure, and I would fain become known.'" The
+business of the mystic is to find this treasure, to attain to the Divine
+light and the true knowledge of God.
+
+The earlier Muhammadan mystics sought to impart life to a rigid and formal
+ritual, and though the seeds of Pantheism were planted in their system from
+the first, they maintained that they were orthodox. "Our system of
+doctrine," says Al-Junaid, "is firmly bound up with the dogmas of the
+faith, the Quran and the Traditions." There was a moral earnestness about
+many of these men which frequently restrained the arm of unrighteous power,
+and their sayings, often full of beauty, show that they had the power of
+appreciating the spiritual side of life. Some of these sentences are worthy
+of any age. "As neither meat nor drink," says one, "profit the diseased
+body, so no warning avails {90} to touch the heart full of the love of this
+world." "The work of a holy man doth not consist in this, that he eats
+grain, and clothes himself in wool, but in the knowledge of God and
+submission to His will." "Thou deservest not the name of a learned man till
+thy heart is emptied of the love of this world." "Hide thy good deeds as
+closely as thou wouldst hide thy sins." A famous mystic was brought into
+the presence of the Khalif Harun-ur-Rashid who said to him: "How great is
+thy abnegation?" He replied, "Thine is greater." "How so?" said the Khalif.
+"Because I make abnegation of this world, and thou makest abnegation of the
+next." The same man also said: "The display of devotional works to please
+men is hypocrisy, and acts of devotion done to please men are acts of
+polytheism."
+
+But towards the close of the second century of the Hijra, this earlier
+mysticism developed into Sufiism. Then Al-Hallaj taught in Baghdad thus: "I
+am the Truth. There is nought in Paradise but God. I am He whom I love, and
+He whom I love is I; we are two souls dwelling in one body. When thou seest
+me, thou seest Him; and when thou seest Him thou seest me." This roused the
+opposition of the orthodox divines by whom Al-Hallaj was condemned to be
+worthy of death. He was then by order of the Khalif flogged, tortured and
+finally beheaded. Thus died one of the early martyrs of Sufiism, but it
+grew in spite of bitter persecution.
+
+In order to understand the esoteric teaching of Sufiistic poetry, it is
+necessary to remember that the perceptive sense is the traveller, the
+knowledge of God the goal, the doctrines of this ascent, or upward progress
+is the Tarikat, or the road. The extinction of self is necessary before any
+progress can be made on that road. A Sufi poet writes:--
+
+ "Plant one foot upon the neck of self,
+  The other in thy Friend's domain;
+  In everything His presence see,
+  For other vision is in vain."
+
+{91}
+
+Sa'di in the Bustan says: "Art thou a friend of God? Speak not of self, for
+to speak of God and of self is infidelity." Shaikh Abu'l-Faiz, a great poet
+and a friend of the Emperor Akbar, from whom he received the honourable
+title of Malik-ush-Shu'ara--Master of the Poets, says: "Those who have not
+closed the door on existence and non-existence reap no advantage from the
+calm of this world and of the world to come." Khusrau, another well-known
+poet says:--
+
+ "I have become Thou: Thou art become I,
+  I am the body, Thou the soul;
+  Let no one henceforth say
+  That I am distinct from Thee, and Thou from me."
+
+The fact is, that Persian poetry is almost entirely Sufiistic. It is
+difficult for the uninitiated to arrive at the esoteric meaning of these
+writings. Kitman, or the art of hiding from the profane religious beliefs,
+often contrary to the revealed law, has always been a special quality of
+the East. Pantheistic doctrines are largely inculcated.[81] Thus:--
+
+ "I was, ere a name had been named upon earth;
+  Ere one trace yet existed of aught that has birth;
+  When the locks of the Loved One streamed forth for a sign,
+  And Being was none, save the Presence Divine!
+  Named and name were alike emanations from Me,
+  Ere aught that was 'I' existed, or 'We.'"
+
+The poet then describes his fruitless search for rest and peace in
+Christianity, Hinduism, and the religion of the Parsee. Even Islam gave him
+no satisfaction, for--
+
+ "Nor above nor beneath came the Loved One to view,
+  I toiled to the summit, wild, pathless and lone,
+  Of the globe-girding Kaf[82]:--but the 'Anka[83] had flown!
+  {92}
+  The sev'nth heaven I traversed--the sev'nth heaven explored,
+  But in neither discern'd I the court of the Lord!
+  I question'd the Pen and the Tablet of Fate,
+  But they whisper'd not where He pavilions His state;
+  My vision I strain'd; but my God-scanning eye
+  No trace, that to Godhead belongs, could descry.
+  My glance I bent inward; within my own breast,
+  Lo, the vainly sought elsewhere, the Godhead confess'd!
+  In the whirl of its transport my spirit was toss'd,
+  _Till each atom of separate being I lost_."
+
+These are the words of the greatest authority among the Sufis, the famous
+Maulana Jelal-ud-din Rumi, founder of the order of the Maulavi Darwishes.
+He also relates the following story: "One knocked at the door of the
+beloved, and a voice from within said: 'Who is there?' Then he answered,
+'_It is I._' The voice replied, 'This house will not hold _me_ and _thee_!'
+So the door remained shut. The lover retired to a wilderness, and spent
+some time in solitude, fasting, and prayer. One year elapsed, when he again
+returned, and knocked at the door. 'Who is there?' said the voice. The
+lover answered, '_It is thou._' Then the door was opened."
+
+The great object of life, then, being to escape from the hindrances to pure
+love and to a return to the divine essence, the Talib, or seeker, attaches
+himself to a Murshid, or teacher. If he prosecutes his studies according to
+Sufiistic methods he now often enters one of the many orders of Darwishes.
+After due preparation under his Murshid, he is allowed to enter on the
+road. He then becomes a Salik, or traveller, whose business henceforth is
+suluk that is, devotion to one idea--the knowledge of God. In this road
+there are eight stages. (1) Service. Here he must serve God and obey the
+Law for he is still in bondage. (2) Love. It is supposed that now the
+Divine influence has so attracted his soul that he really loves God. (3)
+Seclusion. Love having expelled all worldly desires, he arrives at this
+stage, and passes his time in meditation on the deeper doctrines {93} of
+Sufiism regarding the Divine nature. (4) Knowledge. The meditation in the
+preceding stage, and the investigation of the metaphysical theories
+concerning God, His nature, His attributes and the like make him an
+'Arif--one who knows. (5) Ecstasy. The mental excitement caused by such
+continued meditation on abstruse subjects produces a kind of frenzy, which
+is looked upon as a mark of direct illumination of the heart from God. It
+is known as Hal--the state; or Wajd--ecstasy. Arrival at this stage is
+highly valued, for it is the certain entrance to the next. (6) Haqiqat--the
+Truth. Now to the traveller is revealed the true nature of God, now he
+learns the reality of that which he has been for so long seeking. This
+admits him to the highest stage in his journey, as far as this life is
+concerned. (7) That stage is Wasl--union with God.
+
+ "There was a door to which I found no key;
+  There was a veil past which I could not see:
+  Some little talk of Me and Thee
+  There seemed--and then no more of Thee and Me."
+
+He cannot, in this life, go beyond that, and very few reach that exalted
+stage. Thus arose a "system of Pantheism, which represents joy and sorrow,
+good and evil, pleasure and pain as manifestations of one changeless
+essence." Religion, as made known by an outward revelation, is, to the few
+who reach this stage, a thing of the past. Even its restraints are not
+needed. The soul that is united to God can do no evil. The poet Khusrau
+says: "Love is the object of my worship, what need have I of Islam?"
+
+Death ensues and with it the last stage is reached. (8) It is
+Fana--extinction. The seeker after all his search, the traveller after all
+his wearisome journey passes behind the veil and finds--nothing! As the
+traveller proceeds from stage to stage, the restraints of an objective
+revelation and of an outward system are less and less heeded. "The {94}
+religion of the mystic consists in his immediate communication with God,
+and when once this has been established, the value of ecclesiastical forms,
+and of the historical part of religion, becomes doubtful." What law can
+bind the soul in union with God, what outward system impose any trammels on
+one who, in the "Ecstasy," has received from Him, who is the Truth, the
+direct revelation of His own glorious nature? Moral laws and ceremonial
+observances have only an allegorical signification. Creeds are but fetters
+cunningly devised to limit the flight of the soul; all that is objective in
+religion is a restraint to the reason of the initiated.[84]
+
+Pantheistic in creed, and too often Antinomian in practice, Sufiism
+possesses no regenerative power in Islam. "It is not a substantive religion
+such as shapes the life of races or of nations, it is a state of opinion."
+No Muslim State makes a national profession of Sufiism.
+
+In spite of all its dogmatic utterances, in spite of much that is sublime
+in its idea of the search after light and truth, Sufiism ends in utter
+negation of all separate existence. The pantheism of the Sufis, this
+esoteric doctrine of Islam, as a moral doctrine leads to the same
+conclusions as materialism, "the negation of human liberty, the
+indifference to actions and the legitimacy of all temporal enjoyments."
+
+The result of Sufiism has been the establishment of a large number of
+religious orders known as Darwishes.[85] These men are looked upon with
+disfavour by the {95} orthodox; but they flourish nevertheless, and in
+Turkey at the present day have great influence. There are in Constantinople
+two hundred Takiahs, or monasteries. The Darwishes are not organized with
+such regularity, nor subject to discipline so severe as that of the
+Christian Monastic orders; but they surpass them in number. Each order has
+its own special mysteries and practices by which its members think they can
+obtain a knowledge of the secrets of the invisible world. They are also
+called Faqirs--poor men, not, however, always in the sense of being in
+temporal want, but as being poor in the sight of God. As a matter of fact
+the Darwishes of many of the orders do not beg, and many of the Takiahs are
+richly endowed. They are divided into two great classes, the Ba Shara'
+(with the Law) Darwishes; and the Be Shara' (without the Law). The former
+prefer to rule their conduct according to the law of Islam and are called
+the Salik--travellers on the path (tariqat) to heaven; the latter though
+they call themselves Muslims do not conform to the law, and are called Azad
+(free), or Majzub (abstracted), a term which signifies their renunciation
+of all worldly cares and pursuits.
+
+The Salik Darwishes are those who perform the Zikrs.[86] What little hope
+there is of these professedly religious men working any reform in Islam
+will be seen from the following account of their doctrines.[87]
+
+1. God only exists,--He is in all things, and all things are in Him.
+"Verily we are _from_ God, and _to_ Him shall we return." (Sura ii. 151.)
+
+{96}
+
+2. All visible and invisible beings are an emanation from Him, and are not
+really distinct from Him. Creation is only a pastime with God.
+
+3. Paradise and Hell, and all the dogmas of positive religions, are only so
+many allegories, the spirit of which is only known to the Sufi.
+
+4. Religions are matters of indifference; they, however, serve as a means
+of reaching to realities. Some, for this purpose, are more advantageous
+than others. Among which is the Musalman religion, of which the doctrine of
+the Sufis is the philosophy.
+
+5. There is not any real difference between good and evil, for all is
+reduced to unity, and God is the real author of the acts of mankind.
+
+6. It is God who fixes the will of man. Man, therefore, is not free in his
+actions.
+
+7. The soul existed before the body, and is now confined within it as in a
+cage. At death the soul returns to the Divinity from which it emanated.
+
+8. The principal occupation of the Sufi is to meditate on the unity, and so
+to attain to spiritual perfection--unification with God.
+
+9. Without the grace of God no one can attain to this unity; but God does
+not refuse His aid to those who are in the right path.
+
+The power of a Sheikh, a spiritual leader, is very great. The following
+account of the admission of a Novice, called Tawakkul Beg, into an Order,
+and of the severe tests applied, will be of some interest.[88] Tawakkul Beg
+says:--"Having been introduced by Akhund Moolla Muhammad to Sheikh Moolla
+Shah, my heart, through frequent intercourse with him, was filled with such
+a burning desire to arrive at a true knowledge of the mystical science that
+I found no sleep by night, nor rest by day. When the initiation commenced,
+{97} I passed the whole night without sleep, and repeated innumerable times
+the Surat-ul-Ikhlas:--
+
+ "Say: He is God alone:
+  God the eternal:
+  He begetteth not, and He is not begotten;
+  And there is none like unto Him." (Sura cxii.)
+
+Whosoever repeats this Sura one hundred times can accomplish all his vows.
+I desired that the Sheikh should bestow on me his love. No sooner had I
+finished my task than the heart of the Sheikh became full of sympathy for
+me. On the following night I was conducted to his presence. During the
+whole of that night he concentrated his thoughts on me, whilst I gave
+myself up to inward meditation. Three nights passed in this way. On the
+fourth night the Sheikh said:--'Let Moolla Senghim and Salih Beg, who are
+very susceptible to ecstatic emotions, apply their spiritual energies to
+Tawakkul Beg.'
+
+They did so, whilst I passed the whole night in meditation, with my face
+turned toward Mecca. As the morning drew near, a little light came into my
+mind, but I could not distinguish form or colour. After the morning
+prayers, I was taken to the Sheikh who bade me inform him of my mental
+state. I replied that I had seen a light with my inward eye. On hearing
+this, the Sheikh became animated and said: 'Thy heart is dark, but the time
+is come when I will show myself clearly to thee.' He then ordered me to sit
+down in front of him, and to impress his features on my mind. Then having
+blindfolded me, he ordered me to concentrate all my thoughts upon him. I
+did so, and in an instant by the spiritual help of the Sheikh my heart
+opened. He asked me what I saw. I said that I saw another Tawakkul Beg and
+another Moolla Shah. The bandage was then removed, and I saw the Sheikh in
+front of me. Again they covered my face, and again I saw him with my inward
+eye. Astonished, I cried; 'O master! whether I look with my bodily eye, or
+with my spiritual {98} sight, it is always you I see.' I then saw a
+dazzling figure approach me. The Sheikh told me to say to the apparition,
+'What is your name?' In my spirit I put the question, and the figure
+answered to my heart: 'I am 'Abd-ul-Qadir Jilani, I have already aided
+thee, thy heart is opened.' Much affected, I vowed that in honour of the
+saint, I would repeat the whole Quran every Friday night.
+
+Moolla Shah then said: 'The spiritual world has been shown to thee in all
+its beauty.' I then rendered perfect obedience to the Sheikh. The following
+day I saw the Prophet, the chief Companions, and legions of saints and
+angels. After three months, I entered the cheerless region in which the
+figures appeared no more. During the whole of this time, the Sheikh
+continued to explain to me the mystery of the doctrine of the Unity and of
+the knowledge of God; but as yet he did not show me the absolute reality.
+It was not until a year had passed that I arrived at the true conception of
+unity. Then in words such as these I told the Sheikh of my inspiration. 'I
+look upon the body as only dust and water, I regard neither my heart nor my
+soul, alas! that in separation from Thee (God) so much of my life has
+passed. Thou wert I and I knew it not.' The Sheikh was delighted, and said
+that the truth of the union with God was now clearly revealed to me. Then
+addressing those who were present, he said: 'Tawakkul Beg learnt from me
+the doctrine of the Unity, his inward eye has been opened, the spheres of
+colours and of images have been shown to him. At length, he entered the
+colourless region. He has now attained to the Unity, doubt and scepticism
+henceforth have no power over him. No one sees the Unity with the outward
+eye, till the inward eye gains strength and power.'"
+
+I cannot pass from this branch of the subject without making a few remarks
+on Omar Khayyam, the great Astronomer-Poet of Persia. He is sometimes
+confounded with the Sufis, for there is much in his poetry which is similar
+{99} in tone to that of the Sufi writers. But his true position was that of
+a sceptic. He wrote little, but what he has written will live. As an
+astronomer he was a man of note. He died in the year 517 A.H. There are two
+things which may have caused his scepticism. To a man of his intelligence
+the hard and fast system of Islam was an intolerable burden. Then, his
+scientific spirit had little sympathy with mysticism, the earnest
+enthusiasts of which were too often followed by hollow impostors. It is
+true, that there was much in the spirit of some of the better Sufis that
+seemed to show a yearning for something higher than mere earthly good;
+above all, there was the recognition of a Higher Power. But with all this
+came spiritual pride, the world and its duties became a thing of evil, and
+the religious and the secular life were completely divorced, to the ruin of
+both. The Pantheism which soon pervaded the system left no room for man's
+will to act, for his conscience to guide. So the moral law become a dead
+letter. Irreligious men, to free themselves from the bondage and restraints
+of law, assumed the religious life. "Thus a movement, animated at first by
+a high and lofty purpose, has degenerated into a fruitful source of ill.
+The stream which ought to have expanded into a fertilising river has become
+a vast swamp, exhaling vapours charged with disease and death."
+
+Omar Khayyam saw through the unreality of all this. In vain does he try, by
+an assumed air of gaiety, to hide from others the sadness which fills his
+heart, as all that is bright is seen passing away into oblivion.
+
+  One moment in annihilation's waste,
+  One moment, of the well of life to taste--
+  The stars are setting and the Caravan
+  Starts for the dawn of nothing--oh, make haste!
+
+  Ah, fill the cup:--what boots it to repeat
+  How Time is slipping underneath our feet:
+  Unborn To-morrow, and dead Yesterday,
+  Why fret about them if To-day be sweet.
+
+{100}
+
+Omar held to the earthly and the material. For him there was no spiritual
+world. Chance seemed to rule all the affairs of men. A pitiless destiny
+shaped out the course of each human being.
+
+ "'Tis all a chequer-board of nights and days
+  Where destiny with men for pieces plays:
+  Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,
+  And one by one back in the closet lays.
+
+  The moving finger writes; and, having writ,
+  Moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit
+  Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
+  Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it."
+
+Neither from earth nor heaven could he find any answer to his cry. With
+sages and saints he discussed, and heard, "great argument, but evermore
+came out by the same door as in he went." He left the wise to talk, for one
+thing alone was certain, and all else was lies,--"the flower that once has
+blown for ever dies." Leaving men he turned to nature, but it was all the
+same.
+
+ "Up from earth's centre through the seventh gate
+  I rose, and on the throne of Saturn sate,
+  And many knots unravell'd by the road;
+  But not the knot of human death and fate.
+
+  And that inverted bowl we call the sky,
+  Where under crawling coop'd we live and die,
+  Lift not thy hands to it for help--for it
+  Rolls impotently on as thou or I."
+
+Omar has with justice been compared to Lucretius. Both were materialists,
+both believed not in a future life. "Lucretius built a system for himself
+in his poem ... it has a professed practical aim--to explain the world's
+self-acting machine to the polytheist, and to disabuse him of all spiritual
+ideas." Omar builds up no system, he only shows forth his own doubts and
+difficulties, "he loves to balance antitheses of belief, and settle himself
+in the equipoise of the sceptic." {101}
+
+The fact that there is no hereafter gives Lucretius no pain, but Omar who,
+if only his reason could let him, would believe, records his utter despair
+in words of passionate bitterness. He is not glad that there is no help
+anywhere.[89] And though he calls for the wine-cup, and listens to the
+voice within the tavern cry,
+
+ "Awake, my little ones, and fill the cup
+  Before Life's liquor in its cup be dry,"
+
+yet he also looks back to the time, when he consorted with those who
+professed to know, and could say:
+
+ "With them the seed of wisdom did I sow,
+  And with my own hand laboured it to grow."
+
+The founder of the Wahhabi sect was Muhammad-ibn-Abd-ul-Wahhab, who was
+born at a village in Nejd in the year 1691 A.D. The Wahhabis speak of
+themselves as Muwahhid--Unitarians; but their opponents have given to them
+the name of the father of the founder of their sect and call them Wahhabis.
+Muhammad was a bright intelligent youth, of a strong constitution and
+generous spirit. After going through a course of Arabic literature he
+studied jurisprudence under a teacher of the Hanifi school. He then set out
+in company with his father to perform the Hajj. At Madina he received
+further instruction in the Law. He spent sometime at Ispahan in the society
+of learned men. Full of {102} knowledge, he returned to his native village
+of Ayina where he assumed the position of a religious teacher. He was
+shocked to see how the Arabs had departed from what seemed to him the
+strict unchanging precepts of the Prophet. Luxury in the form of rich
+dresses and silken garments, superstition in the use of omens, auguries,
+and the like, in the pilgrimages to shrines and tombs seemed to be altering
+the character of the religion as given by the Apostle of God. He saw, or
+thought he saw, that in the veneration paid to saints and holy men, the
+great doctrine of the "Unity" was being obscured. The reason was very
+plain. The Quran and the Traditions of the Companions had been neglected,
+whilst the sayings of men of lesser note, and the jurisprudence of the four
+great Imams had been too readily followed. Here was work to do. He would
+reform the Church of Islam, and restore men to their allegiance to the Book
+and the Sunnat, as recorded by the Companions. It is true, that the Sunnis
+would rise up in opposition, for thus the authority of the four Imams, the
+"Canonical Legists" of the orthodox sect, would be set aside; but what of
+that? Had he not been a follower of Abu Hanifa? Now he was prepared to let
+Aba Hanifa go, for none but a Companion of the Prophet could give an
+authoritative statement with regard to the Sunnat--the Prophet's words and
+acts. He must break a lance with the glorious Imam, and start a school of
+his own.
+
+He said: "The Muslim pilgrims adore the tomb of the Prophet, and the
+sepulchre of 'Ali, and of other saints who have died in the odour of
+sanctity. They run there to pay the tribute of their fervent prayers. By
+this means they think that they can satisfy their spiritual and temporal
+needs, From what do they seek this benefit? From walls made of mud and
+stones, from corpses deposited in tombs. If you speak to them they will
+reply, 'We do not call these monuments God; we turn to them in prayer, and
+we pray the saints to intercede for us on high.' Now, the true {103} way of
+salvation is to prostrate one's self before Him who is ever present, and to
+venerate Him--the one without associate or equal." Such outspoken language
+raised up opposition, and he had to seek the protection of
+Muhammad-Ibn-Saud, a chief of some importance, who now vigorously supported
+the Wahhabi movement. He was a stern and uncompromising man. "As soon as
+you seize a place," he said to his soldiers, "put the males to the sword.
+Plunder and pillage at your pleasure, but spare the women and do not strike
+a blow at their modesty." On the day of battle he used to give each soldier
+a paper, a safe conduct to the other world. This letter was addressed to
+the Treasurer of Paradise. It was enclosed in a bag which the warrior
+suspended to his neck. The soldiers were persuaded that the souls of those
+who died in battle would go straight to heaven, without being examined by
+the angels Munkar and Nakir in the grave. The widows and orphans of all who
+fell were supported by the survivors. Nothing could resist men who, fired
+with a burning zeal for what they deemed the truth, received a share of the
+booty, if conquerors; who went direct to Paradise if they were slain. In
+course of time, Muhammad-Ibn-Saud married the daughter of Ibn-Abd-ul-Wahhab
+and founded the Wahhabi dynasty which to this day rules at Ryadh.[90]
+
+Such was the origin of this great movement, which spread, in course of
+time, over Central and Eastern Arabia, and in the beginning of this century
+found acceptance in India. In the year 1803 A.D. both Mecca and Madina fell
+into the hands of the Wahhabis. A clean sweep was made of all things, the
+use of which was opposed to Wahhabi principles. Not only rosaries and
+charms, but silk robes and pipes were consigned to the flames, for smoking
+is a {104} deadly sin. On this point there is a good story told by
+Palgrave--"'Abd-ul-Karim said: 'The first of the great sins is the giving
+divine honours to a creature.' Of course I replied, 'The enormity of such a
+sin is beyond all doubt. But if this be the first, there must be a second;
+what is it?' 'Drinking the shameful!' (in English idiom, 'smoking tobacco')
+was the unhesitating answer. 'And murder, and adultery, and false witness?'
+I suggested. 'God is merciful and forgiving,' rejoined my friend; that is,
+these are merely little sins."[91]
+
+After holding possession of the holy cities for nine years they were driven
+out by the Turkish forces. 'Abdullah, the fourth Wahhabi ruler, was
+captured by Ibrahim Pasha, and afterwards executed in the square of St.
+Sophia (1818 A.D.) The political power of the Wahhabis has since been
+confined to parts of Arabia; but their religious opinions have widely
+spread.
+
+The leader of the Wahhabi movement in India was Sayyid Ahmad, a reformed
+freebooter. He was now born at Rai Bareili, in Oudh, 1786 A.D. When about
+thirty years of age he gave up his wild way of living and settled down in
+Delhi as a student of the Law of Islam. After a while, he went on
+pilgrimage to Mecca, but his opinions, so similar to those of the noted
+Wahhabi, attracted the attention of the orthodox theologians, through whose
+influence he was expelled from the sacred city. Persecution deepened his
+religious convictions, and he returned to India a pronounced Wahhabi. He
+soon gained a large number of disciples, and in 1826 A.D. he preached a
+Jihad against the Sikhs. This war was not a success. In the year 1831 the
+Wahhabis were suddenly attacked by the Sikhs, under Sher Singh, and Sayyid
+Ahmad was slain. This did not, however, prevent the spread of Wahhabi
+principles, for he had the good fortune to leave behind him an enthusiastic
+disciple. This man, {105} Muhammad Isma'il, was born near Delhi in the year
+1781 A.D. He was a youth of good abilities and soon mastered the subjects
+which form the curriculum of a liberal education amongst Musalmans. His
+first preaching was in a Mosque at Delhi on Tauhid (Unity), and against
+Shirk (Polytheism). He now met with Sayyid Ahmad who soon acquired great
+influence over his new disciple. Isma'il told him one evening that he could
+not offer up his prayers with Huzur-i-Kalb, presence of heart. The Sayyid
+took him to his room where he instructed him to repeat the first of the
+prayers after him, and then to conclude them alone. He did so, and was able
+to so abstract himself in the contemplation of God that he remained engaged
+in prayer till the morning. Henceforward he was a devoted adherent of his
+spiritual teacher. In the public discussions, which now often took place,
+none were a match for Isma'il. This fervent preacher of Wahhabiism is now
+chiefly remembered by his great work, the Takwiat-ul-Iman, the book from
+which the account of Wahhabi doctrine given in this chapter is taken. If I
+make no special reference to the quotations given, it will be known that my
+authority for the statements thus made is Muhammad Isma'il, the most famous
+of all Sayyid Ahmad's disciples. This book was followed by the
+Sirat-ul-Mustaqim, said to have been written by one of Isma'il's followers.
+Wahhabi doctrines are now spread throughout India. In the South there is
+not much religious excitement or inquiry, yet Wahhabis are to be found
+there.[92] It was and is a remarkable movement. In one sense it is a
+struggle against the traditionalism of later ages, but in no sense can it
+be said that the Wahhabis reject Tradition. They acknowledge as the
+foundation of the faith--first, the Quran; secondly, the Traditions which
+are recorded on the authority of the Companions, and also the Ijma' of the
+Companions, that is, all things on which they were unanimous in opinion
+{106} or in practice. Thus to the Wahhabi as to the Sunni, Muhammad is in
+all his _acts_ and _words_ a perfect guide.
+
+So far from Wahhabiism being a move onward because it is a return to first
+principles, it rather binds the fetters of Islam more tightly. It does not
+originate anything new, it offers no relaxation from a system which looks
+upon the Quran and the Traditions as a perfect and complete law, social and
+political, moral and religious.
+
+The Wahhabi places the doctrine of the "Tauhid," or Unity, in a very
+prominent position. It is true that all Musalman sects put this dogma in
+the first rank, but Wahhabis set their faces against practices common to
+the other sects, because they consider that they obscure this fundamental
+doctrine. It is this which brings them into collision with other Musalmans.
+The greatest of all sins is Shirk (_i.e._ the ascribing of plurality to the
+Deity). A Mushrik (Polytheist) is one who so offends. All Musalmans
+consider Christians to be Polytheists, and all Wahhabis consider all other
+Musalmans also to be Polytheists, because they look to the Prophet for
+intercession, pray to saints, visit shrines, and do other unlawful acts.
+
+The Takwiat-ul-Iman says that "two things are necessary in religion--to
+know God as God, and the Prophet as the Prophet." The two fundamental bases
+of the faith are the "Doctrine of the Tauhid (Unity) and obedience to the
+Sunnat." The two great errors to be avoided are Shirk (Polytheism) and
+Bida't (Innovation). As Bida't is looked upon as evil, it is somewhat
+difficult to see what hope of progress can be placed upon this latest phase
+of Muhammadan revival.
+
+Shirk is defined to be of four kinds: Shirk-ul-'Ilm, ascribing knowledge to
+others than God; Shirk-ut-tasarruf, ascribing power to others than God;
+Shirk-ul-'Ibadat, offering worship to created things; Shirk-ul-'adat, the
+performance of ceremonies which imply reliance on others than God. {107}
+
+The first, Shirk-ul-'Ilm, is illustrated by the statement that prophets and
+holy men have no knowledge of secret things unless as revealed to them by
+God. Thus some wicked persons made a charge against 'Ayesha. The Prophet
+was troubled in mind, but knew not the truth of the matter till God made it
+known to him. To ascribe, then, power to soothsayers, astrologers, and
+saints is Polytheism. "All who pretend to have a knowledge of hidden
+things, such as fortune-tellers, soothsayers and interpreters of dreams, as
+well as those who profess to be inspired are all liars." Again, "should any
+one take the name of any saint, or invoke his aid in the time of need,
+instead of calling on God, or use his name in attacking an enemy, or read
+passages to propitiate him, or make him the object of contemplation--it is
+Shirk-ul-'Ilm."
+
+The second kind, Shirk-ut-tasarruf, is to suppose that any one has power
+with God. He who looks up to any one as an intercessor with God commits
+Shirk. Thus: "But they who take others beside Him as lords, saying, 'We
+only serve them that they may bring us near God,'--God will judge between
+them (and the Faithful) concerning that wherein they are at variance."
+(Sura xxxix. 4.) Intercession may be of three kinds. For example, a
+criminal is placed before the King. The Vizier intercedes. The King, having
+regard to the rank of the Vizier, pardons the offender. This is called
+Shafa'at-i-Wajahat, or 'intercession from regard.' But to suppose that God
+so esteems the rank of any one as to pardon a sinner merely on account of
+it is Shirk. Again, the Queen or the Princes intercede for the criminal.
+The King, from love to them, pardons him. This is called
+Shafa'at-i-muhabbat, or 'intercession from affection.' But to consider that
+God so loves any one as to pardon a criminal on his account is to give that
+loved one power, and this is Shirk, for such power is not possible in the
+Court of God. "God may out of His bounty confer on His favourite servants
+the epithets of Habib--favourite, or Khalil--friend, {108} &c.; but a
+servant is but a servant, no one can put his foot outside the limits of
+servitude, or rise beyond the rank of a servant." Again, the King may
+himself wish to pardon the offender, but he fears lest the majesty of the
+law should be lowered. The Vizier perceives the King's wish, and
+intercedes. This intercession is lawful. It is called
+Shafa'at-i-ba-izn--intercession by permission, and such power Muhammad will
+have at the day of Judgment. Wahhabis hold that he has not that power now,
+though all other Musalmans consider that he has, and in consequence (in
+Wahhabi opinion) commit the sin of Shirk-ut-tasarruf. The Wahhabis quote
+the following passages in support of their view. "Who is he that can
+intercede with Him but by _His own permission_." (Sura ii. 256) "Say:
+Intercession is wholly with God! His the kingdoms of the heavens and of the
+earth." (Sura xxxix. 46). They also say: "whenever an allusion is made in
+the Quran, or the Traditions to the intercession of certain prophets or
+apostles, it is this kind of intercession and no other that is meant."
+
+The third Shirk is prostration before any created beings with the idea of
+worshipping it. It also includes perambulating the shrines of departed
+saints. Thus: "Prostration, bowing down, standing with folded arms,
+spending money in the name of an individual, fasting out of respect to his
+memory, proceeding to a distant shrine in a pilgrim's garb and calling out
+the name of the saint whilst so going is Shirk-ul-'Ibadat." It is wrong "to
+cover the grave with a sheet (ghilaf), to say prayers at the shrine, to
+kiss any particular stone, to rub the mouth and breast against the walls of
+the shrine, &c." This is a stern condemnation of the very common practice
+of visiting the tombs of saints and of some of the special practices of the
+pilgrimage to Mecca. All such practices as are here condemned are called
+Ishrak fi'l 'Ibadat--'association in worship.'
+
+The fourth Shirk is the keeping up of superstitious customs, such as the
+Istikhara--seeking guidance from beads {109} &c., trusting to omens, good
+or bad, believing in lucky and unlucky days, adopting such names as
+'Abd-un-Nabi (slave of the Prophet), and so on. In fact, the denouncing of
+such practices and calling them Shirk brings Wahhabiism into daily contact
+with the other sects, for scarcely any people in the world are such
+profound believers in the virtue of charms and the power of astrologers as
+Musalmans. The difference between the first and fourth Shirk, the
+Shirk-ul-'Ilm and the Shirk-ul-'adat, seems to be that the first is the
+_belief_, say in the knowledge of a soothsayer, and the second the _habit_
+of consulting him.
+
+To swear by the name of the Prophet, of 'Ali, of the Imams, or of Pirs
+(Leaders) is to give them the honour due to God alone. It is Ishrak fi'l
+adab--'Shirk in association.'
+
+Another common belief which Wahhabis oppose is that Musalmans can perform
+the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), say prayers, read the Quran, abide in
+meditation, give alms, and do other good works, the reward of which shall
+be credited to a person already dead.[93] Amongst other Musalmans it is a
+common practice to read the Quran in the belief that, if done with such an
+intention, the reward will pass to the deceased object of the desire.
+Wahabis entirely object to this.
+
+The above technical exposition of Wahhabi tenets shows how much stress they
+lay on a rigid adherence to the doctrine of the "Unity." "La-il-laha,
+Il-lal-la-hu" (there is no God but God) is an eternal truth. Yet to the
+Musalman God is a Being afar off. In rejecting the Fatherhood of God he has
+accepted as the object of his worship, hardly of his affections, a Being
+despotic in all He does, arbitrary in all His ways. He has accepted the
+position of a slave instead of that of a son. Wahhabiism emphasizes the
+ideas which flow from the first article of the Muslim creed. But {110} on
+this subject we prefer to let Palgrave speak. He of all men knew the
+Wahhabi best, and he, at least, can be accused of no sectarian bias. The
+extract is rather long, but will repay perusal; indeed, the whole passage
+from which this extract is taken should be read.
+
+    "'There is no God but God,' are words simply tantamount in English to
+    the negation of any deity save one alone; and thus much they certainly
+    mean in Arabic, but they imply much more also. Their full sense is, not
+    only to deny absolutely and unreservedly all plurality whether of
+    nature or of person in the Supreme Being, not only to establish the
+    unity of the Unbegetting and the Unbegot, in all its simple and
+    incommunicable oneness, but besides this, the words, in Arabic and
+    among Arabs, imply that this one Supreme Being is the only Agent, the
+    only Force, the only Act existing throughout the universe, and leave to
+    all beings else, matter or spirit, instinct or intelligence, physical
+    or moral, nothing but pure unconditional passiveness, alike in movement
+    or in quiescence, in action or in capacity. Hence in this one sentence
+    is summed up a system which, for want of a better name, I may be
+    permitted to call the 'Pantheism of Force.' 'God is One in the totality
+    of omnipotent and omnipresent action, which acknowledges no rule,
+    standard, or limit, save one sole and absolute will. He communicates
+    nothing to His creatures, for their seeming power and act ever remain
+    His alone, and in return He receives nothing from them.' 'It is His
+    singular satisfaction to let created beings continually feel that they
+    are nothing else than His slaves, that they may the better acknowledge
+    His superiority.' 'He Himself, sterile in His inaccessible height,
+    neither loving nor enjoying aught save His own and self-measured
+    decree, without son, companion, or councillor, is no less barren for
+    Himself than for His creatures, and His own barrenness and lone egoism
+    in Himself is the cause and rule of His indifferent and unregarding
+    despotism around.'[94]
+
+Palgrave allows that such a notion of the Deity is monstrous, but maintains
+that it is the "truest mirror of the mind and scope of the writer of the
+Book" (Quran), and that, as such, it is confirmed by authentic Tradition
+and learned commentaries. At all events, Palgrave possessed {111} the two
+essential qualifications for a critic of Islam--a knowledge of the
+literature, and intercourse with the people. So far as my experience goes I
+have never seen any reason to differ from Palgrave's statement. Men are
+often better than their creeds. Even the Prophet was not always consistent.
+There are some redeeming points in Islam. But the root idea of the whole is
+as described above, and from it no system can be deduced which will grow in
+grace and beauty as age after age rolls by.
+
+The Arab proverb states that "The worshipper models himself on what he
+worships."[95] Thus a return to "first principles," sometimes proclaimed as
+the hope of Turkey, is but the "putting back the hour-hand of Islam" to the
+place where indeed Muhammad always meant it to stay, for
+
+    "Islam is in its essence stationary, and was framed thus to remain.
+    Sterile, like its God, lifeless like its first Principle and supreme
+    Original in all that constitutes true life--for life is love,
+    participation, and progress, and of these the Quranic Deity has
+    none--it justly repudiates all change, all advance, all
+    development."[96]
+
+Muhammad Ibn 'Abd-ul Wahhab was a man of great intellectual power and
+vigour. He could pierce through the mists of a thousand years, and see with
+an eagle eye how one sect and another had laid accretions on the Faith. He
+had the rare gift of intuition, and could see that change (Bida't) and
+progress were alien to the truth. This recognition of his ability is due to
+him; but what a sad prostration of great gifts it was to seek to arrest, by
+the worship of the letter, all hope of progress, and to make "the
+starting-point of Islam its goal." That he was a good Musalman in so doing
+no one can doubt, but that his work gives any hope of the rise of an
+enlightened form of Islam no one who really has studied Islam can believe.
+
+Wahhabiism simply amounts to this, that while it denounces all other
+Musalmans as polytheists, it enforces the {112} Sunnat of the Prophet with
+all its energy.[97] It breaks down shrines, but insists on the necessity of
+a pilgrimage to a black stone at Mecca. It forbids the use of a rosary, but
+attaches great merit to counting the ninety-nine names of God on the
+fingers. It would make life unsocial. The study of the Fine Arts with the
+exception of Architecture can find no place in it. Isma'il quotes with
+approval the following Tradition. "'Ayesha said: 'I purchased a carpet on
+which were some figures. The Prophet stood in the doorway and looked
+displeased.' I said: 'O messenger of God, I repent to God and His
+Messenger; what fault have I committed that you do not enter?' His Highness
+then said: 'What is this carpet?' I replied; 'I have bought it for you to
+sit and rest upon.' Then the messenger of God replied: 'Verily, the maker
+of pictures will be punished on the day of resurrection, when God will
+desire them to bring them to life. A house which contains pictures is not
+visited by the angels.'" In a Tradition quoted by Ibn 'Abbas, the Prophet
+classes artists with murderers and parricides. Wahhabiism approves of all
+this, and thus by forbidding harmless enjoyments it would make society "an
+organised hypocrisy." It would spread abroad a spirit of contempt for all
+mankind except its own followers, and, where it had the power, it would
+force its convictions on others at the point of the sword.
+
+Wahhabiism was reform after a fashion, in one direction; in the history of
+Islam there have been attempts at reform in other directions; there will
+yet be such attempts, but so long as the Quran and the Sunnat (or, in the
+case of the Shia'h, its equivalent) are to form, as they have hitherto
+{113} done for every sect, the sole law to regulate all conditions and
+states of life, enlightened and continued progress is impossible. The
+deadening influence of Islam is the greatest obstacle the Church of God has
+to overcome in her onward march; its immobility is the bane of many lands;
+connection with it is the association of the living with the dead; to speak
+of it, as some do, as if it were a sort of sister religion to Christianity,
+is but to show deplorable ignorance where ignorance is inexcusable. Thus it
+is plain that Musalmans are not all of one heart and soul.[98] In the next
+chapter I hope to show that Islam is a very dogmatic and complex system in
+spite of the simple form of its creed.
+
+{114}
+
+    NOTE TO CHAPTER III.
+
+    WAHHABIISM.
+
+    In the Journal Asiatique, 4me Serie, tome 11, a curious account is
+    given of the voyage of Mirza Muhammad 'Ali Khan, some time Persian
+    Ambassador in Paris. This gentleman states that in one of his voyages
+    from Persia to India he met with a Wahhabi, who had in his possession a
+    tract written by the founder of the sect. This small pamphlet he
+    allowed Mirza Muhammad to copy. I give the substance of the pamphlet in
+    this note. The original Arabic will be found in the Journal Asiatique.
+    It is of considerable interest as a protest against idolatry. It is as
+    follows:--I know that God is merciful, that the sect of Abu Hanifa is
+    orthodox and identical with the religion of Abraham. After thou hast
+    known that God has created His servants for the purpose of being served
+    by them, know also that this service or devotion is to worship God, One
+    and alone; just as prayer (Salat) is not prayer (Salat), unless it is
+    accompanied with the legal purification. God Most High has said: "It is
+    not for the votaries of other gods with God, witnesses against
+    themselves of infidelity, to visit the temples of God. These! vain
+    their works: and in the fire shall they abide for ever!" (Sura ix. 17.)
+
+    Those who in their prayers, address any other than God, in the hope of
+    obtaining by them that which God alone can give--those bring unto their
+    prayers the leaven of idolatry and make them of none effect, "and who
+    erreth more than he who, beside God, calleth upon that which shall not
+    answer him until the day of resurrection." (Sura xlvi. 4) On the
+    contrary, when the day of resurrection comes, they will become their
+    enemies and treat them as infidels for having served others than God.
+    "But the gods whom ye call on beside Him have no power over the husk of
+    a date-stone! If ye cry to them they will not hear your cry; and if
+    they heard they would not answer you, and in the day of resurrection
+    they will disown your joining them with God." (Sura xxxv. 14,15.)
+
+    He who says: "O thou Prophet of God! O 'Ibn 'Abbas! O 'Abd-ul-Qadir!"
+    &c. with the persuasion that the souls of these blessed ones can obtain
+    from God that of which the suppliant has need, or that they can protect
+    him, is an infidel whose blood any one may shed, and whose goods any
+    one may appropriate with impunity unless he repent. There are four
+    different classes of idolaters.
+
+    {115}
+
+    First, the infidels against whom the Prophet made war. These
+    acknowledge that God is the creator of the world, that He supports all
+    living creatures, that in wisdom He rules over all. "Say: who supplieth
+    you from the heavens and the earth? who hath power over hearing and
+    sight? and who bringeth forth the living from the dead, and bringeth
+    forth the dead from the living? who ruleth all things? they will surely
+    say: 'God,' then say: 'What! will ye not therefore fear Him.'" (Sura x.
+    32.) It is difficult to distinguish idolatry of this kind; but under an
+    outwardly orthodox appearance they go astray; for they have recourse to
+    divinities of their own choosing and pray to them.
+
+    Secondly, there are idolaters who say that they only call upon these
+    intermediary powers to intercede in their favour with God, and that
+    what they desire they seek from God. The Quran furnishes a proof
+    against them. "They worship beside God what cannot hurt or help them,
+    and say, these are our advocates with God! say: will ye inform God of
+    aught in the heavens and in the earth which He knoweth not?" (Sura x.
+    19.)
+
+    Thirdly, those are idolaters who choose one idol as their patron, or
+    rather those who, renouncing the worship of idols, become attached to
+    one saint, as Jesus or His Mother, and put themselves under the
+    protection of Guardian Angels. Against them we cite the verse: "Those
+    whom ye call on, themselves desire union with their Lord, striving
+    which of them shall be nearest to Him; they also hope for His mercy,
+    and fear His chastisement." (Sura xvii. 59.) We see here that the
+    Prophet drew no distinction between the worship of an idol and the
+    worship of such and such a saint; on the contrary, he treated them all
+    as infidels, and made war upon them in order to consolidate the
+    religion of God upon a firm basis.
+
+    Fourthly, those who worship God sincerely in the time of trouble, but
+    at other times call on other Gods are idolaters. Thus: "Lo! when they
+    embark on board a ship, they call upon God, vowing Him sincere worship,
+    but when He bringeth them safe to land, behold they join partners with
+    Him." (Sura xxix. 65.)
+
+    In the age in which we live, I could cite still worse heresies. The
+    idolaters, our contemporaries, pray to and invoke the lower divinities
+    when they are in distress. The idolaters of the Prophet's time were
+    less culpable than those of the present age are. They, at least, had
+    recourse to God in time of great evil; these in good and evil states,
+    seek the aid of their patrons, other than God, and pray to them.
+
+{116}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE CREED OF ISLAM.[99]
+
+Faith is defined by Muslim theologians as: "Confession with the tongue and
+belief with the heart."[100] It is said to "stand midway between hope and
+fear." It is sub-divided into Iman-i-mujmal and Iman-i-mufassal. The former
+is an expression of the following faith: "I believe in God, His names and
+attributes, and accept all His commands."[101] The latter is the acceptance
+of the following dogmas: "I believe in God, Angels, Books, Prophets, the
+Last Day, the Predestination by the Most High God of good and evil and the
+Resurrection after death."[102] These form the articles of faith which
+every Muslim must believe, to which belief, in order to render it perfect,
+he must add the performance of the "acts of practice," _viz._: (1) "The
+recital of the Kalima or creed:--'There is no deity but God, and Muhammad
+is the Apostle of God.' (2) Sulat. The five daily prayers. (3) Roza. The
+thirty days fast of Ramazan. (4) Zakat. The legal alms. (5) Hajj, or the
+pilgrimage to Mecca." This chapter will contain an account of the Iman--the
+dogmas of Islam. An account of the Din--the practical duties, will be given
+in the next chapter. {117}
+
+1. GOD.--This article of the faith includes a belief in the existence of
+God, His unity and attributes, and has given rise to a large number of
+sects. Some acquaintance with the various controversies which have thus
+arisen is necessary to a correct knowledge of Islam. I commence the
+consideration of this subject by giving the substance of a Sunni, or
+orthodox treatise known as the Risala-i-Berkevi. The learned orientalist M.
+Garcin de Tassy, considered it to be of such authority that in his
+"L'Islamisme d'apres le Coran" he has inserted a translation of the
+Risala.[103] Muhammad Al-Berkevi, speaking of the Divine attributes,
+says:--
+
+    (1). Life. (Hyat). God Most High is alone to be adored. He has neither
+    associate nor equal. He is free from the imperfections of humanity. He
+    is neither begotten nor does He beget. He is invisible. He is without
+    figure, form, colour or parts. His existence has neither beginning nor
+    end. He is immutable. If He so wills, He can annihilate the world in a
+    moment of time and, if it seem good to Him, recreate it in an instant.
+    Nothing is difficult to Him, whether it be the creation of a fly or
+    that of the seven heavens. He receives neither profit nor loss from
+    whatever may happen. If all the Infidels became Believers and all the
+    irreligious pious, He would gain no advantage. On the other hand, if
+    all Believers became Infidels, He would suffer no loss.
+
+    (2). Knowledge. ('Ilm). He has knowledge of all things hidden or
+    manifest, whether in heaven or on earth. He knows the number of the
+    leaves of the trees, of the grains of wheat and of sand. Events past
+    and future are known to Him. He knows what enters into the heart of man
+    and what he utters with his mouth. He alone, except those to whom He
+    has revealed them, knows the invisible things. He is free from
+    forgetfulness, negligence and error. His knowledge is eternal: it is
+    not posterior to His essence.
+
+    (3). Power. (Qudrat). He is Almighty. If He wills, He can raise the
+    dead, make stones talk, trees walk, annihilate the heavens and the
+    earth and recreate of gold or of silver thousands similar to those
+    destroyed. He can transport a man in a moment of time from the east to
+    the west, or from the west to the east, or to the seventh heaven. His
+    power is eternal a priori and a posteriori. It is not posterior to His
+    essence.
+
+    {118}
+
+    (4). Will (Iradah). He can do what He wills, and whatever He wills
+    comes to pass. He is not obliged to act. Everything, good or evil, in
+    this world exists by His will. He wills the faith of the believer and
+    the piety of the religious. If He were to change His will there would
+    be neither a true believer nor a pious man. He willeth also the
+    unbelief of the unbeliever and the irreligion of the wicked and,
+    without that will, there would neither be unbelief nor irreligion. All
+    we do we do by His will: what He willeth not does not come to pass. If
+    one should ask why God does not will that all men should believe we
+    answer: "We have no right to enquire about what God wills and does. He
+    is perfectly free to will and to do what He pleases." In creating
+    unbelievers, in willing that they should remain in that state; in
+    making serpents, scorpions and pigs: in willing, in short, all that is
+    evil God has wise ends in view which it is not necessary that we should
+    know. We must acknowledge that the will of God is eternal and that it
+    is not posterior to His essence.
+
+    (5). Hearing. (Sama'). He hears all sounds whether low or loud. He
+    hears without an ear for His attributes are not like those of men.
+
+    (6). Seeing. (Basr). He sees all things, even the steps of a black ant
+    on a black stone in a dark night; yet He has no eye as men have.
+
+    (7). Speech. (Kalam). He speaks, but not with a tongue as men do. He
+    speaks to some of His servants without the intervention of another,
+    even as He spoke to Moses, and to Muhammad on the night of the
+    ascension to heaven. He speaks to others by the instrumentality of
+    Gabriel, and this is the usual way in which He communicates His will to
+    the prophets. It follows from this that the Quran is the word of God,
+    and is eternal and uncreated.
+
+These are the "haft sifat," or seven attributes of God. There is unanimity
+of opinion as to the number of attributes, but not as regards their nature
+and the extent of the knowledge concerning them to which men can attain.
+Thus some say that the knowledge of God is the first thing to acquire; but
+Imam Shafa'i and the Mutazilites say that a man must first attain to the
+_idea_ of the knowledge of God. The meaning of the expression "Knowledge of
+God" is the ascertaining the truth of His existence, and of His positive
+and privative attributes, as far as the human understanding can enter into
+these matters. The unity is not a mere numerical unity but absolute, for
+the number one is the first of a series and implies a second, but God has
+not a {119} second. He is "singular without anything like Him, separate
+having no equal;" for, "had there been either in heaven or earth gods
+beside God, both surely had gone to ruin." (Sura xxi. 22). God is not a
+substance, for substance has accidents, but God has none: otherwise His
+nature would be that of "dependent existence." God is without parts, for
+otherwise he would not exist till all the parts were formed, and His
+existence would depend on the parts, that is, on something beside Himself.
+
+The orthodox strictly prohibit the discussion of minute particulars, for
+say they, "just as the eye turning to the brightness of the sun finds
+darkness intervene to prevent all observation, so the understanding finds
+itself bewildered if it attempts to pry into the nature of God." The
+Prophet said: "We did not know the reality of the knowledge of Thee;" and
+to his followers he gave this advice: "Think of God's gifts, not of His
+nature: certainly you have no power for that." The Khalif Akbar is reported
+to have said: "to be helpless in the search of knowledge is knowledge and
+to enquire into the nature of God is Shirk (infidelity)."[104] A moderate
+acquaintance with Muslim theology shows that neither the injunction of the
+Prophet nor the warning of the Khalif has been heeded.
+
+According to the early Muslims, the Companions and their followers,
+enquiries into the nature of God and His attributes were not lawful. The
+Prophet knowing what was good for men, had plainly revealed the way of
+salvation and had taught them:--
+
+ "Say: He is God alone:
+  God the eternal!
+  He begetteth not, and He is not begotten;
+  And there is none like unto Him." (Sura cxii)
+
+This was sufficient for them to know of the mystery of the Godhead. God is
+far beyond the reach of the human {120} understanding. He alone embraces
+all in His comprehension. Men should therefore mistrust their own
+perceptive faculties and notions and should obey the inspired legislator
+Muhammad, who loving them better than they love themselves, and knowing
+better than they do what is truly useful, has revealed both what they ought
+to believe and what they ought to do. It is true that men must exercise
+their reason, but they must not do so with regard to the divine
+attributes.[105]
+
+Dogma is divided into two portions, usul and faru'--(_i.e._, roots and
+branches.) The former include the doctrine about God; the latter, as the
+name implies, consist of truths which result from the acceptance of the
+former. The orthodox belief is that reason has only to do with the "faru',"
+for the usul being founded on the Quran and Sunnat have an objective basis.
+
+Differences of opinion about various branches of the "faru'," led to
+discussions which did not stop there but went on to the "usul," and so
+paved the way for the rise of scholastic theology ('Ilm-i-kalam.) I have
+already in the chapter on the exegesis of the Quran explained the
+difference in meaning between muhkam (obvious) verses and mutashabih
+(intricate) ones. This difference lies at the very foundation of the
+present subject. It is, therefore, necessary to enter a little into detail.
+
+The question turns very much on the interpretation of the 5th verse of the
+3rd Sura: "He it is who hath sent down to thee 'the Book.' Some of its
+signs are of themselves perspicuous (muhkam): these are the basis of the
+{121} Book--and others are figurative (mutashabih.) But they whose hearts
+are given to err, follow its figures, craving discord, craving an
+interpretation; yet none knoweth its interpretation but God. And the stable
+in knowledge say, 'We believe in it: it is all from our Lord.' But none
+will bear this in mind, save men endued with understanding." Here it is
+clearly stated (1) that no one except God can know the interpretation of
+mutashabih verses, and (2) that wise men though they know not their
+interpretation, yet believe them all. Many learned men, however, say that
+the full stop should not be placed after the word "God" but after
+"knowledge," and so this portion of the verse would read thus: "None
+knoweth its interpretation but God and the stable in knowledge. They say:
+'we believe, &c.'" On this slight change in punctuation, which shows that
+the 'stable in knowledge' can interpret the mutashabih verses, opposite
+schools of theology have arisen in Islam.
+
+The latter reading opens the way to a fearless investigation of subjects
+which all the early Muslims avoided as beyond their province. In the early
+days of Islam it was held that all parts of the Quran, except the muhkam
+verses and the purely narrative portions, were mutashabih; that is, all
+verses which related to the attributes of God, to the existence of angels
+and genii, to the appearance of Antichrist, the period and signs of the day
+of judgment, and generally all matters which are beyond the daily
+experience of mankind. It was strongly felt that not only must there be no
+discussion on them,[106] but no attempt should be made to understand or act
+on them. Ibn 'Abbas, a Companion, says: "One must believe the mutashabih
+verses, but not take them for a rule of conduct." Ibn Jubair was once {122}
+asked to put the meaning of the Quran into writing. He became angry and
+said: "I should rather be palsied in one-half of my body than do so."[107]
+'Ayesha said: "Avoid those persons who dispute about the meaning of the
+Quran, for they are those whom God has referred to in the words, 'whose
+hearts are given to err.'"
+
+The first reading is the one adopted by the Ashab, the Tabi'in and the
+Taba-i-Tabi'in and the great majority of Commentators. The Sunnis
+generally, and, according to the testimony of Fakr-ud-din Razi (A.H.
+544-606), the Shafa'i sect are of the same opinion.
+
+Those who take the opposite view are the Commentators Mujahid (died A.H.
+101), Rabi' bin Ans and others. The scholastic theologians[108]
+(Mutakalliman) generally adopt the latter reading.[109] They argued thus:
+how could men believe what they did not know; to which their opponents
+answered, that the act of belief in the unknown is the very thing here
+praised by God. The scholastics then enquired why, since the Quran was sent
+to be a guide and direction to men, were not all its verses muhkam? The
+answer was, that the Arabs acknowledged two kinds of eloquence. One kind
+was to arrange words and ideas in a plain and simple style so that the
+meaning might be at once apparent, the other was to speak in figurative
+language. Now, if the Quran had not contained both these styles of
+composition, it could not have claimed the position it does as a book
+absolutely perfect in form as well as in matter.[110]
+
+Bearing in mind this fundamental difference of opinion, we can now pass on
+to the consideration of the attributes.
+
+{123} The essential attributes are Life, Knowledge, Power, Will, for
+without these the others could not exist. Then the attributes of Hearing,
+Seeing, Speech give us a further idea of perfection. These are the
+"Sifat-i-Sabutiah," or affirmative attributes, the privation of which would
+imply loss; there are also Sifat-i-Salbiah, or privative attributes, such
+as--God has no form, is not limited by place, has no equal, &c. The acts of
+sitting, rising, descending, the possession of face, hands, eyes, &c.,
+being connected with the idea of corporeal existences imply imperfection
+and apparently contradict the doctrine of "exemption" (tenzih) according to
+which God is, in virtue of His essence, in no way like the creatures He has
+made. This was a difficulty, but the four great Imams all taught that it
+was impious to enquire into these matters for all such allusions were
+mutashabih. "The Imam Hanbal and other early divines followed in the path
+of the early Muslims and said: 'We believe in the Book and the Sunnat, and
+do not desire explanations. We know that the High God is not to be compared
+to any created object: nor any creature with Him.'"[111] Imam As-Shafa'i
+said that a man who enquired into such matters should be tied to a stake,
+and carried about, and that the following proclamation should be made
+before him: "This is the reward of him who left the Quran and the
+Traditions for the study of scholastic theology." Imam Hanbal says:
+"Whosoever moves his hand when he reads in the Quran the words, 'I have
+created with my hand,' ought to have his hand cut off; and whoever
+stretches forth his finger in repeating the saying of Muhammad, 'The heart
+of the believer is between two fingers of the Merciful,' deserves to have
+his finger cut off." At-Tirmizi when consulted about the statement of the
+Prophet that God had descended to the lowest of the seven heavens, said:
+"The descent is intelligible, the manner how is unknown; the belief therein
+{124} is obligatory; and the asking about it is a blameable innovation."
+But all such attempts to restrain discussion and investigation failed.
+
+The two main points in the discussion of this question are (1) whether the
+attributes of God are internal or external, whether they are part of His
+essence or not, and (2) whether they are eternal or not.
+
+The two leading Sects were the Sifatians (or Attributists) and the
+Mutazilites. The Sifatians whom the early orthodox Muslims follow, taught
+that the attributes of God are eternally inherent in His essence without
+separation or change. Every attribute is conjoined with Him as life with
+knowledge, or knowledge with power. They also taught that the mutashabih
+verses were not to be explained, and such were those which seemed to show a
+resemblance between God and His creatures. So at first they did not attempt
+to give the meaning of the terms, "hands, eyes, face, &c.," when applied to
+God. They simply accepted them as they stood. In course of time, as will be
+seen, differences of opinion on this point led to some sub-divisions of
+this sect.
+
+The Mutazilites were the great opponents of the Sifatians. They rejected
+the idea of eternal attributes, saying that eternity was the formal
+attribute of the essence of God. "If," said they, "we admit the eternal
+existence of an attribute then we must recognize the multiplicity of
+eternal existences." They also rejected the attributes of hearing, seeing
+and speech, as these were accidents proper to corporeal existences. They
+looked upon the divine attributes as mental abstractions, and not as having
+a real existence in the divine essence. The Mutazilites were emphatically
+the Free thinkers of Islam. The origin of the sect was as follows: Al
+Hasan, a famous divine, was one day seated in the Mosque at Basra when a
+discussion arose on the question whether a believer who committed a mortal
+sin became thereby an unbeliever. The Kharigites (Ante p. 76) {125}
+affirmed that it was so. The orthodox denied this, saying that, though
+guilty of sin, yet that as he believed rightly he was not an infidel.[112]
+One of the scholars Wasil Ibn Ata, (who was born at Madina A.H. 80), then
+rose up and said: "I maintain that a Muslim who has committed a mortal sin
+should be regarded neither as a believer nor an unbeliever, but as
+occupying a middle station between the two." He then retired to another
+part of the Mosque where he was joined by his friend 'Umr Ibn Obaid and
+others. They resumed the discussion. A learned man, named Katada, entering
+the Mosque, went up to them, but on finding that they were not the party in
+which Al Hasan was, said 'these are the Seceders (Al-Mutazila).' Al Hasan
+soon expelled them from his school. Wasil then founded a school of his own
+of which, after the death of his master, 'Umr Ibn Obaid became the head.
+
+Wasil felt that a believer, though sinful, did not merit the same degree of
+punishment as an infidel, and thus starting off on the question of
+_degrees_ of punishment, he soon opened up the whole subject of man's
+responsibility and the question of free-will. This soon brought him into
+conflict with the orthodox on the subject of predestination and that again
+to the subject of the inspiration, the interpretation and the eternity of
+the Quran, and of the divine attributes. His followers rejected the
+doctrine of the "divine right" of the Imam, and held that the entire body
+of the Faithful had the right to elect the most suitable person, who need
+not necessarily be a man of the Quraish tribe, to fill that office. The
+principles of logic and the teaching of philosophy were brought to bear on
+the precepts of religion. According to Shahrastani the Mutazilites hold:--
+
+    "That God is eternal; and that eternity is the peculiar property of His
+    essence; but they deny the existence of any eternal attributes (as
+    distinct from His nature). For they say, He is Omniscient as to {126}
+    His nature; Living as to His nature; Almighty as to His nature; but not
+    through any knowledge, power or life existing in Him as eternal
+    attributes; for knowledge, power and life are part of His essence,
+    otherwise, if they are to be looked upon as eternal attributes of the
+    Deity, it will give rise to a multiplicity of eternal entities."
+
+    "They maintain that the knowledge of God is as much within the province
+    of reason as that of any other entity; that He cannot be beheld with
+    the corporeal sight; and with the exception of Himself everything else
+    is liable to change or to suffer extinction. They also maintain that
+    Justice is the animating principle of human actions: Justice according
+    to them being the dictates of Reason and the concordance of the
+    ultimate results of this conduct of man with such dictates."
+
+    "Again, they hold that there is no eternal law as regards human
+    actions; that the divine ordinances which regulate the conduct of men
+    are the results of growth and development; that God has commanded and
+    forbidden, promised and threatened by a law which grew gradually. At
+    the same time, say they, he who works righteousness merits rewards and
+    he who works evil deserves punishment. They also say, that all
+    knowledge is attained through reason, and must necessarily be so
+    obtained. They hold that the cognition of good and evil is also within
+    the province of reason; that nothing is known to be right or wrong
+    until reason has enlightened us as to the distinction; and that
+    thankfulness for the blessings of the Benefactor is made obligatory by
+    reason, even before the promulgation of any law upon the subject. They
+    also maintain that man has perfect freedom; is the author of his
+    actions both good and evil, and deserves reward or punishment hereafter
+    accordingly."
+
+During the reigns of the 'Abbasside Khalifs Mamun, Mutasim and Wathik
+(198-232 A.H.) at Baghdad, the Mutazilites were in high favour at Court,
+Under the 'Abbasside dynasty[113] the ancient Arab Society was
+revolutionized, Persians filled the most important offices of State;
+Persian doctrines took the place of Arab ones. The orthodox suffered bitter
+persecution. The story of that persecution will be told later on. The
+Khalif Wathik at length relented. {127} An old man, heavily chained, was
+one day brought into his presence. The prisoner obtained permission to put
+a few questions to Ahmad Ibn Abu Da,ud, a Mutazilite and the President of
+the Court of Inquisition. The following dialogue took place. "Ahmad," said
+the prisoner, "what is the dogma which you desire to have established."
+"That the Quran is created," replied Ahmad. "This dogma, then, is without
+doubt an essential part of religion, insomuch that the latter cannot
+without it be said to be complete?" "Certainly." "Has the Apostle of God
+taught this to men or has he left them free?" "He has left them free." "Was
+the Apostle of God acquainted with this dogma or not?" "He was acquainted
+with it." "Wherefore, then, do you desire to impose a belief regarding
+which the Apostle of God has left men free to think as they please?" Ahmad
+remaining silent, the old man turned to Wathik and said, "O Prince of
+Believers, here is my first position made good." Then turning to Ahmad, he
+said, "God has said, 'This day have I perfected religion for you, and have
+filled up the measures of my favours upon you; and it is my pleasure that
+Islam be your religion.' (Sura v. 5). But according to you Islam is not
+perfected unless we adopt this doctrine that the Quran is created. Which
+now is most worthy of credence--God, when He declares Islam to be complete
+and perfect, or you when you announce the contrary?" Ahmad was still
+silent. "Prince of Believers," said the old man, "there is my second point
+made good." He continued, "Ahmad, how do you explain the following words of
+God in His Holy Book?--'O Apostle! proclaim all that hath been sent down to
+thee from thy Lord; for if thou dost not, thou hast not proclaimed His
+message at all.' Now this doctrine that you desire to spread among the
+Faithful, has the Apostle taught it, or has he abstained from doing so?"
+Ahmad remained silent. The old man resumed, "Prince of Believers, such is
+my third argument." Then turning to Ahmad he said: "If the Prophet was
+acquainted with the doctrine {128} which you desire to impose upon us, had
+he the right to pass by it in silence?" "He had the right." "And did the
+same right appertain to Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and 'Ali?" "It did," "Prince
+of Believers," said the prisoner, "God will, in truth, be severe on us, if
+He deprives us of a liberty which He accorded to the Prophet and his
+Companions." The Khalif assented, and at once restored the old man to
+liberty. So ended one of the fiercest persecutions the orthodox have ever
+had to endure, but so also ended the attempt to break through the barriers
+of traditionalism.[114] The next Khalif, Al Mutawakhil, a ferocious and
+cruel man, restored the orthodox party to place and power. He issued a
+fatva (decree) declaring that the dogma that the Quran was created was an
+utter falsehood. He instituted severe measures against Christians, Jews,
+Shia'hs and Mutazilites. Ahmad Ibn Abu Da,ud was one of the first to be
+disgraced. Heresy and latitudinarianism were banished.
+
+The final blow to the Mutazilites, however, came not from the Khalif but a
+little later on from Abu Hasan-al-Ash'ari (270-340 A.H.)
+
+The Mutazilites expelled from power in Baghdad, still flourished at Basra
+where one day the following incident occurred. Abu 'Ali Al-Jubbai, a
+Mutazilite doctor, was lecturing to his students when Al-Ash'ari propounded
+the following case to his master: "There were three brothers, one of whom
+was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a debauchee
+and a reprobate; and the third an infant; they all died. What became of
+them?" Al-Jubbai answered: "The virtuous brother holds a high station in
+Paradise, the infidel is in the depths of hell, and the child is among
+those who have obtained salvation." {129} "Suppose now," said Al-Ash'ari,
+"that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his virtuous
+brother, would he be allowed to do so?" "No," replied Al-Jubbai, "it would
+be said to him: 'thy brother arrived at this place through His numerous
+works of obedience to God, and thou hast no such works to set forward.'"
+"Suppose then," said Al-Ash'ari, "that the child should say: 'this is not
+my fault, you did not let me live long enough, neither did you give me the
+means of proving my obedience.'" "In that case," said Al-Jubbai, "the
+Almighty would say: 'I knew that if I allowed thee to live, thou wouldest
+have been disobedient and have incurred the punishment of hell: I acted,
+therefore, for thy advantage.'" "Well," said Al-Ash'ari, "and suppose the
+infidel brother were here to say: 'O God of the Universe! since Thou
+knowest what awaited him, Thou must have known what awaited me; why then
+didst Thou act for his advantage and not for mine?'"[115] Al-Jubbai was
+silent, though very angry with his pupil, who was now convinced that the
+Mutazilite dogma of man's free-will was false, and that God elects some for
+mercy and some for punishment without any motive whatever. Disagreeing with
+his teacher on this point, he soon began to find other points of
+difference, and soon announced his belief that the Quran was not created.
+This occurred on a Friday in the Great Mosque at Basra. Seated in his chair
+he cried out in a loud voice: "They who know me know who I am; as for those
+who do not know me I shall tell them; I am 'Ali Ibn Isma'il Al-Ash'ari, and
+I used to hold that the Quran was created, that the eyes (of men) shall not
+see God, and that we ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds; now, I
+have returned to the truth: I renounce these opinions, and I take the
+engagement to refute the Mutazilites and expose their infamy and
+turpitude."[116]
+
+He then, adopting scholastic methods, started a school of {130} thought of
+his own, which was in the main a return to orthodoxy. The Ash'arian
+doctrines differ slightly from the tenets of the Sifatians of which sect
+Al-Ash'ari's disciples form a branch. The Ash'arians hold--
+
+(i.) That the attributes of God are distinct from His essence, yet in such
+a way as to forbid any comparison being made between God and His creatures.
+They say they are not "_'ain_ nor _ghair_:" not of His essence, nor
+distinct from it: _i.e.,_ they cannot be compared with any other things.
+
+(ii.) That God has one eternal will from which proceed all things, the good
+and the evil, the useful and the hurtful. The destiny of man was written on
+the eternal table before the world was created. So far they go with the
+Sifatians, but in order to preserve the moral responsibility of man they
+say that he has power to convert will into action. But this power cannot
+create anything new for then God's sovereignty would be impaired; so they
+say that God in His providence so orders matters that whenever "a man
+desires to do a certain thing, good or bad, the action corresponding to the
+desire is, there and then, created by God, and, as it were, fitted on to
+the desire." Thus it seems as if it came naturally from the will of the
+man, whereas it does not. This action is called Kasb (acquisition) because
+it is acquired by a special creative act of God. It is an act directed to
+the obtaining of profit, or the removing of injury: the term is, therefore,
+inapplicable to the Deity. Abu Bakr-al-Bakillani, a disciple of Al-Ash'ari,
+says: "The essence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of
+God, but its being an action of obedience, such as prayer, or an action of
+disobedience, such as fornication, are qualities of the action, which
+proceed from the power of man." The Imam Al-Haramain (419-478 A.H.) held
+"that the actions of men were effected by the power which God has created
+in man." Abu Ishaq al Isfarayain says: "That which maketh impression, or
+hath influence on action, is a compound of the power of God and the power
+of man." {131}
+
+(iii.) They say that the word of God is eternal, though they acknowledge
+that the vocal sounds used in the Quran, which is the manifestation of that
+word, are created. They say, in short, that the Quran contains (1) the
+eternal word which existed in the essence of God before time was; and (2)
+the word which consists of sounds and combinations of letters. This last
+they call the created word.
+
+Thus Al-Ash'ari traversed the main positions of the Mutazilites, denying
+that man can by the aid of his reason alone rise to the knowledge of good
+and evil. He must exercise no judgment but accept all that is revealed. He
+has no right to apply the moral laws which affect men to the actions of
+God. It cannot be asserted by the human reason that the good will be
+rewarded, or the bad punished in a future world. Man must always approach
+God as a slave, in whom there is no light or knowledge to judge of the
+actions of the Supreme. Whether God will accept the penitent sinner or not
+cannot be asserted, for He is an absolute Sovereign, above all law.[117]
+
+The opinions of the more irrational sub-divisions of the Sifatians need not
+be entered into at any length.
+
+The Mushabihites (or Assimilators), interpreting some of the mutashabih
+verses literally, held that there is a resemblance between God and His
+creatures; and that the Deity is capable of local motion, of ascending,
+descending, &c. These they called "declarative attributes." The
+Mujassimians (or Corporealists) declared God to be corporeal, by which some
+of them meant, a self-subsisting body, whilst others declared the Deity to
+be finite. They are acknowledged to be heretics.
+
+{132}
+
+The Jabrians gave great prominence to the denial of free agency in man, and
+thus opposed the Mutazilites, who in this respect are Kadrians, that is,
+they deny "Al-Kadr," God's absolute sovereignty, and recognize free will in
+man.
+
+These and various other sub-divisions are not now of much importance. The
+Sunnis follow the teaching of Al-Ash'ari, whilst the Shi'ahs incline to
+that of the Mutazilites.
+
+Connected with the subject of the attributes of God is that of the names to
+be used when speaking of Him. All sects agree in this, that the names "The
+Living, the Wise, the Powerful, the Hearer, the Seer, the Speaker," &c.,
+are to be applied to God; but the orthodox belief is that all such names
+must be "tauqifi," that is dependent on some revelation. Thus it is not
+lawful to apply a name to God expressive of one of His attributes, unless
+there is some statement made, or order given by Muhammad to legalize it.
+God is rightly called Shafi (Healer), but He cannot be called Tabib which
+means much the same thing, for the simple reason that the word Tabib is
+never applied in the Quran or the Traditions to God. In like manner the
+term 'Alim (Knower) is lawful, but not so the expression 'Aqil (Wise). The
+Mutazilites say that if, in the Quran or Traditions, there is any praise of
+an attribute, then the adjective formed from the name of that attribute can
+be applied to God even though the actual word does not occur in any
+revelation. Al-Ghazzali (A.H. 450-505), who gave in the East the death-blow
+to the Muslim philosophers, says: "The names of God not given in the Law,
+if expressive of His glory, may be used of Him, but only as expressive of
+His attributes, not of His nature." On the ground that it does not occur in
+the Law, the Persian word "Khuda" has been objected to, an objection which
+also holds good with regard to the use of such terms as God, Dieu, Gott,
+&c. To this it is answered, that as "Khuda" means "one who comes by
+himself" it is equivalent to the term Wajib-ul-Wajud, {133} "one who has
+necessary existence," and therefore so long as it is not considered as the
+"Ism-i-Zat (name of His nature) it may with propriety be used."[118]
+
+The current belief now seems to be that the proper name equal to the term
+Allah, current in a language, can be used, provided always that such a name
+is not taken from the language of the Infidels; so God, Dieu, &c, still
+remain unlawful. The names of God authorised by the Quran and Traditions
+are, exclusive of the term Allah, ninety-nine in number. They are called
+the Asma-i-Husna[119] (noble names); but in addition to these there are
+many synonyms used on the authority of Ijma'. Such are Hanan, equal to
+Rahim (Merciful) and Manan, "one who puts another under an obligation." In
+the Tafsir-i-Bahr it is stated that there are three thousand names of God;
+one thousand of which are known to angels; one thousand to prophets; whilst
+one thousand are thus distributed, _viz._, in the Pentateuch there are
+three hundred, in the Psalms three hundred, in the Gospels three hundred,
+in the Quran ninety-nine, and one still hidden.
+
+The following texts of the Quran are adduced to prove the nature of the
+divine attributes:--
+
+(1). Life. "There is no God but He, the Living, the Eternal." (Sura ii.
+256). "Put thy trust in Him that liveth and dieth not." (Sura xxv. 60).
+
+(2). Knowledge. "Dost thou not see that God knoweth all that is in the
+heavens, and all that is in the earth." (Sura lviii. 8). "With Him are the
+keys of the secret things; none knoweth them but He: He knoweth whatever is
+on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither
+is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a thing green or sere,
+but it is noted in a distinct writing." (Sura vi. 59).
+
+{134}
+
+(3). Power. "If God pleased, of their ears and of their eyes would He
+surely deprive them. Verily God is Almighty." (Sura ii. 19). "Is He not
+powerful enough to quicken the dead." (Sura lxxv. 40). "God hath power over
+all things." (Sura iii. 159.)
+
+(4). Will. "God is worker of that He willeth." (Sura lxxxv. 16). "But if
+God pleased, He would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance."
+(Sura vi. 35). "God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will He
+guideth--God doeth His pleasure." (Sura xiv. 4, 32).
+
+As this attribute is closely connected with the article of the Creed which
+refers to Predestination, the different opinions regarding it will be
+stated under that head.
+
+There has never been any difference of opinion as to the existence of these
+four attributes so clearly described in the Quran: the difference is with
+regard to the mode of their existence and their operation. There is, first,
+the ancient Sifatian doctrine that the attributes are eternal and of the
+essence of God: secondly, the Mutazilite theory that they are not eternal;
+and, thirdly, the Ash'arian dogma that they are eternal, but distinct from
+His essence.
+
+There is also great difference of opinion with regard to the next three
+attributes--hearing, sight, speech. For the existence of the two first of
+these the following verses are quoted, "He truly heareth and knoweth all
+things." (Sura xliv. 5). "No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all
+vision." (Sura vi. 103).
+
+The use of the terms sitting, rising, &c., hands, face, eyes, and so on,
+gave rise as I have shown to several sub-divisions of the Sifatians.
+Al-Ghazzali says: "He sits upon His throne after that manner which He has
+Himself described and in that sense which He Himself means, which is a
+sitting far remote from any notion of contact or resting upon, or local
+situation." This is the Ash'arian idea, but between the Ash'arians and
+those who fell into the error of the {135} Mujassimians,[120] there was
+another school. The followers of Imam Ibn Hanbal say that such words
+represent the attributes existing in God. The words "God sits on His
+throne" mean that He has the power of sitting. Thus, they say, "We keep the
+literal meaning of the words, we allow no figurative interpretation. To do
+so is to introduce a dangerous principle of interpretation, for the
+negation of the apparent sense of a passage may tend to weaken the
+authority of revelation. At the same time we do not pretend to explain the
+act, for it is written: 'There is none like unto Him.' (Sura cxii.) 'Nought
+is there like Him.' (Sura xlii. 9.) 'Unworthy the estimate they form of
+God.'" (Sura xxii. 73.) To prove that God occupies a place they produce the
+following Tradition: "Ibn-al-Hakim wished to give liberty to a female slave
+Saouda and consulted the Prophet about it. Muhammad said to her, 'Where is
+God?' 'In heaven,' she replied. 'Set her at liberty, she is a true
+believer.'" Not, say the Commentators, because she believed that God
+occupied a place but because she took the words in their literal
+signification. The Shi'ahs consider it wrong to attribute to God movement,
+quiescence, &c, for these imply the possession of a body. They hold, too,
+in opposition to the orthodox that God will never be seen, for that which
+is seen is limited by space.
+
+The seventh attribute--speech--has been fruitful of a very long and
+important controversy connected with the nature of the Quran, for the word
+"Kalam" means not mere speech, but revelation and every other mode of
+communicating intelligence. Al-Ghazzali says:--
+
+    "He doth speak, command, forbid, promise, and threaten by an eternal
+    ancient word, subsisting in His essence. Neither is it like to the word
+    of the creatures, nor doth it consist in a voice arising from the
+    commotion of the air and the collision of bodies, nor letters {136}
+    which are separated by the joining together of the lips or the motion
+    of the tongue. The Quran, the Law, the Gospel and the Psalter are books
+    sent down by Him to His Apostles, and the Quran, indeed, is read with
+    tongues written in books, and is kept in hearts; yet, as subsisting in
+    the essence of God, it doth not become liable to separation and
+    division whilst it is transferred into the hearts and on to paper. Thus
+    Moses also heard the word of God without voice or letter, even as the
+    saints behold the essence of God without substance or accident."
+
+The orthodox believe that God is really a speaker: the Mutazilites deny
+this, and say that He is only called a speaker because He is the originator
+of words and sounds.
+
+They also bring the following objections to bear against the doctrine of
+the eternity of the Quran. (1) It is written in Arabic, it descended, is
+read, is heard, and is written. It was the subject of a miracle. It is
+divided into parts and some verses are abrogated by others. (2) Events are
+described in the past tense, but if the Quran had been eternal the future
+tense would have been used. (3) The Quran contains commands and
+prohibitions; if it is eternal who were commanded and who were admonished?
+(4) If it has existed from eternity it must exist to eternity, and so even
+in the last day, and in the next world, men will be under the obligation of
+performing the same religious duties as they do now, and of keeping all the
+outward precepts of the law. (5) If the Quran is eternal, then there are
+two eternals.
+
+The position thus assailed was not at first a hard and fast dogma of Islam.
+It was more a speculative opinion than anything else, but the opposition of
+the Mutazilites soon led all who wished to be considered orthodox to become
+not only stout assertors of the eternity of the Quran, but to give up their
+lives in defence of what they believed to be true. The Mutazilites by
+asserting the subjective nature of the Quranic inspiration brought the book
+itself within the reach of criticism. This was too much for orthodox Islam
+to bear even though the Khalif Mamun in the {137} year 212 A.H. issued a
+fatva declaring that all who asserted the eternity of the Quran were guilty
+of heresy. Some six years after this, the Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was
+severely beaten, and then imprisoned because he refused to assent to the
+truth of the decree issued by the Khalif. Al Buwaiti, a famous disciple of
+As-Shafa'i, used an ingenious argument to fortify his own mind when being
+punished by the order of the Khalif. He was taken all the way from Cairo to
+Baghdad and told to confess that the Quran was created. On his refusal, he
+was imprisoned at Baghdad and there remained in chains till the day of his
+death. As Ar-Rabi Ibn Sulaiman says: "I saw Al Buwaiti mounted on a mule:
+round his neck was a wooden collar, on his legs were fetters, from these to
+the collar extended an iron chain to which was attached a clog weighing
+fifty pounds. Whilst they led him on he continued repeating these words,
+'Almighty God created the world by means of the word _Be!_ Now, if that
+word was created, one created thing would have created another.'"[121] Al
+Buwaiti here refers to the verse, "Verily our speech unto a thing when we
+will the same, is that we only say to it, 'Be,' and it is,--Kun fayakuna."
+(Sura xxxvi. 82). This, in the way Al Buwaiti applied it, is a standing
+argument of the orthodox to prove the eternity of the Quran.
+
+When times changed men were put to death for holding the opposite opinion.
+The Imam As-Shafa'i held a public disputation in Baghdad with Hafs, a
+Mutazilite preacher, on this very point. Shafa'i quoted the verse, "God
+said _be, and it was_," and asked, "Did not God create all things by the
+word _be?_" Hafs assented. "If then the Quran was created, must not the
+word _be_ have been created with it?" Hafs could not deny so plain a
+proposition. "Then," said Shafa'i, "All things, according to you, were
+created by a created being, which is a gross inconsistency and manifest
+{138} impiety." Hafs was reduced to silence, and such an effect had
+Shafa'i's logic on the audience that they put Hafs to death as a pestilent
+heretic. Thus did the Ash'arian opinions on the subject of the Divine
+attributes again gain the mastery.[122]
+
+The Mutazilites failed, and the reason why is plain. They were, as a rule,
+influenced by no high spiritual motives; often they were mere quibblers.
+They sought no light in an external revelation. Driven to a reaction by the
+rigid system they combated, they would have made reason alone their chief
+guide. The nobler spirits among them were impotent to regenerate the faith
+they professed to follow. It was, however, a great movement, and at one
+time, it threatened to change the whole nature of Islam. This period of
+Muslim history, famed as that in which the effort was made to cast off the
+fetters of the rigid system which Islam was gradually tightening by the
+increased authority given to traditionalism, and to the refinements of the
+four Imams, was undoubtedly a period of, comparatively speaking, high
+civilization. Baghdad, the capital of the Khalifate, was a busy, populous,
+well-governed city. This it mainly owed to the influence of the Persian
+family of the Barmecides, one of whom was Vizier to the Khalif
+Harun-ur-Rashid. Harun's fame as a good man is quite undeserved. It is true
+that he was a patron of learning, that his Empire was extensive, that he
+gained many victories, that his reign was the culminating point of Arab
+grandeur. But for all that, he was a morose despot, a cruel man, thoroughly
+given up to pleasures of a very questionable nature. Drunkenness and
+debauchery were common at court. Plots and intrigues were ever at work.
+Such was the state of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, periods
+{139} of Muslim rule. This, too, was at a time most favourable for the
+development of any good which Islam might have possessed. It should be
+remembered that whatever glory is rightly attached to this period is
+connected with an epoch when heresy was specially prevalent, when orthodoxy
+was weak in Baghdad. The culture of the time was in spite of, not on
+account of, the influence of orthodox Islam.
+
+2. ANGELS.--Of this article of the creed Muhammad Al-Berkevi says:--
+
+    "We must confess that God has angels who act according to His order and
+    who do not rebel against Him. They neither eat nor drink, nor is there
+    amongst them any difference of sex. Some are near the throne of God;
+    those are His messengers. Each one has his particular work. Some are on
+    earth, some in heaven, some are always standing, some always prostrate
+    themselves and some laud and praise God. Others have charge of men and
+    record all their actions. Some angels are high in stature and are
+    possessed of great power. Such an one is Gabriel (Jibra,il) who in the
+    space of one hour can descend from heaven to earth, and who with one
+    wing can lift up a mountain.
+
+    We must believe in 'Izra,il who receives the souls of men when they
+    die, and in Israfil into whose charge is committed the trumpet. This
+    trumpet he has actually in his hand, and placed to his mouth ready to
+    blow when God gives the order. When he receives that order he will blow
+    such a terrible blast that all living things will die.[123] This is the
+    commencement of the last day. The world will remain in this state of
+    death forty years. Then God Most High will revive Israfil who will blow
+    a second blast, at the sound of which all the dead will rise to
+    life."[124]
+
+This confession of faith makes no mention of Mika,il (Michael), the fourth
+of the archangels. His special duty is to see that all created beings have
+what is needful for them. He has charge of the rain-fall, plants, grain and
+all that is required for the sustenance of men, beasts, fishes, &c.
+Gabriel's special charge is the communication of God's will to prophets.
+The words "one terrible in power" (Sura liii. 5) {140} are generally
+applied to him. He is honoured with the privilege of nearness to God.
+Tradition says that on the night of the Mi'raj, the Prophet saw that
+Gabriel had six hundred wings, and that his body was so large that from one
+shoulder to the other the distance was so great that a swift flying bird
+would require five hundred years to pass over it.
+
+Nine-tenths of all created beings are said to be angels who are formed of
+light. Their rank is stationary, and each is content with the position he
+occupies. Their one desire is to love and to know God. Whatever he commands
+they do. "All beings in the heaven and on the earth are His: and they who
+are in His presence disdain not His service, neither are they wearied: they
+praise Him day and night." (Sura xxi. 19, 20.) They are free from all
+sin.[125] It is true that they did not wish for the creation of Adam, and
+this may seem like a want of confidence in God. It is said, however, that
+their object was not to oppose God, but to relieve their minds of the
+doubts they had in the matter. Thus "when the Lord said to the angels,
+'Verily, I am about to place one in my stead on earth,' they said: 'Wilt
+Thou place there one who will do ill therein, and shed blood when we
+celebrate thy praise and extol thy holiness.' God said: 'Verily I know what
+ye know not.'" It is true that Iblis was disobedient, but then he belonged
+not to the angelic order but to that of the jinn. "When we said to the
+angels, 'prostrate yourselves before Adam,' they all prostrated themselves
+save Iblis, who was of the jinn, and revolted from his Lord's behest."
+(Sura xviii. 48.) (See also Sura ii. 33.)
+
+Angels appear in human form on special occasions, but usually they are
+invisible. It is a common belief that animals can see angels and devils.
+This accounts for the saying, "If you hear a cock crow, pray for mercy, for
+it has seen an angel; but if you hear an ass bray, take refuge with God,
+for it has seen a devil."
+
+{141}
+
+The angels intercede for man: "The angels celebrate the praise of their
+Lord and ask forgiveness for the dwellers on earth." (Sura xlii. 3.) They
+also act as guardian angels: "Each hath a succession of angels before him
+and behind him who watch over him by God's behest." (Sura xiii. 12.) "Is it
+not enough for you that your Lord aideth you with three thousand angels
+sent down from on high?" (Sura iii. 120.) "Supreme over His servants He
+sendeth forth guardians who watch over you, until when death overtaketh any
+one of you our messengers take his soul and fail not." (Sura vi. 61.)
+
+In the Traditions it is said that God has appointed for every man two
+angels to watch over him by day, and two by night. The one stands on the
+right hand side of the man, the other on his left. Some, however, say that
+they reside in the teeth, and that the tongue of the man is the pen and the
+saliva of the mouth the ink.[126] They protect the actions of men and
+record them all whether good or bad. They are called the Mua'qqibat,
+_i.e._, those who succeed one another. They also bear the name of
+Kiram-ul-Katibin, "the exalted writers." They are referred to in the Quran.
+"Think they that we hear not their secrets and their private talk? Yes, and
+our angels who are at their sides write them down." (Sura xliii. 80).
+
+There are eight angels who support the throne of God. "And the angels shall
+be on its sides, and over them on that day eight shall bear up the throne
+of thy Lord." (Sura lxix. 17). Nineteen have charge of hell. "Over it are
+nineteen. None but angels have we made guardians of the fire." (Sura lxxiv.
+30).
+
+There is a special arrangement made by Providence to mitigate the evils of
+Satanic interference. "Iblis," says Jabir Maghrabi, "though able to assume
+all other forms is not permitted to appear in the semblance of the Deity,
+or {142} any of His angels, or prophets. There would otherwise be much
+danger to human salvation, as he might, under the appearance of one of the
+prophets, or of some superior being, make use of this power to seduce men
+to sin. To prevent this, whenever he attempts to assume such forms, fire
+comes down from heaven and repulses him."
+
+The story of Harut and Marut is of some interest from its connection with
+the question of the impeccability of the angels. Speaking of those who
+reject God's Apostle the Quran says: "And they followed what the Satans
+read in the reign of Solomon; not that Solomon was unbelieving, but the
+Satans were unbelieving. Sorcery did they teach to men, and what had been
+revealed to the two angels Harut and Marut at Babel. Yet no man did these
+two teach until they had said, 'We are only a temptation. Be not thou an
+unbeliever.'" (Sura ii. 96). Here it is quite clear that two angels teach
+sorcery, which is generally allowed to be an evil. Some explanation has to
+be given. Commentators are by no means reticent on this subject. The story
+goes that in the time of the prophet Enoch when the angels saw the bad
+actions of men they said: "O Lord! Adam and his descendants whom Thou has
+appointed as Thy vice-regents on earth act disobediently." To which the
+Lord replied: "If I were to send you on earth, and to give you lustful and
+angry dispositions, you too would sin." The angels thought otherwise; so
+God told them to select two of their number who should undergo this ordeal.
+They selected two, renowned for devotion and piety. God having implanted in
+them the passions of lust and anger said: "All day go to and fro on the
+earth, put an end to the quarrels of men, ascribe no equal to Me, do not
+commit adultery, drink no wine, and every night repeat the Ism-ul-A'zam,
+the exalted name (of God) and return to heaven." This they did for some
+time, but at length a beautiful woman named Zuhra (Venus) led them astray.
+One day she brought them a cup of wine. One said: {143} "God has forbidden
+it;" the other, "God is merciful and forgiving." So they drank the wine,
+killed the husband of Zuhra, to whom they revealed the "exalted name," and
+fell into grievous sin. Immediately after, they found that the "name" had
+gone from their memories and so they could not return to heaven as usual.
+They were very much concerned at this and begged Enoch to intercede for
+them. The prophet did so, and with such success that the angels were
+allowed to choose between a present or a future punishment. They elected to
+be punished here on earth. They were then suspended with their heads
+downwards in a well at Babel. Some say that angels came and whipped them
+with rods of fire, and that a fresh spring ever flowed just beyond the
+reach of their parched lips. The woman was changed to a star. Some assert
+that it was a shooting star which has now passed out of existence. Others
+say that she is the star Venus.
+
+It is only right to state that the Qazi 'Ayaz, Imam Fakhr-ud-din Razi
+(544-606 A.H.), Qazi Nasir-ud-din Baidavi (620-691 A.H.) and most
+scholastic divines deny the truth of this story. They say that angels are
+immaculate, but it is plain that this does not meet the difficulty which
+the Quran itself raises in connection with Harut and Marut. They want to
+know how beings in such a state can teach, and whether it is likely that
+men would have the courage to go near such a horrible scene. As to the
+woman, they think the whole story absurd, not only because the star Venus
+was created before the time of Adam, but also because it is inconceivable
+that one who was so wicked should have the honour of shining in heaven for
+ever. A solution, however, they are bound to give, and it is this. Magic is
+a great art which God must allow mankind to know. The dignity of the order
+of prophets is so great that they cannot teach men what is confessedly
+hurtful. Two angels were therefore sent, and so men can now distinguish
+between the miracles of prophets, the signs of {144} saints, the wonders of
+magicians and others. Then Harut and Marut always discouraged men from
+learning magic. They said to those who came to them: "We are only a
+temptation. Be not thou an unbeliever." Others assert that it is a Jewish
+allegory in which the two angels represent reason and benevolence, the
+woman the evil appetites. The woman's ascent to heaven represents death.
+
+To this solution of the difficulty, however, the great body of the
+Traditionists do not agree. They declare that the story is a Hadis-i-Sahih,
+and that the Isnad is sound and good. I name only a few of the great
+divines who hold this view. They are Imam Ibn Hanbal, Ibn Ma'sud, Ibn 'Umr,
+Ibn 'Abbas, Hafiz 'Asqallani[127] and others. Jelal-ud-din Syuti in his
+commentary the Durr-i-Mashur, has given all the Traditions in order and,
+though there is some variety in the details, the general purport accords
+with the narrative as I have related it. The Traditionists answer the
+objections of the Scholastics thus. They say that angels are immaculate
+only so long as they remain in the angelic state; that, though confined,
+Harut and Marut can teach magic, for a word or two is quite sufficient for
+that purpose; that some men have no fear and, if they have, it is quite
+conceivable that the two angels may teach through the instrumentality of
+devils or jinn. With regard to the woman Zuhra they grant that to be
+changed into a bright star is of the nature of a reward; but they say the
+desire to learn the "exalted name" was so meritorious an act that the good
+she desired outweighs the evil she did. With regard to the date of the
+creation of the star Venus, it is said that all our astronomical knowledge
+is based on observations made since the Flood, whereas this story relates
+to the times of Enoch who lived before the days of Noah. So the dispute
+goes on and men of great repute for learning and knowledge believe in the
+story.
+
+{145}
+
+Munkir and Nakir are two fierce-looking black angels with blue eyes who
+visit every man in his grave, and examine him with regard to his faith in
+God and in Muhammad. The dead are supposed to dwell in 'Alam-i-barzakh, a
+state of existence intervening between the present life and the life of
+mankind after the resurrection.[128] This is the meaning of the word
+"grave" when used in this connection. Unbelievers and wicked Muslims suffer
+trouble in that state; true believers who can give a good answer to the
+angels are happy. Some suppose that a body of angels are appointed for this
+purpose and that some of them bear the name of Munkir, and some that of
+Nakir and that, just as each man has two recording angels during his
+lifetime, two from this class are appointed to examine him after death.
+There is a difference of opinion with regard to children. The general
+belief is that the children of believers will be questioned, but that the
+angels will teach them to say: "Allah is my Lord, Islam my religion, and
+Muhammad my Prophet." With regard to the children of unbelievers being
+questioned, Imam Abu Hanifa hesitated to give an opinion. He also doubted
+about their punishment. Some think they will be in A'raf, a place between
+heaven and hell; others suppose that they will be servants to the true
+believers in Paradise.
+
+Distinct from the angels there is another order of beings made of fire
+called jinn (genii.) It is said that they were created thousands of years
+before Adam came into existence. "We created man of dried clay, of dark
+loam moulded, and the jinn had been before created of subtle fire." (Sura
+xv. 26, 27.) They eat, drink, propagate their species and are subject to
+death, though they generally live many centuries. They dwell chiefly in the
+Koh-i-Kaf, a chain of mountains supposed to encompass the world:[129] {146}
+some are believers in Islam; some are infidels, and will be punished. "I
+will wholly fill hell with jinn and men." (Sura xi. 120.) The Sura called
+Surat-ul-Jinn (lxxii.) refers to their belief in Islam. The passage is too
+long to quote. They try to hear[130] what is going on in heaven. "We guard
+them (_i.e._, men) from every stoned Satan, save such as steal a hearing."
+(Sura xv. 18.) They were under the power of Solomon and served him. (Sura
+xxxviii. 36.) An 'Ifrit of the jinn said, "I will bring it thee (Solomon)
+ere thou risest from thy place: I have power for this and am trusty." (Sura
+xxvii. 39.) At the last day the jinn also will be questioned. Imam Hanifa
+doubted whether the jinn who are Muslims will be rewarded. The unbelieving
+jinn will assuredly be punished. Tradition classifies them in the following
+order: (1) Jann, (2) Jinn, (3) Shaitan, (4) 'Ifrit, (5) Marid. Many fables
+have been invented concerning these beings, and though intelligent Muslims
+may doubt these wonderful accounts, yet a belief in the order of jinn is
+imperative, at least, as long as there is belief in the Quran. Those who
+wish to know more of this subject will find a very interesting chapter on
+it in Lane's Modern Egyptians.
+
+3. THE BOOKS.--Al Berkevi says:--
+
+    "It is necessary to believe that the books of God have been sent
+    through the instrumentality of Gabriel, to prophets upon the earth. The
+    books are never sent except to prophets. The Quran was sent to Muhammad
+    portion by portion during a space of 23 years. The Pentateuch came to
+    Moses, the Injil to Jesus, the Zabur to David, and the other books to
+    other prophets. The whole number of the Divine books is 104. The Quran,
+    the last of all, is to be followed till the day of judgment. It can
+    neither be abrogated nor changed. Some laws of the previous books have
+    been abrogated by the Quran and ought not to be followed."
+
+The one hundred and four books were sent from heaven in the following
+order:--To Adam, ten; to Seth, fifty; to Enoch (Idris), thirty; to Abraham,
+ten; to Moses, the {147} Taurat (Pentateuch); to David, the Zabur (Psalms);
+to Jesus, the Injil; to Muhammad, the Quran. The one hundred to which no
+distinctive name is given are known as the "Suhuf-ul-Anbiya,"--Books of the
+Prophets. The Quran is also known as the Furqan, the distinguisher; the
+Quran-i-Sharif, noble Quran; the Quran-i-Majid, glorious Quran; the Mushaf,
+the Book. It is said to be the compendium of the Taurat, Zabur and
+Injil[131]; so Muslims do not require to study these books.[132] The
+orthodox belief is that they are entirely abrogated by the Quran,[133]
+though Syed Ahmad denounces as ignorant and foolish those Musalmans who say
+so.[134] Be that as it may, their inspiration is considered to be of a
+lower order than that of the Quran. A large {148} portion of the Injil is
+considered to be mere narrative. The actual words of Christ only are looked
+upon as the revelation which descended from heaven. It is so in the case of
+the Old Testament Prophets. "However, it was the rule to call a book by the
+name of the prophet, whether the subject-matter was pure doctrine only, or
+whether it was mixed up with narrative also." "It is to be observed that,
+in the case of our own Prophet, the revelations made to him were intended
+to impart a special miracle of eloquence and they were written down,
+literally and exactly, in the form in which they were communicated without
+any narrative being inserted in them."[135] The writings of the Apostles
+are not considered to be inspired books. "We do not consider that the Acts
+of the Apostles, or the various Epistles, although unquestionably very good
+books, are to be taken as part and parcel of the New Testament itself;
+nevertheless we look upon the writings of the Apostles in the same light as
+we do the writings of the Companions of our own Prophet; that is to say, as
+entitled to veneration and respect."[136] There are many verses in the
+Quran which speak of previous revelations, thus: "We also caused Jesus, the
+son of Mary, to follow the footsteps of the prophets, confirming the law
+(Taurat) which was sent before him, and we gave him the Injil with its
+guidance and light, confirmatory of the preceding law; a guidance and a
+warning to those that fear God." (Sura v. 50). "We believe in God, and that
+which hath been sent down to us, and that which hath been sent down to
+Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which hath been given
+to Moses and to Jesus, and that which was given to the prophets from their
+Lord. No difference do we make between any of them: and to God are we
+resigned." (Sura ii. 130). "In truth hath He sent down to thee the Book,
+which confirmeth those that precede it, for He had sent down the {149} Law
+and the Injil aforetime, as man's guidance; and now hath He sent down the
+Furqan." (Sura iii. 2).[137]
+
+Practically, Musalmans reject the Old and New Testaments. To do so is
+manifestly against the letter of the Quran, and, as some reason for this
+neglect of previous Scriptures must be given, Muslim divines say that the
+Jewish and Christian Scriptures have been corrupted. The technical
+expression is "tahrif," a word signifying, to change, to turn aside
+anything from the truth. Then tahrif may be of two kinds, tahrif-i-m'anavi,
+a change in the meaning of words; tahrif-i-lafzi, an actual change of the
+written words. Most Musalmans maintain that the latter kind of corruption
+has taken place, and so they do not feel bound to read or study the
+previous revelations so frequently referred to in the Quran. The charge
+brought against the Jews of corrupting their Scriptures is based on the
+following verse of the Quran: "Some truly are there among you who torture
+the Scriptures with their tongues, in order that ye may suppose it to be
+from the Scripture, yet it is not from the Scripture. And they say: 'this
+is from God,' yet it is not from God; and they utter a lie against God, and
+they know they do so." (Sura iii. 72.) All the ancient commentators assert
+that this only proved tahrif-i-m'anavi; that is, that the Jews referred to
+either misinterpreted what they read, or, whilst professing to read from
+the Scripture, used expressions not found therein. It does not mean that
+they altered the text of their Scriptures. This, however, does not excuse
+Musalmans for their neglect of the previous Scriptures, and so the orthodox
+divines of modern times maintain that the greater corruption--the
+tahrif-i-lafzi, has taken place. The question is fully discussed, and the
+opinion of the earlier commentators endorsed by Syed Ahmad in his
+Commentary on the Bible.[138]
+
+{150}
+
+4. PROPHETS.--Muhammad Al Berkevi says:--
+
+    "It is necessary to confess that God has sent prophets; that Adam is
+    the first of the prophets and the father of all men; that Muhammad is
+    the last of the prophets; that between Adam and Muhammad there were a
+    great number of prophets; that Muhammad is the most excellent of all
+    and that his people are the best of all peoples; that each of the
+    preceding prophets was sent to a special people, some with books, some
+    without, but that Muhammad was sent to all men and also to the genii;
+    that his law will remain until the end of the world, that his miracles
+    are many in number, that by his blessed finger he made waters flow,
+    that he divided the moon into two parts, that animals, trees, and
+    stones said to him: 'Thou art a true prophet.'
+
+    We must also believe that one night he was transported from Mecca to
+    Jerusalem, and from thence to heaven, where he saw both paradise and
+    hell, conversed with the Most High and returned to Mecca before
+    morning. After him no other prophet will come, for he is the seal of
+    the prophets."
+
+The number of prophets sent by God to make known His will varies according
+to the Tradition which records it. About two hundred thousand is the usual
+number stated. Twenty-five are mentioned by name in the Quran, of whom six
+are distinguished by special titles. Adam, Sufi Ullah, the chosen of God;
+Noah, Nabi Ullah, the prophet of God; Abraham, Khalil Ullah, the friend of
+God; Moses, Kalim Ullah, the speaker with God; Jesus, Ruh Ullah, the spirit
+of God; Muhammad, Rasul Ullah, the messenger of God. These are called the
+Anbiya-ulul-'Azm (possessors of purpose) because they were the heads of
+their respective dispensations, and because they will be permitted by God
+to intercede in the day of judgment for their followers. They are the
+greatest and most exalted of the prophets.[139]
+
+There are degrees of rank amongst the prophets, for "Some of the Apostles
+have We endowed more highly than others. Those to whom God hath spoken, He
+hath raised to the loftiest grade, and to Jesus, the Son of Mary We gave
+{151} manifest signs, and We strengthened him with the Holy Spirit." (Sura
+ii. 254). The Anbiya-ulul-'Azm are ranked in the following order: Noah,
+Jesus, Moses, Abraham and as the chief of all, Muhammad, of whom it is
+said: "He is the Apostle of God and the seal of the prophets." (Sura
+xxxiii. 40).
+
+A Tradition, as usual, supports his position. "I am the chief of the sons
+of men." "Adam and all beside him will be ranged under my flag in the
+judgment day."[140] It is said that the law given by Moses was harsh and
+severe; that by Christ was mild and gracious; but that the law given by
+Muhammad is perfect, for it combines both the quality of strictness and
+that of graciousness; according to the Tradition: "I always laugh and by
+laughing kill."[141] Each prophet is said to have been sent to his own
+tribe, but Muhammad was sent for all men. A Tradition is adduced to support
+this statement: "I was raised up for all men whether white or black, other
+prophets were not except for their own tribe." The Quran also states: "We
+have sent thee (Muhammad) for all men."
+
+There is some difference of opinion as to whether the prophets are superior
+to the angels. The Hanifites hold that the prophets amongst men are
+superior to the prophets amongst angels, who in their turn are superior to
+the ordinary run of men, to whom again the angels, other than prophets, are
+inferior. The Mutazilites say that the angels are superior to the prophets.
+The Shia'hs assert that the twelve Imams are superior to prophets.
+
+The way in which Muhammad received inspiration has been shown in a previous
+chapter; but Ibn Khaldoun gives such an interesting account of prophetic
+inspiration that I give the substance of his remarks here. He speaks
+somewhat as follows.[142] If we contemplate the world and the creatures it
+contains we shall recognize a perfect order, a regular {152} system, a
+sequence of cause and effect, a connexion between different categories of
+existence, and a transformation of beings from one category of existence to
+another. Then the phenomena of the visible world indicate to us the
+existence of an agent whose nature is different from that of the body, who
+is in fact a spiritual existence. This agent, which is the soul, must on
+the one hand be in contact with the existences of this world and, on the
+other, with the existences in the next category of superiority, and one
+whose essential qualities are pure perception and clear intelligence. Such
+are the angels. It follows, then, that the human soul has a tendency
+towards the angelic world. All this is quite in accordance with the idea
+that, according to a regular order, all the categories of existences in the
+universe are in mutual contact by means of their faculties and on account
+of their nature.
+
+The souls of men may be divided into three classes. The first kind of soul
+is too feeble by nature to attain to a perception of the spiritual: it has
+to content itself with moving in the region of sense and imagination. Thus
+it can understand concepts and affirmations. It can raise itself high in
+its own category but cannot pass its limit.
+
+The souls of the second class are carried by a reflective movement and a
+natural disposition towards a spiritual intelligence. They can enter into a
+state of contemplation which results in ecstasy. This is the intuition of
+the Saints (Auliya)[143] to whom God has given this divine knowledge.
+
+The souls of the third class are created with the power of disengaging
+themselves altogether from their human bodies in order that they may rise
+to the angelic state where they become like angels. In a moment of time
+such {153} a soul perceives the sublime company (of angels) in the sphere
+which contains them. It, there and then, hears the speech of the soul and
+the divine voice. Such are the souls of the prophets. God has given to
+these souls the power of leaving the human body. Whilst thus separate from
+it God gives to them His revelation. The prophets are endowed by God with
+such a purity of disposition, such an instinct of uprightness, that they
+are naturally inclined to the spiritual world. They are animated by an
+ardour quite peculiar to their order. When they return from the angelic
+state they deliver to men the revelations they have received. Sometimes the
+revelation comes to the prophet as the humming of confused discourse. He
+grasps the ideas and, as soon as the humming ceases, he comprehends the
+message; sometimes an angel in human form communicates the revelation, and
+what he says the prophet learns by heart. The journey to, the return from
+the angelic state, and the comprehension of the revelation received there
+occupy less time than the twinkling of an eye. So rapidly do the souls of
+prophets move. So instantaneously do they receive and understand God's
+revelations. This is why inspiration is called Wahi, a word which,
+according to Ibn Khaldoun, means to make haste.
+
+The first way of delivering a message is adopted when he who receives it is
+only a Nabi (prophet), and not a Rasul (apostle or messenger.) The second
+mode is employed towards a Rasul who, on the principle that the greater
+contains the less, is also a Nabi. A Hadis records that Muhammad said:
+"Revelation came to me sometimes like the ticking of a clock and fatigued
+me much. When it stopped I learnt the meaning of what had been delivered to
+me. Sometimes an angel in human form spoke to me and, whilst he was
+speaking, I learnt what was said." That a prophet should feel oppressed on
+such occasions is hinted at in "With measured tone intone the Quran, for we
+shall devolve on thee mighty words." (Sura lxxiii. 5.)
+
+{154}
+
+A Nabi, (who must be a wise and a free man, that is, one who is not a slave
+of another, and one also who is free from imperfection either of body or
+mind), receives Wahi but has not necessarily to deliver to men the orders
+of God. A Rasul who must possess the same qualifications as a Nabi, is one
+who is commanded to deliver God's message to men, though he does not
+necessarily abrogate what preceding Rasuls have delivered. Neither is it
+necessary that he should bring a book or even a new law. Some Rasuls do so,
+but the distinguishing mark of the Rasul is that he delivers to men
+commands direct from God, and is specially commissioned so to do. Thus
+every Rasul is a Nabi, whilst every Nabi is not a Rasul.
+
+The question of the sinlessness of the prophets is one to which
+considerable attention has been paid by Muslim theologians. The orthodox
+belief is that they are free from sin. Some think that their freedom from
+sin is because the grace of God being ever in them in the richest fulness
+they are kept in the right path. The Ash'arians believe that the power of
+sinning is not created in them.[144] The Mutazilites deny this, but admit
+the existence of some quality which keeps them from evil. These theories do
+not agree with actual facts. Prophets like other men commit faults, but
+here comes in the Muslim distinction of sins into gunah-i-kabira "great
+sins," and gunah-i-saghira "little sins." The gunah-i-kabira are, murder,
+adultery, disobedience to God and to parents, robbing of orphans, to accuse
+of adultery, to avoid fighting against infidels, drunkenness, to give or to
+take usury, to neglect the Friday prayers and the Ramazan fast, tyranny,
+backbiting, untrustworthiness, forgetting the Quran after reading it, to
+avoid giving true or to give false witness, lying without sufficient
+reason,[145] to swear falsely or to swear by any other than God, flattery
+of tyrants, false judgments, giving short weight or measure, {155} magic,
+gambling, approval of the ceremonies of infidels, boasting of one's piety,
+calling on the names of deceased persons and beating the breast at such
+times,[146] dancing, music, neglect when opportunity offers of warning
+other persons with regard to the "commands and prohibitions" of God,
+disrespect to a Hafiz, to shave the beard, to omit saying the "darud"
+(_i.e._ on whom and on whose family be the peace and mercy of God) whenever
+the name of Muhammad is mentioned.[147] These are all "great sins" and can
+only be forgiven after due repentance: the "little sins" are forgiven if
+some good actions are done. "Observe prayer at early morning, at the close
+of day, and at the approach of night; for the _good deeds drive away the
+evil deeds_." (Sura xi. 116).
+
+Men may commit sin wittingly or unwittingly. It is the universal belief
+that a prophet never commits the greater sins in either way; but there is a
+difference of opinion with regard to the lesser sins. Some hold that they
+can do them unwittingly, though even then it is not in any thing connected
+with their office. Others again limit even this frailty to the period
+before "wahi" (inspiration) comes upon them. The general opinion, however,
+is that they are free from all sin, whether great or small. The frailties
+which they show are merely reckoned as faults and slight imperfections not
+amounting to sin.
+
+This, to the Muslim mind at once disposes of a difficulty the Quran itself
+raises on this point. With the exception of Jesus Christ, the
+Anbiya-ulul-'Azm are spoken of as doing what every one except an orthodox
+Muslim would call sin. Adam's transgression[148] is referred to in Sura ii.
+29-37 and {156} in Sura vii. 10-24. I quote only one verse: "They said, 'O
+our Lord! with ourselves have we dealt unjustly; if Thou forgive us not and
+have not pity on us, we shall surely be of those that perish.'" The sin of
+Noah is not specified in the Quran, yet it is plainly hinted at. "To Thee
+verily, O my Lord, do I repair lest I ask that of Thee wherein I have no
+knowledge: unless Thou forgive me and be merciful to me I shall be one of
+the lost." (Sura xi. 49). There is also a similar request in Sura lxxi. 29.
+Abraham is represented as saying to his people: "They whom ye worship, ye
+and your fathers of early days, are my foes; but not so the Lord of the
+worlds, who hath created me, and guideth me, who giveth me food and drink;
+and when I am sick, he healeth me, and who will cause me to die and again
+quicken me, and who, I hope, will forgive me my sins in the day of
+reckoning." (Sura xxvi. 75-82). Moses is described as having done "a work
+of Satan" in killing a man, and as saying: "'O my Lord, I have sinned to my
+own hurt; forgive me.' So God forgave him; for He is the forgiving, the
+merciful. He said: 'Lord, because thou hast showed me this grace, I will
+never again be the helper of the wicked.'" (Sura xxviii. 15, 16).
+
+The following passages refer to Muhammad. "Be thou steadfast and patient;
+for true is the promise of God; and seek pardon for thy fault."[149] (Sura
+xl. 57). "Ask pardon for thy sin, and for believers, both men and women."
+(Sura xlvii. 21). The scandal caused by the Prophet's conduct with the wife
+of Zeid, and with the Egyptian slave Mary, necessitated a pretended
+revelation of God's will in reference to these events. The circumstances
+will be found fully detailed in Sura xxxiii. 36-38 and in Sura lxvi. 1-5.
+
+One of the most important verses is: "Verily, we have won for thee an
+undoubted victory, in token that God forgiveth thy earlier and later
+fault." (Sura xlviii. 1-2). {157} It is not quite clear what victory is
+here referred to. According to the Tafsir-i-Husaini, some commentators say
+that it is the taking of Mecca, the past tense being prophetically used for
+the future. The following explanations are given of the expression "earlier
+and later fault." (1) God has forgiven thy sin committed before and after
+the descent of wahi, (2) before and after the taking of Mecca, or (3)
+before the descent of this Sura. (4) The commentator Salmi says: "The
+earlier sin refers to the sin of Adam committed when Muhammad was in the
+loins of his great ancestor and thus connected with him; the later sin
+refers to the followers of the Prophet, and in that way is connected with
+him, just as the sin of Adam was the predecessor and the cause of their
+sin." (5) Imam Abu'l-Lais says: "The words refer to the sin of Adam, and to
+those of the followers of the Prophet. Both are connected with Muhammad,
+because the former is forgiven by the blessing, and the latter by the
+intercession of Muhammad."[150]
+
+From these extracts from the Quran it appears that sin is imputed to
+prophets, though Muslims evade the charge by the casuistry I have already
+referred to. Be that as it may, it is a striking fact that the one sinless
+member of the Anbiya-ulul-'Azm, the one sinless prophet of Islam, is none
+other than Jesus Christ. There is no passage in the Quran which hints at
+sin, even in the modified form in which Muslims attribute it to other
+prophets, being committed by him: no passage which speaks of His seeking
+for pardon.
+
+It is the universal belief that prophets work miracles, (mu'jizat). A
+miracle is defined to be "Kharq-i-'adat," that is, something contrary to
+the usual course of nature.
+
+The object for which a miracle is performed must be a moral one, and
+chiefly to attest the truth of the statements made by the prophet. Although
+Muhammad makes, in the {158} Quran, no distinct claim to the power of
+working miracles,[151] his followers maintain that in this, as in all other
+respects he was equal to all and superior to some prophets, and produce
+various passages of the Quran in support of their view. Thus, according to
+Shaikh Jelal-ud-din Syuti, if to Adam was given the power of naming every
+thing, Muhammad also possessed the same power. Enoch was exalted on high,
+but Muhammad was taken to the 'Baqab-i-qausain,' the 'two bows' length,'
+where Gabriel, "one mighty in power," appeared to him. (Sura liii. 5-9).
+Ishmael was ready to be sacrificed, but Muhammad endured the splitting of
+his chest;[152] Joseph was to some extent handsome, but Muhammad was the
+very perfection of beauty; Moses brought water from the rock, but Muhammad
+produced it from his fingers. The sun was stayed on its course by Joshua
+and so it was by Muhammad. Solomon had a great kingdom, Muhammad a greater,
+for he possessed the keys of the treasuries of the earth. Wisdom was given
+to John the Baptist whilst yet a child, so also were wisdom and
+understanding granted to Muhammad at an early period of his life. Jesus
+could raise the dead, so also could Muhammad. In addition to all these, the
+special miracles of the Prophet are the splitting of the moon asunder, the
+Mi'raj, the coming of a tree into his presence, and above all the wonderful
+miracle of the Quran.[153]
+
+The splitting of the moon in sunder is referred to in, {159} "The hour of
+judgment approacheth; and the moon hath been split in sunder." (Sura liv.
+1). Imam Zahid says that Abu Jahl and a Jew visited the Prophet, and
+demanded a sign from him on pain of death. The Prophet made a sign with his
+little finger, and at once the moon separated into two parts: one of which
+remained in the sky, the other went off to a long distance. The Jew
+believed in Islam forthwith. Abu Jahl ascribed the affair to magic, but on
+making enquiry from various travellers ascertained that they, on this very
+night, distinctly saw the moon in two parts.[154] Some, however, refer the
+passage to the future, as they consider the splitting of the moon to be one
+of the signs of the last day.
+
+The Mi'raj, or night ascent, is mentioned in, "Glory be to Him who carried
+His servant by night from the sacred temple (of Mecca) to the temple that
+is more remote, whose precinct We have blessed, that We might show him of
+our signs." (Sura xvii. 1). Muslim writers, who are fond of the marvellous,
+narrate at length the wonderful things the Prophet saw and did on this
+eventful night;[155] but some maintain that it was only a vision, and quote
+the words: "We ordained the vision which we showed thee," in proof of this
+assertion.[156] Be that as it may, all orthodox Muslims maintain the
+superiority of Muhammad, as a worker of miracles, over all other prophets.
+
+5. THE RESURRECTION AND THE LAST DAY.--These two articles of the faith may
+be considered together. The {160} following is a summary of the remarks of
+Muhammad Al Berkevi on this point. It is necessary to acknowledge:--
+
+    1. That the torments of the tomb are real and certain and that Munkir
+    and Nakir (Ante p. 145) will come and interrogate the dead person
+    concerning his God, his Prophet, his faith and his Qibla. The faithful
+    will reply: "our God is God; our Prophet is Muhammad; our religion,
+    Islam; our Qibla, the Ki-'adataba.
+
+    2. That all the signs of the last day mentioned by the Prophet will
+    come to pass; such as, the appearance of Dajjal, or Antichrist; the
+    descent of Jesus from heaven; the appearance of Imam Mahdi and of Gog
+    and Magog; the rising of the sun from the west, &c.
+
+    3. That all living things will die; that the mountains will fly in the
+    air like birds; that the heavens will melt away; that after some time
+    has thus passed God most High will set the earth in order and raise the
+    dead; that prophets, saints, doctors of the law, and the faithful will
+    find near them the robes and the horses of Paradise. They will put on
+    the robes, and mount the horses and go into the shade of the throne of
+    God. Other men, hungry, thirsty, and naked will go on foot. The
+    Faithful will go to the right, the Infidels to the left.
+
+    4. That there will be a balance, in which the good and bad actions of
+    men will be weighed. Those whose good deeds outweigh the bad will go to
+    Paradise; if the bad predominate, they will go into the fire, unless
+    God has mercy on them, or the prophets or saints intercede for them.
+    If, however, they were not Muslims there will be no intercession for
+    them, nor will they come out from the fire. The Muslims who enter the
+    fire will, after having purged their crimes, enter Paradise.
+
+    5. That the bridge Sirat, which is sharper than a sword, is raised
+    above the fire; that all men must pass over this. Some will pass over
+    with the speed of lightning, some like a horse that runs, some, their
+    backs laden with their sins, will go very slowly over; others will fall
+    and certainly enter into the fire.
+
+    6. That each prophet has a pool where he, with his people, will quench
+    their thirst before entering Paradise; that the pool of Muhammad is the
+    largest of all, for it is a month's march from one side thereof to the
+    other. Its water is sweeter than honey, whiter than milk.
+
+    7. That Paradise and Hell actually exist; that the chosen remain for
+    ever in the former; they neither die, nor grow aged. They experience no
+    kind of change. The Houris and the females are exempted {161} from the
+    infirmities of their sex. They will no longer bear children. The elect
+    will find there the meat and the drink they require, without taking
+    upon themselves any trouble. The ground of Paradise is of musk; the
+    bricks of its edifices are of gold and of silver.
+
+    The unbelievers and the demons will remain for ever in hell, tormented
+    by serpents as thick as the neck of a camel, by scorpions as large as
+    mules, by fire and by scalding water. Their bodies will burn, till they
+    become reduced to a coal, when God will revive them so that they may
+    endure fresh torments. This will last for ever."
+
+The following additional remarks are based on the Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami.
+They fall under four heads.
+
+(1). The sounding of the trumpets. (Nafkhatain-i-Sur). This will not take
+place until wickedness spreads over all the earth. The Prophet said: "The
+resurrection will not come to pass, till some of the sects among my
+followers mix up with the Mushriks (those who associate others with God)
+and till others commence to worship monuments." Again, "The last hour will
+not be till no one is found who calls on God." Then "There shall be a blast
+on the trumpet, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth
+shall expire, save those whom God shall vouchsafe to live. There shall be
+another blast on it, and lo! arising they shall gaze around them." (Sura
+xxxix. 68). Abu Huraira, a Companion, relates that the Prophet speaking of
+the trumpet stated as follows: "After the creation of the heavens and the
+earth God created the trumpet and gave it to Israfil who, with his mouth
+placed to it, is ever looking up and waiting for the order to blow it. He
+will blow three times.[157] The first time, the blast of consternation, to
+terrify; the second, the blast of examination, to slay; the third, the
+blast of resurrection, to quicken the dead." Most persons believe that
+everything, save God and His attributes, will perish. The Karamians and
+some other sects deny this.
+
+{162}
+
+The resurrection of the body is clearly proved by the Quran. Thus, "They
+say, 'Who will bring us back?' Say: 'He who created you at first.'" (Sura
+xvii. 53). "'Who shall give life to bones when they are rotten?' Say: 'He
+shall give life to them who gave them being at first, for in all creation
+is He skilled.'" (Sura xxxvi. 79). "Man saith: 'What! after I am dead,
+shall I in the end be brought forth alive?' Doth not man bear in mind that
+we made him at first, when he was nought?" (Sura xix. 68). "The infidels
+will say, 'shall we indeed be restored as at first? What! When we have
+become rotten bones?' 'This then,' say they, 'will be a return to loss.'
+Verily, it will be but a single blast, and lo! they are on the surface of
+the earth." (Sura lxxix. 10-14). "Is He not powerful enough to quicken the
+dead?" (Sura lxxv. 40). This resurrection will be to judgment. "'Never,'
+say the unbelievers, 'will the hour come upon us.' Say: 'Yea, by my Lord
+who knoweth the unseen, it will surely come upon you, ... to the intent
+that God may reward those who have believed, ... but as for those who aim
+to invalidate our signs, a chastisement of painful torment awaiteth them.'"
+(Sura xxxiv. 3, 4). "A terrible chastisement doth await them _on the Day_
+when faces shall turn white, and faces shall turn black. 'What! after your
+belief have ye become infidels? Taste, then, the chastisement for that ye
+have been unbelievers.' And as to those whose faces shall have become
+white, they shall be within the mercy of God." (Sura iii, 102). The Prophet
+knew not the time when all this would take place. "They will ask thee of
+the 'Hour,' when will be its fixed time? But what knowledge hast thou of
+it? Its period is known only to thy Lord; and thou art charged with the
+warning of those who fear it." (Sura lxxix. 41-45.) These and similar texts
+show the certainty of the resurrection. According to the Ijma' of the
+Faithful, he who has any doubts on this article of the faith is an infidel.
+The {163} Mutazilites show from reason that a resurrection of the body is
+necessary in order that rewards and punishment may be bestowed. The
+orthodox agree with the conclusion, but hesitate to base it on reason.[158]
+
+The Karamians hold that the different parts of the body will not cease to
+be, but that at the last God will gather them together. "Thinketh man that
+we shall not re-unite his bones? Aye! his very finger tips we are able
+evenly to replace." (Sura lxxv. 3, 4.) The orthodox, however, hold that
+this verse does not disprove the fact of previous annihilation, a belief
+supported by the Prophet's saying, "All the sons of men will be
+annihilated." It will be a re-creation though the body will return to its
+former state.
+
+The learned are not agreed as to the state of the soul during this period
+of the death of the body, and therefore disagree with regard to its
+revival. Some assert that it is wrong to speak of a resurrection of the
+soul, for it exists in the body as "fire in coal," hence its revival is
+included in the resurrection of the body; others maintain that as it is a
+distinct entity, it is not annihilated with the body. The scholastics
+favour the first idea. Practically the result seems the same in both cases.
+The resurrection body has a soul. Wise and foolish, devils and beasts,
+insects and birds--all will rise at the last day. Muhammad will come first
+in order and be the first to enter Paradise.
+
+(2). The descent of the Books (Tatair-i-saha,if). After the resurrection,
+men will wander about for forty years, during which time the "Books of
+Actions" will be given to them. These books contain the record kept by the
+Kiram-ul-Katibin, (Ante p. 141). Traditions recorded by Abu Huraira state:
+"Men will rise up naked, and confused; some will walk about, some stand for
+forty years. All will be constantly looking up toward the heavens (_i.e._
+expecting the books.) They will perspire profusely through {164} excess of
+sorrow.[159] Then God will say to Abraham, 'put on clothes.' He will put on
+a robe of Paradise. Then He will call Muhammad for whose benefit a fountain
+will flow forth not far from Mecca. The people, too, shall thirst no more."
+The Prophet said: "I will also put on a dress and will stand near the
+throne, where no one else will be allowed to stand and God will say: 'Ask
+and it shall be granted to thee; intercede, thy intercession shall be
+accepted.'" Each book flies from the treasury under the Throne of God and
+is given to its proper owner. "Every man's fate have We fastened about his
+neck; and on the day of resurrection will We bring forth to him (every man)
+a book which shall be proffered to him wide open: 'Read thy book, there
+needeth none but thyself to make out an account against thee this day.'"
+(Sura xvii. 15). "He into whose _right_ hand his book shall be given, shall
+be reckoned, with an easy reckoning, and shall turn, rejoicing, to his
+kindred. But he whose book shall be given behind his back (_i.e._ into his
+_left_ hand) shall invoke destruction." (Sura lxxxiv. 8-11.) "He, who shall
+have his book given into his _left_ hand will say: 'O that my book had
+never been given me! and that I had not known my reckoning.'" (Sura lxix.
+25). It is always said that wicked Musalmans will be seized by the _right_
+hand before they are cast into the fire, which is a proof that they are not
+always to remain there. Some hold that the expression "Read thy book"
+implies a literal reading; others that it is a metaphorical expression
+which simply means that all the past actions will be known. Those who
+believe in a literal reading say that each believer will read the account
+of his faults only, and that other persons will read that of his good
+deeds. The face of the believer as he reads will shine resplendently, but
+black will be the face of the infidel.
+
+{165}
+
+(3). The Balances (Mizan). This belief is based on the authority of the
+Quran, Sunnat and the Ijma'; no Muslim, therefore, can have any doubt about
+it. Thus: "They whose balances shall be heavy, shall be the blest; but they
+whose balances shall be light,--these are they who shall lose their souls,
+abiding in hell for ever." (Sura xxiii. 104). "As to him whose balances are
+heavy, his shall be a life that shall please him well: and as to him whose
+balances are light, his dwelling-place shall be the pit. And who shall
+teach thee what the pit (Al-Hawia) is? A raging fire!" (Sura ci. 5-8). The
+Traditions on this point are very numerous. The Ijma' is also strong on the
+reality, the objective existence, of a balance with scales, &c., complete.
+They also state that the "Books of Actions" (Saha,if-i-A'mal) will be
+weighed. In the Sahih-i-Bukhari it is said that the Believers will not be
+weighed in the balances, for "God will say, 'O Muhammad make those of thy
+people, from whom no account is taken, enter into Paradise.'" Prophets and
+angels will also be exempt. Such a test also is not required for the
+unbelievers, for their state is very evident; "By their tokens shall the
+sinners be known, and they shall be seized by their forelocks and their
+feet." (Sura lv. 41). Thus it is evident that, with regard to true
+believers and unbelievers, the works of such only as God may choose need be
+weighed. Some, however, maintain that no unbeliever will have this test
+applied to his case and quote: "Vain therefore, are their works; and no
+weight will we allow them on the day of resurrection." (Sura xviii. 105).
+To this it is answered, that all that is here denied is the fact of "a
+weighing in _their favour_." The place where the weighing will take place
+is situated midway between heaven and hell. Gabriel standing by watches the
+movement of the scales and Michael guards the balance. The orthodox are not
+agreed as to whether there will be a separate balance for each tribe of
+men, and also for each of the 'good works' {166} of the believers. Those
+who hold that there will be a balance for prayer, another for fasting and
+so on, adduce the use of the plural form, balances (muwazin) in proof of
+their statement. There is also a difference of opinion as to whether the
+"works" themselves, or the books (saha,if) will be weighed. The latter
+opinion is supported by a Tradition recorded by Tirmizi. "The Prophet said:
+'Ninety-nine registers will be distributed. Each register will extend as
+far as the eye can reach. God will say: 'What! dost thou deny this, or have
+the recording angels treated thee unjustly?' Each will say: 'No! O Lord.'
+'Hast thou then any excuse?' 'No! O Lord.' Then God will display a cloth on
+which the Kalima is written. This will be put into one scale, and God will
+say: 'To thee will be no evil if thou hast a register in this scale, and
+this cloth in the other, for the first scale will be light.'" This is
+considered conclusive testimony with regard to the weighing of the Saha,if.
+The Mutazilites objected to statements such as these, for said they:
+"actions are accidents, and the qualities of lightness and heaviness cannot
+be attributed to accidents." They explained the verses of the Quran and the
+statements of the Traditions on this point, as being a figurative way of
+saying that perfect justice will be done to all in the Day of Judgment.
+
+(4). The Bridge (Sirat). The meaning of the word Sirat is a road, a way. It
+is so used in the Quran. In connection with the Day of Judgment it is said:
+"If we pleased we would surely put out their eyes: yet even then would they
+speed on with rivalry in their path (Sirat)." (Sura xxxvi. 66). "Gather
+together those who have acted unjustly, and their consorts (demons), and
+the gods whom they have adored beside God; and guide them to the road
+(Sirat) for hell." (Sura xxxvii. 23). It is nowhere in the Quran called a
+bridge, but Tradition is very clear on this point. The Prophet said: "There
+will be a bridge sharper than the edge of a sword, finer than a hair,
+suspended over {167} hell. Iron spikes on it will pierce those whom God
+wills. Some will pass over it in the twinkling of an eye, some like a flash
+of lightning, others with the speed of a swift horse. The angels will call
+out, 'O Lord! save and protect.' Some Muslims will be saved, some will fall
+headlong into hell." Bukhari relates a similar Tradition. The infidels will
+all fall into hell and there remain for ever. Muslims will be released
+after a while.
+
+The Mutazilites deny the existence of such a bridge. "If we admit it," say
+they, "it would be a trouble for the believers, and such there is not for
+them in the Day of Judgment." To this the orthodox reply that the believers
+pass over it to show how they are saved from fire, and that thus they may
+be delighted with Paradise, and also that the infidels may feel chagrin at
+those who were with them on the bridge being now safe for ever.
+
+Al A'raf is situated between heaven and hell. It is described thus: "On
+(the wall) Al A'raf shall be men who know all, by their tokens,[160] and
+they shall cry to the inhabitants of Paradise, 'Peace be on you!' but they
+shall not yet enter it, although they long to do so. And when their eyes
+are turned towards the inmates of the fire, they shall say, 'O our Lord!
+place us not with offending people &c.'" (Sura vii. 44, 45). Sale's summary
+of the opinions regarding Al A'raf in his Preliminary Discourse is
+exceedingly good. It is as follows:--
+
+    "They call it Al Orf, and more frequently in the plural, Al Araf, a
+    word derived from the verb _Arafa_, which signifies to distinguish
+    between things, or to part them; though some commentators give another
+    reason for the imposition of this name, because, say they, those who
+    stand on this partition will _know_ and _distinguish_ the blessed from
+    the damned, by their respective marks or characteristics: and others
+    way the word properly intends anything that is _high raised_ or
+    _elevated_, as such a wall of separation must be supposed to {168} be.
+    Some imagine it to be a sort of _limbo_ for the patriarchs and
+    prophets, or for the martyrs and those who have been most eminent for
+    sanctity. Others place here such whose good and evil works are so equal
+    that they exactly counterpoise each other, and therefore deserve
+    neither reward nor punishment; and these, say they, will on the last
+    day be admitted into Paradise, after they shall have performed an act
+    of adoration, which will be imputed to them as a merit, and will make
+    the scale of their good works to overbalance. Others suppose this
+    intermediate space will be a receptacle for those who have gone to war,
+    without their parents' leave, and therein suffered martyrdom; being
+    excluded from Paradise for their disobedience, and escaping hell
+    because they are martyrs."
+
+There is also an interval, between the death of the body in this world and
+the Last Day, called Al-Barzakh. "Behind them shall be a barrier (barzakh),
+until the day when they shall be raised again." (Sura xxiii. 102). When
+death takes place, the soul is separated from the body by the Angel of
+death; in the case of the good with ease, in that of the wicked with
+violence. It then enters into Al-Barzakh.[161]
+
+It is a doctrine founded on Ijma', that God will not pardon Shirk, that is,
+the ascribing plurality to the Divine Being. The Mushrik, one who does so,
+will remain in hell for ever, for as Kufr, infidelity, is an eternal crime,
+its punishment must also be eternal. "The unbelievers among the people of
+the Book, and among the Polytheists shall go into the fire of Gehenna to
+abide therein for aye. Of all creatures are they the worst?" (Sura xcviii.
+5). "Cast into Hell every infidel, every hardened one, the hinderer of the
+good, the transgressor, the doubter who set up other Gods with God. Cast ye
+him into the fierce torment." (Sura 1. 23-25.)
+
+Muslims who commit great (Kabira) sins, though they die unrepentant, will
+not remain in hell for ever, for, "whosoever shall have wrought an atom's
+weight of good shall {169} behold it." (Sura xcix. 7). It is asserted that
+the fact of believing in Islam is a good work and merits a reward: this
+cannot be given before the man enters hell to be punished for his sins, and
+therefore he must be, after a while, released from punishment. "Perfect
+faith (Iman-i-Kamil) consists in believing with sincerity of heart and
+acting in accordance thereto, but the actions are not the faith itself.
+Great sins, therefore, prevent a man from having "perfect faith," but do
+not destroy faith (Iman), nor make the Muslim an infidel, but only a
+sinner."[162] The Mutazilites teach that the Muslim who enters hell will
+remain there for ever. They maintain that the person who, having committed
+great sins, dies unrepentant, though not an infidel, ceases to be a
+believer and hence suffers as the infidels do.
+
+The orthodox belief is that Muhammad is now an Intercessor and will be so
+at the Last Day. The intercession then is of several kinds. There is the
+'great intercession' to which the words, "it may be that thy Lord will
+raise thee to a _glorious station_," (Sura xvii. 81) are supposed to refer.
+The Maqam-i-mahmud, (glorious station), is said to be the place of
+intercession in which all persons will praise the Prophet.[163] In the
+Zad-ul-Masir it is said that the Maqam-i-mahmud refers to the fact that God
+will place the Prophet on His Throne. Others say that it is a place in
+which a standard will be given to the Prophet, around whom all the other
+prophets will then gather to do him honour. The first interpretation is,
+however, the ordinary one. The people will be in great fear. Muhammad will
+say: "O my people! I am appointed for intercession." Their fear will then
+pass away. The second intercession is made so that they may enter into
+Paradise without rendering an account. The authorities differ with regard
+to this. The third intercession is on behalf of those Muslims who {170}
+ought to go to hell. The fourth for those who are already there. No one but
+the Prophet can make these intercessions. The fifth intercession is for an
+increase of rank to those who are in Paradise. The Mutazilites maintained
+that there would be no intercession for Muslims guilty of great sins, and
+adduced in favour of their opinion the verse: "Fear ye the day when soul
+shall not satisfy for soul at all, nor shall any intercession be accepted
+from them, nor shall any ransom be taken, neither shall they be helped."
+(Sura ii. 45). The orthodox bring in reply this Hadis-i-Sahih: "The Prophet
+said: 'my intercession is for the men of my following who have committed
+great sins.'" If this Tradition is disputed, they then say that the verse
+in the Quran just quoted does not refer to Muslims at all, but to the
+Infidels.[164]
+
+According to a Tradition related by Anas the Prophet said: "In the day of
+resurrection Musalmans will not be able to move, and they will be greatly
+distressed and say: 'would to God that we had asked Him to create some one
+to intercede for us, that we might be taken from this place, and be
+delivered from tribulation and sorrow.'" The Tradition goes on to state how
+they sought help from Adam and the prophets of the old dispensation, who,
+one and all, excused themselves on account of their own sinfulness. At
+length Moses told them to go to Jesus, the Apostle of God, the Spirit of
+God and the Word of God. They did so and Jesus said: "Go to Muhammad who is
+a servant, whose sins God has forgiven both first and last." The Prophet
+continued, according to the Tradition, "then the Musalmans will come to me,
+and I will ask permission to go into God's presence and intercede for
+them."[165]
+
+The second advent of Christ is a sign of the last day. "Jesus is no more
+than a servant whom We favoured ... {171} and he shall be a sign of the
+last hour." (Sura xliii. 61). He will not, according to the Quran, come as
+a judge, but like other prophets to be judged. "We formed with them (_i.e._
+prophets) a strict covenant, that God may question the men of truth as to
+their truth, (_i.e._ how they have discharged their prophetic functions)."
+(Sura xxxiii. 7, 8). He will come to bear witness against the Jews who
+reject him: "In the day of resurrection, He will be a witness against
+them." (Sura iv. 158).
+
+It is necessary to believe in the pond of the Prophet called Kausar. This
+faith is founded on the verse "Truly we have given thee an _abundance_."
+(Sura cviii. 1). Bukhari says: "The meaning of Kausar is the 'abundance of
+good' which God gives to the Prophet. Abu Bash said to one Sa'id, 'the
+people think that Kausar is a river of Paradise.' Sa'id replied, 'Kausar is
+a river in which there is abundance of good.'" According to the same
+authority Muhammad said: "My pond is square, its water is whiter than milk,
+its perfume better than that of musk, whosoever drinks thereof will thirst
+no more."
+
+There are many degrees of felicity in heaven to which the believers are
+admitted. The Prophet, according to Tirmizi, said there were one hundred.
+Some of these may possibly be meant by the eight names they give to
+Paradise. (1.) Jannat-ul-Khuld. "Say: Is this, or the _Garden of Eternity_
+which was promised to the God-fearing, best?" (Sura xxv. 16.) (2.)
+Jannat-us-Salam. "For them is a _Dwelling of Peace_ with their Lord." (Sura
+vi. 127.) (3.) Dar-ul-Qarar. "The life to come is the _Mansion which
+abideth_." (Sura xl. 42.) (4.) Jannat-ul-'Adan. "To the Faithful, both men
+and women, God promiseth gardens and goodly mansions in the _Garden of
+Eden_." (Sura ix. 73.) (5.) Jannat-ul-Mawa. "Near which is the _Garden of
+Repose_." (Sura liii. 15.) (6) Jannat-un-Na'im. "Amid _delights_ shall the
+righteous dwell." (Sura lxxxii. 13.) (7) Jannat-ul-Illiyun. "The register
+of the righteous is {172} in _Illiyun_." (Sura lxxxiii. 18,) (8.)
+Jannat-ul-Firdaus. "Those who believe and do the things that are right,
+they shall have the _Gardens of Paradise_ for their abode." (Sura xviii.
+107.)
+
+Hell is said to have seven divisions. The Quran, though it mentions the
+names of these divisions, does not state what classes of persons will be
+sent to each; but Muslim Commentators have supplied the needed information.
+They classify them thus:--(1.) Jahannam, for sinners who die without
+repentance. (2.) Lazwa, for the infidels (_i.e._, Christians.) (3.) Hutama,
+a fire for Jews, and according to some for Christians. (4.) Sa'ir, for
+devils, the descendants of Iblis. (5.) Saqar, for the magians: also for
+those who neglect prayer. (6.) Jahim, a boiling caldron for idolaters: also
+for Gog and Magog. (7.) Hawia, a bottomless pit for hypocrites. It is said
+that heaven has one division more than hell to show that God's mercy
+exceeds His justice.
+
+The Muhammadan writers give very full and minute accounts of the events
+connected with the resurrection, judgment and future state of those who are
+lost, and of those who are saved. Sale gives such an excellent summary of
+these opinions, that it is not necessary to enter into details here. The
+orthodox belief is that the statements in the Quran and the Traditions
+regarding the pleasures of Paradise are to be taken literally.[166]
+
+6. THE PREDESTINATION OF GOOD AND EVIL.--I have already in the section in
+which the attribute "will" is described (p. 118) given some account of the
+dogmatic statements concerning the doctrine of predestination; but as it
+always forms a distinct chapter in Musalman books, I treat it separately
+here. Having, however, in the passage referred {173} to, given Al Berkevi's
+words on the attribute "will," it is only necessary to make a short extract
+from his dogmatic statement concerning Predestination. He says:--
+
+    "It is necessary to confess that good and evil take place by the
+    predestination and predetermination of God, that all that has been and
+    all that will be was decreed in eternity, and written on the _preserved
+    table_;[167] that the faith of the believer, the piety of the pious and
+    good actions are foreseen, willed, predestinated, decreed by the
+    writing on the _preserved table_, produced and approved by God; that
+    the unbelief of the unbeliever, the impiety of the impious and bad
+    actions come to pass with the fore-knowledge, will, predestination and
+    decree of God, but not with His satisfaction and approval. Should any
+    ask why God willeth and produceth evil, we can only reply that He may
+    have wise ends in view which we cannot comprehend."
+
+Another confession of faith has:--
+
+    "Whoever shall say, that God is not delighted with virtue and faith,
+    and is not wroth with vice and infidelity, or that God has decreed good
+    and evil with equal complacency is an infidel."
+
+There are three well-defined schools of thought on the subject:--
+
+First.--The Jabrians, so called from the word "_jabr_" compulsion, deny all
+free agency in man and say that man is necessarily constrained by the force
+of God's eternal and immutable decree to act as he does.[168] They hold
+that as {174} God is the absolute Lord, He can, if He so wills, admit all
+men into Paradise, or cast all into hell. This sect is one of the branches
+of the Ash'arians with whom on most points they agree.
+
+Secondly.--The Qadrians, who deny _Al-Qadr_, or God's absolute decree, say
+that evil and injustice ought not to be attributed to God but to man, who
+is altogether a free agent. God has given him the power to do or not to do
+an act. This sect is generally considered to be a branch of the Mutazilite
+body, though in reality it existed before Wasil quitted the school of his
+master Hasan (Ante. p. 125). As Wasil, however, followed the opinions of
+Mabad-al-Johni, the leading Kadrian divine, the Mutazilites and Qadrians
+are practically one and the same.
+
+Thirdly.--The Ash'arians, of whom I have already given some account,
+maintain that God has one eternal will which is applied to whatsoever He
+willeth, both of His own actions and those of men; that He willeth that
+which He knoweth and what is written on the _preserved table_; that He
+willeth both good and evil. So far they agree with the Jabrians; but then
+they seem to allow some power to man, a tenet I have already explained when
+describing their idea of "Kasb" (Ante. p. 130). The orthodox, or Sunni
+belief is theoretically Ash'arian, but practically the Sunnis are confirmed
+Jabrians. The Mutazilite doctrines are looked upon as quite heretical.
+
+No subject has been more warmly discussed in Islam than that of
+predestination. The following abstract of some lengthy discussions will
+present the points of difference.
+
+The Ash'arians, who in this matter represent in the main orthodox views,
+formulate their objections to the Mutazilite system thus:--
+
+(i). If man is the causer of an action by the force of his own will, then
+he should also have the power of controlling the result of that action.
+
+(ii). If it be granted that man has the power to _originate_ {175} an act
+it is necessary that he should know all acts, because a creator should be
+independent in act and choice. Intention must be conditioned by knowledge.
+To this the Mutazilites well reply that a man need not know the length of a
+road before he walks, or the structure of the throat before he talks.
+
+(iii). Suppose a man wills to move his body and God at the same time wills
+it to be steady, then if both intentions come to pass there will be a
+collection of opposites; if neither, a removal of opposites; if the
+exaltation of the first, an unreasonable preference.
+
+(iv). If man can create an act, some of his works will be better than some
+of the works of God, _e.g._ a man determines to have faith: now faith is a
+better thing than reptiles, which are created by God.
+
+(v). If man is free to act, why can he not make at once a human body; why
+does he need to thank God for grace and faith?
+
+(vi). But better far than all argument, the orthodox say, is the testimony
+of the Book. "All things have we created under a fixed decree." (Sura liv.
+49). "When God created you and _that ye make_." (Sura xxxvii. 94). "Some of
+them there were whom God guided and there were others decreed to err."
+(Sura xvi. 38). As God decrees faith and obedience He must be the causer of
+it, for "on the hearts of these hath God graven the Faith." (Sura lviii.
+22). "It is he who causeth you to laugh and weep, to die and make alive."
+(Sura liii. 44). "If God pleased He would surely bring them, one and all,
+to the guidance." (Sura vi. 36). "Had God pleased, He had guided you all
+aright." (Sura vi. 150). "Had the Lord pleased, He would have made mankind
+of one religion." (Sura xi. 120). "God will mislead whom he pleaseth, and
+whom He pleaseth He will place upon the straight path." (Sura vi. 39.)
+Tradition records that the Prophet said: "God is the maker of all makers
+and of their actions."[169]
+
+{176}
+
+The Mutazilites took up the opposite side of this great question and
+said:--
+
+(i). If man has no power to will or to do, then what is the difference
+between praising God and sinning against Him; between faith and infidelity;
+good and evil; what is the use of commands and prohibitions; rewards and
+punishments; promises and threats; what is the use of prophets, books, &c.
+
+(ii). Some acts of men are bad, such as tyranny and polytheism. If these
+are created by God, it follows that to tyrannise and to ascribe plurality
+to the Deity is to render obedience. To this the Ash'arians reply that
+orders are of two kinds, immediate and mediate. The former which they call
+"Amr-i-takwiti," is the order, "Be and it was." This comprehends all
+existences, and according to it whatever is ordered must come to pass. The
+latter they call "Amr-i-tashri'i," an order given in the Law. This comes to
+men through prophets and thus is to be obeyed. True obedience is to act
+according to that which is revealed, not according to the secret intentions
+of God, for that we know not.
+
+(iii). If God decrees the acts of men, He should bear the name of that
+which he decrees. Thus the causer of infidelity is an infidel; of tyranny a
+tyrant, and so on; but to speak thus of God is blasphemy.
+
+(iv). If infidelity is decreed by God He must wish it; but a prophet
+desires faith and obedience and so is opposed to God. To this the orthodox
+reply, that God knows by His eternal knowledge that such a man will die an
+infidel. {177} If a prophet intends by bringing the message of salvation to
+such an one to make God's knowledge become ignorance, he would be doing
+wrong; but as he does not know the secret decrees of God, his duty is to
+deliver his message according to the Hadis: "A prophet has only to deliver
+the clear message."
+
+(v). The Mutazilites claimed as on their side all verses of the Quran, in
+which the words to do, to construct, to renew, to create, &c., are applied
+to men. Such are the verses: "Whatever is in the heavens and in the earth
+is God's that He may reward those who _do_ evil according to their deeds:
+and those who _do_ good will He reward with good things." (Sura liii. 32).
+"Whoso shall have _wrought_ evil shall not be recompensed but with its
+like: but whoso shall have _done_ the things that are right, whether male
+or female and is a believer, these shall enter Paradise." (Sura xl. 43).
+Say: "the truth is from the Lord; let him then who will believe; and let
+him who will, be an infidel." (Sura xviii. 28).[170] "Those who add Gods to
+God will say: 'If God had pleased neither we nor our fathers had given Him
+companions.' Say: 'Verily ye follow only a conceit, ye utter lies.'" (Sura
+vi. 149). The Hadis is also very plain. "All good is in Thy hands and evil
+is not to Thee." (Al-khair kuluhu fi yadaika wash-sharru laisa 'alaika.)
+
+The Ash'arians have one famous text which they bring to bear against all
+this reasoning and evidence. It is: "This truly is a warning; and whoso
+willeth, taketh the way of his Lord; but _will it ye shall not_, unless God
+will it, for God is knowing, wise." (Sura lxxvi. 29, 30). To the Hadis they
+reply (1) that there is a difference between acquiescence in evil and
+decreeing it. Thus the expression "God willeth not tyranny for His
+servants," does not mean {178} that God hath not decreed it, but that
+tyranny is not one of His attributes: so "evil is not to Thee" means it is
+not an attribute of God; and (2) the Hadis must be explained in accordance
+with the teaching of the Quran.
+
+The Muslim philosophers tried to find a way out of the difficulty. Averhoes
+says: "We are free to act in this way or that, but our will is always
+determined by some exterior cause. For example, we see something which
+pleases us, we are drawn to it in spite of ourselves. Our will is thus
+bound by exterior causes. These causes exist according to a certain order
+of things which is founded on the general laws of nature. God alone knows
+before hand the necessary connection which to us is a mystery. The
+connection of our will with exterior causes is determined by the laws of
+nature. It is this which in theology we call, 'decrees and
+predestination.'"[171]
+
+I have already shown how, as Islam grew into a system, the Muslims fell
+into a Cabbalism, and a superstitious reverence for the mere letters and
+words of the Quran. With this declension came a still more distorted view
+of the character of God. The quotations made from the Quran in the last few
+pages will have shown that whilst some passages seem to attribute freedom
+to man and speak of his consequent responsibility, others teach a clear and
+distinct fatalism. The great strength of Islam lay in the energy with which
+Muhammad preached the doctrine that God was a divine Ruler, one who would
+deal righteous judgment, who "taught man that which he knew not." As the
+system became more complex and dogmatic--a very necessary result of its
+first principles--men lost the sense of the nearness of God. He became an
+unapproachable being. A harsh unfeeling Fate took the place of the
+Omnipotent Ruler. It is this dark fatalism which, whatever the Quran may
+teach on the subject, is the ruling principle in all Muslim {179}
+communities. It is this which makes all Muhammadan nations decay. Careless
+of self-improvement,[172] heedless of the need of progress, the Muslim
+nations, still independent, are in all that relates to the higher aspects
+of intellectual and civilized life far behind the nations of the west.
+
+The subject of _'Ilm-i-Aqaid_, or the science of dogma properly ends here,
+but most Muslim treatises include in this branch of the subject a few
+practical remarks. I therefore add a summary of them here. The believer who
+commits murder, fornication, &c., does not cease to be a Muslim provided
+that he does not say that these are allowed: should he die unrepentant, God
+can punish him for a while in hell, or forgive him without punishment. The
+Hadd, a punishment based on a Zahir, or obvious sentence of the Quran
+requires that a Muslim who apostatizes shall be put to death.[173] In the
+case of an apostate woman, Imam Abu Hanifa ruled that she should be
+imprisoned and beaten every day. The other three Imams, Malik, Shafa'i and
+Hanbal said that she should be put to death in accordance with the
+Tradition which says: "He who changes his religion, kill." The Arabic word
+"man," usually translated "He who" is of common gender, and so these Imams
+include women in the list of those who, after apostasy, are to be
+killed.[174] God does not pardon polytheism and infidelity; but He can, if
+He willeth, pardon all other crimes. If any one is asked, "dost thou
+believe?" he should reply, "I am truly a believer," and not say: "If God
+{180} willeth."[175] If any one says to him: "Wilt thou die in the faith?"
+he should reply: "I do not know, God knows." Except when speaking of
+prophets, or of those of whom the Prophets have spoken, such as Abu Bakr,
+Omar, Osman and 'Ali, it must not be said of any one, "he is gone to
+Paradise," for God only knows his state. Prayer should be made for a
+deceased Muslim whether he was a good or bad man. To give alms, to read the
+Quran, to perform other good works, and to apply the merit thus gained to
+the souls of the dead is a pious and beneficial act.
+
+{181}
+
+    NOTE TO CHAPTER IV.
+
+    MUSLIM PHILOSOPHY.
+
+    I have shown in the preceding chapter how the earlier scholastics, or
+    the Mutazilites, as they are called, were finally crushed by the
+    orthodox party. The later scholastics, or the philosophers, form the
+    subject of this note. The Khalif Mamun (813-833 A.D.), a notorious
+    free-thinker, was the first to give an impulse to philosophic
+    researches. It was then that Greek philosophical works were translated
+    into Arabic. The Greek author most patronized was Aristotle, partly,
+    because his empirical method accorded with the positive tendencies of
+    the Arab mind better than the pure idealism of Plato; and, partly,
+    because his system of logic was considered an useful auxiliary in the
+    daily quarrels between the rival theological schools. It was quite
+    natural that Aristotle should be thus followed. "The Musalman mind was
+    trained in habits of absolute obedience to the authority of fixed
+    dogmas. The Muslims did not so much wish to discover truth as to
+    cultivate their own intellect. For that purpose, a sharp and subtle
+    systematist like Aristotle was the very man they required."[176] Some
+    idea of the range of subjects then discussed may be gained from an
+    account given by the Arab historian, Masoudi, of a meeting held under
+    the Presidentship of Yahya, one of the famous Barmecide family.[177]
+    Yahya thus addressed the meeting: "You have discussed at length the
+    theory of concealment (Al-Kumun) and manifestation (Al-Zahur), of
+    pre-existence and creation, of duration and stability, of movement and
+    quiescence, of the union and separation (of the Divine substance), of
+    existence and non-existence, of bodies and accidents, of the approval
+    and the refutation (of the Isnads of the Traditions), of the absence or
+    the existence of attributes in God, of potential and active force, of
+    substance, quantity, modality and relation, of life and annihilation.
+    You have examined the question as to whether the Imam rules by divine
+    right, or by popular election; you have had an exhaustive discussion on
+    metaphysical subjects, in their principles and corollaries. Occupy
+    yourselves to-day with the subject of love," &c.
+
+    The translation of the works of Aristotle, as indeed of all the Greek
+    authors, was made by Syrian and Chaldean Christians, and {182}
+    especially by the Nestorians who, as physicians, were in high favour
+    with the liberal Khalifs of the 'Abbasside dynasty. In some cases the
+    translation into Arabic was made from Syriac versions, for in the time
+    of the Emperor Justinian many Greek works had been translated into the
+    latter language. The most celebrated translator was the historian
+    physician Honein-Ibn-Ishak (died 876 A.D.), a man profoundly acquainted
+    with the Syriac, Greek and Arabic languages. He was at the head of a
+    school of interpreters in Baghdad, to which his son Ishak-ben-Honein
+    and his nephew Hobeisch-Al-Asam also belonged. In the tenth century
+    (A.D.) Yahya-ben-Adi and Isa-ben-Zara'a translated some works and
+    corrected earlier translations of others. It is to these men that the
+    Arabs owe their chief acquaintance with Plato.
+
+    The study of Aristotle spread rapidly amongst the Muslim people,
+    especially amongst the heretical sects. The orthodox looked with grave
+    suspicion on the movement, but could not for a while stay the impulse.
+    The historian Makrizi says: "The doctrine of the Philosophers has
+    worked amongst the Muslims evils most fatal. It serves only to augment
+    the errors of the heretics and to increase their impiety."[178] It came
+    into contact with Muslim dogmas in such subjects as the creation of the
+    world, the special providence of God and the nature of the divine
+    attributes. To a certain extent the Mutazilites were supported by the
+    philosophical theories they embraced, but this did not diminish the
+    disfavour with which the orthodox looked upon the study of philosophy.
+    Still it grew, and men in self defence had to adopt philosophic
+    methods. Thus arose a later system of scholasticism. The earlier system
+    was confined mainly to matters of religion; the later school occupied
+    itself with the whole range of philosophic investigation, and thus went
+    farther and farther away from orthodox Islam.
+
+    The Muslims themselves did not write books on philosophy in the earlier
+    period. Men of liberal tendencies imbibed its teaching, but orthodoxy
+    finally gained the day over the earlier scholastics, and in the form
+    known as that of the Ash'arian School became again supreme.[179] The
+    great intellectual movement of the Philosophers proper, the later
+    scholastics (Mutakalliman), lasted longer, but by the end of the
+    twelfth century (A.D.) the whole Muhammadan world had again become
+    orthodox. Salah-ud-din (Saladin) and his successors in Egypt were
+    strong supporters of the Ash'arians.
+
+    {183}
+
+    The period now under review was one prolific of authors on grammar,
+    rhetoric, logic, exegesis, traditions and the various branches of
+    philosophy; but the men who stand out most prominently as philosophers
+    were then, and are now, considered heretics.[180]
+
+    Al-Kendi, was born at Basra, on the Persian Gulf. He died about 870
+    A.D. He was a very scientific man, but a thorough rationalist in
+    theology. He composed commentaries on the logic of Aristotle. In his
+    great work on the unity of God he has strayed far away from Muslim
+    dogmas.
+
+    Al Farabi, another philosopher patronized by the 'Abbassides, seems to
+    have denied not only the rigid and formal Islamic view of inspiration,
+    but any objective revelation at all. He held that intuition was a true
+    inspiration, and that all who had acquired intuitive knowledge were
+    real prophets. This is the only revelation he admits. He received his
+    philosophical training at Baghdad, where for a while he taught; but
+    finally he went to Damascus, where he died 950 A.D.
+
+    Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna, a man of Persian origin, was a
+    Philosopher of great note, but of him it is said that in spite of the
+    concessions he made to the religious ideas of his age, he could not
+    find favour for his opinions, which ill accord with the principles of
+    Islam. He was born near Bukhara, in the year 980 A.D. For a while he
+    taught medicine and philosophy in Ispahan.
+
+    Ibn Badja, (Avempace) was one of the most celebrated Muslim
+    Philosophers of Spain. He was born at Saragossa towards the end of the
+    eleventh century. He is distinguished for having opposed the mystical
+    tendencies of the teaching of Al-Ghazzali, and for maintaining that
+    speculative science alone was capable of leading man to a true
+    conception of his own proper nature. He was violently attacked by the
+    orthodox divines who declared that all philosophical teaching was "a
+    calamity for religion and an affliction to those who were in the good
+    way."
+
+    Al-Ghazzali was born A.D. 1059 in Khorasan. He was a famous Muslim
+    divine. He adopted scholastic methods. For a while he was President of
+    the Nizamiah College at Baghdad. He travelled much, and wrote many
+    books to prove the superiority of Islam over all other religions and
+    over philosophy. The first result of his wide and extensive study of
+    the writings of the philosophers, and of the heretics was that he fell
+    into a state of scepticism with regard to religion and philosophy. From
+    this he emerged into Sufiism, in {184} which his restless spirit found
+    satisfaction. On Sufiism, however, he exercised no very notable
+    influence; but the scepticism which he still retained as regards
+    philosophy rendered him a very formidable opponent to those who were
+    trying to bring Islam into accord with philosophic theories. His works,
+    "Tendency of Philosophers," and "Destruction of the Philosophers" had
+    an immense influence. In the preface to the latter book, he speaks of
+    "those who arrogate to themselves a superior intelligence, and who, in
+    their pride, mistaking the precepts of religion, take as a guide the
+    authority of certain great men, instead of revealed religion." It is,
+    however, and with some show of reason supposed that Al-Ghazzali did not
+    really object to all that he condemned, but that to gain the orthodox
+    he wrote what he did. Indeed, Moses of Narbonne states that Ghazzali
+    later on in life wrote a book, circulated only amongst a few select
+    friends, in which he withdrew many of the objections he had raised in
+    the "Destruction of Philosophers." Be that as it may, it is
+    acknowledged that he dealt a blow to philosophy from which in the East
+    it has never recovered; that is, as far as the Muslim world is
+    concerned. His course marks a reaction of the exclusively religious
+    principle of Islam against philosophical speculation, which in spite of
+    all accommodation never made itself orthodox.
+
+    In Spain philosophy still found an ardent defender in Ibn Rashid,
+    better known as Averhoes. This celebrated man was born at Cordova in
+    the year 1126 A.D., or about 520 of the Muhammadan era. He came of a
+    noble and learned family, whilst he himself must ever occupy a
+    distinguished place amongst the Muslim Philosophers. "Without dispute
+    he was one of the most learned men of the Muslim world, and one of the
+    profoundest commentators of Aristotle. He knew all the sciences then
+    accessible to the Muslims and was a most prolific writer."[181] One of
+    his most famous works was the "Refutation of the destruction of
+    Philosophers." Notwithstanding his philosophical opinions Averhoes
+    claimed to pass for a good Muslim. He held that the philosophic truths
+    are the highest object of research; but that only a few men could by
+    speculation arrive at them, and that, therefore, a divine revelation
+    through the medium of prophets was necessary for spreading amongst men
+    the eternal verities which are proclaimed alike by philosophy and
+    religion. He held, it is true, that the orthodox had paid too much
+    attention to the letter, and too little to the spirit, and that false
+    interpretations had educed principles not really to be found in
+    religion. This {185} profession and a rigid adherence to outward forms
+    of worship, however, did not save him from suspicion. He was accused of
+    preaching philosophy and the ancient sciences to the detriment of
+    religion. He was deprived of his honours and banished by the Khalif
+    Al-Mansur to Lucena, near Cordova. In his disgrace he had to suffer
+    many insults from the orthodox. One day on entering the mosque with his
+    son he was forcibly expelled by the people. He died at Morocco in 1198
+    A.D. Thus passed away in disgrace the last of the Muslim Philosophers
+    worthy of the name.[182] In Spain a strict prohibition was issued
+    against the study of Greek philosophy, and many valuable works were
+    committed to the flames. Soon after the rule of the Moors in Spain
+    began to decline. The study of philosophy came to an end, and liberal
+    culture sank under the pressure of the hard and fast dogmatic system of
+    Islam. In Spain,[183] as in Baghdad, orthodoxy gained the day. There
+    was much of doubtful value in the speculations of the Muslim
+    Philosophers, but they were Muslims, and if they went too far in their
+    efforts to rationalize Islam, they also tried to cast off what to them
+    seemed accretions, added on by the Traditionalists and the Canonical
+    Legists. They failed because like the earlier scholastics they had no
+    gospel to proclaim to men, no tidings to give of a new life which could
+    enable wearied humanity to bear the ills to which it was subject.
+    Another strong reason was that the orthodoxy against which they strove
+    was a logical development of the foundations of Islam, and these
+    foundations are too strongly laid for any power other than a spiritual
+    one to uproot. They were men of good position in life, voluminous
+    writers, profound admirers of Aristotle, and "more or less devoted to
+    science, especially to medicine." Yet they did not advance philosophy,
+    and science they left much as they found it. They preserved something
+    of what Grecian thought had achieved, and so far their labour is not
+    lost.
+
+    Thus Islam has, as a religion, no right to claim any of the glory which
+    Muslim philosophers are supposed to have shed around it. {186} The
+    founders of Islam, the Arabs, produced but one philosopher of
+    note.[184] The first impetus to the study was given by heretical
+    Khalifs employing Christians at Baghdad to translate Greek books;
+    whilst in Spain, where philosophy most flourished, it was due largely
+    to the contact of intelligent Muslims with learned Jews. Even there,
+    the philosophers were, as a rule, the objects of bitter persecution.
+    Now and again, a liberal minded Khalif arose, but a system such as
+    Islam survives the liberal tendencies of a generation. From the close
+    of the twelfth century (A.D.) downwards it would be difficult to point
+    to any Muslim Philosopher, much more to an Arab one, whose work is of
+    any real value to the human race. For four hundred years the contest
+    raged, a contest such as Islam has never since seen. This great effort
+    to bring it into accordance with the main stream of human thought, to
+    introduce into it some element of progress utterly failed. The lesson
+    is plain. Any project of reform in Islam which admits in any degree its
+    fundamental principles must fail. Revolution, not reform, is the only
+    hope for the permanence of an independent Muslim state when it enters
+    into the circle of civilized nations.
+
+{187}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE PRACTICAL DUTIES OF ISLAM.
+
+The portion of the creed considered in the last chapter was connected with
+Iman (faith); the remaining portion is connected with Din (practical
+religion). The five principal acts are called Irkan-i-Din, pillars of
+religion. They are: (1) The recital of the Kalima, or short confession of
+faith; (2) Sulat, the five stated periods of prayer; (3) Roza, the thirty
+days' fast of Ramazan; (4) Zakat, legal alms; (5) Hajj, the pilgrimage to
+Mecca. These are all _farz_ duties, being based on a Nass-i-Zahir, or
+"obvious," sentence of the Quran, a proof derived from which is called
+dalil-i-qata'i. This is the strongest of all kinds of proofs.
+
+The authorities, however, specify other religious duties which good Muslims
+should perform. Such are the seven duties which are _wajib_, or duties
+based on the more obscure texts of the Quran, called Khafi, or "hidden"
+sentences, a proof derived from which is called dalil-i-zani. These duties
+are: (1) To make the 'Umra, or Pilgrimage to Mecca in addition to the Hajj;
+(2) obedience to parents; (3) the obedience of a wife to her husband; (4)
+the giving of alms after a fast; (5) the offering of sacrifice; (6) the
+saying of Namaz-i-witr, a term which will be explained later on; (7) the
+support of relatives. The duties numbered as (4) and (5) are _wajib_ orders
+to the rich; but only _mustahab_ to the poor: that is, it is meritorious if
+they perform them, but not sinful if they leave them undone.
+
+The duties next in order as regards authority are the _sunnat_ ones. They
+are three in number and are based either on the practice of the Prophet, or
+are _fitrat_, that is practices of previous prophets, the continuance of
+which {188} Muhammad did not forbid. They are (1) circumcision; (2) shaving
+off the hair from the head and the body; (3) the paring of the nails. In
+addition to these there are actions which are _mustahab_. They are those
+which Muhammad sometimes did and sometimes omitted. There is a still lower
+class of action which are _mubah_. These are works of supererogation. If
+omitted there is no fear of punishment.
+
+It may be mentioned in passing that unlawful actions and things are (1)
+_Haram_, actions and food forbidden either in the Quran or the Traditions;
+(2) _Mahruh_, actions the unlawfulness of which is not absolutely certain,
+but which are generally considered wrong; (3) _Mufsid_, actions corrupting
+or pernicious. It is necessary to bear these terms in mind as they will now
+frequently occur.
+
+1. TASHAHHUD.--This is the recital of a confession of faith. There are
+several forms of this. A common one is: "I testify that there is no deity
+but God, I testify to His unity and that He has no partner; I testify that
+Muhammad is His servant and His messenger." The shorter form is: "There is
+no deity but God and Muhammad is the apostle of God." The power contained
+in this latter confession is extraordinary. It embodies the very spirit of
+Islam. "It has led everywhere the march of its armies, it has rung for
+twelve centuries in the morning air from its minarets, it has been passed
+from lip to lip, as no other word has ever been passed, by thousands of
+millions of the human race." The power of Islam, its proclamation of the
+Unity, is here seen in the closest contact with what is to Muslim
+theologians the equally fundamental truth--the apostleship of Muhammad, a
+dogma which retards the healthy development, explains the narrowness, and
+causes the prostration of Islam, as the world around grows luminant with
+the light of science and truth, of faith and reason.
+
+2. SULAT.[185]--All the books on Fiqh (Law) which treat of {189} these
+Irkan-i-din, give in connection with Sulat the rules regarding the
+necessary purifications. It will be convenient to follow the same order.
+
+Taharat or legal purification is of three kinds: (1) Wazu, the lesser
+lustration; (2) Ghusl, the greater lustration; (3) Tayammum, or
+purification by sand.
+
+(1). Wazu is an ablution made before saying the appointed prayers. Those
+which are 'farz' are four in number, viz:--to wash (1) the face from the
+top of the forehead to the chin, and as far as each ear; and (2) the hands
+and arms up to the elbow; (3) to rub (masah) with the wet hand a fourth
+part of the head; also (4) the feet to the ankles. The authority for these
+actions is the text: "O Believers! when ye address yourselves to prayer,
+wash your hands up to the elbow, and wipe your heads, and your feet to the
+ankles" (Sura v. 8). The Sunnis wash the feet: the Shia'hs are apparently
+more correct, for they only wipe, or rather rub, (masah) them. In these
+ablutions, if the least portion of the specified part is left untouched,
+the whole act becomes useless and the prayer which follows is vain.
+
+The act of making wazu, however, has not been allowed to remain in this
+simple form. The Sunnat regulations regarding it are fourteen in number.
+They are, (1) to make the intention of wazu, thus: I make this wazu for the
+purpose of putting away impurity; (2) to wash the hand up to the wrist, but
+care must be taken not to put the hands entirely into the water, until each
+has been rubbed three times with water poured on it; (3) to say one of the
+names of God at the commencement of the wazu[186] thus: "In the name of the
+Great God," or "Thanks be to God for the religion of Islam;" (4) to clean
+the teeth; (5) to rinse the mouth three times; (6) to put water into the
+{190} nostrils three times; (7) to do all the above in proper order; (8) to
+do all without any delay between the various acts; (9) each part is to be
+purified three times; (10) the space between the fingers of one hand must
+be rubbed with the wet fingers of the other; (11) the beard must be combed
+with the fingers; (12) the whole head must be rubbed once; (13) the ears
+must be washed with the water remaining on the fingers after the last
+operation; (14) to rub under and between the toes with the little finger of
+the left hand, drawing it from the little toe of the right foot and between
+each toe in succession. Imam Shafa'i holds that (1) and (7) are farz duties
+and that (12) should be done three times. Imam Malik considers (8) to be
+farz.
+
+The actions may be done in silence, or prayer may be repeated. Such a
+recital is a mustahab, not a sunnat or farz order. It is not obligatory. A
+specimen of these prayers is given in a note.[187]
+
+(2). Ghusl is an ablution of the whole body after certain legal
+defilements, and should be made as follows. The person should put on clean
+clothes and perform the wazu, then he should say: "I make ghusl to put away
+impurity." All being ready he should wash himself in the following order.
+He must pour water over the right shoulder three times, then over the left
+three times and, lastly, on his head {191} also the same number of times.
+The three farz conditions are that (1) the mouth must be rinsed, (2) water
+be put into the nostrils, and (3) the whole body be washed. If one hair
+even is left dry the whole act is rendered vain and useless. All other
+particulars are sunnat or mustahab.
+
+There are obvious reasons why an explanation of the causes which vitiate a
+purification, or of the cases in which ghusl is required, cannot be given
+here. Every standard Muslim work on Fikh, or law, deals fully with the
+subject. Nothing is more calculated to show the student of Islam how much
+the Sunnat rules in the practical life of Muslims. The Traditions have
+raised the most trivial ceremonial observances into duties of the greatest
+importance. That there may be spiritually minded men in Islam is not to be
+denied; but a system of religion which declares that the virtue of prayer
+depends practically on an ablution, and that that ablution is useless
+unless done in the order prescribed, is one well calculated to make men
+formalists and nothing more. It comes to this, that, if a man when making
+wazu washes his left hand before his right, or his nose before his teeth,
+he cannot lawfully say the daily Namaz enjoined on all Muslims. None but
+those who have studied Muslim treatises on the subject can conceive of the
+puerile discussions which have taken place on points apparently trivial,
+but which from their connection with the Sunnat are deemed by learned
+Muslims of great importance.
+
+(3). Tayammum, or purification by sand, is allowable under the following
+circumstances. (1) When water cannot be procured except at a distance of
+one kos (about 2 miles); (2) in case of sickness when the use of water
+might be injurious; (3) when water cannot be obtained without incurring
+danger from an enemy, a beast or a reptile; and (4) when on the occasion of
+the Namaz of a Feast day or the Namaz at a funeral, the worshipper is late
+and has no time to perform the wazu. On ordinary days this substitution of
+tayammum for wazu is not allowable.
+
+{192}
+
+The ceremony is performed as follows. The person says: "I make tayammum to
+put away impurity;" then, "I seek refuge near God from cursed Satan. I
+commence in the name of God, most Merciful and most High, whose praises are
+in the religion of Islam." He then strikes the sand with open hands, rubs
+his mouth and, at last, the arms to the elbows. Not one hair must be left
+untouched or the whole ceremony is useless. The farz acts are to make the
+intention of tayammum, to rub the mouth and the hands. "If ye are sick, or
+on a journey, or if one of you come from the place of retirement, or if ye
+have touched women, and ye find no water, then take clean sand and rub your
+faces and your hands with it." (Sura v. 9.)
+
+Minute regulations are laid down with regard to the water which may be used
+for purification. The following kinds of water are lawful:--rain, sea,
+river, fountain, well, snow and ice-water. Ice is not lawful. The first
+kind is authorized by the Quran. "He sent you down water from heaven that
+He might thereby cleanse you, and cause the pollution of Satan to pass from
+you." (Sura viii. 11.) The use of the others is sanctioned by the
+Traditions. I give one illustration. A man one day came to the Prophet and
+said: "I am going on a voyage and shall only have a small supply of fresh
+water; if I use it for ablutions I shall have none wherewith to quench my
+thirst, may I use sea water?" The Prophet replied: "The water of the sea is
+pure." Tirmizi states that this is a Hadis-i-Sahih. Great difference of
+opinion exists with regard to what constitutes impurity in water, and so
+renders it unfit for ablutions. It would be wearisome to the reader to
+enter into all details, but I may briefly say that, amongst the orthodox,
+it is generally held that if a dead body or any unclean thing falls into
+flowing water, or into a reservoir more than 15 feet square it can be used,
+provided always that the colour, smell and taste are not changed. It is for
+this reason that the pool near a mosque is never less than ten cubits
+square. If of {193} that size, it is called a _dah dar dah_, (literally 10
+x 10). It may be, and commonly is, larger than this. It should be about one
+foot deep.
+
+The necessary ablutions having been made, the worshipper can commence the
+Namaz.
+
+(4). Salat or Namaz. The Namaz can be said either in private or in public.
+All that is required is that the clothes and person of the worshipper
+should be clean, the place free from all impurity, and that the face be
+turned towards Mecca. Whether the Namaz is said in public or in private, it
+must be preceded by wazu, except when tayammum is allowed. If the
+Namaz[188] is said in a mosque which is considered to be more meritorious
+than repeating it in private, it must be preceded by the Azan, or call to
+prayers, and the Iqamat. Minute particulars regarding the exact attitude in
+which the Musalli, one who says the Salat, must stand and the words he is
+to say are given in Muslim books. The following account will give some idea
+of a Namaz, or Service.[189]
+
+The Mu,azzin[190] calls out loudly in Arabic:--
+
+"Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar[191]!"
+
+All who hear it respond:--
+
+"Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!"
+
+The Mu,azzin says:--
+
+"I confess there is no God but God, I confess there is no God but God."
+
+Each of his auditors replies:--
+
+"I confess there is no God but God, I confess there is no God but God."
+
+{194}
+
+Mu,azzin:--"I confess Muhammad is the apostle of God."
+
+Auditor:--"I confess Muhammad is the apostle of God."
+
+Mu,azzin:--"Come to prayer."
+
+Auditor:--"I have no power or strength but from God most High and Great."
+
+Mu,azzin:--"Come to do good."
+
+Auditor:--"What God wills will be; what He wills not will not be."
+
+If it is the time of morning prayer, the Mu,azzin adds the words: "Prayer
+is better than sleep," to which the response is given: "Thou hast spoken
+well." "Allahu Akbar," and "There is no God but God" are then repeated
+twice and so the Azan ends.
+
+The Iqamat (literally, "causing to stand") is a repetition of the Azan, but
+after the words, "come to do good," the statement "prayer has commenced" is
+made.
+
+These preliminaries being now over, the Namaz can commence. It is as
+follows:
+
+The Musalli, or worshipper, stands with his hands close to his side and
+says in a low voice the Niyyat (intention):--
+
+"I have purposed to offer up to God only, with a sincere heart this morning
+(or as the case may be), with my face Qibla-wards, two (or as the case may
+be) rak'at prayers, farz (or sunnat or nafl, as the case may be)."
+
+Then follows the Takbir-i-Tahrimah, said with the thumbs touching the lobes
+of the ears. The palms of the hands are placed towards the Qibla. The
+fingers are slightly separated from each other. In this position the
+Musalli says:--"Allahu Akbar!"
+
+The Qiam, or standing position. The palm of the right hand being placed on
+the back of the left, the thumb and little finger of the former seize the
+wrist of the latter. Both hands are then placed below the navel,[192] the
+eyes are {195} directed towards the spot where the head of the worshipper
+will touch the ground in prostration, and the Sana is said. It is:--
+
+ "Holiness to Thee O God! and praise be to Thee!
+  Great is Thy name! Great is thy Greatness!
+  There is no God but Thee!"
+
+The Ta'awwuz is then said:--
+
+ "I seek refuge near God from cursed Satan."
+
+Then follows the Tasmiyah:--
+
+ "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful."
+
+Then follows the Fatiha,[193] or first chapter of the Quran:--
+
+"Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds! the Compassionate, the Merciful!
+King on the day of reckoning! Thee only do we worship, and to Thee do we
+cry for help. Guide Thou us on the straight path: the path of those to whom
+Thou hast been gracious: with whom Thou art not angry, and who go not
+astray."
+
+After this the worshipper can repeat as many chapters of the Quran as he
+likes.[194] Some verses he must repeat.
+
+The Surat-ul-Ikhlas (Sura 112) is generally said:--
+
+"Say: He is God alone: God the Eternal, He begetteth not, and is not
+begotten; and there is none like unto Him."
+
+The Takbir-i-ruku'--Allahu Akbar!--is said whilst the Musalli makes an
+inclination of the head and body, and separating the fingers a little,
+places his hands upon his knees.
+
+The Tasbih-i-ruku' is said in the same position. It is:--
+
+ "I extol the holiness of my Lord, the Great!
+  I extol the holiness of my Lord, the Great!
+  I extol the holiness of my Lord, the Great!"
+
+The Tasmia' is then said with the body erect, but with the hands placed on
+either side. Thus:--
+
+{196}
+
+"God hears him who praises Him: O Lord, Thou art praised[195]."
+
+The Takbir-i-Sijdar--Allahu Akbar!--is said as the worshipper drops on his
+knees.
+
+The Musalli then kneeling down, places his hands, with the fingers close to
+each other, upon the ground. He must rest upon his toes, not on the side of
+the feet which must be kept straight behind him. The elbow must not touch
+the side, nor the stomach the thigh, nor the thigh the calf of the leg. The
+eyes must be kept bent downwards. Then he touches the ground first with his
+nose, and then with his forehead, taking care that the thumbs just touch
+the lobe of the ears.[196] All this being carefully attended to, the
+Musalli can say the Tasbih-i-Sijda thus:--
+
+ "I extol the holiness of my Lord, the Most High!
+  I extol the holiness of my Lord, the Most High!
+  I extol the holiness of my Lord, the Most High!"
+
+He then raises his head and body, sinks backwards upon his heels, places
+his hands a little above his knees, and whilst doing so says the
+Takbir-i-Jalsa[197]--"Allahu Akbar!"
+
+After a slight pause, a second prostration, or Sijda is made and the
+Takbir-i-Sijda and the Tasbih-i-Sijda are repeated as before. Then when in
+the act of rising up the Musalli says the Takbir-i-Qiam--"Allahu Akbar!"
+
+This concludes one rak'at. The second rak'at begins with the Fatiha, so
+that after saying the Takbir-i-Qiam a Musalli would have to begin again at
+that place (p. 195) and repeat all that he had just finished; the only
+change being that after the Fatiha, he recites different verses of the
+Quran to those he said in the first rak'at. After two rak'ats have been
+said, and after the last, though it be an odd number, the {197} Musalli,
+unless he is a Shia'h, places his left foot under him and sits upon it. He
+then places his hands above his knees, as for the Takbir-i-Jalsa, and with
+his eyes directed towards his lap says the Attahiyat:--
+
+"The adorations of the tongue are for God, and also the adorations of the
+body, and almsgiving! Peace be on thee O Prophet! with the mercy of God and
+His blessing. Peace be on us and upon God's righteous servants!"
+
+Then raising the first finger of the right hand he says the
+Tashahhud[198]:--
+
+"I testify that there is no deity but God; and I testify that Muhammad is
+the servant of God and the messenger of God."
+
+Then at the end of all the rak'ats the Musalli, whilst in the same posture,
+says the Darud:--
+
+"O God! have mercy on Muhammad and his descendants[199]; as Thou didst have
+mercy on Abraham and his descendants, Thou art to be praised and Thou art
+great. O God! bless Muhammad and his descendants, as Thou didst bless
+Abraham and his descendants. Thou art to be praised and Thou art great."
+
+Then comes the Du'a, which may be in the worshipper's own words though he
+usually says[200]:--
+
+"O God our Lord, give us the blessings of this life, and also the blessings
+of life everlasting. Save us from the torments of hell."
+
+Then turning the head to the right the Musalli repeats the Salam:--
+
+"The peace and mercy of God be with you."
+
+Then turning the head to the left he says:--
+
+"The peace and mercy of God be with you."
+
+At the close of the whole ceremony, the worshipper raises {198} his hands
+as high as his shoulders, with the palm towards heaven, or towards his own
+face, and offers up a Munajat, or supplication, either in Arabic or in the
+vernacular. The hands are then drawn over the face, as if to convey the
+blessing received from above to every part of the body.
+
+The appointed periods of prayer are five in number, in proof of which the
+following text is quoted: "Glorify God when ye reach the evening (masa),
+and when ye rise at morn (subh); and to Him be praise in the heavens and in
+the earth,--and at twilight ('ashi) and when ye rest at noon (zuhr)." (Sura
+xxx. 17). The Commentators say that masa includes both sunset and the
+period after sunset; that is both the Salat-ul-Maghrib and the
+Salat-ul-'Isha. There is also a reference to a stated period of prayer in
+the following verse: "Observe prayer at early morning, at the close of the
+day, and at the approach of night." (Sura xi. 116).
+
+These daily Namaz are farz, sunnat, witr and nafl prayers. Farz are those
+distinctly ordained by God, such as the five stated periods of prayer.
+
+Sunnat, a certain number of rak'ats which are added, because it is said the
+Prophet repeated them.
+
+Witr rak'ats are an odd number of rak'ats, 3, 5 or 7, which may be said
+after the last prayer at night, and before the dawn of day. Usually they
+are added to the Salat-ul-'Isha. Imam Abu Hanifa says they are wajib, that
+is ordered by God. They are not authorised by any text in the Quran, but by
+Traditions each of which is generally received as a Hadis-i-Sahih, and so
+witr rak'ats are regarded as being of divine authority. Imam Shafa'i,
+however, considers them to be sunnat only, a term already explained.
+
+The Traditions referred to are: "God has added to your Namaz one Namaz
+more: know that it is witr, say it between the Salat-ul-'Isha and dawn." On
+the authority of Buzar, a Traditionist, it is recorded that the Prophet
+{199} said: "Witr is wajib upon Muslims," and in order to enforce the
+practice he added: "Witr is right, he who does not observe it is not my
+follower." The Prophet, the Companions, the Taba'in and the Taba-i-Taba'in
+all observed it. The word witr literally means "odd number." A Tradition
+says: "God is odd, He loves the odd." (Allahu witrun yuhibbu'l-witra).
+Musalmans pay the greatest respect to an odd number. It is considered
+unlucky to begin any work, or to commence a journey on a day, the date of
+which is an even number. The number of lines in a page of a book is nearly
+always an odd number.
+
+Nafl are voluntary prayers the performance of which is considered mustahab,
+or meritorious, but they are not of divine obligation. It must be
+understood that all these prayers are precisely the same in form. They
+simply consist in the repetition of a number of rak'ats, of which I have
+already given a single illustration in full. A Muslim who says the five
+daily prayers with the full number of rak'ats will repeat the Service I
+have described fifty times in one day. If in addition to these he observes
+the three voluntary periods of prayers, he must add twenty-five more
+rak'ats, making a grand total of seventy-five. It is, however, usual to
+omit some of the Sunnat rak'ats; still there is a vast amount of
+repetition, and as the whole must be said in Arabic it becomes very
+mechanical.
+
+A Muslim who ventured to say that a Namaz might be recited in Hindustani
+was publicly excommunicated in the principal Mosque at Madras on Friday,
+February 13th, 1880.[201]
+
+The table on the next page will make the matter clear.[202] The optional
+Sunnat rak'ats are called {200} 'Sunnat-i-ghair-i-maukadda'; the Sunnat
+rak'ats before the farz are 'Sun-nat-i-maukadda' and should be said.
+
+---+------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------
+No.| Time.            |  THE NAMES OF THE TIME OF PRAYER. | THE NUMBER OF
+   |                  |                                   | RAK'ATS SAID.
+   |                  +-----------+-----------------------+----------------
+   |                  |           |                                    Witr
+   |                  |           |--------------------------------------+
+   |                  |           |                                  Nafl|
+   |                  |           |-----------------------------------+  |
+   |                  |           |                  Sunnat after Farz|  |
+   |                  |           |--------------------------------+  |  |
+   |                  |           |                            Farz|  |  |
+   |                  |           |-----------------------------+  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |          Sunnat-i-mau-kadda'|  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |--------------------------+  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |  Sunnat-i-ghair-maukadda'|  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |-----------+-----------+  |  |  |  |  |
+   |                  | Arabic    | Persian   | Urdu      |  |  |  |  |  |
+---+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+--+--+--+--+--+-
+ 1 | From dawn to     | Salat-ul- | Namaz-i-  | Fajr Ki   |  | 2|  |  |  |
+   | sunrise.         |  Fajr.    |  Subh.    | Namaz.    |  |  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+ 2 | When the sun     | Salat-uz- | Namaz-i-  | Zuhr Ki   |  | 4| 4| 2| 2|
+   | has begun to     |  Zuhr.    |  Peshin.  | Namaz.    |  |  |  |  |  |
+   | decline.         |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+ 3 | Midway between   | Salat-ul- | Namaz-i-  | 'Asr Ki   | 4|  | 4|  |  |
+   | No. 2 and 4.     |   'Asr.   |  Digar.   | Namaz.    |  |  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+ 4 | A few minutes    | Salat-ul- | Namaz-i-  | Maghrib   |  |  | 3| 2| 2|
+   | after sunset.    |  Maghrib. |  Sham.    | Ki Namaz. |  |  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+ 5 | When the night   | Salat-ul- | Namaz-i-  | 'Isha Ki  | 4|  | 4| 2| 2|7
+   | has closed in.   |  'Isha.   |  Khuftan. | Namaz.    |  |  |  |  [203]
+   |                  |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+ 1 | When the sun     | Salat-ul- | Namuz-i-  | Ishraq Ki |  |  |  |  | 8|
+   | has well risen.  |  Ishraq.  |  Ishraq.  | Namaz.    |  |  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+ 2 | About 11 o'clock | Salat-uz- | Namaz-i-  | Zuha Ki   |  |  |  |  | 8|
+   | A.M.             |  Zuha.    |  Chast.   | Namaz.    |  |  |  |  |  |
+   |                  |           |           |           |  |  |  |  |  |
+ 3 | After mid-night. | Salat-ut- | Namaz-i-  | Tahajjud  |  |  |  |  | 9|
+   |                  |  Tahajjud.|  Tahajjud.| Ki Namaz. |  |  |  |  |  |
+---+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+--+--+--+--+--+-
+
+In addition to these there are several kinds of Namaz which have to be said
+at different times, or under special circumstances.
+
+(i). Salat-ul-Juma'--The Friday Namaz. This is a farz duty. It has the
+threefold authority of the Quran, the Sunnat, and the Ijma'. Thus: "O ye
+who believe! When ye are summoned to prayer on the _day of the assembly_
+(Friday), haste ye to the commemoration of God, and quit your traffic."
+(Sura lxii. 9.) The Prophet also said: "Juma' is farz," and, "God will make
+a mark on the heart of him who misses the Salat-ul-Juma'[204]." There are,
+however, eight kind of persons on whom it is not incumbent, _viz_: a
+traveller, a sick person, a slave, a woman, a young child, a mad {201}
+person, a blind or a lame person. The conditions which make this Namaz
+obligatory are:--
+
+(1). That the place in which it is said be a town in which a Qazi (judge)
+dwells.
+
+(2). There must be in the town a ruler or his deputy.
+
+(3). It must take the place of the Salat-uz-Zuhr, with which it agrees,
+except that two farz rak'ats instead of four are recited. The nafl rak'ats
+are omitted. The four sunnat rak'ats which precede, and the two which
+follow the farz ones are said.
+
+(4). One, or according to the followers of Imam Shafa'i two Khutbas, or
+sermons are preached. These are delivered by the Imam after the four sunnat
+rak'ats are recited, and before the two farz ones. The Khutba should
+consist of the praise of God, prayer and injunctions to piety.
+
+(5). There must be a congregation of three persons besides the Imam. The
+Shafa'ites say there should be at least forty worshippers.
+
+(6). The Azan, or call to prayers, must be made to all without distinction
+of rank.
+
+Any person who is qualified to act as Imam at the other prayers can conduct
+this Namaz. The Imam and Khatib (preacher) is usually, but not necessarily,
+one and the same person. The Khutbas should not be long, for Muhammad said
+that long sermons and short prayers would be a sign of the degeneracy of
+the latter days. When two Khutbas are said, the Imam sits down to rest
+before the delivery of the second. The worshippers may then offer up a
+Du'a, or private prayer. Some, however, say that this practice is bid'at,
+(innovation) and consider it a very bad act. According to the
+Traditionists, Bukhari, Abu Daud and Tirmizi, it is a mustahab act to wear
+clean clothes on Friday.
+
+The preacher standing on the second step of the Mimbar, or pulpit, with a
+large club or staff in his hand, delivers his sermon.[205]
+
+{202}
+
+The following is a specimen of the Khutbas.
+
+    SERMON ON THE EXCELLENCE OF FRIDAY.
+
+    In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
+
+    Praise be to God, the King, the Holy, the Great, the Knower. He has
+    opened our hearts through the blessing of Islam. He has made Friday the
+    best of days. We testify that there is no God but God, the One, without
+    partner. This confession saves those who make it from danger and from
+    darkness. We testify that our Lord Muhammad is His servant and His
+    Apostle sent to all mankind. May the mercy and peace of God be on him,
+    his descendants and on his Companions. O men! O believers of God! I
+    advise you and my own soul thus: "Obey God!" Know, O servants of God!
+    that when Friday commences the angels assemble in the fourth heaven,
+    and Gabriel, (on whom be peace) is the Mu,azzin, Mika,il the Khatib,
+    Israfil the Imam and 'Izra,il the Mukabbir[206] and all the angels join
+    in the Namaz. When it is over Gabriel says: "I give the reward due to
+    me as Mu,azzin to the Mu,azzins of the sect of Islam;" Mika,il: "I give
+    mine to the Khatibs;" Israfil: "I give mine to the Imams;" 'Izra,il: "I
+    give mine to the Mukabbirs." The angels say: "We give ours to the
+    company of the Muslims." The Prophet said: "The night and day of Friday
+    last twenty-four hours, and each hour God releases a thousand souls
+    from hell. Whosoever makes 'ghusl' on Friday, God will give him for
+    every hair on his body the reward of ten good deeds. Whosoever dies on
+    a Friday meets with the reward of a martyr."
+
+    Certainly the best and most eloquent speech is the Holy Quran, the Word
+    of God,--the King, the Great, the Knower. His word is true and
+    righteous. When thou readest the Quran say: "O God! protect me from
+    cursed Satan."
+
+    In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful.
+
+    "When ye are summoned to prayer on the day of the assembly, haste to
+    the commemoration of God and quit your traffic. This, if ye knew it,
+    will be best for you. And when the prayer is ended, then disperse
+    yourselves abroad and go in quest of the bounties of God; and that it
+    may be well with you, oft remember God. But when they get a sight of
+    merchandize or sport, they disperse after, and leave thee standing
+    alone. Say: 'God hath in reserve what is better than sport or wares.
+    God is the best provider.'" (Sura lxii. 9-11.) God {203} by means of
+    the Holy Quran will bless us and you. And by its verses and teaching
+    will reward us and you. God is Almighty, Generous, Merciful, Eternal,
+    Holy, Clement.
+
+Here ends the first sermon; after a short pause the preacher commences the
+second.
+
+    In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful.
+
+    Praise be to God, the Creator of the earth and heavens, the Maker of
+    light and darkness. I testify that there is no God but God. He is one.
+    He has no partner. Know, O believers! that this confession will save
+    you from trouble and calamity. I testify that Muhammad, who wipes out
+    error and infidelity, is the servant and Apostle of God. The mercy of
+    God be on our Lord Muhammad, the Lord of Creation; and on his
+    descendants; and on his Companions be grace and honour. O servants of
+    God! I advise you and my own soul thus: Obey God! Fear God, who created
+    life and death and who scrutinizes our good actions. O God! be pleased
+    with Abu Bakr, the righteous, the Sahib-ul-Ghar,[207] and with Omar
+    Ibn-ul-Khattab, the chief of the holy men; and with Osman the possessor
+    of two lights, who was martyred when reading the Holy Quran, and upon
+    'Ali Murtuza, the destroyer of infidels and sinners. O God! be pleased
+    with the great Imams Hasan and Husain. Be pleased with their mother
+    Fatimat-uz-Zuhra, the chief of women, and with Hamza and 'Abbas, the
+    uncles of the Prophet. Also be pleased with all the Ashab (Companions).
+    O God! help those who help the religion of Muhammad, and make us of
+    their number. Make those wretched who corrupt it, and keep us aloof
+    from all such. O believers! truly God orders you to do justice and to
+    show kindness to your kindred. He orders you to abstain from infidelity
+    and from the greater and the lesser sins. God warns you. God is the
+    Most High, the Most Glorious. God is Great!"
+
+The collection of Khutbas from which the above have been translated
+contains a considerable number on a variety of subjects, such as prayer,
+the resurrection, worldliness, the various feast and fast days, &c. The
+form in all is very similar. The exordium and the conclusion are
+practically the same. A few sentences in the middle refer to the special
+subject of the sermon. The second of the two {204} sermons is always the
+same; it is practically an invocation of blessings on certain persons. Both
+are said in Arabic. What would answer to our idea of a sermon, such as an
+explanation of some doctrine, or an exposition of some passages in the
+Quran, is not part of the public worship in the mosque, but would be done
+in an ordinary assembly, in any convenient place, by a Moolla, or any
+learned man who could collect an audience.
+
+(ii). Salat-ul-Musafir.--Prayers said by a traveller. A person who makes a
+journey which lasts three days or three nights is, for this purpose,
+considered a traveller.[208] The length of a day's journey is estimated at
+the distance a camel can march in that period of time. If a traveller
+intends to stay in a certain place fifteen days, he must repeat the usual
+Namaz; if less than fifteen days, or when actually on the journey, he can
+shorten it. He is then permitted to say only two farz rak'ats. He may omit
+the sunnat and nafl rak'ats if he chooses; but the three witr rak'ats he
+must recite at the Salat-ul-'Isha. If a traveller passing through a place
+is, for the time being, the most suitable person to act as Imam, he being a
+traveller will only recite two rak'ats. The rest of the worshippers then
+complete the Namaz. In the case where a permanent resident of the place is
+the Imam and the traveller only a worshipper, the Imam is bound to recite
+the whole number of rak'ats and the traveller must also repeat the whole
+after him. The principle on which this is based is that the worshippers
+must not recite less than the Imam.[209]
+
+(iii). Salat-ul-Khauf.--Prayers of fear. This is a Namaz said during the
+time of war. When there is imminent danger from the approach of an enemy
+the Imam should divide the army into two bodies; one of which should be
+placed in a position towards the enemy, the other should recite, if they
+are on the march, one rak'at; if stationary {205} in a place, two rak'ats.
+This division will then march towards the enemy and the first division will
+recite as many rak'ats as may be required to complete the Namaz. The Salam
+(Ante. p. 197) will be recited by the Imam alone. The first division of
+troops will not say the qir,at, _i.e._ the Fatiha and the other verses of
+the Quran recited after it (Ante. p. 195); but the second division will
+supply the omission. If the enemy are so near that the cavalry dare not
+dismount, then each man will recite a rak'at or rak'ats for himself, and
+make the ruku' and sijda by means of signs. If he cannot turn towards the
+Qibla, he is, under the circumstances, allowed to face any direction most
+convenient. During the recital of the Namaz he must not fight, or allow his
+horse to move, lest the prayer should be rendered void. "When ye go forth
+to war in the land, it shall be no crime in you to cut short your prayers,
+if ye fear lest the infidels come upon you. Verily, the infidels are your
+undoubted enemies! And when thou, O Apostle! shalt be among them, and shalt
+pray with them, then let a party of them rise up with thee, but let them
+take their arms; and when they shall have made their prostrations, let them
+retire to your rear: then let another party that hath not prayed come
+forward, and let them pray with you." (Sura iv. 102, 103).
+
+(iv). Salat-ut-Tarawih.--This is a special set of twenty rak'ats recited
+every night during the month of Ramazan. They must be said after the farz
+and sunnat, and before the witr rak'ats at the time of the Salat-ul-'Isha.
+The Salat-ut-Tarawih is considered of sunnat obligation. The practice dates
+from the time of the Khalif Omar. Abd-ur-Rahman, a Traditionist, states
+that one night in Ramazan he went with Omar to the Mosque. They saw some
+persons saying the Namaz alone and some reciting it in groups. Omar said:
+"If I gather them all together, so that they may recite it after one Imam
+it will be good." He did so, and the next night the people of their own
+accord came in great numbers and united together. Then said Omar: "this
+{206} bid'at is good." This is good authority for the institution, for the
+Prophet said: "Follow my Sunnat and that of the Khulafa-i-Rashidin." There
+is also a Hadis-i-Sahih to the effect that "God has made the fast of
+Ramazan farz, and its qiam[210] sunnat." (Kutiba 'alaikum siamu Ramazana wa
+sunna qiamuhu). The Prophet was anxious lest the Tirawih Namaz should
+become farz and, therefore, after going to the Mosque on two successive
+nights in Ramazan, he stayed away on the third, giving as his reason for so
+doing that he feared that, if he went every night, it might be considered a
+farz and not a sunnat duty.[211] The number of rak'ats is fixed at twenty,
+as that was the number recited by Muhammad and by the Khalif Omar. The
+Shia'hs do not say these prayers or even enter the Mosque on such
+occasions, as after every four rak'ats an eulogium is repeated on the four
+Khalifs--the first three of whom they hate.
+
+(v). Salat-ul-Kusuf and Salat-ul-Khusuf--Prayer said when an eclipse of the
+sun, or of the moon takes place. In the former case, the Imam recites with
+the congregation in the Mosque two rak'ats. The Azan and the Iqamat are
+both omitted. No Khutba is said. In each rak'at one ruku' is read. The
+Shafa'ites read two. After the rak'ats are completed those present remain
+in prayer (Du'a) until the eclipse is at an end. The Namaz during an
+eclipse of the moon is the same as that during an eclipse of the sun, with
+this exception that the rak'ats need not be recited in a congregation. Each
+Muslim can say the Namaz privately in his own house. The practice is
+founded on the Prophet's saying: "When you see an eclipse then remember
+God, pray (Du'a) and recite the Namaz until it becomes light again."
+
+(vi). Salat-ul-Istisqa.--Prayer in time of drought. When {207} there is a
+scarcity of water each person should, with face Qibla-wards, offer up
+prayer to God. They can be said at home and in private. Care must be taken
+that no Zimmi[212] is present. The reason given is that this is a prayer
+for a blessing; but God sends no blessing on a company in which a Zimmi is
+present.
+
+These prayers are simple Du'a and not a Namaz. There is no
+well-authenticated Tradition to the effect that the Prophet ever said Namaz
+on such an occasion; whilst there are many which show that he made Du'a.
+This is a very good example of the use of the term Salat as a _Mushtarik_
+word, _i.e._ one which has several significations. Its ordinary meaning is
+Namaz; here it means Du'a.
+
+(vii). Salat-ul-Janaza.--Prayers at a Funeral. When a person is about to
+die, the attendants should place him on his right side with his face
+Qibla-wards. In that position he should repeat the "Kalima-i-Shahadat," the
+creed of testimony: "I confess that God is one, without a partner; that
+truly Muhammad is His servant and His Apostle." After death has taken
+place, the corpse is laid out, incense is burnt, and the shroud is perfumed
+an _odd_ number of times. A tradition states that an odd number is fixed
+upon, because the number one which represents the unity of God is odd and
+not even. The lesser lustration (wazu) is then made. The head and beard are
+washed with a decoction made of some flowers, after which the greater
+lustration (ghusl) is made. The members of the body used when making sijda
+(prostration) _i.e._, forehead, nose, hands, knees, feet, are then rubbed
+with camphor.
+
+To recite the Salat-ul-Janaza is a duty called Farz-i-kifaya, that is, if
+some few persons in the assembly say it, all need not do so; whilst if no
+one repeats it all will be guilty of sin. To prove that this Namaz is farz
+the following verse is quoted: "Take alms of their substance, that thou
+mayest {208} cleanse and purify them thereby, and pray for them; for thy
+prayers shall assure their minds: and God heareth, knoweth." (Sura ix.
+104.) The proof that it is not Farz-i-'ain (_i.e._, incumbent on all), but
+Farz-i-kifaya is drawn from an account given in a Hadis, to the effect that
+the Prophet one day did not recite the Namaz over one of his deceased
+followers. Now, if the Namaz had been Farz-i-'ain even the Prophet could
+not have omitted it. His Sunnat, or practice, has decided the nature of the
+farz command contained in the verse of the Quran just quoted.
+
+The Namaz can only be said when the corpse is present. It is recited in the
+open space in front of the Mosque, or in some neighbouring spot: never in
+the graveyard.
+
+When all are assembled the Imam or leader says: "Here begins the Namaz for
+the dead."
+
+The company present then stand up in rows with faces turned in the
+direction of Mecca. The Imam stands a little in front, near the head or
+waist of the corpse according as it is that of a male or female. Then all
+assume the Qiam, or standing position, and recite the Niyyat as follows:--
+
+"I recite Namaz for the sake of God, and offer prayers (Du'a) for this
+deceased person, and I follow the Imam (who is about to officiate.)"
+
+Then all at the first[213] Takbir put the hands to the lobe of the ears and
+say: "God is Great!"
+
+Then they say the Sana (Ante, p. 195.):--
+
+"Holiness to Thee O God! And to Thee be praise! Great is Thy Name! Great is
+Thy greatness! Great is Thy praise! There is no God but Thee!"
+
+Then follows the second Takbir: "God is Great!"
+
+Then all say the Darud-i-Ibrahim:--
+
+"O God! have mercy on Muhammad and upon his descendants, as Thou didst
+bestow mercy, and peace, and blessing, and compassion, and great kindness
+upon {209} Abraham and upon his descendants." "Thou art praised, and Thou
+art Great!" "O God, bless Muhammad and his descendants as Thou didst bless,
+and didst have compassion and great kindness upon Abraham and upon his
+descendants."
+
+Then follows the third Takbir: "God is Great!"
+
+The Du'a is then repeated:--
+
+"O God, forgive our living and our dead, and those oL us who are present,
+and those who are absent, and our children and our full grown persons, our
+men and our women. O God, those whom Thou dost keep alive amongst us, keep
+alive in Islam, and those whom Thou causest to die, let them die in the
+Faith."[214]
+
+Then follows the fourth Takbir: "God is Great!"
+
+Then all say:--
+
+"O God, give us good in this world and in the next, and save us by Thy
+mercy from the troubles of the grave and of hell."
+
+Then each one in a low voice says the Salam, as in an ordinary Namaz.
+(Ante, p. 197.)[215]
+
+The Namaz is now over and the people make another Du'a thus:--
+
+"'O our Lord! suffer not our hearts to go astray after that Thou hast once
+guided us; and give us mercy from before Thee; for verily Thou art He who
+giveth.' (Sura iii. 6.) O God, Thou art his[216] Master, and Thou createdst
+him, and Thou didst nourish him, and didst guide him toward Islam, and Thou
+hast taken his life, and Thou knowest well his inner and outer life.
+Provide intercessors for us. Forgive him, for Thou art the Forgiver, the
+most Merciful."
+
+{210}
+
+Then going towards the head of the corpse, they say:--
+
+"No doubt is there about this Book (Quran.) It is a guidance to the
+God-fearing, who believe in the unseen,[217] who observe prayer (salat),
+and out of what we have bestowed on them, expend (for God), and who believe
+in that which hath been sent down to thee (Muhammad), and in what hath been
+sent down before thee; and full faith have they in the life to come: these
+are guided by their Lord; and with these it shall be well." (Sura ii. 1-4).
+
+Then coming towards the feet of the corpse, they say:--
+
+"The Apostle believeth in that which hath been sent down from his Lord, as
+do the faithful also. Each believeth in God, and His angels, and His Books
+and His Apostles: we make no distinction between any of His Apostles.[218]
+And they say: 'We have heard and we obey. (We implore) Thy mercy, Lord; for
+unto Thee must we return.' God will not burden any soul beyond its power.
+It shall enjoy the good which it hath acquired, and shall bear the evil for
+the acquirement of which it laboured. O our Lord! punish us not if we
+forget, or fall into sin; O our Lord! and lay not on us a load like that
+which Thou hast laid on those who have been before us[219]; O our Lord! and
+lay not on us that for which we have no strength: but blot out our sins and
+forgive us, and have pity on us. Thou art our protector; give us victory
+therefore over the infidel nations." (Sura ii. 285, 286).
+
+{211}
+
+The chief mourner then gives the Izn-i-'Amm, that is, he says:--
+
+"All have permission to depart."
+
+Some then proceed homewards, others go with the corpse to the graveyard.
+When the bier is lifted up, or when it is placed down near the grave, the
+people say:--
+
+"We commit thee to earth in the name of God and in the religion of the
+Prophet."
+
+If the ground is very hard, a recess (lahad) is dug out in the side of the
+grave. This must be high enough to allow the corpse to sit up when Munkir
+and Nakir come to interrogate it. If the ground is soft a small grave is
+excavated at the bottom of the larger one. The corpse is then placed in the
+lower one. The idea in both cases is that the corpse must be in such a
+position that it can have free movement. The body is placed with the face
+towards Mecca. When the bands of the shroud have been loosened the people
+say:--
+
+"O God deprive us not of the heavenly reward of the deceased, place us not
+in trouble."
+
+Each person then takes seven clods of earth, and over each clod says;
+"Bismillah" (in the name of God), and the Surat-ul-Iklas (Sura cxii) and
+then places each clod by the head of the corpse. Unburnt bricks, bamboos or
+boards having then been placed over the smaller grave, the persons present
+with both hands throw clods of earth three times into the grave. The first
+time they say: "From it (earth) We created you"; the second time, "and into
+it will We return you;" the third time, "and out of it will We bring you a
+second time." (Sura xx. 57).
+
+Then they say this Du'a: "O God I beseech Thee for the sake of Muhammad not
+to trouble the deceased."
+
+When the attendants are filling up the grave they say:--
+
+"O God, defend the deceased from Shaitan (devil) and from the torments of
+the grave."
+
+When the grave is completely filled up, one man pours {212} water three, or
+five, or seven times over it and then plants a green branch on it.[220]
+
+One of the mourners then draws near the middle of the grave and recites the
+Talqin (instruction):--
+
+"O servant of God, and child of a female servant of God.
+
+O son of (such an one),[221] remember the faith you professed on earth to
+the very last; that is, your witness that there is no God but God, and that
+certainly Muhammad is His Apostle, and that Paradise and Hell and the
+Resurrection from the dead are real; that there will be a day of judgment,
+and say: 'I confess that God is my Lord, Islam my religion, Muhammad (on
+whom be the mercy and peace of God) my Prophet, the Quran my guide, the
+K'aba my Qibla, and that Muslims are my brethren.' O God, keep him (the
+deceased) firm in this faith, and widen his grave, and make his examination
+(by Munkir and Nakir) easy, and exalt him and have mercy on him, O Thou
+most Merciful."
+
+The other persons present then offer a Fatiha.[222]
+
+After this, they may, if they like to do so, read the Surat-ul-Ya Sin
+(xxxvi) and the Surat-ul-Mulk (lxvii.) It is not common to do so. Then
+retiring forty paces from the grave they again offer a Fatiha, for by this
+time the examination of the deceased has commenced. The first night is one
+of great trouble to the deceased, so alms should be given liberally that
+night in his name. In order to relieve him as much as possible, two nafl
+rak'ats of a Namaz should be said. After the Fatiha in each rak'at the
+worshipper should repeat the Ayat-ul-Kursi {213} (Throne-verse)[223] three
+times; then the Surat-ut-Takisur (102) eleven times; then the
+Surat-ul-Iklas (112) three times.
+
+After the Salam and the Darud the worshipper lifts up both hands, and with
+great humility prays that the reward of the service just concluded may be
+bestowed on the deceased.
+
+(viii). Salat-ul-Istikhara.--This is a Namaz said before undertaking any
+special work. The person recites two rak'at prayers. After each rak'at he
+says the following Du'a: "O God, make me know what is best for me, and keep
+me from evil, and bestow good upon me, for I have no power to know what is
+best for me." He then goes to sleep, during which period be expects to
+receive a special inspiration (Ilham) which will give him the needed
+directions and guide him aright as to the matter in hand.
+
+(ix). Salat-ut-Tarawih.--This consists of twenty rak'ats recited each
+evening during the month of Ramazan. An account of these will be given in
+the next chapter when the ceremonies connected with the Ramazan fast are
+described.
+
+3. ROZA, THE THIRTY DAYS' FAST OF RAMAZAN.--Fasting is defined to be
+abstinence from food, drink and cohabitation from sunrise to sunset. There
+must also be in the mind the intention of keeping a fast. The person should
+say: "O Lord, I intend to fast to-morrow for Thy sake. Forgive my past and
+future sin." When the fast is ended he says: "O God I fasted for Thy sake
+and had faith in Thee, and confided in Thee and now I break (iftar) the
+fast with the food Thou givest. Accept this act."
+
+It is a farz duty to keep the fast during the thirty days of the month
+Ramazan. This is laid down in the words: "O believers! a fast is prescribed
+to you as it was prescribed to those before you." "As to the month Ramazan,
+in which the Quran was sent down to be man's guidance, and an explanation
+of that guidance, and of that {214} illumination, as soon as any one of you
+observeth the moon, let him set about the fast." (Sura ii. 179-181). The
+Ijma' is also unanimous on this point. Young children and idiots are
+excused. Sick persons and travellers may postpone the fast to another time.
+"He who is sick, or upon a journey, shall fast a like number of other days.
+God wisheth you ease, but wisheth not your discomfort, and that you fulfil
+the number of days." (Sura ii. 181). This is called a qaza fast, that is, a
+fast kept at another time in lieu of one which has been omitted.
+
+If a person makes a vow that, if God grants a certain request, he will fast
+(roza-i-nazr), or if he fasts by way of atonement for some sin committed
+(roza-i-kafara), in both cases it is a wajib duty to keep the fast. Some
+hold that the former is a farz duty and base their assertion on the verse:
+"Let them bring the neglect of their persons to a close, and let them pay
+their vows." (Sura xxii. 30).
+
+All other kinds of fasts are nafl, a term already explained (p. 199). Such
+are the fasts kept on the 10th day of Muharram, on the Aiyam-i-Biz (bright
+days)--the 13th, 14th and 15th day of any month, on the 15th of Sh'aban,
+that is, the day following the night called Shab-Barat, and on the 30th of
+each month in which there are thirty days. A nafl fast may be broken if the
+person who intended to keep it receives an invitation to a feast. According
+to Bukhari, a woman may not make a nafl fast without the consent of her
+husband. The reverse is not the case, for "Men are superior to women on
+account of the qualities with which God hath gifted the one above the
+other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for
+them." (Sura iv. 38). It is said that one day a woman came to the Prophet
+and said that her husband had slapped her. The Prophet wished to punish him
+for doing so improper an act, but he was prevented by the descent from
+heaven of the verse just quoted, which is held to be conclusive evidence of
+the inferiority of women. The verse also contains the words "chide those
+{215} (wives) for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them
+into beds apart, and scourge them." It is mustahab to fast some days in the
+month Shawwal, for Muhammad is reported to have said: "Whosoever keeps the
+fast of Ramazan and some seven days in the preceding month of Shawwal, it
+is as if his whole life were a fast."
+
+If on account of dull weather, or of dust storms the new moon is not
+visible, it is sufficient to act on the testimony of a trustworthy person
+who declares that Ramazan has commenced. Imam Shafa'i requires two, but the
+following Tradition is quoted against him: "An Arab came to the Prophet and
+said: 'I have seen the new moon.' His Excellency said: 'Dost thou believe
+that there is no God but God? Dost thou confess that Muhammad is His
+Apostle?' 'Yes,' replied the man. The Prophet calling Billal, the Mu,azzin,
+said: 'Tell the people to commence the fast.'" This proves that the
+evidence of one good Muslim is sufficient testimony in the matter.
+
+The fast is destroyed in the following cases:--if when cleansing the teeth
+a little water should pass into the throat, if food is eaten under
+compulsion, if an enema is used, if medicine is put into the ears, nose or
+a wound in the head, if a meal has been taken on the supposition that it
+was night when it was really day, if the niyyat (intention) in the Ramazan
+fast was not properly made, if after a meal taken during the night a
+portion of food larger than a grain of corn remains between the teeth or in
+a cavity of a tooth, lastly, if food is vomited. In each of these cases a
+qaza fast must be kept in lieu of the one thus broken.
+
+In the case where the fast is deliberately broken, the person must atone
+for his sin by setting a slave at liberty; if from any cause that cannot be
+done, he must fast every day for two months; if that cannot be done, he
+must give sixty persons two full meals each, or give one man such meals
+daily for sixty days.
+
+The fast is not broken by merely tasting anything, by {216} applying
+antimony to the eyes, and oil to the beard, by cleansing the teeth, or by
+kissing a person; but it is considered better not to do these things during
+the day-time. The Imam As-Shafa'i declared that it was very wrong indeed to
+do either of these actions after noon. He used to repeat the following
+Tradition handed down by Tabrani. "The Prophet said: 'when you fast,
+cleanse the teeth in the early morning, because when the lips of him who
+fasts become dry and parched, they will be for him a light in the day of
+judgment.'"
+
+If a person through the infirmity of old age is not able to keep the fast,
+he must perform sadqa, that is, he must feed a poor person. This opinion is
+based on a sentence in the Quran, which has caused a good deal of dispute:
+"As for those who are able (_to keep it and yet break it_), the expiation
+of this shall be the maintenance of a poor man." (Sura ii. 180). This seems
+to make fasting a matter of personal option, and some Commentators admit
+that at first it was so, but they say that the words have been
+abrogated[224] by the following sentence which occurs in the next verse:
+"As soon as any one of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast."
+Others say that the negative particle "not" must be understood before
+"able," in which case the words in italics must be omitted. Others explain
+the expression "those who are able" as equivalent to "those who have great
+difficulty therein," such as aged and infirm persons. This seems to be the
+best interpretation and is the one which practically is acted on.
+
+In the case of women with child, mothers giving suck to their children,
+sick persons whom fasting at this particular time might injure, it is
+sufficient if they keep it at another time; that is, they must when
+convenient make a qaza fast. {217} In these cases the sadqa or feeding of
+the poor is not required. Thus Abu Daud says: "The Prophet said, 'God
+allows travellers to shorten the Namaz and to postpone the fast. Women also
+are allowed to fast another time.'" The Quran is also clear on the point:
+"He who is sick or upon a journey, shall fast a like number of other days."
+(Sura ii. 181). There are five days in the year in which it is unlawful to
+fast. These are, 'Id-ul-Fitr, Baqr-'id and the three following days, _viz_:
+the 11th, 12th and 13th of Zu'l-Hajja. If during the month of Ramazan, a
+person arrives at maturity, or an Infidel becomes a Muslim, each must keep
+the fast during the remaining days of the month.
+
+To take the Sahra, or meal taken just before sunrise in the month of
+Ramazan, is a Sunnat act. The great Traditionists, Bukhari, Muslim and
+Tirmizi, all agree that the Prophet said: "Eat Sahra because there is a
+blessing in it. The difference between our fast and that of the men of the
+Book (Christians) is the partaking of Sahra."
+
+The meal eaten immediately after sunset is called Iftar, or the breaking of
+the fast. In India it is the custom to eat a date first, or if that fruit
+is not procurable to drink a little water. In Turkey an olive is chosen as
+the fruit with which the fast should be broken.
+
+The distinctive feature of a Muhammadan fast is, that it is a fast during
+the day only. The rich classes by turning day into night avoid much of its
+rigour.
+
+They, however, frequently break the fast, though any such action must be
+done in secret, for popular opinion all over the Musalman world is strongly
+against a man who does not outwardly, at least, observe the fast of
+Ramazan. In this matter it may be said
+
+ "Pecher en secret, n'est pas pecher,
+  Ce n'est que l'eclat qui fait le crime."
+
+Those who have to work for their living find the observance of the fast
+very difficult, for however laborious may be their occupation they must not
+swallow any liquid; yet as {218} a rule the lower classes observe it
+strictly.[225] In hot climates this is often exceedingly distressing. In
+such circumstances the evening twilight is anxiously looked for, as then
+the Iftar can be commenced. The month of Ramazan brings with it other
+duties than that of fasting. These will be described in the next chapter.
+
+4. ZAKAT.--There are two terms in use to express almsgiving. The first is
+Zakat (literally, "purification") or the legal alms due, with certain
+exceptions, from every Muslim. The second is Sadqa, or offerings on the
+feast day known as 'Id-ul-Fitr, or alms in general.[226] It is the first of
+these that has now to be considered.
+
+On the authority of the Quran and the Ijma'-i-Ummat it is declared to be a
+farz duty for every Muslim of full age, after the expiration of a year, to
+give the Zakat on account of his property; provided that, he has sufficient
+for his subsistence and is a Sahib-i-Nisab, or one who possesses an income
+equivalent to about L5 per annum. The Quran says: "Observe prayer (Salat)
+and the legal impost (Zakat)." (Sura ii. 40). The Khalif 'Umr Ibn
+'Abd-ul-'Aziz used to say: "Prayer carries us half way to God, fasting
+brings us to the door of His palace, and alms procure us admission." The
+three conditions without which Zakat would not be compulsory are Islam,
+Hurriat (freedom) and Nisab (stock). The reason for this is, that Zakat is
+said to be a fundamental part of 'Ibadat (worship), and that, as the
+Infidels cannot perform acceptable worship, they have nothing to do with
+Zakat. Freedom is necessary, for slaves hold no {219} property. Nisab is
+required, for so the Prophet has decreed. When the Nisab is required for
+daily use the zakat is not taken from it; such as a slave retained for
+personal service, grain for food, weapons, tools, books, household
+furniture, wearing apparel, horses for riding, &c., for one Tradition
+records that the Prophet specially exempted all these, whilst another given
+on the authority of Bukhari states that for slaves employed in domestic
+service only the Sadqa-i-fitr[227] should be given. If a person owes a
+debt, the amount necessary for its liquidation must be deducted from his
+property and the Zakat given on the balance. If it is a debt due to God,
+such as an offering due on a vow or to be given in atonement for the
+neglect of some religious duty, it must not be so deducted from the
+property on which Zakat is due.
+
+The amount of gold which constitutes a Nisab is 20 miskats, or of silver
+200 dirhems (=L5 4s.). Whether these metals are in coin or not,
+one-fortieth part is due. Some say that gold and silver ornaments are
+exempt, but Imam Shafa'i does not admit this, and quotes from Abu Daud the
+following Tradition: "A woman with a child, on whose arms were heavy golden
+bracelets, came to the Prophet. He enquired if the Zakat had been given for
+them. On receiving a reply in the negative he said: 'It is easy for God in
+the day of judgment to make thee wear bracelets of fire.' The girl then
+took them off and said: 'These are for the service of God and of His
+Prophet.'" On all treasure known as rikaz, that is, buried treasure found
+by any one, and on valuable metals extracted from mines, one-fifth of the
+value must be paid, whether the land be Khariji, rented at its proper
+market value; or 'Ushari possessed by the payment of a tithe. If the rikaz
+is found in Dar-ul-Harb, a country under a non-Muslim Government, the whole
+belongs to the finder, if it is on his own land, or if on unclaimed {220}
+land he must pay the one-fifth. If the coins found bear the mint stamp of a
+Musalman Government, the finder must, if he can, find the owner and return
+them to him; if they were coined in a mint belonging to the Infidels, after
+having given one-fifth as Zakat, he may retain four-fifths for himself.
+
+Pearls, amber and turquoise are not subject to any deduction, for the
+Prophet said: "There is no Zakat for stones."
+
+As regards cattle the following rules have been laid down. For sheep and
+goats nothing is given when the number is under forty. The owner must give
+one for one hundred and twenty, two for the next eighty and one for every
+hundred after. The scale for buffaloes is the same as that for sheep.
+
+For camels the rule is as follows: from 5 to 24 in number, one sheep or
+goat must be given; from 25 to 35, one yearling female camel
+(bint-i-mukhaz); from 36 to 45, one two-year old female camel
+(bint-i-labun); from 46 to 60, one three-year old female camel (hiqqah);
+from 61 to 75, one four-year old female camel (jaz'ah); from 76 to 90, two
+bint-i-labun; from 91 to 120, two hiqqah; and from 121 upwards, either a
+bint-i-labun for every forty or a hiqqah for every fifty. Horses follow
+this scale, or two and a half per cent on the value may be given instead.
+For 30 cows a one-year old female calf (tabi'a) must be given; for 40, a
+two-year old female calf (musinna), and after that one calf for every ten
+cows.
+
+Donkeys and mules are exempt, for the Prophet said: "No order has come down
+(from heaven) to me about them."
+
+If a stock of merchandize exceeds the Nisab (L5 4s.), Zakat must be given
+on it and on the profits at the rate of one in forty, or two-and-a-half per
+cent. The Hanifites do not count a fraction of the forty. The Shafa'ites
+count such a fractional part as forty and require the full Zakat to be paid
+on it.
+
+Honey, fruit, grain, &c., although less than five camel {221} loads,[228]
+must according to Imam Abu Hanifa pay one-tenth; but the Sahibain and Imam
+Shafa'i say that if there is less than the five camel loads no Zakat is
+required. The Prophet said: "If produced on land naturally watered
+one-tenth is due, if on land artificially irrigated one-twentieth." As he
+said nothing about the quantity, the Hanifites adduce the fact of the
+omission as a proof on their side.
+
+The Zakat should be given to the classes of person mentioned in the
+following verse. "Alms are to be given to the poor and the needy, and to
+those who collect them, _and to those whose hearts are won to Islam_, and
+for ransoms, and for debtors, and for the cause of God, and for the
+wayfarer." (Sura ix. 60). The words italicised, according to the
+Tafsir-i-Husaini, are now cancelled (mansukh). The reference is to the Arab
+Chiefs who were beaten by the Prophet at the battle of Honein (A.H. 8).
+This victory is referred to in the 25th verse of this Sura. "God hath
+helped you in many battle fields, and on the day of Honein." Abu Bakr
+abolished this giving of Zakat to converts, and the Khalif Omar said to
+these or similar persons: "This Zakat was given to incline your hearts
+toward Islam. Now God has prospered Islam. If you be converted it is well;
+if not, a sword is between us." No Companion has denied this statement, and
+so the authority for the cancelling of this clause is that of the
+Ijma'-i-Ummat (unanimous consent). It is well that an appeal to unworthy
+motives should be abolished, but no commentator so far as I know makes that
+a reason for the cancelling of this order. It is always placed on the
+ground of the triumphant nature of Islam which now needs no such support.
+Contemptuous indifference, not any high moral motive was the cause of the
+change.
+
+In addition to the persons mentioned in the verse just quoted, Zakat may be
+given to assist a Mukatib, or slave {222} who is working in order to
+purchase his freedom. Persons who are too poor to go on a Jihad or to make
+the Hajj must be assisted.
+
+The Zakat must not be given for building mosques,[229] for funeral
+expenses, liquidating the debts of a deceased person, or to purchase a
+slave in order to set him free. It is not lawful to give the Zakat to
+parents or grand-parents, children or grandchildren; or for a husband to
+give it to his wife, or a wife to her husband; or a master to his slave.
+The Sahibain[230] maintain that a wife can apply the Zakat to her husband's
+wants and quote this Tradition: "A woman asked the Prophet if she could
+give the Zakat to her husband. He answered 'give; such an act has two
+rewards, one for the giving of charity and one for the fulfilment of the
+duties of relationship.'" It should not be given to a rich man, nor to his
+son, nor to his slave. The descendants of Hasham and the descendants of the
+Prophet should not be the recipients of the Zakat. The Prophet said: "O
+Ahl-i-Beit (men of the house), it is not lawful for you to receive Zakat,
+for you get the one-fifth share of my fifth portion of the booty." So some
+say that Syeds are excluded; but they demur and reply that they do not now
+get a portion of the spoil of the Infidels. Zakat must not be given to a
+Zimmi (a non-muslim subject).
+
+In Muhammadan countries there are officers whose duty it is to collect the
+Zakat; in India the payment is left to each person's conscience. Whilst
+there is not much regularity in the payment, due credit must be given for
+the care which Musalmans take of their poor.
+
+The Sadqa (charitable offerings) form a different branch of this subject. A
+full account of it will be given in the section of the next chapter which
+treats of the 'Id-ul-Fitr.
+
+{223}
+
+5. THE HAJJ.--The Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, is a farz duty, and he who
+denies this fact is considered to be an infidel. "The pilgrimage to the
+temple is a service due to God from those who are able to journey thither:
+and as to him who believeth not--verily God can afford to dispense with all
+creatures." (Sura iii. 91, 92.) On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas the
+following Tradition has been handed down. "The Prophet said: 'God has made
+the Hajj farz.' Then Aqra' bin Habis, standing up, said: 'O Prophet is it
+to be made every year?' His Excellency said: 'If I say--yes, it will be a
+wajib duty to do it annually; but that ye are not able to bear, so the Hajj
+is necessary only once; whatever pilgrimage may be made to Mecca in
+addition is nafl.'"
+
+The Hajj must be made by every free Muslim, who is sound in body, and of
+full age, when he has sufficient means to pay his expenses, after duly
+providing for the support of his household till his return. If a slave, or
+a child should make the Hajj, the former on attaining freedom, and the
+latter on coming of age must again go on pilgrimage. If a woman, whose
+residence is at a distance of more than three days' journey from Mecca,
+goes on pilgrimage, she must be accompanied by her husband or by a near
+relative. Imam As Shafa'i denies the necessity of such attendance, stating
+that the verse already quoted makes no such restriction. His objection is,
+however, met as usual by a Tradition. "A certain man came to the Prophet
+and said: 'My wife is about to make the Hajj, but I am called to go on a
+warlike expedition.' The Prophet said: 'Turn away from the war and
+accompany thy wife in the Hajj.'" Imam Abu Yusuf considered that a man who
+possessed the means should go to Mecca, and held that if he delayed more
+than a year in making the Hajj he was a sinner. Imam Muhammad, and most
+others think that a person may postpone the Hajj for some years, but if
+death should overtake the man before he has made {224} the pilgrimage, he
+will be accounted a sinner. So practically all agree that delay is
+dangerous.
+
+Connected with the Hajj there are three actions which are farz, and five
+which are wajib; all the rest are sunnat or mustahab. The farz requisites
+are: (1) to wear no other garment except the Ihram,[231] two seamless
+wrappers, one of which is worn round the loins, the other thrown over the
+shoulder; (2) to stand in 'Arfat; (3) to make the Tawaf, that is to go
+round the K'aba seven times.
+
+The wajib duties are: (1) to stay in Muzdalifah; (2) to run between Mount
+Safa and Mount Marwah; (3) to perform the Rami-ul-Jamar, or the casting of
+the pebbles; (4) if the pilgrims are non-Meccans they must make an extra
+Tawaf; (5) to shave the head after the pilgrimage is over.
+
+The Hajj must be made at the appointed season. "Let the pilgrimage (Hajj)
+be made in the months already known." (Sura ii. 193). These months are
+Shawwal, Zu'l-q'ada, and the first ten days of Zu'l-Hajja. The actual Hajj
+must be in the month Zu'l-Hajja, but the preparations for, and the niyyat,
+or intention of the Hajj can be made in the two preceding months. The
+'Umrah, or ordinary pilgrimage, can be done at any time of the year except
+on the ninth, and four succeeding days of Zu'l-Hajja. On each of the
+various roads leading to Mecca, there are at a distance of about five or
+six miles from the city stages called Miqat. The following are the names.
+On the Madina road, the stage (manzil) is called Zu'l-Halifah; on the 'Iraq
+road, Zat-i-'Arq; on the Syrian road, Hujfah; on the Najd road, Qarn; on
+the Yaman road, Yalamlam.[232]
+
+{225}
+
+The Hajis from all parts of the Muslim world at length arrive weary and
+worn at one of these stages. They then divest themselves of their ordinary
+clothing, and after a legal ablution, and after saying a Namaz of two nafl
+rak'ats they put on the Ihram. The Haji, having now really entered upon the
+Hajj, faces Mecca and makes the niyyat (intention), and says: "O God, I
+purpose to make the Hajj; make this service easy to me and accept it from
+me." He then says the Talbiyah[233]: "Here I am! O Allah! Here I am! Here I
+am! There is no God but Thee! Truly, praise and bounty, and the kingdom are
+to Thee! No partner hast Thou! Here am I!"
+
+The persons who reside permanently in any of these Miqat can assume the
+pilgrim's garb in a place called Hal, near to Mecca, or in the city itself;
+whilst the inhabitants of Mecca can put on the Ihram in the precincts of
+the temple.
+
+The Haji having assumed the Ihram must now abstain from worldly affairs,
+and devote himself entirely to the duties of the Hajj. He is not allowed to
+hunt, though he may catch fish if he can. "O Believers, kill no game while
+ye are on pilgrimage." (Sura v. 96). The Prophet also said: "He who shows
+the place where game is to be found is equally as bad as the man who kills
+it." The Haji must not scratch himself, lest vermin be destroyed, or a hair
+be uprooted. Should he feel uncomfortable, he must rub himself with the
+open palm of his hand.[234] The face and head must be left uncovered, the
+hair on the head and beard unwashed and uncut. "Shave not your heads until
+the {226} offering reach the place of sacrifice." (Sura ii, 192). On
+arriving at an elevated place, on descending a valley, on meeting any one,
+on entering the city of Mecca or the Musjid-ul-Haram[235] the Haji should
+continually repeat the word "Labbaik, Labbaik."
+
+As soon as he sees the K'aba[236] he must say the Takbir and the Tahlil.
+The Traditionist 'Ata says that at this stage the Prophet used to lift up
+his hands and pray.
+
+On entering the enclosure, the Haji says the Labbaik, Takbir and the
+Tahlil, then a Du'a. A Namaz of two rak'ats is then said at the station of
+one of the four great Imams. On arriving near the Hajr-ul-Aswad (black
+stone) the Haji again says the Takbir and the Tahlil, after which he kisses
+the stone. If, on account of the crowd, he cannot get near enough to do
+this, he must touch it with his hand or with a stick, and kiss that with
+which he has thus touched the stone. At the same time he says: "O Allah, (I
+do this) in Thy belief, and in verification of Thy book, and in pursuance
+of Thy Prophet's example--may Allah bless and preserve him. O accept Thou
+my supplication, diminish my obstacles, pity my humiliation and graciously
+grant me Thy pardon." Then he again repeats the Takbir and the {227}
+Tahlil, the Darud and the Tahrif (prayer for, and praise of Muhammad). He
+then encompasses the K'aba seven times, in accordance with the niyyat he
+had made, thus: "In the name of Allah, and Allah is Omnipotent! I purpose
+to make the circuit seven times."[237] This is called the Tawaf. The Haji
+runs round three times at a rapid pace (Tarammul), and four times he
+proceeds slowly (Taammul). A permanent resident in Mecca will not perform
+the Tawaf. The Haji then presses his stomach, chest and right cheek against
+the portion of the K'aba wall, called Al-Multazim, and raising up his arms
+on high says: "O Allah, Lord of the Ancient House, free my neck from
+hell-fire, and preserve me from every evil deed; make me contented with
+that daily bread which Thou hast given to me, and bless me in all Thou hast
+granted!" He then says the Istigfar--"I beg pardon of Allah, the Most High,
+the Living, the Eternal, and to Him I repent."
+
+The Haji next proceeds to the Maqam-i-Ibrahim[238] (place of Abraham) and
+then recites two rak'ats[239] called Sunnat-ut-Tawaf. Some water from the
+sacred well Zemzem is then drunk, after which the Haji returns to the
+Hajr-ul-Aswad, and again kisses it.
+
+Haji Burton thus describes one shaut or circuit:--
+
+    "We began the prayer 'O Allah (I do this) in Thy belief and in
+    verification of Thy Book, and in faithfulness to Thy covenant and after
+    the example of Thy Prophet Muhammad. May Allah bless and preserve him!'
+    till we reached the place Al-Multazim, between the corner of the black
+    stone and the K'aba door. Here we ejaculated, 'O Allah, Thou hast
+    rights, so pardon my transgressing them.' Opposite the door we
+    repeated, 'O Allah, verily the house is Thy house, and the sanctuary
+    Thy sanctuary, and the safeguard Thy {228} safeguard, and this is the
+    place of Him who flees to Thee from (hell) fire.' At the building
+    called Maqam-i-Ibrahim, we said: 'O Allah, verily this is the place of
+    Abraham, who took refuge with, and fled to Thee from the fire! O deny
+    my flesh and blood, my skin and bones to the (eternal) flames.' As we
+    paced slowly round the north or Irak corner of the K'aba we exclaimed,
+    'O Allah, verily I take refuge with Thee from polytheism, and
+    disobedience, and hypocrisy, and evil conversation, and evil thoughts
+    concerning family, and property and progeny.' When we passed from the
+    Mizab, or spout, we repeated the words, 'O Allah, verily I beg of Thee
+    faith which shall not decline, and a certainty which shall not perish,
+    and the good aid of Thy Prophet Muhammad--may Allah bless and preserve
+    him! O Allah, shadow me in Thy shadow, on the day when there is no
+    shadow by Thy shadow; and cause me to drink from the cup of Thy Prophet
+    Muhammad--may Allah bless and preserve him--that pleasant draught,
+    after which is no thirst to all eternity, O Lord of honour and glory.'
+    Turning to the west corner, or the Rukn el Shami, we exclaimed: 'O
+    Allah, make it an acceptable pilgrimage, and a forgiveness of sins, and
+    a laudable endeavour, and a pleasant action (in Thy sight), and a store
+    which perisheth not, O Thou Glorious, O Thou Pardoner!' This was
+    repeated thrice, till we arrived at the Yemani, or southern corner,
+    where the crowd being less importunate, we touched the wall with the
+    right hand, after the example of the Prophet, and kissed the
+    finger-tips. Between the south angle and that of the black stone, where
+    our circuit would be completed, we said: 'O Allah, verily I take refuge
+    with Thee from infidelity, and I take refuge with Thee from want, and
+    from the tortures of the tomb, and from the troubles of life and death.
+    And I fly to Thee from ignominy in this world and the next, and implore
+    Thy pardon for the present and the future. O Lord, grant to me in this
+    life prosperity, and in the next life prosperity, and save me from the
+    punishment of fire.'"
+
+The next important step is the running between the Mounts Safa and Marwah.
+Starting from the former, the Haji runs seven times between the two
+summits. He runs, moving the shoulders, and with head erect, like soldiers
+charging in battle. The reason for this is, that the infidel Meccans mocked
+the Companions of the Prophet, and said that the climate of Madina had made
+them weak. This bold way of running was adopted to disprove the {229}
+calumny and so has become a Sunnat practice. The prayer to be said during
+the S'ai (running) is: "O my Lord, pardon and pity, and pass over that
+(sin) which Thou knowest. Verily Thou knowest what is not known, and verily
+Thou art the most Glorious, the most Generous. O, our Lord, grant us in
+both worlds prosperity, and save us from fire." The Haji should also quote
+passages from the Quran. This S'ai must be done after an important Tawaf,
+either the first, or a later one. On the seventh day the Imam must preach
+in Mecca, and instruct the pilgrims in the ritual of the Hajj. He preaches
+again on the ninth and eleventh days.
+
+On the eighth day, (Ruz-i-Tarwiah), the Haji goes to Mina, a place three
+miles distant from Mecca, where with all the other Hajis he says the usual
+Namaz, and there spends the night.[240] This is a sunnat observance. On the
+morning of the ninth day, starting after the Salat-ul-Fajr, the Haji goes
+to 'Arifat.[241] On arriving there he says: "O God, I turn to Thee, I put
+my trust on Thee, I desire Thee, pardon my sin, accept my Hajj, show mercy
+to me, supply my need in 'Arifat, Thou art powerful over all." He then says
+Labbaik, the Takbir and the Tahlil.
+
+The noontide, and the afternoon Namaz are said together there: they are
+thus shortened.[242] This done he should stand upon the mountain, if
+possible at or near the place the Prophet {230} is said to have occupied.
+This is called the Wukuf or (standing), a necessary part of the Hajj. He
+must also listen to the sermon delivered by the Imam, explaining what still
+remains of the ritual of the Hajj, _i.e._, how the Hajis are to stand in
+Muzdalifah, to throw the stones in Mina, to make the sacrifice, &c.
+
+All the time the Haji should constantly shout out the Talbiyah, and the
+Tahlil, and weep bitterly.
+
+The Haji then proceeds to Muzdalifah, a place situated about half-way
+between Mina and 'Arifat, where he should pass a portion of the night.
+After a visit to the Mosque Mashar al Haram, he should collect seven
+pebbles and proceed to Mina.
+
+When the morning of the tenth day, the 'Id-ul-Azha arrives, he again goes
+to Mina, where there are three different pillars, called respectively the
+Jamrat-ul-Akabah, commonly known as the Shaitan-ul-Kabir[243] (great
+devil), the Wusta, or middle pillar, and the Al Ula, or first one. Holding
+the jamar, or pebble, between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand,
+the Haji throws it a distance of not less than fifteen feet and says: "In
+the name of Allah, and Allah is Almighty, (I do this) in hatred of the
+Fiend and to his shame." The remaining six stones are thrown in like
+manner. The object is to confound the devils who are supposed to be there.
+The stones are small lest the pilgrims should be hurt. Before each stone is
+thrown the Takbir must be said. This ceremony is called Rami-ul-Jamar, the
+throwing of stones. It is also known as Hasal Khazaf. It is said that this
+ceremony has been performed since the time of Abraham, and that the stones
+are miraculously removed. Ibn 'Abbas, a Companion, says that if the
+pilgrimage of a Haji is approved of by God, the stones are secretly
+removed. Mujahid, a well known Traditionist, {231} says that he put a mark
+on his stones and afterwards searched, but found them not. The pilgrim then
+returns to Mina, and there offers the usual sacrifice of the 'Id-ul-Azha.
+An account of this will be given in the next chapter. This act strictly
+speaking, concludes the Hajj. The Haji can now shave his head, pare his
+nails and remove the Ihram.
+
+The remaining three days, the 11th, 12th and 13th of Zu'l-Hajja are called
+the Aiyam-ut-Tashriq "days of drying flesh" because now the pilgrims
+prepare provisions for the return journey, by cutting slices from the
+victims offered in sacrifice and drying them in the sun. The Haji should
+spend this time at Mina, and each day throw seven pebbles at each of the
+pillars. This ceremony duly over, he returns to Mecca and makes the
+Tawaf-ul-Wida' (circuit of farewell). He should also drink some water from
+the well of Zemzem. Tradition says that when Ishmael was thirsty Gabriel
+stamped with his foot and a spring gushed forth. This is now the far-famed
+well Zemzem. Finally, the Haji kisses the threshold, and then, with hands
+uplifted laying hold of the covering of the K'aba, and weeping bitterly, he
+prays most humbly, and expresses regret that he will soon have to depart
+from a place so dear as the sacred K'aba. Retiring backwards, he makes his
+exit and the Hajj is complete.[244] The Umrah or little pilgrimage can be
+made at any time except the eighth, ninth and tenth of Zu'l-Hajja. It is
+usually done before pilgrims start homewards. Its ceremonies differ but
+slightly from the Hajj. The Ihram must {232} be put on, and the obligations
+of abstinence which it entails must be observed.
+
+The usual course is then to make the Ziarat, or visit to the tomb of the
+Prophet at Madina. Henceforth the pilgrim assumes the honorable title of
+Haji and so is, ever after, a person of some consequence among the
+community in which he dwells. The Hajj cannot be performed by proxy, though
+it is esteemed a 'good work,' if someone who can afford it, sends a pilgrim
+who otherwise could not go.
+
+This account of the Irkan-i-din, or five pillars of religion, must now draw
+to a close. They illustrate well the fixed and formal nature of Islam,
+whilst the constant reference to the Prophet's sayings and practice, as an
+authority for many of the details, shows how largely Islam is based on the
+Sunnat. With regard to the differences of opinion which the great Imams
+hold on some of the details, it is most difficult to decide which side
+holds the correct view. Such opinions are always based on some Tradition,
+the value of which it is impossible to determine. The opponent says it is a
+weak (z'aif) Tradition--a statement it would puzzle any one to prove or to
+disprove. It is sometimes said in praise of Musalmans that they are not
+priest-ridden; but no people in the world are so Tradition-ridden, if one
+may use such an expression. Until this chain of superstition is broken
+there can be no progress and no enlightenment; but when it is so broken
+Islam will cease to be Islam, for this foundation of the Faith and the
+edifice erected on it are so welded together that the undermining of the
+one will be the fall of the other.
+
+{233}
+
+    NOTE TO CHAPTER V.
+
+    _The following Fatva was publicly given in the Great Mosque,
+    Triplicane, Madras, February 13th, 1880._
+
+    In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
+
+    QUESTION.
+
+    "O 'Ulama of the religion, and Muftis of the enlightened Law, what is
+    your opinion in this matter? A person having translated a juz
+    (one-thirtieth part) of the noble Quran into the Hindustani language
+    has printed it. The translation is defective: moreover the Arabic text
+    is not given. In order to give the translation the same authority as
+    the original, he has retained the usual signs and marks of the Arabic
+    editions; such as--toi, qif, jim, la, mim, and (.).[245] At the end of
+    the juz he has added a translation of the Tashshahud, Qanud, Sana,
+    Ta'awwuz, Tasmi, Tashibat, ruku' and Sujud, and has said that all these
+    must be read in Hindustani. He further states that in the translation
+    he has retained the rhythm of the original, and that in eloquence and
+    style it is equal to the Arabic. He has also added rubrical directions
+    as to the ritual of the Namaz, and has stated that to those who do not
+    know Arabic, it is a wajib and a farz duty to recite the translation;
+    otherwise they commit sin and the Namaz is vain. As regards the past,
+    he considers that the ignorant are forgiven, but he maintains that the
+    'Ulama of these days must answer for the neglect they show in not
+    telling the people to use translations of the Quran. Further, in
+    support of his views he adduces a Hadis-i-Sahih, according to which the
+    Prophet said to a Companion, Salman-i-Farsi: "Read a translation of the
+    Quran in the Namaz." He claims, as on his side, the four great Imams.
+    He himself understands Arabic, yet he says his Namaz in Hindustani and
+    influences others to do likewise. He has been spoken to, but he takes
+    no heed and strives to spread his sect all over India.
+
+    Now, what is the order of the noble Law with regard to such a person,
+    and what is the decree in the case of those who follow {234} him, or
+    who circulate his opinions, or who consider him a religious man and a
+    guide, or who consider the translation to which reference has been made
+    to be the Holy Quran, or who teach it to their children? O learned men,
+    state the Law in this matter and merit a good reward."
+
+    THE ANSWER.
+
+    "After praising God, and after imploring His mercy and peace on
+    Muhammad, be it known that the person referred to is an infidel, an
+    atheist and a wanderer from the truth. He also causes others to wander.
+    His assertion that his opinions are in accordance with those of the
+    four Imams is utterly false, because according to Imam Shafa'i, Imam
+    Malik, and Imam Hanbal it is illegal to use a translation of the Quran
+    when saying the Namaz, whether the worshipper is ignorant of Arabic or
+    not. Thus Imam Navari, a disciple of Shafa'i says: "It is unlawful in
+    any case to use Persian[246] in the Namaz." Faqi 'Ali, a disciple of
+    Malik says: "Persian is unlawful." To these opinions Kafi, a disciple
+    of Hanbal adds his testimony: "To recite in the Namaz from a
+    translation of the Quran is unlawful." Moreover from the Quran itself,
+    the recital of it in Arabic is proved to be a divine command (farz).
+    The term Quran, too, means an Arabic Quran, for God speaks of it as a
+    revelation in Arabic. The words "recite so much of the Quran as may be
+    easy to you" prove the duty of reciting it; whilst the words "an Arabic
+    Quran have we sent it down" show that the Quran to be used is an Arabic
+    one. Imam Abu Hanifa and his disciples, the Sahibain (Imam Muhammad and
+    Imam Abu Yusuf), consider that, if a person can recite only a short
+    verse in Arabic, it is not lawful for such an one to use a translation.
+    If he cannot read the Arabic character, he must learn by heart such a
+    sentence as "Praise be to God, Lord of the people." Until he learns
+    this he may use a translation.[247] In the Tanwir-ul-Absar it is
+    written: "It is a farz duty to read one verse, and to learn it by heart
+    is farz-i-'ain" (_i.e._, incumbent on all). In the Masih-ul-Azhar it is
+    written: "If a person says the Namaz in a language other than Arabic,
+    he is a madman or an atheist." With regard to the statement made by
+    Imam Abu Hanifa that a person might use for a {235} time a translation,
+    it is well known that he afterwards recalled that opinion. The
+    statement made by the person complained of regarding Sulman-i-Farsi is
+    not correct. In the Nihayah (commentary on the Hidayah) it is written
+    that some Persians wrote to Sulman, and requested him to send them a
+    Persian translation of Surat-ul-Fatiha. He complied with their request
+    and they used it in the Namaz, _until they could pronounce Arabic
+    properly_. The Prophet on hearing of this circumstance made no remark.
+    This account, however, is not trustworthy; but granting that it is
+    true, all that it proves is that, until some Arabic words can be
+    remembered, a translation may be used. No Imam has ever allowed that to
+    read a translation is farz or wajib. So if the person referred to says
+    that it is farz to read his own translation, then it follows that to
+    read the original Arabic will not be farz, but will be unlawful. Now
+    such an opinion is infidelity. The person is a Kafir, for he tries to
+    make out that the 'Ulama of all preceding ages who have instructed the
+    people, from the days of the Prophet till now, to read Arabic in the
+    Namaz are sinners. Further, he rejects the statement made by learned
+    canonists and listens now to no advice. He reads his translation in the
+    Namaz and causes others to read it. He boasts that his translation is
+    equal in style to the original. He has translated the Du'a-i-qunut,
+    Sana, and the Tasbihat of the ruku' and Sujud, and has said that these
+    translations should be used in the Namaz. Thus, it is plain that he
+    wants to abolish the use of Arabic in the prayers. The result of such a
+    course would be that soon a number of different translations would be
+    circulated, and the text like that of the Taurait, and the Injil would
+    be corrupted. In the Fatawa-i-'Alamgiri it is written: "Whosoever
+    considers that the unlawful is lawful or _vice versa_ is a Kafir." "If
+    any one without apparent cause has enmity with one of the 'Ulama, his
+    orthodoxy is doubtful." "A man who after committing a fault declines to
+    repent, though requested to do so, is an infidel." In the
+    Tahqiq-i-Sharh-i-Husaini it is written; "To translate the Quran into
+    Persian and to read that is unlawful." In the
+    Fatawa-i-Matlub-ul-Muminin it is said: "Whosoever intends to write the
+    Quran in Persian must be strictly forbidden." In the Itqan it is
+    written: "According to Ijma', it is wrong to speak of the Quran as
+    having rhymes."[248] In the Fatawa-i-Tatar Khania it is said: "To
+    translate the Arabic into Persian is an act of infidelity."
+
+    Our decision then is that the usual salutations should not be made to
+    this person. If he dies he must not be buried in a Musalman {236}
+    cemetery. His marriages are void and his wives are at liberty,
+    according to the rule laid down in the Miftah-us-S'adat. To doubt of
+    the infidelity of such a person is itself infidelity. As by the proofs
+    of the law here adduced, the 'Ulama have declared such a person to be
+    an infidel, it follows that all those who assist him or who consider
+    his claim just, or who circulate his opinions, or who consider him to
+    be a religious person and a fit guide for men, are also infidels. To
+    send children to be taught by him, to purchase newspapers which
+    advocate his views, and to continue to read his translation is
+    unlawful. In the Fatawa-i-'Alamgiri in the chapter entitled Murtad it
+    is written: "Whosoever has doubts of the present infidelity and of the
+    future punishment of such an one is an infidel." God says in the Quran:
+    "Be helpful to one another according to goodness and piety, but be not
+    helpful for evil and malice; and fear ye God." (Sura v. 3). In another
+    place God says: "Whosoever acts not according to God's order is an
+    infidel." Now, what greater disobedience can there be than this, that a
+    person should say that the recital of the Arabic Quran in the Namaz is
+    not lawful, and that the recital of his own Hindustani translation of
+    it is incumbent (farz).
+
+    "Our duty is to give information to Musalmans, and God is the best
+    Knower."
+
+    This was written by a learned Moulvie, and signed by twenty-four other
+    leading Moulvies of the city of Madras.
+
+    This Fatva, an authentic copy of which is in my possession, is of very
+    considerable importance as showing how unyielding the law of Islam is
+    to the varied circumstances of the countries in which it exists. The
+    law enjoining the Arabic language as a medium of worship was suited for
+    the Arab people, and the principle involved would seem to be that the
+    vernacular language of a country should be used by the Muslims of that
+    country for the purposes of devotion; but, as I have repeatedly shown,
+    precepts, not principles are the ruling power in Islam. It further
+    demonstrates that all such matters must be regulated, not by the needs
+    of the age or country, but by an antiquated law which, to say the
+    least, is an anachronism in the world's history. The authority paid to
+    the statements made by the four chief Imams, and the fact that the
+    Fatva is based on their decisions, and on previous Fatvas in which
+    their authority has been adduced, show how even to the present day they
+    are regarded as the Mujtahidin of Islam. The Fatva is thus manifestly
+    orthodox, and corroborates most fully all I have said in the first
+    chapter on the "Foundations of Islam."
+
+{237}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE FEASTS AND FASTS OF ISLAM.
+
+1. MUHARRAM.--Muharram, the name of the first month of the Muhammadan year,
+has now become the name by which are known the days of mourning spent by
+the Shia'hs in commemoration of the martyrdoms of 'Ali and of his two sons
+Hasan and Husain. The historical events thus referred to have been already
+described in the third chapter, so that it is only necessary now to give an
+account of the ceremonies connected with the Muharram. They differ in
+different countries. The following is a description of an Indian Muharram.
+
+Some days previous to the feast, the 'Ashur Khana (literally, ten-day
+house) is prepared. As soon as the new moon appears, the people gather
+together in the various 'Ashur Khanas, and offer a Fatiha over some sherbet
+or some sugar in the name of Husain. The Fatiha concludes thus: "O God,
+grant the reward of this to the soul of Husain." The sherbet and sugar are
+then given to the poor. Then they mark a spot for the Allawa, or hole for
+the bonfire which is to be lit. Every night during the festival these fires
+are kindled, and the people, both old and young, fence across the fire with
+swords or sticks, and jump about calling out: "'Ali! Noble Husain! Noble
+Husain! Dulha! Dulha! Bridegroom! Bridegroom! Friend! &c." These words they
+repeat hundreds of times.
+
+In some parts of the country they erect an Imam Bara (Imam-house). This is
+often a substantial building, frequently used afterwards as a mausoleum for
+the founder and his family. In South India the 'Ashur Khana only is known.
+This is generally a temporary structure, or {238} some large hall fitted up
+for the occasion. Sometimes the walls are draped with black cloth, bordered
+with texts of the Quran written in a large and elegant style. The place is
+brilliantly illuminated. On one side stands the Taziahs or
+Tabuts--structures made of bamboos covered with tinsel and profusely
+ornamented. They are intended to represent the mausoleum erected on the
+plains of Karbala over the remains of Husain. Sometimes the Taziah is
+constructed to represent the Prophet's tomb at Madina. Large sums of money
+are spent on these Taziahs, which when lighted up have a very elegant
+appearance. At the back of the Taziahs are laid the several articles
+similar to those supposed to have been used by Husain at Karbala,--a turban
+of gold, a rich sword, a shield, a bow and arrow. The Mimbar, or pulpit is
+so placed that the speaker can face Mecca. The 'Alams, or standards, which
+are commonly made of copper and brass, though occasionally of gold or of
+silver, are placed against the walls. The usual standard is that of a hand
+placed on a pole. This is emblematic of the five members who compose the
+family of the Prophet, and is the special standard of the Shia'hs. These
+standards have many different names, such as--the standard of the palm of
+'Ali, the Lady Fatima's standard, the standard of the Horse-shoe, to
+represent the shoe of Husain's swift horse, and others too numerous to
+mention. Mirrors, chandeliers and coloured lanterns add lustre to the
+scene.
+
+Every evening large crowds of people assemble in these 'Ashur Khanas. In
+the centre, on a slightly raised platform a band of singers chant the
+Marsiya, an elegiac poem in honour of the martyred Husain. It is a
+monotonous performance lasting about an hour; but it has a wonderful effect
+on the audience, who, seated on the ground, listen patiently and
+attentively. At each pause the hearers beat their breasts, and say Husain!
+Husain! Real or stimulated grief often finds expression in groans and
+tears, though the more violent expression of the anguish felt is reserved
+for a later ceremony.
+
+{239}
+
+This over, the Waqi'a Khan (literally, narrator of events) ascends the
+Mimbar, or pulpit, and seats himself on the top, or on a lower step. He
+proceeds to relate the historical facts, adding many curious stories
+gathered from the vast heap of Traditions which have cast such a halo of
+glory around the martyr. Sometimes he becomes very excited, and the
+audience is stirred up to great enthusiasm. The following account is that
+of an eye-witness who passed an evening in an 'Ashur Khana. "The first
+Waqi'a Khan was a Persian who delivered a very eloquent oration in his own
+tongue. It was calm but effective. He was succeeded by an eloquent old
+gentleman who spoke rapidly in Hindustani at the top of his voice, then
+rose up, ran down the steps, and casting off his turban rushed in and out
+amongst the audience, vociferating vigorously all the while. The effect was
+marvellous, old and venerable men wept like little children, whilst from
+the adjoining Zanana was heard the bitter weeping of the women who, though
+not exposed to view, could hear all that was said. After a while, the
+assembly rose and formed two lines facing each other. A boy then chanted a
+few words and the whole assembly began, slowly at first, to sway their
+bodies to and fro, calling out 'Ali! 'Ali! Husain! Husain! Each one then
+began to beat his breast vigorously. The excitement at last became intense
+and the men in the rows looked like so many wild creatures."
+
+In some cases blood has been known to flow from the breast, so severe is
+the self-inflicted beating. This continues till they are well-nigh
+exhausted, when the whole company goes away to repeat the performance over
+again in some other 'Ashur Khana. A devout person will visit several each
+evening. During the day some pious Shia'hs recite the Quran.
+
+During this season women who can read, visit the Zananas and chant Marsiyas
+to the ladies of the Harem, by whom this season of Muharram is celebrated
+with great earnestness.
+
+For the first six days, nothing else takes place, but on the {240} seventh
+day the 'Alam-i-Qasim is taken out in public procession. This is to
+represent the marriage of Qasim, the son of Hasan, to the favourite
+daughter of Husain, just before the death of the latter. The event is now
+commemorated by the bearing of Qasim's standard in procession. It is
+usually borne by a man on horseback. If it is carried by a man on foot, he
+reels about like a drunken man to show his grief. The crowd shout out:
+Bridegroom! Bridegroom! After perambulating the principal thoroughfares,
+the people bring the standard back to its own 'Ashur Khana. As the standard
+which represents Qasim is supposed to be a martyr, it is then laid down,
+covered over, and treated as a corpse. Lamentation is made over it as for
+one dead. Sherbet is then produced, and a Fatiha is said, after which the
+standard is again set up in its own place.
+
+The Neza, a lance or spear, with a lime on the top, to recall to
+remembrance the fact that Yezid caused Husain's head to be thus carried
+about, is taken in procession from one place to another. The Na'l Sahib
+(literally, Mr. Horse-shoe) is the representation of a horse shoe, and is
+meant to remind the people of the swift horse of Husain. Vows are
+frequently made to this standard. Thus a woman may say to it: "Should I
+through your favour be blessed with offspring, I shall make it run in your
+procession." If she attains her wish, the child when seven or eight years
+old has a small parasol placed in its hand and is made to run after the
+Na'l Sahib.
+
+If two 'Alams, or standards, meet, they embrace each other, that is they
+are made to touch. Fatiha is then said and the respective processions pass
+on their way. The Buraq, supposed to be a fac-simile of the horse sent by
+Gabriel for Muhammad to make the night ascent to heaven (Ante. p. 159) is
+also taken out.
+
+On the evening before the tenth day, which according to the Muslim mode of
+computing time is the tenth night, the whole of the Tazias and the 'Alams
+are taken out in {241} procession. It is a scene of great confusion, for
+men and boys disguised in all sorts of quaint devices run about. It is the
+carnival of the Musalman year.
+
+On the following day, the 'Ashura, they kindle the fires in the Allawas,
+and say a Fatiha in each 'Ashur Khana. After this the 'Alams and the Tazias
+are taken away to a large open spot near water, which represents the plain
+of Karbala. Another Fatiha is said, the ornaments and decorations are taken
+off the Tazias, the frameworks of which are then cast into the water.[249]
+Sometimes they are reserved for use the following year. The water reminds
+the people of the parching thirst which Husain felt before his death. Only
+the 'Alams, not the Buraqs nor the Na'l Sahibs, are immersed. The people
+then burn incense, recite the Marsiyas, return home and say Fatiha over the
+'Alams, Buraqs, &c. On the evening of the 12th, they sit up all night
+reading the Quran, reciting Marsiyas and verses in the praise of Husain. On
+the 13th day, a quantity of food is cooked which, when a Fatiha has been
+said over it, is distributed to the poor. Some very pious Shia'hs celebrate
+the fortieth day after the first of Muharram. It is on this day, according
+to some accounts, that the head and body of Husain were reunited. It is
+known as the 'Id-i-sar wa tan (head and body feast).
+
+The Sunnis do not, except as spectators, take any part in the Muharram
+ceremonies. Indeed, where the ruling power is not strong, there is often
+much ill-feeling aroused by the enthusiasm excited for all that concerns
+'Ali and his family. The three first Khalifs are often well abused, and
+that no Sunni can bear with patience. The breach between the Sunni and the
+Shia'h is very wide, and the annual recurrence of the Muharram feast tends
+to keep alive the distinction.
+
+{242}
+
+The tenth day--the 'Ashura is, however, a Sunnat feast and, as such, is
+observed by all Sunnis. It is considered to be a most excellent day, for on
+it God is said to have created Adam and Eve, His throne, heaven, hell, the
+seat of judgment, the tablet of decree, the pen, fate, life and death.
+
+The Sunnis about three o'clock in the afternoon of this day prepare sherbet
+and khichri--a dish composed of boiled rice and pulse mixed with clarified
+butter and spices. A Fatiha in the name of Husain and of those who were
+martyred with him is then said. The food is disposed of as usual in such
+cases. A Namaz of some nafl rak'ats is said and sometimes a Du'a is added.
+On this day also they go to the burial grounds and place flowers on, and
+say Fatiha over the graves of their friends.
+
+Indian Musalmans have copied in their feast many Hindu ceremonies. The
+procession of the Tazias, and the casting of them into the water is very
+similar to the procession at the Hindu feast of the Durga Puja,[250] when
+on the tenth day the Hindus cast the idol Durga, the wife of Siva, into the
+Ganges. The oblations offered at different shrines are similar to those
+offered by the Hindus, such as rice, clarified butter and flowers.
+
+The Muhammadan form of worship was too simple for a country, in which an
+allegorical and idolatrous religion predominated, addressing itself to the
+senses and the imaginations rather than to the understanding and the heart;
+consequently the Musalman festivals have borrowed from it a variety of
+pagan rites, and a pompous and splendid ceremonial. While this has done
+much to add to the superstition of the Musalmans in India, it has no doubt
+softened their intolerant spirit. Though the Sunnis consider the Shia'h
+observances as impious, they look on with the contempt of indifference. The
+fact that the British Government punishes all who break {243} the peace may
+have something to do with this. Still the Sunni and the Shia'h in India
+live on much better terms, and have more respect for each other than the
+Turk has for the Persian, or the Persian for the Turk. Some Musalman poets,
+indeed, are both Sunnis and Shia'hs. Thus Wali, begins his poem with a
+brief encomium on the four first Khalifs, and then bestows an eulogy on
+'Ali and his sons Hasan and Husain whom he calls "Imams of the world."
+
+The following is a prayer used in a Fatiha for 'Ali:--
+
+    I pray, "That God may deign for the sake of that pure soul, the
+    ornament of the book of nature, the first of mortals after the Prophet,
+    the star of mortals, the most precious jewel of the jewel-box of
+    virtue, the lord of the high and the low, he who occupies a
+    distinguished place on the bridge of eternity, the mihrab[251] of the
+    faith, he who sits upon the throne of the palace of the law, the ship
+    of the sea of religion, the sun of the firmament of glory, the power of
+    the arm of the Prophet, he who has merited access to the tabernacle of
+    the Divine Unity, the most profound of all religious people, the
+    resplendent brightness of the marvels of God, the father of victory,
+    the Imam of the gate of heaven, the cup-bearer of the water of Kausar,
+    he who has merited the praise of Muhammad, he who is the best of men,
+    the holy martyr, the chief of Believers, the Imam of the Faithful,
+    'Ali, son of Abu Talib, 'Ali the victorious lion of the Most High. I
+    pray that God for the sake of this holy Khalif may favourably hear the
+    vows which I offer to Him."
+
+The following prayer occurs in a Fatiha said for Hasan and Husain:--
+
+    I pray, "That the eternal God may deign to accept the vows which I make
+    for the repose of the glorious souls of the two brave Imams, the
+    martyrs well-beloved by God, the innocent victims of wickedness, the
+    blessed Abu Muhammad Al-Hasan and Abu 'Abd-Allah Al-Husain, and for the
+    twelve Imams, and the fourteen[252] pure ones, and for the seventy-two
+    martyrs of the plain of Karbala."
+
+{244}
+
+2. AKHIR-I-CHAR SHAMBA.--This feast is held on the last Wednesday of the
+month Safar. It is kept in commemoration of the fact, that, as on this day,
+the Prophet experienced some mitigation of the disorder which in the next
+month terminated his life. Sweet cakes are prepared, and Fatihas in the
+name of the Prophet are said over them; but the most extraordinary custom
+is the drinking of the seven Salams. A plantain, or a mango tree leaf, or a
+piece of paper is taken to a Mulla, or a religious teacher, who writes
+seven short sentences from the Quran upon it. The writing whilst still wet
+is washed off, and the mixture drunk by the person for whom it was written.
+Peace and happiness are thus ensured for the future. The seven Salams are:
+(1) "Peace! shall be the word on the part of a merciful Lord." (Sura xxxvi.
+58). (2) "Peace be on Noah throughout the worlds." (Sura xxxvii. 77). (3)
+"Peace be on Abraham." (Sura xxxvii. 109). (4) "Peace be on Moses and
+Aaron." (Sura xxxvii. 120). (5) "Peace be on Elias." (Sura xxxvii. 130).
+(6) "Peace be on you, ye have been good; enter into Paradise." (Sura xxxix.
+73). (7) "It is peace till the breaking of the morn." (Sura xcvii. 5). The
+Shia'hs consider this an unlucky day. They call it "Char
+Shamba-i-Suri."--The "Wednesday of the Trumpet;" that is, of the trumpet of
+the last day. The Sunnis, on the other hand, rejoice in the day, and esteem
+it an excellent and auspicious season.
+
+3. BARA WAFAT.--This feast is held on the twelfth day of the month
+Rabi'-ul-Awwal. The name is derived from bara, twelve and wafat, death,
+because many suppose that on this day the Prophet died. According to a
+well-known Muslim writer "the terrific intelligence, circulating throughout
+the world, produced universal consternation, and all hastened to offer to
+God their vows and prayers for the repose of the Prophet's soul." Others,
+however, maintain that he died on the second of the month and, as there is
+some doubt on the subject, many persons make a Fatiha {245} every day, from
+the first to the twelfth of the month inclusive. Those who keep the feast
+as Bara Wafat observe the ceremony called Sandal on the previous evening,
+and the 'Urs, that is, the prayers and the oblations, on the twelfth. The
+Sandal consists in making a perfumed embrocation from sandal wood. This is
+then placed into a vessel and carried in procession to the 'Id-gah,[253] or
+to the place where Fatiha will be said. It is then distributed to the
+people. It is a sort of public notice on the eve of a Feast day, or of a
+Saint's day, that on the morrow the usual prayers and offerings will be
+made in such and such a place. On the morning of the twelfth, the Quran is
+read in the Mosque, or in private houses: then food is cooked and Fatihas
+are said.
+
+Some persons possess a Qadam-i-Rasul, or footstep of the Prophet. This is a
+stone with the impression of a footstep on it. It is a sacred thing and on
+this day the place in which it is kept is elegantly decorated. When a
+company has assembled, some persons appointed for the purpose, repeat the
+story of the birth, miracles and death of the Prophet. Portions of the
+Quran are read and the Darud is said.[254]
+
+In Madras, and in some other parts, it is more customary to keep this day,
+not as the anniversary of the death of the Prophet, but as the
+"'Jashn-i-milad-i-Sharif," the "Feast of the noble birth." The practical
+duties are the same. Instead of the Qadam-i-Rasul, the Asar-i-Sharif is
+exhibited. This is supposed to be a real portion of the hair of the
+Prophet's beard and moustache. It is said to possess {246} the miraculous
+property of growing again when a portion is broken off. On this day it is
+put into rose water which those present then drink and rub on their eyes.
+Great virtue is attached to this proceeding. In the Asar Khana, or house in
+which this hair is kept Fatihas, Daruds, &c., are repeated.
+
+The observance of this festival is neither wajib nor sunnat, but mustahab.
+It is generally kept, and it is a very rare thing to meet a person who does
+not believe in the miraculous growth of the Asar-i-Sharif.
+
+4. SHAB BARAT.--This feast, the name of which signifies the "night of the
+record," is held on the fourteenth day of the month Sh'aban. The 'Arfa, or
+vigil is kept on the preceding day.[255] It is commonly but erroneously
+called Shab-i-Barat.
+
+The word Barat signifies a book or record. It is said that God on this
+night registers in the Barat all the actions men are to perform during the
+ensuing year. On the thirteenth day food is prepared for the poor and a
+Fatiha for the benefit of deceased ancestors and relatives is said over it.
+When all in the house are assembled, the Surat-ul-Fatiha is read once, the
+Surat-ul-Iklas (112) three times, the Ayat-ul-Kursi once, and then the
+Darud. After this a prayer is offered, in which God is asked to transfer
+the reward of this Service, and of the charity shown in the gift of food to
+the poor, to the souls of deceased relatives and friends of this family.
+This petition is offered in the name of the Prophet. The men then go to the
+Mosque and after the Namaz-i-'Isha they repeat a number of nafl rak'ats.
+This over, the Surat-ul-Ya Sin is read three times. It must be done with
+the niyyat, intention. The first time, the intention is that the worshipper
+may have a long life; the second time, that his means of subsistence may be
+increased; the third time, that he may be protected from evil. {247} The
+Sura-i-Dukhan (144) is then read with the same intentions. Any other
+portions may then be read. After this those present rise, and go to the
+various cemeteries. On the way they purchase flowers which are afterwards
+strewn on the graves. A Fatiha is then said. If the worshipper has no
+relatives or friends buried there, prayer is offered for the benefit of the
+Arwah-i-Qubur, the souls of those there buried. The very pious spend the
+whole night in going from one cemetery to another.
+
+These observances are neither farz, nor sunnat, but nawafil, (sing. nafl),
+works of supererogation. Still though they are bid'at, yet they are
+esteemed good and so are called bid'at-i-Hasana, or "excellent innovation."
+The general merry-making of the fourteenth day has no religious
+signification. The night of the fifteenth is the Guy Fawkes night of Islam.
+Large sums of money are spent on fireworks, of which more are let off on
+this feast than at any other.
+
+The following prayer occurs in the Fatiha: "O our God, by the merits of the
+Apostleship of Muhammad, grant that the lamps which are lit up on this holy
+night may be for the dead a pledge of the light eternal, which we pray Thee
+to shed on them. O God, admit them, we beseech Thee, unto the abode of
+eternal felicity."
+
+5. RAMAZAN AND 'ID-UL-FITR--It is one of the five pillars of the practical
+religious duties to fast during the thirty days of the month Ramazan. The
+subject of fasting has been fully treated of in the preceding chapter; and
+so it is only necessary now to describe the other ceremonies connected with
+the religious observance of this month.
+
+From the earliest days of Islam this month has been held in the greatest
+esteem by Muslims, for it was in this month that Muhammad used to retire
+for meditation, year after year, to the cave of Hira, situated on a low
+hill some few miles distant from Mecca. In the second year of the Hijra, or
+flight from Mecca, it was ordained that the month of Ramazan should be kept
+as a fast. "As to the month {248} Ramazan, in which the Quran was sent down
+to be man's guidance, and an explanation of that guidance, and of that
+illumination, as soon as any one of you observeth the moon, let him set
+about the fast." (Sura ii. 181).
+
+The Muslims had hitherto observed as the principal fast the 'Ashura, the
+tenth of Muharram. This fast was probably connected with the Jewish fast on
+the tenth day of the seventh month. "Also on the tenth day of this seventh
+month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation
+unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, &c." (Leviticus xxiii. 27). Now,
+when Muhammad first went to Madina he had great hopes of winning over the
+Jews to his side; but when he failed he took every opportunity of making
+Islam differ as much as possible from Judaism. This was the reason why the
+Qibla was changed (Ante. p. 60), and that in the second year of his
+residence at Madina the fast of Ramazan was appointed. The reasons assigned
+by learned Muslims for the selection of this month, are that in Ramazan God
+gave to the previous prophets the revelations connected with their names,
+and that in this month the Quran was sent down from the Secret Tablet in
+the seventh heaven to the first or lowest, and that on the Laylut-ul-Qadr,
+or 'night of power' the first revelation was made to Muhammad. "Verily we
+have caused it (Quran) to descend on the 'night of power.' And who shall
+teach thee what the night of power is? The night of power excelleth a
+thousand nights." (Sura xcvii. 1-3). To illustrate the sacredness of this
+month the Prophet used to say that in it "the gates of Paradise are open,
+and the gates of hell are shut, and the devils are chained by the leg."
+"Only those who observe it will be allowed to enter by the gate of heaven
+called Rayyan." Those who keep the fast "will be pardoned all their past
+venial sins."[256]
+
+In making the fast one for the day, and none for the night, {249} Muhammad
+doubtless had reference to the verse: "God wisheth you ease, but wisheth
+not your discomfort." (Sura ii. 181).
+
+The special ceremonies connected with the Ramazan are the Tarawih Namaz and
+'Itikaf (retirement). The Tarawih prayers have been described already (p.
+205). Each night in Ramazan one-thirtieth part (sipara) of the Quran is
+recited in the Mosque. The duty of performing the 'Itikaf is a
+Sunnat-ul-maukadda, a very strict duty. The Mu'takif, one who makes
+'Itikaf, must remain apart in a Mosque used for public services, and there
+meditate. Bukhari says that the Prophet made 'Itikaf the last ten days of
+each Ramazan, and that the practice was continued by his wives after his
+death. Usually a man should thus sit and meditate one of the days between
+the twentieth and the thirtieth of Ramazan. If his meditation is disturbed
+by any illegal interruption, another day should be devoted to it; but Imam
+Muhammad says: "The least legal time is one hour." Some theologians hold
+that 'Itikaf is farz-i-kifaya, that is, if one person of a community does
+it the obligation does not rest on the others. If, however, a person makes
+a vow in Ramazan, then 'Itikaf is considered wajib. 'Itikaf can be
+performed at any time other than the last ten days of Ramazan, but then it
+is only mustahab, a work of supererogation. All the sects except the
+Shafa'ites hold that the Mu'takif must fast. He should also make the
+nizzat, or intention, of performing what he is about to do. The Mu'takif
+must not go out of the Mosque except for obviously necessary purposes, and
+for making the legal wazu and ghusl (purifications). At night he may eat,
+drink and sleep in the Mosque: acts quite unlawful at other times. He may
+speak with others on religious matters, and if a man of business, he may
+give orders with regard to the purchase and sale of merchandize, but on no
+account must any goods be brought to him. It is highly meritorious for him
+to read the Quran in an audible voice. By such an act he becomes {250} a
+man of penetration, whose words are as powerful as a sharp sword.[257]
+
+When the thirty days have passed the fast is broken. This act is called
+Iftar, and the first day on which food is taken is called the
+'Id-ul-Fitr--the 'Feast of the breaking of the fast.' On that day the
+Sadqa, or alms are given before the Namaz is said in the Mosque. The Sadqa
+of the 'Id-ul-Fitr is confined to Muslims: no other persons receive it. If
+any one neglects to give these alms before the Namaz is said, he will not
+merit so great a reward as he otherwise would. The reason assigned for this
+is that, unless they are given early in the day, the poor cannot refresh
+themselves before coming to the Mosque for the Namaz. The Sadqa are given
+for the good of one's own soul, for that of young children, slaves male and
+female--Muslim or Infidel; but not for the spiritual benefit of one's wife
+or elder children.
+
+In South India, the Sadqa consists of a gift of sufficient rice to feed one
+person. When this has been done the people go to the Mosque saying, 'God is
+great! God is great!' The Namaz is like that of a Friday, except that only
+two rak'ats are said, and the Khutba which is said after the Namaz is
+sunnat; whereas the Friday Khutba is said before the farz rak'ats, and is
+itself of farz obligation. After hearing the sermon, the people disperse,
+visit each other and thoroughly enjoy themselves.
+
+A very usual form of the Khutba of the 'Id-ul-Fitr which is preached in
+Arabic is as follows:--
+
+    SERMON ON THE 'ID-UL-FITR.
+
+    In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
+
+    "Holy is God who has opened the door of mercy for those who fast, and
+    in mercy and kindness has granted them the right of entrance into
+    heaven. God is greater than all. There is no God save Him. God is
+    great! God is great! and worthy of praise. It {251} is of His grace and
+    favour that He rewards those who keep the fast. He has said: 'I will
+    give in the future world houses and palaces, and many excellent
+    blessings to those who fast. God is great! God is great! Holy is He who
+    certainly sent the Quran to our Prophet in the month of Ramazan, and
+    who sends angels to grant peace to all true believers. God is great!
+    and worthy of all praise. We praise and thank Him for the 'Id-ul-Fitr,
+    that great blessing; and we testify that beside Him there is no God. He
+    is alone. He has no partner. This witness which we give to His Unity
+    will be a cause of our safety here, and finally gain us an entrance to
+    Paradise. Muhammad (on whom be the mercy and peace of God) and all
+    famous prophets are His slaves. He is the Lord of genii and of men.
+    From Him comes mercy and peace upon Muhammad and his family, so long as
+    the world shall last. God is greater than all. There is none beside
+    Him. God is great! God is great! and worthy of all praise. O company of
+    Believers, O congregation of Muslims, the mercy of the True One is on
+    you. He says that this Feast day is a blessing to you, and a curse to
+    the unbelievers. Your fasting will not be rewarded, and your prayers
+    will be stayed in their flight to heaven until you have given the
+    sadqa.[258] O congregation of Believers, to give alms is to you a wajib
+    duty. Give to the poor some measures of grain or its money equivalent.
+    Your duty in Ramazan was to say the Tarawih prayers, to make
+    supplication to God, to sit and meditate ('Itikaf) and to read the
+    Quran. The religious duties of the first ten days of Ramazan gain the
+    mercy of God, those of the second ten merit His pardon; whilst those of
+    the last ten save those who do them from the punishment of hell. God
+    has declared that Ramazan is a noble month, for is not one of its
+    nights, the Laylut-ul-Qadr, better than a thousand months? On that
+    night Gabriel and the angels descended from heaven: till the morning
+    breaks it is full of blessing. Its eloquent interpreter, and its
+    clearest proof is the Quran, the Word of God, most Gracious. Holy is
+    God who says in the Quran: "This word of God comes down in the month of
+    Ramazan." This is a guide for men, a distinguisher between right and
+    wrong. O Believers, in such a month be present, obey the order of your
+    God and fast; but let the sick and the travellers substitute some other
+    days on which to fast so that no days be lost, and say: "God is great!"
+    and praise Him. God has made the fast easy for you. O Believers, God
+    will bless you and us by the grace of the Holy Quran. Every verse of it
+    is a benefit to us and fills us with wisdom. God is the Bestower, the
+    {252} Holy King, the Munificent, the Kind, the Nourisher, the Merciful,
+    the Clement."[259]
+
+"The assemblies of the ladies on this 'Id are marked by all the amusements
+and indulgences they can possibly invent or enjoy in their secluded state.
+Some receiving, others paying visits in covered conveyances; all doing
+honour to the day by wearing their best jewellery and splendid dress. The
+Zanana rings with festive songs and loud music, the cheerful meeting of
+friends, the distribution of presents to dependents, and remembrances to
+the poor; all is life and joy, cheerful bustle and amusement, on this happy
+day of 'Id, when the good lady of the Mansion sits in state to receive
+presents from inferiors and to grant proofs of her favour to others."[260]
+
+6. The Baqr-'Id.--This is the most important Feast in the whole year. It is
+also known as the 'Id-i-Qurban, and as the 'Id-ul-Azha, commonly called the
+Id-uz-Zuha, the feast of sacrifice. In Turkey and in Egypt it is called
+Bairam. Its origin was as follows: A few months after the Hijra, or flight
+from Mecca, Muhammad, dwelling in Madina, observed that the Jews kept, on
+the tenth day of the seventh month, the great fast of the Atonement. A
+Tradition records that the Prophet asked them why they kept this fast. He
+was informed that it was a memorial of the deliverance of Moses and the
+children of Israel from the hands of Pharaoh. "We have a greater right in
+Moses than they," said Muhammad, so he fasted with the Jews and commanded
+his followers to fast also. This was at the period of his mission when
+Muhammad was friendly with the Jews of Madina, who occasionally came to
+hear him preach. The Prophet also occasionally attended the synagogue. Then
+came the change of the Qibla from Jerusalem to Mecca, for the Jews were not
+so ready to change their {253} creed as Muhammad had at first hoped. In the
+second year of the Hijra, Muhammad and his followers did not participate in
+the Jewish fast, for the Prophet now instituted the feast of the Baqr-'Id.
+The idolatrous Arabs had been in the habit of making an annual pilgrimage
+to Mecca at this season of the year. The offering of animals in sacrifice
+formed a part of the concluding ceremony of that pilgrimage. That
+portion--the sacrifice of animals--Muhammad adopted in the feast which now,
+at Madina, he substituted for the Jewish fast. This was well calculated to
+attract the attention of the Meccans and to gain the goodwill of the Arabs.
+Muhammad could not then make the pilgrimage to Mecca, for as yet there was
+a hostile feeling between the inhabitants of the two cities; but on the
+tenth day of the month Zu'l-Hajja, at the very time when the Arabs at Mecca
+were engaged in sacrificing victims, Muhammad went forth from his house at
+Madina, and assembling his followers instituted the Id-uz-Zuha or Baqr-'Id.
+Two young kids were brought before him. One he sacrificed and said: "O
+Lord! I sacrifice this for my whole people, all those who bear witness to
+Thy unity and to my mission. O Lord! this is for Muhammad and for the
+family of Muhammad."
+
+Great merit is obtained by all who keep this feast. 'Ayesha relates how the
+Prophet once said: "Man hath not done anything on the 'Id-ul-Azha more
+pleasing to God than spilling blood; for verily the animal sacrificed will
+come on the day of resurrection with its horns, hair and hoofs, and will
+make the scale of his good actions very heavy. Verily its blood reached the
+acceptance of God before it falleth upon the ground, therefore be joyful in
+it."
+
+Musalmans say that the Patriarch Abraham was ordered to sacrifice Ishmael,
+and that he made several ineffectual attempts to cut the throat of his son.
+Ishmael then said to his father: "It is through pity and compassion for me
+that you allow the knife to miss: blindfold yourself and then sacrifice
+me." Abraham acted upon this advice, {254} blindfolded himself, drew his
+knife, repeated the Bismillah, and, as he thought, cut the throat of his
+son; but, behold, in the meantime Gabriel had substituted a sheep for the
+lad. This event is commemorated in this feast.
+
+On the day before the feast, the Arfa, or vigil, is kept. Food of various
+kinds is prepared, over which a Fatiha is offered, first, in the name of
+the Prophet; secondly, in the names of deceased relatives, and of others
+for whom a blessing is desired, or from whom some favor is expected. The
+food is then sent as a present to friends.
+
+On the morning of the feast day, the devout Muslims proceed to the 'Id-gah
+or, if there is no 'Id-gah, to the principal Mosque, repeating on the way
+the Takbir "God is Great!" and "There is no other God save the one true
+God, God is great, praise be to God." At the time of making wazu, the
+worshipper should say: "O God, make this (_i.e._ the sacrifice I shall
+offer to-day) an atonement for my sin, and purify my religion and take evil
+away from me."
+
+The Service at the 'Id-gah, or in the Mosque consists of two farz rak'ats,
+as in the Salat-ul-Juma (p. 201), after the Khutba is delivered. It will,
+however, be seen from the following sermon that it is mustahab to say four
+more rak'ats.
+
+    SERMON ON THE 'ID-UZ-ZUHA.
+
+    In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
+
+    Allahu Akbar! God is Great. There is no God but God. God is Great! God
+    is Great and worthy of all praise. He is Holy. Day and night we should
+    praise Him. He is without partner, without equal. All praise be to Him.
+    Holy is He, Who makes the rich generous, Who provides the sacrifice for
+    the wise. He is Great, without an equal. All praise be to Him. Listen!
+    I testify that there is no God but God. He is alone, without partner.
+    This testimony is as bright as the early dawn, as brilliant as the
+    glorious feast day. Muhammad is His servant who delivered His message.
+    On Muhammad, and on his family, and on his Companions may the peace of
+    God rest. On you who are present, O congregation of Muslimin, may the
+    {255} mercy of God for ever rest. O servants of God! our first duty is
+    to fear God and to be kind. God has said: "I will be with those who
+    fear Me and are kind."
+
+    Know O servants of God! that to rejoice on the feast day is the sign
+    and mark of the pure and good. Exalted will be the rank of such in
+    Paradise (Dar-ul-Qarar), especially on the day of resurrection will
+    they obtain dignity and honour. Do not on this day foolish acts. It is
+    no time for amusements and negligence. This is the day on which to
+    utter the praises of God. (Tasbih.) Read the Kalima, the Takbir and the
+    Tamhid. This is a high festival season and the feast of sacrifice. Read
+    now the Takbir-ut-Tashriq. God is great! God is great! There is no God
+    but God! God is great! God is great! All praise be to Him! From the
+    morning of the 'Arfa, after every farz rak'at it is good (mustahab) for
+    a person to repeat the Takbir-ut-Tashriq. The woman before whom is a
+    man as Imam, and the traveller whose Imam is a permanent resident
+    (Muqim) should also repeat this Takbir. It should be said at each Namaz
+    until the Salat-ul-'Asr of the Feast day (10th). Some, however, say
+    that it should be recited every day till the afternoon ('Asr) of the
+    thirteenth day, as these are the days of the Tashriq (p. 231).[261] If
+    the Imam forgets to recite, let not the worshipper forget. Know, O
+    believers, that every free man who is a Sahib-i-Nisab (_i.e._ worth Rs.
+    52) should offer sacrifice on this day, provided that this sum is
+    exclusive of his horse, his clothes, his tools, and his household goods
+    and slaves. It is wajib for every one to offer sacrifice for himself,
+    but it is not a wajib order that he should do it for his children.[262]
+    A goat, a ram or a cow should be offered in sacrifice for every seven
+    persons. The victim must not be one-eyed, blind, lame or very thin.
+
+    If you sacrifice a fat animal it will serve you well, and carry you
+    across the Sirat. O Believers, thus said the Prophet, on whom be the
+    mercy and peace of God, "Sacrifice the victim with your own hands, this
+    was the Sunnat of Ibrahim, on whom be peace."
+
+    In the Kitab-uz-zad-ut-Taqwa, it is said that on the 'Id-ul-Fitr and
+    the 'Id-uz-Zuha, four nafl rak'ats should be said after the farz Namaz
+    {256} of the 'Id. In the first rak'at after the Surat-ul-Fatiha recite
+    the Surat-ul-A'la (Sura lxxvii); in the second, the Surat-ush-Shams
+    (Sura xci); in the third, the Surat-uz-Zuha (Sura xciii); in the
+    fourth, the Surat-ul-Ikhlas (cxii).
+
+    O Believers, if ye do so, God will pardon the sins of fifty years which
+    are past and of fifty years to come. The reading of these Suras are
+    equal as an act of merit to the reading of all the books God has sent
+    by His prophets.
+
+    May God include us amongst those who are accepted by Him, who act
+    according to the Law, whose desire will be granted at the last day. To
+    all such there will be no fear in the day of resurrection; no sorrow in
+    the examination at the day of judgment. The best of all books is the
+    Quran. O believers! May God give to us, and to you a blessing for ever
+    by the grace of the Noble Quran. May its verses be our guide, and may
+    its wise mention of God direct us aright. I desire that God may pardon
+    all believers, male and female, the Muslimin and the Muslimat. O
+    believers, also seek for pardon. Truly God is the Forgiver, the
+    Merciful, the Eternal King, the Compassionate, the Clement. O
+    believers, the Khutba is over. Let all desire that on Muhammad Mustafa
+    the mercy and peace of God may rest.
+
+The worshippers then return to their respective homes and offer up the
+sacrifice,[263] for it is a wajib order that every Muslim should keep this
+feast, and sacrifice an animal for himself. He need not fear though he has
+to incur debt for the purchase of an animal, for it is said that God will
+in some way help him to pay the debt. If a camel is sacrificed, it should
+be one not less than five years of age, if a cow or sheep it should at
+least be in its second year, though the third year is better; if a goat it
+must not be less than six months old. All of these animals must be without
+a blemish, or defect of any kind. It is a sunnat order that the head of the
+household should himself slay the victim. If, however, from any cause, he
+cannot do so, he may call in a butcher; but in that case he must place his
+hand upon that of the butcher when the operation is performed. If the {257}
+victim is a camel, it must be placed with the head towards Mecca. Its front
+legs being bandaged together the sacrificer must stand on the right hand
+side of the victim, and plunge the knife into its throat with such force
+that the animal may fall at once. Any other mode of slaying it is unlawful.
+Other animals must be slain in the same way. Just before slaying the victim
+the following verse of the Quran should be repeated: "Say! my prayers, and
+my worship, and my life and my death are unto God, the Lord of the worlds.
+He hath no associate. This am I commanded, and I am the first of the
+Muslims." (Sura vi. 163). The operator also adds: "O God, from Thee, and to
+Thee (I do this), in the name of God, God is Great!" Then having slain the
+victim he says: "O God accept this for me." The first meal taken should be
+prepared from the flesh of the animal just slaughtered, after which the
+members of the family, the neighbours, and the poor should receive some
+portions.
+
+It is considered highly meritorious to sacrifice one animal for each member
+of the family; but as that would involve an expenditure few could bear, it
+is allowable to sacrifice one victim for the household. In extreme cases
+men may combine together and make one sacrifice do for the whole, but the
+number of persons so combining must not exceed seventy. Some authorities
+limit the number to seven. This feast is strictly observed by all Muslims
+wherever they may be.
+
+The Baqr-'Id and the 'Id-ul-Fitr constitute the 'Idain, the two great
+Feasts of Islam. A country in which Musalmans could not observe them both
+would at once become Dar-ul-Harb, or House of Enmity, in which it would be
+the bounden duty of every Muslim to join in a Jihad, against the Infidel
+rulers of the land.
+
+This completes the principal Feasts of the Muslim year.
+
+Among other practices borrowed from the Hindus must be placed the
+pilgrimage made by Indian Musalmans to the {258} shrines of Saints, the
+ceremonies connected with them and the festivals instituted in their
+honour. Properly speaking, the Sunnis have but two festivals--the Baqr-'Id
+and the 'Id-ul-Fitr, but many others are now observed. Of these I have
+described several. It only remains to notice a few of the festival days
+which are peculiar to India. The title of Pir given to a Musalman devotee
+is equivalent to the term Guru amongst the Hindus. A man who seeks to be a
+'religious' takes a Pir as a spiritual guide. "Follow," says the poet Wali,
+"the footsteps of thy Pir, like a shadow." After death these Pirs are
+venerated as Walis or Saints. The Pirs when alive, are frequently resorted
+to for a ta'wiz, or charm, and the aid of their prayers is often invoked.
+The sepulchre of a Wali is called a Dargah, shrine; Mazar, place of
+pilgrimage; Rauza, garden. The professional reciter of the Quran, and the
+Namaz at such places is called a Rauza Khan. As a rule, processions are
+made to the shrines, and flowers, sweetmeats and food over which a Fatiha
+has been said are offered. Usually the Fatiha is _for_ the Saint, not _to_
+the Saint. It is considered a very meritorious act to give land for the
+erection of such shrines and to endow them. An account of many of these
+Saints is given in the Bara Masa by Jawan and the Arayish-i-Mahfil by
+Afsos. The following selection will give an idea of the customs
+prevalent:--
+
+1. FESTIVAL OF MADAR.--Sayyid Badr-ud-din Kutb-ul-Madar is said to have
+descended from the Imam Husain. He was born at Aleppo about A.D. 1050, and
+received from Muhammad permission to "hold his breath" (Habs-i-dam). Thus
+he was able to live to a good old age. He is said to have had 1,442 sons,
+and to have died when upwards of 300 years old. More rational people
+explain the number of his sons by saying they were his spiritual children.
+The length of his life is explained by saying that as each man has to make
+a certain number of inspirations, the less frequently he does it the longer
+he will live. Jawan in his account of {259} the festival states: "The tomb
+of Madar is at Makanpur, a place about forty miles from Cawnpore." On the
+seventeenth of the month Jamadi-ul-Awwal an immense crowd fills the village
+which is illuminated at night. Fires are lighted, around which Fakirs
+dance, and through which they leap calling out "Dam Madar, Dam Madar,"
+(breath of Madar.) An order of Fakirs, called Madaria, look to this Saint
+as their patron. In distant places where this feast is kept they set up an
+Alam, or standard in honour of the Saint, and perform ceremonies common to
+such days. The nights are spent in celebrating his praises, &c.
+
+2. FESTIVAL OF MU'IN-UD-DIN CHISTI.[264]--The tomb of this Saint is in
+Ajmir. He was a Syed descended from Husain, the son of 'Ali, and was born
+in Sajistan about the year 537 A.H. His father died when he was about
+fifteen years old. Soon after this he fell in with a famous Fakir, Ibrahim
+Qanduzi, through whose influence he began to seek the Tariqat, or mystical
+road to the knowledge of God. When he was twenty years of age he received
+further instruction from the famous 'Abd-ul-Qadir Jilani. After the
+conquest of Hindustan by Shahab-ud-din Ghori, Mu'in-ud-din retired to
+Ajmir, where he died in the odour of sanctity 636 A.H. Pilgrimages to this
+tomb have been and are very popular. Emperors and people vied with each
+other in doing honour to the memory of this saint. Even Akbar, sceptic
+though he was as regards orthodox Islam, made a pilgrimage to this shrine,
+and offered vows that he might have a son who would live to manhood. Hindus
+also visit this tomb and presents from rich men of this class are not
+unusual.
+
+3. FESTIVAL OF SALAR MAS'UD GHAZI.--There is some doubt as to the
+nationality of this Saint. Some say he was a Husaini Syed, others that he
+was a Pathan, and a martyr. His tomb is situated in Oude. Afsos thus
+describes the {260} pilgrimage. "Once a year great crowds of people gather
+from all parts. They carry red lances, and beat thousands of tambourines.
+The 'Urs is held on the first Sunday of the month Jith (May-June). The
+people believe that this was his wedding day, because it is said that he
+had on wedding garments when he was killed. This belief once led a certain
+oilman, a resident of Raduli, to send a bedstead, chair, and other marriage
+presents to the shrine at this time. The custom is still kept up by the
+descendants of the oilman. The common people fasten ropes to the branches
+of the trees in the neighbourhood, and swing, some by the hands and some by
+the heels, and assume various disguises. They thus hope to obtain what they
+desire." The Hindus venerate this Saint very highly. The Musalmans look
+upon him as a most sacred person, for he slew many idolatrous Hindus, and
+so earned the title of Ghazi, the warrior: the Hindus consider that it was
+only by the power of God that he could do so many acts of prowess.
+
+4. FESTIVAL OF THE BIRA OR OF KHAJA KHIZR.--Of this Saint, M. Garcin de
+Tassy says: "Khaja Khizr is a personage respecting whom the opinions of
+orientals vary. Many consider him the same as Phineas, the grandson of
+Aaron; others that he is the prophet Elias; and lastly, the Turks confound
+him with St. George. In order to reconcile these conflicting opinions, some
+allege that the same soul has animated three different persons. Whatever be
+the fact, Khizr, according to the Musalmans, discovered the source of the
+Water of Life of which he is the guardian. He is believed to be very clever
+in divination, and to be the patron of waters. As such a festival is held
+in his honour." Jawan describes it thus: "In the month of Bhadun
+(August-September) all whose wishes have been fulfilled, make it a point of
+duty to set afloat the boat (nau) in honour of Khaja Khizr, and to make
+according to their means offerings of milk and bruised grain to the holy
+personage. On every Friday, and in some places on every Thursday, in the
+month {261} in question, the devotees having prepared the bira carry it at
+night to the bank of the river, with many ceremonies. There great and
+small, having lighted lamps and tapers, make their respective oblations,
+whilst a number of swimmers together jointly push the bira into the middle
+of the river." Sometimes a number of small biras, made of clay, are also
+launched, and as each carries a lamp the general effect is striking. It is
+said that the Musalman natives of the Maldive Islands annually launch a
+small vessel laden with perfumes, gum, and odoriferous flowers, and leave
+it to the mercy of the winds and waves as an offering to the god of the
+sea. There can be no doubt that this god of the sea is Khizr, the patron of
+the waters.
+
+The following prayer is recited in the Fatiha of Khizr: "To obtain purity
+of heart, and the benediction of Him who hears the vows of mortals, and who
+alone can keep from them all evils, I rest upon the merits of Khaja Khizr,
+the great prophet Elias."
+
+5. THE FEAST OF PIR DASTGIR SAHIB.--This is held on the eleventh day of the
+month of Rabi'-us-Sani. The Sunnis hold this Saint in great reverence. He
+has no less than ninety-nine names. His tomb is at Baghdad. On the tenth of
+the month the ceremony called Sandal (p. 245) is performed, followed on the
+next day by the 'Urs, when the Maulad, or the account of the circumstances
+connected with the birth of the saint is read; Qasa,id, or elegiac poems
+are recited; the Darud is repeated and Fatihas are said. The Quran is also
+read through. Vows are frequently made to this Saint and in time of any
+special visitation, such as cholera, a flag is carried about in honour of
+this Pir by some of his devotees to whom presents of food, &c, are offered.
+Fatiha is then said over them. He is said to appear to his followers during
+their sleep and to give them directions. Ja'far Sharif, the compiler of the
+Qanun-i-Islam speaking, on this point relates his own experience thus: "The
+author speaks from personal experience, for at the time of need, when he
+{262} was oppressed in mind concerning things which he desired, he used to
+repeat constantly the ninety-nine names of the Pir and vow before the Holy
+God, imploring His assistance by the soul of Dastgir; and through the mercy
+of the Almighty, his Excellency Ghaus-ul-A'zam (Dastgir) presented himself
+in his sleep, and relieved him of his perplexities and vouchsafed his
+behests."
+
+Syed Ahmad Kabir Rafai, the founder of the Rafai Darwishes was a nephew of
+this Saint.
+
+6. FESTIVAL OF QADIR WALI SAHIB.--This is the great saint of Southern
+India. The 'Urs is celebrated on the tenth day of Jamadi-us-Sani. The
+shrine is at Nagore, a town situated four miles north of Negapatam. The
+sandal and other ceremonies are similar to those described already. He is
+the patron saint of sailors, who in times of difficulty vow that, if they
+reach the shore in safety, they will offer a Fatiha in the name of Qadir
+Wali. The common people have a profound faith in the power of the saint to
+work miracles. The story of the following one is frequently related: "A
+vessel springing a leak was about to founder, when the Captain made a vow
+that should Qadir Wali stop the leak, he would offer in his name the value
+of the cargo. At that time the saint was being shaved, but being
+miraculously acquainted with the perilous position of the Captain he cast
+away the looking-glass which he held in his hand. This glass attached
+itself to the hole in the bottom of the ship which then came safely to
+land. The Captain, in due course, presented his offering to the saint who
+requested him to return the glass to the barber. The Captain was astonished
+at this request and enquired what glass was meant. He was then directed to
+look at the bottom of his ship. He did so, and discovered how the saint had
+saved the ship."
+
+The festival affords a curious illustration of the way in which Hindu
+influences have acted on Islam, and how even Hindus pay regard to Muslim
+Saints. Qadir Wali is said to {263} have been a Fakir who lived on the
+charity of both Hindus and Musalmans. Indeed both parties claim him as
+belonging to their respective religions, which may be accounted for by the
+fact that in his preaching to mixed audiences he suited his addresses to
+both classes of his hearers. After his death a small Mosque was erected on
+or near his tomb. The fame of the Wali gradually grew, and a Hindu Rajah
+made a vow that if he were blessed with the birth of a son, he would
+enlarge and beautify the Mosque. His wish was fulfilled, and the present
+elegant structure is the result. So famous has the shrine of the Saint now
+become that the Musalmans there say: "First Mecca, then Nagore." The same
+reason which induced the Hindu Rajah to make a votive offering years ago,
+still influences large numbers of people. On Thursday evenings, the
+commencement of the Muhammadan Sabbath, many Hindu women resort to the
+shrine of the Saint. On the closing night of the Annual Feast, Tabuts are
+taken in procession from Negapatam, and rich presents are sent from the
+Tanjore Palace to the Nagore Mosque. Thus is the Hindu connection still
+kept up with the festival of this Musalman Saint.
+
+There are many other Walis and Pirs to whose tombs pilgrimages are made,
+and in memory of whom many superstitious observances are still kept up; but
+all such pilgrimages to a Dargah (shrine) are no necessary part of Islam.
+In all parts of the country there are the shrines of Saints who have a
+local reputation and whose annual festivals are more or less observed.
+Still it is not necessary for me to give a further account of these. This
+brings me to the close of my subject.
+
+In the preceding chapters, I have endeavoured to set forth the main
+features of the Faith of Islam, and the religious duties it enjoins. I
+might now go on to show its relation to Judaism and Christianity, the
+elements it has drawn from them, and the distortions it has made in the
+borrowing, as well as the protest it raised against much that was {264}
+corrupt in the Christianity with which it came in contact. I might also
+enlarge upon its moral and social effects, and the character it produces in
+the individual and the state. But these subjects would lead me far beyond
+my present scope. I prefer to content myself with giving a representation
+of the Faith of Islam from its own authorities, and with leaving my readers
+to make comparisons and draw inferences for themselves.
+
+THE END.
+
+{265}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+INDEX OF TECHNICAL TERMS.
+
+          A.
+
+  Aiyam-i-Biz, 214
+  Aiyam-ut-Tashriq, 231
+ 'Alam, 238
+  Al-A'raf, 167
+  Al-Barzakh, 168
+  Al-Mahdi, 80
+  Akhir-Char Shambah, 244
+ 'Amm, 48
+  Amr-i-Takwiti, 176
+  Anbiya-ulul-'Azm, 150
+  Asar-i-Sharif, 245
+  Ashab, 7
+ 'Ashura, 241
+ 'Ashur Khana, 237
+  Asma-i-Husna, 133
+  Attahiyat, 197
+  Auliya, 152
+  Ayat, 54
+  Ayat-ul-Kursi, 212
+  Azad, 95
+  Azan, 193
+
+          B.
+
+  Bara Wafat, 244
+  Baqab-i-Qausain, 158
+  Baqr-'id, 252
+  bid'at, 14
+  Buraq, 241
+
+          D.
+
+  Da,iri, 81
+  Dalalat, 53
+  Dalil-i-qata'i, 187
+  Dalil-i-zani, 187
+  Darwishes, 94
+  Dargah, 258
+  Du'a, 197
+
+          F.
+
+  Fana, 93
+  Faru', 120
+  Farz, 187
+  Farz-i-'ain, 208
+  Farz-i-kifaya, 207
+  Fatrah, 3
+  Fitrat, 187
+  Fuqiha, 33
+
+          G.
+
+  Ghair-i-Mahdi, 81
+  Ghusl, 190
+  Gunah-i-kabira, 154
+  Gunah-i-saghira, 154
+  {266}
+
+          H.
+
+  Hadis-i-Ahad, 70
+  Hadis-i-Hasan, 71
+  Hadis-i-Mua'llaq, 72
+  Hadis-i-Mursal, 72
+  Hadis-i-Mutawatir, 70
+  Hadis-i-Sahih, 71
+  Hadis-i-Z'aif, 71
+  Hadd, 179
+  Hafiz, 42
+  Haft Sifat, 118
+  Hajj, 223
+  Hajr-ul-Aswad, 226
+  Hal, 93
+  Haqiqat, 52, 93
+  Haram, 188
+  Harut, 142
+  Hasal Khazaf, 230
+
+          I.
+
+  Ibadhiyah, 76
+  Ibarat, 53
+  Iblis, 140
+ 'Id-gah, 245
+ 'Id-ul-Fitr, 247
+  Iftar, 250
+  Ihlal, 224
+  Ihram, 224
+  Ijma', 16
+  Ijma'-i-Ummat, 17
+  Ijtihad, 17, 26, 32
+  Ijtihad fi'l-Masa,il, 34
+  Ijtihad fi'l-Mazhab, 34
+  Ijtihad fi'l-Shari', 34
+  Ilham, 37
+  Ilka, 40
+ 'Ilm-i-usul, 41
+  Imam, 75
+  Imam Abu Hanifa, 19
+  Imam Ibn Malik, 20
+  Imam As-Shafa'i, 21
+  Imam Ibn Hanbal, 22
+  Imamat, 75
+  Imam Bara, 237
+  Iman-i-mufassal, 116
+  Iman-i-mujmal, 116
+  Istidlal, 53
+  Isharat, 53
+  Ishrak fi'l-'ibadat, 108
+  Ishrak fi'l-adab, 109
+  Isnad, 67
+ 'Itikaf, 249
+  Iqamat, 194
+  Iqtiza, 54
+  I'tibar-ul-Amsal, 27
+
+          J.
+
+  Jabrians, 132
+  Jahannum, 172
+  Jami'-i-Tirmizi, 86
+  Jamrat-ul-Akahah, 230
+  Jannat, 171
+  Jashn-i-milad-i-sharif, 245
+  Jinn, 145
+  Juz, 56
+
+          K.
+
+  K'aba, 227
+  Kalam, 135
+  {267}
+  Kalima, 54, 116
+  Karamians, 163
+  Kasb, 130
+  Kausar, 171
+  Kinayah, 52
+  Kiram-ul-Katibin, 141
+  Kitman, 91
+  Khafi, 50
+  Kharigites, 76
+  Khass, 48
+  Kharq-i-'adat, 157
+  Khulafa-i-Rashidin, 66
+  Khutba, 201
+
+          L.
+
+  Labbaik, 225
+  Lahad, 211
+  Lailat-ul-Qadr, 2
+
+          M.
+
+  Mahmudiah, 83
+  Majaz, 52
+  Majzub, 95
+  Maukadda', 200
+  Makruh, 188
+  Mansukh, 59
+  Maqam-i-Mahmud, 169
+  Marsiya, 238
+  Marut, 142
+  Mihrab, 243
+  Mimbar, 239
+  Miqat, 225
+  Mizan, 165
+  Mua'qqibat, 141
+  Muawwal, 48
+  Mu,azzin, 193
+  Mubah, 188
+  Mufassir, 33, 50
+  Mufsid, 188
+  Muhaddis, 67
+  Mujassimians, 131
+  Mu'jizat, 157
+  Mujmal, 51
+  Mujtahid, 17
+  Mukham, 50
+  Munkir, 145
+  Murshid, 92
+  Mutashabih, 52
+  Musalli, 193
+  Mushabihites, 131
+  Mus-haf, 147
+  Muharram, 237
+  Muskhil, 51
+  Mustahab, 188
+  Mu'takif, 249
+  Mustarik, 48
+  Muta'h, 84
+  Mutazilites, 125
+
+          N.
+
+  Nabi, 153
+  Nafkhatain-i-Sur, 161
+  Nafl, 199
+  Nakir, 145
+  Namaz, 193
+  Nass, 50
+  Nasikh, 59
+  Nisab, 218
+  Niyyat, 194
+  Nur-i-Muhammadi, 77
+  {268}
+
+          Q.
+
+  Qadam-i-Rasul, 245
+  Qadrians, 174
+  Qaza, 214
+  Qiam, 194
+  Qias, 27, 28
+  Qira,at, 43
+  Qari, 43
+
+          R.
+
+  Rak'at, 195
+  Ramazan, 247
+  Rami-ul-Jamar, 230
+  Rasul, 153
+  Rauza Khan, 258
+  Roza, 213
+  Roza-i-nazr, 214
+  Roza-i-kafara, 214
+  Ruh-ul-Amin, 4
+  Ruku', 56
+  Ruz-i-Tarwiah, 229
+
+          S.
+
+  Sadqa, 250
+  Saha,if-i-A'mal, 165
+  Sahih-i-Bukhari, 67
+  Sahih-i-Muslim, 68
+  S'ai, 229
+  Salat, 193
+  Salat-ul-'Asr, 200
+  Salat-ul-Fajr, 200
+  Salat-ul-'Isha, 200
+  Salat-ul-Ishraq, 200
+  Salat-ul-Istisqa, 206
+  Salat-ul-Istikhara, 213
+  Salat-ul-Janaza, 207
+  Salat-ul-Juma', 200
+  Salat-ul-Khauf, 204
+  Salat-ul-Khusuf, 206
+  Salat-ul-Kusuf, 205
+  Salat-ul-Maghrib, 200
+  Salat-ul-Musafir, 204
+  Salat-ut-Tarawih, 206
+  Salat-ul-Tahajjud, 200
+  Salat-uz-Zuha, 200
+  Salat-uz-Zuhr, 200
+  Salik, 92
+  Sarih, 52
+  Shafa'at-i-ba-izn, 108
+  Shafa'at-i-muhabbat, 107
+  Shafa'at-i-wajahat, 107
+  Shirk, 105
+  Shirk-ul-'Adat, 109
+  Shirk-ul-ibadat, 108
+  Shirk-ul-'ilm, 107
+  Shirk-ut-tasarruf, 107
+  Sifat-i-Salbiah, 123
+  Sifat-i-Sabutiah, 123
+  Sihah-Sittah, 67
+  Sipara, 56
+  Sirat, 166
+  Sufiism, 87-101
+  Sunan-i-Abu Daud, 68
+  Sunan-i-Nasai, 68
+  Sunan-i-Majah, 69
+  Sunnat, 10
+  Sura, 55
+
+          T.
+
+  Ta'awwuz, 195
+  {269}
+  Taba-i-Tabi'in, 7
+  Tabi'in, 7
+  Tabut, 238
+  Taharat, 189
+  Tahrif, 149
+  Takbir, 193
+  Takia, 84
+  Talbiyah, 225
+  Talqin, 212
+  Tasbih, 195
+  Tashahhud, 188
+  Tasmia', 195
+  Tasmiyah, 195
+  Tatair-i-Saha,if, 163
+  Tauhid, 106
+  Tauqifi, 132
+  Tawaf, 227
+  Tawaf-ul-Wida', 231
+  Tayammum, 190
+  Taziah, 238
+
+          U.
+
+  Usul, 120
+ 'Umrah, 231
+
+          W.
+
+  Wahhabis, 101
+  Wahi, 37
+  Wajd, 93
+  Wajib, 187
+  Wajib-ul-Wajud, 132
+  Waqi'a Khan, 239
+  Wazu, 189
+  Witr, 198
+
+          Z.
+
+  Zakat, 218-222
+  Zahir, 49
+  Ziarat, 233
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+NOTES
+
+[1] There is an excellent one by Neil B. E. Baillie. The question of Jihad
+is fully discussed in Dr. Hunter's _Our Indian Musalmans_.
+
+[2] "Let none touch it but the purified." (Sura lvi. 78.)
+
+[3] "It was certainly an admirable and politic contrivance of his to bring
+down the whole Koran at once to the lowest heaven only, and not to the
+earth, as a bungling prophet would have done; for if the whole had been
+published at once, innumerable objections might have been made, which it
+would have been very hard, if not impossible for him to solve; but as he
+pretended to receive it by parcels, as God saw proper that they should be
+published for the conversion and instruction of the people, he had a sure
+way to answer all emergencies, and to extricate himself with honour from
+any difficulty which might occur." (Sale's Preliminary Discourse, Section
+III.)
+
+[4] Literary Remains of Emmanuel Deutsch, p. 77.
+
+[5] Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun, vol. i. p. 195.
+
+[6] "The grandeur of the Quran consists, its contents apart, in its
+diction. We cannot explain the peculiarly dignified, impressive, sonorous
+nature of Semitic sound and parlance; its sesquipedalia verba with their
+crowd of affixes and prefixes, each of them affirming its own position,
+whilst consciously bearing upon and influencing the central root--which
+they envelope like a garment of many folds, or as chosen courtiers move
+around the anointed person of the king." Literary Remains of Emmanuel
+Deutsch, p. 122.
+
+[7] Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun vol. i. p. 194.
+
+[8] Those who were in constant intercourse with the prophet are called
+Ashab (Companions); their disciples are named Tabi'in (Followers); their
+disciples are known as Taba-i-Tabi'in (Followers of the Followers)."
+
+[9] "Thus, after the usual distribution of the spoils taken on the field of
+Cadesia (A.H. 14) the residue was divided among those who knew most of the
+Coran." Muir, vol. i. p. 5.
+
+[10] Muavia.
+
+[11] The twelve Imams.
+
+[12] Al-Mahdi is still supposed to be alive.
+
+[13] These are called (1) Sunnat-i-Fi'li; that which Muhammad himself did.
+(2) Sunnat-i-Qauli, that which he said should be practised. (3)
+Sunnat-i-Taqriri, that which was done in his presence and which he did not
+forbid.
+
+[14] Risala-i-Berkevi.
+
+[15] The great Wahhabi preacher Muhammad Isma'il, of whom some account will
+be given later on, says in the Takwiat-ul-Iman:--"The best of all ways is
+to have for principles the words (holy writings) of God and _of His
+Apostle_; to hold them alone as precedents, and not to allow our own
+opinion to be exercised."
+
+[16] Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun vol. i. p. 195.
+
+[17] Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 16.
+
+[18] Mudarij-un-Nabuwat, p. 285.
+
+[19] "Les docteurs de la loi sont unaniment d'accord sur l'obligation de
+conformer ses actions a ce qui est indique dans les traditions attribuees
+au Prophete," Ibn Khaldoun, vol. ii. p. 465.
+
+[20] In June 1827, A.D., Sultan Mahmud issued a manifesto protesting
+against interference in the affairs of the Ottoman Empire, "the affairs of
+which are conducted upon the principles of _sacred legislation_, and all
+the regulations of which are strictly connected with the principles of
+religion." These principles still remain in force, for the famous Fatva
+given by the Council of the 'Ulama, in July 1879, anent Khair-ud-din's
+proposed reforms, speaks of "the unalterable principles of the Sheri," or
+Law.
+
+[21] "The respect which modern Muslims pay to their Prophet is almost
+idolatrous. The Imam Ibn Hanbal would not even eat water-melons because
+although he knew the Prophet ate them, he could not learn whether he ate
+them with or without the rind, or whether he broke, bit or cut them: and he
+forbade a woman, who questioned him as to the propriety of the act, to spin
+by the light of torches passing in the streets by night, because the
+Prophet had not mentioned that it was lawful to do so." Lane's Modern
+Egyptians, vol. i. p. 354.
+
+[22] Mudarij-un-Nabuwat, p. 1009.
+
+[23] Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun, vol. ii. p. 469.
+
+[24] Journal Asiatique 4me serie, tom. xii.
+
+[25] Osborn's Islam under the Khalifs, p. 29.
+
+[26] Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 594.
+
+[27] Ibid., p. 546.
+
+[28] Ibid., vol. ii. p. 548.
+
+[29] In South India, the Muhammadan money-changer resorts to a curious
+piece of casuistry to reconcile the practice of his profession with the
+faith he holds. It is wrong to gain money by money as a direct agency.
+Suppose, then, for example, that the charge for changing a shilling is one
+farthing. It is unlawful for the money-changer to give four three-penny
+pieces for one shilling plus one farthing, for then he will have sinned
+against the laws anent usury by gaining money (one farthing) by money; but
+if he gives three three-penny pieces plus two pence three farthings in
+copper the transaction will be lawful, as his profit of one farthing is
+then gained by selling as merchandize certain pieces of silver and copper
+for one shilling, and not by exactly changing the shilling.
+
+Again, pictures or representations of living creatures are unlawful; and
+so, when British rupees were first circulated in India, good Muslims
+doubted whether they could use them, but after a long consultation the
+'Ulama declared that, as the eye of His Majesty was so small as not to be
+clearly visible, the use of such coins was legal. This kind of casuistry is
+very common and very demoralizing; but it shows how rigid the law is.
+
+[30] "Authority becomes sacred because sanctioned by heaven. Despotism,
+being the first form of consolidated political authority, is thus rendered
+unchangeable and identical in fact with Government at large." "Supreme
+Government has four stages: (1) where the absolute Prince (Muhammad) is
+among them concentrating in his own person the four cardinal virtues, and
+this we call the reign of wisdom; (2) where the Prince appears no longer,
+neither do these virtues centre in any single person: but are found in four
+(Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and 'Ali), who govern in concert with each other, as
+if they were one, and this we call the reign of the pious; (3) where none
+of these is to be found any longer, but a chief (Khalif) arises with a
+knowledge of the rules propounded by the previous ones, and with judgment
+enough to apply and explain them, and this we call the reign of the Sunnat;
+(4) Where these latter qualities, again, are not to be met with in a single
+person, but only in a variety who govern in concert; and this we call the
+reign of the Sunnat-followers.--Akhlak-i-Jalali, pp. 374. 378.
+
+[31] Life of Muhammad, by Syed Amir 'Ali, p. 289.
+
+[32] The Muslim 'Ulama are certainly much fettered by their religion in the
+pursuit of some of the paths of learning; and superstition sometimes
+decides a point which has been controverted for centuries. Lane's Modern
+Egyptians, vol. i. p. 269.
+
+[33] The Goth might ravage Italy, but the Goth came forth purified from the
+flames which he himself had kindled. The Saxon swept Britain, but the music
+of the Celtic heart softened his rough nature, and wooed him into less
+churlish habits. Visigoth and Frank, Heruli and Vandal, blotted out their
+ferocity in the very light of the civilisation they had striven to
+extinguish. Even the Hun, wildest Tartar from the Scythian waste, was
+touched and softened in his wicker encampment amid Pannonian plains; but
+the Turk--wherever his scymitar reached--degraded, defiled, and defamed;
+blasting into eternal decay Greek, Roman and Latin civilisation, until,
+when all had gone, he sat down, satiated with savagery, to doze for two
+hundred years into hopeless decrepitude. Lieut.-Col. W. F. Butler, C.B., in
+_Good Words_ for September 1880.
+
+[34] "The Muslim everywhere, after a brilliant passage of prosperity, seems
+to stagnate and wither, because there is nothing in his system or his
+belief which lifts him above the level of a servant, and on that level
+man's life in the long run must not only stagnate but decay. The Christian,
+on the other hand, seems everywhere in the last extremity to bid
+disorganization and decay defiance, and to find, Antaeus-like, in the earth
+which he touches, the spring of a new and fruitful progress. For there is
+that in his belief, his traditions, and in the silent influences which
+pervade the very atmosphere around him, which is ever moving him, often in
+ways that he knows not, to rise to the dignity and to clothe himself with
+the power which the Gospel proposes as the prize of his Christian calling.
+The submissive servant of Allah is the highest type of Moslem perfection;
+the Christian ideal is the Christ-like son."--_British Quarterly, No._
+cxxx.
+
+[35] A Mukallif is one who is subject to the Law. A Ghair-i-Mukallif is one
+not so subject, such as a minor, an idiot, &c. The term Mukallif is thus
+equivalent to a consistent Muslim, one who takes trouble (taklif) in his
+religious duties.
+
+[36] Commentators on the Quran.
+
+[37] The Traditionists.
+
+[38] Plural of Faqih, a theologian.
+
+[39] I have given the dates of their death.
+
+[40] Osborn's Islam under the Khalifs p. 72.
+
+[41] Dabistan, p. 214.
+
+[42] pp. 508-510.
+
+[43] "It (the Quran) is simply an instruction for all mankind" (Sura xii.
+104).
+
+[44] Zawabit-al-Quran, pp. 110, 111.
+
+[45] The opinion of Von Hammer, quoted by Sir W. Muir, in his life of
+Muhammad (vol. i. page 27) seems to be correct, "We may hold the Quran to
+be as surely Muhammad's words as the Muhammadans hold it to be the Word of
+God."
+
+[46] Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, vol. iii. p. 16.
+
+[47] "Were we to examine the Quran by the rules of rhetoric and criticism
+as they are taught in Muslim schools, we should be obliged to acknowledge
+that it is the perfection of thought and expression; an inevitable result
+as the Muslims drew their principles of rhetoric from that very
+book."--Baron M. de Slane, in the introduction to Ibu Khallikan's
+Biographical Dictionary.
+
+[48] There are many Traditions which refer to this fact. Omar Ibn al
+Khattab said; "I accorded with my cherisher (_i.e._, God) in three things.
+One is that I said, 'O messenger of God! if we were to say our prayers in
+Abraham's place it would be better.' Then a revelation came down 'Take the
+place of Abraham for a place of prayer.' The second is, that I said, 'O
+messenger of God! good and bad people come to your house; and I do not see
+that it is fitting; therefore, if you order your women to be shut up it
+will be better.' Then the revelation for doing so came down. The third is,
+that his Majesty's wives were all agreed in a story about his drinking
+honey; and he had vowed never to drink it more. Then I said to his
+Majesty's wives, 'Should the Prophet divorce you, God will give him better
+in exchange.' Then a revelation, came down agreeing with what I said."
+
+'Ayesha said:--"I was reflecting on those women who had given themselves to
+the Prophet, and said 'What! does a woman give herself away?' Then the
+revelation descended:, 'Thou mayest decline for the present whom thou wilt
+of them, and thou mayest take to thy bed her whom thou wilt, and whomsoever
+thou shalt long for of those thou shalt have before neglected: and this
+shall be no crime in thee.' (Sura xxxiii. 51). I said; 'I see nothing in
+which your God doth not hasten to please you: whatsoever you wish He
+doeth.'"
+
+[49] Les Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun, vol. ii. p. 459.
+
+[50] This includes even the orthography, for:--"La generation suivante, je
+veux dire les Tabis (Taba'in), adopta l'orthographe des Compagnons du
+Prophete et se fit un merite de ne point s'ecarter des formes adoptees par
+ceux qui, apres Mahommed, etaient les plus excellent des hommes et qui
+avaient recu de lui les revelations celestes, soit par ecrit, soit de vive
+voix." Ibn Khaldoun, vol. ii. p. 397.
+
+[51] This interpretation God made known to the Prophet, who communicated it
+to the Companions, hence all orthodox opinion must be in strict accordance
+with theirs. They were the sole depositaries of the inspired commentary
+given by Muhammad. There is now no room for, as there is no need of, any
+other.
+
+[52] Speaking on this very subject Ibn Khaldoun says:--"Rien de tout cela
+n'a pu se connaitre que par des indications provenant des Compagnons et de
+leurs disciples." Vol. ii. p. 460.
+
+[53] Ibn Khaldoun says that Zamakchori, (a theologian of good repute for
+learning in the sixth century A.H.), remarked on these letters as
+follows:--They indicate that the style of the Quran is carried to such a
+degree of excellence, that it defies every attempt to imitate it; for this
+book which has been sent down to us from heaven is composed of letters. All
+men know them all alike, but this power disappears when, in order to
+express their ideas, they want to use these same letters combined."
+
+On this curious passage Baron de Slane remarks that the author is not very
+clear, and that the Turkish translator of Ibn Khaldoun gives the sense of
+the passage as:--"God has placed these letters in several Suras as a sort
+of defiance; as if He had said:--'Voila les elements dont se compose le
+Coran; prenez-les et faites-eu un livre qui l'egale par le style.'" Ibn
+Khaldoun, vol. iii. p. 68.
+
+[54] The last verse revealed at Mecca was, "This day have I perfected your
+religion for you, and have filled up the measure of my favours upon you;
+and it is my pleasure that Islam be your religion; but whoso without wilful
+leanings to wrong shall be forced by hunger to transgress, to him, verily,
+will God be indulgent, merciful." (Sura v. 5). Ibn Khaldoun vol. i. p. 206.
+
+[55] The arrangement made by Professor Th. Noeldeke in his "Geschichte des
+Qurans" is considered by Stanley Lane Poole to be the best. Rodwell's
+English version of the Quran is, with some exceptions, an example of this
+order.
+
+[56] On ordinary occasions any verses may be chosen. The 112th Sura is the
+one generally repeated.
+
+[57] Tafsir-i-Husaini, p. 216.
+
+[58] Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 131.
+
+[59] Commentary on the Holy Bible by Syed Ahmad, C.S.I., vol. i. p. 268.
+See note on this in chapter 4. Section 'Prophets.'
+
+[60] Niaz Namah, by Maulavi Safdar 'Ali, p. 250.
+
+[61] Biographical Dictionary, vol. ii, p. 679.
+
+[62] "He ranked as a high authority in the Traditions and was well versed
+in all the sciences connected with them." Ibn Khallikan, vol. ii. p. 680.
+
+[63] The Kafi, by Abu Ja'far Muhammad, A.H. 329. The
+Man-la-yastah-zirah-al-Faqih, by Shaikh 'Ali, A.H. 381. The Tahzib and the
+Istibsar by Shaikh Abu Ja'far Muhammad, A.H. 466. The Nahaj-ul-Balaghat by
+Sayyud Razi A.H. 406.
+
+[64] If the Isnad is good, internal improbability carries with it little
+weight against the genuineness of a Tradition. There is a saying current to
+this effect:--"A relation made by Shafa'i on the authority of Malik, and by
+him on the authority of Nafi, and by him on the authority of Ibn Omar, is
+really the golden chain."
+
+[65] Nur-ul-Hidayah, p. 5.
+
+[66] A full account of these will be found in the preface to the
+Nur-ul-Hidayah, the Urdu translation of the Sharh-i-Waqayah.
+
+[67] Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 123.
+
+[68] Kisas-ul-Anbiya,--"Lives of the Prophets."
+
+[69] Hyat-un-Nafis.
+
+[70] The Shia'hs in claiming freedom from sin for the infallible Imams are
+more logical than the Romanists, thus:--
+
+"If we are to believe in the inerrability of a person, or a body of
+persons, because it is, forsooth, necessary for the full preservation of
+the truth, we must then also believe in all besides that can be shown to be
+needful for the perfect attainment of that end. Now, the conservation of
+all spiritual truth is not a mere operation of the intellect. It requires
+the faultless action of the perceiving power of the spirit. That is to say,
+it requires the exclusion of sin; and the man or body that is to be
+infallible, must also be a sinless organ. It is necessary that the
+tainting, blinding, distorting power of sin should be shut out from the
+spiritual eye of the infallible judge." Gladstone's _Gleanings_, vol. iii.
+p. 260.
+
+[71] It is a common Musalman belief that the body of a prophet casts no
+shadow. A similar idea regarding necromancers was widely spread over
+Northern Europe. It is alluded to by Scott in the "Lay of the Last
+Minstrel," where speaking of the father of the Ladye, who in Padua, "had
+learned the art that none might name," he says:--
+
+ "His form no darkening shadow traced
+  Upon the sunny wall."
+
+It is said that at a certain stage of initiation candidates for magical
+honours were in danger of being caught by the devil. Now if the devil could
+only catch the shadow, and the man escaped, though so nearly captured, he
+became a great magician. This is evidently a legend to explain a previous
+belief. Muhammadan ideas in the middle ages were prevalent in the
+Universities of Southern Europe, and Salamanca and Padua were the
+universities, in which it was supposed that the greatest proficiency in
+magic was obtained. The superstition has evidently some connection with the
+Musalman belief regarding the shadows of prophets.
+
+[72] The Sunnis esteem and respect the Imams, as Ahl-i-Beit--men of the
+House, (of the Prophet); but do not give them precedence over the duly
+appointed Khalifs.
+
+[73] The names are 'Ali, Hasan, Husain, Zain-ul-'Abid-din, Muhammad Baqr,
+Ja'far Sadiq, Musa Kazim, 'Ali Musa Raza, Muhammad Taqi, Muhammad Naqi,
+Hasan 'Askari, Abu 'l-Qasim (or Imam Mahdi).
+
+[74] Rauzat-ul-Aimmah by Sayyid 'Izzat 'Ali.
+
+[75] For a good account of this movement see, Osborn's Islam under the
+Arabs, pp. 168-184.
+
+[76] Islam under the Khalifs, p. 139.
+
+[77] Miskat-ul-Musabih.
+
+[78] Hujjat-ullah-ul-Balaghah.
+
+[79] Nothing shows this more plainly than the Fatva pronounced by the
+Council of the 'Ulama in July 1879 anent Khair-ud-din's proposed reform,
+which would have placed the Sultan in the position of a constitutional
+sovereign. This was declared to be directly contrary to the Law. Thus:--
+"The law of the Sheri does not authorize the Khalif to place beside him a
+power superior to his own. The Khalif ought to reign alone and govern as
+master. The Vakils (Ministers) should never possess any authority beyond
+that of representatives, always dependent and submissive. It would
+consequently be a transgression of the unalterable principles of the Sheri,
+which should be the guide of _all_ the actions of the Khalif, to transfer
+the supreme power of the Khalif to one Vakil." This, the latest and most
+important decision of the jurists of Islam, is quite in accordance with all
+that has been said about Muhammadan Law. It proves as clearly as possible
+that so long as the Sultan rules as Khalif, he must oppose any attempt to
+set up a constitutional Government. There is absolutely no hope of reform.
+
+[80] It is instructive to compare the words of the Christian poet with the
+Sufi idea of absorption into the Divine Being.
+
+ "That each who seems a separate whole
+  Should move his rounds, and fusing all
+  The skirts of self again, should fall
+  Remerging in the general soul,
+
+  Is faith as vague as all unsweet:
+  Eternal form shall still divide
+  The eternal soul from all beside;
+  And I shall know him when we meet."
+                  Tennyson's "In Memoriam."
+
+[81] "Le spiritualisme des Sofis, quoiqu'il soit le contraire du
+materialisme, lui est en realite identique. Mais si leur doctrine n'est pas
+plus raisonnable, elle est du moins plus elevee et plus poetique." Poesie
+Philosophique et religieuse chez les Persans, par M. Garcin De Tassy, p. 2.
+
+[82] Kaf--a chain of mountains supposed to encircle the earth.
+
+[83] 'Anka--the Phoenix.
+
+[84] "Ils pensent que la Bible et le Coran ont ete seulement ecrits pour
+l'homme qui se contente de l'apparence des choses, qui s'occupe de
+l'exterieur, pour le _zahir parast_, comme ils le nomment, et non pour le
+sofi qui sonde le fond des choses." La Poesie Philosophique et religieuse
+chez les Persans, par M. Garcin de Tassy, p. 13.
+
+[85] The word Darvish, or Darwish, is of Persian origin. It is derived from
+'dar,' a door, and 'wiz' the root of the verb 'awikhtan,' to hang; hence
+the idea of hanging about doors, or begging. The 'z' is changed into 'sh'
+and the word becomes 'Darwish.' Some Musalmans, however, do not like this
+idea of holy men being called by a name which implies the habit of begging,
+and so they propose another derivation. They derive it from "dur," a pearl,
+and "wish," like; and so a durwish is one 'like a pearl.' The wish is from
+wash, a lengthened form of wash, an affix of common use to express
+similitude; or the long vowel in wash may by a figure of speech, called
+Imala, be changed into the i of wish. I think the first derivation the more
+probable. A good Persian dictionary, the Ghias-ul-Lugbat, gives both
+derivations.
+
+[86] For a very interesting account of this religious ceremony, see Hughes'
+Notes on Muhammadanism, Chapter 51.
+
+[87] La Poesie Philosophique et Religieuse chez les Persans, par M. Garcin
+de Tassy, p. 7.
+
+[88] Sufi doctrines of the Moolla Shah by Tawakkul Beg. Journal Asiatique
+6me Serie, tom. 13.
+
+[89] "That Omar in his impiety was false to his better nature we may
+readily admit, while, at the same time, we may find some excuse for his
+errors, if we remember the state of the world at that time. His clear
+strong sense revolted from the prevailing mysticism where all the earnest
+spirits of his age found their refuge, and his honest independence was
+equally shocked by the hypocrites who aped their fervour and enthusiasm;
+and at that dark hour of man's history whither, out of Islam, was the
+thoughtful Muhammadan to repair? No missionary's step, bringing good
+tidings, had appeared on the mountains of Persia; the few Christians who
+might cross his path in his native land, would only seem to him idolaters."
+Speaking, too, of Sa'di's life the reviewer says: "almost the only point of
+contact with Christendom is his slavery under the Crusaders at Tripoli. The
+same isolation runs through all the golden period of Persian
+Literature"--_Calcutta Review_, No. lix.
+
+[90] The following are the names of the Wahhabi chiefs:--Muhammad-Ibn-Saud,
+died A.D. 1765; 'Abd-ul-Aziz, assassinated, 1803; Saud-Ibn-'Abd-ul-Aziz,
+died 1814; 'Abd-Ullah-ibn-Saud, beheaded 1818; Turki, assassinated 1830;
+Fayzul, died 1866; 'Abd-Ullah, still living. Hughes Notes, p. 221.
+
+[91] Palgrave's Arabia, vol. ii. p. 10.
+
+[92] According to the latest Census Report there are 4,000 in the Madras
+Presidency, where the total Musalman population is about 2,000,000.
+
+[93] Mudarij-un-Nabuwat, p. 149.
+
+[94] Palgrave's Arabia vol. i. p. 369.
+
+[95] Palgrave's Arabia, vol. i. p. 372.
+
+[96] Ibid, p. 372.
+
+[97] Muhammad Isma'il concludes his great work, the Takwiat-ul-Iman, with
+the prayer--"O Lord teach us by Thy grace, the meaning of the terms Bid'at
+and Sunnat, and the Law of the Prophet. Make us pure Sunnis and strictly
+submissive to the Sunnat." This is a clear and distinct proof that Wahhabis
+do not reject Tradition as a basis of the Faith. It also shows their horror
+of innovation, and reveals the little hope there is of any real progress
+through their influence.
+
+[98] "Mr. Finlay, the clever but partial author of "The Byzantine Empire,"
+has declared in a sweeping way 'that there is no greater delusion than to
+speak of the unity of the Christian Church.' However this may be, I can
+affirm the perfect applicability of this sentence to Islam in the East. In
+no part of the world is there more of secret division, aversion, misbelief
+(taking Muhammadanism as our standard), and unbelief than in those very
+lands which to a superficial survey, seem absolutely identified in the one
+common creed of the Quran and its author."--Palgrave's Arabia, vol. i. p.
+10.
+
+[99] Strictly speaking, this chapter should be entitled the 'Faith of
+Islam,' as the subject of it is technically called Iman, or faith. The
+Kalima, or creed is, in the strict sense, the expression of belief in one
+God, and in Muhammad as His apostle. I here use the word creed in the usual
+sense of a body of dogmas.
+
+[100] Iqrarun bil-lisani wa tasdiqun bil janani.
+
+[101] Amantu billahi kama hua bismaihi wa sifatihi wa qabiltu jami'a
+ahkamihi.
+
+[102] Amantu billahi wa malaikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi
+wal-youm-il-akhiri wal-qadri khairihi wa sharrihi min allahi ta'ala
+wal-ba'si ba'd al-mouti.
+
+[103] He speaks of it thus: "l'ouvrage elementaire de la religion Musulmane
+le plus estime et le plus repandu en Turquie," p. 154.
+
+[104] Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 27.
+
+[105] The above statements form the substance of several pages in the
+"Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun," in which also occurs the following: "Cela
+n'est pas toutefois un motif pour deprecier notre intelligence et nos
+facultes perceptives: l'intelligence est une balance parfaitement juste:
+elle nous fournit des resultats certains sans nous tromper. Mais on ne doit
+pas employer cette balance pour peser les choses qui se rattachent a
+l'unite de Dieu, a la vie future, a la nature du prophetisme, au veritable
+caractere des attributs divine et a tout ce qui est au dela de sa portee.
+Vouloir le faire, ce serait une absurdite." Vol. iii. p. 45.
+
+[106] "Telle fut la regle suivie par les anciens musulmans a l'egard des
+verses motachabeh; ils l'appliquaient aussi aux expressions du meme genre
+qui se presentent dans la Sonna, parce qu'elles proviennent de la meme
+source que celles du Coran." Ibn Khaldoun, vol. iii. p. 67.
+
+This passage is of some interest as maintaining the common source and
+origin of the Quran and the Sunnat.
+
+[107] Ibn Khallikan, vol. i. p. 565.
+
+[108] "The Musulman Authors distinguish between the earlier and later
+Mutakalliman. The former (of whom we here treat) were occupied with purely
+religious questions; the latter, who arose after the introduction of the
+Greek philosophy amongst Muslims, embraced many philosophic notions, though
+they tried to make them fit in with their religious opinions." Melanges de
+Philosophie Juive et Arabe, p. 320.
+
+[109] Tafsir-i-Faiz-ul-Karim, p. 250.
+
+[110] Tafsir-i-Faiz-ul-Karim, p. 250.
+
+[111] Dabistan, p. 218.
+
+[112] Ibn Khallikan, vol. iii, p. 343.
+
+[113] "C'etait l'epoque de la plus grande splendeur exterieure de l'empire
+des Arabes, ou leur pouvoir, et en meme temps leur culture intellectuelle
+et littaraire, atteignirent leur point culminant." Journal Asiatique 4me
+Serie, Tome xii. p. 104.
+
+[114] To understand the bearing of all the discussions that then took
+place, the reader should have some acquaintance with the history of the
+Khalifs, and of the rise and progress of Muslim philosophy. The former can
+be found in Osborn's "Khalifs of Baghdad." A short review of the latter
+will be found in a note at the end of this chapter.
+
+[115] Ibn Khallikan, vol. ii p. 669.
+
+[116] Ibid, p. 228.
+
+[117] Ibn Khaldoun says: "L'etablissement des preuves (fondees sur la
+raison) fut adopte par les (premiers) scolastiques pour le sujet de leur
+traites, mais il ne fut pas, comme chez les philosophes, une tentative pour
+arriver a la decouverte de la verite et pour obtenir, au moyen de la
+demonstration, la connaissance de ce qui etait ignore jusqu' alors. Les
+scolastiques recherchaient des preuves intellectuelles dans le but de
+confirmer la verite des dogmes, de justifier les opinions des premiers
+Musalmans et de repousser les doctrines trompeuses que les novateurs
+avaient emises." Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun, vol. iii. p. 169.
+
+[118] Sharh-i-Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 63
+
+[119] "Most excellent titles has God: by these call ye on Him and stand
+aloof from those who pervert His titles." (Sura vii. 179.)
+
+[120] "The Mujassimians, or Corporealists not only admitted a resemblance
+between God and created beings, but declared God to be corporeal." Sale's
+Preliminary discourse, Section viii. para. 3.
+
+[121] Ibn Khallikan, vol. iv. p. 394.
+
+[122] "The Freethinkers (Mutazilites) left no traces of themselves except
+in the controversial treatises which they had written. These were
+destroyed, and with their destruction the last vestiges of the conflict
+between Free-thought and the spirit of Islam were obliterated." Osborn's
+Khalifs of Baghdad, p. 148.
+
+[123] Sura xxxix, 68, 69.
+
+[124] L'Islamisme d'apres le Coran, p. 135.
+
+[125] Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 112.
+
+[126] Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 187.
+
+[127] Tafsir-i-Faiz-ul-Karim, p. 58.
+
+[128] Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 19.
+
+[129] "From the beginning of history the Caucasus is to civilized nations,
+both Greek and Oriental, the boundary of geographical knowledge--indeed,
+the boundary of the world itself."--Bryce's Transcaucasia and Ararat, p.
+48.
+
+[130] See also Sura xxxviii. 89.
+
+[131] Sharh-Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 140.
+
+[132] Thus the famous Persian poet Sa'di says in the Bustan, "Yetimi kih
+nakardah Quran darust, kutub khana-i-chand millat bashust."--"The Perfect
+one who, ere the whole of Gabriel's book he reads, has blotted out the
+library of all the peoples' creeds."
+
+[133] Sharh-Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 147. Mansukh shud tilawatan wa Kitabatan,
+_i.e._ abrogated both as regards reading and writing--entirely abrogated.
+Also Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 64. Din-i-wai Nasikh-i-jami'-i-adian ast.--"His
+religion abrogates all religions."
+
+[134] Commentary on the Holy Bible by Syed Ahmad, C.S.I., vol. i. p. 268.
+This Commentary is written in Urdu, but the author has made a translation
+for the benefit of the English reader. The passage referred to reads thus
+in English: "Those who imagine it to be part of the Muhammadan creed that
+one law has totally repealed another are utterly mistaken, and we do not
+believe that the Zuboor (Book of Psalms) abrogated the Taureit
+(Pentateuch); that the Taureit in turn gave way to the Injeel (New
+Testament) and that the New Testament was suppressed by the Holy Koran. We
+hold no such doctrine, and if any ignorant Muhammadan should assert to the
+contrary, he simply knows nothing whatever about the doctrines and articles
+of his faith." The learned Syed here assumes the role of a liberal
+Musalman, but the English translation is different from his Urdu text
+which, literally translated, is as follows:--"Now it should be considered
+that those who imagine it to be part of the creed of Muslims that the
+Taurat by the coming of the Zabur, and the Zabur by the coming of the
+Injil, and the Injil by the coming of the Quran are abrogated _on account
+of the idea that there is any defect in them_ are utterly mistaken, &c."
+
+The clause which I have italicised is entirely omitted in the English text;
+but it alters the import of the whole passage. To his co-religionists the
+Syed says in effect: "The books _are abrogated_ but not because they were
+imperfect." Now, as no Muslim would believe that a divine book was
+defective, the Syed is simply asserting the fact of the abrogation of the
+previous Scriptures and to the orthodox is orthodox. The leader of an
+apparently liberal section of Indian Musalmans is, in this instance, at
+least, as conservative as the most bigoted.
+
+[135] Syed Ahmad's Commentary on the Holy Bible, vol. i. p. 22.
+
+[136] Ibid, p. 31.
+
+[137] There are many other such passages. They are given in detail, with
+the interpretation of approved commentators, in a small S. P. C. K.
+publication--The Koran--by Sir W. Muir.
+
+[138] Commentary on the Holy Bible, by Syed Ahmad, C.S.I., vol. i. pp.
+64-95.
+
+[139] Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 59.
+
+[140] Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 59.
+
+[141] Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 65.
+
+[142] Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun, vol. i. pp. 196-205.
+
+[143] "That the "Auliya" are distinguished above ordinary mortals is
+maintained on the authority of:--"Are not the friends (Auliya) of God,
+those on whom no fear shall come, nor shall they be put to grief." (Sura x.
+63.)
+
+[144] Sharh-i-Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 125.
+
+[145] Sirat-ul-Islam, p. 18.
+
+[146] This is an orthodox blow at the Shia'h practices in the month of
+Muharram. Shia'hs consider this a good act.
+
+[147] Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 18.
+
+[148] It is said Adam's sin was a mere slip but it brought good to the
+world. Had he remained in Paradise the world would not have been peopled;
+and the word of God "I have not created men and jinns, except for worship,"
+would not have been fulfilled.
+
+[149] That is, according to the commentator Beidawi,--"Thy remissness in
+propagating Islam."
+
+[150] Tafsir-i-Husaini, p. 332.
+
+[151] On the contrary, he seems to disclaim such a power. Thus the Quraish
+said: "By no means will we believe on thee till thou cause a fountain to
+gush forth for us from the earth; or, till thou have a garden of palm-trees
+and grapes, and thou cause forth-gushing rivers to gush forth in its midst;
+or thou make the heaven to fall on us, as thou hast given out, in pieces;
+or thou bring God and the angels to vouch for thee, &c. Say: Am I more than
+a man, an Apostle?" (Sura xvii. 92-95). Former prophets, Muhammad used to
+say, were sent to their own sect, but he was sent for all. Their miracles
+were confined to their own times. The Quran the great miracle of Islam, was
+for all ages. He needed no other sign than this.
+
+[152] "Have We not opened thine heart for thee." (Sura xciv. 1). Tradition
+relates that when young, two angels cut open his breast, and took out a
+black drop; many other marvels are also connected with this event.
+
+[153] Sharh-i-Aqaid-i-Jami.
+
+[154] Tafsir-i-Husaini. p. 362
+
+[155] For a graphic account of these events see "Literary Remains of
+Emmanuel Deutsch," pp. 99-112.
+
+[156] "All that Muhammadans must believe respecting the Mi'raj is that the
+Prophet saw himself, in a vision, transported from Mecca to Jerusalem, and
+that in such a vision he really beheld some of the greatest signs of his
+Lord." Essays by Syed Ahmad, Essay vi. p. 34. This, though a legitimate, is
+not, however, an orthodox opinion; which is, that he who denies an actual
+bodily migration from Mecca to Jerusalem is a Kafir, (infidel) as he denies
+the statement of a 'nass' or plain text of the Quran. He who denies the
+ascension to heaven, and the wonderful account of the night's proceedings
+preserved in the Traditions is a "fasiq," (sinner), though he remains a
+Muslim.
+
+[157] Some commentators make no distinction between the first and second
+blast, as only two are distinctly mentioned in the Quran.
+
+[158] Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami, p. 183.
+
+[159] According to Bukhari and to Muslim, this perspiration will flow to a
+distance of seventy yards from, and reach up to the lobe of the ears of
+those who perspire.
+
+[160] "That is, they will know the inhabitants of Paradise by their
+whiteness, and the people of Hell by the blackness of their faces."
+
+[161] For some curious opinions with regard to the state of the soul there
+see Sale's Preliminary Discourse, Section iv., p. 55.
+
+[162] Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 47.
+
+[163] Tafsir-i-Husaini, vol. i. p. 397.
+
+[164] Tafsir-i-Faiz-ul-Karim, p. 25.
+
+[165] Miskat-ul-Musabih, book xxiii. ch. 12.
+
+[166] "Although some Muhammadans, whose understandings are too refined to
+admit such gross conceptions, look on their Prophet's description as
+parabolical, and are willing to receive them in an allegorical or spiritual
+acceptation, yet the general and orthodox doctrine is, that the whole is to
+be strictly believed in the obvious and literal acceptance." Sale's
+Preliminary Discourse, Section iv. p. 73.
+
+[167] This, the Lauh-ul-Mahfuz, is referred to in Sura lxxxv. 22, as that
+on which the Quran is written. In Sura xxxvi. 11, the actions of men are
+said to be written in "the clear book of our decrees." This is called the
+Imam-ul-Mubin, the clear prototype.
+
+[168] "The Prophet of God said that Adam and Moses (in the world of
+Spirits) maintained a debate before God, and Adam got the better of Moses,
+who said, "Thou art that Adam, whom God created and breathed into thee His
+own Spirit, and made the angels bow down before thee, and placed thee in
+Paradise; after which, thou threwest man upon the earth, from the fault
+which thou didst commit.' Adam replied, 'Thou art that Moses, whom God
+selected for His prophecy and to converse with, and He gave thee twelve
+tables, in which are explained everything, and he made thee His confidant
+and the bearer of His secrets; then how long was the Bible written before I
+was created?' Moses said, 'Forty years.' Then said Adam, 'Didst thou see in
+the Bible that Adam disobeyed God?' 'Yes.' 'Dost thou reproach me on a
+matter, which God wrote in the Bible forty years before creating me?'"
+
+[169] Ibn Kah, commenting on the verse, "When thy Lord brought forth their
+descendants from the reins of the sons of Adam and took them to witness
+against themselves, 'Am I not,' said He, 'your Lord,' They said: 'yes, we
+witness it.'" (Sura vii. 171), goes on to say: "God formed all the prophets
+and saints into one class, and the martyrs into another. The pious men,
+also, were separated into one, and the wicked into another. One class was
+formed of the obedient servants, while the unbelievers, _viz_., the Jews,
+the Christians, the Majians, the Hindus, &c., were likewise divided into
+several parties; next, they were shaped into forms, that is, into the shape
+in which he was to appear in the world was predestined for each one." This
+passage is quoted with approval by the Wahhabi author of the
+Takwiyat-ul-Iman.
+
+[170] The orthodox Commentator 'Abbas says: "This verse refers to the
+decree, _e.g._ 'He whom God wills to believe certainly will do so, and whom
+He wills to be an infidel will be one,' and not at all to man's free will."
+Tafsir-Hisaini, vol. ii. page 9.
+
+[171] Melanges de Philosophe Juive et Arabe par S. Munk. p. 458.
+
+[172] Thus the poet Faizi says: "Before thou and I were thought of, our
+free will was taken from our hands; be without cares, for the Maker of both
+worlds settled our affairs long before we were made."
+
+[173] The punishment of death is sometimes decreed for lesser offences. In
+the latter part of the year 1879, one of the Turkish 'Ulama, named Ahmad,
+was condemned to death for having assisted Dr. Koelle, an English clergyman
+residing in Constantinople, in the translation of the Book of Common
+Prayer, and a tract on 'Christ the Word of God.' Owing to the urgent
+representations of the British Ambassador the Khojah's life was spared, but
+he was banished to the island of Chio. The Porte promised to maintain his
+family whilst he was absent. It need scarcely be said that nothing of the
+kind has been done.
+
+[174] Journal Asiatique 4me Serie, tome 17, p. 582
+
+[175] This is the Shafa'ite form which the Hanifites consider wrong.
+
+[176] Kingsley's Alexandria and her Schools, p. 160.
+
+[177] Les Prairies D'or, tome sixieme, p. 368.
+
+[178] Melanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe, par S. Munk, p. 315.
+
+[179] For a statement of the Ash'arian doctrines see pp. 130-131.
+
+[180] Strictly speaking, one should not speak of Arab but of Muslim
+philosophy, for curiously enough only one famous Philosopher, Al-Kendi, was
+an Arab.
+
+[181] Melanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe, par S. Munk, p. 429.
+
+[182] "Apres lui, nous ne trouvons plus chez les Arabes aucun philosophe
+veritablement digne de ce nom." Melanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe, par
+S. Munk, p. 458.
+
+[183] Muslim rule in Spain is often referred to as an instance of the
+height of culture and the liberality of sentiment which may exist in a
+Muhammadan state. I have shown that the culture was not due to the teaching
+of the Arab Prophet and his Companions, and with regard to the liberality
+it is well to remember the words of G. H. Lewes. He says: "The Arabs,
+though they conquered Spain, were too weak in numbers to hold that country
+in subjection otherwise than by politic concessions to the opinion and
+customs of the people." History of Philosophy, vol. i. p. 36.
+
+[184] "There never was any Arabian science, strictly speaking. In the first
+place, all the Philosophy and Science of the Muhammadans was Greek, Jewish,
+and Persian.... It really designates a reaction against Islamism, which
+arose in the distant parts of the Empire, in Samarcand, Bokhara, Morocco,
+and Cordova. The Arabian language having become the language of the Empire,
+this Philosophy is written in that language; but the ideas are not Arabian;
+the spirit is not Arabian." History of Philosophy, by G. H. Lewes, vol. ii.
+p. 34.
+
+[185] The Persian term for this is Namaz, a word in commoner use in India
+than Sulat. Both terms will henceforth be employed.
+
+[186] There is a Tradition to the effect that "the whole body of him who
+says the name of God when making wazu will be clean; whereas, if he says it
+not, only the part washed will be pure."
+
+[187] Before commencing the wazu, say: "I am going to purify myself from
+all bodily uncleanness preparatory to commencing prayer, that holy act of
+duty, which will draw my soul near to the throne of the Most High. In the
+name of God, the Great and Mighty. Praise be to God who has given us grace
+to be Muslims. Islam is a truth and infidelity a falsehood."
+
+When cleaning the teeth say: "Vouchsafe O God, as I clean my teeth, to
+purify me from my faults and accept my homage. O Lord, may the purity of my
+teeth be for me a pledge of the whiteness of my face at the day of
+judgment."
+
+When washing the nostrils say: "O my God, if I am pleasing in Thy sight,
+perfume me with the odours of Paradise."
+
+When washing the right hand say: "O my God, on the day of judgment, place
+the book of my actions in my right hand, and examine my account with
+favour."
+
+When washing the left hand, say: "O my God, place not at the resurrection
+the book of my actions in my left hand." Similar prayers are said at each
+act.
+
+[188] From the account which follows it will be seen that the term Namaz
+expresses what we term a 'Service.' The word for prayer in the ordinary
+sense is 'Du'a.'
+
+[189] It is taken from the Sirat-un-Najat, pp. 30-33.
+
+[190] As the use of bells is unlawful a man is employed to call the people
+to prayers.
+
+[191] "God is Great."
+
+[192] The followers of Imam As-Shafa'i and the women of all sects place the
+hands upon the breast. The feet should be about four inches apart; women
+stand with the feet close together.
+
+[193] The second rak'at begins here: all that precedes is only repeated at
+the first rak'at.
+
+[194] A fixed portion is said in each rak'at during the nights of Ramazan,
+which portion is then called a ruku'. (Ante. p. 57.)
+
+[195] In a mosque the Imam says the first sentences alone; the people the
+second.
+
+[196] Women in the Sijda keep all the limbs of the body close together, and
+put both feet at right angles to the body. If their face is Qibla-wards it
+is sufficient.
+
+[197] Here the Shia'hs say:--"I rise and sit by the power of God."
+
+[198] This is said at the close of every two rak'ats.
+
+[199] The Shia'hs stop here and omit the rest.
+
+[200] The Shia'hs omit the Du'a and say: "Peace be on thee, O Prophet, with
+the mercy of God and His blessing. Peace be on us and on God's righteous
+servants."
+
+[201] The Fatva, or decree, will be found in a note at the end of this
+chapter.
+
+[202] I am indebted to Hughes' Notes on Muhammadanism for this excellent
+table.
+
+[203] The Musalli may say five or three witr rak'ats instead of seven.
+
+[204] Nur-ul-Hidaayat, p. 155.
+
+[205] In countries under Muslim rule he holds a wooden sword reversed.
+
+[206] One who says, "Allahu Akbar--God is Great."
+
+[207] A reference to his presence with Muhammad in the cave (ghar) when
+they fled from Mecca to Madina. See Sura ix. 40.
+
+[208] Nur-ul-Hidayat, p. 153.
+
+[209] Sirat-un-Najat, p. 40.
+
+[210] Qiam is one of the positions in a Namaz and is here used by
+synecdoche for it. In Mecca the Salat-ut-Tarawih is called with reference
+to this Tradition the Salat-ul-Qiamiah.
+
+[211] Nur-ul-Hidayat, p. 141.
+
+[212] That is, a non-Muslim who is allowed to reside in a Musalman State on
+payment of a special tax.
+
+[213] The Shafa'ites raise the hands at the recital of each of the four
+Takbirs; the other sects do so only at the first.
+
+[214] If the deceased was a child or a mad person, they say:--
+
+"O God, make him (or her, as the case may be) a guide for us, and make him
+a cause of our gaining a future reward. O God, save him and make him an
+intercessor for us."
+
+[215] The Imam makes the Niyyat in his mind that the Salam may be on his
+guardian angels, and on the worshippers who are behind him; each worshipper
+makes the Niyyat that the Salam may be on his guardian angels, on his
+fellow worshippers and on the Imam.
+
+[216] _i.e._, the deceased's.
+
+[217] Death, resurrection, judgment; &c.
+
+[218] This contradicts verse 254 of this Sura. Muslims explain it thus. We
+accept all prophets and as regards _faith_ in them make no difference,
+though as regards _dignity_ we recognize the distinction indicated in the
+254th verse.
+
+[219] That is, the Jews and Christians, on whom, it is said by the Muslim
+Commentators, many strict ceremonial observances were incumbent. The word
+often used to express the idea of the burdensome nature of ceremonial
+observance is taklilif, trouble. Practically, Muslims are not free from
+these "loads," a fact which finds expression in the word used for a pious
+man--a mukhallif, one who has to take trouble in the way of performing
+religious duties.
+
+[220] In Madras, a branch of the pomegranate tree is usually stuck in.
+
+[221] The name of the mother is here inserted. The mother's name is chosen
+in preference to that of the father, as there can be no doubt as to the
+maternity of the child. For the same reason it is said that at the Last Day
+each man will be summoned as such an one, son of such a mother. This simple
+fact reveals a sad state of morals, or, at least, a disbelief in the virtue
+of women.
+
+[222] The idea is that the reward of this act is transferred to the person
+on whose behalf it is made.
+
+[223] Sura ii. 256.
+
+[224] There are others who maintain that this is a _mukham_ statement and
+cannot therefore be abrogated. They hold that it must be restricted to the
+aged and to persons who have chronic diseases. Tafsir-i-Husaini, p. 30.
+Tafsir-i-Faiz-ul-Karim, p. 120.
+
+[225] Burton says that, when in the disguise of a Musalman doctor he was in
+Cairo making preparations for the Hajj, he had but one patient who would
+break his fast to save his life. All the others refused though death should
+be the consequence.
+
+[226] "The former are called Zakat, either because they increase a man's
+store by drawing down a blessing on him and produce in his soul the virtue
+of liberality, or because they purify the remaining part of one's substance
+from pollution and the soul from the filth of avarice; the latter are
+called Sadqa because they are a proof of a man's sincerity in the worship
+of God." Sale's Preliminary Discourse, Section iv.
+
+[227] That is food or money sufficient to provide one meal for a poor
+person.
+
+[228] The technical term is 5 wasq. A wasq is equal to 60 sa', and a sa' is
+equal to 8 ratal. A ratal is equal to 1 lb; so a wasq, a load for one
+camel, is about 480 lb.
+
+[229] Mosques are usually endowed. The property thus set apart is called
+waqf. This supports the various officials connected with a Mosque.
+
+[230] The two famous disciples of Imam Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad.
+
+[231] This ceremony is called Al-Ihram (_i.e._, making unlawful), because
+now various actions and pursuits must be abstained from. The ceremony of
+doffing the pilgrim's garb is called Al-Ihlal (_i.e._, making lawful), for
+now the pilgrim returns to the ordinary pursuits and joys of a life in the
+world.
+
+[232] This statement of names is taken from the Nur-ul-Hidayat p. 211, and
+that of the distance from Hughes' Notes on Islam; but Burton speaks of Al
+Zaribah, a place 47 miles distant from Mecca as a Miqat. It was there that
+he assumed the Ihram. The explanation probably is that a Haji must not
+approach nearer to Mecca without the Ihram than the places named in the
+text. The farther from Mecca it is assumed, provided that it be during one
+of the two months preceding Zu'l-Hajja, the more meritorious is the act.
+
+[233] Talbiyah means the repetition of "Labbaik," a phrase equivalent to "I
+am here." The Talbiyah can be said in any language, though Arabic is
+preferred. It usually is as follows: "Labbaik, Allahumma, Labbaik! La
+Sharika laka, Labbaik! Inna-l-hamda wa-n-ni'amata laka, w'-al-mulk! La
+Sharika laka, Labbaik!
+
+[234] "The object of these minute details is that the "Truce of God" may be
+kept." The five noxious creatures, however, may be slain, _viz._, a crow, a
+kite, a scorpion, a rat and a biting dog." (Burton).
+
+[235] The Musjid-ul-Haram is the large Mosque in Mecca. The K'aba (cube) is
+a square stone building in the centre. This is also called the Qibla. The
+Hajr-ul-Aswad is the black stone fixed in the corner of the K'aba.
+
+[236] It is said to have been rebuilt ten times. A full description will be
+found in Burton's Pilgrimage to Madina and Mecca, vol. iii. ch. 26. It is
+far too long to quote, and it cannot be condensed. The following extract is
+of some interest, as it states why the 'Ulama consider the K'aba so sacred
+a place. They quote the verse: 'Verily the first house built for mankind
+(to worship in) is that in Beccah (Mecca)--Blessed and a salvation to human
+beings. Therein are manifest signs, even the standing-place of Abraham, and
+he who entereth is safe.' (Sura iii. 90). The word 'therein' is said to
+mean Mecca, and the "manifest signs" the K'aba, which contains such marvels
+as the footprints on Abraham's platform, and is the spiritual safeguard of
+all who enter it. In addition, other "signs" are the preservation of the
+black stone, the miracles put forth to defend the House, the terrible death
+of the sacrilegious, and the fact that in the Flood the big fish did not
+eat the little fish in the Haram. Invalids recover their health by rubbing
+themselves against the Kiswat (the covering of the K'aba), and the black
+stone. One hundred thousand mercies descend on it every day, &c. Portions
+of the Kiswat are highly valued as markers for the Quran. Waistcoats made
+of it are supposed to render the combatant invulnerable in battle.
+
+[237] The whole seven are one Usbu'.
+
+[238] The Maqam-i-Ibrahim is a small building, supported, by six pillars
+about eight feet high, four of which are surrounded from top to bottom by a
+fine iron railing, while the space between the two hinder pillars is left
+open; within the railing is a frame about five feet square, said to contain
+the sacred stone on which Abraham sat when he built the K'aba.
+
+[239] In the first rak'at, the chapter usually recited is Sura cix; in the
+second, Sura cxii.
+
+[240] "Many find this inconvenient and so pass on to 'Arifat during the
+afternoon of the eighth day" (Burton).
+
+[241] The following legend is current about 'Arifat. "When our parents
+forfeited heaven by eating wheat, which deprived them of their primeval
+purity, they were cast down upon earth. The serpent descended at Ispahan,
+the peacock at Cabul, Satan at Bilbays, Eve upon 'Arifat and Adam at
+Ceylon. The latter determining to seek his wife, began a journey, to which
+the earth owes its present mottled appearance. Wherever he placed his
+foot--which was large--a town arose; between the strides will always be
+country. Wandering for many years he came to the Mountain of mercy, where
+our common mother was continually calling upon his name, and their
+recognition gave the place the name of 'Arifat. They lived here till death
+took place." (Burton).
+
+[242] The Shafa'i rules allow a traveller any time when on a journey of a
+night and day to reduce the five Namaz to three by joining some. The Hanafi
+code allows the shortened form only on this day.
+
+[243] "The Shaitan-ul-Kabir is a dwarf buttress of rude masonry about eight
+feet high, by two and a half broad, placed against a rough wall of stones."
+(Burton).
+
+[244] Most of the ceremonies connected with the Hajj, the Ihram, the
+shaving of the head, the going to Safa and Marwah, the throwing of the
+stones, the circuit of the K'aba, the kissing of the black stone, and the
+sacrifice were all pagan ceremonies performed by the idolatrous Arabs.
+Muhammad by his time-serving policy, adopted to gain the Meccans to his
+side, has confirmed an idolatrous practice which otherwise would probably
+have been extinct long ago. Safa and Marwah were hills held in
+superstitious reverence by the Meccans. The early Muslims had some doubt
+about retaining them as sacred places: then came the revelation to the
+Prophet, "Safa and Marwah are among the monuments of God, whosoever then
+maketh a pilgrimage to the temple or visiteth it, shall not be to blame if
+he go round about them both." (Sura ii. 153).
+
+[245] These are the letters contained in words which direct the reader when
+to pause. Thus toi stands for mutlaq (slight pause), qif (pause), jim for
+ja,iz (freedom to pause, or not to pause), la for no (no pause), mim for
+la'zim (necessary to pause), (.) is a full stop.
+
+[246] Persian was the foreign language with which the early Muslims were
+brought most into contact; but the objection applies equally to any other
+language.
+
+[247] A concession of no practical value, as any one with the power of
+speech could learn these words in a very short time.
+
+[248] This is because by so doing it would seem to ascribe to it similarity
+to human compositions.
+
+[249] During the first ten days they are supposed to contain the bodies of
+the martyrs, but now being empty the Tazias become mere ordinary frames and
+can be destroyed, Qanun-i-Islam, p. 146.
+
+[250] This feast is known in South India as the Dassara. The idol is thrown
+into a tank.
+
+[251] The Mihrab is a niche in a wall which indicates the position of
+Mecca. The face is always turned to it when prayers are said; so that the
+expression in the prayer means that 'Ali is to be the object toward which
+the faithful look.
+
+[252] The twelve Imams, Muhammad and Fatima.
+
+[253] The 'Id-gah is usually built outside of the town, and consists of a
+long wall of masonry with two minarets and a large raised open court. There
+is a Mihrab in the wall: but no proper mimbar or pulpit, three raised steps
+doing duty for it. Sometimes, however, a Mosque is used as an 'Id-gah.
+
+[254] Tradition records that the Prophet, after the battle of Ohud, was one
+day ascending a hill in a rage. The heat of his passion was such that the
+mountain softened into the consistence of wax and retained, some say
+eighteen; others, forty impressions of his feet. When rebuked by Gabriel
+for his anger the Prophet enquired the cause of his rebuke. Gabriel told
+him to look around. The Prophet seeing these impressions of his feet on the
+stones was astonished. His anger instantly ceased. Qanun-i-Islam, p. 152.
+
+[255] The Baqr-'Id is the only other feast that has an 'Arfa.
+
+[256] Mishkat-ul-Musabih, Book vii. ch. 1.
+
+[257] That is, his blessing or his curse takes effect. Qanun-i-Islam p.
+170.
+
+[258] This is a warning to those who may have omitted this duty.
+
+[259] Khutbaha-i-Muhtarjam, p. 104.
+
+[260] "Observations on the Musalmans of India." Mrs. Mir Husan 'Ali, p.
+192."
+
+[261] The opinion of the various Traditionists on this point is given in
+the Nur-ul-Hidayah, vol. iv. p. 61.
+
+[262] Still it is mustahab, or a meritorious act so to do. It is also said
+that, if a minor is possessed of property, his father or his guardian may
+purchase at his expense an animal and sacrifice it. The child may then eat
+as much as it can. The remainder of the meat must be exchanged for
+something which the child can use, such as clothes, shoes, &c.
+Nur-ul-Hidayah, vol. iv. p. 60.
+
+[263] According to the Imams Shafa'i and Malik no one must offer up the
+sacrifice until the Imam who has officiated at the previous Namaz has slain
+his victim. Nur-ul-Hidayah, vol. iv. p. 61.
+
+[264] Arayish-i-Mahfil p. 144.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Corrections made to printed original.
+
+Page 29 "It is moreover the unanimous opinion" - 'moveover' in original.
+
+Page 33 "the Imam-i-A'zam or great Imam" - Imam-i-'Azam in original,
+corrected by Errata.
+
+Page 40 "This is technically called Ilka" - Ilka in original, corrected by
+Errata.
+
+Page 91 "Sa'di in the Bustan says" - Bustun in original, corrected by
+Errata.
+
+Page 92 "the famous Maulana Jelal-ud-din Rumi" - Maolana in original,
+corrected by Errata.
+
+Page 93 "It is Fana--extinction." - Fana in original, corrected by Errata.
+
+Page 188 "a still lower class of action which are mubah." - mubah in
+original, corrected by Errata.
+
+Page 190 "(12) the whole head must be rubbed once" - '(13)' in original.
+
+Page 192 "A man one day came to the Prophet" - 'come' in original.
+
+Page 218 "Islam, Hurriat (freedom) and Nisab (stock)." - Hurriat in
+original, corrected by Errata.
+
+Note 133 "Also Takmil-ul-Iman, p. 64." - Tamil-ul-Iman in original,
+corrected by Errata.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Faith of Islam, by Edward Sell
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