Part 15

On the supposition that the arrangements given above are at any rate approximately correct, it is possible to trace a certain development in the teaching of the Koran on some of the chief dogmas. It must, however, be borne in mind that orthodox Islam recognizes the Koran as the work not of Mahomet but of God. Yet Moslem theologians recognize that some revelations are inconsistent with others, and so have developed the doctrine of _nasikh_ and _mansukh_ ("abrogating" and "abrogated"), whereby it is taught that in certain definite cases a later revelation supersedes an earlier. A critical study of the Koran shows in the earlier revelations the marks of a reflective mind trained under the influence of Arabian education and stirred by an acquaintance (somewhat imperfect) with Judaism and Christianity. The later revelations seem to be influenced by the now dominant position of the Prophet and a desire after the capture of Mecca to incorporate such heathen religious ceremonies as are national. God is one and universal from the beginning. His unity is emphasized as against the mistaken conception of the Christian Trinity. At first his might is taught by the name _Rabb_ (Lord) which is generally used with an attribute as "the highest Lord," "Lord of the worlds," "Lord of men," "Lord of heaven and earth," "Lord of the East and West," or "our Lord." Then he is identified with the god Allah (see above) and the first part of the later Moslem creed is announced--_la ilaha illa-llaha_, "there is no god but Allah." But every act of creation is a proof not only of God's power but also of his beneficence (xiv. 37), and so he becomes known as _ar-Rahman_, "the Compassionate." The attributes of God may all be arranged in the three classes of his power, unity and goodness. They are expressed by the ninety-nine "beautiful names" applied to him in the Koran (see E. H. Palmer, _The Quran_ in "Sacred Books of the East," vol. vi., Introd. pp. 67-68, Oxford, 1880). In the Medina period of Mahomet's life the nature of God is not so clear, and the description of it varies according to the moods of the Prophet.

Spirits.

Beside God are two other uncreated beings: (1) the original of the Koran, the "mother of the Book" (xliii. 3) on a "preserved tablet" (_lauh mahfuz_) (lxxxv. 22), in accordance with which God acts, and (2) the throne (_kursi_) (ii. 256). When the heavens are created, God sits on his throne in the seventh heaven; around him are angels, pure, sexless beings, some of whom bear the throne, while some are engaged in praising him continually. They are also his messengers and are sent to fight with the believers against the heathen. Some are the guardian angels of men, others are the watchmen of hell. Mediate beings between God and man are the "word" (_amr_) and from it the "spirit" (_ruh_) or "holy spirit" (_ruh ul-qudus_). Another manifestation of God to the believers only is the "glory" (_sakina_).

Cosmology.

Ethics.

God created the world in six days according to the plan of the Book. Each new life was created by God's breathing into it a soul. The duality of soul and body is maintained. In each man is a good and a bad impulse. The bad impulse which was latent in Adam was roused to action by Satan (_Iblis_). Adam by his fall lost the grace of God, which was restored to him solely by the gracious choice of God. Between men and angels in their nature are the genii (_jinn_) male and female, inhabitants of desert places, created from smokeless fire. They had been accustomed to spy round heaven, but in Mahomet's time could learn no more of its secrets. Some of them were converted by the Prophet's teaching. Lowest of creation in his estate is Satan (_Shaitan_), who was an angel but was expelled from heaven because he refused to worship Adam at his Lord's command. God has revealed himself to man by (1) writing (_kitab_), and (2) prophets. As he had given to the Jews the Law (_Taurat_) and to the Christians the Gospel (_Injil_) so he revealed to Mahomet the Koran (Qur`an, known also by other names, e.g. _al-Furqan_, _at-Tafsil_, &c.), each single revelation being called an aya. With his revelation God has also sent an apostle or prophet to each people. Several of these are mentioned in the Koran, Moses the prophet of the Jews, Jesus (_Isa_) that of the Christians. Mahomet is not only the apostle of the Moslems but the "seal of the prophets," i.e. the final member of the class. His mission at first was to warn men of imminent judgment. Later he became more of a teacher. At first he seems to have relied for the salvation of men on his natural faculties, but later announced the doctrine of God's election. The ethics of the Koran are based on belief (_iman_) and good works, the latter alone occurring in the early Meccan _suras_. Fear of the judgment of God was a motive of action; this is followed by repentance and turning to God. A complete surrender to God's will (_islam_) is the necessary condition of religious life and is expressed in the phrase so common in everyday speech among the Moslems--_inshallah_, "if God will." God has full power to overlook evil deeds if he will. Unbelievers can acquire no merit, however moral their actions. A short account of the chief ethical requirements of the Koran is given in xvii. 23-40:--

"Put not God with other gods, or thou wilt sit despised and forsaken. Thy Lord has decreed that ye shall not serve other than Him; and kindness to one's parents, whether one or both of them reach old age with thee, and say not to them, 'Fie,' and do not grumble at them, but speak to them a generous speech. And lower to them the wing of humility out of compassion, and say, 'O Lord! have compassion on them as they brought me up when I was little!' Your Lord knows best what is in your souls if ye be righteous, and, verily, He is forgiving unto those who come back penitent.

"And give thy kinsman his due and the poor and the son of the road; and waste not wastefully, for the wasteful were ever the devil's brothers, and the devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord.

"But if thou dost turn away from them to seek after mercy from thy Lord, which thou hopest for, then speak to them an easy speech.

"Make not thy hand fettered to thy neck, nor yet spread it out quite open, lest thou shouldest have to sit down blamed and straightened in means. Verily, thy Lord spreads out provision to whomsoever He will or He doles it out. Verily, He is ever well aware of and sees His servants.

"And slay not your children for fear of poverty; we will provide for them; beware! for to slay them is ever a great sin.

"And draw not near to fornication; verily, it is ever an abomination, and evil is the way thereof.

"And slay not the soul that God has forbidden you, except for just cause; for he who is slain unjustly we have given his next of kin authority; yet let him not exceed in slaying; verily, he is ever helped.

"And draw not near to the wealth of the orphan, save to improve it, until he reaches the age of puberty, and fulfil your compacts; verily, a compact is ever enquired of.

"And give full measure when ye measure out, and weigh with a right balance; that is better and a fairer determination.

"And do not pursue that of which thou hast no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight and the heart, all of these shall be enquired of.

"And walk not on the earth proudly; verily, thou canst not cleave the earth, and thou shalt not reach the mountains in height.

"All this is ever evil in the sight of your Lord and abhorred."

(E. H. Palmer's translation.)

Eschatology.

The eschatology of the Koran is especially prominent in its earlier parts. The resurrection, last judgment, paradise and hell are all described. At death the body again becomes earth, while the soul sinks into a state of sleep or unconsciousness. At a time decreed, known as "the hour" (_as-Sa`a_), "the day of resurrection" (_yaum ul-qiyyama_), "day of judgment" (_yaum-ud-din_), &c., an angel will call or will sound a trumpet, the earth will be broken up, and the soul will rejoin the body. God will appear on his throne with angels. The great book will be opened, and a list of his deeds will be given to every man, to the good in his right hand, to the evil in his left (_sura 69_). A balance will be used to weigh the deeds. The _jinn_ will testify against the idolaters. The righteous will then obtain eternal peace and joy in the garden (_al-janna_) and the wicked will be cast into the fiery ditch (_Jahannam_), where pains of body and of soul are united.

2. The _Tradition._--The revelation of God is twofold--in a writing and by a prophet. The former was contained in the Koran, the latter was known from the actions of Mahomet in the different circumstances of life. The manner of life of the Prophet (_sunna_) was contained in the tradition (_al-hadith_). The information required was at first naturally obtained by word of mouth from the companions and helpers of Mahomet. These in turn bequeathed their information to their younger companions, who quoted traditions and gave decisions in their names.

For long these traditions circulated orally, the authority of each depending on the person who first gave it and the reliability of the chain (_isnad_) of men who had passed it on from him. At first this tradition was regarded as explanatory of, or at the most supplementary to, the teaching of the Koran. Early Moslem teachers pointed to the Jews as having two law-books--the _Taurat_ and the _Mishna_--while Islam had only one--the Koran. But opinion changed, the value of tradition as an independent revelation came to be more highly esteemed until at last it was seriously discussed whether a tradition might not abrogate a passage of the Koran with which it was at variance. The writing of traditions was at first strongly discouraged, and for more than a century the stories of the Prophet's conduct passed from mouth to mouth. Had all the narrators been pious men, this might have been tolerable, but this was not the case. The Omayyad dynasty was not a pious one. Men who were not religious but wished to appear so invented traditions to justify their manner of life. The sectarians did not hesitate to adopt the same means of spreading their own teaching. Many Moslem writers testify to the fact that forged traditions were circulated, and that religious opinion was confused thereby. The need for some sort of authoritative collection seems to have been felt by the one pious Omayyad caliph, Omar II. (717-720), who is said to have ordered Ibn Shihab uz-Zuhri to make such a collection. Of this work, if it was carried out, we know nothing further. It was, however, by a man born during this reign that the first systematic collection of traditions was made--the _Muwatta`_ of Malik ibn Anas (q.v.). Yet this work is not a book of tradition in the religious sense, it is really a corpus juris and not a complete one. The object of Malik was simply to record every tradition that had been used to give effect to a legal decision. The work of sifting the vast mass of traditions and arranging them according to their relation to the different parts of religious life and practice was first undertaken in the 3rd century of Islam (A.D. 815-912). In this century all the six collections afterwards regarded as canonical by the Sunnites (orthodox) were made. By this time an immense number of traditions was in circulation. Bukhari in the course of sixteen years' journeying through Moslem lands collected 600,000, and of these included 7275 (or, allowing for repetitions, 4000) in his work. The six collections of tradition received by the Sunnites as authoritative are: (i) The _Kitab ul-jami` us-Sahih_ of Bukhari (q.v.) (810-870). This is the most respected throughout the Moslem world and most carefully compiled (ed. L. Krehl and T. W. Juynboll, Leiden, 1862--and frequently in the East; also with many commentaries. French translation by O. Houdas and W. Marcais, Paris, 1903 sqq.). (ii) The _Sahih_ of Muslim (817-875) with an introduction on the science of tradition (ed. Calcutta, 1849, &c.). (iii) The _Kitab us-Sunan_ of Abu Da`ud (817-888) (ed. Cairo, 1863, Lucknow, 1888, Delhi, 1890). (iv) The _Jami` us-Sahih_ of Tirmidhi (q.v.). (v) _The Kitab us-Sunan_ of Nasa` i (830-915) (ed. Cairo, 1894). (vi) The _Kitab us-Sunan_ of Ibn Maja (824-866) (ed. Delhi, 1865 and 1889). The last four are not held in the same repute as the first two.

3. _Ijma`_ is the universal consent which is held to justify practices or beliefs, although they are not warranted by the Koran or tradition, and may be inconsistent with the apparent teaching of one or both of these. These beliefs and practices, which had often come from the pre-Islamic customs of those who had become believers, seem to have escaped notice until the Abbasid period. They were too deeply rooted in the lives of men to be abolished. It became necessary either to find a tradition to abrogate the earlier forbidding one, or to acknowledge that _ijma`_ is higher than the tradition. The former expedient was resorted to by some later theologians (e.g. Nawawi) by a fiction that such a tradition existed though it was not found now in writing. But in earlier times some (as Ibn Qutaiba) had adopted the latter alternative, saying that the truth can be derived much earlier from the _ijma`_ than from the tradition, because it is not open to the same chances of corruption in its transmission as the latter. Tradition itself was found to confirm this view, for the Prophet is related to have said, "My people does not agree to an error."

But _ijma`_ itself has been used in different senses: (i) The _ijma`_ of Medina was used to indicate the authority coming from the practices of the people of Medina (see below). (ii) The _ijma`_ of the whole community of Moslems is that most commonly recognized. It was used to support fealty to the Abbasid dynasty. By it the six books of tradition mentioned above are recognized as authoritative, and it is the justification of the conception of Mahomet as superhuman. (iii) Some of the more thoughtful theologians recognize only the _ijma`_ of the doctors or the teachers of Islam (the _mujtahidun_), these being restricted by the orthodox to the first few generations after Mahomet, while the Shi`ites allow the existence of such up to the present time.

4. The fourth basis of Islam is _qiyas_, i.e. analogy. It is that process by which a belief or practice is justified on the ground of something similar but not identical in the Koran, the tradition or _ijma`_. Originally it seems to have been instituted as a check upon the use of private opinion (_ra'y_) in the teaching of doctrine. The extent to which it may be used is a subject of much discussion among theologians. Some would apply it only to a "material similarity," others to similarity of motive or cause as well.

_Worship and Ritual._--The acts of worship required by Islam are five in number: (i) the recital of the creed; (ii.) observance of the five daily prayers; (iii) the fast in the month of Ramadhan; (iv) giving of the legal alms; (v) the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Creed.

i. The creed is belief--"la ilaha illa-llahu, Muhammad rasul allahi," "there is no god but God (Allah), Mahomet is the apostle of God." It is required that this shall be recited at least once in a lifetime aloud, correctly, with full understanding of its meaning and with heartfelt belief in its truth. It is to be professed without hesitation at any time until death.

Prayer.

ii. Every man who professes Islam is required in ordinary life to pray five times in each day. In the Koran these prayers are commanded, though four only are mentioned. "Wherefore glorify God, when the evening overtaketh you, and when ye rise in the morning, and unto Him be praise in Heaven and earth; and in the evening and when ye rest at noon" (xxx. 16-17), but commentators say the "evening" includes the sunset and after sunset. The five times therefore are: (1) Dawn or just before sunrise, (2) just after noon, (3) before sunset, (4) just after sunset, and (5) just after the day has closed. Tradition decides within what limits the recitals may be delayed without impairing their validity. Prayer is preceded by the lesser ablution (_wadu_) consisting in the washing of face, hands (to the elbows) and feet in prescribed manner. Complete washing of the body (_ghusl_) is required only after legal pollution. In prayer the worshipper faces the _qibla_ (direction of prayer), which was at first Jerusalem, but was changed by the Prophet to Mecca. In a mosque the _qibla_ is indicated by a niche (_mihrab_) in one of the walls. The prayers consist of prescribed ejaculations, petitions, and the recital of parts of the Koran, always including the first _sura_, accompanied by prostrations of the body. Detailed physical positions are prescribed for each part of the worship; these vary slightly in the four orthodox schools (see below). On a journey, in time of war or in other special circumstances, the set form of prayers may be modified in accordance with appointed rules. Besides these private prayers, there is the prayer of the assembly, which is observed on a Friday (_yaum ul-jam'a_, "the day of assembly") in a mosque, and is usually accompanied by an address or declamation (_khutba_) delivered from a step of the pulpit (_minbar_). Special prayers are also prescribed for certain occasions, as on the eclipse of the sun or the moon, &c. Among the Sufis special attention is given to informal prayer, consisting chiefly in the continual repetition of the name of God (_dhikr_) (see SUFI'ISM). This is still a characteristic of some of the dervish (q.v.) communities.

Fasting.

iii. The command to fast begins with the words, "O ye who believe! There is prescribed for you the fast, as it was prescribed for those before you." The expression "those before you" has been taken to refer to the Jews, who fasted on the day of atonement, but more probably refers to the long fast of thirty-six days observed by the Eastern Christians. In the passage of the Koran referred to (ii. 179-181) Moslems are required to fast during the month of Ramadhan, "wherein the Koran was revealed," but if one is on a journey or sick he may fast "another number of days," and if he is able to fast and does not, "he may redeem it by feeding a poor man," but "if ye fast, it is better for you." This fast was probably instituted in the second year at Medina. At that time the corrected lunar year was in use and Ramadhan, the ninth month, was always in the winter. A few years later Mahomet decreed the use of the uncorrected lunar year, which remains the standard of time for the Moslem world, so that the month of fasting now occurs at all seasons of the year in turn. The fast is severe, and means entire abstinence from food and drink from sunrise to sunset each day of the month. The fast is associated with the statement that in this month God sent down the Koran from the seventh heaven to Gabriel in the lowest that it might be revealed to the Prophet.

Alms.

iv. Alms are of two kinds: (1) the legal and determined (_zakat_), and (2) voluntary (_sadaqat_). The former were given in cattle, grain, fruit, merchandise and money once a year after a year's possession. For cattle a somewhat elaborate scale is adopted. Of grain and fruit a tenth is given if watered by rain, a twentieth if the result of irrigation. Of the value of merchandise and of money a fortieth is prescribed. In the early days of Islam the alms were collected by officials and used for the building of mosques and similar religious purposes. At the present time the carrying of these prescriptions is left to the conscience of the believers, who pay the alms to any needy fellow-Moslem. A good example of a _sadaqa_ is found in a gift to an unbeliever (see C. M. Doughty, _Arabia deserta_, i. 446, ii. 278, Cambridge, 1888).

Pilgrimage.

v. The fifth religious duty of the Moslem is the pilgrimage (_hajj_) to Mecca, which should be performed once by every Moslem "if he is able," that is if he can provide or obtain the means to support himself on pilgrimage and his family during his absence, and if he is physically capable. The pilgrimage is made at one time of the (Moslem) year, namely, from the 7th to the 10th of the month Dhu'l-Hijja. For the arrangements for the journey from various countries to Mecca see CARAVAN. When the pilgrim arrives within five or six miles of the holy city he puts off his ordinary dress after ablution and prayer, and puts on the two seamless wrappers which form the dress of the pilgrim (the _ihram_), who goes without head-covering or boots or shoes. He must not shave at all, or trim the nails or anoint the head during the ceremonial period. The chief parts of the ceremonial are the visit to the sacred mosque (_masjid ul-haram_), the kissing of the black stone, the compassing of the Ka`ba (the _Tawaf_) seven times, three times running, four times slowly, the visit to the Maqam Ibrahim, the ascent of Mount Safa and running from it to Mount Marwa seven times, the run to Mount `Arafat, hearing a sermon, and going to Muzdalifa, where he stays the night, the throwing of stones at the three pillars in Mina on the great feast day, and the offering of sacrifice there (for the localities see MECCA). After the accomplishment of these ceremonies the ordinary dress is resumed, the pilgrimage is finished, but the pilgrim usually remains another three days in Mecca, then visits Medina to pay his respects to the tomb of Mahomet. Beside the _hajj_ (great pilgrimage) Islam also recognizes the merit of the _`umra_ (or lesser pilgrimage), i.e. a religious visit to Mecca at any time accompanied by most of the ceremonies of the _hajj_.

The ceremonies of the _hajj_ have been described by several European travellers who have witnessed them, such as J. L. Burckhardt in 1814, Sir Richard Burton in 1853 (see bibliography to MECCA). A concise account of them is given in T. P. Hughes, _Notes on Muhammadanism_ (3rd ed., London, 1894). Details in vol. i. of Bukhari's traditions (Houdas and Marcais's French translation, i. 493-567).