"The religion founded by Mahomet is called Islam, a word
meaning 'the entire surrender of the will to God'; its
professors are called Mussulmans—'those who have surrendered
themselves,' or 'Believers,' as opposed to the 'Rejectors' of
the Divine messengers, who are named 'Kafirs,' or 'Mushrikin,'
that is, 'those who associate, are [not?] companions or
sharers with the Deity.' Islam is sometimes divided under the
two heads of Faith and Practical Religion.
I. Faith (Iman) includes a belief in one God, omnipotent,
omniscient, all-merciful, the author of all good; and in
Mahomet as his prophet, expressed in the formula 'There is no
God but God, and Mahomet is the Prophet of God.' It includes,
also, a belief in the authority and sufficiency of the Koran,
in angels, genii, and the devil, in the immortality of the
soul, the resurrection, the day of judgment and in God's
absolute decree for good and evil.
II. Practical religion (Din) consists of five observances:
(1) Recital of the formula of Belief,
(2) Prayer with Ablution,
(3) Fasting,
(4) Almsgiving,
(5) the Pilgrimage.
… The standard of Moslem orthodoxy is essentially the Koran
and to it primary reference is made; but … some more
extended and discriminating code became necessary. The
deficiency was supplied by the compilation of the 'Sunnah,' or
Traditional Law, which is built upon the sayings and practices
of Mahomet, and, in the opinion of the orthodox, is invested
with the force of law, and with some of the authority of
inspiration. … In cases where both the Koran and the Sunnah
afford no exact precept, the 'Rule of Faith' in their dogmatic
belief, as well as the decisions of their secular courts, is
based upon the teaching of one of the four great Imams, or
founders of the orthodox sects, according as one or another of
these prevails in any particular country. … The great Sunni
sect is divided among the orthodox schools mentioned above,
and is so called from its reception of the 'Sunnah,' as having
authority concurrent with and supplementary to the Koran. In
this respect it differs essentially from the Shias, or
partisans of the house of Ali [the nephew of Mahomet and
husband of his daughter Fatima] who, adhering to their own
traditions, reject the authority of the 'Sunnah.' These two
sects, moreover, have certain observances and matters of
belief peculiar to themselves, the chief of which is the Shia
doctrine, that the sovereign Imamat, or temporal and spiritual
lordship over the faithful, was by divine right vested in Ali
and in his descendants, through Hasan and Hosein, the children
of Fatima, the daughter of the prophet. And thus the Persian
Shias add to the formula of belief the confession, 'Ali is the
Caliph of God.' In Persia the Shia doctrines prevail, and
formerly so intense was sectarian hatred that the Sunni
Mahometans paid a higher capitation tax there than the
infidels. In Turkey the great majority are Sunni. In India the
Shias number about one in twenty. The Shias, who reject this
name, and call themselves Adliyah, or the 'Society of the
Just,' are subdivided into a great variety of minor sects; but
these … are united in asserting that the first three
Caliphs, Abu Bekr, Omar, and Othman were usurpers, who had
possessed themselves of the rightful and inalienable
inheritance of Ali."
_J. W. H. Stobart,
Islam and its Founder,
chapter 10._
"The twelve Imams, or pontiffs, of the Persian creed, are Ali,
Hassan, Hosein, and the lineal descendants of Hosein to the ninth
generation. Without arms, or treasures, or subjects, they
successively enjoyed the veneration of the people and provoked
the jealousy of the reigning caliphs. … The twelfth and last
of the Imams, conspicuous by the title of Mahadi, or the
Guide, surpassed the solitude and sanctity of his
predecessors. He concealed himself in a cavern near Bagdad:
the time and place of his death are unknown; and his votaries
pretend that he still lives and will appear before the day of
judgment."
_E. Gibbon,
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
chapter 50._
ALSO IN:
_E. Sell,
The Faith of Islam._
_S. Lane-Poole,
Studies in a Mosque,
chapters 3 and 7._
_R. D. Osborn,
Islam under the Arabs,
part 2, chapter 1._
_W. C. Taylor,
History of Mohammedanism,
chapters 5-13._
_R. Bosworth Smith,
Mohammed and Mohammedanism_
_T. Nöldeke,
Sketches from Eastern History,
chapter 3._
See, also,
MAHOMETAN CONQUEST.
{1804}
ISLAM, Dar-ul-, and Dar-ul-harb.
See DAR-UL-ISLAM.
ISLAND NUMBER TEN, The capture of.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862
(MARCH-APRIL: ON THE MISSISSIPPI).