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THE
FAITH OF ISLAM:
BY
THE REV. EDWARD SELL,
FELLOW OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS.
* * * * *
TRÜBNER & 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 Islám during a residence of fifteen
years in India, the greater part of which time I have been in daily
intercourse with Musalmáns. 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 Qurán 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 Sulát for Salát, Munkar for Munkir, &c., but in no case is the meaning
affected.
In some words, such as Khalíf, Khalífate, and Omar, I have retained the
anglicised form instead of using the more correct terms, Khalífa, Khiláfat,
'Umr. The letter Q has been used to distinguish the Káf-i-Karashat from the
Káf-i-Tází.
E. S.
MADRAS,
_December 1st, 1880._
{v}
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
Introduction. ... PAGE ix
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF ISLÁM.
The Qurán--Its revelation--Miraculous nature--Arrangement of Qurán--Osmán's
recension. The Sunnat--The authority of Sunnat--Tradition--Bid'at or
innovation--Shía'h Traditions. Ijmá'--Ijtihád--Four orthodox Imáms, Hanífa,
Málik, Sháfa'í and Hanbal. Qíás--Established by the early
Mujtahidín--Sterility of Islám ... PAGE 1
Note to Chapter I. Ijtihád ... PAGE 32
CHAPTER II.
EXEGESIS OF THE QURÁN AND THE TRADITIONS.
Inspiration--The seven readings--Work of a Commentator--Words and Sentences
of the Qurán--Use of the words--Deductions of arguments from the
Qurán--Divisions of the Qurán--Abrogation--Creation of the Qurán--Hadís or
Tradition--Collections of Traditions--Classification of Traditions ... PAGE
37
CHAPTER III.
THE SECTS OF ISLÁM.
The Shía'hs--The Imámat--Khárigites--Núr-i-Muhammadí--Imám--Ismá,ílians and
Imámites--Ghair-i-Mahdís--Dá,irí--Mahmúdíah--Khalífate--Súfíism--Persian
Poetry--Darwíshes--Omar Khayyám--Wahhábís--their rise--spread in
India--doctrines and influence ... PAGE 73
Note to Chapter III. Wahhábíism ... PAGE 114
{vi}
CHAPTER IV.
THE CREED OF ISLÁM
Imán--God--Attributes of God--Discussions on the nature of God--The rise of
the Mutazilites--The Sifátíans--Mushábihites--Names of God--Creation of the
Qurán. Angels--Recording Angels--Hárút and Márút--Munkir and Nakír--Jinn.
The Books--Abrogation--Tahríf. The Prophets--Rank and inspiration of
prophets--Nabí and Rasúl--Sinlessness of prophets--The
Anbiya-ulul-'Azm--Miracles of prophets--The Mi'ráj. The Resurrection and
the last day--The Trumpets--Descent of the
books--Balances--Bridge--Al-A'ráf--Al-Barzakh--Intercession of
Muhammad--Heaven--Hell. The Predestination of good and
evil--Jabríans--Qadríans--Ash'aríans--Free-will--Apostacy ... PAGE 116
Note to Chapter IV. Muslim Philosophy ... PAGE 181
CHAPTER V.
THE PRACTICAL DUTIES OF ISLÁM.
Farz, wájib, sunnat, mustahab and mubáh actions--Harám or unlawful acts.
Tashahhud. Salát--Wazú--Ghusl--Tayammum--Namáz--Farz, sunnat, witr and nafl
rak'ats--Appointed hours of prayer--Friday Namáz and sermon--Namáz on a
journey and in time of war--Namáz in Ramazán, during an eclipse and in time
of drought--Funeral service--Its ritual and prayers. Fasting--Its time and
nature. Zakát--Nisáb--Proportion of property to be given as
alms--Recipients of the Zakát. The Hajj--Farz, sunnat, wájib and mustahab
duties connected with the Hajj--Time for the Hajj--Arrival of the Hájí at
Mecca--Tawáf--Ceremonies of the Hajj--Conclusion of the Hajj--Formal nature
of Islám ... PAGE 187
Note to Chapter V. Fatvá on the Namáz ... PAGE 233
{vii}
CHAPTER VI.
THE FEASTS AND FASTS OF ISLÁM.
Muharram--'Áshúr Khána--Marsiya--Wáqi'a Khán--'Alams--Ceremonies of the
'Áshúrá--Fátihas for 'Alí, for Hasan and Husain--Akhir-i-chár Shamba--Bárá
Wafát--Jashn-i-milád-i-Sharif--Ásár-i-Sharíf--Shab Barát--Ramazán and
'Íd-ul-Fitr--'Itikáf--Sadqa--Sermon on the 'Íd-ul-Fitr--Baqr-'Íd or
'Íd-uz-Zuhá--Sermon on the 'Íd-uz-Zuhá--The Qurbán or Sacrifice--Festival
of Madár--Festival of Sálár Mas'úd Ghází--Festival of Khája Khizr--Feast of
Pír Dastgír Sáhib--Festival of Qádir Walí Sáhib ... 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 Islám 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 Islám really is, and how it
influences men and nations in the present day. I think that recent Fatvás
delivered by the 'Ulamá 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 Qurán and the Sunnat, and an illustration of the
principles I have shown to belong to Islám. 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 Islám 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 Musalmán authorities themselves. Still more, I have
ascertained from living witnesses that the principles I have tried to show
as existing in Islám, 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, jihád 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. Ijtihád, 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 Islám, nor do I believe their counterpart would be found
amongst the 'Ulamá 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.
Islám in India has also felt the influence of contact with other races and
creeds, though, theologically speaking, the Imán and the Dín, the faith and
the practice, are unchanged, and remain as I have {xii} described them in
chapters four and five. If Islám in India has lost some of its original
fierceness, it has also adopted many superstitious practices, such as those
against which the Wahhábís protest. The great mass of the Musalmán 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 Musalmáns 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 Musalmáns 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 Islám is to her
onward march in the East. Surely special men with special training are
required for such an enterprise as that of encountering Islám 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 ISLÁM.
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF ISLÁM.
The creed of Islám, "Lá-iláha-il-lal-láhu wa Muhammad-ur-Rasúl-Ulláh,"
(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 Qurán is an all-embracing and sufficient code, regulating everything,"
"The Qurán contains the _entire_ code of Islám--that is, it is not a book
of religious precepts merely, but it governs all that a Muslim does," "The
Qurán contains the whole religion of Muhammad," "The Qurán which contains
the whole Gospel of Islám" are not simply misleading, they are erroneous.
So far from the Qurán 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 Musalmáns, the foundations of the Faith are four in number, the
Qurán, Sunnat, Ijmá' and Qíás. The fact that all the sects do not agree
with the orthodox--the Sunnís--in this matter illustrates another important
fact in Islám--the want of unity amongst its followers. {2}
1. THE QURÁN.--The question of the inspiration will be fully discussed, and
an account of the laws of the exegesis of the Qurán 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 Ramazán 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
Injíl, or Gospel, and on the twenty-seventh the Qurán. On that night, the
Laylut-ul-Qadr, or "night of power," the whole Qurán 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 Qurán) to descend on the night of power." (Súra 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." (Súra 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 Khadíja!
what has happened to me!" He lay down and she watched by him. When he
recovered from his paroxysm, he said "O Khadíja! he of whom one would not
have believed (_i.e._, himself) has become either a soothsayer (káhin) or
mad." She replied, "God is my protection, O Ab-ul-kásim. 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 Khadíja's life, is my witness that thou wilt be the Prophet of this
people."[4] The next Súra, 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 Qurán:--"Say, whoso is the enemy of
Gabriel--For he it is {4} who by God's leave hath caused the Qurán to
descend on thy heart" (Súra ii. 91.) This Súra was revealed some years
after the Prophet's flight to Madína. The other references to the
revelation of the Qurán are:--"Verily from the Lord of the worlds hath this
book come down; the Faithful Spirit (Rúh-ul-Ámín) hath come down with it"
(Súra xxvi. 192.) "The Qurán is no other than a revelation revealed to him,
one terrible in power (Shadíd-ul-Quá) taught it him." (Súra 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 "Rúh-ul-Ámín" and
"Shadíd-ul-Quá" refer to no other angel or spirit. The use of the word
"taught" in the last Súra quoted, and the following expression in Súra
lxxv. 18. "When we have _recited it_, then follow thou the recital," show
that the Qurán 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 Qurán 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 Islám.
The Qurán thus revealed is now looked upon as the standing miracle of
Islám. Other divine books, it is admitted, were revelations received under
the form of ideas, but the Qurán is far superior to them all for the actual
text was revealed to the ear of the prophet. Thus we read in Súra 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 Qurán 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 Qurán.[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 Qurán 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 Qurán, 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 Qurán 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 Súra. "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 Islám." 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 Qurán 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 Isnád, 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 Qurán
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 Súras were arranged, for the Qurán, 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
Qurán reciters were slain. Omar took fright at this, and addressing the
Khalíf Abu Bakr, said, "The slaughter may again wax hot amongst the
repeaters of the Qurán 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 Qurán." 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 Qurán and bring it all together." Zeid being
at length pressed to undertake the task proceeded to gather the Qurán
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 Khalíf
Osmán 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 Qurán were burnt by order of the Khalíf, and new
transcripts were made of the revised edition which was now the only
authorised copy. As it is a fundamental tenet of Islám that the Qurán is
incorruptible and absolutely free {9} from error, no little difficulty has
been felt in explaining the need of Osmán'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 Qurán 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 Qurán now in use the record of what Muhammad said. It thus
becomes a fundamental basis of Islám. It was a common practice of the early
Muslims when speaking of the Prophet to say:--"His character is the Qurán."
When people curious to know details of the life of their beloved master
asked 'Áyesha, one of his widows, about him, she used to reply:--"Thou hast
the Qurán, 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 Qurán?"
Whether Muhammad would have arranged the Qurán 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 Qurán 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 Qurán is the first
foundation of Islám. 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 Islám.
The Shía'hs maintain, without good reason, that the following verses
favourable to the claims of 'Alí and of the Shía'h faction were omitted in
Osmán's recension.
"O Believers! believe in the two lights. (Muhammad and 'Alí).
'Alí 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 Islám is based on the Hadís
(plural Ahádís) or Tradition. Commands from God given in the Qurán are
called 'farz' and 'wájib.' 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 Musalmáns, 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 Qurán, or by the
mouth of His Prophet."[14] Al-Ghazáli, 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 Wahhábís reject Tradition. In the ordinary sense
of the word Tradition they may; but in Muslim Theology the term Hadís,
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 Wahhábís reject the Traditions handed down by men who lived
after the time of the Companions, but the Hadís, 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 Wahhábís reject
Tradition.[15] An orthodox Muslim places the Gospels in the same rank as
the Hadís, 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 (Ahádís).[16] This shows that the Sunnat
must be placed on a level with the Jewish and Christian Scriptures; whilst
the Qurán is a revelation superior to them all. To no sect of Musalmáns is
the Qurán alone the rule of faith. The Shía'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 Islám 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 Jamá'at." (Sunnís.)[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 Súra of the Qurán
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 Khalífs, Abu Bakr,
Omar, Osmán, and 'Alí, 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 Islám Church and State are one. The Arab
proverb, "Al mulk wa dín tawáminí"--country and religion are twins--is the
popular form of expressing the unity of Church and State. {14} To the mind
of the Musalmán 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 Osmán. The Sunnat as much as the
Qurán covers all law, whether political, social, moral, or religious. A
modern writer who has an intimate acquaintance with Islám says:--"If Islám
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 Kurán,
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 Qurán and the Sunnat," of
the "maxims of Musalmán Law based on the text of the Qurán 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 Qurán 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 Khalíf 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 Imáms, and the founder of the Hanbalí 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 Imám.[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 Musalmáns 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 Sunnís 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 Shía'hs do not acknowledge the Sihah-Sittah, the six correct books of
the Sunnís, 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 Sahíh-i-Bukhárí, the
most trustworthy of the Sunní set. Thus all Musalmán sects accept the first
and second ground of the faith--the Qurán and the Sunnat--as the inspired
will of God; the Shía'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 Qurán alone is to no Musalmán an
all-sufficient guide.
3. IJMÁ'.--The third foundation of the Faith is called Ijmá', 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 Tábi'ín and the
Taba-i-Tábi'ín. "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 Ijmá'-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 Qurán abrogated others, and which verses
were thus abrogated. The knowledge of these matters and many other details
they handed on to their successors, the Tábi'ín, who passed the information
on to their followers, the Taba-i-Tábi'ín. Some Muslims, the Wahhábís for
example, accept only the Ijmá' 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 Madína; and there are some amongst the orthodox
who allow, as a matter of theory, that Ijmá' may be collected at any time,
but that practically it is not done because there are now no Mujtahidín.
The highest rank a Muslim Theologian could reach was that of a Mujtahid, or
one who could make an Ijtihád, a word which, derived from the same root as
Jihád (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 Ijtihád was as
follows:--Muhammad wished to send a man named Mu'áz 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'áz, by what rule will you act?" He
replied, "by the Law of the Qurán." "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 Ijtihád 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 Ijtihád 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 Khalífs 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 Islám, 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 Ijtihád. During the Khalifates of Abu Bakr, Omar,
Osmán and 'Alí--the Khulafa-i-Ráshidín, or the Khalífs 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 'Alí, the fourth Khalíf, civil war and hostile factions imperilled
the continuance of the Faith in its purity. At Madína, where Muhammad's
career as a recognised Prophet was best known, devout men commenced to
learn by heart the Qurán, the Sunnat, and the analogical judgments
(Ijtihád) of the four Khalífs. These men were looked up to as authorities,
and their decisions were afterwards known as the 'Customs of Madína.'
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 Khalífs and Mujtahidín. This gave rise
to the systems of jurisprudence, founded by the four orthodox Imáms, to one
or other of which all Muslims, except the Shía'hs, belong. These Imáms, Abu
Hanífa, Ibn Málik, As-Sháfi'i and Ibn Hanbal were all Mujtahidín 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: "Ijmá' is this, that it is not lawful to follow any other than the
four Imáms." "In these days the Qází must make no order, the Muftí give no
fatvá (_i.e._ a legal decision), contrary to the opinion of the four
Imáms." "To follow any other is not lawful." So far then as orthodoxy is
concerned, change and progress are impossible.
Imám Abu Hanífa was born at Basra (A.H. 80), but he spent the greater part
of his life at Kúfa. He was the founder and teacher of the body of legists
known as 'the jurists of Irák.' His system differs considerably from that
of the Imám Málik who, living at Madína, confined himself chiefly to
Tradition as the basis of his judgments. Madína was full of the memories of
the sayings and acts of the Prophet; Kúfa, the home of Hanífa, on the
contrary, was not founded till after the Prophet's death and so possessed
none of his memories. Islám 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 Qurán are adduced to prove the
correctness of this position. "For to thee have we sent down the book which
cleareth up every thing." (Súra xvi. 91) "Nothing have we passed over in
the book." (Súra 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." (Súra vi. 59). These texts were held to prove that all law was
provided for by anticipation in the Qurán. 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." (Súra 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 Hanífa. He admitted very few Traditions as authoritative in his system,
which claims to be a logical development from the Qurán. "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 Irák as being of no account whatever. Legislation
is not a science inductive and experimental, but logical and
deductive."[25]
Imám Ibn Málik was born at Madína (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 Madína." His business was to arrange and systematize the
Traditions current in Madína, 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]
Imám As-Sháfa'í, 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 Qurán, the Sunnat, and the sayings of the Companions. "Never," said
Imám Ibn Hanbal, "have I passed a night without praying for God's mercy and
blessing upon As-Sháfi'í." "Whosoever pretends," said Abu Thaur, "that he
saw the like of As-Sháfi'í for learning is a liar." Having carefully
studied the systems of the two preceding Imáms he then proceeded on an
eclectic system to form his own. It was a reaction against the system of
Abu Hanífa. As-Sháfi'í follows rather the traditional plan of Ibn Málik.
The Hanifite will be satisfied if, in the absence of a clear and a direct
statement, he finds one {22} passage in the Qurán, or one Tradition from
which the required judgment may be deduced. The Sháfi'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.
Imám Ibn Hanbal was the last of the four Orthodox Imáms. He was born at
Baghdád (A.H. 164). His system is a distinct return to Traditionalism. He
lived at Baghdád during the reign of the Khalíf Mamun, when Orthodox Islám
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 Hanífa.
They carried the principle of analogical deduction to dangerous lengths in
order to satisfy the latitudinarianism of the Khalíf. 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 Máliki system, founded as it was on the
"Customs of Madína," 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 Hanífa did. The system
of Ibn Hanbal has almost ceased to exist. There is now no Muftí 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 Imáms has been put in this way. Abu Hanífa
exercised his own judgment. Málik and Hanbal preferred authority and
precedent. As-Sháfi'í 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 Ijmá' of the four Imáms is a binding law upon all Sunnís. 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 Imáms making new analogical
deductions. This is not the case. The orthodox belief is, that since the
time of the four Imáms 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 Islám stationary. Legislation is now
purely deductive. Nothing must be done contrary to the principles contained
in the jurisprudence of the four Imáms. "Thus, in any Muhammadan State
legislative reforms are simply impossible. There exists no initiative. The
Sultán, or Khalíf 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 Qurán is on the whole good or bad; whether Arabia was
the better or the worse for the change Muhammad wrought; but what Islám 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, Khalífs and Imáms 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 Islám 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 Qánúns or orders of the Sultán should take the
place of the Sharí'at or law of Islám. Precisely so; if this could be done,
Turkey might be reformed; but Islám would cease to be the religion of the
State. That the law as formulated by the Imám Abu Hanífa ill suits the
conditions of modern life is more than probable; but it is the very
function of the Khalíf of Islám, {25} which the Sultán claims to be, to
maintain it. He is no Mujtahid, for such there are not now amongst the
Sunnís, 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 Imáms. The Shía'hs, in opposition to
the Sunnís, hold that there are still Mujtahidín, but this opinion arises
from their peculiar doctrine of the Imámat, a subject we shall discuss a
little later on. At first sight it would seem that if there can be
Mujtahidín who are now able to give authoritative opinions, there may be
some hope of enlightened progress amongst Shía'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 Qurán and the Sunnat, or rather with what
to the Shía'h stands in the place of the Sunnat. The Shía'h, as well as the
Sunní, 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 Wahhábís reject all Ijmá' except that of the Companions, but that they
accept; so when they are called the Puritans of Islám, it must be
remembered that they accept as a rule of faith not only the Qurán, but the
Sunnat, and some Ijmá'.
In order to make Ijmá' binding, it is necessary that the Mujtahidín should
have been unanimous in their opinion or in their practice.
The whole subject of Ijtihád 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 Islám 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 Ijtihád (Ante. p. 17) to prove the accuracy of his statement.
He makes Mu'áz to say:--"I will look first to the Qurán, then to precedents
of the Prophet, and lastly rely upon my _own judgment_." It is true that
Ijtihád literally means 'great effort,' it is true that the Companions and
Mujtahidín 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 Qurán or the Sunnat; but this in no way proves that Islám 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 Ijtihád
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 Qurán 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
Amír 'Alí's position would remain to be proved for, since the days of the
four Imáms, 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 Islám, 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. QÍÁS is the fourth foundation of Islám. 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 Qurán, the
Sunnat and the Ijmá'. For example, the Qurán 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 Qurán 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
Qurán 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
Wahhábís would extend the prohibition to the use of tobacco.
From cases such as these, many jurisconsults hold that the Mujtahidín of
the earliest age established this fourth foundation of the faith which they
call Qíás. It is also called I'tibár-ul-Amsál, or "imitation of an
example." The idea is taken from the verse: "Profit by this example, ye who
are men of insight" (Súra lix. 2). There are strict rules laid down which
regulate Qíás, of which the most important is, that in all cases it must be
based on the Qurán, the Sunnat, and the Ijmá'. In fact, the fundamental
idea of Islám {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 Musalmán States,
which seems to point to a common cause. All first principles are contained
in the Qurán and the Sunnat; all that does not coincide with them must be
wrong. They are above all criticism.
Qíás, 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 Niháyat-ul-Murád it is written:--"We are shut up to
following the four Imáms." In the Tafsír-i-Ahmadí we read:--"To follow any
other than the four Imáms 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-Waqáyah. The
writer there says that it is nothing of the kind. "The Mujtahidín are not
the source of the orders of the Law, but they are the medium by which we
obtain the Law. Thus Imám Abu Hanífa said: 'We select first from the Qurán,
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 Jelál-ud-dín Mahlí says, 'The common people and others who have
{29} not reached the rank of a Mujtahid, must follow one of the four
Imáms.' 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 Imáms.
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 Imáms are a great company." It is moreover the unanimous
opinion, the "Ijmá'-i-Ummat," that the Imáms rightly occupy the position
accorded to them. It is a great blessing, as we read in the
Tafsír-i-Ahmadí: "It is of the grace of God, that we are shut up to these
four Imáms. 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 Mujtahidín, 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 Imáms and their systems."
These four foundations,--the QURÁN, the SUNNAT, IJMÁ' and QÍÁS--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 Baghdád. 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 Islám 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 Islám 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 Qurán alone is to no
Muslim the sole guide of life. The fetters of a dogmatic system fasten
alike around the individual and the community. Islám 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.
IJTIHÁD.
Questions connected with Ijtihád are so important in Islám, 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 Musalmán, and is,
therefore, of the highest value. It consists of extracts from an
article in the Journal Asiatique, Quatrième Série, tome, 15, on "Le
Marche et les Progres de la Jurisprudence parmi les Sectes orthodoxes
Musalmanes" by Mirza Kázim 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 Musalmáns 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
Qurán, and partly in the sayings of the Prophet transmitted to
posterity by the Companions and preserved in the Sunnat. That way is
called the "Sharí'at." The rules thereof are called Ahkám.
2. The Qurán 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-Tafsír, or the interpretation of the Qurán and
Ilm-i-Hadís, or the study of Tradition.
3. All the orders of the Law have regard either to the actions (Dín),
or to the belief (Imán) of the Mukallifs.[35]
4. As the Qurán and the Sunnat are the principal sources from whence
the precepts of the Sharí'at have been drawn, so the rules recognized
as the principal elements of actual jurisprudence are the subject of
Ilm-í-Fiqh, or the science of Law.
Fiqh in its root signifies conception, comprehension. Thus Muhammad
prayed for Ibn Mas'úd: "May God make him {33} comprehend (Faqqihahu),
and make him know the interpretation of the Qurán." 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
Khalífs acted on the authority of the Traditions. Meanwhile the Qurán
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
Qurán and the Traditions, and then that jurisprudence became a separate
science. No science had as yet been systematically taught, and the
early Musalmáns 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'imán bin Sabit, surnamed
Abu Hanífa 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 Fuqihá,[38] had all their
knowledge by heart, and those who possessed good memories were highly
esteemed. Many of them knew by heart the whole Qurán 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 (Ahkám) which
proceed from the Qurán, and the Sunnat. Such men enjoyed the right of
Mujtahidín. 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 Imáms of the first class, were Abu Hanífa, the Imám-i-A'zam or
great Imám (A.H. 150),[39] Safian As-Sáurí (A.H. 161), Málik (A.H.
179), As-Sháfa'í (A.H. 204), Hanbal (A.H. 241) and Imám Dáúd Az-Zaharí
(A.H. 270). The two sects founded by Sáurí and Zaharí 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 Sháfa'í said:--"No one in the world was so well versed in
jurisprudence as Abu Hanífa 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 Sháfa'í, 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 Ijtihád is granted to those who
are real Mujtahidín. There are three degrees of Ijtihád.
1. Al-Ijtihád fi'l Shari': absolute independence in legislation
2. Al-Ijtihád fi'l Mazhab: authority in the judicial systems founded by
the Mujtahidín of the first class.
3. Al-Ijtihád fi'l Masáil: 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 IJTIHÁD.
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 Mujtahidín
of much higher authority than those of the second and third centuries.
Thus Abu Hanífa 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 Tábi'ín, they are men and we are men."
Since the time of the Tábi'ín this degree of Ijtihád has only been
conferred on the six great Imáms. 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 Qurán 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 Qurán 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 Qurán
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 (Mutashábih), to discriminate between
the literal and the allegorical, the universal and the particular.
2. He must know the Qurán 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 Qurán. 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 'Ulamá, which requires from the candidate things
almost impossible; on the other, there is the attachment of the 'Ulamá
to their own Imáms, for should such a man arise no one is bound now to
listen to him. Imám Hanbal said:--"Draw your knowledge from whence the
Imáms drew theirs, and do not content yourself with following others
for that is certainly blindness of sight". Thus the schools of the four
Imáms remain intact after a thousand years have passed, and so the
'Ulamá recognise since the time of these Imáms no Mujtahíd 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 Qurán, the Sunnat and the Ijmá' 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 Imám and the Qurán or Traditions, he must
abide by the decision of the Imám. The Law does not permit him to
interpret after his own fashion. When once the disciple has entered the
sect of one Imám 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 Imáms. Theoretically such Mujtahidín
may still arise; but, as we have already shown, practically they do
not.
THE SECOND DEGREE OF IJTIHÁD.
This degree has been granted to the immediate disciples of the great
Imáms who have elaborated the systems of their masters. They enjoyed
the special consideration of the contemporary 'Ulamá, and of their
respective Imáms 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 Hanífa, Abu Yúsuf and Muhammad bin al Hasan. In a secondary
matter their opinion carries great weight. It is laid down as a rule
that a Muftí may follow the unanimous opinion of these two even when it
goes against that of Abu Hanífa.
THE THIRD DEGREE OF IJTIHÁD.
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
Mujtahidín; but in either case their decisions must always be in
absolute accordance with the opinions of the Mujtahidín 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 Imám
Qází Khán died (A.H. 592), no one has been recognised by the Sunnís as
a Mujtahid even of the third class.
There are three other inferior classes of jurists, called Muqallidín,
or followers of the Mujtahidín; 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 'Ulamá they are considered to
be equal to the Mujtahidín 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 Qází 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 Hidáyah, who lived
at the end of the sixth century, was a Muqallid.
Such is Mirza Kázim 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}
* * * * *