they divide into six articles: 1. A belief in the unity of God, in
opposition to those whom they call associators; by which name they mean
not only those who, besides the true God, worship idols or inferior gods
or goddesses, but the Christians also, who hold our blessed Saviour's
divinity and the doctrine of the Trinity. 2. A belief of angels, to whom
they attribute various shapes, names, and offices, borrowed from the
Jews and Persians. 3. The Scriptures. 4. The prophets: on this head the
_Koran_ teaches that God revealed his will to various prophets, in
divers ages of the world, and gave it in writing to Adam, Seth, Enoch,
Abraham, etc.; but these books are lost: that afterward he gave the
Pentateuch to Moses, the Psalms to David, the Gospel to Jesus, and the
_Koran_ to Mahomet. The _Koran_ speaks with great reverence of Moses and
Jesus, but says the Scriptures left by them have been greatly mutilated
and corrupted. Under this pretence it adds a great many fabulous
relations to the history contained in those sacred books, and charges
the Jews and Christians with suppressing many prophecies concerning
Mahomet (a calumny easily refuted, the Scriptures having been translated
into various languages long before Mahomet was born). 5. The fifth
article of belief is the resurrection and day of judgment, while about
the intermediate state Mahometan divines have various opinions. The
happiness promised to the Mussulmans in paradise is wholly sensual,
consisting of fine gardens, rich furniture sparkling with gems and gold,
delicious fruits, and wines that neither cloy nor intoxicate; but above
all, affording the fruition of all the delights of love in the society
of women having large black eyes and every trait of exquisite beauty,
who shall ever continue young and perfect. Some of their writers speak
of these females of paradise in very lofty strains; telling us, for
instance, that if one of them were to look down from heaven in the night
she would illuminate the earth as the sun does; and if she did but spit
into the ocean, it would be immediately turned as sweet as honey. These
delights of paradise were certainly, at first, understood literally;
however Mahometan divines may have since allegorized them into a
spiritual sense. As to the punishments threatened to the wicked, they
are hell-fire, breathing hot winds, the drinking of boiling and stinking
water, eating briers and thorns, and the bitter fruit of the tree Zacom,
which in their bellies will feel like boiling pitch. These punishments
are to be everlasting to all except those who embrace Islamism; for the
latter, after suffering a number of years, in proportion to their
demerits, will then, if they have had but so much faith as is equal to
the weight of an ant, be released by the mercy of God, and, upon the
intercession of Mahomet, admitted into paradise.
The sixth article of belief is that God decrees everything that is to
happen, not only all events, but the actions and thoughts of men, their
belief or infidelity; that everything that has or will come to pass has
been, from eternity, written in the preserved or secret table, which is
a white stone of an immense size, preserved in heaven, near the throne
of God. Agreeable to this notion one of their poets thus expresses
himself: "Whatever is written against thee will come to pass; what is
written for thee shall not fail; resign thyself to God, and know thy
Lord to be powerful; his decrees will certainly take place; his servants
ought to be silent."
Of their four fundamental points of practice, the first is prayer. This
duty is to be performed five times in the twenty-four hours: 1. In the
morning before sunrise. 2. When noon is past. 3. A little before sunset.
4. A little after sunset. 5. Before the first watch of the night.
Previous to prayer they are to purify themselves by washing. Some kinds
of pollution require the whole body to be immersed in water, but
commonly it is enough to wash some parts only--the head, the face and
neck, hands and feet. In the latter ablution, called _wodhu_, fine sand
or dust may be used when water cannot be had; in such case the palm of
the hand, being first laid upon the sand, is then to be drawn over the
part required to be washed. The Mahometans, out of respect to the divine
Majesty before whom they are to appear, are required to be clean and
decent when they go to public prayers in their mosques; but are yet
forbidden to appear there in sumptuous apparel, particularly clothes
trimmed with gold or silver, lest they should make them vain and
arrogant. The women are not allowed to be in their mosques at the same
time with the men; this they think would make their thoughts wander from
their proper business there. On this account they reproach the
Christians with the impropriety of the contrary usage. The next point of
practice is alms-giving, which is frequently enjoined in the _Koran_ and
looked upon as highly meritorious. Many of them have been very exemplary
in the performance of this duty. The third point of practical religion
is fasting the whole month Ramadan, during which they are every day to
abstain from eating or drinking, or touching a woman, from daybreak to
sunset; after that they are at liberty to enjoy themselves as at other
times. From this fast an exception is made in favor of old persons and
children. Those also that are sick or on a journey, and women pregnant
or nursing, are also excused in this month. But then, the person making
use of this dispensation must expiate the omission by fasting an equal
number of days in some other month and by giving alms to the poor. There
are also some other days of fasting, which are, by the more religious,
observed in the manner above described. The last practical duty is going
the pilgrimage to Mecca, which every man who is able is obliged to
perform once in his life. In the ceremonies of it they strictly copy
those observed by Mahomet. A pilgrimage can be made only in the month
Dulhagha; but a visitation to Mecca may be made at any other time of the
year.
THE MAHOMETAN CREED
As an illustration of the Mahometan creed and practice I have thought it
advisable to insert their famous Dr. Al-Gazali's interpretation of the
two articles of their faith, viz., "There is no God but God; Mahomet is
the apostle of God":
"Praise be to God the Creator and Restorer of all things: who does
whatsoever he pleases, who is master of the glorious throne and mighty
force, and directs his sincere servants into the right way and the
straight path; who favoreth them who have once borne testimony to the
unity, by preserving their confessions from the darkness of doubt and
hesitation; who directs them to follow his chosen apostle, upon whom be
the blessing and peace of God; and to go after his most honorable
companions, to whom he hath vouchsafed his assistance and direction
which is revealed to them in his essence and operations by the
excellences of his attributes, to the knowledge whereof no man attains
but he that hath been taught by hearing. To these, as touching his
essence, he maketh known that he is one, and hath no partner: singular,
without anything like him: uniform, having no contrary: separate, having
no equal. He is ancient, having no first: eternal, having no beginning:
remaining forever, having no end: continuing to eternity, without any
termination. He persists, without ceasing to be, remains without
failing, and never did cease, nor ever shall cease, to be described by
glorious attributes, nor is subject to any decree so as to be determined
by any precise limits or set times, but is the First and the Last, and
is within and without.
"_What God is not_.] He (glorified be his name) is not a body endued
with form, nor a substance circumscribed with limits or determined by
measure; neither does he resemble bodies, as they are capable of being
measured or divided. Neither is he a substance, neither do substances
exist in him; neither is he an accident, nor do accidents exist in him.
Neither is he like to anything that exists, neither is anything like to
him; nor is he determinate in quantity nor comprehended by bounds, nor
circumscribed by the differences of situation nor contained in the
heavens. He sits upon the throne, after that manner which he himself
hath described, and in that same sense which he himself means, which is
a sitting far removed from any notion of contact, or resting upon, or
local situation; but both the throne itself, and whatsoever is upon it,
are sustained by the goodness of his power, and are subject to the grasp
of his hand. But he is above the throne, and above all things, even to
the utmost ends of the earth; but so above as at the same time not to be
a whit nearer the throne and the heaven; since he is exalted by
(infinite) degrees above the throne no less than he is exalted above the
earth, and at the same time is near to everything that hath a being;
nay, nearer to men than their jugular veins, and is witness to
everything; though his nearness is not like the nearness of bodies, as
neither is his essence like the essence of bodies. Neither doth he exist
in anything, neither doth anything exist in him; but he is too high to
be contained in any place, and too holy to be determined by time; for he
was before time and place were created, and is now after the same manner
as he always was. He is also distinct from the creatures by his
attributes, neither is there anything besides himself in his essence,
nor is his essence in any other besides him. He is too holy to be
subject to change, or any local motion; neither do any accidents dwell
in him nor any contingencies befall him, but he abides through all
generations with his glorious attributes, free from all danger of
dissolution. As to the attribute of perfection, he wants no addition of
his perfection. As to being, he is known to exist by the apprehension of
the understanding; and he is seen as he is by an ocular intuition, which
will be vouchsafed out of his mercy and grace to the holy in the eternal
mansion, completing their joy by the vision of his glorious presence.
"_His Power_.] He, praised be his name, is living, powerful, mighty,
omnipotent, not liable to any defect or impotence, neither slumbering
nor sleeping, nor being obnoxious to decay or death. To him belong the
kingdom, and the power, and the might. His is the dominion, and the
excellency, and the creation, and the command thereof. The heavens are
folded up in his right hand, and all creatures are crouched within his
grasp. His excellency consists in his creating and producing, and his
unity in communicating existence and a beginning of being. He created
men and their works, and measured out their maintenance and their
determined times. Nothing that is possible can escape his grasp, nor can
the vicissitudes of things elude his power. The effects of his might are
innumerable, and the objects of his knowledge infinite.
"_His Knowledge_.] He, praised be his name, knows all things that can be
understood, and comprehends whatsoever comes to pass, from the
extremities of the earth to the highest heavens, even the weight of a
pismire could not escape him either in earth or heaven; but he would
perceive the creeping of the black pismire in the dark night upon the
hard stone, and discern the motion of an atom in the open air. He knows
what is secret and conceals it, and views the conceptions of the minds,
and the motions of the thoughts, and the inmost recesses of secrets, by
a knowledge ancient and eternal, that never ceased to be his attribute
from eternal eternity, and not by any new knowledge, superadded to his
essence, either inhering or adventitious.
"_His Will_.] He, praised be his name, doth will those things to be that
are, and disposes of all accidents. Nothing passes in the empire, nor
the kingdom, neither little nor much, nor small nor great, nor good nor
evil, nor profitable nor hurtful, nor faith nor infidelity, nor
knowledge nor ignorance, nor prosperity nor adversity, nor increase nor
decrease, nor obedience nor rebellion, but by his determinate counsel
and decree, and his definite sense and will. Nor doth the wink of him
that seeth, nor the subtlety of him that thinketh, exceed the bounds of
his will: but it is he who gave all things their beginning; he is the
creator and restorer, the sole operator of what he pleases; there is no
reversing his decree nor delaying what he hath determined, nor is there
any refuge to man from his rebellion against him, but only his help and
mercy; nor hath any man any power to perform any duty toward him, but
through his love and will. Though men and genii, angels and devils,
should conspire together either to put one single atom in motion, or
cause it to cease its motion, without his will and approbation they
would not be able to do it. His will subsists in his essence among the
rest of his attributes, and was from eternity one of his eternal
attributes, by which he willed from eternity the existence of those
things that he had decreed, which were produced in their proper seasons
according to his eternal will, without any before or after, and in
agreement both with his knowledge and will, and not by methodizing of
thoughts, nor waiting for a proper time, for which reason no one thing
is in him a hinderance from another.
"_His Hearing and Sight_.] And he, praised be his name, is hearing and
seeing, and heareth and seeth. No audible object, how still soever,
escapeth his hearing; nor is anything visible so small as to escape his
sight; for distance is no hinderance to his hearing, nor darkness to his
sight. He sees without pupil or eyelids, and hears without any passage
or ear, even as he knoweth without a heart, and performs his actions
without the assistance of any corporeal limb, and creates without any
instrument, for his attributes (or properties) are not like those of
men, any more than his essence is like theirs.
"_His Word_.] Furthermore, he doth speak, command, forbid, promise, and
threaten by an eternal, ancient word subsisting in his essence. Neither
is it like to the word of the creatures, nor doth it consist in a voice
arising from the commotion of the air and the collision of bodies, nor
letters which are separated by the joining together of the lips or the
motion of the tongue. The _Koran_, the Law, the Gospel, and the Psalter,
are books sent down by him to his apostles, and the _Koran_, indeed, is
read with tongues, written in books, and kept in hearts; yet as
subsisting in the essence of God, it doth not become liable to
separation and division while it is transferred into the hearts and the
papers. Thus Moses also heard the word of God without voice or letter,
even as the saints behold the essence of God without substance or
accident. And that since these are his attributes, he liveth and
knoweth, is powerful and willeth and operateth, and seeth and speaketh,
by life and knowledge, and will and hearing, and sight and word, not by
his simple essence.
"_His Works_.] He, praised be his name, exists after such a manner that
nothing besides him hath any being but what is produced by his
operation, and floweth from his justice after the best, most excellent,
most perfect, and most just model. He is, moreover, wise in his works
and just in his decrees. But his justice is not to be compared with the
justice of men. For a man may be supposed to act unjustly by invading
the possession of another; but no injustice can be conceived of God,
inasmuch as there is nothing that belongs to any other besides himself,
so that wrong is not imputable to him as meddling with things not
appertaining to him. All things, himself only excepted, genii, men, the
devil, angels, heaven, earth, animals, plants, substance, accident,
intelligible, sensible, were all created originally by him. He created
them by his power out of mere privation, and brought them into light,
when as yet they were nothing at all, but he alone existing from
eternity, neither was there any other with him. Now he created all
things in the beginning for the manifestation of his power, and his
will, and the confirmation of his word, which was true from all
eternity. Not that he stood in need of them, nor wanted them; but he
manifestly declared his glory in creating, and producing, and
commanding, without being under any obligation, nor out of necessity.
Loving-kindness, and to show favor, and grace, and beneficence, belong
to him; whereas it is in his power to pour forth upon men a variety of
torments, and afflict them with various kinds of sorrows and diseases,
which, if he were to do, his justice could not be arraigned, nor would
he be chargeable with injustice. Yet he rewards those that worship him
for their obedience on account of his promise and beneficence, not of
their merit nor of necessity, since there is nothing which he can be
tied to perform; nor can any injustice be supposed in him, nor can he
be under any obligation to any person whatsoever. That his creatures,
however, should be bound to serve him, ariseth from his having declared
by the tongues of the prophets that it was due to him from them. The
worship of him is not simply the dictate of the understanding, but he
sent messengers to carry to men his commands, and promises, and threats,
whose veracity he proved by manifest miracles, whereby men are obliged
to give credit to them in those things that they relate.
"_The signification of the second article; that is, the testimony
concerning the Apostle_.] He, the Most High, sent Mahomet, the
illiterate prophet of the family of the Koreish, to deliver his message
to all the Arabians and barbarians and genii and men; and abrogated by
his religion all other religions, except in those things which he
confirmed; and gave him the preëminence over all the rest of the
prophets, and made him lord over all mortal men. Neither is the faith,
according to his will, complete by the testimony of the unity alone;
that is, by simply saying, There is but one God, without the addition of
the testimony of the apostle; _i.e._, without the further testimony,
Mahomet is the apostle of God. And he hath made it necessary to men to
give credit to Mahomet in those things which he hath related, both with
regard to this present world and the life to come. For a man's faith is
not accepted till he is fully persuaded of those things which the
prophet hath affirmed shall be after death. The first of these is the
examination of Munkir and Nakir. These are two angels, of a most
terrible and fearful aspect, who shall place [every] man upright in his
grave, consisting again both of soul and body, and ask him concerning
the unity and the mission [of the apostle], saying, Who is thy Lord?
and, What is thy religion? and, Who is thy prophet? For these are the
searchers of the grave, and their examination the first trial after
death. Everyone must also believe the torment of the sepulchre, and that
it is due and right and just, both upon the body and the soul, being
according to the will of God.
"He shall also believe in the balance with two scales and a beam, that
shall equal the extent of the heavens and the earth; wherein the works
[of men] shall be weighed by the power of God. At which time weights not
heavier than atoms, or mustard-seeds, shall be brought out, that things
may be balanced with the utmost exactness, and perfect justice
administered. Then the books of the good works, beautiful to behold,
shall be cast into the balance of light, by which the balance shall be
depressed according to their degrees, out of the favor of God. But the
books of evil deeds, nasty to look upon, shall be cast into the balance
of darkness, with which the scale shall lightly ascend by the justice of
the most high God.
"He must also believe that there is a real way, extended over the middle
of hell, which is sharper than a sword and finer than a hair, over which
all must pass. In this passage of it, while the feet of the infidels, by
the decree of God, shall slip, so as they shall fall into hell-fire, the
feet of the faithful shall never stumble, but they shall arrive safely
into the eternal habitation.
"He shall also believe the pond where they go down to be watered, that
is the pond of Mahomet (upon whom be the blessing and peace of God), out
of which the faithful, after they have passed the way, drink before they
enter into paradise; and out of which whosoever once drinketh shall
thirst no more forever. Its breadth is a month's journey, it is whiter
than milk and sweeter than honey. Round about it stand cups as
innumerable as the stars, and it hath two canals, by which the waters of
the [river] Cauthar flow into it.
"He shall also believe the [last] account, in which men shall be divided
into those that shall be reckoned withal with the utmost strictness, and
those that shall be dealt withal more favorably, and those that shall be
admitted into paradise without any manner of examination at all; namely,
those whom God shall cause to approach near to himself. Moreover, he
shall believe that God will ask any of his apostles, whomsoever he shall
please, concerning their mission; of the infidels, and whomsoever he
shall please, what was the reason why, by their unbelief, they accused
those that were sent to them of lying. He will also examine the heretics
concerning tradition, and the faithful concerning their good works.
"He shall also believe that all who confess one God shall, upon the
intercession of the prophets, next of the doctors, then of the martyrs,
and finally of the rest of the faithful--that is, everyone according to
his excellency and degree--at length go out of the fire after they have
undergone the punishment due to their sins.
"And if besides these remain any of the faithful, having no intercessor,
they shall go out by the grace of God; neither shall any one of the
faithful remain forever in hell, but shall go out from thence though he
had but so much faith in his heart as the weight of an atom. And thus,
by the favorable mercy of God, no person shall remain in hell who in
life acknowledge the unity of the Godhead.
"It is also necessary that every true believer acknowledge the
excellency of the companions [of Mahomet] and their degrees; and that
the most excellent of men, next to Mahomet, is Abu-Bekr, then Omar, then
Othman, and then Ali. Moreover, he must entertain a good opinion of all
the companions, and celebrate their memories, according as God and his
apostles hath celebrated them. And all these things are received by
tradition, and evinced by evident tokens; and he that confesseth all
these things, and surely believeth them, is to be reckoned among the
number of those that embrace truth, and of the congregation of those
that walk in the received way, separated from the congregation of those
that err, and the company of heretics.
"These are the things that everyone is obliged to believe and confess
that would be accounted worthy of the name of a Mussulman; and that,
according to the literal meaning of the words, not as they may be made
capable of any sounder sense; for, says the author of this exposition,
some pretending to go deeper have put an interpretation upon those
things that are delivered concerning the world to come, such as the
balance, and the way, and some other things besides, but it is heresy."
FOOTNOTES:
[49] This famous structure (in the Arabic, _Kef'bah_--a square building)
for over twelve hundred years has been the cynosure of the Moslem
peoples. It is undoubtedly of great antiquity, being mentioned by
Diodorus the historian in the latter part of the first century, at which
time its sanctity was acknowledged and its idols venerated by the
Arabians and kindred tribes who paid yearly visits to the shrine to
offer their devotions.
According to the Arabian legend Adam, after his expulsion from the
Garden, worshipped Allah on this spot. A tent was then sent down from
heaven, but Seth substituted a hut for the tent. After the Flood,
Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt the Kaaba.
At present it is a cube-shaped, flat-roofed building of stone in the
Great Mosque at Mecca. In its southeast corner next to the silver door
is the famous black stone "_hajar al aswud_," dropped from paradise. It
was said to have been originally a white stone (by other accounts a
ruby), but the tears--or more probably the kisses--of pilgrims have
turned it quite black.
[50] Palmer has it: "In the mean time Mahomet and Abu-Bekr escaped by a
back window in the house of the latter."
[51] _Zem-sem_, the name of this well, is said by the Moslems to be the
spring which Hagar had revealed to her when driven into the wilderness
with her son, Ishmael.
[52] Friday remains the Sabbath of the Moslems.
[53] His nephew and son-in-law, surnamed "the Lion-hearted."
[54] The Persians add these words, "and Ali is the friend of God." Kouli
Khan, having a mind to unite the two different sects, ordered them to be
omitted.--_Fraser's Life of Kouli Khan_, p. 124.
[55] An Arab of Kossay, named Ammer Ibn Lahay, is said to have first
introduced idolatry among his countrymen; he brought the idol called
Hobal, from Hyt in Mesopotamia, and set it up in the Kaaba. It was the
Jupiter of the Arabians, and was made of red agate in the form of a man
holding in his hand seven arrows without heads or feathers, such as the
Arabs use in divination. At a subsequent period the Kaaba was adorned
with three hundred and sixty idols, corresponding probably to the days
of the Arabian year.--_Burckhardt's Arabia_, pp. 163, 164.
[56] An opinion as ancient as Homer.--_Iliad_, vi. 487.