RELIGION AND LAWS.
As the most important branch of their education, and the main foundation
of their manners and customs, the religion and laws of the people who
are the subject of these pages must be well understood—not only in their
general principles, but in many minor points—before we can proceed to
consider their social condition and habits in the state of manhood.
A difference of opinion among Muslims, respecting some points of
religion and law, has given rise to four sects, which consider each
other orthodox as to fundamental matters, and call themselves “Sunnees,”
or followers of the traditions; while they designate all other Muslims
by the term “Shiya’ees,” signifying, according to their acceptation,
“heretics.” The Sunnees alone are the class which we have to consider.
The four sects into which they are divided are the “Hanafees,”
“Sháfe’ees,” “Málikees,” and “Hambel′ees,”—so called from the names of
the respective doctors whose tenets they have adopted. The Turks are of
the first sect, which is the most reasonable. The inhabitants of Cairo,
a small proportion excepted (who are Hanafees), are either Sháfe’ees or
Málikees; and it is generally said that they are mostly of the former of
these sects, as are also the people of Arabia; those of the Sharkeeyeh,
on the east of the Delta, Sháfe’ees; those of the Gharbeeyeh, or Delta,
Sháfe’ees, with a few Málikees; those of the Boheyreh, on the west of
the Delta, Málikees. The inhabitants of the Sa’eed, or the valley of
Upper Egypt, are likewise, with few exceptions, Málikees; so also are
the Nubians, and the Western Arabs. To the fourth sect very few persons
in the present day belong. All these sects agree in deriving their code
of religion and law from four sources; namely, the Kur-án, the
traditions of the Prophet, the concordance of his early disciples, and
analogy.
The religion which Mohammad taught is generally called by the Arabs
“El-Islám.” “Eemán” and “Deen” are the particular terms applied,
respectively, to faith and practical religion.
The grand principles of the faith are expressed in two articles, the
first of which is this—
“_There is no deity but God._”
God, who created all things in heaven and in earth, who preserveth all
things, and decreeth all things, who is without beginning, and without
end, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, is _one_. His unity is
thus declared in a short chapter of the Kur-án[96]: “Say, He is God; one
[God]. God is the Eternal. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and
there is none equal unto Him.” He hath no partner, nor any offspring, in
the creed of the Muslim. Though Jesus Christ (whose name should not be
mentioned without adding, “on whom be peace”) is believed to have been
born of a pure virgin, by the miraculous operation of God,[97] without
any natural father, to be the Messiah, and “the Word of God, which He
transmitted unto Mary, and a Spirit [proceeding] from Him,”[98] yet he
is not called the Son of God; and no higher titles are given to him than
those of a Prophet and Apostle; he is even considered as of inferior
dignity to Mohammad, inasmuch as the Gospel is held to be superseded by
the Kurán. The Muslim believes that Seyyidna ’Eesa[99] (or “our Lord
Jesus”), after He had fulfilled the object of His mission, was taken up
unto God from the Jews, who sought to slay Him; and that another person,
on whom God had stamped the likeness of Christ, was crucified in His
stead.[100] He also believes that Christ is to come again upon the
earth, to establish the Muslim religion, and perfect peace and security,
after having killed Antichrist, and to be a sign of the approach of the
last day.
The other grand article of the faith, which cannot be believed without
the former, is this—
“_Mohammad is God’s Apostle._”
Mohammad is believed by his followers to have been the last and greatest
of Prophets and Apostles.[101] Six of these—namely, Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad—are believed each to have received a revealed
law, or system of religion and morality. That, however, which was
revealed to Adam was abrogated by the next; and each succeeding law, or
code of laws, abrogated the preceding, though all are believed to have
been the same in every essential point; therefore, those who professed
the Jewish religion from the time of Moses to that of Jesus were true
believers, and those who professed the Christian religion (uncorrupted,
as the Muslims say, by the tenet that Christ was the _son_ of God) until
the time of Mohammad are held, in like manner, to have been true
believers. But the copies of the Pentateuch, the Psalms of David (which
the Muslims also hold to be of divine origin), and the Gospels now
existing, are believed to have been so much altered as to contain very
little of the true word of God. The Kur-án is believed to have suffered
no alteration whatever.
It is further necessary that the Muslim should believe in the existence
of angels, and of good and evil genii; the evil genii being devils,
whose chief is Iblees:[102] also, in the immortality of the soul, the
general resurrection and judgment, in future rewards and punishments in
Paradise and Hell, in the balance in which good and evil works shall be
weighed, and in the bridge “Es-Sirát” (which extends over the midst of
Hell, finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword), over
which all must pass, and from which the wicked shall fall into Hell. He
believes, also, that they who have acknowledged the faith of El-Islám
and yet acted wickedly will not remain in Hell for ever; but that all of
other religions must: that there are, however, degrees of punishments,
as well as of rewards,—the former consisting in severe torture by
excessive heat and cold, and the latter, partly in the indulgence of the
appetites by most delicious meats and drinks, and in the pleasures
afforded by the company of the girls of Paradise, whose eyes will be
very large and entirely black,[103] and whose stature will be
proportioned to that of the men, which will be the height of a tall
palm-tree, or about sixty feet. Such, the Muslims generally believe, was
the height of our first parents. It is said that the souls of martyrs
reside, until the judgment, in the crops of green birds, which eat of
the fruits of Paradise and drink of its rivers.[104] Women are not to be
excluded from Paradise, according to the faith of El-Islám; though it
has been asserted, by many Christians, that the Muslims believe women to
have no souls. In several places in the Kur-án, Paradise is promised to
all true believers, whether males or females. It is the doctrine of the
Kur-án that no person will be admitted into Paradise by his own merits;
but that admission will be granted to the believers merely by the mercy
of God, on account of their faith; yet that the felicity of each person
will be proportioned to his good works. The very meanest in Paradise is
promised “eighty thousand servants” (beautiful youths, called
“weleeds”), “seventy-two wives of the girls of Paradise” (“hooreeyehs”),
“besides the wives he had in this world,” if he desire to have the
latter (and the good will doubtless desire the good), “and a tent
erected for him of pearls, jacinths, and emeralds, of a very large
extent;” “and will be waited on by three hundred attendants while he
eats, and served in dishes of gold, whereof three hundred shall be set
before him at once, each containing a different kind of food, the last
morsel of which will be as grateful as the first.” Wine also, “though
forbidden in this life, will yet be freely allowed to be drunk in the
next, and without danger, since the wine of Paradise will not
inebriate.”[105] We are further told, that all superfluities from the
bodies of the inhabitants of Paradise will be carried off by
perspiration, which will diffuse an odour like that of musk; and that
they will be clothed in the richest silks, chiefly of green. They are
also promised perpetual youth, and children as many as they may desire.
These pleasures, together with the songs of the angel Isráfeel, and many
other gratifications of the senses, will charm even the meanest
inhabitant of Paradise. But all these enjoyments will be lightly
esteemed by those more blessed persons who are to be admitted to the
highest of all honours—that spiritual pleasure of beholding, morning and
evening, the face of God.[106]—The Muslim must also believe in the
examination of the dead in the sepulchre, by two angels, called Munkar
and Nekeer, of terrible aspect, who will cause the body (to which the
soul shall, for the time, be re-united) to sit upright in the
grave,[107] and will question the deceased respecting his faith. The
wicked they will severely torture; but the good they will not hurt.
Lastly, he should believe in God’s absolute decree of every event, both
good and evil. This doctrine has given rise to as much controversy among
the Muslims as among Christians; but the former, generally, believe in
predestination as, in some respects, conditional.
The most important duties enjoined in the _ritual and moral laws_ are
_prayer, alms-giving, fasting_, and _pilgrimage_.
The religious _purifications_, which are of two kinds,—first, the
ordinary ablution preparatory to _prayer_, and secondly, the washing of
the whole body, together with the performance of the former
ablution,—are of primary importance: for prayer, which is a duty so
important that it is called “the Key of Paradise,” will not be accepted
from a person in a state of uncleanness. It is therefore also necessary
to avoid impurity by clipping the nails, and other similar
practices.[108]
There are partial washings, or purifications, which all Muslims perform
on certain occasions, even if they neglect their prayers, and which are
considered as religious acts.[109] The ablution called “el-wudoó,” which
is preparatory to prayer, I shall now describe. The purifications just
before alluded to are a part of the wudoó: the other washings are not,
of necessity, to be performed immediately after, but only when the
person is about to say his prayers; and these are performed in the
mosque or in the house, in public or in private. There is in every
mosque a tank (called “meydaäh”) or a “hanafeeyeh,” which is a raised
reservoir, with spouts round it, from which the water falls. In some
mosques there are both these. The Muslims of the Hanafee sect (of which
are the Turks) perform the ablution at the latter (which has received
its name from that cause); for they must do it with running water, or
from a tank or pool at least ten cubits in breadth, and the same in
depth; and I believe that there is only one meydaäh in Cairo of that
depth, which is in the great mosque El-Azhar. A small hanafeeyeh of
tinned copper, placed on a low shelf, and a large basin, or a small ewer
and basin of the same metal, are generally used in the house for the
performance of the wudoó.
The person, having tucked up his sleeves a little higher than his
elbows, says, in a low voice, or inaudibly, “I purpose performing the
wudoó, for prayer.”[110] He then washes his hands three times; saying,
in the same manner as before, “In the name of God, the Compassionate,
the Merciful! Praise be to God, who hath sent down water for
purification, and made El-Islám to be a light and a conductor, and a
guide to Thy gardens, the gardens of delight, and to Thy mansion, the
mansion of peace.” Then he rinses his mouth three times, throwing the
water into it with his right hand;[111] and in doing this he says, “O
God, assist me in the reading of Thy book, and in commemorating Thee,
and in thanking Thee, and in worshipping Thee well!” Next, with his
right hand, he throws water up his nostrils (snuffing it up at the same
time), and then blows it out, compressing his nostrils with the thumb
and finger of the _left_ hand; and this also is done three times. While
doing it, he says, “O God, make me to smell the odours of Paradise, and
bless me with its delights; and make me not to smell the smell of the
fires [of Hell].” He then washes his face three times, throwing up the
water with both hands, and saying, “O God, whiten my face with Thy
light, on the day when Thou shalt whiten the faces of Thy favourites;
and do not blacken my face, on the day when Thou shalt blacken the faces
of Thine enemies.”[112] His right hand and arm, as high as the elbow, he
next washes three times, and as many times causes some water to run
along his arm, from the palm of the hand to the elbow, saying, as he
does this, “O God, give me my book in my right hand;[113] and reckon
with me with an easy reckoning.” In the same manner he washes the left
hand and arm, saying, “O God, do not give me my book in my left hand,
nor behind my back; and do not reckon with me with a difficult
reckoning; nor make me to be one of the people of the fire.” He next
draws his wetted right hand over the upper part of his head, raising his
turban or cap with his left: this he does but once; and he accompanies
the action with this supplication, “O God, cover me with Thy mercy, and
pour down Thy blessing upon me; and shade me under the shadow of Thy
canopy, on the day when there shall be no shade but its shade.” If he
have a beard, he then combs it with the wetted fingers of his right
hand; holding his hand with the palm forwards, and passing the fingers
through his beard from the throat upwards. He then puts the tips of his
fore-fingers into his ears, and twists them round, passing his thumbs at
the same time round the back of the ears, from the bottom upwards; and
saying, “O God, make me to be of those who hear what is said, and obey
what is best;” or, “O God, make me to hear good.” Next he wipes his neck
with the back of the fingers of both hands, making the ends of his
fingers meet behind his neck, and then drawing them forward; and in
doing so, he says, “O God, free my neck from the fire; and keep me from
the chains, and the collars, and the fetters.” Lastly, he washes his
feet, as high as the ankles, and passes his fingers between the toes: he
washes the right foot first, saying, at the same time, “O God, make firm
my feet upon the Sirát, on the day when feet shall slip upon it:” on
washing the left foot, he says, “O God, make my labour to be approved,
and my sin forgiven, and my works accepted, merchandise that shall not
perish, by Thy pardon, O Mighty! O very Forgiving! by Thy mercy, O most
Merciful of those who show mercy!” After having thus completed the
ablution, he says, looking towards heaven, “Thy perfection, O God! [I
extol] with Thy praise: I testify that there is no deity but Thou alone:
Thou hast no companion: I implore Thy forgiveness, and turn to Thee with
repentance.” Then looking towards the earth, he adds, “I testify that
there is no deity but God: and I testify that Mohammad is His servant
and His apostle.” Having uttered these words, he should recite, once,
twice, or three times, the “Soorat el-Kadr,” or 97th chapter of the
Kur-án.
The wudoó is generally performed in less than two minutes; most persons
hurrying through the act, as well as omitting almost all the prayers,
etc., which should accompany and follow the actions. It is not required
before each of the five daily prayers, when the person is _conscious_ of
having avoided every kind of impurity since the last performance of this
ablution. When water cannot be easily procured, or would be injurious to
the health of the individual, he may perform the ablution with dust or
sand. This ceremony is called “tayemmum.” The person, in this case,
strikes the palms of his hands upon any dry dust or sand (it will
suffice to do so upon his cloth robe, as it must contain some dust),
and, with both hands, wipes his face: then, having struck his hands
again upon the dust, he wipes his right hand and arm as high as the
elbow; and then, the left hand and arm, in the same manner. This
completes the ceremony. The washing of the whole body is often performed
merely for the sake of cleanliness; but not as a religious act,
excepting on particular occasions—as on the morning of Friday, and on
the two grand festivals, etc.,[114] when it is called “ghusl.”
Cleanliness is required not only in the worshipper, but also in the
ground, mat, carpet, robe, or whatever else it be, upon which he prays.
Persons of the lower orders often pray upon the bare ground, which is
considered clean if it be dry; and they seldom wipe off immediately the
dust which adheres to the nose and forehead in prostration; for it is
regarded as ornamental to the believer’s face: but when a person has a
cloak or any other garment that he can take off without exposing his
person in an unbecoming manner, he spreads it upon the ground to serve
as a prayer-carpet. The rich use a prayer-carpet (called “seggádeh”)
about the size of a wide hearth-rug, having a niche represented upon it,
the point of which is turned towards Mekkeh.[115] It is reckoned sinful
to pass near before a person engaged in prayer.
_Prayer_ is called “salah.” Five times in the course of every day is its
performance required of the Muslim: but there are comparatively few
persons in Egypt who do not sometimes, or often, neglect this duty; and
many who scarcely ever pray. Certain portions of the ordinary prayers
are called “fard,” which are appointed by the Kur-án; and others,
“sunneh,” which are appointed by the Prophet, without allegation of a
divine order.
The first time of prayer commences at the “maghrib,” or sunset,[116] or
rather, about four minutes later; the second, at the “’eshë,” or
nightfall, when the evening has closed, and it is quite dark;[117] the
third, at the “subh” or “fegr;” _i.e._, daybreak;[118] the fourth, at
the “duhr,” or noon, or, rather, a little later, when the sun has begun
to decline; the fifth, at the “’asr,” or afternoon; _i.e._, about
mid-time between noon and nightfall.[119] Each period of prayer ends
when the next commences, excepting that of daybreak, which ends at
sunrise. The Prophet would not have his followers commence their prayers
at sunrise, nor exactly at noon or sunset, because, he said, infidels
worshipped the sun at such times.
Should the time of prayer arrive when they are eating, or about to eat,
they are not to rise to prayer till they have finished their meal. The
prayers should be said as nearly as possible at the commencement of the
periods above mentioned: they may be said after, but not before. The
several times of prayer are announced by the “muëddin” of each mosque.
Having ascended to the gallery of the “mád’neh,” or menaret, he chants
the “adán,” or call to prayer, which is as follows: “God is most Great!”
(this is said four times.) “I testify that there is no deity but God!”
(twice.) “I testify that Mohammad is God’s Apostle!” (twice.) “Come to
prayer!” (twice.) “Come to security!” (twice.)[120] “God is most Great!”
(twice.) “There is no deity but God!”—Most of the muëddins of Cairo have
harmonious and sonorous voices, which they strain to the utmost pitch:
yet there is a simple and solemn melody in their chants which is very
striking, particularly in the stillness of night.[121] _Blind_ men are
generally preferred for the office of muëddins, that the hareems and
terraces of surrounding houses may not be overlooked from the mád’nehs.
Two other calls to prayer are made during the night, to rouse those
persons who desire to perform supererogatory acts of devotion.[122] A
little after midnight, the muëddins of the great royal mosques in Cairo
(_i.e._, of each of the great mosques founded by a Sultán, which is
called “Gámë, Sultánee”), and of some other large mosques, ascend the
mád’nehs, and chant the following call, which, being one of the two
night-calls not at the regular periods of obligatory prayers, is called
the “Oola,” a term signifying merely the “First.” Having commenced by
chanting the common adán, with those words which are introduced in the
call to morning-prayer (“Prayer is better than sleep”), he adds, “There
is no deity but God” (three times) “alone: He hath no companion: to Him
belongeth the dominion; and to Him belongeth praise. He giveth life, and
causeth death; and He is living, and shall never die. In His hand is
blessing [or good]; and He is Almighty.—There is no deity but God!”
(three times) “and we will not worship any beside Him, ‘serving Him with
sincerity of religion,’[123] ‘though the infidels be averse’[124]
[thereto]. There is no deity but God! Mohammad is the most noble of the
creation in the sight of God. Mohammad is the best prophet that hath
been sent, and a lord by whom his companions became lords; comely;
liberal of gifts; perfect; pleasant to the taste; sweet; soft to the
throat [or to be drunk]. Pardon, O Lord, Thy servant and Thy poor
dependent, the endower of this place, and him who watcheth it with
goodness and beneficence, and its neighbours, and those who frequent it
at the times of prayers and good acts, O Thou Bountiful!—O Lord!”[125]
(three times.) “Thou art He who ceaseth not to be distinguished by
mercy: Thou art liberal of Thy clemency towards the rebellious; and
protectest him; and concealest what is foul; and makest manifest every
virtuous action; and Thou bestowest Thy beneficence upon the servant,
and comfortest him, O Thou Bountiful!—O Lord!” (three times.) “My sins,
when I think upon them, [I see to be] many; but the mercy of my Lord is
more abundant than are my sins: I am not solicitous on account of good
that I have done; but for the mercy of God I am most solicitous.
Extolled be the Everlasting! He hath no companion in His great dominion.
His perfection [I extol]: exalted be His name: [I extol] the perfection
of God.”
About an hour before daybreak, the muëddins of most mosques chant the
second call, named the “Ebed,” and so called from the occurrence of that
word near the commencement.[126] This call is as follows: “[I extol] the
perfection of God, the Existing for ever and ever” (three times): “the
perfection of God, the Desired, the Existing, the Single, the Supreme:
the perfection of God, the One, the Sole: the perfection of Him who
taketh to Himself, in His great dominion, neither female companion, nor
male partner, nor any like unto Him, nor any that is disobedient, nor
any deputy, nor any equal, nor any offspring. His perfection [I extol]:
and exalted be His name! He is a Deity who knew what hath been before it
was, and called into existence what hath been; and He is now existing as
He was [at the first]. His perfection [I extol]: and exalted be His
name! He is a Deity unto whom there is none like existing. There is none
like unto God, the Bountiful, existing. There is none like unto God, the
Clement, existing. There is none like unto God, the Great, existing. And
there is no deity but Thou, O our Lord, to be worshipped and to be
praised and to be desired and to be glorified. [I extol] the perfection
of Him who created all creatures, and numbered them, and distributed
their sustenance, and decreed the terms of the lives of His servants:
and our Lord, the Bountiful, the Clement, the Great, forgetteth not one
of them. [I extol] the perfection of Him who, of His power and
greatness, caused the pure water to flow from the solid stone, the mass
of rock: the perfection of Him who spake with our lord Moosa [or Moses]
upon the mountain;[127] whereupon the mountain was reduced to dust,[128]
through dread of God, whose name be exalted, the One, the Sole. There is
no deity but God. He is a just Judge. [I extol] the perfection of the
First. Blessing and peace be on thee, O comely of countenance! O Apostle
of God! Blessing and peace be on thee, O first of the creatures of God!
and seal of the apostles of God! Blessing and peace be on thee, O thou
Prophet! on thee and on thy Family, and all thy Companions. God is most
Great! God is most Great!” etc., to the end of the call to
morning-prayer. “O God, favour and preserve and bless the blessed
Prophet, our lord Mohammad! And may God, whose name be blessed and
exalted, be well pleased with thee, O our lord El-Hasan, and with thee,
O our lord El-Hoseyn, and with thee, O Aboo-Farrág,[129] O Sheykh of the
Arabs, and with all the favourites [the “welees”] of God. Amen.”
The prayers which are performed daily at the five periods before
mentioned are said to be of so many “rek’ahs,” or inclinations of the
head.[130]
[Illustration: POSTURES OF PRAYER. (PART I.)]
The worshipper, standing with his face towards the Kibleh (that is,
towards Mekkeh), and his feet not quite close together, says, inaudibly,
that he has purposed to recite the prayers of so many rek’ahs (sunneh or
fard) the morning-prayers (or the noon, etc.) of the present day (or
night); and then, raising his open hands on each side of his face, and
touching the lobes of his ears with the ends of his thumbs, he says,
“God is most Great!” (“Alláhu Akbar.”) This ejaculation is called the
“tekbeer.” He then proceeds to recite the prayers of the prescribed
number of rek’ahs,[131] thus:—
Still standing, and placing his hands before him, a little below his
girdle, the left within the right, he recites (with his eyes directed
towards the spot where his head will touch the ground in prostration)
the Fát’hah, or opening chapter of the Kur-án,[132] and after it three
or more other verses, or one of the short chapters, of the Kur-án—very
commonly the 112th chapter—but without repeating the bismillah (in the
name of God, etc.) before the second recitation. He then says, “God is
most Great!” and makes, at the same time, an inclination of his head and
body, placing his hands upon his knees, and separating his fingers a
little. In this posture he says, “[I extol] the perfection of my Lord,
the Great!” (three times), adding, “May God hear him who praiseth Him.
Our Lord, praise be unto Thee!” Then, raising his head and body, he
repeats, “God is most Great!” He next drops gently upon his knees, and,
saying again, “God is most Great!” places his hands upon the ground, a
little before his knees, and puts his nose and forehead also to the
ground (the former first), between his two hands. During this
prostration he says, “[I extol] the perfection of my Lord, the Most
High!” (three times.) He raises his head and body (but his knees remain
upon the ground), sinks backwards upon his heels, and places his hands
upon his thighs, saying, at the same time, “God is most Great!” and this
he repeats as he bends his head a second time to the ground. During this
second prostration he repeats the same words as in the first, and in
raising his head again, he utters the tekbeer as before. Thus are
completed the prayers of one rek’ah. In all the changes of posture, the
toes of the right foot must not be moved from the spot where they were
first placed, and the left foot should be moved as little as possible.
[Illustration: POSTURES OF PRAYER. (PART II.)]
Having finished the prayers of one rek’ah, the worshipper rises upon his
feet (but without moving his toes from the spot where they were,
particularly those of the right foot), and repeats the same; only he
should recite some other chapter, or portion, after the Fát’hah, than
that which he repeated before, as, for instance, the 108th chapter.[133]
After every _second_ rek’ah (and after the _last_, though there be an
odd number, as in the evening fard), he does not immediately raise his
knees from the ground, but bends his left foot under him, and sits upon
it, and places his hands upon his thighs, with the fingers a little
apart. In this posture he says, “Praises are to God, and prayers, and
good works. Peace be on thee, O Prophet, and the mercy of God, and His
blessings! Peace be on us, and on [all] the righteous worshippers of
God!” Then raising the first finger of the right hand[134] (but not the
hand itself), he adds, “I testify that there is no deity but God; and I
testify that Mohammad is His servant and His apostle.”
After the _last_ rek’ah of each of the prayers (that is, after the
sunneh prayers and the fard alike), after saying, “Praises are to God,”
etc., the worshipper, looking upon his right shoulder, says, “Peace be
on you, and the mercy of God!” Then looking upon the left, he repeats
the same. These salutations are considered by some as addressed only to
the guardian angels who watch over the believer, and note all his
actions;[135] but others say that they are addressed both to angels and
men (_i.e._, believers only), who may be present; no person, however,
returns them. Before the salutations in the _last_ prayer, the
worshipper may offer up any short petition (in Scriptural language
rather than his own); while he does so, looking at the palms of his two
hands, which he holds like an open book before him, and then draws over
his face, from the forehead downwards.
Having finished both the sunneh and fard prayers, the worshipper, if he
would acquit himself completely, or rather, perform supererogatory acts,
remains sitting (but may then sit more at his ease), and recites the
“A′yet el-Kursee,” or Throne-Verse, which is the 256th of the 2nd
chapter of the Kur-án;[136] and adds, “O High! O Great! Thy perfection
[I extol].” He then repeats, “The perfection of God!” (thirty-three
times.) “The perfection of God, the Great, with His praise for ever!”
(once.) “Praise be to God!” (thirty-three times.) “Extolled be His
dignity! There is no deity but He!” (once.) “God is most Great!”
(thirty-three times.) “God is most Great in greatness, and praise be to
God in abundance!” (once.) He counts these repetitions with a string of
beads called “sebhah” (more properly “subhah”). The beads are
ninety-nine, and have a mark between each thirty-three. They are of
aloes, or other odoriferous or precious wood, or of coral, or of certain
fruit-stones, or seeds, etc.
Any wandering of the eyes, or of the mind, a coughing, or the like,
answering a question, or any action not prescribed to be performed, must
be strictly avoided (unless it be _between_ the sunneh prayers and the
fard, or be difficult to avoid; for it is held allowable to make three
slight irregular motions, or deviations from correct deportment);
otherwise the worshipper must begin again, and repeat his prayers with
due reverence. It is considered extremely sinful to interrupt a man when
engaged in his devotions. The time usually occupied in repeating the
prayers of four rek’ahs, without the supererogatory additions, is less
than four, or even three, minutes. The Muslim says the five daily
prayers in his house or shop or in the mosque, according as may be most
convenient to him: it is seldom that a person goes from his house to the
mosque to pray, excepting to join the congregation on Friday. Men of the
lower orders oftener pray in the mosques than those who have a
comfortable home, and a mat or carpet upon which to pray.
The same prayers are said by the congregation in the mosque on the noon
of Friday; but there are additional rites performed by the Imám and
other ministers on this occasion. The chief reasons for fixing upon
Friday as the Sabbath of the Muslims were, it is said, because Adam was
created on that day, and died on the same day of the week, and because
the general resurrection was prophesied to happen on that day; whence,
particularly, Friday was named the day of “El-Gum’ah” (or the assembly).
The Muslim does not abstain from worldly business on Friday, excepting
during the time of prayer, according to the precept of the Kur-án, ch.
lxii., _vv._ 9 and 10.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A MOSQUE.]
To form a proper conception of the ceremonials of the Friday-prayers, it
is necessary to have some idea of the interior of a mosque. A mosque in
which a congregation assembles to perform the Friday-prayers is called
“gámë’.” The mosques of Cairo are so numerous, that none of them is
inconveniently crowded on the Friday; and some of them are so large as
to occupy spaces three or four hundred feet square. They are mostly
built of stone, the alternate courses of which are generally coloured
externally red and white. Most commonly a large mosque consists of
porticoes surrounding a square open court, in the centre of which is a
tank or a fountain for ablution. One side of the building faces the
direction of Mekkeh, and the portico on this side, being the principal
place of prayer, is more spacious than those on the three other sides of
the court: it generally has two or more rows of columns, forming so many
aisles, parallel with the exterior wall. In some cases, this portico,
like the other three, is open to the court; in other cases, it is
separated from the court by partitions of wood, connecting the front row
of columns. In the centre of its exterior wall is the mehráb (or niche)
which marks the direction of Mekkeh; and to the right of this is the
“mimbar” (or pulpit). Opposite the mehráb, in the fore part of the
portico, or in its central part, there is generally a platform (called
“dikkeh”), surrounded by a parapet, and supported by small columns; and
by it, or before it, are one or two seats, having a kind of desk to bear
a volume of the Kur-án, from which a chapter is read to the
congregation. The walls are generally quite plain, being simply
white-washed; but in some mosques the lower part of the wall of the
place of prayer is lined with coloured marbles, and the other part
ornamented with various devices executed in stucco, but mostly with
texts of the Kur-án (which form long friezes, having a pleasing effect),
and never with the representation of anything that has life. The
pavement is covered with matting, and the rich and poor pray side by
side; the man of rank or wealth enjoying no peculiar distinction or
comfort, unless (which is sometimes the case) he have a prayer-carpet
brought by his servant, and spread for him.[137]
The Prophet did not forbid _women_ to attend public prayers in a mosque,
but pronounced it better for them to pray in private: in Cairo, however,
neither females nor young boys are allowed to pray with the congregation
in the mosque, or even to be present in the mosque at any time of
prayer: formerly women were permitted (and perhaps are still in some
countries), but were obliged to place themselves apart from the men, and
behind the latter; because, as Sale has remarked, the Muslims are of
opinion that the presence of females inspires a different kind of
devotion from that which is requisite in a place dedicated to the
worship of God. Very few women in Egypt even pray at home.
Over each of the mosques of Cairo presides a “Názir” (or warden), who is
the trustee of the funds which arise from lands, houses, etc.,
bequeathed to the mosque by the founder and others, and who appoints the
religious ministers and the inferior servants. Two “Imáms” are employed
to officiate in each of the larger mosques: one of them, called the
“Khateeb,” preaches and prays before the congregation on the Friday: the
other is an “Imám Rátib,” or ordinary Imám, who recites the five prayers
of every day in the mosque, at the head of those persons who may be
there at the exact times of those prayers: but in most of the smaller
mosques both these offices are performed by one Imám. There are also to
each mosque one or more “muëddins” (to chant the call to prayer), and
“bowwábs” (or door-keepers), according as there are one or more mád’nehs
(or menarets) and entrances; and several other servants are employed to
sweep the mosque, spread the mats, light the lamps, and attend to the
sákiyeh (or water-wheel), by which the tank or fountain, and other
receptacles for water, necessary to the performance of ablutions, are
supplied. The Imáms, and those persons who perform the lower offices,
are all paid from the funds of the mosque, and not by any contributions
exacted from the people.
The condition of the Imáms is very different, in most respects, from
that of Christian priests. They have no authority above other persons,
and do not enjoy any respect but what their reputed piety or learning
may obtain them: nor are they a distinct order of men set apart for
religious offices, like our clergy, and composing an indissoluble
fraternity; for a man who has acted as the Imám of a mosque may be
displaced by the warden of that mosque, and, with his employment and
salary, loses the _title_ of Imám, and has no better chance of being
again chosen for a religious minister than any other person competent to
perform the office. The Imáms obtain their livelihood chiefly by other
means than the service of the mosque, as their salaries are very small:
that of a Khateeb being generally about a piaster (2⅖_d._ of our money)
per month; and that of an ordinary Imám, about five piasters. Some of
them engage in trade; several of them are “’attárs” (or druggists and
perfumers), and many of them are schoolmasters: those who have no
regular occupations of these kinds often recite the Kur-án for hire in
private houses. They are mostly chosen from among the poor students of
the great mosque El-Azhar.
The large mosques are open from day-break till a little after the ’eshë,
or till nearly two hours after sunset. The others are closed between the
hours of morning and noon prayers; and most mosques are also closed in
rainy weather (excepting at the times of prayer), lest persons who have
no shoes should enter, and dirt the pavement and matting. Such persons
always enter by the door nearest the tank or fountain (if there be more
than one door), that they may wash before they pass into the place of
prayer; and generally this door alone is left open in dirty weather. The
great mosque El-Azhar remains open all night, with the exception of the
principal place of prayer, which is called the “maksoorah,” being
partitioned off from the rest of the building. In many of the larger
mosques, particularly in the afternoon, persons are seen lounging,
chatting together, eating, sleeping, and sometimes spinning or sewing,
or engaged in some other simple craft; but, notwithstanding such
practices, which are contrary to precepts of their prophet, the Muslims
very highly respect their mosques. There are several mosques in Cairo
(as the Azhar, Hasaneyn, etc.), _before_ which no Frank, or any other
Christian, nor a Jew, were allowed to pass, till of late years, since
the French invasion.
On the Friday, half an hour before the “duhr” (or noon), the muëddins of
the mosques ascend to the galleries of the mád’nehs, and chant the
“Selám,” which is a salutation to the Prophet, not always expressed in
the same words, but generally in words to the following
effect:—“Blessing and peace be on thee, O thou of great dignity! O
Apostle of God! Blessing and peace be on thee, to whom the Truth said, I
am God! Blessing and peace be on thee, thou first of the creatures of
God, and seal of the Apostles of God! From me be peace on thee, on thee
and on thy Family and all thy companions!”—Persons then begin to
assemble in the mosques.
The utmost solemnity and decorum are observed in the public worship of
the Muslims. Their looks and behaviour in the mosque are not those of
enthusiastic devotion, but of calm and modest piety. Never are they
guilty of a designedly irregular word or action during their prayers.
The pride and fanaticism which they exhibit in common life, in
intercourse with persons of their own, or of a different faith, seem to
be dropped on their entering the mosque, and they appear wholly absorbed
in the adoration of their Creator; humble and downcast, yet without
affected humility, or a forced expression of countenance.
The Muslim takes off his shoes at the door of the mosque, carries them
in his left hand, sole to sole, and puts his right foot first over the
threshold. If he have not previously performed the preparatory ablution,
he repairs at once to the tank or fountain to acquit himself of that
duty. Before he commences his prayers, he places his shoes (and his
sword and pistols, if he have such arms) upon the matting, a little
before the spot where his head will touch the ground in prostration: his
shoes are put one upon the other, sole to sole.
The people who assemble to perform the noon prayers of Friday arrange
themselves in rows parallel to that side of the mosque in which is the
niche, and facing that side. Many do not go until the adán of noon, or
just before. When a person goes at, or a little after, the Selám, as
soon as he has taken his place in one of the ranks, he performs two
rek’ahs, and then remains sitting, on his knees or cross-legged, while a
reader, having seated himself on the reading-chair immediately after the
Selám, is occupied in reciting (usually without book) the Soorat el-Kahf
(the 18th chapter of the Kur-án), or a part of it; for, generally, he
has not finished it before the adán of noon, when he stops. All the
congregation, as soon as they hear the adán (which is the same as on
other days), sit on their knees and feet. When the adán is finished,
they stand up, and perform, each separately, two[138] rek’ahs, “sunnet
el-gum’ah” (or the sunneh ordinance for Friday), which they conclude,
like the ordinary prayers, with the two salutations. A servant of the
mosque, called a “Murakkee,” then opens the folding-doors at the foot of
the pulpit-stairs, takes from behind them a straight wooden sword, and,
standing a little to the right of the doorway, with his right side
towards the kibleh, holds this sword in his right hand, resting the
point on the ground. In this position he says, “Verily God favoureth,
and His angels bless, the Prophet. O ye who believe, bless him, and
greet him with a salutation!”[139] Then one or more persons, called
“Muballighs,” stationed on the dikkeh, chant the following, or similar
words.[140] “O God! favour and preserve and bless the most noble of the
Arabs and ’Agam [or foreigners], the Imám of Mekkeh and El-Medeeneh and
the Temple, to whom the spider showed favour, and wove its web in the
cave; and whom the dabb[141] saluted, and before whom the moon was
cloven in twain, our lord Mohammad, and his Family and Companions!” The
Murakkee then recites the adán (which the Muëddins have already
chanted): after every few words he pauses, and the Muballighs on the
dikkeh repeat the same words in a sonorous chant.[142] Before the adán
is finished, the Khateeb, or Imám, comes to the foot of the pulpit,
takes the wooden sword from the Murakkee’s hand, ascends the pulpit, and
sits on the top step or platform. The pulpit of a large mosque on this
day is decorated with two flags, with the profession of the faith, or
the names of God and Mohammad, worked upon them: these are fixed at the
top of the stairs, slanting forward. The Murakkee and Muballighs having
finished the adán, the former repeats a tradition of the Prophet,
saying, “The Prophet (upon whom be blessing and peace!) hath said, ‘If
thou say unto thy companion while the Imám is preaching on Friday, Be
thou silent, thou speakest rashly.’ Be ye silent: ye shall be rewarded:
God shall recompense you.” He then sits down. The Khateeb now rises,
and, holding the wooden sword[143] in the same manner as the Murakkee
did, delivers an exhortation, called “khutbet el-waaz.” As the reader
may be curious to see a translation of a Muslim sermon, I insert one.
The following is a sermon preached on the first Friday of the Arab
year.[144] The original, as usual, is in rhyming prose.
“Praise be to God, the renewer of years, and the multiplier of
favours, and the creator of months and days, according to the most
perfect wisdom and most admirable regulation; who hath dignified the
months of the Arabs above all other months, and pronounced that among
the more excellent of them is El-Moharram the Sacred, and commenced
with it the year, as He hath closed it with Zu-l-Heggeh. How
propitious is the beginning, and how good is the end![145] [I extol]
His perfection, exempting Him from the association of any other deity
with Him. He hath well considered what He hath formed, and established
what He hath contrived, and He alone hath the power to create and to
annihilate. I praise Him, extolling His perfection, and exalting His
name, for the knowledge and inspiration which He hath graciously
vouchsafed; and I testify that there is no deity but God alone; He
hath no companion; He is the most holy King; the [God of] peace: and I
testify that our Lord and our Prophet and our friend Mohammad is His
servant, and His apostle, and His elect, and His friend, the guide of
the way, and the lamp of the dark. O God! favour and preserve and
bless this noble Prophet, and chief and excellent apostle, the
merciful-hearted, our lord Mohammad, and his family, and his
companions, and his wives, and his posterity, and the people of his
house, the noble persons, and preserve them amply! O servants of God!
your lives have been gradually curtailed, and year after year hath
passed away, and ye are sleeping on the bed of indolence and on the
pillow of iniquity. Ye pass by the tombs of your predecessors, and
fear not the assault of destiny and destruction, as if others departed
from the world and ye must of necessity remain in it. Ye rejoice at
the arrival of new years, as if they brought an increase to the term
of life, and swim in the seas of desires, and enlarge your hopes, and
in every way exceed other people [in presumption], and ye are sluggish
in doing good. O how great a calamity is this! God teacheth by an
allegory. Know ye not that in the curtailment of time by indolence and
sleep there is very great trouble? Know ye not that in the cutting
short of lives by the termination of years is a very great warning?
Know ye not that the night and day divide the lives of numerous souls?
Know ye not that health and capacity are two blessings coveted by many
men? But the truth hath become manifest to him who hath eyes. Ye are
now between two years: one year hath passed away, and come to an end,
with its evils; and ye have entered upon another year, in which, if it
please God, mankind shall be relieved. Is any of you determining upon
diligence [in doing good] in the year to come? or repenting of his
failings in the times that are passed? The happy is he who maketh
amends for the time passed in the time to come; and the miserable is
he whose days pass away, and he is careless of his time. This new year
hath arrived, and the sacred month of God hath come with blessings to
you—the first of the months of the year, and of the four sacred
months, as hath been said, and the most worthy of preference and
honour and reverence. Its fast is the most excellent of fasts after
that which is incumbent,[146] and the doing of good in it is among the
most excellent of the objects of desire. Whosoever desireth to reap
advantage from it, let him fast the ninth and tenth days, looking for
aid.[147] Abstain not from this fast through indolence, and esteeming
it a hardship; but comply with it in the best manner, and honour it
with the best of honours, and improve your time by the worship of God
morning and evening. Turn unto God with repentance, before the assault
of death: He is the God who accepteth repentance of His servants, and
pardoneth sins.—_The Tradition._[148]—The Apostle of God (God favour
and preserve him!) hath said, ‘The most excellent prayer, after the
prescribed,[149] is the prayer that is said in the last third of the
night; and the most excellent fast, after Ramadán, is that of the
month of God, El-Moharram.’”
The Khateeb, having concluded his exhortation, says to the congregation,
“Supplicate God.” He then sits down, and prays privately; and each
member of the congregation at the same time offers up some private
petition, as after the ordinary prayers, holding his hands before him
(looking at the palms), and then drawing them down his face. This done,
the Muballighs say, “A′meen! A′meen! (Amen! Amen!) O Lord of all
creatures!”—The Khateeb now rises again, and recites another Khutbeh,
called “khutbet en-naat,” of which the following is a translation:—[150]
“Praise be to God, abundant praise, as He hath commanded! I testify that
there is no deity but God alone: He hath no companion: affirming His
supremacy, and condemning him who denieth and disbelieveth: and I
testify that our lord and our prophet Mohammad is His servant and His
apostle, the lord of mankind, the intercessor, the accepted intercessor,
on the day of assembling: God favour him and his family as long as the
eye seeth and the ear heareth! O people! reverence God by doing what He
hath commanded, and abstain from that which He hath forbidden and
prohibited. The happy is he who obeyeth, and the miserable is he who
opposeth and sinneth. Know that the present world is a transitory abode,
and that the world to come is a lasting abode. Make provision,
therefore, in your transitory state for your lasting state, and prepare
for your reckoning and standing before your Lord: for know that ye shall
to-morrow be placed before God, and reckoned with according to your
deeds; and before the Lord of Might ye shall be present, ‘and those who
have acted unjustly shall know with what an overthrowal they shall be
overthrown.’[151] Know that God, whose perfection I extol, and whose
name be exalted, hath said (and ceaseth not to say wisely, and to
command judiciously, warning you, and teaching, and honouring the
dignity of your Prophet, extolling and magnifying him), ‘Verily, God
favoureth, and His angels bless, the Prophet: O ye who believe, bless
him, and greet him with a salutation!’[152] O God! favour Mohammad and
the family of Mohammad, as Thou favouredst Ibráheem[153] and the family
of Ibráheem; and bless Mohammad and the family of Mohammad, as Thou
blessedst Ibráheem and the family of Ibráheem among all creatures—for
Thou art praiseworthy and glorious! O God! do Thou also be well pleased
with the four Khaleefehs, the orthodox lords, of high dignity and
illustrious honour, Aboo-Bekr Es-Siddeek, and ’Omar, and ’Osmán, and
’Alee; and be Thou well pleased, O God! with the six who remained of the
ten noble and just persons who swore allegiance to thy Prophet Mohammad
(God favour and preserve him!) under the tree; (for Thou art the Lord of
piety, and the Lord of pardon,) those persons of excellence and
clemency, and rectitude and prosperity, Talhah, and Ez-Zubeyr, and Saad,
and Sa’eed, and ’Abd-Er-Rahmán Ibn-’Owf, and Aboo-’Obeydeh ’Amir
Ibn-El-Garráh; and with all the Companions of the Apostle of God! (God
favour and preserve him!); and be Thou well pleased, O God! with the two
martyred descendants, the two bright moons, ‘the two lords of the youths
of the people of Paradise in Paradise,’ the two sweet-smelling flowers
of the Prophet of this nation, Aboo-Mohammad El-Hasan, and
Aboo-’bd-Allah El-Hoseyn: and be Thou well pleased, O God! with their
mother, the daughter of the Apostle of God (God favour and preserve
him!), Fátimeh Ez-Zahra, and with their grandmother Khadeegeh El-Kubra,
and with ’A’ïsheh, the mother of the faithful, and with the rest of the
pure wives, and with the generation which succeeded the Companions, and
the generation which succeeded that, with beneficence to the day of
judgment! O God! pardon the believing men and the believing women, and
the Muslim men and the Muslim women, those who are living, and the dead;
for Thou art a hearer near, an answerer of prayers, O Lord of all
creatures! O God! aid El-Islám, and strengthen its pillars, and make
infidelity to tremble, and destroy its might, by the preservation of Thy
servant, and the son of Thy servant, the submissive to the might of Thy
majesty and glory, whom God hath aided, by the care of the Adored King,
our master the Sultán, son of the Sultán, the Sultán Mahmood[154] Khán:
may God assist him, and prolong [his reign]! O God! assist him, and
assist his armies! O Thou Lord of the religion, and of the world
present, and the world to come! O Lord of all creatures! O God! assist
the forces of the Muslims, and the armies of the Unitarians! O God!
frustrate the infidels and polytheists, thine enemies, the enemies of
the religion! O God! invert their banners, and ruin their habitations,
and give them and their wealth as booty to the Muslims![155] O God!
unloose the captivity of the captives, and annul the debts of the
debtors; and make this town to be safe and secure, and blessed with
wealth and plenty, and all the towns of the Muslims, O Lord of all
creatures! And decree safety and health to us and to all travellers, and
pilgrims, and warriors, and wanderers, upon Thy earth, and upon Thy sea,
such as are Muslims, O Lord of all creatures! ‘O Lord! we have acted
unjustly towards our own souls, and if Thou do not forgive us and be
merciful unto us, we shall surely be of those who perish.[156] I beg of
God, the Great, that He may forgive me and you, and all the people of
Mohammad, the servants of God. ‘Verily God commandeth justice, and the
doing of good, and giving [what is due] to kindred; and forbiddeth
wickedness, and iniquity, and oppression: He admonisheth you that ye may
reflect.’[157] Remember God; He will remember you: and thank Him; He
will increase to you [your blessings]. Praise be to God, the Lord of all
creatures!”
During the rise of the Nile, a good inundation is also prayed for in
this Khutbeh. The Khateeb, or Imám, having ended it, descends from the
pulpit, and the Muballighs chant the “ikámeh” (described in page 66):
the Imám, stationed before the niche, then recites the “fard” prayers of
Friday, which consist of two rek’ahs, and are similar to the ordinary
prayers. The people do the same, but silently, and keeping time exactly
with the Imám in the various postures. Those who are of the Málikee sect
then leave the mosque; and so also do many persons of the other sects:
but some of the Sháfe’ees and Hanafees (there are scarcely any
Hambel′ees in Cairo) remain, and recite the _ordinary_ fard prayers of
noon; forming a number of separate groups, in each of which one acts as
Imám. The rich, on going out of the mosque, often give alms to the poor
outside the door.
There are other prayers to be performed on particular occasions—on the
two grand annual festivals, on the nights of Ramadán (the month of
abstinence), on the occasion of an eclipse of the sun or moon, for rain,
previously to the commencement of battle, in pilgrimage, and at
funerals.
I have spoken thus fully of Muslim worship because my countrymen in
general have very imperfect and erroneous notions on this subject; many
of them even imagining that the Muslims ordinarily pray to their
_Prophet_ as well as to God. Invocations to the Prophet, for his
_intercession_, are, indeed, frequently made, particularly at his tomb,
where pious visitors generally say, “We ask thy intercession, O Apostle
of God!” The Muslims also even implore the intercession of their
numerous saints.
The duty next in importance to prayer is that of giving _alms_. Certain
alms are prescribed by law, and are called “zekah”: others, called
“sadakah,” are voluntary. The former, or obligatory alms, were, in the
earlier ages of El-Islám, collected by officers appointed by the
sovereign, for pious uses, such as building mosques, etc.; but now it is
left to the Muslim’s conscience to give them, and to apply them in what
manner he thinks fit; that is, to bestow them upon whatever needy
persons he may choose. They are to be given once in every year, of
cattle and sheep, generally in the proportion of one in forty, two in a
hundred and twenty; of camels, for every five, a ewe; or for
twenty-five, a pregnant camel; and likewise of money, and, among the
Hanafees, of merchandize, etc. He who has money to the amount of two
hundred dirhems (or drams) of silver, or twenty mitkáls (_i.e._, thirty
drams) of gold (or, among the Hanafees, the value of the above in gold
or silver ornaments, utensils, etc.), must annually give the fortieth
part (“ruba el-’oshr”), or the value of that part.
_Fasting_ is the next duty. The Muslim is commanded to fast during the
whole month of Ramadán[158] every day, from the first appearance of
daybreak, or rather from the hour when there is sufficient light for a
person to distinguish plainly a white thread from a black thread[159]
(about two hours before sunrise in Egypt), until sunset. He must abstain
from eating, drinking, smoking, smelling perfumes, and every unnecessary
indulgence or pleasure of a worldly nature; even from intentionally
swallowing his spittle. When Ramadán falls in summer,[160] the fast is
very severe; the abstinence from drinking being most painfully felt.
Persons who are sick, or on a journey, and soldiers in time of war, are
not obliged to observe the fast during Ramadán; but if they do not keep
it in this month they should fast an equal number of days at a future
time. Fasting is also to be dispensed with in the cases of a nurse and a
pregnant woman. The Prophet even disapproved of any person’s keeping the
fast of Ramadán if not perfectly able; and desired no man to fast so
much as to injure his health, or disqualify himself for necessary
labour. The modern Muslims seem to regard the fast of Ramadán as of more
importance than any other religious act, for many of them keep this fast
who neglect their daily prayers; and even those who break the fast, with
very few exceptions, pretend to keep it. Many Muslims of the wealthy
classes eat and drink in secret during Ramadán; but the greater number
strictly keep the fast, which is fatal to numerous persons in a weak
state of health. There are some other days on which it is considered
meritorious to fast, but not absolutely necessary. On the two grand
festivals, namely, that following Ramadán, and that which succeeds the
pilgrimage, it is _unlawful_ to do so, being expressly forbidden by the
Prophet.
The last of the four most important duties, that of _pilgrimage_,
remains to be noticed. It is incumbent on every Muslim to perform, once
in his life, the pilgrimage to Mekkeh and Mount ’Arafát, unless poverty
or ill health prevent him; or, if a Hanafee, he may send a deputy, whose
expenses he must pay.[161] Many, however, neglect the duty of pilgrimage
who cannot plead a lawful excuse; and they are not reproached for so
doing. It is not merely by the visit to Mekkeh, and the performance of
the ceremonies of compassing the Kaabeh seven times and kissing the
“black stone” in each round, and other rites in the Holy City, that the
Muslim acquires the title of “el-hágg”[162] (or the pilgrim): the final
object of the pilgrimage is Mount ’Arafát, six hours’ journey distant
from Mekkeh. During his performance of the required ceremonies in
Mekkeh, and also during his journey to ’Arafát, and until his completion
of the pilgrimage, the Muslim wears a peculiar dress, called “ehrám”
(vulgarly herám), generally consisting of two simple pieces of cotton,
or linen, or woollen cloth, without seam or ornament, one of which is
wrapped round the loins, and the other thrown over the shoulders: the
instep and heel of each foot, and the head, must be bare; but umbrellas
are now used by many of the pilgrims. It is necessary that the pilgrim
be present on the occasion of a Khutbeh which is recited on Mount
’Arafát in the afternoon of the 9th of the month of Zu-l-Heggeh. In the
ensuing evening, after sunset, the pilgrims commence their return to
Mekkeh. Halting the following day in the valley of Mina (or, as it is
more commonly called, Muna), they complete the ceremonies of the
pilgrimage by a sacrifice (of one or more male sheep, he-goats, cows, or
she-camels, part of the flesh of which they eat, and part give to the
poor), and by shaving the head and clipping the nails. Every one, after
this, resumes his usual dress, or puts on a new one, if provided with
such. The sacrifice is called “el-fida” (or the ransom), as it is
performed in commemoration of the ransom of Isma’eel (or Ishmael) by the
sacrifice of the ram, when he was himself about to have been offered up
by his father; for it is the general opinion of the Muslims that it was
this son, not Isaac, who was to have been sacrificed by his father.
There are other ordinances, more or less connected with those which have
been already explained.
The two festivals called “el-’Eed es-Sugheiyir,”[163] or the Minor
Festival, and el-Kebeer,” or the Great Festival, the occasions of which
have been mentioned above, are observed with public prayer and general
rejoicing. The first of these lasts three days; and the second, three or
four days. The festivities with which they are celebrated will be
described in a subsequent chapter. On the first day of the latter
festival (it being the day on which the pilgrims perform their
sacrifice) every Muslim should slay a victim, if he can afford to
purchase one. The wealthy person slays several sheep, or a sheep or two,
and a buffalo, and distributes the greater portion of the meat to the
poor. The slaughter may be performed by a deputy.
War against enemies of El-Islám, who have been the first aggressors, is
enjoined as a sacred duty; and he who loses his life in fulfilling this
duty, if unpaid, is promised the rewards of a martyr. It has been said,
even by some of their leading doctors, that the Muslims are commanded to
put to death all idolaters who refuse to embrace El-Islám, excepting
women and children, whom they are to make slaves:[164] but the precepts
on which this assertion is founded relate to the Pagan Arabs, who had
violated their oaths and long persevered in their hostility to Mohammad
and his followers. According to the decisions of the most reasonable
doctors, the laws respecting other idolaters, as well as Christians and
Jews, who have drawn upon themselves the hostility of the Muslims, are
different: of such enemies, if reduced by force of arms, refusing to
capitulate or to surrender themselves, the men may be put to death or be
made slaves, and the women and children also, under the same
circumstances, may be made slaves: but life and liberty are to be
granted to those enemies who surrender themselves by capitulation or
otherwise, on the condition of their embracing El-Islám or paying a
poll-tax, unless they have acted perfidiously towards the Muslims, as
did the Jewish tribe of Kureydhah, who, being in league with Mohammad,
went over to his enemies and aided them against him: for which conduct,
when they surrendered, the men were slain, and the women and children
were made slaves.—The Muslims, it may here be added, are forbidden to
contract intimate friendship with unbelievers.
There are certain prohibitory laws in the Kur-án which must be mentioned
here, as remarkably affecting the moral and social condition of its
disciples.
Wine, and all inebriating liquors, are forbidden, as being the cause of
“more evil than profit.”[165] Many of the Muslims, however, in the
present day, drink wine, brandy, etc., in secret; and some, thinking it
no sin to indulge thus in moderation, scruple not to do so openly; but
among the Egyptians there are few who transgress in this flagrant
manner. “Boozeh,” or “boozah,” which is an intoxicating liquor made with
barley-bread, crumbled, mixed with water, strained, and left to ferment,
is commonly drunk by the boatmen of the Nile, and by other persons of
the lower orders.[166] Opium, and other drugs which produce a similar
effect, are considered unlawful, though not mentioned in the Kur-án; and
persons who are addicted to the use of these drugs are regarded as
immoral characters; but in Egypt, such persons are not very numerous.
Some Muslims have pronounced tobacco, and even coffee, unlawful.
The eating of swine’s flesh is strictly forbidden. The unwholesome
effects of that meat in a hot climate would be a sufficient reason for
the prohibition; but the pig is held in abhorrence by the Muslim chiefly
on account of its extremely filthy habits.[167] Most animals prohibited
for food by the Mosaic law are alike forbidden to the Muslim. The camel
is an exception. The Muslim is “forbidden [to eat] that which dieth of
itself, and blood, and swine’s flesh, and that on which the name of any
beside God hath been invoked; and that which hath been strangled or
killed by a blow, or by a fall, or by the horns [of another beast]; and
that which hath been [partly] eaten by a wild beast, except what he
shall [himself] kill; and that which hath been sacrificed unto
idols.”[168] An animal that is killed for the food of man must be
slaughtered in a particular manner: the person who is about to perform
the operation must say, “In the name of God! God is most great!” and
then cut its throat, at the part next the head, taking care to divide
the windpipe, gullet, and carotid arteries; unless it be a camel, in
which case he should _stab_ the throat at the part next the breast. It
is forbidden to utter, in slaughtering an animal, the phrase which is so
often made use of on other occasions, “In the name of God, the
Compassionate, the Merciful!” because the mention of the most benevolent
epithets of the Deity on such an occasion would seem like a mockery of
the sufferings which it is about to endure. Some persons in Egypt, but
mostly women, when about to kill an animal for food, say, “In the name
of God! God is most great! God give thee patience to endure the
affliction which He hath allotted thee!”[169] If the sentiment which
first dictated this prayer were always felt, it would present a
beautiful trait in the character of the people who use it. In cases of
necessity, when in danger of starving, the Muslim is allowed to eat any
food which is unlawful under other circumstances. The mode of slaughter
above described is, of course, only required to be practised in the
cases of domestic animals. Most kinds of fish are lawful food:[170] so
also are many birds; the tame kinds of which must be killed in the same
manner as cattle; but the wild may be shot. The hare, rabbit, gazelle,
etc., are lawful food, and may either be shot, or killed by a dog,
provided the name of God was uttered at the time of discharging the
arrow, etc., or slipping the dog, and he (the dog) has not eaten any
part of the prey. This animal, however, is considered very unclean: the
Sháfe’ees hold themselves to be polluted by the touch of its nose, if it
be wet; and if any part of their clothes be so touched, they must wash
that part with seven waters, and once with clean earth: some others are
only careful not to let the animal lick, or defile in a worse manner,
their persons or their dress, etc. When game has been struck down by any
weapon, but not killed, its throat must be immediately cut: otherwise it
is unlawful food.
Gambling and usury are prohibited,[171] and all games of chance; and
likewise the making of images or pictures of anything that has
life.[172] The Prophet declared that every representation of this kind
would be placed before its author on the day of judgment, and that he
would be commanded to put life into it; which not being able to do, he
would be cast, for a time, into hell.
The principal _civil_ and _criminal laws_ remain to be stated. Their
origin we discover partly in customs of the Pagan Arabs, but mostly in
the Jewish Scriptures and traditions.
The civil and criminal laws are chiefly and immediately derived from the
Kur-án[173]; but, in many important cases, this highest authority
affords no precept. In most of these cases the Traditions of the Prophet
direct the decisions of the judge.[174] There are, however, some
important cases, and many of an inferior kind, respecting which both the
Kur-án and the Traditions are silent or undecisive. These are determined
by the explanations and amplifications derived either from the
concordance of the principal early disciples, or from analogy, by the
four great Imáms, or founders of the four orthodox sects of El-Islám;
generally on the authority of the Imám of that sect to which the ruling
power belongs, which sect, in Egypt, and throughout the Turkish Empire,
is that of the Hanafees: or, if none of the decisions of the Imám relate
to a case in dispute (which not unfrequently happens), judgment is given
in accordance with a sentence of some other eminent doctor, founded upon
analogy.—In general, only the principal laws, as laid down in the Kur-án
and the Traditions, will be here stated.
The laws relating to _marriage_ and the licence of _polygamy_, the
facility of _divorce_ allowed by the Kur-án, and the permission of
_concubinage_, are essentially the natural and necessary consequences of
the main principle of the constitution of Muslim society—the restriction
of the intercourse between the sexes before marriage. Few men would
marry if he who was disappointed in a wife whom he had never seen before
were not allowed to take another; and in the case of a man’s doing this,
his own happiness, or that of the former wife, or the happiness of both
these parties, may require his either retaining this wife or divorcing
her. But I hope that my reader will admit a much stronger reason for
these laws, regarding them as designed for the _Muslims_. As the Mosaic
code allowed God’s chosen people, for the hardness of their hearts, to
put away their wives, and forbade neither polygamy nor concubinage, he
who believes that Moses was divinely inspired, to enact the best laws
for his people, must hold the permission of these practices to be less
injurious to morality than their prohibition, among a people similar to
the ancient Jews. Their permission, though certainly productive of
injurious effects upon morality and domestic happiness, prevents a
profligacy that would be worse than that which prevails to so great a
degree in European countries, where parties are united in marriage after
an intimate mutual acquaintance. As to the licence of polygamy, which
seems to be unfavourable to the accomplishment of the main object for
which marriage was instituted, as well as to the exercise and
improvement of the nobler powers of the mind, we should remark that it
was not introduced, but limited, by the legislator of the Muslims. It is
true that he assumed to himself the privilege of having a greater number
of wives than he allowed to others; but, in doing so, he may have been
actuated by the want of male offspring, rather than impelled by
voluptuousness.
The law respecting marriage and concubinage is perfectly explicit as to
the number of wives whom a Muslim may have at the same time; but it is
not so with regard to the number of concubine-slaves whom he may have.
It is written, “Take in marriage, of the women who please you, two,
three, or four; but if ye fear that ye cannot act equitably [to so many,
take] one; or [take] those whom your right hands have acquired,”[175]
that is, your slaves. Therefore many of the wealthy Muslims marry two,
three, or four wives, and keep besides several concubine-slaves; and
many of the most revered characters, even Companions of the Prophet, are
recorded to have done the same. The conduct of the latter clearly shows
that the number of concubine-slaves whom a man may have is not limited
by the law in the opinion of the orthodox.[176]
It is held lawful for a Muslim to marry a Christian or a Jewish woman,
if induced to do so by excessive love of her, or if he cannot obtain a
wife of his own faith; but in this case the offspring must follow the
father’s faith,[177] and the wife does not inherit when the father dies.
A Muslim′eh, however, is not allowed under any circumstances, but when
force is employed, to marry a man who is not of her own faith. A man is
forbidden, by the Kur-án[178] and the Sunneh, to marry his mother, or
other ascendant; his daughter, or other descendant; his sister, or
half-sister; the sister of his father or mother, or other ascendant; his
niece, or any of her descendants; his foster-mother,[179] or a woman
related to him by milk in any of the degrees which would preclude his
marriage with her if she were similarly related to him by consanguinity;
the mother of his wife, even if he have not consummated his marriage
with this wife; the daughter of his wife if he have consummated his
marriage with the latter, and she be still his wife; his father’s wife,
and his son’s wife; and to have at the same time two wives who are
sisters, or aunt and niece: he is forbidden also to marry his
unemancipated slave, or another man’s slave, if he have already a free
wife. It is lawful for the Muslim to see the faces of these women whom
he is forbidden to marry, but of no others, excepting his own wives and
female slaves. The marriage of a man and woman, or of a man and a girl
who has arrived at puberty, is lawfully effected by their declaring
(which the latter generally does by a “wekeel,” or deputy) their consent
to marry each other, in the presence of two witnesses (if witnesses can
be procured), and by the payment, or part-payment, of a dowry. But the
consent of a girl under the age of puberty is not required; her father,
or, if he be dead, her nearest adult male relation, or any person
appointed as her guardian by will or by the Kádee, acting for her as he
pleases.[180] The giving of a dowry is indispensable, and the least sum
that is allowed by law is ten “dirhems” (or drachms of silver), which is
equal to about five shillings of our money. A man may legally marry a
woman without mentioning a dowry; but after the consummation of the
marriage she can, in this case, compel him to pay the sum of ten
dirhems.[181]
A man may divorce his wife twice, and each time take her back without
any ceremony, excepting in a case to be mentioned below; but if he
divorce her the third time, or put her away by a triple divorce conveyed
in one sentence, he cannot receive her again until she has been married
and divorced by another husband, who must have consummated his marriage
with her.[182] When a man divorces his wife (which he does by merely
saying, “Thou art divorced,” or “I divorce thee”), he pays her a portion
of her dowry (generally one-third), which he had kept back from the
first, to be paid on this occasion, or at his death; and she takes away
with her the furniture, etc., which she brought at her marriage. He may
thus put her away from mere dislike,[183] and without assigning any
reason; but a woman cannot separate herself from her husband against his
will, unless it be for some considerable fault on his part, as cruel
treatment, or neglect; and even then, application to the Kádee’s court
is generally necessary to compel the man to divorce her; and she
forfeits the above-mentioned remnant of the dowry.
The first and second divorce, if made without any mutual agreement for a
compensation from the woman, or a pecuniary sacrifice on her part, is
termed “talák reg’ee” (a divorce which admits of return); because the
husband may take back his wife, without her consent, during the period
of her “’eddeh” (which will be presently explained), but not after,
unless with her consent, and by a new contract. If he divorce her the
first or second time for a compensation, she perhaps requesting,
“Divorce me for what thou owest me,” or “—hast of mine” (that is, of the
dowry, furniture, etc.), or for an additional sum, he cannot take her
again but by her own consent, and by a new contract. This is a “talák
báïn” (or separating divorce), and is termed “the lesser separation,” to
distinguish it from the third divorce, which is called “the greater
separation.” The “’eddeh” is the period during which a divorced woman or
a widow must wait before marrying again,—in either case, if pregnant,
until delivery; otherwise the former must wait three lunar periods, or
three months, and the latter, four months and ten days. A woman who is
divorced when in a state of pregnancy, though she may make a new
contract of marriage immediately after her delivery, must wait forty
days longer before she can complete her marriage by receiving her
husband. The man who divorces his wife must maintain her in his own
house, or in that of her parents, or elsewhere, during the period of her
’eddeh, but must cease to live with her as her husband from the
commencement of that period. A divorced woman who has a son under two
years of age may retain him until he has attained that age, and may be
compelled to do so by the law of the Sháfe’ees, and by the law of the
Málikees, until he has arrived at puberty, but the Hanafee law limits
the period during which the boy should remain under her care to seven
years: her daughter she should retain until nine years of age, or the
period of puberty. If a man divorce his wife before the consummation of
marriage, he must pay her half the sum which he has promised to give her
as a dowry, or, if he have promised no dowry, he must pay her the half
of the smallest dowry allowed by law, which has been above mentioned,
and she may marry again immediately.
When a wife refuses to obey the lawful commands of her husband, he may,
and generally does, take her, or two witnesses[184] against her, to the
Kádee’s court, to prefer a complaint against her; and, if the case be
proved, a certificate is written declaring the woman “náshizeh,” or
rebellious against her husband. This process is termed “writing a woman
náshizeh.” It exempts her husband from obligation to lodge, clothe, and
maintain her. He is not obliged to divorce her; and, by refusing to do
this, he may prevent her marrying another man as long as he lives; but,
if she promise to be obedient afterwards, he must take her back, and
maintain her, or divorce her. It is more common, however, for a wife
whose husband refuses to divorce her, if she have parents or other
relations able and willing to support her comfortably, to make a
complaint at the Kádee’s court, stating her husband’s conduct to be of
such a nature towards her that she will not live with him, and thus
cause herself to be registered “náshizeh,” and separated from him. In
this case, the husband generally persists, from mere spite, in refusing
to divorce her.
As concubines are _slaves_, some account of slaves in general may here
be appropriately inserted, with a statement of the principal laws
respecting concubines and their offspring, etc.—The slave is either a
person taken captive in war, or carried off by force from a foreign
hostile country, and being at the time of capture an infidel; or the
offspring of a female slave by another slave, or by any man who is not
her owner, or by her owner if he do not acknowledge himself to be the
father; but a person cannot be the slave of a relation who is within the
prohibited degrees of marriage. The power of the owner is such that he
may even kill his slave with impunity for any offence; and he incurs but
a slight punishment (as imprisonment for a period at the discretion of
the judge) if he do so wantonly. He may give or sell his slaves,
excepting in some cases which will be mentioned, and may marry them to
whom he will, but not separate them when married. A slave, however,
according to most of the doctors, cannot have more than two wives at the
same time. As a slave enjoys less advantages than a free person, the
law, in some cases, ordains that his punishment for an offence shall be
half of that to which the free is liable for the same offence, or even
less than half: if it be a fine, or pecuniary compensation, it must be
paid by the owner, to the amount, if necessary, of the value of the
slave, or the slave must be given in compensation. An unemancipated
slave, at the death of the owner, becomes the property of the heirs of
the latter; and when an emancipated slave dies, leaving no male
descendant or collateral relation, the former owner is the heir; or, if
he be dead, his heirs inherit the slave’s property. But an unemancipated
slave can acquire no property without the permission of the owner.
Complete and immediate emancipation is sometimes granted to a slave
gratuitously, or for a future pecuniary compensation. It is conferred by
means of a written document, or by a verbal declaration in the presence
of two witnesses, or by presenting the slave with the certificate of
sale obtained from the former owner. Future emancipation is sometimes
covenanted to be granted on the fulfilment of certain conditions; and
more frequently, to be conferred on the occasion of the owner’s death.
In the latter case, the owner cannot sell the slave to whom he has made
this promise; and as he cannot alienate by will more than one-third of
the whole property that he leaves, the law ordains that, if the value of
the said slave exceed that portion, the slave must obtain, and pay to
the owner’s heirs, the additional sum.—A Muslim may take as his
concubine any of his female slaves who is a Muslim’eh, or a Christian,
or a Jewess, if he have not married her to another man; but he may not
have as his concubines, at the same time, two or more who are sisters,
or who are related to each other in any of the degrees which would
prevent their both being his wives at the same time if they were free. A
Christian is not by the law allowed, nor is a Jew, to have a Muslim′eh
slave as his concubine.[185] The master must wait a certain period
(generally from a month to three months) after his acquisition of a
female slave, before he can take her as his concubine. When a female
slave becomes a mother by her master, the child which she bears to him
is free, if he acknowledge it to be his own; but if not, it is his
slave. In the former case the mother cannot afterwards be sold or given
away by her master (though she must continue to serve him and be his
concubine as long as he desires); and she is entitled to emancipation at
his death. Her bearing a child to him is called the cause of her
emancipation or liberty; but it does not oblige him to emancipate her as
long as he lives, though it is commendable if he do so, and make her his
wife, provided he have not already four wives, or if he marry her to
another man, should it be her wish. A free person cannot become the
husband or wife of his, or her, own slave, without first emancipating
that slave; and the marriage of a free person with the slave of another
is dissolved if the former become the owner of the latter, and cannot be
renewed but by emancipation and a regular legal contract.
The most remarkable general principles of the laws of _inheritance_ are
the denial of any privileges to primogeniture,[186] and in most cases
awarding to a female a share equal to half that of a male of the same
degree of relationship to the deceased.[187] A person may bequeath
one-third of his or her property; but not a larger portion, unless he or
she has no legal heir; nor any portion to a legal heir, excepting wife
or husband, without the consent of all the other heirs. The children of
a person deceased inherit the whole of that person’s property, or what
remains after payment of the legacies and debts, etc., and the share of
a male is double the share of a female. If the children of the deceased
be only females, two or more in number, they inherit together, by the
law of the Kur-án, two-thirds; and if there be but one child, and that a
female, she inherits by the same law half. [But the remaining third, or
half, is also assigned to the said daughters or daughter, by a law of
the Sunneh (which applies also to other cases), if there be no other
legal heir.] If the deceased have left no immediate descendant, the sons
and daughters of his son or sons inherit as immediate descendants [and
so on]. If the deceased have left a child or a son’s child [and so on],
each of the parents of the deceased inherits one-sixth. If the father be
dead, his share falls to _his_ father. [If the mother be dead, her share
falls to _her_ mother.] If the deceased have left no child or son’s
child [and so on], the mother has one-third of the property, or of what
remains after deducting the share of the wife or wives or husband, and
the residue is for the father; unless the deceased has left two or more
brothers or sisters, in which case the mother inherits one-sixth, and
the father the residue; the said brothers or sisters receiving
nothing[188] [if the deceased have left a father or any ascendant in the
male line]. A man inherits half of what remains of his wife’s property
after the payment of her legacies, etc., if she have left no child or
son’s child [and so on]; and one-fourth if she have left a child or
son’s child [and so on]. One-fourth is the share of the wife, or of the
wives conjointly, if the deceased husband have left no child or son’s
child [and so on]; and one-eighth if he have left any such
descendant.[189] If the deceased have not left a father [nor any
ascendant in the male line], nor a child [nor a son’s child, and so on],
the law ordains as follows:—1. A sole brother, or sister, only by the
mother’s side, inherits one-sixth; and if there be two or more brothers
or sisters, only by the mother’s side, or one or more of such relations
of each sex, they inherit collectively one-third, which is equally
divided, without distinction of male and female.—2. If the deceased have
left a sole sister by his father and mother [and no such brother], she
inherits half; and a man inherits the whole property of such a sister
[or what remains after the payment of her legacies, etc.], if she have
left no child; but if she have left a male child [or son’s child, and so
on], he (the brother) inherits nothing; and if she have left a female
child, the said brother inherits what remains after deducting that
child’s share [and after the payment of the legacies, etc.]. If the
deceased have left two or more sisters, by his father and mother [and no
such brother], they inherit together two-thirds. If the deceased have
left one or more brothers, and one or more sisters, by his father and
mother, they inherit the whole [or what remains after the payment of the
legacies, etc.], and the share of a male is double the share of a
female.—3. Brothers and sisters by the father’s side only [when there is
no brother or sister by the father and mother] inherit as brothers and
sisters by the father and mother.[190] No distinction is made between
the child of a wife and that borne by a slave to her master (if the
master acknowledge the child to be his own): both inherit equally. So
also do the child of a wife and the adopted child. A bastard inherits
only from his mother, and _vice versâ_. When there is no legal heir, or
legatee, the property falls to the government-treasury, which is called
“beyt el-mál.” The laws respecting certain remote degrees of kindred,
etc., I have not thought it necessary to state.[191] The property of the
deceased is nominally divided into keeráts (or twenty-fourth parts); and
the share of each son, or other heir, is said to be so many keeráts.
The law is remarkably lenient towards _debtors_. “If there be any
[debtor],” says the Kur-án,[192] “under a difficulty [of paying his
debt], let [his creditor] wait till it be easy [for him to do it]; but
if ye remit it as alms, it will be better for you.” The Muslim is
commanded (in the chapter from which the above extract is taken), when
he contracts a debt, to cause a statement of it to be written, and
attested by two men, or a man and two women, of his own faith. The
debtor is imprisoned for non-payment of his debt; but if he establish
his insolvency, he is liberated. He may be compelled to work for the
discharge of his debt, if able.
The Kur-án ordains that _murder_ shall be punished with death; or
rather, that the free shall die for the free, the slave for the slave,
and a woman for a woman; or that the perpetrator of the crime shall pay
to the heirs of the person whom he has killed, if they allow it, a fine,
which is to be divided according to the laws of inheritance.[193] It
also ordains that _unintentional homicide_ shall be expiated by freeing
a believer from slavery, and paying, to the family of the person killed,
a fine, unless they remit it.[194] But these laws are amplified and
explained by the same book and by the Imáms.—A fine is not to be
accepted for murder unless the crime has been attended by some
palliating circumstance. This fine, which is the price of blood, is a
hundred camels; or a thousand deenárs (about £500) from him who
possesses gold; or from him who possesses silver, twelve thousand
dirhems[195] (about £300). This is for killing a free-man: for a woman,
half the sum: for a slave, his or her value; but that must fall short of
the price of blood for the free. A person unable to free a believer must
fast two months, as in Ramadán. The accomplices of a murderer are liable
to the punishment of death. By the Sunneh also, a man is obnoxious to
capital punishment for the murder of a woman; and by the Hanafee law,
for the murder of another man’s slave. But he is exempted from this
punishment who kills his own child or other descendant, or his own
slave, or his son’s slave, or a slave of whom he is part-owner: so also
are his accomplices; and according to Esh-Sháfe’ee, a Muslim, though a
slave, is not to be put to death for killing an infidel, though the
latter be free. In the present day, however, murder is generally
punished with death; the government seldom allowing a composition in
money to be made. A man who kills another in self-defence, or to defend
his property from a robber, is exempt from all punishment. The price of
blood is a debt incumbent on the family, tribe, or association of which
the homicide is a member. It is also incumbent on the inhabitants of an
enclosed quarter, or the proprietor or proprietors of a field, in which
the body of a person killed by an unknown hand is found; unless the
person has been found killed in his own house. A woman, convicted of a
capital crime, is generally put to death by drowning in the Nile.
The Bedawees have made the law of the avenging of blood terribly
severe and unjust, transgressing the limits assigned by the Kur-án:
for, with them, any single person descended from the homicide, or from
the homicide’s father, grandfather, great-grandfather, or
great-grandfather’s father, may be killed by any of such relations of
the person murdered or killed in fight; but, among most tribes, the
fine is generally accepted instead of the blood. Cases of
blood-revenge are very common among the peasantry of Egypt, who, as I
have before remarked, retain many customs of their Bedawee ancestors.
The relations of a person who has been killed, in an Egyptian village,
generally retaliate with their own hands rather than apply to the
government, and often do so with disgusting cruelty, and even mangle
and insult the corpse of their victim. The relations of a homicide
usually fly from their own to another village, for protection. Even
when retaliation has been made, animosity frequently continues between
the two parties for many years; and often a case of blood-revenge
involves the inhabitants of two or more villages in hostilities, which
are renewed, at intervals, during the period of several generations.
_Retaliation_ for intentional _wounds_ and _mutilations_ is allowed,
like as for murder; “eye for eye,” etc.;[196] but a fine may be accepted
instead, which the law allows also for unintentional injuries. The fine
for a member that is single (as the nose) is the whole price of blood,
as for homicide; for a member of which there are two, and not more (as a
hand), half the price of blood; for one of which there are ten (a finger
or toe), a tenth of the price of blood; but the fine of a man for
maiming or wounding a woman is half of that for the same injury to a
man; and that of a free person for injuring a slave varies according to
the value of the slave. The fine for depriving a man of any of his five
senses, or dangerously wounding him, or grievously disfiguring him for
life, is the whole price of blood.
_Theft_, whether committed by a man or by a woman, according to the
Kur-án,[197] is to be punished by cutting off the offender’s right hand
for the first offence; but a Sunneh law ordains that this punishment
shall not be inflicted if the value of the stolen property is less than
a quarter of a deenár;[198] and it is also held necessary, to render the
thief obnoxious to this punishment, that the property stolen should have
been deposited in a place to which he had not ordinary or easy access;
whence it follows, that a man who steals in the house of a near relation
is not subject to this punishment; nor is a slave who robs the house of
his master. For the second offence, the left foot is to be cut off; for
the third, according to the Sháfe’ee law, the left hand; for the fourth,
the right foot; and for further offences of the same kind, the culprit
is to be flogged or beaten; or, by the Hanafee code, for the third and
subsequent offences, the criminal is to be punished by a long
imprisonment. A man may steal a free-born infant without offending
against the law, because it is not property; but not a slave; and the
hand is not to be cut off for stealing any article of food that is
quickly perishable, because it may have been taken to supply the
immediate demands of hunger. There are also some other cases in which
the thief is exempt from the punishments above mentioned. In Egypt, of
late years, these punishments have not been inflicted. Beating and hard
labour have been substituted for the first, second, or third offence,
and frequently death for the fourth. Most petty offences are usually
punished by beating with the “kurbág” (a thong or whip of hippopotamus’
hide, hammered into a round form), or with a stick, generally on the
soles of the feet.[199]
_Adultery_ is most severely visited: but to establish a charge of this
crime against a wife, four eye-witnessses are necessary.[200] If
convicted thus, she is to be put to death by stoning.[201] I need
scarcely say that cases of this kind have very seldom occurred, from the
difficulty of obtaining such testimony.[202] Further laws on this
subject, and still more favourable to the women, are given in the
Kur-án[203] in the following words:—“But [as to] those who accuse women
of reputation [of fornication or adultery], and produce not four
witnesses [of the fact], scourge them with eighty stripes, and receive
not their testimony for ever; for such are infamous prevaricators,
excepting those who shall afterwards repent; for God is gracious and
merciful. They who shall accuse their wives [of adultery], and shall
have no witnesses [thereof] besides themselves, the testimony [which
shall be required] of one of them, [shall be] that he swear four times
by God that he speaketh the truth, and the fifth [time that he
imprecate] the curse of God on him if he be a liar; and it shall avert
the punishment [of the wife] if she sware four times by God that he is a
liar, and if the fifth [time she imprecate] the wrath of God on her if
he speak the truth.” The commentators and lawyers have agreed that,
under these circumstances, the marriage must be dissolved. In the
chapter from which the above quotation is made, it is ordained (in verse
2) that unmarried persons convicted of fornication shall be punished by
scourging, with a hundred stripes; and a Sunneh law renders them
obnoxious to the further punishment of banishment for a whole year.[204]
Of the punishment of women convicted of incontinence in Cairo, I shall
speak in the next chapter, as it is an arbitrary act of the government,
not founded on the laws of the Kur-án, or the Traditions.[205]
_Drunkenness_ was punished by the Prophet by flogging, and is still in
Cairo, though not often. The “hadd,” or number of stripes for this
offence, is eighty in the case of a free man, and forty in that of a
slave.
_Apostacy_ from the faith of El-Islám is considered a most heinous sin,
and must be punished with death, unless the apostate will recant on
being thrice warned. I once saw a woman paraded through the streets of
Cairo, and afterwards taken down to the Nile to be drowned, for having
apostatized from the faith of Mohammad, and having married a Christian.
Unfortunately, she had tattooed a blue cross on her arm, which led to
her detection by one of her former friends in a bath. She was mounted
upon a high-saddled ass, such as ladies in Egypt usually ride, and very
respectably dressed, attended by soldiers, and surrounded by a rabble,
who, instead of commiserating, uttered loud imprecations against her.
The Kádee who passed sentence upon her, exhorted her in vain to return
to her former faith. Her own father was her accuser! She was taken in a
boat into the midst of the river, stripped nearly naked, strangled, and
then thrown into the stream.[206] The Europeans residing in Cairo
regretted that the Básha was then at Alexandria, as they might have
prevailed upon him to pardon her. Once before, they interceded with him
for a woman who had been condemned for apostacy. The Básha ordered that
she should be brought before him; he exhorted her to recant; but finding
her resolute, reproved her for her _folly_, and sent her home,
commanding that no injury should be done to her.
Still more severe is the law with respect to _blasphemy_. The person who
utters blasphemy against God, or Mohammad, or Christ, or Moses, or any
prophet, is to be put to death without delay, even though he profess
himself repentant; repentance for such a sin being deemed impossible.
Apostacy or infidelity is occasioned by misjudgment; but blasphemy is
the result of utter depravity.
A few words may here be added respecting the sect of the “Wahhábees,”
also called “Wahabees,” which was founded less than a century ago, by
Mohammad Ibn-’Abd-El-Wahháb, a pious and learned sheykh of the province
of En-Nejd, in Central Arabia. About the middle of the last century, he
had the good fortune to convert to his creed a powerful chief of
Ed-Dir’eeyeh, the capital of En-Nejd. This chief, Mohammad Ibn-So’ood,
became the sovereign of the new sect—their religious and political
head—and under him and his successors the Wahhábee doctrines were spread
throughout the greater part of Arabia. He was first succeeded by his
son, ’Abd-El-’Azeez; next, by So’ood, the son of the latter, and the
greatest of the Wahhábee leaders; and lastly, by ’Abd-Allah, the son of
this So’ood, who, after an arduous warfare with the armies of Mohammad
’Alee, surrendered himself to his victorious enemies, was sent to Egypt,
thence to Constantinople, and there beheaded. The wars which Mohammad
’Alee carried on against the Wahhábees, had for their chief object the
destruction of the political power of the new sect. Their religious
tenets are still professed by many of the Arabs, and allowed to be
orthodox by the most learned of the ’Ulama of Egypt. The Wahhábees are
merely reformers, who believe all the fundamental points of El-Islám,
and all the accessory doctrines of the Kur-án and the Traditions of the
Prophet: in short, their tenets are those of the primitive Muslims. They
disapprove of gorgeous sepulchres, and domes erected over tombs; such
they invariably destroy when in their power. They also condemn, as
idolaters, those who pay peculiar veneration to deceased saints; and
even declare all other Muslims to be heretics, for the extravagant
respect which they pay to the Prophet. They forbid the wearing of silk
and gold ornaments, and all costly apparel, and also the practice of
smoking tobacco. For the want of this last luxury, they console
themselves in some degree by an immoderate use of coffee.[207] There are
many learned men among them, and they have collected many valuable books
(chiefly historical) from various parts of Arabia, and from Egypt.
-----
Footnote 96:
Ch. 112.—In quoting passages in the Kur-án, I have sometimes followed
Sale’s translation, to the general fidelity of which I willingly add
my testimony. I should, however, mention that some of his explanatory
notes are unauthorized and erroneous; as, for instance, with respect
to the laws of inheritance; on which subject his version of the text
also is faulty. When necessary, I have distinguished the verses by
numbers. In doing this I had originally adopted the divisions made by
Marracci, but have since made the numbers to agree with those in the
late edition of the Arabic text by Fluegel, which, from its superior
accuracy, is likely to supersede the former editions.
Footnote 97:
Kur-án, ch. iii., _vv._ 40-42.
Footnote 98:
Kur-án, ch. iv., _v._ 169.
Footnote 99:
The title of “Seyyidna” (our Lord) is given by the Muslims to prophets
and other venerated persons.
Footnote 100:
Kur-án, ch. iv., _v._ 156.
Footnote 101:
The Muslim seldom mentions the name of the Prophet without adding,
“Salla-lláhu ’aleyhi wa-sellem”; _i.e._, “God favour and preserve
him!”
Footnote 102:
In the first edition of this work, I here mentioned _the_ Devil as
distinct from the genii; but I have since found that the majority of
the most esteemed Arab authors are of the contrary opinion. Theirs is
also the _general_ opinion of the _modern_ Arabs.—The angelic nature
is considered as inferior to the human (because the angels were
commanded to prostrate themselves before Adam), and still more so is
the nature of genii.
Footnote 103:
Like those of the gazelle: this meaning of their common appellation
(which is mentioned afterwards) is, however, disputed.
Footnote 104:
The title of martyr is given to the unpaid soldier killed in a war for
the defence of the faith, to a person who innocently meets with his
death from the hand of another, to a victim of the plague (if he has
not fled from the disease) or of dysentery, to a person who is
drowned, and to one who is killed by the fall of any building.
Footnote 105:
See Sale’s Preliminary Discourse to his Translation of the Kur-án,
sect. iv.
Footnote 106:
A Muslim of some learning professed to me that he considered the
description of Paradise given in the Kur-án to be, in a great measure,
figurative: “like those,” said he, “in the book of the Revelation of
St. John;” and he assured me that many learned Muslims were of the
same opinion.
Footnote 107:
The corpse is always deposited in a vault, and not placed in a coffin,
but merely wrapped in winding-sheets or clothes.
Footnote 108:
Alluded to in the first chapter.
Footnote 109:
For an account of these private ablutions, and the occasions which
require their performance, the reader may consult Reland, De Rel.
Moh., pp. 80-83, ed. 1717.
Footnote 110:
All persons do not use exactly the same words on this occasion, nor
during the performance of the wudoó; and most persons use no words
during the performance.
Footnote 111:
He should also use a tooth-stick (miswák) to clean his teeth; but few
do so.
Footnote 112:
It is believed that the good man will rise to judgment with his face
white; and the bad, with his face black. Hence a man’s face is said to
be white or black according as he is in good or bad repute; and “may
God blacken thy face!” is a common imprecation.
Footnote 113:
To every man is appropriated a book, in which all the actions of his
life are written. The just man, it is said, will receive his book in
his right hand; but the wicked, in his left, which will be tied behind
his back; his right hand being tied up to his neck.
Footnote 114:
Here, again, I must beg to refer the reader (if he desires such
information) to Reland’s account of the ghusl, and the occasions which
require its performance.—De Rel. Moh., pp. 66-77, ed. 1717.
Footnote 115:
Seggádehs, of the kind here described, are now sold in London, under
the name of Persian carpets or Persian rugs.
Footnote 116:
I have called this the first, because the Mohammadan day commences
from sunset; but the morning prayer is often termed the first; the
prayer of noon, the second; and so on.
Footnote 117:
The ’eshë of the Sháfe’ees, Málikees, and Hambel′ees, is when the red
gleam (“esh-shafak el-ahmar”) after sunset has disappeared; and that
of the Hanafees, when both the red and the white gleam have
disappeared.
Footnote 118:
Generally on the first faint appearance of light in the east. The
Hanafees mostly perform the morning-prayer a little later, when the
yellow gleam (“el-isfirár”) appears: this they deem the most proper
time, but they may pray earlier.
Footnote 119:
The ’asr, according to the Sháfe’ees, Málikees, and Hambel’ees, is
when the shade of an object, cast by the sun, is equal to the length
of that object, added to the length of the shade which the same object
casts at noon; and, according to the Hanafees, when the shadow is
equal to _twice_ the length of the object added to the length of its
mid-day shadow.
Footnote 120:
Here is added, in the morning call, “Prayer is better than sleep!”
(twice.)
Footnote 121:
A common air, to which the adán is chanted in Cairo, will be given in
the chapter on Egyptian music.
Footnote 122:
They are few who do so.
Footnote 123:
Kur-án, ch. xcviii., _v._ 4.
Footnote 124:
Same, ch. ix., _v._ 32, and ch. lxi., _v._ 8.
Footnote 125:
This exclamation (“Yá rabb!”) is made in a very loud tone.
Footnote 126:
The word “ebed” is here used adverbially, signifying “for ever.”
Footnote 127:
These words, “The perfection of Him who spake,” etc. (“subhána men
kellema,” etc.), are pronounced in a very high and loud tone.
Footnote 128:
See Kur-án, ch. vii., _v._ 139.
Footnote 129:
“Aboo-Farrág” is a surname of a famous saint, the seyyid Ahmad
El-Bedawee, buried at Tanta in the Delta: it implies that he obtains
relief to those who visit his tomb, and implore his intercession.
Footnote 130:
The morning-prayers, two rek’ahs sunneh and two fard: the noon, four
sunneh and four fard; the afternoon, the same; the evening, three fard
and two sunneh; and the night-prayers (or ’eshë), four sunneh and four
fard, and two sunneh again. After these are yet to be performed three
rek’ahs “witr;” _i.e._, single or separate prayers: these may be
performed immediately after the ’eshë prayers, or at any time in the
night; but are more meritorious if _late_ in the night.
Footnote 131:
There are some little differences in the attitudes of the four great
sects during prayer. I describe those of the Hanafees.
Footnote 132:
Some persons previously utter certain supererogatory ejaculations,
expressive of the praise and glory of God; and add, “I seek refuge
with God from Satan the accursed;” which petition is often offered up
before reciting any part of the Kur-án on other occasions, as
commanded by the Kur-án itself (ch. xvi., _v._ 100). The Kur-án is
usually recited, in the fard prayers, in a voice slightly audible,
excepting at noon and the ’asr, when it is recited inaudibly. By
Imáms, when praying at the head of others, and sometimes by persons
praying alone, it is chanted. In the sunneh prayers it is recited
inaudibly.
Footnote 133:
In the third and fourth fard rek’ahs, the recitation of a second
portion of the Kur-án after the Fát’hah should be omitted; and before
fard prayers of four rek’ahs, the “ikámeh” (which consists of the
words of the adán, with the addition of “the time of prayer is come,”
pronounced twice after “come to security”) should be repeated; but
most persons neglect doing this, and many do not observe the former
rule.
Footnote 134:
The doctors of El-Islám differ respecting the proper position of the
fingers of the right hand on this occasion: some hold that all the
fingers but the first are to be doubled, as represented in Part II. of
the sketch of the postures of prayer.
Footnote 135:
Some say that every believer is attended by two angels; others say,
five; others, sixty, or a hundred and sixty.
Footnote 136:
Beginning with the words “God: there is no deity but He;” and ending
with, “He is the High, the Great.”
Footnote 137:
Adjoining each mosque are several “latrinæ,” in each of which is a
receptacle with water, for ablution.
Footnote 138:
If of the sect of the Sháfe’ees, to which most of the people of Cairo
belong; but if of that of the Hanafees, _four_ rek’ahs.
Footnote 139:
Kur-án, chap. xxxiii., _v._ 56.
Footnote 140:
There are some trifling differences in the forms of salutations of the
Prophet in the Friday-prayers in different mosques; I describe what is
most common.
Footnote 141:
A kind of lizard, the _lacerta Libyca_.
Footnote 142:
In the great mosque El-Azhar there are several Muballighs in different
places, to make the adán heard to the whole congregation.
Footnote 143:
To commemorate the acquisition of Egypt by the sword. It is never used
by the Khateeb but in a country or town that has been so acquired by
the Muslims from unbelievers.
Footnote 144:
During my first visit to Egypt I went to the great mosque El-Azhar, to
witness the performance of the Friday-prayers by the largest
congregation in Cairo. I was pleased with the preaching of the Khateeb
of the mosque, Gád-El-Mowla, and afterwards procured his sermon-book
(“deewán khutab”), containing sermons for every Friday in the year,
and for the two “’eeds,” or grand festivals. I translate the first
sermon.
Footnote 145:
The year begins and ends with a sacred month. The sacred months are
four: the first, seventh, eleventh, and twelfth. During these, war was
forbidden to be waged against such as acknowledged them to be sacred,
but was afterwards allowed. The first month is also held to be
excellent on account of the day of ’A’shoora (respecting which see
Chap. XXIV. of this work); and the last, on account of the pilgrimage.
Footnote 146:
That of the month of Ramadán.
Footnote 147:
See an account of the customs observed in honour of the day of
’A’shoora, chap. xxiv.
Footnote 148:
The Khateeb always closes his exhortation with one or two traditions
of the Prophet.
Footnote 149:
The five daily prayers ordained by the Kur-án.
Footnote 150:
This is always the same, or nearly so.
Footnote 151:
Kur-án, chap. xxvi., last verse.
Footnote 152:
Idem., chap. xxxiii., _v._ 56.
Footnote 153:
The patriarch Abraham.
Footnote 154:
The reigning Sultán at the time when the above was written.
Footnote 155:
This sentence, beginning “O God, frustrate,” was not inserted in one
copy of this prayer, which I obtained from an Imám. Another Imám, at
whose dictation I wrote the copy here translated, told me that this
sentence and some others were often omitted.
Footnote 156:
Kur-án, chap. vii., _v._ 22.
Footnote 157:
Ibid., chap. xvi., _v._ 92.
Footnote 158:
Because the Prophet received the first revelation in that month.
Footnote 159:
Kur-án, chap. ii., _v._ 183.
Footnote 160:
The year being lunar, each month retrogrades through all the seasons
in the course of about thirty-three years and a half.
Footnote 161:
A Málikee is held bound to perform the pilgrimage if strong enough to
bear the journey on foot, and able to earn his food on the way.
Footnote 162:
On the pronunciation of this word, see a note to the second paragraph
of Chapter V., p. 120.
Footnote 163:
More properly “Sagheer.” This is what many travellers have incorrectly
called “the Great Festival.”
Footnote 164:
Misled by the decision of those doctors, and an opinion prevalent in
Europe, I represented the laws of “holy war” as more severe than I
find them to be according to the letter and spirit of the Kur-án, when
carefully examined, and according to the Hanafee code. I am indebted
to Mr. Urquhart for suggesting to me the necessity of revising my
former statement on this subject; and must express my conviction that
no precept is to be found in the Kur-án which, taken with the context,
can justify unprovoked war.
Footnote 165:
Kur-án, chap. ii., _v._ 216. A kind of wine, formerly called “nebeedh”
(a name now given to prohibited kinds), may be lawfully drunk. This is
generally an infusion of dry grapes, or dry dates. The Muslims used to
keep it until it had slightly fermented; and the Prophet himself was
accustomed to drink it, but not when it was more than two days old.
The nebeedh of raisins is now called “zebeeb.”
Footnote 166:
A similar beverage, thus prepared from barley, was used by the ancient
Egyptians. (Herodotus, lib. ii., cap. 77.) The modern inhabitants of
Egypt also prepare boozeh from wheat and from millet in the same
manner, but less commonly.
Footnote 167:
Swine were universally deemed impure by the ancient Egyptians
(Herodotus, lib. ii., cap. 47.)
Footnote 168:
Kur-án, chap. v., _v._ 4.
Footnote 169:
The Arabic words of this prayer, “God give thee patience,” etc., are,
“Allah yesabbirak (for yusabbirak) ’ala má belák.”
Footnote 170:
In some respects the Muslim code does not appear to be so strictly
founded upon exigencies of a sanatory nature as the Mosaic. See
Leviticus xi. 9-12. In Egypt, fish which have not scales are generally
found to be unwholesome food. One of the few reasonable laws of
El-Hákim was that which forbade the selling or catching such kinds of
fish. See De Sacy, “Chrestomathie Arabe,” 2nde ed., tome i., p. 98.
Footnote 171:
It is unlawful to give or receive interest, however small, for a loan,
or on account of credit; and to exchange any article for another
article of the same species, but differing in quantity. These and
several other commercial transactions of a similar kind are severely
condemned; but they are not very uncommon among modern Muslims, some
of whom take exorbitant interest.
Footnote 172:
Many of the Muslims hold that only sculptures which cast a shadow,
representing living creatures, are unlawful; but the Prophet certainly
condemned pictures also.
Footnote 173:
A law given in the Kur-án is called “fard.”
Footnote 174:
A law derived from the Traditions is called “sunneh.”
Footnote 175:
Kur-án, chap. iv., _v._ 3.
Footnote 176:
Some Muslim moralists argue, that, as four wives are a sufficient
number for one man, so also are four concubine-slaves, or four women
consisting of these two classes together; but, notwithstanding what
Sale and some other learned men have asserted on this subject, the
Muslim law certainly does not limit the number of concubine-slaves
whom a man may have, whether in addition to, or without, a wife or
wives.
Footnote 177:
In like manner, when a Christian man marries a Jewess, the Muslim law
requires the offspring to profess “the better faith,” namely, the
Christian, if unwilling to embrace El-Islám.
Footnote 178:
Chap. iv., _vv._ 26, 27.
Footnote 179:
By the Hanafee code, a man may not marry a woman from whose breast he
has received a single drop of milk; but Esh-Sháfe’ee does not prohibit
the marriage unless he has been suckled by her five times in the
course of the first two years.
Footnote 180:
A boy may be thus married; but he may divorce his wife.
Footnote 181:
Whatever property the wife receives from her husband, parents, or any
other person, is entirely at her own disposal, and not subject to any
claim of her husband or his creditors.
Footnote 182:
Kur-án, chap. ii., _vv._ 229, 230.
Footnote 183:
As the Mosaic law also allows. See Deut. xxiv. 1.
Footnote 184:
The witnesses must always be Muslims in accusations against a person
of the same faith.
Footnote 185:
Yet many Christians and Jews in Egypt infringe the law in this respect
with impunity.
Footnote 186:
In this the Muslim law differs from the Mosaic, which assigns a double
portion to the first-born son. See Deut. xxi. 17.
Footnote 187:
In my summary of the principal laws relating to inheritance, in the
former editions of this work, there were some errors, occasioned by my
relying too much upon Sale’s version of the Kur-án; for I doubted not
his accuracy, as he had several commentaries to consult, and I had
none; wherefore, in my inquiries respecting these laws, I sought only
to add to, not to correct, the information conveyed by his version. I
have here given a corrected statement, derived from the Kur-án and the
Commentary of the Geláleyn, supplying some words of necessary
explanation (which are enclosed in brackets) partly on the authority
of a sheykh who was my tutor, and partly from the valuable work of
D’Ohsson, “Tableau Général de l’Empire Othoman,” Code Civil, livre iv.
Footnote 188:
According to Sale’s translation of the 12th verse of chap. iv., and a
note thereon, if the deceased have no child, and his parents be his
heirs, then his mother shall have the third part, and his father the
other two-thirds: but if he have brethren, his mother shall have a
sixth part;—and by his translation of the last verse of the same
chapter, stating that the brothers of a man who has died _without
issue_ have a claim to inheritance, it is implied that the brothers,
_if the father be living_, must have a share; consequently, that they
would have, in the case above-mentioned, a sixth part: for he has not
stated that this portion which is deducted from the mother’s share
goes to the father, nor that the father’s share is diminished.—Why the
mother’s share is diminished and the father’s increased, in the case
to which this note relates, I do not see: the reason might be easily
inferred, were it not that the surviving brothers or sisters of the
deceased may be his brothers or sisters by the mother’s side only.
Footnote 189:
This is exclusive of what may remain due to her of her dowry, of which
one-third is usually held in reserve by the husband, to be paid to her
if he divorce her, or when he dies.
Footnote 190:
The portions of the Kur-án upon which the above laws are founded are
verses 12-15, and the last verse, of chap. iv.
Footnote 191:
The reader may see them in D’Ohsson’s work before mentioned.
Footnote 192:
Chap. ii., _v._ 280.
Footnote 193:
Chap. ii., _v._ 173.
Footnote 194:
Chap. iv., _v._ 94.
Footnote 195:
Or, according to some, ten thousand dirhems.
Footnote 196:
Kur-án, chap. v., _v._ 49.
Footnote 197:
Chap. v., _v._ 42.
Footnote 198:
The deenár is a mitkál (or nearly 72 English grains) of gold. Sale,
copying a false translation by Marracci, and neglecting to examine the
Arabic text quoted by the latter, has stated the sum in question to be
four deenárs.
Footnote 199:
The feet are confined by a chain or rope attached at each end to a
staff, which is turned round to tighten it. This is called a
“falakah.” Two persons (one on each side) strike alternately.
Footnote 200:
Kur-án, chap. iv., _v._ 19.
Footnote 201:
This is a “Sunneh” law. The doom, as Mr. Urquhart observes, “stands
rather as the expression of public abhorrence, than as a law which is
to be carried into execution.” (“Spirit of the East,” vol. ii., p.
425.) The law is the same in the case of the adulterer, if married;
but it is never enforced. See Leviticus xx. 10, and John viii. 4, 5.
Footnote 202:
It is worthy of remark, that the circumstance which occasioned the
promulgation of this extraordinary law was an accusation of adultery
preferred against the Prophet’s favourite wife, ’A’ïsheh; she was thus
absolved from punishment, and her reputation was cleared by additional
“revelations.”
Footnote 203:
Chap. xxiv., _vv._ 4-9.
Footnote 204:
An unmarried person convicted of adultery is likewise obnoxious only
to this punishment. The two laws mentioned in Leviticus xx. 13 and 15
have been introduced into the Muslim code; but in the present day they
are never executed.
Footnote 205:
In the villages of Egypt, a woman found, or suspected, to have been
guilty of this crime, if she be not a common prostitute, often
experiences a different fate, which will be described in the account
of the domestic life and customs of the lower orders.
Footnote 206:
The conduct of the lower orders in Cairo on this occasion speaks sadly
against their character. A _song_ was composed on the victim of this
terrible law, and became very popular in the metropolis.
Footnote 207:
Among many other erroneous statements respecting the Wahhábees, it has
been asserted that they prohibit the drinking of coffee.
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