Chapter III: Religion and Laws (3)

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.

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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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